President Obama weakened America's defenses

Note:  You might want to start at the Barack Obama Index Page, especially if you arrived here by using a search engine.

This page is a byproduct of another nearby page about President Obama's Intentions for America.  It is sad to see someone in the White House who has such obvious contempt for American traditions, and especially for free-market capitalism and individual liberty.

On this page:

Obama weakened America's defenses

Obama weakened our allies' defenses

Women in combat, women included in the draft




Obama intentionally weakened America's defenses

Recap and overview articles:

Civilization requires deterrence.  [Scroll down]  Abroad, Donald Trump restored the strategic deterrence lost by his predecessor.  Barack Obama had dismissed the murderous ISIS as "JVs" — and they thrived.  He shrugged when China stole territory in the South China sea to build military bases.  He dismantled missile defense in Europe to coax Vladimir Putin to behave during his own 2012 reelection campaign.  Obama loudly announced redlines in Syria while never intending to enforce them.  He gave the Taliban back their incarcerated terrorist leaders in exchange for the return of the American deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  And he sent the Iranians nocturnal cash to coax them to conclude an appeasing Iran Deal.  Aggression followed as U.S. deterrence eroded.

5 Bad Arguments for Cutting U.S.  Defense Spending.  [#1] "The United States spends more than the next seven countries combined."  Statistically true, but not particularly helpful.  The United States also spends more on health care than the next nine countries combined.  In 2012, Americans accounted for about one-third of the world's total spending on entertainment.  We're a big, rich country — with a lot to protect and a host of vital interests around the globe.  More important is the trend in defense spending.  The same data set that pegs U.S.  spending at more than the next seven countries today shows that we spent more than the next thirteen countries combined in 2011.  Our investment in national security compared with the rest of the world has dropped dramatically over the last four years.

Obama's Plan to Destroy the US Military.  Obama hates the American military only a bit less than he does America itself, and regards it as the agent of massive US crimes over our entire history.  Hence, his real goal in "reforms" like this is to degrade American military might as much as possible.  An army of women is by definition an ineffective fighting force, and since Obama wants to render our nation (ours, not his) helpless and defenseless, he sees this as an excellent way to go about it.


Timely news and commentary:

Woke Policies Threaten to Shatter America's Multi-Generational Military legacy.  The U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force all face a severe and worsening recruiting crisis that imperils their future strength, readiness, and warfighting capabilities.  Despite devoting immense resources and effort towards attracting qualified recruits, only the Marine Corps and Space Force are meeting targets for bringing in the next generation of talent.  This deeply troubling trend has profound implications for national security if left unaddressed.  At the core of this challenge lies a growing disconnect between the culture and values of contemporary American youth and the traditional ethos of military service.  Compared to past generations, an ever-shrinking percentage of the population has any direct familial ties or personal familiarity with the armed forces.  The concept of military service as a default pathway or rite of passage has diminished significantly.

America's military decline is deliberate.  The woke and weakened military is no accident, nor is Biden the principal cause of this problem.  Biden cannot craft any strategy that would transform an institution like the military into a socialistic morass.  For that, we must look to Obama.  He crafted the strategy and set the wheels in motion.  Over five years, Obama fired 197 senior military officers who did not agree with his foreign policy nor his vision of the role to be played by the military.  The coup of our country's warrior class leadership had begun.  This coup created a void in the ranks of our nation's senior generals and admirals, and Obama began filling that void with sycophants who saw the opportunity for promotion.  Over the ensuing 12 years, each promotion cycle focused upon more like-minded generals and admirals who, coincidentally, had been groomed and selected by those Obama initially chose to replace the "fired 197."  The message became crystal clear:  Go woke or go home.  Biden's inner circle has simply followed the Obama recipe.

The left's assault on the United States military is picking up steam.  One of the most vital things for a successful dictatorship is military control.  A politically neutral military composed of people loyal to the country, rather than its leadership, represents an ongoing threat to a despot.  For centuries, America has had that politically neutral military, but the Biden administration is accelerating a process begun under Obama, which is to weaken military readiness while ensuring that both officers and troops hew to a specific political ideology.  In the first five years of his presidency, Obama fired almost 200 military officers, some of whom felt very strongly that there was an ideological purge taking place.  Certainly, the Pentagon class's willing embrace of leftist ideologies (DEI, CRT and, especially, LGBTQ+++) seems to indicate that those in charge of the military's strange new destiny are on board with all of this.

Hollowed Out.  Most military experts agree that the U.S. military is no longer capable of achieving its mission as mandated by national defense doctrines adopted by administrations of both parties.  President Biden is exacerbating the situation by focusing military strategy on progressive politics instead of military preparedness.  Even a Democratic controlled Congress overruled his proposed budget in order to increase spending and partially to fund programs required to reverse the decline.  While the U.S. military remains the world's most powerful military, it also has the broadest mission of any nation, with global security needs and commitments.  Those proud of U.S. capabilities fairly observe that no other nation could have evacuated 124,000 people in two weeks from Kabul.  Nonetheless, insufficient funding, slow modernization, and woke mandates are hollowing out the military's readiness and capacity to achieve its mission.

[The] Biden Administration [is] Intentionally Weakening [the] Military: Retired General.  When the United States acts, the world is always watching, and one of the loudest messages since President Joe Biden took office came from how the United States handled its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.  What message did that send globally to other government leaders who may see America as an adversary?  That was a question asked by Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, during a panel discussion Thursday about America's role on the world stage at the Pray Vote Stand Summit in Atlanta hosted by FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council.  "I think that will go down in history as the worst foreign policy failure in U.S. history.  Every decision that was made was wrong," said Lt. General (Ret.) William Boykin, executive vice president at Family Research Council.

How Obama and Biden Destroyed the Greatest Military the World Has Ever Seen.  Joseph R. Biden is directly responsible for the worst, most humiliating, most dangerous — yet completely avoidable — defeat in the history of American warfare.  He has betrayed the country that elected him and that he is sworn to serve.  Yet Biden has shown no remorse and taken no responsibility for the damage he has done.  Instead, he has brazenly lied and called his own disaster a "success."  Every tyrant and terrorist watched the humiliating retreat from Afghanistan and knew we were weak.  A few months after the fall of Kabul, Communist China completed its takeover of Hong Kong with rigged parliamentary elections.  Right around the same time, Vladimir Putin began the military buildup for the invasion of Ukraine.  None of that was a coincidence.  Biden has weakened our military while arming and empowering terrorists.  He has emboldened Iran, China, and Russia leading to threats and conflicts around the world.  The question is, what will Republicans do about it?

How Obama Sabotaged the American Military.  By the time Barack Obama left office, every branch of the military was smaller than it had been on September 11.  But the change in size concealed the true impact of America's most left-wing president in undermining our national security and weakening us in the face of our enemies.  "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone," Obama famously boasted.  He used the pen to unleash a blizzard of executive orders and memorandums.  Some led to outraged protests, but some of his most devastating penned assaults on our nation's military flew under the radar.  One of those took place during the end of his last year in office.  His memorandum, "Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in the National Security Workforce", created the woke military of the Biden administration by putting identity politics, diversity quotas, and political indoctrination at the heart of the military's mission.  Obama had always resented the military. [...] His order redefined diversity as the military's "greatest asset" and reinvented national security as a system for maximizing employment diversity by race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and every identity politics metric, but not the military metrics that truly mattered, readiness, competence, and a willingness to wage war in defense of the homeland.

This is exactly what Barack H. Obama would do. [1] [2] [3]
In Reversal Of Trump Admin Policy, State Department Reveals How Many Nuclear Weapons America Possesses.  The State Department released newly declassified information Tuesday about the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile, reversing the position it took under former President Donald Trump.  The total number of nuclear weapons in active status and in long-term storage was 3,750 as of September 2020, the department said in a press release.  The number is a roughly 88% reduction compared to its maximum of 31,255 warheads in 1967 and a roughly 83% reduction compared to 22,217 warheads near the end of the Cold War in 1989.  The U.S. dismantled 11,683 warheads between 1994 and 2020, including 711 warheads since 2017, according to a State Department fact sheet.  Around 2,000 additional warheads are retired and waiting to be dismantled.

More evidence that we are living in Obama's third term:
West Point cadets forced to attend race theory seminars, incl. one calling white cops 'murderers'.  Last week, combat-decorated U.S. Army Green Beret turned congressman Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) wrote a letter to Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, the superintendent of West Point, describing the concerns "unsettled soldiers, cadets, and families" had about "the U.S. Army's introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet instruction."  In his letter to Williams, Waltz noted one mandatory Sept. 24, 2020 seminar in which white police officers were described as murderers.  "The entire corps of cadets was required to report to Michie Stadium for your address as Superintendent and to hear from a cadet panel.  In this session, an active duty female colonel described to the Corps how she become 'woke' to her white privilege, and felt guilty for the advantages of her race," Waltz wrote.  "At this same assembly, white police officers were described as murderers with no context or court documents provided to corroborate the anecdotes of police brutality."

The Obama Doctrine:  Embolden Our Enemies, Undermine Our Allies, Diminish Our Country.  [In February, 2012], President Obama feted Communist China's Xi Jinping, the man who hopes to lead his country as it emerges as the world's next superpower.  Mr. Xi must have been delighted to see press reports that his host is poised to end America's claim to such status — at least with respect to the traditional means of measuring it:  nuclear weaponry.  According to a story first reported by the Associated Press, Mr. Obama has directed the Defense Department to come up with plans for reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal by as much as eighty percent.  Evidently, he is prepared to take such a step unilaterally in order to encourage by our example other nations to join in his longstanding ambition to "rid the world of nuclear weapons."  It is unclear whether the topic came up during the various meetings the PRC's vice president had with his White House and other interlocutors.  Even if it did, Xi presumably would not have disclosed a closely held Chinese secret:  How many missiles and warheads have been squirreled away in 3,000 miles of hardened tunnels that make up what has been called the "Underground Great Wall of China."

How Obama-era budget controls have hurt US military readiness against growing China, Russia, Iran threats.  The United States military still reigns as the most preeminent one in the world, but a new report exclusively obtained by Fox News shows that sustaining that superiority is far from guaranteed as the Pentagon still trudges through budget cuts put in place almost a decade ago.  The Heritage Foundation's "2021 Index of U.S. Military Strength," which annually examines the previous year's defense policies and global operation climate, underscores that the threat posed by foreign adversaries "will require our national defense and intelligence posture to adapt to a world that for nearly 20 years has been fixated on defeating international terrorists."

DHS whistleblower Philip Haney was murdered fighting Obama's 'new beginning.'  [Scroll down]  A year prior to his Senate appearance, Haney's wife Francesca was diagnosed with cancer, and Haney retired to care for her.  Francesca died in June 2019.  In 2020, Haney planned to remarry, and also to return to the DHS.  He also planned to publish, in the spring, a follow-up book to his first.  Haney did none of these things, for, on Feb. 21, he was murdered in a park-and-ride parking lot.  By whom? [...] Aside from that, according to congressmen Haney was in contact with, Haney always carried a USB thumb drive containing "sensitive government information about Islamic extremists and national security" around his neck.  Subsequent to his murder, no such thumb drive on him was found.  Assuming they were aware of the contents of the drive, only violent jihadists would have an interest in it.  A few weeks later, on March 9, in a nearby town, U.S. federal prosecutor Timothy Delgado and his wife of five months, Tamara, were found, shot dead, in their home. [...] As Delgado lived in proximity to the site of Haney's murder, he could have been the agent investigating it.

The Progressive Medusa.  A Pentagon billet was once seen as a sort of dead-end assignment among the swamp of Washington.  Not now.  The Left discovered that, unlike clumsy government, the military could streamline social change by fiat.  And so it did, once they got control of it.  Lethal Islamic terrorism at home was reduced to "workplace violence."  Women in front-line combat units were fast-tracked.  Man-made and thus correctable global warming became a military gospel.  The transgendered posed no problems in combat efficacy.  Promotion and evaluation had to encompass far more than combat readiness, strategic and tactical insight, and natural leadership but instead reflect diversity and proportional representation due to disparate impact.

The Adverse Effects of Obama's Executive Order 13583 and the Purge of Generals and Admirals Are Now Obvious.  Two disastrous actions taken by Barack Hussein Obama during his presidency have delivered extensive damage to the US military, just as planned.  The first was the systematic purging of nearly 200 senior officers over five years and their subsequent replacement by Democrat loyalists, as reported here.  His second ignominious action taken was the 2011 Executive Order 13583 directing "government-wide diversity and inclusion training," which, by 2020, included the implementation of Marxist critical race theory training in all federal agencies including the US military services.  The results from these actions are now crystal clear.  Retired Obama-era flag and general officers (FOGO), in direct violation of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, have publicly criticized President Trump and even called him a threat to US national security, as noted [elsewhere].  Several may even be preparing for a military coup, as reported in this shocking video from Col Richard H. Black, JAG Corps, USA (retd), a former head of the Army's Criminal Law Division:  [Video clip]

Obama-era Pentagon Training Manual Attacks White Men.  In 2013, I received a controversial 600-plus page manual used by the military to train its Equal Opportunity officers that teaches that "healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian" men hold an unfair advantage over other races, and warns in great detail about a so-called "White Male Club."  "Simply put, a healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian male receives many unearned advantages of social privilege, whereas a black, homosexual, atheist female in poor health receives many unearned disadvantages of social privilege," reads a statement in the manual created by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).  The manual also instructs troops to "support the leadership of people of color.  Do this consistently, but not uncritically," the manual states.

There is something very wrong with some in the top ranks of America's military.  It began to be clear last October that the Obama administration (with some help from Bill Clinton's presidency) had seeded the Pentagon with leftist generals whose allegiance was to the Deep State, to cultural leftism, and to the infamous and profitable "military industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned about in 1961.  In only five years, Obama had conducted a major Pentagon purge, firing almost 200 senior officers who held the old-fashioned belief that the military exists to protect America and should not be a social justice institution with limited firepower.  The upper-level officers who remained were hardcore Democrats.  While still in the military, Admirable McRaven gave bin Laden a respectful, private burial.  Once out of the military, he wrote an editorial for the New York Times, strongly suggesting a military coup against Trump.  Barry McCaffrey, a Clinton White House officer, likened Trump to Mussolini because he canceled the White House's newspaper subscriptions.  And Obama's Joint Chiefs Vice Chair, James Winnefeld, was deeply offended on behalf of ISIS terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi because Trump did the psychologically smart thing of telling al-Baghdadi's followers that he died like a coward.

Would the Military Side with Leftist Tyranny or with America?  [Scroll down]  America remembers the military of 30 years ago that could actually win a war in a reasonable period of time (as we did in Desert Storm), today's generals benefit from residual respect for yesterday's Cold War military.  Americans are unaware of the devastated culture cultivated by our military senior leadership.  Here's the ruinous legacy of today's generals:  Afghanistan is a disaster and still not won, ships colliding and catching fire due to gross failures of leadership, boats of sailors on tape whimpering as they surrender to the Iranian Navy, senior officers leaking to the media, colonels, generals and admirals getting court-martialed, massive prosecutorial misconduct by JAGs, woke West Point (which recently graduated an open communist), and troops kneeling before rioters.  It's a military that puts Diversity Day before D-Day.  Unfortunately, the first 24 hours of war with China would make the rot agonizingly apparent — at the cost of thousands of our warriors' precious lives.

The 10 ways Obama has actively sought to destroy America.  Presidents past have often used the military as a test bed of social experimentation, and successfully.  But Obama is pushing social experimentation to an unprecedented level — one that experts believe will ultimately have lasting damage, such as permitting people to serve who have no idea what sex they really are, and allowing women to serve in combat roles despite increases in injuries and mental health issues.

Obama DOD Started 'Indoctrinating Our Troops' on Racism and 'Privilege,' New Docs Show.  On Thursday, Judicial Watch obtained 1,483 pages of teaching materials from the Department of Defense (DOD) produced by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) during President Barack Obama's tenure.  The DOD's "equal opportunity advisors" use the documents to train service members on diversity topics.  Among other things, the training materials attribute opposition to reparations or affirmative action to a form of racism, claim the idea that "human similarities are more important than differences" is a form of "ethnocentrism," warn against "sexual orientation privilege" and "religious privilege," and claim that those who raise religious objections to same-sex marriage are engaging in discrimination.  "These documents show that the Department of Defense has been indoctrinating our troops with anti-American and racially inflammatory 'training,'" Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

DHS Whistleblower Philip Haney Found Dead with Gunshot Wound to Chest.  An Obama-era whistleblower was found dead Friday morning [2/21/2020] in Northern California with a gunshot wound to his chest. [...] Haney rose to national prominence in late December 2015 when he made a series of accusations about the Obama Administration's reckless, soft-on terrorism policies.  The whistleblower claimed that he could have prevented the December 2, 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino if the government had not shut down a surveillance program he had developed three years earlier.  Haney had worked in the Intelligence Review Unit (IRU), where his job was to investigate individuals with potential links to terrorism.

The Rot Is Deep (Part II).  [Scroll down]  This problem has been festering for a long time.  However, it has accelerated since 2008 and the election of a first term senator from Illinois, who up until then, had never, ever had any position of personal responsibility, made it much worse.  Like many of whom are of President Obama's political persuasion, the Military was at best, a tool to promote his leftist agenda.  At worst, it stood as one of the solid pillars supporting the greatness that is America.  Like the Boy Scouts and the Churches, the Military was a respected, moral force for good.  As such, the leftists believe it needs to be subverted.  It needs to be turned into just another source of government jobs occupied by folks who vote Democrat.  How do they accomplish that?  One way is that they turn each Military Academy into just another college, albeit with strange clothes.  The Military Academies are some of the most important pillars that underpin our Armed Forces.  This directed effort to weaken them, makes them less "special."

How Obama Impacted the Military.  Radical changes imposed on our military by progressives, begun in earnest during the Obama administration, are negatively impacting our combat readiness and jeopardizing the lives of our men and women in uniform and, ultimately, our national security.  In Stand Down:  How Social Justice Warriors Are Sabotaging America's Military, author James Hasson elucidates how Barack Obama fundamentally changed military culture to make our nation less secure.

Report: 84% of Women Fail New Army Combat Fitness Test.  In a new report, the Center for Military Readiness says that 84% of women fail the New Army Combat Fitness Test and that "all military officials should drop the 'gender diversity' agenda and put mission readiness and 'combat lethality' first."  "It makes no sense for recruiters to devote more time and money recruiting 'gender diverse' trainees who are more likely to be injured, less likely to want infantry assignments, and less likely to remain through basic training or physically-demanding combat arms assignments for twenty years or more," states the CMR report.

It's Unthinkable One of the Dems Could Be President.  [Scroll down]  All of the Dem candidates are virtually silent on defense and foreign policy because no one in their party [cares] about those issues. [...] Take Joe Biden.  Please.  His view of the global war on terrorist networks and the nations that support them was encapsulated in his opposition to the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.  Biden, and Obama's then-defense secretary Bob Gates, both tried to persuade Obama not to permit the raid.  Biden was vice president when Obama and Gates cut defense spending massively, at a rate of $600 billion over ten years.  Trump says that our military is rebuilt from those bad days, which isn't at all true.  A study by the Heritage Foundation released last week rated the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps on their capacity, capability and readiness for war.  The results Heritage reports are shocking.

Air Force Academy Lowers Standards, Lets In Criminals.  In another sick example of failed leadership at the U.S. Air Force Academy, this writer's alma mater, a second USAFA football player is being charged with serious drug crimes, including dealing.  We have written often about the lowering of standards at USAFA and the other service academies in order to pursue the liberal dream of social justice, diversity, and the vast amounts of money that a leading division one college football team can bring.  This development is further evidence that Air Force has completely discarded entry standards and is no longer in the business of training warriors, but bureaucrats who can function in the social advancement military that Obama built.

China unveils "doomsday" missiles, while the Pentagon is focused on making sure transgenders feel safe in the military.  Losing a war means losing our country.  While China prepares to win its next conflict, our brass is more concerned with hurting someone's feelings.

How Obama turned the military into a social justice experiment.  A curious thing happened in the second half of the Obama era:  The commander-in-chief began viewing the military less as an entity designed to destroy enemies but a tool with which to achieve progressive goals.  Warriors were turned into social-justice warriors.  Men and women with risible-to-nonexistent military records were made heads of the services.  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus (who had logged all of two years' service as a junior officer) named ships after Cesar Chavez and Harvey Milk.  James Hasson, a former Army captain who served in Afghanistan, [...] reports on a program in which male soldiers were ordered to train in fake breasts and distended bellies so they could experience what life was like for pregnant soldiers.  Ordering a recruit to do more than 10 pushups as punishment for minor misdeeds was declared unduly harsh.

The Inside Story Of How The Army Reduced Standards To Get Women Through Ranger Training.  [Scroll down]  It is important to emphasize that those whom I interviewed expressed admiration for the graduating females' grit and perseverance and were not critical of the female candidates' character or commitment.  The officers and enlisted soldiers I spoke to uniformly respected the female candidates' efforts and willingness to put themselves through the rigors of Ranger training.  They repeatedly emphasized that their critiques were intended simply to highlight how systematic political pressure forced changes to the legendary Ranger course, damaging its integrity, just as political pressure forced detrimental changes at every level of the military during the eight years of the Obama administration.

U.S. Navy Shut Down Climate Change Task Force.  The U.S. Navy shut down its Task Force Climate Change (TFCC), which was established by President Barack Obama in 2009, reported E&E News' Greenwire.  The closure was quiet and occurred in March, according to Greenwire, and "the group's tab on the Navy's energy, environment and climate change website was removed sometime between March and July."  The purpose of the TFCC was to evaluate how climate change affects or could affect Naval and national security operations.

US Navy ends Obama's climate change task force as Trump rolls back environmental initiatives.  The US Navy quietly shuttered a task force created under former President Barack Obama to prepare the military branch for the impact of global warming, reportedly saying the team was "no longer needed".  Its ending, which happened in March and was first reported on Tuesday [8/27/2019] by the environmental site E&E News, reflects a trend under Donald Trump in which federal agencies have shuttered operations designed to combat climate change nationwide and around the world.  Before the president seemingly fired former Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, the career military official wrote in 2017 to the Senate Armed Services Committee:  "Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today."

How Obama-era social engineering transformed the military.  [Scroll down]  In practice, then, biologically male soldiers who "identified" as female would be treated as if they had the bodies of young women and, for instance, be allowed to pass Army fitness tests at a lower level or pass body composition standards designed for a member of the opposite sex.  In an institution that is concerned exclusively with physical realities and physical outcomes, that is no small thing.

Castro Makes Fools of Obama & Co..  In brief, a Republican's word under oath is an obvious subterfuge.  But the word of KGB-mentored apparatchiks who've run a Russian satrapy for over half a century is good as gold.  So seem to reason the Obama team and their Fake News Media auxiliaries.  And to demonstrate their fidelity to the Russian satrap's word, the Obama team put our national security where Castro's mouth is, by giving his top defense and secret police apparatchiks a guided tour of some of our most vital defense facilities!

Why Have Department of Defense Suicides Spiked?  The Department of Defense has a suicide problem.  Thank Presidents Clinton and Obama[.]  Prior to 1993, the Department of Defense (DOD) used to screen recruits, officer candidates, and service academy entrants for mental, personality, and suicide behavior disorders.  Now they don't. [...] When men and women had enlistment physicals, they were evaluated by a physician for obvious physical defects and to also see if they had an apparent mental or personality disorder.  Any potential recruit screened with mental, personality, and suicide (and a range of other) behavior disorders were considered unfit for service.  Then President Clinton signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law.  DOD's policy that screened for personality disorders and mental illnesses during the pre-enlistment physical was terminated as a function of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law.  The law removed all screening for DSM categories of homosexuality, sexual and personality disorders and mental illnesses.

The Declining American Military Advantage.  No one likes bad news.  So, very few news outlets have been reporting this bad news.  Last Tuesday the National Defense Strategy Commission reported that America's military superiority has seriously eroded.  If you still think that America is the world's greatest military hegemon, unchallanged [sic] in the air, on the ground and at sea, think again. [...] Since President Trump insisted on increasing defense spending, we can conclude that one cause of the problem was that the Obama administration, on whose watch America's military advantage slipped, showed no concern about the problem.  While the Congressional sequester is responsible for much of the problem, President Obama did nothing to counter it.  He simply did not care.

Trump Unloads On Obama:  I Will Not Forgive Him for What He Did to Military — He Made Our Country Unsafe'.  President Donald Trump unloaded on his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, on Friday morning [11/9/2018]. [Video clip]

Obama's third term: 13 times courts said Trump must continue Obama's lawless policies.  [#8] Transgenders in the military:  From the time of George Washington until the last year of Obama's presidency, men who castrated themselves or imagined that they were women did not serve in the military.  Obama changed that in 2016 without approval from Congress.  Yet several judges in D.C., Baltimore, and Seattle mandated that Trump admit them into the military and continue a policy that never existed before 2016.  Judge Marvin Garbis of Baltimore, a Bush appointee, even ruled that the Pentagon must pay for the "surgery."  Every president, as commander in chief, can determine military enlistment qualifications, but not Trump.

Lawsuit Against Obama Officials Proceeding.  U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Saucier, a machinist's mate on the submarine USS Alexandria from September 2007 to March 2012, went to prison for an infraction of the sort that the U.S. military normally deals with administratively.  Saucier used his cellphone to snap photographs of the vessel's nuclear propulsion system while the ship was docked at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn.  Saucier said he took pictures to show his future children what he did aboard the submarine.  He was convicted of felony unauthorized retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice. [...] Months after Saucier was sentenced, President Obama infamously commuted the prison sentence of U.S. Army Private Chelsea Manning whose leaking of sensitive U.S. government documents may have cost Americans and friendly foreign assets their lives.

America really did have a Manchurian Candidate in the White House.  In the short year and a half that President Trump has been in office, he has put in place policy that has mitigated the damage that President Obama inflicted on our national security and on our allies.  The speed with which Trump has been able to turn things around points to the diabolical depths the Obama administration went to in order to undermine our national strength and way of life.  All Trump had to do was stop doing things that hurt America; America could then take care of itself.  The results are plain as day.  However, it will take decades for the Obama damage to be completely undone.

Now that Obama's gone...
Army training will now focus on actual battlefield skills, not social issues.  In a series of servicewide memorandums approved by Army Secretary Mark Esper and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and obtained by The Washington Times, service leaders are making optional previously mandatory training on issues such as transgender transition and drug abuse.  The move, Army leaders argue, is designed to relieve stress on the overburdened troop training regimen and refocus on soldiers' ability to fight in combat.

Navy Sinks Obama-Era Green Destroyer Program.  The U.S. Navy is cancelling a plan developed under former President Barack Obama to install hybrid electric drives (HED) in 34 destroyers.  "Based on the Department's priorities, President's Budget 2019 removes funding for Hybrid Electric Drive program in FY 2019," Lt. Lauren Chatmas said in a statement announcing the decision.  "There are no further procurements or installations planned ... in the Future Years Defense Program."  Chatmas cited the program's disappointing fuel efficiency and the Navy's budgetary constraints among reasons for the decision.

On Easter Sunday, here's why Christians are giving thanks that Obama's out of the White House.  In 2011, Obama allowed homosexuals to serve openly in the military for the first time in the nation's history.  His Pentagon allowed chaplains to perform same-sex marriages at military facilities — even though it was a violation of DOMA at the time. [...] Another first: under Obama, the Pentagon let service members wear their uniforms at a gay pride parade.

It's Up to Veterans to Reclaim Religious Liberty in Military Stolen by Obama.  Despite the election of the very pro-religious liberty President Trump in 2016, there are still many anti-religious liberty policies in place for those who serve in the military.  Many of those policies engineered by former President Obama and his civilian bureaucrats in the Pentagon erase freedom of expression of Christian faith and religious liberty from the U.S. Armed Forces.  Some Obama-VIDOLera rules even criminalize the open expression of religious faith by men and women in uniform.  With President Trump in the White House, we have a real opportunity to reverse one of the worst legacies of the Obama Administration — its aggressive attempt to erase Christianity, religious liberty and even Chaplains from the United States military.  But it will be up to veterans to lead the charge to undo the damage Obama has done to our military.

Obama's legacy will be that he allowed Russia to 'sow discord' in the US.  (Russian) meddling?" It's a good question, especially since, as President Trump pointed out, "all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama administration."  The answer to President Trump's question is that over the course of eight years the Obama administration neglected to take cybersecurity seriously, even though in 2013 Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned of a "coming (cyber) Pearl Harbor."  Despite repeated intrusions, and though independent agencies concluded that our defenses against hackers were woefully inadequate, the Obama White House made only cosmetic attempts to protect our vital agencies and infrastructure.  When this lack of preparedness led to damaging virtual break-ins, President Obama declined to confront the bad actors trying to steal our secrets.

FBI bureaucratic failures and willful blindness rack up a horrifying body count.  For POTUS 44, the Fort Hood attack was not terrorism or even "gun violence."  The mass murder was "workplace violence" and [Robert] Mueller had no problem with that.  POTUS 44, who as Barry Soetoro attended a Muslim school in Indonesia, proclaimed that the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.Robert He also ordered that the FBI must not consider any links between Islam and terrorist attacks against the United States.  Mueller duly purged hundreds of counter-terrorism training materials of any hint that Islamic terrorists might pose a security problem.  CAIR boss Nihad Awad thanked Mueller for his "pledge" to review FBI counterterrorism training.  So Mueller slavishly put political correctness above the safety of the American people, and that doubtless explains why the FBI looked the other way as the Tsarnaevs, Omar Mateen and others plotted their deadly actions.

Pentagon: Obama's DOD Gave Security Clearances to Contractors Charged with Felonies, Including Pedophilia.  The Pentagon was forced last year to rescind interim security clearances granted under the Obama administration to at least 165 contractors linked to various crimes, including felony convictions for pedophilia and foreign government affiliations, revealed a report issued by the Director of the Defense Security Service (DSS).  According to the report, DOD contractors preserved their ability to access sensitive government information despite prior criminal records and other illicit past activity that the Pentagon's vetting process failed to detect.

Confirmed: Trump Is, Indeed, a Very Stable Genius.  [Scroll down]  Let's look at ISIS, Obama's bastard Middle Eastern child.  Maybe he should have called them "the Snows" instead of "Daesh," an appellation he used instead of "ISIS." It is an acronym for the Arabic phrase "al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham."  Everything Barry did had to have a little sham to it.  Obama said it would be a long fight comprising years of costly sacrifice in the form of American blood and treasure.  You see, he had strict rules of engagement, dictating that American forces were not allowed to shoot first or return fire if there was a possibility of civilians around.  It was the first war in history where one side wasn't allowed to shoot first and sometimes couldn't even shoot back.  I wonder how many American lives were sacrificed for that.  Keep in mind that this is the guy they told us is a "genius."

Green Beret Trainer Faults 'Careerism' Among Senior Officers for Weakening Special Ops.  An Army Green Beret officer has issued a public but anonymous rebuke of senior leaders for weakening America's special forces by lowering training standards due to careerism and push to integrate women into the elite force.  "Our regiment has a cancer, and it is destroying the [Special Forces] legacy, its capability, and its credibility," the officer wrote anonymously in an email widely circulated within the U.S. Special Operations Command.  The officer is based at the Army Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the email accuses leaders of "moral cowardice" by lowering training standards and weakening the capabilities of special operations commandos.  The email touched off a debate among current and former Special Operations troops.

Robert Mueller, Agent of Willful Ignorance.  It has come to light that as director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, who is currently the special counsel looking for any dirt he can find on Donald Trump, presided over the 2012 removal of all counterterror training materials of any mention of Islam and jihad in connection with terrorism.  Since then, our law enforcement and intelligence officials have been blundering along in self-imposed darkness about the motivating ideology behind the jihad threat.  This, it turns out, was Mueller's doing.  In February 2012, the Obama Administration purged more than one thousand documents and presentations from counter-terror training material for the FBI and other agencies.  This material was discarded at the demand of Muslim groups, which had deemed it inaccurate or offensive to Muslims.  This purge was several years in the making, and I was — inadvertently — the one who touched it off.

A Hidden Scandal Worse Than Uranium One.  What could be worse than giving 20 percent of our uranium to Russia one might ask?  How about giving a 35-year lease to one of America's largest container ports, located just minutes from the Kennedy Space Center, to a Middle Eastern company with ties to Iran, North Korea, Russia and the evil genius behind Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program?  But that's exactly what the same players involved in the Uranium One deal did when they leased the cargo container operations at Port Canaveral, Florida after two years of secret talks with the Obama administration.  Now the Center for Security Policy's dogged and fearless team of Alan Jones and Mary Fanning have revealed exactly what could go wrong, with potentially catastrophic consequences for U.S. national security.

Obama's Legacy:  North Korea's Nuclear Weapons.  Progressives are always talking about Barack Obama's legacy.  Well, this is his true legacy: the needless deaths of perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocent people because he refused to take action before the clock ran out.  Obama wanted to be known as the president who stopped wars and not one who started them, which he did anyway when he thought it would enhance his stature.  Because of this, he withdrew from Iraq, birthing ISIS; waffled in Syria, resulting in the death of a half a million people; and did nothing about North Korea.  He played golf and threw parties in the White House.  With North Korea, it is now probably too late for effective action short of war.  Wait a couple of years, when the bill for his appeasement of Iran will come due.

Obama administration knew about North Korea's miniaturized nukes.  Tuesday's [8/8/2017] bombshell Washington Post story that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has determined North Korea is capable of constructing miniaturized nuclear weapons that could be used as warheads for missiles — possibly ICBMs — left out a crucial fact:  DIA actually concluded this in 2013.  The Post also failed to mention that the Obama administration tried to downplay and discredit this report at the time.

McMaster:  The Ultimate Holdover.  For eight years the Obama administration relentlessly politicized everything it touched.  Those dedicated to Obama's ideology were embedded in every agency at every level.  Obama's failures are numerous and highly damaging to our national security.  His State Department produced an awful arms agreement with the Russians, tried desperately to pressure Israel into an untenable peace agreement, and proudly signed Obama's nuclear weapons deal with Iran.  Obama's Defense Department supported the massive spending cuts Obama engineered.  Those cuts are the source of the readiness crisis we now face which, for example, leave about 70% of Marine Corps F-18s unfit to fly combat missions.

Retired generals, admirals thank Trump for announcing ban on transgender troops.  More than a dozen retired generals and admirals have signed a letter to President Trump thanking him for his announced policy to ban transgender people from the armed forces.  "We write today to express our gratitude to you for making the extremely courageous decision to reverse President Obama's transgender social experiment," the conservative retired flag officers wrote.  "There may be an enormous amount of vitriol directed at you for making this policy correction, but please know that overturning this policy may have done more in the long-term to save the culture and war-fighting capacity of the U.S. military than perhaps any other military policy you will adopt as president."  The letter came as the Palm Center, a research nonprofit that promotes the LGBT agenda, released a competing statement from 56 retired admirals and generals who say reimposing the ban will hurt readiness, not help it.

Pentagon investigators find 'security risks' in government's immigrant recruitment program, 'infiltration' feared.  Defense Department investigators have discovered "potential security risks" in a Pentagon program that has enrolled more than 10,000 foreign-born individuals into the U.S. armed forces since 2009, Fox News has learned exclusively, with sources on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon expressing alarm over "foreign infiltration" and enrollees now unaccounted for.  After more than a year of investigation, the Pentagon's inspector general recently issued a report — its contents still classified but its existence disclosed here for the first time — identifying serious problems with Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI), a DOD program that provides immigrants and non-immigrant aliens with an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for military service.  Defense Department officials said the program is still active but acknowledged that new applications have been suspended.

Restoring the Military's Moral Underpinnings.  The Trump administration came to power with a clear mandate to restore U.S. military credibility, effectiveness, and capabilities.  Such a mandate involves reversing not only the debilitating impact of sequestration on our declining military force structure, but also the Obama administration's social engineering mandates forced on our military.  These mandates did nothing to improve readiness or capabilities.  They destroyed unit integrity, cohesiveness and the "will to win."  Clearly, under President Obama's plan to fundamentally change America, the degradation of our military forces was a key element.  The capitulation of our military leadership to accept these mandates was more than shocking, as it was a manifestation of the corrupt "political correctness" mentality run amok.

Historical background:
ABC Confirms Father of Our Country Opposed Gays in the Military.  As we have reported previously, David Barton of Wallbuilders has provided historical evidence that General George Washington himself authorized the court-martial and expulsion of the soldier.  Writing about the incident, Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council provided additional details, saying, "Like today, his army was at war.  Like today, his army had serious problems of recruitment and retention.  Perhaps, like today, there might have been some people who would have argued that his army could not afford to lose a soldier over something like his sexual conduct."  Nevertheless, Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin was kicked out "for attempting to commit sodomy" and Washington himself referred to the conduct as abhorrent.  Enslin was reportedly one of several such cases.

Homosexuals in the Military.  General Washington held a clear understanding of the rules for order and discipline, and as the original Commander-in-Chief, he was the first not only to forbid, but even to punish, homosexuals in the military. [...] Because of the nature of the crime, the penalties for the act of sodomy were often severe.  For example, Thomas Jefferson indicated that in his home state of Virginia, "dismemberment" of the offensive organ was the penalty for sodomy.  In fact, Jefferson himself authored a bill penalizing sodomy by castration.  The laws of the other states showed similar or even more severe penalties: [...]

Gertz: Obama Admin 'Leftist' Policies Have Damaged National Security in the Information AgeWashington Free Beacon senior editor Bill Gertz argued Monday [7/17/2017] that "leftist" policies initiated by the Obama administration have limited the ability of the United States to effectively conduct "information operations," ultimately damaging American national security.

How the Left Hijacked the American Psychiatric Association and Normalized Personality Disorders.  The evidence is clear — the American Left succeeded in lobbying the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to eliminate some of the sexual identity disorders from their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). [...] With transvestitism finally voted out of the DSM, in June 2015 LGBT rights groups had one urgent agenda item for President Barack Obama:  End the ban on transgender people serving in the military.  It wasn't that transgender people were straining red rope barriers, lining up at recruiting stations to serve in the military in a rush of abject patriotism; no, acceptance into the military allowed transgenders free government-paid sexual reassignment surgery.  No longer was transvestitism considered a mental disorder, it was now considered a medically correctable condition, like a cleft lip and palate.  Medically-correctable conditions like cleft lip and palate correct physical birth defects.  Sexual identity disorders are not physical birth defects but mental defects.

A defense bill to repair, restore and rebuild the world's best military.  I have spent more than half of my life wearing this nation's uniform, serving in the world's greatest military force to ever grace this Earth.  My service crossed the past five presidents starting with Ronald Reagan.  I concluded my nearly 30-year military career in 2014 at the Pentagon, retiring as a brigadier general.  During this time, I have seen the military surge in capabilities and unfortunately witnessed firsthand the erosion of our combat edge.  The previous administration, along with Congress, cut military funding by 22 percent over the last eight years while we were still at war and conducting operations in multiple locations.  Our servicemen and women carried the burden of doing much more with much less.

Army Training Tells Soldiers Not to Gossip About Transgender Troops.  The United States Army's training for how to handle transgender issues instructs troops not to gossip about male soldiers who identify as female.  The hour-long mandatory training is being issued in response to the Obama administration's directive to integrate transgender soldiers into the military.  Last week, Secretary of Defense James Mattis delayed the Obama policy by six months.  The Army is still moving forward with its transgender training, which is conducted in the morning in place of physical training, the Federalist reported.

Why Can't The U.S. Defend Against A North Korea Nuke Attack?  Ask Obama.  Like Clinton before him, Obama decided to largely abandon Bush's missile defense program.  He canceled the planned deployment of missile interceptors and an advanced radar station in Poland and the Czech Republic to appease Russia.  He cut the number of interceptors to be installed in the U.S. from 44 to 30 (he reversed this decision in 2013, after a series of North Korean missile launches).  Obama also killed the Multiple Kill Vehicle and stripped funding for two programs designed to destroy a missile in its boost phase.  All of this "cost the nation valuable time and capability when it came to building a comprehensive, layered, ballistic missile defense system," a 2016 Heritage report noted.  Yet, incredibly, none of the news stories discussing the country's ongoing vulnerability to missile attack bothers to mention any of this.

A Renewed MS-13 — Courtesy of Obama's Lax Immigration.  From 2009 to 2014, the number of UACs apprehended by the Border Patrol, mostly teenaged boys, increased 13-fold from El Salvador, 15-fold from Guatemala, and 19-fold from Honduras.  Despite tendentious suggestions to the contrary, this was not a natural, unavoidable development.  The increased crime and disorder in these three so-called Northern Triangle countries of Central America no doubt sparked greater interest in heading to El Norte, but it was Obama's response to the initial flow that transformed it into a flood.  Mexicans caught at our southern border are sent back right away with relatively little fuss.  But Mexico won't take back non-Mexicans — even though its officials often wave people through on their way north — so returning these OTMs (Other Than Mexicans) to their countries takes more time.  That presents the authorities with two options:  either detain them until they can be repatriated or, if you run out of detention space, give them a summons to report to an immigration court (called a "notice to appear") and let them go, even though it could be years before their scheduled court dates.

How Obama Dismantled U.S. Intel Capabilities To Appease Iran.  Now that President Barack Hussein Obama is out of office, a number of disturbing things have surfaced about Obama's signature foreign policy achievement, known as the Iran Deal.  Among other things, in his lust for the Iran deal at any cost, President Obama dismantled U.S. intel capabilities being used against Iran and its terrorist satellites and proxies.

Obama Gutted Our Military Readiness.  Barack Obama, who was responsible for the nation's security, insisted that military spending be included in the "sequester" that automatically cut government spending.  Testifying before Congress Monday evening [6/12/2017], Secretary of Defense Mattis said "the damage has been severe" to our military as a result[.]  [Video clip]

Former Official:  Obama Admin 'Systematically Disbanded' Units Investigating Iran's Terrorism Financing Networks.  The Obama administration "systematically disbanded" law enforcement investigative units across the federal government focused on disrupting Iranian, Syrian, and Venezuelan terrorism financing networks out of concern the work could cause friction with Iranian officials and scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran, according to a former U.S. official who spent decades dismantling terrorist financial networks.  David Asher, who previously served as an adviser to Gen. John Allen at the Defense and State Departments, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday [6/8/2017] that top officials across several key law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the Obama administration "systematically disbanded" law enforcement activities targeting the terrorism financing operations of Iran, Hezbollah, and Venezuela in the lead-up to and during the nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Ex-CIA Director Says Obama Admin 'Did Nothing' To Deter Russian Active Measures.  Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA under President Obama, said that the Obama administration "did nothing" to stop Russian interference in the presidential campaign.  Morell, who left the CIA in 2013 and supported Hillary Clinton for president last year, appeared on "CBS This Morning" to discuss testimony that former CIA Director John Brennan gave in a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday [5/23/2017].  Brennan revealed for the first time that he was so concerned about Russia's attempts to meddle in the election that he contacted Alexander Bortnikov, Russia's FSB chief, on Aug. 4 to warn him against continuing its active measures against the U.S.

Obama Admin.  Knowingly Admitted At Least 16 MS-13 Gang Members into the U.S..  A Customs and Border Protection whistleblower turned over documents showing that under the Obama administration CBP officials released at least 16 teenagers they knew had ties to the deadly MS-13 gang.  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the documents showed that the teenagers were caught crossing the border in 2014 but then were shipped to juvenile homes across the country.  "CBP apprehended them, knew they were MS-13 gang members, and they processed and disbursed them into our communities," Sen. Johnson said.

Obama administration 'knowingly allowed at least 16 members of notorious teen gang MS-13 into the US'.  The Obama administration allowed at least 16 teenage foreigners into the United States even though it knew they were members of the so-called 'MS-13' gang, according to a Republican senator.  Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin who heads the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said internal documents showed that the teenagers were sent to juvenile homes across the US, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday [5/24/2017].

Trump Is POTUS, and Leftist Hysteria Is Noise.  It's helpful to watch the SecDef press conference on YouTube, if you want to see how Trump's troops are taking charge.  Obama's limp-wristed and arguably pro-jihad policies, which had some of our military in despair about the crimes against children they were forced to witness in places like Syria, are being replaced by solid, competent, humane but forceful military actions.

Judicial Watch:  Homeland Security Records Reveal Officials Ordered Terrorist Watch List Scrubbed.  Judicial Watch announced today [3/1/2017] that it obtained 183 pages of documents from the Department of Homeland Security revealing that the Obama administration scrubbed the law enforcement agency's "Terrorist Screening Database" in order to protect what it considered the civil rights of suspected Islamic terrorist groups.  The documents appear to confirm charges that Obama administration changes created a massive "hands off" list.  Removed data from the terrorist watch list could have helped prevent the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

Trump Won't Be Punked By Foreign Dirtbags Like Obama Was.  Donald Trump is in the process of doing what Barack Obama never did and what he and his coterie of pompous twits and political hacks masquerading as a foreign policy brain trust could never do.  Trump is establishing a successful foreign policy doctrine.  It's not precisely old school Republican doctrine. [...] Trump's policy is "America First."  Obama's policy was "Blame America First."  Obama employed force only after extensive agonizing and never in the amount required to actually win.  The Obama Doctrine was about staving off defeat just long enough so the next sucker would get stuck dealing with the resulting mess [...]

Trump juggles the foreign policy balls Obama dropped.  The Trump administration is taking heat for striking a Syrian air base with Tomahawk missiles and hitting ISIS terrorists in Afghanistan with a MOAB, a conventional bomb so big that it has been dubbed the "Mother of All Bombs."  No doubt there are useful debates to be had about the pros and cons, both tactical and juridical.  But one sure upside of these strikes is that they are a step toward restoring abroad the credibility of America as a power to be reckoned with.  That's big, in ways that go way beyond the immediate battlefields.  In a world grown dramatically more dangerous during President Obama's eight years of appeasement and retreat, America badly and urgently needs to restore its lost credibility.

Top Generals:  U.S. Has 'Squeezed' the Life Out of Aging Nuclear Deterrence Systems.  The U.S. military is relying on zero-hour modernization to maintain its aging nuclear arsenal as an effective deterrent against adversaries, according to two top U.S. generals.  Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the House Armed Services Committee that the United States cannot defer nuclear modernization without "significant risk" to its deterrent capabilities, particularly as other countries like Russia and China are working to revolutionize their forces.

DHS Whistleblower:  I was ordered to scrub records of Muslims with terror ties.  [I]n 2009, the Washington Times reports that a senior White House aide called for the elimination of the term "jihadist" because jihadis should be considered simply "extremists."  Two years later, the Washington Times continues, the White House "ordered a cleansing of training materials that Islamic groups deemed offensive."  In 2011, the Obama administration ordered the FBI to cease all surveillance on mosques that might be radicalizing potential jihadis in the U.S.; this move was pointed to as a reason that the Boston bombers were not detected before their terrorist attack.  Now, a former DHS employee contends that he was ordered in 2009 — the month before the failed attempt of the Christmas Day "underwear bomber" — to edit or delete hundreds of files on individuals connected to Islamic terrorism.

Navy's Depleted Aircraft Will Take Years to Rebuild After Obama-Era Defense Cuts.  The Navy's aircraft arsenal is so depleted it would take several years to rebuild the fleet even if the Trump administration allotted the funding needed to repair inoperable aircraft, according to a policy expert and former Air Force pilot.  John Venable, a senior research fellow for defense policy at the Heritage Foundation, cited a report released Monday that found two-thirds of the Navy's strike fighter jets are unable to fly due to maintenance problems exacerbated by several years of military budget cuts.  Thirty-five percent of grounded fighter planes are waiting for parts, while 27 percent are undergoing major depot work, according to the report published by Defense News.

This is the state of the military immediately after Obama's two terms in the White House:
Military brass sound alarm about 'insidious decline' in readiness.  For decades, the F/A-18 Hornet has been the Navy's front-line combat jet — taking off from aircraft carriers around the globe to enforce no-fly zones, carry out strikes and even engage in the occasional dogfight.  But the Navy's ability to use these planes is now greatly hindered as more than 60 percent of the jets are out of service.  That number is even worse for the Marine Corps, where 74 percent of its F-18s — some of the oldest in service — are not ready for combat operations.  These figures are reflective of the erosion in readiness across all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and a source of deepening concern for ranking military members and lawmakers in both houses of Congress.  Top service branch officials sounded the alarm in a pair of congressional hearings this week about how bad the problem has become.

The 7 Most Egregious Acts Of 'Social Justice' In Obama's Military.  Former President Barack Obama left a legacy of radical social change in the military, but aside from major shifts like allowing women in all combat roles and repealing the ban on open transgender service, many cases of rampant political correctness have been memory-holed.  Here are just seven egregious examples of social justice that creeped into the armed forces over the last eight years.

ICE Criminal Prosecutions Plummeted In Obama's Second Term.  Criminal prosecutions resulting from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigations plummeted the last five years of Barack Obama's presidency.  The number of new ICE prosecutions dropped from a high of 21,662 in 2011 to 12,761 in 2016, according to data Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) released Monday [1/23/2017].

From the Front Line:  Sharia Compliance in the US Military.  I recently received this shocking letter from a man who has served as a contractor in Afghanistan.  It reveals the appalling extent of sharia compliance in the United States military.

Obama Was First President to Spend More on Welfare Than Defense.  Barack Obama was the first president of the United States to spend more on "means-tested entitlements" — AKA welfare — than on national defense, according to data published by his own Office of Management and Budget.  Historical tables that the OMB posted on the Obama White House website, include annual totals for both "national defense" spending and "means-tested entitlement" spending going back to fiscal 1962 — which is three years before President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating the Medicaid program, a means-tested entitlement that together with the Children's Health Insurance Program enrolled 74,407,191 beneficiaries as of November 2016.

Border Patrol Alters Stats to Hide Release of Criminal Aliens, High Recidivism.  The frontline Homeland Security agency charged with preventing terrorists and weapons — including those of mass destruction — from entering the country also skews figures to drastically deflate the high recidivism rate of aliens caught entering the U.S. [...] For the system to work, the Border Patrol must report accurate information involving illegal aliens who are apprehended.  Instead, it appears that federal agents on the ground are being ordered to fudge the numbers as part of a broader Obama administration effort to protect illegal immigrants and falsely portray the Mexican border as safe.

Obama Shows His True Colors as He Leaves Office.  Commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning, one of the great traitors of our time, is finger-in-the-eye willfulness.  Obama took 28 years off the sentence of a soldier who stole and then released through WikiLeaks almost half a million military reports plus another quarter-million State Department documents.  The cables were embarrassing; the military secrets were almost certainly deadly.  They jeopardized the lives not just of American soldiers on two active fronts — Iraq and Afghanistan — but of locals who were, at great peril, secretly aiding and abetting us.  After Manning's documents release, the Taliban "went on a killing spree" (according to intelligence sources quoted by Fox News) of those who fit the description of individuals working with the United States.

Obama Tarnishes His Legacy By Letting A Terrorist Walk Free.  We all know about President Obama's commutation of the 35-year sentence of traitor Chelsea Manning, nee Bradley, who handed U.S. secrets over to WikiLeaks, leading to the deaths of an untold number of people.  That was bad enough.  But even worse, but sadly less publicized, was Obama's decision to pardon Oscar Lopez Rivera, the terrorist whose FALN planted more than 130 bombs across America during the 1970s and 1980s, supposedly on behalf of Puerto Rican independence.  Lopez Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and a number of weapons charges.  He's served 35 years of that original sentence.

By Commuting Bradley Manning's Sentence, Obama Broke Faith with the Military.  In essence, soldiers make two simple pledges:  I will obey lawful orders, and I will lay down my life for the mission and my brothers and sisters.  Good commanders know that soldiers trust them to reinforce the warrior ethos with effective discipline.  Soldiers who can't be trusted can't be coddled; violating orders, acting selfishly, or disregarding the mission can ultimately break units and armies.

No Unicorns, Only Rainbows — President Obama Commutes Bradley Manning Sentence.  [Bradley] Manning copied hundreds of thousands of military incident logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, which, among other things, exposed abuses of detainees by Iraqi military officers working with American forces and showed that civilian deaths in the Iraq war were likely much higher than official estimates.  The files Manning copied also included about 250,000 diplomatic cables from American embassies around the world showing sensitive deals and conversations, dossiers detailing intelligence assessments of Guantánamo detainees held without trial, and a video of an American helicopter attack in Baghdad in two Reuters journalists were killed, among others.

Mike Pence slams Obama's decision to free Chelsea Manning as a 'mistake' because she is a 'traitor who shouldn't be turned into a martyr'.  Vice President-elect Mike Pence says Barack Obama's decision to commute former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning's prison sentence 'was a mistake'.  Obama said on Wednesday [1/18/2017] that he commuted Manning's 35-year prison sentence for releasing classified military documents to Wikileaks because the punishment didn't fit the crime.

CNN Reporter:  Obama Is Freeing Chelsea Manning Because She's Transitioning.  CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny argued on Tuesday that President Obama commuted Chelsea Manning's prison sentence because the former Army private is transitioning from a man to a woman.  "I think the question this president and the White House will have to answer here, will answer, and I think it's an important one, how much was the personal story of Chelsea Manning involved in this," Zeleny said in a panel discussion of the White House decision.  Manning, who was formerly known as "Bradley," was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 on espionage charges for stealing nearly one million classified documents and leaking them to WikiLeaks.

Freeing Private Manning.  Shocking is the only word for President Obama's decision to release Private Manning from prison after serving but six of the 35 years to which the disgraced soldier had been sentenced by a military court.  We understand that it is fully within the President's constitutional power.  And that the private's circumstances — as a transgender soldier being held largely in solitary at a prison for men — must be exceptionally excruciating.  Yet what kind of signal does this commutation send when we are still in the middle of a war in which thousands of our GIs are in harm's way?

Obama's appalling message to traitors and how critics say reducing Chelsea Manning's sentence may be one of the most serious misjudgments of his presidency.  As pundits spend the last hours of Barack Obama's presidency totting up all the bold pledges he failed to carry out in office, the White House finally had what it regarded as some good news to boast about.  He has now granted more commutations of prison sentences than any president in the nation's history.  In fact, Mr Obama has commuted the sentences of 1,385 convicted criminals — including 504 serving life sentences — which is more than the total number issued by the previous 12 presidents combined.

White House says Obama's release of Manning serves 'justice'.  The White House said Wednesday [1/18/2017] that President Obama granted clemency for transgender military secrets leaker Chelsea Manning "in pursuit of justice," and accused congressional Republicans of hypocrisy for criticizing the commutation.  "Chelsea Manning was convicted of serious crimes," said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.  "She also took responsibility for those crimes.  She expressed remorse for those crimes."  He said Manning's 35-year prison term was "much longer than the sentence that was handed down to people who committed similar crimes that got much less attention."

The Damage Done to America by Manning ... and Obama.  [Scroll down]  First, it is also disgraceful for the New York Times to report without balance that "Prosecutors ... presented no evidence that anyone was killed because of [Manning's] leaks."  As the Times well knows, in cases involving classified information, the government frequently cannot reveal — let alone prosecute — the damage done.  As a practical matter, such revelations end up disclosing more classified information and, critically, identifying other informants and countries who have covertly provided national-security assistance to the United States.  That is why it is always a gimmee for apologists of the Mannings, Snowdens, and Clintons to minimize the harm they have done; it is generally impossible to provide concrete information to counter this claim absent exposing more intelligence and endangering sources for obtaining it.

Obama pardons Cartwright, source of Stuxnet virus leak.  US President Barack Obama pardoned 64 people and commuted sentences for an additional 209 on Wednesday [1/18/2017], among them retired Marine Corps four star general James Cartwright, the alleged source of leaked information to the press detailing a cyber attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in 2010.

Obama Frees Chelsea Manning and 273 More Criminals.  President Barack Obama announced his plan to free Chelsea Manning (who changed his name from Bradley) after leaking classified military documents to Wikileaks and being sentenced to 35 years in prison for his crimes.  Once in prison, Manning went on a hunger strike to demand sex change surgery in prison, which was granted by officials at the cost of American taxpayers.  Obama included Manning on a list of prisoner commutations announced late Tuesday afternoon, allowing him to be set free on May 17, 2017.

Jake Tapper:  Manning Commutation 'Contradicts the Last Eight Years' of White House on Leakers.  CNN's Jake Tapper reacted to President Obama's commutation of Chelsea Manning's sentence by pointing out how the White House has felt about Manning, WikiLeaks, and leakers in general in the past eight years.  Bill Kristol called this "great news for Donald Trump" to start off, because it shifts focus away from him versus the intel community.  Tapper pointed out that Obama has used the Espionage Act to go after leakers a great deal more so than presidents past, and now for him to commute the sentence of "one of the most notorious leakers... certainly contradicts the last eight years of policy in terms of leaking."

Obama Commutes Almost All of Chelsea Manning's Sentence.  President Obama on Tuesday commuted the bulk of Chelsea Manning's 35-year prison sentence, which she received for providing classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010 pertaining to details of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Manning was found guilty in 2013 and her sentence was originally set to end on May 17, 2045.  Now it will end in May of this year, taking 28 years off the conviction. [...] Manning, a transgender woman whose first name was Bradley at the time, was a low-level intelligence analyst in the Army deployed to Iraq when she copied 750,000 pages of military documents and videos.

Poll: Most troops had unfavorable view of Obama.  More than half of the nation's troops have an unfavorable opinion of President Obama's time in office, though they're conflicted about his specific policies, according to a new poll.  A Military Times/Institute for Veterans and Military Families Poll showed 51.5 percent of military members polled had either a very unfavorable or somewhat unfavorable view of Obama's time in office.  About 36 percent saw his time in office was either very favorable or somewhat favorable.

Obama's farewell salute from the military as poll shows most unhappy with his years as commander-in-chief.  President Obama is leaving the White House with majority disapproval among members of the military for his role as commander in chief, according to a new survey at the tail end of his presidency.  Obama's move steep reduction of U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan after a troop surge, and his withdrawal of forces from Iraq in keeping with a status of forces agreement, doesn't appear to have carried support in the the military.

Military members hold negative view of President Barack Obama.  President Barack Obama will leave office on Jan. 20 with negative reviews from most members of the U.S. military.  More than half the troops in a new poll had an unfavorable opinion of Obama's leadership of the military for the past eight years, and about 36 percent said they approved of his performance as commander in chief, according to the latest survey by the Military Times and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.

Coming Soon to the U.S. Army:  Turbans, Beards, Hijabs, and Dreadlocks.  The Army has issued a new regulation:  Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons — the three most common requests for waivers to current guidelines on grooming and dress, according to a letter from the Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning.  The new guidelines also revise hairstyle standards for female soldiers:  They can now wear dreadlocks in addition to cornrows and twists, which were allowed in a revision made in 2014.  Like other hairstyles, locks must be relatively small, uniform, neat, and tied off inconspicuously, and women don't have to request an accommodation to wear them.

The Hunt for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Should Start in the Executive Branch.  Last month, Washington Post reporters obtained confidential memos from the Department of Defense detailing an internal study from January 2015, which found $125 billion in administrative waste.  (Senator Jeff Flake's Wastebook, an annual catalogue of absurd federal spending, recently revealed one particularly egregious example:  The DOD spent $2 million to teach robots how to play jazz.)  And yet officials chose to bury the study and ignore its recommendations, said the Post, "amid fears Congress would use the findings as an excuse to slash the defense budget."  Trump would be wise to revisit the report's findings and implement the reforms it suggested, which are designed to reallocate funding to troops and weapons.

Maintenance Delays Lead to No US Aircraft Carrier in Middle East.  The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and three other ships are returning to American ports after a seven-month deployment, which will temporarily leave the U.S. without an aircraft carrier in the Middle East.

No US carrier at sea leaves gap in Middle East.  For the next week, not only will there be no U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Middle East, but there will be no American aircraft carriers deployed at sea anywhere else in the world, despite a host of worldwide threats facing the United States.

General: Muslim Brotherhood Inside Obama Administration.  Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Tom McInerney, who served as both assistant vice chief of staff and commander in chief of U.S. Air Forces Europe, has surprised interviewers on a radio program by confirming the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood inside the U.S. government.  The Islamic supremacist movement's influence on Washington was reported in "Impeachable Offenses: The Case to Remove Barack Obama from Office" by New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott.  The book documents that Obama aided the rise to power of Islamic extremist groups in the Middle East as members served on important national security advisory boards.  The book confirms the Obama administration may have exposed national security information through Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff, who has deep personal and family associations with the Muslim Brotherhood.  Another key figure with Muslim Brotherhood ties is Mohamed Elibiary, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council.

Navy SEALs 'Feel Politicized Under Obama'.  Perhaps the best known unit is SEAL Team Six, the group that successfully targeted and killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.  But the fact we know they carried out the mission may also be the reason many of them are now dead.  Instead of leaving the identity of the men a mystery to the world, Vice President Joe Biden publicly identified them just two days after the raid.

Obama ditches registry focused on immigrant men from Muslim countries.  The original National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERs, launched about a year after 9/11, requiring men and boys from a variety of mostly Middle Eastern countries to register with the federal government upon their arrival in the U.S.  Registration, which also applied to immigrants from North Korea, included fingerprints and photographs and a requirement to notify the government of any address changes.  But after the Obama administration suspended the program in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security put out a notice Thursday [12/22/2016] officially removing what it called "outdated regulations" pertaining to the "obsolete" system.

Obama dumps registry for some immigrant men, mostly Muslims.  The Obama administration said Thursday [12/22/2016] it is officially scrapping a post-9/11 requirement for immigrant men from predominantly Muslim countries to register with the federal government.

A Political Fad vs National Security.  The [Obama] administration's position appears to be that promotion of industrial wind energy is more important than maintaining our military missions, assuring military readiness, and/or protecting the lives of military personnel. [...] The primary justification of this aggressive wind energy promotion is that wind energy supposedly plays an integral role in reducing climate change.  However, this marketing claim does not hold up under careful scrutiny.  The fact is that there is zero scientific proof that wind energy makes any consequential contribution to alleviating climate change.  Zero scientific proof.

"Without firing a bullet, the Chinese have now conquered multiple nations and taken over international waters".  Well, ladies and gentleman, China has stolen one of our drone boats, a scientific boat, with lots of technology on it, in international waters off the Philippines.  As our Navy was trying to pull in the boat, the Chinese stole it.  As the Chinese have militarized their fake islands, which they've put throughout the South China Sea, in violation of international law, as the Chinese continue to threaten the navigable waters off of Japan in the East China Sea, as China continues to hack into our databases — along with Russia — this is serious business.  We're going to need to muscle up the United States military, we're going to need to muscle up the United States navy, and we're going to have to have a fleet.  We're going to have to have a fleet in the South China Sea, a carrier group, our own little island if you will.  And the Chinese are going to have to be told, 'You do anything like that again, the boat will be blown out of the water.'

Obama's Effort to Force Women into Combat, Allow Transgender Troops Results in $135 Billion Cover-Up, Deaths.  Just as the newly-elected Trump administration is preparing to take office, America gets a surprise reveal from The Washington Post that President Obama's Pentagon deliberately suppressed a 2015 report revealing $125 billion in wasteful spending could be saved over five years.  Secretary of Defense (not for long, [fortunately]!) Ashton Carter, his deputy Robert Work and other underlings squashed the report and its findings, placing secrecy restrictions on it and removing it from public view.  They were busy with more important things like getting women into combat units and people with gender identity confusion to serve openly.  Exposed just three days after the $619 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2017 was passed, it reeks of a cover-up.

Assessing the Obama Legacy — Against His Own Mileposts.  [For example,] "Honoring our nation's veterans."  Obama's Department of Veteran Affairs was mired in scandal, and some of its nightmarish VA hospitals were awash in disease and unnecessary deaths.  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki was forced to resign amid controversy.  Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized for issuing an offensive report falsely concluding that returning war vets were liable to join right-wing terrorist groups.

Naval Academy Hosting 'Transgender 101' Training for Midshipmen.  The U.S. Naval Academy is bringing in Google employees to provide voluntary "Transgender 101" training to midshipmen this week as part of an ongoing "safe space" training series.  The academy's Center for Teaching and Learning is holding two events on Friday, one for faculty and staff and another for midshipmen.  The hour and a half-long workshops will be hosted by Marnie Florin and Kevin Perry, who are "transgender trainers" for Google.

Obama: U.S. must embrace Muslims to defeat terrorism.  In a clear warning shot at President-elect Donald Trump, President Obama said Tuesday the U.S. can only protect the homeland against terrorism by embracing Muslims and encouraging a society "that can criticize a president without retribution."  Speaking to special operations troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, Mr. Obama delivered his final speech on the war on terrorism as a thinly veiled reminder for Mr. Trump about "what we're fighting for."  "The United States of America is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom," Mr. Obama said in a reference to Mr. Trump's proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants.  "The United States of America is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special ID card or prove that they're not an enemy from within."

US returning land to Japan it's controlled since World War II.  The US military this month will return to Japan's government more than 9,800 acres of land it has held since World War II, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said Tuesday [12/6/2016].  The 9,852 acres of land on the island of Okinawa, part of a territory officially referred to as the Northern Training Area, is in a large US military base complex on the Pacific island more than 960 miles (1,550 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.  The US had turned most of Okinawa over to Japan in 1972 after controlling it from the end of World War II in 1945.  This is the largest return of US-occupied land since then.

Why did Obama shut down a successful aerial surveillance program along the U.S.-Mexican border?  The move to terminate the project is in line with the Obama administration's lackadaisical approach to illegal immigration and serves to underscore attempts by the administration to make the transition more difficult for the President-elect.  In February 2016, the Obama administration cut funding to Operation Phalanx by 50 percent even though the project had been fully funded by Congress and was by all accounts, demonstrably successful.  But therein lies the problem.  Operation Phalanx may have been too successful for the administration's tastes.  According to Watchdog.org, in the Laredo sector alone, "Operation Phalanx accounted for 10,559 apprehensions and 4,007 'turnbacks' from March 2012 to December 2015.  Phalanx was credited with seizing 12,851 pounds of narcotics during the period."

With Malicious Intent — Obama's Homeland Security Shuts Down Aerial Surveillance of Southern Border.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security quietly shut down Operation Phalanx, an aerial surveillance program that intercepts drugs and illegal crossings along the Mexican border.  Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, vows to challenge DHS's move, saying Congress provided "full funding" for 2017.  Cuellar, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Homeland Security Subcommittee, is drafting a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson protesting the shutdown.

Obama 'opens borders' in his final weeks by 'quietly shutting down surveillance scheme'.  Barack Obama has been accused of "opening" America's borders in the final weeks of his presidency by "quietly" shutting down the national border surveillance programme.  The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Operation Phalanx, was launched in 2010 to supply the National Guard with resources to monitor illegal border crossings and drug smuggling operations.  But Obama closed the programme, despite being fully funded for another year, because of a major reduction in illegal crossings.

Women in Combat and Transgender Service Member Reform 'Makes Sense' Moving Forward, Carter Says.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said policies that opened up combat roles to women and allowed transgender members of the military to serve openly are progress that "makes sense."  En route to Twentynine Palms in California on Monday [11/14/2016], Carter was asked during a media availability whether the Pentagon is concerned that reforms made during his tenure would be rolled back in the upcoming year under new leadership.

The Editor asks...
If someone is perpetually confused about something as simple as his or her gender, how is that person an asset to the military?

Trump adviser says military needs counterrevolution, reverse social engineering policies.  A key congressional supporter of Donald Trump says the president-elect's defense secretary should move quickly to reverse a number of social engineering policies adopted in the Obama years that "have cut down on the warrior mentality."  Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, told The Washington Times that the armed forces need a counterrevolution.  It should reverse at least three policies:  women in the infantry, open transgender troops and the near-banishment of the word "man" from Navy and Marine Corps titles.

The Unbearable Lightness of Anti-Trump Hysterics.  [Scroll down]  Barack Obama has done such terrible damage to our men and women who serve that he should be in the brig.  He tied the hands of his generals who stayed.  He fired those, hundreds of them, who refused to do his anti-military bidding.  Obama's ridiculous rules of engagement have been the cause of hundreds, maybe even thousands of American deaths in Afghanistan.  Our guys are hardly allowed to defend themselves.  Trump will change that.

The Obama Administration Orders The Destruction Of Any Records Of Islamic Terrorists In America.  The Obama administrated ordered for the destruction of hundreds of records of Islamic terrorists in the US, according to former DHS employee, Philip Haney.

Obama: 'It's Because of You That a Marine Can Serve His Country Without Hiding the Husband He Loves'.  Speaking at the University of North Carolina this afternoon, President Barack Obama told voters it was because of them that millions of people had health care who did not have it before and Marines could enter publicly into same-sex marriages.  "It is because of you that millions of people have health care today that didn't have it before," Obama said.  "It is because of you that millions of young people are going to college that couldn't afford it before.  It's because of you that a Marine can serve his country without hiding the husband he loves.  It is because of you that more young immigrants came out of the shadows and are serving our country."

Soros Money, Muslim Advocates Leader, Helped Weaken Homeland Security Policies.  A Muslim legal group, girded with $1.8 million in grant money from George Soros's Open Society Foundations (OSF), has helped influence major policy changes in the war on terror, including the Department of Homeland Security's screening of individuals with suspected terror ties and the FBI's training program for its agents working in counterterrorism.  Internal records, made public by the hacking group DC Leaks, show OSF spent $40 million between 2008 and 2010 on programs aimed at weakening U.S. counterterrorism policy.  Muslim Advocates' Executive Director Farhana Khera played a key role in shaping the foundations' spending.  Khera co-authored a 2007 memo that "informed" the foundations' U.S. Programs Board's decision to create the National Security and Human Rights Campaign (NSHRC), a Sept. 14, 2010 OSF document discussing the program's reauthorization, shows.

The military may relax recruiting standards for fitness and pot use.  Defense Secretary Ash Carter has launched a sweeping review of the military's recruiting standards, saying current rules for screening new entrants may be "overly restrictive" and preventing America's most talented young people from joining the ranks.  Among the benchmarks that will get new scrutiny:  fitness standards, marijuana use, tattoo regulations and the military's longtime reluctance to allow single parents to start military careers.

DoD: Protections for transgender youth apply to all facilities, programs.  All transgender youth are allowed to use restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity in Defense Department programs and activities, according to a new DoD memo.  In an Oct. 26 memo to the services and to the Department of Defense Education Activity, Todd Weiler, assistant defense secretary for manpower and reserve affairs, said he has established a task force to establish procedures for implementing the guidance.

Thousands Of Soldiers Now Have To Pay Back Their Bonuses To The Pentagon, While Bad VA Employees Keep Theirs.  The Obama administration is targeting the bonuses of thousands of soldiers who signed up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, but left entirely alone the bonuses handed to numerous employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), despite questionable behavior.  In an effort to fill a severe troop shortage, officials at the National Guard wrongfully gave bonuses to thousands of troops who weren't supposed to receive them, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.  Now, the Pentagon wants that money back, sometimes with interest, even though these soldiers served honorably and also had no idea officials were fraudulently doling out bonuses.  Congress was apparently aware of this issue for at least two years.

First transgender soldiers seek formal Army recognition.  Within weeks of the Pentagon allowing transgender service members to serve openly, Army officials said 10 soldiers have formally asked to be recognized as their new, preferred gender.

A detriment to morale:
FDA Clarifies That Ban On Cigar Donations To Troops Was Deliberate.  The Food and Drug Administration has finally confirmed that companies are banned from donating cigars to U.S. troops, according to an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.  In early September, GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Marine Corps reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote a letter to the FDA asking for clarification on a confusingly worded regulation that could be interpreted as a ban on companies donating cigars to troops.  Now, Ramesh Menon, acting supervisory congressional affairs specialist for the FDA, has cleared up the confusion in a response to Hunter's letter:  yes, companies are most definitely banned from donating cigars.

Pentagon issues handbook on sex change in the ranks.  Political correctness remains a central characteristic of the Obama administration's policies.  Take the Pentagon's new anti-discrimination policy on what a newly-published handbook calls "gender dysphoria," or "the distress that some transgender individuals experience due to a mismatch between their gender and their sex assigned at birth."  Under the new policies, military commanders are now responsible for approving or denying sex changes for troops who self-identify as the opposite sex, according to the 72-page handbook, "Transgender Service in the U.S. Military:  An Implementation Handbook," published Sept. 30.

Obama to NatSec Agencies:  Increase Diversity, Train on 'Implicit or Unconscious Bias'.  President Obama issued a memo to heads of government agencies today on increasing diversity in the national security workforce to make the diplomacy, development, defense, intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security complex "more effective at problem solving than homogeneous groups."  The national security workforce in the federal government consists of more than 3 million workers from agencies such as the Intelligence Community, USAID, Treasury Department, State Department, Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Military Instructed To Be 'Sensitive' Of Pronoun Use, Warned Against Gender 'Assumptions'.  A new Department of Defense handbook on transgender persons released Friday instructs service members to be "sensitive" of each other's preferred pronouns and warns against making "assumptions" about another person's gender.  The handbook also states that anti-transgender "bias" will not be tolerated and suggests that "attitudes, or comments that marginalize transgender Service members" may constitute harassment.

Air Force Announces It Will Mandate Diversity Quotas In Candidate Pools For Key Positions.  The Air Force announced a new set of 13 inclusion initiatives Friday [9/30/2016] with the goal of ensuring the force isn't as white, male and heterosexual as it is now.  Air Force officials are intent on building upon a foundation of nine initiatives from 2015, in order to boost diversity.  Those nine initiatives weren't enough to make the Air Force as diverse as desired, which is why it is taking more intensive steps in 2016.

Navy scuttles sailors' enlisted rating titles in huge career shake-up.  The Navy deep-sixed all of its 91 enlisted ratings titles Thursday, marking the beginning of an overhaul of the rigid career structure that has existed since the Continental Navy in a radical shift sure to reverberate through the fleet and the veterans community beyond.  Sailors will no longer be identified by their job title, say, Fire Controlman 1st Class Joe Sailor, effective immediately.  Instead, that would be Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Sailor.

Pentagon's top brass explores Islamic ideology's ties to terror.  The National Military Strategy, authored by the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, is one of the most important guidances issued to global combatant commanders.  It prioritizes threats to the nation and how to blunt them.  The 2015 public version does not mention Islamic ideology.  It lists terrorists under the ambiguous category of "violent extremist organizations" and singles out al Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Former CIA Director:  Political Correctness Kills Our Ability To Stop Radical Islamic Terror.  Former CIA Director James Woolsey said Monday on Fox & Friends that political correctness ruins the ability of law enforcement to stop radical Islamic terror. [...] For Woolsey, the Obama administration's stringent refusal to label the attacks as radical Islam is a huge mistake.  "As long as we have to talk about things in a politically correct way and we can't say that it's Islamic terror ... we are causing ourselves a massive amount of trouble," Woolsey said.  "There's virtually nothing that's worse than political correctness if you're trying to understand what's going on in something like a movement like radical Islam."

Obama Directs Federal Agencies to Consider Climate Change As a National Security Issue.  In a Sept. 21 memo to his department heads, President Obama instructed all federal departments and agencies to consider the impact of climate change on national security.  Obama states that it is the policy of the U.S. government to ensure that current and anticipated impacts of climate change be "identified and considered" in developing national security doctrine, policies and plans.  "Climate change poses a significant and growing threat to national security, both at home and abroad," the memo says.  Those threats, according to Obama, include flooding, drought, heat waves, intense precipitation, pest outbreaks, disease, and electricity problems, all of which can "affect economic prosperity, public health and safety, and international stability."

