Relatives of the 17 Iraqis killed by American mercenary forces employed by the Blackwater corporation (now called Xe after months of bad press) were stunned to learn that the case against the mercenaries was thrown out. Sahib Nassir’s 26-year-old son, Mehdi, a taxi driver, was shot in the back and died during the incident. He…
Category: Military
Unanswered Questions About Fort Hood Madness
The story of the day is one of madness. Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed at least 12 of his fellow soldiers today at Fort Hood and no one really knows why. Perhaps he was resentful about an upcoming deployment to Iraq. Frankly that explanation doesn’t pass muster. What then could Hasan’s motive been in attacking his fellow soldiers?
Obama Planning to Slash Defense Budget
Fox News is reporting that Barack Obama has asked the military’s Joint Chiefs for Staff to cut the defense budget by 10% for FY 2010. This is an unfortunate “request” given the massive expenditures being planned in virtually every other area of the budget. These proposed cuts are not a good idea for national security…
War Crimes in Gaza, Mogadishu
Jeffery Goldberg wonders if American troops committed war crimes in Somalia while fighting rebels in Mogadishu. The question seems ridiculous at first. What war crimes could be committed against murderous insurgents responsible for a civil war? Goldberg’s big gun, however, is astounding. According to Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, 80% of Somalia casualties…
Military Spending as an Economic Stimuli
Martin Feldstein says that the planned budget cuts at the Department of Defense shouldn’t happen. At first read the idea seems ludicrous. The U.S. already has a huge budget deficit caused in large part by excessive military spending. But Feldstein argues that depleted supplies and overworked equipment should be replaced now and that doing so…
Iraq Thankful for American Troops
Perhaps thankful is too strong of a word. Or perhaps not. 80% of Iraq’s parliament voted for a security pact that will keep American troops in that country for three more years – sounds like they’re glad to have us there. After the madness that’s been happening in Mumbai over the last 2 days and…
Of Hurricanes and Sarah Palin
Republican VP candidate Sarah “Her-icane” Palin did to Barack Obama and Joe Biden what Hurricane Ike is fixin’ to do to Galveston, Houston, and yours truly here in Texas – she blew them away. This will probably be my last post for a couple of days because big, bad Ike is coming our way like…
Draft Indicates Failed Policies
John McCain may not advocate re-instituting the military draft but when given an opportunity he didn’t disagree with the idea either: At a town-hall event in New Mexico today…a woman in the audience told the presumptive Republican nominee, “Senator McCain I truly hope you get the opportunity to chase Bin Laden right to the gates…
Coming Soon: an Army of Atheists?
An army soldier who lost his faith while deployed in Iraq is now suing the U.S. Army because of the prevalence of Christian practices therein. CNN: Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom…
Memorial Day Pics
Courtesy of my dad. 5 more in the post body.