Treasury Investigates Foreclosures on US Troops

CHARLOTTE, N.C.– The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether Bank of America, Wells Fargo and eight other major banks may have illegally foreclosed on about 4,500 active-duty servicemen and women.

Recent Veterans Find Higher Jobless Rates On Return

The jobless rate has declined a bit in the last year, but among veterans who served in conflict since 2003, it is increasing. The unemployment rate for vets serving since the Iraq war began has risen 1.5 percentage points to more than 12 percent in the past year.

Veterans’ families first to view White House in its Christmas glory

WASHINGTON – “Shine, Give, Share” is the theme for Christmas at the White House, where doors flung open Wednesday to the first wave of guests allowed to ogle its fragrant, fanciful holiday finery, including no fewer than 37 trees.

Elite Marine Role in Afghanistan key to US Exit

PUZEH, Afghanistan — In this dusty village in southern Afghanistan a small team of elite U.S. Marines is nudging Afghans toward rejection of the Taliban insurgency, a mission that is emerging as central to the U.S. and NATO exit strategy but is little known beyond the rugged brown hills of the upper Helmand River Valley.

VP Biden says Iraq ready to survive on its own

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday “we’re not claiming victory” in Iraq, but he believes the emerging government in Baghdad is capable of defending itself.

House Votes to Ease Airport Screening for Troops

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday voted unanimously to allow military travelers on official duty to get a special preference to move through airport security checks faster.

EU defense ministers may endorse pooling resources

BRUSSELS (AP) — EU defense ministers are considering whether to pool and share military resources as austerity measures due to the European debt crisis bite into national defense budgets, officials said Wednesday.

Postwar U.S.-Afghanistan ties are expected to remain rocky

KABUL – The wartime alliance between Afghanistan and the United States in the last decade has been fraught with suspicions over sharply differing goals and tactics. It is becoming clear that any postwar partnership to prevent a Taliban comeback is likely to be just as problematic.