Republicans Demand Proof From Obama That Global Warming Is A National Security Threat.  Republican lawmakers are demanding the Obama administration back up with evidence a recent executive memoranda requiring federal officials to consider the impact of global warming on national security. [...] President Barack Obama has argued global warming is a national security concern for years, and now Republicans want the administration to show what sources it uses to issue orders to federal agencies.

Obama orders climate change be considered in military planning.  President Obama issued a new policy directive Wednesday to consider the effects of climate change in developing national security policy and planning across all major security agencies and the military.  "Today, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum on Climate Change and National Security, establishing a policy that the impacts of climate change must be considered in the development of national security-related doctrine, policies, and plans," the White House said.  "To achieve this, 20 federal agencies and offices with climate science, intelligence analysis, and national security policy development missions and responsibilities will collaborate to ensure the best information on climate impacts is available to strengthen our national security." White House special assistant to the president, Alice Hill, told reporters that the presidential memo will "prioritize climate threats" to identify the most significant risks to the nation's security and drive full consideration of climate change effects into national security plans and policies.

Armed forces chiefs confirm sense of Obama distrust.  As the four armed forces chiefs testified in the Senate about the national security dangers of mandated budget caps, Sen. Lindsey Graham asked each officer if he had discussed the readiness crisis with President Obama.  Their unanimous answers before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week underscored a key aspect of the Obama presidency, noted by his own past defense secretaries and, in a recent disclosure, a former NATO commander:  The president maintains a wary approach in dealing with the four-star generals and admirals who direct his wars.

Obama, top leaders aren't discussing the military's biggest concern.  As President Obama is threatening to veto a bill to increase military spending, his top military chiefs told Congress the president has never personally discussed the matter with them.  The military service chiefs, whose primary job is to oversee the training and equipping of the America's armed forces, uniformly described a looming crisis in combat readiness over the next five years, if mandatory spending caps known as sequestration remain in place, in testimony Thursday [9/15/2016].

The Wheedle and the Damage Done.  No American president has ever done more damage to American national security or America's standing in the world than Barack Obama.  We've never had a president quite like him before.  I think the damage is attributable to his rabid belief in the myths of the left-wing critique of the United States.

Navy Secretary Defends Naming Ships After Harvey Milk, Gabrielle Giffords.  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has raised a few eyebrows with some of the names he has picked for naval ships.

Obama purged military of those who sought victory.  Almost as soon as he took office, President Obama began a military purge not dissimilar to those routinely conducted by third-world despots, with the goal of eliminating voices that might oppose his withdrawing America from the world stage. [...] President Abraham Lincoln kept firing generals until he found the likes of Sherman and Grant, with the will and ability to win.  Somehow I don't think victory anywhere is President Obama's goal.  Donald Trump was right:  President Obama has reduced the U.S. military to rubble.

The Dragon Comes With a Suitcase.  The Era of Hope and Change has been one prolonged act of suicide.  If anyone had said that Obama would manage to alienate Israel and the Philippines, lose Turkey, pay Iran a hundred billion dollars, preside over the loss of a won war in Afghanistan, lose billions of dollars in military equipment to ISIS, watch a consulate burn, restart the Cold War with Russia, cause Japan to re-arm and go the knife's edge with China would you have believed it?

Obama Admin Wants to Cut Army's Force Size by 25,000 by 2018.  The Obama administration is seeking to cut the U.S. Army's total force size by 25,000 soldiers by 2018, bringing America's force strength down to 450,000 from its current size of 475,000, according to a new congressional report that shines a spotlight on a growing debate over how large the force should be.  Both chambers of Congress and the White House hold disparate views about how large the U.S. Army should be, according to a new congressional research report that highlights the differences between the governing bodies.  While the Obama administration's Defense Department is seeking to cut the force by 25,000 over current levels, the House is proposing to grow the Army by 5,000.  The Senate is proposing to cut levels by 15,000.

Obama's socially engineered military is full of anti-Christian wusses.  Back in June, during the height of graduation season, I wrote a piece about how an organization known as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation successfully banned retired Lt. General Jerry Boykin from speaking at a prayer breakfast at Ft. Riley Army Base because he was supposedly anti-Muslim and anti-gay.  It turns out the real reason he was banned was due to the fact that he's also a professing Christian, as we learned from the founder of MRFF, Mikey Weinstein:  "(Boykin) sows hatred and heinous divisiveness with his sickening screed of fundamentalist Christian supremacy ..."  Weinstein went on to say how Boykin's appearance was causing unnamed soldiers to actually break down in tears.

House Armed Services chairman blasts Obama for military pay cut.  The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee blasted President Obama Thursday evening [9/1/2016] for undercutting members of the military by suggesting a 1.6 percent annual pay raise, which falls below the 2.1 percent figure mandated by law.  Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said federal workers and the military have historically received 2 to 3 percent raises, but the Obama administration has cut those annual bumps in recent years.  "Few people are more deserving of a full pay raise than our men and women in uniform," Thornberry said.  "Yet, at the same time President Obama is proposing significant increases in military deployments and expanding existing missions, he is cutting the pay raise for our troops for the fourth year in a row."

House Intel Committee Members:  Largest-Ever Gitmo Release Endangers U.S. Troops.  Republicans on the House intelligence committee said Wednesday that the Obama administration's largest release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay endangers American troops, and that the president will be fully responsible for any American casualties resulting from the transfer.  Fourteen Republicans, including all GOP members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, penned a letter to Obama objecting to the release of 15 detainees from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, arguing that the administration's decision to release "increasingly dangerous terrorists" from U.S. custody jeopardizes U.S. forces operating abroad.

Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn:  Obama, Hillary Ignored Intelligence They Did Not Like About Middle East, Only Wanted 'Happy Talk'.  Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, who served for more than two years as the director of President Barack Obama's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), leveled explosive charges against the President and his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an exclusive hour-long interview with Breitbart News Daily on Friday [8/26/2016].  Specifically, during an exclusive interview about his book The Field of Fight, Flynn said that Obama and Clinton were not interested in hearing intelligence that did not fit their "happy talk" narrative about the Middle East.  In fact, he alleged the administration actively scrubbed training manuals and purged from the military ranks any thinking about the concept of radical Islamism.

Gen. Tata:  President's Briefer Told CENTCOM Official to Alter Intel on ISIS.  U.S. Army Brigadier Gen.  Anthony Tata (Ret.) appeared on "The Five" today [8/15/2016] to reveal some exclusive information about the White House's role in CENTCOM's distortion of intelligence to downplay the threats of ISIS and Al Qaeda.  Tata revealed that a source verified to him that he was directed by an individual from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who conducts the president's daily briefing, to stop producing "products of record" that did not fit the administration's narrative of a defeated Al Qaeda and a non-threatening enemy in ISIS.

Politicized Intelligence:  Telling the Boss What He Wants to Hear.  The report is based, in part, on a survey of CENTCOM intelligence analysts.  The survey found that after the mid-2013 departure of CENTCOM commander Marine General James Mattis, imposed management changes made the environment toxic for intelligence analysts.  Forty percent of the analysts reported that they had experienced management attempts to distort or suppress intelligence within the past year.  The report also says that despite receiving the survey results in December 2015 as well as whistleblower complaints, "...neither CENTCOM, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, nor the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) took any demonstrable steps to improve the analytic climate within CENTCOM."  For a bureaucratic underling to tell his boss what the boss wants to hear is par for the course in mismanaged organizations.  But this is vastly worse.

Obama to Circumvent Congress and Push UN Anti-Nuclear Testing Resolution.  Last week, Josh Rogin reported for the Washington Post that President Obama will seek a United Nations Security Council resolution that, at the very least, calls for an end to nuclear testing.  According to Rogin, the president's diplomatic gambit is to occur in September — around the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which President Clinton signed but the U.S. Senate rejected during ratification.  By end-running the Senate at the UN, Obama hopes to make good on his promise, made over seven years ago in a major address in Prague, to "aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty."  Unfortunately, the move is quintessentially Obama — contemptuous of Congress and utopian as policy.

U.S. Air Force laments that it's short of pilots.  The U.S. Air Force faces a shortfall of 700 fighter pilots by the end of the year and as many as 1,000 pilots within a few years, Air Force officials said Wednesday [8/10/2016].  "It is a crisis," said Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff.  "Air superiority is not an American birthright.  It's actually something you have to fight for and maintain."  Aggressive hiring by commercial airlines has helped thin the ranks of Air Force pilots, and lengthy deployments overseas, long separations from family and reduced flying time when back on U.S. soil have exacerbated the problem, Goldfein said.

Hypocrisy:
Obama: Trump 'trash-talking' the U.S. military.  President Obama said Monday that he's had enough of "some people" trash-talking the U.S. military, his latest attempt to warn voters about Donald Trump without specifically naming the GOP nominee.  "As commander in chief, I'm pretty tired of some people trash-talking America's military and troops," Obama told the Disabled American Veterans group during their annual gathering in Atlanta on Monday [8/1/2016].

Obama's Dangerous Plan to Abandon a Key Nuclear Deterrent.  Barack Obama's foreign policy has always been defined by ticking the boxes the far Left long wanted ticked.  Now he's contemplating one more, by far the most dangerous of all:  unilateral nuclear disarmament, or at least a rough approximation thereof.  After reducing the size of our nuclear arsenal to dangerous levels, the Washington Post reports that Obama is considering a "no first use" policy with regard to nukes.  Peaceniks around the world will cheer; the rest of us will shudder.

Alphabet Soup Corruption.  [Scroll down]  Perhaps no agency has been rendered more suspect that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, largely because U.S. immigration enforcement for all practical purposes has been rendered null and void, and no longer can or will stop illegal immigration from crossing the southern border.

Rick Perry:  Obama 'Corroded Our Military'.  Former Texas governor Rick Perry said President Obama has "corroded our military" in remarks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday [7/20/2016].  Perry devoted his speech at an event hosted by FRC Action and the Susan B. Anthony List to veterans' issues, saying he trusts Republican nominee Donald Trump to put veterans first if he is elected president.  "Today I don't think we are where we need to be," Perry said.  "We're not where we need to be with those active-duty military men and women.  The current administration has corroded our military."

Pentagon Officials:  Modernizing Nukes 'Crucial' To Security, Yet Obama Wants To Disarm.  Several top Department of Defense officials told Congress Thursday a multi-billion dollar nuclear modernization effort is key to maintaining U.S. security, though President Obama plans to push for U.S. nuclear disarmament in his final months in office.  "Our capabilities as a whole have lasted well beyond their designed service life," said Navy Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command in his testimony.  "It is crucial that we modernize our strategic deterrence capabilities, which underpin our national and global security."

Pentagon issues sex change manual, allows extended time off for process.  The U.S. military has a manual for everything, from how to dress to how to wage war.  Now the Pentagon has sent out a detailed written instruction to commanders on how a service member can change his or her sex in a step-by-step process that allows for extended time off.  The directive restricts personnel from living their "preferred gender" lifestyle, or "Real Life Experience," on a military base among peers until the sex change transition is complete.  The Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy must set up a bureaucracy — dubbed the Service Central Coordination Cell — to guide commanders overseeing sex change transitions.

Obama Never Once Met With His Defense Intelligence Chief.  President Barack Obama twice appointed former Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn to key national security jobs in his administration, including as deputy director of national intelligence and later as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, yet he never once met with Flynn face to face.  The general, who spent 33 years in the intelligence field, told The Daily Caller News Foundation he was never called in for a face-to-face meeting with Obama to offer his assessment of ISIS as it rampaged through the Middle East, or during the political meltdown of Libya and Egypt, or on Iran's efforts to build a nuclear bomb, or of the "Russian reset" that ended in shambles.

Bombshell: Obama Never Once Met With His Defense Intelligence Chief.  President Barack Obama twice appointed former Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn to key national security jobs in his administration, including as deputy director of national intelligence and later as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, yet he never once met with Flynn face to face.  The general, who spent 33 years in the intelligence field, told The Daily Caller News Foundation he was never called in for a face-to-face meeting with Obama to offer his assessment of ISIS as it rampaged through the Middle East, or during the political meltdown of Libya and Egypt, or on Iran's efforts to build a nuclear bomb, or of the "Russian reset" that ended in shambles.

Obama plans major nuclear policy changes in his final months.  [Scroll down]  Several U.S. officials briefed on the options told me they include declaring a "no first use" policy for the United States' nuclear arsenal, which would be a landmark change in the country's nuclear posture.  Another option under consideration is seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution affirming a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons.  This would be a way to enshrine the United States' pledge not to test without having to seek unlikely Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.  The administration is also considering offering Russia a five-year extension of the New START treaty's limits on deployed nuclear weapons, even though those limits don't expire until 2021.  This way, Obama could ensure that the next administration doesn't let the treaty lapse.

The military fired me for calling our enemies radical jihadis.  [Scroll down]  I felt the intel system was way too politicized, especially in the Defense Department.  After being fired, I left the meeting thinking, "Here we are in the middle of a war, I had a significant amount of combat experience (nearly five years) against this determined enemy on the battlefield and served at senior levels, and here it was, the bureaucracy was letting me go."  Amazing.  At the time, I was working very hard to change the culture of DIA from one overly focused on Washington, DC, to a culture that focused on our forward-based war fighters and commanders.  It was not an easy shift, but it was necessary and exactly the reason I was put into the job in the first place.  In the end, I was [angry] but knew that I had maintained my integrity and was determined in the few months I had left to continue the changes I was instituting and to keep beating the drum about the vicious enemy we were facing (still are).

Video: Pentagon Celebrates Islamic 'Month of Jihad'.  An update on the Pentagon's taxpayer-funded but invitation-only Ramadan feast, thanks to reader Martin for this video in which the Pentagon not only celebrates Ramadan but seems to promote Islam and rewrite history.  They even had the gall to publish this video on Independence Day, July 4. [...] And while we haven't yet translated the transcript, it appears that someone at the Pentagon is trying to claim two African-American slaves who fought in the Revolutionary War were Muslims... although there is no evidence whatsoever that they were.

Obama's PC military rules are putting America at grave risk.  On the eve of the Fourth of July holiday, the left-wing regime of President Obama, who finds our system of government distasteful and our military despicable, once again stabbed our soldiers in the back.  Twice.  Presented with an assessment that five years of drone strikes that successfully targeted thousands of Islamist terrorists had killed a mere 64 to 116 civilians, the president didn't praise our military's unprecedented precision.  Instead, he called for more restrictions on targeting.  Simultaneously, his hapless henchman, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, announced the lifting of all restrictions on transgender individuals serving in our military.  The road to defeat is paved with noble intentions.  Both of these seemingly disparate issues demand objective scrutiny.

Obama's Green Policies Threaten America's Energy Security.  The threat of a devastating cyber attack on the U.S. electrical grid is increasing due to the Obama administration's politically correct policies that spend vast sums on green and smart grid technologies while failing to secure power grids from cyber attack.  A report by the Manhattan Institute, a New York think tank, warns that the push to integrate wind and solar electrical power into the $6 trillion electric utility system has created new vulnerabilities that other nations could exploit in a future cyber war.  "Electric grids have always been vulnerable to natural hazards and malicious physical attacks," writes Mark Mills, a physicist and engineer who authored the Manhattan Institute report.  "Now the U.S. faces a new risk — cyber attacks — that could threaten public safety and greatly disrupt daily life."

Intelligence Community Held 12 Diversity and Inclusion Seminars Last Year.  The intelligence community held 12 seminars on diversity and inclusion last year, including "unconscious bias" training and a women's summit that focused on "emotional intelligence."  An employee resource group on "Islamic Culture" is also offered for employees of the National Security Agency to provide "cultural sensitivity."  The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its annual demographics report this month, which detailed the number of community-wide events the intelligence community held during fiscal year 2015.  One event, last September, was run by the former "Global Diversity and Talent Program Manager" for Google, Judith Williams.

US military lifts ban on transgenders serving openly.  Transgender people will be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military, the Pentagon announced Thursday [6/30/2016], ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces.

Pentagon ends transgender ban.  The Pentagon said Thursday it was ending the ban on transgender people being able to serve openly in the U.S. military.  The announcement — which removes one of the last barriers to military service by any individual — was made by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who had been studying the issue for almost a year.  The decision comes as the military has witnessed major changes in the role of women and the inclusion of gays, lesbians and bisexual service members in recent years.

U.S. Military to Allow Soldiers to Crossdress.  Military personnel who wish to dress as the opposite sex may now do so, according to an announcement from Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter.  Carter said, however, that new recruits would have to crossdress for at least 18 months prior to joining the military, presumably to avoid last-minute transitions from one mode of dress to another.  Still, if a member of the armed forces wishes to swap genders while serving on active duty, that person may be able to do so "if a military medical provider determines it is necessary," according to reports.  If any soldier would like to take a further step and undergo gender reassignment surgery, the Pentagon would cover the medical costs, Carter added.

Senator: Navy Evaluates Commanders Based On Climate Change Views.  Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse recently told people gathered in New York City that global warming "denial" hurts U.S. soldiers in the field and that the "main problem" with the military is its reluctance to join the climate crusade.  "The problem has been that the uniformed military has been reluctant to put its voice into — or its image into this fight," Whitehouse said, according to a YouTube video posted Thursday [6/30/2016].

Obama Pushes Military to Salute Transgender, Cross-Dressing Soldiers.  President Barack Obama is forcing the Pentagon to repeal its ban on transgender service members, meaning U.S. soldiers will soon be serving under the command of cross-dressing soldiers.  The policy change is another example of how progressives bypass Congress and the voters by using the military to promote and advance social changes nationwide.  Since 2009, for example, the military has been used to aid illegal immigrants and to help change the definition of marriage so that it can include single-sex couples — regardless of the far-left policies' impact on combat readiness and recruitment.

U.S. Set to Lift Ban on Openly Transgender Troops.  Nearly a year ago, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the U.S. military's ban on the open service of transgender troops was "outdated" and promised the policy would be reviewed.  Advocacy groups had grown impatient in the early months of this year, but a report late Friday indicates their wait is almost over.  USA Today, citing an unnamed Department of Defense official, reports the ban will end on July 1 and that Pentagon officials are gathering to finalize the details in the coming days.  Individual branches of the armed services would have a year to implement new policies.  A study commissioned by the Department of Defense and conducted by the RAND Corporation found that there "would be few hurdles to allowing transgender people to serve openly," the New York Times recently reported.

Marine Corps forced to pull warbirds out of 'boneyard' after new fleet delay.  The Marines are looking for a few good planes, and their search has taken them to an Arizona boneyard where the Corps' old F/A Hornets have been gathering dust and rust for years.  The jets are being reclaimed and refurbished by Boeing after the service branch was caught short on planes because of long delays in the rollout of the much-awaited F-35. [...] It's not the first time the military has brought back decommissioned planes from the graveyard.  The Marines pulled and restored several retired heavy-lift helicopters during the height of the Iraq War to help with a shortfall in the fleet as a result of heavy usage and crashes.

What is Treason?  We are not at war with Mexico, yet Mexico sends us millions of people through illegal channels.  In normal times, this would be called an invasion.  It would be grounds for war.  If millions of Americans illegally crossed into Mexico, certainly the international community would condemn it as a warlike act.  Are those within the government that support this via aid and succor treasonous?  I don't know the jurisprudence to make such a decision, naturally, but I do suggest that this should be investigated.  If they are illegal immigrants, the decision is simple:  deport them.  They are active agents of chaos and destruction and have no right to be here.  If they are legal immigrant citizens, then the charge of treason should be investigated.  They have violated their oaths.

DHS Whistleblower:  Deleted Records on Muslims Might Have Stopped Attacks.  Former Department of Homeland Security officer Philip Haney said he believes that the Orlando and San Bernardino attacks are related and that both might have been prevented had the DHS not deleted records he compiled on Muslims with terror ties.  Haney told Hannity he discovered that the mosque where Omar Mateen worshipped was connected to the same network as the mosque where Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik worshipped.  "Farook would have been put on the no-fly list and not allowed to travel, or his pending fiancé would have been denied a visa because of his affiliation with an organization with plausible ties to terrorism," he said.

Deleted Records Tying Muslims to Terrorism Might Have Stopped Attacks.  Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," former Department of Homeland Security official Philip Haney insisted terrorism in Orlando, FL and San Bernardino, CA might have been prevented had the his former agency not deleted a list he compiled linking some Muslims with terrorism.  Haney told host Sean Hannity he was able to link a mosque where San Bernardino shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik worshiped to a network that tied the mosque where Orlando shooter Omar Mateen worshiped, but under the leadership of President Barack Obama, that database was deleted.

DHS ordered me to scrub records of Muslims with terror ties.  Amid the chaos of the 2009 holiday travel season, jihadists planned to slaughter 290 innocent travelers on a Christmas Day flight from the Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan.  Twenty-three-year old Nigerian Muslim Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab intended to detonate Northwest Airlines Flight 253, but the explosives in his underwear malfunctioned and brave passengers subdued him until he could be arrested.  The graphic and traumatic defeat they planned for the United States failed, that time.  Following the attempted attack, President Obama threw the intelligence community under the bus for its failure to "connect the dots."  He said, "this was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had."  Most Americans were unaware of the enormous damage to morale at the Department of Homeland Security, where I worked, his condemnation caused.  His words infuriated many of us because we knew his administration had been engaged in a bureaucratic effort to destroy the raw material — the actual intelligence we had collected for years, and erase those dots.  The dots constitute the intelligence needed to keep Americans safe, and the Obama administration was ordering they be wiped away.

Obama's Question:  What's In A Name?  Obama wants to treat our enemies as individual criminals, lone wolves and nut jobs.  Since he is the commander-in-chief, he defines the policy parameters under which our military and intelligence agencies operate.  The Orlando murderer was interviewed by the FBI, which discovered his associations with radical Islamic terrorists, and jihadist sympathies, but dropped him off the radar because the FBI was looking for crimes which he hadn't (yet) committed.  If on the other hand the FBI had been looking for soldiers in a war conducted by radical Islamic terrorists, they would have kept him on the radar and extended their investigation until maybe they would have saved 50 innocent lives.

DHS report before Orlando massacre:  Don't offend Muslims while combating extremism.  A report by the Homeland Security Advisory Council released days before the Islamic terror attack in Orlando, Florida, stressed the importance of combating extremism by avoiding terms that might offend Muslims.  A HSAC subcommittee first created by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in 2015 published its report on June 9.  Some instructions found in the report include:
  •   Officials should not use the word "jihad."
  •   Officials should not use the word "sharia."
  •   Officials should not use the word "takfir," which is done when one Muslim accuses another of apostasy.
  •   Officials are instructed to "reject religiously-charged terminology and problematic positioning by using plain meaning American English."

Homeland Security Instructed To Combat Violent Extremism With Political Correctness.  Less than a week before Omar Mateen walked into an Orlando gay club and killed or wounded more than 100 people, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) submitted its Countering Violent Extremism report to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson.  The report instructs the DHS not to use any language that might be "disrespectful" to Muslims, including (but not limited to) the words "jihad," "sharia" and "takfir."  The report was crafted by an HSAC subcommittee that Secretary Johnson created in November 2015.  The head of that subcommittee, Farah Pandith, was appointed by Johnson in May 2015.  The subcommittee published the report on June 9.  In addition to combatting violent extremism by reaching out to "gender diverse" Americans and teaching youth "appropriate online etiquette," the report recommends that the DHS "avoid stigmatizing specific communities."

Did FBI Training Material Purge Cause Dropped Ball On Orlando Shooter?  Could the FBI's purge of training material relating to Islamic terrorism have led to the agency dropping the ball on Florida nightclub shooter Omar Mateen?  Mateen, who called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS Saturday night, killed 50 and wounded dozens of others at a gay nightclub in Orlando was interviewed by the FBI for possible links to terrorism multiple times.  The FBI was the target of criticism when it was found that no action was taken when it was discovered that 2013 Boston bombers Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev were known to the FBI, when Russia sent a warning out about them.  Additionally, 2012 Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hassan was never investigated by the FBI, a report said, because of political correctness.

Anchors Away — Obama Sinks U.S. Navy.  As China builds military bases on man-made islands in the South China Sea, the staggering decline in U.S. naval readiness was made clear when a group of Navy captains testified before an unusual joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's seapower and readiness subcommittees last week.  It was made clear that President Ronald Reagan's 600-ship Navy is a distant memory as we return to the Jimmy Carter era of ships that can't sail and planes that can't fly for want of spare parts.  This sad state of affairs is accomplishing what the Japanese Imperial Navy could not — defeat the U.S. Navy and leave the seas increasingly open to hostile adversaries and leaving us increasingly unable to come to the aid of our remaining allies.

A Leader Without a Moral Compass.  It is Obama's narcissism that proposes a world without nuclear weapons.  What dictatorship could be trusted to keep such a promise?  A world without nuclear weapons is like an America without guns.  In the latter, only criminals will have guns; in the former, only aggressive dictatorships will possess nuclear weapons — in secret.  The mindless left, which thinks solving the world's problems is like the staging of a college seminar, is cheering Obama on.  But those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese have had the salt of his hubris rubbed into their wounds and their traumas resurrected.  How will America serve in the future as a force for peace anywhere in the world?  Who in the Middle East will view this with anything but disgust and apprehension?  A nation that desecrates its own history and makes a mockery of the sacrifices of its heroes is a nation not to be trusted.

The Obama Navy as Farce.  [Scroll down]  Two weeks ago Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) got our attention when he said that the classified information about the incident, if made public, would shock the American people.  He said that we would be shocked by not only how Iran treated our sailors but also how the Obama administration responded.  As Forbes pointed out, Obama did nothing at all to help the sailors while they were in captivity. [...] Forbes pointed out that as soon as Obama came into office he began about $780 billion of cuts in defense spending over ten years to which sequestration added another $500 billion in cuts.  He said that one of the first things the Obama administration did was issue gag orders for everyone in the Pentagon — both military and civilian — so that they couldn't even tell Congress what repercussions there would be from its massive cuts.

How Barack Obama's Foreign Policy De-Stabilized the World.  In 1939, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier warned Adolf Hitler that if the Third Reich invaded Poland, a European war would follow.  Both leaders insisted that they meant it.  But Hitler thought that after getting away with militarizing the Rhineland, annexing Austria, and dismantling Czechoslovakia, the Allied appeasers were once again just bluffing.  England and France declared war two days after Hitler entered Poland.  Once hard-won deterrence is lost, it is almost impossible to restore credibility without terrible costs and danger.

"When you want to take a country down, first you neutralize its military capability."
How Obama transformed the military.  There is no question that America's worldwide leadership, power and influence have been significantly degraded over the last seven and a half years.  The basic reason, regretfully, is that President Obama has been very successful in the implementation of his goal to fundamentally transform America.  In so doing, he has undercut the Judeo-Christian foundation of this great country while at the same time promoting the advancement of Islam throughout our society — including the U.S. military.  Clearly, any thinking American understands that this transformation, at its core, is anti-American and anti-Western.  Yet it is also pro-Islam, pro-Iranianand pro-Muslim Brotherhood.  Compounding this travesty is Mr. Obama's decision to embrace our sworn enemies.

Why People Can't Face the Truth about Obama.  America is Barack Obama's prey. He is tearing America apart and feeding the pieces of her life to his foreign and domestic fellow travelers.  He is not transforming the nation but terminating it.  Even the most transformational administrations haven't enabled the murder of Americans by declared enemies, weakened the national defense, mocked the concerns, and dimmed the hopes of average Americans as this president has.  Even the highly transformational Franklin Roosevelt did not return Nazi generals to the enemy during the war as Obama did in the Bergdahl swap.  Roosevelt did not entertain and enrich Nazi bigwigs as Obama has the Muslim Brotherhood.  Imagine Roosevelt facilitating German atom bomb research and enriching the Axis powers as Obama has in the Iran deal.  No president has erased the nation's borders at land and sea as Obama in advertising inducements for an invasion from around the world.  No president in American history has aided enemies, undermined the economy and derided the American people as the current commander-in-chief.  The immensity of Obama's disloyalty is key to why people cannot face the truth about him.

Retired Air Force General:  Obama 'Unilaterally Disarmed America'.  Russian and Chinese militaries are increasingly trying to bully American forces because they are "taking advantage of our weakness" and "publicly humiliating us," according to a respected retired Air Force general and Fox News military analyst.  "It's a slap in the face" to the United States, Retired General Tom McInerney says, and President Barack Obama "should not accept that kind of behavior."  The president "unilaterally disarmed America," adding "we have all these social experiments," according to McInerney's 18-minute exclusive video interview for The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Vice President Biden says 'more women and openly gay soldiers will strengthen the country's armed forces'.  Vice President Joe Biden told the U.S. Military Academy's class of 2016 on Saturday [5/21/2016] that greater diversity, including more women and openly gay soldiers, will strengthen the country's armed forces.  He told the crowds:  'Having men and women together in the battlefield is an incredible asset, particularly when they're asked to lead teams in parts of the world with fundamentally different expectations and norms.'  Biden made his speech at the graduation ceremony held at Michie Stadium on the West Point grounds along the Hudson River.

Costly Renewable Energy Regulations Prevent Our Military From Doing Its Job.  The Obama administration is aggressively defending costly renewable energy initiatives for the Department of Defense.  These requirements mandate that the Department of Defense produce or procure "not less than 25 percent" of its facility energy from renewable energy sources by fiscal year 2025.  By forcing its political agenda onto the military, the Obama administration prioritizes inefficient renewable energy initiatives at the expense of U.S. military strength and taxpayers.

Senate confirms first openly gay Army secretary.  The Senate on Tuesday afternoon [5/17/2016] confirmed the first openly gay Army Secretary.  The Senate approved Eric Fanning to lead the Army by unanimous consent, after his nomination had been held in limbo for months because of a fight over the Guantanamo Bay detention center.  Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said Tuesday that he had dropped his hold on Fanning's nomination because the "clock has run out" for the president to move Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States.

Navy secretary:  Green energy saves Marines' lives.  Ray Mabus has had his job since June 2009, making him the longest serving Navy secretary since World War I.  In that time, he has shifted the focus of the Navy and Marine Corps to renewable energy and increased experimentation with biofuels, pushed to open previously closed jobs to women and doubled the number of ships ordered under the previous administration.

'Wiped Out': Air Force losing pilots and planes to cuts, scrounging for spare parts.  It was just a few years ago, in March 2011, when a pair of U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers — during a harsh winter storm — took off from their base in South Dakota to fly across the world to launch the air campaign in Libya, only 16 hours after given the order.  Today, many in the Air Force are questioning whether a similar mission could still be accomplished, after years of budget cuts that have taken an undeniable toll.  The U.S. Air Force is now short 4,000 airmen to maintain its fleet, short 700 pilots to fly them and short vital spare parts necessary to keep their jets in the air.  The shortage is so dire that some have even been forced to scrounge for parts in a remote desert scrapheap known as "The Boneyard."

Navy SEAL Publishes Book on Absence of Victory Under Obama.  On May 10 former Navy SEAL 10 member Carl Higbie published Enemies, Foreign and Domestic:  A Navy SEAL's Story.  The book highlights the difficulty of winning on the battle under President Obama and the equally daunting task of telling the truth of the enhanced politicization of the military post-George W. Bush.

Army waives grooming rules for Sikh recruit from California.  California resident Harpal Singh begins his Army training this week, unshorn and religiously intact.  Facing legal and political heat, including from Central Valley lawmakers, the Army is accommodating Singh and several other soldiers whose Sikh faith sets unique grooming and clothing requirements.  The beginning of Singh's military service marks a victory for Sikhs.

Army has fewest active-duty soldiers since 1940, report says.  The number of U.S. Army soldiers on active duty has been reduced to its lowest since 1940, according to a published report.  The Army Times reported this weekend that the Army's endstrength for March was 479,172.  That's 154 fewer soldiers than the service's previous post-World War II low, which was reached during the Army's post-Cold War drawdown in 1999.  The current number is still well above the 269,023 soldiers on duty in 1940, the year before America entered World War II.  However, the report says the active force has been reduced by more than 16,500 troops over the past year — the equivalent of about three brigades.

U.S. Army cuts leave the fewest active-duty soldiers since pre-World War II.  The number of active-duty soldiers in the Army is the lowest its been since before World War II.  The Army Times reports that the number of soldiers on active duty for March was 479,172 which is the smallest active-duty force since 1940 — the year before the U.S. entered World War II.  At that time there were just 269,023 soldiers on active duty.  The current force is also 154 soldiers less than the post-Cold War drawdown in 1999.

The Betrayal of the USS Cole.  Most Americans have grown numb to the parade of Islamic terrorists triumphantly exiting Gitmo as free men.  No matter their risk rating, the Arabic names, the dark smirks and scowls all come to blend together.  But [Mashur Abdallah Ahmed al] Sabri is not just another Bin Laden bodyguard or operative.  His cell has American blood on its hands.  The USS Cole attack was the final step on the road to 9/11.  Our government's inaction sent a message that America could be hit hard and we would not retaliate.  It told Al Qaeda that American blood was dirt cheap and that the murder of our people came with no price.  These days we are sending that same message all over again.

'Politically correct' Obama admin weakening military:  Ex-Navy SEAL.  A former U.S. special operations forces member is lashing out at the Obama White House, accusing the administration of instilling a culture of conformity within the U.S. military, which has led to a generation of apologists and a dearth of leadership among the services' top brass.  Former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie recounted his firsthand experience with this new breed of military leadership during an interview Tuesday [5/3/2016] on Tim Constantine's "Capitol Hill Show."  Mr. Higbie, a member of SEAL Team 10, recalled the time when he and his eight-man team were brought up on charges of prisoner abuse after their 2009 capture of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Ahmed Hashim Abd al-Isawi in Fallujah.

Why Russian planes are playing 'chicken' with US forces.  In at least two incidents in the same area last month, Russian jets repeatedly buzzed the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cole, coming within 100 feet of the ship.  The Pentagon called the Russian maneuver a "simulated attack profile."  But when President Obama had Vladimir Putin on the phone, the subject never came up.  Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says he raised the issue with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who "laughed me off."  No surprise.  Ever since Obama blinked at enforcing his red line in Syria, America's foes have held Washington in contempt.

Obama's Green Agenda Should Be Kept Out of National Security.  This week I will be offering an amendment to this year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prevent scarce defense dollars from being squandered on President Barack Obama's executive orders regarding climate change.  These executive orders require the Department of Defense (DOD) to incorporate a host of climate change bureaucracies into its acquisition programs, logistics planning, and military plans and operations.  The military is also required to help state and local governments "go green."  These activities are simply not the mission of the U.S. military.  They harm readiness rather than contribute to the lethality of our armed forces.  The military's mission is to train for and fight our nation's wars, not assist state and local governments with their carbon emissions levels.

A detriment to morale:  another social engineering experiment, using the soldiers as guinea pigs:
Team Obama raising tobacco prices at U.S. military bases to curb smoking.  The Pentagon is looking to raise the price of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco sold on U.S. military installations worldwide, in an attempt to ween U.S. service members from tobacco use.  Defense Secretary Ash Carter codified the policy in an April 8th department-wide memorandum, which also expanded smoke-free areas on American military bases, according to Reuters.  The new tobacco policy would increase prices on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco sold at U.S. military commissaries and post exchanges to match the price of tobacco products sold off base, which are subject to state and local taxes.

Why make an announcement like this?  My guess is that Obama has never played poker.
President Obama To Announce U.S. Is Sending 250 Military Personnel To Syria.  President Obama announced Monday [4/25/2016] that the U.S. will send up to 250 additional military personnel to Syria.  The announcement signals a significant expansion of the American military presence in the country, from 50 personnel up to 300.

President Obama marches armed forces leftward.  President Obama has become one of the nation's most successful commanders in chief when it comes to at least one battlefield: the liberal agenda. [...] Perhaps not since Harry S. Truman's landmark 1948 order to racially integrate the military has a president unleashed his own collective social revolution on the Pentagon with such success.  In the process, the building also has become one of the administration's loudest voices on battling climate change, even as its ability to fight one major war on schedule is in doubt due to budget cuts.  The White House also has given the Defense Department a gun control mission.  And the "white privilege" movement, in which speakers tell a negative history of the white race, sporadically has invaded some military units.

Barbarians Inside the Gate.  Overlooked by most in Obama's relentless efforts to "remake" America has been his ongoing and dangerous transformation of our military.  Here I am not going address the dozens of weapon systems cut, or the tens of thousands of troops given their "pink slips."  What I want to speak to is his administration's systematic destruction of the 200+ year-old culture of the U.S. military.  This "multicultural makeover," happening right before our eyes, threatens to undermine the very fabric of our armed forces.  The forced acceptance of open homosexuality and the burgeoning hostility toward Christianity; the gratuitous degradation of our troops (e.g., forcing ROTC cadets to march in red high heels to experience what it's like to be a woman; making male soldiers wear simulated lactation devices, or lecturing them on "white privilege," dare I go on?); the "full-court press" to make our forces more diverse, most alarmingly by opening up combat positions (even special forces) to female soldiers; and the relentless purging from the ranks of dozens of fine general officers whose only "offense" was their failure to "get with the program" — all of this, like some nightmarish "progressive" Blitzkrieg, is now wreaking havoc with our reluctant service members, the objective being that of a complete and irreversible cultural transformation.

Political Correctness and the Wussification of the Military.  A military parade may soon look less like a VE-Day parade down Times Square and more like a Mardi Gras parade in New Orlean sunless liberals in leadership stop using the U.S. military as a social engineering experiment.  Let us not forget the same president who confused "corps" with "corpses" and exchanged a traitor for terrorists, also promised to fundamentally transform America.  What we didn't know is that transformation would begin with the U.S. military,the protector of our nation and our values.

The Air Force is getting rid of an iconic helicopter.  And there's a big fight over how to replace it.  The UH-1 Huey has been a mainstay of U.S. wars since its debut in the jungles of Vietnam.  Now, the Air Force is looking to retire the venerable aircraft, and lawmakers are fighting over how it will be replaced.  The Air Force fields roughly 60 UH-1N Hueys that are split between a number of missions.  One contingent of the helicopters provides security to intercontinental ballistic missile sites, while another is meant to evacuate members of the government during a time of national emergency.  The Air Force also uses a small number of Hueys for search-and-rescue missions.

Manpower-challenged U.S. Army sets new priority: 'Mitigate climate change'.  The U.S. Army on Thursday [4/21/2016] pledged to honor "Earth Day" by "reasserting its pledge to address the implications of climate change and assess associated risks to national security."  In a special message to soldiers, the Army, which faces deep cuts in the ranks of active duty soldiers, said it is focused on "the role the land plays in ensuring the Army remains ready and resilient."  It urges soldiers to celebrate Earth Day on Friday [4/22/2016].

About Obama's Receding Tide of War....  [Scroll down]  In [Obama's] view, as he told NBC's Matt Lauer this past January, "there are no existential threats" confronting the U.S. today.  Thus, as Fox News reported earlier this month in a superb documentary on "Rising Threats, Shrinking Military," Obama is both gutting the U.S. military and reshaping it, the priorities here being not to win wars, but to be, above all, eco-aware and gender malleable. [...] America's greatness is the incredible legacy of many generations of work and sacrifice under a system of capitalism and freedom, and of leaders willing at crucial moments to stand up for this country.  It takes a lot of effort to run that down, but this is what Obama has been doing, with the apology tours, the terrible deals, the fading red lines, the hollow speeches, the inert declarations about standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the "international community," the insults to America's allies and the come-hither courting of America's enemies.

The Perilous Politicization of the Military.  [Scroll down]  Beyond the already divisive, controversial and standard-destroying policy of allowing women in all combat billets is the military's intensive drive to fill the ranks with as many women and other categories of "diverse" recruits as possible, at almost any cost.  Diversity is now effectively the primary goal of military recruiters, even beyond meeting basic quotas.  Recruiters that enlist too many qualified and ready applicants (read Caucasian males) that don't meet the description of "diverse" can be sanctioned for going after easy pickings.  Recruiting goals are first defined by diversity rather than by quality, availability or cost.  In a situation in which the Marines say over 70% of young American adults are unqualified for service, and in an era in which officer quality is a serious concern, this program verges on folly.

U.S. Marines are at the Breaking Point.  Fox News ran an exclusive report on Special Report tonight on how the US Marines are at their breaking point.  Their planes are breaking down and in the air training has been cut by 50% due to budget cuts in the last few years.  They are literally cannibalizing parts from planes that are supposed to be in the air to keep the other planes in the air.  And the Marines themselves are being asked to do more and more, even working 21 hours a day just to keep their aircraft operational.  It's gotten so bad that some are leaving for jobs in the private sector.

Lt. Gen. Boykin:  Part of Military's Problem Is Training in Tolerance, White Privilege, 'Nonsense Like That'.  Commenting on the weakened state of the U.S. military under President Barack Obama, Lt. Gen. (ret.) William "Jerry" Boykin said he could not answer "for what this administration is thinking," but he knows that part of the problem is that little time is spent on traditional training of soldiers, such as in the military code of conduct, and much time is wasted training soldiers "in tolerance and inclusion," and on "white privilege and nonsense like that."  "I can't answer for what this administration is thinking," said Boykin in an April 7 interview on Secure Freedom Radio hosted by Frank Gaffney.  "I can't answer for why they're doing what they're doing."

Budget cuts leaving Marine Corps aircraft grounded.  [W]hile the Corps takes pride in doing more with less, senior Marine officers are warning that the Corps' aviation service is being stretched to the breaking point.  Today, the vast majority of Marine Corps aircraft can't fly.  The reasons behind the grounding of these aircraft include the toll of long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the fight against ISIS and budget cuts precluding the purchase of the parts needed to fix an aging fleet, according to dozens of Marines interviewed by Fox News at two air stations in the Carolinas this week.  Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps.  Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy.

The US is dropping bombs quicker than it can make them.  Ongoing air wars in Middle East have caused an unexpected dip in the Pentagon's stockpile of air-to-ground munitions — and Washington has been slow to address the supply problem.

Barack Obama, National Security Risk.  Barack Obama has made some of the stranger foreign policy decisions in American history such as going into Libya even after the Iraq debacle and making the nuclear deal with (aka billion-dollar hand-out to) Iran.  Now we know why.  He simply doesn't care about our national security.  He practically said as much on Fox News Sunday this weekend [4/10/2016].  As Obama explained to Chris Wallace regarding the contents of Hillary Clinton's email currently under FBI investigation, "there's classified and then there's classified."  He further opined that all Hillary was guilty of was "carelessness."  What a bizarre and lawless thing for a president to say while a federal investigation is being undertaken by over a hundred FBI agents.  Put simply, the president of the United States is a security risk.

Border Patrol ordered to release illegals 'still soaking wet' from Rio Grande, union says.  Border Patrol agents have been ordered to release dripping-wet illegal immigrants at the Rio Grande unless they actually see them climbing out of the river, creating what amounts to "an open border with Mexico," the chief of the agents' labor union told Congress in new testimony last week.  Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the House Judiciary Committee that agents were given the orders verbally soon after President Obama laid out plans for limiting immigration enforcement in 2014.

Former Defense Secretaries Openly Slam 'Inexperienced' Obama White House War Micromanagement.  For years the Obama administration has been accused of micromanaging the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from inside the White House.  Now in an astonishing report from Fox News anchor Bret Baier, three former Obama Defense Secretaries are openly slamming him for his distrust of the military, his failure to lead and they're exposing his inexperienced and closest advisors for second guessing senior field commanders with phone calls to the battlefield.

Army Chief of Staff Says Concealed Carry Wouldn't Have Stopped Fort Hood Shooting.  Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, came out strongly against the carrying of private guns on military bases as a security measure in the wake of shootings at Fort Hood, the Washington Navy Yard, and a recruiting station in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Milley, who assumed his current post in August 2015, was testifying alongside acting Secretary of the Army and former democratic congressman, Patrick Murphy before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Army Chief of Staff Opposes Private Weapons for Protection on U.S. Military Installations.  "I've been around guns all my life.  I know how to use them, and arming our people on our military bases and allowing them to carry concealed, privately owned weapons — I do not recommend that as a force protection," Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley told Congress on Thursday [4/7/2016].  Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked Milley what the Army is doing to provide force protection at military bases and facilities in the United States, following last summer's attack on a Marine recruiting center and a Navy Reserve facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that killed four Marines and one sailor.

Rainbow Ray and the Navy's highest priority.  The problem according to [Navy Secretary Ray] Mabus and his chief enlisted naval adviser is that, try as they might, their naval social justice retitling team can't seem to come up with a satisfactory gender-neutral replacement for the Navy's traditional title for a clerk, which, as it has been since the birth of the United States Navy, is yeoman.  I kid you not, folks:  with all the problems our military faces in this very dangerous world, our secretary of the Navy has his top chief petty officer, Master Chief of the Navy Michael D. Stevens, busy changing the titles of the countless combat specialty ratings in that force, which includes the United States Marine Corps.  This quixotic quest is necessitated by the relentless insistence of the Obama administration that women be allowed to serve in all combat units and positions regardless of continuing demonstrations that this is a clearly foolish program with coming deadly consequences.

Ash Carter says U.S.  military too 'top heavy,' aims to cut ranks of generals and admirals.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday [4/5/2016] he plans to reduced the number of generals and admirals to counter a "top heavy" command structure.  Shrinking the top brass is one of a number of ideas for updating the sprawling Defense Department command structure as contained in the 30-year-old Goldwater-Nichols Act.

Obama's Destruction of Our Military Ethos.  Before Obama and our military leadership introduced sodomy into our barracks and military neighborhoods, I predicted his goal was to quad-sexualize the military.  It is here. [...] Today's military is moving beyond hollow to a point where the foundation and ethos themselves are being destroyed.  And I believe it is all premeditated, a part of the Obama's promise to transform us, a Pontus Pilate kind of doctrine.  He washed his hand in the Iranian riots, in Syria where he became Putin's pretzel, in Iraq, in Benghazi and on every battlefield where he put victory in the hands of the enemy by announcing a date of withdrawal.

Intel Analysts: We Were Forced Out for Telling the Truth About Obama's ISIS War.  Two senior intelligence analysts at U.S.  Central Command say the military has forced them out of their jobs because of their skeptical reporting on U.S.-backed rebel groups in Syria, three sources with knowledge of their claim told The Daily Beast.  It's the first known instance of possible reprisals against CENTCOM personnel after analysts accused their bosses of manipulating intelligence reports about the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in order to paint a rosier picture of progress in the war.  One of the analysts alleging reprisals is the top analyst in charge of Syria issues at CENTCOM.

Russia Increases Nuclear Warheads While U.S.  Decreases Its Arsenal.  The United States has reduced its stockpile to 1,481 strategic warheads, according to the latest data released Friday [4/1/2016] by the U.S.  State Department on Friday.  This compares to 1,790 warheads deployed by the United States when New START was introduced in 2011.  Meanwhile, Russia has increased the number of strategic warheads it deploys on its ballistic missiles to 1,735 under the latest count — up from 1,566 in 2011.  Most warheads were added over the last year:  According to a count on March 1, 2015, Russia was in possession of 1,582 strategic warheads.

Seven years -- specifically, the seven years since Obama became president.
U.S. military suicides remain high for 7th year.  The Pentagon reported Friday [4/1/2016] that 265 active-duty service members killed themselves last year, continuing a trend of unusually high suicide rates that have plagued the U.S.  military for at least seven years.  The numbers of suicides among troops was 145 in 2001 and began a steady increase until more than doubling to 321 in 2012, the worst year in recent history for service members killing themselves.  The suicide rate for the Army that year was nearly 30 suicides per 100,000 soldiers, well above the national rate of 12.5 per 100,000 for 2012.

DHS whistleblower: U.S. handcuffed in terror war.  The terms of the settlement of a recent discrimination lawsuit brought by Muslim activists against the New York Police Department has set a dangerous precedent that makes it even harder for law enforcement in the United States to prevent attacks like the coordinated bombings Tuesday in Brussels that killed at least 31 people and injured more than 180, contends a newly retired Department of Homeland Security officer.  Philip Haney, a former Customs and Border Protection officer who previously worked in the Middle East, explained to WND that as part of the settlement reached in U.S. District Court in January, the NYPD was forced to purge a study of terror attacks that helped law enforcement detect potential threats.

The Feckless Mismanagement Of John Brennan, CIA's Captain Unreality.  [Scroll down] That this CIA director would say something so preposterous is symptomatic of the damage the Obama administration has done to our national security with his assistance.  It also is not the only example of Mr. Brennan's denying the obvious.  He has repeatedly echoed President Obama's refusal to use the terms "jihadist" or "Islamist" to describe members of Islamic terrorist groups like al-Qaida and ISIS.  He explained this in a 2010 CSIS speech by disputing ties between these groups and Islam.  Brennan also said in this speech that we should not label "our enemy as jihadists or Islamists because jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself of one's community."  Brennan had a controversial tenure as President Obama's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism in the National Security Council.  He played a role in the administration's decision to read Miranda rights to Umar Abdulmutallab, the so-called "underwear bomber" who tried to destroy a civilian airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

Fmr. Defense Secy: Obama Went Against Entire Nat'l Security Team on Egypt Coup.  When Barack Obama took office, he inherited a professional, world-class, battle-toughened military.  Seven years later, many experts see the U.S. armed forces as a tattered and demoralized organization.

Official behind DOD's transgender push to resign.  The Pentagon official who proposed including transgender individuals and women in the military announced Monday [3/14/2016] he will resign from his post next month.  Brad Carson, the Defense Department's top civilian over personnel policies, will leave the Pentagon in April.  Carson had served in that role since 2015 and had been charged with making controversial changes to military policies.  He ran into other problems last month when the Senate Armed Services Committee ruled Carson had violated the federal Vacancies Act by taking on responsibilities of the job prior to his confirmation.

Hellfire Missiles Bound For Portland Oregon Intercepted in Europe.  This is the same type of missile recently admitted as being "accidentally" shipped to Cuba.  In a little discussed 2014 article, the Obama administration announced they were sending 5,000 of these missiles to Iraq.  Is it possible these sketchy transfers are lining up to be a similar problem evidenced in Operation Zero Footprint?

Obama Uses Army to Attack "White Privilege".  "Outrageous — that is the only word to describe this type of raw racist indoctrination," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.  "The Obama administration undermines the morale of our military with morally repugnant 'equal opportunity training' that makes many soldiers feel unwelcome because they are the wrong sex, race, religion or aren't part of a politically correct group."  Of course political correctness has always been more important to President Obama than military effectiveness.  Our Marxist president despises the U.S. military and everything it represents.  Like any good radical leftist, Obama believes the only good American soldier is one who plays the role of social worker, not war-fighter.  He has been gutting and gelding the military since taking office, allowing fleets, warplanes, and weapons to rust their way into irrelevance.  He has been purging the military of ideologically hostile officers, and fundamentally transforming it into something other than a war-fighting force.

Obama's CIA Director Is Opposed to Spying .  Unbelievable, but true:  President Obama's CIA Director, John Brennan, doesn't think the agency should engage in spying. He finds espionage unsavory, apparently. [...] Barack Obama has undermined our national security on so many fronts that it is hard to keep track of them all.  But appointing the rank incompetent John Brennan as an anti-spying CIA Director must rank high on the list.

Documents Reveal US Army Indoctrinated Soldiers on Dangers of 'White Privilege'.  Judicial Watch announced today [3/9/2016] that it obtained documents from the United States Department of the Army revealing that in April 2015, 400 soldiers in the 67th Signal Battalion at Fort Gordon, Georgia, were subjected to a "white privilege" briefing, including a PowerPoint presentation instructing the attendees:  "Our society attaches privilege to being white and male and heterosexual..."  The slideshow also informed the soldiers:  "Race privilege gives whites little reason to pay a lot of attention to African Americans."

Lawmaker asking why Navy SEALs don't have enough rifles.  Navy SEAL teams don't have enough combat rifles to go around, even as these highly trained forces are relied on more than ever to carry out counterterrorism operations and other secretive missions, according to SEALs who have confided in Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

Congressmen Have No Idea Why Special Operators Have To Pay Out Of Pocket For Basic Gear.  For reasons still unclear, elite special operators are often let down by their respective services and have to pay out of pocket for the most basic gear.  Private military suppliers have started to notice this phenomenon.  During a panel discussion on Capitol Hill Thursday [2/25/2016], heads of supply companies met with Congress to discuss the shortages and raise the issue with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Stars and Stripes reports.  In one case, former Navy SEAL Sean Matson had to pay $900 for an advanced ballistic helmet after the military measured his head four times but subsequently failed to provide him with the necessary equipment.  This same scenario has repeated itself with GPS devices and medical gear.

Before political correctness, our soldiers were free to fight back.  A century before American soldiers fought Muslim terrorism in the Middle East, they fought it in the Philippines.  Their attackers were Moro Muslims whose savage fanaticism appeared inexplicable.  A formerly friendly Muslim might suddenly attack American soldiers, local Muslim rulers promised friendship while secretly aiding the terrorists and the yellow left-wing press at home seized on every report of an atrocity to denounce American soldiers as murderers whose honor was forever soiled.  Much of what went on in that conflict, including the sacrifices of our soldiers, has been forgotten.  The erasure has been so thorough that the media casually claims that the American forces did not use pig corpses and pig's blood to deter Muslim terrorists.  Media fact checks have deemed it a "legend".  It's not a legend.  It's history.

Obama caught in massive terror lie.  For years, Democrats and the mainstream media called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush over accusations that his administration used faulty intelligence to justify the war in Iraq.  But it now appears that President Barack Obama's administration is being swept up in an intelligence scandal of a much larger scale.  An investigation has revealed that the Obama administration may have repeatedly used faulty intelligence in an effort to mislead the American public about our armed forces' progress against the Islamic State and in winning the War on Terror.  The revelation came Thursday [2/25/2016], when it was reported that personnel at U.S. Central Command have deleted countless files and emails amid continuing allegations that intelligence assessments were altered to exaggerate progress against ISIS militants, according to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

No money for defense? Obama admin. has 680 green military projects underway.  The Democrats are hammering to return to pre-sequester level spending.  While money at the Department of Defense has been slashed since the across the board budget cuts took hold, there still seems to be enough resources for environmentally friendly military projects.

40% of CENTCOM Intel Pros Warn: ISIS Info Flawed.  Forty percent of analysts working at the U.S. military's Central Command, which is running the war against ISIS, think there are problems with "analytic integrity" in their work, a top congressman said on Thursday [2/25/2016].  Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, asked senior intelligence officials about the figure, which was discovered in a recent survey of analysts by the country's top intelligence office.  The survey was first reported by The Daily Beast this month.  "To me, it seems like if 40 percent of analysts are concerned at CENTCOM, that's just something that can't be ignored," Nunes (R-CA) told top intelligence officials testifying before the committee, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan.

White House slashed NYC terror funding to punish Schumer, former top cop says.  New York City's former top cop said Sunday [2/21/2016] that the Obama administration cut funding to fight terrorism in the city to retaliate against Sen. Chuck Schumer for opposing a nuclear deal with Iran.  "There's a certain amount vindictiveness on the part of Washington aimed at Sen. Chuck Schumer," Ray Kelly, New York City's police commissioner under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said in an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York.

Reports Showing War Against ISIS Wasn't Working.  This is dipping well into cover-up mode.  This is beyond simple tampering with intelligence.  Once records are being deleted, that's a coverup.

U.S. Removed Cuba from Terrorist List After Hezbollah Opened Base on Island.  A few years before the Obama administration removed Cuba from the U.S. list of nations that sponsor terrorism Hezbollah established an operational base on the communist island, according to intelligence received by Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State.  The information comes straight from electronic mail released by the State Department over the weekend as part of ongoing litigation from several groups, including Judicial Watch, and media outlets surrounding Clinton's use of a private server to send and receive classified information as Secretary of State.  This alarming information has been ignored by the mainstream media, which served as the president's most vocal cheerleader when he established diplomatic ties with Cuba last summer.  After appearing for decades on the U.S. government's list of nations that sponsor terrorism, the Obama administration officially removed it to lay the groundwork for a full renewal of diplomatic ties.

Exclusive: Whistleblowers Warned Top Spy About Skewed ISIS Intel.  U.S. military analysts told the nation's top intelligence official that their reports on ISIS were skewed and manipulated by their bosses, The Daily Beast has learned.  The result:  an overly optimistic account of the campaign against the terror group.  The complaints, lodged by analysts at U.S. Central Command in 2015, are separate from allegations that analysts made to the Defense Department inspector general, who is now investigating "whether there was any falsification, distortion, delay, suppression, or improper modification of intelligence information" by the senior officials that run CENTCOM's intelligence group.

Obama Invites Enemy Spies to U.S. Military Brainstorming Sessions.  This very week General James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified that Castro's spies remain a serious security threat to the U.S.:  "The threat from foreign intelligence entities... is persistent, complex, and evolving.  Targeting and collection of US political, military, economic, and technical information by foreign intelligence services continues unabated.  Russia and China pose the greatest threat, followed by Iran and Cuba..."  (General James Clapper, Washington D.C. Feb 9, 2016.)  But two weeks ago (Jan. 26-29th) when the U.S. military's Southern Command held its annual "Caribbean regional security conference" senior members of Castro's KGB-trained spy agency were kindly invited to participate.

Muslim Migrant Surge: GOP Worried about Thousands Obama is "Interviewing" in Jordan to Bring Here.  The Obama administration is sending officials to Jordan to interview thousands of Muslim refugees for the U.S. refugee resettlement program.  Does the Obama administration believe that jihadists hellbent on attacking America will be forthright and truthful during these interviews?  The Lebanese education minister said there are 20,000 active jihadists among the refugees in his country.  The Islamic state said in February 2015 that they would be sending half a million refugees to the West.  And the Islamic state has vowed to attack the US and Europe.  Why is Obama bringing a jihad army to America?

Top Senate Democrat slams proposed Obama cuts to counterterror programs.  Sen. Charles Schumer is slamming a White House proposal that would reduce funding for counterterrorism programs across the country by nearly $300 million.Feds Hold Meeting on Border 'Concerns' About the Environment.  The federal government is holding a meeting to discuss concerns it has over the U.S.-Mexico border, focusing solely on climate change.  The Environmental Protection Agency announced the two-day meeting with the "Good Neighbor Environmental Board," an independent federal advisory committee, to talk about "climate change resilience" along the southwestern border.

The Editor says...
Is Barack H. Obama worried about anchor babies arriving by the thousands?  Is he concerned about the tens of thousands of freeloaders looking for food stamps and AFDC?  Does he care about violent criminals entering the country?  Does he see illegal immigration as a threat to national security?  Might he be worried about an influx of lice, scabies, tuberculosis and chicken pox?  No -- Mr. Obama's primary concern is global warming, or whatever they call it these days.

Pentagon orders commanders to prioritize climate change in all military actions.  The Pentagon is ordering the top brass to incorporate climate change into virtually everything they do, from testing weapons to training troops to war planning to joint exercises with allies.  A new directive's theme: The U.S. Armed Forces must show "resilience" and beat back the threat based on "actionable science."  It says the military will not be able to maintain effectiveness unless the directive is followed.  It orders the establishment of a new layer of bureaucracy — a wide array of "climate change boards, councils and working groups" to infuse climate change into "programs, plans and policies."

DHS ordered me to scrub records of Muslims with terror ties.  Amid the chaos of the 2009 holiday travel season, jihadists planned to slaughter 290 innocent travelers on a Christmas Day flight from the Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan. [...] Following the attempted attack, President Obama threw the intelligence community under the bus for its failure to "connect the dots."  He said, "this was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had."  Most Americans were unaware of the enormous damage to morale at the Department of Homeland Security, where I worked, his condemnation caused.  His words infuriated many of us because we knew his administration had been engaged in a bureaucratic effort to destroy the raw material — the actual intelligence we had collected for years, and erase those dots.

Obama weakens visa safeguards against terrorists.  The [visa waiver] program allows people from certain countries to come here for up to 90 days without a visa.  This is to make it easier for tourists and business people from friendly countries like Canada and Britain to come here.  And on the whole, the program works very well.  But ISIS has been recruiting people from these very same countries.  So as a precaution, we added a new rule:  If you have traveled to a country with significant terrorist activity — like Iraq, Iran, or Sudan — any time after 2011, you are not eligible for the program and must apply for a visa.  We negotiated this requirement with the administration, and the president signed it into law.  Unfortunately, the administration is now carving loopholes into the law.

Obama reinstates 'catch-and-release' policy for illegal immigrants.  The Obama administration has revived the maligned illegal immigrant "catch-and-release" policy of the Bush years, ordering Border Patrol agents not to bother arresting and deporting many new illegal immigrants, the head of the agents' labor union revealed Thursday [2/4/2016].  Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Congress that Homeland Security was embarrassed by the number of illegal immigrants not showing up for their deportation hearings, but instead of cracking down on the immigrants, the department ordered agents not to arrest them in the first place — meaning they no longer need to show up for court.  Mr. Judd said the releases are part of President Obama's "priorities" program, which orders agents to worry chiefly about criminals, national security risks and illegal immigrants who came into the U.S. after Jan. 1, 2014.  Mr. Judd said illegal immigrants without serious criminal convictions have learned that by claiming they came before 2014 — without even needing to show proof — they can be released immediately rather than being arrested.

Obama Plays Catch-Up On Military Readiness.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has ramped up defense spending to counter what he now admits is a Russian menace to Europe.  Better late than never, but the question remains how it came to this.  Carter said that the Pentagon would quadruple 2017 military spending in defense of Europe — to $3.4 billion from the current $789 million — to reassure our allies that the U.S. remains committed to the region, in what's called the European Reassurance Initiative.

The Editor says...
After weakening America's defenses for seven years, now Obama wants the next president to spend billions on defense projects.

Border Patrol Agent: We Will Be Terminated If We Try To Enforce The Law.  A top Border Patrol agent revealed Thursday [2/4/2016] that if border agents follow the law and ask illegal aliens why they are coming to the U.S. they will be terminated.  The Border Patrol previously had a policy of "catch and release" that drew the ire of Border Patrol agents:  "These orders are called Notices to Appear (NTA).  The only problem, however, is that these official orders are usually ignored; so much so that Border Patrol Agents have dubbed them Notices to Disappear," Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council testified.

Border agent: 'We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether'.  In a shocking reversal of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States, a key agent testified Thursday [2/4/2016].  What's more, the stand down order includes a requirement that the whereabouts of illegals released are not to be tracked.  "We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether," suggested agent Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

Top U.S. General: 'I Do Not Have Authority' to Offensively Attack Taliban.  The U.S. military, since President Obama declared that American troops had ceased their combat mission at the end of 2014, has only been able to attack the Taliban from a defensive position, the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan told lawmakers.

Feds to cut aerial surveillance on the border by 50 percent.  Texas Republican Gov. Gregg Abbot and Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar on Monday [2/1/2016] sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson demanding to know why the agency is planning to cut back aerial monitoring along the southern border by 50 percent.  "Given the recent surge of migrants from Central America and Cuba along the southern border, we believe DHS should request more surveillance and security resources, not fewer," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, first reported by the Texas Tribune.

Feds to cut aerial surveillance on the border by 50%.  Texas governor Greg Abbott and Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar have sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding an explanation why the agency is planning to cut back aerial monitoring of the southern border by 50%.

Special Ops cmdr. demands White House stop disclosing mission details.  Gen. Joseph Votel, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and future commander of U.S. Central Command, sent a letter in early December to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter requesting that the executive branch stop disclosing details of special operator missions for political gain.

Obama bucks history, directs Pentagon to make guns safer, not more lethal.  Wartime U.S. presidents have taken keen personal interest in picking the most lethal gun for the military.  But in President Obama's first foray into small-arms procurement for the armed forces, his Jan. 4 executive order on gun control directs the Pentagon to find ways to make not so much more lethal firearms, but safer ones.

The Editor says...
Safer for whom?  When has America ever had a Commander-in-Chief who did not want the deadliest weapons to be in American hands?

What Obama Doesn't Know about Firearms in the U.S. Military.  What Obama doesn't seem to understand is that the U.S. military has been trying to make firearms less lethal for some time now.  The idea is that enemy troops who are merely wounded, not killed, slow down their comrades and greatly limit their maneuverability. [...] The bottom line is that the military has already taken a wide range of factors into account in deciding what firearms work best for them.  Obama's orders, in an area that he doesn't understand, represents the worst type of political judgment substituting for the judgment of military experts.

Special Ops Commander Demands Pentagon Stop Exposing Operations.  President Obama's nominee to head U.S. Central Command recently penned a memo to Defense Secretary Ash Carter demanding that the Pentagon stop discussing the operations of elite American troops.  Foreign Policy, which obtained an excerpt of the memo, reported that Gen. Joseph Votel, currently the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, wrote the December 8 memo to express concern about the Obama administration's exposure of special operations forces' activities.  "I am concerned with increased public exposure of SOF activities and operations, and I assess that it is time to get our forces back into the shadows," Votel wrote to Carter.

Army Command Recommends Green Beret Be Kicked Out for Confronting Afghan Child Rapist.  Army Human Resources Command has recommended that the Green Beret who confronted an Afghan police commander for raping a young boy be kicked out of the service.  Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.), who has pushed back against the Army's decision to punish Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland, revealed the development in a letter to Sen. Pat Roberts (R., Kansas) Wednesday [1/27/2016].  "Recently, a decision within Army Human Resources Command recommended that the Army uphold the judgment that Martland be removed from service, although a final decision has yet to be made about his future," Hunter wrote.

Pentagon defends use of Russian engines to launch satellites.  Senior Pentagon officials on Wednesday [1/27/2016] sought to defend the use of Russian-made rocket engines to send U.S. military satellites into space, telling exasperated lawmakers they are moving quickly to end the practice and rely on American-made rockets for the launches.

Former Defense Secretary Blasts 'Micromanager' Obama.  [Scroll down]  The former Defense Secretary [Robert Gates] said that he had two concerns about President Obama's style of leadership.  His first concern was the president's "micromanagement".  "[President Obama] seems to be unwilling to trust subordinates to execute his policies and so he centralized operational activities in the White House," Gates explained.  "So, under previous administrations that I worked for, there might be 40 or 50 professionals on the national security council staff.  There are now hundreds."

'Person overboard': US Navy plan to sink sexist terms at sea spells the end for traditional terms like 'midshipman'.  The US Navy is planning to make job titles gender-neutral — putting the future of long-established names like 'midshipman' in doubt.  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered a review of all job titles to determine whether references to 'man' can be removed from positions such as seaman and yeoman.  The review was set up 'to ensure (titles) were representative of all sailors and did not discriminate based on gender', the Navy announced.

US navy launches first biofuel-powered aircraft carriers.  The US navy on Wednesday launched its first carrier strike group powered partly by biofuel a mix made from beef fat, calling it a milestone toward easing the military's reliance on foreign oil.

The Editor says...
The Navy wouldn't have to rely on foreign oil if the government would step out of the way and remove the restrictions on fracking and ANWR.

Obama Dealing Terror.  Obsessed with closing Guantanamo Bay, Obama began releasing dangerous detainees almost immediately upon entering office.  Ignoring the threat that these terrorists pose, Obama jumped at the opportunity to trade the Taliban Five for traitor Beau Bergdahl.  Deceiving the American people, Obama used Bergdahl's parents as props in his Rose Garden victory speech ignoring the minor detail that Bergdahl was a deserter who placed his entire platoon in jeopardy.  Just like his announcements that Benghazi was caused by a video and the Iran nuclear deal will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Obama lied to Americans understanding the complicit media would fail to vet his actions.  He shipped the Taliban Five to Qatar for one year of "supervision" before allowing them to reunite with their murdering colleagues and resume their terrorist activities — as they are now doing.

Gates: Obama Doesn't Have Strategy To Deal With Iran In ME, WH Micromanages Military.  Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that the US lacks "a strategy of pushback from the administration" to deal with how Iran will use money it is given under the nuclear deal "To interfere" in the Middle East" and that "micromanagement out of the White House" was a concern he had due to the fact President Obama "centralized operational activities in the White House" in addition to problems with "execution" on Monday's [1/18/2016] "Hannity" on the Fox News Channel.

The Editor says...
I suspect that Mr. Obama "centralized operational activities in the White House" by turning over the decision-making to President Valerie Jarrett, which would explain why Iran is treated like our strongest ally.

What Happened Off Farsi Island?  On the day of Obama's last State of the Union speech, two U.S. Navy boats carrying ten sailors were captured by Iranian Forces near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf.  The next day they were released.  But there are a lot of important questions left unanswered about their capture and the sailors' behavior while in captivity.  These questions are important to the future of our navy because the answers to them may point to damage done by Obama and his team that urgently needs to be repaired.

The befuddled president without a clue.  He seems to understand now, after it was explained to him at some length, that America is indeed the exceptional nation that Abraham Lincoln said it is, but not for the reasons Mr. Obama thinks.  "The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth, period," Mr. Obama told the nation in his State of the Union address earlier this week.  "It's not even close.  We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined."  That's rich, from the man who has starved the military for resources and has set out to inflict mortal damage on the great fighting machine by remaking it to answer the sighs and whispers of feminist wishes and dreams.

With 10 more detainee releases from Guatanamo, Obama's goal draws near.  The last time there were fewer than 100 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was Jan. 16, 2002.  That month, shortly after the military prison opened, detainees in orange jumpsuits arriving from overseas locations were forced onto their knees in outdoor pens.  Their wrists were bound, their hands covered with mittens.  To isolate the men from their surroundings, their eyes were covered and they wore industrial earmuffs.  It became an enduring image of the excesses of America's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.  This week, with the expected resettlement of 10 Yemeni detainees, the prison population will once again dip below 100, this time symbolizing President Obama's sprint to close Guantanamo before he leaves office.

Obama Mocks 'Rhetoric' About America Getting Weaker, Joint Chiefs Not Amused.  Because they know the truth, they're not taken in by the Obama lies, and they have a lot to be worried about.  [Video clip]

How the Obama Administration Changed Our Missile Defense Strategy.  Recently the Russian strategic missile forces' commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said Russia's new missiles will have the capability to neutralize any future U.S. missile defense system.  For now, Karakayev is right — not because the missiles are invincible, but because the Obama administration is deliberately limiting the United States' ballistic missile defense program.  This must change.

Mark Penn: Obama Said The 'Stupidest Thing Ever Said By A President'.  Mark Penn, who owns a public relations firm handling communications for the Barack Obama Foundation, credited Obama with uttering the "stupidest thing ever said by a president in foreign policy."  In a March 2012 email sent to Hillary Clinton's private email address, Penn lambasted Obama for his statement to then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that he would "have more flexibility" on missile defense issues after the 2012 election.  "This could be about the stupidest thing ever said by a president in foreign policy," wrote Penn.  "To explicitly say that he is laying low on nuclear defense policies because of his election right now and tell your opponent that is to politicize all foreign policy, evidence weakness that can be exploited by others, and undermine the administration's credibility."

Obama and the Insanity of the Liberal Mind.  History will look back at an America that won the Cold War under Reagan only to reignite it under Obama.  Our descendants will ponder how their ancestors abandoned American supremacy, ingenuity, and civility due to ignorance, idealism, and an irrational obsession with politically correct progressivism that led to the transformation — and decline — of this once great nation.

Rubio: Obama has 'deliberately weakened America'.  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is accusing President Obama of intentionally weakening America at home and abroad.  "It's now abundantly clear: Barack Obama has deliberately weakened America," Rubio said early Monday [1/4/2015] during a speech on national security at the American Legion in Hooksett, N.H.

[Hillary] Clinton [was] advised to consider resigning as secretary of state after Obama's Russia comments.  A key Hillary Clinton adviser told her that she may have to consider resigning as secretary of state after President Obama was caught telling Russia's president off-mic early in 2012 that he could make more concessions on missile defense after November's U.S. elections.  In addition, Mark Penn told Mrs. Clinton that Mr. Obama's not-so-secret words "may be about the stupidest thing ever said by a president in foreign policy."

Obama White House Turns To Islamists Who Demonize Terror Investigations.  Jihadist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris have Americans on edge.  Yet part of the Obama White House's response to the attacks has been to invite Islamist groups that routinely demonize the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies to the White House to discuss a religious discrimination.  "If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away," President Obama said in his speech following the San Bernardino attack.  But partnering with such organizations sends the wrong message to the American people, said Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AFID).  "I think it says a lot when the president uses those organizations that have an ACLU-type mentality.  They should have a seat at the table.  That's fine," Jasser said.  "But not to include groups, which have completely different focuses about counter-radicalization, counter-Islamism creates this monolithic megaphone for demonization of our government and demonization of America that ends up radicalizing our community."

The Poisonous Obama Years.  On August 25, a bombshell report in the New York Times indicated that the Pentagon inspector general's office was investigating credible claims that CENTCOM officials altered intelligence reports related to ISIS.  Those reports had been reviewed by ranking war planners, including the president, and were designed to paint a rosier picture of the state of the campaign than was warranted.  Over a month later, dozens of intelligence operatives have come forward to confirm the IG's findings.  Reports regarding terror activity in Iraq were "grossly thrown to the side," alleges former U.S. Army official William Kotel.  "They've spent more money and time trying to push down this intelligence ... than they have actually spending time and effort on real security," he alleged of his bosses.

This Is the ISIS Intel the U.S. Military Dumbed Down.  Senior intelligence officials at the U.S. military's Central Command demanded significant alterations to analysts' reports that questioned whether airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State widely known as ISIS were damaging the group's finances and its ability to launch attacks.  But reports that showed the group being weakened by the U.S.-led air campaign received comparatively little scrutiny, The Daily Beast has learned.  Senior CENTCOM intelligence officials who reviewed the critical reports sent them back to the analysts and ordered them to write new versions that included more footnotes and details to support their assessments, according to two officials familiar with a complaint levied by more than 50 analysts about intelligence manipulation by CENTCOM higher-ups.

The Pentagon's Groveling Apology to China for Flying Near a Contested Island.  [Scroll down]  First off, it's telling that the White House hasn't commented on the B-52 report.  This is the administration's go-to response for a story they want to go away (if the administration likes the story, we get leaks and Hollywood movies).  But the Pentagon's response has been equally telling.  Instead of broadcasting that America will reject China's claims in the East China and South China Seas, and instead of asserting that American forces will of course operate in international territory, the Pentagon groveled before China, offering apologies.  The [Wall Street] Journal reports that the B-52 aircrew is being investigated and that the Pentagon is hinting that "bad weather" led the crew to make a mistake.  It's Scapegoating 101.

Obama — Disengaged, Delusional, or Diabolical?  The greatest American recruiting tool ISIS has is our feckless leader, Obama — because weakness is the greatest recruiting tool an enemy can have, and no group of people is more aware of this than the Arabs, who firmly believe in a "strong horse" approach to violent confrontation.  Weakness emboldens one's enemies, and draws possible recruits to their ranks, and it is hard to imagine a weaker leader than we now have, in the person of Obama.

Cruz: Obama 'More Interested in Promoting Homosexuality in the Military Than He Is in Defeating Our Enemy'.  Morale in the U.S. military has "plummeted" in recent years because President Barack Obama "doesn't support our soldiers," won't even name the enemy "radical Islamic terrorism," and is "more interested in promoting homosexuality in the military" than in "defeating our enemy," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).  During a conference call with Bishop E.W. Jackson of the National Emergency Coalition (NEC), Senator Cruz said, "You look at the military and one of the things we've seen is morale in the military under the Obama administration has plummeted, and it has plummeted because you have a commander-in-chief that doesn't support our soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines."

