All Security
- Sgt. Robert Bales and multiple tours of duty: How many is too many?Twenty percent of active-duty Army troops are on at least their third tour of duty to a war zone. Sgt. Robert Bales, suspected of slaying 17 Afghan civilians, was one. Here's what's known about the dangers of repeated deployments.
- Sgt. Robert Bales: Defense team begins building case on PTSDIn the killing of 16 Afghan villagers, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' defense team may build their case on post traumatic stress disorder. Though PTSD can be connected to aberrant and violent behavior, it's a hard case to make in court.
- Sgt. Robert Bales: Details emerge on soldier charged with killing Afghan villagersStaff Sgt. Robert Bales joined the Army shortly after the 911 terrorist attacks, and he served three tours in Iraq before being sent to Afghanistan. Now he sits in the military prison聽at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, charged with killing 16 Afghan villagers.
- Did soldier said to have killed Afghan civilians come from 'most troubled base'?US Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers, was from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State, reputedly聽the most troubled base in the US military.
- Afghan shooting spree: soldier's revenge for wounded colleague?Details about the soldier involved in the Afghan shooting spree are beginning to emerge. The day before his rampage, he witnessed the severe wounding of a fellow GI.
- Leon Panetta's big task in Afghanistan is trust-building. Impossible?Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Afghanistan to try to repair relations after the Quran-burning incident and a mass shooting of civilians. The fact that the US has spirited away the accused shooter complicates his mission.
- Obama, Cameron tout Afghanistan exit plan, but will Afghan troops be ready?In the Rose Garden, Obama and Cameron say local forces will take 'full responsibility' for Afghanistan's security in 2014, but their readiness is not assured despite years of training.
- Soldier's killing spree: Is end of Afghanistan war near?Widespread Afghan outrage could force the US to accelerate plans to bring the Afghanistan war to a close. But that hasn't happened yet, and military officials are wary of a quick withdrawal.
- Army sergeant suspected in Afghan massacre did 'multiple tours' in IraqThe Army sergeant alleged to have killed 16 Afghanistan civilians on Sunday acted alone, Pentagon officials continue to say. They are treating it as an isolated incident, not as a sign of mounting frustration within US ranks about the Afghanistan war.
- US officials react to killing of Afghan civilians by an American soldierUS officials are scrambling to understand the reported killing of more than a dozen Afghan civilians by an American soldier. A new poll shows most Americans don't think the war is worth the costs.
- Does Rush Limbaugh belong on armed forces radio? Criticism mounts.The Armed Forces Network broadcasts the 'Rush Limbaugh Show.' But Limbaugh's 'slut' comment only reinforces negative military stereotypes about women, leading some veterans to start a petition against the show.聽
- Why the cyber security bill in Congress is getting big push from PentagonThe bill would require US companies that run 'critical infrastructure' to buttress their cyber security and share certain information with the government. Critics say that's risky and unnecessary, but the Pentagon is all for it.
- In event of an Iran-Israel showdown, what would US military do?Iran was top of the agenda Monday at the Obama-Netanyahu meeting. A recent war game gave US military officials a sense of the threat exposure from operating in a narrow waterway such as the Strait of Hormuz, off Iran's coast.聽
- Is Afghanistan worth it? US doubts rise after Quran burning violence.An Afghan soldier killed two Americans in retaliation for the US Quran burning 鈥 and the Afghanistan government offered no apology. It suggests that the relationship is fraying after 10 years of war, some say.
- Drone pilots: Why war is also hard for remote soldiersDrone pilots are far from the battlefield, but they show some of the聽same signs of stress as do soldiers fighting on the ground. Now a聽movement in the military is afoot to assist these techno-warriors.
- Fatal helicopter crash underscores hazards of Marines' mission trainingThirteen Marines have died since October in serious aviation accidents during training, including seven killed late Wednesday when two helicopters collided in midair.
- Quran burning: Were prisoners hiding extremist messages in books?The Pentagon has launched an investigation into the Quran burning at a US detention facility in Afghanistan. Prisoners might have used the books to pass secret messages, a spokesman says.聽
- US military officials urge caution on attacking IranThe problem is that many of the Iranian targets 鈥 buried deeply underground 鈥 would be beyond the reach of the Israeli military, in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey聽calls a 鈥渮one of immunity.鈥
- Threats to US: Pentagon officials drop three surprises Pentagon鈥檚 key intelligence officials warned of 'current and future worldwide threats' to US national security in a congressional hearing Thursday. Here are three top surprises.
- Special Forces in Afghanistan: not just taking out terrorists anymoreAs conventional forces withdraw from Afghanistan, US Special Forces will take the lead in training Afghan soldiers and police 鈥 a task that takes Special Forces back to their roots.聽