Military Glance
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came home with sweaty palms from his mid-February visit to Israel. Ever since, he has been worrying aloud that Israel might mousetrap the U.S. into war with Iran.
This is especially worrying, because Mullen has had considerable experience in putting the brakes on such Israeli plans in the past. This time, he appears convinced that the Israeli leaders did not take his earlier warnings seriously — notwithstanding the unusually strong language he put into play.
Upon arrival in Jerusalem on Feb. 14, Mullen wasted no time in making clear why he had come. He insisted publicly that an attack on Iran would be “a big, big, big problem for all of us, and I worry a great deal about the unintended consequences.”
Mullen wary of Israeli attack on Iran
Young veterans face steep unemployment
Young combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have another challenge waiting for them when they return home: steep unemployment. More than 1 in 5 can't find work, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. The unemployment rate last year for veterans ages 18 to 24 reached 21.1%, compared to 16.6% for that age group as a whole.In addition to the recession, veterans groups attribute the high jobless rate to a lack of education, job experience and job training in the years before entering the service. Also, many return home with health and mental health problems that make it difficult to find work.
"When a person is deployed, it takes them out of their natural environment and they're not out there able to compete with the general public for jobs," said Joseph Sharpe, director of the economic division of the American Legion. "And when they return, they're not on an even playing field."
More...
Commander Defends Okinawa Marine Base
Everyone agrees the base on southern Japan's Okinawa Island should be shut down and moved. The problem is where. Col. Dale Smith, who commands the base, is undaunted.
''We operate just fine out of Futenma,'' he told The Associated Press on Friday in his first interview with the media. ''When a new facility is built and it's fully operational, that's the day that we will close our doors. We do not have any problem with the way we do business out of the current location of Futenma as it is now, though.''
Futenma, which has been used by the U.S. since the closing days of World War II, is a classic ''not in my backyard'' issue. Residents want it shut down and moved.
More:
TVNL Comment: Why does the US still have 18,000 troops in Futenma? Why does the US have miliitary bases in more than 150 countries around the world? Just asking...
Army awards lucrative Iraq support contract to KBR
Defense giant KBR Inc. was awarded a contract potentially worth $2.8 billion for support work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to leave the country, military authorities said Tuesday. KBR was notified of the award Friday, a day after the company told shareholders it lost about $25 million in award fees because of flawed electrical work in Iraq.
The Houston-based company was charged with maintaining the barracks where Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, a 24-year-old Green Beret, was electrocuted in 2008 while showering. The company has denied wrongdoing, and investigators said in August there was "insufficient evidence to prove or disprove" that anyone was criminally culpable in Maseth's death.
TVNL Comment: KBR, formerly a subsidiary of Cheney's Halliburton, is the largest non-union construction company in the United States.
Military suicides are causing civilian casualties, too
Last month, the Defense Department reported that there were 160 reported active-duty Army suicides in 2009, up from 140 in 2008. Of these, 114 have been confirmed, while the cause of death in the remaining 46 has yet to be determined.
While the military's suicide rate is comparable to civilian rates, the increase is alarming because the armed services traditionally had lower suicide rates than the general population. The increase in military suicides includes men between the ages of 18-30, mid-career officers and, increasingly, women. The numbers don't tell the whole story.
Some Iraq, Afghanistan war veterans criticize movie 'Hurt Locker' as inaccurate
Critics adore the film and it has been nominated for nine Oscars -- a feat matched only by "Avatar," the top-grossing movie of all time -- but Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says that's "nine more Oscar nominations than it deserves. I don't know why critics love this silly, inaccurate film so much," he wrote on his Facebook page.
"[I]f this movie was based on a war that never existed, I would have nothing to comment about. This movie is not based on a true story, but on a true war, a war in which I have seen my friends killed, a war in which I witnessed my ranger buddy get both his legs blown off. So for Hollywood to glorify this crap is a huge slap in the face to every soldier who's been on the front line."
Report on Marines' water omitted cancer chemical
An environmental contractor dramatically underreported the level of a cancer-causing chemical found in tap water at Camp Lejeune, then omitted it altogether as the Marine base prepared for a federal health review, an Associated Press review has found.The Marine Corps had been warned nearly a decade earlier about the dangerously high levels of benzene, which was traced to massive leaks from fuel tanks at the base on the North Carolina coast, according to recently disclosed studies.
More...
More Articles...
Page 66 of 94
