US government-owned "moored passive acoustic recorder" was able to hear and record the 2023 implosion of the doomed Titan submersible—even though the recorder was 900 miles away from the dive site.

That implosion, during an attempted dive to the wreckage of the Titanic, killed five people, including Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company that built and operated the Titan.

The implosion audio was just released publicly by the US Coast Guard's Titan Marine Board of Investigation, which has been investigating the disaster in enormous detail. As part of that investigation, the Coast Guard obtained the audio from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the US Department of Commerce.

The audio isn't much to listen to—just some static followed by a staticky explosive noise that decays in swirling fashion for multiple seconds. The implosion itself, given the pressure the vehicle was under at the time, probably occurred in milliseconds, as you can learn from simulations of the event. //

Back in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, this kind of sonic technology was deeply important to the military, which used the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) to track things like Soviet submarine movements. (Think of Hunt for Red October spy games here.) Using underwater beamforming and triangulation, the system could identify submarines many hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The SOSUS mission was declassified in 1991. //

"At some point, safety just is pure waste," Rush once told a journalist. Unfortunately, it can be hard to know exactly where that point is. But it is now possible to hear what it sounds like when you're on the wrong side of it—and far below the surface of the ocean.

He traveled to Europe by way of a C-17 cargo plane with a command pod rather than in a Gulfstream executive jet. //

He traveled with his wife and child. This has become something of a standard image of all Trump Cabinet secretaries. Trump has had his grandchild at his desk. Sean Duffy's family is prominent in events. JD Vance's wife and kids travel with him. Musk's kid was at the press conference he held yesterday. The image of family as a central point in life rather than an adjunct to your job is striking when compared to previous administrations, including Trump 1.0. See my colleague Brandon Morse's post on the subject: Elon Musk Is Demonstrating the Best Pro-Life Strategy Right Now and It's Heartwarming to See – RedState. //

I'm old school on uniforms. I think the custom of wearing BDUs (utilities, fatigues, whatever you want to call the field uniform) all the time is horrendous. When I was a young officer, you weren't allowed to wear BDUs off-post. Period. You couldn't go to a fast food place or run an errand on the way home or at lunch wearing BDUs. In my view, if you can't break out the Class A uniform to welcome the SecDef and note the color guard is in dress uniform, then there is no possible occasion that calls for them. But, if you do wear BDUs to greet the SecDef, show him the respect of wearing a fresh set. Meeting the head of the Department of Defense in wrinkled BDUs is a calculated insult because I really don't believe this three-star or his aide are that stupid. //

This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're willing to greet your boss in wrinkled clothes and allow him to be heckled by dependent wives, you can imagine what else is going on out of sight.

Here are the powers given to the President by the 1807 Insurrection Act, as modified in 2006:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act //

This law, I am given to understand, provides a statutory exemption to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the use of the armed forces in civil law enforcement. In other words, President Trump would seem to have a tool here, if he chooses to use it. The Posse Comitatus Act also specifically states “…except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress…” This means that suppression of domestic insurrection is specifically exempted, as an Act of Congress – the Insurrection Act – allows the use of the military.

Now, I’m not generally in favor of the government, at any level, using force unless met first by force. But dip me in... something unpleasant if the events of the last few days ain’t been different. There is an organized, armed, destructive rebellion going on against civil authority. The protesters are blocking the public roadways, interfering with the law-abiding citizenry’s right to go about their daily business unimpeded, and possibly endangering lives by impeding the passage of emergency vehicles.

If the president won’t authorize the use of soldiers and Marines to quell the burning, rioting, and looting, then the only recourse is for private citizens to arm themselves in response and to use deadly force themselves in defense of the life, limb, and property of themselves and their neighbors. //

So, yes, the president has some tools to deal with these protests, if things get bad enough. But it's likely, for the time being, he's going to continue the "you made your bed, now you lie in it" approach.

DaveGinOly | January 29, 2025 at 4:26 pm
Remember, Milley created a bottleneck in the chain of command during the final hours of the Trump administration, requiring that only orders issued or approved by him were to be followed, effectively elevating himself above the POTUS, the lawful civilian authority at the top of the military chain of command. He can’t be tried for this criminality, but he should be demoted for it. (Nancy Pelosi encouraged him in this venture, and she remains exposed to prosecution for her part in it.)

