Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 - The nation's fledgling missile defense system suffered its third straight test failure when an interceptor rocket failed to launch Sunday night from its base on an island, leaving the target rocket to splash into the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon said Monday. The target rocket was launched from Kodiak, Alaska, at 9:22 p.m. Sunday (1:22 a.m. Monday, Eastern Standard Time), but the interceptor that was supposed to go up 15 minutes later remained on its pad in the Marshall Islands, the Missile Defense Agency at the Pentagon said. The target rocket fell into the ocean near Wake...

INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS: Calculating Chinese Capabilities January 27, 2005: Department of Defense intelligence analysts are having a hard time figuring out when China thinks it will be ready to make a grab for Taiwan. The recent surge in the construction of short range amphibious ships, and constant movement of more ballistic missiles to within range of Taiwan, indicate something may happen sooner rather than later. Taiwan is only 300 kilometers from China. There are about 600 DF-15 missiles (with a range of 600 kilometers) aimed at Taiwan now, and by next year, there may be 800. Moreover, it is suspected that...

Among the many distinctive expressions Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has offered as gifts to the media is the following: “I don’t do quagmires,” referring to the mantra-like repetition by some war critics that Iraq has become a quagmire. The media, however, especially its Official Rumsfeld-Hating Clique, remains mired in the viciously viscous putrid muck of all-consuming loathing of the Secretary of Defense. That same media currently has its puerile knickers in a twist about President Bush awarding Tommy Franks, Paul Bremer and George Tenet the Medal of Freedom. Or, as liberal columnist Richard Cohen, speaking for many media colleagues,...

BETHESDA, Md. Department of Defense officials have startup funding for a new initiative for servicemembers injured in the war on terrorism, a senior official said here Dec. 7. "We're looking at possibilities for internships and other types of trial employment," John M. Molino, the acting deputy undersecretary for equal opportunity, told attendees at the 17th DOD Disability Forum here. "We're also looking at possibilities for mentoring. "We intend for every injured or disabled veteran to have as many opportunities as he or she needs to achieve his or her maximum potential on active duty or in our civilian work force,"...

THE American defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, should be sacked, according to a growing chorus of conservative commentators who want him replaced by a figure with wider appeal. In a seemingly innocuous Thanksgiving message to readers last week, William Kristol, the neoconservative editor of The Weekly Standard magazine, slipped in a surprise demand for Rumsfeld’s dismissal. “What remains to be done is to announce new leadership for the department of defence,” wrote Kristol. “This, surely, would be an important opportunity for a strong, Bush-doctrine-supporting outsider, someone who of course would be a team player, but someone who could also work with...

The Pentagon is building its own Internet, the military's world wide web for the wars of the future. The goal is to give all American commanders and troops a moving picture of all foreign enemies and threats - "a God's-eye view" of battle. This "Internet in the sky," Peter Teets, under secretary of the Air Force, told Congress, would allow "marines in a Humvee, in a faraway land, in the middle of a rainstorm, to open up their laptops, request imagery" from a spy satellite, and "get it downloaded within seconds." The Pentagon calls the secure network the Global Information...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 - A Pentagon-sponsored study of weapons made from depleted uranium, a substance whose use has attracted environmental protests around the world, has concluded that it is neither toxic enough nor radioactive enough to be a health threat to soldiers in the doses they are likely to receive. In a five-year, $6 million study, researchers fired depleted uranium projectiles into Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, in a steel chamber at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, and measured the levels of uranium in the air and how quickly the particles settled. The conclusion, said Dr. Michael E....

There are 27 names on a high-profile statement released today by a group calling itself “Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change” denouncing current U.S. foreign and defense policy. It reads in part: American policies have failed... instead of building upon America's great economic and moral strength to lead other nations in a coordinated campaign to address the causes of terrorism and to stifle its resources... insensitive to the concerns of traditional friends and allies, and disdainful of the United Nations... The United States suffers from close identification with autocratic regimes in the Muslim world... Responsible leadership would not turn to...

Iraq reconstruction on hold December 29, 2003BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement A pall was cast over Christmas for disappointed U.S. government civilians in Baghdad when they received word two weeks ago that the $18.6 billion for Iraq's reconstruction rushed through Congress in November was indefinitely on hold. They have been told not to issue ''requests for proposal,'' which surely will extend the promised Feb. 1 date for contract awards.No announcement of the slowdown has been made, though the Pentagon has confirmed published reports. The closely held decision to hold up the process was made in Washington, with no explanation...

<p>Help our allies, or the French? You decide.</p> <p>Friday, December 12, 2003 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>OK, it was probably bad timing. Just at the moment the U.S. is going to ask Germany, France and Russia to forgive a big chunk of Iraqi debt, the U.S. put its finger in their collective eye.</p>

GENEVA — Worried over U.S. domination, a group of developing nations wants to put control of the Internet into the hands of the United Nations, an issue that likely will overshadow a summit on information technology opening today. Key decisions on Internet issues, such as domain names and addresses, now reside in a private agency spun off from the U.S. government — and the United States wants to keep it that way. But if countries do not think their concerns are adequately heard by the Internet's key decision-makers, a U.N. official warned yesterday, they may create conflicting national policies and...

THE FRONT PAGE of the November 7 Washington Post says it all. The first headline, in large type: "Bush Urges Commitment to Transform Mideast." Below, in slightly smaller type: "Pentagon to Shrink Iraq Force." And below that: "Iraqi Security Crews Getting Less Training." It's a jarring juxtaposition. The president eloquently makes the case for a necessarily and admirably ambitious foreign policy. Yet his own administration's deeds threaten the achievement of his goals. In his fine speech to the National Endowment for Democracy last Thursday, the president made the case for "a forward strategy of freedom" in the Middle East. He...

  United States Department of DefenseNews ReleaseOn the web: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2003/b04252003_bt275-03.html Media contact: media@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: public@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 428-0711   No. 275-03 IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2003 DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY The Department of Defense announced today it has changed the status of Army Sgt. Troy David Jenkins, 25, of Ridgecrest, Calif., from Wounded in Action to Died of Wounds received in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On April 19, 2003, Sgt. Jenkins was on a dismounted patrol with other soldiers when he was injured as result of an explosion. Sgt. Jenkins died from...

Rapidly, decisions are being made about the governance of postwar Iraq. While debate rages in the press and in Congress, George W. Bush has decided that the United States, not the United Nations, and the Defense Department, not the State Department, will be in charge of Iraq once hostilities have been concluded. Last Wednesday, Colin Powell informed the European foreign ministers that the United Nations would not be in charge. Also on Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Donald Rumsfeld had rejected eight State Department nominees for positions in postwar Iraq. On Thursday U.S. News broke the story that Rumsfeld...

  United States Department of DefenseNews ReleaseOn the web: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/b03292003_bt170-03.html Media contact: media@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: public@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 428-0711   No. 170-03 IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 29, 2003 DOD ANNOUNCES CHANGE IN MARINE CASUALTY STATUS The Department of Defense announced today it has changed the status of Marine Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus from Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) to killed in action. Sgt. Korthaus was declared DUSTWUN in the vicinity of the Saddam Canal on March 24. His remains were recovered on March 25. Sgt. Korthaus, 28, of Scott, Iowa, was assigned to Engineering Company...

  United States Department of DefenseNews ReleaseOn the web: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/b03282003_bt169-03.html Media contact: media@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: public@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 428-0711   No. 169-03 IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 2003 DOD ANNOUNCES MARINE KILLED IN NON-HOSTILE ACCIDENT The Department of Defense announced today that Marine Major Kevin G. Nave, 36, of Union Lake, Mich., was killed March 26 in a non-hostile vehicle accident in Iraq. Major Nave was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif. The accident is under investigation.

Ongoing now....

* * * * WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * RUMSFELD MEMO TO NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: HOW TO WIN THE SPIN WAR By Joel C. Rosenberg, national correspondent, WORLD magazine (www.worldmag.com) ** ADVANCE FROM NEXT WEEK'S WORLD MAGAZINE ** (WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27, 2003) -- Fox News Channel star Ollie North is drawing huge ratings reporting from the front lines with his fellow Marines. David Bloom of NBC is suddenly a household name. CNN's Walter Rodgers breathlessly tells the Washington Post via satellite phone from deep inside Iraq, "I don't believe I've ever had such access over 36 years...

  United States Department of DefenseNews ReleaseOn the web: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/b03262003_bt154-03.html Media contact: media@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: public@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 428-0711   No. 154-03 IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 26, 2003 DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY SOLDIER KILLED The Department of Defense announced today the identity of an Army soldier who was killed in action March 24 in Iraq. Army Spc. Gregory P. Sanders, 19, of Indiana, was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor, Fort Stewart, Ga.

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 March 23, 2003Release Number: 03-03-52 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DOD Release: Coverage of POWs and Deceased Out of respect for the families and consistent with the principles of the Geneva Conventions: 1) We request news organizations not air or publish recognizable images or audio recordings that identify POWs. Additionally, we request you not use their names, first or last, or their unit until next-of-kin notification is complete. We are working hard to reach their families. We will notify...