'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
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The embattled former ambassador from Pakistan cited threats from "ideologically driven maniacs" as he defied his country's highest court this week by refusing to return home for a hearing into a complex case involving accusations of treason and a shadowy figure who claims the ex-envoy was part of a political conspiracy.
Western officials and analysts say U.S. and U.N. pressure is failing to persuade Pakistan to cut its ties to a terrorist network whose attacks coalition forces fear could complicate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Key Republican lawmakers on Wednesday embraced the findings of the State Department's internal inquiry into the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, even though its long-awaited report stopped short of probing questions of an Obama administration cover-up in the attack's aftermath.
The panel investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, delivered its findings Monday to State Department officials, who said the report could be released publicly as early as Wednesday.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States resigned Tuesday in a widening scandal over a secret letter to a top U.S. military official, fears of a military coup in Pakistan and accusations between the diplomat and a businessman who claims they plotted to deliver the message to the Pentagon.
U.S. accusations that Pakistan is supporting Afghan insurgents have triggered a nationalist backlash and whipped up media fears of a U.S. invasion, drowning out any discussion about the army's long use of jihadi groups as deadly proxies in the region.
The United States on Tuesday demanded that Pakistan dismantle a terrorist network blamed for attacking a U.S. embassy as Pakistanis defended efforts to fight militants and demonstrated against the increasing U.S. pressure.
In a farewell to the military after 37 years in uniform, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus on Wednesday said supporting the troops and their families must be the nation's "paramount objective" even as defense budgets are reduced.
The Pentagon on Wednesday rejected China's demand that all U.S. surveillance flights near China be halted after two Chinese fighter jets recently intercepted an American U-2 spy plane over the Taiwan Strait.
Osama bin Laden's longtime top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, has assumed command of al Qaeda, and a website associated with the terrorist group is calling on "lone wolf" agents to target and kill 40 prominent Americans at their homes in the U.S.
The president of Southern Sudan said Thursday that he will not return the south to war with the Khartoum-based north over the disputed region of Abyei even as the north reportedly was moving thousands of Arab tribesmen into Abyei villages abandoned by terrified southerners.
Advocates are advising military gays to stay in the closet for now, as the Pentagon begins months of scene-setting to make sure removing the ban does not hurt combat readiness.
The top U.S. military officer expressed frustration Wednesday with what he called China's unwillingness to rein in North Korea, calling again on Beijing to use its unique leverage to push the North to stop provocations.
U.S. combat forces have voiced strong reservations about the effects on readiness of allowing open gays in the ranks, the Pentagon said Tuesday in a report that is likely to influence a Senate vote on whether to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Mullen said the board had delved deeply into the question of whether the U.S. military might have been able to launch a rescue mission during the Benghazi attack.
Lawmakers insisting on justice for Benghazi attack on consulate →
"We had no forces ready or tethered, if you will, focused on that mission so that they could respond," he added. "Nor would I expect that we would have."
Lawmakers insisting on justice for Benghazi attack on consulate →