On this site you will find all the German U-boats of both World Wars, their commanding officers and operations including all Allied ships attacked, technological information and much more. You can also browse our large photo gallery and thousands of U-boat books and movies. While hundreds of U-boats were lost some of the boats are preserved as museums today.

We also have a huge section covering the Allied forces and their struggle with the U-boat threat - not to mention the Pacific war. Included there are all the Allied Warships and thousands of Allied Commanding officers from all the major navies (US Navy, Royal Navy, ...) plus technical pages and information on the air forces.

OrneryCoot
3 hours ago
There is something inherently wrong with the idea that the leader of the executive branch of government cannot fire persons under his authority, tasked with implementing his policy, in the executive branch. That is all kinds of "only in Washington" dumb. Trump is right to blast through that and try to tee up a SCOTUS decision. In the meantime, I will breathe a sigh of relief that these people are removed from their positions of power. Democrat appointed workers in the administrative state are open sores that need to be cut out. //

TexasVeteran
6 hours ago edited
Milley reminds me of General Thomas Conway, the backstabber who conspired with others to replace George Washington with Horatio "Granny" Gates. What a disaster that would have been. To get satisfaction, Washington encouraged his supporters to challenge the conspirators to duels! Talk about FAFO!

When challenged Gates cried, apologized and begged forgiveness. Conway fought a duel with Brigadier John Cadwalader, who shot Conway in the mouth. "I have stopped the damned rascal's lying tongue at any rate," he said afterwards. We could use a little Colonial justice today!

We need fewer Milleys and Conaways!🤦‍♂️. //

UpLateAgain
3 hours ago edited

3. " the infamous incident where he called "Chinese counterpart on two occasions in the final months of Trump's first term, warning him the U.S. military had no plans to strike China in a bid to avert tensions between nuclear-armed countries."

It was even worse than that. Milley reportedly told the Chinese that he would be the one who determined whether or not nuclear weapons would be deployed...... and said this in a room full of major US Commanders.

THAT is tantamount to assuming overall command of US forces and constitutes a coup. i.e. treason... plain and simple. He may not be chargeable because of the pardon, but he should lose ALL his stars... and in fact, his commission. I don't know if they can take his retirement without a criminal conviction. Officers generally retire at their highest grade achieved. There may not be anything they can do about that. But commissions exist at the pleasure of the President. Trump should be able to revoke it. //

GreyBob Sarcastic Frog
5 hours ago
Nine ranks of enlisted soldiers: private (E-1) to sergeant major (E-9) five ranks of Warrant Officer, and nine ranks of officers Second Lieutenant (O-1) to General (O-9). Sometimes there is an extra general rank, but usually only in times of a really big war.

Busting this guy down to private would be fun, but not allowed under what he is being investigated for.

Laocoön of Troy Steprock
3 hours ago
We've done this before...

From March 16, 1916, to February 14, 1917, an expeditionary force of more than fourteen thousand regular army troops under the command of Brig. Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing operated in northern Mexico "in pursuit of Villa with the single objective of capturing him and putting a stop to his forays. Another 140,000 regular army and National Guard troops patrolled the vast border between Mexico and the United States to discourage further raids. //

anon-pkys Laocoön of Troy
36 minutes ago
Back in the 1840s the U.S. declared war on Mexico. We had two small armies that attacked, one from the north across the border, and one by sea from Vera Cruz. Our troops, although greatly out numbered kicked A$$ and took names in several battles with the Mexican Army. We conquered and held Mexico City in a battle in which we were outnumbered. Texas Rangers served as Scouts for the Army and as shock troops. They were hated and feared by the Mexicans. To this day the Mexican people have no love for the Texas Rangers. During the 1870s-80s the Texas Rangers guarded much of the border with Mexico. They were not afraid to go into Mexico after Mexican rustlers.

On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex."

In a speech of less than 10 minutes, on January 17, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his political farewell to the American people on national television from the Oval Office of the White House. Those who expected the military leader and hero of World War II to depart his Presidency with a nostalgic, "old soldier" speech like Gen. Douglas MacArthur's, were surprised at his strong warnings about the dangers of the "military-industrial complex."

