By Leo Shane III
Published: May 31, 2010
In case you missed it earlier on Monday, President Barack Obama's planned remarks at a veteran's ceremony in Illinois were cancelled due to sudden storms in the area. But late tonight, upon his return to Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, he delivered a slightly edited version of the same speech that a much smaller crowd had a chance to hear.
Below is the text of that speech, for those readers who didn't get a chance to hear the president's Memorial Day remarks:
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 28, 2010
Supporters of a "don't ask, don't tell" repeal won a victory on the House floor last night by a comfortable margin, passing a roadmap for overturning the controversial law 234-194 . But if the issue were brought up in debate before the chamber's top military panel a week earlier, it may never have made it to the floor at all.
Of the 26 Democrats who voted against the measure, eight serve on the House Armed Services Committee (including chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.). None of the five Republicans who voted for it sit on the panel. Thus, a quick calculation shows HASC members' opposition to the measure by a 33-29 vote.
By Jeff Schogol
Published: May 27, 2010
Forty-five states attorneys general have signed a “friend of the court” brief in support of the father of a fallen Marine who is taking his case against a radical church that picketed his son’s funeral to the Supreme Court.
The Westboro Baptist Church, made up primarily of founder Fred Phelps and his family, picketed the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder in 2006 because they believe U.S. troop deaths are God’s revenge for tolerating homosexuals. Church members held signs that read “God hates you,” “You’re in hell,” and “Semper Fi fags.”
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 27, 2010
Gay rights groups may be getting closer to a successful vote to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but the actual start date for when gay troops can serve openly in the ranks keeps getting pushed back further.
Late last night House and Senate leaders added a new twist to the proposed repeal measure up for vote in both chambers this week. The latest change would add a 60-day waiting period after the Pentagon’s review panel finishes its work, allowing extra time for Defense officials to react and prepare for the cultural changes a repeal could bring.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 26, 2010
House Democrats pushing to include a “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal in the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill could end up losing a key supporter: The bill’s own Democratic sponsor. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said he believes the military budget bill should not include any repeal amendments, and late Tuesday promised to vote against any such move.
“My position on this issue has been clear — I support the current policy and I will oppose any amendment to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” he said in a statement. “I hope my colleagues will avoid jumping the gun and wait for DOD to complete its work.”
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 25, 2010
The Senate Homeland Security Committee today ordered the Defense Department to give up documents and witnesses related to the investigation into the Fort Hood shooting last November by next Wednesday ... or else.
It's the second deadline set by the committee in their ongoing fight with Pentagon leaders over the case. Last month, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins issued subpoenas to the Defense Department after months of what they called stalling and obstruction by the military leadership.
A protester takes part in a Capitol Hill rally to repeal the militarys "dont ask, dont tell" law, which bars gay servicemembers from publicly discussing their sexual orientation. Susan Walsh, Associated Press
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 25, 2010
Following last night's announcement by the White House that lawmakers and administration officials have reached a deal on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" law, gay rights groups now have a tentative timeline for how and when the ban on openly gay troops will end.
First up is this Thursday, when both the full House and Senate Armed Services Committee are expected to vote on Sen. Joe Lieberman's amendment mandating repeal of the law once the Pentagon's review of the issue is certified. The Senate vote will be in private, but the House vote on the measure will be part of the hours long debate over the annual defense authorization bill.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 24, 2010
Later today the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families will announce a new program offering free admission to more than 600 museums across America for active-duty or reserve military personnel and their families. The program launches this weekend and lasts until Labor Day.
You can view a full list of participating museums here. They include at least one museum in every state and Washington, D.C., and 30 children's museums.
By Kevin Baron
Published: May 20, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked Thursday if his newly energized offensive against Pentagon bloat meant that he would stay on the job through the end of 2011 in order to see the next spending cycle through to its end.
“We’ll see,” he said, smirking.
President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai shakes hands with airmen at Bagram Airfield on May 8, 2010. Staff Sgt. Susan Wilt, U.S. Army
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 20, 2010
Part of the debate over the House Armed Services Committee's $567 billion defense authorization bill for next year yesterday included an amendment which would have lifted all gender restrictions on military assignments, including allowing female troops to serve in combat units.
