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31 Jan 2011 10:51

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World: Analyst: The military holds the cards for Egypt’s future

  • Although preparations I believe are being made by the top brass for a – in quotes – ‘respectable stepping down’ or ‘stepping aside’ of Mr. Mubarak, the military are aware that… this is a time for change. But I think they are also trying to protect themselves, and want to be very much part of the transition process.
  • Chatham House Middle East and North Africa specialist Maha Azzam • Discussing the military’s role in the Egyptian protests. While Hosni Mubarak holds onto power, it’s a very tenuous hold and one that could completely fall apart in the days to come, and the country’s powerful military is in a position best-suited to ensure the kind of leader that they want. Azzam also notes that while the lower rungs of the military appear to support the protesters, it’s not that way throughout the power structure. “In the upper echelons of the military,” he says, “we’re seeing continued support for the regime.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jan 2011 11:21

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U.S.: ACLU: No accountability for US detainee treatment, deaths

  • So far, the documents released by the government raise more questions than they answer, but they do confirm one troubling fact: that no senior officials have been held to account for the widespread abuse of detainees. Without real accountability for these abuses, we risk inviting more abuse in the future.
  • A statement from the ACLU • Regarding a series of documents they released detailing the deaths of 190 US detainees, some of which have been reported by the media, but others are new. A handful – around 25 to 30 – are what the ACLU describes as “unjustified homicide.” One disturbing finding – over 25 percent of the deaths listed were due to cardiac problems, which leads to questions over how detainees are being confined. For its part, the Department of Defense, uh, defends itself. “Although there have been cases of individuals involved in misconduct,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Tanya Bradsher,  “there is no evidence of systematic abuse by the United States military.” Food for thought? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jan 2011 00:08

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U.S.: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal will save taxpayers money

  • some think it will make us unsafe. We think (in addition to not making us unsafe) it’ll save taxpayers money. While the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a done deal, the Government Accountability Office nevertheless conducted a study on the fiscal impact of the program. After reviewing all cases of expulsion under the program over the last six years, they found that maintaining the program was quite costly (and we don’t mean from an emotional standpoint).
  • $193 million to implement the program over six years
  • $52k cost of expelling each service member (this includes finding and training replacements)
  • 39% of those expelled either spoke a foreign language, or held a “critical occupation” in the military source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jan 2011 19:19

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U.S.: After “don’t ask” repeal, women in combat could be next

  • Service policies that bar women from gaining entry to certain combat-related career fields, specialties, units, and assignments are based on standards of conventional warfare, with well-defined, linear battlefields. However, the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been anything but conventional.
  • A draft report by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission • Arguing that women should be allowed to take part in more combat roles. Currently, the military has “combat exclusion policies” that prevent women from playing full roles in combat – rules that have been in play for decades. The Military Leadership Diversity Commission has only been in play for a couple of years, by the way, so there’s no word on how effective their report will be – there’s been a push for this for nearly two decades. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2011 21:10

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U.S.: Capt. Owen Honors fired, but he has a Facebook posse

  • 15,281 Honors supporters on Facebook source
  • » And a big gripe with Fox News: If you’re going to report about this story, please get the name of the paper that broke the story correct. It’s not the “Richmond Virginian-Pilot.” It’s “The Virginian-Pilot.” And it’s not even based in Richmond. It’s based in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Sorry … we used to work in that building, and we don’t like the fact that they source the paper that got the scoop with an obvious misrepresentation of the paper and lack of understanding of why they would care about the story – hello, massive Navy town! Please correct.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jan 2011 20:54

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U.S.: Wannabe terrible sketch comic getting a break from his Navy job

  • cause Our good friend in the Navy, Capt. Owen Honors, made a bunch of videos which looked like he had been reading eBaum’s World waaaaaaay too much. They got released to a non-Navy audience over the weekend.
  • effect Honors, who commands a large aircraft carrier, will temporarily be relieved of his duties as of Tuesday. Perhaps he should use the time off to work on becoming the next Carlos Mencia. We hear that guy’s funny. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jan 2011 11:47

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U.S.: Bad idea: Pretending to be a comedian when you’re in the Navy

  • Dear Capt. Owen Honors: Look, we know it gets lonely when you’re out to sea, but you’re not Dane Cook. You’re held to a higher standard than Dane Cook, as our good friends at the Virginian-Pilot reminded you when they put this video on their site. There’s a lot of not-kosher comedy in here, OK for, say, Carlos Mencia or Denis Leary. But for the people on the U.S.S. Enterprise who had to watch these terrible excuses for comedy, they were just a wee bit offended. Leave the comedy to Louis CK (or these guys) so you don’t get reprimanded. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Dec 2010 21:03

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U.S.: Military treats Wikileaks problem with lame, TSA-style solution

  • problem Bradley Manning reportedly took thousands of classified documents off government networks by pretending the CD he was burning to was actually a Lady Gaga CD, then gave them to Wikileaks.
  • solution? Rather than focus on the fact that the system created a loose cannon, the military has banned soldiers from using thumb drives or other portable storage devices. Ahh … the TSA approach to security. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Dec 2010 10:52

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Politics: Marines by far most resistant to repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell”

  • If the law is changed, successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level, as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus of preparing units for combat.
  • Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos • Offering perhaps the strongest argument against repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” His comments, made in front of a Senate panel, should be obvious in the wake of the Pentagon’s recent study, which showed Marines to be the branch most resistant to the idea of openly gay soldiers. From there, the responses grew progressively more positive, with the Army pushing for eventual repeal, the Air Force pushing for repeal in 2012, and the Navy pushing for repeal right freaking now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Nov 2010 22:12

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U.S.: Most soldiers OK with gays openly serving, but many aren’t

  • 30% of military think gay soldiers will make it harder to work
  • 43% of Marines think that openly gay soldiers could be a distraction
  • 48% of Army combat units think it’ll have a negative effect on their job
  • 58% of Marine combat units feel the same way about the thang source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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