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WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2010 – Noting signs that the new strategy in Afghanistan “is beginning to bear fruit,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also said during an interview aired last night that the effort to build up Iraq’s security forces and move forward with the U.S. drawdown plan there remains on track. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates speaks with Greta Van Susteren, host of the Fox News program "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," during an interview in Rome, Feb. 7, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates spoke with Fox News Channel’s...

Defending ‘Don’t Ask’In the military, open homosexuality harms unit cohesion.  In a February 3 Wall Street Journal op-ed, I argued that the current law forbidding homosexual military members to discuss their sexual orientation ought to remain in place. I based my contention on the importance of non-sexual bonding as the glue of unit cohesion, which is an important contributor to military effectiveness. As expected, I received a great deal of feedback, some positive, some negative. I thought it might be useful to respond to my critics’ most common objections. First, some argued that the studies indicating the importance of cohesion...

Top military brass caving in after Obama declares support. Radical social agenda would bring terrible consequences. But Congress must change law before it happens. The change would be a crown jewel of the homosexual movement. By repealing this law, homosexuality would be officially recognized as normal. But more than that, it would be affirmed and even celebrated as it is in public schools, government and many corporations. There are few places in life where one individual holds such absolute power over another as in the military. Or where young men are forced to live in extremely close quarters day and...

COMBAT OUTPOST FIDDLER’S GREEN, Afghanistan Sgt. Jefferson Haney is a rarity, and his fellow Marines look at him with just a little bit of envy. The artilleryman with the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment is one of few who have done what they spent countless hours training for: firing his howitzer at the enemy. “Two rounds on an enemy bunker,” recalled Haney as he stood near the firing line at Fiddler’s Green, a combat outpost in Helmand province. “The bunker was destroyed.” With new and more stringent rules of engagement imposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in an effort to reduce...

There are lots of reasons for excluding gays and lesbians from the military. But current supporters of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy insist that really, it all comes down to cohesion. Keep gays out, and soldiers will stick together through thick and thin. Let gays in, and every platoon will disintegrate like a sand castle in the surf. John McCain sounded this theme at a Senate hearing the other day, arguing that the existing law rests on the belief "that the essence of military capability is good order and unit cohesion, and that any practice which puts those goals...

Navy "Corpse-men" everywhere ask: Where's the Mainstream Media? Remember the 1992 Presidential campaign, when then-Vice President Dan Quayle was visiting a Trenton elementary school and was holding spelling flash cards as children were spelling the words on a blackboard in front of him? During this exercise, a 12-year old student wrote his given word, "potato" on the blackboard. As the Vice President checked the flash card containing the word, he informed the student that "he was close, but left a little something off; the "e" on the end." The student, who knew that he had, in fact, spelled the word...

Female soldiers will now have access to the morning after pill at military bases worldwide. The Pentagon announced the ruling this week that the Department of Defense would provide the soldiers with Plan B, otherwise known as the morning after pill. Department of Defense spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told The Associated Press that the decision came after a recommendation of an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists in November. Meeting minutes show the Department of Defense's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee voted for the allowance 13-2. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised the Pentagon and the shift from the resistance...

As the Military begins to move from “Don’t ask, don’t tell” to take your Christian White Anglo-Saxon American values and go to hell. One thing that becomes quite apparent, and that is president Soetoro is right; we are no longer a Christian nation. (see 17sec. video) President Soetoro has pressed the reset button on a classic cultural war in America. Sensing that his domestic policies are in serious jeopardy Soetoro fell back to a stock Liberal ideology which is meant to stir up his base—homosexuality. It is absolutely fascinating to see the big lumbering politically correct ...

Obama Mispronounces Navy ‘Corpsman’ – Twice

On Friday, February 5th a conference call will be held at 11 A.M. Central time. The purpose of the teleconference will be to develop a strategy to head off Barack Obama's plan to allow openly homosexual individuals to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces by repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). Here is a link to the Military.com Marine Corps' web site for the latest information on this issue: http://www.military.com/NL_WK_d/1,16811,7836,00.html?ad_position=1. I'm sure many of you who have served in the U.S. military know what is at stake if Mr. Obama has his way. Homosexuals openly serving in the military will...

No nation ever has had a better military than today's all-volunteer U.S. armed forces. Though I wouldn't trade anything for the young Americans I served with in Vietnam -- or afterward -- those presently wearing America's uniforms are the brightest, best-educated, best-trained and most combat-experienced military the world ever has seen. Now, in the midst of an unprecedented ninth year of war and nonstop high-stress deployments, their commander in chief intends to put the capabilities of this extraordinary force and our nation's security at risk to carry out a radical social experiment. During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama frequently promised...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon for the first time will require military bases worldwide to offer emergency contraception or the so-called morning-after pill, a military spokeswoman said Thursday. The decision follows a recommendation by an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists in November, said Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith. The panel determined that emergency contraception should be added to the military's list of medications that must be stocked at each military facility.

Didn't President Obama also praise our "Fallen Heroes" back during a speech on Memorial Day in 2008? It's starting to sound a bit like that movie about a child who was seeing dead people. And to this day, I cannot figure out how Obama counted 57 States. And to think they treated Bush as if he was on the cover of MADD magazine.

Diversity: President Obama thinks he can pull off what President Clinton couldn't: ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military. A two-front war demands that his efforts also fail. With troops stretched thin and morale flagging, this is the worst time to repeal the policy. The move risks aggravating both problems. Military recruitment only recently picked up, thanks to rising joblessness. But that won't last. The Army in particular has struggled to fill its ranks, admitting more high school dropouts, drug abusers and even convicted felons. Defense experts agree that a policy allowing openly gay soldiers would kill...

My maternal grandfather and my father both had something to hide. One made it into military service, the other didn’t. Growing up as a poor boy in the country my grandfather was a crack-shot and, like most in his generation was eager to serve his country. He slipped through the medical exams and the eye tests. In many ways he was an ideal soldier, except one little thing—he was missing his first two fingers. His sharp shooting skills concealed it on the range, and stuffed gloves did the trick in formation. When he went to sign on the dotted line,...

The sponsor of a House bill to repeal the "don’t ask don’t tell” ban on openly gay service in the military said Wednesday that the Pentagon should move faster to implement the policy change recommended by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “I’m skeptical that the review needs to take one year,” said Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.). Mullen’s efforts won the endorsement of retired Gen. Colin Powell, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1993 helped usher in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but the day after declaring that the need to repeal the...

This is a significant development. It’s one thing for Mike Mullen and Colin Powell to go on the record favoring the repeal of the military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy, it’s another for Republicans with the responsibility of voting on the policy talking about their openness to repeal. And now, appearing on Andrea Mitchell’s show, Orrin Hatch signaled his willingness to repeal the policy, although he’s clearly hedging his bets. Here’s a rough transcript of what Hatch had to say: Hatch: I think people are very concerned. I believe there are very outstanding, patriotic gay people who serve in the...

Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, who opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces when he was the nation's top military officer, said Wednesday he supports efforts to lift the ban on their service. "Attitudes and circumstances have changed" in the 17 years since Congress, with strong military backing, mandated the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Powell said in a statement issued by his office. Noting that he has said for the past two years that Congress should review the legislation, Powell said he "fully supports the approach" outlined in testimony Tuesday by Defense Secretary...

Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he is personally supportive of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces. (El Lay Times - Mullen) I'm torn.  The thought of gay sex disgusts me, but what people do in the privacy of their own lives is none of my business.  Also, I've been in tight quarters with men and women out in the field, and if everybody keeps it professional there's no problem.  BTW, here's Uncle Jimbo's opinion, and he's way tougher than me. I didn't ask, they didn't tell...I know Army and...

February 3, 2010 Powell Favors Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ By PETER BAKER Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation’s top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law he helped shepherd in. Gen. Colin L. Powell in December.“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support...

Related Story: Mention of gay troops in State of the Union offers little clarity to path ahead WASHINGTON — Military commanders will look for ways to stop enforcing the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law but could still take years to fully get rid of it, according to a plan outlined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates said he will establish a panel to examine how to repeal the military’s ban on openly gay troops, with a goal of creating an implementation plan by the end of the year. The...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday outlined the Pentagon's plans on gays in the military, telling Congress he will scale back enforcement of the law that bans open homosexuality in the ranks and has launched a yearlong review of how to handle the ban's repeal, which the Obama administration will seek. The announcement prompted advocates for lifting the ban to complain that the review is unnecessary and too long. Mr. Gates said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that military policy will be reviewed and that gay troops will be treated "in a fairer manner," suggesting...

Contrary to the Obama push to end the military ban on gays known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, recent polls show that most troops actually favor keeping the ban on gays serving openly in the military. A day after Obama's Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs Chairman proudly went before Congress to announce that it's time to end the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy—clearly, to score cheap brownie points with the gay lobby/special interest groups and all the liberals and Democrats who will now pat Bob Gates and Mike Mullen on the head and applaud them for how "open-minded" they are—an...

As expected, President Obama pledged during his State of the Union address to "work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay -snip- The law codified regulations in effect before President Bill Clinton's inauguration, making the historical prohibition against military service for homosexuals a matter of statute. As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates observed in June of last year, "What we have is a law, not a policy or regulation. -snip- Favoritism and double standards are deadly to philia and its associated phenomena—cohesion, morale and discipline—are absolutely critical -snip- The presence of open homosexuals in...

Sen. John McCain is bristling at the Pentagon's decision to launch a yearlong study into allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, saying he is "deeply disappointed" and calling the assessment "clearly biased" because it presumes the law should be changed. McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the current policy is not ideal, but that it has been effective.

Today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen will testify in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. "It's going to be Ground Hog Day on Capitol Hill," said Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud - the only national organization for gay conservatives and their allies. "Today, we are going to get more of what we have, unfortunately, come to expect from the Obama administration when it comes to ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal - lots of talk and little action." According to press reports, Secretary...

WASHINGTON (CN) - Six retired Navy officers sued the Secretary of Defense for the right to carry concealed guns. The former members of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) demand that the Department of Defense certify that their NCIS-issued retirement photo IDs qualify as appropriate identification to carry concealed firearms. Since 2004, federal law authorizes "qualified retired law enforcement officers from the Federal Government to carry concealed firearms within or without any state," according to the complaint. The NCIS retirees say that the Pentagon's failure to certify their IDs exposes them to potential criminal charges of possessing firearms without a...

WASHINGTON-- The Defense Department next week will propose for the first time a "way forward" on lifting the military's ban on gays from serving openly, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday. President Barack Obama has vowed to work with Congress this year to repeal the 1993 law, but Democrats have been waiting to hear from the military on how it could be done. In special hourlong testimony next Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen were expected to outline steps the military will take to lessen the impact on a...

Earth Religions Get Worship Area At AF Academy By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer DENVER – The Air Force Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers, school officials said Monday. A double circle of stones atop a hill on the campus near Colorado Springs has been designated for the group, which previously met indoors. "Being with nature and connecting with it is kind of the whole point," said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, who sponsors the group and describes himself as a Pagan. "It will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset and...

The Pentagon will no longer shape the U.S. military to fight two major conventional wars at once, but rather prepare for numerous conflicts and not all in the same style, according to a draft of a new strategic outlook the Pentagon is announcing on Monday. The new mantra for military planners will replace the almost 25-year-old combat planning style of fighting and winning two major conventional wars in two different locations in favor of a fighting force that is capable of protecting U.S. interests around the world from a range of threats, from terrorism to cyber attacks

Gay Military Porn Bust Reminds Us of Some Inconvenient Truths Regarding Homosexuality and the Military

President Obama's pledge to lift the military's ban on openly gay service members this year seems at best headed for extremely close votes in the House and Senate, according to Congress watchers. The president's proposal needs 218 votes in the House. A bill to repeal the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" has fewer than 190 co-sponsors. What's more, a number of Democrats representing conservative districts, led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri, are set to buck the president and vote against repeal. In the Senate, senators who support the ban could filibuster the 2011...

On Tuesday Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Michael Mullen will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and changing the law that prevents gay people from serving openly in the military. But polls show a majority of service members are still against allowing gays to serve openly. Originally passed in 1993 under President Clinton, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been the target of much criticism; in his State of the Union on Wednesday President Obama repeated his campaign promise to work with Congress to repeal it....

Link only - Respect healthy for different faiths

The U.S. has canceled a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan awarded to a company owned by a Democratic campaign contributor who did not face competitive bids. The cancellation comes after Fox News first reported on the details of the contract last week, prompting lawmakers to make inquiries into the deal. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said that USAID terminated the award and is now working on an appropriate resolution. "If you want to say this violates the basis on which this administration came into office and campaigned, fair enough," Crowley told Fox News. The contract had been...

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen will testify next week on the repeal of a controversial law preventing openly gay people from serving in the military. The Senate Armed Services Committee announced Thursday that Gates and Mullen will testify Tuesday on repealing the 1993 law, commonly known “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” President Barack Obama on Wednesday renewed his commitment to repeal the law, but supporters say the real test will come this spring with the Pentagon budget.

Pentagon to detail new "don't ask, don't tell" steps 6:33pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will unveil initial steps next week to lay the ground for an eventual repeal of its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which permits gays to serve in uniform as long they hide their sexual orientation, officials said on Thursday. President Barack Obama has called for action this year, increasing pressure on a reluctant U.S. military to begin taking steps in advance of any repeal that could include sensitivity training for troops to reduce resistance to gays serving openly in the future. But Pentagon officials...

President Obama said he wants action this year to abolish policies that prohibit gays from openly serving in the military, for the first time establishing a timetable for one of his long-held goals. Obama called for repeal of the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law near the end of his State of the Union speech, addressing the issue in a single, passing mention, but rekindling the debate between supporters and opponents of the move. "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they...

“This successful policy has been in effect for over fifteen years, and it is well understood and predominantly supported by our military at all levels. We have the best trained, best equipped, and most professional force in the history of our country, and the men and women in uniform are performing heroically in two wars. At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy.”

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2010 – Most people would be hard-pressed to squeeze the highlights of their past year – and what they hope to accomplish in the year ahead -- into 50 seconds. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took a crack at it in, ticking off the Defense Department’s most significant milestones since January 2009. The secretary focused on three top efforts: the war effort in Afghanistan, the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq, and submission of a defense budget that supports major reforms while increasing military capabilities and taking care of troops and their families. Operations in Afghanistan topped...

Link Only. To begin after the State of the Union speech.

In the latest edition of political correctness gone wild, Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation are droning on about scope manufacturer Trijicon putting Scripture references on their gun optics that our troops use to kill Muslim maniacs. They think a biblical citation will offend our opposition and be used as a recruiting tool for terrorist tools. This politically correct, anti-Christian military “watch dog” is the same group of wizards that didn’t catch Nidal Malik Hasan’s “SoA” (Soldier of Allah ref) on his military business card and claim that somehow Hasan felt harassed by non-Muslim military meanies into killing...

You could say that the three biggest challenges facing the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding program are money, money, and money. The service has a clear vision of how to construct a networked, flexible fleet suitable for use across the spectrum of conflict. But it only gets $13-14 billion per year to build the warships that will populate that fleet. That isn't much for a country that relies on its Navy every day to sustain nuclear deterrence, assure free transit of sea lanes, and carry the global war on terror to the enemy. However, with the government borrowing $4 billion per day...

Trijicon, the gunsight maker that has imprinted Bible verse numbers on its scopes, has announced that it will no longer imprint the verses on the sides of scopes intended for the U.S. military, and will also provide clients with the kits to remove the Bible verse numbers from existing scopes. An ABC News report earlier this week revealed that the Michigan-based company, which has a contract to provide up to 800,000 scopes to the U.S. military, prints references to New Testament chapters and verses in code next to the model numbers of its scopes. The scopes are used by the...

UPDATE: THE Federal Government has ordered the defence department to look at ways of removing biblical references on gunsights used by special forces troops in Afghanistan. The American maker of the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, a Michigan based company called Trijicon, stamps Biblical references next to the serial number of all of its military gunsights. The references include "2COR4:6,'' a reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament. The passage in part reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory...

Fear of offending Muslims or being insensitive to religion was likely a key factor to why Army supervisors missed signs that the suspect in the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage was a Muslim extremist, according to national security experts. Senior Pentagon officials last week sought to play down or sidestep questions about why Army supervisors and FBI counterterrorism officials missed warning signs or failed to take action against Army Maj. Nidal Hasan before the Nov. 5 attack, which killed 13 people — all but one them soldiers. Rep. Ike Skelton, Missouri Democrat and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,...

Pentagon Whitewash [Bill Bennett] There are devastating and important things happening in the news. Lest we forget, though: We are still in a war against Islamic Terrorism. And it still happens in America. November is not so far away that it deserves forgetting or whitewashing: An Arab terrorist named Nidal Hasan went to a health-care center, in a fort — at an Army base — in Texas, and opened fire killing 14 people while he shouted "Allahu Akbar." But you would not know this if you read the Pentagon Report on the massacre released Friday. Titled, "Protecting the Force: Lessons...

President Hugo Chávez said he ordered two F-16 jets to intercept a U.S. military plane that twice violated Venezuelan airspace on Friday in what he called the latest provocation in the South American nation's skies. Brandishing a photo of the plane, which he described as a P-3, Mr. Chávez said the overflight was the latest incursion in Venezuelan skies by the U.S. military from its bases on the Netherlands' Caribbean islands and from neighboring Colombia. There was no immediate response from the U.S. Defense Department or the White House... Mr. Chávez said the F-16s escorted the U.S. plane away after...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's most prominent holdover from the Bush administration—Defense Secretary Robert Gates—is staying on for at least another year. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told The Associated Press late Thursday that Gates and Obama agreed last month that Gates would stay on as Pentagon chief. The commitment is open-ended, but would be for at least the rest of 2010.

Link only - Obamas visit troops at Hawaii base's Christmas feast