US: SECDEF Carter on transgender policy

It's all about priorities!

(source)

The DoD yesterday released Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's statement on transgenders in the US Military.   Read on:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Release No: NR-272-15
July 13, 2015


Statement by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on DOD Transgender Policy
Over the last fourteen years of conflict, the Department of Defense has proven itself to be a learning organization. This is true in war, where we have adapted to counterinsurgency, unmanned systems, and new battlefield requirements such as MRAPs. It is also true with respect to institutional activities, where we have learned from how we repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," from our efforts to eliminate sexual assault in the military, and from our work to open up ground combat positions to women. Throughout this time, transgender men and women in uniform have been there with us, even as they often had to serve in silence alongside their fellow comrades in arms.


The Defense Department's current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions. At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite. Moreover, we have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines - real, patriotic Americans - who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that's contrary to our value of service and individual merit.


Today, I am issuing two directives to deal with this matter. First, DoD will create a working group to study over the next six months the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly. Led by (Acting) Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Brad Carson, and composed of military and civilian personnel representing all the military services and the Joint Staff, this working group will report to Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work. At my direction, the working group will start with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness, unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified. Second, I am directing that decision authority in all administrative discharges for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who identify themselves as transgender be elevated to Under Secretary Carson, who will make determinations on all potential separations.



As I've said before, we must ensure that everyone who's able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so, and we must treat all our people with the dignity and respect they deserve. Going forward, the Department of Defense must and will continue to improve how we do both. Our military's future strength depends on it.

This Ain't Hell, as always, nails it.  Read the comments there..

Brit jihadist rapper on the run in Turkey?

From the UK Telegraph:

Notorious jihadi rapper on the run in Turkey
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 25, is one of up to 50 former British IS fighters believed to have left Syria and are on the run in Turkey
By Robert Verkaik
11 July 2015

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary is believed to have left Islamic State Photo: SWNS


One of Britiain's most notorious jihadists, a rapper who once posed with a severed head in Syria and promised death to all Westerners, has left the so called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and is on the run in Turkey, according to security sources.

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 25, is one of up to 50 former British IS fighters thought to be in limbo - facing execution as traitors if they return to Syria and prison if they try to go home to the UK.

It is unclear why Bary has fallen out with Isil, which he joined two years ago, but he is among a growing number of disillusioned Westerners to have left the terror group in the face of sustained coalition bombing.

It is understood that Bary disguised himself as a refugee and made his escape during the chaos of the Isil retreat from Tal Abyad near the Turkey Syria border last month....

More on him here (plus other jihad related links, too)

[Related:  ISIS's female Gestapo wreaking terror on their own sex: They bite and whip any woman who steps out of line and force girls to become sex slaves. Most shocking of all? SIXTY of them are British

Kosovo: "Don't drink the water!" amid fears of ISIS plot

(wiki picture)


From Homeland Security NewsWire:

Kosovo’s capital cuts water supplies for fear of ISIS plot to poison reservoir

July 13, 2015

Kosovo security and health authorities have cut off water supplies to tens of thousands of residents in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, following a suspicion that ISIS followers had poisoned the city’s water supplies.


The city’s water board said supply was cut early on Saturday “because of security issues” and that supplies had been tested for suspicious substances.


The Independent reports that the tests carried out by the Kosovo Institute for National Health had not detected any toxic content in the water.


The worries about the city’s water system emerged after five people linked to ISIS were arrested on Friday. Police sources say that security officers patrolling the Badovac reservoir saw three of the men, whose identities have not yet been disclosed, behaving suspiciously near the reservoir. The reservoir supplies water to about half of Pristina, a city of more than 200,000 people. Two additional suspects were later arrested in a small town a few miles from Pristina....

More context details here.  

ISIS demos killing babies to teach recruits

Anyone who has paid attention the past few years KNOWS that ISIS uses children not just as troops for allah but also as cannon fodder.

From Clarion Project comes this:

'ISIS Blows Up Baby in Training Class Demo'

Dozens of Islamic State recruits watched as the baby was blown up by remote control.
Monday, July 13, 2015
(Photo © flickr / Johanne and Carole Brunet)

In one of its cruelest acts to date, Islamic State reportedly blew up a baby to show members how to handle explosives.


The incredible incident took place in Diyala Province on July 10, according to provincial Security Committee Chairman Sadiq el-Husseini. He detailed the event to the local Arabic-language A-Sumeriah News.


The baby’s father was apparently executed just weeks ago, after he allegedly took part on the killing of an Islamic State member.



“The organization booby trapped the baby in front of dozens of armed ISIS men and then detonated it from afar,” Sadiq el-Husseini said. The rigging of the baby and its detonation was a training exercise of ISIS to teach its people booby-trapping techniques....

Yes, there are more details of the barbarity of this 'religion of peace, ' here.  While there, check out some of the other links.  Educate yourself....

Iran nuke talks extended as 'Death to Israel Day' celebrated

Oh,  the dangerous irony.  As Kerry says 'US will not be rushed,' and the deadline for a deal is extended - again -  Iran continues to loudly declare their historical intention of wiping Israel off the world map.

