Mark Benjamin

Mark Benjamin is an award-winning investigative reporter based in Washington, D.C. and a contributing writer at TIME. Since 2001, Benjamin has focused on national security issues with an emphasis on the plight of returning veterans and detainee abuse. Benjamin exposed the burial scandal at Arlington National Cemetery through a yearlong investigation. He was hailed for exploring problems caring for veterans at Walter Reed starting in early 2005 and also obtained the Army’s entire Abu Ghraib investigative files. Benjamin is the winner of a Raymond Clapper Memorial Award for the best reporting from Washington, a Fourth Estate Award from the American Legion, a Mental Health Media Award from the National Mental Health Association, an Outstanding Media Coverage Award from the National Gulf War Resource Center, a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism, and was twice a finalist for the Online News Association’s Online Journalism Awards. He previously worked at Salon.com and UPI. He can be reached at Mark_Benjamin@columnist.timemagazine.com

Articles from Contributor

Battleland Battleland

So this Camel Walks into a Minefield…

There is one less camel in Africa.

Rebels in Libya have discovered a massive minefield laid by Qaddafi’s forces to protect their now-abandoned positions near the city of Misurata.

Al Jazeera is reporting that rebels have already found 550 anti-personnel mines in a suburb of the city.

What’s really sad is how the rebels found it. …

Battleland Battleland

House Defense Bill Contains Jaw-Dropping War Powers

Many members of Congress would have you believe they are worried that the White House has overstepped its authority by waging war in Libya. Only Congress can declare war, they say, and the 1973 War Powers Resolution helps make this clear.

That’s why a provision in the Pentagon’s annual authorization bill that has already passed in the …

Battleland Battleland

White House, Congress on Collision Course over Detainees

President Obama and Congress are on a collision course as the White House rejects congressional efforts to tinker with how the administration detains and prosecutes potential terrorists. The fight is being played out through the House and Senate versions of defense spending and authorization bills.

The White House on Thursday

Battleland Battleland

Petraeus’ 450-Word Version of “No”

During his confirmation hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday, California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Gen. David Petraeus whether he supported President Obama’s timetable to withdraw over 30,000 troops from Afghanistan. Rather than say “No,” he delivered this impenetrable monologue.

Battleland Battleland

Pentagon, NSA Eye Cyber Attacks on Industry

Epsilon announced April 1 that hackers had snatched customer email information. Citigroup got hit May 10. Hackers hijacked customer data from Sony on April 20. Somebody squirreled into Lockheed Martin’s network on May 21. These are just a few of the dramatically increasing cyber attacks aimed at private companies.

What is the …

Battleland Battleland

What Obama Predicted about His Surge in Afghanistan

President Obama traveled to West Point 18 months ago to redefine the American strategy in Afghanistan and explain why he would dispatch an additional 30,000 troops there, to a total of 100,000. “These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of …

Battleland Battleland

AG Holder to McConnell: Shut Up Already

Attorney General Eric Holder, the country’s top cop, is getting pretty sick of members of the legislative branch telling him how to prosecute people.

The latest unsolicited advice came from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who went to the Senate floor earlier this week and urged the Justice Department to drop the …

Battleland Battleland

War Powers Debate is Much Ado about Congress

The debate about whether President Obama’s war in Libya threatens to violate the 1973 War Powers Resolution is interesting because it exposes a bit of potential hypocrisy on the part of the president. Here is rule-of-law Obama, a former senator, at risk of violating the law and trampling on the authority of the legislative branch of …

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