U.S. Military
8/12/2008 | Economy, Terrorism, U.S. Military
Soldiers pay bag fee on travel to war
The Washington Times
American Airlines is charging troops for their extra baggage, a practice that forces soldiers heading for a war zone in Iraq to try to get reimbursement from the military. One of the country's largest veterans groups is asking the aviation industry to drop the practice immediately. American, which recently charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags, said it gives the military a break on the cost for excess luggage and that the soldiers who incur the fees are reimbursed. "Because the soldiers don't pay a dime, our waiver of the fees amounts to a discount to the military, not a discount to soldiers," said Tim Wagner, spokesman for American Airlines. "Soldiers should not have to pay a penny of it." Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) spokesman Joseph Davis said service members destined for Iraq should not have to spend the money out of pocket and should not have to worry about filing expense forms in a war zone.
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8/6/2008 | Terrorism, U.S. Military
Military jury reaches verdict at Guantanamo trial
My Way News
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A military jury reached a verdict Wednesday in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial. A spokeswoman for the military tribunals said the panel of six American military officers will soon deliver the decision in the case against Osama bin Laden's former driver. Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, faced up to a life sentence if convicted of consipiracy or supporting terrorism after the 10-day trial, which provided the first demonstration of a special tribunal system for prosecuting alleged terrorists. Four of the six officers on the jury must agree on a conviction, according to the system's rules.
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7/31/2008 | Iraq, Terrorism, U.S. Military
US monthly toll in Iraq at lowest since invasion
Breitbat.com
Eleven US soldiers were killed in Iraq in July, the lowest monthly toll since the 2003 invasion, according Pentagon figures, highlighting what US commanders say is a marked drop in overall violence. The number compares with the deadliest month of November 2004 when 137 American troops were slain, an independent toll by icasualties.org showed. The previous low was in May this year when 19 soldiers were killed. Since the US-led invasion of March 2003 that toppled now executed dictator Saddam Hussein, a total of 4,125 US troops have been killed in Iraq, according to independent website icasualties.org. The downward trend began in the middle of last year after a US troop "surge", although there were two spikes in bloodshed in March and April when fierce fighting erupted between Shiite militiamen and US-led forces.
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7/17/2008 | Iraq, Terrorism, U.S. Military
Iraq's security 'remarkably better'
The Washington Times
The nation's top military officer Wednesday declared the security situation in Iraq "remarkably better," so good in fact that he expects to recommend more U.S. troop reductions this fall if conditions hold. Just back from a tour of two war fronts - Iraq and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - Adm. Michael G. Mullen said he expected to witness improvements in Baghdad and across Iraq, but was surprised by how well a 17-month-old U.S. troop surge has worked. "I won't go so far as to say that progress in Iraq, from a military perspective, has reached a tipping point or it is irreversible," Adm. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, said at a press conference with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. "But security is unquestionably and remarkably better."
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7/15/2008 | Iraq, Presidential Issues, U.S. Military
Shift on war hits Obama's liberal base
The Washington Times
Sen. John McCain on Monday accused his Democratic presidential rival of flip-flopping on the war in Iraq, as a pair of new polls showed the Republican's strategy of painting Sen. Barack Obama as politically expedient is beginning to take hold with voters. As Mr. Obama repositions himself for the general election after exclusively targeting the Democratic base of committed liberals, it leaves some voters on the left feeling he is abandoning them on their top issue - Iraq - and has independents questioning his veracity. "If a perception takes hold that a candidate is flip-flopping on core convictions, that will hurt," pollster Scott Rasmussen said, noting that nearly a third of voters are "up for grabs" this fall.
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7/10/2008 | Foreign Policy, Iran, Presidential Issues, Terrorism, U.S. Military
Iranian War Games Test Candidates' Resolve
The Bulletin - Philadelphia
News that the Iranian government test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles with the capability of reaching Israel drew a quick rebuke from the major U.S. presidential candidates yesterday. Republican John McCain used Tehran's war games as justification for pursuing a missile defense shield and Democrat Barack Obama called for the U.S. to aggressively pursue diplomacy and threaten sanctions. "Iran's most recent missile tests demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel," Mr. McCain said. "Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran's continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran's dangerous ambitions."