As President of the United States for two terms, Eisenhower had slowed the push for increased defense spending despite pressure to build more military equipment during the Cold War’s arms race. Nonetheless, the American military services and the defense industry had expanded a great deal in the 1950s. Eisenhower thought this growth was needed to counter the Soviet Union, but it confounded him. Though he did not say so explicitly, his standing as a military leader helped give him the credibility to stand up to the pressures of this new, powerful interest group. He eventually described it as a necessary evil.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. . . . American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. . . . This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Removing this garbage from the military—and I'm under no illusion that the Air Force is unique in having commands that are surreptitiously telling the Commander-in-Chief to get lost—will require diligent effort and ruthlessness. Anyone involved in rebranding USAF DEI programs must be terminated if civilian or administratively separated if military. What we are seeing here is really nothing less than a mutiny.

I think placing high-profile and very credible critics inside the military's civilian bureaucracy may prove to be a masterstroke. First, it rubs the noses of those who toadied to the forces of DEI, CRT, transgenderism, and every other social science fad in their own ordure every day just by their existence. Much like Biden and Kamala had to sit at the front of a packed auditorium during Trump's inauguration and listen to him castigate their loathsome term in office, Scheller and Lohmeier will condemn the people who punished them every day by just existing. Second, their presence in the upper reaches of DOD will encourage whistleblowers to report on people who are part of the resistance. Finally, if Scheller and Lohmeier can impart a fraction of their passion for military virtues to the Armed Services, they will have done the nation an everlasting favor.

Thank you to my incredible wife Jennifer, who has changed my life and been with me throughout this entire process. I love you sweetheart, and I thank God for you. And as Jenny and I pray together each morning, all glory—regardless of the outcome—belongs to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His grace and mercy abound each day. May His will be done.

Thank you to my father Brian and mother Penny, as well as my entire family—including our seven wonderful kids: Gunner, Jackson, Peter Boone, Kenzie, Luke, Rex & Gwendolyn. Their future safety and security is in all our hands.

And to all the troops and veterans watching, and in this room—Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Pilots, Sailors, Marines, Gold Stars and more. Too many friends to name. Officers and Enlisted. Black and White. Young and Old. Men and Women. All Americans. All warriors. This hearing is for you. Thank you for figuratively, and literally, having my back. I pledge to do the same for you. All of you. //

As I’ve said to many of you in our private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was—to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. That’s it. That is my job. //

My only special interest is—the warfighter. Deterring wars, and if called upon, winning wars—by ensuring our warriors never enter a fair fight. We let them win and then bring them home. Like many of my generation, I’ve been there. //

The desperation of the left was evident in the fact that no one addressed policy or strategic questions with all of them choosing to direct personal attacks on Hegseth's character. //

It is difficult to get away from the feeling that the Democrats knew they had nothing to stop him, so they resorted to smearing him as much as possible before he takes office.

Hegseth came across weakest on the complaint that he'd refused to engage in one-on-one meetings with any of the Democrats other than the ranking member. His reason for doing so was obvious. The substance of any conversation would be lied about or distorted, and the conversation would give the Democrats a chance to test how he would respond to questions. Hegseth unconvincingly passed this off as "scheduling conflicts" because you can't very well try to come across as bipartisan while revealing that you don't trust the Democrats. //

In terms of optics, Hegseth was polite, responsive, and telegenic. He was able to successfully filibuster during some particularly nasty personal attacks and not look flustered or angry. In terms of intelligence, he may very well have been one of the two or three smartest guys in the room.

That sounds a bit arcane, and it likely is; the president, as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, should take the word of the Constitution first and foremost. But, yes, everything is (tiresomely at times) subject to legal interpretation. What's interesting here is that Durbin is asking the DOJ to rescind opinions that he evidently agreed with while Joe Biden was president.

Did you hear that scraping sound? That's the sound of goalposts being moved. //

anon-gkyt
25 minutes ago
Hey, Durbin. What part of Commander-in-Chief don’t you get?? As for use of the military domestically, General Winfield Scott, the senior army commander, stated in 1861 a self-evident fact. The military is to deal with threats foreign and domestic. Ever heard of Lincoln using the US military domestically? If that was not “domestic”, the invasion of the Confederacy was simply an act of aggression by the US government.

China’s military buildup and cognitive strategies are clear indications of intent to defeat the U.S. and its allies by any means necessary. //

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is undertaking an unprecedented military buildup aimed at challenging America and its allies, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. And, like Nazi Germany’s buildup in the 1930s, the militarization program ordered by the Chinese Communist Party isn’t simply a great power buildup — it’s a weapon in service of a deadly ideology.

