US military

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>

White House Backs Deal to Repeal 'Don't Ask'

Vote could come as early as this week

(Newser) - The White House has given its support to a deal that would lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military while giving the Pentagon plenty of time to implement changes. The compromise will allow lawmakers to vote on repealing the ban as early as this week. But the...

US Expands Secret Mideast Operations

Petraeus authorizes special ops in friendly, unfriendly Mideast nations

(Newser) - The head of US Central Command has green-lighted a huge expansion in American secret operations in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, according to documents obtained by the New York Times . Gen. David Petraeus has authorized the sending of special forces to both friendly and hostile...

US Troop Count in Afghanistan Overtakes Iraq

100K US troops to be in Afghanistan by this summer

(Newser) - The number of US troops in Afghanistan has hit 94,000, for the first time surpassing the 92,000 currently deployed in Iraq. The milestone comes as the US prepares to reduce its number of personnel in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August, the BBC reports. But...

Obama Stresses Need for New 'International Order'
 Obama Stresses Need  
 for New 'International Order' 
west point commencement
May 22, 2010 10:26 AM CDT

Obama Stresses Need for New 'International Order'

President says America can't succeed alone

(Newser) - President Obama's commencement speech at West Point today stressed a common theme: the need to "shape an international order than can meet the challenges of our times," reports the Washington Post . "Yes, we are clear-eyed about the shortfalls of our international system," he said. "But...

US Deaths in Afghanistan Reach 1,000

Suicide bomber's attack in Kabul kills 5

(Newser) - A suicide attack in Kabul that killed five US troops today has brought the American death toll in the war to 1,000, reports the New York Times . In an extended look at the unwanted milestone, the Times notes that it took 7 years to reach the first 500 deaths...

Afghans Flee as Marjah Offensive Sours

US hasn't done a good job clearing or holding

(Newser) - Remember the big American military “clear and hold” operation in Marjah, Afghanistan? It ain't going so well. More than 150 families have fled the area, and some refugees tell the New York Times the Taliban is still running rampant, and the US is unable to protect the local population....

Mental, Not Physical, Illness Hospitalizes Most US Troops

As mental illness increases, cost of care skyrockets

(Newser) - For the first time on record, more US troops were hospitalized for mental illness last year than for any other reason, according to new data from the Pentagon. The year saw 17,538 mental health hospitalizations, which narrowly topped childbirth (17,354) and far outstripped injuries or battle wounds (11,...

Military May Give Medal for Avoiding Combat

Honor for not shooting would be unique

(Newser) - The US military is considering a medal for soldiers who show restraint in order to save civilian lives. The honor would celebrate "courageous restraint" in the line of duty—incidences in which soldiers hold their fire. While the idea of an award for not shooting might seem paradoxical, "...

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...

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>