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‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ gay policy costs $363 million WASHINGTON – The brief Discharging troops under the Pentagon’s policy on gays cost $363.8 million over 10 years, almost double what the government concluded a year ago, a private report says. The report, to be released today by a University of California Blue Ribbon Commission, questioned the methodology the Government Accountability Office used when it estimated that the financial impact of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was at least $190.5 million.

U.N. investigations found United States committing acts of torture

UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. investigation has found that the United States committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay, including force-feeding detainees and subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement, according to a draft report obtained yesterday. The report recommended the United States close Guantanamo Bay and revoke all special interrogation techniques authorized by the Defense Department. Its experts accused the United States of violating the detainees’ rights to a fair trial, freedom of religion and health. The report’s findings were based on interviews with former detainees, public documents, media reports, lawyers, and a questionnaire filled out by the U.S. government. Many of the allegations have been made before, but the document is the first such accounting from an inquiry launched by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.