[Content warning: Extremely graphic images below the jump.] The Later meeting 18 August 2011 Task Force Spartan, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan During a planning session at a sand table, numerous firefights broke out. We were at safe distance but close enough
From the Associated Press: WASHINGTON — The Army improperly tested new bullet-blocking plates for body armor and cannot be certain that 5 million pieces of the critical battlefield equipment meet the standards to protect U.S. troops, the Defense Department’s inspector
Gen. David Petraeus, June 23, 2011, in confirmation hearings before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee — In an April 2011 column, I argued that both Barack Obama and the COINdinista Right had good (for them) reasons to perpetuate wars in
How is that relationship working out for you? Does it have you bummed? Has the dip in the market hurt your 401K and other investments? Feeling at a loss? Is life just sometimes too fast? Leaving you feeling alone and
From the Associated Press: Sleep well, soldier ST. LOUIS — A doctor once told Albert Brown he shouldn’t expect to make it to 50, given the toll taken by his years in a Japanese labor camp during World War II
How much are we really spending on fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? Based on this interesting analysis, no one really knows. Consider some numbers. In FY 2011 Congress has authorized $113 billion for the war in Afghanistan and $46
FADE IN: INT. HOLLYWOOD STUDIO CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY “Hurt Locker” scribe MARK BOAL slams his mighty fist down hard on the conference room table, making the HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVES surrounding him jump in their leather seats. MARK BOAL Now listen
Take a group of combat-tested vets, put them up on stage, let them tell jokes about getting shot in the head, and you have the GIs of Comedy. Its a collection of five guys from different branches. And it’s quite
I happened to be in a hair salon when the news first hit. The shock was palpable as word spread from the employees to their clients. There was surprise, then sadness. It was one of those moments some people will
Some recent articles and essays on Perry’s world view will smack of neoconservatism — a well known word, if not its actual ideology — and that will rile many. Now that Perry is sending out strong signals of his imminent
Today on Frank Gaffney’s Secure Freedom Radio, Congressman Duncan Hunter, of California, shares his regrets over the tragic helicopter crash in Afghanistan. A combat veteran of Both Iraq and Afghanistan himself, Rep. Hunter explains why we shouldn’t Monday morning quarterback
Times of London photo: Admiral William McRaven on Nanawate Day, 2010 — From the St Pete Times: Just days after 30 U.S. troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, died when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, Adm. William McRaven took
The common everyday U.S. citizen will likely never be able to make sense of this weekend’s devastating loss of some of America’s finest military warfighters in Afghanistan. Words cannot describe the magnitude of this tragedy. Many would like the “why”
Today on Frank Gaffney’s Secure Freedom Radio, Retired LTG William “Jerry” Boykin, one of the original members of the US Army’s Delta Force, discusses the recent helicopter crash in Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 30 American soldiers, 22
As the nation mourns the loss in combat of thirty of its military heroes – including 22 members of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6 – in Afghanistan over the weekend, the question inevitably occurs: What are we fighting for
The Afghanistan blame game begins with Time magazine putting it out there, albeit gently: The influx of troops, requested by General Stanley McChrystal, approved by President Barack Obama and overseen by General David Petraeus, brought stability to some areas in
From the Associated Press: Reports identifying some of the U.S. troops killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan began circulating Sunday. Thirty Americans and eight Afghans were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest single loss for
The sun has rested behind mother earth leaving us with the dark of night. Windows are opened allowing the crisp night breeze flow through the room. The night sounds lifeless were it not for the crickets outside chirping away. With
Call me crazy, but I think it must be hard for our military to shoot people and crush our enemies – which, after all, is the point of having a military – if our soldiers are busy laying bricks or
Marine BG John Toolan: More stuff for Afghans … or else. — At the very end of this story lies the money quote on the thunking bankruptcy, military and political, of the American strategy in Afghanistan. It is the bankruptcy
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos.
Defense Tech is reporting that the U.S. Army is sending four of Lockheed’s Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) robot jeeps to haul supplies for the troops. It’s a test to see how effective these 11-ft. long trucks will be in
Just this week, approximately 100 Syrians have been killed. In Afghanistan, Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Helmand province. Kirkuk, Iraq experienced a vehicle born IED detonating in front of a Christian church killing more than twenty. And
Photo: Sgt. Derrick Miller, 27, of Hagerstown, MD, who was convicted this past week of the premeditated murder of an Afghan man in 2010. The husband and father of two was assigned to a Connecticut National Guard unit and attached
From the Associated Press: KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has until mid-October to submit a plan for the initial withdrawal of American troops, decisions that may hinge in part on whether the latest surge in attacks
