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A girl drinks from a tap in Rwanda. (jon gos/flickr)

We look at the increasing scarcity of water.

As the world’s population explodes, from 7 billion to 10 billion, will violence erupt over water the way it has over other natural resources, like gold, oil and diamonds?

Who will control water? And how much will it cost to access?

Guests:

• William Moomaw, director, Center for International Environmental and Resource Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

• Shafiqul Islam, director of the Water Diplomacy Initiative; professor, Tufts School of Engineering

• Lisa Sorgini Marchewka, vice president, Oasys Water

 
BOSTON — Hanscom Air Force base is fighting for its survival. Deep budget cuts announced earlier this year could mean the loss of hundreds of jobs there. And now the Pentagon has announced plans to close some of its bases around the country — and Hanscom could be on the list.
 
But salvation could be coming from Cambridge. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced plans to build a $450 million research laboratory at Hanscom. It would design small electronic parts for use in emerging aerospace, communication and missile technologies.
 
Marty Jones of the agency Mass Development is a part of a state task force that’s trying to position the Massachusetts bases in a positive light to prevent closures. She said that MIT's planned project will protect Hanscom from additional cuts.
 
"I think everyone understands technology is important today," she said. "And having a facility that is really cutting-edge and innovative should be something that's important when they're looking at which installations to close."
 
MIT already does a lot of business at Hanscom. According to the Boston Globe, about 3,200 MIT employees and 500 private contractors work at Hanscom — and the university is among the base’s biggest tenants. The research facility is expected to win approval in Washington.
 

BOSTON — The Deval Patrick administration announced on Jan. 5 that Massachusetts has seen a 21 percent decrease in homeless veterans in the last year — nearly double the rate of reduction nationwide. In addition, the state is launching a pilot program to serve chronically homeless veterans in the Boston metro area. 

The pilot program, funded with a $323,000 federal grant, will provide peer support, psychiatric evaluation and connections to emergency shelters, among other elements, with agencies based in Chelsea, Lynn, Haverhill, Jamaica Plain, the South End and downtown Boston.

Coleman Nee, secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, said in an interview with WGBH News that his personal military service in the Marines and Operation Desert Storm gives him insight into the needs of vets.

Soldiers deployed overseas sometimes have financial problems; coming home, they have to rebuild financially as well as deal with readjustment and sometimes psychiatric issues. "In most cases people are able to do it, as difficult as that is, but we know in certain cases it doesn't work out so well," Nee said — sometimes resulting in homelessness.
 
Roughly 56 percent of homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic. Nee wasn't sure why that was happening, though he pointed out that these populations are "under-served… in a lot of other areas."
 
One possibility is that services aren't provided in areas where they live, he said; another is that services aren't sensitive to cultural issues.
 
The new program aims to address the latter. The agency will be "talking to these veterans and doing peer-to-peer outreach... [to make] sure that the veterans we're sending out to meet with these folks and coordinate with them and get them into the system can relate to them on that personal level," Nee said.

BOSTON — Was the Iraq War worth it? The attacks across Iraq on Dec. 22, just days after American troops left, has put a point on the question .
 
On Dec. 15, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta defended the cost of the war, both financial and human: “Those lives have not been lost in vain. They gave birth to an independent, free and sovereign Iraq.”
 
But not everyone agrees with him. Such as Nicholas Burns, a professor of diplomacy at Harvard and a major figure in the U.S. State Department under President George Bush. At the time, he supported the decision to go to war with Iraq. Now, he said on “The Emily Rooney Show,” he has a different opinion.
 
“We accomplished something in Iraq, in overthrowing Saddam Hussein. We’ve given the Iraqis a chance for a better future. So I don’t look upon it as an unmitigated disaster,” he said. However, “when I ask the question ‘if we rolled back the film would you do it again?’ I certainly would not support a military invasion of Iraq.”
 
Most of all, Burns wondered if we’ve lost sight of something we all give lip service to at this time of year… peace.
 
“Think about Lincoln after the Civil War, FDR and Truman after the Second World War, even Nixon in Vietnam. The ultimate national aspiration was peace. They said that,” he said. “Our political leaders in both parties are now not saying that. What they’re saying is ‘defend, protect ‘ — a very important thing but we’ve also got to think about, about in a democratic society, flying the flag for peace and having that as the ultimate aspiration.”
 

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — An American soldier facing murder charges for allegedly killing 22-year-old Falmouth resident Sgt. Matthew Gallagher in Iraq this past June testified during a pretrial hearing on Dec. 17 that Gallagher was killed while playing a deadly game of "quick-draw." The hearing took place at Fort Hood in Texas.
 
Army Sgt. Brent McBride, 25, is accused of shooting Gallagher in the head while trying to see who could draw their 9 mm pistols the fastest.

Sgt. Matthew Gallagher. (Gallagher family photo)

The Cape Cod Times, which sent a reporter to the hearing, reported that a tearful McBride testified that he held his gun to Gallagher's head and pulled the trigger, after Gallagher first pulled a gun on him as part of a "quick-draw" game the soldiers played.
 
