Free Republic

The Obama Record: In pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons, the president finalizes plans to decimate our nuclear deterrent and reduce our warhead count beyond even treaty commitments. (snip) President Obama has decided that indeed we are going to tempt them with weakness. According to an Associated Press report on conversations with current and former administration officials, Obama is finalizing plans, perhaps to be released later this month, to cut the U.S. nuclear arsenal to between 1,000 and 1,100 warheads with the goal "in the longer term, (of) eliminating nuclear weapons."

China’s nuclear warhead stockpile is more than twice as large as U.S. intelligence estimates and could include as many as 3,000 warheads, according to a retired Russian general and former strategic forces commander. Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin, the former head of the Strategic Rocket Forces, revealed in a May 2012 article that based on estimated stocks of up to 70 tons of uranium and plutonium, Beijing has enough material for 3,600 nuclear warheads. Based on the fissile material, “there are probably 1,600 to 1,800 warheads in the Chinese nuclear arsenal,” Yesin stated. “According to assessments, 800 to 900 warheads...

The Army is changing clothes. Over the next year, America’s largest fighting force is swapping its camouflage pattern. The move is a quiet admission that the last uniform — a pixelated design that debuted in 2004 at a cost of $5 billion — was a colossal mistake. Soldiers have roundly criticized the gray-green uniform for standing out almost everywhere it’s been worn. Industry insiders have called the financial mess surrounding the pattern a “fiasco.” As Army researchers work furiously on a newer, better camouflage, it’s natural to ask what went wrong and how they’ll avoid the same missteps this time...

Forty-five years ago, American cargo ships filled this vast harbor, unloading supplies day after day for U.S. troops fighting the Viet Cong. Today, the bay’s azure waters are largely empty, except for local fishing boats. The once-bustling U.S. airbase here, formerly home to fighter squadrons and a combat hospital, is abandoned, a reminder of the U.S. military’s exit from most of Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War. But the Pentagon is plotting a return. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta flew in to Cam Ranh Bay, the first Pentagon chief to come to this deep-water port 200 miles north...

PLEASE READ CONGRESSMAN WEST'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA! http://west.house.gov/images/stories/Letter_to_President_Obama_re_Daqduq_-_16_MAY_2012.pdf

Fresh on the heels of yesterday’s announcement by the Air Force that it thinks the hypoxia-like symptoms suffered by F-22 Raptor pilots may be caused by the jets high-altitude performance, reports are emerging that ground crew are also suffering from similar ailments when they stand near the jet while it’s engines are running. Interesting. At least five ground maintainers complained of illness between September and December, Air Combat Command spokesman Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis said in an Air Force Times article that hit the newsstands Monday. The maintainers grew sick after breathing in ambient air during ground engine runs, a...

General Dynamics Electric Boat yesterday delivered the nuclear-powered attack submarine Mississippi (SSN-782) to the U.S. Navy 363 days ahead of contract schedule and more than $60 million below target cost. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics . John Holmander, vice president and Virginia program manager for General Dynamics Electric Boat, noted that Mississippi was at the most combat-ready state of any Virginia-class submarine at delivery. He credited the Navy, the shipbuilders and the supplier base for achieving significant shipbuilding benchmarks with the delivery of Mississippi. Mississippi is the ninth ship of the Virginia Class, the most...

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members: Your Committees have repeatedly questioned the utility and effectiveness of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program—which is expected to cost taxpayers more than $120 billion over the life of the program[1] and constitute as much as half of the Navy’s surface fleet.[2] Your Committees have repeatedly been assured by the Navy as well as by the ships’ manufacturers that the program is delivering quality ships. Unfortunately, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), a nonpartisan independent watchdog that has championed responsible weapons procurement for more than three decades, has learned that these assurances about one of...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I got an e-mail this morning from Cal Thomas, and he got an e-mail from Jim Pinkerton. You all know who James Pinkerton is. Pinkerton is on the Fox News media analysis show. And this is a story from the UK Telegraph that these guys were sending back and forth to each other. Cal Thomas sent it to me. The headline of the story -- and it's dated today -- "US Weapons 'Full of Fake Chinese Parts' -- Thousands of United States' warplanes, ships and missiles contain fake electronic components from China, leaving them open to malfunction,...

Security: The president insists he wasn't trying to "hide the ball" until after the election, but the man who as candidate pledged to "end misguided defense policies" such as missile defense is fulfilling that campaign promise. Despite the administration's rap-dancing with the help of the usual suspects in the mainstream media, it's clear that the recent meeting between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea, couldn't be more different in tone and meaning from the one President Ronald Reagan had with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986. President Obama has tried to...

President Obama's explanation today of his private request yesterday, captured on an open microphone, of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for some "space" and "flexibility" until after November's election, simply compounds the problem. "The only way I get this stuff done is if I'm consulting with the Pentagon, with Congress, if I've got bipartisan support and frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations," Obama told reporters. And Obama insisted his comments to Medvedev were "not a matter of hiding the ball—I'm on record" about wanting to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles. Obama is being disingenuous: His...

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences. Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the...

I’m getting really, really sick of these pundits and talking heads on the so-called “right” clucking their tongues at the unwashed masses and telling us that we’re crazy and paranoid to be the least bit concerned each and every time the Obama regime takes another stride toward totalitarianism. And it is EACH AND EVERY TIME. Let me break it down for Ed Morrissey, and all of the other pundits in that social circle so that you can get your heads around this. We are concerned and even, dare I say it, panicked, because we can see the big picture of...

On Friday, the 16th, Obama signed a new Executive Order into being and this one’s timing is very curious. Ed Morrissey (whom I highly respect) of Hot Air says that it is simply a reissue of an EO that is 18 years old, that was issued in 1994 by Bill Clinton – EO (12919). I find myself mostly in agreement with Morrissey. The EO is vague and far-reaching. Basically Morrissey points out that it simply adds the DHS to the mix of departments and is apparently just an update. From Hot Air: In fact, that’s almost entirely what it is....

A U.S. Army officer from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state has been charged with threatening to have his estranged wife and his superior officer killed. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Lt. Col. Robert E. Underwood pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of felony harassment at his Superior Court arraignment in Tacoma. He is being held in the Pierce County Jail. A Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman said that Underwood had also made threats to blow up the state Capitol in nearby Olympia. Serena Kiptoo, identified in court documents as Underwood's girlfriend, told police that Underwood had said...

Russian military aircraft will take part in the exercises of U.S. Air Force Flag-2012 in 2012. This was announced by the Russian Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik. "In 2012, governments, military units in the Air Force for working out issues of governance and cooperation in carrying out joint tasks will take part in several international exercises" - Drik said. "In the framework of the Collective Security Treaty and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in particular, will exercise" Peace Mission 2012 "and" Interaction 2012 ", - he said. "Within the framework of bilateral agreements reached in August, the Russian Air Force...

I believe this next election is all about the preservation of the 2nd Amendment, a Conservative Supreme Court that will protect that precious amendment and our National Security! This is a brilliant speech by former Speaker Newt Gingrich and is worth everyone’s time to listen to it. If nothing else, Americans should know the great sacrifice that was made by General Washington and 2500 freezing and starving Patriots who suffered immensely and fought bravely to ensure our freedom and our right to defend ourselves:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGbKbGZsGY Further, I applaud Newt Gingrich for speaking out, before any other candidate, regarding the murder of...

We made two stops for this Cool Schools report: Leesburg, Va. and the White House. A team of fifth graders came up with an invention so impressive, the President of the United States even noticed! Learning about the war in Afghanistan could be pretty daunting and the graphic scenes can be scary, but for these 11 year olds, it was a motivation to do something positive. Jack Dudley, a student at Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn, Va. told us, "Our inspiration for the project...Specialist Robert Warren lost part of his skull in an IED blast in Afghanistan." Virginia 5th...

WASHINGTON — Air Force Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger would become the highest-ranking woman officer ever to serve in the Air Force if a nomination forwarded Monday by President Barack Obama is approved by the Senate. Wolfenbarger would lead Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and become the first female four-star general in the Air Force. The command focuses on development and sustainment of weapons systems. With a yearly budget of $60 billion, it’s the largest Air Force command in terms of funding. Wolfenbarger now serves as military deputy to the Air Force’s assistant secretary for...

The pollsters Pat Caddell and John McLaughlin unveiled some startling national poll numbers recently, at David Horowitz's November 2011 Restoration Weekend (video presentation here). The gist of the research is that Obama is very vulnerable on foreign policy, if Republican candidates take him on directly, issue by issue, which they have yet to show any strong interest in doing. In reading through these poll results it is obvious that Iran, sharia and jihadists frighten the public, more so than most Republican elected officials are frightened. Here are the 8 poll questions: Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/01/is_the_national_electorate_to_the_right_of_republicans_on_national_security.html#ixzz1l6V9mvD5