Free Republic

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 30, 2009 – A civilian administrator working for the Air Force here transforms worn out computer parts into unique works of art. Miguel Rivera, with the 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron in Southwest Asia, stands behind the sculptures he built from old hard drives and other computer parts Dec. 19, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Tony Tolley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When computer hard drives go bad, airmen from the 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron here typically remove all of the pertinent data and send them to the local disposal unit for destruction. However,...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18, 2009 – The “advise and assist brigade” concept is a hit with leaders of the provincial reconstruction teams in southern Iraq. The 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade, based at Talil Air Base, is the model of how U.S. forces will be configured when the American combat mission ends Aug. 31. The unit came in for unqualified praise from Iraqi security forces leaders, judges and provincial reconstruction team leaders who met with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here today. John Kuschner, the head of the Muthanna provincial reconstruction team, told Navy Adm. Mike Mullen that...

KABUL, Dec. 18, 2009 – The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is sending a team to work with Afghan officials in assessing reports of civilian casualties as a result of an operation in the Shah Wali Kot district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province yesterday. Initial operational reports indicate that men were planting a bomb next to the road. After firing on the men from a helicopter, ISAF forces discovered civilians in a car adjacent to the site, officials said. In a written statement, ISAF officials said the command goes to great lengths to avoid, and deeply regrets, any harm to civilians....

ABOARD USS NIMITZ IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, Nov. 16, 2009 – Two soldiers working deep inside this aircraft carrier serve as liaisons between the aviators of Carrier Air Wing 11 and coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan. Army Maj. Johnnie Gallegos and Army Sgt. 1st Class Percy Patterson joined Nimitz Carrier Strike Group as ground liaison officers when Nimitz entered the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. Their work directly supports a tactical directive issued in July by Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, that places limitations on the use of force that could...

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 21, 2009 – Darren Costine retired from the Army in 2001, but with 22 years of service under his belt, the former first sergeant said, the Army is still in his blood. Darren Costine, a retired soldier who now works at the Defense Supply in Richmond, Va., deployed to Iraq as a civilian weapon system support manager. DoD photo by Jackie Girard  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That’s why he volunteered to return to the Middle East for six months as a civilian support representative for Defense Logistics Agency. Costine, who lives in Chester, Va., is...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 – Members of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force met with village elders today after reports that civilians, including women and children, had been killed in an engagement between ISAF forces and insurgents yesterday in the Nad Ali district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province. After extensive fighting with insurgents at a compound in Nad Ali district yesterday, ISAF aircraft dropped a single precision-guided bomb on the insurgents’ position. Following the engagement, ISAF officials received reports of civilian casualties, and a number of civilians with injuries reported to ISAF troops. They were given immediate medical attention or were transported...

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., Sept. 3, 2009 – Air Force medical evacuation airmen had the benefit of flying with a leading U.S. trauma surgeon during a recent mission to Iraq as part of a program to link military and civilian medical professionals. Thomas Scalea, physician in chief at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, flew aboard a C-17 Globemaster III transport jet on an Aug. 19 and 20 aeromedical evacuation mission to help to shape future training for military medical teams worldwide, Air Mobility Command officials said. Scalea served as a lead contributor to the Air...

Thursday's show, I believe, it's the most controversial of all the shows this week — and maybe ever. I will give you some facts, some history but also some of the future. The reason Thursday's show is the last before Friday's solution, I wanted you to see who was advising the president and what they are doing, before I could ask you to look at this phrase from Barack Obama and think he meant it literally: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA: We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've...

DAHANEH, Afghanistan — The British jet called in by the U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines on the ground but was in line with new orders by the top U.S. commander to protect civilians. The Marines themselves didn't attack militants shooting at them from a compound Wednesday during the same battle because women and children were there, an approach meant to avoid civilian casualties at all costs.

