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unhappycamper
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March 14, 2013
"Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam" A book by Nick Turse
Kill Anything That Moves
By Chris Hedges
General News 3/13/2013 at 22:48:15
Nick Turse's "Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam" is not only one of the most important books ever written about the Vietnam conflict but provides readers with an unflinching account of the nature of modern industrial warfare. It captures, as few books on war do, the utter depravity of industrial violence -- what the sociologist James William Gibson calls "technowar." It exposes the sickness of the hyper-masculine military culture, the intoxicating rush and addiction of violence, and the massive government spin machine that lies daily to a gullible public and uses tactics of intimidation, threats and smear campaigns to silence dissenters. Turse, finally, grasps that the trauma that plagues most combat veterans is a result not only of what they witnessed or endured, but what they did. This trauma, shame, guilt and self-revulsion push many combat veterans -- whether from Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan -- to escape into narcotic and alcoholic fogs or commit suicide. By the end of Turse's book, you understand why.
This is not the book Turse set out to write. He was, when his research began in June 2001, a graduate student looking at post-traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam veterans. An archivist at the U.S. National Archives asked Turse whether he thought witnessing war crimes could cause PTSD. He steered Turse to yellowing reports amassed by the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group. The group, set up in the wake of the My Lai massacre, was designed to investigate the hundreds of reports of torture, rape, kidnapping, forced displacement, beatings, arson, mutilation, executions and massacres carried out by U.S. troops. But the object of the group was not to discipline or to halt the abuses. It was, as Turse writes, "to ensure that the army would never again be caught off-guard by a major war crimes scandal." War crimes, for army investigators, were "an image management" problem. Those charged with war crimes were rarely punished. The numerous reports of atrocities collected by the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group were kept secret, and the eyewitnesses who reported war crimes were usually ignored, discredited or cowed into silence.
Turse used the secret Pentagon reports and documents to track down more than 100 veterans -- including those who had reported witnessing atrocities to their superiors and others charged with carrying out atrocities -- and traveled to Vietnam to interview survivors. A decade later he produced a masterpiece. Case after case in his book makes it painfully clear that soldiers and Marines deliberately maimed, abused, beat, tortured, raped, wounded or killed hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians, including children, with impunity. Troops engaged in routine acts of sadistic violence usually associated with demented Nazi concentration camp guards. And what Turse describes is a woefully incomplete portrait, since he found that "an astonishing number of marine court-martial records of the era have apparently been destroyed or gone missing," and "most air force and navy criminal investigation files that may have existed seem to have met the same fate."
The few incidents of wanton killing in Vietnam -- and this is also true for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- that did become public, such as My Lai, were dismissed as an aberration, the result of a few soldiers or Marines gone bad. But, as Turse makes clear, such massacres were and are, in our current imperial adventures, commonplace. The slaughters "were the inevitable outcome of deliberate policies, dictated at the highest levels of the military," he writes. They were carried out because the dominant tactic of the war, as conceived by our politicians and generals, was centered on the concept of "overkill." And when troops on the ground could not kill fast enough, the gunships, helicopters, fighter jets and bombers came to their assistance. The U.S. Air Force contributed to the demented quest for "overkill" -- eradicating so many of the enemy that recuperation was theoretically impossible -- by dropping the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam, most actually falling on the south where our purported Vietnamese allies resided. And planes didn't just drop bombs. They unloaded more than 70 million tons of herbicidal agents, 3 million white phosphorus rockets -- white phosphorous will burn its way entirely through a body -- and an estimated 400,000 tons of jellied incendiary napalm. "Thirty-five percent of the victims," Turse writes, "died within fifteen to twenty minutes." Death from the skies, like death on the ground, was often unleashed capriciously. "It was not out of the ordinary for U.S. troops in Vietnam to blast a whole village or bombard a wide area in an effort to kill a single sniper," Turse writes.
unhappycamper comment: Iraq: think Fallaujah.
Afghanistan: think Baghram AFB.
