“I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord” — Phil Collins
“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Drones,” Cora Currier, Pro Publica
Almost 1 in 3 U.S. Warplanes is a Robot,” Spencer Ackerman and Noah Schachtman, Wired Danger Room
“Rise of the drone: From Calif. garage to multibillion-dollar defense industry,” Peter Finn, Washington Post
The last convoy of United States troops left Iraq today, entering Kuwait and ending almost nine years of official military presence. Operation Iraqi Freedom lasted eight years, eight months and 25 days. 1.5 million troops served, 4,500 died, and 32,000 were wounded. Cost in Iraqi lives? Pick a number over 100,000.
American troops already withdrawn from Iraq are glad to be home for the holidays, though many will be re-deployed to Afghanistan. But at least Iraq is secure, right?
The U.S. military is determined to prevail on the cyber-psycho-cultural field of battle, winning hearts, minds, and Facebook friends with global information operations. In accordance with Pentagon planning document Joint Vision 2020 (Department of Defense, Joint Vision 2020 [aka DOD JV 2020], 2000), the U.S. military will not rest until it achieves information domain dominance with tactical tweets and barrages of blog posts. The Web has been weaponized, and social media militarized. Sign up now for a career in Information Operations (IO).
The Senate voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military. The policy forced 14,000 men and women to leave military service since 1993. 10,000 of these personnel were language specialists, so it’s no wonder that we have no idea what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“I don’t care who you love. If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you should be able to serve as you are. Today the Senate has the opportunity to be on the right side of history. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is a wrong that should never have been perpetrated.”
– Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Both houses of Congress have passed the measure, and it will now go to the White House for the President’s signature.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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The Washington Post is observing Veterans Day with a story previewing the Pentagon report on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy:
“More than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops over the summer said the effect of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, said two sources familiar with the document. The survey results led the report’s authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them.”
– “Sources: Pentagon group finds there is minimal risk to lifting gay ban during war,” Ed O’Keefe and Greg Jaffe, Washington Post.
The chief authors of the study are Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and the Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, General Carter Ham.
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The U.S. Army wants to buy a half-million-dollars-worth of Apple iPads. Which command? Fort Knox, naturally.
Mark Malseed and Jenifer Reinhardt tell all at OhMyGov.com
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A motion to debate a defense bill which containing a measure repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy failed in the Senate on Tuesday. Arkansas Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor joined the Republican filibuster. Several Republicans claim they might eventually vote to end DADT but want to hear the results of a Pentagon review of the policy, due on or about December first, too late to realistically allow for further Senate consideration.
As Igor Volsky points out, 70 percent of Americans favor repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” while the 42 senators stalling the bill represent only 36 percent of the U.S. population.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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