The Daily MuckA joint U.S.-Afghan attack killed 78 people on Friday morning, according to Afghan officials and human rights monitors. The tally contradicts the official U.S. coalition account, which reported that 30 militants and only five civilians were killed in the battle. The U.S. has said it will further investigate the matter. (AP)
Two U.S. Marines were found in contempt of court after they refused to testify against their former squad leader, accused of killing four Iraqi detainees. The Marines had previously told investigators that they had been ordered to kill the Iraqis by squad leader Sgt. Jose Nazario to avoid taking the time to process the prisoners according to the laws of war. Nazario is now being charged with manslaughter. (Los Angeles Times)
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick rejected a plea offer from state prosecutors on Friday, in which the prosecutors would have dropped two felony assault charges against the Mayor in return for his resignation from office. The Mayor is accused of shoving two police officers as they attempted to serve a subpoena to one of his friends. A spokesman for the Mayor said that he considered the plea deal politically motivated and insincere. (New York Times)
The state of California has decided not to investigate Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his alleged role in the collapse of IndyMac. Schumer has been accused of contributing to the collapse of the financial giant by releasing confidential information in a letter questioning the bank’s financial security. (Reuters)
A army employee was subjected to an aggressive investigation because of his Jewish religious faith, according to a report by the Inspector General. For three years, David Tanenbaum was subjected to multiple polygraph tests, interrogations and home searches based on suspicions that he was an Israeli spy. The Inspector General found that the scrutiny “undoubtebly fit a definition of discrimination.” (Washington Post)
The Defense Department is looking for an executive to run its new “Defense Media Activity” directive. The purpose of the DMA is to communicate “messages and themes” from senior Defense officials as well as radio, television news and entertainment to the “entire DoD family” including “external audiences”. The DMA will be the largest communications operation within the government designed for public consumption. (Washington Post)