US military

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Military Suicides Hit New High in 2012

349 suicides exceeded Afghanistan death toll

(Newser) - Military suicides hit a grim new high in 2012, and experts believe that the problem may only get worse despite the Pentagon's best efforts, the AP finds. There were a total of 349 suicides among active-duty troops, the highest since the Pentagon began closely tracking the problem in 2001...

Prosecutors: Bin Laden Sought WikiLeaks Docs
Bin Laden Sought WikiLeaks Documents: Prosecutors
bradley manning case

Bin Laden Sought WikiLeaks Documents: Prosecutors

Manning, Julian Assange 'laughed' over Pentagon concerns

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden asked an al-Qaeda member for materials Pfc. Bradley Manning allegedly passed to WikiLeaks, prosecutors in Manning's trial plan to say. As the hearings continue, prosecutors will show Internet conversations between Manning and Julian Assange, the New York Times reports; one reveals the pair "laughing" over...

US Considers Total Afghan Withdrawal

'Zero option' after 2014 raised before Karzai talks

(Newser) - How many US troops should stay in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends next year? For the first time, officials are now saying zero is an option. Commanders recommend keeping a force of up to 15,000 in the country, but Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, speaking to...

Abu Ghraib Detainees Win $5M From Contractor

Contractor settles with 71 inmates who alleged torture

(Newser) - A security contractor accused of torturing detainees at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and other US-run facilities during the Iraq War has agreed to pay $5.28 million to 71 former inmates, according to legal documents unearthed by the AP . The settlement from L-3 Services, which provided the US military...

US Troops Take Charge of Missiles in Turkey

Meanwhile, Damascus gas station bombing kills 11

(Newser) - Twenty-seven US troops have landed in Turkey to operate missiles near its border with Syria. The troops, whose deployment was announced last month , will be in charge of Patriot missiles officially controlled by NATO, CNN reports. Meanwhile, in Syria itself, opposition forces are battling for control of a government-held helicopter...

Post-2014 Afghanistan: US Has 3 Options

Gen. Allen presents scenarios to Pentagon

(Newser) - Gen. John Allen has submitted three options to the Pentagon for how to maintain a presence in Afghanistan after the 2014 military withdrawal, defense officials tell the New York Times :
  • 6,000 troops, highest risk of failure: At this level, the US mission would focus on counterterrorism. Special Ops commandos
...

Gen. Schwarzkopf Dead at 78
 Gen. Schwarzkopf Dead at 78 

Gen. Schwarzkopf Dead at 78

'Stormin' Norman' led forces that got Saddam out of Kuwait

(Newser) - Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the US-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died at age 78 in Tampa, Fla. The president he served under at the time, George HW Bush, who remains in the ICU of a Houston hospital,...

23% of Female Troops Suffer Sex Assaults in War Zones

And about half report sex harassment, survey finds

(Newser) - Nearly half of US women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan say they've suffered sexual harassment, and almost a quarter say they've been sexually assaulted, a Department of Veterans Affairs study finds. But far less than that gets reported: Just 115 assaults were reported last year, though as of...

Navy SEAL Dies in Apparent Suicide in Afghanistan

Job Price, 42, found dead on Saturday

(Newser) - Some somber news on this holiday weekend: A US military official says the commander of a Navy SEAL unit in Afghanistan died Saturday in an apparent suicide. Job Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died of a non-combat-related injury while working to shore up stability operations in Uruzgan Province. The official...

Hidden Crisis: Suicide Among Troops' Grieving Families

New federal study aims to learn more

(Newser) - While military suicides are closely tracked, there's no hard data on suicides by troops' grieving relatives. But conversations with military families point to an "outbreak" of suicides and attempts during the past 11 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We've all had the idea of suicide...

Marines Face Random Alcohol Tests

And even a 0.1% result requires counseling

(Newser) - The Marines have adopted what sounds like a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol. Beginning next month, all members of the Corps must undergo random Breathalyzer tests twice a year, reports the Los Angeles Times . Those who blow a .01% or higher—that's possible after a single drink—get referred for...

US to Send Missiles, 400 Troops to Turkey

NATO force to defend against Syrian missile threat

(Newser) - The Pentagon says it will send Patriot air defense missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a deployment order today en route to Turkey from Afghanistan, a rep says. The...

Wind Carried Sarin Gas to Gulf War Troops

Controversial paper cites bombing of Iraqi chemical weapons depots

(Newser) - A controversial new paper may shed light on Gulf War syndrome, a collection of symptoms seen in veterans of the 1991 conflict: Chemical weapons could be to blame. The researchers assert that when US troops bombed chemical weapons depots in Iraq, the neurotoxin sarin was sent into the atmosphere then...

US Troop Deaths in Afghanistan Plummet in 2012

Deaths drop 25%, reflecting lower presence, increased Afghan responsibility

(Newser) - So far this year, 301 American troops have died in Afghanistan, down from 2010's peak of 500 and last year's 413, USA Today reports. The sharp decrease reflects the declining number of US troops in the country and the increasing number of Afghan troops now fighting the Taliban....

US to UN: We've Held 200 Teens in Afghanistan

Youths' average age is 16: report

(Newser) - During the war in Afghanistan, the US has detained some 200 teenage "enemy combatants," each for about a year, American officials tell the UN. The youths have been held at a military prison near Bagram Airfield not as punishment, but in order to prevent them "from returning...

Retired Sailor Charged With Spying: FBI

Robert Hoffman caught by undercover 'Russians'

(Newser) - The FBI has caught a retired sailor trying to pass information to Russia, the agency says. Cryptologic technician Robert Hoffman has been charged with attempted espionage after he was tripped up by an undercover operation, the Navy Times reports. As a member of the Navy, Hoffman got top-level security clearance;...

Iran: We Captured US Drone US: No, You Didn't

US says all ScanEagles 'fully accounted for' after Iranian report

(Newser) - Iranian state TV is claiming that the country's Revolutionary Guard captured a US drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf—a report the US moved quickly to squash, reports the AP , with a Navy spokesman saying that all US drones are "fully accounted for."...

Vietnam Veterans Sue Military
 Vietnam Veterans Sue Military 

Vietnam Veterans Sue Military

They want undesirable discharges upgraded due to PTSD

(Newser) - John Shepherd Jr. enlisted in the Army in 1968 and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service during the Vietnam War, yet he can't get veterans benefits today due to his undesirable discharge (now known as an other-than-honorable discharge). Shepherd was court-martialed and discharged after he started acting...

Navy Fires Free-Spending Grad School Chiefs

NPS president created 'atmosphere of defiance'

(Newser) - The Navy has fired the top two administrators at the Naval Postgraduate School after finding things far from ship-shape at the California institution. Daniel Oliver, the first civilian president in the school’s 61-year history, was fired along with its provost for financial mismanagement and fostering an "atmosphere of...

Women Sue Pentagon for Right to Fight in Combat

It's the second suit this year

(Newser) - Four female service members filed a lawsuit today challenging the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat, hoping the move will add pressure to drop the policy just as officials are gauging the effect that lifting the prohibition will have on morale. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in...

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