Unsurprisingly, Americans are now finding out President Donald Trump didn’t bother to extend his condolences, prayers or appreciation to the families of four dead soldiers who died in Niger. But due to public and media pressure, Trump recently reached out to one of the dead ...read more
The story broken today about Donald Trump's failure to make good on a promise to pay the father of a fallen soldier is a shocking illustration of just how sociopathic the president is. Reported the Washington Post: President Trump, in a personal phone call to a grieving ...read more
If there’s one clear example of continuation from the Obama to Trump administrations, it’s that the war in Afghanistan has no end in sight. Fifteen years in, it remains the longest military conflict the United States has been involved in. The most recent evaluations from generals ...read more
Donald Trump can’t govern. More specifically, Donald Trump doesn’t want to govern. We’re just shy of 90 days into his administration and already he’s shown a stunning lack of depth and appreciation for the job at hand. This past week alone, he reversed course on six major ...read more
“There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am" - Donald Trump In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security, at the Department of Defense's request, issued a policy memo that protected the spouses, parents and children of active-duty military members from being ...read more
If ever there were a country that could benefit from being invaded by wealthy industrialized super powers looking to plunder their natural resources and create a Coca Cola friendly corporate capitalist system, it is North Korea. Last month, vice premier Choe Yong Gon was ...read more
When Mike Huckabee visited a shooting range in Johnston, Iowa on Monday, he was asked by an audience whether he thought the government should be able to limit 'what type of arms a person a law abiding person can purchase'. Huckabee gave a rather alarming answer: We should have ...read more
Vice President Joe Biden took aim at Sith Lord Dick Cheney on Wednesday at a gathering of young progressives, slamming his predecessor for insisting that the military budget "ought to be our top priority for spending. Not food stamps, not highways, or anything else." In his ...read more
For writers, thinkers and opinion makers in the West, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was the exclamation point that concluded all debate about the value of free-market Capitalism. Not only was this system of distributing resources efficient, it was also morally correct. ...read more
By Lawrence Davidson There is an American tradition of frequent war. Indeed, over the course of the country’s history the United States has been at war almost constantly. Some of these have been relatively short conflicts like interventions in various Central American venues. ...read more
By Lawrence S. Wittner According to a report just released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditures in 2012 totaled $1.75 trillion. And, the report revealed that, as in all recent decades, the world’s biggest military spender ...read more
He may not be Mr. Smith but Senator Rand Paul did exactly what I like to see Senators do, he executed an old school filibuster. Sorry, Bob Cesca but I read the Eric Holder letter and to be honest, I think Paul has a point. Here's the actual letter. The language that started ...read more
For most of the country, March means one thing: college basketball. This year, in Washington, DC it means something completely different. The madness to which I refer is what’s happening with our federal budget. If you are not troubled by the fact that we are facing this ...read more
A U.S. military rescue team secures a landing site in Afghanistan after being being lowered from an HH-60 Pave Hawk during a mission Nov. 7, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder) By Paul R. Pillar As budgetary battles proceed with competing rhetorical ...read more
The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From TPM: Women in the Army and Marines will no longer be banned from combat roles under new guidelines from departing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. According to multiple reports, the new rules would be implemented gradually and give the ...read more
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. By Ivan Eland More than 11 years after the 9/11 attacks, the American public is still barraged with sensational media coverage of the occasional uncovering of a terrorist plot. Many of these are so-called sting operations, which, rather than ...read more
An EA-18G Growler taxis off the flightline at Naval Air Facility Misawa, Japan, on Dec. 28, 2012. (Defense Department photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Kenneth G. TakadaClose) By Ivan Eland: The strength of the military-industrial complex (MIC) was made readily apparent by ...read more
The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From the Politico: WASHINGTON - U.S. officials say the Pentagon is moving two warships to the Libyan coast, in the aftermath of the attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three others. Officials say one destroyer, the USS ...read more
The Daily Banter Headline Grab (via The Huffington Post): LUDOWICI, Ga. — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of ...read more
The Daily Banter Headline Grab (via Yahoo! News): President Barack Obama warned Monday that he would consider military force if Syria's Bashar Assad either tries to relocate his regime's arsenal of chemical and biological weapons or attempts to use them on his own people in a ...read more
By Chez Pazienza: Let me make it clear right off the bat: I've only seen a few extended promo clips of NBC's shockingly silly new competitive reality series, Stars Earn Stripes. I haven't watched a full episode of the show itself and don't intend to; the commercials for this ...read more
No, really, you guys are making this waytoo easy. Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits. ...read more
I understand the science behind it, but the notion that there should be a military ban on smoking doesn't make any sense to me. When you sign up you put yourself in peril, and in many cases these men and women make the ultimate sacrifice in service of the country. In light of ...read more
Just do it. Unlike 16 years ago, the US is waging two wars and 'Don't ask, don't tell' is no longer supported by the majority of the American people. The percentage of Americans that support allowing gay people to serve openly has risen from 44 percent in 1993 to 75 percent ...read more
There isn't a good reason for President Obama to not rescind the ban on gays in the military. Logistically, we need them, and politically - no price to pay. Do it. ...read more
We're losing an Arabic linguist in the Army because he's gay. I wonder if President Obama still thinks its still a good idea to kick the can about Don't Ask further down the road? Let's get this done. ...read more
Kudos to The Mudville Gazette for debunking the video floating around deceptively trying to contrast the military receptions for President Obama and President Bush. ...read more
Crisis. And as a recent Defense Department study revealed, the number of overweight active-duty troops has more than doubled during the past 10 years. ‘We have a crisis in this country,’ Gilroy said during a March 3 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s military ...read more
The Constitution: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of ...read more
I know when I look for an "independent journalist" to corroborate facts, the first person in my Rolodex is Iran Conra liar Oliver North. I'm sure the same is true of most people. ...read more
They support the troops so much they can't tell the difference between Walter Reed Middle School and Walter Reed Hospital. All the troops are is a backdrop to them anyways. Americans United reminds McCain where Walter Reed is. ...read more
Sen. Obama leads in donations from troops stationed abroad as well as overall military donations. I understand that this is good for John McCain. ...read more
If you want to serve, who cares what gender the person in your bed is? A House panel weighed overturning the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy Wednesday, the first time Congress has considered the rule since it was implemented 15 years ago. The policy, adopted in 1993, ...read more
Here is the roll call. Ted Kennedy - who just got out of the hospital Tom Coburn John McCain 3/4 of the Senate voted for the bill. All the votes against the bill were Republicans. ...read more
Its like the credibility of our government is suspect or something. The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday's bombardment of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Gen David Petraeus told the BBC he thought Tehran had trained, ...read more
Brent Bozell (real name: Captain Redbeard) is just up in arms over how Bill Clinton destroyed the military. You know, the same military that was able to invade Afghanistan, and at least militarily pull of an invasion of Iraq. You gotta figure that at Casa Bozell when they play ...read more
Army Specialist Monica Lin Brown has earned a silver star for her service in Afghanistan. Now look, if the excrement hit the fan I for one would much rather Specialist Brown be the one we rely on than someone like me who would be allowed front line duty simply because I'm a male. ...read more