Other soldiers in the unit testified that Gallagher and McBride were best friends.
 
Members of Gallagher's family, including his mother Cheryl Ruggiero of North Falmouth, went into the hearing not knowing what had happened to Gallagher.

In an interview just days after the shooting, Ruggiero said Army officials initially told her that Gallagher was killed while clearing a housing unit with a second soldier.
 
"They told us that he and another soldier were going into a housing unit and shots were fired," Ruggiero said, "and they didn't come out and say he was shot, but that another person called for a medic, and he didn't make it to the hospital, and that he was dead. And that was it."
 
An Army official will now make a recommendation to the commander of the 1st Calvary Division's 3rd Brigade on whether to move forward with murder charges against McBride. 

 
On Dec. 12, President Barack Obama held a press conference to announce the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the month. The announcement means that returning soldiers will be looking for jobs once they're back — a process that can be arduous, as former infantryman (and Occupy Boston protester) Jason Mazoula told WGBH News’ Phillip Martin this November.

Mass. Lt. Gov. Tim Murray said on “The Callie Crossley Show” on Dec. 12 that Bay State employers should make hiring these vets their top priority.
 
For one, he said, it’s good for business: “You get quality people who know how to get things done, who can work as teams [and] understand deadlines in pressure situations.”
 
Murray, who chairs the Governor's Advisory Council on Veterans' Services, said that private sector companies, nonprofits and the state's many colleges and university are well poised to employ and further develop the skills of these returning veterans.

SALEM, Mass. — These are men ravaged by a revolution. In late October, 22 Libyan men — all rebel fighters wounded while fighting Moammar Gadhafi loyalists — were flown to Spaulding Hospital here for rehabilitation, with the transfer facilitated by the US State Department.
 
Ranging in age from 16 to 48, the men have suffered extreme trauma, said program coordinator Kevin Love: “Many of these guys have upper-body injuries, whether they relate to actual warfare gunshot wounds, or in fact in some cases guys were tortured and abused.” The injuries include orthopedic ones, involving bone, muscle and nerve damage.
 
To make the treatment process as comfortable as possible, Spaulding placed all of the men on the same floor — keeping their sense of community intact. Since none speaks fluent English, there is an omnipresent translator. Post-It notes turn a walk anywhere into an English lesson. And a room at the end of the hall has been transformed into a place of prayer.
 
A cultural transition — but maybe less unfamiliar than expected

Said Love, “It’s going very well. People here have worked really hard at that, from the most simple thing like going on Google and trying to learn what the customs are in Libya, what kind of foods people eat, what kind of music they listen to.”
 
Some of the patients’ creature comforts have surprised Spaulding staff.
 
Love said,  “The guys tell me they use Facebook, they use Skype. They watch MTV back at home in Libya. They certainly listen to a lot of American culture and see the films.”
 
Among the patients here is Salem Mohamed, a civil engineer with his own contracting company. One morning in August he joined a caravan of about 400 men, he said, to attack Gadhafi forces in Al Jawsh, a mountainous region in Southern Libya. His brother, a videographer, recorded the attack.
 
“I was surrounded by the militia of Gadhafi. We were trying to escape the trap [they] made surrounding us,” Mohamed said through a translator.
 
Manning a gun on the back of a pickup truck, Mohamed came under intense fire and was hit by shrapnel. He was carried, bloodied and unconscious, into a Libyan hospital.
 
Mohamed said, “I get injured in my hand. The injury actually led to a cut of the vessels in my hand, and also injured the nerves and the tendons of my arm.”
 
After physical and occupational therapy at Spaulding, Mohammed said much of the use of his hand has been restored. Although he has a way to go before being discharged, he was eager to return home, hoping his country would be healed as his hand has been.
 
Mohamed said, “I believe Libya is going to move to the best future. I believe [there] will be an election, [there] will be a constitution and I believe Libya will be more advanced.”

BOSTON — They came, they bought and now they're off to save the world — after school that is.

"I have class until three, when I get back I'll finish my work and then probably play it all night," said student Mike Donahoe.

"Modern Warfare 3," the third video game in the wildly popular "Call of Duty" series, went on sale at midnight Monday night – but sales are already expected to top last year's video game installment, "Black Ops," which made over $650 million dollars in sales in its first week. "Modern Warfare" producer Mark Rubin said the success of these games comes from listening to customers.

"What we've done with 'Modern Warfare 3' is come into our own and understand our audience and find out what they want to get out of 'Call of Duty.'" Rubin said.

The new game has players act as "Special Operation" forces, defending U.S. and European targets against a Russian invasion. The series, known for its extreme violence and realism, even includes a controversial scene where a girl is killed in a truck bombing. Rubin says it's about being as realistic as possible.

"We're trying to tell a story that shows the impact of war and the impact it has on civilians and non-combatants. Our games show that it's challenging for the soldiers but also for everyone else in the world."

"I had this on reserve two months ago, in the summer for my son. I called him in Israel, he ordered it in Israel and then he came here," video gamer Nir Plag said.

Student Robert Mast also just bought "Modern Warfare 3." "I'm going to be playing this all day. I have an English essay, but I'll probably just do that later. I just can't wait," Mast said.