Kill Anything That Moves
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Kill-Anything-That-Moves-by-Chris-Hedges-130313-576.html"Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam" A book by Nick Turse
Kill Anything That Moves
By Chris Hedges
General News 3/13/2013 at 22:48:15
Nick Turse's "Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam" is not only one of the most important books ever written about the Vietnam conflict but provides readers with an unflinching account of the nature of modern industrial warfare. It captures, as few books on war do, the utter depravity of industrial violence -- what the sociologist James William Gibson calls "technowar." It exposes the sickness of the hyper-masculine military culture, the intoxicating rush and addiction of violence, and the massive government spin machine that lies daily to a gullible public and uses tactics of intimidation, threats and smear campaigns to silence dissenters. Turse, finally, grasps that the trauma that plagues most combat veterans is a result not only of what they witnessed or endured, but what they did. This trauma, shame, guilt and self-revulsion push many combat veterans -- whether from Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan -- to escape into narcotic and alcoholic fogs or commit suicide. By the end of Turse's book, you understand why.
This is not the book Turse set out to write. He was, when his research began in June 2001, a graduate student looking at post-traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam veterans. An archivist at the U.S. National Archives asked Turse whether he thought witnessing war crimes could cause PTSD. He steered Turse to yellowing reports amassed by the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group. The group, set up in the wake of the My Lai massacre, was designed to investigate the hundreds of reports of torture, rape, kidnapping, forced displacement, beatings, arson, mutilation, executions and massacres carried out by U.S. troops. But the object of the group was not to discipline or to halt the abuses. It was, as Turse writes, "to ensure that the army would never again be caught off-guard by a major war crimes scandal." War crimes, for army investigators, were "an image management" problem. Those charged with war crimes were rarely punished. The numerous reports of atrocities collected by the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group were kept secret, and the eyewitnesses who reported war crimes were usually ignored, discredited or cowed into silence.
Turse used the secret Pentagon reports and documents to track down more than 100 veterans -- including those who had reported witnessing atrocities to their superiors and others charged with carrying out atrocities -- and traveled to Vietnam to interview survivors. A decade later he produced a masterpiece. Case after case in his book makes it painfully clear that soldiers and Marines deliberately maimed, abused, beat, tortured, raped, wounded or killed hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians, including children, with impunity. Troops engaged in routine acts of sadistic violence usually associated with demented Nazi concentration camp guards. And what Turse describes is a woefully incomplete portrait, since he found that "an astonishing number of marine court-martial records of the era have apparently been destroyed or gone missing," and "most air force and navy criminal investigation files that may have existed seem to have met the same fate."
The few incidents of wanton killing in Vietnam -- and this is also true for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- that did become public, such as My Lai, were dismissed as an aberration, the result of a few soldiers or Marines gone bad. But, as Turse makes clear, such massacres were and are, in our current imperial adventures, commonplace. The slaughters "were the inevitable outcome of deliberate policies, dictated at the highest levels of the military," he writes. They were carried out because the dominant tactic of the war, as conceived by our politicians and generals, was centered on the concept of "overkill." And when troops on the ground could not kill fast enough, the gunships, helicopters, fighter jets and bombers came to their assistance. The U.S. Air Force contributed to the demented quest for "overkill" -- eradicating so many of the enemy that recuperation was theoretically impossible -- by dropping the equivalent of 640 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs on Vietnam, most actually falling on the south where our purported Vietnamese allies resided. And planes didn't just drop bombs. They unloaded more than 70 million tons of herbicidal agents, 3 million white phosphorus rockets -- white phosphorous will burn its way entirely through a body -- and an estimated 400,000 tons of jellied incendiary napalm. "Thirty-five percent of the victims," Turse writes, "died within fifteen to twenty minutes." Death from the skies, like death on the ground, was often unleashed capriciously. "It was not out of the ordinary for U.S. troops in Vietnam to blast a whole village or bombard a wide area in an effort to kill a single sniper," Turse writes.
unhappycamper comment: Iraq: think Fallaujah.
Afghanistan: think Baghram AFB.
March 14, 2013
BriGette McCoy, former specialist in the U.S. Army, testifies Wednesday in Washington
Military rape victims: Stop blaming us
By Josh Levs and Ashley Fantz, CNN
updated 7:16 AM EDT, Thu March 14, 2013
(CNN) -- BriGette McCoy described how she was raped on her first military assignment, two weeks before her 19th birthday. She described how, later that year, she was raped by another soldier in her unit.