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2009 – The United States and NATO must do everything possible to prevent civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Video Gates said NATO defense ministers stressed this point during meetings in Brussels last week. “It is clear that we need to do much more to overcome what I believe is one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities,” Gates said during a Pentagon news conference. “The Afghan people must be reassured that U.S. and NATO forces are there as friends, partners and, along with Afghan security forces, they're protectors as well.” The...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2009 – Coalition and Afghan forces detained a suspected Taliban leader and provided medical aid to a wounded civilian in recent operations, military officials said. Afghan and coalition forces captured an area Taliban commander and a suspected associate in a June 13 operation to disrupt Taliban activities in northern Paktika province. The suspect is tied to numerous attacks against coalition forces in the area, military officials said. The wanted Taliban leader was wounded from debris when forces gained entry into the compound, officials said. Medical specialists treated his wounds, and he was evacuated for further medical treatment....

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., June 12, 2009 – Civilian employees representing various federal departments are being trained here alongside their military counterparts in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. Army Sgt. Carlos Velasquez radios for medical assistance while Air Force Senior Airman Ashley Jackson delivers medical aid during a training exercise at Camp Atterbury Ind., June 9, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As part of a broader focus of operations in Afghanistan designed to include both military and civilian assets, more than 20 civilians from the State Department, the Agriculture...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, May 14, 2009 – As the gray smoke dissipates, men and women lie scattered on the gravel. Some moan, some call for help and some are silent. These U.S. servicemembers are role players taking part in a force-protection exercise simulating a mass-casualty event here. Air Force Tech Sgt. Rick Dickey, the morning shift leader of the U.S. provost marshall’s office at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, evaluates the simulated wounds of a role-player during a combined military and civilian mass-casualty exercise, April 30, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Elisebet Freeburg  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The U.S....

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 – The United States, coalition and Afghan government regret even one innocent civilian death, and they will continue to do all they can to avoid civilian casualties, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in Kabul today. Gates spoke at a news conference after a day of visiting U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. A joint investigative team is looking into reports of civilian casualties during a May 4 operation against Taliban insurgents in western Afghanistan and has visited the site in Farah province. The team is investigating differing accounts of the events leading up to the...

There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed. – Woodrow Wilson (and his worship of the STATE) Way back when, during the campaign, Obama made the declaration that America needs a national civilian security force, that is “just as strong and just as well funded as the military.“ Well, folks, here it comes. The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act -- sponsored by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y, and George Miller, D-Calif. -- was approved by a 321-105 vote and now goes to the Senate.

OBAMA WATCH CENTRAL House adopts plan for 'volunteer' corps Also requires new evaluation of 'mandatory' service for all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: March 19, 2009 4:58 pm Eastern By Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 21, 2009 – An investigation into a Feb. 17 coalition air strike in Afghanistan’s Heart province has confirmed that 13 noncombatants and three enemy fighters were killed, military officials reported. Army Brig. Gen. Michael A. Ryan of U.S. Forces Afghanistan offers his condolences Feb. 20, 2009, to families of those killed during an operation targeting insurgents three days earlier in Afghanistan’s Herat province. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A combined Afghan National Army and coalition forces investigation team, accompanied by international observers, inspected the site this week to determine the identities of...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2009 – The Defense Department is forming a civilian expeditionary workforce that will be trained and equipped to deploy overseas in support of military missions worldwide, according to department officials. The intent of the program “is to maximize the use of the civilian workforce to allow military personnel to be fully utilized for operational requirements,” according to a Defense Department statement. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed Defense Department Directive 1404.10, which outlines and provides guidance about the program, on Jan. 23. Certain duty positions may be designated by the various Defense Department components to participate in...

WASHINGTON -- If you're a criminal and you're not entitled to be in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants you out of the country. Napolitano wants what she calls "criminal aliens" off American streets. She is looking at existing immigration enforcement programs to see if taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck. "That sounds very simple, but it's historically not been done," Napolitano said, speaking to reporters and senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Thursday. About 113,000 criminals who were in the U.S. illegally were deported last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The agency...

This Christian Home Schooling Family Says “NO!” to Obama’s Plans We have home schooled our children from the very start, now almost twenty-seven years of home school education experience are behind us. We have seven children. Four are grown, graduated, and away. Two are married and have their own children. Three remain in our house and continue to be home schooled. Our youngest is seven years old. We home school with a foundation of firm Christian and traditional family convictions and objectives. We intend for our children to mature and turn out in a certain way. We do not want...

