(Al Jazeera English: 0434 PT, May 3, 2011) Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, claims waterboarding produced intelligence that helped the US find Osama bin Laden. However, CIA Director Leon Panetta says such techniques may not have been necessary.

(Democracy Now! 0723 PT, May 4, 2011) Matthew Alexander, a former senior military interrogator in Iraq, claims torture slowed down efforts to find Osama bin Laden.

(Al Jazeera English: 0446 PT, May 3, 2011) Al Jazeera speaks to Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch about the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced" intelligence-gathering techniques.

(Russia Today: 0719 PST, April 14, 2011) Tensions between the US and Pakistan have risen sharply in recent weeks leading Islamabad officials to demand a cut in the number of CIA personnel in the country. It comes as its foreign office called American drone-attacks a "core irritant" in the fight against terror. The latest attack drew strong criticism after several civilians were killed in North Wariziristan on Wednesday.

(Euronews: 0720 PST, March 17, 2011) Army helicopters have once more been dumping sea water on the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan. They are concentrating on Reactor Number 3, trying desperately to bring down the temperature.

Japanese television broadcast some pictures shot from 35 kilometers away. The helicopters are taking off from a military base in Sendai. For days, people here and at the site itself have been working tirelessly to avert an environmental catastrophe.

Fallout Fears Force Foreigners to Flee

(Euronews: 0702 PST, March 17, 2011) Foreigners are packing their bags and heading out of Japan as many distrust government announcements about the true state of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Those gathering at Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports say the earthquakes don't worry them, but nuclear fall out does: "They want to tell people it is safe. I personally feel that when stuff gets in the air, and the wind blows it around, I don't know which side of the exclusion zone would be safe," said one man on his way back to South Africa.

More information about the Sendai Earthquake from Wikipedia

Google Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake

Find out what you can do to help in the saving and rebuilding of lives in Japan

(Associated Press: 1216 PST, March 16, 2011) The American Embassy says the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the killings of two Pakistani men by a CIA contractor in Pakistan.

(Democracy Now! 0930 PST, March 2, 2011) UN Reports have emerged of a dire situation on Libya's borders with Tunisia and Egypt, where tens of thousands have fled to evade the clashes. Democracy Now! speaks with Elizabeth Tan of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the agency working to provide shelter, sanitation, food and transportation at the border of Libya.

(Democracy Now! 0715 PST, March 2, 2011) Resistance in Libya as Gaddafi forces launch new assaults, and US silent on recent crackdown in Iraq.

(Democracy Now! 0945 PST, February 23, 2011) U.S. officials have admitted an American detained in Pakistan for the murder of two men was a CIA agent and a former employee of the private security firm Blackwater, now called Xe Services. Up until Monday, the Obama administration had insisted Raymond Davis was a diplomat who had acted in self-defense. The arrest of Davis has soured relations between the United States and Pakistan and revealed a web of covert U.S. operations inside the country, part of a secret war run by the CIA.

The Guardian newspaper of London first reported Davis's CIA link on Sunday and noted that many U.S. news outlets knew about his connection to the CIA but did not report on it at the request of U.S. officials. Democracy Now! interviews Declan Walsh, Pakistan correspondent for the Guardian, who first broke the story.

There are remarkably few positive things to say about Iraq today. The country seems to be in perpetual upheaval since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Dozens of people were killed across Iraq just days ahead of the start of the holy month of Ramadan, and more will probably lose their lives in the coming few days when insurgents typically step up their attacks. Yet the Obama administration has recently announced that the U.S. is "on target to end the combat mission." The U.S. government plans to withdraw its combat troops by the end of August and to remove all troops by the end of 2011.

But Iraq's most senior military officer, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, said that his forces, particularly the air force, were not ready to take over, cautioning that his security forces will not be able to secure the country until 2020.

The country has been facing many domestic challenges, such as a period of Sunni Arab insurgency, bloody attacks by al-Qaeda, confrontations with al-Sadr militias, and the ongoing tensions between various political factions; however, it's Iraq's vulnerability to neighboring countries that Zebari was alluding to.

"If America withdraws its forces and one of the neighboring countries causes problems, then we're going to have a problem," Zebari said.

Meanwhile, in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian last week,
Saddam Hussein's former deputy Tareq Aziz warned about a U.S. withdrawal and accused Barack Obama of "leaving Iraq to the wolves". Indeed, and even with the presence of 64,000 US troops in Iraq, both Turkish and Iranian troops have recently crossed Iraq's northern border in pursuit of Kurdish rebels. Last December, Iranian troops occupied an Iraqi oil well in the south, triggering popular outrage but little action from the Iraqi government.

It's worth mentioning that not everyone agrees with Zebari. A couple of days before his cautioning statement, General Ali Ghaidan, the commander of all Iraqi ground forces, told reporters at a news conference that his troops are "100 per cent ready" to take over.

But will the U.S. actually withdraw from Iraq?

Not really. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops will remain in the country to train the Iraqi army and provide it with logistical support. If need be, they will be engaged in combat missions. Meanwhile, the number of private contractors working for the U.S. in Iraq in sectors such as security, communications, utilities, and commerce is estimated at 100,000. This number is likely to increase significantly once the "combat forces" are gone, especially in the security sector.

Move on US Marines, here come Xe Services (better known as Blackwater)!

Meanwhile, the political stalemate between Nouri el- Maliki and Iyad Allawi if not resolved might soon trigger a major political upheaval, something that may cause the Iraqi government with its fragile coalitions to collapse; the last thing the Obama administration needs while withdrawing the troops.

It took 21 days for the U.S. armed forces to reach Baghdad and topple Saddam Hussein, but leaving Iraq is proving to be more complicated than invading it.

Article originally published on the Huffington Post
Watch the Video

This Sunday, June 27th, we will host a live video web chat with Brian Keane, Director of Land is Life. A man who has dedicated 20 years trying to get us to listen to the elders, to the people who have a proper relationship with the earth, with the sky, with the air and with the water. These people can help us now with this crisis in the Gulf, and they could have helped us long before....

Our response to the Gulf oil spill disaster has not been deep or complete. It has been from a place of policy and economics. We have sprung into action and forgotten to deal with the symbolic, spiritual and emotional nature of this crisis. I have seen no mainstream press organizations, the companies that caused the situation or the government communicating what it means to take FULL responsiblty for causing all this suffering.

It is easy to blame, but what is my role? Since we are not separate, I need to take responsibility for causing all this suffering. I have not spoken out enough, I have not listened properly, I have not respected our Mother, I have used resources mindlessly and I have forgotten to be thankful. But MOST importantly, I have been afraid to use my power to protect.

This crisis in the Gulf is a wake up call to me. It has awoken the "No" inside me. It has gotten me to a place where I will not rely on others to do the right thing in my home, my neighborhood, my community, my city, my country and my earth Mother. I will stick my nose in it and maybe make people angry or uncomfortable, but if I do not do this, then who?

There have been some people and organizations I think have responded fully and I thank them for it, like James O'Dea and Spirituality & Practice. They have expressed a full and appropriate response -- grief, sorrow and asking for forgiveness. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee also is right to remind us of the importance of the symbolism of this experience.

On Sunday I plan to ask Brian how the indigenous people are responding to the Gulf oil spill. Then I am going to listen. I am going to listen with my heart and allow myself to feel the pain of my own and our collective forgetfulness. I am sorry it has taken us so long to get here. What I mean to say...is I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here.

Special Encore Presentation this Monday at 5pm PST/8pm EST!

This past May at the 2010 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, our partners at explore.org received a very special honor, the Moving Mountains Prize, for their film "Fish Out of Water." The Moving Mountains Prize is awarded when a film depicts a unique mission or extraordinary impact of a non-profit organization. Featured in "Fish Out of Water," Sun Valley Adaptive Sports helps war veterans cope with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through fly fishing and other therapeutic outdoor activities. And as you will see when you watch the film, this organization is truly moving mountains.

"Fish Out of Water" began airing on Link TV in March (also available to watch online), but we are airing a special encore presentation because in addition to celebrating explore's success at MountainFilm, we were also introduced to a touching story that unfolded during the festival awards ceremony.

Christian Ellis, a vet whom Director Charlie Annenberg Weingarten became close with during the making of his film, experienced terrible traumas in Iraq. Losing many of his friends and fellow soldiers in combat, surviving a broken back, and suffering from severe PTSD, Christian returned home to a new reality.

Struggling to move forward, Christian returned to his music studies for the first time since he was 15. It had been a long-time dream of his to sing opera, and with a little encouragement from his new friend Charlie and two years of singing lessons, on Memorial Day Christian realized his dream. Closing the awards ceremony at the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, after the screening of "Fish Out of Water," Christian sang a moving aria about his experiences in Iraq.

Fast forward to minute 10 to hear Christian's aria. It's a true testament to the resilience and strength so many men and women of service embody:

Higher Ground - Mountainfilm Awards Video from Mountainfilm in Telluride on Vimeo.

Global Pulse host Erin Coker has spent the last two weeks strutting the red carpet, interviewing filmmakers and stars for the San Francisco International Film Festival. The festival produces daily coverage for their Scoop Du Jour mini-site. Here, Erin speaks with legendary actor Robert Duvall, directors John Waters and Walter Salles, writer/producer James Schamus and others at SFIFF's Award Night.

Click here to check out all of Erin's videos for SFIFF.