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A report by a political activist and reservist combat soldier claims the IDF has effectively capitulated in the face of Arab rock and firebomb attacks. Writing in the web magazine Mida, Erez Tadmor says that in the past week, since the grave injury of Yaakov Zlatkin at the hands of an Arab mob, he has spoken with dozens of officers and soldiers who all said the same thing: The health and security of Jews who live in Judea and Samaria, as well as those of the soldiers who are supposed to guard them, have been left to the mercy of...

I received this in an email this AM from my friend Joe John at Combat Veterans for Congress.... It is really good and worth a watch! The Miami Dolphin cheerleaders sent the US Troops in Afghanistan a music video and they sent one back…imitating them almost to perfection. SO cool!! Plus the Soldiers light off a four point deuce mortar as a point of punctuation. Ya gotta love the American fighting man ! Soldiers win…hands down! CLICK BELOW:

Army could lose 100,000 soldiers due to sequestration. Of all the military services facing budget pressure this year, the Army is in the direst of straits. The budget Congress finally passed a month ago will help matters, but the service says it's still more than $15 billion short of funds in fiscal 2013. Army senior leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the elimination of a continuing resolution and the passage of a formal budget only fixed about a third of the funding problem they face this year. The sequestration cuts that Congress left in place will force...

At 5:20 a.m. on Monday, four hours before the Boston Marathon's elite runners took off, a group of 15 active-duty soldiers from the Massachusetts National Guard gathered at the starting line in Hopkinton. Each soldier was in full combat uniform and carried a "ruck," a military backpack weighing about 40 pounds. The rucks were filled with Camelbacks of water, extra uniforms, Gatorade, changes of socks—and first-aid and trauma kits. It was all just supposed to be symbolic. "Forced marches" or "humps" are a regular part of military training, brisk walking over tough terrain while carrying gear that could help a...

WIESBADEN, Germany — The Army announced Friday it is suspending its tuition assistance program for soldiers newly enrolling in classes due to sequestration and other budgetary pressures. “This suspension is necessary given the significant budget execution challenges caused by the combined effects of a possible year-long continuing resolution and sequestration,” Paul Prince, an army personnel spokesman at the Pentagon, wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. “The Army understands the impacts of this action and will re-evaluate should the budgetary situation improve.” The Army’s announcement follows a similar move by the Marine Corps. The Army’s tuition assistance program was...

Forget that The Daily Caller is reporting Progressive USA’s claim that NRA donated $10,000 to Debbie Halvorson, and that the contender for the Congressional seat vacated by disgraced anti-gun head case Jesse Jackson Jr. calls for “Universal Background Checks and registration of all firearms … Making sure that background checks work so people do not fall through the cracks in the National Data Base [and] Ending the Gun Show loophole” on her campaign website. Those who play political chess will tell us Halvorson opposes banning semi-autos and some such, while hard-liners will point out the prospective ban is likely to...

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE SUBJECT: Determination with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 Pursuant to section 404 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) (title IV, Public Law 110-457), I hereby determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to Libya, South Sudan, and Yemen; and further determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive in part the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA...

I recently read the new biography of Trotsky by Oxford don Robert Service, published in 2009 by Pan Books. It is well-written and surprisingly interesting. The book does a great public service in describing the life of the actual Trotsky, whose previous “biographies” were little more than hagiographies written by his toady worshippers (people like Isaac Deutscher). The last time that I had taken any interest in Trotsky was when I was a teenager and had fleeting delusions of believing in “socialism.” Reading the new book as an adult and as an economist, I found it a useful opportunity to...

Soldiers in Afghanistan have been filling us in on what it means to no longer get a hot breakfast each morning - and it has a lot more to do with morale than hunger. The comments are in response to a story that appeared in Home Post last week about the Pentagon's dismissal of a viral email that claimed all troops in Afghanistan weren't getting breakfast. According to the American Forces Press Service: The Internet myth’s genesis came from a few forward operating bases in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province that are closing or being turned over to Afghan security forces....

