War Is Boring

Srebrenica Cemetery. Creative Commons photo. by ANDREW BALCOMBE Retired NATO commander, U.S. general John J. Sheehan, has said the largest act of genocide in Europe since World War II was aided by the Dutch military’s open gay policy. The comments came when Sheehan was giving testimony in front of a U.S. Senate committee last Thursday. [...]

by ZACH ROSENBERG Today is Veteran’s Day, when Americans honor their military veterans and the sacrifices they have made. People celebrate in different ways, and as with most holidays, some are more observant than others. I, for example, will write this post, think about those who have made sacrifices on my behalf, make pasta for [...]

It was a war we thought we’d won. But after eight years of escalating violence, the Afghanistan conflict has morphed into something perhaps unwinnable. U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to deny sanctuary to Al Qaeda, a goal we’ve largely achieved. But in years of occupation, Washington has apparently conflated counter-terrorism with nation-building. Now the [...]

The awesome new Russian Navy Blog links us to this little gem — a catamaran Russian salvage ship, Kommuna … commissioned in 1913! (Photo: www.warfare.ru)

Try to keep a straight face: [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/0rAHrHd2lcw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] “It’s about how great the VDV [paratrooper force] is and how Russia will rule the world (i.e., the U.S.. is doomed),” a friend in Russia tells me. “I’ve been hearing that a lot here lately.”

Sectarian death squads in Iraq have been known to swipe or fake government uniforms as covers. Baghdad responded with new “hard-to-counterfeit” police threads. The U.S. military prevents uniform theft by lighting old outfits on fire. From the Air Force website: Senior Airman Frances Gavalis tosses unserviceable military uniform items into a burn pit at Balad [...]

This just in:  A member of the Canadian Mounted Police by the name of Mike Lake has officially notified the Canadian Parliament that he believes that Bigfoot should be added to the nation’s Species at Risk Act. This is similar to the Endangered Species List in the United States. According to Mr. Lake, the creature [...]