The measure didn't pass -- Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., instead offered a plan to study the issue of military job assignments, with an eye towards opening all specialties to women. But lawmakers made it clear that they see the gender limits as outdated.
The Mojave Desert War Memorial in California shown here before federal courts ordered the cross covered nearly a decade ago. Courtesy of the Liberty Institute
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 19, 2010
An anonymous donor has put up another $100,000 for information related to the theft of the controversial Mojave National Preserve Cross last week, bringing the reward for its return to $125,000. Vandals toppled and removed the 8-foot-high memorial less than two weeks after a divided Supreme Court ruled it could remain on federal property.
The Desert Dispatch, based in Barstow, Calif., last week published a letter from an anonymous writer claiming to be involved with the vandalism. The writer states he is a veteran, the cross was not destroyed but "simply moved ... lovingly and with great care," and his hope was to replace the cross with a non-religious memorial appropriate to all veterans.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 18, 2010
Residents in Connecticut woke up this morning to news that Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal may have exaggerated his service during the Vietnam War, a move which will undoubtedly infuriate veterans groups across the state.
But he's not the first -- or last -- figure to unjustly claim military service or honors. In fact, just this week a coalition of veterans advocates and investigators relaunched their efforts to root our military frauds through a new Stolen Valor Task Force, working to pair their resources with groups like the POW network and Doug Sterner's Home of Heroes to ID false veterans and baseless claims of heroism.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 17, 2010
In separate commencement speeches this weekend the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs delivered a similar message to graduating seniors: The country needs your help.
For Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the message to Morehouse College was "the obligation of service and citizenship in our country," specifically lauding the all-volunteer military. "national security staff to launch a 90-day review of all government agencies to identify key challenges for military families and look for ways to work military family issues into their budget priorities
Afghan President Hamid Karzai greets Col. Arthur Kandarian, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander May 14. Rick Rzepka, Fort Campbell Courier
By Jeff Schogol
Published: May 14, 2010
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday to cap a series of well-choreographed media events to show how much he loves U.S. troops.
Karzai’s visit comes after he reportedly made a series of bizarre statements last month including threatening to join the Taliban if the international community kept pressuring him to crack down on corruption – his office later denied he said any such thing.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 14, 2010
The House Armed Services Committee next week will approve the chamber's first draft of the fiscal 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which will set the military's base budget at nearly $550 billion. But yesterday Republican leaders on the committee said they're concerned that still isn't enough.
Committee ranking member Buck McKeon, R-Calif, and other key GOP lawmakers on the panel unveiled a host of amendments they'll propose next week, ranging from keeping the Guantanamo detention facilities open to granting combat casualty pays to the victims of last fall's shooting at Fort Hood. More broadly, McKeon said his caucus is concerned with what they see as the budget driving force readiness, and not military needs driving the budget.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 13, 2010
Congress seems all but assured to offer servicemembers slightly higher pay raise in 2011 than requested by the Pentagon, a move that has given defense penny pinchers fits for the last several years.
On Tuesday lawmakers said an extra 0.5 percent pay boost was necessary to close the ongoing gap between military and civilian pay (troops' wages sit about 2.4 percent below civilians of comparable skills and age, according to groups like the Military Officers Association of America). But House Armed Services personnel subcommittee chairwoman Susan Davis, D-Calif., said soon lawmakers won't have that excuse much longer.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 12, 2010
While President Obama was speaking at the White House Tuesday about the sacrifice of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, First Lady Michelle Obama was across town speaking at a National Military Family Association summit about ways to help those spouses and parents making sacrifices while those servicemembers are deployed.
The White House has directed national security staff to launch a 90-day review of all government agencies to identify key challenges for military families and look for ways to work military family issues into their budget priorities.
By Jeff Schogol
Published: May 11, 2010
They call me “The Rumor Doctor.”
No, seriously.
By Megan McCloskey
Published: May 11, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- As would be expected and cheered, there was plenty of inter-service teasing on Monday night as the inaugural Warrior Games kicked off with opening ceremonies.
An Air Force General addressed the 200 wounded servicemembers participating in the paralympics-style competition, noting the Marines had to show up a month early to get acclimated to the altitude. And that the Army, with the most athletes at 100, was, in typical fashion, trying to win with shear mass.
