Gallup is out with its periodic poll on which military service is the “most important” to national defense. Makes about as much sense as pointing to a toolbox and asking: what tool in there is most important? It all depends on the job at hand. A hammer makes little sense when you need to cut a 2-by-4. But common sense like that might …
FBI Looking into Mishandling of Remains at Arlington National Cemetery
The FBI is investigating the mishandling of remains at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as possible contracting fraud and falsification of records, according to a report in the Washington Post. The paper cites “people familiar with the investigation.”
The report says the probe has been going on for six months, and it is unclear if …
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. …
Obviously a Joint Operation
Not Going Anywhere Soon…
Former USA Today military reporter Kirk Spitzer finds the recent uptick in chatter about U.S. forces leaving Afghanistan and Iraq just a little bit funny — because he now lives in Japan:
The wars are over. The occupations are done. It’s time to bring the troops home. But anyone who thinks US forces will depart Iraq or Afghanistan any
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Limboland
It’s been over ten months since I filed my application with the Veterans Administration for benefits related to a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. That’s three hundred or so days waiting to find out if one part of the VA – the Veterans Benefits Administration – agrees with another part of the VA – the Veterans …
Cyber-espionage: We’re #2! We’re #2!
Economist story (6/18) about the recent wave of high-profile attacks by hacker collectives references “SQL injections,” or the technique of penetrating databases of companies, agencies, etc. McAfee, the web security firm, says about half of those it tracked over the first quarter of 2011 were made by Chinese “cyberspies” – a rather …
F-35 Bacon Bits
While the Pentagon stresses the need for new weapons to defend the nation, contractors — and their congressional representatives — know that the need for new armaments alone doesn’t keep them rolling off the assembly line. That takes jobs. Contractors aren’t being coy about it anymore. Check out this nifty map of the United States …
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Do Leak
The Pentagon — surprise! — has been unable to find who leaked word to the Washington Post last November that an early Defense Department assessment concluded there would be “little risk” if the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay men and women serving in uniform were scrapped. While Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered that the …
After the Drawdown: the Fictional Legacy of the Wars on Terror
Nearly every war in history has been fictionalized in the popular media of its day. Fictional stories about combat explore areas that can be harder to capture with history and journalism. At their best, they illuminate the damage and sacrifice of war; at their worst, they create myths or outright fabrications that become some disjointed …
Deadly Infiltrators on Both Sides of the Durand Line
The historically-porous frontier dividing Afghanistan from Pakistan — all 1,600 miles (2,400 km.) of it — has long been easily crossed by Taliban fighters seeking to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan, who then withdraw back into the relative safety of Pakistan. If that constant border crossing isn’t headache enough for local …
The Looming Afghan Civil War
Aryn Baker spells it out over on Global Spin:
If President Obama’s plan for withdrawal demonstrated the unusual feat of simultaneously pissing off both sides of the aisle in the US, he need not despair: in Afghanistan he most certainly drew applause from both the Taliban, and Karzai – who crowed in an interview with CNN on Sunday that
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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 …