US military

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Complexity of Army Software Raises Concern

Mammoth Boeing project is most costly weapons plan

(Newser) - More than 2,000 developers are working on a $200 billion software project considered the biggest Army modernization since World War II, but many worry the Boeing-led Future Combat Systems may come in late and severely flawed. FCS, which dwarfs Windows in complexity, would enable communication with hovering drones, bomb-defusing...

Homeless Vets Spark Outcry: Haven't We Learned?

1,500 back from Iraq now in poverty

(Newser) - Iraq war veterans are suffering from stress, turning to alcohol, and falling into poverty—a fate that prompts some to ask whether the US has learned from tragedies of veterans past. Washington has identified 1,500 Iraq vets as homeless and helped about a third, but echoes of Vietnam persist...

US Officer Cleared Over Abu Ghraib
US Officer
Cleared Over Abu Ghraib

US Officer Cleared Over Abu Ghraib

Only officer charged with a crime in torture scandal will face no punishment

(Newser) - The only officer who faced a court-martial over the torture at Abu Ghraib has been cleared of all criminal wrongdoing. The BBC reports that Lt. Col. Steven Jordan was convicted in August of disobeying a gag order, but that decision was annulled and his record is now clean. No officer...

Iraq Booby-Trap Blast Kills 6 US Troops

Nine dead in first two days of new offensive against al-Qaeda strongholds

(Newser) - Six US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed when a booby-trapped house in Diyala province exploded, the Washington Post reports. Four others were injured. Another three soldiers were killed Tuesday as tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops, along with many local volunteers, began sweeping through northern Iraq...

151,000 Iraqis Killed, Study Says
151,000 Iraqis Killed, Study Says

151,000 Iraqis Killed, Study Says

New survey touted as most reliable yet, but definite figure hard to come by

(Newser) - More than 150,000 Iraqis—about 120 a day—were killed in the first three years of the Iraqi war following the US invasion in 2003, a new study says. The estimate, from the WHO and the Iraqi government, is said to be the most scientific study yet of the...

Online Scammer Impersonates US Colonel

Details taken from website for military families

(Newser) - British woman Wendy McKay had been enjoying her romantic online chats with a handsome US colonel deployed to Iraq, but alarm bells started ringing when the "colonel" suddenly needed thousands of dollars sent to Ghana, the Military Times reports. A con man had stolen the real colonel's identity and...

Protect or Prevent? Iraq Tanks Raise Heavy Issues

New armored vehicles will save soldiers, but may endanger strategy

(Newser) - A new heavily armored vehicle will better protect US soldiers in Iraq from roadside bombs, but possibly at the risk of jeopardizing the overall counter-insurgency strategy, the Los Angeles Times reports. The new equipment has ignited debate over whether it is better to protect soldiers from attack, or stop the...

Iraq Invites Refugees Home, but Home Is Gone

350K displaced in Iraq; US military begs Baghdad to build new housing

(Newser) - Baghdad shocked Washington and the UN last month by inviting home 1.4 million refugees from Syria, the Washington Post reports. The UN warned against it, saying exiles would face poverty, but Iraq started a bus line to transport them back. Many found their homes looted and neighborhoods redrawn along...

Army Seeks to Shorten Tours
Army Seeks to Shorten Tours

Army Seeks to Shorten Tours

As security improves, military leaders push to cut 15-month tours to 12 by summer

(Newser) - With violence slowing in Iraq, many Army leaders want to drop the 15-month tours of duty imposed on soldiers earlier this year to sustain the surge, the AP reports. “We can’t sustain that,” says Army Chief of Staff George Casey, the former top commander in Iraq who...

Hpy Thxgvng: Text Your Troops
Hpy Thxgvng: Text Your Troops

Hpy Thxgvng: Text Your Troops

Project allows free messages of support for the holiday

(Newser) - A college freshman has helped the Department of Defense launch a project to send text messages of support to US troops, reports ABC. Cell companies are backing the "Giving Thanks" initiative, allowing participants to send free messages to the number 8-9-2-7-9 until midnight Thanksgiving Day.