Then came sexual harassment by two officers -- including one who requested that she be moved to work directly for him, she said Wednesday.
Testifying before lawmakers, the former Army specialist described the "anguish" and "entrapment" she felt, and the horror of the ordeal that followed.
"I no longer have any faith or hope that the military chain of command will consistently prosecute, convict, sentence and carry out the sentencing of sexual predators in uniform without absconding justice somehow," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on personnel.
unhappycamper comment: We're talking about 19,000 military sexual assaults per year.
Military rape victims: Stop blaming us
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/13/us/military-sexual-assault/?hpt=hp_t2BriGette McCoy, former specialist in the U.S. Army, testifies Wednesday in Washington
Military rape victims: Stop blaming us
By Josh Levs and Ashley Fantz, CNN
updated 7:16 AM EDT, Thu March 14, 2013
(CNN) -- BriGette McCoy described how she was raped on her first military assignment, two weeks before her 19th birthday. She described how, later that year, she was raped by another soldier in her unit.
Then came sexual harassment by two officers -- including one who requested that she be moved to work directly for him, she said Wednesday.
Testifying before lawmakers, the former Army specialist described the "anguish" and "entrapment" she felt, and the horror of the ordeal that followed.
"I no longer have any faith or hope that the military chain of command will consistently prosecute, convict, sentence and carry out the sentencing of sexual predators in uniform without absconding justice somehow," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on personnel.
unhappycamper comment: We're talking about 19,000 military sexual assaults per year.
March 14, 2013
TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OVERBUDGET ... FIGHTER PROGRAM PRESSES ON
F-35 Debacle: No End In Sight
By fitsnews – March 13, 2013
The United States Department of Defense (USDOD) is less than one-third complete with the testing process for its “next generation” of fighter jets – the various F-35 models it has been planning since 2001.Meanwhile a government watchdog group told Reuters $12.7 billion would have to be budgeted annual through 2037 to finish the project … which has been marred by repeated delays.
Despite these figures, military leaders say they are adamant the F-35 program will not be adversely impacted by the recent federal sequester – a modest reduction in government spending after years of unsustainable excess.
In 2001, the Pentagon announced plans to build 2,866 jets at a total cost of $233 billion. As of last summer, it was promising fewer than 2,500 jets at a total cost of $400 billion. In other words, the cost per aircraft has more than doubled.
That’s pathetic … and a case study in Pentagon mismanagement.
F-35 Debacle: No End In Sight
http://www.fitsnews.com/2013/03/13/f-35-debacle-no-end-in-sight/TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OVERBUDGET ... FIGHTER PROGRAM PRESSES ON
F-35 Debacle: No End In Sight
By fitsnews – March 13, 2013
The United States Department of Defense (USDOD) is less than one-third complete with the testing process for its “next generation” of fighter jets – the various F-35 models it has been planning since 2001.Meanwhile a government watchdog group told Reuters $12.7 billion would have to be budgeted annual through 2037 to finish the project … which has been marred by repeated delays.
Despite these figures, military leaders say they are adamant the F-35 program will not be adversely impacted by the recent federal sequester – a modest reduction in government spending after years of unsustainable excess.
In 2001, the Pentagon announced plans to build 2,866 jets at a total cost of $233 billion. As of last summer, it was promising fewer than 2,500 jets at a total cost of $400 billion. In other words, the cost per aircraft has more than doubled.
That’s pathetic … and a case study in Pentagon mismanagement.
March 14, 2013
Salvage work on USS Guardian reaches halfway mark
March 14, 2013 1:25pm
Basahin sa Filipino
Salvage work on the grounded minesweeper USS Guardian has reached the halfway mark, the Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday.
Coast Guard Palawan head and Task Force Tubbataha chief Commodore Enrico Evangelista said they continue to make good progress so far, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported.
Evangelista cited reports from the crew aboard the JASCON 25 indicating the progress of the salvage work has reached 50 percent.