November 11, 2008 Q: Is Obama planning a Gestapo-like "civilian national security force"? I read a quote from Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia which stated that Obama wants to set up a civilian national security force that was similar to the "Gestapo" or the Nazi Brownshirts. What is the truth behind Obama's statements that he wants to create a "civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded [as the military]"? A: This false claim is a badly distorted version of Obama's call for doubling the Peace Corps, creating volunteer networks and increasing the size...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 9, 2008 – Afghan government officials and Afghan and coalition forces traveled Nov. 6 to the Shah Wali Kot district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province to investigate claims of civilian casualties in recent operations. Results of the joint investigation to date indicate 37 civilians were killed and 35 others were wounded in a battle after a combined Afghan and coalition patrol was ambushed in the village. The combined forces met with village elders in Wech Baghtu to discuss the Nov. 3 battle. Village elders told the joint investigation team that insurgents who were not from their village came...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – Coalition, NATO International Security Assistance Force and Afghan officials are investigating possible civilian casualties during incidents in Afghanistan yesterday and Nov. 3, military officials reported. The incident yesterday occurred while forces were responding to an insurgent ambush on a route-clearance patrol in the Ghormach district of Badghis province. "The coalition, ISAF and Afghan authorities are investigating reports of noncombatant casualties in the Ghormach district last night," said Army Col. Greg Julian, a U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokesman. "We do not know all the facts at this time, but we will investigate this situation to get to...

A chilling chapter in the war between Heaven and Hell. Video HERE. Please send a link to it to everyone you know and to news and commentary sites as well. Only 3 days left to stop the dark tide of Obama. After watching this scary fascist on video, come back and spend a few minutes on the side of angels here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2008 – As a follow-on investigation into an operation by Afghan National Army and U.S. forces in western Afghanistan that claimed civilian lives nears completion, a senior defense official here emphasized the U.S. military’s strong record of accountability and follow-through. “No other military in the world goes to a greater extent to prevent civilian casualties,” said Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. “This is something that we take very seriously, and when we have allegations of loss of innocent life, we investigate it.” At issue is an Aug. 22 air strike against...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – An Afghan civilian was killed and four were wounded this morning when militants attacked a village in eastern Afghanistan where coalition and Afghan troops were on patrol, military officials reported. The firefight started when militants engaged the joint forces with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in Matin, a village in the Pech district of Konar province, officials said. While returning fire, Afghan soldiers also provided immediate medical care to the wounded and transported them to a medical facility for treatment, officials said. The body of the civilian was recovered and returned to his village, they...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – Affectionately known as “Big Jim,” James McCrindle had a Paul Bunyan-sized heart when it came time for taking care of soldiers and their families as general manager of the Armed Forces Recreation Center’s “Shades of Green” facility on the Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Affectionately known as “Big Jim,” Shades of Green general manager James McCrindle had a Paul Bunyan-sized heart when it came time for taking care of soldiers and their families at the Armed Forces Recreation Center. His battle with cancer ended June 1, 2008, at the age...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2008 – A California group is offering active-duty servicemembers the chance to secure a key component to finding a job before they reenter civilian life: experience. The group, Military Civilian Experience, created by active-duty servicemembers for their fellow troops, was partly inspired by the military’s practice of thoroughly training servicemembers before sending them to the battlefield, according to the organization’s Web site. The group’s officials feel it shouldn’t stop there, and they’re working to give servicemembers a head start on finding their civilian careers. “In our spare time since 2006, we have helped 96 servicemembers obtain...

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2008 – Psychological health issues and traumatic brain injuries are primary areas of study in military medicine, a senior Department of Defense medical official said. “What we are learning in studies will lead to some major breakthroughs in the world of medicine,” Dr. Michael E. Kilpatrick, deputy director for force health protection and readiness programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, said in an interview on the “Dot Mil Docs” program on BlogTalkRadio.com. Kilpatrick said that the better they understand how to prevent both psychological health issues and traumatic brain injuries...