Analyst Chuck DeVore, chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, penned an essay for The Federalist Friday and also appeared on "Fox & Friends Weekend" to warn that China is conducting a massive military buildup the likes of which we haven’t seen since the days of the Third Reich.

His conclusions are concerning:

https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/27/report-china-rapidly-builds-up-weapons-and-psychological-warfare-operations/ //

"Now the big difference there, is that he really focused on land power, which frankly is pretty easy to build up pretty quickly," he added. "Navies are much more difficult to build up. And we are way behind. And not only do we need to catch up, but we also need to modernize our nuclear weapons, and we need to put a lot of effort into missile defense." //

DeVore also argues that Donald Trump is right to be concerned about the Panama Canal because while we’re busy woke-ifying our military, China is staying occupied with different concerns: //

DeVore continues, arguing that we need budget reform and we need to wake up to the fact that “China’s military buildup and cognitive warfare strategy are clear indications of its intent to defeat the U.S. and its allies by any means necessary.” //

Dr. Dealgood
2 minutes ago
tinfoil hat time: China bought Biden, who then weakened us monetarily and militarily thru useless sh*t like Ukraine.

This strategy also depleted and exposed Russia's weakness.

Two enemies, one big bribe. China gains Russian oil and possibly Siberia. The US gains squat from Ukraine, except hacking and making its corrupt gov't wealthy. //

Minister of War
12 hours ago edited
Regardless of whether or not this is just a headfake by the Communist Chinese, China is going to dominate the future development of military equipment & technologies unless we get our shit together soon. And there are three primary reasons for that:

1) There are far more Chinese students focusing their university studies on math, science, engineering and technology than American students. With so many American students focusing their university studies on social sciences & other mostly pointless & BS majors, even American universities are training far more students from China & India in key STEM subjects than they are training Americans. American children today dream of being the next big star of Communist China's TikTok app far more often than they dream of actually building or inventing something. How can we expect to keep up with the Communist Chinese when China is training so many more of their young people than we are in these key fields?

2) The espionage program of the Communist Chinese has become vastly superior to ours. This problem is heavily related to DEI & wokeness in our intelligence services when Communist China doesn't have to worry about that at all. If the best American spy happens to be a white guy, this wouldn't be much help in Communist China because he'll stick out like a sore thumb. But if the Communist Chinese send Chinese nationals to do spy work in the US for them, Americans are forbidden from noticing that the Chinese national looks a lot like a Chinese person & might require additional vetting before being granted a top secret security clearance. The same garbage in America that required that a grandma from Kansas goes through the same TSA vetting process as a single male who appears to be of Middle Eastern descent also requires that we waste a ton of time & money that should be focused on more likely targets when it comes to Communist Chinese spying. The Communist Chinese Ministry of State Security has basically decimated our human intelligence gathering operations in China while we appear to be clueless about the great majority of Communist China's operations in the US or around the world until it is too late in the best case scenario. There is no surprise that at least one of the Chinese Gen 6 fighters bears so much resemblance to our own F-35 since Communist Chinese spying resulted in all specs for the F-35 being stolen by them. Imagine they same white guy American spy being able to steal such info from the Communist Chinese. It ain't gonna happen.

3) We continue to be our own worst enemies since we are the ones paying for Communist China's military buildup & military technology development programs. And this goes far beyond direct payments to develop their next weapons, as was the case with the Communist Chinese asset Anthony Fauci & his use of direct American taxpayer financial assistance to develop the Communist Chinese Military's Wuhan Bioweapon that killed millions, made hundreds of millions more very sick & brought the economies of the world to their knees. Our indirect funding of the Communist Chinese massive military buildup & weapons development programs comes through our enormous international trade imbalance. A not insignificant portion of any of the trade profits going to Chinese companies also goes to fund what has been the most massive "peacetime" military buildup & development program in human history. If we don't begin a serious initiative to completely decouple our economy from the economy of the Communist Chinese Party, then we will continue to be the ones digging our own graves.

China has unveiled two new so-called sixth-generation fighter aircraft designed to demonstrate technological prowess and overawe its potential adversaries, but which could be much less. //

China's two major military aircraft manufacturers rolling out prototypes of what is alleged to be the first flyable models of a new-generation fighter aircraft certainly screams "public relations gimmick." At this stage, no one has had a chance to examine the aircraft, so everything we read about it is speculative. Are they real, or are they supposed to create an aura of technological superiority?