But he said they are now monitoring the weather as state weather forecasters indicated a chance of big waves in the area on Friday.
unhappycamper comment: Some pics are available; google images: uss guardian salvage operation
Salvage work on USS Guardian reaches halfway mark
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/299238/news/regions/salvage-work-on-uss-guardian-reaches-halfway-markSalvage work on USS Guardian reaches halfway mark
March 14, 2013 1:25pm
Basahin sa Filipino
Salvage work on the grounded minesweeper USS Guardian has reached the halfway mark, the Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday.
Coast Guard Palawan head and Task Force Tubbataha chief Commodore Enrico Evangelista said they continue to make good progress so far, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported.
Evangelista cited reports from the crew aboard the JASCON 25 indicating the progress of the salvage work has reached 50 percent.
But he said they are now monitoring the weather as state weather forecasters indicated a chance of big waves in the area on Friday.
unhappycamper comment: Some pics are available; google images: uss guardian salvage operation
March 14, 2013
Afghanistan faces cash hole
By Richard Sale
Mar 14, '13
WASHINGTON - Next year's drawdown of United States forces and decline in US aid will leave in its wake an Afghan political system lacking legitimacy and stability, according to interviews with Afghanistan experts, news reports and congressional studies.
Despite receiving tens of billions of dollars in US funding, Afghanistan's government has failed to sustain Washington-built development projects, experts here are warning, including the training and equipping of Afghan police and security forces.
Much of this is due to corruption on the part of US private contractors, lax US and Afghan government controls, and the innate weakness of Hamid Karzai's government. Without adequate security, reconstruction either comes to a halt or continues without the necessary oversight.
~snip~
In fact, corruption on the part of both Afghan and US private contractors consumes much of US aid to Afghanistan, according to studies, US officials and analysts. More than 100 cases of corruption, by both US contractors and Afghan subcontractors, have gone officially ignored, and when US Government Accountability Office auditors looked at the programs, they were not shown the uncompleted projects SIGAR found in 2011.
Afghanistan faces cash hole
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-03-140313.htmlAfghanistan faces cash hole
By Richard Sale
Mar 14, '13
WASHINGTON - Next year's drawdown of United States forces and decline in US aid will leave in its wake an Afghan political system lacking legitimacy and stability, according to interviews with Afghanistan experts, news reports and congressional studies.
Despite receiving tens of billions of dollars in US funding, Afghanistan's government has failed to sustain Washington-built development projects, experts here are warning, including the training and equipping of Afghan police and security forces.
Much of this is due to corruption on the part of US private contractors, lax US and Afghan government controls, and the innate weakness of Hamid Karzai's government. Without adequate security, reconstruction either comes to a halt or continues without the necessary oversight.
~snip~
In fact, corruption on the part of both Afghan and US private contractors consumes much of US aid to Afghanistan, according to studies, US officials and analysts. More than 100 cases of corruption, by both US contractors and Afghan subcontractors, have gone officially ignored, and when US Government Accountability Office auditors looked at the programs, they were not shown the uncompleted projects SIGAR found in 2011.
March 12, 2013
GCV And Beyond: How The Army Is Gettin' Heavy After Afghanistan
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: March 11, 2013
America's Army has developed a bit of a split personality of late. On the one hand, the top brass has very publicly embraced the administration's January 2012 strategic guidance that emphasizes "innovative, low-cost, and small-footprint approaches" and "building partner capacity" in lieu of large ground force deployments. Leaders from Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno on down talk up the Army's capabilities in cyberspace, missile defense, seaborne operations, and small advisor teams.
At the same time, the service's biggest new weapons program remains the controversial Ground Combat Vehicle, an estimated $34 billion program to build what could be 70-ton-plus behemoths optimized for all-out land war. "Low-cost" and "small-footprint" it ain't. ("Innovative" it may be; read on). And GCV is just the tip of the armored iceberg.
Outside the Washington spotlight, the Army is quietly trying to heavy up. There are plans to upgrade Humvee-mounted scout troops to tank-like Bradleys, add back light armored vehicles to the 82nd Airborne, and buy a new, better-protected Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to replace the aging, vulnerable M113s in support units. (A formal request for proposals on AMPV will come out soon). In less tangible ways as well, from brigade organization to training scenarios, the Army is working to reemphasize straight-ahead ground fighting power.
