Military Matters

Looks like the troops are voting with their wallets:

"Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain."

The Army gets it, and does something about it.

The slander against Obama continues in the shadows, but the Army is setting their people straight:

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- The military has warned soldiers not to use official computers to forward a chain email that falsely accuses Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama of being a Muslim who attended a radical Muslim school, saying distribution of the information is a violation of Army regulations and constitutes unlawful political activity.
The memorandum, dated Thursday, came after the discredited claims about Obama's background were sent from an Army computer to what appear to be thousands of Army personnel worldwide.
"Currently there is a Chain Email floating around with the Subject line: 'Who is Barack Obama,' " states the official warning, which was sent to all personnel who work for the Army Medical Command, based in Fort Sam Houston, Tex. "Like virtually all chain emails this one is false."

If you know anyone who believes this or is helping to perpetuate it, bring them into the light of truth ... or hit 'em on the head with a hammer. Whichever one works.

What do you get when you cross a Filipino monkey with a horse's a$$ ...

Last week some in the Pentagon and high up in this administration announced in most-serious tones that the Iranian Navy had almost provoked the US Navy into a violent confrontation in the Straits of Hormuz. The sabres were rattling for days, but then a strange thing started happening; some reporters actually did some investigative reporting.

Democracy Now! spoke with Gareth Porter, a historian and national security policy analyst who says ...

"I must say this is perhaps the worst -- the most egregious case of sensationalist journalism in the service of the interests of the Pentagon, the Bush administration, that I have seen so far."

And Digby writes a post based on onw The Newshoggers offers up titled "Who spun the Hormuz incident?"

Stretched too thin? Nuke 'em!

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the true costs of Bush/Cheney mess comes to light. The question is, while our Army and Marines have their hands full over there, what happens if a new conflict requires our immediate attention? An article in the Marine Corps Times has some perspective:

"If the U.S. were to face a new conventional threat, its military could not respond effectively without turning to air power, officials and analysts say. That is the ultimate upshot of the war in Iraq: a response elsewhere would consist largely of U.S. fighters and bombers — even, perhaps, some degree of nuclear strike — because so many ground troops are tied up in Operation Iraqi Freedom. And that leaves at least some senior U.S. leaders and analysts crossing their fingers."

Yes. Let's all cross our fingers. That should do it.