| Pentagon plans to shrink US Army to pre-WWII level Posted: 24 Feb 2014 04:19 PM PST  The Pentagon plans to scale back the US Army by more than an eighth to its lowest level since before World War II, signaling a shift after more than a decade of ground wars. Saying it was time to "reset" for a new era, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended shrinking American forces from 520,000 active duty troops to between 440,000 and 450,000. In a speech outlining the proposed defense budget, he said Monday that after Iraq and Afghanistan, US military leaders no longer plan to "conduct long and large stability operations." If approved by Congress, the Pentagon move would reduce the army to its lowest manning levels since 1940, before the American military dramatically expanded after entering World War II.
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| Budget cuts to slash U.S. Army to smallest since before World War Two Posted: 24 Feb 2014 04:01 PM PST  ) By David Alexander and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it would shrink the U.S. Army to pre-World War Two levels, eliminate the popular A-10 aircraft and reduce military benefits in order to meet 2015 spending caps, setting up an election-year fight with the Congress over national defense priorities. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, previewing the Pentagon's ideas on how to adapt to government belt-tightening, said the defense budget due out next week would be the first to look beyond 13 years of conflict, shifting away from long-term ground wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. He cautioned, however, that the country needed to be clear-eyed about the risks posed by lower budget levels, which would challenge the Pentagon to field a smaller yet well-trained force that could cope with any adversary, but might not be able to respond simultaneously to multiple conflicts. "Budget reductions inevitably reduce the military's margin of error in dealing with these risks, as other powers are continuing to modernize their weapons portfolios." The cuts come as the Pentagon is attempting to absorb nearly a trillion dollars in reductions to projected spending over a decade.
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| Pentagon plan to downsize Army: a sign of US reluctance to nation-build Posted: 24 Feb 2014 03:48 PM PST The new budget, if it were to be approved by Congress, will take the Army down to pre-World War II levels – a good idea given that the US military is not likely to be waging troop-intensive nation-building operations for some time to come, Secretary Hagel said during a briefing with reporters. What's more, "given the Army's reliance on contractors to do things once performed by active-duty personnel," these cuts do not "necessarily mean the Army will be less capable," says Benjamin Freeman, policy adviser for the National Security Project at Third Way, a think tank in Washington, D.C. "Personnel numbers only tell one part of the story." Although reaction to the budget plan within the Beltway can tend to run toward the dire, particularly among defense contractors, "one doubts that the American public are terribly worried about a military that might be slightly less likely to get involved in unnecessary and counterproductive nation-building missions in distant lands," argues Christopher Preble, a defense analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute think tank. |
| Hagel says US military must shrink to face new era Posted: 24 Feb 2014 03:17 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking beyond America's post-9/11 wars, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday proposed shrinking the Army to its smallest size in 74 years, closing bases and reshaping forces to confront a "more volatile, more unpredictable" world with a more nimble military.
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| What Do Ukrainian-Americans Think About The Future of Their Homeland? Posted: 24 Feb 2014 03:06 PM PST  As the protests in Ukraine reached a dramatic climax this weekend, New York's Ukrainian-American community came together for two large rallies in support of EuroMaidan. Taking place just hours after the sudden disappearance (or escape) of Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych, the marches became both a joyous celebration and a touching remembrance of those lost in the fighting. On Saturday, hundreds gathered on the Brooklyn Bridge for a public memorial service as a priest read the names of those killed in Maidan over the last few weeks. While the gatherings were bittersweet, the rally on Sunday showed evidence of unity and legitimate change within the Ukrainian-American community;
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| NGAUS: 2015 Defense Budget Ignores Congress, Governors Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:19 PM PST WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Guard Association of the United States today released the following statement by retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, the NGAUS president: "We are disappointed, but hardly surprised, that today's Pentagon budget preview ignores the advice of Congress and the nation's governors that the National Guard should be more of a solution to the fiscal challenges facing our nation's military. "And we are angered by continuing comments, such as those in Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's prepared text, that National Guard units 'complement' active forces. "For the last 12-plus years, Army and Air National Guard units have been nothing less than integral to the Army and Air Force accomplishing their missions around the globe. |
| Dozens of veterans priorities rolled into 1 bill Posted: 24 Feb 2014 01:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — It's hard to vote against veterans these days.
