The U.S. military has launched a special operations task force to break up Iranian influence in Iraq, according to U.S. News sources. The special operations mission, known as Task Force 16, was created late last year to target Iranians trafficking arms and training Shiite militia forces. The operation is modeled on Task Force 15, a clandestine cadre of Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force soldiers, and CIA operatives with a mission to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives and Baathist insurgents in Iraq.
A couple of thoughts on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee today concerning the economic dangers that Social Security and Medicare pose if the programs aren't reformed.
AP - Democrats, still riding high from their election sweep, were also celebrating successes with House completion of their "100 Hour" legislative blitz and Senate passage of major ethics and lobbying reform.
AP - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, on his second trip to Iraq in less than a month, arrived unannounced Friday in this southern city to consult with British and other allied commanders.
China has successfully used a missile to destroy an orbiting satellite, U.S. government officials told CNN on Thursday -- a test that could undermine relations with the West and pose a threat to satellites key to the U.S. military. The United States logged a formal diplomatic protest. A spokesman for the National Security Council said the missile carried a "kill vehicle" and destroyed the satellite by ramming it.
In an overnight raid, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops captured a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad, the militia's spokesman told CNN Friday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is submitting to Congress a manual for trials of detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay that would allow the admission of hearsay evidence and coerced testimony, a Pentagon official told reporters Thursday.