By Kevin Baron
Published: May 10, 2010
As Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Washington visit begins today, Pentagon reporters are taking notice of a peculiar trend: Since the end of last week, several top U.S. and Afghan leaders in charge of the war in Afghanistan have passed or will pass through town. None of them will stop to speak with the Pentagon press corps.
The White House decides who speaks when, where and to whom. Draw your own conclusions on what it means when the Afghan cabinet meets with U.S. cabinet during a presidential visit and there is not a single press event about Afghanistan – where there will be 98,000 troops by the end of the year -- at the military’s headquarters in the Pentagon.
Karzai and many of his ministers are back in town, and there is tension in the air, some say. Here’s a preview article for you to get up to speed. President Barack Obama and Karzai are scheduled to hold a White House press conference on Wednesday.
On Monday, the war in Afghanistan’s commanding general of U.S. and NATO troops, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry will face a press conference in a joint appearance. But it happens at the White House briefing room, with press secretary Robert Gibbs minding their differences.
McChrystal has been to DC since assuming command of the war last year. He has never done a Pentagon press conference. McChrystal will meet the Senate Armed Service Committee on Thursday, but in a closed session.
By contrast, Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander in Iraq, has done more than one stand-up in Arlington.
At the State Department, Secretary Hillary Clinton was scheduled to meet with Eikenberry Monday, but closed to press.
Monday evening, Clinton hosts a dinner for Karzai at the Blair House across from the White House. No questions. Only a photo spray.
On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates meets with Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak at the Pentagon. There will be no appearance in the briefing room, Pentagon reporters have been told. Not even a stop at a microphone outside the front door for a couple of questions, as is common for visiting defense ministers. Not during a presidential visit, according a Pentagon spokesman told reporters Monday.
There are no plans for Gates to do a regular press briefing this week, either. (Though, Gates returned Sunday from a weekend trip with several reporters in tow to cover his Kansas speech on defense spending and two other military speeches to officers and spouses.)
For good measure, last Thursday, Gen. David Petraeus, CENTCOM commander, accepted an award from the conservative Washington think tank American Enterprise Institute. He is a regular on the DC think tank circuit and black tie guests were treated to a half-hour lecture on counterinsurgency. Petraeus often sits down for such talks and allows open mic questions from audiences (though sometimes think tanks prevent actual media from asking questions), and he gives one-on-one interviews and has a reputation for being reporter friendly. Reporters covered the speech, even.
But the media savvy Petraeus has not stood at a podium for an open-grilling press conference since….? (You tell me, I can’t find it.)
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell and spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Monday that they are working on getting “something” for the Pentagon press corps. Not sure what, when, or who.
Stay tuned.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 10, 2010
In case you missed it on Friday, Army Lt. Col. Terry Lakin appeared on CNN to explain why he's inviting a court-martial after an exemplary 18-year military career over conspiracy theories concerning President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
Or, at least that's what the American Patriot Foundation promised the interview would be about. In reality, the eight-minute segment was essentially just a heated argument between anchor Anderson Cooper and Lakin's lawyer, Paul Jensen.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 7, 2010
Rumors around Washington this week have the White House set to announce the newest Supreme Court nominee early next week, and several news outlets are already speculating it will be Solicitor General Elena Kagan. The Politco's Mike Allen writes that the 50-year-old could be "a persuasive, fearless advocate who would serve as an intellectual counterweight to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia."
But the New York Times this morning has an interesting piece on how the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law could be a key point of controversy for Kagan, given her past at Harvard University.
By Kevin Baron
Published: May 6, 2010
Sergio Vieria de Mello was the rock star of the aid world when he was sent to Iraq as the U.N. special representative to Baghdad in 2003. He opposed the war, as did most aid workers, I suspect. Then he was killed by it.
De Mello, the subject of an acclaimed HBO documentary airing tonight, did not want the U.N.’s Iraq presence to be seen as implicit backing for the war. It was a clearer line of demarcation back then. But he did not live to see that the worst was yet to come. The Iraqi insurgency would reach a full rage, the country became increasingly dangerous, and the need for humanitarian aid even greater.
