Tag Archives: Topic: Military

ABC News: Women will still be barred from serving in infantry combat units, defense officials say, but the changes will formally open up new positions at the combat battalion level that, until now, have been off limits.

God and Country : US Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va) has written a letter (PDF) signed by 35 members of the House asking the Air Force restore a unit’s motto that was changed after an atheist’s complaint. The incident to which Rep Forbes is referring was actually first reported on ChristianFighterPilot.com, with the Religion Clause and the ADF Alliance Alert subsequently citing this site.

Religion Clause: It appears that the letter posed particular issues for Catholic chaplains in the U.S. military who received a letter to read from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA. God and Country blog reports that Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains e-mailed senior chaplains advising them that Broglio had not coordinated the letter with the Chief of Chaplains Office.

CNSnews.com: Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, wrote a letter to be read at all Sunday Masses for U.S. military personnel around the world that said that a regulation issued by the Obama Administration under the new federal health care law was “a blow” to a freedom that U.S. troops have not only fought to defend but for which some have recently died in battle.

LaTimes.com: An Iraq war veteran from Pasadena filed suit against the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday over its refusal to pay her full disability benefits because she is in a same-sex marriage.

Latimes.com: However the Supreme Court rules, members of Congress have their own obligation to abide by the 1st Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. The bill passed by the House would put Congress’ imprimatur on displays on public property that give preference to a single religion. The Senate should reject it.

OneNewsNow.com: A retired U.S. general who made comments denigrating Islam has been invited to speak to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy during a national prayer breakfast next month.

How Appealing reports and links to the ruling.

Pat Buchanan at Townhall: We’re not going to get into the business of dictating (Russia’s) path (to democracy). … We’re just going to support what we like to call ‘universal values’ — not American values, not Western values, universal values.” But what, exactly, are these “universal values”? And who are we to impose them on other nations? Did Divine Providence assign us this mission? Who do we Americans think we are?

ADF Attorney Doug Napier at the Christian Post: The repeated warnings that repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” would open the door for religious discrimination were ignored, and we are already beginning to see the toxic fallout from this mistaken move. After DADT was stripped away last year, the military entered 2012 in a whole new world. It’s one in which the dismantling of DADT has actually provided homosexual activists the momentum they needed to step up and try to fashion not just the military in their own image, but other related agencies and associations as well.

God and Country : The band Aiden has announced it will be playing the atheist festival “Rock Beyond Belief” at Fort Bragg in March 2012, as the lead-in act to Richard Dawkins, the main attraction at the “concert.”

Daily Crux: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a very simple piece of legislation to repeal the infamous Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, quietly signed into law by the president on New Year’s Day.

Edge Boston: “She sat down and looked at me, and her first question was, ’Are you a lesbian?’” Garatie said in a personal statement written that was published by the Dallas Voice. “Her second question to me was, ’Have you asked God into your heart? Have you been saved by Jesus Christ?’”

Dallas Observer: “Nurse at Center of Furor Over Homophobic Remarks Made to Marine Has Left Dallas VA”

Lincy Pandithurai, who allegedly told her, among other things, “The reason you are so upset is because you feel the darkness surrounding you, and you feel guilty about being a homosexual and living in sin. I’m going to prescribe you some anti-depressants, maybe they’ll help, but I’m not saying that you aren’t going to continue to want to kill yourself.”

Pat Buchanan at Townhall: Before some agent provocateur pushes us into war with Iran, Congress should debate the wisdom of authorizing President Obama, or anyone else, to take America into her fifth war in a generation in the Middle and Near East.

CSMonitor.com: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed to reduce sexual assaults within the military with a series of new initiatives. Some say, though, that the initiatives were already mandated by Congress.

Religion Clause Blog: God and Country blog reported yesterday that the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) has convinced the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) to change the logo on its official patch which, like many, apparently contain “in-jokes.”

Times 247: The Obama administration is launching a new space arms-control initiative that critics say will lead to restrictions on U.S. military activities in space, a key U.S. strategic war-fighting advantage.

News from The Associated Press: The Maldives’ military has arrested the chief justice of the country’s criminal court after he released an opposition leader who had been detained without a warrant for allegedly defaming the government.

Mark Steyn at National Review: On the other hand, facing a very different electorate in Iowa, Paul pulled pretty much an identical share of the poll. It may be time for those of us on the right to consider whether it’s not so much the conservative vote that’s split but whether conservatism itself is fracturing.

Ron Paul’s Appeal Among the Military – By David French – The Corner – National Review Online: A fact that many of Ron Paul’s supporters mention to rebut claims that he is dangerous on national security is his overwhelming financial support from the military, and it’s true.

CSMonitor.com: Last year, an Air Force study – the most comprehensive survey yet conducted by the military – found that 1 in 5 female airmen says she has been sexually assaulted since joining up. The report was seen as a key motivation behind an unprecedented push by the Pentagon to address sexual abuse in all service branches.

Obama’s Defense Drawdown – WSJ.com (access via Google): These entitlements are already crowding out spending on defense and thus reducing America’s global standing, following the tragic path that Europe has taken. The difference is that Europe had the U.S. military in reserve. Who will backstop America?

News from The Associated Press: President Barack Obama insists the United States will maintain what he calls the best-equipped military in history despite deep and looming defense budget cuts.

Constitutional experts warn a new law that allows the president to permanently detain U.S. citizens without trial could be used against pro-life activists, who have already been defined as potential terrorists in documents by some government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.

Fox News: In a scathing statement, the head of the ACLU, and other leading civil liberties and human rights groups who were among President Obama’s most ardent campaign supporters said the President’s decision to sign a sprawling defense bill including controversial detainee provisions would tarnish his legacy.

Religion Clause: The Department of Defense has agreed to change its Army Junior ROTC uniform policy to permit Cadets to request to wear religious head coverings, such as the Sikh turban or Muslim hijab.

It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one.

Jacob Sullum at Townhall: For 35 years, Ron Paul has been speaking truths that the foreign policy mavens of both parties prefer to ignore: that the Constitution gives Congress alone the power to declare war, that unjustified interventions breed resentment that undermines our security, that there is a difference between military spending and defense spending, that foreign aid rewards autocrats and their cronies and that economic sanctions are an “an act of war” that hurts people in the name of punishing the governments that oppress them. If there really is no room for these arguments in the Republican Party, that is the party’s fault, not Paul’s.

Jack Hunter at The Daily Caller: Many Republicans love Ron Paul’s limited-government philosophy but have problems with his foreign policy. This is understandable given the state of today’s Republican Party. But what many Republicans probably don’t realize is that Paul’s foreign policy is part of his limited-government philosophy — and it’s a crucially important part. If the American right does not begin to at least consider Paul’s foreign policy, it will continue to forfeit any hope of advancing a substantive conservatism.

Mercury News: ravis Air Force Base will not meet the demands of a group trying to take down the nativity scene and menorah displayed at a main intersection on the base.

Chuck Norris at Townhall: Anyone who knows me knows that for my whole life, I’ve been a huge supporter of our U.S. military personnel, whom I congratulate about their victory in Iraq. But when our president and officials in the U.S. Department of Defense exchange a war abroad for a religious war at home, can’t we see that something else is seriously awry in this administration?

The Hill: The Republican presidential candidates turned their fire on Rep. Ron Paul at Thursday’s debate, showcasing what’s become the Texas Republican’s Achilles’ heel in the Republican primary: his foreign policy views.

CSMonitor.com: After Thursday night’s GOP candidate debate, a political analyst suggested the Ron Paul hands-off position toward Iran ‘jumped the shark.’ Mr. Paul says intervention is what’s truly nuts. Here are their arguments.

Reuters: Presidential hopeful Ron Paul staged a strong defense of his anti-war views on Thursday in an outburst on foreign policy that might lose him support from fellow Republicans.

Religion Clause: Bloomberg reports that Congress yesterday gave final approval to HR 1540, the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. (Full text of Conference Report.) The bill now goes to the President for his signature. Section 544 of the bill provides . . .

Military.com: California Rep. Duncan Hunter has waded into the battle over the so-called Camp Pendleton cross — put up by leathernecks in honor of four buddies killed in Iraq — by asking the commander of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to let the cross stay.

