Military Related Headlines 11/13

• Convoy Attack Kills US Soldier, 8 Afghan Civilians [ABC News]

• Military seeks veterans for 'Wounded Warrior' aid [USA Today]

• US General Urges Obama to Keep Missile Defense [ABC News]

• Pentagon to brief Obama team on key decisions [AP via Newsvine]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 11/10

• Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trials [AP via Newsvine]
• Triple Baghdad blasts kill dozens [BBC News]
• Intense Training For Military Surgeons [CBS News]
• Report: US conducted secret ops in Pakistan, Syria [AP via Newvine]
• U.S. troops kill 14 Afghans in disputed gunfight [USA Today]
• Bush: care for wounded troops inspiring [AP via Newsvine]
• Swimming with sharks helps veterans feel whole again [CNN]
• 79% Have High Regard for U.S. Military This Veterans Day [Yahoo News]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 11/6

• Combat Brigade Is Cut 6 Weeks Early in Iraq [Wash Po]

• Blasts in Baghdad kill 6, wound more than 20 [AP via USA Today]

• US Army To Push X-Files Tech Development [Slashdot]

• Airstrikes in Afghanistan increase 31% [USA Today]

• Brooklyn Marine sergeant & wife tortured, slain in Calif.; 4 of his men are arrested [NY Daily News]

• Pakistan Suicide Bombers Kill 19 [CBS News]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 11/5

• U.S. Airstrike Reported to Hit Afghan Wedding [NY Times]

• Army interpreter guilty of spying [BBC News]

• Karzai Demands Obama End Civilian Deaths [ABC News]

• Salon Radio: ACLU on the U.S. Army's domestic deployment [Salon]

• N. Korea says Kim Jong Il visits army units [USA Today]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/27

• US launches raid in Syria after move into Pakistan [AP via Newsvine]
• 20 Reported Dead in U.S. Drone Attack in Pakistan [NY Times]
• US suffers losses in Afghanistan [BBC News]
• Iran Gen. Admits Arming Region's Militants [AP via CBS News]
• Live Blogging an Embed in Ramadi, Day 1 [NY Times]
• U.S. Army Warns Of Twittering Terrorists [CNet via CBS News]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/23

• United States turns over control of 12th Iraqi province [USA Today]
• U.S. Warns Iraq To Accept Security Deal [CBS News]
• 3 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan [AP via USA Today]
• Army combat unit to deploy within U.S. [CNN]
• Bomb Attack on Iraqi Official Kills 11 [NY Times]
• Widows testify in case of Iraq officer killings [AP via USA Today]
• Missiles Kill 8 in Pakistan Airstrike [NY Times]
• Iran urges Iraqis to shun U.S. security [AP]
• Air Force Makes Push For Drone Operators [CBS News]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/22

• Coalition Airstrike Kills 9 Afghan Soldiers, Officials Say [Wash Po]

• ACLU Demands Information On Military Deployment Within U.S. Borders [ACLU]

• Military Opens $15M Hospital For War Dogs [CBS News]

• US want 'James Bond' flying submarine [Telegraph.co.uk]

• Baghdad Bureau: Deciphering Military Acronyms [NY Times]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/9

• FCC deepens probe into Pentagon TV analyst payola [Ars Technica]

• U.S. Military Chief Gives Grim View of Afghanistan [NY Times]

• U.S. tries tough love to reduce Iraq's dependence [USA Today]

• N Korea 'to launch 10 missiles' [BBC News]

• Darpa Launches Secret 'Gandalf' Project [Wired's Danger Room]

• Marines Fund Non-Lethal Heat Ray [Defense Tech]

• Court Weighs Concerns on Whales and Military [NY Times]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/8

• Pentagon source: Strike killed 30 Afghan civilians [USA Today]
• U.S. Military: Tense Encounters With Iran Occur Almost Daily in Strait of Hormuz [FOX News]
  
• Pentagon researches alternative treatments [USA Today]
• Former Iraq Contractor Pleads Guilty To Stealing Almost $40 Million In Army Fuel [AP via Huff Po]
• Gates Asks Iraq Allies To Shift Troops To Afghanistan [AP via Huff Po]
• Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans [CBS News]
• Negroponte Calls Security Deal on Iraq ‘Close’ [NY Times]
• US intelligence: no signs of Korea leader crisis [AP via Newsvine]
• Russia to cut military to 1 million by 2012 [USA Today]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 10/6

• British commander says war in Afghanistan cannot be won [Reuters]

