US Military

NATO Backs Taliban Peace Talks NATO Backs Taliban Peace Talks

With Bob Gates on the way out, and a new national security adviser who's a war skeptic, Obama has shifted gears on negotiating with the Taliban.

Oct 14, 2010 / Bob Dreyfuss

Judge Issues Injunction Effectively Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Judge Issues Injunction Effectively Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Judge Issues Injunction Effectively Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

The Log Cabin Republicans triumph in a lawsuit that could end DADT—unless the Obama administration appeals the ruling.

Oct 13, 2010 / John Nichols

The War Addicts The War Addicts

Are the Pentagon and US military high command addicted not to victory, but to the state of war itself?

Sep 30, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt

The Washington Gossip Machine The Washington Gossip Machine

Once a serious journalist, the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward now makes a very fine living as chief gossip-monger of the governing class.

Sep 27, 2010 / Andrew J. Bacevich

One and a Half Cheers for American Decline One and a Half Cheers for American Decline

US troops in Afghanistan are coming home whether Washington wants them to or not, whether there's an antiwar movement or not.  And it's going to happen more quickly than anyon...

Sep 21, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt

Congress to Hold Hearings on Nation Investigation Into Discharges of Veterans Congress to Hold Hearings on Nation Investigation Into Discharges of Veterans

The House Veterans Affairs Committee will hold hearings Wednesday morning into the impact of "personality disorder discharges," and allegations raised in The Nation in April that the Department of Defense is cheating veterans of health benefits through faulty "personality disorder" diagnoses. The Committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) will call both reporter Joshua Kors and the subject of his investigation, former Army Sgt. Chuck Luther, as witnesses.    Information about the hearing is here. You can read Joshua Kors's "Disposable Soldiers" here. For media inquiries, contact ben [at] thenation [dot] com. In "Disposable Soldiers," Kors provides an overview of the investigation and the issue at stake:    For three years The Nation has been reporting on military doctors' fraudulent use of personality disorder to discharge wounded soldiers [see Kors, "How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits," April 9, 2007]. PD is a severe mental illness that emerges during childhood and is listed in military regulations as a pre-existing condition, not a result of combat. Thus those who are discharged with PD are denied a lifetime of disability benefits, which the military is required to provide to soldiers wounded during service. Soldiers discharged with PD are also denied long-term medical care. And they have to give back a slice of their re-enlistment bonus. That amount is often larger than the soldier's final paycheck. As a result, on the day of their discharge, many injured vets learn that they owe the Army several thousand dollars.       According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.    

Sep 13, 2010 / Press Room

The Pentagon Triumphant on the Media Battlefield The Pentagon Triumphant on the Media Battlefield

The military's media megaphone and the U.S. global military presence.

Sep 7, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt

Unequal Sacrifice

Unequal Sacrifice Unequal Sacrifice

Why are poorer and less-educated citizens more likely to die in America's wars?

Sep 2, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Andrew J. Bacevich

Shhhhhh! JSOC is Hiring Interrogators and Covert Operatives for ‘Special Access Programs’ Shhhhhh! JSOC is Hiring Interrogators and Covert Operatives for ‘Special Access Programs’

The military's most elite, secretive force has started advertising for highly-sensitive positions on public jobs sites. Is this 'Preparing the Battlefield' 2.0?

Aug 25, 2010 / Jeremy Scahill

The Secret Killers The Secret Killers

Assassination in Afghanistan and Task Force 373.

Aug 19, 2010 / Pratap Chatterjee

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