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7/2/2008 | Iraq, Presidential Issues, U.S. Military
New Iraq report: 15 of 18 benchmarks satisfactory
USA Today
WASHINGTON (AP) — No matter who is elected president in November, his foreign policy team will have to deal with one of the most frustrating realities in Iraq: the slow pace with which the government in Baghdad operates. Iraq's political and military success is considered vital to U.S. interests, whether troops stay or go. And while the Iraqi government has made measurable progress in recent months, the pace at which it's done so has been achingly slow. The White House sees the progress in a particularly positive light, declaring in a new assessment to Congress that Iraq's efforts on 15 of 18 benchmarks are "satisfactory" — almost twice of what it determined to be the case a year ago. The May 2008 report card, obtained by the Associated Press, determines that only two of the benchmarks — enacting and implementing laws to disarm militias and distribute oil revenues — are unsatisfactory.
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6/30/2008 | Presidential Issues, U.S. Military
Democrat with military background assails McCain's credentials
International Herald Tribune
WASHINGTON: With Senator Barack Obama planning to visit the Middle East and Europe in an apparent effort to burnish his foreign policy credentials, the credentials of his likely presidential rival, Senator John McCain, came under sharp attack Sunday from a man considered a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate. The retired general Wesley Clark said McCain had not "held executive responsibility" and had not commanded troops in wartime. McCain's experience in Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for five years, has seemed at times almost to grant him invulnerability to criticism of his security background. But on Sunday he was assailed by a fellow military man, a highly decorated one who was once the NATO supreme commander.
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6/23/2008 | Character and Ethics, Gender Issues, Homosexuality, U.S. Military
More lesbians discharged in 2007
The Seattle Times
WASHINGTON — The Army and Air Force discharged a disproportionate number of women in 2007 under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military, according to Pentagon statistics gathered by an advocacy group. While women make up 14 percent of Army personnel, 46 percent of those discharged under the policy last year were women. And while 20 percent of Air Force personnel are women, 49 percent of its discharges under the policy last year were women. By comparison for 2006, about 35 percent of the Army's discharges and 36 percent of the Air Force's were women, according to the statistics. The information was gathered under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a policy advocacy organization.
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6/19/2008 | U.S. Military
Haditha Marine prepares to sue Murtha over smear
World Net Daily
With most of the eight Marines charged in the Haditha, Iraq, incident now exonerated, the highest-ranking officer among the accused is considering a lawsuit against Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who fueled the case by declaring the men cold-blooded killers. In an interview with nationally syndicated radio talk host Michael Savage, the lead attorney for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani said he and his client will look into suing Murtha and the Time magazine reporter, Tim McGuirk, who first published the accusations by Iraqi insurgents. But the attorney, Brian Rooney, said nothing will happen immediately because he wants Chessani, described as a devout Christian and the father of six homeschooled children, completely "out of the woods" legally before any action is taken. The government, through Lt. Col. S.M. Sullivan, today filed a notice that it would appeal the case to the next judicial level. As WND reported, a military judge at Camp Pendleton in California yesterday dismissed charges that Chessani failed to properly investigate the Nov. 19, 2005 incident in which 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed.
6/12/2008 | Terrorism, U.S. Military
Supreme Court backs rights for Guantanamo detainees
Yahoo News
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. The justices handed the Bush administration its third setback at the high court since 2004 over its treatment of prisoners who are being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The vote was 5-4, with the court's liberal justices in the majority.
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6/11/2008 | Gender Issues, Homosexuality, U.S. Military
Dems reluctant to take on 'don't ask, don't tell'
USA Today
WASHINGTON — Democrats say the nation should be ashamed of its ban on gays serving openly in the military. It discourages qualified people from joining the ranks at a time when the armed forces are stretched by two wars, they say, and is degrading to those willing to serve their country. So what have the Democrats done about it? Nothing, really. Since taking control of Congress in January 2007, Democrats have not convened hearings on the matter or taken up legislation that would let gays serve openly, although most party members favor repealing the prohibition. Instead, Democrats have focused their efforts on bringing troops home from Iraq and other issues that have broad appeal among voters, such as lowering gas prices.
