American Security Council Foundation (ASCF)

FEATURED NEWS POST

Iran nuclear talks in Istanbul show progress remains elusive

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF May 16, 2013 @ 10:18am

Even before the top two nuclear negotiators from Iran and six world powers sat down to a rare shared dinner in Istanbul tonight, events showed how far apart they are as they wrestle over how to limit Iran’s nuclear program. 

The first face-to-face contact in six weeks since both sides talked intensely in the Kazakh city of Almaty, appear to have yielded little of the rethink that both sides demanded of each other, when their only point of agreement was that they remained “far apart” on key issues.

White House Releases Benghazi E-mails

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF May 16, 2013 @ 10:04am

President Barack Obama moved late Wednesday to head off further potential political damage from the controversy over his administration's response to last year's terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Libya.

The White House released 100 pages of emails detailing intense debate among administration officials and the CIA about how to word public "talking points" after the attack in Benghazi.

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the attack.

 

'Angry' Obama Forces Acting Tax Chief to Resign

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF May 16, 2013 @ 9:58am

President Barack Obama says Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has asked for and received the resignation of the acting director of the Internal Revenue Service.  The tax collecting agency was found to have been improperly targeting conservative groups.

The president spoke Wednesday after meeting with Lew and his top deputy to review a report from the Treasury Department inspector general.  The report found that the IRS singled out for scrutiny conservative groups which were seeking tax-exempt status.
 

US Navy Makes Aviation History With Carrier Drone Launch

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF May 16, 2013 @ 9:37am

The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by launching an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, taking an important step toward expanded use of drones by the American military with an eye on possible rivals like China and Iran.
 
The bat-winged X-47B stealth drone roared off the USS George H.W. Bush near the coast of Virginia and flew a series of pre-programmed maneuvers around the ship before veering away toward a Naval air station in Maryland where it was scheduled to land.
 

Boston Bombing Suspect's Contacts With Chechens in US

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF May 16, 2013 @ 9:32am

Federal investigators have learned that the main suspect in last month’s Boston Marathon bombing met with an exiled former Chechen resistance fighter in Manchester, New Hampshire less than a month before carrying out the attack that killed three and wounded more than 260.
 
Police in Manchester confirmed to VOA that FBI agents have searched the home of the former Chechen resistance figure, Musa Khadjimuradov, and examined the hard drives of his computers. Khadjimuradov confirmed to VOA that FBI agents came to his home on Tuesday with search warrants and also took a sample of his DNA and impressions of his fingerprints.