World Magazine Covers “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

As noted by the ADF at Speak Up, World Magazine has a fairly comprehensive article on the topic of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the opposition to its possible repeal.  The article makes two important points:  First, that the repeal of DADT is only the “first step:”

Matt Coles, director of the ACLU’s Center for Equality, in a recent essay argued that the military could be the engine for even greater changes. “Getting rid of DADT won’t be enough,” Coles wrote. “There’s another little law called the Defense of Marriage Act that will have to go as well.”  Read more

McChrystal, Petraeus Replacement Hurts US-Muslim Relations?

The UK’s Guardian has said that General Stanley McChrystal’s ouster from leading NATO forces in Afghanistan has dealt a blow to a long and slow improvement in US-Muslim relations.  The article summed it up this way:

McChrystal’s strategy in Afghanistan also had major implications for US relations with the world’s 1.4bn Muslims. McChrystal’s message was simple: we respect you. We honor you. We are here to protect you. You have a great religion and a great culture, and we will help you preserve it and secure a future for your children.

The article calls the choice of General Petraeus to replace McChrystal “solid,” which has been the general feeling in the public (Petraeus was approved unanimously in the Senate).  Ironically, however, while McChrystal apparently sported friendly credentials with the local Muslim populations, Petraeus has been accused of being a fundamentalist Christian predator, at least by one person:

General Petraeus has, by his own hand, become a quintessential poster child of this fundamentalist Christian religious predation, Read more

Civilian Ejects from Fighter Aircraft

The US Navy has reported that a pilot successfully ejected from an A-4 Skyhawk at Fallon Naval Air Station.  The A-4 was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Co and flown by a civilian contract pilot.  The company was apparently on contract to provide Red Air for Naval aviator training at Fallon.

While civilian organizations flying military fighter aircraft are relatively rare (and they are often owned and/or composed almost entirely of former military members), there are a surprising number of civilian “fighter pilots” flying fighter aircraft either in or in support of the US military.

Alleged Wikileaks Source was Lonely, Angry…Humanist

The Defense Department has announced that 22 year old US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has had “charges preferred” alleging multiple counts of improperly handling classified information.  According to prior reports, Manning admitted in internet chat rooms that he distributed the helicopter gunship video dubbed “collateral murder” as well as thousands of other secret files.

In an apparent attempt to humanize Manning, the Associated Press noted his “outcast” status among his peers:

With his custom-made “humanist” dog tags and distrust of authority, Bradley Manning was no conventional soldier.  Read more

Military Distributes DADT Survey

According to an official release, the Department of Defense distributed 400,000 emailed surveys yesterday to military members on the topic of the implementation of the repeal of the policy most commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Half of the surveys went to active-duty servicemembers, and half were sent to the reserve components. Troops who received the surveys were selected based on age, rank, service, component, military specialties, education, marital status and other factors to ensure broad and thorough feedback on a potential repeal, Ham said.

The Military Times said the actual questions were “under wraps,” but the survey  Read more

Catholic Prelate Asks Congress to Keep Ban on Military Abortions

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo is chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the US Bishop’s conference has asked Congress not to approve language in the Defense Authorization Act that would permit US military facilities to conduct abortions.

The Cardinal noted that federal policies have prohibited military facilities from performing abortions since 1988, with the exception of 1993-1995 when Clinton overturned the policy (it was later re-instituted by Congress).

The Cardinal joined with military diocese Archbishop Broglio Read more

The Authentic Witness of the Soldier Christian

Col (Dr) Don Snider (USA, Ret) has a well thought-out article on the Christian military witness at Journal of Faith and War.  He notes the complexity of the issue with a single opening phrase:

There are no formulas, Christ only said: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”

His points fall under the following categories:

Mastering the Context
“…you are not to compartment your life and its varied roles (supposing that you actually could do so psychologically which is, of course, quite debatable). You may not choose to be a Soldier leader in some settings and a Christian in others.” 

“You are, in addition, free to witness appropriately to your faith, Read more

1 … 493 494 495 496 497 … 608