Free Republic

As Defense Secretary Leon Panetta prepares his recommendations for Pentagon budget cuts, he is likely to reduce the military's resources for future, large-scale counterinsurgency operations of the sort that were ballyhooed just a few years ago in Iraq and Afghanistan. The boom in "COIN," as these operations are known, has proved to be something of a bubble. Budget pressures have curbed the appetite for the ambitious, "protect-the-population" missions that were promoted with such enthusiasm by Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The focus increasingly is on raids by the tighter, more kinetic Special Operations Forces, which are seen as...

Pentagon budget cuts almost certain to affect F-35 By Bob Cox rcox@star-telegram.com The stealth design of the F-35 joint strike fighter is supposed to make it nearly invisible to enemy radar, but the super high-tech combat aircraft may not be able to avoid the bull's-eye of Pentagon budget-cutters. Congress' failure last month to agree on $1.2 billion in additional deficit reduction measures means the Defense Department is facing enormous funding cuts mandated by law. Without new congressional action to restore funding, experts say, the Pentagon will be forced to make big cuts in spending on new weapons. And the F-35...

How dependent has the United States government under President Barack Obama become upon borrowing money from foreign sources to support its spending? Would you believe the answer is: "enough to exclude a long-time U.S. manufacturer from consideration for a defense contract in favor of a foreign-based manufacturer, despite the U.S. manufacturer having invested considerable time and profits earned from their other products to develop a product that specifically satisfies the government's needs?" AINonline's Chris Pocock reports: The U.S. Air Force has apparently chosen the Embraer Super Tucano to meet the Light Air Support (LAS) requirement. Hawker Beechcraft's AT-6 was the...

UK defence industry faces squeeze as US debt failure triggers Pentagon cuts Britain's defence industry faces a squeeze from across the Atlantic, as renewed gridlock in Washington over the US deficit looks set to trigger automatic cuts in military spending. The failure on Monday of the Congressional super-committee - established in August as part of the deal that raised America's debt ceiling - to agree on how to axe $1.2trillion (£766bn) from the country's deficit means that a similar amount will now be automatically cut from US government spending. As part of the original deal in August, the Pentagon is...

US Air Forces have received super-heavy bunker buster bombs, a spokesman with Pentagon lieutenant-colonel Jack Miller told reporters Tuesday. He said that Boeing, had begun to supply the bombs to the Air Force Global Strike Command in September. The bombs will be carried by B-2 bombers. Each bomb weights 13.6 tons and has a built in satellite navigation system. Some experts note that this type of bomb which is capable of breaking a 18 meter thick concrete walls, is perfect weapon for attacking nuclear facilities in Iran. (TASS)

Once again, the real news in France is conveniently not being reported as it should. To give you an idea of what’s going on in France where there are now between 5 and 6 million Muslims and about 600,000 Jews, here is an email that came from a Jew living in France. Will the world say nothing – again – as it did in Hitler’s time? “I am a Jew — therefore I am forwarding this to everyone on all my e-mail lists. I will not sit back and do nothing. Nowhere have the flames of anti-Semitism burned more furiously...

The high-tech researchers at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) say they're reviewing two "feasible" designs for a flying Humvee vehicle called the "Transformer." The tank-like machine is supposed to be able to take off and land vertically. The plan is for it to be operated by a person without flight training--or by no one at all, Aviation Week reports. AAI and Lockheed Martin have each submitted potential designs, in tandem with Piasecki Aircraft. AAI's prototype would weigh 7,500 pounds and combine traditional plane wings with a helicopter rotor on top. Lockheed Martin's design, above, is 500 pounds...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2011 – In his signature baseball cap and wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, the comedian known as Larry the Cable Guy gave a shout-out to the troops today while on location at the Pentagon to shoot an upcoming segment of his History Channel show, “Only in America.” Comedian Daniel Lawrence Whitney -- known as Larry the Cable Guy -- steps up to the podium in the press briefing room during a Pentagon tour for an upcoming segment of his History Channel show, “Only in America,” Oct. 21, 2011. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo  (Click...

Pentagon counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations around the world were abruptly suspended this month when the Defense Department officials overseeing the programs failed to ensure they were funded by congressional authorizations, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner. The lapse has caused serious national security and diplomatic problems for the U.S. military, according to Defense Department officials. The authorizations cover joint counternarcotics operations with foreign governments, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. The mix-up occurred when the anti-narcotics programs were not included on a list provided to Congress of operations that needed to...

