February 24, 2013

NRA: No Research Allowed

http://inthesetimes.com/article/14589/nra_no_research_allowed/



Facts courtesy of the Gun Rights Facebook page.

NRA: No Research Allowed
BY Susan J. Douglas
February 21, 2013

Wonder why the NRA can say there is no evidence that gun control works? Because they’ve censored research on the subject.

In the aftermath of Newtown, we’ve learned that the NRA successfully lobbied Congress to suppress research on how to limit gun violence. Since 1996, according to one estimate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has slashed firearms safety research by 96 percent. There was actual language in the CDC’s budget that said none of its funds could be used to “advocate or promote gun control,” and similar restrictions were imposed on research supported by other federal health agencies. The NRA deemed research on the relationship between teens, alcohol consumption and gun use, as well as the impact of gun storage practices, as “junk science studies.”

What got the NRA so agitated? A 1993 study by Arthur Kellermann et al. published in The New England Journal of Medicine that debunked the myth that having a gun in your home made you safer. The study showed that having a gun in your home increased the risk of one family member shooting another by almost threefold, compared to homes without a gun. The risk of suicide was nearly five times greater.

Having a gun in your home, in other words, “doesn’t convey protection.” It actually puts you and your family at greater risk. Indeed, from 1985 until 1996, the CDC funded a variety of studies all leading to the conclusion that stricter gun control was a public health priority. This was not good news for the NRA, so they succeeded in making sure such studies rarely saw the light of day. According to The Huffington Post, the NRA has spent over $28 million on lobbying since 1998, becoming one of the most feared and influential lobbies.

February 24, 2013

U.S. deploys Predator drones to Niger: official

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/23/u-s-deploys-predator-drones-to-niger-official/

U.S. deploys Predator drones to Niger: official
By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, February 23, 2013 3:52 EST

The United States has deployed several Predator drones to Niger to fly surveillance missions in support of French forces in Mali, a US defense official said Friday.

The unarmed robotic aircraft are flying out of Niamey at a base with a 100-strong contingent of Air Force personnel, the defense official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Consistent with our partners in the region, this decision allows for ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) operations within the region,” the defense official said.

President Barack Obama announced earlier on Friday that the US troops were sent to the West African country to provide “support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region.”




unhappycamper comment: At a minimum. we are droning people in Mali, Niger, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan (of course) and Pakistan (naturally).

February 23, 2013

War Or Peace, Drones Market Will Grow, Especially For Infantry

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/22/war-or-peace-drones-market-will-grow-especially-for-infantry/



War Or Peace, Drones Market Will Grow, Especially For Infantry
By Richard Whittle
Published: February 22, 2013

TYSON'S CORNER, VA: With the wars that spawned the drone revolution subsiding, if not entirely ending, the U.S. armed services are taking stock of what they've learned and sorting out what to do next to bolster or better the fleets of unmanned aircraft they've accumulated since 2001. One thing is clear: war or peace, the technology is here to stay.

A dozen years ago, a drone was still just a bee with a lousy work ethic. Today, the word isn't just the colloquial expression for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), as most experts call them, or RPAs (remotely piloted aircraft), as the Air Force prefers. Drones are now a military necessity – especially for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

"They've changed the way we fight," declared Col. Frank Muth, director of materiel for the Army, speaking at an Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference Feb. 13. In 2002, a few months into the war in Afghanistan and a few months prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Army had a grand total of 76 UAS, Muth noted. Today, he said, the Army has 7,567 and has spent $5.23 billion on unmanned aviation over the past decade.

"Soldiers on the ground like to hear two voices on the (radio), especially troops in contact," he said. One is the voice of either an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout or AH-64D Apache attack helicopter pilot. The other is a UAS operator, who provides "an ability to see where they cannot, and that makes a huge difference," Muth said.

February 23, 2013

SecAF Donley Says KC-46 Tanker Contract At Risk; Hill Must OK $1B

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/22/secaf-donley-says-kc-46-tanker-contract-at-risk-hill-must-appro/



SecAF Donley Says KC-46 Tanker Contract At Risk; Hill Must OK $1B
By Colin Clark
Published: February 22, 2013

AFA Winter, ORLANDO: The latest looming casualty to the congressional budget mess is Boeing's KC-46 tanker contract, which is in peril unless Congress approves roughly $1 billion in funding.

