US military

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Gates to USAF: Straighten Up and Fly Right

Defense sec criticizes service for being slow to adapt to change

(Newser) - Robert Gates chided the Air Force today for being slow to change and for not providing enough help in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Addressing American and international student officers in Alabama, the defense secretary said getting the USAF to adapt, particularly in the use of drone aircraft, has...

Military Families Fight for Right to Sue

High court ruling forbids suits against military hospitals

(Newser) - Many grieving families are outraged that they cannot sue over medical malpractice in military hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some have seen sons and husbands—all active duty service members—die in hospitals where resources are stretched thin. But a 1950 Supreme Court ruling created the Feres doctrine, which...

Pentagon Purse Strings Ensnare TV Military Analysts

Commentators linked to defense contractors

(Newser) - Several so-called "independent" military analysts who often support Defense Department positions on TV news programs have been linked closely to defense contractors and the Pentagon in an extensive New York Times investigation. "We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’...

Iraqi Troops Seize Sadr Stronghold
Iraqi Troops Seize
Sadr Stronghold
Apr 19, 2008 9:11 AM CDT

Iraqi Troops Seize Sadr Stronghold

Fighting in Baghad kills 12, wounds 130

(Newser) - In a major new clash, Iraqi troops backed by American and British firepower today captured a stronghold of fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra, said Iraqi officials. In a show of force, American planes and British artillery attacked a deserted area outside the Sadr-controlled section of Hayaniya...

White House 'Duped' General Into Torture: Book

Myers 'hoodwinked' into permitting harsh techniques

(Newser) - The Bush administration "hoodwinked" one of the country's top military men in order to establish harsh interrogation techniques on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, according to revelations in a new book reported in the Guardian. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers was misled by White House...

US Builds Giant Wall in Sadr City

Partition aims to keep insurgents from neighborhood

(Newser) - American forces have begun construction of an enormous concrete wall that will partition Sadr City, one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhood. The structure is intended to make the southern section of Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold that borders the Green Zone, into a protected enclave, reports the New York Times....

19 Yanks Die in Worst Week of Year for US

Baghdad battles against Shiite militia take heavy toll

(Newser) - The death of a US soldier in a roadside blast in Baghdad yesterday brought the death toll for US troops to 19 in a single week—the highest so far this year. Almost all of the deaths have been in the Iraqi capital, where US and Iraqi forces are battling...

Gitmo Detainees' Military Tribunals Mired in a Host of Snags

Untested system for 9/11 suspects stalling

(Newser) - Six men detained in Guantanamo in connection with the 9/11 attacks were charged with war crimes two months ago—they were to be the first defendants in President Bush's never-tested military commission system. But not a single one has even met their counsel yet because military lawyers are in extremely...

Sadr Threatens to End Truce
 Sadr Threatens to End Truce 
Apr 8, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Sadr Threatens to End Truce

Mahdi Army leader, 'worried' for Iraqis' safety, cancels anti-US protest

(Newser) - Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today threatened to end the cease-fire he imposed last year on his Mahdi militia, CNN reports, and called off a massive protest set for tomorrow, the fifth anniversary of the end of Saddam Hussein’s rule. Hundreds had converged on Baghdad—despite orders to keep young...

US Presence in Iraq Open-Ended in Secret Pact

US-Iraq deal would remove limit on troops, weapons

(Newser) - US officials and the Iraqi government plan to authorize an open-ended American presence in Iraq, according to a secret draft of an agreement between the two nations. The March 7 draft, leaked to the Guardian, is intended to replace the current UN mandate authorizing operations that expires this year. The...

Baghdad Rockets Kill 3 US Soldiers, Wound 31

Another killed in roadside bombing; death count now 4,022

(Newser) - Battles erupted in Baghdad today as rocket attacks killed three US soldiers and wounded 31, CNN reports. The first strike killed one and wounded 14 at a military outpost; “a couple of rounds of fire” killed two more and wounded 17 in the Green Zone soon after, a military...