Such military heavy metal is unfashionable, at odds with both the past decade of "hearts and minds" counterinsurgency and the new focus on Special Operations, drones, and cyberwar. But the Army has a point.
GCV And Beyond: How The Army Is Gettin' Heavy After Afghanistan
http://defense.aol.com/2013/03/11/gcv-and-beyond-how-the-army-is-gettin-heavy-after-afghanistan/GCV And Beyond: How The Army Is Gettin' Heavy After Afghanistan
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: March 11, 2013
America's Army has developed a bit of a split personality of late. On the one hand, the top brass has very publicly embraced the administration's January 2012 strategic guidance that emphasizes "innovative, low-cost, and small-footprint approaches" and "building partner capacity" in lieu of large ground force deployments. Leaders from Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno on down talk up the Army's capabilities in cyberspace, missile defense, seaborne operations, and small advisor teams.
At the same time, the service's biggest new weapons program remains the controversial Ground Combat Vehicle, an estimated $34 billion program to build what could be 70-ton-plus behemoths optimized for all-out land war. "Low-cost" and "small-footprint" it ain't. ("Innovative" it may be; read on). And GCV is just the tip of the armored iceberg.
Outside the Washington spotlight, the Army is quietly trying to heavy up. There are plans to upgrade Humvee-mounted scout troops to tank-like Bradleys, add back light armored vehicles to the 82nd Airborne, and buy a new, better-protected Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to replace the aging, vulnerable M113s in support units. (A formal request for proposals on AMPV will come out soon). In less tangible ways as well, from brigade organization to training scenarios, the Army is working to reemphasize straight-ahead ground fighting power.
Such military heavy metal is unfashionable, at odds with both the past decade of "hearts and minds" counterinsurgency and the new focus on Special Operations, drones, and cyberwar. But the Army has a point.
March 12, 2013
A Sexual Predator
This whole thing really pisses me off. Back in my day this kinds shit would get your ass booted out with a BCD. More than likely, Sinclair will walk away with his military pension intact.
If the military wants to get sexual attacks under control I'd suggest BCDs.
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/03/10/1238798?sac=fo.military
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair also fights accusations in court of public opinion online
By Drew Brooks
Published: 07:40 AM, Mon Mar 11, 2013
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, once seen as a rising star and combat-proven commander, is fighting two battles.
The first, for his freedom, is taking place in a Fort Bragg courtroom.
The second, for his reputation, is playing out on the Internet.
~snip~
Sinclair is facing 25 specifications of eight charges, including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, indecent acts, attempting to violate a lawful order, maltreatment, conduct unbecoming an officer, adultery and communicating threats.
--
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/02/21/1238854
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair hires more lawyers; judge to keep prosecutors on case
By Drew Brooks
Published: 07:19 AM, Fri Feb 22, 2013
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair had doubts about whether his Army lawyers could fairly defend him against charges of sexual misconduct.
Sinclair on Thursday told Col. James L. Pohl, the judge overseeing his court-martial, that he wrote a letter to the judge advocate general that included a statement about his defense counsel. In it, Sinclair said his lawyers had expressed concerns about a negative effect on their careers because they are representing him.
Sinclair, a former deputy commanding general for the 82nd Airborne Division, is charged with having an illicit affair and engaging in wrongful sexual conduct.
"My perspective, based on watching the case earlier, . I had a belief. I was concerned," Sinclair told Pohl.
--
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/01/22/1232175
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair defers plea in arraignment; court-martial set for May
By Drew Brooks
Published: 07:24 AM, Wed Jan 23, 2013
A Fort Bragg general charged with having an illicit affair and engaging in wrongful sexual conduct deferred entering a plea in his first appearance at a Fort Bragg courthouse.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was in court for more than five hours Tuesday, the first pretrial hearing in the case against him.
Sinclair faces 25 specifications of eight charges, including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, indecent acts, attempting to violate a lawful order, maltreatment, conduct unbecoming an officer, adultery and communicating threats.
