This week, the United States Congress voted in the Senate and the House to strike out an arcane statute, 10 USC Section 654, commonly know as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)” which bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. DADT is the only remaining federal personnel policy which allows for third party hearsay as grounds for dismissal or discharge. Voting to repeal DADT removes the 1993 Congressional mandate imposed upon the Department of Defense. Repeal of DADT gets Congress out of the business of personnel management, and bolsters the current comprehensive and necessary review process ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has once again confirmed he is comfortable with the proposed legislative fix to repeal the DADT law. (more)
With federal red ink for April alone reaching a record $82.7 billion and the annual deficit expected to soar to an historic high of $1.56 trillion this year, Americans are fed up with wasteful spending in Washington. (more)
House lawmakers Thursday defied the Obama administration in a longstanding fight over whether to make two types of engines for the Pentagon’s costliest weapon, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Pentagon leaders on Friday warned Congress not to tamper with the ban on gays serving openly in the military until they can come up with a plan for dealing with potential opposition in the ranks. (more)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama optimistically opened a 47-nation nuclear summit Monday, boosted by Ukraine’s announcement that it will give up its weapons-grade uranium. More sobering: Obama’s counterterrorism chief pointedly warned that al-Qaida is vigorously pursuing material and expertise for a bomb. (more)
Earlier this week, the all-news radio stations in Metropolitan Washington were giving frequent flash bulletins about the “gun situation” at the city’s National Cathedral. From the initial reports, the “developing story” had political drama for a cathedral setting last reached in Victor Hugo’s epic novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The Cathedral Schools—Saint Albans (boys) and National Cathedral (girls) were “locked down” for 90 minutes until calm was restored. Even Sidwell Friends middle school, a mile away from the alleged incident was” locked down” as well, out safety for the president’s daughter who attends the school’s sixth grade. (more)
The Pentagon made immediate changes on Thursday to make it harder for the U.S. military to kick out gay personnel, an interim step while Congress debates repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. (more)
Few have had the opportunity to lead our country’s uniformed services. We are proud to have done so, and humbled by the countless sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Their efforts have placed our security on a solid foundation. (more)
Last July, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the American people “it is perhaps a measure of our success in Iraq that politics have come to the country.” No where is that more evident than in the ongoing vote count from the March 7 parliamentary elections. With 95 percent of the ballots tallied, former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi narrowly leads the current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, by about 11,000 votes out of 12 million votes cast. Election officials said the results of a 100 percent preliminary count would be made public on Friday. (more)
WASHINGTON — It is a morbid theme, but one that no superpower can ignore. So the Obama administration has quietly reviewed, and revised, the sequence in which Pentagon civilian officials would take command should Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates die unexpectedly, say in a surprise attack. (more)
WASHINGTON — The four-star Army general who is managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan says “the time has come” for the military to rethink its policy toward gays. (more)
On one of her recent Facebook status updates a friend made reference to the Academy Award winning movie, “The Hurt Locker,” calling it “the most intense thing she’s ever watched.” From Facebook to Twitter to the blogs and the mainstream media, “The Hurt Locker” has gained more attention recently than when it first hit the screen last summer. The movie chronicles an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team during the Iraq War. (more)
It has been nearly a week since Iraqis stepped into the ballot box and made history once again. Even some Western experts who predicted a 55 percent-60 percent turnout were surprised when the election commission announced that 62 percent of Iraq voted. Partial results released Thursday evening from five of Iraq’s 18 provinces showed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a slight lead. Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was doing well in Sunni areas north and west. (more)
As voting begins in Iraq, the Iranian government is wringing their hands with fear and nervousness that this young democracy will alter the landscape of the Middle East into something they do not welcome. “They continue to play a role in supporting surrogates inside of Iraq that continue to conduct attacks both against U.S. and Iraqi security forces,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said at a Pentagon press conference last week. (more)
We’re facing extraordinarily challenging fiscal times. So as the president’s budget makes its way through the halls of the Capitol, lawmakers will carefully scrutinize every account, every program, and every initiative—as they should. (more)
A spokesman for John McCain said on Tuesday evening that the Republican senator opposes allowing gays to serve openly in the military, despite increasing political support for repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (more)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that he supports President Obama’s decision to seek the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military and has appointed a “high-level working group” to figure out how to do it. (more)
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