Free Republic

Nine members of the Senate's committees on Armed Services and Intelligence will travel to Iraq and the surrounding region next week to assess U.S. operations amid concerns of growing Iraqi resistance to the occupation. Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican who chairs the Armed Services Committee, in a statement on Thursday, said the trip will focus on U.S. military and reconstruction missions after the war that ousted Saddam Hussein. It is to include the threats forces are facing from Iraqi resistance and the ongoing search for weapons of mass destruction. Also going on the trip are Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat...

The high level of activity of recent days reduced as Coalition forces continue Operation Desert Scorpion. Scorpion Combat Operations are: The 1st Armored Division executed offensive actions in Baghdad conducting six raids and detaining 22 individuals. The unit seized nine rifles, eight pistols, three knives, two boxes of grenades, one bomb and three 127mm rounds. The 4th Infantry Division operating in an area ranging from Kirkuk in the north to Taji in the south conducted three raids and detained three individuals. The unit seized three AK-47s, one mortar site and one Dragonov night site. Among humanitarian assistance delivered June 20...

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee recommended a 50 percent cut in funding for the largest military base in Puerto Rico, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The recommendation was made in approving the national defense policy bill for the fiscal year that begins October 1. The bill passed both Houses of the Congress late Thursday. The Committee report "strongly" supported a Navy plan to reduce operations at Roosevelt Roads, which is located on the eastern side of Puerto Rico’s main island. The plan will cut employment at the base by 65 percent and "reduce the number of military operational and...

A Senate committee said Friday that it had voted to lift a decade-old ban on the research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons, overriding Democratic arguments that repeal would damage U.S. efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms. "Without committing to deployment, research on low-yield nuclear weapons is a prudent step to safeguard America from emerging threats and enemies," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The committee agreed to lift the ban as part of a bill authorizing $400.5 billion in 2004 defense activities. The ban would not be lifted unless the full Senate...

December 19, 2002 Posted at 9:03 AM, Pacific Last week's U.S. News and World Report carried a cover story, "Unequal Justice," by Edward Pound. This detailed report is a scathing indictment of the military justice system and deserves a close read by all Americans, but especially by those who are friends of the armed services. Ultimately the quality of military justice must affect the quality of the overall military, so ills within the courts dealing with servicemen need attention and treatment. Mr. Pound will be my guest today.

Harlingen, May 24, 2002: Well, it is here again. It is just another Memorial Day. There were 25,325 citizens who gave up their lives during the American Revolution so people like you and I could spend our holiday at the Mall. It is just another Memorial Day. Still, this will give the family time to be together and see the latest Star Wars movie at Cinema 16. We don’t have time to remember 2,260 Americans died in the War of 1812. Yes, it is just another Memorial Day. We wouldn’t even get together for a family picnic, if those 498,332...