The U.S. is running out of bombs to drop on ISIS.  The U.S. Air Force has fired off more than 20,000 missiles and bombs since the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS began 15 months ago, according to the Air Force, leading to depleted munitions stockpiles and calls to ramp up funding and weapons production.  As the U.S. ramps up its campaign against the Islamist terror group in Iraq and Syria, the Air Force is now "expending munitions faster than we can replenish them," Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh said in a statement.

The Editor says...
If the Air Force runs out of bombs or the Army runs out of bullets, the Commander in Chief is ultimately responsible.

ISIS contained or covered up?  Now it is all starting to make sense.  Of course the President believes ISIS is contained, he has been willingly and knowingly ignoring reports about the serious threats that ISIS poses to America and to the world since it wouldn't help him get re-elected.  The scary thing is that these aren't the first reports we have heard from former Obama intelligence officials regarding the White House ignoring their reports on ISIS.  This September The Daily Beast published an exclusive story by Shane Harris and Nancy A. Youssef, claiming that over 50 spies say ISIS intelligence was cooked.  These 50 intelligence analysts formally filed a complaint that their reports on ISIS were being "inappropriately" altered by senior officials

Obama's Intel Scandal.  The [New York] Times story was an update of reporting from the Daily Beast earlier this fall.  "More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military's Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda's branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials," the Beast reported in September.  These analysts say their superiors regularly massaged pessimistic assessments to make them more upbeat before sending them up the chain of command.  The analysts registered their grievances with the inspector general at the Pentagon, who is investigating their claims.

Obama Threatens US Intelligence and Military If They Don't Tell Him What He Wants to Hear.  Barack Obama is pretending his ISIS "strategy" is working even though we can all clearly see that it isn't.  The President said during his ISIS presser that he vigorously rejected the idea that he should go further with his war against ISIS, dismissing critics who were playing "political games" or offering "shallow solutions".  He said he's getting advice from the greatest military minds. [...] But in fact, advisors either tell him what he wants to hear or they could face losing their livelihoods.  More than 50 intelligence analysts have confirmed that their work has been altered to say the war against ISIS is more successful than it is.

Former DIA Head: Investigation of Manipulated Intel Should Start at White House.  Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) during President Obama's tenure, went on the Kelly File last night [11/23/2015] to talk about the possible manipulation of ISIS intelligence.  He said the investigation should "start at the top.  Where intelligence starts and stops is at the White House."

Sharyl Attkisson's Scathing Indictment of Obama for Ignoring Terrorism Intel.  Independent investigative reporter and host of "Full Measure," Sharyl Attkisson is giving a blistering account of what one source called Barack Obama's potential "personality flaw," leading him to only see and believe what he wants to see and believe when it comes to the global threat from terrorism — that, as opposed to what ground operators are actually trying to report to him.  This goes hand-in-hand with recent reports that up to 50 intelligence types claim the administration has been systematically altering intelligence reports for political reasons.

A True Scandal.  The [New York] Times reported over the weekend that congressional investigators were informed by military officials that some of the documents related to the intentional misleading of policy makers were destroyed before they could be turned over to the appropriate authorities.  Last week, Foreign Policy revealed that reports regarding the strength of opposition elements in Afghanistan had also been shaded to create the impression of success for the White House.  On Monday [11/23/2015], Fox News Pentagon correspondent Catherine Herridge revealed "a source close to the CENTCOM analysts [alleged] that the pressure on them included at least two emails saying they needed to 'cut it out' and 'toe the line.'"  Another source confirmed to Herridge the revelation reported in the Times that incriminating communication about these warnings were destroyed before they could be handed over to investigators.

Two bombs a day, doesn't keep ISIS away.  ISIS is on a roll, courtesy of Barack Obama and his entourage of fools and lackeys, what our French allies would call, Les Incompetents.  The ISIS thug state that President Obama referred to as "contained" last week is everything but that.  In fact, ISIS is surging, not sinking.  The White House is unfazed by anything.  They respond to questions and attacks with platitudes about comprehensive strategies, multiple lines of effort, cutting off finances and an airtight coalition.  One, there is no strategy; two, there is no effort; three, ISIS has more money than ever and four, the so-called coalition is anything but that.

Emails show DOD analysts told to 'cut it out' on ISIS warnings; IG probe expands.  Analysts at U.S. Central Command were pressured to ease off negative assessments about the Islamic State threat and were even told in an email to "cut it out," Fox News has learned — as an investigation expands into whether intelligence reports were altered to present a more positive picture.  Fox News is told by a source close to the CENTCOM analysts that the pressure on them included at least two emails saying they needed to "cut it out" and "toe the line."  Separately, a former Pentagon official told Fox News there apparently was an attempt to destroy the communications.  The Pentagon official said the email warnings were "not well received" by the analysts.

U.S. ran out of ammo in attack on ISIS trucks.  American A-10 and C-130 warplanes targeted a group of about 300 trucks near Abu Kamal, in Syria.  Given that the Islamic State is thought to have just over 1,000 trucks in its entire fleet, the group of 300 represented a huge target for U.S. planes.  At a Pentagon news conference last Wednesday [11/18/2015], reporters wanted to know why American forces did not take out more than 116 trucks.  Why not all 300, or something close to that?  A U.S. official said the American attackers simply ran out of ammunition.

Obama blocks U.S. pilots from bombing ISIS.  Obama has in fact restrained the use of U.S. force to an unnatural degree.  We've known for a while now that 75% of the strike sorties flown against ISIS by our aircraft return to base without bombing anything.  U.S. Central Command reported that in operational statistics months ago, and it was picked up by stateside media as early as May 2015.  But there was a focus in May on the lack of immediate tactical intelligence on potential targets:  without boots on the ground to direct airborne strikes, the implication was that we couldn't use air power effectively.  The disclosures discussed this week, from U.S. pilots as summarized by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are of a different order.  The issue is not so much the lack of tactical intelligence, as the paralyzing fear, in the White House, of collateral damage from dropping bombs under any circumstances.

Obama Didn't Bomb ISIS Oil Because of the Environmental Impact.  Obama the Great is now concerned for ISIS and their precious oil supplies and the 'environment'. [...] I wish he believed in America like he believes in global warming and whatever crazy ideas he is coming up with on a daily basis.  Or at least cared as much as he did about golf.

Former CIA Director: We Didn't Hit ISIS Oil Wells to Avoid Environmental Damage.  Former CIA Director Mike Morell stated on Tuesday's Charlie Rose show that the Obama administration "seemed" to back off from bombing oil wells controlled by ISIS, at least in part because such strikes would cause "environmental damage."  [Video clip]  [...] We get it.  Obama cares more about the environment than crushing ISIS.

U.S. Defense probed for cooking ISIS intel.  Some of President Obama's top military officials are the subject of an expanded investigation into intelligence reports that were possibly doctored to paint a rosy picture of progress made in rooting out ISIS positions in Syria and Iraq.  At issue is whether analysts at Central Command, which oversees U.S. Department of Defense operations in the Middle East, altered assessments of the campaign against ISIS to make it appear as though the United States and Western partners were making more progress than they really were, at least according to claims from a whistleblower assigned to Centcom, ABC News reported.

Obama to Pentagon: 'Get to the bottom' of altered Islamic State intelligence.  [Scroll down]  "One of the things I insisted on the day I walked into the Oval Office was that I don't want intelligence shaded by politics.  I don't want it shaded by the desire to tell a feel-good story.  We can't make good policy unless we've got good, accurate, hard-headed, clear-eyed intelligence," Obama told reporters at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was wrapping up a week-long overseas trip with stops in Turkey and the Philippines.

The Editor says...
Smokescreen.  "Get to the bottom of this" is exactly what Obama would say if either President Valerie Jarrett or Obama himself were at the bottom of it.

Obama Says He Won't Relent in Fight Against ISIS Amid Questions About Intelligence Reports.  President Obama said on Sunday [11/23/2015] that he had ordered his senior defense officials to find out whether intelligence reports had been altered to reflect a more optimistic assessment of the American military campaign against the Islamic State.  Speaking at a news conference before leaving Malaysia to return home at the end of a 10-day overseas trip, Mr. Obama said he expected the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate allegations that significant changes were made to reports from analysts at the United States Central Command, known as Centcom.

Obama Says He's Personally Going To Destroy ISIS.  Oh, wait, sorry, it seems like Obama is going to outsource everything to other nations rather than showing the leadership that the United States was known for.  Perhaps that is why he blocks 75% of the air strikes against ISIS?

USAF can't afford F-35, may buy F-15s, F-16s.  The U.S. Air Force is having trouble paying for the initial buys for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and may instead purchase F-15, F-16, or F-18 aircraft to provide a stop-gap capability in the near term as the F-35 fleet comes online.  The service may buy up to 72 of the older model aircraft.  Aviation Week reported on comments from defense officials at the recent Defense IQ International Fighter Conference.  The U.S. Air Force "is struggling to afford 48 F-35s a year" for the first years of full-rate production, a senior officer said.

U.S. Pilots Confirm: Obama Admin Blocks 75 Percent of Islamic State Strikes.  U.S. military pilots who have returned from the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq are confirming that they were blocked from dropping 75 percent of their ordnance on terror targets because they could not get clearance to launch a strike, according to a leading member of Congress.  Strikes against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) targets are often blocked due to an Obama administration policy to prevent civilian deaths and collateral damage, according to Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Obama has created perfect storm for terror attack on U.S. soil.  A broken immigration system, open borders, a president with no military strategy, sanctuary cities, 10,000 Syrian refugees headed our way and ISIS on the march — add it all up, and what do we get?  A perfect storm for another major terror attack on our soil.  Who knew our Appeaser in Chief would make peanut farmer President Jimmy Carter look strong?

FBI Has Nearly 1,000 Active ISIS Probes Inside U.S..  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has nearly 1,000 active probes involving the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inside the United States, dozens of law enforcement officials disclose in a letter to President Obama.  The officials are elected sheriffs in Colorado making a case against the administration's plan to transfer terrorists held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to facilities in the state.  Forty-one of Colorado's elected sheriffs fired off the letter after two federal prisons in Florence (Supermax and the U.S. Penitentiary) along with a state complex near Canon City were reviewed by the Pentagon for the potential transfer.  The plan is part of the president's longtime promise to close the top-security compound at the U.S. Naval base in southeast Cuba.  The big question is what will the government do with the remaining captives, indisputably the world's most dangerous terrorists?

Obama: I'm not interested in "American leadership or America winning".  Can we please get a Real President, like now?  Because this Obama fellow is rooting for the terrorists.

Obama's Pathological Blindness.  On the morning before the ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris, Obama was bragging that ISIS is contained.  Are you kidding me?  Even before the attacks everyone knew ISIS was on the march and couldn't possibly be contained.  What have you done to contain them, by the way?  And why are we even talking about "containment" instead of wholesale destruction of a known enemy?  What is Obama's strategy?

President Obama's Altered Reality.  Mr. Obama is not interested in protecting Americans.  His daily actions prove it. [...] Why is it the Russians, the Jordanians, the French can act quickly and do more damage to ISIS in a few short days than the most effective military on the face of the planet has done in years?  Why?  Because our community-organizer-in-chief has put so many restrictions on our military that they cannot act.  They fly an average of about 7 missions a day and rarely drop bombs.  Why?  Because the "military expert" sitting in the White House is calling the shots!

Obama's Pathological Blindness.  It's hard to believe we twice elected a president who refuses to defend the United States.  I think people who used to dismiss our criticism of President Obama as extreme are now realizing just how naive they were. [...] He obviously has no strategy, because he refuses to recognize we're at war.  The truth is that Obama is willfully blinded by his warped ideology, to which he has far more allegiance than the United States.

US Intel Analysts: Our Terrorism Reports Are Being Altered To Fit Administration's Narrative.  The Pentagon's inspector general opened an investigation into formal complaints by more than 50 US intelligence analysts charging their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda are being altered "within the senior level of the intelligence command," The Daily Beast reports.  A written complaint by two senior analysts at US Central Command (CENTCOM), and corroborated by 50 other analysts, allege reports on the two terrorist organizations are being watered-down by higher-ups at CENTCOM to fit in with the Obama administration's public narrative that the US is containing and defeating ISIS and al Qaeda forces.

The Disturbing Reason For The Navy's Trident Missile Test.  Essentially, the military just issued a not-so-friendly reminder to China and Russia:  They are still the toughest kid on the block, and they are still fully capable of turning their enemies into radioactive dust at a moment's notice.  It's also the same sort of irresponsible and bellicose show of force that every dying empire gives in its final days.  It's a sign that our government can no longer dominate the planet by conventional means.  If they could, this nuclear display would be unnecessary.

GITMO terrorists headed for Florence, Colorado.  GITMO terrorists are coming to America and will be getting the same rights as your average American citizen.  Obama is so obsessed with closing Gitmo that a plan to ship terrorist to US soil this coming week will be released.  The likely spot is Florence, Colorado.  But Obama may want to do with what he did with illegals and ship them all over the country.  Kansas and South Carolina are all possible destinations for the graduates of Camp Gitmo.

Obama pushes military frustration to highest level in decades.  Key lawmakers from both parties say frustration with the White House among the top military officers is at its highest level in decades, the product of President Obama's cautious approach to the wars in Syria and Iraq and an indecisive inner circle of White House advisers who, critics say, have iced the Pentagon out of the policymaking process.  "There's a level of dissatisfaction among the uniformed military that I've never seen in my time here," said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain in an interview.  "For some of us who are a little older, let's go back and read the Pentagon Papers — what the administration is doing is the kind of incrementalism that defined much of the Vietnam conflict."

Obama's War Advisors Turn on Him.  On September 22, Barack Obama's hand-selected advisor coordinating global efforts to combat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, retired General John Allen, announced his intention to resign the post.  Within a week, Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, also handed in her resignation.  Given the ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East into which the West is increasingly committing resources, these resignations are alarming.  In general, the flight of Obama's war advisors from his administration went unnoticed by all but the keenest of observers.  Both Allen and Farkas have determined, however, to make it difficult for the public to ignore their warnings.

Aaron Allmon case makes Minot Air Force Base ground zero in military's new gender wars.  He is an award-winning combat photographer who stands accused of trying to pick up women in the public affairs office at MinotAir Force Base in North Dakota, and for that prosecutors wanted to put him in prison for 130 years.  The prosecutorial zeal was so great that an Air Force officer appointed to investigate the case said the piled-up charges were combined to "artificially exaggerate the criminality of the accused," who often was simply "socially maladroit and crass."

Pentagon Farmed Out Its Coding to Russia.  The Pentagon was tipped off in 2011 by a longtime Army contractor that Russian computer programmers were helping to write computer software for sensitive U.S. military communications systems, setting in motion a four-year federal investigation that ended this week with a multimillion-dollar fine against two firms involved in the work.  The contractor, John C. Kingsley, said in court documents filed in the case that he discovered the Russians' role after he was appointed to run one of the firms in 2010.  He said the software they wrote had made it possible for the Pentagon's communications systems to be infected with viruses.

Pentagon 'gay' rape debacle: Report alleging male-on-male sexual trauma retracted.  The American Psychological Association has taken the extraordinary step of retracting an in-house journal article that asserted the rate of rape and other sexual trauma among military men was as much as 15 times higher than the Pentagon's own survey.  In a press released posted Sunday night [11/8/2015], the APA said outside scholars had examined the study, "Preliminary Data Suggest Rates of Male Sexual Trauma May be Higher than Previously Reported," and determined that the method for randomly selecting and surveying male combat veterans was flawed.

'Gay' rape in military underreported by Pentagon.  Far more military men are being raped by other men and experience other sexual traumas than is reported by the Pentagon because of the stigma attached to such assaults, says a new study released Tuesday [11/3/2015] by the American Psychological Association.  "Rates of military sexual trauma among men who served in the military may be as much as 15 times higher than has been previously reported, largely because of barriers associated with stigma, beliefs in myths about male rape, and feelings of helplessness," the APA said in releasing findings published in its periodical Psychological Services.

The Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America.  In July, 2015, President Barack Obama stripped out the requirement for individuals becoming naturalized citizens to defend the United States through military service.  On September 16[,] 2015 President Obama said in a video aimed at convincing migrants to pursue American citizenship that they didn't need to assimilate.  [Obama quote deleted.]  There's another new turn of phrase designed to hide or soften what he is doing.  "Nine million resident migrants" — think about that for a moment.  We wouldn't want you to get all serious about an oath, or make you uncomfortable.  There's one graduate of Harvard Law School who apparently never really learned anything about the Constitution at all.

Obama's Corrupt and Immoral Abuse of the Military.  Barack Obama's decision to send American special forces to Syria is not only hypocritical, but also a corrupt and immoral abuse of his powers as commander-in-chief.  This is not a comment on his circumvention of Congress, which is something that most modern American presidents have done at one time or another with respect to military engagements abroad.  Rather, in Obama's case — uniquely in American history — we have a president who puts Americans in harm's way for no evident reason other than personal political calculations.

America's Weakening Military Strength Is Terrifying.  Pretty much everyone — even ex-state senator Barack Obama — says a president has no greater responsibility than national defense, protecting the homeland, its people and interests abroad.  So why isn't he?

Obama's Veto Betrays America's Military.  Sequestration has elicited garment-rending from Head Start administrators and builders of bridges to nowhere, because it has proven about the only fiscal discipline of which Washington, D.C., is capable.  President Obama, eager to end his presidency in an Oprah-style spending spree, is determined to bust through the sequestration spending caps locked into place in 2011, and he is even willing to hold the United States military hostage to do it.  Hence his veto, last week, of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Obama's Purge.  Obama's priority has been to replace warriors in front line combat units with Illegal Aliens who are not proficient in English, women, transgender individuals, felons with police records, and gay members who are being recruited into Obama's new "Politically Correct" US military.  Obama has turned the US Armed Forces into the first major openly gay military force in the world, and last year 11,000 straight male members in the US Armed Forces were sexually assaulted by gays — driving the retention rate for straight males to new lows.  The commanding officers of combat forces that once were warriors are slowly being replaced by briefcase-carrying, yes-men and yes-women, more interested in driving the Social Experiment On Diversity into the military, driving the "Political Correct" agenda requirement for promotion, howling out the strength of the US Armed Forces, and purging thousands of senior enlisted Non Commissioned Officers who opposed massive social change in the US Armed Forces.

Barack Obama Vetos Defense Bill Because It Spends Too Little.  The glory days of big spending liberalism are back.  Barack Obama has just vetoed a defense spending bill that spends $612 billion.  Why?  It does not spend enough on non-defense spending.  That's right.  Barack Obama wanted more domestic spending.  The Republicans and enough Democrats in the Senate refused.  So Obama vetoed it.

Obama draws another red line, but this one's against the U.S. military.  President Obama [...] has vetoed the massive, bipartisan defense authorization bill, a $612 billion compendium of national defense spending, including weapons procurements, pay and retirement benefits for troops.  It's a political move Obama hopes gives him leverage to force Republicans to lift the strict budget spending caps that were the president's own idea in 2011.  It sets up another budget confrontation and potential government shutdown around Thanksgiving, which Obama figures will be blamed on the GOP.

Lawmakers Slam Obama for Using Troops as 'Pawns' in Spending Fight.  Republican lawmakers criticized President Obama Wednesday [10/21/2015] for promising to veto the defense policy bill that would authorize about $612 billion in defense funding for fiscal year 2016.  Multiple GOP representatives, including members of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon Wednesday [10/21/2015] that the president's promised veto has nothing do with America's national security but is related to his effort to boost domestic funding for agencies such as the IRS and EPA.

Federal Spending Increased $183.9B in FY15 — But Spending on Defense, Homeland Security, Justice Declined.  Even as overall federal spending increased by $183,890,000,000 from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2015, spending for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice declined, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement for September.

Obama ignores generals' advice on troop levels for unprecedented sixth time.  In the end, President Obama was forced to listen to his generals — not his political instincts — on Afghanistan troop levels, and he decided to split the difference.  Mr. Obama is keeping 5,500 troops in Afghanistan beyond his presidency, about half the strength recommended by his top general in-country.  It marks the sixth time he has rejected the advice of a ground commander on the force size in the long Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  Military experts call that streak unprecedented for a commander in chief.

Gates: Obama's Distrust of Military 'Particularly True in Afghanistan'.  Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said President Obama distrusted the military, and "this was particularly true in Afghanistan" in an interview that was taped earlier in the week and broadcast on Thursday's [10/15/2015] "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.

Ted Cruz: The military shouldn't be a 'cauldron for social experiments'.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Monday [10/12/2015] that the military's moves to include transgender soldiers in its ranks had shifted its focus away from its core mission.  The military will soon allow transgender soldiers to serve, noted Cruz.  "How about having the military focusing on hunting down and killing the bad guys... instead of treating it as this crucible for social justice innovations.  We've lost sight of what their job is and that's what we need to get back to."

Obama: My Idea Of World Leadership Is Fighting Climate Change.  President Obama indicates that when it comes to world leadership, he has mostly disdain for people who compare him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  When challenged by "60 Minutes" interviewer Steve Kroft about ceding leadership in the Middle East to Putin, Obama argued that leadership on climate change was more important than leadership to combat terrorism.

And Now Obama Threatens our National Defense with This....  Many people are aware, and still many aren't, that under Barack Hussein Obama, America saw its first National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that defied the Fifth Amendment and allowed for the indefinite detention of people on US soil without due process of law.  The backlash from that was that several cities, counties and states fashioned their own nullification laws against the NDAA's indefinite provision.  Recently, the House of Representatives passed the 2016 NDAA, and once again, not only did they fail to provide language that would stop indefinite detention, but Barack Obama has threatened to veto it, which will effectively stop the funding of our national defense, but not for that reason.

Obama Paints Border Patrol with Rainbow Colors.  Border Patrol agents and others operating under the umbrella of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must now consider not only the sex of the criminal they are detaining, but the "gender identity" of the individual and how they feel and identify.  The terms "illegal alien" or even "illegal immigrant" do not appear at all in a new 31-page instruction document.  The new rules were published by CBP and according to the agency, "includes language on gender identity, which was not previously included in the individual component policies.  Specifically, whenever feasible, officers and agents who conduct a search or are present at a medical examination must be of the same gender, gender identity, or declared gender as the individual being searched."

The Editor says...
In other words, the Border Patrol will have to add plenty of transvestites to its staff to comply with this order.

U.S. Marines introduce 29 gender-neutral jobs.  The U.S. Marine Corps has unveiled new physical standards that all recruits — male and female — must meet to qualify for 29 of the branch's jobs.

The Most Dangerous Man In the World.  ...is neither Russia's Vladimir Putin nor China's Xi Jinping, nor at this time, Ayatollah Khamenei — it's none other than America's Barack Hussein Obama.  This is not because of any aggressive, risk-laden actions he has taken, far from it.  It is because of those he has failed to take at critical times to credibly dissuade strategic competitors and potential aggressors, such as Russia and China, from actions that may suddenly compound into destabilizing confrontations, even war.  When the Middle East cauldron spawned the barbaric ISIS, Obama's indecisive, pusillanimous response allowed this Islamic malignancy to rapidly metastasize, compounding and accelerating an existing refugee problem that will involve America.  Additionally, throughout his tenure, overt actions Obama has taken served to steadily and materially, degrade American military capabilities, while enemies grow stronger.

Planned Parenthood vs. the Military.  [Scroll down]  The Pentagon memo also indicates that those who potentially go without pay during the duration of a government shutdown will eventually receive their pay.  So I can't help but wonder why the DoD would "warn" troops about the dire consequences of a shutdown when the fact is that everyone will get their due pay — though it may be late in some cases — and Congress is currently preparing an emergency military funding bill as a contingency.  I think the answer is simple:  The Department of Defense, under Obama-appointed leaders, has become hopelessly politicized.

Obama administration admitted 1,519 foreigners with terrorist ties into the U.S..  Judicial Watch reports that the Obama administration has granted asylum or residency to 1,519 foreigners with terrorist ties.  This information comes from an annual report to Congress by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  More than half of the terror supporters granted asylum or residency by Team Obama provided material support to terrorist organizations, according to the USCIS report.  Other received military-type training from a terrorist organization (nine fall into this category), voluntarily provided medical care to members of a terrorist group, or solicited funds or recruited individuals for membership in a terrorist organization.

Scimitar patch
That new U.S. Army patch with scimitars is downright creepy.  Don't fail to notice that the red, white, and blue of American tradition have been replaced by green, the color of Islam.  So let's not get lost in the lies being peddled about the symbolism behind the swords or any other aspect of the design of this despicable new patch.  We're awake and we know what it means.  It is yet another act to undermine our military — and indeed our nation — by aligning the United States with the enemy as Obama sends signal after signal to the Muslim world that he stands with them and not with the United States.


All Charges Against Sgt. Charles Martland Must Be Dropped, Now.  If our troops had been detailed to serve as observers with the British in India in the nineteenth century, would we have expected them to look on with indifference as a young widow was placed on her late husband's funeral pyre?  The British resolutely stopped such inhuman and barbaric practices.  And they suffered no pangs of conscience about interfering.  But it's our custom, some of the village elders in those days protested, to burn living women with their dead husband's body.  And it's our custom to hang you if you do, responded the British officers.  That was called civilization.  Sergeant Charles Martland is currently being persecuted by the U.S. Army for forcefully intervening to stop an Afghan military leader from raping a little boy.  The Army brass want to drum Sgt. Martland out of the service for his heroic actions.

Tolerating Pederasty.  Americans have an almost universal revulsion towards child molesters.  Even among prisoners, some of whom are guilty of the heinous crime of murder, pedophiles are viewed with such disgust that their very lives are forfeit.  They are considered the lowest of the low.  That innate revulsion also arises among our military when mere children are raped.  Sexually abusing and torturing kids is something that sickens and enrages even the most battle-hardened American soldiers.  It is something our military has always found absolutely intolerable.  That is why the revelation that U.S. soldiers have been ordered to stand down and do nothing when they hear little boys screaming as they are sodomized by Afghani military personnel is virtually incomprehensible. [...] If the rape of boys cannot be reproached but must be tolerated as a cultural practice, just what might evoke justifiable moral outrage?

Obama's Silence on Afghan Military's Child Rape.  American soldiers are being punished for blowing the whistle on the systematic rape and enslavement of young boys at the hands of brutal Afghan Muslim military officials.  Honorable men in uniform risked their careers and lives to stop the abuse.  Yet, the White House — which was busy tweeting about its new feminism-pandering "It's On Us" campaign against an alleged college rape crisis based on debunked statistics — is AWOL on the actual pedophilia epidemic known as "bacha bazi."  On Thursday [9/24/2015], Obama administration flacks went out of their way to downplay Afghan child rape as "abhorrent," but "fundamentally" a local "law enforcement matter."  This is the price the innocents pay for blind multiculturalism.

Army Rejects Appeal From Green Beret Fired After Confronting Rapist.  Even as the U.S. military denies reports that American troops were told to ignore Afghan child abusers, an 11-year Green Beret who was ordered discharged after he confronted an alleged rapist was informed Tuesday that the Army has denied his appeal.  Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland earlier this year was ordered discharged by Nov. 1.  He has been fighting to stay in, but in an initial decision, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command told Martland that his appeal "does not meet the criteria" for an appeal.  "Consequently, your request for an appeal and continued service is disapproved," the office wrote in a memo to Martland.

Obama Administration Enables 'Boy Play'.  Here's what America's newly homosexualized, "values neutral" military looks like.  Last week, in a strange fit of actual news reporting, the New York Times published an exposé revealing that, under this Obama administration, the Department of Defense is not only permitting the homosexual abuse of little boys at the hands of Muslim allies in Afghanistan, but is effectively facilitating it.  A handful of U.S. servicemen have had enough and are courageously blowing the whistle on this unimaginably evil policy. Naturally, they're being punished and drummed out of the service for doing so.

The Editor says...
There is only one reason the Commander-in-Chief would permit this.

Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army.  President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services.  Fanning, 47, has been a specialist on national security issues for more than two decades and has played a key role overseeing some of the Pentagon's biggest shipbuilding and fighter jet programs.  Now he will oversee an Army that has been battered by the longest stretch of continuous combat in U.S. history and is facing potentially severe budget cuts.

Obama nominates first openly gay military service chief.  President Barack Obama is nominating longtime Pentagon official Eric Fanning to be the Army's new secretary.  If confirmed, Fanning, a civilian, would be the nation's first openly gay leader of a military service.  The nomination comes at a time when the Obama administration is working to eliminate barriers to military service based on sexuality or gender.  The "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allowed homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they hid their sexuality was officially repealed during Obama's first term.  Gays are now allowed to openly serve.

Obama To Nominate Eric Fanning For Army Secretary: Would Be First Openly Gay Man To Serve.  President Barack Obama is nominating longtime Pentagon official Eric Fanning to be the Army's new secretary.  If confirmed, Fanning would be the nation's first openly gay leader of a military service.

Dozens of spies insist their reports on JV team were altered to please president.  This will no doubt come as shocking news... to Barack Obama and his press secretary.  A new report claims that scores of intelligence analysts (read: spies) have begun talking out of school and are complaining that their reports on major terror groups have been "inappropriately altered" to paint a brighter picture before being passed on to the President and other leaders.  Who could have possibly suspected that this was going on?

Spy Report Book-Cooking Howls For Reform.  Fifty intelligence analysts whose job is to honestly assess what's going on in the Middle East have charged their reports about Islamic State's rise were systematically altered by senior officials to the opposite of what they meant:  "Happy talk" about the terror group being "on the run" and merely a "JV" version of al-Qaida, according to a report in the Daily Beast.  In a letter to the Pentagon Inspector General's Office, the analysts said their reports were corrupted to further the White House's narrative that the Middle East was little more than George Bush's war, and President Obama's premature pullout from Iraq and Afghanistan amounted to "victories."  It wasn't, and they didn't.  The shambles of the Middle East and the surprise rise of Islamic State show that something different was going on, and now we know it had a name:  Obama's Domestic Political Priorities.

Obama Makes Excuses for Chinese Warships in U.S. Waters.  Pentagon officials said Thursday that five Chinese warships that appeared near Alaska during President Barack Obama's visit this week passed through U.S. territorial waters — and hastened to defend China's actions as being consistent with international law.  The rush to avoid an international crisis contrasts sharply with China's own aggression any time the U.S. approaches Chinese waters or airspace, even where Chinese claims are dubious.

President Obama's Peculiarity.  A year after President Obama vacates the White House almost any Republican president working with the Republican Congress will have cleaned up the mess — except for the debt.  That will take longer.  In foreign policy things may be even worse.  A nuclear Iran will have to be dealt with.  When the President without a shadow leaves office after withdrawing American power from every corner of the world, Americans will see how dangerous a community activist can be in the White House.

Obama Fighting With Another Defense Secretary Over Freeing Terrorists.  After fighting hard to make Hagel the Secretary of Defense, Obama fired him because he was delaying the release of Islamic terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. [...] You would think that Obama would have found a toady this time around willing to let anyone out of Gitmo, but he's having Defense Secretary troubles again.

Gun free zones are really just sitting duck zones for radical Islamists.  Why do we trust American soldiers with tanks, trucks, bullets, and bombs on the battlefield, but when these same soldiers are home on a military base, sidearms are just 'too dangerous'?  Why have we allowed liberals to transform American military bases into 'gun-free zones,' or as I call them, 'sitting-duck zones'?  American soldiers are the most highly-trained people in our country to handle firearms, and it's ridiculous to make them 'check their weapons at the door'.  If we trust them to kill our enemies and keep us safe, it's completely incomprehensible, insulting, and insane to forcibly disarm our heroes on American military bases and related installations.  After all, we don't disarm police officers when they get into their squad cars.

Pentagon Considers Offering Leaves of Absence to Transgender Troops Undergoing Surgery.  The Pentagon is preparing to end the ban on transgender troops in the military by May 27 of next year, according to a memo sent to top military personnel and medical officials last week.  The Aug. 19 document, which maps out a timeline of the end to the policy, also indicates that the military is considering implementing a pilot program that would grant leaves of absence to transgender soldiers undergoing surgery or treatment with hormones.

Pentagon Fears It's Not Ready for a War With Putin.  A series of classified exercises over the summer has raised concerns inside the Defense Department that its forces are not prepared for a sustained military campaign against Russia, two defense officials told The Daily Beast.  Many within the military believe that 15 years of counter terrorism warfare has left the ground troops ill prepared to maintain logistics or troops levels should Russia make an advance on NATO allies, the officials said.

With Obama's Help, Assembling Al Qaeda's Domestic Army Is Now Easier.  If immigrants to the U.S. seek citizenship but are reluctant to take an oath of allegiance because it requires a commitment to help defend the country, what is the solution?  If the immigrants in question are Muslim and you have a pro-Muslim U.S. president, the solution is simple — just change the oath to accommodate them. [...] The quandary for U.S. citizen candidates who are Muslim is this:  Just like America's first two wars as a new nation were against Muslims, so too have its last two been.  However, Islamic law — sharia — prohibits Muslims from fighting fellow Muslims.

U.S. won't have aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf for at least 2 months.  While there have been so-called "carrier gaps" in the Persian Gulf before, this one will leave the Navy without the presence of a high-profile aircraft carrier just as a proposed nuclear deal with Iran is at center stage.  It also comes as Iranian naval forces have conducted low-level harassment of U.S. and other shipping in the region.

Obama Administration Modifies U.S. Oath of Allegiance to Accommodate Muslims.  The Obama administration recently made changes to the Oath of Allegiance to the United States in a manner very conducive to Sharia, or Islamic law. [...] The new changes further add that new candidates "May be eligible for [additional?] modifications based on religious training and belief, or conscientious objection arising from a deeply held moral or ethical code."  These changes serve incoming Islamic supremacists especially well.  For, while Islamic law allows Muslims to feign loyalty to non-Muslim "infidel" authorities, it bans Muslims from living up to the pretense by actually fighting or killing fellow Muslims on behalf of a non-Muslim entity, such as the United States. [...] Now, in direct compliance with Islamic law, the Obama administration has made it so that no Muslim living in America need ever worry about having to defend her — including against fellow Muslims or jihadis.

Thin Red Line.  The Army and the Navy cannot do what they once could and might soon be required to do again.  They don't have enough soldiers and enough ships.  Even reduced to the lowest force levels in years, the Army, as USA Today reports.

Legal issues delay arming recruiters for U.S. military.  Capitol Hill Republicans are pushing to arm service members at recruitment centers in the wake of the deadly Chattanooga, Tennessee, attack, but a "patchwork" of laws may get in the way.  While federal law gives the secretaries of the various armed forces the power to arm military employees if there's a threat to a particular military base, most recruitment centers are located in malls or in public places — not federal land — and it's unclear if the law applies to recruiters or reservists.

Even Barney Fife had one bullet.
The Few, the Proud, the Unarmed.  Ever get the feeling that you went to sleep one night and awakened to find somebody stole your country and replaced it with an insane asylum?  We trust our warriors with weapons in foreign countries but not on their home turf?  This is what's flying over the D.C. cuckoo's nest.  Imagine that you're being held hostage by the "Death to America" Islamic Republic of Iran.  Your president negotiates a nuclear "agreement" with the regime, but he's too needy and impotent to secure your release as part of the agreement.  Is there any message that would bring more joy to your heart than:  "The Marines have landed?"  They'd be packing heat, unlike the unarmed victims at Chattanooga, Fort Hood, the DC Navy Yard, and Little Rock — United States of America.

Obama Edits Oath of Allegiance for New Americans, Deletes Pledge to Defend the U.S..  Newly naturalized Americans will no longer have to pledge to defend the USA thanks to the Obama administration's decision to remove the lines requiring new citizens to bear arms on behalf of the United States or perform noncombatant duties in the armed forces in times of war.  Obama's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ruled that effective on July 21 of this year, some candidates for naturalization will skip the services clause while taking the oath to become Americans.  So that means that in an age when people are streaming here to pretend to become Americans in order to commit acts of terror, now Obama won't even ask them to voice the words that they will defend the USA.

USCIS Denies That Modifications to Oath of Allegiance Flout the Law.  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has denied that the modifications to military service requirements in the Oath of Allegiance published on July 21 flout the law, despite harsh criticism from immigration experts and members of Congress.  "Candidates for citizenship normally declare that they will 'bear arms on behalf of the United States' and 'perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States' when required by law," stated USCIS on July 21.  "A candidate may be eligible to exclude these two clauses based on religious training and belief or a conscientious objection."

Sen. Tom Cotton: Changes To Citizenship Oath 'Undermines What It Means To Be A Citizen'.  Tuesday [7/21/2015], U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it was altering the eligibility requirements for modifications to the Oath of Allegiance.  Namely, while immigrants seeking to become citizens are usually required to declare they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" and "perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States," the new guidance now allows for not only those with religious objections but also people with a strongly held beliefs to omit those portions.

New Citizenship Oath drops requirement to defend the United States.  This flies in the face of American history and tradition and law.  Under the Selective Service Act, every US citizen is required to register for a possible draft.  It is up to local draft boards to award Conscientious Objector status and if they award CO status they can legally require alternative non-combatant service.

Immigration Agency: New Citizens No Longer Need to Pledge to Bear Arms to Defend the United States.  All new citizens take the oath of allegiance upon becoming naturalized Americans: [...] The oath has been unchanged since 1929, and such oaths have been required upon naturalization since at least 1795.  But in looking around for more "transformations" of America that can be effected, Obama's busy-bee bureaucrats found the oath of allegiance a perfect target.  So the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Thursday [7/23/2015] that it would no longer require new citizens to pledge that they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" or "perform noncombatant service" in the armed forces as part of the naturalization process.

Obama Administration Strips Requirement to Defend The United States From Citizenship Oath.  The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has "clarified" requirements for individuals becoming naturalized citizens by stripping out the requirement of defending the United States through military service.

Obama Admin. Updates Eligibility Requirements To Omit Portions Of Citizenship Oath.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is highlighting clarified guidance for those immigrants wishing to omit portions of the citizenship oath.  USCIS explained Tuesday [7/21/2015] that while reciting the Oath of Allegiance is part of the naturalization process, immigrant candidates for citizenship may omit portions of the oath if they have certain religious or conscientious objections. [...] Under the clarified guidance from USCIS, certain immigrant candidates for citizenship do not need to declare that they will "bear arms on behalf of the United States" and "perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States."

Disaster: Today's Warrior Purge in the U.S. military.  Needed warriors are now being purged from the U.S. military.  If America went to war right now with China or Russia, we could lose because of these purges.  We're losing top-level warrior-leaders to make the crucial differences in battle.  They're being systematically drummed out as politically incorrect.  When the going gets tough, political correctness (PC) is useless.  Then the brilliant, wily fighters, the coolest heads, the most courageous warriors, are needed to lead regardless of social views or record.  Today, in large measure, our fighting forces are led by briefcase-carrying busybodies, yes-men more interested in enforcing political beliefs and social change than leading in battle.

Freedom fries no more: Sailors angry after Navy bans fried food.  The Navy is going on a health kick and removing all fried food from dining hall menus.  In an effort to kick up its healthy eating "Go for Green" campaign, it will stop frying foods like chicken and french fries and bake them instead.  It is also axing whole milk and replacing it with skim and soy, reports Navy Times.

Navy to Ban Fried Food.  Sailors are blaming First Lady Michelle Obama after a report revealed that the Navy is preparing a full ban on fried food.

Sailors Blame Michelle Obama For Navy's Fried Food Ban.  Sailors outraged over the Navy's plan to phase out fried foods from its menus have found the perfect vessel for their anger in First Lady Michelle Obama.  The First Lady doesn't set nutrition policy for the nation's fleets.  But that hasn't stopped more than two dozen critics — many of them current and former Navy personnel — from flooding a Navy Times Facebook thread to blame FLOTUS, who has made combating obesity and promoting healthy eating her signature issues.

Pentagon Readying Plan to Lift Transgender Ban.  The Pentagon's current regulations banning transgender individuals from serving in the military are outdated, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday, ordering a six-month study aimed at formally ending one of the last gender- or sexuality-based barriers to military service.

The Coming Confrontation.  Our military has withstood a purge of loyal generals and leadership.  Obama feels he owns the military and can turn it into a social experiment.  What do we expect from a socialist with no respect for our country or our traditions including our military traditions.  There was a time, when the United States could fight a two theatre war and maintain our military readiness.  Now we have to beg other countries to help because we don't have enough ships to take our military anywhere if a conflict should break out.  Our military is in the worst shape it has been since World War II.

For the Want of a Budget Gimmick, the Kingdom Was Lost.  In at last announcing in detail that it would reduce the size of its active-duty force, currently 490,000, by 40,000 soldiers over the next two years, the U.S. Army seems finally and for a day to have captured the attention of the political class.  In fact this is not news, but the long-anticipated result of the defense budget cuts agreed to under the 2011 Budget Control Act.

Army plans to cut 40,000 troops.  The Army plans to cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years, a reduction that will affect virtually all of its domestic and foreign posts, the service asserts in a document obtained by USA TODAY.  The potential troop cut comes as the Obama administration is pondering its next moves against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.  President Obama said Monday [7/6/2015] he and military leaders had not discussed sending additional troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State.  There are about 3,500 troops in Iraq.

Cultural aggression, destructive policies, and ceaseless smearing are wearing out a great people.  [Scroll down]  Militarily we're weaker now than we were before World War II began, and our president seems more interested in sex changes for our soldiers — giving a new meaning to "private parts" — than in maintaining our naval strength.  That weakness is undoubtedly provocative; just ask Vladimir Putin, Khamenei, and the Chinese.  And when the balloon rises, so does the specter of our now $18 trillion national debt.  How to finance a coming major war when we're already mortgaged to the hilt?  The answer is it can't be done, meaning American weakness is locked in.

US Army plans to cut 40,000 troops over next two years.  The U.S. Army is planning to cut more than 40,000 troops over the next two years, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News Tuesday [7/7/2015].  General Martin Dempsey announced at a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing Tuesday that dwindling resources was a major factor in the decision to cut the number of active troops from 450,000 to 490,000.

U.S. Troops Face Eating, Drinking Restrictions During Ramadan.  A top commander in southwest Asia reminded U.S military personnel stationed in Muslim countries in the Middle East of the restrictions placed on them during Ramadan.  According to a report by the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs, Brig. Gen. John Quintas, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing commander in Southwest Asia, said that the U.S. is "committed to the concepts of tolerance, freedom and diversity."

Can I see that birth certificate again, please?  I believe any thinking person would say a disastrous caliphate being stood up in the Middle East, Iran getting a nuclear weapon and threatening Israel's existence, increased terrorist attacks in the United States, a refusal to call Islamic terrorism what it is, China hacking entire departments of classified data and ripping us off blind, terrorists streaming across the southern border, illegal immigrants being resettled in large numbers without the knowledge of the states or local communities, the American military on its way to levels not seen since before World War II, et cetera, et cetera.  It makes you wonder, doesn't it?  What could be the agenda allowing all of this to happen?  Or should I say, encouraging all of this to happen?

Shame of a Nation: Marines Forced to Deploy Via Foreign Ships.  Notice how socialism always and everywhere results in "shortages," every time it's tried.  Well, our own socialist chickens have now come home to roost:  ["]Faced with a shortage of U.S. Navy ships, the Marine Corps is exploring a plan to deploy its forces aboard foreign vessels to ensure they can respond quickly to global crises around Europe and western Africa.  The initiative is a stopgap way to deploy Marines aboard ships overseas until more American vessels are available, said Brig. Gen. Norman Cooling, deputy commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa.["]

Marines looking at deploying aboard foreign ships.  Faced with a shortage of U.S. Navy ships, the Marine Corps is exploring a plan to deploy its forces aboard foreign vessels to ensure they can respond quickly to global crises around Europe and western Africa.  The initiative is a stopgap way to deploy Marines aboard ships overseas until more American vessels are available, said Brig. Gen. Norman Cooling, deputy commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa.

The military has plenty of busy work without this:
Obama forcing military to measure Arctic ice levels.  Even as the U.S. military struggles to contain the Islamic State and deals with other terrorist threats across the globe, President Obama increasingly is recruiting the Pentagon to advance his sweeping climate change agenda.  Mr. Obama's Defense Department calls global warming a true national security threat and has begun instituting a host of environmental measures, ranging from building clean energy projects at military installations to the use of expensive green fuels in planes.  A recent report from the Government Accountability Office highlighted yet another example — the commitment of U.S. military forces to monitor sea ice levels in the Arctic, with the administration arguing that decreasing ice could force the Pentagon to institute a "military and homeland security presence in the region."

Green Policies Kill Military Readiness and Vets.  [Scroll down]  What's more, [James M.] Taylor noted, Obama has ordered the Defense Department to rely increasingly — as much as 25 percent of its energy — on "grossly expensive" solar and wind power that detracts from military preparedness.  "This is coming out of the defense budget," he said.  "It's a budgetary boondoggle that takes away from money that could be spent on men, machinery and weaponry, and instead is being spent on more expensive power."  He cited a machine made for the military that is supposed to be dragged around on a battlefield and transforms trash into electricity, rather than being buried or burned.  The contraption was highlighted by the Mother Nature Network news service as one of the "6 green things the U.S. military is doing."  Citing another boondoggle, he said the Navy is paying an incredibly high price of $67.50 per gallon for a "camelina-based fuel" made from a plant in the mustard family.  Even more shocking, he cited a case of money from the Department of Veterans Affairs intended for military care that is instead being used to purchase solar panels.

"I Had Groups of ISIS Fighters in My Sights, but Couldn't Get Clearance to Engage.".  This isn't really news.  It's just a reminder that the air strikes on ISIS are being run in the same disastrous fashion as those in Afghanistan.  And it didn't begin with Obama.  Lest we forget, on the day before 9/11, Bill Clinton was boasting that he had let Osama bin Laden go to avoid collateral damage.  Obama Inc. talks about how the Iraqis don't want to fight.  It neglects to mention that it isn't letting the military fight.

The All-volunteer Military: Too Much From Too Few.  Since the end of the Cold War, American politicians and generals seem to be lost in a strategic fog.  Absent an existential threat like the Soviet Bloc, American military assets, treasure, and young lives have been squandered on a series of small wars where the conflicts are ephemeral and undeclared whilst objectives, or measures of effectiveness, are unclear.  Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Libya, and Yemen are just a few examples where military interventions made matters worse.  Small wars today seem to have little or nothing to do with any national goals and everything to do with domestic politics, political expediency, or the transient crisis of the moment.  Force commitment is reactive and ephemeral, not strategic.  There is no over-arching vision or objective like "Containment," to say nothing of reasonable expectations like victory.  Stated objectives and missions are trivialized with meaningless euphemisms like humanitarian concerns, training, "nation building," or "stability."  The worst of neologisms might be the so-called "war on terror," a pleonasm that misfires on three counts.

Leading docs group supports transgender in military.  A leading group of U.S. doctors passed a resolution Monday [6/8/2015] saying there's no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from the military.  The resolution, approved unanimously by the American Medical Association's policy-making House of Delegates, calls the military's current rules about transgender service members "out of date" and says transgender men and women are fit to serve in high-stress environments just as any other qualified members are.

Obama's gone from bad to wuss.  From the Islamic State to Russia to Iran, America's adversaries are making a calculated decision.  They know Obama will, at most, talk a tough game but in the end won't do much else.  They also realize that time is running out on their chance to act without consequences.  With the raft of foreign-policy failures of the last six years a major issue in the presidential campaign, Obama's successor is almost certain to be a more forceful leader on the international stage.

Obama is Putting Our Nuclear Navy at Risk.  The search for the next Chief of Naval Operations has not drawn much interest from the media, but there's good reason it should.  By nominating Admiral John Richardson, the current head of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, President Obama is jeopardizing a tradition of excellence stretching back since America first developed nuclear submarines.  John Lehman, who served as President Reagan's Secretary of the Navy for six years, does an excellent job explaining this in his Wall Street Journal editorial that ran this past Sunday [5/24/2015].

John Lehman gives Obama the (unwarranted) benefit of the doubt.
Obama Torpedoes the Nuclear Navy.  President Obama, possibly unaware of the implications, has made a mistake by nominating Adm. John Richardson as the new chief of naval operations.  Adm. Richardson likely would do a fine job in that important role, but by trying to move him from his current position as director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, the president has crossed a line and created a precedent that could have grave consequences for the effectiveness of the nation's nuclear fleet.

The Editor says...
Obama isn't just a hapless doofus who is inadvertently weakening the military.  He is a Muslim who is intentionally dismantling America's defenses in order to facilitate world domination by Islam.

John Bolton underestimates Obama.  The man-child sitting in the Oval Office spent his formative years in Indonesia, finds the Muslim call to prayer the sweetest sound, decided that the mission of NASA was Muslim outreach, gave his first interview as president to an Arab news station, jetted off to Cairo to give a speech, and gave the Muslim Brotherhood front-row seats as he pandered and apologized, made his first call as president to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, proclaimed on the world stage that we must not slander Islam, labeled blatant acts of jihad terror as "workplace violence," has consistently tipped the scales in the Middle East against our allies and in favor jihadists, is importing Muslims to the United States from places like Syria at an alarming rate, is openly hostile to Israel, and is negotiating with Iran.  And that's just for starters.  So yes, I agree with Mr. Bolton that there is an absolute ideology at work.  But it is not one of denial.  It is one that is actively and intentionally facilitating the growing caliphate.  It is one that is willfully undermining American military might, weakening our ability to defend ourselves against the threat of Islamic jihad.

Defense Sec at Arlington: 'Troops of Such Caliber' Have 'Great Leader' in Obama.  At today's Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Day observance, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said "troops of such caliber demand great leaders, and there's no doubt they have one in our commander in chief."  "I see that every day," continued Carter, who assumed his post in February. "[...] And I see that he cares deeply about the safety, welfare, and dignity of our men and women in uniform and their families."

Obama and Biden are misdirecting our military forces.
Biden To The Navy: 'Our Forces Will Have To Be Ready' For Climate Change.  Speaking at a Commencement Ceremony for the Naval Academy today [5/22/2015], Vice President Joe Biden warned graduates that they would have to be prepared for the devastating effects of climate change.  "We'll rely on you, the United States Navy, to lead in solving these emerging problems," he said, pointing to the massive devastation caused by a major typhoon in the Philippines.  The United States Navy, he explained, "filled the void" in the humanitarian efforts after the major natural disaster.

Obama Snatched Ramadi Defeat from Bush Victory.  The White House description of the fall of Ramadi to ISIS forces we have supposedly been busy degrading and destroying as a "setback" is like the British calling Dunkirk in World War II a strategic withdrawal.  Ramadi is a defeat, the result of the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by President Obama against the advice of military minds who know better about these things than the former community organizer from Illinois.  It is a defeat for President Obama's foreign policy, a rebuke of his fundamental transformation of America's role in the world from a leader who shaped events to one of treating foreign affairs as a spectator sport, with the U.S. "leading from behind" and being left behind in the process.

Marine Gen. James Mattis' assessment of Obama: U.S. suffering 'strategic atrophy'.  Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis said the U.S. is suffering "strategic atrophy" that will threaten the long-term security of the nation.  The retired general and former Central Command (CENTCOM) commander made the remarks while speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday [5/13/2015].  "The perception [among allies] is we're pulling back," Gen. Mattis said, the U.S. Naval Institute reported Thursday.

As If Iran Wasn't Enough: WaPo Worries Obama is Helping China Proliferate Nuclear Weapons.  Combined with then-President Bill Clinton's utterly criminal behavior, reportedly accepting donations in exchange for releasing key missile guidance technologies to the Red Chinese, it would seem that the leaders of the Democrat Party are determined to trigger a nuclear holocaust.  The only question is why?

How Obama's Made Sure to Leave Every Part of the World More Dangerous than He Found It.  [Scroll down]  You see, Barack Obama was always secure in the belief that the constant projection of American military power was the primary reason for anti-American sentiment around the world.  Alas, seven years later, a seemingly endless stream of apologies, attempts to placate the world's miscreants, and inappropriate stabs at moral equivalency are primary components of a spectacularly failed U.S. foreign policy.  Seems the "cowboy" Bush and all those opportunistic militarists at the Pentagon are not the reason so many bad guys take issue with the U.S.  Similarly, the infamous time-dishonored plea for time regarding negotiations with Russia speaks to a comfortable familiarity with weak negotiating positions.

McCaul: DHS Spending 'More Money' on Climate Change Than Combating Violent Extremists.  Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says the current "threat environment" is as high as he's ever seen it, and although the U.S. has "done a very good job" in preventing terror attacks in the U.S., he doesn't think the Obama administration "has done enough" to counter "homegrown violent extremism."  McCaul noted that President Obama's budget "allocates zero dollars towards combating homegrown violent extremism.

U.S. Sending A-10 Plane to Combat While Trying to Kill It.  With its titanium armor, the A-10, conceived in the early 1970s to destroy Soviet tanks, is beloved by generations of soldiers and airmen for its ability to fly low to discern friend from foe and unleash more firepower than the average fighter plane.  Its 2.5-ton Gatling gun, built into the plane's nose to give it the snout-like appearance, can fire more than 1,100 30-mm rounds.

First F-35 Jets Lack Ground-Combat Punch of 1970s-Era A-10s.  The first F-35 jets ready for combat won't be able to protect forces in ground combat as well as the nearly 40-year-old A-10s the Pentagon wants to retire, according to the Defense Department's chief weapons tester.

Air Force mulls mothballing F-16s if Congress blocks A-10 retirement.  The House Armed Services Committee inserted $683 million into the 2016 defense bill to stop the Air Force from retiring the A-10 Warthog.  However, Air Force leaders said the service will have to mothball F-16s and delay the deployment of the F-35 in response to the move by the committee.

Obama says no to 401k plans for troops.  The president announced on Thursday [4/30/2015] that he does not support the blended military retirement plan recommended by a commission of experts earlier this year, just one day after House members included it in their fiscal 2016 defense policy bill.

Protecting sage grouse could hurt military, report says.  Efforts to protect the greater sage grouse under the federal Endangered Species Act could hurt training operations at numerous U.S. military facilities in the West, according to a new report by the Army.

Navy Chaplain Censored: 'Don't pray in the name of Jesus'.  A Navy chaplain who faces the end of a stellar 19-year career because of his faith-based views on marriage and human sexuality was told by a base commander to refrain from offering a prayer in the name of Jesus, according to attorneys representing the chaplain.  That allegation was tucked away in an 18-page letter written to the commander of Navy Region Southeast by Liberty Institute attorneys representing Chaplain Wesley Modder.  Liberty Institute is a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases.

Army ROTC program allegedly pressured cadets to walk in high heels for ASU event.  Army ROTC cadets are complaining on message boards that they were pressured to walk in high heels on Monday for an Arizona State University campus event designed to raise awareness of sexual violence against women.  The Army openly encouraged participating in April's "Walk A Mile in Her Shoes" events in 2014, but now it appears as though ROTC candidates at ASU were faced with a volunteer event that became mandatory.

Saving a Plane That Saves Lives.  When American troops find themselves fighting for their lives, there is no better sound than an A-10, a plane officially nicknamed the Thunderbolt II but known affectionately by the troops as the Warthog, firing its enormous 30-millimeter gun at the enemy.  It might not be pretty, but the A-10 is our most capable close air-support aircraft, and its arrival on the battlefield signals survival for our troops and annihilation for our enemies.  Yet over the last two years, the Obama administration and the Air Force leadership have been working overtime to mothball our entire A-10 fleet, 13 years ahead of schedule.  They claim that other, newer planes can do the same job, that it's too slow and vulnerable and that it's too expensive.

Obama's Liberationist Military.  The military under Barack Obama has increasingly embraced the philosophy of the sexual revolution.  At the same time, it reels from the consequences of that revolution.  Headlines in recent months suggest that moral discipline within the ranks continues to deteriorate.  Lawmakers decry reports showing a "50% increase in reports of military sexual assaults."  One would think a military with such problems might want to retain its Christian chaplains, not drive them away.  Yet that is the effect of its decision to prioritize political correctness.  Obama's surrogates in the military have made it clear to Christian chaplains that they should stay silent or leave.

Air Force Major General fired for saying retiring A-10 plane for budgeting reasons amounts to 'treason'.  An Air Force major general has been formally reprimanded and removed from his job for telling a group of officers that talking to Congress in a bid to block retirement of the A-10 Warthog amounted to 'treason,' the Air Force said on Friday [4/10/2015].

Air Force fires general over A-10 jets 'treason' remarks.  An Air Force general has been fired after an investigation into comments he made to lower-ranking officers about how talking to members of Congress about the capabilities about the A-10 "Warthog" attack jet was tantamount to treason, the Air Force confirmed Friday [4/10/2015].  The comments by Maj. Gen. James Post, the number 2 commander at the Air Combat Command, had a "chilling effect on some of the attendees and caused them to feel constrained from communicating with members of Congress," according to a report by the Air Force inspector general.

Cheney: If You Wanted a President 'To Take America Down ... It Would Look Exactly Like What Barack Obama's Doing'.  [Hugh] Hewitt asked the former vice president, "Is he naïve, Mr. Vice President?  Or does he have a far-reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East that somehow it all works out in the end?"  "I don't know, Hugh.  I vacillate between the various theories I've heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama's doing.  I think his actions are constituted in my mind those of the worst president we've ever had."

Army Soldiers Sit Through 'White Privilege' Presentation — and the Backlash Isn't Pretty.  The U.S. Army is investigating an unauthorized diversity training presentation on "white privilege" shown to hundreds of Georgia soldiers, USA Today reported [4/3/2015], citing an Army spokeswoman.  The Equal Opportunity training presentation was shown to about 400 soldiers of the 67th Signal Battalion at Fort Gordon on Thursday, according to Captain Lindsay Roman.  The portion of the program involved a slide projected on a screen entitled "The Luxury of Obliviousness," which listed elements of "white privilege."

"Sir, I Will Not Obey That Order".  If you hate this country, and you especially hate the military, you simply cannot go around destroying the weapons — that's too obvious.  But you can do something much more subtle, and in the long run, even more disastrous, if your stated goal is to fundamentally change the country and the military that protects and defends it.  You don't have to destroy the weapons.  You don't even have to destroy the warriors.  All you have to do is create a set of conditions that are so incompatible with the warrior code that the warriors will remove themselves, because these are people who risk death and dismemberment, and whether at the tip or the end of the spear, generally live in appalling conditions, under great emotional hardship, for disgraceful levels of pay.

When Barack's just 'Private Citizen' Obama.  Obama will likely be even more dangerous out of office than he was in office.  There is no doubt that joyful, resounding cheers will follow the celebrated retirement of the most anti-American president ever elected when he departs from the White House in can't-come-too-soon January 2017.  Cheers guaranteed to soon become fears in contemplation of this chilling thought:  Obama will be taking every secret ever stored at the White House with him when he goes.  Over nine years as a top insider, he knows America's every vulnerability — including those he created himself — even when and where it's best for the enemy to strike.

Odierno: Readiness at historically low levels.  The Army is "only generating enough readiness for immediate consumption" while grappling with cuts that have left only a third of the service's brigades ready, the chief of staff said Wednesday [4/1/2015].  "It's incumbent on all of us to understand that further reductions simply will put us into a place we simply cannot go," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said at the AUSA Institute of Land Warfare Global Force Symposium and Exposition here.

This part of the Pentagon's budget is in no danger:
Military planning to spend billions on new Air Force One.  The Pentagon is considering spending billions of dollars on three new Boeing 747s to use as Air Force One, the aircraft that shuttles the United States president.  According to CBS News, the current Air Force One fleet is getting old, and the U.S. military says it's time for a new generation to carry future commanders in chief.  "We've got a pretty good size team working on it," said Air Force Col. Amy McCain, who is in charge of ordering the new Air Force One, according to the station.

Navy bans chaplain from ministering to family of dead sailor.  Chaplain [Wes] Modder is facing the end of a stellar, 19-year-career in the Navy because he expressed his faith-based views on marriage and human sexuality during private counseling sessions with sailors.  Last December, a gay officer took offense at Christian chaplain's take on homosexuality.  Modder, who is endorsed by the Assemblies of God, was accused of discrimination and failing to show tolerance and respect, among other things.  Just a few months earlier, Modder's commander had called him the "best of the best" and a "consummate professional leader."  But now he's on the verge of being kicked out of the military.

Top military brass resisting calls to lift transgender ban.  Defense Secretary Ash Carter has gotten pushback from senior military leaders on whether the Pentagon should lift its ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces, according to U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.

Navy Beats Down Chaplain's Appeal for Religious Freedom in Homophobia Complaint.  Using language that once kept open gays out of the military, the commanding officer of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command is using identical language to remove a Christian Chaplain from his duties.  The Commander says certain kinds of Christian teachings are harmful to "unit cohesion" and "military readiness."  In a sharply-worded memo, Modder's commander denied his request for a "religious accommodation" in a disciplinary process that has relieved him of his command and could kick him out of the Navy forever.

McCain Slams General Dempsey: 'Most Disappointing Chairman Of Joint Chiefs I Have Seen'.  Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain took a major shot at Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey on Fox News' "America's Newsroom," calling him the worst chairman he's ever seen, and nothing more than an "echo chamber" for President Barack Obama.

Former SEALs chaplain could be kicked out of Navy for Christian beliefs.  A chaplain who once ministered to Navy SEALs could be thrown out of the military after he was accused of failing "to show tolerance and respect" in private counseling sessions in regards to issues pertaining to faith, marriage and sexuality, specifically homosexuality and pre-marital sex, according to documents obtained exclusively by Fox News.  Lt. Commander Wes Modder, who is endorsed by the Assemblies of God, has also been accused of being unable to "function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Goose Creek, S.C.

Rebuilding America's military: Where Congress should increase defense spending.  With the full impact of harsh caps on defense spending set to resume next year, Congress has an important opportunity to analyze the merits of the president's proposed increase and exceed it as necessary to target additional funds towards addressing the military's readiness crisis.  Here's how policymakers could spend additional funds — up to and beyond the president's request of $534 billion.

U.S. military decimated under Obama, only 'marginally able' to defend nation.  The U.S. military is shedding so many troops and weapons it is only "marginally able" to defend the nation and falls short of the Obama administration's national security strategy, says a new report by The Heritage Foundation Tuesday [2/24/2015].  "The U.S. military itself is aging.  It's shrinking in size," said Dakota Wood, a Heritage analyst.  "And it's quickly becoming problematic in terms of being able to address more than one major conflict."

[The] U.S. Military [is] No Longer Able to Fight Two Wars at [the] Same Time.  The United States military does not currently have the ability to fight two major wars simultaneously, according to a new report, a significant reduction from the capacity enjoyed by defense officials for decades.  The Heritage Foundation's "2015 Index of U.S. Military Strength" concludes that the armed forces "would be ill-equipped to handle two, near-simultaneous major regional contingencies (MRC)."  The two-MRC goal was largely attained during the Cold War, when U.S. forces engaged in a conflict every 15 to 20 years while maintaining ground forces in other regions to ensure stability and deter aggressors.

No Way to Run a War.  [Scroll down]  There's no concerted effort to actually accomplish anything, because other than ridiculous, idle chatter about "jobs," Obama still doesn't have a concept for how to wage this war.  He's tried decimation-by-drone, but that has hardly kept al Qaeda "on the run."  He's tried an air campaign, but never really committed to it.  He's sent troops into Iraq to train what's left of the Iraqi Army, but not to fight alongside it.  He's forged a coalition of some 60 countries, but won't lead them and sometimes actively works (as with Egypt and Jordan) against them.

The Ultimate failure of Barack Obama.  We have now had Six years of Barack Obama where he pulled troops out of Iraq, pulled American support from allies in Egypt, watch Russia advance in Ukraine and intimidate the Eastern block countries and now this weekend our chief of homeland security told America on three networks that if you are going to the Mall of America in Minnesota[:] "If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they've got to be particularly careful[.]"  Think about that for a second, we went from fighting Islamic Terrorism, forcing the enemy to take on the best trained, best equipped and most effective army in the history of the world in their backyard, to the point where the head of the Department of Homeland security whose mission is to protect Americans in America is warning Americans that they have to be careful in a Mall in the United States.

New Def Sec On Transgender Military Service: 'I'm Very Open-Minded'.  New Defense Secretary Ashton Carter indicated that he is open to transgender people serving in the U.S. military, as long as they can do what is required of them.  A Department of Defense (DoD) regulation prohibits transgender individuals from openly serving in the military.  The Pentagon has the power to change that policy without congressional approval because it is a regulation, not a law.

Senator: Air Force is Unlawfully Dismantling Airlift Wing.  Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) is raising concerns that the Air Force could be dismantling an airlift wing that helps train troops — before providing a legally mandated report to Congress.  Tillis sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James about the proposed inactivation of the 440th Airlift Wing, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, his office said on Friday [2/20/2015].  The 440th flies C-130 aircraft that assist with training for airborne units in the Army and Special Forces Groups at the base.  Last year's defense spending bill required the Air Force to submit a report to Congress on the future of the C-130.  Lawmakers would then have 60 days to deliver their responses.  However, Tillis said in his letter that the Air Force has begun removing airmen from the 440th despite not yet sending the report to Congress.

Making plans is great.  Telling everybody about them is not.
U.S. plans large-scale operation to take Mosul from Islamic State.  The U.S. is planning to join a large-scale air and ground coalition offensive to free Mosul, Iraq, from the clutches of Islamic State militants in coming weeks, but analysts fear the effort will lack the resources to succeed — most notably U.S. boots on the ground.  The plan, part of a larger undertaking dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve, will be the first challenge for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in trying to balance the expectations of the White House with the needs of the military.  Many policy analysts say the choices Mr. Carter makes in the Iraq operation will be indicative of his style of leadership at the Pentagon.

Disclosures of Battle Plan by Pentagon Startle Many.  The Obama administration has been eager to show momentum against the Islamic State after a conference last week dramatized the hurdles to countering the terrorist group's propaganda.  But the Pentagon may have gone too far in sharing its military planning.  On Thursday, a senior official from the American military's Central Command told reporters that Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with help from the United States, were preparing to launch an assault to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul in April or May, before the searing heat of the Iraqi summer.  The assault force, the official said, would consist of up to 25,000 Iraqi and Kurdish troops.

Plan to retake Mosul announced.  A very curious briefing by an anonymous officer who works at US Central Command headquarters on plans for a joint Iraqi-Kurdish operation to retake the city of Mosul.  Why telegraph your punches?  Why let Islamic State know you're coming?  Fox News also interviewed two intelligence officers who couldn't figure out why some anonymous officer at CENTCOM would announce our intentions ahead of time. [...] Can you imagine some anonymous officer at General Eisenhower's SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) headquarters briefing the press about D-Day?

Showing our hand? US military official outlines plan to retake Iraqi city of Mosul.  "That is pretty amazing that that information's out there," retired Gen. Jack Keane, former Army vice chief of staff and a Fox News military analyst, said Friday [2/20/2015].  A current and former military intelligence officer also told Fox News that the decision to publicly announce the plan was counterintuitive because it "telegraphs" the timing and number of units involved.  The officers said it would allow Islamic State, also known as ISIS, or ISIL, to prepare for the battle by laying improvised explosive devices.  Both officers questioned whether political considerations on the part of the Obama administration factored into the decision to announce the offensive.

Senator Tom Cotton Disusses The Political Decision to Military Plans to the Enemy.  "If a private in Iraq had revealed this kind of planning inadvertently by leaving a plan in the channel hall of the gym, he might have faced a court-martial, but now it's now become a matter of policy this administration is going to announce war plans in advance, it only increases risks."

Exclusive: Pentagon Doubts Its Own ISIS War Plan.  Less than 24 hours after U.S. military officials publicly detailed their plans for a spring offensive on ISIS-held Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, many within the Pentagon privately questioned whether that timetable was plausible.  They said that they were dubious that their partners in the Iraqi military — the troops supposed to lead the offensive — would be capable of conducting such a campaign by then.  "I really doubt it is going to happen that soon," said one military officer who, like several others, served in Iraq between 2003-2011 and spoke on condition of anonymity.  "And if it does, it will take months."

Decisions on removing transgender soldiers from Army moving to federal level.  USA Today has turned up an interesting memo making its way through the ranks of the Army this month which, if implemented, will impact how personnel procedures are handled.  According to the memo, the decision to process and discharge transgender soldiers would be made by a high level civilian official, presumably making it far more unlikely that such dismissals would take place.

President Obama, America's Nero.  Like Nero of ancient Rome, Obama fiddles, takes selfies and does Internet interviews while the world burns.  Is he trying to distract himself, or us?  To use a sports analogy, is he trying to "run out the clock" and leave office before terrorist fires consume us?  We have a president who is mismatched to the times in which we live.  He is unserious when seriousness is required.  The tyrants of the world have taken notice and rightly calculated they can pretty much do what they want without paying a heavy penalty.

Enemies of the West Find a Friend in Obama.  Victor Davis Hanson suggested on NRO this month that Obama's goal is a deliberately calibrated weakening of the United States.  He aims to degrade American might, because he believes that "for America to quietly recede and give other nations a chance to direct their own affairs and become global actors would be far more equitable, leading to a world that far better represents heretofore unrepresented billions of people."  Hanson's is a generous interpretation of Obama's motives.  Whatever Obama's intentions, his actions will serve not to strengthen civilization but to weaken it.  If the United States recedes as Obama seems to wish, those billions of people will not be "represented," but even further subjugated.

Bob Woodward: There Is "No Strategy" To Defeat ISIS, WH "Micromanaging" War.  If you talk to people in the White House and the military, I think there is agreement that John McCain is right and Gen. Flynn is right:  there is no strategy. [...] People in the White House are micromanaging the tactical situation on a daily and weekly basis.  That is not their job.  They have to do strategic planning, and say what do we want to accomplish in the next year.

The End of a Dream.  Pervasive disconnect is the Obama administration's standard operating procedure.  The full-moon extent of the Obama world view still survives in his second National Security Strategy which lists among its national security priorities the need to "be a champion for ... people with disabilities; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals; displaced persons; and migrant workers".  It is something that looks curiously out of place in a national security document — until you read the rest of it.

Obama: Reallocate Defense Resources to Foreign Aid.  President Obama says the United States should reallocate defense resources to foreign aid efforts.  He also added that most Americans misunderstand how much of the federal budget goes to diplomacy.

Rice: Climate Change, Gay Rights Part of National Security Strategy.  Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., on Friday [2/6/2015], White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice described the terrorist threat from radical Islam as "violent extremism" and said part of President Barack Obama's national security strategy is fighting "the very real threat of climate change" and promoting gay rights.  Rice's remarks followed the release on Friday of Obama's 2015 National Security Strategy, which updates a similar document released by the White House in 2010.

White House threat assessment: Climate change as dangerous as terrororism.  President Obama's new national-security strategy ranks combating climate change as a priority alongside more traditional threats such as terrorism, biological emergencies and nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue states.  The White House released an outline Friday of Mr. Obama's updated national-security strategy, the administration's first revision in five years.  Along with confronting terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and working to reverse automatic budget cuts for national defense, the administration cited climate change as a top priority.

Is Obama Trying to Kill President Bush?  It's still unclear whether there is any Gitmo terrorist that Obama will not free.  Outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has said that the White House pressured him to free more Gitmo terrorists faster.  White House reports suggested that Obama fired Hagel because he had been moving too slowly on freeing terrorists, making him guilty of thwarting Obama's plot to close Gitmo.  That would make Hagel the first Secretary of Defense to be fired for failing to undermine national security.

Red China is Rapidly Approaching Military Superiority Over U.S..  A senior weapons developer tells Congress that Beijing's massive defense buildup, emphasizing precision-guided and other advanced weapons, has placed the U.S. and its shrinking military at serious risk.

Air Force Vet Rep. Martha McSally Urges Obama to Fund A-10 Warthogs.  Rep. Martha McSally (R., Ariz.) flew A-10 Warthogs in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now fighting to make sure the Pentagon does not scrap them from the budget.  In a letter to President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, McSally wrote that the decision to retire the A-10 would "put American lives at risk."

2 star's 'treason' comments spark call for an investigation.  A prominent lawmaker is calling for an investigation of a major general's reported comments blasting officers as treasonous if they work with Congress against Air Force plans to retire the A-10.  Maj. Gen. James Post, vice commander of Air Combat Command, reportedly told officers at a recent meeting of the Tactics Review Board at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, that they were not to speak with Congress about the service's attempt to retire the attack jet.  "Anyone who is passing information to Congress about A-10 capabilities is committing treason," Post is quoted by former airman and blogger Tony Carr as saying.

Legendary A-10 'Warthog' sends ISIS fleeing even as it faces Pentagon cuts.  With a roaring engine, 30-mm. cannon and nose painted like a toothsome, snarling beast, the A-10 Thunderbolt sends ISIS fighters scattering like cockroaches on the Iraqi desert plains, but the legendary fighter plane pilots call the "Warthog" may be fighting for its own life.  The venerable plane, first built for destroying Soviet tanks, has been on the chopping block since the sequester of 2011 mandated steep cuts in the Pentagon budget.

A-10 Warthog ISIS-Killer Axed by Uber-Competent Commander-In-Chief.  The venerable A-10 Warthog, designed to stop Soviet tanks, and the perfect weapon to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State, as President Obama promised, faces a budgetary chopping block. [...] Dubbed the "Warthog" because of its decidedly un-sleek profile, the A-10 has been found to be useful in another capacity in Iraq — attacking IS forces that don't want to be on the business end of the Warthog's 30 mm cannon as it flies low and slow over the battlefield.  As Iraqi News reported last week after an A-10 sortie against IS forces near Mosul:  "The aircraft sparked panic in the ranks of ISIS and bombing its elements in spaces close to the ground."

An American Hero... and Obama.  I walked out of the movie American Sniper with a heavy heart.  The senseless murder of Chris Kyle at the hands of a fellow veteran is a tragedy.  But it is also appalling that the Obama administration chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a war that Kyle helped to win.  Obama's disdain for our veterans who have given life and limb and heart and soul to protect their country and its freedoms has been apparent for years.  His assault on the military would be horrible at any time, but in the midst of war, it is criminal.

Army recruitment office told to remove 'God and Country' poster.  A poster with the message "On a mission for both God and Country" on display outside a recruiting station in Phoenix was removed Friday morning after it was brought to the attention of the the Army Recruiting Command.  The poster features a Special Forces patch and Ranger, Airborne, and Special Forces tabs with a "stock image" the command makes available for local recruiters to use, "but the text was changed by the local recruiting personnel," and not cleared by command headquarters, spokesman Brian Lepleytold the Army Times on Friday [1/16/2015].

U.S. Military Not Taught Ideology of Islamic Jihad, 'Our Nation Is In Great Peril,' Says CSP.  Center for Security Policy (CSP) official Tommy Waller, who fought against Islamic jihadists "on their turf" in Afghanistan and elsewhere, said his military training did not include instruction in the ideology of the enemy, a deliberate omission that puts America in "great peril."

Federal Regs Making it Difficult for Members of Military to Borrow Money.  Ever since the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, proponents of robust economic growth and sensible regulation have been trying to rein it in.  The legislation that created the Bureau — which was a provision of Dodd-Frank — funded the CFPB via the Federal Reserve.  The aim of doing so was precisely to insulate the CFPB from the power of the Congressional purse, something that sets it apart from every other executive branch agency.  It is not mere rhetoric when Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called the CFPB "the single most unaccountable agency in the history of America."

Pentagon to seek 20% cut for war budget: source.  The Pentagon is expected to seek $51 billion in overseas war funding for fiscal 2016, about 20 percent less than the $64 million approved by Congress the previous year and the lowest budget proposal since 9/11, according to military officials and congressional aides.

