Free Republic

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — U.S. defense contractors sense that there’s money to be made out of Japan’s decision to expand the role of its military amid Chinese aggression in the East China Sea. Aerospace companies Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin held a joint news conference Thursday in Tokyo touting RQ-4 Global Hawk and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye surveillance planes as potential additions to the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. A national security strategy, approved by Japan’s cabinet in December, calls for better air and maritime surveillance. Last month, the ruling coalition adopted a resolution that will allow the nation’s armed...

BERLIN—A German will for the first time become chief of staff of the U.S. Army in Europe, a sign of further cooperation between the two nations despite a chill caused by allegations of U.S. spying here. Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal from Germany's Bundeswehr will report to Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell, the U.S. commander for U.S. Army Europe, known as USAREUR, with headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany. "This is a bold and major step forward in USAREUR's commitment to operating in a multinational environment with our German allies," Gen. Campbell said. The appointment of a German to the position has been several...

The Obama administration’s four-year defense strategy lacks funding needed for fulfilling global military missions and the U.S. military faces “high risk” in the world unless changes are made, according to a bipartisan report by a congressionally backed panel of defense experts. The report by the National Defense Panel, led by former Defense Secretary William Perry and retired United States Army Gen. John Abizaid, criticized the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review for outlining military responsibilities that cannot be met because of sharp defense funding cuts. The report concluded that the capabilities called for in the QDR “clearly exceed the budget resources made...

Something stinks here. And it’s more than just wastewater from the marshy ground in and around Washington, DC. When a commercial airline is shot out of the sky it immediately triggers a number of questions. What kind of projectile? Where did it come from? Who fired it? All of these questions are answered by spy satellites. But getting one of these expensive satellites into orbit requires we launch a rocket. At present, the United States is buying rocket engines from Russia for these critical national security launches . That is right. Even while a domestic supply of launch vehicles is...

INDIANAPOLIS - Police are investigating after a homeowner shot and killed an intruder Sunday afternoon on the near north side. The incident happened in the 3100 block of N. College Avenue around 1:00 p.m. Police say several men were in the house on the west side of College Avenue when three men tried to get into the house. Gunfire was exchanged and one of the suspected intruders was killed...

(LONG BEACH, CA.) -- They came to the wrong house to do a B & E (break and enter) that night and they most certainly frightened and roughed up the wrong 80-year old man. For one of the invader-robbers that night, a woman, it was indeed a fatal error in the victim selection process. Tom Greer, an 80-year-old retiree arrived at his home in Long Beach Tuesday night to find a man and a woman in the middle of a late night break in, ransacking the place. Greer told L.A.'s KNBC-TV as soon as he got inside both robbers tackled...

President Barack Obama stepped up his efforts Sunday to limit Israel’s gradual destruction of Hamas’ tunnel network in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza, which now conceals many of the rockets and jihadi units that attack Israelis. In a morning call to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama “reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself [but] also raised serious concern about the growing number of casualties, including increasing Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza and the loss of Israeli soldiers,” said a 2.00 p.m. statement from the White House. Israel’s government did not officially respond to Obama’s statement, which came after Israel ground...

A program that allows veterans with traumatic brain injuries to receive treatment in assisted living facilities is in danger of closing down. With only two weeks to go before the August recess, Congress has yet to take action on legislation that would renew the pilot program before it expires on Sept. 30. Ralph Ibson, the national policy director for the Wounded Warrior Project, said it would be a “sad irony for Congress to fail to include in an access to care package, a critically needed access to care piece that will soon expire.” The VA started turning away applicants to...

We need a leader to speak out and make clear our intentions. With Israel again under attack, the situation in North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe unsettled and bloody, it’s time for the grown ups to keep our rendezvous with destiny-- which has always been necessitated by the very best of reasons: America’s best interest. For the last 80 years America has managed to keep the peace world wide—mostly-- and at a historically small cost. But there are some on both the right and the left today who are tired of this American greatness, tired of protecting...

Flattus wrote: It's funny to watch Cons attempt to portray this disaster in Iraq as Obama's issue. Sorry, no sale. Thinking Americans know whose war this is. But it's not surprising to see you run from it. From Ron Paul's column today, referring to Necons:"They cannot admit they were wrong about the invasion being a ‘cakewalk’ that would pay for itself, so they want to blame last week's events on the 2011 US withdrawal from Iraq. But the trouble started with the 2003 invasion itself, not the 2011 troop withdrawal. Anyone who understands cause and effect should understand this."-- Welcome...

