This undated photo shows Jesse Bernard Johnston III, 26, wearing a Marine dress uniform with ribbons and medals even though records show he never served in the Marine Corps. An Associated Press investigation has found that, despite not having a military background, Johnston was able to join the Army Reserve in February and was given the rank of sergeant. Records show his only military experience was attending part of a 12-week Marine officer candidate course for college students in 2004. Because he didn't complete the course, he didn't become a Marine. The Army is now investigating the circumstances surrounding his enlistment and whether he was able to gain his rank based on a phony Marine record.
The AP reported that Johnston, 26, was given the rank of sergeant when he enlisted in the reserves in February despite no military experience other spending six weeks in a 12-week Marine officer candidate course while he was in college in 2004. Because Johnston didn't complete the course, he never became a Marine.
The Army has refused to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
Coffman, a Republican who served with the Marines in Iraq and the first Gulf War, wrote that he wants to know whether the Johnston case is an isolated incident or indicative of "a larger systematic failure" in vetting enlistees.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLL0D4hAoSd5CNr2SIDFmAUa3jAAD9FTEK5O1
The troops aren't coming home fast enough.
With a worsening circumstance in the Gulf of Mexico, it is far more prudent to bring the cost of military deployments down.
Bring the troops home now !
...It's official. The Pentagon says there are now more U.S. troops in Afghanistan (94,000) than in Iraq (92,000), reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.
This day has been coming ever since the Obama administration began the strategic shift from Iraq as the primary theater of war to Afghanistan.
For years, operations in Afghanistan were hamstrung by a shortage of troops and equipment. Officially, Afghanistan was called an "economy of force" operation. In reality that meant it got what was left after all the troop and equipment requires...
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20005778-503543.html
The joke that was Halliburton only made our troops more unsafe and the Iraqi people never welcomed it.
BAGHDAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Two assassinators of a newly- elected member of parliament were captured Monday in northern Iraq shortly after they fled the scene, a local police source said.
Two killers were captured in the northern city of Mosul, the third killer escaped, but was wounded by police, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
A car loaded with explosives which is used in the assassination was also seized by security forces, the source added.
Bashar Al-Ouqeidi, a newly-elected member of parliament from the cross-sectarian bloc Iraqia List, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, was killed by unidentified gunmen in front of his house on Monday evening.
The Iraqia List won the most 91 seats in the March 7 parliamentary elections, only 2 seats more than the State of Law alliance led by incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, but it is not clear yet whether the loss of one elected member can be replaced by others of Iraqia List.
The results of the March 7 election have not yet been officially certified. No electoral bloc got enough seats to form a government on its own.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-05/25/c_13313152.htm
US soldier dies in northern Iraq
(AP) – 11 hours ago
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military says an American soldier has died in northern Iraq.
A statement by the military says the Joint Base Balad soldier was killed while conducting operations on Monday.
The incident is under investigation and no details were given.
The name of the deceased soldier is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The death raises to at least 4,400 the number of U.S. military personnel who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. That's according to an Associated Press count.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQNZ-iDlwjFMX9HrXgX7-7y-RuGQD9FTBMGG0