From Israel National News:

Iran Talks Extend 'Over Weekend' Amid 'Death to Israel' Chants


Iranian FM tells state media that talks will miss deadline, even as millions in Tehran and around Iran mark 'Death to Israel Day.'
By Ari Yashar

10 July 2015

Millions of Iranians took part in the annual "Death to Israel Day" in Iran on Friday, ironically coinciding with the twice-extended deadline for a deal on the Islamic regime's nuclear program that apparently will be extended yet again.


Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday confirmed US Secretary of State John Kerry's statements the day before, when Kerry said the talks "wont be rushed."


Speaking to the state-run PressTV, Zarif said that he "doubts it" that a deal will be made by Friday, saying that in the nuclear talks "we're making progress. It seems we are staying here for the weekend. We're working. We're not there yet."


Meanwhile tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran chanting "down with America" and "death to Israel," reports the Associated Press citing local media....

Read more here.


Who ever thought the US would be so determined to strike a deal - ANY deal - with a regime that encourages 'death to Israel'  and 'death to America.

PAY ATTENTION!

US Military slash and burn continues - scared yet?

THIS is one of those times when details matter.  The current US administration - via the DoD - has released a press statement about their latest intended Military cuts.  Couched in a whole pile of bafflegab, the picture of future US Military should send a shudder through anybody even half conscious.  Quite apart from the sheer gutting continuing, the timeline of these cuts are slated for after the current-in-C's tenure.    The present POTUS leaves office in January 2017, and isn't it interesting that these cuts are being timed for AFTER his tenure.  I don't think 'legacy' means what Obama thinks it means.

Read on:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release No: NR-268-15
July 09, 2015


Army Announces Force Structure and Stationing Decisions


The Department of the Army announced today force structure decisions and stationing plans for the reduction of the regular Army from 490,000 to 450,000 soldiers. The reduction of force structure will occur in fiscal years 2016 and 2017; the reduction of 40,000 end strength will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2018, and will be accompanied by the reduction of 17,000 Department of the Army civilian employees. These cuts will impact nearly every Army installation, both in the continental United States and overseas.



As part of these reductions, the number of regular Army brigade combat teams, the basic deployable units of maneuver in the Army, will continue to reduce from a wartime high of 45 to 30 by the end of fiscal year 2017. The Army will convert both the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska into smaller units—maneuver battalion task forces—by the end of fiscal year 2017. While brigade combat teams consist of approximately 4,000 soldiers, these battalion task forces will be comprised of approximately 1,050 soldiers.



Additionally, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division will remain a brigade combat team, but will convert its primary maneuver platform. Currently, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division is a Stryker brigade combat team, however, it will become an infantry brigade combat team without Stryker combat vehicles. Additionally, the Army is analyzing a proposal to use the brigade combat team’s current Stryker equipment to convert an Army National Guard brigade combat team in the Pacific Northwest to a Stryker configuration.



The Army selected these brigade combat teams for reorganization based on a variety of factors including strategic requirements and the inherent military value of the installations where they are based. The force structure decisions announced today best posture a smaller Army to meet global commitments.



“Budget constraints are forcing us to reduce the Total Army,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, Army deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7. “These were very difficult decisions to make as all of our installations and their communities offer tremendous value to our Army and the nation. In the end, we had to make decisions based on a number of strategic factors, to include readiness impacts, mission command and cost.”



If the fiscal-caps of the 2011 Budget Control Act caps, commonly referred to as sequestration, are not addressed, the Army’s end-strength will be further reduced to 420,000 soldiers by the end of fiscal year 2019. This will result in a cumulative loss of 150,000 soldiers from the regular Army – a 26 percent cut over a seven year period. The resulting force would be incapable of simultaneously meeting current deployment requirements and responding to the overseas contingency requirements of the combatant commands.  [emphasis mine]
                                                 
                                                                  -30

Related:  [UK]   Defence Secretary Michael Fallon speaks about yesterday’s budget announcements and outlines some of the key facts about what we spend on defence.

Canada: CDS puts foot in mouth - again

Canada's Chief of  Defence Staff can't seem to help himself.  General Tom Lawson again hit the front page of msm for his (mis)handling of  one of Canada's Military families.

Although he asserts that his actions/words have been misrepresented by the media, the family of Cpl, Stuart Langridge begs to differ.

From Times-Colonist:

Late soldier’s Victoria family outraged by general’s medal snub 


Katie Derosa
July 9, 2015


A Victoria couple is outraged after Canada’s chief of defence staff wrote to them saying their son’s suicide wasn’t linked to his military service and suggesting he shouldn’t have received any service medals after his death.

Sheila Fynes said she and her husband, Shaun, were angry and offended on July 6 when they opened a letter from Gen. Tom Lawson that said a military board of inquiry found their son Cpl. Stuart Langridge’s suicide “was not attributable to military service.”

“This would normally have precluded his eligibility for the Sacrifice Medal and any other benefits,” said the June 22 letter, signed by Lawson and sent to the couple’s Victoria address.

“The one thing that we had left, the only thing they had given us, and now you’re saying he didn’t deserve them?” Fynes told the Times Colonist.

Fynes said the letter was “petty, mean, vindictive and disheartening.”

[...]

In a statement, Lawson went on the defensive, accusing the Ottawa Citizen, which first reported the story, of “grossly misrepresenting” the letter....

For more details - and background - go here.  Then, decide for yourselves.