Free Republic

“Welcome to the GREAT place,” reads the sign outside the main entrance of Fort Hood, Texas, set in rolling lawns just off US Route 190... It certainly looks like a pleasant spot to live. In fact, it is hard to believe this 340 square mile, self-contained city of 70,000 people, which resembles a vast, sleepy university campus, is actually the world’s largest military facility.*** There is a certain open-mindedness to Fort Hood as well, as evidenced by the closed-circuit television footage of Major Hasan, in Muslim dress, buying his morning coffee on Thursday about an hour before he allegedly opened...

The United States has been hollowed out. It no longer manufactures goods. Once the factory of the world, the U.S. now manufactures debt. The high wage manufacturing jobs have been out-sourced to low wage economies. The demise of U.S. manufacturing is at the core of the decline of America, its chronic trade deficits and growing international indebtedness. It makes the world’s savers reluctant to be exposed to the U.S. dollar.There is one problem with this widely held view: It is factually wrong.The value of U.S. manufacturing output in real terms (adjusted for inflation) was a little more than $3 trillion...

INGLESIDE — Naval Station Ingleside came one step closer to shutting its gates Tuesday, decommissioning the base’s Mine Warfare Training Center. The center served to train more than 42,000 sailors for shipboard mine counter measures. The facility was decommissioned as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round, which ordered the consolidation of the center with Fleet Anti-submarine Warfare Training Center San Diego, Calif.

9/3/2009 - CAMP UR, Iraq (AFNS) -- Operations continue as normal at Camp Ur. The focus remains the same: keep the base running and the mission on target. Iraqi army soldiers routinely work with their U.S. counterparts, but one important difference now is that the Iraqis have taken command of the controls. "It's a historic time for anyone serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Lt. Col. Steven Ramsay, the Tallil Logistics Military Advisory Team senior adviser. "We have committed to turning over all operations to the Iraqi people and they are committed to taking over and succeeding." Colonel Ramsay and...

Several Australian men have been arrested in a series of counter-terrorism raids across Melbourne after police uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda to mount a suicide attack on an Army base. Four men were under arrest this morning and several others were assisting police with inquiries after 400 police officers and members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) swooped on 19 properties shortly before dawn. Authorities believe the group, of Somalian and Lebanese background, was at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Army barracks in retaliation for Australia’s military involvement in Muslim countries. Members...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 13, 2009 – The landscape of this base is changing rapidly. Some buildings already have been built to improve the operational capability of Multinational Division South, with others planned for the near future. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Ratliff, from the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron, helps build a new hall for the Red Bull Band at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, in June 2009. The squadron plans to start construction on a post chapel soon. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The progress evident throughout...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2009 – The Kyrgyz parliament is expected to vote in the coming days on agreements reached between the United States and Kyrgyzstan governments to extend U.S. access to Manas Air Base, a logistics hub that supplies troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed today. While emphasizing that the United States is “not counting our chickens before they are hatched,” Morrell expressed hope that the deal will go through. If ratified, the agreements would provide for a transit center at Manas International Airport, operated by the United States, to provide logistical support to coalition forces in...

"The fed is planning moves that would more than double its balance-sheet assets by September to $4.5 trillion from $1.9 trillion. Whether expressing approval or concern over the fed’s move, most commentators fail to understand the real magnitude of the projected expansion of the US monetary base because they don’t take into account the amount of dollars circulating abroad......................The fed’s planned balance sheet expansion results in a 15-fold increase in the base money supply. 262 Billion = US monetary base as of September 2008 (minus dollars held abroad) 3,818 Billion = projected US monetary base in September 2009 (minus dollars...

Just a vanity thread - I have been interested in locating some current photos of the former MCAS(H) Tustin base area located about 2 miles west of I-5 on Red Hill Avenue in Tustin, CA. I served there from 1988-1992 as a member of HMH-462 - Google earth shows some pre-construction demo in the area; however, this was most likely some time ago, as the base went up on the base closure list in 1997. I would be most appreciative if someone that lives in the area could take some pictures of what it looks like now (one of the...

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- For all Americans, this election represents another glass ceiling broken, and in the words of my 16-year-old, "That's very cool." The election of the first black president is an inspiring and transformational moment for our country. I am happy for President-elect Barack Obama, and for many who supported him. They and, in many cases, their ancestors fought for this day for centuries as they experienced first-hand the unthinkable wrong of segregation. As an American, I wish him every success. Beyond the presidential race, it goes without saying the Republican Party took a shellacking nationally. Some...

