The last time the Marines fought over a beach was in 1950, at Inchon, Korea. Their victory there turned the tide in the Korean war. Now they’re battling surfers for a piece of the southern California coast. This time, they fear …
National
Unhealthy Hospitals
The future of Afghanistan begins at the end of next year, after U.S. combat troops depart and Afghan forces take over for keeps.
After spending more than a half-trillion dollars, it’s difficult keeping track of the state of …
“For VA’s four largest medical-facility construction projects, when comparing November 2012 construction project data with the cost and schedule estimates first submitted to Congress, cost increases ranged from 59 percent to 144%, representing a total cost increase of nearly $1.5 billion and an average increase of approximately $366 million per project. The schedule delays ranged from 14 to 74 months with an average delay of 35 months per project.”
— From a Government Accountability Office report, here, released Friday into Department of Veterans Affairs' hospitals under construction.
1,000
— The number of flights flown by the Air Force’s oldest F-22 fighter, Tail Number 4007 (making it the James Bond jet among airmen). The $350 million plane has been flying since a month after 9/11. During its 1000th sortie at Edwards Air Force Base April 19, the Air Force said the plane tested software upgrade 3.2A, designed to “enhance its lethality and self-defense capability.” Too bad, for taxpayers at least, that it hasn’t needed either. No F-22 has flown a single combat mission since becoming operational in 2005. It sat out the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. At this rate, it’s going to take a long time for any F-22 pilot to become an “ace” by downing five enemy aircraft.
The Navy’s Hull Game
The U.S. Navy routinely says it needs more ships. One way it makes that need more dire is by retiring existing vessels well before their planned lifespan is over.
Think of it as fleethanasia.
But it’s kind of like …
Real Sand, Real Bullets. Fake Casualty.
Marines carry a simulated casualty during a live-fire exercise in Qatar, April 26.
Guantanamo’s Starving Students
Things have gotten so bad for the alleged terrorists camped out at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that, at last count, 93 of the 166 detainees still there are on hunger strikes to draw attention to their …
712
— The number of people killed in Iraq in April in acts of terror and similar violence, including 595 civilians, the UN reported Thursday. It was the deadliest month in the country in nearly five years, since June 2008. There is increasing talk that religious civil war looms. In related news, the Pentagon announced that Lockheed Martin has landed an $830 million contract to provide Iraq with its second batch of 18 F-16 jet fighters.
Springtime in the Midwest Means a Foot of Snow
Though the calendar has ticked over into May, more than six weeks removed from the end of winter, in some parts of the Midwest and Rockies the shovels haven’t been put away for the season. A May Day snowstorm that spanned from …
“Our national geography for America gives us a distinct advantage over many countries. I mean, our enemies are not going to come through Canada, they're not going to come through Mexico. I mean, we would clearly be able to stop that at those borders if they tried that.”
— Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last Friday.
Base Motives
Let’s suppose you’re a typical American family, with kids that have largely grown up and flown the coop, leaving you and your spouse empty-nesters. Well, maybe not complete empty-nesters. You had a rather large brood, and …
$1.50 Per Day Challenge: How Chefs, Celebs, and TV Anchors Are Getting By
Actors, singers, and political figures are among the thousands of people living on food budgets of $1.50 per day during this week’s “Live Below the Line” challenge
“Over the course of the last few years, I have made several trips to Afghanistan and I've spoken to many women who own or run businesses in that country. To a one, they have all indicated their desire to leave before December 2014…The top reason they cite for leaving is physical security.”
— Stephanie Sanok of the independent Center for Strategic and International Studies, before a House Armed Services Committee panel Apr. 25. She was speaking of the anxiety among Afghan women to flee their homeland as U.S. combat troops do.