Forty years later, veterans still suffer rebound effects from inhabiting thick jungles during one of America’s most brutal wars. “Inside the Vietnam War,” airs tonite, December 28 at 8 p.m., in a special encore presentation on the National Geographic Channel. An outstanding memorial tribute by USA TODAY it features individual interviews of veterans from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Marine Security Guard, Bill Newell stood post at the US Embassy in Saigon on April 29, 1975, when he got the news that two of his fellow Marines became the last Americans to die in that terrible war....

2 US troops die in apparent Afghan insider attack Last Updated: 11:12 AM, October 25, 2012 KABUL, Afghanistan — A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed two American service members Thursday, the US military said, in what appeared to be the latest in a rash of attacks on international forces this year by their Afghan partners.

Paul Flynn is thrown out of Commons for calling Philip Hammond a 'liar' Paul Flynn has been suspended from the House of Commons after accusing defence ministers of 'lying' about events surrounding the deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan. By Rosa Prince, Online Political Editor 3:42PM BST 18 Sep 2012 Comments1 Comment The Labour MP was ordered to leave the Chamber and suspended from the Commons for 24 hours after comparing statements given by Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, and his ministerial team to the First World War when "politicians lied and soldiers died". John Bercow, the Speaker of the Commons,...

The Commander in Chief got a decidedly cool reception from the troops on a whistle stop at Fort Bliss in El Paso Friday. While this president already is not widely popular with our military, the attitude demonstrated by the shanghaied soldiers in that cavernous hangar was demonstrably cooler than at such past events. The conservative media interpreted that indifferent reception to dissatisfaction with Obama's politics and his repeated failures as CinC, but the event is far more consequential as yet another example of how little the Obama Administration understands the military it commands. I'm an old non-com who, as a...

Army soldiers formed a militia group in Georgia that plotted to overthrow the U.S. government — and they killed a fellow soldier and his girlfriend to keep the plot secret, prosecutors alleged Monday, according to the Associated Press. Prosecutors in the Long County, Ga., case say that the militia group planned to overtake the nearby Fort Stewart, to bomb a dam in Washington state and poison the state’s apple crop and ultimately overthrow the government and assassinate the president, according to reports.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - It was once President Barack Obama's "war of necessity." Now, it's America's forgotten war. The Afghan conflict generates barely a whisper on the U.S. presidential campaign trail. It's not a hot topic at the office water cooler or in the halls of Congress - even though more than 80,000 American troops are still fighting here and dying at a rate of one a day. Americans show more interest in the economy and taxes than the latest suicide bombings in a different, distant land. They're more tuned in to the political ad war playing out on television...

IDF forces foiled an attempted inflitration by Gaza terrorists Sunday evening in the Kerem Shalom area. The IDF reportedly hit one vehicle from the air and the terrorists in it were killed. Initial reports from Gaza said that members of an extremist Islamic group attacked two Egyptian army posts in the Egyptian part of Rafiah with anti-tank rockets and gunfire, killing 15 Egyptian officers and soldiers. Al Jazeera later put the number of Egyptian soldiers dead at 20. They then commandeered an Egyptian military armored personnel carrier (APC) and tried to use it to cross into Israeli territory. Some reports...

"The soldiers fled like rats," says a grinning rebel after he and his fellow fighters captured Anadan checkpoint from the Syrian army, giving them strategic access to Aleppo where they are battling a fierce loyalist offensive. "Bashar don't go, we will catch you," jokes another rebel, sitting on crates of ammunition in the back of a truck where the Islamist flag -- black with white lettering -- flutters. The jubilant rebels celebrate their victory with gunfire, while some retrieve weapons and ammunition left behind by the retreating Syrian troops after 10 hours of fierce fighting during the night. The ground...

