Free Republic

A devastating US military strike against Iran's nuclear and military facilities "is a technically feasible and credible option," a retired general asserted in an article published on Friday. Retired air force general Charles Wald, a former deputy commander of US forces in Europe, said US policy makers must prepare for a "Plan B," including the military's role, should diplomacy fail. "A peaceful resolution of the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions would certainly be the best possible outcome," Wald wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. "But should diplomacy and economic pressure fail, a US military strike...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Global warming poses a "serious threat to America's national security" and the U.S. likely will be dragged into fights over water and other shortages, top retired military leaders warn in a new report. The report says that in the next 30 to 40 years there will be wars over water, increased hunger instability from worsening disease and rising sea levels and global warming-induced refugees. "The chaos that results can be an incubator of civil strife, genocide and the growth of terrorism," the 35-page report predicts. "Climate change exacerbates already unstable situations," former U.S. Army chief of staff...

Tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers could be shifted outside of Western Europe, as the military considers shrinking its presence in countries like Germany and moving them east to countries that supported the Iraq war. The presence of American soldiers in Southern Germany has been as integral a part of Germany's postwar history as the deutsche mark or Helmut Kohl. Of the 106,000 active armed forces' personnel in the United States European Command, 70,000 soldiers (and 90,000 family members) are stationed in Germany. For decades, cities like Heidelberg and Wiesbaden in Hesse, or Grafenwöhr in Bavaria, have closely identified with...