If you want some idea of just how much uncertainty and confusion sequestration and the Continuing Resolution are generating, this latest mess is a good example. The Secretary of the Air Force cannot tell exactly how much money is needed or when because of the overlapping confusion caused by the CR and sequestration.

"There are too many variables in there," to pin down exactly how much money is needed and when it is needed Donley told reporters during a Q and A session with reporters at the Air Force's annual conference here.

But the effect will be pretty certain. No money, no contract. It took more than a decade to award a contract for the airborne tanker, at least one major scandal and a politically damaging miffed contract award and now, because of Congress' inability to pass a defense appropriations bill and the prospect of the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, the current fixed price contract -- praised as a good deal for taxpayers by many -- is endangered.

February 23, 2013

Air Force Chief Says 70% of ALL Combat Aircraft 'Non Combat Capable By July'

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/21/air-force-chief-says-70-percent-of-all-combat-aircraft-non-comb/?icid=trending2



Air Force Chief Says 70% of ALL Combat Aircraft 'Non Combat Capable By July'
By Colin Clark
Published: February 21, 2013

AFA Winter, Orlando: Imagine if someone told you 70 percent of all American combat aircraft would not be ready to fly in time of war by July. That's just what Air Force Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told some 600 people attending the Air Force Associations's annual winter conference this morning will happen should the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration occur.

This means 70 percent of all fighters (and MAYBE Remotely Piloted Aircraft and bombers -- except those for nuclear missions and aircraft in ongoing operations --we're checking) will be unready to go to war.

Welsh was careful to note that the service would protect all "named operations," so this doesn't appear to mean that troops in Afghanistan will go without air cover, but it should send a very clear message to those in Congress who continue to cling to entrenched positions that they risk gutting the combat capability of the military we spend so much to build and maintain.

The degradation will begin May 1, when flying hours will begin to get chopped, Welsh said.



unhappycamper comment: Don't know about you, but I would rather use the $$$$ for something useful. Like roads, bridges, teachers, policemen, food, housing, public transportation, etc. etc.

February 23, 2013

Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; 'Potential Exists For Catastrophic Failure'

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/22/jsf-fleet-grounded-after-turbine-blade-cracks/?icid=trending1



Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; 'Potential Exists For Catastrophic Failure'
By Colin Clark
Published: February 22, 2013

Pentagon Grounds JSF Fleet After Turbine Blade Cracks; 'Potential Exists For Catastrophic Failure'
By Colin Clark
Published: February 22, 2013

AFA Winter, Orlando: What happens when all the top brass of the Air Force are attending a top conference on a Friday afternoon? Their biggest program, the Joint Strike Fighter, gets its entire fleet grounded because of a crack in a turbine blade. Details began trickling out just as most Air Force brass were headed to the airport after the Air Force Association's annual conference here ended.

Of course, the F-35 isn't just the Air Force's biggest program. It's the biggest conventional weapons program ever for any country.

Early word is that a low pressure turbine in the engine cracked. The engine is on its way to Pratt & Whitney for a complete check to figure out what happened, why and come up with a fix. We've sent emails and called the program office and Lockheed for comment. As soon as it comes in, we'll update this.

The crack poses "the threat of catastrophic failure," according to a letter by Naval Air Systems Commander Vice Adm.David Dunaway sent to the Navy Secretary, Chief of Naval Operations and the Marine Commandant. Dunaway says he will provide an update on the situation no later than March 1, next Friday.

February 23, 2013

The 10 Years' War: Army Plans For Sequestration Cuts Through 2022

http://defense.aol.com/2013/02/22/army-sequestration-cut-through-2022/



The 10 Years' War: Army Plans For Sequestration Cuts Through 2022
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: February 22, 2013

FORT LAUDERDALE: As automatic cuts to the 2013 budget look increasingly unavoidable, with the deadline for a Congressional deal only a week away, Army leaders are preparing fallback positions to defend the service from a full decade of sequester cuts. That includes new guidance on cutting modernization and planning for potential cuts to personnel and combat brigades.

"Sequestration is not just FY '13," said Lt. Gen. James Barclay, the deputy chief of staff for resources (G-8) on the Army staff, in remarks to the Association of the US Army's winter conference. "We have nine more years of sequestration facing us unless the act is changed."

The Balanced Budget Act of 2011 called for a trillion in federal spending cuts -- half from defense, half from discretionary non-defense programs, and effectively zero from entitlements -- over a decade. The first year's cuts would apply automatically and in equal proportions, 8.8 percent, to every Pentagon account except military payroll, which is exempt. For 2014 through 2022, however, Congress and the Administration can allocate the cuts however they want.