Mercury News (AP): The December culture wars are here again and this year’s target sits squarely on Travis Air Force Base. At issue are a nativity scene and menorah sitting amongst a host of secular Santas and holiday signs at the corner of Travis Avenue and Skymaster Drive. The religious displays are the subject of a letter from a group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

10News.com: A Marine widow has joined the fight to keep a cross at Camp Pendleton, saying it is the only place she can mourn the loss of her husband, who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Sandy Rios at Townhall : In an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board last Friday, the former Massachusetts Governor explained that it wasn’t the concept of having gays openly serve in the military that had troubled him…only the fact that the change was being made in a time of war. Now that the conflict is over, he would not, as Commander in Chief, do anything to change it.

WorldNetDaily: Congress apparently has decided that allowing bestiality in the U.S. military isn’t a good idea.

Baptist Press: Recent actions by the U.S. Air Force Academy could appear as if commanders are on a mission to rid the institution of Christian influence, but a nearby pastor says the actions are the result of intense pressure from one man.

LaTimes.com: A Navy linguist discharged under the now-repealed policy banning gays from serving openly has been reinstated and will report soon to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, his attorneys announced.

Washington Times: Gingrich tough on women, gays in military
“Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich is siding with social conservatives on how the U.S. armed forces should treat gays and women, according to a survey released Monday . . . Mr. Gingrich . . . told the Military Culture Coalition he would have voted against allowing open homosexuals in the military and, as president, would favor an extensive review for repeal of the gay ban known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The former House speaker also does not favor women in direct ground combat units.”

Des Moines Register: Romney says he hasn’t changed stance on gay rights
On allowing gays to serve openly in the military: “That’s already occurred. I’m not planning on reversing that at this stage.

Military Culture Coalition: Romney Endorses Gays-In-Military (LGBT) Law; Gingrich Opposed

MCC Releases Results of 2012 Presidential Candidate Survey

The bill, which the Senate passed 93-7 last week, would repeal Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that states any person who engages in “unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), asked Wednesday if he was aware of a provision in the National Defense Authorization Bill that repeals the ban on sodomy and bestiality in the military, told CNSNews.com: “No, I can’t say I was.”

CNSnews.com: The man pushing to get the military to install “atheist chaplains” in the armed forces told government-subsidized National Public Radio that military officers should not be praying with their men before going out on missions.

Washington Times: The catalyst for the amendment was the announcement last spring that the newest supply ship in the Navy’s inventory would be named after labor leader Cesar Chavez.

RedState: Instead of being a kindly deed for rape victims, overturning the military abortion ban would be an affront to the 2180 American service women pregnant at any given time, putting them at a higher risk of aborting their children through undue pressure, the misperception of professional medical guidance, and unlawful orders from bullies like Fred Wilhelm (3,4).

WorldNetDaily: Atheists and their compatriots are putting a bull’s-eye on another cross memorial, this time attacking the idea of replacing a fixture at the U.S. Marine base in Camp Pendleton, Calif., that was erected to honor soldiers killed in Iraq.

News from The Associated Press: Women will be allowed to serve on submarines for the first time in Britain’s history, the country’s defense secretary announced Thursday, after research showed there were no health reasons to support the ban.

December 8, 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at rcrews@chaplainalliance.org or c/o RON CREWS at 571-293-2427 or DOUGLAS E. LEE at 678-701-5151 Chaplains commend Army chief of chaplains for decision concerning rabbi WASHINGTON — Chaplain endorsers, representing more than …

Catholic Culture: Under heavy pressure from Congressional and religious leaders, the US Navy has rescinded a policy that forbade visitors from giving Bibles or religious articles to wounded troops at the nation’s leading military hospital.

SeacoastOnline.com: Federal authorities from the Justice, Veteran’s Affairs and Defense departments asked for and were granted an extension to February to respond to a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination against same-sex members of the military.

Fox News: Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation’s Armed Forces at home.

Ron Paul at The Daily Caller: When it comes to deterring and preventing wars of aggression against the United States, no candidate for the presidency is more hawkish than Ron Paul. His foreign policy would be an adaptation of the Founding Fathers’ creed saluted in the Constitution’s preamble . . .

