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Military Times Poll: Troops Fed Up with Politics

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner Army Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Pettigrew feels like he should vote in the midterm elections on Nov. 4.

But he’s completely dissatisfied with the options on the ballot.

“I just feel like all politics goes back to money,” the 32-year-old soldier said. “It seems like all the [congressional] debate now is completely disconnected from reality. They don’t really seem to care about how their decisions impact us.”

He’s not alone in that opinion. Results of the most recent annual Military Times Poll of more than 2,200 active-duty troops show growing frustration with gridlocked congressional politics, mirroring low approval ratings for national lawmakers in recent polls.

More than one-third of readers who responded to the Military Times Poll said that neither Democrats nor Republicans have been a strong advocate for the military, and 44 percent think both major political parties have become less supportive of military issues in recent years.

Read more from this story HERE.

Navy Seal Punished for Criticizing Politicization of Military Seeks Accountability

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Photo Credit: Fox and Friends

Photo Credit: Fox and Friends

Special Operations Petty Officer 1st Class Carl Higbie is seeking accountability for the politicization of the military he witnessed while in the Navy SEALS.

Higbie saw this politicization affect the lives of others through death of a fellow SEAL, killed while following an “obsolete”–but required–“Standard Operating Procedure” in Iraq, and in the manner in which three SEALS were treated after being “falsely accused of physically abusing Ahmed Hashim Abed, following his capture in 2009.”

According to The Daily Beast, these two events spurred Higbie to write Battle on the Homefront: A Navy SEAL’s Mission to Save the American Dream.

After the book’s release, Higbie felt the politicization of the military in his own life, as his July 2012 Honorable Discharge was changed to a General Discharge in September 2012. It was the first of many ramifications he would face for trying to do what he thought necessary to return accountability to military leadership.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pentagon Directive Outlines Obama’s Policy to Use the Military Against Citizens

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Photo Credit: APA 2010 Pentagon directive on military support to civilian authorities details what critics say is a troubling policy that envisions the Obama administration’s potential use of military force against Americans.

The directive contains noncontroversial provisions on support to civilian fire and emergency services, special events and the domestic use of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest.

“This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its citizens,” said a defense official opposed to the directive.

Directive No. 3025.18, “Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” was issued Dec. 29, 2010, and states that U.S. commanders “are provided emergency authority under this directive.”

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‘Undocumented Immigrants’ Will Be Able to ‘Join the Military’

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Photo Credit: D’oh Boy (Mark Holloway)The Huffington Post reports that the “Obama Administration Plans To Let Some Young Undocumented Immigrants Join The Military.” The plans have been approved by the Pentagon.

“Pentagon officials have approved a policy that would allow a limited group of undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children to enlist in the military, opening up a path for them to eventually become citizens, The Huffington Post has learned,” reports the liberal website.

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Russia, China Expanding Their Militaries As U.S. Shrinks

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Photo Credit: APAs the United States prepares to draw down its military to, if President Barack Obama gets his way, pre-World War II levels, countries around the world that do not exactly share our interests are building up their militaries.

First up on the build-up list – Russia. Even as Russia continues to occupy Crimea, and even as France is hosting talks to defuse that crisis, France began sea trials of the first of two Mistral-class amphibious assault/helicopter carrier ships the Russian Navy bought in 2011 for $1.6 billion, the Vladivostok. The Vladivostok is still on track for a fall 2014 delivery to the Pacific Fleet, with its sister ship, the Sevastopol (yes, it’s named after that Sevastopol in Crimea), due for delivery to the Black Sea Fleet in 2015.

The Mistral-class ships can accomodate 900 troops on a short-term basis along with a normal compliment of 16 helicopters. Ominously, when the Russians ordered the ships, GlobalSecurity.org noted Russian media quoted a Russian naval commander as saying the Mistral would have done in under one hour some of the tasks it took the existing Black Sea Fleet over a day to do during the Russian incursion into Georgia.

Read more this story HERE.

Ukraine, China, Iran – America Isn’t Leading From Behind, It’s Being Left Behind

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By K.T. McFarland.

Russia, flush with new-found wealth from oil exports, expands its military reach and political influence abroad. A war-weary America slashes defense spending and retreats from the world. The president embarks on a massive government-subsidized program to develop alternative energy to replace fossil fuels.

Pundits cluck about America in retreat, and point to the rise of an Asian economic superpower. That’s the world circa 1976, but it sounds like quotes ripped from today’s headlines.

History has a way of repeating itself, or to quote the great Yogi Bera, it’s déjà vu all over again. The Obama administration is looking a lot like the Carter administration. Only worse.

President Obama may think the Cold War is over, as dated as yesteryear’s fashions. But President Putin thinks it’s game on, and Russia is winning. And there is ample evidence to support his claim.

I can’t wait for the pictures from the next Obama-Putin meet-up. It will be in June in Sochi, where President Obama would NOT go for the Olympics, but has to go for the G-8 summit.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: CNNUkraine Forces on High Alert After Putin Gets Permission to Use Military

By Fox News.

Ukraine’s acting president announced that he has put the country’s armed forces on high alert after the Russian parliament unanimously voted to grant President Vladimir Putin permission to mobilize the country’s military in Ukraine.

Oleksandr Turchynov said Saturday he had also ordered increased security at nuclear power plants, airports and other strategic infrastructure, because of the threat of “potential aggression.”

The Russian parliament unanimously voted Saturday to grant President Vladimir Putin permission to mobilize the country’s military in Ukraine and asked that the country’s ambassador in Washington be recalled after earlier statements by President Obama.

Putin said that the mobilization is needed to protect ethnic Russians and the personnel of a Russian military base in Ukraine’s strategic region of Crimea. But the request came a day after Obama warned Moscow that “there will be costs” if it intervenes militarily in Ukraine.

“I’m submitting a request for using the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine pending the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country,” Putin said before the vote.

Read more this story HERE.

Troop Movements Indicate Russia May Be Prepping For Invasion of Ukraine

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Photo Credit: Washington Times U.S. intelligence agencies are stepping up their spying on Russia’s military amid concerns that Moscow is preparing to use force against Ukraine in the wake of the pro-democracy revolution in Kiev.

Earlier this week, intelligence agencies reported that two Ural-4320 trucks full of armed Russian troops were observed arriving in the Black Sea port of Yalta. Photographs made by a Ukrainian civilian were posted online as the troop transports entered a Russian military facility in Yalta, on the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.

Other activities in recent days have included the movement of armored personnel carriers observed at Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in nearby Sevastopol.

U.S. officials said the purpose of the troops is not known, but speculation centers on the possibility of the troops being used as part of an advance force for a future Russian military operation.

U.S. intelligence agencies also are tracking possible covert infiltration of Russian Spetsnaz commandos. One concern is that Moscow will provoke a conflict by using the undercover commandos to attack ethnic Russians and then launch an invasion under the guise of protecting those Russians.

Read more this story HERE.

China Flexes Its Muscles In U.S.-Led Military Exercises

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Photo Credit: Itsuo InouyeThe U.S. is leading the largest multinational military exercise in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese media are hailing Beijing’s first-time participation in the annual drill as proof that the communist nation’s “regional military impact” cannot be ignored.

Nearly 14,000 troops from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries are participating in Cobra Gold 2014, which opened Tuesday at Camp Akatosarot, about 230 miles north of Bangkok.

“Cobra Gold truly replicates the dynamic security environment we find ourselves in today, and what we will face in the future,” Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said at the opening ceremony for the military exercise.

About 9,000 U.S. troops are training alongside 4,000 from Thailand, 80 from Singapore, 120 from Japan, 300 from South Korea, 160 from Indonesia and 120 from Malaysia.

Several other nations such as Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar are participating as observers in the 33rd annual drills.

Read more from this story HERE.

Google’s Military Robotics: Humanoid Robots Future of Ground Warfare?

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Google CEO Larry Page has rapidly positioned Google to become an indispensable U.S. military contractor.

Google recently purchased Boston Dynamics, a robotics pioneer that produces amazing humanoid robots for the U.S. Defense Department.

This development invites attention to Google’s broader military contracting ambitions — especially since Boston Dynamics is the eighth robotics company that Google has bought in the last six months.

Just like drones are the future of air warfare, humanoid robots and self-driving vehicles will be the future of ground warfare according to U.S. defense plans.

There are many other reasons why the U.S. military is on path to become Google’s single largest customer. Likewise these reasons indicate Google has a closer working relationship with the NSA than it acknowledges publicly.

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Data Shows More Young Veterans Committing Suicide

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Photo Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Photo Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Suicides among young veterans climbed sharply in a recent three-year period, according to a new government analysis focused on Veterans Health Administration clients.

The number of suicides among 18-to-29-year-old men increased from 88 in 2009 to 152 in 2011. That translates into a 44% rise in the suicide rate, which jumped to 57.9 suicides per 100,000 veterans.

Experts were at a loss to explain the increase. It occurred as the Department of Veterans Affairs was bolstering its suicide prevention efforts in response to a sharp rise in military suicides during a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

One possibility is that those efforts have been successful in drawing more suicidal young veterans to the VA for care, but that many still wind up killing themselves.

“If you have more people at risk, the rates are going to change,” said Dr. Timothy Lineberry, a suicide expert at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who was not involved in the analysis.

Read more from this story HERE.