Influential US lawmakers on Thursday called for levying a new income tax to pay for the war in Afghanistan, warning its costs pose a mortal threat to efforts like a sweeping health care overhaul.

“Regardless of whether one favors the war or not, if it is to be fought, it ought to be paid for,” the lawmakers, all prominent Democratic allies of Obama, said in a joint statement on the “Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010.”

The proposal came with US President Barack Obama set to announce within weeks his decision on whether to send more US troops to fight the war, now in its ninth year.

The group included House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey;Representative John Murtha, who chair that panel’s defense subcommittee; and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank.

The proposal, a heavily symbolic measure seen as having next to no chance of becoming law, would impose a war surtax on income beginning in 2011 — though it would allow the president to delay implementation by one year upon deciding the US economy is too weak to sustain such a tax shift.

It would also exempt members of the US military who have served in combat since the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes, their families, and families of soldiers who died as a result of combat.

“The only people who?ve paid any price for our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan are our military families,” the lawmakers said. “We believe that if this war is to be fought, it?s only fair that everyone share the burden.”

If the war is not paid for, its costs “will devour money that could be used to rebuild our economy by fixing our broken health care system,expanding educational opportunities and job training possibilities, attacking our long term energy problems and building stronger communities,” they said.

Source: Breitbart

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A new report from an independent think tank suggests that drastic cuts are needed in personnel benefits in order to pay for weapons modernization.

Some recommendations from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments might be welcomed by service members and their families, such as a proposal to cut the cost of permanent change-of-station moves by extending tour lengths by 50 percent.

But other recommendations strike at the heart of the military pay and benefits system. The report by Todd Harrison says the promise of retired pay after 20 years is an example of the generous benefits that led to financial problems in the auto industry, requiring a government bailout.

“Few employers today offer pensions and health care benefits for retirees, must less a package that becomes effective after only 20 years of service,” Harrison wrote. “Even GM’s much-derided labor contracts did not provide benefits this rich.”

Harrison said big reductions in benefits, such as requiring more service to earn retired pay and charging more for health benefits, are “politically difficult” but that modest changes, if begun soon, could help control costs.

Modest steps could include cutting Army and Marine Corps personnel levels as operations in Iraq and Afghanistan subside to reduce overhead costs as quickly as possible, the report said.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is a Washington-based independent, nonpartisan think tank focusing on national security issues.

“If the overall defense budget remains relatively flat over the coming years, continued increases in personnel-related costs will crowd out funding for acquisitions,” Harrison wrote. “Rather than accept this as inevitable, DoD should begin taking steps to rein in personnel costs.”

The report, called “Avoiding a DoD Bailout,” focuses on the financial choices facing the Pentagon if budgets remain relatively flat in the coming years. The fear that personnel-related costs could leave no money for weapons research and purchases is an issue already under study by the Defense Department.

Harrison said personnel cuts are not enough to take care of all of the budget pressures; the Defense Department also needs to be careful with weapons spending.

“The Pentagon must also rethink the types of weapons it is buying and how it buys them,” the report said.

Source: Military Times

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An Army unit is reviewing how it delivers information to families after a call to a western New York couple led them to believe their son had been killed in combat.

Ray Jasper of Niagara Falls said he, his wife, Robin, and their extended family spent four hours Sunday mourning their son, Sgt. Jesse Jasper, before learning from his girlfriend that he was alive.

The 26-year-old soldier called his father from Afghanistan to prove it after hearing about the mix-up.

“Dad what’s going on?” Jesse Jasper asked.

“I said, ‘Oh my God you’re alive, I love you, I love you, I love you, you’re alive,’” Ray Jasper, 49, said Tuesday.

An Army spokesman with Jasper’s unit said officials may revise the written scripts used by volunteer liaisons to inform all families of any deaths within the unit to avoid similar misunderstandings in the future.

