200 US troops are headed to Jordan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today. Their stated purpose is to help contain violence spilling over from the Syrian conflict, and according to Mohammad al-Momani, Jordan’s Minister of State for Information, they should be arriving “in the next few weeks.” This is a significant announcement, but we’re betting it’ll get buried under all the news today about gun control legislation and the Boston explosion. And that’s a shame. source
“The time has come”: The letter, sent by Gen. Martin E. Dempsey to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, which may be about to pave the way for allowing women in combat zones. (ht @pbump)
Screw it. It’s the middle of the night. Might as well do something interesting with this crazy military scandal. Anyway: Here’s the story | Here’s the font
Most Americans see the establishment center as an empty, decaying void that commands neither their confidence nor their love. It is the establishment center that has led us into the stupidest and cruelest war in all history. That war is a moral and political disaster — a terrible cancer eating away the soul of the nation. … It was not the American worker who designed the Vietnam war or our military machine. It was the establishment wise men, the academicians of the center.
— George McGovern on war and the politics that produce war, from a campaign speech in April 1972. (via Reason)
Statements like this have earned McGovern huge respect among progressives even to this day.
I’ve been throughout that whole country… the fact is we went there for one reason, to get those people who killed Americans. Al-qaeda. We have decimated al-qaeda central, we have killed Osama bin Laden.Joe Biden, finally name dropping Osama bin Laden in the debate’s Afghanistan segment. Biden and Ryan clashed earlier over looming defense cuts forced by last year’s sequestration deal – Biden advocated for a “leaner” military with more special forces, while Ryan denounced the deal’s mandatory cuts, despite having voted for them in congress.
After 469 days in orbit, a X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle has touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, bringing to an end a lengthy, classified military mission. The spacecraft, made by Boeing, is reusable and unmanned. In a statement, the Air Force said the “newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft” performed in space and successfully landed “safely and successfully.” source
“On Sunday, in discussing the uses of the word “hero” to describe those members of the armed forces who have given their lives, I don’t think I lived up to the standards of rigor, respect and empathy for those affected by the issues we discuss that I’ve set for myself. I am deeply sorry for that.
As many have rightly pointed out, it’s very easy for me, a TV host, to opine about the people who fight our wars, having never dodged a bullet or guarded a post or walked a mile in their boots. Of course, that is true of the overwhelming majority of our nation’s citizens as a whole. One of the points made during Sunday’s show was just how removed most Americans are from the wars we fight, how small a percentage of our population is asked to shoulder the entire burden and how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are wounded and fight and die, to not ask questions about the direction of our strategy in Afghanistan, and to assuage our own collective guilt about this disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to our barbecues.
But in seeking to discuss the civilian-military divide and the social distance between those who fight and those who don’t, I ended up reinforcing it, conforming to a stereotype of a removed pundit whose views are not anchored in the very real and very wrenching experience of this long decade of war. And for that I am truly sorry.”
An update to our earlier post on the matter.
The J-20 stealth fighter, which former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates predicted wouldn’t be ready before 2020, may be ready as early as 2018 according to new estimates from the Pentagon. The new report, which also reveals that China possesses at least 3 nuclear-capable submarines, includes other information that surprised many top U.S. defense officials. While it did reiterate the commonly held belief that China will not fully catch up to the United States military before 2020, there are certainly new developments which have the Pengaton’s attention. (Photo via roberthuffstutter) source
![producermatthew:
Massive Military Mistake: The U.S. Defense Department admitted on Monday that an airstrike in Afghanistan three days earlier accidentally killed a mother and her five children. The airstrike mistakenly targeted a family home in the Sangin district, according to the New York Times. The strike was in retaliation for a Taliban attack, the paper said. The regional commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, is expected to issue a formal apology for the strike in a few days. [Photo: AP]
New York Times: U.S. confirms Afghan strike that killed mom, children
Feels like the U.S. is stepping on eggshells after prior incidents hurt their rep in the region.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3pxi9rCCK1qz5ew6o1_500.jpg)
Massive Military Mistake: The U.S. Defense Department admitted on Monday that an airstrike in Afghanistan three days earlier accidentally killed a mother and her five children. The airstrike mistakenly targeted a family home in the Sangin district, according to the New York Times. The strike was in retaliation for a Taliban attack, the paper said. The regional commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, is expected to issue a formal apology for the strike in a few days. [Photo: AP]
New York Times: U.S. confirms Afghan strike that killed mom, children
Feels like the U.S. is stepping on eggshells after prior incidents hurt their rep in the region.
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
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Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
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I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
» An Afghan soldier opened fire on members of the U.S. military, from a nearby rooftop, killing one soldier and the local interpreter who was accompanying him. The gunman managed to wound three more soldiers before being killed by return fire. Three United States soldiers were also killed in eastern Afghanistan, all victims of a bombing, as were three Afghan women after the house they sought shelter in was hit by a Taliban mortar shell. Details on all of the deceased were released under the condition of anonymity by U.S. officials.
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The U.S. and China Have Been conducting Cyber War Games, designed to prevent the sudden escalation of military force should either country suspect it’s being targeted, according to a new report in the Guardian. In the first of two simulated exercises, officials from each side were asked to describe how they would respond should their country fall victim to a massive cyber-attack similar to Stuxnet. In the second, they were asked how they would respond if they knew the attack had originated from the opposing side. Unsurprisingly, China’s obviously-capable performance in the games left several officials worried. source
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POLITICO: Five members of the U.S. military stationed in Colombia violated curfew and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct.— Stefan Becket (@stefanjbecket) April 14, 2012
Some breaking news from Colombia, where the President is attending the Summit Of The Americas. Politico quotes General Douglas Fraser as saying he’s “disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military.” This ties in uncomfortably with yesterday’s news regarding prostitution use by some members of the Secret Service – it all took place in the same hotel, which also happens to be where President Obama himself is staying. All in all, this is becoming a major black eye for the United States.
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