A Christian president would never allow this.
The Army disciplines a chaplain for mentioning God.  If you are going to have a Chaplain in the Army teach a suicide prevention class, how in the world don't you expect for him to mention God?  That is what he does and it is how he views the world.  The flyer he gave out obviously was from his point of view and said it was just one option for handling suicide.  If this had been another faith... oh say, Islam, there would have been no problem. But an atheist just could not tolerate the mention of a Christian God.  Not only militaries, but entire civilizations fall into the dust of history over such selective constrictions and admonitions.

Obama Rolls Dice With American Lives Over GITMO Releases.  Of the 779 detainees ever held at Gitmo, almost 650 detainees have been released.  U.S. intelligence authorities report that nearly 1 in 3 are confirmed or suspected of having returned to terrorism.  Ex-Gitmo prisoners have become leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya.  One became a suicide bomber in Iraq.  They've killed Americans or our allies in each place, most notably in Benghazi.

What Does the Military Think of Obama? Not Much.  You just knew that our first hard-Leftist commander in chief would muck about with the military as much as possible.  And the changes appear to be having the desired effect on the folks who collect their paychecks from Washington.

Poll: Obama's Support Among Military Craters.  Support for President Obama among members of the military has fallen drastically in recent years, according to the results of a poll published by the Military Times.  A survey of 2,300 active-duty service members showed that only 15 percent of troops polled in 2014 said they approve of the job Obama is doing as commander in chief.  That is down from 2009's paltry 35 percent approval rating.

President's budget grounds eight C-17s at Joint Base Charleston.  One of the four C-17 flying units assigned to Joint Base Charleston is being grounded, along with another in Washington state, the Air Force announced.  The decision was based on the President Barack Obama's defense budget for fiscal year 2015, according to a statement from the Air Mobility Command.

Air Force secretary supports lifting transgender ban.  Now that the U.S. military has opened more jobs to women and allowed gay men and lesbians to serve openly, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James says the ban on transgender troops is likely to be reassessed and should be lifted.  "Times change," she told Capital Download, saying the policy "is likely to come under review in the next year or so."  Asked whether dropping the ban would affect military readiness, she replied:  "From my point of view, anyone who is capable of accomplishing the job should be able to serve."

'Torture' report shows Obama's selective transparency.  Senate Democrats' new report on the CIA's secret detention and enhanced interrogation program outlines several highly disturbing allegations — both about the nature of the harsh techniques used by U.S. officials and the agency misleading both Congress and the White House.  To the extent that national security permits, voters have a right to know what is being done in their name, especially if it is improper.  That's part of government transparency.  But there seems to be incongruity and even political opportunism in President Obama's selective commitment to disclosing the inner workings of the federal government to its employer, the public.

Leaked Docs: USA Vulnerable to Criminals, Terrorists Entering Without Scrutiny After Obama Exec Amnesty.  Under the executive amnesty immigration action from President Barack Obama, internal administration documents show the administration is considering allowing terrorists, transnational criminals, and anyone else who wants to enter or stay inside the United States to not even answer if they've ever been connected with a crime.  The internal Obama administration documents, obtained by Breitbart News through a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) source, include a draft application for illegal immigrants seeking to stay in the country and future prospective immigrants seeking to the enter the country.

Military Times: Military morale suffering due to budget cuts, loss of mission.  The Military Times is running a three part series on the state of our military.  They've titled it "America's Military: A Force Adrift" and if the first part of the series is any indication, it will prove to be a shocker.

Pentagon insider says Hagel 'couldn't hold his nose anymore' backing Obama's policies.  A senior U.S. Army officer who works closely with high-ranking staff in the office of the Secretary of Defense told MailOnline on Wednesday that outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is 'relieved' to be leaving the Pentagon.  At a coffee shop a half-mile from the Pentagon, the officer said Hagel complained regularly about having to publicly defend President Barack Obama's military policies and priorities, a job requirement he's eager to leave behind.  He described Hagel as 'a good guy who ultimately looked in the mirror one day and realized he couldn't hold his nose anymore.'

Obama is Failing our Military.  Amid jumbled half-hearted pledges to recast the way America is perceived in the world and fiery speeches that proclaim the limits of American power while cutting the defense budget, Obama is failing our military and is endangering our national security. And nothing illustrates this schizophrenic agenda better than the U.S. military's silent deployment across the entire African continent without any sort of public debate about our role there and the costs associated with it.

America's Recessional: President Obama's Legacy.  Hagel was a leading critic of the war in Iraq, after he voted to fully entangle the U.S. in Iraq's endless tribal conflicts.  As president, Mr. Obama surely knew that Hagel could serve as a kennel-fed "Republican" and a heat shield, presiding over the decline in U.S. military strength and purpose.

Imagine a World Without America? Obama Can.  On the domestic, economic, military, and foreign policy fronts, Obama is energetically and probably irretrievably weakening the country he has sworn to defend, with surprisingly little concerted opposition, or even awareness, from many politicians or from the still-infatuated members of his constituency.

Pentagon prepares for more detainee releases from Guantanamo Bay.  The Pentagon is preparing to transfer more detainees from Guantanamo Bay in coming weeks despite continued Republican opposition, according to defense and congressional officials.  The Wall Street Journal reports that, after five detainees were transferred last week, there will be another round in December, but defense officials refused to disclose further information on their numbers or nationalities.

What Hagel's exit means.  Whether he was fired or voluntarily resigned, Chuck Hagel's decision signified only one thing:  Barack Obama no longer enjoys the confidence of the American military establishment.  Basically, Sergeant Hagel resigned because his generals either would not or could not.

Down the Road: Amnesty For Gitmo Detainees.  [I]f you think granting de facto amnesty to millions of illegal aliens was a reach, wait till you see what he might do about Guantanamo.  As is well known, Obama promised on Day One of his presidency to close Gitmo within a year.  But then reality intruded, plus congressional legislation, when Democrats still controlled both houses, blocking him from bringing Gitmo detainees to the U.S.  I'm guessing Obama remains determined to close Gitmo, and the one executive action he could take to accomplish this is simply to declare an amnesty for all of the remaining residents of Gitmo, and releasing them.  If he does this in his last week in office, what could Republicans do?  Impeach him?

Why Did President Obama Appoint Chuck Hagel In The First Place?  First, notwithstanding Hagel's prior management experience in the private sector, the USO and the Veteran's Administration, it is clear that what the administration really wanted was a Republican who would preside over declining defense spending to provide political cover. [...] Second, while it is probably true that new leadership is necessary in the fight against ISIL, the problem seems to be less with the Pentagon's civilian head but with the commander-in-chief and his close advisors.

Miklaszewski's 'Damning' Description of Obama Admin Micromanagement of Pentagon.  [Jim Miklaszewski and Joe Scarborough] were characterizing Miklaszewski's description of the Obama administration's "micromanagement" of the Department of Defense in which communication flows only in one direction:  from the White House to the Pentagon.

The Real Reason Hagel Resigned As Defense Secretary.  In The New York Times, anonymous administration officials said that Hagel left because the mission changed.  That's true.  He was hired to slash the budget, downsize the Army, and be loyal.  In that, he was successful.  But that mission wasn't enough.  The entire hollow consensus of Hagel, Obama, and the anti-surge stewards has been put to the test by Putin and ISIS and it has failed.

Former Special Forces Commander to Hagel: Don't Wait for a Book Deal — Tell the Truth Now.  The American people deserve and have a right to hear the truth about the damage the President's policies have inflicted on the military.  We can't wait any longer to restore the readiness of our military.  Our national security depends upon it.  The reluctance of the current Joint Chiefs of Staff to resist damaging policies is having a devastating impact on military readiness and consequently national security.  Programmed cuts in the military budget as well as cuts resulting from sequestration are reducing America's readiness to a dangerously low level.  From personnel to major weapons systems, military leaders and defense analysts alike agree we are placing our national security on a dangerous footing.  It's time for senior military leaders to go public with their objections even if it results in their resignation or termination.

As Obama Prepares Amnesty, Feds Leave Border Patrol Agents Without Enough Rifles.  As President Obama prepares to announce his plans to essentially legalize five million illegal immigrants from the White House Thursday night, Border Patrol agents working against dangerous criminal aliens are being stripped of their weapons and forced to share rifles, leaving them unarmed and vulnerable.

Border Patrol stripping agents of their rifles.  The News 4 Tucson Investigators have uncovered that some U.S. Border Patrol agents have lost a key part of their arsenal.  And that has agents who patrol along the border here, extremely worried.  We learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Offices of Border Patrol and Training and Development are inspecting the quality of agents' M4 carbines throughout Border Patrol sectors nationwide.  But agents tell us, some of those M4s have not been replaced.  And, we've learned, agents are required to share rifles amongst each other.

Our Military is the Most Important Organization on Earth.  While the rest of the federal government is expanding faster than Obama's ego, our military is at the smallest level since before America's entry into WWII.  Our Navy is also the smallest it's been since WWI, but when Mitt Romney pointed this out during his final debate with Obama in the 2012 race, the President quipped, "Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets."  Well, Mr. President, you were right about the horses, but we actually have three times as many bayonets as we did during WWI.  But since when has Obama let facts get in the way of an argument?

Military Hates White House 'Micromanagement' of ISIS War.  The Pentagon brass placed in charge of implementing Obama's war against ISIS are getting fed up with the short leash the White House put them on.

Like LBJ, but worse.  Not since LBJ's operation of the Vietnam War has the executive branch so botched management of a war.

Why Are the Senate Races Close?  For six years the Democratic majority in the Senate has formed a solid bloc behind a president who betrayed every American soldier who died in Iraq by deliberately losing the war and failing to secure the peace.  Obama's anti-military, anti-American zeal has brought this country to its knees internationally.  His cowardice when it comes to the use of force has created a terrorist threat greater than any America has faced since the height of the Cold War.  With no dissent from the Democratic majority in the Senate.

US Army may be forced to relax physical requirements to recruit 'cyber warriors'.  The US Army is facing a recruitment crisis.  With only 30 percent of American citizens aged 17-24 currently eligible to join, military officials are considering relaxing their requirements in order to sign up some fresh blood.

Team of Bumblers?  According to multiple sources, behind the scenes a few things went badly awry in the launch of Obama's new [ISIS] policy.  First, the Pentagon was surprised by the president's timing, according to a senior defense official.  "We didn't know it was going to be in the speech," he said, referring to Obama's Sept. 10 address to the nation.  Second, the White House neglected to give Pentagon lawyers a chance to revise and approve the proposed legislative language before it went to the Hill, which is considered standard practice.

Taking back America.  With its many scandals, including the Benghazi tragedy, the perverse "progressive" ideology of the Obama administration, combined with its deceitful and manipulative methods, has corrupted normally nonpartisan government agencies.  More importantly, it has infected the civilian and military leadership who lead their agencies.  The core of the corruption is an attitude that flaunts the Constitution and takes the position that the president can do anything he wants with a pen and a phone that promotes an agenda, regardless of its impact on the country's national security.

Obama: They Still Don't Get Who He is.  Think of Obama as a cyborg programmed by socialist/progressives, unfeeling, relentless and laser focused on his mission to transform America as founded and dethrone her.  And nothing, I repeat, nothing, including American lives, will deter this machine from fulfilling its mission.  Consequently, Obama's programming prohibits any possibility of him banning flights from the Ebola hot zone, no matter how many Americans are infected. [...] Military experts say it is preposterous for Obama to deploy our troops (4000) to the Ebola hot zone to do a job for which they are not qualified.  Our troops are not social workers or construction workers.  Obama does not care.

The Pentagon's war on the global climate.  The Pentagon's "2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap," published last week, demonstrates how thoroughly and deeply liberal "climate change" ideology is being embedded in our military establishment.  To undo the damage will require a determined effort by our next president.  We've already seen how the climate change ideology has wasted scarce defense dollars, such as Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus' decision to spend $26 a gallon for 450,000 gallons of biofuel — about $11.7 million — when $5 a gallon diesel fuel would have met the same need.  That, of course, came at a time when the Navy fleet was shrinking to the smallest size since the end of World War I.

Soldiers headed to West Africa left hanging out to dry.  Our troops deserve nothing but the best.  But for those traveling to West Africa, that's not what they're getting.  Not even close.

Pelosi: Let transgender troops serve openly.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports the elimination of rules that ban transgender people from openly serving in the military, her office told the Washington Blade.  "Leader Pelosi believes there is no place for discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces, including on the basis of gender identity," spokesperson Drew Hammill told the Blade.

Keywords:  Petri Dish, guinea pigs, experiments on humans.
General: US Troops Who Contract Ebola Will Be Quarantined in Liberia.  If any American soldiers in Liberia contract the deadly Ebola virus, they will be quarantined, stabilized, and evacuated to a medical facility for treatment, said the Ebola mission commander, adding that the U.S. military hospitals that will admit potentially infected troops have not yet been identified.

Odierno: 'Military risk is accumulating exponentially'.  Bad assumptions about future conflicts and the amount of U.S. military power needed to manage them have "exponentially" increased the military risk the United States faces, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Tuesday [10/14/2014].  Sudden crises ranging from the collapse of the Iraqi military to Russian aggression in Ukraine to a record Ebola outbreak in West Africa — as well as operations elsewhere — have the Army scrambling on six continents.

Will Obama Only Fight Carbon-Neutral Wars?  Has anyone at the Pentagon determined the carbon footprint of our war on IS? Because if a Defense Dept. global warming report is right, we could be doing more harm than good to our national security.  The 20-page report — the cover of which includes a cute picture of baby sea turtles along with tanks and battleships — says climate change "poses immediate risks to U.S. national security."  In his forward, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says it's a "threat multiplier" that, among other things, will increase the risk of terrorism.  (Presumably because heat leads to terrorism.)

Obama Is Risking a U.S. Ebola Outbreak for His Own Ambitions.  Nearly 60 percent of Americans want the government to shut down flights to the U.S. from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, sources of the Ebola virus.  Why isn't the White House playing ball?  One theory:  because once again, President Barack Obama is serving his legacy at the expense of the country.  Six years ago he put his legacy-building healthcare legislation ahead of the need to create jobs and reboot our fragile economy.  Today, his ambition to be a hero to Africa is undermining common sense approaches to protecting Americans from the Ebola virus.

Obama's airstrikes, lackluster leadership [is] an embarrassment.  Instead of striking fear in the heart of the enemy, we're showing ISIS and the rest of the world that the best we can do under this president's lackluster leadership is half-hearted.  ISIS is well aware as it continues its rampage of killing and beheading.  At some point, like it or not, we'll be forced to respond more decisively.

Pentagon backlash: Why are top military leaders attacking Obama's foreign policy?  On Tuesday [10/14/2014], Gen. Ray Odierno, the US Army Chief of Staff, publicly questioned President Obama's plan to reduce the size of America's ground-combat forces, joining a growing chorus of current and former administration officials speaking out against Obama's foreign policy.  Speaking at a news conference during the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army, Odierno cited new threats in the world that forestall the shrinking of the Army, as Obama has repeatedly called for.

Top General Worries U.S. Army Getting Too Small.  The Army's top general said Monday that an increase in threats around the world requires that the U.S. rethink plans to cut the size of the American military's ground force.  The Army agreed — reluctantly — to cut the size of its force to 490,000 under the budget reductions originally approved in 2011.  But as a result of subsequent White House-Congress spending battles and military budget reviews, Pentagon leaders said the Army has had to make plans to shrink even further, to 450,000 or even 420,000.

The Obama Doctrine: Undermine the Military, Coddle Enemies and Distance Friends.  Nothing saps the morale of an army more than knowing that its government doesn't have its back.  This case, as well as the Tahmooressi case, demonstrates with utmost clarity that the Obama administration at best, doesn't [care] about its soldiers.  A more cynical approach would suggest that the administration is actually working to undermine the morale of its troops.

Obama is intentionally wasting military manpower.
Hagel: Pentagon launching climate roadmap.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel unveiled a climate change roadmap on Monday, urging his international counterparts to remain "clear-eyed" about the "security threats" presented by global warming.  Speaking at a meeting of defense ministers in Peru, Hagel announced the new Pentagon report, which is set to be released later on Monday [10/13/2014] and details the Defense Department's plan to fight climate change.

Up in smoke?  There's a new battle brewing over smoking in the military.  Congress and the Defense Department are mulling over a potential ban on selling tobacco products — cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco — on military bases and ships in an effort to curb high smoking rates, but critics argue the move would be unfair to service members who already are making significant sacrifices.

The Editor says...
Brilliant.  Obama is willing to send soldiers to war against the most ruthless people in the world, and sends them off to help clean up the Ebola mess in Africa, but doesn't want them to buy cigarettes.  After all, cigarettes might make you sick!

Obama's Watch: 90% Of 20K Total U.S. Warriors Wounded In Afghanistan War.  At least 17,316 American soldiers have been wounded in the Afghanistan war theater since Obama was inaugurated for his first term, according to a count maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).  Overall, according to the Pentagon, 20,017 United State troops have been wounded in action (WIA) since Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began 13 years ago today.

A Naval Disaster in the Making.  The U.S. Navy's latest shipbuilding plan would see its attack submarine fleet diminish from 55 to 41 boats in the next decade and a half.  That decision, confirmed in August, was eclipsed by the advance of ISIL, war in Gaza, and sedition in Ukraine.  But the Navy's announcement — the single-largest strategic consequence of this administration's defense cuts — has the most far-reaching ramifications of the summer's events.

For the first time, Russia has more deployed nuclear warheads than U.S..  For the first time, Russia, which is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear modernization, has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States, according to the latest numbers released by the State Department.  Russia now has 1,643 warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers.  The United States has 1,642, said the fact sheet released Wednesday [10/1/2014].

President's Program to Recruit Illegal Immigrants for Military will 'Directly Displace' U.S. Servicemembers.  U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a statement today concerning the President's new effort to recruit illegal immigrants and visa overstays into the U.S. military. Sessions also detailed the actions the President should be taking, instead of pursuing an illegal executive amnesty.

Treason:
Obama's Loose Lips.  Ever since he became President Barack Obama has worked to weaken America's posture toward our adversaries.  Some of these have been obvious: eviscerating American armed forces, betraying ally relationships built up over decades, and empowering foes such as Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.  Others have flown under the radar screen but, like the diminishing fleet of stealth fighters in the Air Force, can nevertheless be devastating.  These deliberate steps began early.  Within a few months of Barack Obama's inauguration, his administration made public detailed interrogation memos describing the techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency to gather information from terrorists.  Those methods were among the Bush administration's most closely guarded secrets.

Piers Morgan Writes Hit Piece On President Obama.  While the content is vicious, angry and sure to tickle conservative journalists and pols, the writing is colorful, even entertaining.  "A slapdash Secret Service detail isn't what's wrong with the White House — the real scandal is a President who is so complacent about protecting Americans," the headline blares.  Piers predicts that now that President Obama went on "60 Minutes" and distanced himself from U.S. national intelligence agencies on the rapid spread of ISIS, he's guaranteed himself leaks to the media for the remainder of his presidency.

Desperately Seeking a Weaker United States.  While the U.S. cuts its defense spending, Russia and China have been increasing theirs.  Moreover, while nuclear weapons can be found in nations like North Korea, a self-declared enemy of the U.S. Iran is intent on creating its own nuclear capability, the U.S. has not only reduced its nuclear arsenal (Obama wants no arsenal) and has entered into negotiations that no observer believes will result in any cessation of Iran's intentions. [...] This has all happened while Obama has been President.  He has already announced that the U.S. will not put "boots on the ground" in Iraq and will leave Afghanistan next year.  Telling the enemy what you intend to do militarily is a profoundly stupid thing to do.

US Homeland Security moves to tackle climate change risks.  Protecting the infrastructure of American cities from the effects of climate change is rising on the agenda of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to a top agency official.

So have they found all the terrorists? Homeland Security is now helping to protect communities from the effects of climate change.  They're tasked with protecting the United States from terrorists and keeping America's biggest cities safe, but Homeland Security's brief appears to be widening to include more global issues like climate change.  The department that was created by President Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks says that the role of the organization is 'to assist in the wake of disasters, whether they be man-made or natural'.  However, claims of 'mission-creep' are now being hurled at the department which is attempting to redefine its role as one of emergency management than of protection and security against enemies of the state.

Military to allow undocumented immigrants to serve.  A small number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will have an opportunity to join the military for the first time in decades under a new Department of Defense policy unveiled Thursday [9/25/2014].  The new rules will expand an existing program allowing recruiters to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training.  For the first time, the program — known as Military Accessions in the National Interest, or MAVNI — will be open to immigrants without a proper visa if they came to the U.S. with their parents before age 16.  More specifically, they must be approved under a 2012 Obama administration policy known as Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, or DACA.

How do we know they are loyal only to this country, if they have abandoned their own?
Obama Enacts Executive Action to Allow Some DREAMers to Serve in Military.  On the day Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation, President Barack Obama enacted an executive action on Thursday to allow certain DREAMers to serve in the military and be put on an expedited path to citizenship.  Obama vowed to hold off on broad executive amnesty that would also potentially grant temporary work permits to millions of illegal immigrants until after the midterm elections to help Senate Democrats retain the Senate.  According to the Military Times, this executive action will expand MAVNI (Military Accessions in the National Interest) "to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise, or specialized health care training."

Navy used 47 Tomahawks last night, 47% of planned 2015 purchases.  Last night's [9/22/2014] air strikes against ISIS in Syria used up 47 Tomahawk missiles.  The Tomahawk is an extremely effective weapon, capable of delivering its ordnance precisely, without risking a pilot's life.  But the defense cuts of the Obama administration call for procuring only one hundred Tomahawks next year.

And apparently Obama is selling off the remaining stock:
Britain buys 20 Tomahawk missiles ready to strike IS today.  Britain has bought 20 Tomahawk missiles from the US in preparation for its bombing campaign against Islamic State.  Costing £1million each, they are fired from submarines and can be computer-programmed to turn corners.

Days later...
Defense Leaders Warn of Tomahawk Missile Shortage.  As the United States steps up its battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), defense leaders on Capitol Hill are raising concerns about a looming shortage in the Tomahawk missile supply, a key offensive weapon that the Navy has deployed against militant strongholds in Syria and elsewhere. The U.S. Navy's current reliance on the Tomahawk, known as "the world's most advanced cruise missile," comes just months after the Obama administration attempted to significantly cut funding for the weapon and then eliminate it completely it in 2016, a move that drew heavy criticism from defense experts and lawmakers.

Would You Follow President Obama Into Battle?  There is good reason to believe that President Barack Obama will not conduct an effective battle against the Islamic State.  As Townhall's Katie Pavlich explains, several generals have stated that his current plan will not accomplish his stated goal, and he has consistently rejected sound military advice regarding Iraq and Afghanistan.  He and his subordinates obfuscate the nature of the enemy and the battle, and are not indicating that they are serious about defeating the Islamic State.  It is becoming clearer each day that Obama wants to micro-manage and restrict the battle.

Saving Private Obama.  ISIS insolence may cause the president to revisit his command decision before the end.  But it puts the armed forces in an age old bind.  What should they do when ordered to act against their better judgment?  For most of recorded military history subordinates have struggled with this exact situation; serving under commanders whom they were bound to obey yet sworn to serve.

Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State.  Flashes of disagreement over how to fight the Islamic State are mounting between President Obama and U.S. military leaders, the latest sign of strain in what often has been an awkward and uneasy relationship.

Morale: The U.S. Navy Is Fading Away.  The U.S. Navy recently ran an opinion survey which confirmed that morale was low and getting worse, with a growing number of experienced sailors eager to get out of the navy.  The most common gripe was the length of time spent at sea and the belief that those long voyages to distant waters were going to get longer.  There was also growing disillusionment with navy leadership.  Sailors saw senior officers more concerned with political correctness and "zero tolerance" than with legitimate complaints of sailors and junior officers.

Air Force Members Can Now Omit 'So Help Me God' from Oath.  The U.S. Air Force announced a significant change to its policy for reciting oaths Wednesday [9/17/2014].  Starting now, members and officers can choose to omit the words "so help me God" when delivering enlistment and officer appointment oaths.

Military gets 'sensitive' under Obama.  The military is growing more "sensitive" under the Obama administration, Pentagon observers say, by relaxing long-standing restrictions on soldiers' religious and personal liberties.  The efforts by the Defense Department to adapt to cultural change go beyond the moves to end the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow women in combat.  In recent weeks, the Pentagon has backed off controversial hairstyle regulations that critics said discriminated against black women and made the phrase "so help me [G]od" optional in the oath for airmen.  Earlier this year, the military loosened its rules for soldiers who want to wear turbans or grow religious beards and provided exemptions for having tattoos and piercings.  "We want to make sure we're not offending people," a DOD official told The Hill.

Our Troops Have Work To Do Before Acting As Red Cross.  The president declares that ground troops are a non-option against the Islamic State, then orders 3,000 troops to Africa as a surrogate Red Cross.  The U.S. military should be too busy for that.

Isn't this what the Peace Corps is for?
Obama Orders Boots on the Ground!  We're at war.  We're putting boots on the ground.  We're not waiting around for the host nation's government to get its affairs in order, or for a regional coalition to commit first. [...] Of course, the enemy the president has boldly and unhesitatingly sent our troops to fight is the Ebola virus.  Aren't there other parts of the U.S government suited to carry on this fight?

President Alfred E. Neuman.  How many people from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea will arrive today on aircraft, ships and across our open borders by car and on foot?  Nobody knows.  How many will, like the man who lies at death's door in a Dallas hospital, be infected with the disease?  Again, nobody knows, least of all our government. [...] Let's be precise:  no U.S. troops should be sent and those already there should be ordered back.  The good they can do is very little, and the risk to them is too enormous to require any soldier to take.

NIH Official Dismisses Rand Paul's Concerns Of Ebola Threat To US Troops.  On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Institutes and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dismissed Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) concerns that U.S. troops being sent to West African nations with Ebola outbreaks could be in danger of contracting the disease.  On CBS's Face the Nation [10/5/2014], Fauci was asked about Paul's comments last week in which he expressed concerns about Ebola spreading on ships like the "diarrhea viruses" that have ravaged cruise ships.

Government Has Failed In Its Job To Protect Americans From Ebola.  The problem we face is not just one African who entered our country and then died from Ebola.  It's a national health problem that has made our health care personnel carriers of a fatal African disease endangering Americans who never went to Africa.  Obama sent thousands of U.S. troops to Liberia, a country stricken with Ebola.  He ignores the danger to our American troops and also to other Americans when these servicemen and women return home.  The safety of the American people is less important to him than posing as a world citizen.

About 500 Fort Hood troops West Africa-bound.  The U.S. Army is deploying about 500 Fort Hood soldiers to Liberia to back U.S. efforts in the fight against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

The Editor says...
Think about this action for a moment.  If it were Obama's goal to intentionally introduce Ebola into the U.S. and spread it around, what would he do differently?  He is taking 500 Americans (in this case, randomly selected from the 50 states) and sending them to Africa, exposing them to the Ebola virus.  Eventually those 500 people will return home (we hope), and eventually they will return to their home towns.  When the soldiers finish their 21-day isolation period, they are considered free of the disease.  But how do we know 21 days is enough, and how will we know the apparently healthy soldiers are not asymptomatic carriers?

More about Ebola.

Are we Being Betrayed from Within by an Islamist in the White House?  Obama is training 70,000 Taliban in American military methods, in Afghanistan.  Obama released the five most dangerous Taliban from Gitmo in exchange for an away-without-leave, Islamist traitor.  He helped only Muslims in this deal, and harmed America to boot.  Obama has fostered an environment in the Mid-East that has nurtured the birth of the Islamic State.  Obama released their Caliph Ibrahim from US custody in Camp Bucca, Iraq, back in the spring of 2009, when he went by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.  Obama continues only to stalemate IS.  He will not kill the cancer while it is still easily done.  An Islamist president would not wish to harm or restrain IS more than politically necessary.  Obama has sent Secretary of State Chuck Hagel to Qatar with an $11 billion-dollar weapons deal.  Qatar provides arms to Hamas.  Obama has held up arms shipments to Israel during their war with Hamas.  He has made statements condemning Israel.  He sympathizes with Hamas.  Obama is cutting the US army to pre-WWII levels and the navy to pre-WWI levels.  He has taken our nuclear missile defense from 5,500 to 1,550 without getting concessions from the Chinese or Russians.

PC military? Army worried too many white men lead combat units.  U.S. Army sociologists are worried that a lack of black officers leading its combat troops will have detrimental effect on minorities and lead to fewer black officers in top leadership posts.  "The issue exists.  The leadership is aware of it," Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis told USA Today on Thursday [9/11/2014].  "The leadership does have an action plan in place.  And it's complicated."

The Editor says...
The leadership of the Army, headed by Barack H. Obama, is apparently more concerned about finding the blackest available officers instead of looking for the best officers, regardless of color.

Why Must The Safety Of Americans Depend on Others?  President Barack Obama has struggled to sound convincing in recent days as he addressed the challenge of ISIS — or "ISIL," his preferred acronym for the so-called Islamic State.  Obama's problem goes beyond gaffes about his lack of strategy.  The fundamental issue is that he is ambivalent about his role in protecting Americans at home and abroad, and has made the safety of American citizens dependent on other nations' cooperation.

Remilitarize the World Police.  America's deterrent — our ability to discourage and respond to aggression — is gone.  It was thrown away.  First, President Obama cut defense massively, constraining the Pentagon and hollowing out the force.  He was helped not only by Democrats in Congress but also by Republicans, who agreed to the budget sequester in 2011.  Democrats want more money for social programs; Republicans want to cut the deficit.  They are both guilty of short-term thinking.  The effects of defense cuts are felt not only in one budget.  They are felt over time — in weapons not developed or devised, forces not raised, troops not adequately trained and equipped.  The government cashes out a peace dividend just once.  Later, we all pay.

U.S. military dependence on Russian rocket engines raises security concerns.  The rising tensions with Russia over its aggression in Ukraine is creating national security concerns inside the Pentagon, where the military's largest satellite program is reliant on a rocket engine produced by Moscow.  The Air Force said it has begun looking for alternatives to the RD-180 rocket engines for its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program — the fourth largest line item in the U.S. defense budget — now that Russia has threatened to cut off the technology in its tit-for-tat struggle with the U.S.

The New World Disorder.  In just the last five or six years the world has been fundamentally transformed.  Instead of the old accustomed Western-inspired postwar global order, crafted and ensured by the United States and its European and Japanese partners, there is now mostly chaos, from Ukraine to Syria to the South China Sea. [...] The general cause of the unrest is that, fairly or not, the world senses that the United States is tired after its recent interventions, cutting back its defenses, and all but financially insolvent.  We might scoff at Neanderthal notions like a loss of deterrence inviting aggression, but Neanderthals do not.

Obama's Willful Blindness.  [F]acts don't matter to Barack Obama.  How do we know facts don't matter to Barack Obama?  Because he avoids them like a plague.  Facts are his greatest enemy.  Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen noted something very revealing in this most transparently un-transparent administration:  Obama skips more than half of his daily intelligence briefings.  Imagine a general just ordering his radar turned off, or a captain switching off his sonar — or a commander-in-chief resting up for a high-dollar campaign event instead of acting to prevent a (Benghazi) massacre of Americans.  All deliberate actions of willful blindness.  If Obama won't care about facts, why not cut the budget for our intelligence agencies?

The Pentagon can easily drop its ban on transgender troops, study finds.  The Defense Department repealed its controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gay people from openly serving in the military three years ago in September.  Some senior officers questioned the decision, fearing it could cost lives, but Pentagon officials said the repeal has not hurt military readiness or cohesion.  Civil rights advocates, including some retired military officers, are now pressing for another change.  The armed forces continue to enforce a ban on transgender military service, months after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in May that he was open to a review that would lift it.

Zero Dark Shut Up.  Certainly, there is a place for heroic tales of American soldiers and the public must be informed about some basic things.  But Zero Dark Thirty was up for a slew of Oscars while Osama Bin Laden's body was still cooling, and the film was made with extensive cooperation by the Obama administration presumably because it was deemed politically helpful.  Publicizing the details of Special Operations Forces to score political points has become an irksome and hazardous habit with this administration.

National Security Policy Adrift.  Russia has embarked on an accelerated modernization of both its strategic and conventional forces, while China continues with an unprecedented military expansion of both its strategic and conventional forces.  The Obama Administration's response has been to continue with the unilateral disarmament of our military forces[.]  It will leave us with the smallest Army since prior to WWII, and the smallest Navy since prior to WWI.  Furthermore, our strategic forces have been allowed to atrophy over the past two decades.  Our national leadership deliberately is jeopardizing our national security.

Obama lifts ban on Libyans attending flight school, studying nuclear science here.  President Reagan worried about terrorist hijackers using airplanes as weapons way back in 1983.  He banned Libyans from taking flight lessons or nuclear studies in the United States.  Now, believe it or not, President Obama is lifting that ban because, aides say, post-Gaddafi Libya and its relations with the United States are "normalized."  Seriously?  We just abandoned our embassy there last month. [...] This is the same Libya that brought us Lockerbie.  The same Libya Hillary Clinton urged Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama to attack. Citing possible civilian slaughter in the anti-Gaddafi rebellion of 2009, Obama obeyed.

Intel Chief Blasts Obama.  General Michael Flynn served as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from July 2012 until last week.  Throughout his tenure he challenged the Obama administration's hopeful and inaccurate narrative about the war against al Qaeda and jihadists — pushback that doubtless contributed to his early departure from the agency.  Flynn isn't leaving quietly.

Top US Official: US Less Safe than on 9/10/2001.  In a wide ranging and candid Yesterday, [8/9/2014] interview with Breaking Defense, retiring Defense Intelligence Agency chief Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn rang the alarm bells in an administration that has been trying to downplay the terror threat since 2009.  Flynn, who had a reputation for being "disruptive," says that there are more terror groups than ever before, they have more members, they hate the United States as much as ever and they are far better trained and equipped than they used to be.

A Fire Bell in the Night. Zzzzzz...  If I remember correctly, George Will once referred to a book by Jean-François Revel as "a fire bell in the night."  (The phrase comes from Thomas Jefferson.)  Well, something called the National Defense Panel has issued a fire bell in the night.  But I don't think anyone will hear it.  Because a) it's a government report and b) it's a government report that people aren't disposed to hear.  No one wanted to hear George W. Bush talk about the collapse of Social Security: because Social Security hadn't collapsed yet.  And no one wants to hear about the diminished state of our defenses.

The National Defense Panel Review of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review.  The Air Force now fields the smallest and oldest force of combat aircraft in its history yet needs a global surveillance and strike force able to rapidly deploy to theaters of operation to deter, defeat, or punish multiple aggressors simultaneously.  As a result of the budget constraints imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act, the Air Force's Bomber, Fighter and Surveillance forces are programmed to drawdown to approximately 50% of the current inventory by 2019.

Obama's Treachery and Republican Silence.  Barack Obama deliberately set out to lose the war in Iraq, and he did.  He defied the advice of his joint chiefs of staff to secure America's formidable military presence and keep 20,000 troops in country, and left Iraq to its own devices and the tender mercies of Iran.  In doing so, he betrayed every American and Iraqi who gave his life to create a free Iraq and keep it out of the clutches of the terrorists.  Iraq is now a war zone dominated by the terrorist forces of the Islamic State, whose rise Obama's policies fostered.

Barack H. Obama detests the military, and it shows.
Obama on first combat death of an American general in decades: (Silence).  This week, Maj. Gen. Harold Greene became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to die in the Afghan war.  He was assassinated and a dozen others wounded at a training camp near Kabul by a man in an Afghan army uniform, the first American general to die in a combat zone since the Vietnam War.  But Obama had nothing to say, issued no White House statement.  Wednesday during several public events, including a 40-minute pre-vacation news conference, the commander-in-chief uttered not a single word about the violent death of one of only about 200 Army generals.  Strange behavior from someone who so often pays lip service to the devotion and sacrifice of U.S. military volunteers and behavior likely to confirm widespread skepticism of the Democrat's sincerity.

Any detriment to morale weakens the military.
President Obama Congratulates Spurs For Hiring Female Coach While Completely Ignoring Death of Two Star Combat General Harold Greene.  Sometimes we finding ourselves asking why do we even bother to point out these contrasting narratives.  The sad reality is that people do that which is important to them, and they avoid that which is unimportant.  The same principle applies to President Obama.

Navy removes Bibles from guest rooms.  There is growing outrage among sailors and religious liberty advocates over a directive that calls for the removal of Bibles from lodges and hotels run on U.S. Navy bases.  The directive comes after an atheist group filed a formal complaint earlier this year over the placement of Bibles in the rooms.  "The current direction is to remove all religious material from Navy Lodge guest rooms," read an email to a Navy chaplain from The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM).

Update:
Navy reverses course, puts Bibles back in hotels during policy review.  Bibles began disappearing from Navy lodges over the summer after complaints were made by an atheist group, but that decision has now been reversed while a policy review takes place.  The Freedom from Religion Foundation complained about the religious books earlier in the year, which prompted the Navy Exchange to have managers put Gideons Bibles in lost-and-found locations.

Navy tells lodges to put removed Bibles back into rooms.  Gideons Bibles are going back into Navy lodges.  The Navy on Thursday [8/14/2014] ordered the Bibles returned to rooms and said it is reviewing a decision by the Navy Exchange to remove them from its worldwide network of military hotels.  Atheists had cheered a victory after a complaint prompted the exchange to begin moving the Bibles to its lost-and-found bins this summer, but the Navy said the decision was made without consulting senior leadership.

A Governor's Dilemma: Illegal Immigrants Divert Resources From State's Own Citizens.  On June 13, the first bus of illegal immigrant minors, aged 12-17, arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  The state of Oklahoma was given no formal notice, and no chance to object.  After weeks of bad publicity, public outrage and political pressure, the Obama administration announced this week that the facility will close by Friday, Aug. 8.  That's good news for the people of Oklahoma and the men and women of Fort Sill, who will once again have the full use of their military base for the purpose it was designed for:  housing and training soldiers.

The Editor says...
Here's the thing about immigration:  If all illegal immigrants were hard-working, English-speaking, disease-free, law-abiding rocket scientists who had jobs waiting for them in the U.S., we could look the other way.  Unfortunately, the situation we face is nothing like that.  If there are any rocket scientists, they probably hope to someday use rockets against Israel, or South Korea, or us.

Lawsuit: Soldier forced out of Army for serving Chick-fil-A, reading Hannity book.  A member of the U.S. Army Band said he was forced out of the U.S. Army for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity, a federal lawsuit alleges.  Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers, a 25-year veteran of the military and a decorated soloist in the U.S. Army Band Chorus, claims he was forcibly retired from the Army due to his religious and conservative political beliefs.

50 Things Barack Obama Has Done Wrong:  [#31]  George W. Bush quit playing golf in 2003 because he didn't want the mother of some fallen soldier to see the Commander-in-Chief out playing golf.  He also said he thought playing golf during a war sent the wrong signal to the American people.  Through June of 2014, Obama was up to 177 rounds and is on pace to play twice as much in his second term as his first term.

Obama military downsizing leaves U.S. too weak to counter global threats, panel finds.  An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and Congress said Thursday [7/31/2014] that President Obama's strategy for sizing the armed services is too weak for today's global threats.  The National Defense Panel called on the president to dump a major section of his 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and write a broader strategy that requires the military to fight on multiple fronts at once.  It also said the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a "serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States."  The forces' numbers spelled out in Mr. Obama's QDR are "inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment."

Obama Hands Out Billions To Newly Imported Illegal Aliens as the Army Forces Out 550 Majors.  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.  Gen. John Campbell says notifying troops on the warfront that they are out of a job is difficult.  But he says some could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.  The Army was criticized when senior leaders recently told nearly 1,200 captains that they had to leave the service — 48 of them were deployed to Afghanistan.

Comparing President Obama to Jimmy Carter is an insult to Carter.  Most of what Obama has broken can't be fixed.  But he could give the next U.S. president a fighting chance by following Carter's example and doing something.  Reversing the atrophy of American military capabilities would be a start.

Defense Panel: Obama Administration Defense Strategy 'Dangerously' Underfunded.  The Obama administration's four-year defense strategy lacks funding needed for fulfilling global military missions and the U.S. military faces "high risk" in the world unless changes are made, according to a bipartisan report by a congressionally backed panel of defense experts.  The report by the National Defense Panel, led by former Defense Secretary William Perry and retired United States Army Gen. John Abizaid, criticized the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review for outlining military responsibilities that cannot be met because of sharp defense funding cuts.  The report concluded that the capabilities called for in the QDR "clearly exceed the budget resources made available to the department."

Army to Force Out 550 Majors; Some in Afghanistan.  About 550 Army majors, including some serving in Afghanistan, will soon be told they have to leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.

Independent Panel Says Obama's Military Downsizing Is Dangerous, Puts The US & Our Soldiers At Risk.  In their effort to end two wars while also cutting the budget, the President and his Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have begun the process of shrinking the military to pre-WWII levels.  Cutting down the size of the military has resulted in thousands of soldiers getting separated from the military, including the infamous occurrence of commanders in Afghanistan learning that once their deployment is over, their service will "no longer be needed."  And now, an independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and approved by Congress has called the President's action "a serious misstep" that will result in a military that is "too weak for today's global threats," The Washington Times reports.

Troops told to refrain from eating, drinking in front of Muslims.  Do not eat or drink in front of Muslims, and learn more about their religion.  That's the directive that has gone out to active duty military personnel at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a Department of Defense medical and graduate school in Bethesda, Md.  The brigade commander sent an email to military personnel at the facility last month — just before the start of Ramadan — advising them to show respect to Muslim colleagues.

Also posted under The one-sided separation of church and state.

Things Obama Just Won't Do.  Obama's foreign policy has two goals.  First, Obama disdains the use of American power.  Not just military power but diplomatic and international power as well.  His policy is dedicated to eliminating any action that is undertaken because America's interests demand it.  His aim is to reduce America from a superpower to something less.  He's succeeding.

Open Borders or Open Society?  Anyone concerned about the survival of the greatest nation on earth knows that our national sovereignty depends in part on knowing who is coming in to the country, having defined borders and laws pertaining to immigration enforced.  Anyone interested in open borders and challenging immigration law that sets definitions and restrictions therefore, either doesn't understand the consequences, or knows [quite] well that the nation will not survive — and that ideologically-driven person is our nation's enemy.

Pentagon gives pink slips to thousands of soldiers, including active-duty officers.  Defense Department officials said the reductions are the result of mandatory spending cuts imposed by sequestration and are part of their larger plan to reduce the number of U.S. soldiers from 520,000 to 450,000.  Roughly 2,600 captains and other officers have or will be laid off, with more expected, Fox News learned Friday [7/11/2014].  The decision to send pink slips to soldiers overseas on active duty is dangerous and bad for morale, says retired Major Gen. Robert Scales.

War deaths - Obama vs Bush
U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan: Obama vs Bush.  575 US troops died in Afghanistan during the Bush presidency.  By August 18, 2010, following two troop surges initiated by President Obama, that number had doubled.  Today, over 1500 US troops have died in Afghanistan since President Obama took office — and yet, little in that war-torn country has changed.  These numbers should give us pause.  While the Administration has publicly conceded that there is no military solution in Afghanistan, and claimed that it supports 'Afghan-led reconciliation', its policy on the ground is marked by a refusal to establish a timetable for full military withdrawal even after misleading Americans into thinking that all US troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.  We must ask ourselves how many more lives will be sacrificed before the Obama administration sets a clear end date for America's longest war.

Obama picks first woman non-pilot to head Air Force in Pacific.  Air Force Lt. Gen. Lori J. Robinson was nominated by the president for a fourth star and to be commanding general of the military branch's Pacific operations.  If confirmed, she will be the first four-star female commander of combat forces, the Pentagon announced.  But many wonder if her lack of experience in the air puts US forces on a highway to the danger zone.

General Calls Border Crisis An Existential Threat.  The general in charge of U.S. Southern Command says America's porous southern border poses as much a threat as any foreign power, with gangs and terrorist groups hiding among the tidal wave of illegals.  If Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, keeps warning about the crisis at our southern border, he may soon join the long list of generals and admirals sacked by this administration as it decimates the military.

Our Roost, Obama's Chickens.  We were told that only Obama-haters at home had catalogued the president's apologies abroad, his weird multicultural bowing to authoritarians, his ahistorical speeches about mythical Islamic achievements, his surreal euphemisms for radical Islam, terrorism, and jihadism, his shrill insistence about civilian trials for terrorists and closing Guantanamo, or the radical cutbacks at the Pentagon, coupled with the vast increase in entitlement spending.  But after six years of all that, our allies have got the message that they are on their own, our enemies that there are few consequences to aggression, and neutrals that joining with America does not mean ending up on the winning side.

Obama and the Culture of Death.  Obama is setting the stage for the decimation of the military.  U.S. Army Reserve Major Montgomery J. Granger writes that "[t]he danger of electing a president with no military experience, or respect for those who do serve, is coming home to roost.  Obama hates the military and takes every opportunity to humiliate and endanger U.S. forces, especially our elite marines and Navy SEALS, and now is striking at the heart of our forces:  The Army."

U.S. Nuke Sites Dismantled Security to Save Money, Report Warns.  The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is tasked with managing the nation's nuclear stockpile and securing classified research sites, has "increased risks and reduced security" over the past several years in a bid to reduce overhead costs, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.  Security vulnerabilities at these NNSA sites still persist two years after a major breach at one of its top facilities in Tennessee.  The administration's own officials have described the security policy as "chaotic" and "dysfunctional," according to the report.

US says it will no longer produce or acquire anti-personnel land mines.  The White House says the United States will no longer produce or acquire anti-personnel land mines and plans to join an international treaty banning their use.

Obama Sending Troops Who Could Be Prosecuted in Iraqi Courts.  When U.S. troops arrive back in Iraq to try to salvage its rapidly deteriorating situation, they have more to worry about than fighting ISIS terrorists.  Those soldiers could also face criminal prosecution in Iraqi courts, since President Barack Obama failed to secure an immunity agreement for American forces. [...] Far from the "equal justice under law" that is the hallmark of America's judiciary, Iraq's courts are thoroughly compromised and unreliable.

Time for a Dose of Reality.  Perhaps it is no coincidence that the recent failures that have engulfed the Obama administration are all related to the military.  Reality hits home quickly in military matters; military affairs are not an area where you can play, as the leadership and elected officials of the left have long been playing, an elaborate game of pretend.

No Mr. President, You are the 'Serious Threat to Everybody's Future'.  While he golfs, vacations, and parties with the rich and famous, our enemies have become seasoned warriors with weapons, strategies, and plans intended to defeat us.  We are in serious trouble!  In addition to obliterating our reputation as a superpower with the will to face the evildoers, Obama has decimated our military capability bringing us to pre-WWII levels.  Eight years of a Commander-in-Chief who has nothing but disdain for our military's ability to project strength and instill fear across the globe may very well take decades to repair and rebuild.

President Obama's Exceptionally Productive Week.  In the midst of America grappling with the reality that veterans are safer on the battlefield than on a VA hospital waiting list, on Memorial Day, Barack Obama, lover of all things military, flew to Kabul to surprise our U.S. servicemen and women. [...] Looking spiffy in a brown bomber jacket festooned with American flags, the guy who effectively barred veterans from entering the WWII Memorial during the sequester promised the troops that their well-being was of the utmost concern: [...]

Pentagon wrestles with false climate predictions as military funds shifted to green agenda.  Ten years ago, the Pentagon paid for a climate study that put forth many scary scenarios.  Consultants told the military that, by now, California would be flooded by inland seas, The Hague would be unlivable, polar ice would be mostly gone in summer, and global temperatures would rise at an accelerated rate as high as 0.5 degrees a year.  None of that has happened.  Yet the 2003 report, "An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security," is credited with kick-starting the movement that, to this day and perhaps with more vigor than ever, links climate change to national security.

The Editor says...
President Obama is wasting military manpower by having the Pentagon plan to fight the weather instead of fighting actual enemies.

A-10 planes slighted in defense bill measure.  Supporters of the A-10 warplane were rebuffed Friday as a U.S. House panel approved a defense spending measure that would let the Air Force retire the 1970s-era combat aircraft.  The move by the appropriations subcommittee added to uncertainty over the Air Force's plan to retire all 283 of the planes to save $4.2 billion over five years in a time of declining military spending.  The A-10 fleet's loss would be a major blow to the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, which maintains a fleet of 18 Thunderbolt II A-10 fighters.

DHS Stonewalls Congress on 'Hands Off' Permitting Those with Terror Ties into U.S..  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is refusing to answer Congress' questions about the existence of a secret terrorist "hands off" list that is said to have permitted individuals with terrorist ties easy entrance into the United States.  The existence of the hands-off list was first publicized earlier this month by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), who released a cache of internal DHS emails detailing the list's existence and a discussion about permitting an alleged member of the Muslim Brotherhood to enter the United States.

Obama Shuts Down 500,000 Acres.  President Obama signed an executive order last week to place 500,000 acres under the "permanent protection" of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (OMDP) in south central New Mexico.  Despite Obama's claim that "there is no time to waste to preserve our precious resources," there was no urgency and little justification for the creation of this federal park.

Also posted under What's the Rush?

Report: 'Undocumented Immigrants' Will Be Able to 'Join the Military'.  The Huffington Post reports that the "Obama Administration Plans To Let Some Young Undocumented Immigrants Join The Military."  The plans have been approved by the Pentagon.  "Pentagon officials have approved a policy that would allow a limited group of undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children to enlist in the military, opening up a path for them to eventually become citizens, The Huffington Post has learned," reports the liberal website.

Valerie Plame: CIA outing 'colossally stupid'.  Another CIA official whose cover was blown by a presidential administration said the inadvertent outing of an intelligence official in Afghanistan by the White House was "colossally stupid" and will have repercussions for the intelligence community.  But Valerie Plame, whose identity was infamously leaked by the Bush administration in 2003 and touched off a scandal, said on Wednesday it's an apples to oranges comparison as it appears to be a mistake, rather than a malicious takedown.

Behind the White House Leak of the CIA Agent's Name Is a Real Story.  According to the AP, a CIA agent's name was leaked by the White House.  The AP calls it an "embarrassing flub" even though it was a crime when an aide in the Bush administration leaked the name of part-time agent Valerie Plame.  What's given little attention in the story is the fact that the Washington Post reporter who wrote the story sent his copy to the White House to be checked for "accuracy." [...] Of course it's collusion.  The reporter is merely an extension of the White House propaganda/spin machine.

Obama Outs CIA Agent: None Dare Call It Treason.  The White House, although it initially tried to "un-ring the bell" and figure out if there was a way to undo the obvious damage, has subsequently declined to comment on the disclosure.  It is at present unclear whether or how the disclosure would affect US intelligence operations in Afghanistan.  But releasing the name of a covert employee of the CIA isn't mere incompetence — it is a felony.

When Bushies blew a CIA cover, it was 'treason'; now, it's a mistake.  Valerie Plame doesn't deny that blowing the cover of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan is a serious matter.  It's just that, discussing the issue at a Wednesday evening forum sponsored by The Atlantic, Plame seemed to view the outing of the CIA's top spy on the front lines in the Afghan war as more of an embarrassment than an outrage.  "My understanding is ... it was a military aide who compiled this list of those that were greeting the president when he came," Plame said.  "Colossally stupid, but I think it was inadvertent.  It was an error ... really stupid.  The White House apparently has said that they're going to do an investigation, and they'll find someone who's really embarrassed at the end of it."

White House Looking For A Scapegoat In Outing Of CIA Station Chief.  President Obama's Chief of Staff Denis McDonough has asked White House counsel Neil Eggleston to investigate the outing of the CIA station chief for Afghanistan.  As AMN reported Sunday night, White House staff initially blamed the military for the release of the name of the spy, an act that carries a prison sentence if done intentionally.  "The chief of staff has asked the White House counsel, Neil Eggleston, to look into what happened and report back to him with recommendations on how the Administration can improve processes and make sure something like this does not happen again," said spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden Tuesday.  That's direct and forceful CYA language.  It's no one's fault, unless they can end the career of some military officer.

Exposure of CIA Station Chief Spotlights Administration's Immaturity.  Anybody can make a mistake, and that certainly appears to be what led to the Obama White House's exposure of the top CIA official in Afghanistan this weekend.  Unfortunately, as Roger Kimball details, this is not an isolated incident.  In year six of the Obama administration, it speaks volumes about not just incompetence but immaturity and the skewed priorities that come with it.

What's not to trust in an Obama team probe of the Obama team?  The latest Obama investigation is beyond embarrassing and adds to his accumulating image as an incompetent boob.  At the start of his brief Kabul stop, 15 people briefed Obama.  As usual, the White House emailed some 6,000 media members the briefers' names and titles.  One person was listed as "Chief of Station," a unique government job title that identifies the CIA's top officer in-country.  Oops!  It should have been deleted before distribution.  So, the Obama administration blew the cover of its top spook in Afghanistan, who oversees deadly drone strikes and other clandestine business of war.  Fame can be dangerous to that officer's health.  The Obama folks do not hold those people in high regard anyway.

Obama insists on protecting intel sources — days after blowing CIA agent's cover.  Three days after the White House inadvertently blew the cover of the CIA's top officer in Kabul, President Obama on Wednesday said his administration is committed to effective intelligence-gathering and protecting "sources and methods" abroad. [...] His remarks come less than 72 hours after the administration provided to the media a list of U.S. officials who met with the president during his surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday [5/25/2014].  The list then was sent out in a "pool report" by a reporter traveling with the president, winding up in the hands of thousands of reporters.

White House's outing of top spy comes at difficult time for Obama.  Reporters who accompany the president on his travels routinely must serve "pool duty" — the process of chronicling the president's movements and details of his daily interactions and remarks to write up and pass along to thousands of journalists, including foreign media.  White House aides gave the journalist assigned to pool duty Sunday [5/25/2014] the list that inadvertently included the station chief's name.  It's common for the White House to provide such lists to reporters on pool duty but the names of intelligence officials usually are omitted.

White House launches internal probe into accidental outing of CIA official.  The White House has launched an internal probe after its press office inadvertently outed the top CIA official in Afghanistan — a national security blunder that could put that individual at risk.  A spokeswoman with the National Security Council confirmed to Fox News that the White House chief of staff asked White House Counsel Neil Eggleston to "look into what happened" and make recommendations on "how the administration can improve processes and make sure something like this does not happen again."

The Incompetence of Barack Obama: Outed CIA covert officer edition.  This weekend Obama made a completely unnecessary trip to Afghanistan to "thank the troops."  Given that Afghan President Hamid Karzai refused to meet with him, one is left with the feeling that the trip was to divert attention from the burgeoning VA scandal that has killed dozens, if not hundreds, of veterans who were unwary enough to depend upon this administration for some semblance of competence.  But the administration was given an additional chance to demonstrated its utter incompetence.  The White House outed the CIA's chief of station in Kabul.

Critics: White House Blunder Puts Whole CIA Unit in Peril.  The accidental disclosure of the identity of the top CIA agent in Afghanistan by the Obama administration could affect operations in that country — even target the entire unit for assassination by the Taliban, political operatives said Monday.  "It looks like a rookie mistake, but it's in year six of the administration," retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, who directed both the CIA and the National Security Agency, told Newsmax.  "It's a bit stunning.  You would never expect to see that in material that's been made public."

Where's the Outrage Over CIA Outing?  The White House had egg on its face today.  The news about the accidental outing of the name of the CIA station chief in Kabul, Afghanistan seemed to be just one more instance in a long list of incompetent episodes in a second term that is proving to be as problematic as even President Obama's sternest critics predicted.  But the story of how the name of the station chief — which is, obviously, classified material, and was sent out in an email to thousands of journalists as one of a number of people briefing the president during his Memorial Day weekend trip to Afghanistan — should not be dismissed as merely the latest episode of the real life situation comedy that is Obama's second-term West Wing staff.

The "Gang of Eight" and Immigration Reform: "Bordering on a National Security Nightmare".  In the wake of the recent elections, immigration has risen to the top of the list of newsworthy stories — in part pushed to that position of significance by statements made by key members of Congress and the President that "Pathways to Citizenship" must be provided to what they claim is a population of 11 million illegal aliens.  Some politicians, particularly those from the Republican Party, are being stampeded to act irrationally in a move to appeal to a segment of the American electorate, "Latino Voters."

Obama Has Failed The Border States. Is It Time To Form Posses To Battle Drug Cartels?  Mexican narco-terrorist cartels armed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and (Free) Firearms are pouring north across a border that the Obama Administration refuses to secure, and are now boldly threatening American law enforcement officers with death if they dare stand in the way of the cartel surging into Texas: [...] While the federal government under Barack Obama is refusing to combat the cartels — which are, after all, heavily armed by firearms that the ATF provided and the DOJ refuses to account for — local police seem to be left largely on their own in the border regions to defend the citizenry as cartels surge across an undefended southern border.  Interestingly enough, Dave Kopel provides the constitutional mechanism to supply the manpower to turn back this tide with or without the support of a corrupt and feckless federal government, in the use of the modern posse comitatus.

Why is Team Obama unable to bring home Marine held in Mexico?  This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day in honor of our American servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives defending us both at home and abroad. [...] Unfortunately, despite President Obama's Memorial Day proclamation that we shall "never forget" the sacrifices of our soldiers, he and Secretary of State John Kerry have forgotten about a living American hero in dire need [of] rescue:  U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi.

Obama Calls For 'Responsible End' to Afghanistan War [Whatever] That Means.  President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan today.  He was at the Bagram Air Force Base for just a couple of hours and said this:  ["]For many of you, this will be your last tour in Afghanistan.  America's war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end.["]  What exactly does this mean?  The U.S. wields the most powerful military force in the history of the planet, utilizing the best-trained forces and fiercest weaponry ever designed, and the President chooses the word "responsible"?

Pentagon looks to enlist young illegal alien 'dreamers' into military.  The Defense Department said Monday [5/19/2014] it is looking at expanding its application pool by letting some young illegal immigrants join the military, in what could be another tool for an Obama administration seeking unilateral steps to take on immigration reform.  Immigrant rights advocates are pleading with the Pentagon to declare "dreamers" to be vital to the national interest, which would allow them to enlist in the military under a special program that grants non-immigrants a quick pathway to citizenship in exchange for years of military service.

Speaker John Boehner: Obama's Border 'Monument' Impedes Critical Security.  Today [5/21/2014] President Obama announced the creation of a 600,000 acre national monument in New Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border.  Obama will bypass the Senate and Congress in order to declare the sanctuary, called the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  In a statement provided to Breitbart Texas, Speaker of the House John Boehner said that the new monument greatly undermines border security.

Sheriffs' Association: Release Of Convicted Immigrants 'Unacceptable'.  The release of criminal immigrants awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings is "unacceptable," according to a sheriffs' association involved in discussions with the Obama administration about immigration reform.  In a letter this week to Department of Homeland Security Sec. Jeh Johnson, the Major County Sheriffs' Association — a group of elected sheriffs representing about 80 of the largest counties in the U.S. — expressed dismay at the Obama administration's release of criminal immigrants awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings.

Boehner: Obama move on N.M. monument could thwart immigration reform.  President Obama's new national monument in New Mexico, which he announced Wednesday, thrilled environmentalists, who said it preserves nearly 500,000 acres of spectacular and pristine lands, but it could also doom his hopes of getting Congress to pass an immigration bill this year.  House Speaker John A. Boehner said the president's unilateral move is exactly the type of action the GOP has been warning against, adding it shows the president isn't serious about enforcing border security.  Mr. Boehner has repeatedly said Republicans are reluctant to trust that the president will take seriously border security and immigration enforcement as part of a "comprehensive" deal that also would include the path to citizenship that Democrats prize.

Discredited in Benghazi.  The abandonment of the State Department-CIA mission in Benghazi that came under attack on September 11, 2012 marked the failure of the Obama administration's foreign policy toward the Muslim world.  That American generals and admirals raised no protest to the decision not to go to the American contingent's defense dishonored our military and undercut its sense of duty, responsibility, and self-respect.  The discredit brought upon the United States by foolish, dishonest foreign policies is dangerous and hard enough to live down.  But history teaches that militaries whose moral qualities have been undermined court disaster, and that restoring those qualities is very hard.

Lawless Order Is How This White House Always Operates.  Of course, the president infamously refuses to enforce ObamaCare's mandates, and his Justice Department unconstitutionally eavesdrops on journalists, but there really is contempt for the law in most places you look within the executive branch.  An Immigration and Customs Enforcement document obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies last week revealed the release of over 36,000 aliens convicted of close to 88,000 crimes, including homicide, violent sex crimes and kidnapping.  On Wednesday [5/21/2014], taking a page from Bill Clinton, President Obama will nationalize about a half million acres of New Mexico bordering Mexico as the new Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, infuriating local police who warn that Mexican drug cartels will use it as "a pathway for criminals to get into this country to do their criminal acts," as Dona Ana County Sheriff Todd Garrison told the Washington Times.

Republicans, Local Sheriff Warn Border Wilderness Zone Will Create Vast Drug Corridor.  A pending proposal from President Obama to create a vast new wilderness area on the U.S.-Mexico border is drawing criticism from Republican lawmakers and local law enforcement officials who say it would significantly impede border security.  The Obama administration is set to designate a 600,000 acre national monument in south-central New Mexico to be managed and controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, a federal agency.  The designated land will be called the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, and environmentalists have long[ ]sought the designation.

'Over My Dead Body': Spies Fight Obama Push to Downsize Terror War.  In 2012, the Obama administration produced a draft National Intelligence Estimate that reached a surprising conclusion: al Qaeda was no longer a direct threat to America.  That classified assessment, which has never before been publicly disclosed, was in keeping with the message coming from the White House. [...] But some senior U.S. intelligence officials, like Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Flynn, fought hard against that assessment, which amounted to an official pronouncement of the American intelligence community's collected wisdom.

The Editor says...
Hmmm...  Why would Barack H. Obama want to soft-pedal any criticism of Islamic terrorism?  The answer is obvious.

Grassley Investigating Alleged DHS Terrorist Lookout Record Deletions.  Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) is investigating allegations the Department of Homeland Security has deleted records related to a list of terrorists the agency maintains as part of a "hands off" policy on some of the individuals on the list.  Grassley released emails last week describing the alleged terrorist "hands off" list at DHS which apparently resulted in the deletion of records of an individual who was allegedly a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a "close associate" of a supporter of "Hamas, Hizbollah, and (Palestinian) Islamic Jihad."

Hagel backs review of U.S. military ban on transgender troops.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday the U.S. military should review its ban on allowing transgender people to serve openly in the armed forces, saying that "every qualified American" should have an opportunity to serve.

Air Force plan to strip generals of authority.  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.

GAO: Pentagon's Finances Are a Mess.  The Pentagon has roughly $7.2 billion in excess equipment, gave out more than $1 billion in improper payments, and wasted billions on a system for the Air Force to account for its inventory, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  According to a GAO report released Tuesday [5/13/2014], the Department of Defense (DOD) faces "serious and continuing deficiencies," including the inability to account for their total assets.

We Shouldn't Import Known Terrorists Into the United States.  At a time when the world is becoming more dangerous and al Qaida and affiliated groups have reconstituted and grown, we should not be importing known terrorists into the United States.  Sounds simple, right?  Not to one member of Congress.  According to an article in The Hill newspaper last week, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, plans to offer an amendment to this year's defense spending bill that would do just that.  Smith's amendment would reverse existing law that forbids the administration from importing Guantanamo detainees into the United States.  He claims the detention facility cannot "effectively close... until the congressionally mandated restrictions are removed."

Group preparing to press military for atheist chaplain, source says.  In what some might see as an oxymoron, an advocacy group apparently is preparing to ask the Defense Department to appoint a chaplain — for atheists.  A source tells Fox News that the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers plans to make the request on Tuesday, floating its president Jason Torpy as the proposed chaplain.  Asked for comment, the association referred FoxNews.com to its position in support of a prior bid to name a "humanist" chaplain.  But a Defense Department official confirmed that a meeting is planned between the applicant and the Navy on Tuesday.

The Editor says...
Apparently this is obvious to everybody but me, but what does an atheist chaplain do?

Report: Pentagon Paid $150 Per Gallon for Green Jet Fuel.  The Department of Defense (DOD) paid $150 per gallon for alternative jet fuel made from algae, more than 64 times the current market price for standard carbon-based fuels, according to a report released on Wednesday [5/7/2014].  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted in its report that a Pentagon official reported paying "about $150 per gallon for 1,500 gallons of alternative jet fuel derived from algal oil."

Military Downsizing = National Security Danger.  The Democrats and the Obama Administration have decided to fund their domestic programs at the expense of America's national security.  The U.S. Army will be shrunk to its smallest force since before World War II, and the Marines will be reduced by manpower of about 8% by 2016.  The entire fleet of Air Force A-10 jets will be eliminated.  The Navy's eleven aircraft carriers will have to reduce its operating status and the USS George Washington will be retired in 2016.  Experts interviewed believe these reductions will impose a greater risk for the armed forces and a greater risk for America's national security.

Sensitivity: DOD's 'Human Goals' Updated to Include LGBTs.  In a celebration of its sensitivity on Monday, the Defense Department unveiled a revised document celebrating the department's "diversity" and "culture of inclusion."  "I'm proud that the language of the charter has been updated to reflect the contributions of gay and lesbian military personnel, who now serve openly and proudly across America's armed forces," Defense Department Secretary Chuck Hagel said as he and the nation's top military leaders signed the document at a public ceremony.

Today's Army: Commander Suspended for Alleged Insensitivity.  A Fort Carson commander who wasn't allowed to leave for Afghanistan with his troops last month was suspended over allegations that he was insensitive to victims of sexual assault and discrimination, a newspaper reported Tuesday [4/22/2014]

Obama [is] deliberately emboldening America's enemies.  One of the more shocking events illustrating the growing strength of al Qaeda is the release of a video this week showing what CNN reports as "the largest and most dangerous gathering of al Qaeda in years." [...] For an administration that does not hide its eagerness to use drones to kill terrorists, experts and journalists alike were wondering whether our intelligence community knew about this meeting, and if so, why didn't they take the opportunity to kill the most dangerous of them with one drone strike?  The terrorists on the video seem strangely unconcerned with their safety, as though there was no need for them to feel at risk.

Obama Executive Order Makes Foreign Armies Eligible for DoD Medal.  President Obama signed an executive order today extending eligibility for the third-highest Defense Department recognition to foreign armies.  "Executive Order 12019 of November 3, 1977 (Establishing the Defense Meritorious Service Medal), is amended by inserting, 'or to any member of the armed forces of a friendly foreign nation,' after 'any member of the Armed Forces of the United States,'" said the short order.

Marines, Army prepare women for combat.  The military is taking steps to prepare women for combat roles in 2016.  The Marine Corps announced that it would give young female lieutenants who wash out of the grueling Infantry Officer Course a second shot, same as their male counterparts.  The Army is conducting a study to test just how fit a soldier has to be to engage in combat.  The study involves 60 women and 100 men.

Cancellation of Tomahawk Puts American Navy On Perilous Course.  The Obama Administration will be adding insult with its cancellation of production of the Navy's Tomahawk and Hellfire missile programs. [...] The Tomahawk decision is particularly troubling, as the cruise missile has for years been the workhorse of presidents seeking to deliver limited, precise, stand-off military responses.  During the 2011 Libyan crisis, the Navy flung 220 Tomahawks in support of operations.  We launched more than 1,100 at Kosovo.  About 100 of these missiles are used in an average year.  That means the Administration's decision to stop production after 2015 will see the Navy's stock of Tomahawks gone by around 2018. And disturbingly, there is no proven replacement in the development pipeline.

Pentagon to remove 50 nuclear missiles from silos.  The Pentagon plans to remove 50 nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles from their silos over the next four years but not eliminate them from the U.S. arsenal, a move aimed at complying with a 2010 treaty with Russia and avoiding a fight with members of Congress from states where the missiles are based.  Lawmakers had feared reductions in nuclear forces required under the New START treaty would eliminate an entire ICBM squadron at one of three Air Force bases in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming where the U.S. keeps its 450 Minuteman III missiles — a potentially major economic blow.

Army goes to war with National Guard, seizes Apache attack helicopters.  The National Guard is following a direct order — but it's not happy with it.  All of the Guard's AH-64 Apache helicopters are scheduled to go to the active Army, and there's nothing its top brass can do about it. [...] When the logistics are worked out, the Army's fleet of OH-58 Kiowa helicopters will be divested, its newly acquired Apaches will fill its reconnaissance and scouting needs, and the National Guard will be given UH-60 Black Hawks.  Advocates of the Army's decision say that the Black Hawks actually benefit the Guard because they are an incredible asset for disaster relief efforts.

A Clear Choice on Defense.  For decades, defense spending made up roughly 50 percent of the federal budget.  Today, it's just 18 percent.  And if we stay on the current path, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that defense will fall below 10 percent by 2024.  The reason?  Entitlement programs and interest payments are growing out of control.  Government spending on health care is set to skyrocket.  Interest payments are projected to quadruple over the next decade.

The War on Our Warriors.  Karen and Billy Vaughn gave birth to one of our most elite worriers, Aaron Vaughn.  One of the team that took out our most-wanted terrorist, and 90 days later was shot out of the sky.  Why was he shot out of the sky?  Because our Commander-in-Chief's rules of engagement are so heavily influenced by Muslim Brotherhood advisers and sympathizers in the highest level of our government.

Retired Col. to MSNBC: Military Downsizing Will Result in Fewer Shootings.  Retired Col. Jack Jacobs, a Medal of Honor recipient and NBC News military affairs analyst, joined the hosts of MSNBC's The Cycle on Wednesday [4/9/2014] to react to President Barack Obama's address commemorating last week's shooting at Fort Hood.  Jacobs lamented that the military is downsizing personnel to pre-World War II levels, but noted that one element of "good news" to that condition was that there would be fewer shooting incidents on bases similar to what occurred last week.

Defense Secretary 'Looking' at Banning Tobacco Sales at Military Installations.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is "looking" at banning the sale of tobacco at military installations.  According to one military publication, Hagel appears to support it.  "As the Navy considers banning tobacco sales on all bases and ships, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel gave a strong endorsement of the review Monday, and suggested that he would be in favor of a ban," reports Stars and Stripes.

Ft. Hood Soldier to CNN: 'People in Jail Have a Better Life' than Us.  An unnamed Ft. Hood solider, speaking to CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, said that she did not blame the man accused of shooting dozens at the base on Tuesday night for the actions he took.  She said that Ft. Hood is a "black hole," that the soldiers stationed there do not make enough money to maintain their sanity, and that the base's quality of life is not as good as that of inmates in American prisons.

Senator Accuses Obama of Trying to Implement UN Arms Trade Treaty Without Congress.  The senator leading the bipartisan coalition against the UN Arms Trade Treaty is concerned about new administration efforts to implement the treaty without bringing it through Congress.  Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) wrote President Obama today to mark the first anniversary of the majority-rule adoption of the treaty by the UN General Assembly.  On Oct. 15, 2013, 50 members of the Senate sent a letter to Obama "pledging to oppose ratification of the treaty, and giving notice that we do not regard the U.S. as bound to uphold its object as purpose."

Obama Told Military Leaders: Accept Gays In Military Or Step Down, Admiral Says.  In a meeting with the heads of the five service branches in 2010, President Obama offered the leaders a choice:  Support my efforts to end the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, or resign.  In a video obtained by BuzzFeed via a Freedom of Information Act request, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp revealed that Obama was unwilling to compromise with service leaders over DADT during a meeting in 2010.  "We were called into the Oval Office and President Obama looked all five service chiefs in the eye and said, 'This is what I want to do.'  I cannot divulge everything he said to us, that's private communications within the Oval Office, but if we didn't agree with it — if any of us didn't agree with it — we all had the opportunity to resign our commissions and go do other things," he said.

Obama to kill Navy's Tomahawk, Hellfire missile programs in budget decimation.  President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say have helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades.  The Tomahawk missile program — known as "the world's most advanced cruise missile" — is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy.

Sailors leaving Navy over stress on social issues, Top Gun instructor says.  A Navy F-18 fighter pilot and former Top Gun instructor is publicly warning admirals that retention is beginning to suffer from the military's relentless social conditioning programs.  Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass, until recently a Pentagon speech writer for the chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said sailors are becoming fed-up with the constant emphasis on social issues — an apparent reference to gays in the military, women in combat and ending sexual harassment.

Obama to Kill Tomahawk, Hellfire Missile Programs.  President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say have helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades.  The Tomahawk missile program — known as "the world's most advanced cruise missile" — is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy.

The Worrisome Future of Special Operation Forces.  I came away from this briefing unsure if the special operations leadership really believes this stuff or is mouthing it to distract the public from discussing its real mission.  If it's sincere, I worry about our future defense.

Obama To Stab Backs of Military Again By Reducing Pensions 10%.  Not content with reducing military levels to dangerous and even suicidal plateaus of pre-WWII strengths but with cutting personal pay for military personnel who will put their lives on the line ad infinitum; Obama now plans as well on cutting the military retirement pension plans to involve personal contributions from their newly lowered rates of pay for their service.

How's This for Flexibility, Mr. President?  It was a shocking disclosure just two years ago.  In Seoul, South Korea, President Barack Obama's voice was picked up on a hot mic as he told Russia's Dmitri Medvedev:  "Tell Vladimir [Putin] I can be more flexible after the election."  It was an unprecedented confession by an American head of state.  It was shocking — or should have been — because it showed the president of the United States conspiring, literally whispering assurances to a foreign leader that may not have been consistent with his own public pronouncements to us, the American voters, or to the world. [...] Our liberal media — always in the tank for Mr. Obama — yawned and brushed it all off.

On Track to Restart the Cold War.  On economic policy, President Obama has consistently and thoroughly followed just the opposite of everything Reagan did.  And that is why he has consistently and thoroughly gotten the opposite of Reagan's results. [...] Next in the ongoing deconstruction of America's defenses came Obama's perverse 2010 "New Start" supposed arms control deal with Russia.  Under that "deal," America's deployable nuclear warheads are to be sharply reduced from 5,000 to only 1,550, about 10% of what America had at the peak of its defenses.  In return, Russia is required to make exactly zero reductions in its deployable warheads.

What's going on at Air Force Academy? God's word vs. Pentagon's word.  The Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition, a group of two dozen like-minded religious liberty organizations, announced Thursday [3/13/2014] that they are ready to offer assistance to any Air Force Academy cadet who faces repercussions for writing Bible verses on their hallway whiteboards.  The Air Force Academy admitted Wednesday that a cadet leader had to remove a Bible verse he had displayed outside his dorm room because it offended non-Christians and could "cause subordinates to doubt the leader's religious impartiality."

The Editor says...
George Washington was a great military leader, and he certainly didn't exhibit "religious impartiality."

Air Force: Christians' Religious Speech Not Legally Protected Right.  Christians in the U.S. military are being told they must forfeit their First Amendment rights.  Bible verses are being erased from cadets' personal dorm-room white boards, and military lawyers claim that legal protections for religion only pertain to matters such as clothing and growing beards but do not extend to any religious expression such as talking about one's faith or posting a Bible verse.