The charges stem from allegations of inappropriate relationships with several women who were under Sinclair's command before or at the time of the alleged crimes.
--
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/01/21/1231913
Sex scandals a major reason military leaders are fired
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
The Associated Press
Published: 08:58 PM, Sun Jan 20, 2013
WASHINGTON - Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, fired from his command in Afghanistan last May and now facing a court-martial on charges of sodomy, adultery and pornography and more, is just one in a long line of commanders whose careers were ended because of possible sexual misconduct.
Sex has proved to be the downfall of presidents, members of Congress and other notables. It's also among the chief reasons that senior military officers are fired.
At least 30 percent of military commanders fired over the past eight years lost their jobs because of sexually related offenses, including harassment, adultery, and improper relationships, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.
The figures bear out growing concerns by Defense Department and military leaders over declining ethical values among U.S. forces, and they highlight the pervasiveness of a problem that came into sharp relief because of the resignation of one of the Army's most esteemed generals, David Petraeus, and the investigation of a second general, John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
March 12, 2013
CIA ramps up role in Iraq
Dow Jones
Published: 15:07 March 12, 2013
Washington: The Central Intelligence Agency is ramping up support to elite Iraqi anti-terrorism units to better fight Al Qaida affiliates, amid alarm in Washington about spillover from the civil war in neighbouring Syria, according to US officials.
The stepped-up mission expands a covert US presence on the edges of the two-year-old Syrian conflict, at a time of American concerns about the growing power of extremists in the Syrian rebellion.
Al Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist network’s affiliate in the country, has close ties to Syria-based Jabhat Al Nusra, also known as the Al Nusra Front, an opposition militant group that has attacked government installations and controls territory in northern Syria. The US State Department placed Al Nusra on its list of foreign terror organisations in December, calling the group an alias for Al Qaida in Iraq.
In a series of secret decisions from 2011 to late 2012, the White House directed the CIA to provide support to Iraq’s Counterterrorism Service, or CTS, a force that reports directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, officials said.
unhappycamper comment: Don't you just love all these secret decisions and secret wars? Me neither.
CIA ramps up role in Iraq
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/cia-ramps-up-role-in-iraq-1.1157223CIA ramps up role in Iraq
Dow Jones
Published: 15:07 March 12, 2013
Washington: The Central Intelligence Agency is ramping up support to elite Iraqi anti-terrorism units to better fight Al Qaida affiliates, amid alarm in Washington about spillover from the civil war in neighbouring Syria, according to US officials.
The stepped-up mission expands a covert US presence on the edges of the two-year-old Syrian conflict, at a time of American concerns about the growing power of extremists in the Syrian rebellion.
Al Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist network’s affiliate in the country, has close ties to Syria-based Jabhat Al Nusra, also known as the Al Nusra Front, an opposition militant group that has attacked government installations and controls territory in northern Syria. The US State Department placed Al Nusra on its list of foreign terror organisations in December, calling the group an alias for Al Qaida in Iraq.
In a series of secret decisions from 2011 to late 2012, the White House directed the CIA to provide support to Iraq’s Counterterrorism Service, or CTS, a force that reports directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, officials said.
unhappycamper comment: Don't you just love all these secret decisions and secret wars? Me neither.
March 12, 2013
The rough road ahead for Afghanistan
Allison MacDonald, @politicalli
5:47 PM on 03/11/2013
Chuck Hagel’s first trip as Defense Secretary to Afghanistan underscored what a political quagmire the war-torn country has become.
As Hagel arrived in Kabul over the weekend, two suicide bombs exploded nearby; Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai accused the U.S. of colluding with the Taliban; and only hours after Hagel left, a gunman wearing an Afghan Security Forces uniform opened fire during a meeting in Eastern Afghanistan, killing two U.S. soldiers.
After more than eleven years of war in Afghanistan, Monday’s NOW with Alex Wagner panel discussed what has been accomplished, the challenges that lie ahead, and weighed the successes and failures of President Obama’s approach to national security and foreign affairs.
