Free Republic

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, has said the military operation in Libya called for by the UN Security Council is not aimed at regime change - adding that a "stalemate" could well exist, leaving Muammar Gaddafi in power. The 64-year-old admiral also said that no-fly zone had "effectively been established", as Gaddafi's planes had not taken to the skies following Saturday's overnight shelling of dozens of targets in northern Libya. Anti-aircraft fire was also heard in the Libyan capital on Sunday night, indicating a second wave of incoming jets. Tracer rounds and machine-gun fire...

Libyan rebels drive past a burning tank and other military vehicles of Muammar Qaddafi’s army that were hit by coalition forces on the road from Benghazi to Ajdabiyah on Sunday, March 20.-Newscom With US bombs and missiles hitting Libyan targets, lawmakers and other observers want to know how long the fighting will continue and whether Muammar Qaddafi will be forced from power.

LAS VEGAS -- A security researcher involved with the Wikileaks Web site was detained by U.S. agents at the border for three hours and questioned about the controversial whistleblower project as he entered the country on Thursday to attend a hacker conference, sources said on Saturday. He was also approached by two FBI agents at the Defcon conference after his presentation on Saturday afternoon about the Tor Project. Jacob Appelbaum, a Seattle-based programmer for the online privacy protection project called Tor, arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, airport from Holland flight Thursday morning when he was pulled aside by customs...

The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday for talks with Israeli military and defence officials, both sides said. "This is a very short visit -- he will meet with Defence Minister (Ehud) Barak and with (Chief of Staff) Gaby Ashkenazi and a few others from the defence establishment," a US embassy spokesman said. Mullen, who is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was expected to meet Barak at around midday, the Israeli Defence Ministry said without giving further details. A military spokesman said the meeting would focus on "cooperation between the two...

Wednesday night Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave a speech to the Asia Society in which he said, "I have moved from being curious to being genuinely concerned" about China's military buildup. For years there has been an argument among China hands about what Beijing was up to. China's stated goal is territorial defense but it seemed to be investing in equipment such as long range missiles and even an aircraft carrier which traditionally are used to project power overseas. Why would China want a military that could operate thousands of miles away from...

The Pentagon isn't calling the recent sinking of a South Korean ship by North Korea an outright act of war, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates said they are in close contact with their South Korean counterparts. Gates said the United States supports South Korea's determination that the March sinking of a military ship was in fact caused by North Korea. "We certainly support the findings of the Korean, the South Korean investigation. We obviously are in close consultation with the Koreans. The attack was against one of their ships and naturally they would have the lead in determining the path...

The Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) was released today (which can be found here) and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen held a brief press briefing at the Pentagon to discuss the NPR. The fundamental role of nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear armed states, Gates said and that the U.S. will not threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear states that are party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said the administration didn’t believe it was far...

The US navy has decided to allow women to serve on submarines, Pentagon officials said on Tuesday, ending one of the last all-male bastions in the American military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the recommendation and sent letters to Congress on Monday informing lawmakers of the plan, officials said. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, had briefed Gates on the change and "he's endorsed it and sent it on to Congress," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters. Lawmakers have 30 days to comment on the move before it goes into effect, officials said. American...

President Barack Obama has launched a wave of high-stakes US diplomacy in the Middle East as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. Obama has enlisted his top deputies in the diplomatic drive to isolate Tehran and impose stricter sanctions on the regime, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, chief military officer Admiral Mike Mullen and senior diplomats travelling to the region this week and Vice President Joe Biden due next month. Clinton signaled the administration's tougher tone during a visit to the Gulf, warning on Monday that Iran was turning into a “military dictatorship”...

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen will testify next week on the repeal of a controversial law preventing openly gay people from serving in the military. The Senate Armed Services Committee announced Thursday that Gates and Mullen will testify Tuesday on repealing the 1993 law, commonly known “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” President Barack Obama on Wednesday renewed his commitment to repeal the law, but supporters say the real test will come this spring with the Pentagon budget.

