BattlelandNuclear Weapons
Scare-Trigger Alert
Hard to believe the notion of “de-alerting” the nation’s nuclear weapons – removing them from their current hair-trigger status – remains controversial 20 years after the end of the Cold War. It simply shows how the national-security bureaucracy can metastasize into the national-sclerotic bureaucracy when it finds that …
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BattlelandTerrorism
BioWatch: False Alarms, and a False Sense of Security
Following 9/11, the U.S. decided on two courses of action:
— It decided to go war by invading Afghanistan (which achieved “Major Non-NATO Ally Status” with Washington on Friday). Alas, 530 days later it fumbled that effort by invading Iraq.
— It decided to turn the nation into Fortress America.
That second decision led to the …
“The United States will request from our Congress assistance for Afghanistan at or near the levels of the past decade through the year 2017.”
BattlelandMilitary
Red, White & Jeep…
Remember in the olden days, when the Army issued soldiers Jeeps? Well now Chrysler is offering to sell specially-outfitted “Freedom” Jeeps to GIs (and apparently anyone else who wants to spend $30,000, although troops may qualify for a discount of up to $500):
Available in red, white or blue, the new Jeep Wrangler Freedom edition
…
BattlelandClose-up
Military Photos: A Week Inside the Armed Forces, June 30-July 6
TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures from the front lines from around the world, and the home front.
BattlelandNavy
Kiwis’ Hawaii Adventure: Not So Bad, After All
The U.S. Navy ordered a pair of New Zealand navy vessels to dock in Honolulu’s commercial port last week, instead of Pearl Harbor, where the other navies participating in the RIMPAC naval exercise were at anchor. Kiwi politicians were upset, and saw the basing of their ships away from Pearl as a Yankee snub, as Kirk Spitzer reported …
BattlelandProcurement
How the F-35 Nearly Doubled In Price (And Why You Didn’t Know)
On June 14 — Flag Day, of all days — the Government Accountability Office released a new oversight report on the F-35: Joint Strike Fighter: DOD Actions Needed to Further Enhance Restructuring and Address Affordability Risks. …
BattlelandAir Force
Parting Gift?
Having flown on the C-17 many times, Battleland knows it’s a good airplane. Production of the cargo aircraft for the U.S. Air Force is all but done; the Pentagon stopped listing it in its regular cost reports back in 2009. That …
BattlelandChina
“Brazen Showboating”
Beijing is reacting to the Pentagon’s so-called “pivot to Asia,” and not in a friendly way. Amid several recent naval exercises — including the 22-nation RIMPAC now underway around Hawaii – China doesn’t like what it …
BattlelandNavy
Texas Is Sinking!
No, not the state – the battleship: the USS Texas (BB-35), a 32,000-ton vessel that fired 255 14-inch shells toward Nazi positions during D-Day’s opening 34 minutes in 1944. The 100-year old vessel has been on display in the …
