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Two US military aircraft have been fired at during an evacuation mission in South Sudan, wounding two service personnel. One is said to be in a critical condition, and it is thought at least one of the planes was damaged. South Sudan has blamed the attack on renegade troops. Officials said the aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and the scene of some of the country's worst violence in the past week. After being fired at the planes turned around and headed to Kampala in Uganda. From there the wounded service personnel were flown...

Libyan government forces bombed large fuel storage tanks in the contested western city of Misrata, destroying the tanks and sparking a huge fire, rebels said on Saturday. The bombardment came as artillery rounds fired by forces loyal to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi fell in Tunisia in an escalation of fighting near the border between Libyan soldiers and anti-Gaddafi rebels. Misrata is the last remaining city in the west under rebel control. The port city has been under siege for more than two months and has witnessed some of the war's fiercest fighting between loyalists and rebels. Rebels gave varying accounts of...

Back in January, 2006, the Bush Justice Department released a 42-page memo arguing that the President had the power to ignore Congressional restrictions on domestic eavesdropping, such as those imposed by FISA (the 30-year-old law that made it a felony to do exactly what Bush got caught doing:  eavesdropping on the communications of Americans without warrants).  That occurred roughly 3 months after I began blogging, and -- to my embarrassment now -- I was actually shocked by the brazen radicalism and extremism expressed in that Memo.  It literally argued that Congress had no power to constrain the President in any way when it came to national security matters...

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Coalition airstrikes have hit several rebel vehicles in Libya and the opposition is looking into reports that some rebel fighters were killed, a spokesman for the Libyan opposition said Saturday. NATO is also investigating a report that a coalition airstrike in the eastern oil town of al-Brega hit opposition rebels, a NATO spokeswoman said Saturday. "NATO takes any reports of civilian casualties very seriously, but exact details are hard to verify as we have no reliable sources on the ground," NATO's Oana Lungescu said. "Clearly, if someone fires at one of our aircraft, of course they...

At least 40 civilians have been killed in airstrikes by Western forces on Tripoli, the top Vatican official in the Libyan capital told a Catholic news agency on Thursday citing witnesses. At least 40 civilians have been killed in air strikes by Western forces on Tripoli, the top Vatican official in the Libyan capital told a Catholic news agency on Thursday, quoting witnesses. "The so-called humanitarian raids have killed dozens of civilian victims in some neighbourhoods of Tripoli," said Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli. "I have collected several witness accounts from reliable people. In particular, in the...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Saturday that the U.S. military, already fighting two wars in Muslim nations, would have no trouble enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya if President Obama orders one. The comments appeared designed to counter the criticism surrounding his earlier remarks on the issue and came as the Arab League endorsed a no-fly zone to protect Libya's civilians from forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. Gates indicated earlier this month that the creation of a no-fly zone would be a "big operation." NATO would need to deploy an array of air power to target not...