Dr. Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. (AP Photo.) (CNSNews.com) – A national group representing more than 2,000 military chaplains from evangelical Christian and Orthodox backgrounds said on Wednesday that the Pentagon has launched a “direct assault” on marriage, and the chaplains they endorse will not be allowed to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies under any circumstances.Dr. Ron Crews, executive director of the newly formed Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, said his 2,000-plus membership is concerned about a Sept. 30 Pentagon memorandum that authorizes chaplains and military chapel facilities to be used for “any private ceremony,”...

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said the Obama administration was "bordering on lawlessness" with Friday’s Pentagon announcement that military chaplains may officiate in same-sex wedding ceremonies of service members in states where gay marriage is legal. “One of the things that’s increasingly alarming to many Americans is the nature of various agencies of the federal government that either make up their own laws or try to create their own law when they do not have law-making authority,” Akin told CNSNews.com on Friday. “In this case, it appears that the Department of Defense under Obama – and probably at Obama’s...

Justice for USS ColeBut why did it take so long? Last Updated: 3:48 AM, September 30, 2011 Before 9/11, there was USS Cole. On Oct. 12, 2000 terrorists loaded a small boat with explosives and set it off next to the US Navy destroyer as it sat peacefully in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 39 more. The alleged mastermind of the attack, Saudi-born Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, was captured in 2002. Since 2006, he’s been sitting in Gitmo, untried and unpunished. Now, more than a decade after the crime, the families of the Cole...

Pentagon makes provisions for same-sex marriage mug.cnn By: CNN Wire Staff (CNN) - Ten days after the military dumped its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians in the military, the Pentagon has issued new rules allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages....

A 26-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested and charged today in connection with a plot to attack the Pentagon and the Capitol, the Justice Department announced.  Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen, is accused of planning to use a remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives to attack the buildings. He was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization — specifically al-Qaida, the organization behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I know what you're thinking, PC police: "That's unfair, you Islamophobe!  Just because his name is Rezwan doesn't mean he's a Muslim, or that his planned attacks were...

ASHLAND (CBS) – Rezwan Ferdaus had run into some minor trouble in the past, but neighbors in his quiet Ashland neighborhood are terrified to hear the disturbing accusations he’s currently facing. The 26-year-old Ferdaus was arrested on Wednesday and charged with plotting to crash explosive-laden remote control planes into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol. According to neighbors, the home that federal agents raided belongs to Ferdaus’ parents. They moved in 14 years ago and Rezwan still lived with them.

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man was arrested Wednesday and accused of plotting to destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol by attacking the buildings with large, remote-controlled aircraft armed with lethal amounts of explosives.... According to a federal affidavit, Ferdaus said he wanted to deal a psychological blow to Americans, the "enemies of Allah," by hitting the Pentagon, which he called "head and heart of the snake."

On Fox. Man arrested for trying to bomb Pentagon with a UAV. US citizen. Not identified. Was going to pack model F-86 RC model with explosives and hit Pentagon. Also bought six AK-47s (this sounds wrong as machine guns cannot be purchased witout a special license and someone buying six at a time would send up red flares). Developing.

A three-year government investigation has found no wrongdoing by Bush-era Pentagon officials when they gave war briefings to retired military analysts who served as TV and radio commentators. The probe by the Pentagon inspector general was a response to a 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning article in the New York Times that implied the former military officers, some of whom worked for or were defense contractors, received financial favors in return for their commentary and that they were tools in a propaganda campaign. Sources familiar with the IG’s final report said it will say officials broke no rules or laws when they...

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks saddens us, inspires us, and steels our collective national resolve. The Daily Caller invites you to share in a gripping portrait of reflections on this somber and universally stirring occasion. Created by Daily Caller multimedia producer Sean W. Malone, this documentary film short captures the essence of the American character: the courage to emerge from tragedy, the strength to maintain focus through ten years of recovery, and the resolve to make sure 9/11 never happens again. The film features Tucker Carlson, Angela Keaton, Christopher Preble, James Carafano, Benjamin Friedman and Congressman Allen West....

The Air Force’s sky-high hopes for the F-35 By Philip Ewing Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 Newspaper editorial boards, white-paperists and blue-ribbon panels all have called for the F-35 to be cancelled, but as we’ve seen many times, it’s so big and expensive it stands a very good chance of surviving in Austerity America. Here’s another reason to throw on the pile: If you cancelled it, you’d be canceling a lot of the Air Force. The service’s almost complete dependence on its F-35A Lightning II was driven home again last weekend when Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training...