Author: Anne Gearan
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McChrystal sacked; Petraeus new commander in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sacked his loose-lipped Afghanistan commander Wednesday, a seismic shift for the military order in wartime, and chose the familiar, admired — and tightly disciplined — Gen. David Petraeus to replace him. Petraeus, architect of the Iraq war turnaround, was once again to take hands-on leadership of a troubled war…
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U.S. general in Afghanistan at risk of losing job
WASHINGTON — A furious President Barack Obama weighed whether to fire his Afghan war commander at a perilous time in the conflict as he summoned Gen. Stanley McChrystal to Washington to explain disparaging comments about his political masters. McChrystal’s complaints about his commander in chief and Obama’s aides put his job in jeopardy. Obama…
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Gates predicts passage in Iran sanctions vote
LONDON — The United States and its allies called for a U.N. vote Wednesday on imposing new sanctions on Iran’s suspect nuclear program, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said those would be followed by even stricter unilateral penalties by Washington and others. The international sanctions, up for a vote before the U.N.…
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U.S. says fight in Kandahar won’t look like war
WASHINGTON — In the make-or-break struggle for Kandahar, birthplace of Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency, U.S. commanders will try to pull off the military equivalent of brain surgery: defeating the militants with minimal use of force. The goal of U.S.-led NATO forces will be to avoid inspiring support for the Taliban even as the coalition tries to…
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New security strategy breaks with Bush
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is breaking with the go-it-alone Bush years in a new strategy for keeping the nation safe, counting more on U.S. allies to tackle terrorism and other global problems. It’s an approach that already has proved tricky in practice. The administration’s National Security Strategy, a summary of which was obtained…
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Navy sends equipment to help in Gulf oil spill
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy sent equipment to help with cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Defense Department said Thursday it stands ready to expand its response to the disaster. Navy spokesman Lt. Myers Vasquez said Thursday that 66,000 feet of inflatable boom and seven skimming systems were on their…
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U.S. officials: Usable Iran bomb not imminent
WASHINGTON — Iran could build a nuclear bomb in a year’s time if it wants to, but would need more time to make the weapon usable against an enemy, U.S. officials told Congress on Wednesday. A U.S. military attack on Iran is still an option to try to stop or slow progress to a bomb,…
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Military sources: New U.S. commander for Iraq
WASHINGTON — The senior U.S. general in Iraq since 2008, Gen. Ray Odierno, will be succeeded by a leading Pentagon general at the end of the summer, military officials said Monday. His replacement is Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the officials said. Military officials spoke about…
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Top uniformed officer: gay ban in military should be lifted
WASHINGTON — The military’s top uniformed officer today made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” The comments by Adm.…
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Pentagon finds mistakes by U.S. officers regarding Hasan
WASHINGTON — Several officers failed to use “appropriate judgment and standards” in overseeing the career of U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan and their actions should be investigated immediately, according to the military’s investigation into the November Fort Hood massacre. A report released Friday says that commanders must be encouraged to look for cues that could…