Unprepared for Disaster
INVESTIGATIONS
U.S.
Unprepared for Disaster
Experts Say United States May Not Be Ready for Natural or Man-Made Calamities. (ABC News)
A Deadly Guessing Game
A secret study urges that U.S. agencies at least agree on how to measure success or failure in Iraq. (Newsweek)
F.A.A. Alerted on Qaeda in '98, 9/11 Panel Said
U.S. aviation officials were warned as early as 1998 that Al Qaeda could "seek to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark." (NY Times)
F.B.I. Found to Violate Its Informant Rules
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has often violated internal guidelines in its handling of confidential informants, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded Monday. (NY Times)
Afghanistan
U.S. Colonel Says Bin Laden May be Ill
The US received unconfirmed reports that the health of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was deteriorating, Al Hayat reported Wednesday quoting US Colonel Don Mcgraw, the director of operations at the Combined Forces Command. Mcgraw said the US received information that bin laden "was seeking medical care" said al Hayat. The Colonel refused to specify what bin Laden was supposedly suffering from or where he was seeking medical attention. (Al Hayat)
U.S. May Start Pulling Out of Afghanistan Next Spring
Pentagon and military officials are discussing a proposal to cut U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan by as much as 20 percent next spring. (NY Times)
Guantanamo
More Join Guantanamo Hunger Strike
Detainees demand hearings, allege beatings by guards. (Washington Post)
Pakistan
Al Qaeda backbone has been broken with dismantling its network in the volatile tribal areas when the Security Forces raided Haqqani Madrissa in Mir Ali, a region in the restive North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and arrested some key suspects. (Pak Tribune)
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnian Serb Suspect Surrenders
A Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect, Sredoje Lukic, has surrendered to the Serbian authorities, government sources in Belgrade say. (BBC)
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
Ireland
'Al Qaeda' Suspect in Court
Northern Ireland's first suspected Al Qaeda terrorist was allegedly uncovered by police who had initially been inquiring after his "welfare". (UTV)
U.S.
Two Charged Over Katrina Deaths
The owners of a New Orleans nursing home are charged over the deaths of 34 people during the hurricane flood. (BBC)
Ice Cream Shop Terror Suspect Trial Starts
A Yemeni immigrant ice cream shop owner accused of illegally funneling $21.9 million overseas successfully fought to keep prosecutors from introducing evidence allegedly linking him to terrorist groups as his trial began Tuesday. (AP)
IRAQ NEWS
Suicide Bomber, Gunmen Kill 105 in Iraq
Suicide Bomber and Gunmen Kill at Least 105 and Wounds 227 in the Iraqi Capital. (AP)
No Timetable for Iraq Withdrawal
Iraq's President Talabani appears to retreat from suggestions that some US troops could leave this year. (BBC)
U.S. Raids Militant Stronghold in Iraq
U.S. forces widened their operations against insurgents in northern Iraq on Tuesday, launching an attack on the Euphrates River stronghold of Haditha only days after evicting militants from Tal Afar. Residents also reported American air strikes in the same region near Qaim. (AP)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Divided They Stand
The United Nations was founded 60 years ago to reflect the noblest ideals of the democracies that came together to defeat fascism and build a juster world. (The Guardian)
The UN Sixty Years After the Fact
When they had their first General Assembly meeting in San Francisco in 1945, there were a mere 46 of them, states each harboring its own illusions about how the international body would serve its interests. (Arab News)
Fixing the United Nations
The Volcker committee's painstaking report on the United Nations' oil-for-food program in Iraq should not be viewed simply as a negative verdict on the leadership of Secretary General Kofi Annan. The report's true value lies in its unsparing portrait of the UN as an organization riddled with structural flaws and desperately in need of reform. (The Boston Globe)
Finally Fooling None of the People
There's never a terrorist around when you need one. Even a couple of suspicious-looking foreigners playing soccer near the Superdome as Katrina began to make landfall might have done the trick to get this easily distracted president focused. The war on terror is, after all, George W. Bush's obsession, obliterating any other consideration of the nation's well-being. (LA Times)
Syria and the "Siege"
The least Washington says now of Syria, in its comments on the developments of the investigation into Hariri's assassination, is that it is in "trouble." (Al Hayat)
The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman and Ellen Gustafson of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.