3 Italy-based U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan VICENZA ITALY JULY 25, 2012 BY: SUSY RAYBON The Pentagon announced today the deaths of three Italy-based soldiers who were killed while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Pfc. Adam C. Ross, 19, of Lyman, S.C., died July 24, 2012, in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he encountered small arms fire. Ross was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. Of note, the DOD announced last week that the base in Vicenza, Italy, is soon to be closed under the Base Realignment and...

Two hundred and thirty-seven years ago, our Nation's leaders established the Continental Army, beginning a rich heritage of successfully defending this great country and her citizens. Today, we celebrate the continued honor, loyalty and bravery of our Soldiers in this noble calling. Our Soldiers remain Army Strong with a deep commitment to our core values and beliefs. This 237th birthday commemorates America's Army – Soldiers, families and civilians – who are achieving a level of excellence that is truly Army Strong. We also celebrate our local communities for their steadfast support of our Soldiers and families. We are "America's Army:...

Six year-old Michael surprised his US Marine father. Michael walked to his dad for the first time when his father returned home from war. Absolutely wonderful. (Warning: You may need a Kleenex for this one!)

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...

The Tea Party hit its stride in the summer of 2009 when concerned citizens showed up to town halls across the United States to protest the healthcare takeover law being considered in Congress. The people rightly felt that the bill’s labyrinthine and onerous regulations were corrupt and designed to increase the power of the government, line the pockets of shortsighted insurance companies, and squeeze as much blood from the country’s taxpayer turnip as possible. Just when America believed the US government health scandal couldn’t get worse, President Obama’s handlers go one step further—increasing service members’ and veterans’ medical premiums.

Two Fort Stewart soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. 25 year old Sgt. Joshua A. Born of Niceville, Florida and 22 year old Cpl. Timothy J. Conrad Jr. of Roanoke, Va. died Feb. 23, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their unit came under small arms fire. They were assigned to the 385th Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Stewart, Ga. According to an interveiw she did with WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, Joshua Born's wife lives in Illinois, and found out about her husband's death not through military channels, but when someone sent...

The Army is ordering its hardened combat veterans to wear fake breasts and empathy bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training. This week, 14 noncommissioned officers at Camp Zama took turns wearing the “pregnancy simulators” as they stretched, twisted and exercised during a three-day class that teaches them to serve as fitness instructors for pregnant soldiers and new mothers. Army enlisted leaders all over the world are being ordered to take the Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Exercise Leaders Course, or PPPT, according to U.S. Army Medical Activity Japan health promotion educator Jana York. Developed...

While I understand that only a fraction of the population of this nation is directly affected by what you are about to read, I would never-the-less like to remind you that the remainder of the population is affected coincidentally. While the majority of the American population probably never even considered the Armed Forces as a possible career objective, there are those who never considered life without serving their country, in uniform, on a field of combat. Most of these young men and women never take the time to internalize some idealized vision of charging death for God and Country,

They will now only get the $7.50 daily proration for the individual days they are actually serving in harm’s way instead of for the whole month. (DOD) Barack Obama cut pay for military men and women serving in harm’s way starting this month. The Army Times reported: Starting this month, some troops will begin receiving less Imminent Danger Pay when a new policy takes effect that will prorate the standard $225 monthly IDP stipend. Under the new policy, troops will be paid only for the actual days they spend in the danger pay location, defense officials said Thursday. Under the...

It is the little-known battle that claimed the lives of thousands of Americans during World War II. But now black-and-white photographs, captured by Life magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, show the everyday horrors for the U.S. soldiers fighting against Japanese forces on the Mariana Island of Saipan between June 15 and July 9, 1944. Faces etched with the pain of their experiences, war-weary men are captured transporting their wounded comrades or forcing Japanese civilians from their hiding places. The photographs were taken during a battle that claimed the lives of 22,000 Japanese civilians - many by suicide - and nearly...

Soldier, chaplain, shepherd Auxiliary Bishop Rick Spencer of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services wears many hats. By Fr. Eric Albertson | For the Catholic Herald   Fr. Eric Albertson | For the Catholic Herald Bishop Spencer with Staff Sgt. Jeremy Todd, chaplain assistant who provided security for the bishop during his recent deployment to Afghanistan. He is a priest, a soldier, an Army chaplain and yet he is also a bishop, serving as an auxiliary for the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. Chaplain (Col.) Rick Spencer wears many hats besides his zucchetto, including the Army patrol cap,...

Michael Hastings’ new book, The Operators, jabs at what could be a vulnerable spot for the Obama Administration, the president’s relationship with the troops. The book describes a visit to Baghdad: After the talk, out of earshot from the soldiers and diplomats, he starts to complain. He starts to act very un-Obamalike, according to a U.S. embassy official who helped organize the trip in Baghdad. He’s asked to go out to take a few more pictures with soldiers and embassy staffers. He’s asked to sign copies of his book. “He didn’t want to take pictures with any more soldiers; he...

... Cpl Kavanagh lied about his age to join the Cheshire Regiment at 15 and was sent to the Third Anglo-Afghan War in May to August 1919. He wrote: “The endurance and experience gained by the tribesman from years of incessant raiding make him a formidable enemy. “He will sometimes hide his rifle and appear as a peaceful villager.” One tip to young recruits was: “Avoid shaking hands with a strange Pathan. They will seize with their left hand and stab with their right.” Cpl Kavanagh continued serving with the British army and was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. He...

NEW YORK (AP) - Even before the Army sent him to Afghanistan, supporters say, Pvt. Daniel Chen was fighting a personal war. [snip] Then he was sent overseas, and the hazing began: Soldiers dragged him across a floor, pelted him with stones and forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while hanging upside down, according to diary entries and other accounts cited by a community activist. On Oct. 3, the 19-year-old Chen was found dead in a guardhouse in Afghanistan with what the Army said was apparently a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Just hours before, she joined her husband for a Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. But it was just the young royal set at the Sun Military Awards tonight. The Duchess of Cambridge was the belle of the ball in a strapless black velvet dress as she walked the red carpet with her husband Prince William, who looked dapper in black tie Prince Harry was two steps behind his older brother at London's Imperial War Museum, also donning a suit. Kate's black Alexander McQueen gown - the same designer as her wedding dress - had frill trim around...

Spc. Ronald H. Wildrick Jr. and Sgt. Christopher L. Muniz of Schofield Barracks Oahu Hawaii died in Afghanistan on Dec. 11, 2012 from improvided exposive devise (IED). Their names were released by the Pentagon on December 13, 2012, the same day four soldiers flying in two OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, died at Fort Lewis in Tacoma Washington. John Roco eulogizes their Christmas time ultimate sacrifice, remembering their families and all who have given for the sake of us all in making it safe for all of us of these United States of America

The New York Police Department has foiled an alleged terror plot targeting law enforcement and soldiers returning from the battlefield. The New York Times reported that 27-year-old Jose Pimentel was acting as a 'lone wolf' and was taken into custody Saturday. He allegedly was inspired by Al-Qaida, although his citizenship was not immediately known.

Iranian soldiers march during the annual military parade on September 22, 2011 in front of the mausoleum of the Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran. The parade marks the beginning of the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq.

A Rishon Lezion academic institution is at the cutting edge of robotics technology that will prevent future IDF soldiers, experts say. .....

On September 11, as Americans commemorate the tenth anniversary of that fateful day, more than 350 9/11 first responders, injured veterans, victims’ family members and supporters will embark on a 540-mile Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) bicycle trip to visit each crash site. Riders will begin the eight-day trek at Liberty State Park on New York Harbor, peddle to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and finish at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

click article link to read storyA member of an anti-gay church that pickets at military funerals said via Twitter that church members will come to Carson City in the wake of the shooting deaths of three Nevada National Guard soldiershttp://www.rgj.com/article/20110907/NEWS/110907005/Anti-gay-church-hints-will-protest-funerals-slain-guardsmen-Carson-IHOP-shooting?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Girl Gets Wish! Daddy Home From War!!The best video you'll see this year!Soldier Suprises Daughter in class - One of the BEST reactions! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtiTcVrvecM

Debora Marshall wasn't sure what she was witnessing. She came home from work to find sheriff's cruisers blocking streets in her sleepy Timber Pond subdivision. Deputies with guns drawn and bulletproof vests surrounded her house. "They had it blocked off at both ends. I thought a murderer was on the loose," she said. So did the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Authorities thought her son had killed her. "My son was home and clueless," Marshall said. "I was at work, and all my neighbors thought I was dead." In what appears to be the first incident of its kind in Hillsborough...

Thanks to all those who responded to my post The Gulf Wars in Hindsight (see above); I appreciate the dialogue; however, I was really hoping for my own insight and benefit to hear from more soldiers who participated or are still active in the Iraq and Afghan wars; Their feelings and perspectives are the ones I wish to know and think on; any of you out there, please share at length. I understand you are all honorable and follow orders as good soldiers, but I would like to know your thoughts on the war, in retrospect. Thanks to all.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden is on duty in Afghanistan now after tours with the Army in Iraq. He has traveled with standard-issue equipment -- weapons, helmet, uniform, boots and so forth -- plus a radio-controlled model truck his brother sent. The truck is not a toy to him. He says it just saved six soldiers' lives. "We cannot thank you enough," said Sgt. Fessenden in an email from the front that his brother Ernie, a software engineer in Rochester, Minn., shared with ABC News. The little truck was used by the troops to run ahead of them on patrols and...

I have a real problem with the SRM constantly referring to the douchebag that was arrested for his plot to make an attack on Fort Hood as a "soldier". The term "soldier" should not be sullied or denigrated in connection to this worthless bag of semi-human debris. Our Soldiers are volunteering to put their lives on the line in order to protect and preserve our freedom and way of life. They are always the first in line for budget cuts even though they don't ask for much. Their lives with their families are constantly disrupted by the policy makers that...

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors returned 33 Mexican soldiers on Tuesday who inadvertently crossed over the Rio Grande river into Texas, authorities said. The soldiers, packed into four Humvees, crossed over the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge into south Texas at around 2 p.m., said Felix Garza, a spokesman for CBP in Pharr, Texas. "They crossed the boundary line on the bridge. Once they did that they were forced to continue traveling to our primary inspection area," Garza told Reuters. "They were processed according to protocols, and they were released and returned to Mexico without incident...

Mexican soldiers discovered the largest marijuana plantation in the country's history, hidden under black cloth in the middle of the desert. The 300-acre plantation is four times larger than the previous record discovery by authorities and workers had even installed toilet facilities, the Defence Department said. The towering pot plants sheltered under black screen-cloth in a huge square on the floor of the Baja California desert, more than 150 miles south of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.

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Mexican troops crossed the border into the United States Thursday, KGNS-TV reported Friday. A convoy of three military trucks loaded with soldiers and weapons crossed the border at Bridge No. 2 in Laredo, Texas, the station reported.

A convoy of three Mexican military trucks loaded down with soldiers and weapons may have violated territorial sovereignty near Laredo, TX on Thursday, driving through a border checkpoint and crossing into the United States. KGNS-TV reports the crossing happened at a section known as Bridge Number Two: Mexican leaders say the soldiers, who had just been deployed to Nuevo Laredo, didn’t know the area, got lost and then made their way through Bridge Two.

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. military says two American soldiers have been killed while conducting operations in southern Iraq. Tuesday's statement didn't give details on the operations, saying only the two were killed Monday. They were not identified pending notification of next of kin. The new deaths bring to 4,462 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. And it brings to eight the number of U.S. troops killed in June so far. Shiite Muslim militias have stepped up attacks on U.S. forces with the...

Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers, applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May 17 on the Web-log of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media Matters for America Web site. "It is 110 yards from the 'E' ring to the 'A' ring of the Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed...