Topic: Army

US Army to spy on soldiers, family blogs

April 12, 2008 |

The US Army has formed an “Army Web Risk Assessment Cell” to spy on the personal blogs and forum posts of soldiers and their families, according to a confidential military document released today by the transparency group Wikileaks.

The cell is to “Conduct routine checks of web sites on the World Wide Web for disclosure of critical and/or sensitive information that is deemed a potential OPSEC compromise.”

Web sites include, but are not limited to, “Family Readiness Group (FRG) pages, unofficial Army web sites, Soldier’s web logs (blogs), and personal published or unpublished works related to the Army.” «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Technology | No Comments

A soldier in Iraq asks in despair: Why are we here?

May 29, 2007 |

After watching his roommate fatally wounded in a roadside bombing, an Army Specialist wonders why the lives of good men are being lost when the Iraqis pose no threat to us and don’t want us there.

BAGHDAD, May 12 — My name is Donald Hudson Jr. I have been serving our country’s military actively for the last three years. I am currently deployed to Baghdad on Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where I have been for the last four and a half months.

I came here as part of the first wave of this so called “troop surge”, but so far it has effectively done nothing to quell insurgent violence. I have seen the rise in violence between the Sunni and Shiite. This country is in the middle of a civil war that has been on going since the seventh century.

Why are we here when this country still to date does not want us here? Why does our president’s personal agenda consume him so much, that he can not pay attention to what is really going on here? «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Opinion, Politics | 17 Comments

A failure in generalship

April 27, 2007 |

For the second time in a generation, the United States faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of an insurgency. In April 1975, the U.S. fled the Republic of Vietnam, abandoning our allies to their fate at the hands of North Vietnamese communists. In 2007, Iraq’s grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends risk of an even wider and more destructive regional war.

These debacles are not attributable to individual failures, but rather to a crisis in an entire institution: America’s general officer corps. America’s generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy. The argument that follows consists of three elements. First, generals have a responsibility to society to provide policymakers with a correct estimate of strategic probabilities. Second, America’s generals in Vietnam and Iraq failed to perform this responsibility. Third, remedying the crisis in American generalship requires the intervention of Congress.

“You officers amuse yourselves with God knows what buffooneries and never dream in the least of serious service. This is a source of stupidity which would become most dangerous in case of a serious conflict.” - Frederick the Great

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Sections: Issues, Opinion, Politics | No Comments

Video: Before you enlist: The real deal on military enlistment

By Bill Larson | December 4, 2006 |

Military service is one of the ways that Americans use to express their patriotism. I served in the Navy myself. That being said be wary of what recruiters tell you. They might not be honest with you. Get everything in writing before signing a contract. This film gives you some more things to think about before making the decision to enlist or not. I am not saying you shouldn’t serve in the military. I am saying make sure you are fully informed before making the choice to do so.

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Sections: Issues, Politics | 3 Comments