Until this year, the Administration resolutely refused to plan for how to implement even the 2013 impacts. President Barack Obama declared during the campaign that sequestration "will not happen." Now, however, the gridlock looks so intractable and the prospects so bleak that the Army, at least, is preparing to pick and choose which of its babies it has to kill over the next yen years.



unhappycamper comment: Stop bitching about a five fucking percent budget cut, Dudes.

February 23, 2013

The Atrocity Lessons: What the U.S. Military Learned From Vietnam

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/21/the-atrocity-lessons-what-the-us-military-learned-from-vietnam.html

The Atrocity Lessons: What the U.S. Military Learned From Vietnam
Feb 21, 2013 4:45 AM EST
By Jake Whitney

In March 1969, American helicopters flying over a western part of South Vietnam spotted a group of Vietnamese cutting wood. Circling the group, the Americans grew angry when none of the woodcutters looked up. But the Vietnamese had good reason. American policy held that if a Vietnamese looked at a hovering chopper, he must be Viet Cong. The Americans began dropping canisters of tear gas, which ignited a blaze. When the woodcutters turned to flee, the Americans blasted away with rockets and machine guns, leveling the forest and killing all but one of them.



Smoke rises from burning villages as a Junker 52 from the French Air Force drops its load of 100-pound bombs over suspected Communist Viet Minh positions on March 16, 1951, some 100 miles north of Hanoi.

The eight dead Vietnamese were recorded as "enemy killed in action" by the Americans, but an investigation revealed that the group was solely unarmed civilians, a woman and a child among them. Nevertheless, no American was punished for their murders. Why? The soldiers were simply following policy, which said that if Vietnamese ran, they must be Viet Cong.

Nick Turse uses the woodcutters' story to develop the signal themes of his book, Kill Anything That Moves that American atrocities happened everywhere in Vietnam and often without provocation, that Pentagon policy was the primary cause, and that most civilian deaths were the result of a reckless overuse of modern weaponry. Turse has received wide acclaim for revealing the vast extent of American atrocities and for obliterating the notion that "a few bad apples" were responsible. He tells of Americans shelling entire provinces, searching for a single sniper; using civilians for target practice; and committing mass shootings, rapes, corpse mutilations, and disfiguring children with napalm and phosphorus bombs.

While many of these stories are told sparsely, others are recounted in excruciating detail by a surviving victim. There's the story of Bui Thi Huong, for example, who was 18 years old in 1966 when Marines ransacked her home. After five soldiers gang-raped her, they shot her and her sick husband and four other family members, including their 3-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl. As the Marines covered up the scene, they discovered the 5-year-old still breathing, so one soldier lifted his rifle and, as the others counted in unison, smashed her with the butt until she died.

February 23, 2013

U.S. drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistan

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/21/world/la-fg-afghanistan-drones-20130222



A $26+ million dollar Predator drone fires a $160 grand Raytheon Hellfire missile

U.S. drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistan
February 21, 2013|By Shashank Bengali and David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — One morning recently, a teenager named Bacha Zarina was collecting firewood on her family's small farm in eastern Afghanistan. About 30 yards away, as family members recall, two Taliban commanders stood outside a house.

A missile screamed down from the sky, killing the two men instantly. Two chunks of shrapnel flew at Bacha Zarina and lodged in her left side.

~snip~

The U.S. military launched 506 strikes from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan last year, according to Pentagon data, a 72% increase from 2011 and a sign that American commanders may begin to rely more heavily on remote-controlled air power to kill Taliban insurgents as they reduce the number of troops on the ground.

Though drone strikes represented a fraction of all U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan last year, their use is on the rise even as American troops have pulled back from ground and air operations and pushed Afghan soldiers and police into the lead. In 2011, drone strikes accounted for 5% of U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan; in 2012, the figure rose to 12%.

February 23, 2013

US grounds F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/us-f35-grounded-cracked-engine-blade



The US has grounded its fleet of $243 million dollar F-35 fighter jets.

US grounds F-35 fighter jets over cracked engine blade
Associated Press in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 23 February 2013 09.00 EST

The Pentagon has grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets, after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.

The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, California, of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

All versions a total of 51 planes were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.

In a brief written statement Friday, the Pentagon said it was too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem. A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding was not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the aircraft.