We've seen one version of this picture before. The Soviet MiG-25 first appeared at the 50th October Revolution Airshow on July 9, 1967 at Domodedovo airport. It was unexpected, and it was the star.

US intelligence panicked and our defense industry set about designing an aircraft that could overmatch the MiG-25.

Fast-forward to September 6, 1976, when Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected to the West by landing his MiG-25 fighter at Hakodate Airport in Hokkaido, Japan. When Western engineers examined the airplane, they discovered it was crudely made and designed for high speeds.

The tear-down revealed that the braggart was a toothless phony, too heavy to be maneuverable at low altitudes, limited in what it could accomplish up high, and with little range and no midair refueling capability. When later compared to the U.S. teen-series fighters, the F-15, -16 and -18, it was powerless, particularly because the Foxbat had a max-G rating of 4.5, and just 2.2 with full fuel. Excess Gs would rip its half-ton air-to-air missiles from their underwing hardpoints, since the airplane was intended to go fast but in a straight line. //

Glenn Diesen @Glenn_Diesen
·
China is building a drone army in preparation for America's "Pivot to Asia" and "Global NATO"

• Yes, this swarm technology also has civilisation application, although it will also be part of its military

Last edited
7:40 AM · Nov 24, 2024

Elon Musk @elonmusk
·
Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35 🗑️ 🫠

1:41 AM · Nov 24, 2024. //

You have to ask yourself why China, the owner of the above "drone swarm," is sinking billions of dollars into developing a manned fighter if they believe the drone is the future of warfare. You also have to ask why a continental power like China is investing in a heavy stealth fighter "with long endurance and comparatively massive internal volume to accommodate a very large fuel load, as well as weapons and sensors" for a future battlefield that we are told will be dominated by drones and hypersonic missiles — unless the new fighters are a head fake designed to catch our attention and divert resources to countering them.

At this point, these aircraft are what the late Don Rumsfeld would call "known unknowns." We know these planes exist, but we have no idea what they mean. What we can count on is defense contractors trying to divert as many Pentagon resources as possible into developing an aircraft that can overmatch these two Chinese planes without having any idea of their capability. //

anon-vwl5
7 hours ago
A long range fighter and a drone swarm are answers to two different tactical problems. //

RedLegADC(M)
16 hours ago
Usually we are tracking, but I'll take some small exception to your conclusion. First of all, the F-15 was not developed simply as a response to the Mig-25 - I suspect you actually know that as well as I do. Secondly, while it is always a cheap but wildly applauded diversion to criticize the greedy defense industry, I would hope you are not saying it was a mistake to develop and deploy the F-15, or that the defense industry and services should ignore emerging threats. //

Random US Citizen
16 hours ago edited
Meh. Call me back when China starts doing air operations from carriers at night, or launching nuclear-powered submarines that don’t sink while docked. I’m not saying their military is a paper tiger in the way that Russia’s obviously is, because quantity has a quality all its own. We know that from the human-wave attacks in Korea.

But we also know that China is on its way over a demographic cliff, that their economy is wallpaper covering up the cracks in the wallpaper covering cracks in the wallpaper, and that their culture of “face” means QC is, at very best, a distant afterthought.

China is an adversary with a zillion-man army, which is a threat to its near neighbors, but there’s no reason to freak out over plywood prototypes shaped as if they were stealthy.

They call it "dramatic," I call it pathetically inadequate and long overdue.

I've covered this story previously; see Four-Star General Suspended and Under IG Investigation for Tampering With Command Selection Board and Go Big or Go Home: Army General Blasts 'Racist' Promotion System as Reason He Meddled to Help a Favorite. //

As a note, the panel members are supposed to be anonymous to prevent this kind of tomfoolery, but someone leaked the names and phone numbers of the panel members to Hamilton so he could lobby them. //

But now we have more information.