(IsraelNN.com) Four Arabs from the Judean Mountains area managed to enter the IAF's Nevatim Air Force Base Wednesday without tripping any alarms and without arousing suspicion. They seem to have been looking for work. The Arabs managed to pass multiple security rings monitored by closed circuit cameras and wandered about the base, passing near advanced jets, bombs and advanced weaponry and in clear sight of officers and soldiers who did not take special notice of them. Only after they approached a contractor for work was the base's command notified of their presence. The IDF says the incident will be investigated.

People started queuing before 7am for a front row spot at John McCain's campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio, this week. By the time the senator appeared with Sarah Palin, his running mate, three hours later, more than 5,000 people had crammed into the town centre, with hundreds more locked outside the security cordon. Similar scenes have greeted the Republican presidential ticket at events across the country this week, marking the first time that Mr McCain has rivalled Barack Obama for pulling power. Scanning the crowd in Lebanon, a commuter town of 17,000 people outside Cincinnati, the catalyst for surging Republican...

KABUL -- U.S. troops have pulled out of a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led security force has said, three days after Taliban militants tried to overrun the base and killed nine U.S. soldiers. NATO played down the significance of the withdrawal, but Taliban militants are sure to claim victory in driving foreign forces out of the wooded valley, close to the Pakistani border. Taliban militants briefly breached the incomplete defenses of the newly established base in the Wanat district of Konar Province on July 13 and hours of fierce fighting ensued that killed nine U.S. soldiers and many...

All indications are the Democrats will pick up seats in both the House and Senate, with the Senate likely being a couple of RHINOs away from the magic 60. McCain is no Reagan but he's the only thing standing in the way of the most liberal Senator in Senate becoming President with a clear majority in Congress and at a critical time with decisions to be made on the war on terror, the war in Iraq, heath care, taxes, illegal immigration and likely the Supreme Court. Sometimes you do have to pick the lesser of two evils. This is one...

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet officially re-opened on Wednesday the Arturo Prat base in Antarctica which was the first to be established by the Chilean Navy in 1947 but was later closed in 2004. The event was described in Chile as a reaffirmation of the country’s rights over Antarctica. The eleven permanent members of the base, which is being refurbished --and eleven degrees below zero--, received President Bachelet, Defence minister Jose Goñi and the Commander of the Navy Admiral Rodolfo Codina. “This base is going to guarantee Chilean rights and territorial integrity, which is undoubtedly the duty of the Armed Forces”,...

A Soldier with the 535th Engineer Company operates a front-end loader to fill Hesco barriers at Patrol Base Vanderhorn March 6. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jason Stadel, 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Construction of Patrol Base Vanderhorn began in early March near Sayifiyah, a region formerly controlled by insurgents. The patrol base will be home to a company from 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). PB Vanderhorn is named after Staff Sgt. Christopher Vanderhorn, a 1-187th Inf. Regt. Soldier killed in an improvised explosive device attack...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, showing no signs of giving up in his quest for the GOP nomination, on Tuesday questioned presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) ability to turn out conservatives in a general election. Huckabee, who has repeatedly bested McCain in conservative, Southern states, said he is the candidate winning the “states that are essential to being elected as a Republican.” “Republicans are not going to be elected because they carried Delaware, Connecticut, New York and California,” Huckabee said, referring to some of the states McCain has won. He added that the question is whether the Arizonan will...

Q: How much support do you think he has among the base of the Republican Party? Roberta McCain: “I don’t think he has any. I don’t know what the base of the Repub–maybe I don’t know enough about it, but I’ve not seen any help whatsoever.”

-- snip --The elected delegates, though virtually unknown, are at least selected by the voters and pledged to the candidate those voters chose. Most of the super delegates aren't chosen by the general populace, and they are not bound by the votes in their respective states. If they end up making the difference in the nomination -- especially if the winner came into the convention in second place -- there is a strong possibility of disenchanting a good portion of the party's base, potentially costing the party the election...

(IsraelNN.com) A year-end report by the General Security Services (GSS; Shabak) states that the Gaza region has become the leading source of anti-Israel terrorism in recent years. This includes rocket and mortar attacks by Gaza-based Palestinian Authority terrorists and the export of terrorist know-how and funds to the PA in Judea and Samaria. 1,200 Rocket and Mortar Attacks PA terrorists in Gaza launched more than 1,200 rockets at Israeli targets in 2007, the PA terrorists in Gaza launched more than 1,200 rockets at Israeli targets in 2007. Shabak reported. Of those, 800 struck inside pre-1967 Israel. Two people were killed...