tagged w/ Army Times
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The mainstream media continues to put on the back burner the war in Afghanistan, but our troops are still in the thick of it as these videos show.
http://corksphere.blogspot.com/The mainstream media continues to put on the back burner the war in Afghanistan, but... more
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Words of a young U.S.Army paramedic who is rushing during "Golden Hour" to save the lives of wounded Americans in Afghanistan. Also, my blog is closing in on one million "hits" and the list of "My Followers" is on the lefthand side of the blog. You can become a follower for FREE just by clicking on "follow" at the top of the blog.Words of a young U.S.Army paramedic who is rushing during "Golden Hour" to... more
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Several videos showing our troops in Afghanistan on this Memorial Day weekend.
http://corksphere.blogspot.com/Several videos showing our troops in Afghanistan on this Memorial Day weekend.... more
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The Army Times is reporting on how the Taliban is recruiting chidren as suicide bombers plus never before seen Afghan war combat videos
http://corksphere.blogspot.com/The Army Times is reporting on how the Taliban is recruiting chidren as suicide... more
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This Army Times article has a lot of stats about saving vets, but it fails to mention one important one: 10,000 veterans have committed suicide since 9/11. That's twice the number killed in action.This Army Times article has a lot of stats about saving vets, but it fails to mention... more
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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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from the article:
"Fokas, a United Church of Christ minister, joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2003. He was 39 years old and felt called to serve his country by pastoring to soldiers on the front lines.
Fokas warmed to the challenges, and many colleagues came to admire his professionalism and humanity.
But now that he’s home, Fokas, 46, is facing a challenge that threatens his future with the military.
An officer has accused Fokas of telling him he is gay."
more at the linkfrom the article:
"Fokas, a United Church of Christ minister, joined the... more
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The Dutch prime minister Friday denounced as "irresponsible" a claim by a retired U.S. general that gay Dutch soldiers were partly to blame for allowing Europe's worst massacre since World War II.
Dutch officials, from the Cabinet to the military, were outraged by retired Gen. John Sheehan's remarks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Sheehan claimed that Dutch military leaders had called the presence of gay soldiers in the army "part of the problem" that allowed Serb forces to overrun the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia in July 1995 and kill about 8,000 Muslim men.
Dutch troops were serving in the undermanned U.N. peacekeeping force in Srebrenica when they were overrun by heavily armed Serb forces, who went on to turn the surrounding countryside into killing fields littered with mass graves.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called Sheehan's comments irresponsible and said at his weekly news conference that "these remarks should never have been made."
"Toward Dutch troops — homosexual or heterosexual — it is way off the mark to talk like that about people and the work they do under very difficult circumstances," he said.
Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired from the military 1997, was speaking in opposition to a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Balkenende said he would not take up the issue with President Barack Obama because Sheehan is already retired.
Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop called Sheehan's claim "damaging" and not worthy of a soldier. "I don't want to waste any more words on it," he said.
Gen. Henk van den Breemen, Dutch chief of staff at the time of the Srebrenica genocide, called Sheehan's comments "total nonsense" and denied ever having suggested gays in the army might have played a role in the Srebrenica massacre.
The Netherlands has a long history of accepting homosexuality, and gays have long been welcome in the country's armed forces — which also allow labor unions.
The leader of one such union, Jan Kleian, was incensed by Sheehan's comments.
"The man is crazy," he told Dutch radio. "It sounds hard, but I can't put it any other way."The Dutch prime minister Friday denounced as "irresponsible" a claim by a... more
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