Are you tired of the skewed accounts of what is going on in Iraq. Here is a copy of the letter I sent to the 'Iraq Body Count' web site which asks them a few questions that they will never be able to answer. Enjoy. ---------------------------------------------------- Letter to the people at 'Iraq Body Count' http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ Dear People, I stumbled upon your website regarding the Iraq Body Count and was rather amazed at the claims made: aprox 82,000 - 89, 000 civilian deaths. The reason I have doubts about such a fantastic number is because all of our military actions in...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2008 – Don’t be surprised to see a poster featuring a white-goateed Uncle Sam in a star-spangled top hat, his index finger jutting through the canvas above a row of block letters that read: “Я Xочу Bа�” -- “I Want You.” A familiar WWI recruting poster altered to reflect a shifting American cultural landscape that places greater demand on linguists. Originial poster by J.M. Flagg, modified by Fred W. Baker III for use by American Forces Press Service.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Starting today, Uncle Sam wants skilled speakers of Russian, Mandarin Chinese,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – As U.S. servicemembers and Defense Department civilians ponder candidates during the election season, they should realize there are limits placed upon their involvement in certain political activities. Political-related “dos and don’ts” pertaining to military members of all service branches are proscribed within Defense Department Directive 1344.10, titled: Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty. The federal Hatch Act delineates what federal civilians, including those working for the Defense Department, may or may not do in the political realm. For example, servicemembers and government civilians may attend political events like meetings...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Jan. 10, 2008) -- Saving a woman's life was not on the menu for three corpsman from Camp Pendleton while dining at a local sushi bar in Vista, Calif., Dec. 14. They planned to have a casual dinner out in town. The sudden sound of crashing dishes brought something else to the table. "All we heard was dishes colliding and a little girl screaming," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Margaret R. Reusi, a corpsman with Company B, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. "The little girl was trying to pick her mother up...

- Civilian deaths Iraq caused by war-related violence have dropped for a third straight month, according to November data compiled by Iraq's Interior Ministry. Last month, 538 Iraqi civilians were killed in the violence across the country, including 131 bodies recovered by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, according to the ministry's figures. It is the lowest monthly civilian death toll since sectarian tensions heightened across Iraq, after the February 2006 bombing of the Askariya mosque in Samarra. The figure compares with 758 Iraqi civilians killed in October and 844 in September, according to the ministry. Prior to the last three...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2007 – The Defense Department is developing plans to send furlough notices to some civilian workers as early as mid-December if Congress doesn’t pass the $178 billion emergency supplemental funding bill quickly, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress today that the Defense Department will need to borrow – or “reprogram” – funds from the Navy and Air Force and the working capital fund to cover ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Morrell said. “Without dedicated funding for the global war on terror, we have been forced to...

BAGHDAD — The recent surge of troops and embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams (EPRT) to Iraq is providing unprecedented opportunity for Iraqi citizens, a Coalition commander said today. “It really wasn’t until the EPRT, the ‘civilian surge’ … and the surge forces arrived that we began to make what I will call measurable progress along our lines of operations,” Army Col. Mike Garret told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad, shortly after he provided a televised operational update via satellite. Garrett commands the “Spartan” 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The recent surge of troops and embedded provincial reconstruction teams to Iraq is providing unprecedented opportunity for Iraqi citizens, a coalition commander said today. “It really wasn’t until the EPRT, the ‘civilian surge’ … and the surge forces arrived that we began to make what I will call measurable progress along our lines of operations,” Army Col. Mike Garret told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad, shortly after he provided a televised operational update via satellite. Garrett commands the “Spartan” 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne),...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 18, 2007 – Reports of civilian casualties in Afghanistan often are exaggerated, and this can be due to the fog of war or because of deliberate deception to incite Afghans against NATO, the commander of NATO forces in the country said today. The coalition has caused civilian casualties, U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force here, said during an interview today. But, he added, the scale of casualties has been blown out of proportion, and the Taliban, al Qaeda and other groups are exploiting the issue by issuing false claims. “There...

Over the last decade, luxury boat builders have begun building submarine yachts. Submarine construction technology has come a long way in the past century, and it's possible to build these boats at an affordable ($15-200 million) cost. They are safe, and there are about a hundred of them out there. A few companies have gained a lot of experience building subs for non-military underwater operations (academic research, oil exploration), which has created a cadre of information and technicians who can build these recreational subs. One of the largest civilian submarine yards is in Dubai, where 18 have been built so...

