military

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Contractors in Iraq Trigger Two Shootings

Two incidents ignited by Blackwater raise questions about quasi-miliary role

(Newser) - Contractors from private security firm Blackwater USA set off two firefights in Baghdad in as many days last week. On Thursday, a Blackwater guard shot and killed an Iraqi driver who trailed a convoy suspiciously, and Wednesday a Blackwater convoy escorting State Department officials was ambushed—sparking a battle between...

US Rushes to Aid Lebanon
US Rushes to
Aid Lebanon
May 25, 2007 9:49 AM CDT

US Rushes to Aid Lebanon

Troops surround refugee camp, prepare siege or incursion to rout out militants

(Newser) - The US has rushed military aid to Beruit, as the Lebanese army continues to battle Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. The first shipment arrived today. Condoleeza Rice expressed support for Lebanon's government, if not confidence: "I certainly hope that the Lebanese government will be able...

Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39
Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39
May 20, 2007 2:20 PM CDT

Clashes in Lebanon Kill 39

(Newser) - A gunbattle between the Lebanese army and al-Qaeda-linked militants in Tripoli  today left 22 soldiers and 17 insurgents dead, the AP reports. The fighting—the worst in the city in two decades— began when police raided an apartment occupied by militants. The army later shelled a Palestinian refugee camp which...

Defense Dept. Blocks Access to YouTube

Bandwidth, security issues lead to ban on MySpace, other networking sites

(Newser) - MySpace as a national security threat? Yes, says the Department of Defense, which is blocking service members' access to the site—as well as YouTube and 11 other popular destinations troops use to communicate with family and friends—on department computers as of today. The department calls the online traffic...

21 Afghan Civilians Killed in Air Strikes

(Newser) - U.S. airstrikes killed 21 Afghan civilians in eastern Afghanistan late last night, just hours after the U.S. offered an official apology to the families of 19 killed in a March attack. The civilian deaths—as many as 1,000 in 2006 alone—are stirring unrest against NATO forces,...

Troops Bomb Ethics Test
Troops Bomb Ethics Test
May 5, 2007 8:00 PM CDT

Troops Bomb Ethics Test

Pentagon: troops are out of line with "soldier's rules"

(Newser) - U.S. troops in Iraq flunked a survey on battlefield ethics, according to a Pentagon report published yesterday. Of the 1,767 soldiers interviewed, more than one-third endorse torture, two-thirds would not turn in a team member for abusing civilians, and 10% admit to harassing civilians and vandalizing property—all...

Combat Soldiers' Blogs Make Brass Queasy

(Newser) - Some of the most riveting reporting about the war in Iraq is coming from the soldiers fighting it. As blogs from deployed soldiers proliferate, higher-ups are biting their nails over the ensuing transparency. Bloggers like Capt. Danjel Bout say posting provides "online therapy" and helps keep friends and the...

Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq
Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq
Apr 12, 2007 6:46 AM CDT

Troops to Serve Longer in Iraq

Many will spend more time in combat zones than the boys of World War II

(Newser) - Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan will have their tours of duty extended to 15 months, from the standard one year, the military said yesterday. The policy—enacted to alleviate troop shortages—allows soldiers to remain at home for at least one year between assignments.  “Our forces are...

Military Skimps On Soldiers' Benefits

Disabilities shrugged off, wounded troops are sent back into action

(Newser) - Soldiers are being deprived of disability benefits, having their injuries downgraded and even being sent back into the field when they're not fit to fight, a U.S. News investigation shows.  An arbitrary and system for rating disabilities has been a problem for years, veteran advocates say, but it's...

Officer Walls Sects Apart in Baghdad

Peace barriers defy official policy and stir controversy—but they're working

(Newser) - Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson is trying to pacify Baghdad one wall at a time, erecting concrete barriers around Sunni and Shiites neighborhoods in the sector of the city he controls. Each mini-community has its own market, mosque, and generator. It's a controversial strategy most often used during civil wars, the...

