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Obama Authorizes 1,500 More Troops for Iraq

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Photo Credit: AP / Evan Vucci

Photo Credit: AP / Evan Vucci

A senior military official says that American military advisory teams will now go to Iraq’s western Anbar province where Islamic State militants have been gaining ground and slaying men, women and children.

The teams are part of President Barack Obama’s new directive to expand the U.S. mission in Iraq by deploying another 1,500 U.S. troops to serve as advisers, trainers and security personnel.

The official said it is likely that the bulk of the additional troops will be in Iraq by the end of the year. This would bring the total U.S. forces in Iraq to about 3,100, and would mark their first return to Anbar since the war ended.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

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More Than 600 US Military Reported Chemical Exposure in Iraq, Pentagon Acknowledges

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Photo Credit: Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency

Photo Credit: Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency

More than 600 American service members since 2003 have reported to military medical staff members that they believe they were exposed to chemical warfare agents in Iraq, but the Pentagon failed to recognize the scope of the reported cases or offer adequate tracking and treatment to those who may have been injured, defense officials say.

The Pentagon’s disclosure abruptly changed the scale and potential costs of the United States’ encounters with abandoned chemical weapons during the occupation of Iraq, episodes the military had for more than a decade kept from view.

This previously untold chapter of the occupation became public after an investigation by The New York Times revealed last month that although troops did not find an active weapons of mass destruction program, they did encounter degraded chemical weapons from the 1980s that had been hidden in caches or used in makeshift bombs.

The Times initially disclosed 17 cases of American service members who were injured by sarin or a sulfur mustard agent. And since the report was published last month, more service members have come forward, pushing the number who were exposed to chemical agents to more than 25. But an internal review of Pentagon records ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has now uncovered that hundreds of troops told the military they believe they were exposed, officials said.

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Military Service Members Complain About Sex Survey

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Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Shocked and offended by explicit questions, some in the U.S. military are complaining about a sexual-assault survey that hundreds of thousands have been asked to complete.

The survey is conducted every two years. But this year’s version, developed by the Rand Corp., is unusually detailed, including graphically personal questions on sexual acts.

Some military members told The Associated Press that they were surprised and upset by the questions; some even said they felt re-victimized by the blunt language. None would speak publicly by name.

Pentagon officials confirmed receiving complaints that the questions were “intrusive” and “invasive.”

The Defense Department said it made the survey much more explicit and detailed this year in order to get more accurate results as the military struggles to reduce sexual assaults while also encouraging victims to come forward to get help.

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Does the Military Have a Problem with Jesus?

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsA colonel’s column was removed from an Air National Guard newsletter because the writer violated military policy by including references to Jesus Christ and God, an Ohio National Guard spokesman said.

Col. Florencio Marquinez, the medical group commander of the 180th Fighter Wing, wrote an essay in the September edition of the “Stinger.” It was titled, “A Spiritual Journey as a Commander.”

He wrote about how his mother’s faith in Jesus Christ influenced his life and he referenced a Bible verse from the New Testament, “With God all things are possible.”

Before you could say God bless America, the military ordered the colonel’s remarks stricken from the newsletter. Ohio National Guard spokesman James Sims told me the column was a clear violation of military policy.

“So no matter how stressful your life can be with juggling family issues, relationships, career advancement, work, school, or any burden that life throws your way, cast it upon the Lord and He will sustain you,” the colonel wrote.

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Column: Only American Ground Troops Can Defeat the Islamic State

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Photo Credit: APTwo months ago, President Obama authorized bombing Islamic State (IS) forces in Iraq. One month ago, President Obama authorized bombing Islamic State forces in Syria. His plan: couple American air power with indigenous ground forces.

“This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines,” Obama said last month, “is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.” I disagree with his use of the adverb “successfully.” But Yemen and Somalia are exactly what we’re getting.

Disordered and violent spaces, desultory and pinprick strikes, incompetent and wary allies, determined and implacable enemies—this is the Greater Middle East of Yemen and Somalia, this is the Greater Middle East of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

The Islamic State continues to hold territory and make gains. The Pentagon, Rowan Scarborough reports, fears that the terrorist army is planning to capture Baghdad International Airport, using it as a base for urban warfare in the Iraqi capital. In the east, Islamic State forces have laid siege to the Kurdish town of Kobani, held at bay only by a slapdash increase in U.S. airstrikes. “I am fearful that Kobani will fall,” General Martin Dempsey said this week. You’re not alone, general. Why don’t you do something about it?

I must know better than to ask such questions. Dempsey’s boss, President Obama, is more interested in avoiding the use of large numbers of ground forces than he is in actually seeing the Islamic State defeated. So he leaves the heavy fighting to our “partners.” But the partners are confused, inept. They are silent. And the enemy is gaining.

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Obama's Top 30 Most Disrespectful Insults to the Military

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Photo Credit: Erich Schlegel / GettyHere are Obama’s top 30 most disrespectful insults to the military:

30) Looking past all his civilian aides to order a Marine to hold an umbrella over his head like a butler for an entire speech at the Rose Garden, in violation of military regulations.

29) Forcing race-baiting class warfare propaganda, extreme PC “sensitivity” measures, and Gay Pride Month on soldiers.

28) Taking credit for the success of the surge he opposed in Iraq.

27) Taking credit for the success of the interrogation policies he opposed that located Osama bin Laden.

26) Skipping the funeral of the highest-ranking officer to be killed on foreign soil in over 40 years (Major-General Harold J. Greene), to play golf.

25) Smearing veterans as potential domestic terrorists.

