US troops

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Obama Alters Plan, Will Keep More Troops in Afghanistan

8.4K troops is a compromise amid a Taliban resurgence

(Newser) - President Obama is slowing the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan, leaving 8,400 troops there into next year, he announced Wednesday. Originally he had planned to drop troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of 2016. The numbers reflect a compromise between Obama's original...

US Troops' Gun Sights Can Be Off by a Foot

Thermal drift has been known about for months

(Newser) - EOTech, a firm that has supplied gun sights to the US military, admits that its Holographic Weapon Sight suffers from a defect known as thermal drift. And in November, the company's parent L-3 Communications Corp. agreed to pay $25.6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the federal...

Obama: ISIS Ground Fight Means 100 Dead Troops a Month

And a monthly bill of $10B, he reportedly said at private news columnist meeting

(Newser) - President Obama's reason for not sending ground troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS: The White House figures it would mean 100 US troop deaths per month, 500 wounded, and a monthly tab of $10 billion, all to fight a group that doesn't pose an "existential...

New for US Troops: Another Man's Penis

Johns Hopkins surgeons willing to try experimental surgery

(Newser) - We know about missing arms and legs. But US troops have also suffered a "hidden injury" in Iraq and Afghanistan—genitalia destroyed by bomb blasts. Now, doctors at Johns Hopkins University say they want to try repairing these wounds with experimental penis transplants, the New York Times reports. "...

US Special Forces Hit Taliban in Seized City: Report

100 troops reportedly involved in mission near Kunduz airport

(Newser) - Special forces from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, reportedly including US troops, battled Taliban militants on the ground in Kunduz Wednesday in an attempt to retake the city after Afghan forces were overrun Monday. It marks the first time foreign forces have clashed with the Taliban during the conflict in...

Banks Flout Laws Protecting Troops From Foreclosure

NYT: Mandatory arbitration clauses mean repos, foreclosures for service members

(Newser) - Deployed service members are supposed to be protected by federal laws from repossession and foreclosure. But thanks to mandatory arbitration —a clause in a contract's small print that waives one's right to court intervention—lenders are circumventing the rules, placing the homes and cars of US troops...

US Troops to Train Syrian Rebels for ISIS Takedown

Train-and-equip plan for moderate Syrian opposition designed to derail insurgents

(Newser) - In continuing efforts to thwart Islamic militants in Syria, the US Defense Department confirmed last night that it's sending 400 troops to train moderate Syrian opposition, Army Times reports. Trainers will set up shop in Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with the six- to eight-week training sessions tentatively set...

Senate OKs Bill With $63B for Ongoing Wars

Defense hawks, Western state Republicans carry the day

(Newser) - Congress today sent President Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill that authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of...

US Malaria Experiments in 1940s Left Troops 'Ruined'

'The Malaria Project' looks at effort to find drug

(Newser) - The goal was just, the execution anything but: In the 1940s, the US government pulled together an operation designed to find a cure for malaria, which infected some 500,000 American troops during WWII. How they went about doing so is revealed in Karen Masterson's new book, The Malaria ...

Obama to Send 200 More US Troops to Iraq

That brings total US forces there to nearly 800

(Newser) - President Barack Obama says he's sending about 200 more US troops to Iraq to protect Americans and the US Embassy in Baghdad. The announcement will bring to nearly 800 the total number of US forces in and around Iraq to train local forces, secure the embassy, and protect American...

Obama to Keep 9.8K Troops in Afghanistan

But next Afghan leader has to sign the BSA

(Newser) - On the heels of his surprise visit to American troops in Afghanistan , President Obama today will put the number of troops he intends to keep there at 9,800, with the intent to call most of those home by 2016. But there's a "but": Kabul, soon to be...

Obama Drops In on US Troops in Afghanistan

Surprise visit his 4th; won't meet with Karzai in clear snub

(Newser) - President Obama secretly slipped into Afghanistan under the cover of darkness today for a weekend visit with US troops serving in the closing months of America's longest war. Air Force One landed at Bagram Air Field, the main US base in Afghanistan, after an overnight flight from Washington. Obama...

US May Leave Less Than 5K Troops in Afghanistan

US military has said 10K is the minimum needed

(Newser) - The US military has said at least 10,000 troops must remain in Afghanistan in order to continue training Afghan forces while also keeping themselves safe —but the White House is now telling Reuters that State Department and Pentagon officials are considering dropping well below that threshold, possibly leaving...

HOA to Family: Take Down Sailor's Welcome Sign

Attorney says sign can only be up 2 weeks before, after leave

(Newser) - Anthony Marsiglia is in the Navy, currently deployed on an aircraft carrier, but coming home in the next few weeks. His family had a "welcome" sign hanging outside their Louisiana home for him—until their Lafayette homeowner's association instructed them, via attorney, to take it down. The Frenchman'...

17 Years Later, Okinawa OKs Relocation of US Base

And locals aren't too happy about it

(Newser) - As the AFP reports, it's been "a decades-long source of friction" between Japan and the US: More than 17 years ago, Tokyo and Washington decided to move the US Marine Corps base in Futenma out of the densely populated urban area. Today, the governor of Okinawa finally gave...

US Sending Troops to South Sudan

Americans there need more protection, says President Obama

(Newser) - Washington is getting in deeper: About 150 US troops are heading toward South Sudan today to help secure the US embassy and evacuate more Americans from the war-torn country, military officials said. The troops will likely first travel to Djibouti via Spain, CNN reports. The move follows a letter from...

Facing Fat Test, US Troops Use ... Liposuction

Stocky service members fight for their very careers

(Newser) - Don't be surprised to see US troops lining up at your nearest plastic surgeon's office—they're probably terrified of failing the Pentagon's body fat test, the AP reports. "They come in panicked about being kicked out or getting a demerit that will hurt their chances...

200 US Troops Headed to Jordan—and It's a Big Deal

LAT explains it's the first acknowledged step toward military involvement in Syria

(Newser) - Some 200 US troops are headed to Jordan, where some US troops are already stationed. So why is this deployment notable? How it's being played:
  • The Los Angeles Times pulls no punches in its explanation: "The move marks the first deployment that Pentagon officials explicitly described as a
...

Banks Admit Wrongly Foreclosing on US Troops

At least 700 active-duty troops lost homes during crisis

(Newser) - America's biggest banks have admitted that they wrongfully foreclosed on the homes of at least 700 military personnel, in some cases evicting families while troops were serving in war zones, the New York Times reports. The wrongful foreclosures by banks including Citigroup and Wells Fargo surfaced as part of...

Obama, Karzai Agree to Speed Military Shift in Afghanistan

(Newser) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said today they have agreed to speed up slightly the schedule for moving Afghanistan's security forces into the lead across the country, with US troops shifting fully to a support role. The leaders also said Obama agreed to place battlefield detainees...

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