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| Exclusive: Iraq signs deal to buy arms, ammunition from Iran - documents Posted: 24 Feb 2014 01:47 PM PST  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran. The agreement was reached at the end of November, the documents showed, just weeks after Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from lobbying the Obama administration in Washington for extra weapons to fight al Qaeda-linked militants. Some in Washington are nervous about providing sensitive U.S. military equipment to a country they worry is becoming too close to Iran. Several Iraqi lawmakers said Maliki had made the deal because he was fed up with delays in U.S. arms deliveries.
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| Pentagon Signals the End of American Nation Building Posted: 24 Feb 2014 01:42 PM PST  President Obama has said that the United States needs to focus on nation-building at home. The future of the American military might make that impossible to do overseas. The New York Times reported today that the Pentagon plans to shrink the size of the Army from a post-9/11 peak of 570,000 to between 440,000 and 450,000 in the coming years. That would decrease the number of troops in the Army to the lowest levels since before World War II.
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| Scientists Record Largest Lunar Explosion Ever Seen Posted: 24 Feb 2014 12:54 PM PST  Footage of the brightest lunar explosion ever witnessed was released today, showing what happens when an 880 pound boulder crashes into the lunar surface at 37,900 mph.
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| Iran May Be Breaking a U.S. Embargo by Selling Arms to Iraq Posted: 24 Feb 2014 12:03 PM PST  Iraq has reportedly signed a deal to purchase weapons from Iran, breaking a U.S.-imposed embargo on weapons sales by the country. According to Reuters journalist Ahmed Rasheed, the deal would include $195 million worth of ammunition for weapons and tanks, artillery ammunition, day and night vision goggles, protective equipment against chemical agents, communication equipment and even ammunition for American-made weapons. Nothing prevents us from buying arms and ammunition from any party and it's only ammunition helping us to fight terrorists," said the [Iraqi prime minister's] spokesman, Ali Mussawi. The Iranian government denied any knowledge of a deal to sell arms to Iraq. It would be the first official arms deal between Shi'ite Iran and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and highlight the growing bond between them in the two years since the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq.
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| AP names chief of Arabic language service Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:59 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — Lamia Radi, a veteran journalist who has reported on war and transformation for three decades throughout the Middle East, has been appointed as the new chief of AP's Arabic language service, the news cooperative announced Monday. |
| George W. Bush launches program to help veterans transition from war Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:58 AM PST  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday promoted a new initiative to help veterans transition back to civilian life and aid in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The onetime commander-in-chief, who led the United States into war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, said he wants to highlight the challenges facing service members returning from war zones, as well as their families. "I have a duty," Bush said in an interview that aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Obviously I get slightly emotional talking about our vets because I have an emotional...," Bush said, trailing off. About 2.5 million U.S. service members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to the Department of Defense.
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| US military's new tactic to curtail sexual assaults: nab serial 'predators' Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:39 AM PST The Pentagon, under pressure to show progress on bringing down rates of sexual assault, is putting new emphasis on ferreting out serial predators within the ranks, as military officials become increasingly convinced that relatively few people are responsible for the bulk of sex crimes. The new direction is being driven by anecdotal experiences of some commanders, as well as by research showing that in certain semi-closed settings – such as college campuses – as many as 90 percent of sexual assaults are committed by serial offenders. "We think it tends to be, more often than we've believed before, 'serial predators' with more than one victim," retired Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, who earlier this month left her post as director of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said in an interview. "If you get rid of just one of these predators, it's pretty significant." |
| AP names chief of AP's Arabic language service Posted: 24 Feb 2014 11:33 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — Lamia Radi, a veteran journalist who has reported on war and transformation for three decades throughout the Middle East, has been appointed as the new chief of AP's Arabic language service, the news cooperative announced Monday. |
| Hagel proposes big cuts in Army in 2015 budget Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:57 AM PST  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday proposed shrinking the Army to its smallest size in 74 years, closing military bases and making other military-wide savings as part of a broad reshaping after more ...
