n their time, America's secret agencies have tried some outlandish schemes to attack their country's enemies, including, most famously, an attempt to do away with Cuba's Fidel Castro by using an exploding cigar.
But in a scenario more the preserve of careless Hollywood starlets such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, the CIA appears to have plotted to undermine Saddam Hussein with a gay sex tape.
CIA's secret Iraq weapon revealed: a Saddam gay sex tape
McChrystal calls Marjah a 'bleeding ulcer' in Afghan campaign
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top allied military commander in Afghanistan, sat gazing at maps of Marjah as a Marine battalion commander asked him for more time to oust Taliban fighters from a longtime stronghold in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.
"You've got to be patient," Lt. Col. Brian Christmas told McChrystal. "We've only been here 90 days." "How many days do you think we have before we run out of support by the international community?" McChrystal replied.
Families of Iraqi prisoners who suffocated in truck allege torture

Iraqi authorities announced an investigation into the suffocation deaths of six men who were being transported on May 12 in a poorly ventilated truck en route to appear before an investigative committee in Baghdad. The families said they were informed the men died in a "shipping container."
Afghan report links president's brother to illegal land grabs
Afghan military investigators have accused Ahmed Wali Karzai, U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai's controversial half-brother, of intervening to protect powerful allies who are squatting illegally on government property in southern Afghanistan.
In response, Ahmed Wali Karzai shut down the Kandahar legislature this week by refusing to lead the provincial council until he can clear his name.
Death tolls set to spiral as allied forces face 40 attacks every day
British troops in Afghanistan are coming under the fiercest and most sustained assault since the start of the conflict nine years ago, with coalition forces subjected to more than 40 attacks each day in March: double the rate of a year ago.
Attacks by the Taliban between September 2009 and March 2010 leapt by 83 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to a new report released this month by the US Government Accountability Office.
Report: Afghan army riddled with corruption and feuding

Web video shows Pakistani militant leader thought to be dead
A Pakistani militant leader who was thought to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike in January has appeared in a new Internet video, vowing attacks on American cities. The video of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud surfaced early Monday.
It was released shortly after another clip appeared on YouTube, in which the group claimed responsibility for the failed bomb attempt in Times Square. Counter-terrorism analysts dismiss that claim as highly unlikely, noting that the organization has displayed no ability to strike beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan.
More Articles...
Page 55 of 113