Obama Cuts Military Pensions, Exempts ObamaCare Subsidies.  On the heels of announcing that Army troop levels will be cut below pre-World War II levels, the Military Times has reported that the Obama administration is planning to reduce military pension costs by 10% by converting part of their retirement to 401(k)-like defined-contribution plans from defined-benefit plans.  What makes this interesting is that it affects military retirees and members of the military who are non-union and therefore can't strike or engage in collective bargaining.  Public-sector union employees will retain their defined-benefit plans.  So, those who defend this country will be cut while those who feed at the public trough and whose union dues provide a ready supply of campaign cash will not.

Panel says US ban on transgender service is outdated, lacks sound rationale.  The United States should join the dozen other nations that allow transgender people to serve in the armed forces, an independent commission said in a report released Thursday, saying there is no medical reason for the decades-old ban and calling on President Barack Obama to lift it.

Military families would take a $5,000 hit in benefits with Obama budget.  If President Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel get their way, a typical U.S. Army sergeant stands to lose up to $5,000 in annual benefits, according to a leading veterans group that is mobilizing for battle over the proposed cuts to the retirement, health care and other compensation offered to those who serve.  The budget restructuring outlined by Mr. Hagel last month calls for a series of politically tricky compensation reductions that risk outraging active-duty and retired service members who signed up for duty with the belief that they could rely on a rock-solid pension system to help pay for expenses such as food, housing, health care and college tuition for their children.

Obama Seeks Executive Options To Aid Illegal Aliens.  President Barack Obama has launched an internal review on how he can provide additional leniency to illegal aliens inside the United States of America, the White House announced on Thursday evening [3/13/2014].  Obama "has asked Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to do an inventory of the Department's current practices to see how it can conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law," the White House said in a Thursday press release.

Immigration: Obama orders deportation review.  US President Barack Obama has directed officials to review how to enforce immigration laws "more humanely". [...] "The president emphasised his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system," said a statement from White House press secretary Jay Carney on Thursday.

The Editor says...
Sounds like the President is trying to strengthen the "anchor baby" effect, obviously pandering to the Hispanic vote.  If families are worried about the pain of separation, perhaps they should stay together on the Mexican side of the border.

What Else Can the Obama Administration Do to Undermine U.S. Security?  They spied on you.  They lied to the Senate.  They seized telephone records from the Associated Press and considered criminalizing investigative journalism at Fox News.  What else can the U.S. intelligence community do to destroy its credibility, curb civil liberties, and ultimately undermine U.S. security?  Spy on Congress.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat bravely challenging a Democratic White House, accused the CIA of searching computer files used by her staffers on the Senate Intelligence Committee to review the CIA's now-defunct interrogation programs, potentially violating: [...]

Rand Paul: U.S. Anti-Energy Policies Empower Russian Aggression.  The Obama administration's anti-energy policies empower Russia aggression and take away America's ability to respond, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) explained in a Time magazine editorial.  Paul said America has all the means to deter and punish Russian military aggression without the use of American military force but the Obama administration has taken important economic weapons off the table with its anti-energy policies.

Obama to Cut Key Reconnaissance Fleet By 25 Percent.  A key fleet of U.S. reconnaissance planes used to detect enemy aircraft in hostile settings will to be cut by 25 percent under President Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget, according to multiple sources familiar with the budget proposal.  A fleet of 31 AWACs, or Airborne Warning and Control System planes, will be reduced to 24 by 2015 under Obama's budget proposal.  The situation has prompted concern in defense circles and elsewhere, where sources have pointed out that AWACS are currently deployed in Poland and Romania in order to help monitor the standoff in Ukraine.

DHS tells American border guards to run away from illegal immigrants hurling rocks at them, fleeing in vehicles.  Top administration officials have directed 21,000 border patrol officers to retreat whenever illegal immigrants throw rocks at them, and to avoid getting in front of foreign drug-smugglers' vehicles as they head north with their drug shipments.  "Agents shall not discharge firearms in response to thrown or hurled projectiles... agents should obtain a tactical advantage in these situations, such as seeking cover or distancing themselves," said the instructions, issued Mar. 7, under the signature of Michael Fisher, chief of U.S. Border Patrol.  Agents were also directed to keep their weapons holstered when drug smugglers drive by.  Agents can't use guns against "a moving vehicle merely fleeing from agents," say the instructions.

Obama's bizarre immigration rules.  After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, none of us ever imagined a dozen years later we'd be negotiating with the Taliban in Afghanistan, supplying aid to al Qaeda-affiliated "rebel" groups in Syria, and releasing from Gitmo some of the most hardened al Qaeda operatives.  Under the Obama administration, that's exactly what we're doing.  Now we can add another bizarre, and potentially dangerous, unilateral decree from the administration:  Mr. Obama has ordered a change in immigration rules making it easier for so-called "minor" terrorists to gain refugee status and asylum in the United States.

Putin Doesn't Threaten Our National Security, Obama Does.  [Scroll down]  I'll tell you what does concern me:  Obama's hollowing out of our military — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans to slash the army's active-duty personnel by at least another 70,000.  Some support aircraft and cruisers are also slated for mothballs.  The Marine Corps will lose 8,000 of the few/the proud.  In 2013, defense spending was 4% of GDP — taking us to pre-Pearl Harbor levels.  The president doesn't think we need a military, just a marker for drawing red lines.

All 50 governors battle proposed National Guard cuts, ahead of budget release.  America's governors disagree on a lot of issues.  But they're united on one front — stopping the Pentagon from proceeding with planned cuts to the Army National Guard.  As President Obama prepares to release his budget plan on Tuesday [3/3/2014], all 50 governors have signed a letter asking him to keep the Guard's ranks at 350,000, instead of cutting it down to 335,000 as the Pentagon has suggested.

Our Weakness, Their Aggression.  Plans are afoot to further shrink our military at the direction of a president who seems oddly committed to exposing the United States to attack.  As Russia, China, and North Korea openly increase their stockpiles and capabilities, President Obama openly increases his devotion to socialism, spreading the diminishing wealth to those whose votes are needed to purchase our destruction.  He seems to have concluded that it is better to become communist than fight them.

Sacrificing the Military to Entitlements.  If we do not vote into office effective leaders who can convince us that we must prepare for future threats by building a military deterrence, and who have the political spine to back up words with deeds to make sure that deterrence works, then we must share some of the blame for the consequences sure to follow when our enemies and rivals are emboldened by our seeming acceptance of empty bluster as an instrument of foreign policy, and by our willingness to prefer butter to guns.

GOP Governors Accuse Obama of Politically Motivated National Guard Cuts.  Republican governors are accusing President Barack Obama of making politically motivated cuts to their states' National Guard funding.  Speaking to reporters after a meeting between the President and the National Governors Association, the GOP governors said they were deeply troubled by Obama's tone when asked about planned cuts to the National Guard.  South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said Obama became "aggressive" and that his tone "chilled the room quite a bit."

Our Food Stamp Commander In Chief.  The U.S. withdrawal from global leadership continues as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposes cutting the Army to its smallest size since before World War II, leaving no replacement except tyrants and chaos.  The best analysis of the devastating military cuts ordered by President Obama came from former Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday's "Hannity":  "He would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops."

End of American Military Dominance.  President Barack Obama will sharply cut ships, aircraft, and troops as part of a major reduction of U.S. military forces that will face even steeper downsizing in 2016, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Monday [2/24/2014].  The defense cuts, to be announced formally in the president's budget proposal next month, would reduce U.S. ground forces to their lowest level since World War II at a time when world threats are increasing.

Obama [is] Consciously Engineering America's Decline.  In remarks today [2/24/2014], Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said U.S. global military dominance can "no longer be taken for granted."  He said this even as he was in the process of announcing that the Obama administration plans to shrink the United States Army to its smallest force since before the World War II buildup.  (For context, the Army will go from a post-September 11 peak of 570,000 to between 440,000 and 450,000, the smallest Army since 1940.)

America's enemies will be delighted by the latest cuts to its military strength.  It is not often that the American military takes its lead from its poorer British relations, so we should take it as a backhanded compliment that the US Army is to follow the example set by its British counterpart by reducing its manpower to its lowest level for decades.  While Britain has cut the size of its standing Army to its lowest level since before the Napoleonic wars, the reductions announced by Chuck Hagel, the US Defence Secretary, will only see it scaled down to its smallest level since before it joined the Second World War, down to around 440,000 from its peak of 570,000 when the Obama administration first came to power.

Proposed budget will reportedly shrink Army to pre-WWII numbers.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Monday [2/24/2014] for shrinking the U.S. Army to its smallest size in decades, along with other cuts, drawing criticism that the drastic changes will hurt U.S. security.  Hagel announced his Pentagon budget priorities Monday afternoon.  The Army had already been preparing to shrink to 490,000 active-duty members from a wartime peak of 570,000.  Hagel is proposing to cut it further to between 440,000 and 450,000.  That would make it the smallest since just before the U.S. entered World War II.

Cheney: Obama 'much rather spend the money on food stamps' than the military.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney responded Monday night to the Obama administration's proposal to cut the U.S. Army to its lowest point since before World War II.  Calling into Fox News' "Hannity," Cheney declared the proposed cuts to be "absolutely dangerous" and "just devastating."  "I have not been a strong supporter of Barack Obama.  But this really is over the top.  It does enormous long-term damage to our military," Cheney said.  "They act as though it is like highway spending and you can turn it on and off.  The fact of the matter is he is having a huge impact on the ability of future presidents to deal with future crises that are bound to arise."

The 'Before Obama' and 'After Obama' history lesson for school children.  Only yesterday, it was revealed that the Obama administration is planning on gutting the U.S. military to pre-World War II levels.  Parents should turn the tables by using this latest Obama move as the impetus to teach their children how America can legitimately claim guardian of world freedom status.

'American dominance in the seas, sky, and space can no longer be taken for granted'.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed shrinking the Army to its smallest size in 74 years through a series of base closures and troops cuts, and by completely eliminating several Air Force aircraft fleets.  The move comes as the U.S. Army moves into the final phases of a massive troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Congress raises new red flags about American deficit spending.

Who's afraid of Barack Obama?  The world would be a safer place if, instead of feeling free to taunt President Obama, Iran and North Korea had to fear the consequences of defying him.

The Pentagon's Bow to Islamic Extremism.  "Caving to pressure from Muslim groups, the Pentagon has relaxed uniform rules to allow Islamic beards, turbans and hijabs.  It's a major win for political correctness and a big loss for military unit cohesion," said a recent report.  This new relaxation of rules for Muslims comes at a time when the FBI is tracking more than 100 suspected jihadi-infiltrators of the U.S. military.  Just last month, Craig Benedict Baxam, a former Army soldier and convert to Islam, was sentenced to seven years in prison due to his al-Qaeda/jihadi activities.

A Nation Governed by Traitors.  Obama has turned our military into a gay rights organization while the entire world is laughing.  He's forcing the military commanders into retirement or relieving them of duty if they do go along with his destructive policies.  And then team Obama will be putting women to fight in the front lines of combat.  It will be interesting to see what becomes of our women once they're captured on the battle field.

Obama's Army Only 85% Ready To Fight.  Budget cuts, sequestration and indifference to maintaining what was once "the arsenal of democracy" have led to units that are not deployment-ready and soldiers with weapons their grandfathers could have used.

Obama ties military's hands by reading al Qaeda out of Benghazi.  [B]ecause President Obama, for political reasons, is locked into the story that al Qaeda wasn't directly involved in the Benghazi attack, the military is powerless to strike back.  This despite Obama's promises during the 2012 presidential campaign to bring justice to the perpetrators.

Silence Reigned, Heroes Died.  In all honesty, there were no revelations in [Robert] Gates's book, only confirmations of what we already understood — this Commander-in-Chief had turned his back on the men and women still fighting in Afghanistan before the lights went out in the voting booths November 2008.

Pentagon, McDonald's Capitulate To Sharia Law.  Caving to pressure from Muslim groups, the Pentagon has relaxed uniform rules to allow Islamic beards, turbans and hijabs.  It's a major win for political correctness and a big loss for military unit cohesion.

State Department Adviser on Extremism Urges US to "Befriend" Al Qaeda.  Officially there are no more terrorist attacks, just man-caused disasters brought about by offensive YouTube videos.  Also there are no more terrorists.  Just Violent Extremists.  And there's no more counter-terrorism, just experts on Countering Violent Extremism.

The road to hell.  War is no more.  The lawyers have simply defined it out of existence.  After all, if you don't go to Congress for authorization, where's the war?  It is a condition of what used to be called strategic mindlessness.

Pentagon Proposes $1 Billion Cut to Commissary's Budget.  The Pentagon has proposed a plan that would cut $1 billion from the commissary's budget over the next three years, Military.com reports.  The commissary agency currently operates 247 stores across the world.  All but 24 rural stores would be closed under the proposed plan.  The plan would cut the commissary agency's $1.4 billion annual budget to $400 million.

First-Class Islam: Eric Holder Puts Muslims Above Terror Suspicion.  From 2008 to 2011, I was a guest lecturer at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (the primary DHS training facility, located in coastal Georgia) and at Joint Special Operations University (which brings foreign officers to learn of U.S. irregular warfare, located in Tampa).  At both venues I was asked to lecture on the history of terrorism. [...] Only 14 of the 44 PowerPoint screens in my presentation dealt with Islamic terrorism, although several of those actually mitigated against the concept.  Nonetheless, in June 2009 I was told that I could no longer lecture at FLETC, because the edict had come down from the new Obama administration that "no trainer who uses the term 'jihad' shall henceforth be used."

Foreign Policy Has Left Obama A Global Laughing Stock.  The latest U.S. ally to openly sneer at us is a senior British defense adviser who says President Obama has "devalued the deterrent effect of American military capability" in the world.

Obama's Foreign Policy Betrays Military Superiority.  The takeover of Fallujah by al-Qaida wipes out our costly 2004 victory in which we captured the Iraqi city at the cost of 100 Marines and soldiers killed in action, and hundreds more wounded.  Fallujah isn't just an Obama mistake; it's the exemplar of Obama's disastrous foreign and military policies designed to reduce the power and prestige of America on the world stage.  Obama's military policies are not merely based on his incompetence.  They are part of his personal philosophy to redistribute power in the world, [...]

Jeff Sessions: Budget Deal 'Fix' Still Slashes More than 90% of Vets' Pensions.  Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) announced Tuesday that the "fix" Washington politicians developed to stop cuts to veterans' pensions actually still slashes pensions for more than 90 percent of retired members of America's armed forces.  Millions of men and women who put their lives on the line for this country are still going to see reductions in their pensions, while illegal aliens still have access to a tax credit loophole, Sessions said in his statement.

When the Commander-in-Chief is a narcissist.  No wonder the media are pushing the Chris Christie bridge story so hard; the revelations about President Obama's conduct in office in Robert Gates's new book are frightening.

Senate Democrats Block Amendment to Restore Military Pensions.  Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican attempt to restore military pensions cut in last month's budget deal, denying a vote that would save up to $20 billion by closing a loophole that allows tax refunds to go to illegal aliens.

Rep Poe: Congress Should Cut Foreign Aid, Not Military Pensions.  After Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) succeeded in pushing through one percent cuts in the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for veteran and military retiree pension funds, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) pushed back by urging cuts in foreign aid instead.  Breitbart News spoke with Poe on January 6th, and he made clear he was alarmed by plans to place these cuts on "benefits that were promised [to our military personnel] when they signed up to serve our country."

Krauthammer on Gates revelations about Obama: 'How can a commander-in-chief do that?'.  Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday [1/7/2014] on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that former Obama Defense Secretary Robert Gates' revelation in his new memoir that his commander-in-chief didn't believe in the war in Afghanistan and subsequent surge in troops was shocking.  "Obama doesn't believe in the surge or in the war, or in his own actions," Krauthammer said, "He doesn't believe in [General] Petraeus, he hates [Afghan President] Karzai, he thinks the war isn't his.  How can a commander-in-chief do that?"

DOD Reviewing Its 'Equal Opportunity' Training — After Anti-Christian Materials Exposed.  In response to a letter from a coalition of religious liberty advocates concerned about anti-Christian bias in Defense Department "equal opportunity" training materials, the Department of Defense says it is reviewing those materials and will decide this month whether to continue using "private organizations" as resources in developing them.  The coalition specifically cited the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a group the military should stop relying upon as a source for equal opportunity training.

So Many Intolerable Lies.  Two events last week — one an announcement by the Marine Corps, the other speeches at the inauguration of New York City's new mayor — illustrated vividly how President Obama and his media cohort have so narrowed the boundaries of political speech that we no longer believe we can challenge outright lies.  Among the lies we've become inured to is that women can perform every job a man can, including those of combat infantryman and special operators.  We've also been told the lie that the injection of women into combat arms has no effect on the warrior culture.

Pension cuts to working-age military retirees drawing fire.  Steve Dykes, an Army veteran with 23 years in the military, said Thursday [1/2/2014] he thought his retiree benefits would be safe when he left the service in 2010.  Dykes recalled a key decision he made to turn down a $30,000 bonus at the 15-year mark, keeping his full retiree benefits in place. [...] He now believes those who took the bonus and accepted reduced benefits may have ended up with the better deal.

U.S. Marines weaken fitness requirement for women, won't make them do three pull-ups.  The U.S. Marine Corps has quietly walked back a 2012 directive from the service's highest-ranking officer that would have rejected female recruits and officer candidates who can't perform three chin-ups as part of their physical fitness training.  The reason — 55 percent of the women attempting the test are failing.  Just one percent of men can't complete the exercise.

War on Christmas: the VA and Army Crack Down on Christmas.  As Christians throughout the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, the war on Christmas rages on in the most unlikely of places:  the military.  For centuries, military members have gripped Bibles in foxholes, prayed to God to hear their prayers.  American forces prayed in the Argonne Forest, begged for God's intervention as they withstood a ferocious shelling campaign in Bastogne.  Now, the military is doing everything they can to make the ranks a God-free zone.

1 percent pay raise latest pinch for troops, veterans struggling to pay bills.  President Obama on Monday signed an executive order giving military personnel and civilian federal workers a 1 percent pay raise, the first raise for civilians in four years.  But for military families, it was another hit.  Military members had been receiving an annual pay increase of 1.8 percent, and ther order comes as more benefit cuts loom on the horizon for military families due to tightening budgets.

1 percent pay raise latest pinch for troops, veterans struggling to pay bills.  President Obama on Monday [12/23/2013] signed an executive order giving military personnel and civilian federal workers a 1 percent pay raise, the first raise for civilians in four years.  But for military families, it was another hit.  Military members had been receiving an annual pay increase of 1.8 percent, and ther order comes as more benefit cuts loom on the horizon for military families due to tightening budgets.

The Editor says...
The President was on vacation in Hawaii on Monday the 23rd.  Did he sign this executive order on the beach or the golf course?

End of the line for the lead bullet? Regulations, bans force switch to 'green' ammo.  When the last bullet-producing lead smelter closes its doors on Dec. 31, it will mark a major victory for those who say lead-based ammunition pollutes the environment, but others warn 'green' bullets will cost more, drive up copper prices and do little to help conservation.  The bid to ban lead bullets, seen by some as harmful to the environment, started slowly more than a decade ago.

Nero in the White House.  Nero "fiddled," so they say, while Rome burned.  Today, this epigram all too accurately describes President Obama's approach to U.S. national security.  For five years, he has resolutely consigned foreign and defense issues to the bottom of his policy agenda, resulting in increasing disarray both domestically and abroad.  The United States needs strategic thinking internationally, and we are getting the opposite.

Marine Could Be Discharged For Warning About Possible Threat Days Before Deadly Attack.  A hearing was held today for a Marine Corps reservist who could be dishonorably discharged for trying to warn his fellow Marines about an Afghan police chief's links to the Taliban.  Maj. Jason Brezler had tried to warn about Afghan Police Chief Sarwar Jan, a known child predator with ties to the Taliban.  Jan was routinely allowed on military bases, but Brezler believed he should not be.

Army to cut up to 4,000 captains and majors.  The U.S. Army is sending roughly 19,000 active-duty captains and majors to a screening board for early separation this spring, the Army Times reported.  Up to 20 percent of those screened — approximately 3,800 officers — could be scheduled to leave the service by the Officer Separation Board and Enhanced Selective Early Retirement Board.  Officers with fewer than 18 years of federal active service will have their screening process done by OSB, and those with more than 18 years of service will see the E-SERB, according to the Army Times.

Judicial Watch Obtains Transcript Revealing that CIA Director John Brennan was Behind the 'Serious' Underwear Bomber Leak.  The leak became the subject of intense scrutiny in Washington, with Attorney General Eric Holder describing it as "within the two or three most serious leaks that I have ever seen."  He pledged to get to the bottom of it, but no leaker was identified.

The Decline and Fall of American Deterrence.  What do Pearl Harbor, the Munich Pact, and Germany's invasion of Poland have in common?  The common thread running through these events is that western democracies' military weakness tempted aggressors to strike.  Add to this the fecklessness of western leaders, who did nothing when Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland, Germany annexed Austria, and Japan invaded China and murdered thousands of civilians, and one sees how toxic the witches' brew was.  If that's true, then why are we doing it again?

Possible closing of commissaries worries Charleston-area military families.  Navy wife Cleo Lott relies on the Weapons Station commissary to feed her family of four.  It's one of the most coveted perks that goes with being part of the military.  And that's why news that the Pentagon is looking at closing all of its stateside commissaries has her a little rattled.

Under Obama, troops forced to rely on welfare, holiday charity to make ends meet.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit D.C.-based think tank, estimates that as many as 340,000 veterans rely on federal or state rental assistance.  About 900,000 veterans live on food stamps, and an additional 5,000 active-duty service members are food stamp recipients.

Dangerous Times: Inspector Clouseau Brings Peace.  This administration is coming to an end.  If you take away its corruption and thuggery, its constant scapegoating, its weird cast of characters, its astronomical spending, its drone killings of terrorists who were supposed to be dead last year, and its healthcare debacle — everything comes down to imperial overreach.  Obama is the biggest gambler with national security in our history.  He looks like Charlie Chaplin carrying stacks of teetering dinner plates, causing chaos on all sides, but never noticing anything wrong.

Shades of Vietnam: Spike in U.S. troop deaths tied to stricter rules of engagement.  The number of U.S. battlefield fatalities exceeded the rate at which troop strength surged in 2009 and 2010, prompting national security analysts to assert that coinciding stricter rules of engagement led to more deaths.  A connection between the sharp increase in American deaths and restrictive rules of engagement is difficult to confirm.  More deaths surely stemmed from ramped-up counterterrorism raids and the Taliban's response with more homemade bombs, the No. 1 killer of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Obama directs federal government triple renewable power use.  President Obama directed federal agencies and the military to nearly triple renewable energy consumption by the end of the decade, setting a target of getting 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources.  The move, which comes through executive order, is the latest in a series of administrative efforts the White House has employed to address climate change through curbing greenhouse gas emissions. [...] The centerpiece of the president's agenda is proposed emissions rules for new and existing power plants.

The Editor says...
If the President wants the government to use electricity from renewable sources, then let the military bases and government buildings generate their own power, and leave the reliable fossil-fuel plants running for the rest of us.

Pentagon floats plan to close US commissaries.  The Pentagon is floating a controversial plan to close all U.S.-based commissaries in 2015 as part of a massive cost-saving effort after more than a decade of war.  The commissaries are grocery stores that offer food and other necessities at a discount to members of the military, their families and veterans.  But as Congress tightens the purse strings, the stores could get caught in the budget battle.

Stars and Stripes forever? Pentagon may fold historic newspaper.  Stars and Stripes — the venerable military publication that has chronicled the heroism of America's fighting men and women since the Civil War — could be on the budget-strapped Pentagon's chopping block.  The Department of Defense, which subsidizes the newspaper to the tune of $7.4 million per year, is considering a range of spending cuts that could also affect the Pentagon Channel and some programming at the American Forces Network.

America after Obama.  Obama's decisions to gut U.S. military strength, including deep reductions of our nuclear arsenal, will be disastrous.  If all the reductions in the Pentagon's budget — some required by the Sequester, which originated in the White House, others planned by Obama and the Obamians — take effect, the United States will have the fewest operational naval vessels since before World War I, the smallest Air Force in history, and an army and Marine Corps no longer capable of fighting prolonged wars.  A corollary of weakened U.S. military capability is that American influence in the international arena is much diminished.

Despite Promises, Obama Planning to Close ICBM Squadron.  The Obama administration has drafted a plan to shutter an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) squadron three years after it assured hesitant lawmakers that the New START U.S.-Russia arms reduction treaty would not lead to deep cuts in the ICBM force.  A new timeline prepared by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon maps out a strategy to eliminate an ICBM squadron — and destroy its missile silos — by Dec. 5, 2017.  An environmental assessment would begin next month.

Why would Obama send American girls into combat?  Under Defense Department mandates, the armed forces are implementing incremental plans to order (not "allow") women into Army and Marine infantry and special operations forces that attack the enemy.  Acquiescent generals insist that training standards will be "the same" for men and women, but the fine-print "catch" is hidden in plain sight.  Footnotes in a June Marine Corps report to Congress stated that physical fitness and combat fitness Test standards would be "gender-neutral" with "gender-normed" scores that "account for physiological differences between the genders."  In the Marines' new physical fitness test — recently postponed owing to "potential risks" — women will have to complete three pull-ups.  Five more will earn 100 points, but men will have to do 20 to get the same score.

Remaking the Military in the Image of Obama.  The people's savior is giving the heave-ho to military brass who can't quite get with the program, which might be described as inflicting a smothering political correctness on the nation's armed forces.  Political correctness is actually too charitable.  What Comrade Obama is committing is ideological warfare on the traditions and virtues that are at the core of the armed forces — and, in fact, the nation's core.  Part and parcel of this war against the traditional military is the mainstream media-neglected war on faith — Judeo-Christian faith, that is — among our men and women in uniform.

The feminist campaign to make weaklings of America's warriors.  Feminism is trying to yank the U.S. military in two directions at once.  While claiming that women have no problem meeting the rigorous standards of the SEALs or infantry, advocates of opening these branches to women argue that female members of the military must be protected from the male sexual predators that, we are assured, are widely represented in the military.  However, they can't have it both ways.  Are women "hear me roar" Amazons, or are they fragile flowers who must be protected from "sexual harassment," encouraged to level the charge at the drop of the hat?

Chaplains Mocked, Forced out of VA Program for Their Christian Beliefs .  In 2012, Lieutenant Commander Dan Klender, a Navy chaplain, and Major Steven Firtko, a retired Army chaplain, enrolled in the VA's Clinical Pastoral Education Center program in San Diego. [...] The two chaplains charge that they were ridiculed and taunted by the program's director, Nancy Dietsch, a VA employee with a reputation for antagonism toward evangelical Christians, charged John Wells, the attorney representing the two chaplains in the suit.  "She's been very, very critical of Christians," Wells told Fox News.  "Instead of teaching anything dealing with faith issues, she's dealing with a holistic, humanistic approach.  It's the idea that the spirit comes from within."

Lawsuit: Military Chaplains Banned From Saying "Jesus".  Two Baptist chaplains said they were forced out of a Veterans Affairs chaplain training program after they refused orders to stop quoting the Bible and to stop praying in the name of Jesus.  When the men objected to those demands they were subjected to ridicule and harassment that led to one of the chaplains leaving the program and the other being ejected, according to a federal lawsuit filed Friday [11/8/2013].

Lawsuit: Chaplains Banned From Saying "Jesus".  Two Baptist chaplains said they were forced out of a Veterans Affairs chaplain training program after they refused orders to stop quoting the Bible and to stop praying in the name of Jesus.  When the men objected to those demands they were subjected to ridicule and harassment that led to one of the chaplains leaving the program and the other being ejected, according to a federal lawsuit filed Friday [11/8/2013].

The Editor says...
Are there similar restrictions against Islamic, Hindu, Wiccan, or earth-worshiping eco-fruitcake prayers?  What if one of the chaplains prays directly to Barack H. Obama?  Would there be a reprimand or a promotion?

Pentagon pushes 680 green projects, despite money woes.  The Defense Department may be facing significant funding cuts, but not to its green energy program.  Fully 680 renewable-energy projects are still moving forward as part of President Obama's vision of a military that's run on clean fuel, despite the spending cutbacks and budget trims that have begun impacting military operations.  Among the 680 projects:  357 based on solar development, 289 based on thermal, 29 on wind and five others that haven't been disclosed but rather labeled as "electricity generation," The Blaze reported, citing a Defense Department document.

The 'White Poppy President'.  The same president, who barely two months ago tried to keep 80-plus-year-old war veterans from visiting their open-air Washington war memorials, will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Veteran's Day this Monday.  The same president, who is gutting the U.S. military, will host a breakfast to honor veterans and their families that is closed to the press.

'Pretty Good at Killing'.  It has been disclosed in a recently published book about the 2012 campaign, Double Down by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, that the president told aides that he is "really good at killing people" with drones.  I think the president is being far too modest.  Drones aren't the half of it.  He's really good at killing lots of things. [...] While making it easier for the enemy to kill our troops, he is also killing the military structure in which they serve.  What used to be a system dedicated to the unyielding defense of our nation has become the president's sandbox for social experimentation and liberalism.  He is purging the ranks of loyal officers, replacing them with those who are prepared to adopt his view of the United States Armed Forces as a liberal playground.  Preparedness has taken a back seat to punishing the military for their successes with disproportionate budget cuts, making their missions much more difficult, or impossible.

Navy SEALs ordered to remove 'don't tread on me' Navy Jack from uniforms.  The Navy Jack is the 'don't tread on me' flag, one that has earned a revered place in America's naval history and a beloved place in sailor's hearts, through its use for over two centuries. [...] So why would ranking SEAL commanders ban the historical symbol?  Is the proverbial top bass banning the flag?  Is President Obama?

More Distinguished Military Blasting Administration.  Retired brass just blasted the president for "purging" close to 200 officers.  Now more retired heroes charge he is "emasculating" an armed forces whose "morale is at an unprecedented low."

Obama's Military Coup Purges 197 Officers In Five Years.  What the president calls "my military" is being cleansed of any officer suspected of disloyalty to or disagreement with the administration on matters of policy or force structure, leaving the compliant and fearful.

52 Felons Given 'Routine Unauthorized Access' to Navy Installations.  A DoD official told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday [10/31/2013] that about 50 convicted felons were given access to Navy installations without the proper checks, and no one has been held accountable.  A Sept. 16, 2013 DoD inspector general's report, which was released the same day as the Navy Yard shooting, found that the Navy Commercial Access Control System (NCACS) "did not effectively mitigate access control risks associated with contractor installation access" because Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNJC) officials tried to "reduce access control costs."

Pentagon's Chief Personnel and Readiness Officer: Diversity and Inclusion Critical to Mission Success.  Jessica L. Wright, the acting under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said today that the Defense Department must maintain its commitment to diversity and inclusion, which contribute to mission success.  She asserted that diversity helps civilian and military employees perform well because they "represent the nation in our workforce."  The Defense Department not only talks "about diversity in terms of race and gender, and ethnicity, but it is much more than that in my mind," Wright said.  She declared that diversity included "your thought process, how you grew up, [and] what you can add to the greater good because of your background."

The Editor says...
Most people don't realize that multiculturalism and diversity were invented by Almighty God himself.  Multiculturalism and diversity were inflicted as punishment at the Tower of Babel (Genesis, Chapter 11), in order to stop production overnight and keep everybody from getting anything done.  This approach worked flawlessly, of course, and to this day it still has the same effect, although the effects are not as severe when mere humans try it.  Multiculturalism and diversity add nothing to productivity.  Japan is one of the most productive countries in the world, and it has the least diverse culture.  It can also be shown that the people who are most in favor of "diversity" are the same people who oppose capitalism in favor of socialism.  Quod erat demonstrandum!

Report: Deportations plummet in 2013, lowest since 2007.  Authorities deported fewer illegal immigrants in fiscal 2013 than at any time since President Obama took office, according to secret numbers obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies that suggest Mr. Obama's nondeportation policies have hindered removals.  Just 364,700 illegal immigrants were removed in fiscal 2013, according to internal numbers from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement that CIS released Wednesday [10/30/2013] — down 11 percent from the nearly 410,000 who were deported in 2012.

Gender Neutral Or Combat-Ready Marines?  Its force structure decimated by sequestration and budget cuts, the Marine Corps considers exchanging its proud and honored look for hats similar to the gendarmes who direct traffic in Paris.

Government Gave Zero Dark Thirty Filmmakers Classified Info.  The alleged intentional leak of classified information to Zero Dark Thirty filmmakers has come back to haunt the government during the war crimes trial of a Guantanamo Bay detainee.  The defense of Ammar al Baluchi, the detainee whose torture experiences supposedly served as the model for the popular film, is now requesting classified information about the treatment of his client that was provided to filmmakers but is still currently withheld by the prosecution.  The lawyer alleges that the information was provided to the filmmakers to spin a "curated narrative" in the government's favor and justify enhanced interrogation techniques.

U.S. Marines turn up noses at Obama's new 'girly' hats.  Marines are decrying a new look President Obama has planned for their uniforms — namely, a unisex-style cap that they say looks more French than American, more "girly" than hard-charging.  "We don't even have enough funding to buy bullets and the DoD [Department of Defense] is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women's hats," one senior Marine said to The New York Post.  "The Marines deserve better.  It makes them look ridiculous."

Obama wants Marines to wear 'girly' hats.  A change to the Marine Corps' uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street.  Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a "unisex" look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines' iconic caps — known as "covers" — with a new version that some have derided as so "girly" that they would make the French blush.

Marine Corps Shoots Down Unisex Caps.  The Marine Corps has shot down plans to make male and female leathernecks wear a unisex cap with their dress uniforms.  The Corps has been redesigning its female caps and was exploring the possibility of issuing a single cap for men and women.  As we reported earlier Friday, a survey this week was meant to gauge interest in which of two options would work as a unisex cap — but critics said one new prototype was too feminine.

Air Force Academy may drop 'God' from oath.  The Air Force Academy is considering dropping the phrase "so help me God' from its honor oath after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) filed a complaint.  The Academy's Honor Review Committee met Wednesday [10/23/2013] to review the oath in response to the MRFF complaint, said Public Affairs Director Maj. Brus Vidal.

Todd Starnes: Air Force makes 'God' reference optional in oath.  The Air Force Academy has decided to make the phrase "so help me God" optional in its honor code in what it called an effort to "build a culture of dignity and respect."  The decision to make the reference optional came after the Academy's Honor Review Committee met to consider a complaint filed by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

Shocking admission on Army preparedness: No training the last 6 months.  While the president of the United States pitched his crumbling healthcare program like a late-night infomercial barker, the Army's chief of staff made a shocking admission about national defense.  Gen. Ray Odierno told a Washington conference Monday [10/21/2013] that the U.S. Army had not conducted any training in the last six months of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

Army chief: Just 2 brigades combat-ready.  Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno revealed this week that just two Army brigades are combat-ready, with budget cuts hampering the military's ability to train its own troops.  The startling comments were made Monday [10/21/2013] at the Association of the U.S. Army conference. Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh both addressed the fallout from the budget cuts, as well as the recent partial government shutdown, and appealed to lawmakers to restore some stability to military funding.

Illegal use of DoD Communications Systems by Obama Administration.  The American Spectator has been provided with the text of a political message sent on Saturday evening, using Department of Defense communications systems, on behalf of President Obama and Secretary of Defense Hagel.  It is addressed to "all US government employees" and further specified by the DoD sender to go to "all subordinate commands," in compliance with Hagel's call for "the widest possible distribution."

Obama's military contempt: The outrageous treatment of Clint Lorance.  Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance, a 28-year-old combat leader in the 82d Airborne Division from Celeste, Texas was recently found guilty of two counts of murder in Afghanistan and sentenced to 20 years in Ft. Leavenworth.  The story of First Lieutenant Lorance has not been covered by a single major media source.

Obama's Curious Purge Of The Military Continues.  The firing of two nuclear commanders in a week adds to a body count that suggests we have either the most corrupt and incompetent general staff in history or our military is being reshaped for other purposes.

Is Obama Creating a Martial-law-ready Military?  Let's start with a hypothetical.  Let's say you were a hard-left-wing commander in chief who wanted the military firmly in your corner.  You'd certainly note that our armed forces have been a bastion of conservatism and Christian faith, and you'd know that its members generally weren't very fond of you.  So how would you go about changing this?

Pentagon unit held 'phony' ceremonies for MIAs, using planes that can't fly.  A unit of the U.S. Department of Defense has been holding so-called "arrival ceremonies" for seven years, with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off of a cargo plane as though they held the remains of missing American service men and women returning that day from old battlefields.  After NBC News raised questions about the arrival ceremonies, the Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday [10/9/2013] that no honored dead were in fact arriving, and that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldn't even fly but were towed into position.

JPAC admits to phony ceremonies honoring 'returning' remains.  NBC writes that the ceremonies have been known among some of the military and civilian staff at the base as The Big Lie.  The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after two scathing reports were released this summer.

Putting Military Families in Harm's Way.  So the families of service members killed in the line of duty since October 1 will receive death benefits after all.  Last night [10/10/2013], President Obama signed a bill that specifically authorized those payments.  But the late-night drama wasn't necessary at all.  Nothing had ever prevented the administration from making those payments.

Obama To Catholic Troops During Shutdown: No Mass!  Federal closure threatens to bar priests not on active duty from conducting services on military installations or from ministering on base, and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so. [...] Catholic soldiers killed in battle might not even have a priest available to give the last rites of their church as even the religious freedoms they fought to protect are sacrificed by a petulant president who has the power to set priorities with the stroke of an executive order pen but refuses to do so.

Obama the hostage-taker.  For the first time in US history, a president confessed to deliberately hurting his country to score points against his enemies.  Which brings us to the national disgrace this week in which the Defense Department denied death benefits to the families of fallen service members.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney insists, with operatic righteousness, that Obama never intended for the 26 families of the fallen to be denied this aid or to be hindered from retrieving their beloveds' remains from Dover Air Force Base.  But Carney is surely lying.

Obama's Attack on Families of Fallen Solders.  Until a charitable foundation stepped in to fill the gap, the Department of Defense (DoD) was more than willing to deny death benefits to the families of fallen soldiers.  The Pentagon claimed that a law passed just prior to the government shutdown allowing the military to be paid did not cover the benefits.  In truth, an Obama administration, whose hallmark is selective law enforcement, has relied on the flimsiest of technicalities to inflict unnecessary pain on families already shattered by the deaths of their sons and daughters.

Congressman Calls for Defense Secretary's Resignation.  Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel should resign for failing to ensure that the families of fallen American soldiers received the death benefits to which they are entitled.  "I think Chuck Hagel needs it to think about offering his resignation over this," Hunter told Fox News's Megyn Kelly Thursday night [10/10/2013].

Report: Department of Energy Discriminated Against Veterans.  A new report from federal watchdogs reveals that discrimination against military veterans at the Energy Department and retaliation against whistleblowers who spoke out about the practice were more widespread than previously believed and could cost taxpayers millions.  The report, released Tuesday [10/8/2013] by DOE's inspector general, revealed that a top legal official explicitly advised human resources officials at the department's Bonneville Power Administration on how to disadvantage veterans in its hiring practices.  BPA then attempted to completely remove two employees from the federal service after they questioned the hiring practices.

The Decline and Fall of National Security.  Two unlikely sets of institutions are playing key roles in the decline of American foreign policy effectiveness:  Intelligence agencies and military commands.  The CIA and DOD, agencies that were heretofore above politics have lost their objective moorings.  Contemporary guardians of national security have been suborned by partisanship, in the process, fostering a kind of soft sedition; analytical and operational incompetence.

Obama vs. the Veterans.  This incident demonstrates that the government shutdown is no longer about issues, but is just about politics.  The Obama administration is trying to maximize the pain for Americans.  It has become evident that this president is all about ego and spitefulness, not concern.

Shutdown leaves kin of dead soldiers without money for funerals.  Five military servicemembers paid the ultimate sacrifice but their families cannot receive the money they need to bury them or support the children left behind because of government shutdown.

Making Sense of Insane Military Base Security.  Once again, a U.S. military base has suffered a security breach.  Whether it's at Fort Hood or at the Washington Navy Yard, or elsewhere, family members and the soldiers themselves should never have to endure the fear of not being safe on a U.S. military post.  Yet President Obama eulogized the twelve victims by calling for more gun control.

By Weakening America, Obama Plays Into Putin's Hands.  The dream of American demise didn't expire with the collapse of the USSR, and the dream of Russian superiority and influence in the world didn't leave the minds of Russian nationalists.  By transforming America, the Obama administration, with the support of progressive journalists, college professors, liberal judges and pop-culture moguls, is actively participating in the realization of Russia's dreams.

Samantha, Syria and the use of power.  Did you ever wonder why we have been teetering on the brink of war with Syria when virtually no one in America wants to go to war?  The answer can be summed up in two words:  Samantha Power.  Power is the new American ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime foreign-policy adviser to President Barack Obama.  She is also a dangerously radical proponent of military intervention in humanitarian crises around the globe.

Sequestration nation: DoD doles out $7 billion in wind-energy contracts.  Why the Obama administration insists upon using the military as a sponsor of what they, rather than the free market, have arbitrarily and falsely deemed to be practical and cost-effective sources of energy, it pains me to think on — but the point is that the U.S. military is currently choosing to spend big money on energy sources that do not offer them the biggest bang for their buck.  Even better, the Pentagon dished out a similarly sized set of contracts for solar energy companies last month; and this is all on top the Navy's push to outfit a number of cruisers, destroyers, and fighter jets with biofuel-blended gas.

Three-and-a-half More Years of Obama!  We will not win this round.  We have a national security system that is run by wannabe trannies and later-day beatniks.  We are operating under the delusion that major military units can be led in battle by gays, transvestites, and what have you.  We have convinced ourselves that the 21st-century world can be mastered by weapons purchased in the 1980s.  We have sown the wind.  We will reap the whirlwind.

Air Force cracking down on Christians.  Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk found himself at odds with his Lackland Air Force Base commander after he objected to her plans to severely punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality.  During the conversation, his commander ordered him to share his personal views on homosexuality.  "I was relieved of my position because I don't agree with my commander's position on gay marriage," he told me.  "We've been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy."

The Age of Obama: The end of the American military.  This week, Nidal Hasan was dishonorably discharged from the Army, three and a half years after he committed treason and mass murder at Ft. Hood.  Hasan was a disaster waiting to happen.  Everyone knew it.  Hasan was an American in name only.  He advertised that his loyalties were to Islam, not to America.  Yet because of political correctness, instead of investigating him and getting him out of the Army, Hasan was allowed to get away with almost anything until he committed mass murder.  This is because Hasan was a Muslim.

Sacrificing Military Women on the Altar of 'Diversity'.  On June 5, 2013, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) approved legislation to address sexual harassment in the military.  Yet what HASC failed to address is the far more important and potentially devastating issue of the Obama administration's determination to put women in direct ground combat.  When the Center for Military Readiness (CMR) asked senior Republican staffers why the organization's analysis, "Sound Policy for Women in Military," was ignored, the center was told leaders feared being labeled "anti-woman."  In short, little political will exists to oppose Obama's new policies, which will endanger women and military integrity — all for the sake of "diversity."

Obama's Weakness Provokes An Aggressive Russia, Say Analysts.  As president, Obama has sought to reassure the Russians on many fronts.  Unilaterally, he has slashed the U.S. tactical nuclear weapons arsenal.  He has pulled the plug on anti-ballistic missile systems for Poland and the Czech Republic.  His defense budget has plummeted since the last year of the Bush administration.

Obama's Extra-Constitutional Abdication.  President Barack Obama's sudden decision — after a 45-minute Friday walk on the White House grounds — to go to Congress for authorization to intervene in Syria is far more than a simple, predictable act of accountability avoidance. [...] If he succeeds in getting the congressional authorization he claims he doesn't need, that maneuver will set the precedent-setting expectation that a president must seek congressional blessing for all military actions.

U.S. needed Iraqi foothold that prez abandoned.  More than 70 years after the start of World War II, America has 100,000 troops stationed at bases in Germany and Japan.  More than 50 years after the cease-fire in Korea, we have nearly 30,000 American military stationed there.  But in Iraq, where we toppled Saddam just a decade ago and oversaw three national elections, there isn't a single American combat soldier left.  A fact President Obama has repeatedly celebrated.

In classified cyberwar against Iran, trail of Stuxnet leak leads to White House.  The Obama administration provided a New York Times reporter exclusive access to a range of high-level national security officials for a book that divulged highly classified information on a U.S. cyberwar on Iran's nuclear program, internal State Department emails show.

US Troops Begging for Supplies — DOD Turns Blind Eye.  The reply came after Rep. Duncan Hunter sent a letter in June to Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel saying, "Items such as metal detectors, tourniquets, eye protection and gun lubrication — not to mention the basic necessities like soap, toothpaste, and socks — have all been requested by units in the field.  However there are numerous instances where these items are not supplied by a logistics system that is cumbersome and which can be non-responsive to the war fighter."

The Military Epidemics That Aren't.  [Scroll down]  Soldiers, in this view, are no longer seen as models of self-control, courage and patriotism.  Instead they are victims and should be treated as patients.  Yet the links between combat, the military and mental health are more complex than the war-as-disease construct allows.  Begin with suicides by servicemen and women, which have increased in recent years — but by dozens of deaths, not in the epidemic fashion that news coverage sometimes seems to suggest.

Airman opposed to gay marriage files complaint after being transferred.  A senior Air Force NCO who says he was punished because of his opposition to gay marriage this week filed a formal complaint against his commander, claiming she violated his religious beliefs.  Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk, a 19-year airman serving at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, claims he was relieved of his duties and reassigned following a heated exchange over the hot-button social issue.

Airmen Punished for Objecting to Gay Marriage.  A 19-year veteran of the Air Force said he was relieved of his duties after he disagreed with his openly gay commander when she wanted to severely punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality.  "I was relieved of my position because I don't agree with my commander's position on gay marriage," Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk told Fox News.  "We've been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy."

China Tests A New ICBM As Obama Guts U.S. Missile Defenses.  Beijing tests a mobile missile capable of hitting the continental U.S. and prepares to deploy ballistic missile submarines that can do the same, while our commander-in-chief slashes our missile defenses.

DOD: Gay Troops Will Get Extra Time Off to Go to Same-Sex Marriage States and Get Hitched.  The U.S. Defense Department announced on Wednesday that it will make "spousal and family benefits" available no later than Sept. 3, 2013, regardless of sexual orientation, for all service members who can provide a valid marriage certificate.  And what about same-sex military couples who live in a state where same-sex marriage is not allowed?  No problem.

Dhimmitude in the US Military?  Nowhere is the oppression of religiously devout Christians and Jews more apparent than within the US military.  Our warriors are being attacked by militant atheist progressives who have, ironically, much in common with devotedly combative Islamists.  While it might seem that atheists and Islamists have little in common, both groups share a grim determination to suppress the religious freedoms of Christians and Jews.

Air Force Says Drag Acts Symbolize Gay Pride.  The U.S. Air Force said that a well-known drag queen group was invited to perform on base during a "Diversity Day" celebration because drag is a "symbol of gay pride and unity.  But the performance sparked outrage among some airmen who called the drag show "totally offensive and inappropriate."

The US military is wasting money on ethanol.
Great Green Waste: Are Military Contracts the New Obama Stimulus?  The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest energy consumer in the United States.  To meet its energy needs, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) executes contracts to purchase fuel and electricity on behalf of the service branches.  These contracts present opportunities for the federal government to provide de facto subsidies, should they choose to purchase more expensive sources of energy than is necessary.  For the purposes of this report, subsidies are defined as disbursements by the federal government that have an identifiable federal budget impact and are specifically targeted at energy production.  If the government pays more than the fair market value for a good or service, particularly in a closed-bidding process, this amounts to a subsidy.

Pentagon Looking to Find New Ways to 'Nurture' Warriors and Women in Combat.  Let's stipulate a fact: Most men cannot complete US Marine Corps combat training.  Let's stipulate another fact:  Washing out trainees who cannot complete the training is one of the purposes of the training. [...] The Pentagon is trying to integrate women into front-line combat roles, and it isn't working.  Of the six women who have volunteered for combat training, all six have washed out either due to injury or failing to complete the course.  All six.

Pentagon considering affirmative action in combat.  The effort was proposed by Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Niki Tsongas at a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing because so far, she says training systems do not "maximize the success of women."  Though the armed services have promised that combat standards will be the same regardless of gender, senior officers are considering initially separate training systems.

Christian Air Force chaplain under fire for reference to atheists.  Air Force Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes, a Christian chaplain stationed in Alaska, was censored for a line he wrote in his regular "Chaplain's Corner" musings that are posted at the base's online site, and now the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is saying he should be punished.  Fox News reported that Col. Reyes wrote an essay titled "No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave All in World War II."

U.S. Army plans switch to 'green' bullets.  The U.S. Army is taking the expression "get the lead out" quite literally and switching to lead-free, environmentally-friendly bullets.  The Army's Picatinny Arsenal is working on a "green" version of the M80A1 7.62 mm bullet, which troops are supposed to start being issued in 2014, according to an Army press release.

Obama picks green advocate as Navy energy chief.  Obama on Tuesday nominated Vice Adm. Dennis V. McGinn (Ret.) as the Navy's assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment.  McGinn comes over from the American Council on Renewable Energy, where he was president and chief executive.  The selection signals a continued commitment to green energy within the armed forces, an effort that's irked some Republicans who argue such initiatives are too pricey.

The PC-ification Of The FBI.  In a testy exchange with Republican lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller reluctantly acknowledged FBI counterterrorism training materials have been purged of references to "jihad" and "Islam" and that counterterrorism agents have been restricted from doing undercover investigations at mosques.  These outrageous policies likely contributed to the FBI missing signs of radicalization in the Muslim community — including that of the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston.

Obama's Promise To Win Afghanistan Now Total Pullout.  President Obama's new strategy for what he once called "a war that we have to win" is a "zero option" of irrevocable defeat.  The world's strongest military power can no longer win wars.

But Words Can Never Harm Me.  [Scroll down]  About a year ago, Peter Beinart wrote in the Daily Beast, "Egypt Policy Shows How Well Obama Has Managed America's Decline".  He was not writing tongue in cheek. He was really delirious with happiness that things were going so well.  Barry Rubin argues some in the administration actually believe that if you fight political Islamism, it will only make them mean.  Now you may laugh at this statement.  But cry at this one:  they actually believe this stuff.

Report Details Hostility in U.S. Military toward Christian Members.  A coalition of legislators and religious freedom advocates warned Tuesday [7/9/2013] about the growing hostility toward Christians serving in the military and called for a federal statute to protect the religious liberty of troops.  The Family Research Council distributed a report, "A Clear and Present Danger: The Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military," at the press conference on Tuesday [7/9/2012] at the Capitol detailing incidences of that hostility, including the July 27, 2011 cancellation of a 20-year-old ethics course taught at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California because it used Scripture.

Obama's Serial Ineptness.  [W]asn't one of the key selling points of Mr. Obama in 2008 that he would improve America's relations in the world; that he would sit down with other leaders and reach agreements his predecessor did not; and that Afghanistan was the "good war" that America would prevail in under his inspired leadership?  Instead, America's image in the world is worse than ever, the leaders of many other nations have sheer contempt for the president, and the Afghanistan war is in the process of being lost.  Mr. Obama seems to think a retreat substitutes for a strategy and that a defeat is the same thing as a victory.  He's wrong on both counts.

What, Obama worry?  Can the United States survive the remaining 3½ years of the Obama presidency? [...] I have a growing fear we are on the verge of a catastrophe.  It didn't help that the Army announced it will trim our forces by 80,000 troops over five years and said more reductions might also be necessary to meet budget reductions.  Nor does it help that our president seems somewhere between indifferent and oblivious to growing global threats.

Army to cut combat brigades at 10 US bases.  In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

Pentagon Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses.  Hours after the Supreme Court ruling, the Pentagon announced that it would move to quickly extend all benefits given to opposite sex spouses to same-sex couples including medical, dental and housing allowances.  Defense officials also said that same sex spouses would have the same rights to be buried alongside war veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Another detriment to morale:
U.S. Army Restricts Access To 'The Guardian' Website.  The Monterey County (Calif.) Herald has a great scoop:  "The Army admitted Thursday [6/27/2013] to not only restricting access to The Guardian news website at the Presidio of Monterey, as reported in Thursday's Herald, but Armywide."  In simple terms:  If you're accessing the Internet at an Army facility across the country, you would not be able to access parts, if not all, of the website for the British newspaper.

Pentagon's LGBT 'Pride Month' Comes With a Poster.  On Tuesday, June 25, the U.S. Defense Department will give special recognition to "gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers" — as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civilian workers — for their "dedicated service to our country."

The Obama Age of Proliferation.  Mr. Obama returned this week to Berlin to give his long-promised speech laying out his plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  His idea is to remove those weapons initially and primarily from American hands.  North Korea and Iran each got a single line in his speech, which is at least more than he gave to China, which is investing heavily in the world's third largest nuclear arsenal.

Navy Captain Guns Down Biofuels.  [Scroll down]  Now comes one of the Navy's best and brightest, Captain T.A. Ike Keifer.  In March, Keifer, an aviator who has been deployed seven times and spent 21 months in Iraq, published a scathing indictment of the biofuels sector in Strategic Studies Quarterly, the U.S. Air Force's most-prestigious journal.

Obama Directs DoD to Acknowledge Nuke Attack Isn't Likely, So Cut Arsenal.  President Obama used his speech before the Brandenburg Gate this morning to tout further planned reductions to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. [...] "The U.S. intent is to seek negotiated cuts with Russia so that we can continue to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," the White House said.

Soldier Faces Charges For Reading Conservative Books.  A member of the U.S. Army Band says he's being reprimanded for having the wrong bumper stickers on his car, serving politically incorrect food at a party and reading books by conservative authors.

Obama administration: Some religions are more equal than others.  The Obama administration "strongly objects" to a proposed House amendment to the defense authorization bill which would require, in the words of its sponsor, Rep. John Fleming, R-La., "the Armed Forces to accommodate 'actions and speech' reflecting the conscience, moral, principles or religious beliefs of the member."  Fox News has the story.  Fleming points to evidence that Christian service members and chaplains are being penalized for expressing their faith.

Breaking: Obama Threatens Veto of Religious Protection for Military.  [Scroll down]  In other words, Obama says he will veto any bill that forbids his appointees or officers from telling a soldier that he cannot mention Jesus during prayer or have a Bible on his desk, or that keeps those appointees from telling a chaplain (who is an ordained clergyman) what religious teachings he is allowed to give in worship services, or what spiritual counseling he can give to another soldier.

Sex and the Military.  For thousands of years, people around the world had the common sense to realize that putting young men and young women together in military operations was asking for trouble, not only for these young people of both sexes, but for the effectiveness of military forces entrusted with the fate of nations.  Yet, in these politically correct times, civilian leaders who increasingly have no experience whatever in the armed forces are far more willing to try to micro-manage the military than back in the days when most members of Congress and most Presidents had served in the military.

Ignorance is strength!
Air Force Bans Personnel from Reading News Stories Reporting NSA Scandal.  The Air Force's 624th Operations Center sent an e-mail with a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) that prohibits them from accessing and reading news stories related to the current National Security Agency snooping controversy on the Air Force's NIPRNET (Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router Network) systems.

U.S. Gives Saudi Airlines 'Unrestricted' Access to American Skies.  The United States and Saudi Arabia have signed an Open Skies agreement that will "permit unrestricted air service by the airlines of both countries between and beyond the other's territory."  The agreement means Saudi airlines may fly from any point in the kingdom to any point in the United States, and that U.S. airlines may fly from any point here to any airport in Saudi Arabia.

Soldier Told Not to Read Levin, Limbaugh or Hannity in Uniform.  A veteran member of the U.S. Army Band said he is facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party.  Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, a 25-year Army veteran and conservative Christian based at Fort Myer in Washington, believes his outspoken opposition to gay marriage prompted higher-ups to take a closer look at his beliefs.

Army Punishes Soldier who Served Chick-fil-A.  An Army master sergeant was punished after he hosted a promotion party and served Chick-fil-A sandwiches in honor of the Defense of Marriage Act.  The unidentified soldier was investigated, reprimanded, threatened with judicial action and given a bad efficiency report, according to the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.

Soldier Who Read Conservative Books Now Faces Charges.  A member of the U.S. Army Band who said he was reprimanded for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity is now facing Article 15 charges — which cropped up shortly after he went public with his complaints.  Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, a decorated soloist with the Army Band, is being charged under a federal law that permits commanding officers to conduct non-judicial proceedings for minor offenses.

Air Force Removes Video that Mentions God.  The Pentagon directed an Air Force Base to remove a video tribute to First Sergeants because it mentioned the word 'God' and might be offensive to atheists or Muslims, Fox News has learned.  The tribute was created by a chaplain at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.  The chaplain wrote a poem titled, "God Created A First Sergeant."  It was later adapted into a video with a narration.  First Sergeants are senior non-commissioned officers who look after enlisted members.

Report: Leon Panetta revealed classified SEAL unit info.  Former CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed the name of the Navy SEAL unit that carried out the Osama bin Laden raid and named the unit's ground commander at a 2011 ceremony attended by "Zero Dark Thirty" filmmaker Mark Boal.

What about these leaks, Mr. Holder?  In light of revelations that the Obama IRS has been targeting conservative groups, it is understandable that many on the right wonder if Fox News came in for special scrutiny by the Obama Justice Department in the recent leak investigation.  But let's not forget that the real scandal here is the serial disclosures of highly classified information by senior Obama officials — leaks that have done immense damage to our national security.

Air Force Removes "Inspirational" Painting.  An inspirational painting that referenced a Bible verse has been removed from a dining hall at Mountain Home Air Force Base after an anti-religion group filed a complaint, Fox News has learned.  The painting featured a medieval crusader and referenced Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."  The Military Religious Freedom Foundation called the painting "repugnant" and an "overt display of Christian nationalism."

A Gender-Neutral Army.  The proposal to put women into combat is a transparently bad idea for reasons of common sense.  Without an ongoing conflict and with deep cuts to the military, there is no shortage of manpower that requires desperate measures and compromised standards.  There is no reasonable reason for it all except the need to transform the military from a warfighting force into a beacon of liberal values.

DOD ignores judge, cuts physical therapy for soldiers' disabled children.  Defense Department (DOD) officials decided to stop covering a certain form of physical therapy for the disable children of military members, despite an administrative judge's ruling that the treatment is covered under the law.  "For my daughter, this therapy means life, death or some horrible surgery, but she's not alone — there are 27 other military families who use the center where Kaitlyn goes," Jennifer Samuels told Military Times.

Obama's Drone War.  Drone operators — like most military people — work long hours under considerable stress.  But they are non-combatants.  Their lives are not at risk, and they don't spend nights hunting terrorists in dark places.  They don't, like the Marines, patrol trails and village paths in Afghanistan, braving Taliban fire and IEDs.  But as befits Obama's video game war, drone pilots are now eligible for a combat-related medal.  The military awards many medals for bravery in combat, and many more for meritorious non-combat service.  But the new Distinguished Warfare medal, to be awarded to drone operators and cyberwar experts, seems to be neither one nor the other.

Pentagon recognizes transgender service members for [the] first time.  The Pentagon for the first time has officially recognized transgender service members in a significant step being hailed by the LGBT community.  The acknowledgement came in the form of a letter to veteran and transgender activist Autumn Sandeen confirming that the Navy had updated its records to show she is a woman.

Denying American soldiers the faith of their fathers.  For multitudes of our nation's defenders, the practice of religious faith is foundational to life itself.  In a combat setting, I have seen and experienced the hope a military chaplain's religious message and prayers bring to a unit mourning the loss of a fallen hero and comrade.  I know religious community, worship opportunities, prayer and access to pastoral care are key to the resilience of our war fighters and directly affects their capability to carry out the mission bestowed upon them by their country.  That is why I am so disturbed and appalled at what appears to be an increasing effort to restrict the free exercise of religion within the military and completely secularize the public square.

59 Congress Members Demand Hagel Explain Meeting with Anti-Christian Extremist.  Monday morning [5/13/2013], Congressmen Steve Scalise and John Fleming — both Republicans representing districts in Louisiana — sent a letter signed by 59 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, demanding answers regarding Pentagon officials meeting with an anti-Christian extremist.

Open Secrets.  The Pentagon held internal talks on declassifying sensitive missile defense technology that it plans to share with Russia as part of the Obama administration's efforts to assuage Moscow's opposition to European defenses.  Republicans in both the House and Senate plan to block any technology declassification for missile defense technology in the current defense authorization bill and other legislation.  Legislative mark up on the authorization bill begins this week.  Critics say giving Russia classified data would undermine the effectiveness of missile defenses, which have cost taxpayers more than $100 billion since the 1980s.

How Obama Betrayed America.  Far from shouldering his responsibility as the commander-in-chief of America's global War on Terror and embracing it as this generation's equivalent of the Cold War, Obama showed his distaste for the entire enterprise by dropping the term "War on Terror" and replacing it with an Orwellian phrase — "overseas contingency operations."  Minimizing the Islamist threat to the United States is not an oversight of the Obama administration; that is its policy.

Pentagon: Soldiers who spread faith may be prosecuted.  Soldiers who promote their faith can be prosecuted under military law, the Pentagon said in a brief statement released to the media.  "Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense," the statement to Fox News stated.  "Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis."  The statement comes on the heels of a Breitbart report about Pentagon officials who met with Mikey Weinstein, the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, to shape policies that prevent active duty members from sharing faith.

At the same time...
Obama: 'All of Us Have the Freedom to Pray and Exercise Our Faiths Openly'.  "All of us have the freedom to pray and exercise our faiths openly," Pres. Obama declared while proclaiming today a National Day of Prayer — just as news that the Pentagon may court martial soldiers who share their faith is making headlines.  In declaring May 2, 2013 a National Day of Prayer, Obama affirmed that "all of us" have the legal right to "practice our faith as we see fit" — even "in fellowship".

Radicalizing the Military.  There have been few sanctuaries of American values as steadfast as the American armed forces. [...] Presently, however, they are under threat from within, and one cannot help but notice that our military is being forced, against centuries of American tradition, morals and example, to become a reflection of the left.  This appears to be part of the plan to fundamentally transform the United States, and it carries dire consequences for our long-term survival.

Army forsakes combat hero Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley for Muslims.  The U.S. Army has further punished Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, a highly respected and decorated officer in the wake of Muslim groups complaining about the approved course he taught on radical Islam at National Defense University.

Air Force Recruits Chaplains From Muslim Brotherhood Front Group.  The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to The Clarion Project that it paid nearly $5,000 for advertisements in the magazine of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism-financing trial that was also labeled a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity by the government.  The Air Force said it would continue to consider paying ISNA for ads.

Pentagon: No, we won't court-martial Christians who talk about their religion.  Christians in the military are allowed to discuss their faith, a Defense Department official said in a statement contradicting reports that such behavior could lead to court-martial.  "Service members can share their faith (evangelize) but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs (proselytization)," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen wrote in an email to the Marine Corps Times.

New DHS, DOJ Policy Helps Insane Illegals Escape Deportation, Detention.  A new policy issued by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice Department (DOJ) providing new "safeguards" and "enhanced protections" against deportation and detention for illegal immigrants with "serious mental disorders" is already having an impact.

Despite sequester, DOD signs contract for $59/gallon green jet fuel.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently warned that sequestration would cause "suspension of important activities, curtailed training, and could result in furloughs of civilian personnel" but the spending cuts haven't killed the green fuels program, as the Pentagon has continued purchasing renewable fuel at $59 per gallon.  "In March, Gevo entered into a contract with the Defense Logistics Agency to supply the U.S. Army with 3,650 gallons of renewable jet fuel to be delivered by the second quarter of 2013," Gevo announced this week in its first quarter financial report.

The Editor says...
Compare $59 per gallon with the price of jet fuel in your neighborhood.

Pentagon Consults Anti-Christian Extremist for Religious Tolerance Policy.  Many media outlets are silent on this disturbing new alliance between fanatical secularists and leaders in the Pentagon appointed by President Barack Obama and Secretary Chuck Hagel, under which the U.S. military would officially consult with someone with such foaming-at-the-mouth passionate hostility toward traditional Christians, including Evangelicals and devout Catholics.  The military — America's most heroic and noble institution — includes countless people of faith, and this represents a radical departure from the U.S. military's warm embrace of people of faith in its ranks.

Are We Being Compromised by Barack Obama's Murky Past?  With the Obama administration presiding over the hollowing out of our military forces and prepared to further weaken our strategic nuclear posture, our adversaries are being emboldened to challenge us in a number of areas. [...] We are led by a man who does not believe in American exceptionalism or our capitalist foundation.  His lead-from-behind strategy has forfeited the initiative to our adversaries.

The 'Public Safety' Follies.  It has now been reported by Fox's Megyn Kelly that the FBI's interrogation of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was short-circuited when the Justice Department arranged for him to be given a presentment hearing in the hospital.  In point of fact, it was not the hearing that caused the suspension of vital intelligence-gathering.  It was the Obama Justice Department's decision over the weekend immediately to file a criminal charge against Tsarnaev.

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Army scraping off biblical reference from weapons scopes.  For years, weapons scopes supplied to the Army by a company called Trijicon ("Brilliant Arming Solutions™") have carried serial numbers ending in JNB:12 [sic] and 2COR4:6.  To the biblically untutored, they appeared to be just a continuation of an alphanumeric sequence.  But to people familiar with the Bible and citations therefrom, these sequences signify Bible verses.

Army Removes Bible Reference from Scopes.  The U.S. Army is directing troops to remove a Bible inscription that a vendor etched into the serial numbers of weapon scopes, Fox News has learned.  Soldiers at Fort Wainwright in Alaska told Fox News they received a directive to turn in their scopes so the Bible references could be removed.

"Obama Will Let Me Go".  Linda Vickers, who owns a ranch in Brooks County, which is Ground Zero for the immigration debate, pins the blame directly on talk of 'amnesty' and a 'path to citizenship' for people who entered the U.S. illegally.  She recalls one man being arrested on her ranch not long ago.  "The Border Patrol agent was loading one man up, and he told the officer in Spanish, 'Obama's gonna let me go'."  Border Patrol agents report that immigrants are crossing the border, and in some cases surrendering while asking, "Where do I go for my amnesty?"

The U.S. Air Force as you know it no longer exists: beginning today, 17 combat units grounded.  According to internal documents obtained by Air Force Times, beginning on Apr. 9, 2013, the U.S. Air Force will begin grounding front line combat units as a consequence of sequestration and the need to deal with budget cuts.  Seventeen squadrons belonging to the various U.S. Air Force commands are going to be affected by the stand down order.

Barack Obama detests the U.S. military, and it shows.
Barack Obama blames US Navy for increased North Korean tensions.  Ever notice that this administration is only lightning-fast when it comes to shifting blame when things don't work out perfectly?

GOP House to Vote on CR Allowing Obama to Continue Paring Back Border Patrol.  The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Thursday [3/21/2013] to adopt a set of Senate-approved amendments to the continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year that gives the Obama administration the discretion to slightly decrease the number of Border Patrol agents.  That could make 2013 the second year in a row when the administration has decreased the size of the Border Patrol, according to official data released by the Border Patrol itself.

One way to weaken the military is to diminish morale.
Administration Unleashes Food Police on the U.S. Military.  U.S. military bases are traditionally outfitted with some of the comforts of home — including comfort food.  The naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for example, has McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Subway, an Irish pub with notorious fried pickles, and multiple bars.  Now, the food police are closing in at the Department of Defense, with similar language that preceded school menu crackdowns.

One way to weaken the military is to have them do "busy work."
Climate Change: Key mission for the US Navy?  It's troubling that the top officers of our Navy have accepted the misguided theory of man-made climate change. [...] Not only is the Navy concerned about climate change, they are attempting to do something about it.  Both the Navy and the Air Force have established goals to use a 50/50 blend of biofuel and petroleum-based fuel for planes and ships.  Navy plans call for establishment of a "Green Strike Group" task force by 2016, fueled by the biofuel blend, and for alternative fuels to power half of all energy consumption by 2020.

Military Doesn't Need To Worry About Climate Change.  The commander of America's Pacific forces says he knows what the top security risk is in that region.  No, it's not China.  Nor is it North Korea.  It's climate change.  Yes, this is embarrassing.

Top US Admiral: Mythical Global Warming Is Top Military Threat.  Fortunately, it doesn't matter that the Marines are evidently running out of bullets, because the main threat our military will address under the direction of moonbats is impervious to small arms fire.  That threat is the debunked hoax formerly known as global warming.

Climate Change Is the Biggest Threat in the Pacific, Says Top U.S. Admiral.  North Korea just annulled the 1953 armistice ending its war with South Korea.  China and Japan are locked in a dispute over an island chain.  But the greatest long-term threat to the peace of East Asia and Pacific Ocean — the part of the world at the heart of the Obama administration's aspirational defense strategy — is climate change, according to the admiral in charge of U.S. military operations there.

Incidentally, global warming stopped, all by itself, in 1998.

Under Obama, Veterans Wait 2000% Longer for Disability Benefits.  Obama Inc's standard policy seems to be screwing veterans.  Between the cuts to veteran health care via Tricare, education funding and mass firing of military personnel while handing out billions of dollars to his backers, Obama has inflicted catastrophic damage on countless military families.

Good riddance to a medal.  This administration certainly loves drones, but even that ardent passion has limits.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday [3/12/2013] put a stop to production of a medal that was to be awarded to drone operators, and not a moment too soon.

Hagel orders halt to production of drone pilot, cyberwarrior medal.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the military to stop production of a controversial new medal pending a 30-day study of whether the award for drone pilots and cyberwarriors should outrank medals given for battlefield bravery.

While You Weren't Looking, Obama Kills Military Commissions.  In the blink of an eye, the second Obama term has turned the clock back to the pre-9/11 days, when al-Qaeda was a law-enforcement problem, not a national-security challenge.

Rough Times Coming for America.  In Washington, D.C., it is often necessary to restate the obvious. For that reason, I recently wrote a column for NRO explaining why conservatives should be for a strong national defense.  I also pointed out one of the great ironies of the last twenty years:  the bigger the federal government has become, the less well it has performed its primary constitutional function of defending the country.  In particular, over the last two years, our government has cut a trillion dollars from the next ten years of defense budgets.

World Citizenship Trumps Defense Under Obama.  We're "not just" Americans, says our new secretary of state, but "citizens of the world."  And globalism comes before "protecting the country from catastrophic attack," says our top general.

Bob Woodward: Obama Is Showing 'A Kind Of Madness I Haven't Seen In A Long Time'.  The Washington Post's Bob Woodward ripped into President Barack Obama on "Morning Joe" today [2/27/2013], saying he's exhibiting a "kind of madness I haven't seen in a long time" for a decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf because of budget concerns.  "Can you imagine Ronald Reagan sitting there and saying, 'Oh, by the way, I can't do this because of some budget document?'" Woodward said.

The Real Obama Agenda — the Destruction of US Nuclear Defense.  The destruction of the US nuclear deterrent and the American military has been Moscow's, Beijing's and Havana's number one dream for decades.  It is what Obama's communist mentors such as Frank Marshall Davis, Alice Palmer and Bill Ayers, have always worked relentlessly towards.  Now their protege has the power to make that hellish fantasy a reality.  At last some in Washington seem to be taking the US' looming national suicide seriously.

The 5 Biggest Insults to American Manhood by the Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan.  As West spells out in frustrating detail, the nation-building policies of the last two administrations have made welfare clients rather than allies out of Pakistani villages.  Even if you think that counterinsurgency programs rather than counterterrorist missions are a wise policy, all carrot and no stick is doomed to fail.

The disturbing pattern: Obama rids America's military of yet another top general.  It's a developing pattern of this Obama White House.  Barack Obama cashiered yet another battle-seasoned American general Tuesday [2/19/2013], even as the war in Afghanistan continues along with numerous other serious global threats to United States security.  This is the fourth senior officer Obama has forced from the country's service.

Budget cuts would force Navy to shut down four active aircraft carriers.  The Navy plans to shut down four of its active aircraft carriers in one of the worst-case scenarios presented to Congress by the service since the debate on budget cuts heated up this winter.

Commander in Chief Wages War on the Moral Law.  The ultimate purpose of the U.S. military is simple:  Defend the God-given liberty of Americans.  Yet today we have a president who is using his power as commander in chief to wage war against the moral truth that makes liberty possible.  Last week, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta executed a directive from President Obama that requires the military to treat cohabitating homosexuals as if they were married couples.  Panetta did so in a memorandum he sent to the secretaries of the military departments and to the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

Not fighting back Vs. China's cyber-attacks.  Our military and intelligence services know the situation has gone beyond the Chinese preparing for cyber-war:  Beijing's already waging war against us.  It's not that we can't fight back.  We have stunning, close-held capabilities to respond with punishing cyber-strikes of our own. We have the intelligence.  We have the targets.  But the order never comes.

Warhead cuts coming.  President Obama's plan to carry out a new round of nuclear-warhead cuts will be announced soon, U.S. officials say.

But Don't Rule Out Malice.  There is enough evidence of malice in American politics to write a book, but for brevity let's just look at the decision to have women serve in every combat specialty in the military.  Where did the impetus come from for that change?  Who is asking to allow women to serve in combat specialties?  Were there marches all over the U.S. with millions of women demanding the right to go into combat? [...] Well, if there was no demand from, well... anyone to have American women serving on the front lines in combat, why did American politicians make a new policy requiring just that, even though it is very unpopular and detrimental to our combat effectiveness?

Obama aims to shrink US nuclear arsenal.  President Barack Obama wants to sharply reduce the size of the nation's already-reduced nuclear deterrent force, according to information leaked to The New York Times.  "White House officials are looking at a cut that would take the arsenal of deployed weapons to just above 1,000 ... [down from] about 1,700," said the report, which is based on a briefing given by an "official who was involved in the [White House] deliberations."

Heterosexuals Need Not Apply: DOD Extends Benefits Only to Gay Unmarried 'Partners'.  Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has unilaterally issued a directive stating that the U.S. military will now extend certain benefits to unmarried domestic partners that were formerly reserved for married couples — but will only do so if the domestic partners certify in writing to the Department of Defense that they are of the same sex.  Heterosexual unmarried partners do not qualify for the benefits — and thus are treated unequally by Panetta's directive on the basis of their sexual orientation.

This is the fruit of Obama's weakness and timidity:
Bear Bombers Over Guam.  Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam this week in the latest sign of Moscow's growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States.  The Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and were followed by U.S. jets as they circumnavigated Guam on Feb. 12 local time — hours before President Barack Obama's state of the union address.

Russia delivers a message for post-superpower America as sequestration defense cuts loom.  Russia delivered a powerful message to the United States just hours before President Obama's State of the Union address, one the American people are only just now beginning to learn about, starting with the conservative blogosphere.

Russians Push Reset Button — Circle Guam With Bombers.  In March 2009 Hillary Clinton announced that the Obama Adminstration was going to push the reset button with the Russians. [...] This week the Russians pushed their own reset button.  They circled Guam in nuke bombers.

Obama Fires 20,000 Marines, But Sends $700 Million to Palestinian Terrorists.  I recall Obama talking a lot about "Nation-Building at Home" instead of abroad, but like every other word that comes out of his mouth, that was another lie.  While Barack Hussein Obama is firing 20,000 Marines as part of his massive purge of the United States military to "save money", he's also fighting to send $700 million to the terrorists of the Palestinian Authority.

Report: White House set to cut nuclear arsenal by one-third.  President Obama is poised to sign off on a new internal review of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy that would reduce the arsenal by one-third, resulting in billions in savings to the Pentagon and Energy Department.  The recommended reductions were included in a draft version of a classified decision directive compiled by top defense and national security officials inside the White House, according to a report by the Center for Public Integrity issued Friday [2/8/2013].

Dreams From Our Fathers: Obama Resigns.  [Scroll down]  Because of economic weakness America cannot project at will its military power with naval and armed forces in strategic locations like it used to do; the resulting vacuum is producing a growing reaction by foreign militant forces eager and willing to take advantage of our reticence.  This is all so obvious, it is inconceivable it hasn't been directly planned by this administration and its consultants visible and invisible.

Big Job: Wrong Man.  [Chuck Hagel] did so badly in the confirmation hearings that, as Stephen Hayes writes, "any senator who takes the advise-and-consent role seriously had to have real concerns about [Hagel's] basic competence."  Still, presidents are entitled to appoint the people they want, you think, even when they are, manifestly, not the best possible choice or even up to the job.

Immigration Law Enforcement Put On ICE By Obama.  A federal judge rules that border agents can proceed with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DHS directives ordering the agents to break the law — or have their careers threatened.

ICE Is Not Allowed to Enforce Immigration Law.  ICE cannot arrest aliens unless they have committed a felony.  It is basically legal to enter the country illegally.  ICE is prohibiting agents from enforcing immigration law.

America Gives Up.  Who's going to fight to the death to protect the home front when the hottest girls are in the next bunk?  Of course, it only makes sense to send co-eds to fight if you've already given up on the concept of victory, which, in case you haven't noticed, we most definitely have.

Panetta to propose military pay cut after Obama raised federal officials pay.  Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reportedly believes the military should receive a pay cut in order to respond to the budget cuts facing the Pentagon — a position that might strengthen the Republican push to reverse President Obama's executive order raising the salary of Vice President Joe Biden and other federal officials.

Why is Obama Arming Enemies?  Alas, President Obama appears determined to repeat Jimmy Carter's mistakes.  Giving Turkey the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is bad enough.  While Turkey was part of the consortium that built the fuselage, what Turkey now demands is the software codes and keys to the technology which make that fighter jet the platform upon which the next generation of American air power will rest.

Leak of top secret Stuxnet program: grounds for impeachment?  I wouldn't put it past Obama to leak sensitive data to help his election campaign.

Chuck Hagel's Desire To Get Rid Of All Nukes Is Dangerous.  Americans who are concerned about traditional freedoms and the Second Amendment have no difficulty understanding the message of the popular bumper strip:  "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."  It should be just as easy to grasp the corollary:  If nukes are outlawed, only terrorist countries will have nukes.  But somehow, Barack Obama and Chuck Hagel don't get it.  In a 2007 campaign speech, Obama promised:  "Here's what I'll say as president:  America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons."  Chuck Hagel is listed as one of six directors of a dangerous group called "Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission."

Obama's War on the Troops.  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will recommend to Congress that military salaries be limited to a 1 percent increase next year due to "budget uncertainties" related to sequestration, CNN reports. [...] Last year, the Obama administration's proposed defense budget called for cuts to the military's healthcare benefits program, TRICARE, requiring military members, families, and retirees to pay more for their health care, as the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Oppose Brennan for CIA Director.  To cut to the chase, a country that was serious about its national security would never put John Brennan in charge of its premier intelligence service.  Of course, it is by no means clear that the United States is any longer a serious country in this regard.

Girls Just Wanna Have Guns.  Sources say outgoing Secretary of Defense Panetta will announce his decision to permit female soldiers to participate in combat roles starting later in 2013.  Special units like the SEALS and the Army's Delta Force, will have until 2016 to document why they should qualify for an exemption to the new ruling.  While some women may be able to come up to the mark achieved routinely by male inductees, most simply won't.  How many women wrestlers, miners, and construction workers are filing their tax returns, even in 2013?

Full Throttle Ahead: US Tips Global Power Scales with Fracking.  The United States is sitting on massive natural gas and oil reserves that have the potential to shift the geopolitical balance in its favor.  Worries are increasing in Russia and the Arab states of waning influence and falling market prices.

Poll: 17 percent of Marines would quit if women are moved into combat positions.  According to the Associated Press, male Marines listed fears of being falsely accused of sexual harassment, fraternization, other Marines getting preferential treatment, and having to deal with pregnancy or personal issues that could affect the unit before they are sent to the battlefield.

Terrible Destruction is Being Done to Our Armed Forces And to Our Country by Modern Liberalism.  Sodomy was a crime that was strictly enforced in our military services, until the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy of the Clinton administration allowed closeted homosexuals into the military forces.  Under President Barack Hussein Obama, men and women who openly engage in sodomy were welcomed into the service.  Men and women in the services, who did not believe in the vile acts of sodomy, were muzzled, and prohibited from speaking out about it.  Now it has been announced that women will be allowed to serve in combat, along with men.  This will greatly reduce the effectiveness and power of our military forces.  It will also greatly reduce the morale and morality in our armed services.

Will Chuck Hagel Be Obama's Pentagon Downsizer-In-Chief?  Chuck Hagel's record in the Senate is a problem, but just as troubling is his failure to explain how he'll keep America strong within an administration that's bent on shrinking the military.

Levin: What Kind of Commander-in-Chief Would Nominate Chuck Hagel?  "Well, the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government, it's called Barack Obama.  No, he's not a formal member, he's a sympathizer.  There, I said it.  Prove otherwise.["]

Maybe Mr. Hagel didn't know there would be a confirmation hearing.
Hagel in the Headlights.  Former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel went through a whole day of questioning in his quest to be the next Secretary of Defense by delivering fumbling, nearly incoherent remarks, flip-flopping on his long record of opposition to Israel and toughness against terrorists (including Iran) faster than a freshly-caught fish.

'Equality' on the Battlefield.  Today's adherents of heroic fantasy have decreed the battlefield can be a gender-neutral zone reflective of the Left's domestic agenda for gender "equality."  The daydream is that women and men can act as interchangeable units on the battlefield.  The eradication of the differences between the sexes the Left is seeking to achieve in civilian society is to be applied to the U.S. military, which is now expected to embrace a sort of psychological Lamarckianism that insists men and women can by sheer positive thinking — "I can be anything I want to be" — overcome the natural limitations of the female sex by an act of will.

Common sense, emotion and women in combat.  The recent decision by outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta to allow women to serve in front-line combat units is fraught with problems, and no one in the administration or at the Department of Defense seems to be considering them.

Unfit for Combat.  The United States Marine Corps is set to shed more than 20,000 active duty positions in the coming years and have already commenced a process meant to force some senior officers into an early retirement.  The Marines are on course to cut around 4,000 positions a year through 2017, decreasing the total number of Marines to 182,100 from its peak last year of 202,100, according to a major scale-down order that was quietly issued last year.

Defense Department Expands Women's Combat Role.  Following a unanimous recommendation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today announced the end of the direct ground combat exclusion rule for female service members.  Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs chairman, joined Panetta at a Pentagon news conference in announcing the policy change.  The secretary also announced that the service branches will continue to move forward with a plan to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service.

The Editor says...
This is unmitigated sophistry.  It appears to be an effort by the Defense Secretary to take credit for solving a problem that doesn't exist.  How many "unnecessary gender-based barriers" could there be — unless he's talking about reverse discrimination, which I presume he is not.

Dangerous Times: Gimme a General Who Won't Fight!  General James Mattis is being fired for insisting on complete contingency planning, according to Pentagon reporter Tom Ricks.  Truth-telling isn't welcome in this administration, and that means big trouble ahead.  General Mattis and the military understand that.  The general insisted on full planning for all predictable outcomes.  Obama is a gambler, and he doesn't want to think about what might happen if his wild gambles don't pay off.  He is amazingly overconfident.  General Mattis is a thinker.  He is a responsible combat leader.  The differences are huge.

The irresponsibly stupid and dangerous camouflage patterns of the U.S. military.  You'd think the military would want uniform patterns that keep its members safe.  And yet somehow, "distinctiveness" has trumped safety.

Trashing Tricare.  The Obama administration's proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers' benefits untouched.  The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials.  Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare's state-run insurance exchanges.

Military and Society Threatened by Women in Combat.  The first line of attack in political battles is language.  Getting people to phrase things your way is the first step to getting them to think your way.  In the foggy mess of the debate over women in combat, you will see media references to a "ban" being "lifted."  Bans are bad.  Lifting bans is good.  Therein lies the bias strangling this issue in the dominant media culture.

Women Serving in Combat Positions Is a Batty Idea.  When the government mandates acceptance into a job/work force scenario, standards must be lowered to accommodate the numbers.  Most females are not as strong as men.  This will be a direct issue in combat.  If you have a 5'10" male weighing 200 pounds, he will weigh between 250-275 pounds by the time he has donned a full combat load.  How many women, after being hit by an IED (improvised explosive device), could drag 275 pounds out of a burning vehicle while drawing fire?

Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles.  U.S. military leaders on Thursday formally lifted the ban on women serving in combat positions, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying women have become an "integral part" of the military and have already demonstrated their willingness to fight during the wars of the last decade.  "It's clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military's mission of defending the nation," Panetta said.

Army Removes Crosses, Steeple from Chapel.  The U.S. military ordered soldiers to remove a cross and a steeple from atop a chapel and to board up cross-shaped windows at a remote American forward operating base in Afghanistan.  The removal of Christian symbols from the chapel at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E came after a solider complained — leading American Atheists president David Silverman to send a letter to the Pentagon.

The Reality That Awaits Women in Combat.  Most people seem to believe that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have merely involved driving out of a forward operating base, patrolling the streets, maybe getting in a quick firefight, and then returning to the forward operating base and its separate shower facilities and chow hall.  The reality of modern infantry combat, at least the portion I saw, bore little resemblance to this sanitized view.

Coed Combat Units.  For over two decades, I have been arguing against the idea of placing American women in combat or in support positions associated with direct ground combat.  I base my position on three factors.  First, there are substantial physical differences between men and women that place the latter at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to ground combat.  Second, men treat women differently than they treat other men.  This can undermine the comradeship upon which the unit cohesion necessary to success on the battlefield depends.  Finally, the presence of women leads to double standards that seriously erode morale and performance.  In other words, men and women are not interchangeable.

Women in Combat: Why Did Obama Avoid Congress?  The most curious thing about outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's decision this week to allow women to assume combat roles in the military was the timing.  It was announced just as departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was testifying on Capitol Hill about the Benghazi attack — and came without any advance notification to Congress, much to the annoyance of Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Diversity Cult's Attack on the Military.  Center for Military Readiness (CMR) president Elaine Donnelly continues to challenge outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's elimination of the ban against women serving in combat.  A 42-page report, "Defense Department 'Diversity' Push for Women In Land Combat" is a no-holds-barred assessment of the pitfalls that attend women serving in combat units.

No Better Critics.  Ideologues and authoritarians tend not to welcome debate on whatever issue it is they're applying their ideology to or invoking their authority on behalf of.  The question of women in combat units is no exception, as the proponents have gone out of their way to discourage honest debate on the question.

Demilitarizing the Military.  The decision to open up ground combat, front-line roles to women should not be viewed in isolation from a number of significant military policy changes during President Obama's administration.  Some changes have made headlines — the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," women in combat roles, and planned troop reductions — while others, like the ever-increasing influence of international human-rights law in combat operations, have not.  There is a common theme, however, and it is decidedly not one of increased combat effectiveness.

Chuck Hagel Advocated for Drastic Cuts, Elimination of U.S. Nuclear Arsenal.  Former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) has spent a lot of time pressing for international reductions in nuclear arsenals.  And since joining hands with the anti-nuclear weapons group Global Zero in 2009, Hagel has not only supported a nuclear weapons-free America, but has even advocated unilateral U.S disarmament, "if necessary."

Why Obama picked Hagel.  The two share similar views and philosophies as the Obama administration attempts to define the role of the United States in the transition to a post-superpower world.

As candidate, Hagel supported de-funding Radio Free Europe.  Secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel sought to eradicate U.S. funding for pro-democracy broadcasts across the globe during his tenure in the Senate, according to a candidate questionnaire from his 1996 race against then-Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson (D).  Asked if the U.S. should "continue funding for Radio Free Europe [RFE] and Radio Liberty [RL]," the pro-democracy networks that helped reshape the world, Hagel replied, "No."  Asked if the U.S. should "continue funding for Radio Marti and TV Marti," the U.S.'s voice of freedom in Cuba, Hagel replied, "No."

Treason? Obama's Plans to Disarm America.  President Barack Obama's nomination for US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, is a board member of the far left, resolutely anti-military Ploughshares Fund. [...] The Obama Administration's number one priority is the destruction of US defensive capability.  If this is allowed to occur, the United States and indeed the entire West, will be at the mercy of the combined military might of Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, radical Islam and all of their growing army of allies.

Selective enforcement.  A military chaplains' advocacy group criticized President Barack Obama earlier this week for suggesting his administration might ignore provisions of a new law that offers religious liberty protections to service members.  The protections, approved by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, guarantee chaplains will not be forced to perform "marriage" ceremonies for same-sex couples or be punished for refusing to do so.

Hagel, an Eccentric Choice to Run Defense.  First, by 'floating' the name of Susan Rice to succeed Hillary Clinton at the State Department, Obama left Rice publicly vulnerable to her critics, and allowed opposition to build.  Now, by similarly floating a name for the Pentagon, Obama has subjected Hagel to the same political hazards that undermined Rice — and with comparable results.

Obama Defense Pick Linked to Institute for Policy Studies, Anti-Military Marxists.  President Barack Obama's proposed appointment of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as US Secretary of Defense is generating interest and even approval, on the far left. [... Phyllis] Bennis is particularly happy that Hagel's appointment is a clear signal that Obama intends to move forward with the anti-American left's number one priority — dramatically downsizing the US military.

Hagel's Controversial Foreign Connections and Backers.  Two seemingly unrelated events — Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel as Pentagon chief and the sale of Al Gore's Current TV to Al Jazeera — are coming together in a way that illustrates the role that the foreign propaganda channel can and will play if Congress lets the television deal go through.  House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul is being encouraged by a group of media critics, journalists, academics, and national security and Middle East experts, to open hearings into Al Jazeera's media power play on American soil.  In regard to Hagel, Breitbart blogger William Bigelow notes that Al Jazeera seems to be having a love affair with the Obama nominee.

The twilight of America.  Barack Obama has now proposed filling the three positions in the US administration most concerned with the security of the nation and the defence of the free world, those at State, Defence and the CIA, by three men who have all taken up positions which can only strengthen those who threaten the security of America and the survival of the free world.

Navy admits standard-issue uniform is highly flammable and will melt onto skin.  The U.S. Navy's standard-issue blue digitized camouflage fatigues are highly flammable and will burn 'robustly until complete consumption,' a report revealed last month.  The findings show that the digital-print camo, which is made from 50 percent cotton and 50 percent nylon, will drip as it burns, causing potentially hazardous burn injuries.

Chuck Hagel Supports Paring Down Pentagon, Cutting Nuclear Arsenal.  In addition to holding the opinion that the Department of Defense is "bloated," Hagel has endorsed calls for an 80 percent reduction in America's nuclear arsenal.

Hagel Pick Shows Where Obama Wants To Take The Country.  The puzzle of the Chuck Hagel nomination for defense secretary is that you normally choose someone of the other party for your Cabinet to indicate a move to the center, but Hagel's foreign policy views are to the left of Barack Obama's, let alone the GOP's.  Indeed, they are at the fringe of the entire Senate.

Stark Evidence of US, British Naval Decline.  As of January 2, 2013, gonavy.jp — a source, with StratFor, which we rely on here, was showing no U.S. supercarrier battle groups in or near the Mediterranean.  Last year, with the retirement of "the Big E", the USS Enterprise, the U.S. supercarrier force shrank to ten battle groups.  According to the same source, four of America's ten remaining supercarriers are actually in various types of extended rehabitation, upgrading and maintenance, so they're not available for sea duty.

Hagel sounds just like Obama:
There's No Case for Hagel.  What's striking about the case for Hagel is its absence.  His backers can cite no significant legislation for which Hagel was responsible in his two terms in the Senate.  They can quote no memorable speeches that Hagel delivered and can cite no profound passages from the book he authored.

Hollowing Out the U.S. Navy.  In the 1960s naval forces averaged 878 during the decade and in the 1970s averaged a reduced 606.  In fact, President Reagan who often discussed the need for a 600 ship navy never reached that goal in his eight years in office, the highest level being 594 in 1987 and an average of 561 during his tenure.  Now the U.S. Navy is a mere shadow of itself.

Obama calls Conscience Clause for Military Chaplains "Ill-Advised".  Religious liberty advocates are concerned after President Obama said a conscience clause that would allow military chaplains to opt-out of performing gay marriages is "unnecessary and ill-advised."  "Every member of our armed forces should be able to serve without surrendering their beliefs," said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.

The Editor says...
"Every member of our armed forces" is a group that includes the chaplains.  What about "surrendering their beliefs"?

Obama Seizing Sole Authority for US Defense.  In an attempt to seize total control over national security and bypass congress, a frightening new step by the Obama Administration is coming into play.  As noted in Friday's Wall Street Journal in an op-ed by John Bolton and John Woo, a State Department advisory group that is run by former Secretary of Defense William Perry is advising that the U.S. and Russia both reduce nuclear weapons without a treaty, as a treaty would require ratification by Congress.  This would allow Obama and his executive branch to unilaterally cut our nuclear weaponry and ignore the treaty clause of the Constitution.

Draft of new U.S. Army handbook must be scrapped.  After the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the erosion of our military's moral principles, regretfully, continues.  A recent Wall Street Journal article described the U.S. Army's final-draft handbook, which indoctrinates our military personnel heading to Afghanistan in how to be sensitive to and accept Muslim and Afghan 7th-century customs and values — or possibly be killed by our Afghan partners.  Unbelievable.

ICE Scraps 287(g) Program That Allowed Local Police to Enforce Immigration Law.  Amid Hispanic calls for immigration leniency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is scrapping a program that allowed specially trained state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.  On Dec. 21, the Friday before Christmas, ICE announced that it has decided "not to renew any of its agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that operate task forces under the 287(g) program."

Document drop: Another Obama ICE memo sabotages homeland security.  In a nutshell, the Morton memo will make it more difficult for local police to detain illegal alien criminal suspects through the 287(g) deportation program.  The directive states that "three or more convictions for minor traffic misdemeanors or other relatively minor misdemeanors alone should not trigger a detainer unless the convictions reflect a clear and continuing danger to others or disregard for the law."  The memo builds on other Morton directives aimed at limiting the scope of immigration enforcement at the behest of open-borders leftists.

Apparently, the Pentagon Was a Little Too Helpful to Zero Dark Thirty's Filmmakers.  As if Zero Dark Thirty needed more controversy, ABC News is now reporting that Under Secretary of Defense Michael Vickers is under investigation for leaking sensitive information to the filmmakers. [...] This is potentially a big deal for said SEAL Team Six member, who could be targeted by terrorists, but it's also a bit of a boondoggle for the Pentagon, where state secrets definitely aren't supposed to be exposed for the good of the entertainment industry.

Obama To Troops: Don't Insult The Taliban.  The administration blames U.S. troop rudeness for insider attacks by Afghan training partners.  So it's issuing an etiquette book ordering them not to criticize "pedophilia" and other things Islamic.

Obama to Troops: Don't Criticize the Taliban.  The Obama Administration has ordered changes in a new military handbook to now forbid U.S soldiers from criticizing the Taliban.  In addition, our men in uniform are forbidden to disparage pedophilia.  Even further, our soldiers are instructed not to speak of women's rights.  Or homosexuality.  Or criticism of Afghans at all.

New Army Manual Orders Soldiers Not To Criticize Taliban.  Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration's crusade to appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among other outrageous things.  It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture — not Taliban infiltration — is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces.

DOD Green Energy Project to Pay Off in 447 Years.  In a mind-boggling example of government waste, it will take the U.S. Navy an astounding 447 years to benefit from a costly green-energy project that's supposed to save money by lowering utility bills.  Like many other failed renewable energy experiments, the Navy project was funded with money from President Obama's $787 billion stimulus, the fraud-infested disaster that was supposed to jump start the economy and put Americans back to work.  Instead, big chunks of money have gone to wasteful projects [...]

Disarming America.  A State Department board of experts is calling for steep cuts in U.S. nuclear forces beyond the New START treaty limits and recommends unilateral or informal reductions to avoid expected Senate ratification battles.  "Treaties are an important but not always necessary method for reducing nuclear arsenals," the new report by the International Security Advisory Board says.  "The United States has reduced its nuclear arsenal without negotiating a new treaty in the past — both unilaterally and reciprocally with Russia."

The Military is Not the Place for Green Social Engineering.  Morale for our soldiers is the lowest it's been in decades.  Instead of providing our troops with the best equipment and a decisive mission, we are sullying them with egregious rules of engagement, the homosexual agenda, sensitivity training, and other social engineering activities.

Green War.  [Scroll down]  For example, the report notes a $14 million Air Force construction project to convert three Alaskan radar stations from diesel to wind energy.  The project was begun without any assurances it was properly planned or would result in any cost savings.  The Navy is also spending $170 million to convert parts of its fleet to algae-based biofuel, which currently costs $15 a gallon or four times the cost of conventional fuel.  The Defense Department spends more than $15 billion on energy annually and is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government.  Alternative fuel could potentially save taxpayers significant amounts of money.

Obama Budget Would Slash Defense Spending Sharply.  Lost in the shuffle, defense is seldom cited as a reason for voting for Mitt Romney.  But it should be.  If Barack Obama has his way, our nation will be weaker and more vulnerable than any time since before WWII.

Commander in Chief Fails Military Voters, Again.  Our armed forces need a commander in chief who protects the most basic right of every American citizen — the right to vote.  Our armed forces risk their safety and their lives to protect each citizen's right to vote.  The president needs to protect theirs.  Obama and his attorney general are responsible for the protection of military voting rights, yet they have stood idly by while our troops have been disenfranchised.  Overseas military voters need ballots sent to them in time so they have the opportunity to vote and to return their ballots.  However, various jurisdictions have failed to comply with federal law deadlines to mail the ballots.

Benghazi Reveals Obama-Islamist Alliance.  The purpose of the AQ attacks was to embarrass the United States, and to show us to be a paper tiger, precisely the way Ayatollah Khomeini did to Jimmy Carter.  AQ also wanted to tear off the cover of the Benghazi arms-smuggling operation, to make us look like a treasonous ally, which, as it turns out, we are.  All of our allies around the world, from South Korea and Japan to Israel, Australia, and Norway, must now be reassessing our reliability.  One major betrayal of our allies is enough to shatter sixty years of faith in American leadership.

The October Surprise in 2010.  At 4:22 p.m. on Friday, October 29, 2010, President Barack Obama stepped into the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House and announced some startling news:  Two bombs, hidden inside printer cartridges, had been detected the previous day on a cargo plane heading from Dubai to Chicago.  The detection was obviously good news — but did it really have to be news?  That is, wasn't there much to be gained by staying mum on the news, with an eye to catching the culprits?

Obama's dangerous emasculating of our military.  For veterans and those interested in the security of America, the question is:  Would I want this man with me in combat?  Could he be trusted to lead a military squad let alone be commander in chief?  Can you picture Obama in a duck blind — or even holding a gun?  Has he ever held a gun?

No Joking Matter: O's Declining Navy.  A look at what this administration's policies have meant to the U.S. Navy is both revealing and frightening.  Over the last four years, the combat strength of the U.S. Navy has been degraded to an extraordinary degree.  President Obama is fond of saying that Governor Romney would spend "trillions of dollars that the military isn't asking for."  In fact, successive chiefs of naval operations have testified before Congress that the minimum number of vessels needed to carry out current missions is 313.  The fleet currently consists of 285 ships, the lowest number since before America entered World War I.

Peter King: Obama admin may have given classified briefings to Daily Beast columnist.  House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King is asking CIA director Gen. David Petraeus and White House national security adviser James Clapper to investigate whether a columnist for The Daily Beast received the same classified foreign policy briefings as President Barack Obama.

Homosexuals in the military demand special privileges.  The American armed forces exist to defend our nation, not to conduct social science lab experiments in which our troops serve as human subjects.  Try telling that to this administration.  The first anniversary of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Sept. 20, has come and gone.  Now, there is mounting evidence that proves our warnings were not idle chatter.  The threat to freedom posed by this radical sexual experiment on our military is real:  It is grave and it is growing.

Three Star General: Muslim Brotherhood Has Infiltrated Our Government.  U.S. Army Lieutenant General (Ret.) William Jerry Boykin claims that individuals with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood hold security clearances in both the Pentagon and the Department of Defense.

Why Aren't Marines Carrying Live Ammo?  The Washington Free Beacon reports that Anne Patterson, the U.S. Ambassador to Cairo, forbade U.S. Marines guarding the embassy from carrying live ammo.  Ambassadors might be kings (or queens) of the compound, but her pronouncement was nothing short of professional incompetence.

One way to weaken the military is to diminish morale.
MacIver: Military Voters in Wisconsin Told to Submit Ballots a Week After Deadline.  The Federal Voting Assistance Program website published an incorrect deadline for the return of returning military ballots in Wisconsin.  Had this error not been corrected, thousands of Wisconsin servicemen and women could have been disenfranchised in this key swing state this November.

Trashing the Constitution.  Constitution Day is Monday, Sept. 17, so I compiled a non-exhaustive list of the ways Barack Obama has violated the Constitution. [...] [For example,] Undermining the nation's armed forces.  Article II, Section 2, names the president commander in chief.  Instead of asserting American power, Mr. Obama projects weakness, emboldening our enemies.  The murder of our ambassador and three other staff members in Benghazi, Libya, and the attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Yemen are bitter fruit of that reality.  In addition, Mr. Obama rammed through Congress a bill homosexualizing the military despite failing to make the case that this won't hurt readiness, morale, retention or recruitment.  He is unfit to be commander in chief.

Reports: Marines not permitted live ammo.  U.S. Marines defending the American embassy in Egypt were not permitted by the State Department to carry live ammunition, limiting their ability to respond to attacks like those this week on the U.S. consulate in Cairo.

Obama Still Decimating the Military.  Massive numbers of military veterans are being dumped out on the streets after 10, 20, even 30 years of honorable service.  Obama is cutting experienced veterans who have deployed numerous times in order to screw these soldiers out of the retirement benefits they earned, while recruiting a new kind of young inexperienced soldier focus only upon social justice and potential domestic terrorists.

The Defense Dept. Will Buy Volts, Instead of Military Equipment, to Make Obama Look Good.  GM's Volt electric car is much in the news because GM is losing up to $49,000 on every Volt it builds.  They have sold only 13,500 Volts this year, 33.75% of it's [sic] 40,000 goal.  Even at that, hardly anyone wants to buy one.  Such a dilemma.  The "Optics" are very bad for Democrats who have just proclaimed GM being "alive" as one of the Obama administration's great triumphs.

Why is Obama skipping more than half of his daily intelligence meetings?  President Obama is touting his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, but startling new statistics suggest that national security has not necessarily been the personal priority the president makes it out to be.  It turns out that more than half the time, the commander in chief does not attend his daily intelligence meeting.

Obama To Soldiers Overseas: No Voting For You!  The administration thanks the troops for their service by failing to comply with a law requiring that it help soldiers deployed overseas cast ballots in their home states.

More Evidence Defense Sequestration Originated in White House.  The hulking budget cuts now facing the Pentagon were initially pitched to Harry Reid by the White House, which saw them as a way to leverage a tax-increasing "grand bargain" from Republicans, according to Bob Woodward's latest book.

Internal Army Poll: Only 26% of Officers Say Army Headed in Right Direction — 'Political Correctness' Cited.  Is the U.S. Army headed in the right direction?  An internal Army survey that was conducted in 2011 and published this year discovered that only 26 percent of active-duty Army officers say yes — and that one of the two main themes cited by those who say no is that the Army is now adversely impacted by "political correctness" imposed by both outside policymakers and senior Army leaders.

Defending America Takes More Than "Hope".  Speaking to veterans at the American Legion conference this week, President Obama said, "Today, every American can be proud that the United States is safer, stronger and more respected in the world."  That's quite a statement from a President who has granted legitimacy to extremist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood and promised the Russians he would be "flexible" toward their demands on missile defense, while slighting American allies like Poland and the Czech Republic.

America's Security Commitment to Asia Needs More Forces.  A smaller Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps means a reduced U.S. presence overseas and, due to an even higher operational tempo, a greater strain on existing forces and equipment.  Underfunding defense requirements could restrict potential U.S. policy options and increase the danger to U.S. forces during any future Asian engagements.  And, ultimately, the price of such underfunding will be mission failure or American servicemen's lives.

Leakgate: Obama's Unspinnable Scandal.  Even getting the Joint Chiefs chairman to admonish the ex-Navy SEALs who are condemning White House leaks won't extinguish Obama's Leak-gate scandal.  These heroes are dead right.

State Dept. Advisers: Let's Cut Nukes Some More.  A State Department advisory board report made public Tuesday shows that the Obama administration is studying cuts in U.S. strategic arsenals to "very low" levels and ultimately eliminating nuclear arms.  The advisory board, headed by former Defense Secretary William Perry, reflects themes promoted by liberal arms control and disarmament officials in the administration and calls for a new U.S. nuclear doctrine dubbed "mutual assured stability" based on better relations with Russia.

Will Obama Keep Power 'by Any Means Necessary'?  [Scroll down]  Many spectacles have enlivened presidential elections over the years, but 2012 marks the first time that high-level military personnel have felt compelled to publicly tell the president to stop leaking national security secrets.  A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives created a 22-minute video, "Dishonorable Disclosures," to shame Obama into shutting up about priceless intelligence related to bin Laden's death, British-Saudi penetration of al-Qaeda, and the Israeli-American Stuxnet virus attack on Iran's nuclear program.  Normally, presidents don't want to endanger American citizens and military personnel by leaking top-secret information — but aiding and abetting the enemy is apparently all in a day's work for Obama.

Navy SEALs To Obama: You Didn't Kill Osama — We Did.  A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is launching a media campaign to scold the president for taking credit for killing Osama bin Laden and endangering lives with self-serving leaks.

Dishonorable Disclosures: It's Dynamite.  The Obama administration, to its everlasting shame, has eagerly leaked sensitive national security information to advance its own partisan political interests.  The killing of Osama bin Laden by special forces who had been on the job for years was the most grotesque, but not the only, example.  Special forces operators and intelligence officials were outraged by Obama's leaks, as were many others, including Democratic Senators.  So a bunch of special operators and intelligence professionals got together to protest against the Obama administration's irresponsibility.

Obama's Much-Touted "Reset" Brings Russian Submarines To Our Coast.  So what did President Obama's Russian "reset button" buy us?  Russian attack subs capable of taking out a U.S. aircraft carrier patrolling our sea lanes without our knowledge. [...] All this comes as Russia is selling advanced weapons — an estimated $4.6 billion or so — to Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez and establishing an intelligence-collecting site and nuclear submarine base in Cuba.

Russian attack submarine slipped past US Navy and patrolled Gulf of Mexico for weeks undetected.  A Russian attack submarine slipped into the Gulf of Mexico undetected and sailed through US strategic waters for weeks without the US Navy noticing, it was reported on Wednesday [8/15/2012].  The US military didn't even know about the presence of the Akula-class nuclear submarine earlier this year until after it had already left the gulf, still carrying a payload of long-range missiles.

Obama signs bill requiring detailed 'sequester' report to Congress.  President Barack Obama now has 30 days to give Congress a detailed report on exactly how the sequester budget cuts will affect domestic and military programs.  Obama signed the "Sequestration Transparency Act" Tuesday afternoon [8/7/2012] after the measure received bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

Defense vs. Food Stamps — What Would You Choose?  By his own admission, President Obama has always wanted to cut the defense budget dramatically.  In April 2011 — long before the near shutdown of the government and the last-minute debt-ceiling deal, which paved the way for sequestration — the president outlined $400 billion in defense cuts he had already approved.  He also said that he wanted to "do that again" and find another $400 billion in military spending reductions.  All this without any talk of threats, strategy or requirements — just arbitrary budget targets imposed on the military.

Forcing our all-volunteer force to fail.  The president of ISNA, Imam Mohamed Magid serves as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Countering Violent Extremism Working Group.  He is a close adviser to the National Security Council as well as to President Obama.  He continues to have access to not only the State and Treasury departments but has been used frequently by DOD to formulate responses to incidents that Islamists consider offensive.

Killer of American troops set to be freed, thanks to Obama.  An Iraqi court has rejected a request to send a Hezbollah commander to the United States for trial.  Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Lebanese militant, has been held in Iraq for the 2007 killings of five American soldiers, four of whom were captured, tortured and shot execution-style. [...] As Alana Goodman points out, Daqduq was in U.S. custody in Iraq and could have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay.  But despite our government's belief, set forth in the extradition request, that Daqduq is a top threat to Americans in the Middle East, President Obama refused to send him to Gitmo.

Pentagon Official: Sequestration a Step Toward 'Hollow' Military Force.  A senior Defense Department official testifying before the House Armed Services Committee last week said implementing sequestration, across-the-board budget cuts set to take effect in January, "would represent a major step toward creation of an unready, 'hollow' military force."  Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's second-in-command, told House members that sequestration "introduces senseless chaos into the management of more than 2,500 defense investment programs" and "would be devastating to DoD, just as it would to every other affected federal agency."

The Obama Jobs Sequester.  A year ago, the president demanded a $500 billion "sequester" of defense dollars as a penalty should Congress fail to cut a grand debt deal.  Congress of course failed, and Mr. Obama's sequester is now imminent.  The sequester slash comes on top of the $487 billion in defense cuts Mr. Obama had already ordered in January of this year, threatening the likes of Mansfield [Ohio].  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned of the damage the sequester will do to national security.  Yet the far more immediate political problem for Mr. Obama is that the cuts are compounding his domestic jobs liability — in the final stretch of the campaign.

Obama's Drive to Disenfranchise Soldiers.  U.S. military personnel tend to favor Republicans so it shouldn't surprise anyone that President Obama's reelection campaign has filed suit attacking an Ohio law that makes it easier for soldiers to vote.  This nickel-and-dime approach to disenfranchisement was used by then-presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000.  The unsuccessful Democrat turned global warming hoaxer had his lawyers disqualify ballots from military personnel overseas.  The new lawsuit is also an apparent acknowledgement that Obama is writing off the military vote this year.

Obama Attempts To Suppress Ohio Military Vote.  The administration likes to use soldiers for photo-ops but now, in a critical battleground state, they want to restrict the extra time for service members who protect our right to vote to cast theirs.

Democrats Versus Military Voters: Not the First Time.  Last Thursday [8/2/2012], Breitbart News' Mike Flynn broke the news that the Obama campaign was suing in the swing state of Ohio to block a law that extends early voting for members of the military for an additional three days. [...] Regardless of the remedy they seek, Flynn points out, they are suing to end an exemption for military voters.  It would not be the first time Democrats — who pretend, in their fight against voter ID, to want more ballot access — have tried to stop the military's votes from counting.

Obama frags military voters.  President Obama goes out of his way to appear to support the troops.  But when it comes to voting, he would like to keep them out of the fight.

Obama Campaign Sues to Restrict Military Voting.  President Barack Obama, along with many Democrats, likes to say that, while they may disagree with the GOP on many issues related to national security, they absolutely share their admiration and dedication to members of our armed forces.  Obama, in particular, enjoys being seen visiting troops and having photos taken with members of our military.  So, why is his campaign and the Democrat party suing to restrict their ability to vote in the upcoming election?

Sure, He Supports The Troops.  If the president supports the troops, as he so often claims, he sure has a funny way of showing it.  The Obama for America campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Party of Ohio quietly filed a lawsuit on [Friday] July 17th trying to limit the number of days which members of Armed Forces have to participate in that state's early voting.  Multiple veterans organizations are opposing the lawsuit.

More about Friday night document dumps.

Obama Lawsuit to Disenfranchise Military Voters in Ohio.  Obama is attempting to disenfranchise military voters in the most important swing state of Ohio.  The Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in Ohio on July 17th to strike down part of that state's law governing voting by members of the military.  Their suit said that part of the law is "arbitrary" with "no discernible rational basis."

Romney Campaign: Obama Campaign Lawsuit Targeting Military Voters 'Despicable' and 'Offensive'.  Breitbart News broke the story that the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee were suing Ohio's Attorney General and Secretary of State to prevent military voters from being granted three extra days of early voting.  The Obama campaign argued it was unconstitutional and arbitrary for Ohio to grant special privileges to military voters.  This was not the first time Democrats targeted military voters.

House bars Obama from sharing secrets with Russia.  The Fiscal 2013 Defense spending bill that passed the House 326 to 90 with bipartisan support Thursday evening [7/19/2012] included an amendment that would prohibit President Barack Obama from making good on a deal with Russia that he appeared to hint at earlier this year.  Introduced by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), the amendment bars the administration from sharing classified missile defense information with Russia.

The Editor says...
If Barack Obama has already revealed military secrets to Russia, this amendment accomplishes nothing.

The Air Force is spending 16 times as much as it needs to.
U.S. Air Force tests biofuel at $59 per gallon.  The U.S. Navy angered Republicans by spending $26 a gallon for biofuels for this week's Great Green Fleet demonstration, but the Air Force received little attention when it paid twice as much per gallon to test synthetic jet fuel last month.  The Air Force bought 11,000 gallons of alcohol-to-jet fuel from Gevo Inc, a Colorado biofuels company, at $59 a gallon in a program aimed at proving that new alternative fuels can be used reliably in military aircraft — once, that is, their pricing is competitive with petroleum, which now costs $3.60 a gallon.

U.S. Navy Sails the Ocean Green.  On Friday June 29 a U.S. Navy carrier strike group set sail from Puget Sound to participate in "Rim of the Pacific" maneuvers.  More than 20 nations are involved in the six-week maneuvers, which featured a key difference for the American fleet.  The carriers had filled up on biofuel at a cost of nearly $27 a gallon, more than seven times as high as the usual $3.60 a gallon of conventional fuel.  The massive cost increase is the result of President Obama linking the national security of the United States to his own environmental agenda.

Navy's Green Initiative: Costly and Not So Green.  The Obama administration intends to spend another $62 million for the Navy to "go green" with biofuels, but GOP lawmakers contend the cost is simply too high.  The White House announced on Monday that it would be launching two new biofuel research and development programs that would permit the Navy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy to offer $30 million in matching funds to support "drop-in" biofuel research and development.  "Drop-in" biofuels are those which can be used in current infrastructure, making their implementation easier and more cost-efficient.  Funding for the drop-in fuels is found in the Defense Production Act, which seeks to increase national security by utilizing domestic energy.

Inhofe: Navy 'publicity stunt' squandered millions, put sailors' lives at risk.  While lawmakers on Capitol Hill were struggling to find a solution to the threat of sequestration, the Navy spent more than $12 million at the Rim of the Pacific exercise painting ships, printing hats and transporting fuel to parade the Navy's Great Green Fleet in front of thousands of spectators and foreign military observers.

The Scandal of Our Age.  Here is the crux of the scandal:  Obama is formulating a new policy of avoiding overt unpopular engagements, while waging an unprecedented covert war across the world.  He's afraid that the American people do not fully appreciate these once-secret efforts and might in 2012 look only at his mishaps in Afghanistan or his public confusion over Islamic terror.  Ergo, feed information to a Sanger or Ignatius so that they can skillfully inform us, albeit with a bit of dramatic "shock" and "surprise," just how tough, brutal, and deadly Barack Obama really is.  Yet these disclosures will endanger our national security, especially in the case of a soon-to-be-nuclear Iran.  They will probably get people killed or tortured, and they will weaken America's ability for years to work covertly with allies.

John Wayne Obama.  The announcement of a Justice Department investigation into a flurry of high-level leaks that have compromised U.S. national security has done nothing to allay concerns in Congress.  As the probe moves forward, one thing is clear:  The White House needs to get its story straight.

Hold Obama accountable.  Suddenly, congressional leaders of both parties are demanding investigations into serial disclosures of national security secrets on President Obama's watch.  The truth of the matter is that we already know what we need to about those leaks.  The question is:  Will anybody do anything about them?

Who is the White House Mole?  There has been a series of leaks of classified information from the White House in an effort to portray President Obama as a tough American foreign policy leader, but no official has resigned from the administration or the Obama campaign in disgrace or protest.  This suggests the betrayal of state secrets is being condoned or ignored at the highest levels.  Not surprisingly, Eric Holder's Department of Justice is resisting the appointment of a special or outside counsel to probe the scandal.  If it is so easy to turn over national security information to the media, it may be just as easy to turn the state secrets directly over to the enemy.  Either way, our adversaries benefit.

Pentagon to salute gay troops.  They declined to give details about what the event will be, but officials said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta feels it's important to recognize the service of gays in the armed forces.

The Dark Knight.  The Obama administration has taken the CIA "out of the business" of interrogating high-value terrorists and the lack of data is endangering the U.S. security, according to former CIA counterterrorism chief Jose A. Rodriguez.  If U.S. intelligence or military personnel capture a senior terror leader today, no system is in place or facilities set up where he could be questioned, said the 31-year agency veteran who was awarded several medals for his intelligence work before retiring in 2007.

Obama Doctrine: Speak Loudly And Carry A Puny Stick.  Panetta's announcement comes just as Congress is making big cuts in the U.S. budget for 2013, with the defense department projected to take half the hit at $487 billion.  That means the U.S. fleet, at about 285 ships, could be cut to 230 ships, the lowest level since before the World War I era, and a sorry decline from the 546 vessels at sea during the U.S. Reagan-era peak in 1990.

The midway plus 70.  We're fast approaching the point where the US Navy can no longer guarantee the safety of the world's sea lanes, on which our economic future depends.

Billions For Climate, Not One More Cent For Defense.  A new report shows we have spent $70 billion on climate change since 2008 while our strapped military is ordered to become energy-efficient.  Imagine weapons that don't harm the environment.

The Green Monster.  Their agenda:  spend millions on expensive alternative biofuels.  Invest even more in undeveloped "green" technology.  Prepare for the melting of the polar ice caps brought on by climate change.  Some aggressive and well-funded environmentalist group?  Nope.  It's the U.S. military.

Inhofe delivers Senate floor takedown of military 'green' agenda.  The Obama administration is determined to gut the U.S. military in order to fund a far-left environmental agenda, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said during an extended address on the Senate floor this week.  Inhofe spoke to Human Events last week about his concern that U.S. military leaders had proposed spending billions on green energy measures and expensive biofuels while implementing slashing cuts on equipment and key functions, and promised to bring attention to the Defense Department's promotion of the president's liberal goals.

Defeating National Defense.  Former government attorneys and defense experts fear that foreign terrorists could capitalize on a new House proposal that would afford them full protection under the U.S. legal system, potentially spurring a domestic influx of would-be terrorists who may seek to exploit the legal loophole.  The amendment, spearheaded by Reps. Justin Amash (R., Mich.) and Adam Smith (D., Wash), would implement an unprecedented reversal in longstanding U.S. policy by requiring that terrorists be prosecuted in civilian courts — a shift that would also allow them to be housed among general inmates in American prisons.

Air Force move cripples emergency response.  As Hurricane Ike neared the Texas coast in 2008, hundreds of hospital patients and nursing home residents were in harm's way, facing a difficult escape from the storm's path.  That's when the C-130s of the 136th Airlift Wing, based in Fort Worth, Texas, went into action.  That year, for the first time in U.S. history, C-130s were used to help move patients to safety ahead of a storm's arrival.  In all, between Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, also in 2008, 800 people were airlifted to safety.  The same planes were among the first to arrive following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, bringing much-needed supplies and National Guard troops to areas devastated by the storm.  If a plan being put in place by the U.S. Air Force is allowed to go into effect, that sort of mutual assistance among our Gulf Coast states could be a thing of the past.

Missile Mania.  Senior State Dept missile defense envoy declines to explain Obama's 'flexibility' promise to Moscow.

Why is Obama considering degrading our military dogs' training?  When a dog and handler receive advanced training in Yuma and then lead a patrol in Afghanistan where they find one hidden booby trap, it can easily save five or ten combatants from injury or death on any given day.  Not only have the dogs learned to smell the bomb component chemicals, but they can actually hear the unique low sound the wind makes as it blows over a nearly invisible nylon fishing line or thin metal one, both of which are used as booby-trap tripwires.  And dogs trained to track have caught insurgents, a valuable source of intelligence, without firefights.

Bolton: Obama's foreign policy is 'confused, incoherent and incompetent'.  [Scroll down]  Well, I think Romney is in the long stream of Republican presidents and candidates who believe in the doctrine of peace through strength, that a strong America is less likely to face challenges and difficulties than a weak America.  Obama has a very different view.  He's obviously comfortable with American decline.  He doesn't see international problems and threats as being nearly as serious as they are in the terrorism area, the proliferation area and others.  And he's presiding over a hollowing out of the American military, which I think will have significant down sides for us in the years to come.

An SOS for the Coast Guard.  The Coast Guard needs to call more attention to its undersized fleet, according to Congressional Research Service expert Ron O'Rourke. [...] The sea service's own "high latitude study" concluded that, to accomplish all its polar missions, the Coast Guard requires three heavy-duty and three medium icebreakers.  Currently, the service sails one medium icebreaker and is keeping two heavy-duty icebreakers afloat (though neither is operational). [...] One can look to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to witness the effect this depleted force is having.  The U.S. has had to rely on Russian icebreakers to make way for U.S. supplies to the station.

Obama Suckering America into Loving Russia.  Lies have consequences.  And the lies told by the Obama administration about Russia for the past four years, lies which can be characterized only as Goebbels-like propaganda, have had devastating consequences indeed.

Air Force tells pilots to slow down to save fuel.  The Air Force has ordered its pilots to fly higher and slower in an effort to slash fuel use while still performing the same missions.  The rise in oil prices has added $1 billion to the cost of fueling the Air Force fleet in 2012, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy Kevin Geiss said last month.

Obama guts Defense R&D while pumping money into civilian labs.
The One Thing He Wants to Cut.  Domestic agencies such as the departments of Health and Human Services and Energy would receive a larger share of research and development funding than the Department of Defense under President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2013 budget, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.  The military would receive just under $70 billion for its research activities, down from $75 billion in 2010 and less than half of the $141 billion Obama has budgeted for R&D across all government agencies.

'Doomsday Clock' of Defense budget cuts nears zero hour.  If the hatchet strikes indiscriminately, and at a time that does not regard Defense budget planning, [Defense Secretary Leon] Panetta said the immediate result would be employee furloughs and contract and procurement curtailment; and the end of the decade would see the smallest U.S. Air Force in history in terms of personnel, smallest ground force since 1940, and smallest number of Navy ships since 1915.

One way to weaken the military is to discourage good people from enlisting.
Military votes don't count.  Election after election, certain state and local election officials fail to meet the deadline for sending absentee ballots.  The outcome is often the same — thousands of ballots are received too close to the election to be returned or, if they are returned, the ballots arrive after the deadline to be counted.  In either case, the military voter is disenfranchised.

Being 'Army strong' gets weak backing with Obama's strategy.  The Army is coming out of a decade of war beat up and strapped for cash.  The force that arguably did most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffered the most casualties, now finds itself in a new conflict.  It has begun a round of soul-searching and bureaucratic battles to determine its place in the Obama administration's new military strategy, which celebrates the global striking power of air and sea forces and downplays the chance of another major land war.

Obama's Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament.  Perhaps you do not know that President Obama has asked the Pentagon to develop plans to reduce America's nuclear arsenal by up to 80 percent.  That would ultimately leave America with just about 300 nuclear weapons, down from a high of over 31,000 at the height of the Cold War.

What Happened to Preserve, Protect, and Defend?  Obama has done what no guardian of America would do:  systematically tear down the most vital of America's defenses, all while America's enemies wait with bated breath for the nation that owes trillions in debt to be left standing defenseless.  What happens when America lays down its arms?  It seems Obama would like to find out.

Obama campaign's big blunder.  The Obama campaign accidentally handed its opponents a huge present, if they have the wit and the guts to use it.  The portion of the public that is paying attention is justifiably alarmed at Obama's overheard promise to Putin have "flexibility" on missile defense after the election.

Obama Groveling Before Russians Fulfills 2008 Promise.  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.

Biden downplays Russian threat: 'This is not 1956'.  On Sunday's "Face the Nation" on CBS, Vice President Joe Biden took on the chief critic of President Barack Obama's open-microphone moment last week, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.  Biden said Romney's criticism of Obama's flexibility falls on deaf ears because the president was just stating the obvious.

'Bam and the bear.  We can only imagine what's up next, once Obama doesn't have to worry about getting elected ever again.  Russia, after all, runs a kind of Monroe Doctrine on steroids in Eastern Europe — which the Bear considers its den.

The Flexible Flip-Flopper.  President Obama's hot mic moment defined his trip to South Korea and may very well define his reelection bid.  The reason his uncensored remark resonates is that it supports a pre-existing narrative that President Obama's promises are not to be trusted.

Rubio: Obama's open mic gaffe prompted timing of Romney endorsement.  Mitt Romney can thank President Obama's "flexibility" for Marco Rubio's endorsement.  In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Sen. Rubio revealed that President Obama's recent "open mic" gaffe with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sparked his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night [3/28/2012].  "It's been weighing on my mind all week," he said.

Obama plans double cross on missile defense.  There is so much constant, loud clatter in politics that often it is difficult to separate that which is important and revealing from that which is just noise.  But President Obama said something important and revealing on Monday [3/26/2012] in South Korea.  The White House tried to laugh off his comments at first and then to explain them away.  But the implications are too serious for political spin.

Obama Trades His Oath for Russian Campaign Contribution.  A U.S. president has just told the leaders of an unfriendly nation that he wants to make concessions to them on matters of national defense, but that he cannot do so until after he has freed himself from having to answer to the American people.  In other words, he has explicitly made himself a servant, not of U.S. national interests, but of Russian national interests.  He is assuring the Russians that he intends to satisfy their wishes, as soon as American public opinion ceases to be an obstacle.  This, I suggest, is the kind of government secrecy that ought to cause alarm.

Obama's Gaffe Hints at Hidden Agenda in Second Term.  What's really damaging here is the implication that Obama has a hidden second-term agenda.

Obama's 'flexibility' to lie after election.  Turns out he's not Kenyan after all.  He's KGB.  All this time, people were worried that President Obama was born in Africa and that his radical agenda had been crafted by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Saul Alinsky on the streets of Chicago's South Side.  Now we know his real radical hidden agenda is in service of the Kremlin.

The Editor says...
I have to disagree with the first sentence:  The fact that Obama is a communist sympathizer doesn't prove that he doesn't have dual citizenship.  In fact, it makes suspicion of him even more plausible.

Why Obama's open mic slip could seriously hurt his reelection hopes.  By telling Mr. Medvedev and his patron, the once-and-future Russian President Vladimir Putin, that he will have "flexibility" after the American election on Russian demands opposing a US missile defense for Europe, Mr. Obama is in effect saying he is ready to do something the Russians will like but that the American people won't.  Mr. Obama has shown Russian leaders, and now the entire world, weakness.

Bolton: Obama's Open-Mic Comments to Medvedev a 'Fire Bell in the Night'.  As usual, an excellent and important perspective from Ambassador Bolton on Obama's open-mic debacle with Medvedev.

Open-mic Obama.  Until this week, we thought our fearless leader, President Obama, was merely planning to trade away our missile-defense shield for marginal reductions in the Russian nuclear arsenal.  Then came the incident of the open microphone.  Into an open mic, a temerarious Obama promised the ersatz president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, that, after the November presidential elections, he would have more "flexibility" in dealing with that pesky missile shield that so offends the Russians and their clients.  Even Obama's allies seemed stunned that he would so recklessly let the cat out of the bag, and give credence to Republican warnings about a second Obama term in office.

Obama's hot mike disaster.  Mitt Romney wasted no time in spotting and capitalizing on the mega-error by President Obama in telling the Russian president he'll have "more flexibility" after the election. ... Given his recent turn to the left both substantively and rhetorically, the "more flexibility" statement is going to be hard to live down.

Hot mic: Obama begs Russians for 'space' on missile defense talks.  Unaware that a microphone was recording him, President Obama asked outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Monday for breathing room until after Mr. Obama's re-election campaign to negotiate on missile defense.  "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved, but it's important for him to give me space," Mr. Obama told Mr. Medvedev at the end of their 90-minute meeting, apparently referring to incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Obama Asks Medvedev for 'Space' on Missile Defense — 'After My Election I Have More Flexibility'.  At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday [3/26/2012], President Obama said that he would have "more flexibility" to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him "space."  The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders.

Will Voters Give Obama The Flexibility To Surrender?  The president tells his Russian counterpart to give him space until November when, if re-elected, he'll be able to give away missile defense and the rest of the store without political consequences.

Turner to Obama: What Flexibility?  A senior House Republican on Monday accused President Obama of going back on promises he would not weaken U.S. missile defenses through negotiations with Russia after the president was overheard promising more concessions after his reelection.

RNC responds to Obama's hot-mic comments.  The RNC blasted President Obama for remarks he made to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Seoul that were overheard by reporters in a new ad released Monday [3/26/2012].  "What else is on Obama's agenda after the election that he isn't telling you?" the ad asks.

Obama defends hot-mic missile gaffe.  President Barack Obama is defending his hot-mic promise of post-election "flexibility" with Russia's leaders as just another version of his public statements, and is blaming the media for slowing down a deal with Russia.

All the Pravda.  For a man so in love with the technology of image, the camera, the microphone and the teleprompter, the leader of the increasingly less free world has a natural tendency to put a little too much faith in it.  This is the second time that an open microphone has let Obama down, the first time it recorded him stabbing an ally in the back, the second time it recorded him stabbing a few dozen more in the back.

Krauthammer: Obama Admitted To Medvedev That Second Term Will Be Hard Left.  'This is my last election.'  That's his way of saying with a nod and a wink, 'Look, you guys have a free hand because you run a dictatorship, your elections are rigged.  Well, ours aren't rigged, but once I get passed my last election, I'm unleashed.  I can do anything I want.

Spins and needles for Barack Obama.  Spinning is a deceiver's art, the craft of persuading suckers they didn't really hear what they just heard.  It's what modern politics is all about.  President Obama has put his best spinners to work to "clarify" what he meant with his remarks in confidence to the Russians that once past November he'll have the "flexibility" to alter the American missile-defense system in a way that will please Moscow.

Barack Obama's grovelling before the Russians is an embarrassment.  Ronald Reagan, together with Margaret Thatcher, stood up to Moscow, and brought the Soviet Empire to its knees.  In contrast, Barack Obama has gone on his knees to grovel before the Russians.

What Will Obama Give Russia If He's Re-elected?  President Barack Obama would like to do some things for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President-elect Vladimir Putin that he does not want American voters to know about before they decide whether to re-elect him in November.  That was the intended-to-be-secret message Obama gave Medvedev in South Korea on Monday [3/26/2012].

Issa: 'He's Going to Sell Out Our National Defense After the Election'.  House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that "the American people should be very afraid" after hearing President Barack Obama's accidentally recorded remarks to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday that after the election he would have more "flexibility" in dealing with the Russians.  "I judge that in fact he's going to sell out our national defense after the election," said Issa.

Disarming America: Obama Betrays Reagan's Dream.  The president's shredding of the Constitution began at the Preamble's provision for the common defense.  He gave away our missile defense to appease Moscow and betray our allies.

A curious experiment in gun control.  Nothing but a direct order from the White House could have persuaded Maj. Gen. Mark Gurganus, the senior Marine in Afghanistan, to disarm his men on the battlefield, even for an audience with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The episode revealed much about our administration, none of it good.
Dishonorably Disarmed: Marines Insulted by Sec. Panetta.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was to address a mixed U.S.-Afghan audience at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan only weeks after six American solders were killed by Afghan soldiers, and days after an American soldier allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians.  That circumstance alone would ensure a tense atmosphere, but the decision to disarm the 200 Marines who planned to hear the secretary should set off further alarm bells.

Worse Than a Powder Keg.  Our troops have been the target of serial sneak attacks by the Afghans with whom they are forced to "partner."  Nevertheless, our Marines were ordered to disarm before being admitted into the presence of Obama's defense secretary, Leon Panetta.  Yes, you read that correctly:  Our Marines were stripped of their arms.  Panetta was at Camp Leatherneck on a "surprise" visit, hoping to calm the disastrous situation in the combat theater.  Turns out not to have been much of a surprise:  One of our Afghan "partners" — a contract interpreter hired to help our armed forces in deadly Helmand province — seamlessly converted to Islamist suicide assassin.

McCain sees another Solyndra in Navy biofuels spending.  The Navy's push to develop biofuels to run its fleet of planes and warships could devolve into a "Solyndra situation" for the Pentagon, a top Republican senator said today [3/15/2012].  During Tuesday's [3/13/2012] hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) compared the now-bankrupt solar energy company, into which the White House sank $535 million in loan guarantees, to Navy-led efforts in alternative energy.

Obama's Missile Defense Madness.  Back during the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama suggested he would be willing to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without any preconditions in order to achieve an improvement in relations between the two countries.  For this he was widely criticized, and he dropped the idea.  To date, he hasn't really come up with anything concrete as a replacement.

Obama's Alarming View on Who Wills the US Military.  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a Senate committee on Wednesday that the US would "seek permission" from international organizations before committing the military to war.  He also made it clear that the Obama administration does not feel it necessary to "inform" Congress or get their authorization for military action.

This, in my opinion, would be an act of treason:
Obama To Give Missile Secrets To Russia With Love?  A deputy defense secretary tells Congress that the administration is indeed considering giving Moscow sensitive Aegis ballistic missile defense data.  We've gone from "trust but verify" to "appease and surrender."

Obama directive waters down military custody for terror detainees.  President Obama nullified major provisions of the 2012 Defense Authorization law on Tuesday that would have mandated military custody for terrorist suspects.  In a directive issued Tuesday evening [2/28/2012], Obama cited national security interests as he gave federal law enforcement power over the military to investigate and prosecute terrorism cases.

Tricare Fury.  The WFB's recent report on an Obama administration proposal to slash health care benefits for active duty and retired military has sparked a fierce reaction against the White House from friends of the American military.  The American Action Network, meanwhile, has started a Facebook petition to tell "the president that our men and women in uniform should come before his union cronies."

Tar and Feathers for Ray Mabus.  Navy Secretary Mabus, like Obama, believes that our armed services are political tools, playthings to be splashed about like toys in a toddler's bathtub. ... Under Mabus and Obama, our Navy has shrunk to World War I levels, women are serving on submarines and we are spending untold millions or billions on "greening" the navy.  The Marine Corps is about to be cut massively and the navy's shipbuilding program is being delayed, resulting in a force that may be over-stressed or even incapable of doing its job in the next crisis.

This budget guts defense.  Tuesday's Associated Press report that President Obama is considering large cuts in our strategic arsenal is just the latest of this week's grim news about the president's national-defense plans.  On nukes, the administration is apparently pondering reductions of up to 80 percent of deployed warheads — a breathtaking slash to our nuclear-deterrence posture.  This comes on top of troubling plans outlined in the president's fiscal year 2013 budget proposal.

Obama plans to reduce our nuclear weapons to virtually nothing.  [Scroll down]  Today [2/15/2012], it was announced that Obama plans to reduce our nuclear weapons to virtually nothing (an 80% reduction) and less than either China or Russia possesses.  The dictator-in-chief is bent upon making the USA a target for both nukes and takeover by hostile forces as soon as possible.  Our own corrupt Congress and US military leaders are currently silent — with only crickets being heard in the distance.  In this, silence = concurrence.

We Dare Call It Treason.  Close on the heels of threatening to eviscerate America's defense budget and cripple our ability to defend ourselves on more than one front, Barrack Hussein Obama-Soetoro is now pushing for cutting our nuclear weapons force by up to 80 percent, to a level less than that of his idols, the Communist Chinese.  We have come to expect the leftist Democrat Party to want defense cuts, but the proposals being thrust upon us by the squatter in the White House will leave us wide open to devastating attack from nearly every quarter.

Obama Budget to Spend 1.5 Times as Much on Health Care as on Defense.  President Obama's 2013 budget will spend 1.5 times as much money on health care as on Defense, including the cost of the continuing war in Afghanistan in 2013.  According to the budget proposal, Obama will spend a combined $941 billion on federal health care spending, including Medicare, Medicaid, and funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which administers ObamaCare programs as well as the National Institutes of Health.

Obama Wants to Cut U.S. Nukes by 80 Percent.  Weeks ago, President Obama gutted our ground forces in favor of entitlement programs.  Now, his administration plans to cut the U.S. nuke arsenal by 80 percent.  It is clear President Obama is more than happy to weaken America as a military force in the world.

Nuking our Nukes.  President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to consider cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces to as low as 300 deployed warheads — below the number believed to be in China's arsenal and far fewer than current Russian strategic warhead stocks.  Pentagon and military planners were asked to develop three force levels for the U.S. arsenal of deployed strategic nuclear warheads:  a force of 1,100 to 1,000 warheads; a second scenario of between 700 and 800 warheads; and the lowest level of between 300 and 400 warheads.

Obama Administration Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament Disaster.  The only country that can be disarmed by President Obama is ours.  Period.  So why would any President/Commander-in-Chief do this? ... It's like he's trying to earn that [2009 Nobel Prize] award that was already given.

Replacement of war-worn equipment cut in budget.  The Pentagon is not just cutting manpower to reach deficit-reduction targets:  Its 2013 budget, released Monday, shows the military will spend less to replace old weapons after two grueling wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gutting America's military is no way to keep the peace.  Nobody disputes that the Pentagon could do a better job of spending the billions of dollars needed to keep America free at home and prepared for the unexpected from abroad.  The Defense Department, after all, is a government bureaucracy, and bureaucracies can always be made more efficient.  But a dangerous movement is gathering pace in Congress, on college campuses, and across the mainstream media to reduce the U.S. military to levels not seen since the early Clinton years.

New Pentagon plan would cut ground forces by 100,000.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta unveiled a plan Thursday [1/26/2012] that would cut nearly a half-trillion dollars from the defense budget over the next decade by retiring older planes and ships, delaying some projects and shrinking U.S. ground forces by about 100,000.  The plan would reduce the size of the Army by 80,000 soldiers by 2017, bringing the force size to a level slightly larger than it was on 9/11.

Welcome Back, Carter!  Budget cuts threaten to hollow out the military.

Obama's Strategy for Disaster.  Yesterday [1/26/2012] the Obama administration revealed how it plans to reorient our military in order to pay for the half a trillion dollars it wants in defense cuts over the next decade.  Under the guise of creating a "leaner, meaner" and more mobile force, President Obama and Secretary of Defense Panetta will actually leave us with an Army, Navy, and Air Force that can be everywhere but fight nowhere; that's able to act quickly but not decisively, and with few resources to deal with the unexpected — which tends to be the norm in strategic affairs — or project real power where it counts.

With a Leaner Military, a Long List of Potential Threats.  Following his long-awaited announcement detailing a proposal for massive defense spending cuts and an overall reduction in military personnel, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed his list of the risks and the most pressing threats to America's security.  "This is going to be tough," Panetta told reporters Thursday [1/26/2012].

New space-arms control initiative draws concern.  John R. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador who held Ms. Tauscher's post during the George W. Bush administration, said the initiative is symptomatic of the Obama administration's ideological commitment to arms talks.  "This is mindless," Mr. Bolton said in an email.  "The last thing the United States needs is a space code of conduct.  The ideology of arms control has already failed in the Russian 'reset' policy, and it is sure to fail here as well."

Americans, Lend Me Your Eyes.  [Scroll down]  Obama announced last week drastic shrinking of U.S. armed forces, including retreat from Europe.  Fiscal reality cannot be ignored, and the detailed plan deserves scrutiny by Congress and informed citizenry.  One key assumption of the plan is alarming:  it will leave the U.S. unable to fight two major conflicts at the same time.  Think of what this says to current or potential adversaries -- e.g., Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, al-Qaeda.

Obama Scissorhands.  There are two ways to react to President Obama's latest round of defense spending cuts.  One is emotional but somewhat justified.  The second is to analyze of Obama's plans critically to reveal a transformation of our military that is as dangerous as Obama's transformation of our economy.

Editor's note:
All the articles below speak for themselves.  Barack H. Obama (a/k/a Barry Soetoro) is systematically dismantling and weakening the Department of Defense.  What I find most puzzling is the silence of the news media and the inaction of the Congress in response to Mr. Obama's revelation of military secrets to the Russian government, including the exact number of warheads in our nuclear arsenal. [1] [2] [3]  That, in my opinion, is an act of treason.

Treason.  Under Article III, Section 3, of the Constitution, any person who levies war against the United States or adheres to its enemies by giving them Aid and Comfort has committed treason within the meaning of the Constitution.  The term aid and comfort refers to any act that manifests a betrayal of allegiance to the United States, such as furnishing enemies with arms, troops, transportation, shelter, or classified information.  If a subversive act has any tendency to weaken the power of the United States to attack or resist its enemies, aid and comfort has been given.

Obama To Betray Missile Defense Secrets To Moscow.  Betraying our secrets is easy for a president who betrayed allies Poland and the Czech Republic to placate Moscow.  Poland was to host ground-based interceptors such as those we've deployed in California and Alaska, with missile-tracking radar deployed in the Czech Republic.  Obama pulled the plug when Moscow objected.

The Top 5 Reasons Obama Must Be Removed as Commander-in-Chief.  [#5] Hollowing Out Our Military:  This week we learn that Obama is slashing the defense budget, planning to lay off 14% off our troops, reduce our nuclear arsenal, shelve key weapon systems and explicitly cripple our ability to wage ground wars.  What hath Saul Alinsky wrought!  Already, Obama has strait-jacketed the military in political correctness, forbidding discussion of the nature of radical Islam and sanitizing the jihad-crazed murder of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood into "workplace violence."  But that was not enough for our Commander-in-Chief.

Obamalateral Disarmament Dooms Arsenal Of Democracy.  Portrayed as just a shuffling of priorities, the president's defense cuts reduce our two-war strategy to maybe one war and cross your fingers.  Champagne corks are popping from Beijing to Tehran.

Obama's Indefensible Cuts.  In outlining his new defense strategy yesterday [1/5/2012], President Obama became the first commander-in-chief to speak from the Pentagon's pressroom.  Unfortunately, he used the occasion to introduce nearly $500 billion in cuts that are likely to weaken the national security of the United States.

The Price of Obama's Peace Dividend Is an Increased Risk of War.  The perception and appearance of overwhelming strength will make the actual need for that same overwhelming strength unnecessary.  The appearance of weakness, on the other hand, is as much an invitation to aggression as pasting a "kick me" sign to your own back.  Obama should realize this more than just about any other politician that has ever lived.

Obama Proposes Crippling Cuts To U.S. Military.  How can we propose massive cuts in the number of uniformed military when we are paying for NPR?  How can he cut the Marine Corps by 10% when he won't cut the Department of Energy or the Department of Education?  Answer:  This is Obama's strategy for the world, rooted in a deep, profound suspicion of American exceptionalism and American military power.

Obama's Motto:  President Obama is calling for dramatic defense cuts that could threaten our national survival while obstructing structural reforms to our entitlement programs that are essential for our national financial survival.  It just doesn't get much worse than this.

Don't gut our defense budget.  Supporters of the cuts claim we spend too much on defense, but our defense spending is actually quite low.  Today, we spend 3.9% of our Gross Domestic Product on defense.  In the 1960s, we spent 9.5% of our GDP to secure the nation.  As recently as the 1980s, 6.2% of the country's economic output was spent on defense.

Air Force Will Lose Hundreds of Planes in New Pentagon Plan.  The Air Force is preparing to trim hundreds of aircraft from its aging fleet in order to meet an Obama administration austerity order.  The move will strike many Air Force supporters as ironic.  Because just as the fleet is set to shrink, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is getting ready to argue, at least implicitly, that the country needs it more than ever.

Five ways Obama weakened America in 2011.  [Scroll down]  With more than $1 trillion in defense cuts looming over the next decade, Mr. Obama is hollowing out the military like we haven't seen since Jimmy Carter was in the White House.  Already the Navy's 284 ships are the least in service since before World War I.  Meanwhile, the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps are shrinking by tens of thousands — meaning more numerous and longer deployments overseas.  Major weapons systems are facing delay or elimination, which will hurt our industrial base.

It's a little late to ask this question:
Are Our Nuclear Secrets Safe In Obama's Hands?  The administration is considering reviving a '90s-era nuclear scientist exchange program with China.  Does no one in the White House remember how much damage the previous arrangement caused?

Gutting Defense Results In Cutting Jobs.  The head of the House Armed Services Committee says already enacted and looming defense cuts could cost the economy a million and a half jobs.  It could cost the nation much more than that.

Last F-22 Raptor Rolls Off Assembly Line.  The final F-22 Raptor fighter jet rolled off the assembly line during a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin aircraft plant at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.  The U.S. military is turning to the less costly F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to complement its operational fleet of 187 Raptors, amid concerns in Washington that the $153 million F-22 is too costly and too high-tech for its own good.

Jet Fuel-Gate Is Obama's New Solyndra.  SolyndraGate was no isolated case of corrupt government misspending.  The U.S. Navy was just forced to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuels from an Obama-connected firm at an outrageous $16 per gallon.

The Volt Administration.  The headline reads like a piece from the Onion:  "U.S. Navy Paying $15/Gallon for Green Fuel." ... "We are doing this for one simple reason," explained Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, "It makes us better war fighters.  Our use of fossil fuels is a very real threat to our national security and to the U.S. Navy's ability to protect America and project power overseas."  Really?  As long as a fuel makes the ships, planes and submarines go, how does using pricey biofuel mixtures improve the war fighting capacity of the Navy?

Navy blue goes green.  Even as the scientific validation of global-warming theory crumbles, adherents in Washington have dragooned the U.S. military into leading the charge toward renewable energy.  The Navy made headlines last week with the revelation that it has been ordered to purchase 450,000 gallons of biofuel to power its jet fighters.  Conventional jet fuel costs about $4 a gallon, but the biofuel made from fermented algae will set back the service about $16 a gallon.

Navy Biofuel Deal is 'Cost Prohibitive,' 'Another Solyndra,' Critics Say.  The Obama administration's deal to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuel for Navy jets comes at a cost of up to nine times higher than regular fuel, a spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said, coming at a time when the U.S. military is already facing deep budget cuts.

Obama's war on decency.  On Dec. 1, the story broke that Bethesda-based Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where wounded veterans convalesce, apparently had banned visitors from bringing in Bibles or other religious items. ... The policy was rescinded, but that it was imposed at all is a reminder of the culture President Obama has fostered in the armed forces and executive agencies, where extreme environmentalism, moral relativism and sexual immorality have replaced traditional American values.  We shouldn't really be surprised when a bureaucrat tries to bar Bibles in a U.S. military stateside hospital while other bureaucrats make sure terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, get copies of the Koran.

Has Obama Set the Stage for Pearl Harbor All Over Again?  High unemployment and a weak defense attract aggressors:  Germany and Japan in the 1930s.  Iran and North Korea today.  And maybe Russia.  The more decrepit our defense, the more aggressive the tyrants will be.

Pentagon defends sodomy rule change.  Conservative groups are upset over a proposed change in the defense bill that would eliminate Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Defense bill repeals military law on sodomy.  Recently passed Senate legislation would make sodomy and sex with animals legal under military law, ending long-standing prohibitions and triggering cries of perversion from conservative groups.

Update:
Defense Bill Will Not Include Provision Legalizing Sodomy, Bestiality in Military.  Despite a plea from the Obama administration that the military ban on sodomy and bestiality be repealed, a House-Senate conference committee has restored the ban to the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act.  The sodomy-bestiality ban would have been repealed by the version of the bill that had been approved by the Senate.

PETA Rebukes White House President Obama's special envoy to the United Nations Climate Change conference said that a Green Climate Fund, reportedly funded in part through a financial currency tax that would hit Americans hardest, is "rapidly" approaching.  "We are in the international context going to be, hopefully, and I believe that this will be the case, rapidly setting up the Green Fund," Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change, told reporters at the UN conference.  "We will also be working hard to ramp up the funding that is supposed to reach a 100 billion dollars a year by 2020."

Senate Approves Bill that Legalizes Sodomy and Bestiality in U.S. Military.  The Senate on Thursday evening [12/1/2011] voted 93-7 to approve a defense authorization bill that includes a provision which not only repeals the military law on sodomy, it also repeals the military ban on sex with animals — or bestiality.

Military advocates decry 'illegal' early terminations of 157 Air Force majors.  The Chapman University of Military Law and its associated AMVETS Legal Clinic are blowing the whistle on what they say is an injustice set to be perpetrated on 157 Air Force majors on the last day of November.  "The Obama administration has ordered massive reductions in forces, resulting in many officers who are near retirement being involuntarily separated without retirement or medical benefits," explained institute director Maj. Kyndra Rotunda.

157 Air Force Majors terminated without retirement benefits.  One of the best ways to destroy American military capabilities would be to convince career military personnel — both officers and enlisted — that their commitment to service will not be rewarded with the retirement benefits they have earned by their faithful obedience to orders, no matter the personal cost or risks they endure.  The Obama administration seems to be ready to destroy the belief that service will be rewarded as faithfully as duty was performed, one step at a time.

Krauthammer: Obama gave up 'governance,' now running 'an Occupy Wall Street campaign'.  Almost immediately after the congressional deficit reduction super committee called it quits on trying to reach a deal on federal budget cuts, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Congress to stop the automatic across-the-board cuts, warning they would "tear a seam in the nation's defense."  That's a near-complete contradiction to what his boss, President Barack Obama, said following the news.  Obama promised to veto any efforts by Congress to stop the cuts.

Defenseless: America in the Twenty First Century.  Under the guise of addressing the debt crisis, President Obama is leaving America exposed to multi-pronged attack by myriad hostile powers.  Necessities like national defense are being sacrificed on the altar of handouts to constituents.  Arguably secondary entitlement programs have supplanted the primary necessity of a strong national defense capable of deterring aggression.  To state the obvious, the vital security needs of the nation can not be replaced with a one-time shot of welfare utopia.  What nation or civilization has ever survived that has turned inward, gratifying pleasure and consumption over the preservation of outer-defenses?  Rome serves as only one pertinent example among many.  Leaving America defenseless is indefensible.

Border Patrol agents pulled off-task.  An immigration enforcement advocacy organization is outraged over the Department of Homeland Security's latest directive the group says appears to be nothing more than an effort to aid illegal immigration.  The Associated Press reported recently the DHS issued a directive to U.S. Border Patrol field offices around the country, instructing officers to halt routine checks at transportation hubs that are not "intelligence-driven."

U.S. relaxes Canadian border checks.  The U.S. Border Patrol has quietly stopped its controversial practice of routinely searching buses, trains and airports for illegal immigrants at transportation hubs along the northern border and in the nation's interior, preventing agents from using what had long been an effective tool for tracking down people here illegally, it has been revealed.

Where Are the Grownups?  U.S. forces are engaged in Libya, Somalia and Yemen.  And Afghanistan and — for the moment — Iraq.  If we are to take on every murderous militia in Africa, we'll need a lot more troops than we're going to have after Obama's cuts to defense spending.  Those cuts are about to be increased massively by the "super committee" created by the August budget ceiling deal.  The "super committee" will deadlock because the Democrats are insisting that Republicans agree to massive tax hikes before they even discuss spending cuts.  And when the deadlock happens, it will be up to some grownups among congressional Republicans to prevent destruction of our military if they can.  They probably can't because they agreed to the trigger mechanism already, and Obama is standing by to veto any restoration of essential military and intelligence spending.

Unclassified photo
Cut the red wire first!
Last B53 nuclear bomb to be dismantled today.  The nearly 50-year history of the country's single most powerful nuclear weapon is coming to an end.  Workers at the nation's only nuclear weapon assembly and disassembly facility will spend less than an hour today doing the final work to dismantle the last B53 — the United States' most destructive weapon — which weighs about 10,000 pounds and is roughly the size of a minivan.

Disarming America's Military.  [Scroll down]  The report contemplated cuts that would "eliminate 60 ships, two carrier battle groups, and over 200,000 troops through 2021.  The Army would lose ground combat vehicles.  The Navy would suffer cuts in ship building and replacements for older ships.  The Air Force would likely lose the next generation bombers and aerial refueling tanker aircraft.  The Marine Corps would lose personnel carriers and indefinitely postpone replacements for new amphibious assault vehicles and ships.

Report: Budget cuts would hollow military.  A new congressional report spells out in detail how the military would become "hollow" if Congress' super committee fails to agree on deficit reductions and $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts kick in.  The Army and Marine Corps would lose 200,000 troops, bringing active strength "well below" pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels, and the armed forces would not be able to carry out its essential mission, says a 14-page analysis by the Republican majority staff of the Housed Armed Services Committee.

Armed Services chairman: Obama is anti-military.  "It is my suspicion that the White House and congressional Democrats" designed the supercommittee process "for one purpose:  to force Republicans to choose between raising taxes or gutting defense," said California Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee chairman.  Mr. McKeon also lashed out at the administration's defense and security policies that he asserted are based on a negative view of U.S. power in the world.

US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions.  The Pentagon has decided that military chaplains may perform same-sex unions, whether on or off a military installation.

Would Obama Retaliate against a Nuclear Attack?  What if a Muslim country, such as Iran, launched a nuclear attack against us, or if agents aligned with Pakistan using dirty bombs were to attack America?  Would Barack Hussein Obama retaliate with nuclear force, as has been our stated policy since the 1950s?  Would he even unleash a barrage of non-nuclear shock and awe that would level those countries so that they'd be incapable of striking a second time?

White House Dangerously Fickle About State Secrets.  Unfortunately, the exposure of operational details in the bin Laden raid was only the latest example of the administration casting our security to the wind.  Obama, within his first hundred days in office, publicized secret memos on our interrogation techniques such as the approach used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to interrogate terrorists such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.  Those memos revealed the steps we use to extract information to prevent terrorist attacks.

Blue Angels to fly on biofuels.  When the six F/A-18 Hornets in the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team thrill the crowds at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Air Expo in Maryland this weekend, they'll be soaring on biofuel.  Each of the six Hornets will be powered by a 50/50-blend of jet fuel and camelina-based biofuel, according to a Navy press release.

Obama the biofool.  Leftists see the military more as a playground for kooky ideas than as the primary responsibility of the federal government.  Consider the scheme President Obama announced Tuesday that will have the armed forces devote a great deal of time, money and energy to switch to so-called advanced biofuels.  Underneath the trendy "green" label, however, is a classic example of pork-barrel politics.

Don't Hollow Out the Military.  Under President Obama, the Defense Department's budget has already been reduced by some $430 billion.  Now, thanks to this "compromise," the security portfolios will be reduced by a further $350 billion in the first round of cuts.  Then, in the fine print of the debt-ceiling deal, a twelve-member bicameral "super committee" will recommend a second round of cuts...

The Danger of a Weak American President.  As president, he is commander-in-chief of the American military, America's head of state and the Leader of the Free World.  The world, however, now sees that America's president is weak.  He does not command the Congress or the confidence of the American people.  He refused to pull the trigger on Moammar Gaddafi, matching his actions to his words.  With seventeen months to go in his term, the president presently appears unlikely to win reelection — or his party to retain control of one House of Congress.  This is dangerous.  In this wicked world, it is important that the American president be feared.  This one is not.

Obama's Intent to Gut the Military.  President Obama continues to push the notion that he wants a "balanced approach" to budget cuts, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the only spending cuts he is willing to contemplate are cuts in defense spending.

Military leaders know Obama's decision is a disaster.  Under our Constitution, military leaders have no choice but to endorse the president's decision after giving him their best advice.  They could resign, of course, but to have the entire senior military leadership resign over a president's decision contrary to their advice would be a disaster, and not least for the troops on the ground.

The president may be sabotaging his own Afghanistan strategy.  President Obama failed to offer a convincing military or strategic rationale for the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan that he announced Wednesday night.  In several ways, they are at odds with the strategy adopted by NATO, which aims to turn over the war to the Afghan army by the end of 2014.

Is Obama Stacking The West Point Board With Activists?  President Obama on Tuesday [7/5/2011] appointed an openly gay former Army officer to the U.S. Military Academy's Board of Visitors.  Former Capt. Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, a founding board member of OutServe, an association of actively serving gay military personnel, is also co-founder and executive director of Knights Out, an organization of gay West Point graduates.  She graduated in 1980 with the first West Point class to include women.

A Clueless, Callous Commander-in-Chief.  Obama's bumbling, bungled delivery at Fort Drum yesterday represents far more than mere confusion; it clearly demonstrates a lack of care, an inattention to detail in matters very important to his audience, an insensitivity to the families of dead warriors, a dismissive disrespect of SSGT Giunta, and a casual slap in the face to the entire United States military.

The Plot to Destroy the US Military.  In two generations we have gone from General Patton telling his troops to grease their tanks with the enemy's guts to an extensive purge of Navy command officers over a series of raunchy video skits.  Slowly but surely we are turning the greatest armed forces into the world, into the most politically correct disarmed forces the world has ever seen.

The Obama 4 year plan to re-make America.  [Scroll down]  President Obama continues to posture himself against the informed judgment of seasoned military personnel on the ground.  He gratuitously procrastinates when called upon to provide the reinforcements needed to bring a resolution to the two major conflicts we are presently engaged in; and his progressive impulses compel him to view the military culture as one that should epitomize the cardinal liberal virtues of "diversity" and "tolerance".

Affirmative action is coming to the Pentagon.
Report says too many whites, men leading military.  The U.S. military is too white and too male at the top and needs to change recruiting and promotion policies and lift its ban on women in combat, an independent report for Congress said Monday [3/7/2011].

Mindless Push for 'Diversity' in the Military Won't Win Wars.  There are too many white men in the U.S. military.  So says a report released this week by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC), commissioned by Congress to examine ways to "increase diversity" in the military.  The MLDC report finds that 77% of active-duty senior officers are white, 8% black, 5% Hispanic, and 16% women (of unspecified race).  What's the answer to this "problem"?  Is the MLDC recommending that white males stop volunteering for military service?  Do they want to start "selecting" who among them volunteers for service?

US spy spending revealed for first time, tops $80 billion.  The United States spent $80 billion on spy activities in 2010, the first time the government has officially announced the total tab for intelligence spending.  The amount included $53.1 billion on non-military intelligence programs, a 6 percent boost from the previous year, according to a statement released Thursday [10/28/2010] by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

US agrees to announce missile launches.  The United States has agreed to notify other nations before it launches most ballistic missile tests or satellites, in a measure that builds on a landmark arms agreement with Russia and is meant to encourage Moscow to reciprocate.

Loose lips sink ships.
U.S. is expected to reveal size of nuclear stockpile.  The Obama administration is likely to reveal a closely guarded secret — the size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile — during a critical meeting starting Monday [5/3/2010] at which Washington will try to strengthen the global treaty that curbs the spread of nuclear weapons, several officials said.

Obama's nuclear spill.  The Obama administration has revealed — for the first time ever — the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal in detail.  This information was a closely guarded secret for more than 60 years.  By unloading such sensitive information, President Obama is responsible for deliberately exposing a chink in America's defensive armor.

5,113.  Five thousand, one hundred thirteen.  That's the number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal.  President Barack Obama has told the world. ... Why did Obama do that?  Why did he gratuitously divulge one of America's Top Secrets?

Gitmo Detainees Serve Time By Playing Games.  President Obama has not fulfilled his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay, but he has brought detainees Skype, Playstation 3 and "life skills" classes.  While the 181 detainees currently being held in the prison on Cuba wait to learn their fates after the administration fell through on its January 2010 deadline to move detainees out of the facility, 90 percent now live in a "communal" environment that includes Skype, the online video chat service, and access to a 17,000-book "library."

Obama's psychosis.  The heart of the Obama doctrine is the illusion that there is no war on terror.  According to Mr. Obama and the liberal elite, Islamic fascism is a figment of George W. Bush's fevered imagination — a wild scheme concocted by militaristic neoconservatives to justify invading Iraq and imposing an American empire in the Middle East. ... In short, the president is conveying that America no longer views radical Islam as the enemy.  Mr. Obama desperately wants everyone to get along.  The Islamists, however, don't.

Obama the appeaser.  Iran is on the march.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has once again defied the West — and President Obama — in his quest to acquire nuclear weapons.  The Persian fascist strongman is now months away from arming his Shi'ite revolutionary regime with the means to destroy Israel and blackmail the West.

White House official calls terrorist group "a very interesting organization".  The downward spiral toward coffee and pastries between the White House and one of the world's bloodiest, most-notorious terrorist organizations continues.  And based on a Tuesday [5/18/2010] report in Reuters, this spiral may be tightening into an irrecoverable flat spin.

Gates To Navy:  Anchors Away.  Our defense secretary proposes doing what no other foreign adversary has done:  sink the U.S. Navy.  We don't need those billion-dollar destroyers, he says.  Meanwhile, the Chinese navy rushes to fill the vacuum.

Security Policy by Bumper Sticker.  Liberal approaches to foreign policy continue to rely more on wishful thinking than on realism or maturity.  But even in the context of liberalism, President Obama's recent policy declarations on the matter of nuclear weapons are juvenile and disturbing.  Speaking in Prague, the president declared, "I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."  Has the president really thought this through?

Obama Appeases U.S. Muslims.  The New York Times reported Monday [4/19/2010], with no hint that it understood the implications of what it was reporting, that Barack Obama is reaching out to Hamas-linked groups in the United States, while hamstringing our response to the terror threat by making obfuscation of the ideology of jihad terrorists official U.S. policy.

America's Nuclear Surrender.  The administration proudly reveals a state secret to our enemies before a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation.  It wants to lead by example on disarmament, but Iran and North Korea aren't following.  Not since the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact that sought to outlaw war as an instrument of national policy has there been such a stunning display of dangerous naivete.

To this president, there's no such thing as an Islamic extremist.
Obama's jihad on 'jihad'.  President Obama's latest strategic innovation in the war on terrorism is to ignore jihad and maybe it will go away.  The Obama administration is removing terms such as "jihad" and "Islamic extremism" from the U.S. National Security Strategy in an attempt to convince Muslim countries that America doesn't view them solely through the lens of counterterrorism.  It's reasonable to look beyond terrorism in developing relationships with Islamic states. ... But the National Security Strategy is not some kind of outreach initiative, it is the framing document for America's global safety.

Also posted under Uncle Sam is afraid to say what he means.

What the Euphemisms Tell Us.  In the latest installment of politically correct, not to say Orwellian, language emanating from the Obama administration, the term "rogue states" has been sidelined in favor of "outliers."  The switch was unveiled as part of the just released Nuclear Posture Review. States like North Korea and Iran, labeled "rogue" by the Bush administration, will no longer labor under that punitive adjective.

Nuclear posturing, Obama-style.  Nuclear doctrine consists of thinking the unthinkable.  It involves making threats and promising retaliation that is cruel and destructive beyond imagining.  But it has its purpose:  to prevent war in the first place.

Obama Stands with Muslims as He Promised.  Though the president is taking great public pains to appear tough on terror and the real terrorists — as opposed to the imaginary ones (i.e., conservatives and Tea Partiers) — Barack Obama has actually gone to great lengths to make sure others like Shahzad remain utterly undisturbed.  Others who at this very minute remain undetected among us, ready to strike on orders from radicalized Imams or terror-army chiefs, walk among us, now knowing that they have a true friend and protector in the White House.  Barack Obama has successfully purged from the national discourse on terrorism — excuse me, "man-made disasters" — any mention of the religion/political ideology which is the undeniable common denominator.

Responding to question, Cantor says 'no one thinks' Obama is a domestic 'enemy'.  A person from the audience asked [House Minority Whip Eric] Cantor, "In light of what Obama has done to leave us vulnerable, to cut defense spending to make us vulnerable to our outside enemies, to slight our allies ... what would he have to do differently to be defined as a domestic enemy?"  After pausing for several moments to let the crowd's laughter and head nodding dissipate, Cantor was received with low-level boos when he responded, "No one thinks that the president is a domestic enemy," Cantor said.

The Beginning of USA Disarmament.  What our Founders warned against has now come to pass — in the form of a clear and present danger.  The Obama announced, today, that he had made a deal with Russia to reduce the USA's nuclear arsenal by 30%.  Russia is supposed to reduce its arsenal, also, but we suspect that will not occur.

An 'Inept' President's 'Left-Wing Dream'.  President Obama's revamping of American nuclear policy is the mark of an "inept" leader intent on living a "left-wing dream," says Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, in an interview with National Review Online.  "A nuclear-free world has been a 60-year dream of the Left, just like socialized health-care.  This new policy, like Obama's government-run health program, is a big step in that direction."

Obama's national security giveaway.  Details are scarce on the new START Treaty to be signed in Moscow on April 8th, but if I read accounts correctly, President Obama has given a major American strength by limiting American delivery systems, not just warheads.

Obama Walks The Atomic Plank.  President Obama jam-packed early April with events that overhaul America's nuclear weapons policies which shout naivety and weakness.  Last year, Obama laid out his vision for a nuclear-weapons-free world before a cheering crowd in Prague, the Czech Republic.

The World Is About To Get a Whole Lot More Dangerous.  For more than 60 years, the United States has been the pre-eminent nuclear power in the world, and the world has been safer as a result. ... Now, President Barack Obama is determined to abandon six decades of proven nuclear deterrent policy in favor of a fantasy that he can rid the world of these dangerous weapons by tying America's hands behind our backs.

No finish in sight for 'virtual' border fence.  A multibillion-dollar "virtual fence" along the southwestern border promised for completion in 2009 to protect the U.S. from terrorists, violent drug smugglers and a flood of illegal immigrants is a long way from becoming a reality, with government officials unable to say when, how or whether it will ever be completed.

Obama's Revisionist History of Terrorism:  Since taking office, Obama's key objective on terrorism has been to transform the public perception of it from an international military conflict, to a limited domestic criminal problem. Renaming terrorism to the bureaucratically euphonious term, "Man Caused Disasters" was straight out of the first rule in the textbook of organizational coverups, to phrase your sentences so that the identity of the perpetrators of the crisis remain as vague as possible.

Islamic Terrorism on the Rise Since Obama Became President.  Islamic terrorism is on the rise both domestically and internationally since Obama became President in 2009, according to a count of high-profile, terrorism incidents in 2009, both in the US and abroad.  The number of Islamic terrorism incidents worldwide since Obama took office in 2009, including both domestic and international acts of terrorism, is on pace to surpass more than 1000 for all of 2009, according to a report by the American Security Project which is a bipartisan, Washington-based group.

Detroit bomber 'singing like a canary' before arrest.  President Barack Obama is under fire over claims that the Christmas Day underwear bomber was "singing like a canary" until he was treated as an ordinary criminal and advised of his right to silence.

Making the Taliban-Al Qaida counterstrategy easy.  It's not fear of 30,000 more American combat boots on the ground that will make the enemy literally head for the hills.  It's the President's advertisement that he hopes to withdraw most American forces by July of 2011.

Obama and Plummeting Military Morale.  In an act of deep interpersonal significance, as Claudia Rosett observes, the president has not bothered to visit Afghanistan to bolster morale.  Yet to buck up his foreign policy credentials, Obama managed to make a campaign stop there while running for president.  Once elected, he found time to extend a friendly hand to Muslims in Cairo, lobby for Chicago's Olympics bid, vacation in Martha's Vineyard, and have a "date night" in New York City with his wife.  Soon he'll be off to Oslo to accept a Nobel Peace Prize, which he has done nothing yet to deserve in Afghanistan, at home, or elsewhere in the world.

Obama Outlaws Legal Interrogation Methods, With An Out.  President Obama signed a few 'National Security' Executive Orders around noon today [1/22/2009], apparently designed to increase the rights of illegal combatants — terrorists — that are trying to kill as many of us as possible.  They were all remarkable, but perhaps the most troubling is the order on interrogation techniques for detainees in the War on Terror.

Repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell Would Be a Disaster.  It's been one week since Barack Obama was sworn in as commander-in-chief and the new president has not hesitated to push his agenda — the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.  Although "the primary purpose of the armed forces is to prepare for and to prevail in combat should the need arise", forcing the military to legitimize same-sex relationships will be a Trojan Horse for imposing gay marriage nationwide and all in the name of "change."

Obama Cannot Fulfill Vow to Put Homosexuals in Military Unless Congress Changes the Law.  Although President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to open the U.S. armed forces to homosexuals, he cannot fulfill this promise unless Congress passes new legislation repealing the existing statute that expressly prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military.  Legislation to do this will be proposed in the current Congress by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.).

Senate Armed Service Chairman Says He Supports Repealing Law that Bans Homosexuals.  The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee told CNSNews.com Friday [1/30/2009] that he supports overturning the law that prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military.  Speaking at a news briefing Friday, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that he has always supported overturning a law that says homosexuality is incompatible with military service.

The False Hopes of Gay America.  Barack Obama's team just announced, unequivocally, that he will repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the policy enacted by Bill Clinton to allow (and in fact force) gays in the military to hide their sexuality.  This is good news for much of the gay community, which seems to believe whole-heartedly that it has a new best friend in Barack Obama.

Obama Promises to Keep Working Until 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Signed Into Law.  Celebrating LGBT pride month at the White House this evening, President Obama declared that the nation has never been closer to ending the "discriminatory policy" of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and promised to keep working until the bill is signed into law.

Obama's Moralizing Tone May Not Wear Well.  Two days into his presidency, Barack Obama delivered on his most celebrated and ardently pledged campaign promise — the imposition of stringent limitations on the ways in which U.S. agents can question terror suspects, an executive order mandating the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and the freezing of all detainee prosecutions.  That last request brought an eloquent reply from Col. James Pohl, Guantanamo's chief military judge, who promptly said no.  He declared the directive to freeze all trials "not reasonable" — a description that could as well apply to the whole of the administration's program for our moral cleansing and reformation in intelligence gathering.

Obama's Outreach To Muslims Won't Achieve Goal.  The decision by President Obama to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and open a dialogue with the Muslim world is unlikely to achieve its principal objective, which is to undermine the appeal of al-Qaida.  The reason for this is that attacks like Sept. 11, 2001, spring from deep spiritual causes and are not the result of American political behavior.  In his interview with the Arabic television station, al Arabiya, Obama missed the moral dimension of the struggle with terrorism completely.

The End of the Beginning of the War on Terror.  The War on Terror did not start on 9/11.  We can argue semantics, but until the ongoing struggle against extremists materially changes we will continue to use the aforementioned name.  And with a new administration, al-Qaeda does not seem to sit idle while President Obama instills new initiatives to combat them.  The second in command of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, continues to mock and belittle the United States in front of his supporters.  It is safe to conclude that al-Qaeda will not give the new president a honeymoon and will continue to find ways of attacking us.

President needs reality check on defense.  National calamity.  That's where the United States might be headed if several published reports are true that President Barack Obama has demanded that the Pentagon trim its budget request by an astonishing 10 percent.  The U.S. Armed Forces are already stretched too thin, and proportional military spending has steadily declined for two solid decades after the brief spike under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Elections Have Consequences.  In the middle of not one but two shooting wars, President Obama has signaled that he intends to slow defense spending.  The anti-military chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, gleefully announced that he intends to strip funds for weapon systems from the budget.  Likely consequence:  The armed services will be unable either properly to "reset" the equipment and capabilities that have been used so intensively over the last seven years or be prepared for the next conflict.  History teaches such a posture invites foreign aggression and costs far more than is saved through short-term and shortsighted cuts.

Obama's outrageous oversight:  President Obama clearly didn't do his homework before ordering the suspension of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects.  We have learned that even his own legal counsel admitted that Mr. Obama erred in discussing details about terrorism with families of victims last week, and that the administration was ignorant of a key point that terrorists exploit to their advantage.  In his rush to fulfill a campaign promise to his more fervid anti-war supporters, the president's legal oversights risk the disclosure of some highly classified information to terrorists.

Just Because.  The AP reports that Eric Holder was impressed with Guantánamo Bay.  "Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Guantanamo detention center is a well-run, professional facility that will be difficult to close-but he's still going to do it."  Well, naturally.  The Obama administration is only interested in keeping poorly run enterprises going.

Congress Should Cut Military Spending, Says Democrat Barney Frank.  Congress should cut U.S. military spending by $160 billion, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, proposed at a press conference Tuesday.

Bolton criticizes 'radical' Obama as 'bad news' for U.S..  It was evident from the first few minutes of John R. Bolton's speech to a conservative summit in the District on Thursday that, as harshly as he criticized former President George W. Bush, that was nothing compared with how he will treat President Obama. ... "It's clear that our national security is at risk in this administration," Mr. Bolton said.

Do You Feel Safer Now?  Now that we have Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security, do you feel safer?  I don't.  Aunt Janet could not manage to say words like "terrorism" or "9/11" in her recent testimony before a congressional committee. ... Democrats and, in particular, those of an extreme Leftist point of view are always ready to embrace our enemies and blame America for any attacks or other threats they pose.

Betraying Our Friends.  Appeasing Russia to "solve" Iran's nuclear ambitions is not the only disconcerting feature of President Obama's approach to the world.  Vital friends and allies are getting America's cold shoulder.

Beating Swords Into Bargaining Chips.  A Russian-built reactor undergoes operational tests in Iran.  Tehran orbits a satellite with an ICBM.  Are we about to trade away proven missile defense for unproven and unreliable Russian diplomacy?

The Administration Kowtows.  Over the last three weeks, the Obama administration has sent three clear signals to the Chinese leadership.  First came the news that Chas Freeman would chair the National Intelligence Council. ... It's not hard to predict what line the intelligence community will take on China's military buildup (or another Tiananmen) under Freeman's leadership.  The Chinese will score their number two victory with Gary Locke, former governor of Washington, becoming our new commerce secretary.

Is Obama Failing the Foreign Affairs Test?  "Can't we all get along... let's try to work it out."  That was Rodney King's plaintive plea in May 1992 after his highly controversial confrontation with the Los Angeles Police Department led to arson and anarchy.  Now, seventeen years later, the Obama administration has apparently made "just get along" their response to every national security test.  So far, it has been the wrong answer.

Obama and Pentagon at Odds Over Nuclear Arsenal.  President Obama's pledge to reduce nukes is greatly at odds with a new report from the Department of Defense regarding America's nuclear weapons arsenal.

Enforcement Pays.  With the widespread murderous violence between warring Mexican drug cartels spilling over the U.S. border and the continuing threat from radical Islamic terrorists domestic and foreign, the government has to spend its law enforcement dollars where they can do the most good.  Yet Democratic leaders in Congress and the Obama administration appear ready to scale back one of the most successful and cost-effective immigration law enforcement programs ever launched.

Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns.  After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program.  No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.  Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

Obama Blasted for Diverting Money From Armed Pilots Program.  A Second Amendment group is blasting the Obama administration for quietly seeking to end the program that allows pilots — after special training — to carry guns in the cockpit.  The move will make air travel more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, something that should outrage travelers, said the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said.

Squaring Off With Obama:  I seem to recall Obama's partisans insisting that he would personally make the United States popular the world over.  Well, so far, he has certainly reached out to Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, and I suppose if he actually closes Gitmo, Islamics will dance in the street of Tehran just before dropping the bomb on Israel.

Rookie Mistake.  Last month, as part of his plans to "push the reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations, the new president sent a secret letter to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev.  The missive reportedly contained a simple offer:  America would move to scrap Bush administration-era plans to deploy missile defenses in Eastern Europe in return for the Kremlin's help in dealing with Iran's persistent nuclear ambitions.  Russia's response was rapid — and far from enthusiastic.

Obama's Plan to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.  Whether President Barack Obama's plan to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow homosexuals to serve openly in the armed forces is a good idea, two Air Force leaders declined to say anything more than they will follow the law, when asked by CNSNews.com on Tuesday [3/17/2009].

Liberals want more defense spending left behind.  President Obama is facing mounting pressure from his party's left flank to cut defense spending so more money can be spent on social programs. ... The push from liberals comes at a time when Obama has pledged to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, and China and India have begun to emerge as major military and economic powers.  Embracing the idea while the country is still engaged in conflicts overseas would reaffirm the notion to those on the right and in the center that Obama is a classic liberal.

U.S. Defenseless Secretary.  What are the signals our enemies around the world are getting from the Obama administration?  Appearing on Fox News, Defense Secretary Robert Gates in effect shrugged when asked about the possibility of having to shoot down a North Korean missile.  "I think if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii, that looked like it was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it," he said, "but I don't think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point."  "Might"?  Hawaiians can't feel as safe as they did before hearing that blase attitude.

Clinton offers olive branch to Taliban.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday [3/31/2009] at a U.N. conference on Afghanistan that Taliban members in Afghanistan who abandoned extremism must be granted an "honorable form of reconciliation." ... Clinton's comments echo those of U.S. President Barack Obama who said this month that he was open to the idea of reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban.

Obama's Weakness Endangers Us All.  North Korea has taken two American journalists prisoner and charged them with committing "hostile acts" against the regime.  Countries like North Korea, which are the pinnacle of tyranny in the modern world, commit atrocities all the time.  What they don't do is challenge America directly — unless they perceive weakness.

A Kinder, Gentler War on Terror?  The move to create designations for our enemies and their inhumane actions that are less precise, and considerably more innocuous in their connotations than their antecedents is no accident, and goes far beyond simply wanting to demonstrate "change" from the policies of George W. Bush.  As someone once remarked, words have meaning, and names have power.  While deliberately and tirelessly stoking fear about the economy to both justify and obfuscate the gargantuan expansion of government and attendant explosion of national debt contained in their first budget, Team Obama seeks to draw attention away from the threat posed to the country by ruthless enemies of our way of life, and in fact all external threats to our national security.

Obama yields to 'collective action'.  President Obama proclaimed Thursday that the era of the United States attempting to dominate world affairs is over, saying he is committed to "collective action" by the 20 biggest economies to end the worst financial crisis in 80 years.  Giving substance to his rhetoric, the president signed on to a radical revamping of the world's major financial institutions that surrenders the traditional right of the United States and Europe to lead them.

Obama calls for reduction in nuclear weapons.  President Obama urged nations Sunday to get rid of nuclear weapons, saying that the U.S. is committed to reducing nuclear stocks within the next four years.

Obama's nuclear-free world.  President Obama scored wild applause at the Strasbourg town meeting last week when he declared his intention to "seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons."  The idea is not new. ... The United States and Russia have radically reduced their nuclear arsenals, from a peak of more than 70,000 warheads during the Cold War to 3,900 today.  However, this drawdown was not accomplished through formal arms control; it was the natural consequence of reduced tensions after the collapse of communism.

Bam Blinks.  North Korea's much-anticipated long-range missile launch on Sunday [4/5/2009] was a technical dud:  The satellite it was trying to put into orbit apparently landed in the Pacific Ocean.  But the nuclear upstarts learned something important about President Obama, so they're probably pleased.  Speaking in Prague just hours after the launch, Obama responded to the provocation by pledging to negotiate reductions in America's nuclear stockpile.

A World Without Nukes — Just Like 1939.  In Prague on Sunday [4/5/2009], President Obama committed his administration to putting us on a "trajectory" toward "a world without nuclear weapons."  Of course, we had a world without nuclear weapons not so long ago — say, in 1939.  The war that began in that nuclear-free world led to a crash project to develop nuclear weapons.

Obama's Unmacho Diplomacy.  If George W. Bush was a cowboy, Obama is a group hug.  He says we should show leadership by listening.  That we should work in partnership with others.  That we should show humility.  This is, of course, pure porn for women.  But unfortunately, women don't rule the world.  Men still do.  And we have to worry whether Obama will be viewed as weak and the U.S., therefore, vulnerable.

Naif-in-Chief.  As far as nuclear weapons are concerned, the president of the United States wants America to disarm:  "Countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament."  It is hard to imagine a more destructive goal.  A nuclear disarmed America would lead to massive and widespread killing, more genocide, and very possibly the nuclear holocaust worldwide nuclear disarmament is meant to prevent.  There is nothing moral, let alone realistic, about this goal.

Shooting Down Missile Defense.  Overlooked in the defense budget cuts is the decimation of missile defense systems.  As North Korea tested an ICBM, our defense secretary was scrapping a system that could have destroyed it with a single shot.

America:  caught between Barack and a hard place.  Obama's seeming lack of understanding about world realities is putting America at great risk.  Since the president has all but promised to de-claw the American military, how reluctant will Iran now be in pursuing its hegemony over the Middle East, when it was already fairly pugnacious while George Bush was still in the White House?

Axing the Air Force:  Production of the F-22 has been terminated.  It is a fighter jet that would give us complete domination of the skies. ... Production of the C-17 has also been terminated.  Production of the Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter has also been terminated.  Production of the Multiple Kill Vehicle has also been terminated.  F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s will all leave the Force with no replacements.  The budget of the Missile Defense Agency has been reduced by $1.4 billion.

Naïvité Invites Aggression.  In response to North Korea's rocket launch, President Barack Obama has committed the U.S. to reducing our supply of nuclear weapons, urged the passage of a ban on nuclear weapons testing, and through Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, proposed scaling back our missile-defense program.  In short, Mr. Obama apparently believes that the chief lesson to be learned from Pyongyang's missile launch is the need for more arms-control initiatives.  As a means of reducing the dangers of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war, this makes no sense.

Obama and Gates Gut the Military.  On Monday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a significant reordering of U.S. defense programs.  His recommendations should not go unchallenged. ... The termination of the F-22 Raptor program at just 187 aircraft inevitably wil call U.S. air supremacy — the salient feature, since World War II, of the American way of war — into question.  The need for these sophisticated, stealthy, radar-evading planes is already apparent.

America The Patsy?  Russia tells the U.S. not to worry about a nuclear Iran and not to punish nuclear North Korea.  Fidel Castro wants to help the president, Russia's "new comrade."  Are we being set up?

1,000+ Retired Officers Change Debate on Gays in the Military.  Despite mixed signals from the Obama administration, a distinguished group of retired leaders called Flag & General Officers for the Military has taken a stand in support of the 1993 law stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve openly in the military.

Obama's unreal agenda:  When it comes to security policy, it seems everyone wants to be a "realist" these days.  If that term has any meaning, though, President Obama's nuclear weapons and missile defense policies certainly would not qualify.  To the contrary, these examples of what some call "progressive realism" constitute a near-parody of the ideologically driven disarmament agenda of the radical left.  If the implications were not so serious, the discrepancy between Mr. Obama's plans and real-world conditions would be hilarious.

Obama Sacrifices American Sovereignty.  President Barack Obama recently rolled out a curious foreign policy.  This policy leaves American troops carrying all the risks in overseas combat, while lowering our defenses at the same time dangerous regimes are developing their means of mass destruction.  It also subjects American companies to foreign control, as European leaders speak about a new, secular global order no longer led by the United States.  President Obama is sacrificing our sovereignty and safety in an increasingly perilous world.

A trip down Jimmy Carter's memory lane.  Would it have been better for the destructive deity unleashed at Los Alamos 64 years ago never to have been brought to life?  Maybe, but since it was inevitable that it would be, it was better for Roosevelt's scientists to have conjured it up than Hitler's — and better for them to have done so four years earlier than Stalin's.  With Obama as president, it would likely have been the other way around.  Los Alamos would have been shut down, and the first mushroom cloud would have risen over some German test site in the Baltic sea.  The genie is out of the bottle; good luck to anyone trying to stuff it back.

O's Foreign Follies.  The world has rabies and our swooning media deliver headlines about the new Obama family dog.  Yeah, the puppy's cute.  But must journalists be lapdogs?  The week kicked off with gushing media declarations that President Obama had "passed his first test" in a foreign "crisis."  Three pirates held an American hostage far too long.  It was an embarrassment, not a crisis.  Our president was reluctant to authorize deadly force. ... Then, on Wednesday [4/15/2009], Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her solution to piracy:  Send your tax dollars to Somalia in foreign aid.  That's rewarding criminality.  It's tribute money.  We're not asking for trouble.  We're on our knees begging for it.

Inexcusable Lapse.  Imagine a president of the United States, within his first hundred days, revealing secrets that help terrorists kill.  The secret memos on enhanced interrogation, now made public, do exactly that.

Consequences Of An "American Idol" Presidency.  The Obama Administration, in its current governing and diplomatic mode, is reverting to a mentality that is even more myopic and dangerously shortsighted than that of the Clinton years.  Obama's sycophancy towards European leftists and Middle Eastern Muslims during his recent trip abroad cannot be construed as anything else. ... But to the practitioners of a religion that only understands strength and force, this manner of pandering only represents weakness.  As such it is essentially entreating the world for a repeat of the attacks on America.

America the Apologetic.  When you braid Obama's apology tour with what some of us believe to be his weak early stands on a series of other matters, the message Obama is sending is a potentially dangerous one:  we are willing to absorb, but not to respond to, blows directed against us.  And that, in turn, can set up a serious confrontation down the road.

Passive Opaqueness.  The president went to Langely for some damage repair today, telling the CIA employees he knows "the last few days have been difficult."  Here is a tip: when a speaker uses the passive voice he is hiding something.  If the president had been more candid, he would have said "I made your jobs more difficult in the last few days."

Peace Through Weakness.  It really does sound fantastic and silly that anyone could really believe that the United States has brought terrorist wrath upon itself by doing anything other than, perhaps, nobly allying with Israel.  It's even more ludicrous to entertain seriously the notion that if we'd just start being nicer, we could improve our international image and make ourselves safer, especially when you consider that being nicer entails lowering our guard and playing into the enemy's hands on a number of fronts.  But this is precisely the kind of silliness that is driving Obama's foreign policy.

It's like making Jane Fonda senior adviser on Vietnam.
A disaster for Defense.  President Obama is surrendering national security with a radical appointment at the Defense Department.  Rosa Brooks, this month made adviser to Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michelle Flournoy, will be in a position to do significant damage to U.S. security.  This position is unknown to most outside the Beltway but is at the critical locus of defense policymaking.

Soros Invades Pentagon.  Democratic Party financier George Soros, who puts much of the blame for Islamic terrorists on America and former president George W. Bush, can celebrate his first foothold inside the Pentagon.  It is in the person of Rosa Brooks, far-left former Los Angeles Times columnist.  She was once counsel to billionaire Soros' Open Societies Institute, whose funding arm bankrolls a number of hard-left pressure groups, such as MoveOn.org.

Obama and the CIA:  While he is willing to release classified documents about interrogation techniques, Mr. Obama refuses to release documents that more fully discuss their results.  All of this might appease the President's MoveOn.org base, but he can't expect to satisfy them without also weakening American intelligence capabilities.

Los Angeles or Waterboarding?  My guess is that President Obama realizes it was a big mistake for his administration to release four memos written by Bush administration lawyers sanctioning enhanced interrogation techniques.  Already, rage on the left has prompted Obama to go squishy on his once-insistent opposition to prosecuting any Bush administration officials.  Now he says he might let his attorney general prosecute Bush lawyers.  That would be criminalizing the politics of 2002.

Between Barack and a Hard Place.  Mr. Obama's release of top-secret Bush administration documents on interrogation techniques — and his botched determination on whether to hold show trials for those who authorized such efforts to prevent further terror attacks — shocked allied intelligence services.  His performance at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad brought accolades from the mainstream media, but it disheartened those in Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Bolivian prisons who have committed no crimes except to speak out against their governments.

Obama's peace tour has left US a more dangerous place.  There is a certain type of political career that has auto-destruction built into its DNA ... To this category belongs Barack Obama. ... There was, however, one area where most commentators believed Obama would tread warily: it seemed implausible that he would play politics with America's national security within his first 100 days in office.

100 Days of the New Security Strategy.  In a speech previewing the impending release of next year's defense budget, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced deep cuts in procurement programs.  In addition, the Administration is phasing-out supplemental spending, shifting the costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into the "core" Pentagon budget.  That will leave even less money for buying new equipment.  Gates justified the decision as eliminating "Cold War" weapons systems, including the F-22 stealth fighter aircraft and next-generation Navy destroyer.  All the programs named by Gates came into development after the fall of the Soviet Union and were justified and funded by a succession of both Democratic and Republican Congresses and Presidents.

Release of secret papers by Obama is a mistake.  Those who claim that harsh interrogation tactics are a break with American traditions, as President Obama has done, are offering up a childish mirage.  In the wars America won — in less than four years — our intelligence agencies did what was necessary.  By contrast, Obama and radical allies on his left spent last week tantalizing our terrorist enemies and the public with the release of classified interrogation documents and holding out the possibility of show trials of Bush administration officials.

A New Defense Posture:  Bend Over Backward.  We have already turned loose dozens of captured terrorists who have resumed their terrorism.  Why?  Because they have been given "rights" that exist neither in our laws nor under international law. ... There was a time when people who violated the rules of war were not entitled to turn around and claim the protection of those rules.  German soldiers who put on U.S. military uniforms, in order to infiltrate American lines during the Battle of the Bulge, were simply lined up against a wall and shot.

Obama's defense cuts will hurt naval readiness.  A straightforward comparison [to President Bush's defense budget] reveals that Obama is proposing $30 billion in defense cuts during a time of war.  Through time, Obama appears to be orchestrating an eventual return to the days of Bill Clinton's "hollowed out" military, when defense spending in the post-Cold War era declined from nearly 5 percent to 3 percent of GDP.  For now, the immediate effects of the cuts are still very serious.

Department of Insecurity.  Give Janet Napolitano her due.  The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has taken to heart Barack Obama's campaign pledges of "change" and "hope."  Unfortunately, the changes she has effected seem generally to be to dismantle sensible Bush-era internal security policies and practices, replacing them with politically correct nostrums and generally inadequate programs.  The cumulative effect of such change can only be to give hope to our terrorist foes.

Nobody wants a terrorist for a neighbor.  President Barack Obama made a serious mistake when he decided to close the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without first figuring out where to put the 240 detainees held there.  Most of these people are hard-core jihadists whose main goal in life is to kill Americans.  Obama can call it an "overseas contingency operation," but for the Gitmo detainees it is a declared war against us and terrorism is their weapon of choice.

Napolitano's Politically Correct Border Security.  Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano is determined to beef up security along the rough and tumble Canadian border.  That's right, Canada. ... The nation's top security official is saying that plowing tax dollars into more security along the Canadian border has nothing to do with current or imminent or potential threats to the American homeland, but to fairness.  Fairness out of concern for feelings.

Obama in no hurry to end 'don't ask, don't tell'.  President Obama's campaign vow to end the ban on gays in the military — and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forces thousands of military personnel to stay in the closet — appears to be driven now by a strategy of "don't rush."

Obama, Hubris and Cheney.  I'm nothing more than a beat-up old lawyer, but I've had some fancy security clearances in my day.  And even I know that if I tell someone why something is secret I reveal too much.  And our dear President wants to share responsibility for the decisions of what is classified and what isn't with Congress and the courts.  Can it get any worse?  Yes, it can.

Obama dangerously wrong about how we handle terrorists.  I listened today to the "anointed one" pontificating about how we have been seriously wrong in the way we have allegedly been treating suspected terrorists.  As usual, Obama's clever speech writers, along with the man's admitted ability to deliver a stirring oration, have seemingly convinced his poorly informed, and/or mentally challenged, followers that the way we handled terrorists during the last Bush administration was both legally and morally reprehensible:  a situation the enlightened messiah will rectify, while dangerously degrading our nation's security, which he is sworn to protect and preserve.

Obama and Pelosi's Dangerously Short Detention Spans.  The casual manner in which Barack Obama flip flops on national security matters should have Americans calling for his impeachment for treason on the grounds of providing aid and comfort to our enemies.  Under pressure from the ACLU, Obama authorized the release of classified memos detailing enhanced interrogation techniques used against high-value detainees, giving them a nice addition to their play book and rendering these methods useless.

The Axis of Evil Tortures Obama.  President Obama responded with robust words:  "North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community." ... What did Obama's words lead to?  The Security Council issued a non-binding statement of condemnation.

Total Tolerance.  There is nothing new in a president calling for "a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons," as Obama did in Cairo.  Ronald Reagan expressed such hopes.  But isn't contending that "no single nation should pick and choose which nation holds nuclear weapons" the opposite of zero nuclear tolerance?  How is it a step toward a nuclear-free world when we announce that the West should stop practicing what might be called "nuclear discrimination?"  Tehran will interpret Obama's words as carte blanche to pursue its goal of building a nuclear weapons arsenal.

The Watergate of Waterboarding.  Obama has released the so-called "torture memos" — including legal opinions of the Justice Department which advised that under the law as it was written in 2002, waterboarding was legal.  Because they are now public, his decision to release has damaged our national security by hobbling the ability of interrogators to get valuable information from prisoners.  The release gave terrorists an enormous advantage because they now know what our interrogators can and cannot do.

White House F-22 cuts mean hollow Air Force.  When it comes to air superiority, America may be stuck on the tarmac.  In April, the Pentagon decided to cap the number of F-22 Raptors, the world's most advanced fighter plane, to 187.  Yesterday [6/24/2009], the White House indicated it would veto the National Defense Authorization bill if it contains money for the planes.

If you bypass the Senate, it's not a treaty.
Obama WH: we don't need no stinking Senate!  Whoa... isn't this the president who gave George W. Bush SUCH a hard time about Presidential Signing Statements, before he fell in love with them?  Now, suddenly, it's — hey, I'm Barack Obama, and I won; I don't have to follow the constitution!  I don't even need that Senate!

Obama Has Gotten It Wrong for Twenty-Five Years.  Those who suspect the president is engaged in a bit of dangerous self-delusion and denial about certain unpleasant realities regarding the threats from rogue states won't be heartened to read that his current non-proliferation fetish stems, at least according to the New York Times, from his college infatuation with the nuclear freeze movement.

Barack Obama holds a fire sale of America's nuclear defences in Moscow.  No apologies for posting consecutively on Barack Obama:  the Looney Tunes President's sell-out of US and Western interests is proceeding at such a speed that it is difficult to keep pace.  Well said, Nile Gardiner, for asking if Barack Obama is the most naïve president in American history.  The answer is undoubtedly yes — unless he has a secret agenda to cut America down to size.

Victory Is So Yesterday.  There is a reason that the word victory conjures up in Barack Obama's mind the 64-year-old image of Hirohito and MacArthur:  he has never acknowledged the much more recent American victory in Iraq.  If he had not politicized and downplayed the U.S. accomplishments there, he would have a sterling example of an American triumph in asymmetric conditions.  Instead, he inspires the headline (seen by friends and enemies alike) "Obama:  'Victory' Not Necessarily Goal in Afghanistan."  Isn't that grand?

F-22 — An Essential National Security Asset.  As history proves, the only thing more costly than a first-rate Air Force is a second-rate Air Force.

The Case for Reviving F-22 Fighter.  As Congress begins to take up the Obama administration's defense budget, one item not even under discussion needs to be considered.  Events of the past 18 months have made clear that it's time to rethink the fate of the F-22 Raptor.  The presumptions that led the Senate to cancel funding for this fighter have been turned upside down, as new threats have emerged and old ones have become clearer.

Obama Finally Finds Something We Can't Afford:  Military Superiority.  Imagine a fighter jet that would give the United States complete air superiority in any conflict.  An aircraft that's faster, has longer range, and is more fuel-efficient at high speeds than any aircraft ever built.  A plane virtually invisible to radar and deadly accurate, almost guaranteeing that any selected target would be destroyed.  An aircraft so advanced that the armed forces of every country on earth are scared to death of it and know that they would be defenseless against it for years to come.  We have that plane.  It's called the F-22 Raptor, and our President and Commander-in-Chief, Barack Obama, hates it.

Obama victory:  Senate votes to kill additional F-22 funding.  The Senate voted Tuesday to strip $1.75 billion in increased spending for the F-22 jet fighter from the defense authorization bill after a protracted fight between the Obama administration, top Pentagon officials and a bipartisan group of lawmakers on one side and a faction of military leaders and members of Congress whose districts benefit from the aircraft's construction on the other.

Shooting Down The Raptor.  The TARP bailout may hit $24 trillion, but the Senate says the F-22 is too expensive to build and maintain.  So why are the Japanese so desperate to buy this "unnecessary" Cold War weapon?

Is Obama Pressing the 'Reset Button' on Defense?  Despite all his initial talk of bipartisanship and putting aside the stale arguments of the past, President Obama is revealing himself with each passing day to be a traditional, doctrinaire liberal.  And although it has received little coverage, Obama's liberal instincts are influencing the direction of America's defense posture.

U.S. no longer at war with 'terrorism'.  It's official.  The United States is no longer engaged in a "war on terrorism."  Neither is it fighting "jihadists" nor locked in a "global war."  President Obama's top homeland security and counterterrorism official on Thursday [8/6/2009] declared as unacceptable the terms crafted by the George W. Bush administration.

Obama replaces 'global war on terror' in strategy shift: aide.  President Barack Obama is replacing the "global war on terror" with a new US strategy more narrowly focused on Al-Qaeda and relying more on a broader effort to engage the Muslim world, a top aide said Thursday [8/6/2009].

White House:  'War on terrorism' is over.  It's official.  The U.S. is no longer engaged in a "war on terrorism."  Neither is it fighting "jihadists" or in a "global war."  President Obama's top homeland security and counterterrorism official took all three terms off the table of acceptable words inside the White House during a speech Thursday [8/6/2009]at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Call it what you will, America's struggle against terrorism must continue.  Whether you call it the "war on terror" or something like the "campaign to stop really evil things by really evil people," the only thing we care about is that America and New York do not suffer a replay of 9/11.  As described by his top counterterrorism adviser in a major address delivered Thursday [8/6/2009], President Obama thinks the U.S. will be safer if we rid our vocabularies of Bush administration terms like "global war" and "jihadists," while focusing on building opportunities for 14-year-old Afghan goat herders.

Panetta Revealed.  [Scroll down]  It should also go without saying that [Leon] Panetta's lack of experience in the intelligence sector was deeply worrisome.  The sad irony is that the Obama administration needs strong intelligence agencies.  Obama has cut defense spending and generally seems wary of the armed services.  This leaves a wide gap, so to speak, for heavy reliance on wide-reaching, covert intelligence agencies.  Obama's ill-chosen reliance on Leon Panetta speaks volumes about the slipshod way in which vital national-security issues are handled in this administration.

Will the Pentagon Fight Global Warming?  President Obama's proposed budget aims to cut $11.5 billion from defense, including $1.62 billion from missile defense spending.  To translate esoteric dollar figures into something a bit more concrete, the Democrats' defense plans would cut the number of ground-based midcourse defense interceptors from 44 to 30, at precisely the time that North Korea is ramping up its missile program.  Obama is also trying to shut down the production line that builds the F-22 aircraft responsible for our aerial advantage over Russian and Chinese fighters.  And Obama has told the Pentagon to come up with an additional $60 billion in cuts next year, without regard to the threats America faces.

Morale at CIA Plummets as Panetta Makes a Bad Situation Worse.  The inexperienced CIA director is indeed the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.

King on Holder:  'You wonder which side they're on'.  A "furious" Rep. Peter King, the hawkish, maverick Long Island Republican, blasted a "disgraceful" Eric Holder for opening an investigation of CIA interrogators and chided his own party for what he described as a weak response to the move in an interview just now with POLITICO.  "... It's disgraceful.  You wonder which side they're on," he said of the attorney general's move, which he described as a "declaration of war against the CIA, and against common sense."

Obama's War on our Spies.  The Democrats' war on our intelligence agencies has now become a two-front war with the Obama administration attacking where Congressional Democrats couldn't.  Attorney General Eric Holder has announced he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the CIA interrogators who used tough interrogation techniques to see which of them will be prosecuted.  Holder has drawn a line in the sand.

What the President's Attack on the CIA Really Means.  By authorizing Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether a full criminal investigation of CIA employees and contractors is warranted for the manner in which they interrogated captured terrorists, the President has thrown his power and support behind those far-left ideologues — in Congress and elsewhere — who believe that the CIA is a bigger threat to our country than al Qaeda.

The Justice Department's War On Heroes.  Appointing a prosecutor to harass CIA interrogators exposes this administration's priorities:  The global war on terror takes a back seat to terrorizing some of America's most selfless warriors.

(Not) providing for the national defense:  Our leaders are cutting back on defense, even in the midst of a war in Afghanistan and ongoing terrorist threats.  That's a mistake, because protecting our nation is one of the few jobs the Constitution specifically assigns to the federal government.  Yet defense spending is about the only thing on the cutting block.

Holder's CIA move could imperil Obama agenda.  [Attorney General Eric] Holder on Monday [8/24/2009] asked Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham, who has been investigating the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, to look into whether the agency's methods for questioning detainees were illegal.  Approved by Obama, the new scope of the investigation threatens to enflame still-raw tensions on both sides of a long-unresolved national security debate.

The Buck Stops Short of the Vineyard.  Among the most despicable aspects of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the conduct of CIA operatives in applying enhanced interrogation techniques is the abject refusal of the president to take responsibility for the decision.

The president can fire the attorney general.  Obama administration spokesmen are portraying the president as unable to overrule Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to have a special prosecutor determine whether to prosecute CIA interrogators who were cleared by Department of Justice career attorneys back in 2004.  "This was not something the White House allowed, this was something the AG decided," a White House spokesman said.  Utter nonsense.  The attorney general serves at the pleasure of the president...

Who's Running the Show?  Is Eric Holder running the administration, or is the president disingenuous when he denies responsibility for reactivating the investigation of CIA detainee-interrogation cases? ... Either Obama is lying about his objectives at Justice or his attorney general is seriously off the reservation.  At the next prime-time press conference, someone might ask Obama who is running the show.

What's that?  Obama might be lying?

Chilling the CIA.  Almost eight years ago, jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.  Americans, in their rage and grief, demanded to know who had attacked them.  And they expected their government to do everything in its power to prevent another attack, which everyone thought was imminent.  In the months after Sept. 11, 2001, American interrogators had an urgent mission:  Extract information from terrorism suspects about future attacks as quickly and effectively as possible.

Eric Holder's Hidden Agenda:  Hue and cry followed Holder's decision this week to have a prosecutor investigate CIA interrogators and contractors.  The probe is a nakedly political, banana republic-style criminalizing of policy differences and political rivalry. ... But the question remains, Why is Holder (or, rather, why are Holder and the White House) instigating this controversy?  I believe the explanation lies in the Obama administration's fondness for transnationalism, a doctrine of post-sovereign globalism in which America is seen as owing its principal allegiance to the international legal order rather than to our own Constitution and national interests.

The Get-Cheney Squad.  "Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."  George Orwell's truth comes to mind as one reads that Eric Holder has named a special prosecutor to go after the "rough men" who, to keep us sleeping peacefully at night, went too far in frightening Khalid Sheik Muhammad, the engineer of the September massacres.  Yet, it seems now indisputable that those CIA interrogators, with their rough methods, got vital intelligence that saved American lives, as Dick Cheney has consistently contended.

Yet Another Foreign-Policy Fumble.  The Obama administration is getting ready to throw the proposed Eastern European-based US missile-defense system under the bus.  The move is a sop to the Russians (and to lefties here at home) — but will render us increasingly vulnerable to the growing Iranian nuclear/missile threat.

Labor Day, Obama and Bush.  Skimming through the text of President Obama's Labor Day speech yesterday in Cincinnatti, a few days before the anniversary of 9/11 and with the president facing a decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan, I was struck by Obama's failure to mention the war, or our servicemen and women. ... Obama barely mentions the war, or the troops fighting it, at all these days.

How Obama Cronyism Threatens Rail Security.  [Scroll down]  Biden, in turn, is tight with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the powerful union that represents the Amtrak Police Department.  According to OSSSO sources, the APD brass have been aggrieved over the non-unionized counterterrorism unit's existence from its inception.  A West Coast OSSSO team member told me that union leaders blocked police credentialing efforts by his office for more than a year.  An East Coast OSSSO team member told me that the FOP recently filed a grievance against one of its counterterrorism officers for assisting a train conductor who asked for help in ejecting a ticketless passenger.

Obama Frees Prisoner He Thinks Is a Terrorist.  People are again talking about fighting terrorism in the wake of Scotland freeing a man who murdered 180 Americans on Pam Am 103 over Lockerbie and Eric Holder's criminal investigation of the CIA.  In the midst of that discussion, Barack Obama has let a terrorist detainee go free.  Mohammed Jawad was released from Gitmo when a federal judge granted his habeas petition.  President Obama could have appealed this ruling, but instead caved in, returning this terrorist to Afghanistan on August 24.

Once?!  I found this bit of last night's [9/27/2009] 60 Minutes profile of Gen. McChrystal to be — how do you say? — unbelievable:
    "Q: How often do you talk to the president?
    McChrystal: I've talked to the president once since I've been here, on a [video teleconference]."

A Clear and Present Danger.  Obama made his point clear in his speech to the General Assembly on September 24, saying, "I have outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons."  He added that America has already begun its own nuclear disarmament ... In other words, on a global platform, with the whole world watching, Obama focuses not on the threat to world peace from the rogue powers Iran and North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, but on the nuclear disarmament of America and its allies!

Losing Faith in the Commander in Chief.  The latest Fox News/Opinion Dymanic poll is chock-full of bad news for the president.  But on foreign policy, the results are nothing short of stunning.  On who they trust more to decide the next steps in Afghanistan.  66 percent say military commanders, while only 20 percent say the president.  Even Democrats have more faith in the military commanders (by a 45 to 37 percent margin).

White House declares war on this honest hero.  Another day, another double standard from the Obama White House.  This one involves the nasty effort to discredit and muzzle Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose sin was to present his commander in chief with an inconvenient answer about Afghanistan.

Philip Larkin has a Lesson for Barack Obama.  Here's the $12 trillion President fretting — that is, pretending to fret — over $40 or $50 billion.  That's school lunch money for the Democrats.  Of course, the issue isn't money.  It's morality.  That's to say, it's about what really matters to Obama.  He's willing to demand $800 billion now, today, to shore up his support among the auto unions and other Democratic interest groups.  But the war of terror?  He can't even bring himself to pronounce the phrase.

The Mother of All Expiration Dates.  Evidently the Taliban is no longer a direct threat to us.

Holder's Witch Hunt.  Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to prosecute CIA personnel is an outrageous act of political theater that has the potential to significantly damage our nation's long-term intelligence gathering capabilities.

Why Obama Is Wrong on Missile Defense.  President Obama's recent decision to "overhaul" the Bush-era missile-defense shield for Europe was the most significant, but hardly the only, indication that the Obama national-security vision is skeptical of, and very likely actually hostile to, missile defense altogether.

Obama Is Average.  [Scroll down]  Look at Obama's speech at the UN General Assembly:  "No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation."  Take the first half of that sentence:  No nation can dominate another.  There is no eight year old who would say that — it's so absurd.  And the second half?  That is adolescent utopianism.  Obama talks in platitudes, but offers a vision to the world of America diminished or constrained, and willing to share leadership in a way that no other presidency and no other great power would.

Armed Pilots and Dead Terrorists.  The FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) program was implemented by the Bush Administration working with law enforcement, airline management and pilot unions.  Pilots with guns were a way to augment the Federal Air Marshall Service which was already in place and quickly expanded.  Recent rumors indicate that the Obama administration will attempt to de-fund the FFDO program.  I think it would be a huge loss to security and a big mistake.

Obama's Man-Caused Disaster Chickens Come Home to Roost.  President Obama's new Homeland Security doctrine has taken our country from being the world's strongest and most intimidating superpower to a weak and vulnerable nation being singled out by every terrorist organization in the world.  And make no mistake:  Whether homegrown or international, these terrorists want America destroyed at any cost.  The Obama administration's Homeland Security doctrine has become no more than a politically correct welcome mat for every Muslim jihadist on the planet.

The Religious War Our Secular President Ignores.  Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been in a war it did not start against Islamic extremists bent on using terrorism to destroy us and our way life.  To these extremists, this war is an expression of Jihad and is therefore a religious cause for which they are happy to die.  Yet for our secular President, it's just an "overseas contingency operation," disconnected from the religion-based motivations of the terrorists.

O's China kowtow.  If you were troubled by President Obama's "Wow Bow" in Japan, you won't be any happier with the "kowtow" during his just-concluded trip to the People's Republic of China.  In the latest chapter of Team Obama's at-best-mediocre, teetering-on-the-disastrous foreign policy, the president and a slew of Cabinet secretaries roared into Asia like lions, promising a new era in US diplomacy in the region.

President Superbower — "Speak Loudly, Carry a Small Twig".  My radio pal Hugh Hewitt said to me on the air the other day that Barack Obama "doesn't know how to be president".  It was a low but effective crack and I didn't pay it much heed.  But, after musing on it over the last week or so, it seems to me frighteningly literally true.

Talked Into A Trap.  President Obama's "direct diplomacy with Iran without preconditions" has, not surprisingly, led us down a blind alley.  Now China and Russia are about to mug us with Turkey's phony uranium deal.

Corporal Klinger and the Barney Frank Brigade.  The MASH television spectacle of Corporal Klinger wearing women's dresses to get out of the military may now give way to the Pentagon actually permitting transgendered male soldiers to openly wear women's military uniforms.  This is what repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," could mean.

Obama's Arizona Stance Borders Treason.  Without a hint of hesitation after Arizona passed their new immigration law, President Obama immediately condemned our 48th State by calling Arizona's new immigration law misdirected, troubling, and potentially discriminatory. ... So the question that remains is; by standing idly by while all this is taking place, is President Obama, in essence, encouraging harm against the very country that he swore an oath to protect?

Obama's Pro-Terror Policies and Arizona.  In case after case, we can see the Obama administration's pro-terror policies here and abroad — from forcing U.S. soldiers to mirandize known enemy combatants on foreign fields of battle — to their insistence upon national tolerance for a so-called "religion of peace," and their ongoing redefining of "terrorist" to include only American citizens who still believe in their Constitution.  But their most deadly pro-terror policy is their assault on U.S. Immigration Laws and the people and states who want them enforced immediately.

What Diplomacy?  Saturday, President Obama announced to West Point cadets that the U.S. military role was set to be diminished and "diplomacy and cooperation" would take its place instead.  Then on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the Obama administration's new National Security Strategy would emphasize diplomacy over military action again, with the latter to be used only in concert with U.S. allies and organizations.

Saving Soldiers from Gay Death.  There is a simple reason why the gay rights lobby is trying to rush through repeal of the Pentagon's homosexual exclusion policy.  They know that a comprehensive review of a proposed change would disclose the substantial evidence that admission of open and active homosexuals would put our troops in further danger through exposure to tainted blood. In fact, evidence to this effect is already in the hands of top military commanders and Pentagon officers.

Five House Republicans Vote to Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.  This vote was not about gays openly serving in our military.  It never has been.  The radical gay lobby seeks to force the military to allow their fellow travelers to serve openly as a means to achieve other elements of their radical agenda in the civilian world.  Repeal of this policy causes myriad problems in fundamental areas such as housing, shower, personal hygiene and bathroom space (men, women, gay men, gay women — or should we no longer have gender identification on bathrooms and living quarters).

Obama:  June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.  As he did last year, Obama today [5/28/2010] declared June "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month."  But this year the announcement comes as Congress began moving to repeal the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy used by the US military when dealing LGBT service members.

Homosexuality would decrease armed services' effectiveness.  The Obama administration's move to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. military — along with the House's confirming vote and the Senate's pending one scheduled for this week — has completely ignored the known health and medical implications of homosexuality.  Medical readiness — the overall health of the military — is so fundamentally important to military effectiveness that each branch of the military has well-established standards of medical fitness.  Numerous common medical and behavioral conditions exclude individuals from serving in the military.  Even a history of medical or behavioral conditions is enough to exclude someone from service.  Why?  Simply stated, the risks to the individual and to the health of the entire force are too large and unacceptable.

The President's Memorial Daze.  Our commander in chief was to miss the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to go on vacation.  Other presidents have missed it, but never at wartime.

President Obama will skip Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery.  President Obama is skipping the traditional Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery, a move that has dismayed some veterans — and comes at a sensitive moment in the administration's relationship with the military.

Obama's National Security Doctrine:  Naive — Frighteningly So.  The administration releases a document that misidentifies threats and tells our enemies we intend to be weak.

This Is the Way Sovereignty Ends.  The indomitable Sarah Carter (winner of the 2006 Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration) reports on plans for a satellite Mexican consular office on Catalina Island to issue ID cards to illegal aliens.  This kind of thing has been going on for some time now, but this part got my attention:  ["] Officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said their agency was asked by Mexican officials not to enforce U.S. immigration laws on the island while the cards were being issued.["]

Nuking Our Defense:  America Exposed.  Barack Obama is poised to be the first president to leave America at the mercy of its enemies.  President Obama's recent decision to begin announcing once-secret U.S. missile tests and satellite launches is just the first of many subversive acts carried out by the Obama administration against America's defense.  Obama also chose to unilaterally end a crucial strategic practice called "calculated ambiguity" by publicizing the exact number of warheads in America's arsenal.

The 'wikileaker' and the White House.  Yesterday brought the welcome news that a 22-year-old soldier had been busted for passing classified gun-camera tapes and documents to Wikileaks.  If proven guilty, Spc. Bradley Manning needs to do serious prison time.  But that's where the good news ends. ... Our government still isn't serious about plugging classified leaks in wartime.

Obama's Post-American World.  A nuclear-ready Iran is preparing for world war.  Here, there, everywhere.  And we have ... impotent Obama.  When the U.N. elected the oppressive Islamic regime of Iran to its Commission on Women's Rights, the U.S. did nothing and said nothing — and our silence was affirmation.  Ignoring Iran's legal mistreatment of women and terrible human rights record is now concurrent with U.S. policy?  This is no accident.  Last year, Obama had the U.S. co-sponsor with Egypt a U.N. resolution calling upon member states to criminalize "incitement to religious hatred," which is UN-speak for restricting free speech about Islamic terrorism.  So the U.S. went on record favoring measures that would violate the 1st Amendment.

Panel commissioned by Barney Frank recommends nearly $1T in defense cuts.  A panel commissioned by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is recommending nearly $1 trillion in cuts to the Pentagon's budget during the next 10 years. ... Measures presented by the task force include making significant reductions to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, which has strong support from Defense Secretary Robert Gates; delaying the procurement of a new midair refueling tanker the Air Force has identified as one of its top acquisition priorities; and reducing the Navy's fleet to 230 ships instead of the 313 eyed by the service.

The 'Bring Back the Draft' Act.  As early as this week, the United States Senate may turn to the annual legislation known as "The National Defense Authorization Act" (NDAA) that is supposed to provide the Pentagon what it needs to defend our nation.  Unfortunately, thanks to an amendment added in the Senate Armed Services Committee that would impose the radical homosexual agenda on the U.S. military, a more appropriate title for this bill would be "The Bring Back the Draft Act."

Fantasy As Strategy.  As required by law, President Barack Obama released his National Security Strategy (NSS) late last month.  Regrettably, the document doesn't address the nation's security challenges particularly well and doesn't offer much of a strategy.  Instead, it glosses over some of the most serious threats, fails to present a real roadmap for navigating the world's many danger zones, and offers diplomatic bromides and observations of the obvious.

Why Is the State Department Covering for a Known Terror Group?  Are U.S. security agencies hampered by President Obama's mission to reach out to Muslims?  Criticizing Israel for stopping a Gaza-bound flotilla sponsored by the IHH and the Turkish government is easy.  But when terrorists affiliated with the IHH try to get into the United States, who will stop them if no one is looking at the organization to which they belong?

How's That 'Reset' with Russia Going? Disastrously, of Course.  The results of Barack Obama's "reset" of U.S. relations with Russia are now in.  They are, like the rest of Obama's foreign policy record, disappointing.  Obama said that in exchange for a reset, Russia would support a new nuclear arms reduction treaty.  Russia did, but in name only: the actual reductions to U.S. and Russian missile stockpiles were marginal and insignificant.

Missing Defense.  There seems to be only one thing White House arms negotiators want more than a reduction in U.S. nuclear weapons — a reduction in U.S. missile defenses to protect us from such weapons.

Dropping The Shield.  The administration is ready to sign a treaty stripping us of our ability to defend ourselves against enemy nuclear missiles, including Iran's and North Korea's.  In space, no one can hear you surrender.

(Even a Few) Words Matter.  Sometimes deterrence against aggression is lost with just a few unfortunate words or a relatively minor gesture.  Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave a comprehensive address to the National Press Club in early 1950.  Either intentionally or by accident, he mentioned that South Korea was beyond the American defense perimeter.  Communist North Korea, and later China, agreed.  War broke out six months later.

Norm Augustine's Subversive Agenda.  To commemorate the first anniversary of Barack Obama's Cairo speech, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, interviewed on al Jazeera TV, said that one of his foremost responsibilities was improving relations in the Muslim world by highlighting their contributions to math, science and engineering, thereby making them feel better.  Notwithstanding that Muslims abroad learned of this outreach before the Americans who will fund it did, while your first instinct may be to focus on the emotional aspects of using taxpayer-funded NASA to enhance public relations with Muslims, a sizable majority of whom hate us, we must look at the totality of what Barack Obama is doing to America's military and space programs and how those actions are intertwined, before the national security implications become apparent.

More about the latest NASA scandal.

Obama Plans to Cut Up to 40 Percent of Nukes.  A government document reveals that the Obama administration is planning to cut the U.S. nuclear stockpile by up to 40 percent by 2021.

Unilateral Disarmament.  While Mr. Obama golfs his way through the Gulf Coast's oil-drenched environmental calamity, another crisis is looming across the Potomac.  America's military, in harm's way in a two-front war, is about to get staggered by a double whammy below the belt.  Unfortunately for those who wear our nation's uniform, the Commander in Chief and his cronies in Congress are throwing the punches.

Ron Paul Helps Obama Slash National Defense.  In line with Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel's admonition that no crisis should go to waste, the Obama Administration is preparing to use the matter of massive debt and deficits to push for drastic cuts in our national U.S. military budget.  The proposed cuts, which total $960 billion, could leave the U.S. as a second-rate military power.  Playing a critical role in the effort is Rep. Ron Paul, who is generally considered by his followers to be an opponent of Obama's liberal agenda.

How the Obama Administration is Drafting the Military into the Culture War.  President Obama intends to repeal the military's homosexual ban.  His Secretary of Defense launched a review of the policy and promised by the end of 2010 to deliver a report to Congress to inform their repeal consideration.  If that review is objective it will validate the law, but as with other political issues, the outcome may contradict the facts.  That is why proponents for preserving our military's effectiveness must insist the review is objective and Congress is properly informed on the issue.  Congress must exercise its constitutional duty to protect the military from the president's radical plan.

Unkindest Cuts.  It was inevitable:  The $13 trillion debt this Congress and White House helped run up has imperiled defense spending in an age of continued terrorism.

Guantánamo Prison Horrors.  [Scroll down]  Prisoners, as we all know from the thirteen gazillion MSM articles, also exist in the U.S. enclave of the Guantánamo province.  And as we learn from a Spanish reporter named Marc Bassets who recently visited the U.S base, many of these prisoners were horribly anguished of late.  (No reporters, by the way, dare venture anywhere near Castro's prisons.  Their employers' Havana press bureaus would be "seriously jeopardized" by such insolence.)  At any rate, the anguish among the prisoners on the U.S. side stemmed from their concerns about securing good front-row seats at the prison hall to watch the World Cup.  The prison's wide-screen TVs capture over twenty channels, including Al Jazeera, so some observers felt the anguish was a bit overblown.

The President's False START.  Think Moscow will violate the New START arms limitation treaty?  A just-issued report says it never obeyed the first one.  The motto of the Obama administration is blindly trust, don't verify and unilaterally disarm.

An Open Letter To President Obama.  In today's dangerous world, we need a president with experience, leadership and courage.  Unfortunately, you have shown us little of those traits.

Violating His Oath of Office?  [Scroll down]  When the Iranian people rose up in protest against the stealing of a sham election by the country's fascist dictatorship, President Obama sagaciously withheld even rhetorical support, to curry favor with the ruling Islamic theocracy in the vain hope of a nuclear deal.  As the mullahs' Brown Shirt henchmen began murdering protesters in the streets, President Obama stood idly by, offering nothing of significance in their support.  Even Jimmy Carter supported human rights.  That is why President Obama's foreign policies are the worst, most unprincipled, most un-American in our nation's history.

Administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber.  The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing.

Cole killer confusion.  Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is a man with blood on his hands.  A year before 9/11, the Saudi al Qaeda operative masterminded the bombing of the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 sailors as the vessel refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden.  A Guantanamo tribunal was ready to arraign him last year, but since the Obama administration took office, it's been a case of trial and error.  No trial — plenty of error.

Politicking Justice.  A decade after the USS Cole bombing, the Obama administration has halted prosecution of the al-Qaida operative believed to have planned the attack.  What an insult to the sailors who lost their lives.

O's terror outrage.  Americans are learning there's one minority group President Obama is never afraid to offend:  families of victims of Islamist terror. ... Now, last Friday [8/27/2010], we learned that "no charges are either pending or contemplated" against one of the deadliest and most dangerous al Qaeda operatives, Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, mastermind of the October 12, 2000, bombing of USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and officers and wounded dozens more.

President Obama's Compulsive Appeasement Disorder.  Superpowers of yesteryear, going back to the Greeks and Romans, were feared for a reason — they leveled a city to make an example.  Today, by contrast, Uncle Sam relies on cajoling, bribery (think North Korea), entreating puny leaders of inchoate states (special envoys to the PLO's Mahmoud Abbas) and otherwise playing weak hands.  We have gone from resolve to U.N. resolution.

The Pentagon's Budget Is Not Bloated.  With America facing a $1.4-trillion deficit, ideological opponents of a strong defense — liberals and libertarians alike — have called on the Congress to severely reduce the defense budget.  To try to justify their proposals, they make false claims about the defense budget, including its size and how it compares to the other items in the federal budget.  However, none of these claims stand up to scrutiny.

Obama's Foreign Policy Flies in the Face of Reason.  A person does not need to be a military expert or have a Ph.D. in foreign affairs in order to understand the disastrous implications of Obama's foreign policy for America's national security.  And while it was certainly clear that Americans were not electing a neo-con as their Commander-in-Chief, I would venture a guess that those who voted for him believed that he would implement policy that would protect the country.  Or maybe not.

Time to START Standing Up for America.  Among the dangers lurking in Congress's fall session and Lame Duck Session will be Obama's demand that the Senate rush to ratify the treaty called New START, which he signed with the Russians in Prague last April.  This treaty is not only a bad idea; it's downright dangerous to U.S. national security.  For the first time in the long record of U.S.-Russian treaties, New START links offensive and defensive weapons.  Obama's advocates of ratification say that doesn't matter because the link is only in the preamble and that doesn't bind us.

The reluctant commander in chief.  What is most disturbing about the coverage of Bob Woodward's "Obama's Wars" is not the juicy bits of conflict and infighting; it is the fact that the White House seems pleased with the image of President Obama that emerges. ... What comes across is a president deeply skeptical about the Afghan war, suspicious of the advice of military leaders and obsessed with finding exits and setting withdrawal deadlines.

FBI Escorts Known Hamas Operative Through Top-Secret National Counterterrorism Center.  A known Hamas operative and unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history — Kifah Mustapha — was recently escorted into the top-secret National Counterterrorism Center and other secure government facilities, including the FBI's training center at Quantico, during a six-week "Citizen's Academy" hosted by the FBI as part of its "outreach" to the Muslim Community.

What's next at Gitmo, off-brand mints on the pillows?  You can stop asking why the terrorists hate us.  The Daily Mail reports: ["]Detainees' diets at Guantanamo Bay have been a controversial issue for some time and now the U.S. prison is said to be rationing ice cream.["]

A Crossroads Election.  History tells us where giving government one arbitrary power after another leads.  It is like going into a Venus fly-trap, which is easy to enter and nearly impossible to get out of.  The headstrong, know-it-all willfulness of this administration, which threatens our freedom at home, also threatens our survival in the international jungle, because Obama seems determined to do nothing that will stop Iran from going nuclear.

Barack's Brokeback barracks.  President Obama and his friends in the media want the public to think Americans serving in uniform are just fine and dandy with homosexual conduct in the military.  This view is being spread through a series of selective leaks from the Pentagon's Comprehensive Review Working Group, which is putting the finishing touches on a report regarding the future of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Will President Obama bring back the draft?  Barack Obama is opposed to the draft as a matter of principle, to be sure.  So are most politicians in both parties.  But the president's drive to repeal the ban on open homosexuality in the military could have this unintended consequence:  It could bring back the draft.

The Emperor's Nuclear Clothes.  Respectable wise men, in and out of government, talk of the importance of arms control and a nuclear-free world, when the reality is that Iran, North Korea and other countries have made the acquisition of nuclear weapons their highest priority.  The government of Russia has committed itself to a military posture in which tactical nuclear weapons play a larger role in war fighting and war termination.

President Obama is pushing for a monumental surrender to Russia.  The Obama administration has an impeccable track record of caving in to Russian demands, as part of its controversial "reset" policy.  Last year, it threw key US allies Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus, ditching plans for Third Site missile defences in deference to Russian opposition.  It is now planning another surrender to Moscow, by pressing for Senate ratification of the new START Treaty in the lame duck session of Congress.

Cost Cutters Fix Sights on F-35 Fighter.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is considering pulling back the Pentagon's commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the costliest procurement project in the department's history, defense officials said.  At issue is how many of the supersonic, stealthy aircraft the U.S. is willing to buy, how much it will to pay for them and how long it will wait for them to enter service.

The inevitability of the draft.  As the last nails are being hammered into the coffin of the lame duck 111th Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have voted in favor of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. ... Nearly forty percent of the Marines in the official Department of Defense survey said that they may leave the service early if "don't ask, don't tell" is repealed.  Four out of ten!  That is a staggering number that could degrade one of the most lethal fighting forces in the world.

Christian Rout in the Culture War.  A Democratic Congress, discharged by the voters on Nov. 2, has as one of its last official acts, imposed its San Francisco values on the armed forces of the United States.  "Don't ask, don't tell" is to be repealed.  Open homosexuals are to be welcomed with open arms in all branches of the armed services.  Let us hope this works out better for the Marine Corps than it did for the Catholic Church.

Slow START.  In their frenzied attempt to push New START across the Senate finish line before Christmas, Democrats are relying on a strange mix of calm reassurances and ominous warnings.  To hear them tell it, the arms-control treaty would not in any way jeopardize U.S. missile-defense programs — but failing to approve it in 2010 would do major damage to bilateral relations with Moscow.  Moreover, Democrats argue, the urgency of inspecting Russian nuclear sites demands immediate ratification.  None of these claims is persuasive.

In victory for Obama, Senate advances arms treaty.  In a crucial victory for President Obama's efforts to establish a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia, the Senate on Tuesday voted 67-28 to end debate on the START treaty over a vocal but shrinking chorus of GOP objectors.  The treaty now advances toward almost certain Senate ratification Wednesday [12/22/2010], marking the third time in about a week that Obama won congressional support for a major agenda item in what many expected to be a fruitless lame-duck session for the Democrats.

Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell — The Doctrine of Fools.  With eight GOP Senators joining the vote to repeal DADT, including much heralded Scott Brown (R) of Massachusetts now gays can prance in array around the military just like they now do in the classrooms, the media and everywhere else they aspire to.  Is it a good day for America?

The Art of War and DADT.  Hollywood is allowed to discriminate based on anything.  "Sorry, but you're too black."  "You're good, but you're too fat."  "I like you, but you aren't pretty enough."  Hollywood can pick whomever they want, for whatever reason and with no repercussions.  Discrimination for the sake of art.  But the military, the people who protect the nation, can't choose whom they want now that gays got their win with the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The Cost of DADT Repeal.  Fresh off their election defeat for foisting a health care bill they didn't read onto voters who didn't want it, congressional Democrats are pushing repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) on services that don't want it.  This is a shortsighted attempt by liberals to bolster their base by delivering on a campaign promise based on the self-interest of a few while disregarding its impact on the whole of the military.

Downgrading Defense Capabilities.  Our foreign policy establishment believes that America's allotment of conventional weapons is useless.  The DOD's current leaders (Robert Gates, William Lynn, et al.) would love to significantly reduce our numbers in this respect, and they've already made extensive "progress."  The first President Bush cancelled over a hundred weapon programs and reduced many others, including the order for B-2 bombers.

The Bum's Russia.  The U.S. may have ended Russia's superpower status, but in speeding through the New START treaty we are letting its gangster successors threaten our own superpower status.

Obama Dims the Light on Missile Defense.  Obama, for the record, insists that missile defense has not been compromised, but the language of the treaty — combined with Obama's softness on the Russians, the Russians' toughness toward Obama, Obama's previous pro-Russia moves at the expense of Poles and Czechs, and Obama's traditionally tepid support of missile defense — is not reassuring.  I'm pessimistic, and I'm far from alone.

Don't let O disarm our military.  Call it President Obama's "conditional-surrender Pentagon budget" — and bad news for the US economy.  The 2012 Defense budget that Secretary Robert Gates unveiled last week calls for cuts of more than $178 billion — more than a quarter of today's Pentagon spending.  Some $100 million [sic] in cuts are coming now, including $35 billion from the Navy alone, with the other $78 billion slated for the next five years.

Why Did We Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell?  I don't have many Facebook friends but the ones I do have are professionals and just plain smart so I asked all of them a question that had been puzzling me about Congress' rush to repeal the Don't ask, Don't Tell military policy on sexual identity — DADT.  I wrote:  "Can someone explain DADT?  Before it was enacted no gays could serve openly in the military.  If DADT is repealed, doesn't it go back to that? ... There can be no other answer than to presume that repeal of DADT is a prelude to allowing gays to marry how could we allow them to die for their country yet still be prevented from marrying?

Guess What's Next?  Activists Now Want Openly Transgender Soldiers...  It didn't end with securing the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Activists have their next social experiment for our US military already in sight:  allowing openly "transgender" troops in the US armed forces.

The Anti-American START.  Russia, throughout its history, has been an authoritarian if not a totalitarian state hell bent on expanding its empire.  During much of 20th century, Russia sought explicitly to destroy the United States and enslave its allies.  Despite some liberalization following the collapse of the Berlin wall, the authoritarian nature of Russian society can still be seen today.  The state is assassinating journalists, bullying neighboring nations, jailing businessmen, and so on. ... Why then are some Americans, Democrats and Republicans included, advocating weakening the military might of the United States for Russia?

Give Defense What It Needs and Cut What It Doesn't.  Rising budget deficits make it imperative to cut federal spending, but why is the Defense Department, of all government departments, at the head of the line?  Given that we are still engaged in, depending on how you count, three major wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, War on Terror), this hardly seems like the time to be cutting back on our overstretched armed forces.  Yet that is precisely what's happening.

Rep. Allen West slams military diversity report.  The Military Leadership Diversity Commission's (MLDC) conclusion this week that there are too many white men in senior positions in the military "is a slap in the face" to those minorities who have achieved seniority, according to retired Lt. Colonel and Florida Republican Rep. Allen West.

Military 'diversity': more DC silliness.  The [Military Leadership Diversity Commission] last week issued its completely unawaited report to call for, you guessed it, more diversity among military leadership.  Not great fighting effectiveness, which should always be job No. 1.  Not smarter leadership. Not braver fighting generals and fewer rear-echelon paper-pushers.  No, what this country really needs from the Pentagon is better diversity management, including a chief diversity officer reporting directly to the defense secretary.

This is an original compilation, Copyright © 2013 by Andrew K. Dart




Three SEALs get in hot water for doing their jobs

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist.  Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004.  And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

Hero SEALS face rap for fiend's bloody lip.  Three Navy SEALs involved in nabbing one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists are reportedly facing criminal charges related to his capture — all because he claimed he had a bloody lip.

Navy SEALs May Go to Prison for Giving a Fat Lip to Islamic Terrorist.  The three SEALs have turned down the opportunity for a captain's mast (also known as an admiral's mast, or flag mast), which is not a trial, but a non-judicial discipline hearing.  Perhaps they are curious about the Pentagon's pusillanimous pandering to political correctness.  Or perhaps they would like to see real proof of their CIC's citizenship.  Whatever their reasons, I salute their bravery, and service to our country — as I'm sure all patriotic Americans do as well.

Clubbing SEALs.  Punch a terrorist — head for the brig.  Welcome to America's thoroughly modern military.  The notion beggars the imagination, but three Navy SEALs who helped capture one of the most notorious terrorists in Iraq now face courts-martial — because the terrorist acquired a bloody lip after the takedown.

The Editor says...
If you tangle with the SEALs, you are indeed fortunate to come away with only a knuckle sandwich.

Prosecuting American 'War Crimes'.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "great regret" in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC).  This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague.

Justice for Accused Navy SEALs?  A report that three Navy SEALs will face court martial charges for allegedly abusing a long-sought Iraqi terror suspect during or after his capture has produced quite a bit of outrage and controversy.  While it is too early in the process to make a judgment as to the commandos' guilt or innocence, there is good reason to suspect the military has overreacted in pressing criminal charges.

Eventually there was a favorable outcome:
Report details depravity of SEALs' accuser.  The just-concluded military trials of three exonerated Navy SEALs showed the terrorism suspect at the center of the case to be one of the most dangerous men in Iraq.

Navy Seals were heroes ... even before they were proven innocent.  "Where do I go to get my reputation back?" former Labor Secretary Ray Donovan famously asked after being acquitted of fraud and larceny in 1987.  That same question, in spades, could be asked by Matthew McCabe and his fellow Navy Seals who were charged with crimes related to the apprehension and detention of a terrorist who said he was "roughed up" by his guards.



Obama is leading us into Marxism.  Obama and progressive Democrats nationwide are proudly displaying their true colors.  Obsessed with national and many statewide wins in last year's election these Democrats have been emboldened to push their rabidly Marxist agenda. ... This week Obama offers to share our military secrets with Russia and China, following the cave-in to Russia regarding the missile defense shield for our Eastern European allies.

Take Our Playbook, Please.  The time for words has passed.  President Obama and Eric Holder are placing American lives in danger and openly aiding and abetting America's enemies.  Obama and Holder want to give civilian trials to confessed 9/11 mass-murderer Kalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and his accomplices.  Giving civilian trials to non-U.S. citizens and unlawful combatants not even protected by the Geneva Conventions is both unconstitutional and a violation of the oath of office to defend Americans against all enemies foreign and domestic.

We Interrupt this Socialization of Medicine to Bring You an Abdication of Our National Defense.  Quite intentionally, the Obama administration is making so many radical moves on so many different fronts simultaneously that it's difficult to stay on top of them all, much less give them the attention they deserve.  But ... it's important to notice how dangerously irresponsible the administration's obsession to close Gitmo has become, and how tawdry the Justice Department is allowing itself to appear.

The Terror This Time.  A U.S. government that has barred the phrase "war on terror" has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt.  Can we all now drop the pretense that we stopped fighting a war once Dick Cheney and George W. Bush left the White House?

The Real War Front is At Home.  [Scroll down]  Now we have turned leadership over to those for whom the issue is not inadequate attention to our moral pillars, but to those for whom they don't exist.  After 9/11, we still knew what a terrorist was and we understood that we blew it regarding identifying the ones operating in our own country.  Today, after allowing a terrorist to operate within the ranks of our own military, and, after he did his devastating work at Fort Hood, we refuse to identify him as a terrorist.

Obama's Second Major Terror Failure in Two Months.  After a known Islamic radical psychiatrist shot more than forty unarmed American military personnel at Forth Hood last month, this is the second easily preventable failure of the Obama administration to protect the country against domestic terrorism.  Obama has let down our guard, and al-Qaida's got his number.

Barack Obama gets an 'F' for protecting Americans.  Yes, the buck stops in the Oval Office.  Obama may have rather smugly given himself a "B+" for his 2009 performance but he gets an F for the events that led to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarding a Detroit-bound plane in Amsterdam with a PETN bomb sewn into his underpants.  He said today that a "systemic failure has occurred".  Well, he's in charge of that system.

Does Obama 'Get' the Terror War?  Why is the government decanting Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab into the civilian justice system after he tried to destroy an airliner filled with innocent passengers?  Why are we affording this enemy agent the legal protections that obtain in a land he wants to destroy?  The administration is going to answer for this one, with volume turned up.

For Obama, Global Warming Trumps National Security.  On Christmas Day, a Nigerian-born terrorist named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger airplane. ... [President Obama] blamed the CIA for the foul-up.  There is no doubt that the CIA should have done something more to prevent this attack.  But, then again, President Obama has been keeping them busy.  With global warming.

Spying On Icebergs?  We can't stop terrorists from boarding planes with explosive undies, but the CIA has assets sufficient to monitor Arctic ice and look for signs of global warming?  Is al-Qaida recruiting polar bears? ... At the urging of Al Gore, the administration is signing on to a plan to task vital intelligence assets to protect not the people of the United States, but the environment.

Who Is the Enemy:  Islamists or the Global-Warming Scare?  Though the failed airliner attack over Detroit may have concentrated the administration's collective mind on the task of fighting Islamist terrorists, even if we aren't allowed to call them that, our overburdened and often confused intelligence services are also being asked to track another deadly enemy:  global warming.

Tehran is about to blow!  Where's Obama?  President Obama's end-of-the-year deadline for the mad mullahs to make a deal on uranium enrichment came and went, but not without incident.  There were three, none good.  Most troubling, the White House proved it still doesn't have a Plan B, even though its unBush diplomacy has proven to be a total dud.

Okay, The Buck Stops Here — Now Shut Up About It.  What the president meant was:  Okay, I get it.  People want me to make believe I take this terrorism thing seriously.  If I say the right words, everyone will just shut up about it and let me go back to wrecking the economy.

Obama Aids the Enemy He Will Not Name.  On December 29, and very much under the radar, (he was sunnin' and funnin' in Hawaii at the time), Obama declassified just about everything he possibly could.  All of it will help foreign governments and Obama's Communist-Socialist associates in the U.S.  This executive order is a tsunami info-dump of newly declassified data — material that was classified before June 29, 1985.  It is all about to be made public — despite the danger this poses to U.S. national security — 180 days from the signing of the Executive Order.

Time For A Change?  Obama's Mistakes Say So.  [Scroll down slowly]  We have saved lives by questioning other enemy combatants, but the Obama administration doesn't even know this is a war against Islamic terrorism and is treating the terrorist as a common criminal, thus sacrificing our ability to get needed intelligence information from him.  This demonstrates Mr. Obama isn't keeping us safe, but is, instead, subjecting us to unnecessary dangers.

If they're releasing these guys — to Algeria of all places — they'll release anyone.  The Justice Department has announced the release from Gitmo of a terrorist who conspired to bomb Los Angeles International Airport in the 2000 Millennium plot.

Obama's Terror Non-Policy:  Nidal Hasan did everything but walk around Fort Hood with "kill infidels" tattooed on his forehead.  He continually expressed support for the jihadis, disparaged U.S. anti-terror efforts, and attempted to proselytize his patients.  He was in contact with the al-Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been chased from the U.S. to Yemen.  Yet he was not questioned, discharged from the service, or even put under observation.

A sheik-up call for O's Justice joker.  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano must be relieved.  Over the last few weeks, Attorney General Eric Holder has passed and lapped her in the race to be the most flagrantly incompetent Obama administration official in the War on Terror.

Obama waging unhelpful war against contractors.  Waging war requires serious acts as well as sober words.  And in that arena, the Obama administration has yet to prove itself.  Indeed, at times it seems the White House is intent on fighting another war — one in which the perceived enemy is America's defense industries.

The Most Important Story You Didn't See Last Week:  A Senate hearing last week confirmed the public's worst concern about Barack Obama:  that when it comes to national security, Obama hasn't just been asleep at the switch — he hasn't even bothered to find the switch.

President proposes cutting border patrol.  President Barack Obama's proposed 2011 budget would cut the border patrol by 180 agents and trim spending on a "virtual fence" along the nation's Southwest border.

Three pillars of Obamaism:  Barack Obama signed three executive orders on January 22, 2009.  One provided for closure of Guantanamo and the review of the cases of the detainees held there.  One provided for the termination of the CIA program of enhanced interrogation.  One provided for the review of detention policy options.  Following on these orders Eric Holder promulgated the insane protocol establishing a presumption in favor or the trial of Guantanamo detainees in federal court.

Politicizing Intelligence.  Last week, a little more than 24 hours after the FBI warned senators not to disclose the sensitive information that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was cooperating with the FBI, the White House shared the information with the news media.

F-22 Or F-35:  The Plane Truth.  The administration decision to scrap a proven aircraft in favor of a supposedly cheaper, more flexible replacement is proving to be an expensive mistake.  We may wind up defenseless and broke.

Loose Lips.  The administration says the Christmas bomber is now cooperating with authorities.  We thought they got all the information he had in a 50-minute chat.  So just why are we letting our enemies know he's talking?  In any war, it's vitally important that you know what your enemy is planning and doing, just as it's important that your actions and plans remain secret.  And when you know about your enemy's plans it's important they don't know that you know.

Obama's Border Enforcement Deceit.  In his State of the Union speech two weeks ago, President Obama claimed that he would strengthen border security.  Oh really?  I might not be as wise as Mr. Obama, but I'm not sure how removing $319 million in border security funding increases our nation's security.

Where the U.S. went wrong on the Christmas Day bomber.  Contrary to what some in government have suggested, that Abdulmutallab was taken into custody by the FBI did not mean, legally or as a matter of policy, that he had to be treated as a criminal defendant at any point.  Consider:  In 1942, German saboteurs landed on Long Island and in Florida.  That they were eventually captured by the FBI did not stop President Franklin Roosevelt from directing that they be treated as unlawful enemy combatants.  They were ultimately tried before a military commission in Washington and executed. Their status had nothing to do with who held them, and their treatment was upheld in all respects by the Supreme Court.

Obama's Border Insecurity Budget.  In short, the Obama budget falls woefully short on immigration control and enforcement.  If adopted, this budget would set the nation back on border security.

Obama's Politically Correct Pentagon:  Gender integration is a deeply rooted PC issue which seldom draws attention from top brass in spite of contradictory facts.  For decades the military's PC culture accepted without complaint the readiness-busting problems associated with gender integration:  lowering of standards, sexual activity, sexual tension and declining morale.  The consequences are accepted and the military muddles along.

Sheer Hypocrisy in Terrorist Handling.  Maybe we are lucky we haven't caught Osama bin Laden yet.  What exactly would the Obama administration do with him if they did?

Air Force Retracted Invitation for Conservative Leader to Speak at Prayer Luncheon.  The U.S. Air Force admits that the chaplain's office at Andrews Air Force Base retracted an invitation to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins — a former Marine officer — to speak at a prayer luncheon held at the base on Thursday after the conservative leader criticized President Obama's efforts to end "Don't Ask Don't Tell" — the military policy on homosexuality.

Putting the Coast Guard Out to Sea.  Despite the pressing need to cut government spending, under President Obama's spending proposal all the nation's military services are set to see their budgets increase — all, that is, except the Coast Guard, the nation's chronically overburdened maritime force, responsible for everything from global search and rescue to port security.

Disinvited.  When the Air Force chaplain's office rescinded its invitation to Tony Perkins to keynote a military families' prayer luncheon, it should have been over something truly dreadful.  Disinvitation is serious business; usually, once an offer has been made and accepted, hospitality is supposed to kick in.  So what did Perkins, a former Marine and president of the Family Research Council, do to offend the Air Force chaplaincy?

The DOJ9 (And Still Counting).  With health care dominating the headlines, it was easy to miss the unfolding drama between Congress and the Obama administration about the legal war on terror.  The most recent installment was a remarkable and belated five-page letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Rep. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, acknowledging that at least nine attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice represented terrorist detainees before joining the Obama administration.  Why is this a problem?  Let me count the ways.

Justice Department Won't Name Its Attorneys.  After a conservative group posted a video on Tuesday [3/2/2010] calling for the Department of Justice to release the names of department lawyers who previously worked in the private sector representing or advocating on behalf of terrorist detainees, a DOJ spokesman responded with a statement that still does not name the attorneys.

Exclusive:  Unknown DOJ Lawyers Identified.  A day after a conservative group released a video condemning the Justice Department for refusing to identify seven lawyers who previously represented or advocated for terror suspects, Fox News has uncovered the identities of the seven lawyers.

Justice Department on So-called "Al Qaeda Seven":  For several weeks, Republican lawmakers and a conservative group have been attacking the Justice Department for refusing to reveal the names of nine officials who have in some way advocated for or represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Killing Airborne Laser jeopardizes America.  [Scroll down]  The successful airborne laser test was as welcome and encouraging to most Americans as the ugly face of Iran's dictatorship was unwelcome and menacing.  Unfortunately, the Pentagon budget is sorely out of sync with these realities.  Congress and the Obama administration are actually defunding the very same Airborne Laser project that has just succeeded in doing something once relegated to science fiction movies.  Why is Congress mothballing this program when it is on the threshold of success against such potent threats?

This War Would Be Hell, Too.  If a top intelligence expert said America was not prepared for war and, indeed, that if we went to war "we would lose," that would worry you, wouldn't it?  Start worrying. ... Cybercombatants couldcause massive blackouts lasting for months.  They could destroy the electronic processes on which our banking, commerce, and financial systems have been built, stealing — or simply wiping out — vast amounts of wealth.  They could put our air-transportation system in jeopardy.  They might even be able to cripple our defense and national-security infrastructures.  It is possible to defend against such threats.  But we are not doing it adequately.

Save the SEALs.  Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, yesterday renewed a call for charges to be dropped against three Navy SEALs charged with the unspeakable crime of roughing up a terrorist.

Gates' Bad Bet on F-35:  When Defense Secretary Robert Gates rankled the Air Force's fighter fraternity by terminating the top-line F-22 Raptor, he tried to sooth the hurt by promoting the slower, less-capable F-35 as a good fill-in. ... Development of the Joint Strike Fighter, as it is also known, has fallen so far behind schedule, with huge cost overruns, the defense secretary ordered the firing of the F-35 program manager.

De-Fence, De-Fence.  The government puts the brakes on a problem-plagued "virtual" fence on our border with Mexico.  Whatever happened to the old-fashioned kind?  If ever there was a shovel-ready project, this is it.

Obama's Scheme to Gut the Coast Guard.  The U.S. Coast Guard should play an important role in our homeland security.  After all, that was the stated reason for moving the Coast Guard out of the U.S. Transportation Department and into the newly created Department of Homeland Security.  Liberals are forever going on about "first responders."  Well, the Coast Guard should certainly be considered first among the first responders.

Obama's Empty Nuclear Posturing.  Obama's threats to hit Iran with tough sanctions if his entreaties to talk were rejected are increasingly being exposed as hollow.  That kind of wishy-washiness is something that Iran and other rogue regimes understand.  By comparison, the theoretical language contained in the Nuclear Posture Review seems more like, well, academic posturing.

The Obama Nuclear Manifesto:  Death of Clarity.  Let's be clear:  Wars prevented are wars not fought.  And when faced with hostile adversaries, the best prevention is peace through strength.  There is little room for banking on tulips and tea.  In a real world proven model of peace through strength, there is certainly no room for taking the defensive nuclear option off the table.

Obama Raises White Flag Over America.  Can there be any surprise that Obama's announcement for no nukes on American soil — even in self-defense — coincides with the announcement that the leaders of 23 Arab countries have launched an unprecedented clarion call to free the world from nuclear weapons?

The Disarming of America.  On the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama was often critical of the Bush doctrine of preemptive war.  But apparently preemptive disarmament is just fine in the president's dossier.  How else to describe the administration's infinitely naïve decision yesterday [4/6/2010] to, in effect, fold up the American nuclear umbrella?

Obama looks to legacy with nuclear disarmament moves.  With an eye toward his legacy, President Obama is pushing a significant shift in U.S. nuclear policy.  The administration's new, Nuclear Posture Review builds specifics onto a speech the president delivered a year ago in Prague, Czech Republic, where he outlined his vision for a future without nuclear weapons.

Obama's Scary Nuke Plan.  Today [4/6/2010] President Obama reversed 60 years of U.S. nuclear policy and pledged we would not retaliate with nuclear weapons were we — or our treaty allies — attacked with conventional, biological or chemical weapons by nations in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  He hopes that other nuclear weapons states will follow suit with a similar pledge and we will be well on our way to a world without nuclear weapons.

Disarmament Danger:  The Obama administration has placed nuclear disarmament at the top of its foreign-policy agenda.  Other possible goals, such as modernizing U.S. nuclear forces for deterrence purposes, are now considered either transitory or subordinate to taking steps toward "nuclear zero."

Obamalateral Disarmament.  Aiming at a world where nuclear weapons are obsolete, the administration's nuclear posture review leaves a world without American nuclear weapons and the backbone to use them.

Obama bans terms Jihad, Islam.  President Barack Obama's advisers will remove religious terms such as "Islamic extremism" from the central document outlining the US national security strategy and will use the rewritten document to emphasize that the United States does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terror, counterterrorism officials said.

Welcome Back, MAD.  The New START treaty signed today does what critics have feared:  it gives Russia an out should it conclude that any evolving situation is destabilized by America's missile defenses, and it prohibits the U.S. from expanding our missile-defense capability by converting decommissioned ICBM silos in North America.  The language in the ninth paragraph of the treaty preamble gives the Russians whatever latitude they choose to object to U.S. missile defenses.

Obama's Axis of "Outliers".  "Outliers" is Obama's newest foreign policy euphemism (enemies who don't comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the "NPT").  Now that "outliers" Iran and North Korea are no longer in the "Axis of Evil" we certainly wouldn't think of imposing "crippling" sanctions on them.

Nuclear TMI.  For decades, America's nuclear strategy has been purposefully vague.  The U.S. didn't want the Soviet Union or other enemies to know exactly when, where or how it would strike, if provoked.  That's called deterrence, and it has worked for 60 years.  On Tuesday [4/6/2010], President Barack Obama dismantled some of America's nuclear mystique.

Obama's Nuclear Foreign Fallacy.  No longer will America "walk softly and carry a big stick."  For the last 60 years, countries have been scared to attack the U.S. and our allies because they knew we could respond with utter annihilation.  Obama has shelved our biggest stick.

The Systematic Dismantling of a Secure America.  The emotionally charged toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square on April 9, 2003 was an ephemeral moment of unity for Americans applauding the defeat of a tyrannical regime and an enemy of the free world. ... Fast-forward to April 6, 2010, when Barack Obama informed the world that the United States would no longer function as a global superpower buttressed by nuclear weapons as a deterrence to war.

Jon Voight:  A Letter to the American People.  This will be the first president to ever weaken the United States of America.  President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda against the will of the American people, when he should be using his will and aggression against our enemies.

The weakening of America from within.  On 10 April 2010, actor Jon Voight made an appearance on the Fox News Network where he read a message to the American people.  His message was direct and succinct, and he stated that in his first year in office, Obama has significantly weakened America.  Mr. Voight correctly states that via Obama's training and implementation of the Alinski method, "a socialistic, Marxist teaching... he rapes this nation, taking down our defenses, making new language for the Islamic extremists."

US Navy to launch Great Green Fleet.  The US navy is set to be both green and mean with the dawning of an new eco-friendly assault force that will mind its carbon footprint as it destroys its enemy.  It is to launch "the Great Green Fleet", a fighting force of ships, submarines and planes powered entirely by biofuels.

Plans to allow women and gays, ban smoking shake world of Navy submarines.  Imagine 150 fraternity brothers packed into a container the size of a three-bedroom house.  Announce you are breaking hallowed traditions by taking away their cigarettes and admitting women.  Then lock the doors and push the container deep into the sea, for months at a time.  That's what the Navy, after decades of contemplation and controversy, has decided to do with its Submarine Force, an elite fraternity of 13,000 active-duty sailors that has been patrolling the oceans for 110 years.

Our Country's Battles.  We have today an aging and shrinking Air Force and Navy, an Army that is overstretched, reserve forces that are far too "active" in their rate of deployment, and too few dollars to rebuild and modernize.  And if the Obama domestic agenda is implemented...

Weakening America starts with emasculating intelligence agencies.  Fifteen months into his presidency, it's no longer possible to assume President Obama is simply naive.  His defense and foreign policy decisions and policies define an overarching objective:  To reduce America from unchallenged superpower to a shell of its former self, to a nation incapable of defending its interests or its allies around the world.  To understand why this is so, let's start with the component that is the foundation of all others in defense and foreign policy, intelligence.

Bam's daze of the weak.  President Obama is the backward man. Teddy Roosevelt's advice to "speak softly and carry a big stick" was meant as a guide to successful foreign relations.  Obama has completely muddled the message.  He speaks softly to foreign adversaries and uses the big stick on American dissenters.  Iran and Syria are wooed endlessly with carrots, apologies and promises of grand bargains.  They respond with taunts and threats and pay no penalty.

Disarmament The Obama Way:  The F-15 Eagle that lay smoldering in the Libyan desert was downed not by hostile fire but by "mechanical failure."  It's a perfect metaphor for the current administration's downgrading of national defense from a constitutional imperative to an optional budget item.  The F-22 Raptor was designed to replace our aging F-15 fleet, which is older than the pilots who fly them and whose wings are almost literally falling off.  Raptor production was cut off at 187, not nearly enough to meet global commitments that now include three Mideast wars, including one that President Obama escalated in Afghanistan and another he started in Libya while on tour in South America.

Military indoctrinated on gays kissing, behavior.  Four branches of the military have begun sending training material to 2.2 million active and reserve troops as a prelude to opening the ranks to gays, with instructions on, for example, what to do if an officer sees two male Marines kissing in a shopping mall.  Key themes are that sexual orientation will no longer be a bar to service, that all service members must respect each other, and that the partners of gay troops will not receive the benefits of heterosexual spouses.

The Pentagon prepares to welcome recruits to the New Gay Army.
Obama's new 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy:  Soldiers offended by the sight of two male Marines kissing in public better not mention that fact to their superiors.  Under President Obama, the new "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rules turn the Clinton-era policy on its head.  Now those who embrace traditional moral values are the ones being told to stay in the closet.

Obama's defense defunding.  Can America's defense budget be cut?  Yes.  Unfortunately, President Obama is going about it exactly backward.

A National Security Apparatus in Decline.  Winning is no longer part of a general's code or vocabulary.  Words like "war" no longer describe combat.  Soldiers don't die to defend American democracy anymore; they now give the "last full measure of devotion" for mindless neologisms like "kinetics," soft power, and nation-building.

Related topic:  Civilian trials and incarceration for terrorists.




Obama weakened our allies' defenses

Obama White House Blocked Needed U.S. Arms Sale to Taiwan.  The Obama administration blocked a $1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December that was needed to improve the island's defenses despite approval from the State Department and Pentagon, according to Trump administration officials.  The scuttling of the arms package was a set back for U.S. and Taiwanese efforts to bolster defenses against a growing array of Chinese missiles and other advanced weaponry deployed across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait.  The action coincided with a controversial pre-inaugural phone call Dec. 2 between then-President-elect Trump and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.

U.S. publishes details of missile base Israel wanted kept secret.  Israel's military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.  The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3.

The Biggest Threat to Britain's National Security Is Barack Obama.  As British Prime Minister David Cameron hangs out with President Obama this week, he should remember that he is watching basketball and chewing on hot dogs with the man who represents the biggest threat to Britain's national security.

Loose lips.  NBC News is reporting that Israeli spies have been involved in the assassinations of five Iranian nuclear scientists.  So far, not so bad.  We'd say the engineers basically needed killing.  But here's the astonishing part:  The source for the story apparently is the Obama administration — albeit through anonymous leaks.

[Italics in original.]
Obama's Final Solution.  [Scroll down]  The Pentagon has just released a humiliating admission that Obama's vaunted anti-missile defense for Europe against Iranian missiles is never going to work.  George W. Bush negotiated workable anti-missile missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic, in the path of Iranian missiles to Europe's capital cities.  Obama sabotaged that plan, leaving Aegis naval ships in various places as a fig leaf.  The Pentagon has admitted that Europe is now undefended.  Obama's purpose may be to force Europe to turn against Israel at the United Nations.

British Navy running short of Tomahawk missiles.  Defence insiders say as many as 12 of the weapons have been fired from the hunter — killer submarine Triumph in the past four days.  If this is correct, the [British] Navy will have used up to 20 per cent of its 64 Tomahawks in the opening salvos of the war, leading to fears that it is "burning through" its armoury.

Christmas arrives early for Vladimir Putin.  Never before has an American president put the defense of the country's "common strategic interests" in the hands of an unreliable rival's "defense capabilities."  The president thinks defense against long-range missiles is not so important any more, anyway.  Maybe an enemy will be considerate enough to dispatch short-range missiles.  Maybe the Russians will help get a resolution through the United Nations condemning Iran's nuclear-weapons program.  Maybe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will repent and find a peaceful religion.  We can hope for change.

Where Do We Go for Hope?  The Obama administration's decision on missile defense, as with virtually every move the Obama team has made in foreign policy, is both deeply naive and deeply cynical.  It is naive in conceiving that our adversaries simply must respond to our apologies, retreats, reversals, and unilateral-disarmament efforts with some comparable gesture, as if they fear being thought ungracious or rude if they don't reciprocate in a timely manner.

Obama on Missile Defense:  Alarming and Dangerous.  President Obama has made a dangerous and alarming decision to shelve our missile-defense system in Europe.  Facing the growing threat from Iran's nuclear ambition, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency has worked long and hard to secure a site for the system to thwart a potential strike against our European allies.  Developing the missile shield could also have important implications for U.S. security.

Obama scraps Star Wars and gambles on Russia.  Barack Obama took a massive foreign policy gamble yesterday when he scrapped plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe — a major concession to Russia.  The decision to shelve the Bush-era plan for a "Star Wars" defence system was denounced by Republicans as appeasing Moscow and caused dismay among former Soviet satellites.

Abject Surrender In Dead Of Night.  With Iran on the verge of a deliverable nuke, the administration tells our allies in the dead of night that we will scuttle missile defense plans in Eastern Europe to please the Russians.

US missile shield:  Appeasement is alive and well in Barack Obama's White House.  Until he starts achieving results, rather than constantly making concessions, many people will be inclined to agree with the dismissive comment that a former Bush speechwriter claims his boss made last year, when Mr Obama was still only a presidential candidate:  "This is a dangerous world, and this cat isn't remotely qualified to handle it."

Obama's Missile Offense.  President Obama promised he would win America friends where, under George W. Bush, it had antagonists.  The reality is that the U.S. is working hard to create antagonists where it previously had friends.  That's one conclusion to draw from President Obama's decision yesterday [9/17/2009] to scrap a missile-defense agreement the Bush Administration negotiated with Poland and the Czech Republic.

Putin pushed, Bam buckled.  President Obama cited technical factors yesterday [9/17/2009] that might, arguably, justify his scrapping of a planned European shield against Iranian missiles.  But as political strategy, there's just one way to describe his move:  It's a major US setback.

A Stab in the Back.  President Obama's decision to cancel plans for U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic is a knife in the back for those countries.  The implications for U.S. security and the transatlantic relationship are profound.  Critics rightly note that the sudden announcement Thursday [9/17/2009] sends a dangerous message to allies, both in Europe and elsewhere, who rely on U.S. security guarantees.

General Electric:  Obama's Halliburton?  The hypocrisy permeating the policy decisions emanating from the Obama White House continues.  General Electric will directly benefit from Obama's decision to renege on a deal to provide Eastern Europe with missile defense systems.

Obama helps strengthen General Electric-Putin ties.  General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama.  But GE isn't the only company benefiting.

Did America betray Poland?  Or it was just Obama?  It was the worst thing that the American government could do.  This decision was announced on 17 September, when Poland was commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Invasion Day, when the Soviet Union allied with Nazis and stabbed our country in the back. ... At the same day, 70 years later, Obama bowed to the Kremlin.  It was something that created great turmoil in all of Poland.  What is even worse — people here feel that they were betrayed.  It's not only about the anti-missile shield.  It's about the Polish attitude towards the USA.  The United States was seen as the great defender of freedom and democracy all around the world.

Obama received exactly nothing for selling out America's friends.  The hallmarks of the Obama foreign policy have been craven — and thus far futile — efforts to appease America's enemies, and callous treatment of our allies.  The most recent outrage was the administration's unilateral abrogation of treaties with Poland and the Czech Republic to put anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) and radars in their countries.

When Defenses Go Down.  The president's announcement that the United States would not deploy long-range missile defenses in Eastern Europe after all was astonishing because George W. Bush had negotiated so patiently with the Czechs and Poles, who took considerable risks in cooperating with Washington.

Is Obama A Fool?  Scott is on record as believing that he is; I have reserved judgment.  President Obama's apparently unilateral concession to Russia in abandoning our anti-missile defense system in central Europe, with no publicly-acknowledged quid pro quo, may support the view that in international relations, at least, Obama is a fool.

The Editor says...
There is another possibility:  Perhaps Obama knows exactly what he is doing and is putting our allies in danger intentionally.

Obama The Impotent:  A Dangerous Delusion.  The Obama administration has vowed to "reset" our relations with strategic adversaries like Russia — a country which has been gobbling up and threatening its smaller democratic neighbors.  Obama is equally proud of his "outstretched hand" to declared enemies like Iran, which for years provided the Iraqi insurgents with the munitions to kill American soldiers, and which recently has been shooting its own people in the streets.  Meanwhile, loyal allies like Poland and the Czech Republic are sold out and left defenseless when Obama reneged on the long-planned deployment of anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe.

A Lesson in Unintended Consequences for Our President.  Obama's gesture to Russia in dropping plans for a missile shield in central Europe brought him nothing in return.

Fall Of The Wall? U.S. Sends Regrets.  The White House has announced our absence at ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Meanwhile, Russia has been practicing a nuclear invasion of an abandoned Poland.

Barack Obama's refusal to back Britain over the Falklands is a disgrace.  The Obama administration's decision to remain neutral in the dispute between Great Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands is a shameful decision that will go down very badly across the Atlantic. As The Times has just reported, Washington has point blank refused to support British sovereignty over the Falklands, and is adopting a strictly neutral approach.

America betrays Britain in her hour of need.  It was a headline I never expected to read:  "US refuses to endorse British sovereignty in Falklands oil dispute."  Washington has declined to back Britain in its dispute with Argentina over drilling rights in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands.  President Obama's position is one of strict neutrality, refusing to take sides.

American neutrality on the Falklands is a symptom of US foreign policy drift.  The Bush administration got a lot of things wrong — but at least they usually had some idea of who America's adversaries were and who America's friends were. ... In contrast, Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are apparently clueless about some of the most basic aspects of foreign policy:  supporting one's friends and fencing in one's adversaries.

Falklands Fallacy.  The U.S., which backed Britain to the hilt when Argentina invaded its Falklands in 1982, has suddenly gone neutral on who has sovereignty over the islands. This is much more than a bad slap to our best ally.

The British Aren't So Special to Obama.  Barack Obama, it was claimed, would "repair" our reputation both with our enemies and our friends.  So how has he done?  Let's take Britain for example.  Has he "fixed" our special relationship with the British Isles?

Obama's domestic war on democracy.  The outlines of the emerging Obama Doctrine had begun to be obvious:  He would engage, indulge, and look kindly on the likes of tyrants like Iran and North Korea, who armed to the teeth while threatening to eviscerate Israel and South Korea.  But when it came to democracies and political, strategic, and historic allies of this country, their welcome and luck had run out.

Obama Selling Out Our Allies.  With increasing frequency members of the Obama administration have been turning their backs on America's strongest allies.  The administration is forming new partnerships which appear to be based solely on emotion and the desire to appear politically correct rather than on agreements to work together to meet mutual needs in a long-term relationship.

Obama's destructive foreign policy.  The outlines of an Obama Doctrine have been apparent for some time.  It can be summarized in nine ... words:  Embolden our enemies.  Undermine our friends.  Diminish our country.  These days, it is hard to avoid proof that these outcomes are not inadvertent or attributable to sheer and sustained incompetence.  Rather, they are a product of deliberate decisions approved, we must assume, by the president himself.

Obama to Taiwan: No new F-16s.  F-16 Reports out today in Washington say that President Obama has approved a new arms sales package for Taiwan but that it does not include the 66 F-16 fighter jets the island nation wants to buy from Lockheed Martin.

Obama's Fighter Plane Refusal Dooms Taiwan.  President Obama's refusal to sell modern fighters to longtime ally Republic of China (Taiwan) dooms that country, frightens our allies, and robs America of needed jobs.  Worse, it tells Communist China that America's foreign policy and her democratic principles are for sale.  Last week Obama agreed to refurbish Taiwan's 1980s vintage F-16A/B fighter fleet rather than sell the island nation the much-needed modern F-16C/D fighters or the state-of-the-art stealth F-35, which outmatch China's fighters.

What thanks does Britain get? 'Neutrality' on the Falklands.  Barack Obama may have rolled out the red carpet for David Cameron at the White House last month, flown the Prime Minister on Air Force One to Ohio, and lavished him with a state dinner, but he still won't back America's closest ally over the Falklands, sticking to a policy of "neutrality".

U.S. Allies Left in the Dark.  U.S. allies are raising concerns about what they say is unwillingness on the part of the Obama administration to share vital intelligence that could prove decisive in conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.  The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday [2/27/2015] that U.S. officials degrade satellite images of the positions of Russian-backed separatists before delivering them to Ukrainian forces, delaying their arrival and making them less effective for combating the rebels.  The United States also provided the Ukrainian military with short-range counter-artillery radar systems but omitted crucial components that would have enabled the Ukrainians to immediately respond to separatist attacks.



Women in combat, women included in the draft

Women Don't Belong in Combat Units.  The Obama-era policy of integrating women into ground combat units is a misguided social experiment that threatens military readiness and wastes resources in the service of a political agenda.  The next defense secretary should end it.

US Navy Redesigning its Submarines to Accommodate Women.  Every submarine in the U.S. fleet was designed with the height, reach and strength of men in mind, from the way valves are placed to how display screens are angled.  That's going to change.

The Editor says...
Can you imagine working with a five-foot munchkin who can't even open a jelly jar, when it becomes necessary to shut off a steam valve?

Deployed US Navy Has A Pregnancy Problem, And It's Getting Worse.  A record 16 out of 100 Navy women are reassigned from ships to shore duty due to pregnancy, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by The Daily Caller News Foundation's Investigative Group.  That number is up 2 percent from 2015, representing hundreds more who have to cut their deployments short, taxing both their unit's manpower, military budgets and combat readiness.  Further, such increases cast a shadow over the lofty gender integration goals set by former President Barack Obama.  Overall, women unexpectedly leave their stations on Navy ships as much as 50% more frequently to return to land duty, according to documents obtained from the Navy.

Female Marines to sleep next to male Marines in field.  Female infantry Marines will be sleeping in makeshift shelters next to their male counterparts when out in the field and no special accommodation will be offered to them, a Marine Corps official said Thursday [1/26/2017].

3 women become 1st female US Marines in ground infantry unit.  For the first time, the Marine Corps has put three enlisted female Marines in a ground combat unit once open only to men, officials said Thursday [1/5/2017].

Obama to Armed Forces: 'Women Are at Least as Strong as Men'.  President Barack Obama celebrated the social changes made in the military during his administration by allowing gays to serve openly in the Armed Forces and opening combat roles to women.  "Joe Biden and I know that women are as least as strong as men," he said.  "We're stronger for it."  During his speech, Obama called the American armed forces the greatest fighting force in the world and celebrated its new found committment to diversity.

Navy Secretary:  If Trump Rolls Back Female Integration, There Will Be Consequences.  Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said recently in a December interview that while GOP President-elect Donald Trump can roll back social change in the military, doing so will make the force weaker.  Mabus, who has served in the position longer than anyone since World War I, has overseen significant social changes in the military and caused a lot of consternation in the process.  Now, in a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, he's warning that if Trump rolls back social change in the military, he should admit that it will damage the force.

White House:  Obama supports registering women for military draft.  President Obama supports requiring women to register for Selective Service when they turn 18 — becoming the first president to endorse universal draft registration since Jimmy Carter.  "As old barriers for military service are being removed, the administration supports — as a logical next step — women registering for the Selective Service," said Ned Price, a spokesman for Obama's National Security Council.  The White House had previously expressed neutrality on the controversy, but took a position in a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday [12/1/2016].

Air Force testing new maternity uniforms.  The Air Force is in the testing phase of a new maternity uniform it plans to introduce to female airmen next October, the Dayton Daily News reported.  The redesigned maternity uniform will be made of new fabrics with greater stretch, will have more buttons, more pockets to store cellphones, keys, pencils and ID passes, and will look more like what airmen wear daily on the job. [...] Uniforms come up for review every 10 years, and it takes three years to get approval for a new clothing item.  There is a need to update maternity uniforms, as 1 out of every 5 airmen are women, the most among U.S. military branches.

Army Sec:  Trump Would Have Trouble Rolling Back Women in Combat.  Army Secretary Eric Fanning said Thursday [11/17/2016] that it would be "very hard" for the Donald Trump administration to roll back the Pentagon's decision to open up all combat jobs to women.  Fanning was asked at a summit hosted by Defense One whether Trump would be able to undo the Defense Department's new policies on women in combat roles and transgender troops, which were referred to by moderator and Wall Street Journal reporter Gordon Lubold as "social engineering in the military."  Fanning said the initiatives will be hard to stop because of societal changes.  He also said it is harder to reverse decisions about who can "wear the uniform" than those about who can be forced to remove it.

Navy Changed Job Titles to 'Quit Segregating Women'.  Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Wednesday [10/12/2016] defended his decision to prioritize making Navy and Marine Corps job titles gender neutral, saying that the services needed to "quit segregating women."  "It's to quit segregating women.  We do it by uniforms; women wear different uniforms.  Can you imagine if we ask another group to wear a different kind of uniform?" Mabus said during remarks at the National Press Club.  "Ratings names change all the time, all the time.  When I was in, 45 years ago, the people that were in my division were radiomen and signalmen.  We don't have any of those anymore.  Those ratings have changed.  Corpsmen, our medics, that rating came in after World War II."  "We change these things all the time, and I thought that it was important to be gender neutral," the secretary added.

Update:
Navy Sides With Seamen, Not Social Justice.  Did you know that earlier this year, the Navy announced it was changing its centuries-old rating system for sailors, because gendered titles like "yeoman" were supposedly sexist?  I couldn't reach ISIS for comment, but I suspect they were giggling like schoolgirls at the priorities of America's Armed Forces.  Luckily for us all, common sense and the fortitude of America's sailors has trumped social justice.  The Navy is scrapping the plan.  This surely is another win for President-elect Trump a month before he takes the office.

America's Back!  Navy Adm. Brings Back Traditional Job Titles Eliminated During Obama Admin.  President Barack Obama may be the leader of the free world, but he cannot stand in the path of 241 years of tradition.  Of all the United States armed forces, the Navy has arguably the most tradition, and the Obama administration was more than willing to shred it in 2016.  January brought the proposed installation of gender-neutral job titles and with it the loss of such beloved traditions as airman, seaman, yeoman and fireman, according to the Navy Times.

Marine Corps' top brass in Washington silences 'women in combat' dissent.  Marine Corps headquarters has sent out a Communications Playbook that says top brass in Washington, not local public affairs officers, will control press statements about women in combat.  The edict was issued in the aftermath of strong disagreements with civilian leaders on gender integration.  The Corps normally gives wide latitude for spokespeople worldwide to discuss all sorts of Marine issues — but not in this case.

US Sailor Gives Birth Aboard Aircraft Carrier in Persian Gulf.  A U.S. sailor is doing fine after giving birth to a baby she said she didn't know was expecting aboard a Navy aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf on Sunday [9/11/2016].  According to a Navy spokesman, the sailor had complained this weekend of abdominal pain and was admitted to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's medical department.  That's when the ship's medical team discovered she was pregnant and about to give birth.

Female Marine drops out of infantry course.  The only female officer enrolled in the Marine Corps' Infantry Officer's Course has dropped out after failing to complete two conditioning hikes last month, according to the Marine Corps' Training and Education Command.

Marine Corps to Ban 'Infantryman'.  The Marine Corps is eliminating the job title "basic infantryman" along with 18 others and replacing them with terms that are gender neutral.  Others titles, including "rifleman" and "mortarman," will remain the same, due to their historical and cultural significance for Marines.  The service plans to replace 19 of its military occupational specialty titles, the Marine Corps Times reported Tuesday, seven months after Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered the Marine Corps to conduct a review of all job titles to ensure gender neutrality.

Conservatives Have a Plan to Block Women in the Draft.  The Senate voted 85-13 Tuesday [6/14/2016] to advance an annual defense policy bill that would require women to register for the draft.  But that doesn't mean the provision is guaranteed to become law.  Opponents of the draft measure will have an opportunity to kill it when the House and Senate reconcile the differences between their versions of the National Defense Authorization Act in conference.  An annual authorization bill, this year's $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act sets the budget and outlines spending priorities for defense agencies.  The White House has already threatened to veto the legislation.

Senate approves women registering for the draft.  Women may soon be required to register for the military draft.  The Senate overwhelmingly passed a $602 billion defense bill Tuesday [6/14/2016] that included an amendment that would require women to register for the draft — also known as the selective service — for the first time in history.

Obama: America's Military Is Stronger Because All Combat Positions Are Open to Women.  In a commencement speech Thursday [6/2/2016] to graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., President Barack Obama said the U.S. military is stronger because women can now serve in all combat positions and because the U.S. is closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Defense Secretary Ponders How to Change 'Unmanned' Job Titles to Gender-Neutral Wording.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter expressed openness today [5/25/2016] to editing military job titles to make "man" more gender-neutral, even as he struggled with a way to make "unmanned" less masculine.  The Marine Corps Times reported last week that the service is reviewing its job titles — rifleman, infantryman, etc. — in the wake of all combat roles being opened to women and a January directive from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for the Corps and the Navy to ensure those job descriptions are gender-neutral.  Every job title that includes "man" is up for review and potentially on the editing block.

Male and Female Still Matter in Combat.  Less than a year after the Supreme Court decided that marriage no longer needs partners of the opposite sex, the other two branches of the federal government are moving rapidly to eliminate all rational distinctions based on sex.  Taken together, these new actions reflect the unscientific (but oh-so-politically correct) dogma that there are no fundamental, biological differences between male and female.

Drafting Women:  Do We Believe in Equality or Don't We?  [Scroll down]  One of the arguments for giving 18-year-olds the vote was that if you're man enough to make the ultimate sacrifice — perhaps having to fight and die for your country — you're man enough to vote for those who may send you to war.  The idea is that with responsibility comes authority.  We don't give children adult authority, but they also don't have adult-level responsibility (this is one reason they aren't punished as harshly for crimes).  Yet isn't it also true that with authority comes responsibility?  If women are "man enough" to vote for those who may send Americans off to war, should they not be considered man enough to have to make that ultimate sacrifice?  Some might even say our current status quo ensures that women, especially single women without military-age male family members, will have little or no skin in the game.

Senate Republicans Want to Send Your Daughters to War.  It is becoming harder and harder to tell the two major political parties apart.  Today in Washington, all but three Senate Republicans on the Armed Services Committee voted to require your daughters to sign up for selective service and be drafted in times of war.  Mike Lee offered an amendment to yank the requirement.  The members supporting the amendment were Lee, Cruz, Rounds, Inhofe, Sessions, Wicker and Cotton.  But the rest of the committee insists girls should sign up for the selective service.

Air Force general is 1st woman at top-tier US combat command.  Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson becomes the first woman to head a top-tier U.S. warfighting center when she takes charge of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD in Colorado.

John McCain Slips in Provision to Draft Women in Defense Bill.  Pregnant, female, Navy SEALs was something many of us used to joke about as a way of exaggerating the absurd social engineering in the military.  Yet, placing women in special operations and direct combat units has now become a reality under the Obama-led Pentagon.  Sadly, not only have Republicans like John McCain refused to use their perches on the Armed Services Committees in the House and Senate to block this social engineering, they are now codifying it with a provision that could lead to a mandatory draft of all women.

Marines approve female rifleman, machine gunner for infantry.  The Marine Corps on Monday [5/9/2016] approved requests from two women to enter the infantry as military occupational specialists, a new report says.  One woman received permission to become a rifleman, while the other is becoming a machine gunner, according to The Marine Corps Times.

30th Female To Try Marine Infantry Officer Course Just Failed Miserably.  The 30th female Marine to attempt the service's demanding Infantry Office Course (IOC) just flunked out, making it to day 11 out of a total of 84.  The name of this female Marine officer has not been released, though she said she will try and repeat the course later this summer in July, Military.com reports.  Officers trying for an infantry military occupational specialty get two tries.

Louisiana woman, 25, makes history as the first female to enlist in the US Army Infantry.  A 25-year-old Louisiana woman made history this week after becoming the first female to enlist in the US Army Infantry School.  Tammy Grace Barnett, a former police officer, took the oath of enlistment on Thursday [4/7/2016] at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Shreveport.  Barnett initially planned to join the military police, before deciding she wanted to serve her country on the front lines.

Russia and China Increase Defense Spending While US Continues Cutting.  [Scroll down]  First, we live in a world of growing threats against U.S. vital interests. [...] Second, the U.S. military budget has been cut by 25 percent in the last five years.  This has resulted in dramatic declines in the U.S. military's ability to fight and win.  Fifteen years of conflict and years of tight budgets have taken a grave toll, worsened by these budget cuts.  Top military leaders have told Congress that their readiness is, as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force recently put it, "at a near all-time low due to continuous combat operations, reduced manpower, an aging fleet, and inconsistent funding."

Navy women issued iconic 'Dixie cup' for first time.  Navy recruits will soon don the same head covers, as part of a junior enlisted uniform overhaul led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to promote gender equality in appearance.  The days are numbered for the women's bucket cover, as women at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. were fitted for "Dixie cups" at uniform issue on Monday [4/4/2016].

Feminizing the Military.  It seems that the Obamafied military, led by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is no longer concerned about winning wars or even battles.  It has a new goal: gender equity.  Now the military, even the Marines will dedicate its efforts to help women to fulfill their true potential.  By giving them special privileges in order to foster diversity.  Better yet, by putting them in combat.

'Macho' Marine Corps ordered to implement revolutionary changes to accommodate women.  The Marine Corps commandant has laid out a campaign to impose "cultural change" in macho ground combat units to make sure warriors display no resistance to accepting and mentoring women.  The "Marine Corps Force Integration Campaign Plan," approved by Gen. Robert B. Neller, sparks a revolution in training and education as the 182,000-strong expeditionary force prepares for the Obama administration's April 1 deadline to start the process of putting women in infantry, armor and artillery units.

Marines brace for mandatory sensitivity training.  If you need more proof that the Obama administration has turned the greatest fighting force on the planet into a social engineering petri dish, just consider what's about to be forced upon the Marine Corps.  Marines will soon be forced to attend "unconscious bias" training — in advance of the women joining the infantry.

Women in Combat? I Think Not!  Feminists always point to the Israeli model for advocating women in combat but according to Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times:  "a closer look shows Israeli women are not in direct combat special operations such as the Green Berets.  Nor are they in front-line combat brigades mobilized to engage in direct heavy combat.  In the infantry, virtually all of Israel's female combat soldiers are confined to two light battalions — the Caracal and the Lions of Jordan — which are assigned to guard the borders with Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel."  Israel is one of only a few countries in the world (along with Norway and Eritrea) with a mandatory military service requirement for women.  Considering that this small country is surrounded and besieged daily by hostile forces, it makes perfect sense to have as much of the citizenry, male and female, involved in its survival.  That being said, there are allowable exceptions to service that include religion, marriage, pregnancy or parenthood.

President Obama to Nominate First Female Combatant Commander.  President Obama will nominate Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson for combatant commander of U.S Northern Command, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced this morning [3/18/2016].  If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the first female combatant commander.  The U.S. military has nine combatant commands responsible for U.S. military planning and activity in specific regions of the world and specialty forces, like U.S. Special Operations Command.  As the commander of U.S. Northern Command, Robinson would coordinate the response of military forces in the United States for homeland defense.  She would also command NORAD, which provides air defense for the United States and Canada.

SecDef: 'There Tend to Be Physical and Other Physiological Differences Between Men and Women'.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced on Thursday [3/10/2016] that he has formally approved plans prepared by the individual military services and U.S. Special Operations Command to integrate women into all combat roles. [...] Studies conducted by both the Army and Marine Corps found that women participating in ground combat training sustained injuries at higher rates than men, particularly in load-bearing occupations.  Carter said the military will "gain new insights" as more women enter previously closed positions, and all the services "will leverage that information to develop new approaches to reduce the potential for higher injury rates."

Defense Secretary Ash Carter OKs final strategy for women in combat.  Defense Secretary Ashton Carter approved Thursday [3/10/2016] final plans from military service branches and the U.S. Special Operations Command to open up all combat jobs to women, and authorized the military to begin integrating female combat soldiers "right away."  All of the services submitted their plan to integrate women into combat roles by Jan. 1 following Mr. Carter's December decision to open all jobs to women with no exceptions.

What Navy SEALS are being forced to do now is despicable.  The priorities of the Obama administration when it comes to our U.S. military are absolutely delusional.  The focus is on social egalitarianism and "fairness," not on operational readiness and effectiveness.  At a time when we just had ten American Sailors on their knees at gun point detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy[,] Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was sending out memos to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of Naval Operations to ensure all duty positions in their forces are gender neutral.

Michelle Obama Celebrates Women Going to War: 'They'll Soon Be Welcome in Every Combat Unit'.  In a speech marking Women's History Month, which was delivered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday [3/2/2016], First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated the decision taken by her husband's administration to put young women in all combat roles in the U.S. military.  "Thanks to brilliant, fearless women like General Vaught, today, more than 200,000 women are serving our country in just about every role and rank," said Mrs. Obama. [...] "So there is so much progress to celebrate," she said.

The Editor says...
Here's an idea:  Draft the Obama girls first, and see how Mom likes it.

U.S. special forces not ready to integrate women, report finds.  At a time when U.S. special operations are devising plans for the mission of accepting women into the male domains of SEALs, Green Berets and Army Rangers, the terrorist-fighting community is facing a looming readiness problem.  The new challenge is tucked inside President Obama's 2017 defense budget.  It states that U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and its 69,000 personnel are up against "training challenges" and is seeing "minor impacts to the forces' ability to accomplish missions" that could grow worse.  Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs face some limits on training due to cutbacks in fleet and training range operations, according to a budget overview document sent to Congress last week.

Conscripting Women Into The Military Displays The West's Death Wish.  [Scroll down]  At the Senate hearing, Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, opined that "Every American who's physically qualified should register for the draft."  Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Missouri) stream of consciousness swerved into the following:  "Part of me believes that asking women to register as we ask men to register would maybe possibly open up more recruits as women began to think about, well, the military is an option for me."  Well, senator, part of me thinks that part of you should consider that the federal government doesn't "ask" men to register any more than it "asks" anyone to pay his taxes.  It demands it, senator, even as it would demand (if you had your way) that our daughters, wives, mothers, and sisters register to be taken forcibly into government service.

Sen. Mike Lee Prepares Bill To Keep Women From The Draft.  Historically, women have never been required to register for the Selective Service System.  Only men between the ages of 18-25 are required to register, and by doing so they could be drafted into the military and compelled to fight in times of war.  Women have been kept from registering for the draft because of a Department of Defense policy barring women from fighting in combat roles.  Recently, the DoD reversed that policy, which opened up the possibility that women could be required to register for the Selective Service System.

Every Problem with Women in Combat the GOP Contenders Ignored.  Which of the enemies America faces is the most dangerous?  Is it North Korea?  ISIS?  Iran?  A resurgent Russia?  A rising China?  The answer, in fact, is, none of the above.  The warriors posing the greatest threat to our security are the social justice warriors in the White House, Congress, and the Pentagon.

Cruz: Drafting women is 'nuts'.  Ted Cruz on Sunday [2/7/2016] said he opposes requiring women to register for a potential draft, breaking with Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, all of whom indicated support for opening up the Selective Service to women during Saturday night's [2/6/2016] debate.  "I have to admit, as I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, 'Are you guys nuts?'" Cruz said Sunday, speaking at a town hall here.  "Listen, we have had enough with political correctness, especially in the military.  Political correctness is dangerous.  And the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat, I think is wrong, it is immoral, and if I am president, we ain't doing it."

Cruz: It's Nuts, Wrong, Dangerous and Immoral to Draft Women and Put Them In Close Combat.  Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday [2/7/2016] talked about his opposition to drafting women into combat in the U.S. military in remarks to an audience at a town hall in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  According to the Boston Globe, Cruz mentioned Saturday's debate and without naming them referred to his competitors, Sen. Marco Rubio and Governors Jeb Bush and Chris Christie all of whom said during the debate that they would support requiring women to register for the draft[.]

Draft Registration for Women Would Stir a Sleepy Government Agency.  Once a month, in a windowless office near the Pentagon, specially trained federal employees roll two lottery machines out of a closet to practice something the government has not had to do in more than 40 years:  selecting young Americans for the military draft.

Cruz Says Drafting Women 'Doesn't Make Any Sense'.  Ted Cruz came out against requiring 18-year-old women to register for the Selective Service and the possibility of being drafted into the military.  At a campaign event here Sunday afternoon [2/7/2016], Cruz responded to some of his rivals, like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, who said in Saturday's debate that women should have to register.

Only a Barbaric Nation Drafts Its Mothers and Daughters into Combat.  Women have served in non-combat roles for decades without any serious push for selective-service registration ensuing.  In fact, the Supreme Court, in Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), has used the fact that men and women have different roles as justification for rejecting constitutional objections to the all-male draft.  We have repeatedly condemned the Obama administration's decision to open all combat roles to women, and we have mainly done so by citing a combination of contemporary studies and historical experience to make the case that gender-integrated ground-combat units are less effective than their all-male counterparts.

Making Women Sign Up for the Draft Would be the Height of Stupidity.  Conservatives didn't understand why George Stephanopoulos asked Mitt Romney questions about birth control during one of the debates back in 2012.  It seemed like a bizarre question since it was a non-issue at the time, but it turned out to be foreshadowing of the Democrat strategy to make birth control a central part of the election.  We may have seen the same thing in the New Hampshire debate as liberal moderator Martha Raddatz asked Republican candidates if they thought young women should be forced to sign up for the draft.  Surprisingly, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie all blundered right into her trap and agreed that we should take the radical step of forcing young women to sign up for a potential draft.

First Females Start Applying To Join Marine Special Operations Command.  Now that the Pentagon has removed the ban on women in combat, the first females are eagerly beginning the application process to join Marine Special Operations Command.  At least three so far have begun the application process, Marine Corps Times reports.  The first application came in the first week of January.  That female applicant was turned away and told to come back with completed pre-requisites.

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DOD Will Allow Troops On Duty to Breastfeed.  As part of his commitment to build the military "force of the future," Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday [1/28/2016] announced a series of "family-friendly" initiatives to attract and retain "the best America has to offer."  "We are not Google.  We are not Walmart.  We're war fighters.  But that doesn't mean we should not be challenging ourselves just like the private sector," Carter told reporters at the Pentagon.

The few, the foolish.  As the Islamic State amped up attacks around the world, the Pentagon responded by bravely announcing that American women will now be put in direct ground combat. [...] The new decree opens 220,000 military jobs to women — including Army Special Operations forces and the Navy SEALs.  "They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat ... and everything else that was previously open only to men," said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

White House to explore whether to make women eligible for military draft.  The White House said Friday it will review whether women should become eligible for the military draft, in light of the Pentagon's announcement that women will be allowed to serve in combat units.  White House press secretary Josh Earnest said officials will examine a Defense Department analysis on potential changes to the Selective Service Act, which requires virtually all men in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 26 register for the draft, most within 30 days of turning 18.  Currently women are exempt.

Could women soon have to register for the draft?  Women could soon have to register for the draft — if the US military is serious about achieving "true and pure equality," according to a top military official.  "If your objective is true and pure equality then you have to look at all aspects [of the roles of women in the military]," declared Army Secretary John McHugh.

John McHugh, Army secretary: Women will, likely have to register for the draft.  As female soldiers are becoming more integrated into combat roles in the Army, Congress will eventually have to decide whether women will have to register for the draft, Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday [10/12/2015].  Mr. McHugh argued that if "true and pure equality" is the goal in the U.S. military, then the possibility of women registering for the draft, is likely.

How about bring back the draft to include women?  This push to have women in combat is based on an ideological premise of equality; it is not based on merit or common sense.  Feminizing the military is a huge mistake that will endanger the lives of soldiers who are already in combat situations and that ignores the physical restraints of women.  We are not as physically strong as men.  We are not as muscular.  That is a given.

Decision to allow women in combat roles raises questions about draft.  The quickly unveiled announcement that the Pentagon will lift the ban on women in combat has raised a vexing question that is already prompting debate:  Will the move ultimately lead to women being required to register for the draft?

What remarkable timing!
Lawmakers push for end to draft registration in US.  Two lawmakers are waging a little-noticed campaign to abolish the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that manages draft registration.

The Blood-Smeared Glass Ceiling.  In one of his last acts as Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta today will revoke the last of the policies that prevent women from serving in combat arms.  Make no mistake about it: this action isn't about civil rights, equal opportunity, or any of the laudable things America has done in the past fifty years to remove false barriers within the military.  This is different.  It's a purely political act that will make our military — and the military families liberals claim to venerate — much weaker than they are today.

Women in Combat: Be Careful What You Wish For.  On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the U.S. military would lift its long-standing ban on women in combat.  The national media, as can be expected, is popping the champagne corks in celebration.  But is it a good thing?  As a woman and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, I'm not so sure.  To those who have been agitating for this step, I say this:  be careful what you wish for.

The rape of the US Marine Corps: a lunatic drive for 'fairness'.  Gen. John Kelly, USMC, is retiring after more than four decades as an active-duty Marine.  His "greatest fear," he says, is that the vast "equal opportunity" pressure for women in combat roles will lead the Pentagon to water down standards.  Kelly is finishing up as head of US Southern Command after an exemplary career that included three tours in Iraq.  He's also the highest-ranking US officer to have lost a child in the nation's post-9/11 wars:  His son, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, USMC, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010.  Why is he worried?  Well, Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month announced that women will soon be eligible for all combat positions.  (They had been blocked from about 10 percent of those posts.)

Marine Corps boot camp, job titles to be gender neutral by April.  The Marine Corps has been ordered to come up with a plan to make its enlisted entry-level training coed, and to make its job titles more gender-neutral following the recent move to open all military combat roles to women.  In a Jan. 1 memo to Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus requested a "detailed plan" on how the service will fully integrate its boot camp and Officer Candidate School.  The plan is due Jan. 15 and will be implemented by April 1, the memo states.

Obama: 'Bisexual Men and Women in Uniform Make Our Country Stronger'.  President Barack Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, released a pre-Christmas statement yesterday [12/22/2015], celebrating the fifth anniversary of his having signed legislation that allows openly homosexual, lesbian and bisexual individuals to serve in the U.S. military.  "Today, Americans can serve the country they love no matter who they love, and openly gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women in uniform make our military stronger and America safer," said the president.

Is move by Defense Department 'to provide a level, gender-neutral playing field' realistic?  [Scroll down]  Then there's hand-to-hand combat training, which comes near the end of the Army's basic training.  Recruits spend a few hours facing off against each other in pugil stick bouts.  Pugil sticks are padded training weapons used since World War II by each branch of the military to train service members for hand-to-hand rifle and bayonet combat.  The object of the training is to subdue your opponent.  Women are at a severe disadvantage because upper-body strength really counts.  Given the timidity and character of today's military leaders, I predict several possibilities:  Training with pugil sticks will be banned, or servicewomen will train only against other servicewomen, or, if the training is integrated, servicemen will be court-martialed if they knock out or knock down a servicewoman.  Even if our military leaders fudge this aspect of training, what happens in actual combat when hand-to-hand skills are called upon?

Senators blast order barring female guards from transporting Gitmo inmates.  Female soldiers serving at Guantanamo Bay are not being allowed to transport inmates following a court order issued in response to prisoners who complained on religious grounds, according to Republican senators who recently returned from a visit to the prison camp.  Inmates apparently complained the female soldiers' actions were an insult to their Islamic faith, but the senators blasted the court decision as an "insult to women."  Top U.S. military leaders agreed the directive is "outrageous," while suggesting they're currently bound by the order.

'Flawed' study casts doubts on mixed-gender units in US Marine Corps.  A US marine corps study on the fighting ability of women, conducted before a national decision about opening all combat roles to female soldiers, is "fundamentally flawed", according to critics who received hundreds of pages of leaked data from the controversial trials.  The same critics said the corps' decision to release only a four-page summary of its study, which focused on negative aspects of women as marines while keeping the bulk of the study under wraps, was "hugely problematic".

Was It Fixed? Army General Told Subordinates: 'A Woman Will Graduate Ranger School,' Sources Say.  "A woman will graduate Ranger School," a general told shocked subordinates this year while preparing for the first females to attend a "gender integrated assessment" of the grueling combat leadership course starting April 20, sources tell PEOPLE.  "At least one will get through."  That directive set the tone for what was to follow, sources say.  "It had a ripple effect" at Fort Benning, where Ranger School is based, says a source with knowledge of events at the sprawling Georgia Army post.  "Even though this was supposed to be just an assessment, everyone knew.  The results were planned in advance."

General: Military 'Degraded' by Obama.  These women were the beneficiaries of a deliberate and systematic unfairness intended to achieve a politically approved outcome.  The waste of resources involved in this dishonest endeavor — including extra training that required personnel to be specially assigned to prepare the women trainees — was conducted at taxpayer expense.  The demoralization of male troops involved in this fraud was not least among the detrimental effects.

Marines expected to ask to keep some combat jobs closed to women.  The Marine Corps is expected to ask to keep several front-line combat jobs closed to women, a senior military official told Fox News — bucking the trend being followed by the other three military services.  The official said the Marine Corps would request a waiver to keep women excluded from infantry and artillery positions, but not armor positions like serving in tank units.  The Associated Press, citing U.S. officials, first reported Friday [9/18/2015] that the Corps' tentative decision has ignited tension between Navy and Marine leaders and raised a debate over whether Navy Secretary Ray Mabus can veto any Marine Corps proposal to prohibit women from serving in certain infantry and reconnaissance positions.

The Editor says...
"Women in combat" is no longer news.  Now the news is there are some military jobs that women won't have.

Mabus Throws Down: All Combat Positions In Dept Of Navy Will Open To Women.  Despite considerable backlash from within the service, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said again Monday that the Marine Corps infantry and Navy SEALs will open up to women, no matter what.  After receiving heated comments from both male and female Marines who participated in and ran a Marine Corps integration study, Mabus clarified Monday at a forum by the City Club of Cleveland that many of the gender gaps on performance could be closed with more training and leadership.  What this means is that he's sticking to his original plan that all combat jobs in the Department of the Navy will open up to women.

Obama's Navy Secretary Slanders Marines.  A new nine-month-long study by the Marine Corps found that including women in combat units had a negative impact on unit cohesion and performance, the Washington Post reports: [...] But Navy secretary Ray Mabus immediately dismissed the study and attributed its conclusions to preconceived prejudices of the Marines who conducted it.

Marine Corps Study: Male Combat Units Safer, More Efficient and Lethal Than Mixed-Gender Units.  According to a study produced by a special task force of the United States Marine Corps, a combat unit comprised of both males and females is a much less effective fighting force than a unit comprised entirely of men.  The study, "The Marine Corps Force Integration Plan," found that the mixed-gender unit was injured twice as often as an all-male unit, was less accurate with infantry weapons, and was less efficient at removing wounded troops from the battlefield.  A summary of the study was released September 10.

Settled But Superfluous Science.  [A] nine month-long study done for the U.S. Marine Corps of 400 co-ed Marines in combat training shows that men Marines shoot their rifles more accurately than women, are able to move faster carrying heavy gear, and are better at removing wounded troops from the battle-field.  Men could throw their heavy packs over a wall.  The women had to be helped.  The men Marines in rigorous training suffered injuries to muscles, tendons, and ligaments at a rate of 18.8 percent.  Women Marines suffered these kinds of injuries at a rate of 40.5 percent.

Not A Surprise: How All-Male Marine Units Stack Up Against Units With Female Members.  Well, I can see how some will find this problematic and micro-aggressiony.  No one with any common sense, of course.  Just the Obama Administration and other social justice warriors. [...] It's just that the all male units are more effective, and considering what's at stake when they need to be effective, we should probably let them be.

Sorry, Military Is No Place For Gender-Based Social Experiments.  Courses like the Rangers and Airborne School are a useful though crude measure in weeding out massive numbers of applicants.  But they're just part of the process for determining who gets assigned to what units doing what jobs.  That's especially true when the military has a history of lowering the bar for women.  The West Point military academy admits that its physical standards are far easier for women, whereas the Army's Airborne School used to deny it but now publishes standards showing just that.

Putting Women in Combat Is an Even Worse Idea Than You'd Think.  Putting women into close combat roles isn't fair to the men who will be relying on them, and isn't fair to the women who will find themselves continuously at a deadly disadvantage.  When we send our soldiers into combat we should be giving them the best possible chance of succeeding and surviving.  While women are equal to or better than men at many tasks, they simply aren't when it comes to combat.  Substituting men for far less combat-capable women is profoundly unfair, immoral, and utterly unnecessary.

All 19 women have washed out of Army Ranger School — in the first phase.  The eight women who remained in the first gender-integrated class of Army Ranger training will not move onto the next round of training, Fort Benning announced on Friday [5/8/2015].  That means all 19 women who began the training in April have washed out in the first phase.  The eight women, together with 101 men who washed out of the Darby phase, will retry the first part of the Army's most elite training course beginning May 14, the release said.

The Feminist Fantasy of Women in Combat.  President Obama seems hellbent on forcing the women of the U.S. military into direct combat units at great potential risk both to themselves and their fellow soldiers.  Obama supplicants in the military have been cowed by radical feminist ideology.  They are promoting change for the sake of ideology, not because it is actually needed.

No female Marines pass Infantry Officer Course by experiment's end.  The Marine Corps' historic experiment to allow women to take part in its Infantry Officer Course ended with zero female graduates.  The last two female applicants hoping to make it through the course were cut during the Combat Endurance Test on April 2, along with nine of the 90 male Marines who applied for the program, Marine Corps Times reported Wednesday [4/8/2015].  Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Maureen Krebs told Military.com that female applicants were not expected to meet the same physical fitness screening standards as men, but they were required to match male performance in the course.

Special ops troops doubt women can do the job.  Surveys find that men in U.S. special operations forces do not believe women can meet the physical and mental demands of their commando jobs, and they fear the Pentagon will lower standards to integrate women into their elite units, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

60 Minutes and Women in Combat Training.  In the past, the Marine Corps has kept details of this very difficult course and its entrance requirements under wraps in the belief it is better for our adversaries not to know exactly what goes into the making of a Marine infantry officer.  That the Corps allowed CBS to film as much of it as they did was surprising to many Marines.  My belief is that the Corps wants the world to see firsthand that it is the physical requirements of Marine infantry officer training keeping females out, not some bull-headed misogyny, as so many feminists contend.

Integrating women into combat reduces effectiveness, harms unit cohesion.  As the American military prepares to open all combat positions to women by 2016, a British report found that integrating women into combat would reduce effectiveness in battle and could harm unit cohesion.  The British report, released in December, found that physiological differences put women at a disadvantage in both strength-based and aerobic fitness tests.  Even women who are able to overcome the physiological disadvantage will likely get injured more easily or get tired quicker, making them easier targets and poorer marksmen in combat.  "These are about biology rather than character," the report states.

Air Force Announces 'Diversity and Inclusion' Initiatives to Recruit More Women.  The United States Air Force announced new initiatives to recruit and retain more women and minorities, as Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James warned that those who choose to not understand "diversity and inclusion" will not thrive in the service.  The changes include giving women shorter than 5 feet 3 inches waivers so they can meet the height requirements to become pilots and "gender-neutral standards for all jobs."

DOD Nominee: 'I Strongly Incline Towards Opening' All Positions in Military to Women.  "Are you committed to allowing women to serve in all positions and to gender-neutral standards for each of the services?" Sen. Kirsten Gillbrand (D-N.Y.) asked Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday [2/45/2015].  "I'm certainly committed to gender-neutral standards," Carter replied.  He noted that the armed services are now examining whether there are any positions in the military that should not be open to women.

The Marines test out women in front line combat roles.  We knew this was coming for a while, but apparently the Marines have moved full speed ahead on evaluating women for all combat roles.  This will be rolling out over the course of many months as they evaluate how well female warriors can adapt to the needs of the Corps without compromising on the requirements for the job.

Congress moves to require women to register for military draft.  House lawmakers took a large step toward putting female soldiers on the front lines on Wednesday [4/27/2016], approving legislation requiring women to register for the draft.  Members of the House Armed Services committee passed the measure as part of the panel's version of the defense spending bill for fiscal year 2017, according to the Associated Press.  After a lengthy, and at times heated debate, the legislation only passed by a slim two vote margin with the bill's main sponsor California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter actually voting against the measure during the House defense spending bill markup on Wednesday [4/27/2016].

Pregnant troops leave the war; Central Command not counting.  U.S. Central Command is not tracking the number of troops who must leave the Iraq war theater due to pregnancy, prompting military advocates to charge the Pentagon wants to keep secret what could be an embarrassing statistic.

Female Soldiers Face More Danger in Iraq.  When a roadside bomb in Iraq exploded on Feb. 9, [2005] Army Sgt. Jessica M. Housby became the 21st female soldier killed in action in Iraq.  Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, says the Army is misleading Congress by denying that women in support companies are being placed at the front lines of combat.

Frequently Asked Questions about Women in Combat:  Recent news reports about the unprecedented roles of female soldiers serving in Iraq have generated many inquiries about the issue of women in land combat.  Should female soldiers be assigned to units that engage in direct ground combat, and if not, why not?



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