The family of Itzcoatl Ocampo, who was arrested in connection with the murders of four homeless men in the past month, describe him as a deeply troubled Iraq vet who harbored a troubling secret. more ›

As part of President Obama's promise to bring the troops home from Iraq by the end of the year, 500 California National Guard soldiers landed stateside this morning, with 250 of them coming through Los Alamitos. KTLA reports that the planes touched down in Los Alamitos at 5:20 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., carrying soldiers who had been overseas for about a year. more ›

New Yorker journalist George Packer's engrossing Iraq War drama Betrayed is in its last weekend at Lyric Theatre. Packer's work is based on true accounts of Iraqi citizens working as translators in the Green Zone. more ›

President Barack Obama announced today that he'll be pulling all the troops out of Iraq by the end of the year. In an announcement today, Obama said that "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," according to CNN. more ›

The controversial case of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, two American hikers who were sentenced to eight years in Iranian prison, is finally seeing its resolve. After more than two years of detainment, both men are slated to arrive stateside on Sunday, September 25. more ›

While hiking near the ambiguous border between Iran and Iraq on July 31, 2009, three Americans were arrested in Iran. The two males have been charged with espionage and illegal entry into the country and sentenced to eight years in Iranian prison, reports FishbowlLA. more ›

After seven months at sea, the USS Carl Vinson returned to its Coronado home port on Wednesday morning, reports NBC LA. Since its Persian Gulf deployment on November 30, 2010 the ship has faced pirates, a jet engine fire, and, most famously, the carrier briefly held the body of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before his historic Arabian Sea burial. more ›

More than 500 members of the 640th Aviation Support Battalion gathered for a deployment ceremony on Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center, before shipping out to Iraq. The "citizen soldiers" will muster at Fort Hood, Texas, for additional training and are expected to arrive near Baghdad later this month. They will be replacing other members of the 640th Battalion and members of the 1-140th Air Assault Battalion who deployed last month from LA to Iraq, reports KTLA. more ›

We talk to Governor Jesse Ventura, host of truTV's "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura" (Friday's at 10pm). Ventura thinks we should abolish political parties; that the United States has become a fascist state; and that the military enforces corporate ambitions. Are these even theories anymore? more ›

On Tuesday the number of U.S. soldiers who have died in Afghanistan surpassed 1,000. "The $100-billion-per-year war itself—and the daily losses in lives—should be front-and-center in the media most days, but that often is not the case," says David Corn at Mojo, the politics and current affairs blog at Mother Jones magazine... more ›

A famous celebrity's name is protected for 70 years after death. That's because a "deceased personality," as state law calls them, has commercial value, thus the use of their voice, signature, photograph, or likeness in products and advertising is verboten unless permission by the family is given. Those laws don't apply to regular people, even if their death made them famous -- the law only applied to those who had notoriety before death, not because of or after death. more ›

As Obama prepared for his big "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" speech last week, government figures released showed that women are more likely to be kicked out of military service under the policy than men. In a story, the Associated Press highlighted Julianne Sohn, who now works for the LAPD. more ›

The city council has once before stepped into world affairs by denouncing the War on Iraq. Tomorrow, Councilman Bill Rosendahl will ask his fellow politicians to support a resolution to "condemn the Iraqi government for failing to stop, and call on the United States government and the mainstream, media to draw attention to, the systematic and brutal torture and murder of gay men in Iraq," according to a news brief sent out today. “This an outrage,” said Rosendahl, who is the only gay councilmember. “The annihilation of our people, ordered by religious decree in a nation where our troops have sacrificed their lives to restore religious freedom, is appalling. The Iraqi government must stop it, and the United States government must exert its leadership and pressure the Iraqi government to do so in a loud and unequivocal voice... The media has a moral obligation to draw attention to this torture and genocide. It is unconscionable to sit by silently.” The resolution is embedded below: more ›

More than 160,500 women have served (and died) in the former president’s the war in Iraq, but many find themselves isolated in the male-dominated culture. “This seclusion, combined with the military's history of gender discrimination and the uniquely challenging conditions in Iraq, has resulted in a mounting epidemic of sexual abuse, physical degeneration, and emotional distress among many female soldiers.” Tonight Columbia University journalism professor Helen Benedict will talk about her latest book, The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq , and will be joined by two of the five female veterans who are the focus of her book and a therapist who has been working with women soldiers returning from Iraq. The free discussion will take place at the American Friends Service Committee (634 S. Spring St., Downtown LA) tonight from 6:30-8:30 pm. more ›

A copper-coated statue of a giant shoe was unveiled in the Iraqi city of Tikrit Tuesday in honor of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at George Bush last month on international television. The statue's creator, Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari, had some fitting helpers when molding its plexiglass body--local orphans, many of whose parents had been killed as a direct or indirect result of U.S. intervention in that region of Iraq. Al-Zaidi's famous words to Bush, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," have made him something of a folk hero in the region, and the community of Tikrit has rallied around the statue, which al-Amari says "is a source of pride for all Iraqis... it's not a political work." more ›

In honor of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, unprecedented numbers of Americans served their communities today in beautiful ways. And President-Elect Obama’s Renew America Together service forged new means of connecting Americans (and Los Angelenos) with local volunteering opportunities. more ›

2008 was a year where TV saw viewership decline for at least the 8th straight year. We saw even more film stars make their way to basic cable (USA, TNT, TBS, FX, etc.) to star in their own series and we saw the big three networks make even more forays into the realm of cheap reality TV at the expense of scripted programs. more ›

Although today is Veterans Day, the holiday also serves as a reminder of those who served next to our Vets that did not come home. more ›

Since the time of ancient Greece, the Olympics were designed to allow athletes to compete and travel in peace -- even if they hailed from war-torn regions. But this week, the International Olympic Committee said that Iraq is expected to sit out the 2008 games in Beijing. more ›

"He definately knew how to make everyone laugh," wrote a friend of Staff Sgt. Du Hai Tran on an LA Times comment board. Tran, 30, of Reseda was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Baqubah, Iraq. He is the 501st soldier from California (24th from Los Angeles) to be lost due to the war. more ›

It's Memorial Day. That means Federal, state, county and city offices, courts, libraries, animal shelters and banks are closed. And Metro will run on a Sunday schedule. more ›

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In the name of ending the war, all 29 ports along the West Coast, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, have halted operations for one shift. "We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq," dockworkers' union president Bob McEllrath said in a press release. more ›

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What the hell is up with air travel these days? more ›

Did anyone watch "Top Gear" last night on BBCA? They had a fantastic contest of who could cross London the fastest: a bicycle, a several hundred horsepower boat, public transportation, or a Mercedes SUV. The bike won! Followed closely by the boat and then public transportation with the SUV dead last by more than a quarter hour after public transport. Since LA doesn't have many viable waterways it looks like it's time to sideline cars and invest in bike lanes and public transportation exclusively. more ›

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Saturday's Anti-War March in Hollywood, organized by the ANSWER Coalition was amazing (their acronym stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). Thousands walked down Hollywood Blvd, down Schrader, then onto Sunset, eventually ending in front of the CNN building. more ›

40 years ago today, American soldiers in Charlie Company, of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division, murdered upwards of 500 civilians, almost exclusively women, children, and old men, in the hamlets of My Lai and My Khe in Vietnam. more ›