A few weeks ago I wrote about the last American service member killed as the U.S. pulled its final troops out of Iraq. Since then, I’ve been haunted by one fact that is sadly overlooked by the media (and even by the Commander in Chief in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night): U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ahmed Kousay Altaie, …
Marines
Talk is Cheap in Washington When It Comes to Politicians and the U.S. Military
Last night, President Obama opened his State of the Union address by referencing the sacrifices and courage of America’s military personnel as they return home from combat. The President’s rhetoric was moving, but unfortunately, words are simply words and have not been fully backed up with action that supports America’s heroes.
A New, Improved (and Bigger!) `Arc of Crisis’?
Take That, Jack Murtha…
The Marine Corps reports (but the corps buried the lede — be sure to read the second graf):
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (January 24, 2012) – The military judge in the SSgt Frank G. Wuterich Haditha court-martial, Lt.Col. David Jones, gave his sentence ruling as the case concluded today. Wuterich is sentenced to 90 days of confinement and
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Haditha’s Denouement
The Marines’ 2005 “massacre” of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha began with a bang but ended with a whimper Monday. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich pled guilty to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty in …
Same Old, Same Old At Japan’s Ministry
TOKYO – Japan’s new Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka seems to have done the impossible: He’s gotten off to an even worse start than his predecessor, who was fired after just four months on the job.
Tanaka is to meet with …
New Dawn for Marines’ F-35B
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will announce Friday afternoon that the Marines’ F-35B fighter is being taken off “probation” and production will continue. It has been under intense scrutiny due to problems with its STOVL – short takeoff, vertical landing – capability that apparently are being fixed. Seeing as he’s heading …
We Don’t Know Precisely What It Means, Either
…the Navy awarded this $15 million contract (click on it to enlarge) Thursday. “The program seeks to maximize the financial value of the properties and leverage that value with private sector expertise to offset the cost of ongoing operations or obviate the need for capital investments,” the announcement says. Obviate the need for …
Viral Atrocities and the Dark Complexity of War
A funny thing happens when you speak with a room full of school children–they have a tendency to say exactly what’s on their minds. When I returned from my first tour in Iraq, just before Christmas 2006, the principals in my …
Marines on Okinawa: Time to Leave?
TOKYO – More than six decades after U.S. Marines stormed ashore on Okinawa, it may finally be time for them to go home. Japan Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Friday fired his defense minister, in part for missteps and verbal …
Chart Attack
The number of drones is skyrocketing in the U.S. military, yet they account for less than a dime of every dollar spent on military aircraft, according to these two charts in a new Congressional Research Service report. Kind of makes a taxpayer wonder if the $380 billion the nation is investing in the fledgling manned F-35 fighter …
Vertically Challenged: Marine F-35 Engines’ Long Lead, Much Higher Cost
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7psXvZp9xI]
You may recall a couple of weeks ago when we reported, based on our own crude analysis of a Pentagon contract announcement, that the latest batch of engines for the Marine’s F-35 fighter would cost $129 million apiece, five times the $25 million sticker on the Air Force F-35 …
Dying to Withdraw…
On November 14th, two weeks before he was supposed to go home, Spc. David Emanuel Hickman became the last American service member to be killed in Iraq. While on a regular “presence patrol” in Baghdad, his vehicle was struck …