How America Is Betraying The Iraqis Who Work For It

(Newser) - George Packer traveled the world from Baghdad to Malmo to Damascus to talk to the Iraqis, mostly young,  who have served the American military as interpreters, intelligence gathers and local experts.  He finds a disillusioned group of once pro-American Iraqis betrayed by mistrust, bureaucratic indifference, and outright lack...

The Capitol Arms For The War Over the War

(Newser) - With Congress and the president now officially at war over Iraq, all parties scrambled yesterday to gear up for the coming firefight. The President promised to veto the spending bill with troop withdrawal deadlines attached, seeming to relish the fight ahead. Tthe newly aggressive and unified Democrats, notes the New ...

Marines Take Aim At "Excessive" Tattoos

Big body art banned below the elbow, knee

(Newser) - There's a run on tattoo parlors this weekend as U.S. Marines ink themselves up before a new ban on "excessive" body art in visible areas takes effect Sunday, says USA Today. Commanders are fighting back against the increasingly in-your-face tattoos favored by enlistees on biceps and forearms visible...

Iran Promises Female Soldier's Release

Britain steps up pressure by freezing business activity

(Newser) - Iran promised to release by Friday the female sailor captured along with 15 men in a British patrol boat last week. England stepped up pressure to free  the soldiers by cutting off "bilateral business" and publicizing secret documents which mark its boat nearly two miles from Iranian waters at...

Tillman's Mom Wants Hearings On Cover-Up

"This was an attempt to dupe the public and to promote this war."

(Newser) - Congress should investigate the Army's cover-up of Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death, his mother told ESPN Radio yesterday. A military inquiry concluded Monday that nine high-ranking military officials would face "corrective action," not criminal charges, for their role in claiming Tillman was killed by enemy fire long after they...

War Games Should Include Media, Civilians

"I yearn for the days when 'Battleship' reflected real war"

(Newser) - Modern warfare calls for modern war games, and that means the players can't be just armies and navies, but also civilians, the media, and the international community. Gary Anderson, the Marines' first director of war gaming, writes that victory in post-Cold War combat is no  longer determined by battlefield fighters,...

Records Reveal Hawkish Hillary
Records
Reveal Hawkish Hillary
Mar 27, 2007 7:59 AM CDT

Records Reveal Hawkish Hillary

Iraq vote may not have been anomaly

(Newser) - Hillary  may be more hawkish than liberal supporters realize, Michael Crowley concludes after a lengthy look at the senator's history. Many assume she supported the Iraq war to look tough and won’t back down to avoid the label of flip-flopper. But long before 9/11, she was scornful of those...

Army Uses Injured to Inflate Manpower

Injured soldiers deployed to training camps—and back to Iraq—in effort to boost active duty rolls

(Newser) - The Army sent  soldiers recovering from injuries—some still on crutches—to a desert training center in California, in an apparent attempt to pad manpower statistics. Witnesses describe tents at Fort Irwin packed with soldiers in no shape to train, or even to walk, but counted by the Pentagon as...

Fake Raids Test Iraqi Reconstruction
Fake Raids Test Iraqi Reconstruction
Mar 22, 2007 11:13 AM CDT

Fake Raids Test Iraqi Reconstruction

U.S. aid to small businesses works only if it's invisible. Otherwise, companies get 'immediately shot or blown up.'

(Newser) - The American military is staging fake raids on Iraqi small businesses to confirm that US aid is being well spent—without tipping off insurgents that they have any US connection. "The only way things will work is if the US contribution is totally invisible," says a civil-affairs officer,...

Iraqi Bombers Use Kids to Get Through Checkpoint

(Newser) - Insurgents in Baghdad used two children in the backseat of a car to lower suspicion at an American security checkpoint, then blew up the car, with the children in it.  Once they cleared the checkpoint, the bombers parked near a school, ran from the car, and detonated the bomb,...

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