TM Connect

Donate Now
Use "My TM" for log in & register.

Archive | military RSS feed for this section

Falkland Islanders Vote to Stay British, Now There’s a Shock!

This was a hatchet job. Make no mistake about it. A British Overseas Territory, full of British citizens, votes to remain under Britain’s umbrella of sovereignty. The result would have pleased even the most despotic of dictators; 1513 of the 1517 voters who bothered to show up decided Britain was a more attractive proposition than [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

Rick Perry: ‘I’m running for president and `full well believe I’m going to win’

**UPDATED** Perry’s announcement came during a conference call, which (of course) was then blasted across Twitter by the AP’s Beth Fouhy. Here’s Perry’s “Why I’m Running” pitch. So, his big announcement speech included a gafferiffic moment, when Perry called the fallen Afghanistan soldiers “Special Operators.” The second half of his speech took off on optimism, [...]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Romney Gets Into it in Iowa

“If you don’t like my answer, you can go vote for someone else,” he said. “If you want someone who will raise taxes, you can vote for Barack Obama.” – Romney gets in heated exchange with hecklers at Iowa State Fair The exchange came on the same day as what’s being billed as a big [...]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

That 1979 Feeling

Ten years into our involvement in the war in Afghanistan, in the mountains southwest of Kabul in the Tangi Valley, an elite group of Army Rangers were pinned down in a fight, when they called in their “Immediate Reaction Force,” according to reporting by Danger Room. It would be another elite U.S. fighting force, Navy [...]

Read full story · Comments { 18 }

Pres. Obama’s Deficit Debacle, National Security, and Warmaking

I’ve been reading a lot about the Pentagon’s possible budget hit, with analysis all over the map. What this proves conclusively is that no one knows what will happen. That’s the real rub in Obama’s debt ceiling debacle. No one can possibly know the specifics in outlying years. There are too many unknown unknowables, to [...]

Read full story · Comments { 4 }

Let’s Make a Mess

“I would say … that symbolically, that agreement is moving us to the point where we are having the final interment of John Maynard Keynes,” he said, referring to the British economist. “He normally died in 1946 but it appears we are going to put him to his final rest with this agreement.” – Huffington [...]

Read full story · Comments { 18 }

Buying Time for the White House, Reid Postpones Vote Until Sunday 1 pm

“Tell your henchman to stop saying nice things about me,” McConnell, the Senate minority leader, told Reid earlier this week, according to people familiar with the conversation. “It hurts me.” Even as he’s sought to project immovable unity with House Speaker John Boehner, the prospects for an eleventh-hour deal rest largely on McConnell’s shoulders. For [...]

Read full story · Comments { 26 }

Reid Shoots, Scores, by Ending Wars

Well, at least Harry can count, not only doing proper math, but it’s likely he’s the one who has the votes he needs, while the jury’s out for Mr. Boehner. In the battle of budget scores, the Senate Democrats deficit reduction bill is the clear winner thus far over an alternative by Speaker John Boehner, [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

Progressive Notes: Gangsters of Six Want to Hike Taxes on Working Class while Cutting SS, Veterans’ Beneftis..

Art offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist. As Washington delves further into detached madness we learn of new facts about the Gang of Six plan. They aim to alter Social Security by abolishing COLA and thus reduce benefits folks get incrementally as people get older. Congressman DeFazio went to the House floor to [...]

Read full story · Comments { 5 }

Mitt Romney, King of Layoffs

Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee will provide a wealth of ammunition for Democrats. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy provides the path and the foreshadowing of what could come. Politico’s piece today reveals why, which also provides un-aired as well as aired ads from Ted Kennedy’s old campaign archives. Romney’s troubles begin with Bain Capital. [...]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Ahmed Wali Karzai Assassinated, U.S. General Reportedly Wanted him Burned

From the New York Times: For years, the American military has believed that public anger over government-linked corruption has helped swell the Taliban’s ranks, and that Ahmed Wali Karzai played a central role in that corruption. He has repeatedly denied any links to Afghan drug trafficking. According to three American military officials, in April 2009 [...]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Obama’s ‘Deal of the Century’ for Republicans

If you want one reason why Barack Obama doesn’t deserve reelection this is it. If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue [...]

Read full story · Comments { 18 }

Senators Merkeley & Udall: ‘Let’s Not Linger in Afghanistan’

As a liberal who supported Pres. Obama’s Afghanistan plan when he first began it, I simply do not understand how anyone can support it today, at least not when judging what’s in U.S. interests. From their New York Times op-ed today: Nineteen months ago the president announced the surge strategy in hopes of stabilizing Afghanistan [...]

Read full story · Comments { 3 }

‘John’ and the ‘Anatomy of a Lead’

Spectacular tale from the AP: Again and again, John and his team asked themselves who else might be living in that compound. They came up with five or six alternatives; bin Laden was always the best explanation. This went on for months. By about February, John told his bosses, including Panetta, that the CIA could [...]

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Let’s Play ‘Who’s More Pro-Israel?’

Let’s see, Gaza or gossip, which shall it be? For almost every news outlet this week it was the latter, while the former is where the action is. From James Zogby writing over at Huffington Post: When it comes to issues involving Israel, politicians in Washington can become quite hysterical, making the dumbest remarks or [...]

Read full story · Comments { 8 }