Battleland Battleland

The Lean Green Fighting Machine

Good story in this morning’s New York Times on how our military’s thirst for fuel in Afghanistan — and the militants’ success in blowing up trucks carrying it there from Pakistan — is an Achilles’ heel. The Times also focuses on the green push from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, as we did last April.

The Army this morning details what it …

Battleland Battleland

Which Military Jobs Are Most Prone to Suicide?

The military can be a lot like a young, eager-beaver reporter. Sometimes, it feels a need to dump all its data from its notebook to show how hard it’s working, even if the data are worthless. The latest example is from the final report of the Department of Defense Task Force on Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Forces, which …

Battleland Battleland

Figures Don't Lie — Military Spending edition

There’s a call for increased defense spending in this morning’s Wall Street Journal opinion pages. Just as a thunderclap follows lightning, there will soon be a call for more cuts in military spending from the editorial page of the New York Times. There’s no reason you can’t play along with this game at home. To help, here’s a pair of …

Battleland Battleland

Charlie Wilson's War II

One of the most interesting stories I covered in Washington three decades ago, while working for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, was Texas congressman Charlie Wilson’s effort to help the mujahedeen drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. It was a heck of a tale, one Hollywood turned into Charlie Wilson’s War, starring Tom Hanks, three years …

Battleland Battleland

Military Suicides Are Higher Than We Think

Careful readers note that most reporting on military suicides calls them “suspected” suicides, and for a good reason — only after a careful investigation can the authorities make a declaration that someone intentionally took his or her own life. Obviously, errors here can only add to the burden of losing a loved one.

So that’s what …

Battleland Battleland

The Growing Chasm Between Citizen and Soldier

While the Pentagon’s top military leader spoke of a rash of weekend suicides over breakfast Wednesday, its civilian boss warned in a late afternoon talk at Duke University that the nation and its military are growing apart.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said suicides and war’s other post-combat problems are on the …

Battleland Battleland

Top Admiral: Military Suicides Will Keep Rising

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was talking of the military’s ability to fight future wars Wednesday when he suddenly changed gears. “We had five suicides in the Army last weekend,” the nation’s top military officer abruptly volunteered. And, he warned, such horrors are only going to grow.

He almost seemed to …

Battleland Battleland

North Korea On Its Last Legs?

John McCreary was a long-time Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who now writes NightWatch, an overnight intel blog that’s well-read in the capital’s national-security circles for its acute observations. He’s warning this morning that yesterday’s promotions in North Korea show “a military-backed despotism on its last legs”:

North

Battleland Battleland

Combat — Or Electrical — Power For Iraq?

Like any other government juggling competing demands, two recent data snapshots from Iraq tell an interesting tale.

Here’s the first, from the Pentagon:

Here’s the second, from the State Department:

Hard to believe, but Iraq’s electricity shortage today (power generation now is only 56 percent of the need) is worse than it was a …

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