His death in August of that first year proved to be a catalyst toward changing how the US fought that war and the next. Today’s counterinsurgency strategy, or COIN, includes an explicit humanitarian mission to protect and win populations. “Handshake and a hand grenade” is the refrain heard in Marine Corps training.
CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus, formerly the top general in Iraq and co-author of the 2006 Counterinsurgency Field Manual, told me last year that the U.N. compound bombing that killed De Mello forced the military to do what the UN and NGOs could not.
"The majority of [international aid groups] shut down their organizations or moved them to the Kurdish region or neighboring countries when the UN compound was blown up in 2003," Petraeus said. The explosion killed 18 and wounded 100 people. "Following that, there were very few organizations with the kind of capability and capacity needed to address the needs in Iraq."
Still, some humanitarian groups resist the idea of using aid as a strategic tool in war, even if that’s the way it’s been done for nearly a decade now. Others seem to say the reality of these wars is that any aid is good aid.
Yet even Bono, last week, straddled the line a bit, asking the military to help him lobby for more global aid based on their experiences delivering it around the world, while maintaining a wall between aid workers and war fighters.
“There’s a bright line that separates what we do from what you do,” Bono said.
I wonder, what would Sergio Viera de Mello think?
De Mello was no angel, by the way, and a Boston Globe reviewer notes his controversial sides are neglected in the film. I'll have to watch for myself to see where the documentary goes. So should you.
Related:
Mixing fighting and food in Afghanistan
Bono recruits military to campaign for global aid
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 5, 2010
This afternoon President Barack Obama put the final stamp on the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, signing it into law at a White House ceremony. The legislation will for the first time provide training, counseling and even stipends to some family of returning wounded who set aside their own livelihoods to care for their injured veterans.
Beside Obama at the signing ceremony were retired Sgt. Ted Wade and his wife Sarah, who for the last three years have been among the most persistent lobbyists for the measure. He was severely injured in an Iraqi bomb blast in 2004; His near-full recovery from shrapnel wounds and severe brain injury, he says, is due in large part to his wife's decision to quit work and become a 24-hour caretaker for him.
By Leo Shane III
Published: May 5, 2010
At a speech April 26 before the Council on Foundations, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said that troops returning from war will need extensive help with education, job training, mental health and substance abuse issues.
"What I would like to see happen is community outreach to them and the government just be out of it,” he said. "To me, that is really the way that we can take care of those who’ve made such a difference..."
By Jeff Schogol
Published: May 4, 2010
Do you want to be the unidentified servicemember who saves Megan Fox in the summer’s biggest blockbuster? Well, don’t expect to get a casting call for extras to pop into your inbox.
“There’s never any kind of internet solicitation, it’s more of a one-on-one kind of personalized thing,” said Philip M. Strub, director of entertainment media.
Recently, many airmen at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam fell for a phishing exercise that purported to be a call for extras from the producers of “Transformers 3.” In real life, the Defense Department works with base commanders, who then disseminate casting calls through the chain of command, officials said.
The department encourages filmmakers to use real life servicemembers to portray troops on screen because they lend authenticity to a movie, Strub said.
“They know how to wear a uniform, they know how to salute, they’re going to be within weight and grooming standards,” he said.
In one scene in “War of the Worlds,” a soldier was so well versed in what a squad leader does that Seven Spielberg decided to use him instead of an actor, Strub said.
Which bases filmmakers go to is driven by several factors, such as how close the base is to Los Angeles, what military equipment is located on a base and which states offer incentives to film there, such as Louisiana, officials said.
For the record, “Transformers 3” has started filming, but nowhere near Guam, Strub said.
PHOTO: Associated Press.
By Derek Turner
Published: May 4, 2010
Months of bluster and rhetoric and campaign promises came to a head Tuesday on Okinawa when Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama acknowledged that, despite a steady public outcry, he cannot move U.S. Marine Corps air operations off the island, Stripes' David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida report.
MCAS Futenma was one of the major issues when Hatoyama's party swept to power last year. He vowed to stand up to the U.S. and stand up for the residents of Okinawa, who for years have complained about the U.S. military presence.
But the agreement to move Futenma operations to a new facility off of Camp Schwab on Okinawa was years in the making and the U.S. maintained throughout Hatoyama's efforts that this was the best option, and indeed the only option.
