#Geopolitiks / #WarWhores: At Home and Abroad

US War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran
from nytimes.com: A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials. The officials said the so-called war game was not designed as a rehearsal for American military action — and they emphasized that the exercise’s results were not the only possible outcome of a real-world conflict.

But the game has raised fears among top American planners that it may be impossible to preclude American involvement in any escalating confrontation with Iran, the officials said. In the debate among policy makers over the consequences of any Israeli attack, that reaction may give stronger voice to those in the White House, Pentagon and intelligence community who have warned that a strike could prove perilous for the United States.

US Scrambles to Contain Fury Over Attack in Afghanistan

from nytimes.com: American officials scrambled Monday to understand why a veteran Army staff sergeant, a married father of two only recently deployed here, left his base a day earlier to massacre at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in a rural stretch of southern Afghanistan. The devastating, unexplained attack deepened the sense of siege for Western personnel in this country, as denunciations brought a moment of unity to three major Afghan factions: civilians, insurgents and government officials.

Related Updates: 'Highly Unusual':
Marines Disarmed for Panetta Speech*
Vehicle crashes on runway during Panetta visit in Afghanistan*
US Soldier Executes 16 Civilians, Burns Bodies:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Mind Control?*
Afghanistan Massacre by US Sergeant Reveals Epidemic of Psychiatric Drugging of Soldiers*
Iran Terror Hearing Next Week in House*
Karzai asks NATO to leave Afghan villages; Taliban scraps talks*

Update: Afghan Shooting Suspect Identified as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales*

alleged 3/11 mastermind acquitted

from ap: Three lead defendants in the 2004 Madrid train bombings were found guilty of mass murder and other charges Wednesday but four other top suspects were convicted on lesser charges and an accused ringleader was completely acquitted...

Much of the evidence against the men was circumstantial. Bouchar, for instance, had been seen on one of the bombed trains shortly before the attack, but at trial nobody could definitively identify him...

Most of the suspects are young Muslim men of North African origin who allegedly acted out of allegiance to al-Qaida to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, although Spanish investigators say they did so without a direct order or financing from Osama bin Laden's terror network.