The nightmare started about 2 p.m. Sunday when Ray Jasper, while on a family camping trip, got an urgent message from a family liaison from his son’s unit in the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C. When he reached the liaison — the wife of a soldier deployed with Jasper’s son — she told him she had a “red line message” that she needed to read to him verbatim.

“She said, ‘I’m sorry to inform you that on Sept. 12, that Sgt. Juden and Sgt. Jesse Jasper were killed in Afghanistan,’” Ray Jasper recounted.

“My wife was talking to me at the time and I said, ’say that again,’ and she said the same thing over again. I couldn’t do any more. I hit the floor,” he said.

Jasper knew the military’s policy is to notify families in person when a soldier has been killed, but after being away all weekend, he thought someone might have called after finding no one home.

The Jaspers were given a number to call for details but decided they would not dial it until after making the 60-mile trip home from the Ellicottville campground and assembling other family members. As family and friends gathered, others posted condolence messages on Facebook.

Jasper’s girlfriend in North Carolina saw the postings and called the Jaspers.

“She was screaming to me, ‘He’s not dead! He’s not dead!’” Jasper said. “I said, ‘How do you know this?’ She said, ‘I just got off the phone with him.’

Their son called soon after.

A spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division said Jasper’s unit, through its family readiness group, notifies all families of deaths within the unit to prevent undue worry and misinformation. Maj. Brian Fickel said callers are instructed to read from a written script to prevent misinterpretation.

In this case, families were being notified of the death of Sgt. Tyler Juden, a 23-year-old from Winfield, Kan.

Fickel said the script used Sunday began: “Sgt. Tyler A. Juden … was killed in action while conducting combat operations in support of bravo troop 473 cav.” It went on to say Juden’s family had been notified and services would be scheduled.

“I can’t speculate on how it was transmitted or how it was received,” Fickel said, “but during that process the results speak for themselves. The family believed their son was killed.”

The family liaison said she was not able to read the complete message before the call to the Jaspers was terminated, according to Fickel.

“I don’t know why they would tell us about someone else’s tragedy,” said Ray Jasper.

Fickel said the unit is considering starting the scripts with “your son or daughter is fine.” Internal jargon like “red line message” will probably go, he said.

===

CORRECTION: In a Sept. 15 story about a family that received a telephone call from the U.S. Armyincorrectly saying that their son had been killed in Afghanistan, The Associated Press misspelled the surname of another soldier who was killed. His correct name was Army Sgt. Tyler A. Juden, not Judin.

Source: AP

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Russia has opened a $2.2 billion line of credit for Venezuela to purchase weapons including armored vehicles and surface-to-air missiles, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday.

Venezuela is buying more arms because it feels threatened by Colombia’s decision to give U.S. troops greater access to its military bases, Chavez said.

Repeating a frequent theme of his presidency, the socialist leader said the United States would like to invade Venezuela and seize the country’s oil fields. He said the bases in Colombia could help the U.S. stage such an attack.

The arms deal was announced last week during Chavez’s visit to Moscow, and he gave details Sunday. Chavez said the deal calls for Venezuela to buy 92 Russian-made T-72 tanks as well as Smerch anti-aircraft missile launching systems. He didn’t say how many missile launchers Venezuela was buying.

“The Russian government approved financing for $2.2 billion. For what? For weapons, and we must thank them,” Chavez said. “We’ve decided to install a powerful anti-air defense system.”

Last week, Chavez said the deal also included the purchase of ground-to-ground missiles with a range of up to 186 miles (300 kilometers). He said they were needed to improve Venezuela’s defenses.

Venezuela and Colombia have been feuding for months over the negotiations between Bogota and Washington that would allow the U.S. military to increase its presence at seven Colombian bases under a 10-year lease agreement. Colombian and U.S. officials say the agreement is necessary to more effectively help Colombia fight drug traffickers and leftist rebels.

Venezuela has already bought more than $4 billion worth of Russian arms since 2005, including 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, dozens of attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Chavez said nobody should be alarmed by Venezuela’s newest arms purchases. Venezuela “doesn’t plan to invade anybody,” he said.

