Free Republic

London (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron was to announce new laws to combat "poisonous Islamist ideology" Wednesday in his first major policy announcement since winning last week's general election. His centre-right Conservative government is to include a new law to "defeat extremism" in its legislative programme which will be announced to parliament by Queen Elizabeth II on May 27. Britain's strategy on Islamist extremism has been in the spotlight for months since Islamic State (IS) executioner "Jihadi John" was identified as Mohammed Emwazi from London and a string of young people left Britain to fight for the IS...

A new book about a young, female Army officer who routinely accompanied Ranger units on raids in Afghanistan is shining a light on a select group of American women who have made history in modern warfare. "Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield" focuses on 1st Lt. Ashley White, an incredibly physically fit soldier who joined the Special Operations Command Cultural Support Team effort in 2010. The pilot program was designed to train women and have them serve with Army Ranger and other special operations direct-action units so they could gather...

Two years ago, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the nation’s top military officer, laid down an edict on the Obama administration’s plan to open direct land combat jobs to women: If women cannot meet a standard, senior commanders better have a good reason why it should not be lowered. Today, the “Dempsey rule” appears to have its first test case. The Marine Corps just finished research to see if female officers could successfully complete its rigorous Infantry Officer Course.

As the American military prepares to open all combat positions to women by 2016, a British report found that integrating women into combat would reduce effectiveness in battle and could harm unit cohesion. The British report, released in December, found that physiological differences put women at a disadvantage in both strength-based and aerobic fitness tests. Even women who are able to overcome the physiological disadvantage will likely get injured more easily or get tired quicker, making them easier targets and poorer marksmen in combat. “These are about biology rather than character,” the report states. The report found that some of...

The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden says there is a welcome mat out for women SEALs if they can meet the grueling physical and mental standards that exist today. Former Chief Petty Officer Robert O’Neill, whose handpicked SEAL Team Six unit raided bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, answered “absolutely” when asked whether women can meet the demands of sea, undersea, ground and airborne warriors. Asked by The Washington Times how he knows, Mr. O’Neill said, “I’ve met women that I think can beat me up. I’m not joking. Here in the states. There are some tough women out...

*****November 16, 2009*****".....The [Washington] Times compiled an informal list of the new rules from interviews with U.S. forces. Among them: • No night or surprise searches. • Villagers have to be warned prior to searches. • ANA or ANP must accompany U.S. units on searches. • U.S. soldiers may not fire at the enemy unless the enemy is preparing to fire first. • U.S. forces cannot engage the enemy if civilians are present. • Only women can search women. • Troops can fire at an insurgent if they catch him placing an IED but not if insurgents are walking away...

In what Yemen's information minister described as an "attempted coup" Shia Houthi rebels (backed by Hizbollah and Iran) have surrounded the Yemeni Presidential Palace putting them, as The Telegraph reports, in direct confrontation with al-Qaeda and the Yemen government., Amid hopes of a compromise deal or cease-fire in the conflict that has been under way since September when the Houthis swept into Sana'a, the latest reports are the nation has gone from bad to worse... YEMENI PM SAID SURROUNDED BY HOUTHI MILITIAS: CNN YEMEN INFORMATION MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT HAS LOST CONTROL OVER COUNTRY -- CNN Oil prices, interestingly, fell on...

Canadian special forces got into a firefight with Islamic State fighters last week while on a training mission with Iraqi forces. Special forces commander Brig.-Gen. Mike Rouleau said Canadian snipers took out an ISIS mortar position after coming under fire near the front lines last Monday. "(We) were fired upon and returned fire by sniper positions," Rouleau told reporters. He said it was the first time Canadian trainers have come under fire, and he still considers the risk to the 65-70 Canadians on the ground in Iraq to be low. SNIP--- In December, the defence department denied Canadian snipers armed...

American troops just had their first real battle with Islamic State militants, after the terror group attempted to overrun Ein al-Asad base in Iraq in the middle of the night Sunday, the Kurdish news outlet Shafaq News reports. The U.S. troops absolutely decimated the militants, forcing a quick retreat. The counterattack was conducted in a joint operation with local tribal forces. The attack occurred at Ein al-Asad base, which currently hosts nearly 100 U.S. military “advisers.” The U.S. troops engaged the militants in tandem with F-18 fighter jets, who provided air support. The battle lasted approximately two hours after an...

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed a secret order in recent weeks authorizing a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year. Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year, according to several administration, military and congressional officials with knowledge of the decision.

President Obama would back U.S. advisers accompanying Iraqi troops in battle to combat Islamic State militants if necessary. For now, Dempsey noted, Iraqi security forces are "doing fine," but as Republican, Sen. Jim Inhofe noted, "it is foolhardy for the Obama administration to tie its hands and so firmly rule out the possibility of special operators on the ground." Following Hagel's remarks that the fight will "not be an easy or a brief effort," Dempsey said if it doesn’t succeed, he would not rule out advising Obama to use U.S. ground forces.

A new book by an IDF reserve colonel that studied women's role in combat units says that the women shouldn't be there. "The study found that a particularly high percentage of women who served in combat roles suffered physical harm during their service and will suffer for the rest of their lives from ruptured discs, stress fractures in the pelvis, uterine prolapse and more,” Sagi told Maariv/NRG. While men also suffer injuries during their military service, he said, studies prove that the female rate of injury is much higher and that the seriousness of the average injury is greater,...

Out in front of America’s troops, combat canines and their handlers lead the way onto the most dangerous battlefields on Earth.

Instead woman already in the military ... will find themselves assigned to combat arms to meet a quota designed by a wide–load Member of Congress whose most strenuous activity is the Pilates class she makes once a month. Still, they won’t be seeing the elephant overnight. Right now only a handful of the 203,000 women currently in the military can pass the physical for combat infantry or Marines. When faced with the reality that women can’t pass the test, Congress and Pentagon paper–pushers will change the test until they can pass. Unfortunately, when you lower standards by definition you get...

The Freedom Report podcast today takes on the issue of female marine officer candidates who can't pass the physical requirements to serve in combat roles. Although 3 enlisted female marines have reportedly passed the less rigorous infantry training course, no women have been able to make it through the stricter infantry officer course. In a piece for the Washington Post, Second Lt. Sage Santangelo argues that the reason that female officers are not passing the test is because they are not being trained to the same standards as men. She believes that women are more than capable of doing the...

Earlier this year, the Marine Corps decided to delay the low 3 pull-up requirement for women that they had hoped to apply in 2014. The measure was set in preparation for compliance with the Pentagon’s intent to open combat units to women in 2016. Since less than half of female recruits could make the minimum requirement by the end of 2013, this implementation is being delayed.

Earlier in March, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus revised how to count the size of the U.S.’s battle force inventory. The battle force inventory is important because it measures the size of the U.S. combat fleet. The new definition will make the U.S. combat fleet look larger than it really is. This provides a political shield against legitimate concerns that the Navy is shrinking. Ships included in the battle force inventory had been “warships capable of contributing to combat operations” or ships that contribute “directly to Navy warfighting or support missions.” Aircraft carriers, destroyers, amphibious ships, and submarines are...

The Marine Corps will open new combat jobs to women, allow women to volunteer for combat specialty training previously closed to them and create a co-ed experimental task force to evaluate how female Marines perform as part of a ground combat unit, Marine officials said. The task force will be made up of about 460 Marines, and about one quarter will be women, said Capt. Maureen Krebs, a Marine spokeswoman. The task force will look like a small battalion landing team with attachments such as artillery, tanks and amphibious assault vehicles — similar to the ground combat portion of a...

Results from a U.S. Army survey show that female soldiers are not enthusiastic about entering combat positions. Maintaining physical standards for soldiers regardless of sex is nearly universally supported. “Less than 8 percent of Army women who responded to the survey said they wanted a combat job,” reported The Associated Press, which obtained the results of a preliminary survey of 170,000 soldiers. The assessment was emailed last year to active duty, reserves and Army National Guard members to gauge attitudes towards women in combat. Only 2,238 of 30,000 women, or 7.5 percent, who responded to the questionnaire said that they...

FORT EUSTIS, Va. — Only a small fraction of Army women say they'd like to move into one of the newly opening combat jobs, but those few who do say they want a job that takes them right into the heart of battle, according to preliminary results from a survey of the service's nearly 170,000 women. That survey and others across the Army, publicly disclosed for the first time to The Associated Press, also revealed that soldiers of both genders are nervous about women entering combat jobs but say they are determined to do it fairly. Men are worried about...