~snip~
“You begin to wonder,” said The New Yorker’s Rick Hertzberg, “when are countries going to learn that it’s a mug’s game to go and try to run Afghanistan? The British learned it; the Russians learned it; now we’ve learned it.
unhappycamper comment: The Brits are on their third try at Afghanistan. Maybe they will learn this time.
Americans haven't learned shit.
If you read the article, it says "This war has cost the U.S. $470 billion....".
The United States had been flying evertything, repeat evertything after Pakistan closed its border for the better part of a year. Methinks the $470 billion dollars quoted for this quagmire is a tad low.
The rough road ahead for Afghanistan
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/11/the-rough-road-ahead-for-afghanistan/The rough road ahead for Afghanistan
Allison MacDonald, @politicalli
5:47 PM on 03/11/2013
Chuck Hagel’s first trip as Defense Secretary to Afghanistan underscored what a political quagmire the war-torn country has become.
As Hagel arrived in Kabul over the weekend, two suicide bombs exploded nearby; Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai accused the U.S. of colluding with the Taliban; and only hours after Hagel left, a gunman wearing an Afghan Security Forces uniform opened fire during a meeting in Eastern Afghanistan, killing two U.S. soldiers.
After more than eleven years of war in Afghanistan, Monday’s NOW with Alex Wagner panel discussed what has been accomplished, the challenges that lie ahead, and weighed the successes and failures of President Obama’s approach to national security and foreign affairs.
~snip~
“You begin to wonder,” said The New Yorker’s Rick Hertzberg, “when are countries going to learn that it’s a mug’s game to go and try to run Afghanistan? The British learned it; the Russians learned it; now we’ve learned it.
unhappycamper comment: The Brits are on their third try at Afghanistan. Maybe they will learn this time.
Americans haven't learned shit.
If you read the article, it says "This war has cost the U.S. $470 billion....".
The United States had been flying evertything, repeat evertything after Pakistan closed its border for the better part of a year. Methinks the $470 billion dollars quoted for this quagmire is a tad low.
March 12, 2013
Desperate times: Marines told to 'save every round'
Kevin Liptak
March 11th, 2013 02:01 PM ET
(CNN) – United States Marines are being told to preserve ammunition and gasoline as a deal softening the impact of automatic spending cuts continues to elude leaders in Washington.
Marine Corps Commandant James Amos urged personnel in a video posted online Friday to "save every round, every gallon of gas," and to "take every single aspect or opportunity in training to get the most bang for the buck," a reminder of the cuts' immediate effect on the U.S. military.
The Marine Corps and other branches are being forced to cut billions from their budgets as the result of the spending cuts, which were triggered March 1 when Congress and the White House failed to strike a deal reducing the federal debt. In a letter to all Marines dated March 2, Amos said his branch would cut $1.4 billion in 2013 and $2 billion in every ensuing year for nearly a decade.
State-by-state reports produced by the White House indicated the military slashes would be seen in delayed maintenance for military equipment and canceled air shows, along with furloughs for civilian defense personnel. Salaries for enlisted personnel are exempt from the budget cuts.
Desperate times: Marines told to 'save every round'
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/11/desperate-times-marines-told-to-save-every-round/?iref=allsearchDesperate times: Marines told to 'save every round'
Kevin Liptak
March 11th, 2013 02:01 PM ET
(CNN) – United States Marines are being told to preserve ammunition and gasoline as a deal softening the impact of automatic spending cuts continues to elude leaders in Washington.
Marine Corps Commandant James Amos urged personnel in a video posted online Friday to "save every round, every gallon of gas," and to "take every single aspect or opportunity in training to get the most bang for the buck," a reminder of the cuts' immediate effect on the U.S. military.
The Marine Corps and other branches are being forced to cut billions from their budgets as the result of the spending cuts, which were triggered March 1 when Congress and the White House failed to strike a deal reducing the federal debt. In a letter to all Marines dated March 2, Amos said his branch would cut $1.4 billion in 2013 and $2 billion in every ensuing year for nearly a decade.
State-by-state reports produced by the White House indicated the military slashes would be seen in delayed maintenance for military equipment and canceled air shows, along with furloughs for civilian defense personnel. Salaries for enlisted personnel are exempt from the budget cuts.
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