24) Trying to make wounded veterans cover their own medical treatment through private health insurance plans, which would inevitably end up increasing their out-of-pocket costs.

23) Blaming our troops for the Taliban attacking them…for everything from objecting to pedophilia and advocating women’s rights, to not wearing latex gloves while handling Korans and walking in front of Muslims while they are praying.

22) Rushing in to misrepresent the Ft. Hood massacre that killed 13 soldiers (one whom was pregnant) as mere “workplace violence.”

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U.S. Soldiers in “War” with ISIS Not Eligible for Medals?

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With 1,600 military “advisers” on the ground in Iraq, 2,300 of our troops being deployed to the Middle East as a “special purpose marine air ground task force,” and ongoing airstrikes being conducted in Iraq and Syria against ISIS’s jihadist army, it is absolutely stunning that our military personnel are NOT eligible for certain military medals.

Why? Because the Obama Administration refuses to call our fight against ISIS terror a military campaign.

It’s not only outrageous; it’s insulting to the brave men and women our Commander-in-Chief has put in harm’s way, has sent into a war zone, to defend freedom.

Make no mistake; ISIS is at war with America. They are slaughtering Christians. They have amassed huge wealth and sophisticated weapons. They are a jihadist army.

To tell those who we’ve tasked with defeating them – and President Obama told the American people that’s what we are going to do – that they can’t receive commendation medals in this fight is preposterous.

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US Military Battles to Halt Spread of Ebola Virus in West Africa (+video)

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U.S. military personnel have begun constructing tent hospitals and other facilities to help fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, though experts warn that they may be too late to prevent the outbreak from killing thousands more.

The Wall Street Journal reports that troops from the Navy’s 133rd Mobile Construction Battalion began building the first of a dozen planned hospitals in a field outside the main airport in Liberia, one of three countries along with Sierra Leone and Guinea that has been hit the hardest by the epidemic.

As of September 23, the Journal says 6,574 cases had been reported in five West African countries — Senegal and Nigeria are the other two — with 3,091 deaths reported. Those official numbers represent a twofold increase in both categories from August, and global health officials have repeatedly stated their belief that the number of cases has been underreported by a factor of three or four. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that the number of cases would skyrocket to 1.4 million without international aid.

President Obama announced that 3,000 U.S. troops would be sent to West Africa on September 16. In addition to hospital construction, the military’s duties include unloading medical supplies and training nurses. However, the Journal reported that U.S. officials are still hashing out final details of the mission.

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Military Will Allow Illegals to Serve

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Photo Credit: APPentagon to enlist illegal immigrants approved by Obama’s White House

By Douglas Ernst.

The Pentagon plans to expand a program that has historically targeted foreign nationals with desirable skill sets to include the children of illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. before their sixteenth birthday.

Future enlistees who have been approved under a 2012 Obama administration Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, or DACA, will now be allowed to take part in the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program, Military Times reported Thursday. The Pentagon will have a pool of individuals that ranges from 1.2 million to 2.1 million young men and women.

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Photo Credit: AFP / GettyMilitary to allow undocumented immigrants to serve

By Andrew Tilghman, Military Times.

A small number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will have an opportunity to join the military for the first time in decades under a new Department of Defense policy unveiled Thursday.

The new rules will expand an existing program allowing recruiters to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training.

For the first time, the program — known as Military Accessions in the National Interest, or MAVNI — will be open to immigrants without a proper visa if they came to the U.S. with their parents before age 16. More specifically, they must be approved under a 2012 Obama administration policy known as Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, or DACA.

The new Pentagon policy may be the first phase of a broader government-wide effort to ease pressure on immigrants and create new paths to citizenship. President Barack Obama, frustrated with the failure of Congress to pass any substantial immigration reform, has vowed to aggressively use his presidential authority to change the way immigration policies are carried out.

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Photo Credit: Army10K soldiers must go this year, 20K next year

By Jim Tice.

Nearly 30,000 soldiers must be removed from the active rolls in the next 17 months if the Army is to make the first waypoint in a drawdown that eventually will reduce the force to 450,000, or even 420,000, soldiers.

As of April 1, there were 519,786 troopers on active duty, according to the most recent accounting of Regular Army strength by the Defense Manpower Data Cnter.

The personnel total includes 4,000 West Point cadets and several hundred soldiers who are processing for separation because of physical disability, and several hundred others who have been identified for involuntary separation or retirement because of indiscipline or selection by force reduction boards.

Since the beginning of the drawdown in October 2012, Army strength dropped from 550,000 to 530,000 by the end of fiscal 2013.

Budget projections indicate the Army will end fiscal 2014 on Sept. 30 with 510,000 soldiers. With that level of manning, the service will have to cut the active force by 20,000 soldiers in 2015.

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Former Navy SEAL: Over 90 Percent Of Troops Do Not Support Obama (+video)

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Larry DowningAccording to former U.S. Navy SEAL Carl Higbie, over 90 percent of troops disapprove of President Barack Obama. Higbie made the comments to “On The Record” HOST Greta Van Susteren Wednesday.

“Effective today, the president? A photo-op? or something in between?” Susteren asked.

“Photo-op. Complete photo-op. This indicative of a global failure of his foreign POLICY,” Higbie explained. “He has toted that he is behind the troops before and he stands in front of these guys, gets a photo-op, everything like that, while saying he’s going to send 3,000 guys to combat Ebola, but I’m not going to send any to combat an actual enemy that’s really threatening America.”

“What do you think they think? I mean, I suppose it’s kind of a mixed bag?” Susteren pressed.

“I’d say most of the troops,” Higbie replied. “Probably over 90 percent, do not support the president.”

Read more from this story HERE.