It appears, now, that Hatoyama has reluctantly agreed.
The Links:
Hatoyama: Moving Futenma operations off Okinawa 'not possible' (Stars and Stripes)
Army secretary calls for 'acceptable conditions' at lame-duck middle school (Stars and Stripes)
Gates tells Navy it's not the size that counts (Stars and Stripes)
Special Forces look to smoke jumpers for new parachutes (Stars and Stripes)
Embattled Fort Carson WTU braces for influx of wounded soldiers (The Associated Press)
Army captain who stole nearly $700,000 in Iraq gets 30 years (The Associated Press)
Obama administration discloses size of U.S. nuclear arsenal (The Washington Post)
Army blesses a war-zone lip-synch (Raleigh News & Observer)
U.S. to send trainers to Afghanistan as stopgap (The New York Times)
By Kevin Baron
Published: May 3, 2010
The top U.S. Marine Corps officer on Monday compared the situation today in Afghanistan to that of Iraq in 2004 and 2005, when that war's worst period of insurgency-caused attacks and killings were just around the corner.
Gen. James Conway, commandant, also said believed the Marines would begin pulling out of Afghanistan in the middle of 2011, per President Barack Obama's schedule....except for in Helmand, the "birthplace of the Taliban."
“I would say that we’re probably in Afghanistan today where we were in Iraq about late 2004, maybe 2005,” he said. Conway did not say that he expected violence in Afghanistan would spiral out of control into the numbers of attacks seen in 2006 and 2007, but his comment drew a few raised eyebrows from audience members.
"We’re confident that we’ll get there and that we’ll come out of there someday under the same conditions that we now depart Iraq,” he said.
"Are we going to be coming out in the middle of 2011? Well, I honestly believe that U.S. forces will start that process in ‘11. Our commander in chief has said that is what will occur and I firmly occur that it will."
"I’m just not as certain that it will take place in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. In some ways, we have once again drawn that short straw. It was Anbar in Iraq, and now it’s Helmand in Afghanistan; birthplace of the Taliban. And I honestly think that we will be there for some time to come."
Conway was speaking to the Navy League'sSea Air Space conference, at the National Harbor convention center complex along the Beltway in Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC.
Additionally, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking about an hour later, said that despite calls to return the Marine Corps to their more traditional roles as beachhead invaders, their role in Afghanistan is not changing:
“For years now, the Corps has been acting as essentially a second land army. As General Conway has noted, there are young, battle-hardened Marines with multiple combat tours who have spent little time inside of a ship, much less practicing hitting a beach. Their critical work well inland will be necessary for the foreseeable future.”
By Derek Turner
Published: May 3, 2010
The airmen on Guam thought they were going to be famous -- or at least have a chance at some peripheral ties to fame. When the e-mail came in soliciting airmen who might want to be an extra in "Transformers 3," some replied to the e-mail, in the process sending along personal contact information.
Whoops.
Turns out the e-mail really wasn't from the producers of the film. It was a trick. A phishing expedition, to be exact, in which military officials sought to find out how many at Andersen Air Force Base were so loose with their personal information that they'd send it out in response to a random e-mail.
“Unfortunately, many of Andersen’s personnel responded ... and submitted their personal information to the website, and forwarded the information outside of Andersen,” a subsequent notification said.
For the record, "Transformers 3" was to start filiming last month. But not on Guam.
The Links:
Military exercise goes phishing for movie extras (Stars and Stripes)
Nearly a third of airmen expected to fail fitness test (Stars and Stripes)
Base middle school seeks rescue from rats, mold and that sewage smell (Stars and Stripes)
U.S. troops to march in WWII victory celebration in Russia (Stars and Stripes)
U.S. military retrains Congolese troops known for using rape as weapon of war (Stars and Stripes)
Wiesbaden Entertainment Center opens doors with something for everyone (Stars and Stripes)
Karzai seeks U.S. support for deals with insurgents (The Washington Post)
Ex-spy's slaying marks divides among insurgents (The Washington Post)
An unlikely contender emerges to lead Iraq (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. is pushing to deter a Mideast nuclear race (The New York Times)
