tagged w/ Rand Corporation
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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s upcoming study on gays in the U.S. military is biased, some Republican lawmakers already contend, because it assumes Congress will repeal the 1993 law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Republicans are likely to use that argument as they try to erode the credibility of the planned review, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates envisions as the first comprehensive look at 17-year-old policy.
Leading the assessment are the Defense Department’s general counsel, Jeh Johnson, and the U.S. Army Forces Europe commander, Gen. Carter Ham. They were to testify Wednesday before a House Armed Services subcommittee for the first time since being named to lead the study.
“Many of us on this committee have serious concerns with putting our men and women in uniform through such a divisive debate while they are fighting two wars,” said Rep. Buck McKeon, the committee’s top Republican.
Gates has said it is probably inevitable that the law will change. He ordered the study to determine how that could be done with minimal effect on the force. President Barack Obama pledged to change the policy while running for the White House, but now needs Congress’ blessing.
Obama also faces a skeptical military. The service chiefs have said they need assurances that the troops’ ability to fight will not be hurt. Proponents of the ban often argue that a unit’s morale and sense of cohesion could erode if the unit included an openly gay member.
Gates said he thinks attitudes have changed, particularly among the younger generation that comprises the rank and file most frequently thrown into battle.
In a memo Tuesday about the debate, Gates said it was “critical that this effort be carried out in a professional, thorough and dispassionate manner.”
Congress has been divided on the issue, with some Democrats joining Republicans in their skepticism of lifting the ban.
Other lawmakers want an immediate change. On Wednesday, a dozen Democratic senators and Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, introduced legislation that would repeal the law and specifically prohibit discrimination against service members on the basis of sexual orientation.
“We need all the qualified service members we have to fight. We shouldn’t be dismissing them just because they’re gay,” said Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat.
McKeon is also unhappy with the selection of the RAND Corp. think tank to do much of the legwork for the study. In an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, one of his aides told Pentagon officials that the company had “significant shortcomings” previously in analyzing the issue and worked with a group advocating repeal last year.
RAND spokesman Jeffrey Hiday said the company did not work side by side with the pro-repeal group last year.WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s upcoming study on gays in the U.S. military is... more
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A little history of the coming World Religion and the worldwide links that have been preparing the way for decades.A little history of the coming World Religion and the worldwide links that have been... more
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A new report by the conservative Rand Corporation calls the so-called 'War on Terrorism' fundamentally flawed, doomed to failure. The study pulls the rug from under John McCain who had promised not just more of the same old horse dung but perhaps another one hundred, another '10,000 years' of war against Iraq!
Saying that the US should 're-think' the so-called 'war on terrorism', the report claims that Bush failed to meet his own stated objectives. It was, the report concludes, the wrong approach to begin with.
Rand stopped short of repeating my charge: the 'war on terror' was just a cover for Bush's assumption of dictatorial powers which he accomplished with the Patriot Act and numerous 'signing statements', in effect, his de facto 'rule by decree'.
All terrorist groups eventually end. But how do they end? Answers to this question have enormous implications for dealing with al Qa'ida and suggest fundamentally rethinking post–September 11 US counter terrorism strategy.
The evidence since 1968 indicates that most groups have not ended due to military pressure but because (1) they joined the political process or (2) local police and intelligence agencies arrested or killed key members and that few groups achieved victory within this timeframe.
The ending of most terrorist groups requires a range of policy instruments, such as careful police and intelligence work, military force, political negotiations, and economic sanctions. Yet policymakers need to understand where to prioritize their efforts with limited resources and attention.
--Rand Corporation, US Should Rethink "War On Terrorism" Strategy to Deal with Resurgent Al Qaida http://www.rand.org/news/press/2008/07/29/
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More at link.
I didn't need a think tank, conservative or other, to tell me this - I came to the same conclusion in October 2001 when war preparations and threats against Afghanistan were being vociferously made by the Bush administration, and posted as much on many different discussion boards. That it took seven years for a conservative think tank to come to that conclusion says a lot about the speed of thinking in such think tanks...A new report by the conservative Rand Corporation calls the so-called 'War on... more
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