Free Republic

Retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn returned to Charleston on Friday to repeat his message that climate change and U.S. dependence on foreign oil are national security threats that must be addressed together."If you don't believe in climate change, great, let's focus on energy security," he said at a small private luncheon at High Cotton. "There is no excuse for inaction." (snip) McGinn commanded the U.S. Third Fleet in the 1990s, was deputy chief of Naval Operations, Warfare Requirements and Programs and is a member of the Center for Naval Analysis' Military Advisory Board. (snip) McGinn was among a bipartisan panel...

Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the offi cials said. More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.

Democrats put their distinguished soldiers on stage at their state convention with messages of patriotism and a strong national defense. Four-star Gen. Wesley Clark and decorated Vietnam veteran Max Cleland, a former Georgia senator, told delegates Saturday that the administration has botched the war in Iraq and Democrats would be better at handling national security. "We're strong on defense. That's the message that I want people to hear," Clark said, during one of the few times he raised his voice during the keynote speech. "We've got to talk it up." Clark, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004, said the...

Strange as it seems, Michael Moore wrote a letter encouraging General Clark to run. September 12, 2003 Dear General Wesley Clark, I've been meaning to write to you for some time. Two days after the Oscars, when I felt very alone and somewhat frightened by the level of hatred toward me for daring to suggest that we were being led into war for "fictitious reasons," one person stuck his neck out and came to my defense on national television. And that person was you. Aaron Brown had just finished interviewing me by satellite on CNN, and I had made a...