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| Smaller Army: Hagel proposes cuts in 2015 budget Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:43 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed shrinking the Army, closing military bases and making other military-wide savings Monday as part of a broad reshaping of priorities after more than a decade of war.
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| AP chief urges governments to support free press Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:17 AM PST  The Associated Press' executive editor called on governments around the world to support an independent press, warning Monday that efforts to silence the media through intimidation and violence are "in ...
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| Hagel to propose big cuts in Army in 2015 budget Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:12 AM PST Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel is recommending shrinking the Army to its smallest size since the buildup to U.S. involvement in World War II in an effort to balance postwar defense needs with budget realities, ... |
| Governor survives blasts as Iraq violence kills 32 Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:39 AM PST  Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Provincial governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, a brother of Iraq's parliament speaker, on Monday survived the third attempt on his life this month, as violence killed 32 people, officials said. Iraq is suffering its worst unrest in years and authorities have so far failed to check daily violence targeting both civilians and security forces. There have now been at least six attempts to kill Nujaifi in less than a year, showing that even the most senior official in the northern province of Nineveh -- one of the most dangerous in Iraq -- is vulnerable to attack. Two roadside bombs exploded near Nujaifi's convoy in Nineveh's capital Mosul, wounding two provincial councillors but leaving the governor unharmed, a police major and a hospital employee said.
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| The UNICEF Tap Project Gives New Reason for Digital Detox: Clean Water for Children Posted: 24 Feb 2014 07:06 AM PST NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This year, the UNICEF Tap Project is launching a new mobile experience that challenges Americans to put down their cell phones to help save children's lives. The longer someone goes without touching their smartphone after activating UNICEFTapProject.org, the more money will be donated to help UNICEF provide clean drinking water to children. With $1, UNICEF can provide one child with access to safe, clean water for 40 days. Imagine what it's like to go days—or longer—without safe drinking water," said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. |
| Five Best Monday Columns Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:42 AM PST  Eduardo Medina Mora at The Washington Post on the arrest of 'El Chapo' Guzman. "The arrest of Joaquin Guzman, the most notorious criminal in Mexico's history, immediately made international headlines, but just as significant as his detention were the reasons that led to his capture. The crime and violence that surged in Mexico some years ago originated from weakened security and justice institutions, the loss of public spaces in communities and the consequent breakdown of the social fabric — issues that were aggravated by lack of economic and educational opportunities," writes Mexico's ambassador to the United States. "In the end, the meaning of the detention of Joaquin Guzman is two-fold: Mexican forces arrested the biggest emblem of drug trafficking and violence of our time, and they achieved this victory through the use of intelligence, not force. That is an important sign of what is happening in Mexico."
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| The Pentagon Wants the Smallest Army Since World War II Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:19 PM PST  Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is set to unveil a new, proposed Pentagon budget on Monday that considerably reduces the size of the United States military. The proposal has come about for two main reasons: President Obama's to end the nation's extended wars in Iran and Afghanistan, and the federal government's fiscal woes. That idea of a military being able to fight on multiple fronts has been perpetuated since the first days of the Cold War, when the Pentagon expected to need boots on the ground in both Europe and Asia.
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| Today in History Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:01 PM PST Today is Monday, Feb. 24, the 55th day of 2014. There are 310 days left in the year. |
| Pentagon to propose shrinking Army, scrapping some jets: report Posted: 23 Feb 2014 08:10 PM PST  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will propose on Monday a reduction in the size of the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War Two and scrapping a class of Air Force attack jets, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The plans, which the paper said were outlined by several Pentagon officials on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war," the Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying.
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