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at Townhall: During the Christmas season, we actually tend to be more thankful for things that we more easily overlook at other times of the year. Things as foundational as family, friends, and a warm place to lay our heads at night become focal points.

NationalJournal.com: The evidence of an extensive Western covert program against Tehran, and Iranian retaliation, is now too obvious to ignore.

LaTimes.com: At an Iranian military base 30 miles west of Tehran, engineers were working on weapons that the armed forces chief of staff had boasted could give Israel a “strong punch in the mouth.” But then a huge explosion ripped through the Revolutionary Guard Corps base on Nov. 12, leveling most of the buildings.

CitizenLink: Late Thursday evening, the U.S. Senate passed a $662 billion defense authorization bill — without any amendments redefining marriage.

Religion Clause: Chabad.org reports that the U.S. Army has settled the lawsuit filed against it by Rabbi Menachem Stern who was not permitted to become a military chaplain because he refused for religious reasons to shave his beard.

Chaplain endorsers, representing more than 2,000 military chaplains, are congratulating the U.S. Senate for their vote Tuesday to ensure military chaplains are not forced to perform so-called same-sex “marriage” ceremonies. The chaplain endorsers also reaffirmed their call for congressional hearings on the religious liberty threats brought about by the dismantling of the law against openly practiced homosexual behavior in the military.

Religion Clause: The latest question arises, however because the Military Times last week published a photo of a dozen marines in formation in uniform on the football field performing “their version of ‘Tebowing’ before the Broncos-Jets game on Nov. 17.”

LifeNews: Leading pro-abortion groups are pushing members of the Senate to support an amendment to legislation that would overturn the ban on abortions at taxpayer-funded U.S. military base hospitals.

News from The Associated Press: Officials at Arlington National Cemetery are breaking ground on a new columbarium that’s expected to hold the cremated remains of more than 20,000 people.

News from The Associated Press: America’s strengthened military pact with Australia is a figment of “Cold War thinking” that will destabilize the Asia-Pacific region, China’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, in Beijing’s strongest criticism yet of a move widely seen as intended to counter China’s rising assertiveness.

FRC Washington Update: What do you get when you combine pagans, two witches, and the Air Force Academy? Eighty thousand taxpayer dollars. That’s how much the government is spending in its pursuit of political correctness in the military.

LaTimes.com: Officials say an $80,000 Stonehenge-like worship center underscores a commitment to embrace all religions.

The Hill: Polls show likely voters are increasingly wary of America’s overseas wars after a decade of fighting, and that economic issues will dominate the 2012 presidential race. But where the candidates stand on several high-profile national security issues will play a role in the campaign

News from The Associated Press: Since the lifting two months ago of a longstanding U.S. ban on gays serving openly in the military, U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change, says their top officer, Gen. James F. Amos, who previously had argued against repealing the ban during wartime.

Real Clear politics links to the video of the discussion.

MetroWeekly: Telling the court that there are no facts in dispute in the case, SLDN lawyers argue that the court should rule on the legal issues in the case and decide those issues in SLDN’s favor. On Friday, Nov. 18, however, the Republican leadership-controlled House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group filed a notice before the court announcing that, should the federal government decline to defend DOMA in this case as it has done in other cases challenging DOMA, BLAG stands ready to seek intervention to do so itself.

Christian Post: Perkins’ comments came after the two, along with Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund, discussed a recent incident in which the Air Force Academy apologized for promoting the ministry Operation Christmas Child on campus.

NOM Blog: Reports out of Washington are now indicating that – just a week after forcing a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) through the Judiciary Committee on a party line vote – Senator Diane Feinstein, Senate Judiciary Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Majority Leader Harry Reid may now attach the DOMA repeal bill to the 2012 Defense Authorization bill, a bill that must be passed in order to fund our servicemen and women through the next year.

When Bethany Saros got pregnant shortly after deploying to Iraq, she came face-to-face with what she claims is the military’s “unspoken code”: that “a good soldier will have an abortion, continue the mission, and get some sympathy because she chose duty over motherhood.”

Fox News: A Massachusetts law professor has created a campus firestorm with an email to colleagues that declares it would be “shameful” to send care packages to U.S. troops “who have gone overseas to kill other human beings.” Michael Avery, a professor at Suffolk University Law School . . .