Newscast for Tuesday, July 27, 2010

House of Representatives debates war spending bill, US military role in Pakistan
On Capitol Hill today, the House of Representatives debated the war in Afghanistan, and for the first time, the US military role in Pakistan. Congress is expected to approve $33 billion for emergency war spending. It would then go to the President’s desk with out funding for education and other domestic priorities originally included. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.

Afghan war documents reveal ‘death squads,’ extensive use of drones
Reaction continues following the release of classified documents on the Afghan war. On Sunday, Wikileaks published more than 90 thousand documents covering day to day reports from Afghanistan from 2004 to 2009. Some of the raw field reports add details to the number and frequency of civilian deaths, drone strikes and the use of special forces for targeted assassinations.

On Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs downplayed the information, telling reporters that much of it is not new.

"What is being reported hasn't in many ways been publicly discussed – either by you all or by representatives of the US government – for quite some time. We have certainly known about save havens in Pakistan. We have been concerned about civilian casualties for quite some time and on both of those aspects we've taken steps to make improvements."

Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley gave reporters a similar response.

"These documents highlight issues that we’ve long known about, in fact, that we’ve incorporated into our revised strategy, so are we concerned about the impact the military operations are having on the ground in Afghanistan? Absolutely. And we've adapted our approach to military operations as a result."

The Pentagon announced today it is leading a criminal investigation into the source of the documents. Gibbs said today they would prosecute those responsible.

"You make a commitment when handling this type of information to live up to the responsibilities invested in federal law in how one handles this information and if you’re not willing to live up to those responsibilities then you face those consequences."

The reports, which at times paint a different picture from official accounts, have increased pressure on the Obama Admin and the debate over ending the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

For more, we're joined by Conn Hallinan, foreign policy analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus, a think tank that is part of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Senate rejects bill to disclose corporate financing of political campaigns
Democrats in the Senate failed to pass the Disclose Act today. The bill would have forced corporations, unions, and non-profits to disclose more information about their political donations.  The legislation was a response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which overturned a century-long precedent to allow corporations to advocate and fundraise freely for political candidates. The Court said the right was protected under the First Amendment.  Now, with the bill’s failure, corporations will be able to anonymously spend in campaigns for the upcoming elections in November.  FSRN’s Matt Pearson reports.

Tribe fights for survival as BP oil spill ravages Gulf Coast
Today, BP reported a $17 billion loss for the last fiscal period, due in part to putting $32 billion aside to pay for the oil disaster. This loss, according to outgoing CEO Tony Hayward, allows the company to take a $10 billion corporate tax credit. The company also announced a replacement for Hayward - US board member Robert Dudley, the first American to serve in this position.

Meanwhile, the BP oil disaster continues to devastate many on the Gulf Coast, including the Houma Nation. With 17,000 members, the tribe is the largest on the Louisiana coast. Although they have lived there since pre-colonial times, the nation isn’t recognized by the federal government. First hard-hit by Katrina, the tribe is now contending with the largest environmental disaster in US history. Zoe Sullivan reports.