David Wood
David Wood writes about war for Politics Daily. In 30 years of covering conflict, he has filed dispatches from dozens of battlefields... moreO Christmas Tree: Squabble Over South Korean Border Display Could Escalate
Ah, Christmas on the Korean peninsula! Reviving a tradition dormant for seven years, South Korea has erected a 100-foot Christmas tree-shaped tower on its side of the Demilitarized Zone, and decorated it with 100,000 lights -- and a lighted cross. As armed Republic of Korea Marines stood guard, a choir stood at the foot of the "tree'' and sang carols, amplified to blast the Christmas music into the mandatorily atheist North. As expected in this tortured land where at least 1.6 million people (and probably twice that many) were killed, wounded or went missing in three years of war (1950-53), ...
Gays in the Military: Still Illegal for Time Being
What happens now that Congress has voted to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays in the military? Nothing. For the next few months and possibly for as long as a year, gays and lesbians in uniform will still be subject to investigation and discharge if they acknowledge their sexual orientation, Pentagon officials said. Despite action in Congress to repeal it, the controversial policy banning gays from serving openly remains in effect until, in essence, until the Defense Department is good and ready to wipe if off the books. The Pentagon issued a directive Saturday from its personnel ...
Afghan War Review: Slow Progress at a 'Very High Price'
Nine years since U.S. forces struck into Afghanistan to destroy the 9/11 terrorists, almost all of the war's objectives remain unreached. In a few significant ways -- notably the stability of Pakistan's nuclear-armed government -- things have gotten worse. Al-Qaeda remains a dangerous threat to the United States, according to senior intelligence estimates. A record number of U.S. troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, and the Taliban continue to kill Americans and Afghans in increasing numbers. Billions of dollars of U.S. aid has powered an alarming rise in corruption, increasingly cited by ...
House Votes to Repeal 'Don't Ask' as Focus Turns to Senate
Congress took a small step toward allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military Wednesday as the House voted, again, to repeal the 17-year-old ban on military gays. The action now moves to the Senate, where a similar bill awaits consideration in the frenzied final days of the lame-duck Congress. The House vote of 250-149 came after heated debate on the arguments that have echoed across the Capitol for months: how risky to combat readiness would it be to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, and how fair is it to continue to ban them from military service? Critics threw aside ...
Sexual Assault Cases Up 64 Percent at Military Academies
Sexual assaults at the nation's prestigious military academies have soared, with reported cases rising 64 percent during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to a new Pentagon report. The actual numbers of reported cases – 25 in academic year 2008-2009 and 51 cases in 2009-2010 – may be significantly understated, the report indicated. According to a survey of cadets at the academies, fewer than one in 10 cases are actually reported. The rest go unreported because cadets fear being the object of gossip, or are uncomfortable reporting a sexual offense to academy authorities, or ...
Senate Republicans Block 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal
Senate Republicans blocked repeal of "Don't ask, Don't tell" Thursday, significantly dimming prospects that the ban on gays serving openly in the military will be lifted during this lame-duck session of Congress. The 57-40 vote came on a motion to bring the giant defense budget bill, which included repeal of "Don't ask, Don't tell" (DADT), to the floor, with Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid unable to muster the 60 votes to launch debate. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had pinned his hopes on the Senate for an orderly implementation of the change in military policy. The House voted this ...
Baltimore Man Accused in Terror Plot to Blow up Military Recruiting Center
In the second foiled terrorist bombing incident in two weeks, a 21-year-old American Muslim was arrested Wednesday in connection with a plan to blow up a military recruiting and induction center near Baltimore, Justice Department officials said. The Baltimore man, Antonio Martinez, who identified himself in court Wednesday as Muhammad Hussain, was said to be a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam. He had been under surveillance since he approached an FBI informant in October, according to court documents, and was arrested when he allegedly tried to plant a phony bomb given him by undercover by ...
Afghans Are War-Weary, Ready for Negotiations with Taliban, Poll Finds
A glimmer of good news this morning for the White House Afghan war strategy team: an extensive new poll finds that in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where Gen. David Petraeus has focused his forces, Afghan residents say their security has improved dramatically. More than two-thirds of residents in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency has been the strongest and most violent, now say their security is "good'' -- a dramatic leap from the 14 percent who thought so a year ago. But as President Obama's national security team prepares to roll out its long-awaited Afghan war ...
Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Unclear After Brass Asks Senate for Time
Prospects for Senate repeal of the ban on gays in the military appear uncertain after three of the four military service chiefs testified Friday that repeal would harm combat effectiveness -- unless they were allowed time to implement the change. But at least one member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after two days of hearings this week, announced a surprising endorsement of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown, who won the seat left open by the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, said Friday he would support repeal. Last spring he voted against ...
White House Mulls Grim Picture of 'Deteriorating Stalemate' in Afghanistan
The assessments now pouring into the White House from Afghanistan run the gamut from discouraging to awful, as the Obama administration finishes up its long-awaited December review of the war strategy the president announced a year ago. In many ways, the cold facts charting the grim course of the war belie the upbeat views that the perpetually confident Gen. David Petraeus, the war's top commander, has expressed in public. President Obama didn't get much of a first-hand look at the war during his brief stopover at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan Friday. He briefly conferred with his top ...
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