In a stunning display of callousness, the Defense Department has announced that thousands of soldiers — many serving as commanding officers in Afghanistan — will be notified in the coming weeks that their service to the country is no longer needed. Last week, more than 1,100 Army captains — the men and women who know best how to fight this enemy because they have experienced multiple deployments — were told they’ll be retired from the Army. The overall news is not unexpected. The Army has ended its major operations in Iraq and is winding down in Afghanistan. Budget cuts are...

SIERRA VISTA — With a 60-day public comment period underway, the U.S. Army is looking for feedback on a plan that would cut 2,700 jobs at Fort Huachuca as part of an overall force restructuring that will bring troop levels down from more than 570,000 soldiers, to 420,000 by 2019. The revelation that 2,700 positions may be cut from the local post was first announced in March by Maj. Gen. Robert Ashley. “For Fort Huachuca the planning (reduction) numbers are 1,700 military and 1,000 civil service (positions). Again, it is not the (approved) number but part of the planning assessment...

PARIS--Japanese defense contractors for the first time displayed their wares at the Eurosatory international exhibition, taking advantage of the Abe government’s move in April to lift the three-decade ban on weapons exports. But Japan still faces a number of diplomatic and technological hurdles before it can become a major arms exporter. About 1,500 defense companies from 58 countries will exhibit their latest weapons and other defense equipment at the Eurosatory in Paris through June 20. The trade show is expected to draw 58,000 military officials and industry participants from 90 countries. Participant companies displayed large items, such as tanks and...

The man in the dark car watched the house ahead of him.  It was close to the edge of the road, and the open garage door gave him the opportunity he craved.   As usual, he had a buzz on.   Everybody had a few to keep the edge off, didn't they?  And tonight, he needed a bit more.  He came from the bar where he had telegraphed his plans.  He was going to get even with that SOB that had ratted him out for DUI. A light came on in the garage.  He saw the door to the garage from...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The five Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi are being counted on to defend the Obama administration's record as November's elections creep closer. All five voted against the special investigation and most have described it as a political stunt and waste of time. Each now says it's important to participate in the GOP-led probe of how a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed at a U.S. diplomatic installation in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, and how the administration responded. They say that without their presence, Republican accusations against President Barack Obama, his...

ORLANDO, Fla. — A request for money led to a fight which left one man shot dead outside an Orlando convenience store Sunday morning. Orange County deputies were called to a 7-Eleven in the 800 block of Lee Rd. around 5 a.m. Sunday in reference to a shooting. Once on scene, deputies found a man in his late 20’s in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to the chest. Investigators say the shooting victim had approached a customer at the store, identified as a man in his 40’s, and asked for money.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stung by criticism, President Barack Obama will use a speech on Wednesday to launch a sweeping defense of his approach to foreign policy, one that he will say is reliant on multilateral diplomacy instead of military interventions. Obama is to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, the first in a series of speeches that he and top advisers will use to explain U.S. foreign policy in the aftermath of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and lay out a broad vision for the rest of his presidency. Obama has come...

The U.S. military has always been the one place in government with a plan, forever in preparation mode and ready to yank a blueprint off the shelf for almost any contingency. Need a response for a Russian nuclear missile launch? Check. Have to rescue a U.S. ambassador kidnapped by drug lords? Got that covered. How about a detailed strategy for surviving a zombie apocalypse? As it turns out, check. Incredibly, the Defense Department has a response if zombies attacked and the armed forces had to eradicate flesh-eating walkers in order to "preserve the sanctity of human life" among all the...

Exactly a century ago, the leading lights of Europe seemed to believe that war was impossible. One of the era’s most successful books, “The Great Illusion” by journalist Norman Angell, asserted that trade, not violence, was the way of the future. He was wrong, but not completely wrong. Yes, in 1914 the Western world mobilized in August. World War I killed some 15 million people, and would be followed by World War II and a series of skirmishes during the Cold War. More than 100 million people were killed in conflicts during the 20th century. Ian Morris, a professor at...

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing push into Ukraine represents a “startling brazenness not seen in history,” a top House defense thinker said on Monday. “It means we need to expand the range of military options for which we have to be prepared,” according to Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, a member of the Armed Service Committee. On a recent trip to Asia just ahead of President Obama, “I heard that China is a rising power and the U.S. is a declining one, which doesn’t mean conflict is inevitable, only that there’s the potential for increasing complexity,”...