On Iraq, Petraeus Has Bush's Ear
 On Iraq, Petraeus Has Bush's Ear
Apr 6, 2008 1:10 PM CDT

On Iraq, Petraeus Has Bush's Ear

Close ties fuel fears that other commanders aren't heard

(Newser) - George Bush and top Iraq commander David Petraeus have a close relationship unusual for wartime presidencies, the Washington Post reports. The president skips over several middlemen, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to speak directly and regularly with Petraeus, and has fully deferred to the general on controversial Iraq decisions. But...

Female Troops' Divorce Rate More than Double Men's

Rate was much higher even in peacetime

(Newser) - Female troops divorce at nearly twice the rate of their male comrades, Divorce360 reports, and the military is stumped as to why. Data from 2006 show male soldiers divorce at a rate of 2.7%—lower than the general population's 3.6%—but that leaps to 7% among women. The...

Army Battles High Divorce Rates

'Marriage education' aims to bridge gulf between love and war

(Newser) - A jump in divorce rates since the start of the Iraq war has the Army concerned. Marriages are falling apart as soldiers return home from tours of combat duty emotionally distant and unwilling to discuss their experiences. The military has now launched 'marriage education' retreats to try and repair the...

Combat Tours to Be Cut
 Combat Tours to Be Cut 
Apr 5, 2008 5:20 AM CDT

Combat Tours to Be Cut

Tours of duty to be cut back to 12 months; Congress to hear troop cut proposals

(Newser) - American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are to have their combat tours cut from 15 months to 12 beginning late this summer. The White House plans a formal announcement next week, an insider told the AP. Tours were lengthened last year to boost troop levels in Iraq, and the Army...

Bush Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan

Gates confident new administration will honor promise to NATO

(Newser) - The US will boost the number of its troops committed to NATO's effort in Afghanistan in 2009, President Bush told fellow alliance members at this week's summit, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates related the pledge to reporters as he left the Bucharest summit. He didn’t specify a figure,...

Basra Showed Maliki Weakness, al-Sadr Strength
Basra Showed Maliki Weakness, al-Sadr Strength
analysis
Apr 4, 2008 1:06 PM CDT

Basra Showed Maliki Weakness, al-Sadr Strength

Nouri al-Maliki is now saying the assault wasn't political

(Newser) - The Iraqi-led assault on Basra last week exposed the weaknesses of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the strength of Moqtada al-Sadr, the Washington Post concludes in its post-mortem of the unsuccessful foray. In not engaging parliament, political allies, or the Americans in planning the incursion, Maliki sought to demonstrate decisiveness,...

Japan Busts US Sailor in Murder-Robbery

Navy man charged in cabbie's stabbing outside Tokyo

(Newser) - Japanese police arrested a US sailor today on suspicion of stabbing a taxi driver to death and then robbing him, Reuters reports. The 22-year-old Nigerian national serving in the American Navy was already in US custody on charges of desertion. The American ambassador to Japan was forced to apologize for...

Justice Memo Backed Torture Interrogations

President's wartime powers override law, document argued

(Newser) - Laws banning torture and assault should not apply to US military interrogators overseas, argues a 2003 Justice Department memo released yesterday. The Defense Department was told not to rely on the memo nine months after it was issued, but it established a legal foundation for controversial interrogations, the Washington Post...

Army's Role in Iraq Turning Personal
Army's Role in Iraq Turning Personal
commentary
Apr 1, 2008 11:21 PM CDT

Army's Role in Iraq Turning Personal

Troops 'all but qualify for Iraqi citizenship,' for better or worse

(Newser) - After five years of war, the US military is enmeshed in virtually all aspects of Iraqi life—a common development in such engagements but one that can prove to be a double-edged sword for military efficiency, writes Lawrence Kaplan in the policy forum Bitter Lemons. "American units slowly melt...

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