US military

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Pentagon Project Aims to Create Telepathic Troops

DARPA boffins tasked with turning brain waves into silent words

(Newser) - The Pentagon has launched a project officials hope will help soldiers of the future read each other's minds on the battlefield, Wired reports. DARPA—dubbed the military's "mad scientist" division—has been given $4 million to develop technology that can detect and analyze brain waves that precede specific speech....

US Strike on Taliban Left 95 Kids Dead: Afghan Officials

Total toll said to be 140, but US disputes claim

(Newser) - Ninety-five children are among the 140 people said to have died in US airstrikes last week aimed at the Taliban in western Afghanistan, according to a list compiled by Afghan officials. If the toll is correct, the AP reports, it marks the highest number of civilian deaths since 2001. The...

New Afghanistan Commander Is Warrior-Scholar

Workaholic McChrystal has shadowy past, links to spy agencies

(Newser) - Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the designated new American commander in Afghanistan, has a reputation for hard work and self-denial: He sleeps for just a few hours and eats only one meal a day. Colleagues describe McChrystal, the current director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as an ideal combination of...

Tillman Parents No Fans of New Afghan General

Blame McChrystal for covering up NFL star's death; call for vetting

(Newser) - Pat Tillman's parents say Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal helped cover up the circumstances of their son's death and they want his record carefully considered before he takes charge of the Afghan war, the AP reports. McChrystal approved a citation for Tillman stating he was killed "in the line of...

US Offers Pakistan Key Control of Predator Missions

Joint US-Pakistan project seeks to bolster Pakistani government against Taliban

(Newser) - The US military has been flying armed Predator drones over Pakistan and has offered the Pakistani military significant control over the targets and missions, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program—separate from the CIA's drone missions, which Pakistan accuses of violating its sovereignty—began in recent weeks and is...

Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan
 Surge Worked in Iraq, 
 But Beware Afghanistan 
BOOK REVIEW
May 12, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Surge Worked in Iraq, But Beware Afghanistan

(Newser) - A new book on the surge in Iraq could offer lessons to the Obama administration about Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins writes in the New Republic. Thomas E. Ricks’ The Gamble details the success of a small band of contrarian US generals, led by David Petraeus, in turning around the war. But...

20 Dead in Wake of 11 Afghan Suicide Attacks

US, Afghan troops free 20 hostages

(Newser) - Some 11 Taliban suicide bombers attacked government buildings in eastern Afghanistan today, sparking running gun battles that killed at least 20 people and wounded three US troops, officials said. US and Afghan troops freed 20 hostages taken by the insurgents. The assault began this morning when several suicide bombers attacked...

Soldier Charged With 5 Murder Counts in Iraq Clinic Shooting

Sgt. John Russell was asked to seek help

(Newser) - The US Army today identified Sgt. John Russell as the man being held in the shooting deaths of five soldier at a stress clinic on a US base in Baghdad yesterday, CNN reports, as details of the assault emerged. Commanders had asked Russell, a 44-year-old Texan on his third tour...

US Soldier Held After Killing 5 at Baghdad Base

(Newser) - A US soldier has been charged today with killing five in a shooting at the stress clinic at an American base in Baghdad today, the AP now reports; earlier bulletins said the shooter died of self-inflicted wounds. A US officer said the clinic is for soldiers seeking relief from combat...

Pentagon Backs iPhone, iPod Apps for Combat Troops

Pentagon develops apps for ubiquitous Apple devices

(Newser) - With more than 30,000 third-party applications now available for the iPhone and iPod touch, a new organization is getting into the game: the American military. As the Independent reports, the Pentagon thinks Apple's gadgets are ideal for "network centric warfare" and is funding projects for everything from translation...

US May Have Used Phosphorus in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Doctors have voiced concern over "unusual" burns on Afghan villagers wounded in an already controversial US-Taliban battle, and the country's top human rights groups said today it is investigating the possibility white phosphorus was used. The US military denied using the incendiary in a Farah province battle that President...

With Paychecks Scarce, Iraqi Awakening Unravels

(Newser) - The imminent withdrawal of US troops and the lack of funds to keep Sunni Awakening members on the payroll has led to rising violence there, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steep decline in oil revenues has left the Iraqi government broke, and former insurgents hired by the US to...

US Bolsters Command in Afghanistan

Gates deploying top brass as part of structural overhaul of Afghan campaign

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to dispatch three-star general David M. Rodriguez to Kabul to shore up military leadership, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Military officials say the move—along with the creation of a new task force—is aimed at ensuring "the Pentagon is on a war...

US Admits Afghan Raids Killed Civilians

Pentagon reverses earlier claims that Taliban was to blame

(Newser) - American officials acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the US military was responsible for at least some of the 100 recent civilian deaths in western Afghanistan. The air strikes have led to angry protests in Afghanistan and calls for the US to withdraw from the country. While initial military...

US Won't Send Troops to Pakistan: Gates

(Newser) - There are no plans to deploy US ground troops to Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today, despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants. Speaking to about 300 Marines at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan, Gates assured the soldiers they didn't have to "worry about...

Red Cross: US Strike Killed Afghan Women, Children

(Newser) - Many civilians were killed in two Afghan villages hit by a US airstrike on Monday, the Red Cross said today, confirming both "dozens of bodies" and allegations coming from Kabul. “There were bodies, there were graves, and there were people burying bodies,” a spokeswoman said. “We...

US-Led Airstrike Kills 30 Afghan Civilians

Villagers deliver bodies to provincial capital as proof

(Newser) - Afghan villagers bore the bodies of 30 civilian victims of a US-led airstrike to a provincial council as proof of the coalition operation’s deadly price, provincial officials reported to the AP today. When fighting broke out yesterday between militants and coalition forces in Farah province, villagers herded their women,...

Pentagon to Create 'Digital Warfare Force'

(Newser) - The US military is creating a digital warfare force as part of a complete reorganization of its cyber operations, says NSA director and top cyber warfare commander Keith Alexander. In blunt testimony prepared for the House Armed Services subcommittee today, Alexander says the Pentagon’s current cyber training is woefully...

Abu Ghraib Guards Say They Were Scapegoats

(Newser) - Lawyers for US soldiers convicted of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison say the recently released CIA memos prove their clients were just following orders, the Times of London reports. Some of the dozen soldiers who were convicted plan to appeal, arguing that the Bush administration kept quiet during their...

Fear Returns to Baghdad
 Fear Returns to Baghdad 
May 2, 2009 4:08 AM CDT

Fear Returns to Baghdad

(Newser) - The recent spate of violence in Iraq may pale in comparison to the relentless suicide bombings of 2006, but Baghdad is beginning to hunker down in fear again, the Los Angeles Times reports. Residents are curtailing their public activities, checking in with each other more often to make sure family...

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