Does Military Service Turn Young Men Into Sexual Predators?
Oct 23, 2009 It can be shown that the patterns of military sex crimes are old and widespread -- for generations, military service has transformed large numbers of American boys into sexual predators. So it seems reasonable to ask whether perhaps there is something about military culture or training or experience that can be identified as causative, and then, perhaps, changed.After generations of silence, the question deserves an answer, and not a simplistic one.UAVs: The Future of Warfare in America
Jul 24, 2009 Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said it, and judging by this three-part series from CNN, the age of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is upon us. It's warfare by joystick -- and the Predator drone is only the beginning.
U.S. Soldier Gets Life in Killing of Iraqi Prisoners
Apr 16, 2009 He was one of three U.S. soldiers implicated in the execution-style shooting of four Iraqi prisoners near Baghdad in March 2007, but 40-year-old Army Master Sgt. John E. Hatley was also believed to have been the main instigator in the incident. On Thursday, Hatley was sentenced to life in prison for murder.U.S. Soldier Found Guilty of Murder in Iraq Killings
Feb 21, 2009 Sgt. Michael Leahy Jr. was convicted of murder Friday for his part in the shooting deaths of four Iraqis in 2007. The 28-year-old Army medic, one of a group of soldiers to face charges in the case, admitted that he shot one of the victims in the back of the head, but Leahy's lawyer argued that combat stress had destroyed his client's capacity to reason properly.
Pentagon Looking to Help Shape War Films
Jul 8, 2008 The recent spate of war movies about Iraq and Afghanistan has proved to be a hard sell with American audiences -- even more so with the U.S. military. Now, the Pentagon is combating a certain lack of nuance, as military officials see it, in flicks like "Redacted" and "In the Valley of Elah" by offering script consultation services to Hollywood types looking to make movies about the current conflicts in the Middle East.Iraq’s Signature Wound
Jul 3, 2008 George Ball remembers last July 4 all too well. "I spent it in my room with the windows drawn and the covers over my head," the 32-year-old Iraq war veteran says. The bottle rockets, with their shrieking whistles followed by the pop of explosions, affected him most.
Stopping the War Machine: Military Recruiters Must Be Confronted
May 28, 2008 As a former United States Marine Corps sergeant who was shot and paralyzed from my mid-chest down during my second tour of duty in Vietnam on Jan. 20, 1968, I am sending my complete support and admiration to all those now involved in the courageous struggle to stop military recruitment in Berkeley and across the country.