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6/5/2008 | Terrorism, U.S. Military
US Marine acquitted of all charges in Haditha killings
Breitbart.com
A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair, a military official said. Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28.
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6/2/2008 | Foreign Policy, Terrorism, U.S. Military
US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships
The Guardian
The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees. Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained. Information about the operation of prison ships has emerged through a number of sources, including statements from the US military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.
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5/30/2008 | Radical Islam, Terrorism, U.S. Military
US marines in hot water over Christian coins in Iraq
Breitbart.com
The US military said on Friday it was probing complaints that marines handed out coins inscribed with a verse from the Bible to a group of Sunni Muslims in Iraq, sparking outrage among local residents. It said a service member involved in the incident in the former flashpoint city of Fallujah west of Baghdad was removed from his duties on Thursday. "US forces initiated an investigation into reports that a coin with a Bible verse written in Arabic was distributed to Iraqi citizens as they passed through a Fallujah entry control point," the military said in a statement. "A coalition force service member was removed from his duties Thursday amid concerns from Fallujah's citizens regarding reports of inappropriate conduct." Residents of Fallujah, scene of one of the bloodiest post-invasion battles between insurgents and US forces in Iraq in 2004, said that marines had been doling out the token-like coins to residents to promote Christianity. The incident occurred less than than two weeks after a US soldier was removed from Iraq for using a Koran for target practice at a firing range near Baghdad and writing graffiti in the Muslim holy book.
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5/22/2008 | American History, Freedom of Religion, U.S. Military
The National Memorial Day Parade
American Veterans Center
On May 26, 2008 at 2:00pm the American Veterans Center will once again bring Washington, DC, the largest Memorial Day celebration in America. The National Memorial Day Parade is the only place to be for Memorial Day and a great way to honor and celebrate our veterans and servicemen and women from all generations, and to remember those who have died in the service of our country. Featured guests will include Gary Sinise, Joe Mantegna, Miss America, Kirsten Haglund and Mickey Rooney.
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5/22/2008 | U.S. Military, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, American History
Life-Size Liberty Bell to be Rung at National Memorial Day Parade
Hamilton Strategies
The Spirit of the Liberty Bell is one of the only traveling full-scale replicas of the original Liberty Bell, from the Whitechapel Foundry in London, maker of the original Liberty Bell. The Spirit of the Liberty Bell stands 6 feet tall, weighs 3,200 pounds, and peals in E-flat exactly as the original. The yoke of the bell incorporates wood from the last of the 13 original Liberty Trees. The Spirit of the Liberty Bell has crisscrossed our Nation taking center stage at this year's National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C., where it will be used in the Moment of Remembrance ceremony.
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5/22/2008 | Character and Ethics, Presidential Issues, U.S. Military
Federal court rules against military gays policy
USA Today
SEATTLE (AP) — The military cannot automatically discharge people because they're gay, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in the case of a decorated flight nurse who sued the Air Force over her dismissal. The three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not strike down the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. But they reinstated Maj. Margaret Witt's lawsuit, saying the Air Force must prove that her dismissal furthered the military's goals of troop readiness and unit cohesion. The "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass" policy prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or engaging in homosexual activity. Wednesday's ruling led opponents of the policy to declare its days numbered. It is also the first appeals court ruling in the country that evaluated the policy through the lens of a 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas ban on sodomy as an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy.
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5/8/2008 | Iraq, Terrorism, U.S. Military
U.S. deploys more than 43,000 unfit for combat
USA Today
WASHINGTON — More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show. This reliance on troops found medically "non-deployable" is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups say.
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5/1/2008 | Foreign Policy, Radical Islam, Terrorism, U.S. Military
"Hostile" Iran Sparks U.S. Attack Plan
CBS Evening News
(CBS) A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf on Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the planning is being driven by what one officer called the "increasingly hostile role" Iran is playing in Iraq - smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops. "What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and -women inside Iraq," said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
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