General Randy George, the Army Chief of Staff, knew what Hamilton was doing and abetted it. George was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's senior military assistant before his meteoric rise to the Army's chief of staff.
The officer Hamilton pushed onto the command list was in the bottom 1% of the 811 officers considered for battalion command.
This officer's second shot at command selection was the first time anyone had been given a second shot.
General George inserted this officer on the command list despite her having been twice declared unqualified.
Hamilton was banging the officer he was trying to get promoted.
It seemed pretty obvious. As I said in a previous post, "A male general breaking all known rules on behalf of a female subordinate looks like more was going on here than fighting racism unless that's what the kids are calling it this week." //

If that [unjustly earned] award was dated after April 2022, his date of promotion to lieutenant general, he should be retired at the lowest grade at which he performed satisfactorily, which would be a major general. If the behavior began before that date, he could be retired as a one-star. Was Hamilton retired as a two-star, as the tweet suggests, and the dates changed to avoid additional embarrassment? Or was he retired as a two-star, and that decision overturned by someone higher than Wormuth? //

It doesn't really matter. When the man at the top of the Army is so utterly corrupt, the system has to act. It can either toss him out in a very public way, “pour encourager les autres," as Voltaire would have said, or it can embrace the corruption. Right now, it looks like corruption is winning. //

Ace jtt888
9 hours ago
In WW Two we had 2,000 flag officers for 12 million troops. We now have 1,000 flag officers for way less than 2 million troops. More than half need to be retired and not replaced.

Another line of criticism focuses on Hegseth’s personal life. To be sure, Hegseth wouldn’t meet the qualifications to serve as an elder or pastor in a church, and he has admitted to poor decisions in the past. But this raises a broader cultural question: When did Americans stop celebrating redemption stories? Today, Hegseth is happily married, active in his church, and a devoted father who embraces classical homeschooling. He served his country in combat and earned the respect and loyalty of those who worked with him in both military and civilian life.

Redemption is a deeply American ideal, but it often seems selectively applied. I recall reading about convicted bank robber Shon Hopwood, who, after release, earned a law degree and went on to teach at the Georgetown University Law Center—a story presented as an inspiring tale of growth and perseverance. But do the same people who applauded that story extend the same grace to Hegseth, a man who has overcome personal failings to achieve admirable success? If we value growth and change, shouldn’t we apply this principle consistently?

Evaluating someone’s past for predictions of future behavior is fair, but the recent past matters just as much as the distant past. //

Ultimately, the debate over Hegseth’s nomination reflects deeper societal tensions: between forgiveness and accountability, between ideological loyalty and open-mindedness, and between traditional and unconventional leadership. Whether or not one believes Hegseth to be the right person to serve as the next secretary of defense, this debate forces us to confront how we choose leaders and what values we prioritize in doing so.

As for me in this moment, I echo what Abraham Lincoln said of Ulysses S. Grant. “I can’t spare this man, he fights!” The bureaucrats had their turn. We would do well to have a warrior like Pete Hegseth leading the military as soon as possible.

DaveM
2 hours ago
"An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024.”"
Given that the release of that information was itself a violation of the law- what is the status of this employee? //

Sojourner
2 hours ago edited
There are no adults in charge of the DoD writ large, the Army in general, and the USMA specifically.

The obvious question should be, "Who's getting fired for this?" We should ALL want to see some accountability here and not get any more of this "nameless employee" CYA BS.

On a separate note, "Go Army, beat Navy." //

David62
2 hours ago edited
It's not worth trying to prove they intentionally deceived. It would be difficult to prove and it helps Hegseth anyway. Regarding the release of personal info though - They still should not be allowed to get away with releasing his personal information. Federal employees and military all receive repeated training in privacy act, classification processes, and penalties. They know the rules. Do not let that part drop. Nobody in the position to be able to speak with reporters or inquirers of any kind, is ignorant of the rules.

In addition to the airstrikes throughout the depths of Syria, Israel has also reoccupied the Syrian portion of the Golan Heights that it relinquished to UN supervision in 1974 (Netanyahu Abrogates 1974 Peace Deal With Syria and Orders IDF Into Buffer Zone). Possession of Mount Hermon, the highest location of Israel, Jordan, and Syria, increases the early warning Israel will have of missile and drone attacks. It also provides continuous surveillance of the routes used by Iran and Hezbollah to move weapons into Lebanon. This move opens a secure and unimpeded air corridor from Israel to Iran. In the past, Israeli aircraft had to avoid Syrian interceptors and surface-to-air missiles, while Syrian radar provided invaluable information to Iran.

The major accomplishment of these strikes is the disarmament of Syria, and any future regime will have to start from scratch. //

The demolition of Syria's military capability has bought Israel several years of enhanced security and makes any direct action by Iran a decidedly high-risk affair.