Source: AP

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If you thought the end of American intervention in foreign wars was nearing, think again. President Obama has been replacing soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan with private contractors—some 250,000 are currently deployed overseas—including Black Water (operating under another alias.)

Contractors are not subject to the same guidelines as our soldiers, and thus, have not been held accountable for the misdeeds they have afflicted upon civilian populations in the past.

This story has largely flown under the radar of the mainstream media, but will surely induce outrage at some uncertain point in the future.

Source: Examiner

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The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program.

“That window is a very narrow window,” Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

“There’s a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the engagement,” he said. “I’m hopeful that that dialogue is productive. I worry about it a great deal if it’s not.”

Mullen noted that some forecasters believe Iran could be as little as a year away from developing a nuclear bomb, adding: “The clock has continued to tick.”

The Obama administration hopes to coax Tehran into negotiating over its nuclear program. Washington and its allies say the program is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists it is a civilian electricity program.

Israel has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence and points to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

That has raised concerns that Israel could ultimately carry out a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview the United States had “absolutely not” given Israel a green light to attack Iran over its nuclear program, but he said Washington cannot “dictate to other countries what their security interests are.”

“It is the policy of the United States to try to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels,” Obama told CNN during his trip to Russia.

Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday that Israel had a sovereign right to act in its best interest in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The comment was seen by some as giving Israel a green light to attack.

Mullen told his audience that Washington must keep all options on the table as it pursues dialogue with Iran, “including certainly military options.”

But he said a military strike — like the development of an Iranian nuclear bomb itself — would be “very destabilizing” for the Middle East and pose unpredictable consequences for U.S. allies and interests.

“It (a military strike) is a really important place to not go, if we can not go there in any way, shape or form,” the admiral said.

Source: Reuters

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US Vice President Joe Biden said, in an television interview, that the United States would not stand in the way of Israel in its dealings with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,” Biden told ABC television’s “This Week” Sunday.

“Whether we agree or not. They’re entitled to do that… We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they’re existentially threatened.”

But the top US military officer meanwhile warned of the dangers posed by any military strike against Iran.

“It could be very destabilizing, and it is the unintended consequences of that which aren’t predictable,” Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told “Fox News Sunday.”

However, he added: “I think it’s very important, as we deal with Iran, that we don’t take any options, including military options, off the table.”

A senior Iranian official visiting Japan said Monday his country would respond “in a very full-scale and very decisive way” if it were attacked by Israel.

“I think that America and Israel are fully aware what kind of result such a wrong judgement will entail,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.

President Barack Obama has said he wants to see progress on his diplomatic outreach to Iran by year’s end, while not excluding a “range of steps,” including tougher sanctions, if Tehran continued its controversial nuclear drive.

Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out a possible military strike against Iran, insisting that Tehran, which the Mossad spy agency could have a ready-to-launch nuclear bomb within five years, must not obtain nuclear weapons.

“If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice,” Biden said. “But there is no pressure from any nation that’s going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed.”

Israel, the region’s sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state, contends — as does the West — that Iran is seeking to acquire a nuclear arsenal, despite Tehran’s repeated denials.

The Jewish state has also called the Islamic Republic a threat to its existence, citing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call to wipe Israel off the map.

Biden also confirmed that the Obama administration remains open to pursuing negotiations with Tehran, despite the regime’s crackdown on protesters following a disputed election outcome last month that saw Ahmadinejad return to power.

“If the Iranians respond to the offer of engagement, we will engage,” Biden said. “The offer’s on the table.”

Mullen declined to say whether the danger posed by a nuclear-armed Iran would be sufficient to outweigh the negative consequences of a US military strike on Tehran’s weapons program.

“I think both outcomes are really, really bad outcomes. And that speaks to the very narrow space that we have to try to resolve this so that neither one of those things occur,” he said.

Source: AFP

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