Military: AP Photog Linked to Insurgents

New evidence surfaces implicating journalist held since 2006

(Newser) - The US military says it has evidence that an Iraqi photographer who works for AP is connected with the anti-American insurgency, CNN reports. Bilal Hussein Zaidon has been in custody since April 2006 and will face trial in the Iraqi court system. The Pentagon did not specify the charges but...

US Aims to Enlist Tribes in Pakistan

Proposal would train, pay tribes to fight Taliban and al Qaeda

(Newser) - The US military would like to enlist Pakistani tribesmen in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda, importing the strategy that's been used successfully in Anbar province in Iraq. The classified proposal would see more American military trainers heading for Pakistan—where we have only 50 troops now—and...

US Troops Shot, Injured 6 Civilians, Says Iraqi Gov

'We pulled aside, but they opened fire,' says one

(Newser) - An enraged Iraqi provincial governor has accused US troops of firing on civilian vehicles south of Baghdad today, allegedly wounding six. Ahmed Marzok threatened to sever ties with the US due to the "barbaric, brutal, and illegal" attack. "We were driving on one side of the road and...

Abusive Drill Sgt. Gets 6 Months in Brig

Marine who brutalized recruits draws bad-conduct discharge

(Newser) - A military jury has sentenced a former Marine drill instructor convicted of abusing recruits to 6 months in the brig, busted him to private, and ordered a bad-conduct discharge, the LA Times reports. Jerrold Glass, reportedly otherwise a model marine, was convicted of punching, slapping, and destroying the personal property...

Afghan Ambush Kills 6; 2007 Deadliest Year for US

At least 101 troops have been killed this year

(Newser) - The deaths of 6 American soldiers in an ambush yesterday make 2007 the deadliest year so far for US troops in Afghanistan, the AP reports. This year's toll is at 101. The AP also says that more than 5,800 people, most of them militants, have been killed in the...

Got a Record? No Problem
Got a Record?
No Problem

Got a Record? No Problem

US military wants to ease entry, but some officers worry about 'problem children'

(Newser) - Seeking to swell enlisted ranks, the Pentagon may let more minor criminals enlist in the military, the AP reports. "I do believe it needs to be done," an Army official said of the proposed plan. "There are really anomalies out there"—like recruits who have youthful...

Robots, Start Your Engines
Robots, Start Your Engines

Robots, Start Your Engines

University and research lab teams to compete on mock city course

(Newser) - Some of the most high-tech vehicles in the world will compete for big money by zipping around a race course tomorrow, all without one low-tech component—a human driver. Eleven robotic vehicles will race in a simulated city environment at a former Air Force base in California, Forbes reports. The...

50 More Years in Mideast for US, Ex-General Says

Abizaid: Strategic situation won't allow withdrawal for decades

(Newser) - It could be 50 years before US troops leave the Middle East, the former commander of US forces in the region said yesterday. The Associated Press reports that while John Abizaid acknowledges that US forces will eventually play an "indirect role" in conflicts such as Iraq, the military won't...

US Troop Fatalities Down in Iraq
US Troop Fatalities Down in Iraq

US Troop Fatalities Down in Iraq

Falling trend signals 'window of opportunity'

(Newser) - US troop losses in Iraq dropped in the past month, matching the levels of March 2006 and giving a tentative credit to the current US strategy, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Thirty-six deaths have been reported in October, a lull ascribed to weapons-cache finds, the disruption of bombmaking cells, and...

Whoops! Uncle Sam Doesn't Want You
Whoops! Uncle Sam Doesn't Want You

Whoops! Uncle Sam Doesn't Want You

Homosexual-unfriendly US military unwittingly lists jobs on gay site

(Newser) - The US Army, Navy and Air Force were surprised Tuesday to learn they'd been advertising thousands of jobs on GLEE.com, a gay networking website included in job-listing giant Monster.com's "diversity and inclusion" package. The website is at odds with the military's exclusionary "don't ask, don't tell"...

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