• Air Force's New 'Killer Zombie' Drone [Wired's Danger Room]

• US Military: Iraqi Killed in Helicopter Collision [ABC News]

• Pentagon: China cancels some military contacts [AP via Newsvine]

• Family of 11 killed during U.S. raid, Iraqi police say [CNN]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 9/30

• Taliban Assassins Kill Ranking Policewoman In Afghanistan [AP via Huff Po]

• Army creates suicide prevention board [CNN]

• Pentagon announces 2009 deployments to Iraq [AP via Newsvine]

• Ultrasound gadget heals combat wounds [Tech Radar]
  

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 9/24

• Pentagon Budget Hits New Record [Huff Po]

• VA quadruples payment to vets with brain injuries [AP via Newsvine]

• U.S. Army releases doctored photographs [Boing Boing]

• Gates sees more troops in Afghanistan, with limits [AP via Newsvine]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Today's Military Headlines

• 'US drone' kills five in Pakistan [BBC News]

• Top Pentagon Official in Surprise Visit to Pakistan [NY Times]

• US 'must cut' Afghan casualties [BBC News]

• Gates Apologizes for Afghan Deaths [NY Times]

• U.S. army charges 3 soldiers with murder [USA Today]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Today's Military Related Headlines

• UK soldier killed in Afghanistan [BBC News]

• Military seeks to avoid being seen as taking political sides [LA Times]

• Army says suicides likely setting record again [AP via Newsvine]
  

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

In the Headlines Today

• Military surge in Iraq ends; 150,000 troops remain [USA Today]

• VA to advertise its suicide hot line program [AP via Newsvine]
  

• US soldier who deserted over Iraq is deported [The Guardian]

• Pentagon: U.S. may cut Iraq troop levels this fall [USA Today]

• More US troops may go to Afghanistan this year [AP via Newsvine]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Vet Group will Air Ads Touting Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

According to a report by the Associated Press Saturday, veteran group Vets for Freedom is launching a national ad campaign this week touting the troop buildup in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vets for Freedom is spending $1.5 million on the ads that will first run on cable television nationally starting out in five states: Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.

The group also plans to send members to several swing states as part of a four-month education campaign that they plan on formally announcing Wednesday.

The article also mentions McCain and Obama. Vets for Freedom more or less seem to back McCain and criticize Obama for not visiting Iraq since 2006.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bush Announces Shorter Combat Deployments

President Bush announced Thursday a plan to cut troop combat tours from 15 months to one year in an effort to ease current strain on the military and help boost morale.

This move comes in response from service commanders concerned about the toll long deployments are having on their soldiers and about the ability of the U.S. military to deal with unanticipated threats.

Bush also embraces the plan put forth by Gen. David Petaeus to halt troop reductions after 20,000 soldiers are withdrawn in July.

Bobby Muller of Veterans for America claims Bush's too little, too late announcement does not cover currently deployed troops:

In short this is a hollow political announcement.

This announcement will do nothing to help the troops currently deployed for 15 months right now, some of whom will not return to the United States until summer 2009. Almost half of the active-duty Army’s frontline units are currently deployed for 15 months, HALF, and of those units, three are on their fourth tour and almost all have been deployed at least twice. We need to reduce everyone’s current tours to 12 months, right now.

From now to the end of this president’s term in office, the overwhelming majority of frontline troops scheduled to deploy are Army National Guard, and their scheduled tours are already 12 months, so again, the President’s announcement does nothing to help them even though many of these troops are scheduled for their second deployment, leaving jobs and families behind again, for a full year.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bush Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan in 2009

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that the Bush administration is pledging to send more combat forces to Afghanistan in 2009 regardless of the troop levels in Iraq.

President Bush made the pledge at the NATO summit in Bucharest on Thursday, Gates told reporters.

Bush did not give specifics concerning the increases. The U.S. currently has about 31,000 troops there -- the most since the war began in 2001 -- and has been pressing allies to contribute more.

One of the questions raised by this statement is where these additional troop will come from. Another is raised by Frank James of The Swamp:

. . .the Bush Administration ends on Jan. 20, 2009. It won't exactly be in a position to send any servicemember anywhere after that date.

Maybe the plan is to send them in the roughly three weeks before Inauguration Day? Or perhaps he's counting on whoever is elected the next president will keep a Bush Administration commitment to send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan since there has been concern for some time about there not being enough troops there, especially in the south where Taliban forces have been resurgent.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation