Free Republic

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. A decade ago, Hina Shamsi was fighting on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation whose leaders had been convicted of providing material support to Hamas. As the head of the ACLU’s National Security Project, Shamsi, a Pakistani citizen, had fought fiercely for the Islamic terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. “We all must pledge — not one person more in Guantanamo, not in our names,” she recently declared. But now the Pakistani advocate for Islamic terrorists has a...

A reader who requests anonymity because he is very much in a position to know what he is talking about, and would be punished for saying so, writes: I hope this finds you well and just wanted to offer some thoughts on the pending purge of DOD on explicitly ideological lines: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/politics/military-race-capitol-riots-extremism.html https://www.stripes.com/news/us/austin-launching-panel-to-address-extremism-in-the-ranks-as-military-completes-stand-downs-1.669182 Here is a passage from the NYT story the reader highlights above:

‘NUMBERS MAY BE BIGGER THAN WE THINK’: The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Friday memo ordering a one-day stand-down for military leaders and civilian supervisors to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks with their personnel is not aimed at any one group.

It was not hyperbole when GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said that under resident Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the U.S. military had been "reduced to rubble" and left floundering without a coherent strategy or meaningful capability to win wars. It is a fait accompli, engineered by our commander-in-chief to reduce America's global footprint, an America he has profusely apologized for, and one he blames for all the world's ills. Almost as soon as he took office, resident Obama began a military purge not dissimilar to those routinely conducted by third-world despots, with the goal of eliminating voices...

President Obama plans to overhaul the Joint Chiefs of Staff this year as he seeks to replace a handful of longtime members whose terms are coming to a close. Obama on Tuesday nominated Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, commandant of the Marine Corps, to succeed Army Gen. Martin Dempsey as chairman this fall. He also tapped Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, head of U.S. Transportation Command, to replace Navy Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld as vice chairman. In the roles since 2011, Dempsey and Winnefeld are expected to retire after their current two-year terms end in October and August, respectively. What’s more,...

The Navy has removed the commander of a San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser from his post, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to command. The Navy on Tuesday announced the removal of Capt. John Banigan, saying the action was based on findings of an investigation into the poor command climate aboard the USS Lake Erie.

According to a newly revealed Department of Defense policy, undocumented immigrants with “high-demand skills” and “mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training” will now be allowed to serve in the military, USA today reported. The program is called Military Accessions in the National Interest (MAVNI). Immigrants lacking proper documentation will be allowed in if they came to America with their parents before the age of 16 and are approved under President Obama’s 2012 DACA, or Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, policy. Interesting announcement from our government, considering that the Army had just announced back in May that...

They will only allow the posting of titles and links. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/nation/military/2014/08/18/navy-chiefs-face-ax/14234181/

Earlier this week, Army officials provided greater clarity behind its ongoing involuntary drawdown efforts with MOAA and other major veteran and military service organizations. The teleconference followed swift negative reaction by the press and legislators when various “pink slip” news stories surfaced regarding the way the Army handled the notification of nearly 1,200 officers involuntarily selected to separate; some while deployed combat zones. During the teleconference, Army officials emphasized that leaders were involved in the notification process. The 87 deployed captains (O-3), once notified, immediately received “change of mission” orders and will be out of country within 30 days. They...

The Army says it will soon notify 550 majors that they must leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service. Some of those soldiers will get the bad news while they are on the front lines in Afghanistan. The Army has close to 514,000 soldiers now, but due to budget cuts must be down to 510,000 by October, and down to 490,000 by October 2015.

Religious liberty groups have grave concerns after they learned the Pentagon is vetting its guide on religious tolerance with a group that compared Christian evangelism to “rape” and advocated that military personnel who proselytize should be court martialed. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is calling on the Air Force to enforce a regulation that they believe calls for the court martial of any service member caught proselytizing. President Mikey Weinstein and others from his organization met privately with Pentagon officials on April 23. He said U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished –...

President Barack Obama has tapped the vice chief of the Army to take over the U.S. command in Afghanistan later this year as America pulls out its combat troops and leaves a force of about 10,000 to train and advise the Afghan military. …

Lost in the inaugural hullabaloo was Tuesday’s news that President Obama has relieved Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, the colorful and highly decorated Marine who’s been in charge of the crucial US Central Command, which oversees the various wars in the Middle East, since 2010. (excerpt)

Obama Fires Top General Without Even a Phone Call Daniel Halper January 25, 2013 10:26 AM President Barack Obama fired General James Mattis, the head of Central Command, without even calling the general to let him know he was being replaced. "I am told that General Mattis was travelling and in a meeting when an aide passed him a note telling him that the Pentagon had announced his replacement as head of Central Command. It was news to him -- he hadn't received a phone call or a heads-up from anyone at the Pentagon or the White House," Thomas E....

Both the left and the right are wrong about Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis. He is neither the Jack Nicholson caricature of a Marine depicted in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men nor the callous and mad eccentric depicted by George C. Scott in the 1970 movie Patton. And Gen. Mattis didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk. He led from the front. Indeed, on at least one occasion that I know of, the General was bloodied from a firefight or improvised explosive device while out on patrol with junior, enlisted Marines one-third his age....

Reports indicate that Marine General James Mattis is being forced out of CENTCOM for questioning certain aspects of the Obama administration's Middle East policy. In particular, it appears his questions surrounding the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear ambitions drew the ire of civilian military and security advisers. These civilians were apparently upset by the way Mattis pushed them to "consider second and third-order consequences of military action against Iran." Nor did they appreciate the way he pushed them to think long term and consider what the U.S. will do if Iran develops non-nuclear weapons that can be used to keep...

“Word on the national security street is that General James Mattis is being given the bum’s rush out of his job as commander of Central Command, and is being told to vacate his office several months earlier than planned,” reports veteran national security correspondent Thomas E. Ricks. It now appears likely that Gen. Mattis, a Marine Corps legend, will leave his post as head of America’s most important combatant command in March, several months earlier than planned. Ricks continues: Why the hurry? Pentagon insiders say that he rubbed civilian officials the wrong way — not because he went all “mad...

Senior Air Force leaders have drafted a budget-driven plan that would strip the three- and four-star generals who oversee major commands of their authority to manage their bases. A draft of the plan obtained by The Washington Times shows that the Air Force is aiming to consolidate support operations under the umbrella of a single center, known as the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center. The tricky endeavor would shuffle day-to-day base management issues — such as construction, maintenance and procurement of equipment and supplies — from under the authority of the senior generals who command the bases to...

After the 9/11 attacks, tens of thousands of young men and women joined the military, heading for the rugged mountains of Afghanistan and dusty deserts of Iraq. Many of them now are officers in the Army with multiple combat deployments under their belts. But as the wars wind down and Pentagon budgets shrink, a lot of them are being told they have to leave. […] Already down to about 522,000, the Army must shrink to 490,000 by October 2015, and then to 450,000 two years later. If automatic budget cuts resume, the Army will have to get down to 420,000—a...

Capt. Gregory McWherter, executive officer of Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, was relieved of his duties by Vice Adm. William French, commander of Navy Installations Command. The move was made based on initial findings of an ongoing investigation into allegations of misconduct and an "inappropriate command climate" at the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, or Blue Angels, based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.