US military

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>

The Military's Enemy Within: PowerPoint

It 'makes us stupid' one general charges

(Newser) - There's an enemy lurking inside the US military, and it's called PowerPoint. The presentation software has become more and more central to military procedure in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Pentagon, the New York Times reports and the effect has not been salutary. Junior officers are often referred to as “...

Pentagon Plans High-Speed Alternative to Nukes

'Prompt Global Strike' worries Russia

(Newser) - The White House is forging ahead with plans to develop a conventional weapon capable of striking anywhere on the planet with massive force in under an hour. The Prompt Global Strike plan stalled under the Bush administration, but President Obama has suggested it can be used to reduce America's nuclear...

Graham Cut From Pentagon Pray-In After Muslim Dig

Preacher gets the boot over anti-Islam comments

(Newser) - The Pentagon has decided that a preacher who says Islam is "vile and evil" and that Muslims can only be accepted by God through faith in Jesus isn't an appropriate speaker for an all-faith prayer event. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has been disinvited from National Day of...

US Base in Japan Yanks Dolphin-Hunt Documentary

Cove's defiant director plans to hand out DVDs

(Newser) - US commanders wary of offending the Japanese have canceled screenings of Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, but that won't silence its message, its director tells the AP . Louie Psihoyos says he plans to hand out DVDs of the movie, which shows the gruesome annual dolphin hunt in a Japanese town, at...

School Lunches Threaten National Security: Ex-Officers

They're making our kids so fat, they won't be able to serve

(Newser) - Calorie-laden school lunches may do more than create a nation of tubby kids: They may create a nation that's too fat to fight, says a group of retired military officers. They contend unhealthy school cafeteria food is fattening kids to the point that fewer and fewer will be able to...

Gays Heckle Obama at Calif. Speech

'Yes We Can,' chant 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' foes

(Newser) - Boisterous gay protesters interrupted President Obama several times with shouts of "Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell" and chants of "Yes We Can" at a California fundraiser for Barbara Boxer yesterday. The president took the heckling in stride, assuring the crowd that he has every intention of changing the...

Lieberman Subpoenas Pentagon Over Fort Hood

Senators accuse administration of stonewalling

(Newser) - Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins yesterday made good on their threat to subpoena the Pentagon and Justice Department for details relating to the Fort Hood shootings, setting the stage for the Obama administration's first legal battle with Congress. The Homeland Security committee chair and his Republican colleague accuse the...

Live Shell Removed From Soldier's Head

Air Force docs don body armor to extract live ammo

(Newser) - When a CT scan turned up a live round of ammo that could explode at any time embedded in a young Afghan soldier, Air Force surgeons knew exactly what to do: don flak jackets, evacuate nonessential personnel, and operate. The shell—part of the shrapnel that had been packed into...

Obama Doubles Special Ops in Afghanistan

Administration fears time is running out to stop Taliban

(Newser) - The Obama administration has more than doubled the number of special forces in Afghanistan, tasking them with hunting down Taliban leaders—in part because it’s worried that the US has a dwindling window to defang the insurgency before its scheduled 2011 withdrawal, senior officials tell the LA Times . They’...

Afghans Riot After US Troops Kill Bus Passengers

Civilian death spark outrage before Kandahar push

(Newser) - Anti-American riots swept Kandahar yesterday after American troops opened fire on a passenger bus, killing at least 4 civilians and wounding 18. Accounts of the incident—which deals a massive blow to NATO's hopes of winning over the local population before its upcoming offensive in the area—vary widely. NATO...

Crazy Karzai Regime Is 'Too Big to Fail'

Erratic Afghan leader understands how deep US is in, acts accordingly

(Newser) - The US is engaged in “asymmetrical” warfare with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Fred Kaplan writes, but it also suffers an asymmetrical relationship with an increasingly erratic head of state—Hamid Karzai. His regime “depends entirely on the United States,” sure, but because Western powers “have—and...

US Troops Fire on Civilians in Video, Official Confirms

2007 incident in Iraq likely killed Reuters photographer

(Newser) - A 2007 video that appears to show a US military helicopter firing on Iraqi civilians is indeed authentic, a Pentagon official tells MSNBC . It is likely the incident in which a Reuters photographer was killed; Wikileaks, the site that posted the video , said it came along with “supporting documents...

O'Reilly: I'll Pay Legal Bill for Dead Marine's Dad

Court ordered man to foot protesters' costs

(Newser) - Bill O’Reilly is opening his checkbook for the father of a Marine killed in Iraq after a court ordered him to pay the legal fees of protesters he’d sued for picketing his son’s 2006 funeral. “That is an outrage,” the Fox host said yesterday of...

Pentagon Official Ran Private Assassin Support Crew

Honcho probed over secret 'Jason Bourne' crew

(Newser) - A senior Pentagon official secretly set up a private network of contractors to help track and kill militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, military officials say. Michael D. Furlong may have diverted money from other programs to fund his own network of former CIA and Special Forces operatives, officials tell the...

CIA 'Spiked Baguettes With LSD' in French Experiment

Journalist claims to have solved 'Cursed Bread' mystery

(Newser) - The mysterious madness that overtook a French village in 1951 was the result of a CIA experiment, according to an American investigative journalist. At least 5 people died and dozens more were institutionalized after mass insanity and hallucinations swept through Pont-Saint-Esprit. The incident was called Le Pain Maudit—Cursed Bread—...

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah
 Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah 
Feb 25, 2010 9:34 AM CST

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah

Government aims to win residents' allegiance with jobs, projects

(Newser) - The Afghan flag was raised today in Marjah after a two-week offensive that left at least 10 coalition troops and 150 Taliban fighters dead and set the stage for the Afghan government’s hopeful return to an area it ceded two years ago. The governor of Helmand province was at...

Blackwater Used South Park Alias to Grab Afghan Guns

Senate panel slams contractor's 'lawless' conduct

(Newser) - A Blackwater subsidiary operating in Afghanistan hired violent drug addicts to train Afghan forces and seized hundreds of guns intended for the Afghan police, a Senate panel has found. The probe, which criticized the US Army for turning a blind eye to Blackwater abuses, found that in one incident a...

Navy Lifts Ban on Female Submarine Crews

Congress can still block policy change

(Newser) - The Navy has moved to allow women to serve on submarines, lifting the ban that has prevented the service from fully integrating. The Navy's top leadership approved the policy change, opening a 30-day window that began Monday for congressional comment. If Congress wants to continue to keep women off subs,...

Marines Seize Marjah Taliban HQ

Elite squads dropped behind Taliban lines as offensive continues

(Newser) - US Marines seized a compound that appears to have been the Taliban's Marjah headquarters after a fierce gunfight Friday. The compound just south of the town center contained dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and diplomas from a Taliban training camp in Pakistan, the AP reports. Small groups of fighters abandoned...

Iraq War Renamed 'Operation New Dawn'

'Operation Iraqi Freedom' history as most troops head home

(Newser) - The Obama administration has rebranded the Iraq War as it prepares to pull out most American troops. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" will become "Operation New Dawn" as of Sept. 1, when US troop levels are supposed to fall to around 50,000, the Washington Post reports. Defense Secretary Robert...

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser