US military

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Friendly Libyans Injured in US Jet Rescue

Bombs dropped during mission to rescue downed airmen

(Newser) - The US military is facing questions over this week's mission to rescue two airmen following reports that several Libyan civilians were injured in the operation. The airmen ejected after their F-15 malfunctioned and landed in separate locations in rebel-held territory. Villagers claim shots were fired during one rescue and bombs...

Military's New Project: Social Media Propaganda

Centcom has put out contract for 'sock puppet' software

(Newser) - The US military has hired a California company to develop a program that will let it operate a host of bogus social media accounts, in the hopes of covertly influencing online discourse and spreading pro-American propaganda overseas, the Guardian reports. This “online persona management service” would allow each user...

Doctor Group Blasts Manning's Shrinks

Military psychiatrists not doing their duty, group charges

(Newser) - The military psychiatrists treating Bradley Manning are violating their ethical duties, according to a leading group of doctors. The advocacy group Physicians for Human Rights says that by allowing the accused WikiLeaker to be kept in solitary confinement in a military brig, the psychiatrists are not doing their duty as...

Army Punishes 9 for Fort Hood 'Failures'

Officers accused of poor leadership regarding Nidal Hasan

(Newser) - The Army has begun "adverse administrative action" against nine officers for "administrative and leadership failures relating to the career of Maj. Nidal Hasan," the alleged Fort Hood shooter, it announced yesterday in a statement. "Although no single event directly led to the tragedy at Fort Hood,...

Anonymous to Hit Quantico Over Manning Treatment

Activist hackers planning attack brig where WikiLeaker is being held

(Newser) - The group of activist hackers known as Anonymous has declared war on the US military, according to a self-styled—and not so anonymous—spokesman for the collective. Barrett Brown, who calls himself a "propagandist" for Anonymous, says the group plans to disrupt operations at the brig where accused WikiLeaker...

Arlington Must Once Again Bury Unknown Soldiers

As mass grave is investigated, at least 4 sets of remains unidentifiable

(Newser) - Thanks to advances in DNA science, many thought that the “unknown soldier” was a thing of the past, but now Arlington National Cemetery finds itself, once again, with multiple unknowns to bury. Of the eight sets of remains found in a single grave in October, only three have been...

Gates: After 2014, US Should Stay Involved in Afghanistan

Officials agree on engagement beyond deadline, says defense secretary

(Newser) - Both the US and Afghanistan agree that the US military should maintain its involvement with Afghanistan past 2014 by continuing to train and advise Afghan troops, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence that we have today, but I think we're...

Petraeus Apologizes for Deaths of Afghan Boys

Nine were killed by NATO helicopter while gathering firewood

(Newser) - Gen. Petraeus has quickly apologized for one of the worst cases of a mistaken NATO strike: A coalition helicopter fired on a group of boys collecting firewood, killing nine. "We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan...

No Motive Yet in Killing of US Airmen in Germany

Suspect is a 21-year-old Kosovo citizen

(Newser) - Hours after a gunman killed two US airmen on a bus outside the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, more questions than answers are in play. Some wire highlights:
  • The suspect: He's identified as 21-year-old Arif (or Arid) Uka, a Kosovo citizen who worked at the airport. His relatives tell AP that
...

In 6-Hour Battle, Libya Rebels Hold City

Pro-Gadhafi forces reportedly attacked Zawiyah from six directions

(Newser) - In a long night of fighting, Libyan rebels armed with tanks, machine guns, and anti-aircraft guns have managed to hold on to Zawiyah, the city they seized on Sunday that happens to be nearest to Tripoli. Residents passed out sweets and cold drinks to fighters today and celebrated with a...

US, S. Korea Begin Drills Despite Threats

No sign of North Korean retaliation

(Newser) - South Korean and American troops began annual military drills Monday that North Korea warned could trigger a nuclear war on the divided peninsula. Despite the North Korean threats to retaliate, South Korea and the United States went ahead with their first major combined military exercises since the North shelled a...

US Withdraws from Once-Key Afghan Valley

Some troops see wasted effort in Pech Valley

(Newser) - The US is withdrawing from the Pech Valley, the mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan that for years was central to its strategy—and the site of much bloodshed. The move is a controversial one, notes the New York Times : 103 US troops were killed there, and many more wounded, leading...

Pentagon Investigates Psy-Ops Allegations

Two senators say it didn't work on them

(Newser) - The Pentagon has begun investigating claims that one of its generals used psychological trickery to try to convince US lawmakers to support the Afghan war effort. (Read the earlier summary of the Rolling Stone expose here .) "The facts will take them where they lead," said a Pentagon...

Army Ordered Psych Team to Manipulate Senators
Army Ordered Psych Team
to Manipulate Senators
rolling stone expose
Feb 24, 2011 7:25 AM CST

Army Ordered Psych Team to Manipulate Senators

Sought to gain war support through propaganda techniques: Rolling Stone

(Newser) - In an illegal effort to build support for the war, a top US general in Afghanistan ordered troops trained in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting lawmakers, reports Michael Hastings for Rolling Stone . Over a four-month period last year, Gen. William Caldwell reportedly pushed the psy-ops team to focus their...

Petraeus Suggests Afghans Burned Own Children

Participants at a recent meeting say comments offended Karzai

(Newser) - US officials were already skeptical of claims that a military operation last week killed 65 Afghan civilians , but now Gen. David Petraeus has apparently taken things a step further: During a Sunday meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Petraeus reportedly suggested Afghans burned their own children in an effort to...

US Operation Killed 65 Civilians: Afghan Officials

NATO, US officials cast doubt on claim

(Newser) - A US military operation in the desolate, mountainous lands of northeastern Afghanistan last week killed 65 civilians, among them 22 women and 30 children, Afghan officials tell the Washington Post . US officials have launched an emergency probe into the situation, seeking to minimize damage to American-Afghan relations—while some cast...

Female Vets Sue Pentagon Over Sex Abuse

Lawsuit says rape is rampant, but ignored by commanders

(Newser) - Seventeen current and former service members, all but two of them female, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the military alleging that systemic sexual abuse is rampant among the troops but ignored by commanders. "There are three types of women in the Army,” one of the female victims...

US to Train Terrorist Hunters in Yemen

First time US has worked with the country's counterterror unit

(Newser) - Faced with an increasingly alarming threat from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the US military will begin a new training program with Yemen's counterterrorism unit so it can move against militants believed to be plotting attacks on America from safe havens there. The effort will mark the first time the...

US Military Awash in Deadly Prescription Drugs

Powerful drug cocktails for stress, depression can be deadly

(Newser) - When Senior Airman Anthony Mena was found dead in his apartment, he had eight prescription medications in his blood, including three antidepressants, a sleeping pill, a sedative, and two powerful painkillers—but it was the combination of those drugs that killed him, not his own hand. The US military's medical...

To Collect Full Benefits, War Widows Must Remarry

Confusing rules result in weird set of complications

(Newser) - Thanks to a confusing system of federal regulations, tens of thousands of war widows can’t fully collect on insurance bought by their late husbands—unless they marry someone else. There’s more: that remarriage must occur when the widows are 57 or older to count, the AP reports . The...

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