Despite the lingering demonstrations and disorder in Tehran, Iran’s ruling mullahs are confident anew in their country’s ability to surge to a hegemonic position in the Middle East without a major war. The main reason for the mullahs’ confidence is their interpretation of the appeasement policies of the US Barack Obama Administration. Most significant is the undeclared – yet widely projected – profound change in US policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran and all other regional governments are convinced that the US now strives to “contain” a nuclear Iran rather than continue the declared objective to prevent the nuclearization of...

Diplomacy offers the best way to resolve tensions over Iran's nuclear program but the Pentagon must be ready with military options if needed, the top US military chief said on Monday. "No resolution is yet in sight, but I fully support the effort to focus on diplomatic solutions to existing tensions" with Iran, Admiral Mike Mullen wrote in a memorandum setting out strategic priorities for the US armed forces in 2010. "My belief remains that political means are the best tools to attain regional security and that military force will have limited results," said Mullen, chairman of the Joints Chiefs...

As South Korea’s military transitions to full operational control, it’s important to remember the past 60 years of U.S. commitment to the country and to not waver in that support, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen talked yesterday with servicemembers and defense civilians at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Korea. He spoke about his earlier meetings with his South Korean counterpart, citing “tremendous change” on the horizon. The Korean military is expected to assume a larger defense responsibility there in April 2012. The alliance will only get stronger, the chairman said, with...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military is bungling its outreach to the Muslim world and squandering good will by failing to live up to its promises, the nation's highest-ranking military officer wrote Friday. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there is too much emphasis on telling the U.S. story and not enough on building trust and credibility. "We hurt ourselves and the message we are trying to send when it appears we are doing something merely for the credit," Mullen wrote in an essay published in a military journal. "We hurt ourselves more when our words...

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written a searing critique of government efforts at “strategic communication” with the Muslim world, saying that no amount of public relations will establish credibility if American behavior overseas is perceived as arrogant, uncaring or insulting. The critique by the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, comes as the United States is widely believed to be losing ground in the war of ideas against extremist Islamist ideology.

Here is video of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen talking about the road ahead in Afghanistan, particularly the problem of Afghanistan now producing 93% of world's poppy crop, which is used for Opium. Much of the money from that poppy crop is being used to fund the insurgents fighting U.S. and Afghan Forces. Mullen also said they are keeping a very close eye on events in Iraq, where violence escalated last week. As the U.S. pulls troops out of Iraq in the months to come, he said they will be very mindful of the situation, and that...

Obama faces hard choices on Afghan war plans Military situation is ‘serious and deteriorating,’ JCS chairman says WASHINGTON - As public support for the Afghanistan war erodes, President Barack Obama is faced with two equally unattractive choices: increase U.S. troops levels to beat back a resilient enemy, or stick with the 68,000 already committed and risk the political fallout if that's not enough. The decision is just a few weeks away. Gen. Army Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is completing an assessment of what he needs to win the fight there. Already, one leading Republican is suggesting...

White House military adviser Adm. Mike Mullen said on Sunday he was concerned that any U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran carried a notable risk of more turmoil in the Middle East. "I think it would be significant. I worry about it a lot," Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the "Fox News Sunday" television program.

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2008 – Ongoing debate within Iraq’s political realm about negotiations over the U.S.-Iraq strategic framework agreement indicates the healthy development of Iraq’s young democracy, the U.S. military’s top officer said here today. The completion of the agreement would allow for continued U.S. military operations in Iraq after the United Nations security resolution ends Dec. 31. Political debate in Iraq “historically, has not taken place,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted at a Government Executive Magazine-hosted breakfast at the National Press Club. Mullen said he is encouraged by what he called the...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2008 – Although al-Qaida’s operations in Iraq have been battered, the terrorist organization remains a threat to be reckoned with, the U.S. military’s top officer said here today. Al-Qaida is “on the run in Iraq,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted at a Government Executive Magazine-hosted breakfast at the National Press Club. The terrorists, he said, are being pressured by U.S. and Iraqi security forces, as well as concerned citizens who want al-Qaida out of their country. However, al-Qaida remains a “lethal foe” of the United States, Mullen cautioned, noting the...