According to Activism, the games' publisher, six million people play the game every day making it one of the world's best selling game series, as customers like Nir Plag and Robert Mast can attest.

BOSTON — A new report by the Center for a New American Security says that from 2005 to 2010, a U.S. service member took his or her own life every 36 hours. 

According to the report, July 2011 set a new high-water mark for suicides in the U.S. Army, with the deaths of 33 active and reserve component service members reported as suicides. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that a veteran commits suicide every 80 minutes. 
 
The news came as no surprise to Jason Mazoula of Northampton, a former U.S. infantryman who served in Iraq and is now camping out in downtown Boston's Dewey Square as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. 
 
He recalled hearing in mid-2010 that “it was the first month ever that there were more suicides in a combat zones than combat deaths,” he told WGBH’s Phillip Martin earlier this week. 
 
Mazoula noted that in addition, a significant number of the homeless population are veterans. “That’s not a coincidence,” he said. Some of his veteran friends are facing homelessness, joblessness and drug abuse.
 
According to the report, former service members make up 20 percent of suicides in the U.S., even though only 1 percent of the population has served in the military.
 
Kathy Kilcoyne lost her son Colin, an Iraq veteran from Northborough, Mass., when he took his own life in January 2011 at the age of 25. She spoke with “The World” anchor Lisa Mullins about her son's experiences.
 
When Colin was a child, “We would have to tell him to turn off the History Channel,” she said. Despite the seriousness that led him to enlist at the age of 17, “He had a wonderful sense of humor. He was a character… he loved life.”
 
Colin, an infantryman, won a combat medal for his efforts in a firefight on his very first night in the war zone.
 
Still, some of his actions haunted him. “He felt terrible about the children of the parents he had killed,” Kilcoyne said. On the anniversary of certain events he “went into a spiral.” After he returned, Colin told her, “I can’t stand the nights. I can’t take the nightmares.”
 
The Center for a New American Security report’s recommendations include keeping Army units together longer after deployment and erasing the cultural stigma that may keep service members from seeking treatment.

BOSTON — As the Iraq War winds down, state officials are planning to ramp up services for returning service members. Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick announced a number of new initiatives on Nov. 2, including a program to encourage Bay State businesses to hire more veterans.
 
The recession has hit recent veterans especially hard. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, while for returning veterans between the ages of 18 to 24 it’s 21 percent.
 
Patrick said these numbers reflect the harsh reality in Massachusetts as well:
 
“This is tragic. Not only because of the special contributions of servicemen and -women in the military, but because also of the special opportunity to take advantage of the training, the discipline and the skill sets that veterans bring to the workforce,” he said.
 
Patrick also announced plans to boost funding for veterans’ services in next year’s budget by $2.8 million dollars, including $500,000 for job training in manufacturing and $700,0000 for smoking cessation. Massachusetts is home to more than 390,000 veterans, and 37,000 residents have been deployed since 9/11.

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for a Massachusetts man accused of plotting to help al-Qaida have asked the trial judge to instruct the jury on his free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Prosecutors say Tarek Mehanna, of Sudbury, traveled to Yemen to seek training in a terrorist camp and conspired with others to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq. When that failed, he began translating and distributing text and videos over the Internet in an attempt to inspire others to engage in violent jihad, according to an indictment.

Mehanna's lawyers argue that his online activities are protected by the right to free speech under the First Amendment.

Testimony is scheduled to begin Thursday in Mehanna's trial.

On Wednesday, his lawyers filed court documents asking Judge George O'Toole Jr. to tell the jury that the right to free speech includes the right to advocate force or violence, unless the speech is likely to incite "imminent lawless action." The proposed instructions say the "bedrock principle" of the First Amendment is that "the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

The judge did not immediately rule.

Mehanna's lawyers say he went to Yemen to seek religious study, not terrorist training.

Mehanna, 29, faces seven charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and making false statements.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press

BOSTON — October 7 marks the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. WGBH "Morning Edition" host Bob Seay spoke with London correspondent Laura Lynch the day after people took to the streets of Kabul demanding that U.S. and other international forces leave the country. This is the first of a series of conversations with reporters from “The World,” a coproduction of WGBH, PRI and the BBC.

Seay: Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Afghanistan's capital yesterday. . . what does that say about what effect our presence has had?

Lynch: There are people in the country who do not like the presence of foreign troops, who have memories of times when American troops and others have done airstrikes in the country and killed civilians in the course of doing that. So of course there is resentment and people who feel as though this is an occupation. But there are others who very much appreciate the presence of American troops, who have seen it as a liberation for their country and have seen Americans pave the way for trying to make some reforms in the country and some change.

Seay: How would you say the scene in Afghanistan has changed?

Lynch: In Kabul in 2007 the situation was relatively secure. You could walk the streets quite easily without tremendous fear of either kidnapping or of suicide bombings. This time around, I’ve got to tell you, I saw so many more blast walls around buildings. I met people who talked all the time about their fear of a suicide attack coming their way. And children, too. Children are taught openly about the risk of suicide attack.

Hear the whole conversation.