Highlander Scott McLaren, 20, joined the army in August 2009

“Colleagues of the British soldier who was found dead yesterday after going missing in Afghanistan have described Highlander Scott McLaren’s death as a “huge blow”.

British soldier Highlander Scott McLaren from 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland who went missing from a checkpoint in Afghanistan and was later found dead.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Soldier-Who-Went-Missing-In-Afghanistan-And-Was-Found-Dead-Is-Named-By-Ministry-Of-Defence/Article/201107116024885?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1

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“Some prisoners being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba would rather remain in American custody there than be released to return to their home countries, a former Gitmo prosecutor said.

“Interestingly, some detainees were offered release, and asked to stay in Gitmo,” Kyndra Rotunda, who served in the Army Judge Advocate General’s office, told CNS News.

“They prefer captivity in Gitmo to freedom in their own countries.”

Just last week, black-hooded activists with the group Witness Against Torture protested outside the White House, claiming in a news release that the Obama administration was responsible for the “ongoing torture, mistreatment and indefinite detention of troops at Guantanamo Bay.”

But far from being tortured, Rotunda said prisoners at Gitmo are given a wide range of freedoms.

“They are outside of their housing bays for up to 12 hours a day. During that time, they can take classes, visit the library — which has over 5,000 titles, including the Harry Potter series translated into Arabic — exercise, check out movies or games, play sports — detainees can chose from a selection of athletic shoes — or even visit the computer lab.”

Rotunda is now a civilian teaching military and international law at Chapman University Law School in Southern California, and she lectures at the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of “Honor Bound: Inside the Guantanamo Trials,” about her experiences at Gitmo.

All detainees are allowed to freely practice their religion at Gitmo, she told CNS News.

“The Muslim call to prayer is broadcast over loudspeakers five times a day. During this time, the prison guards are instructed to give each detainee 20 minutes of uninterrupted time, even if the detainee is not praying.

“When I was in Gitmo, the camp commander hosted a celebration for detainees to mark the end of Ramadan and flew in seasonal nuts and dates for the celebration,” she added.

http://news.newsmax.com/?Z64DYtn7uU737iUev.DT36E-6QyexJI1Z

“I recently arrived here in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, to be with the best and most experienced military in the history of the world. These young men and women are doing extraordinary work for our country and I’m honored to share their stories with you.

Our brave men and women in uniform are enduring 100 degree heat in the deserts of Afghanistan, protecting our freedom and ensuring that terrorists won’t be allowed to establish a safe haven in this country. They are working hard on our behalf, and we should do all we can to help them.

Please help Freedom Alliance with a generous gift as they support our men and women in uniform.”

https://secure3.convio.net/fa/site/Donation2?df_id=2642&2642.donation=form1

By LARA JAKES

Qais al-Khazali, then the top aide of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and leader of a militant group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, inspects the damage after overnight fighting in Najaf, Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Shiite militias backed by Iran have ramped up attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, making June the deadliest month in two years for American forces. The militiamen’s goal is to prevent the U.S. military from extending its presence in the country past the end of this year.

Three separate militias have been involved in the attacks, particularly a small but deadly group known as the Hezbollah Brigades, believed to be funded and trained by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and its special operations wing, the Quds Force.

The militia attacks — mainly in the Shiite heartland in southern Iraq — raise the prospect of increased violence against Americans if a residual U.S. force remains in the country past 2011, a possibility being considered by the Baghdad government to help maintain a still fragile security.

They also point to the persistent efforts by Shiite-majority Iran, the United States’ top regional rival, to influence Iraq after the Americans’ exit.

In the latest American deaths, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said Thursday that three U.S. troops were killed a day earlier when a huge rocket known as an IRAM struck a remote desert base just a few miles (kilometers) from the Iranian border in Iraq’s southern Wasit province.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jRnM0IQ0agf01gntM3RCEAAoJ4Kw?docId=eed0694eef7e4e0c9f0536dfaa60fd65

“A heavily armed commando executed the police chief of Santa Catarina, Germain Perez Quiroz. He was gunned down inside his own office at the police headquarters of the agency located in community of Infonavit La Huasteca.

At 1530 hours about 15 masked men on board at least three late model trucks and two cars entered the front door of the police station and threatened employees inside until they located the police chief.

Witnesses mentioned that the attackers were wearing badges similar to those used by police.

Following the murder the gunmen took three municipal police officers hostage and were ultimately abducted at gunpoint, their whereabouts are presently unknown.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/

RAWALPINDI: Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said on Wednesday that Pakistan has told the United States to leave “drone” airbase.

“We have told them (the US officials) to leave the Shamsi airbase,” said the minister while talking to journalists at his office. He said the trust between the US and Pakistan had reduced to a great extent after the May 2 incident. “This mistrust could be reduced by sitting together and taking joint actions.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\06\30\story_30-6-2011_pg1_2

“… Where does this leave us, or more importantly, lead us? As much as Obama has a visceral dislike for war and, unlike George W Bush, is not trigger-happy, he has made up his mind that he will not be gun shy when it comes to enforcing the key elements of his plan to end the war in Afghanistan, which means tossing away the counterinsurgency (COIN) in Afghanistan, in favour of a counter-terrorism effort along the Durand Line.

Buoyed by the results of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Obama will not reinvent the wheel and intends to apply the same model for both the Haqqani network and the ‘irreconcilable’ Afghan Taliban. The primary US focus will now be on the Pakistan-supported insurgents.

Contrarily, Pakistan is tempted to wait out the US and may overplay its hand while trying to hedge its bets in Afghanistan. The inaction against the militant safe havens in North Waziristan (NW) and the talk about military action in the Kurram Agency suggest no course correction on the part of Pakistan.

Reports from Upper Kurram state that the locals are being asked by Pakistani security agencies to disarm, effectively leaving them at the mercy of the Haqqani network and its affiliates. It is unlikely that the Turi and Bangash tribes will disarm and become sitting ducks for the jihadists.

The chaos that can ensue, including massive internal displacement of people, provides an opportunity for the Pakistani establishment to retract and hide its proxies in the affected areas, as they become more vulnerable in NW and along the Durand Line.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\06\30\story_30-6-2011_pg3_2

A uranium disc intended for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, worth approximately $200,000 Photo: CORBIS

“Six people have been detained for smuggling an unspecified amount of the form of uranium that can be used to make a nuclear weapon, an official said on Wednesday.

Interior Ministry official Vitalie Briceag said the uranium-235 was brought in from Russia. He said the smugglers were trying to sell it to a North African country for €20 million (£18 million).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/moldova/8607235/Six-people-arrested-in-Moldova-over-bomb-grade-uranium.html