After more than 60 years of silence, World War II's most enduring and horrible secret is being nudged into the light of day. One by one the participants, white-haired and mildmannered, line up to tell their dreadful stories before they die. Akira Makino is a frail widower living near Osaka in Japan. His only unusual habit is to regularly visit an obscure little town in the southern Philippines, where he gives clothes to poor children and has set up war memorials. Mr Makino was stationed there during the war. What he never told anybody, including his wife, was that during...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2007 – Stepping up civilian advisors’ role in Iraq is a key part of President Bush’s diplomatic strategy to stabilize the country, the chief operations officer for the Joint Staff said here. In a Jan. 17 interview, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute cited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Middle East mission as an important part of the equation. “The most prominent feature on the diplomatic angle is … Secretary Rice right now traveling in the Middle East,” Lute said. “(She is) offering fresh initiatives and seeking Arab support for the American way forward in Iraq.”...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A last-minute addition to a federal spending bill at the end of the last U.S. Congress now makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2007 – A joint U.S. military organization headquartered in Virginia regularly coordinates with state and local emergency preparedness agencies to prepare for potential new terrorist attacks on the homeland and other catastrophic events, the organization’s commander said here yesterday. Joint Task Force Civil Support helps coordinate federal efforts to help civil authorities prepare for and manage the effects of possible terrorist attacks on the homeland involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or other high-explosive weapons, Army Maj. Gen. Bruce E. Davis, the task force’s third commander, said at the second-annual Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear conference in...

Japan, U.S. detail ROK evac plans / Countries to assist citizens in crisis The Yomiuri Shimbun The Japanese and U.S. governments have begun work to strengthen a cooperative system in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula, including the creation of a plan to evacuate civilians of the two countries living in South Korea, sources said. According to the sources, the Japanese government is considering an evacuation plan that will oblige the nation to provide a temporary refuge for Americans evacuated from South Korea, while the plan would require the United States to help transport Japanese evacuees using...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed six terrorists and captured 32 suspected terrorists today, military officials reported. Coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained two others during a raid against al Qaeda terrorists today in Baghdad. While moving toward the targeted building, coalition forces encountered two armed men who had exited nearby buildings. Coalition forces assessed the two armed men as an immediate threat and engaged them. Both men were wounded. Coalition forces immediately rendered first aid and transported the two men to a nearby medical facility. Upon further investigation, coalition forces determined the men...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2006 -- Afghan and coalition forces killed four terrorists and one civilian this morning, and Afghan National Police arrested six suspected Taliban extremists yesterday. Afghan and coalition forces raided compounds near the village of Darnami, in Khowst province, early this morning, killing four suspected terrorists and an adolescent girl. Before the raid, combined forces requested the peaceful surrender of people within the compounds. But the suspected terrorists refused to comply and began firing. "Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the young girl who was killed," said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman....

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2006 – The Taliban’s habit of using human shields during attacks on coalition forces may have caused the deaths of a number of Afghan civilians during a recent incident in Kandahar province, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe said in the Afghan capital Oct. 28. “Sadly, in asymmetric warfare, when you’re battling an insurgency, typically, the insurgents do not play by the same rules that we would like to play by,” Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who was visiting the country, told reporters at a Kabul news conference. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan Ministry...

SAN DIEGO A Camp Pendleton Marine will plead guilty next week for his role in the killing of an Iraqi man last April, his father said Friday. Pfc. John J. Jodka, 20, of Encinitas will plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, father John Jodka told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. In exchange for the plea, murder, kidnapping and other charges will be dropped, the elder Jodka said. Jodka is one of seven Marines and one Navy corpsman who were charged in the murder of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the town of Hamdania, west of Baghdad. As...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2006 – Settling for less than victory in Iraq would embolden terrorists and invite more attacks on the American people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told civilian business, academic and local government leaders today at the Pentagon. The secretary welcomed 45 civilian leaders from throughout the nation before they leave later today for a weeklong trip to the Middle East through the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference that will offer a firsthand look at the military at work in the war on terror. This asymmetric conflict against non-state actors who operate largely in ungoverned areas poses a far...