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WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2008 – A California group is offering active-duty servicemembers the chance to secure a key component to finding a job before they reenter civilian life: experience. The group, Military Civilian Experience, created by active-duty servicemembers for their fellow troops, was partly inspired by the military’s practice of thoroughly training servicemembers before sending them to the battlefield, according to the organization’s Web site. The group’s officials feel it shouldn’t stop there, and they’re working to give servicemembers a head start on finding their civilian careers. “In our spare time since 2006, we have helped 96 servicemembers obtain...

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2008 – Psychological health issues and traumatic brain injuries are primary areas of study in military medicine, a senior Department of Defense medical official said. “What we are learning in studies will lead to some major breakthroughs in the world of medicine,” Dr. Michael E. Kilpatrick, deputy director for force health protection and readiness programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, said in an interview on the “Dot Mil Docs” program on BlogTalkRadio.com. Kilpatrick said that the better they understand how to prevent both psychological health issues and traumatic brain injuries...

Are you tired of the skewed accounts of what is going on in Iraq. Here is a copy of the letter I sent to the 'Iraq Body Count' web site which asks them a few questions that they will never be able to answer. Enjoy. ---------------------------------------------------- Letter to the people at 'Iraq Body Count' http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ Dear People, I stumbled upon your website regarding the Iraq Body Count and was rather amazed at the claims made: aprox 82,000 - 89, 000 civilian deaths. The reason I have doubts about such a fantastic number is because all of our military actions in...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2008 – Don’t be surprised to see a poster featuring a white-goateed Uncle Sam in a star-spangled top hat, his index finger jutting through the canvas above a row of block letters that read: “Я Xочу Bа�” -- “I Want You.” A familiar WWI recruting poster altered to reflect a shifting American cultural landscape that places greater demand on linguists. Originial poster by J.M. Flagg, modified by Fred W. Baker III for use by American Forces Press Service.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Starting today, Uncle Sam wants skilled speakers of Russian, Mandarin Chinese,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – As U.S. servicemembers and Defense Department civilians ponder candidates during the election season, they should realize there are limits placed upon their involvement in certain political activities. Political-related “dos and don’ts” pertaining to military members of all service branches are proscribed within Defense Department Directive 1344.10, titled: Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces on Active Duty. The federal Hatch Act delineates what federal civilians, including those working for the Defense Department, may or may not do in the political realm. For example, servicemembers and government civilians may attend political events like meetings...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Jan. 10, 2008) -- Saving a woman's life was not on the menu for three corpsman from Camp Pendleton while dining at a local sushi bar in Vista, Calif., Dec. 14. They planned to have a casual dinner out in town. The sudden sound of crashing dishes brought something else to the table. "All we heard was dishes colliding and a little girl screaming," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Margaret R. Reusi, a corpsman with Company B, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. "The little girl was trying to pick her mother up...

- Civilian deaths Iraq caused by war-related violence have dropped for a third straight month, according to November data compiled by Iraq's Interior Ministry. Last month, 538 Iraqi civilians were killed in the violence across the country, including 131 bodies recovered by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, according to the ministry's figures. It is the lowest monthly civilian death toll since sectarian tensions heightened across Iraq, after the February 2006 bombing of the Askariya mosque in Samarra. The figure compares with 758 Iraqi civilians killed in October and 844 in September, according to the ministry. Prior to the last three...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2007 – The Defense Department is developing plans to send furlough notices to some civilian workers as early as mid-December if Congress doesn’t pass the $178 billion emergency supplemental funding bill quickly, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress today that the Defense Department will need to borrow – or “reprogram” – funds from the Navy and Air Force and the working capital fund to cover ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Morrell said. “Without dedicated funding for the global war on terror, we have been forced to...

BAGHDAD — The recent surge of troops and embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams (EPRT) to Iraq is providing unprecedented opportunity for Iraqi citizens, a Coalition commander said today. “It really wasn’t until the EPRT, the ‘civilian surge’ … and the surge forces arrived that we began to make what I will call measurable progress along our lines of operations,” Army Col. Mike Garret told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad, shortly after he provided a televised operational update via satellite. Garrett commands the “Spartan” 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The recent surge of troops and embedded provincial reconstruction teams to Iraq is providing unprecedented opportunity for Iraqi citizens, a coalition commander said today. “It really wasn’t until the EPRT, the ‘civilian surge’ … and the surge forces arrived that we began to make what I will call measurable progress along our lines of operations,” Army Col. Mike Garret told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad, shortly after he provided a televised operational update via satellite. Garrett commands the “Spartan” 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne),...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 18, 2007 – Reports of civilian casualties in Afghanistan often are exaggerated, and this can be due to the fog of war or because of deliberate deception to incite Afghans against NATO, the commander of NATO forces in the country said today. The coalition has caused civilian casualties, U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force here, said during an interview today. But, he added, the scale of casualties has been blown out of proportion, and the Taliban, al Qaeda and other groups are exploiting the issue by issuing false claims. “There...

Over the last decade, luxury boat builders have begun building submarine yachts. Submarine construction technology has come a long way in the past century, and it's possible to build these boats at an affordable ($15-200 million) cost. They are safe, and there are about a hundred of them out there. A few companies have gained a lot of experience building subs for non-military underwater operations (academic research, oil exploration), which has created a cadre of information and technicians who can build these recreational subs. One of the largest civilian submarine yards is in Dubai, where 18 have been built so...

After more than 60 years of silence, World War II's most enduring and horrible secret is being nudged into the light of day. One by one the participants, white-haired and mildmannered, line up to tell their dreadful stories before they die. Akira Makino is a frail widower living near Osaka in Japan. His only unusual habit is to regularly visit an obscure little town in the southern Philippines, where he gives clothes to poor children and has set up war memorials. Mr Makino was stationed there during the war. What he never told anybody, including his wife, was that during...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2007 – Stepping up civilian advisors’ role in Iraq is a key part of President Bush’s diplomatic strategy to stabilize the country, the chief operations officer for the Joint Staff said here. In a Jan. 17 interview, Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute cited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Middle East mission as an important part of the equation. “The most prominent feature on the diplomatic angle is … Secretary Rice right now traveling in the Middle East,” Lute said. “(She is) offering fresh initiatives and seeking Arab support for the American way forward in Iraq.”...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A last-minute addition to a federal spending bill at the end of the last U.S. Congress now makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2007 – A joint U.S. military organization headquartered in Virginia regularly coordinates with state and local emergency preparedness agencies to prepare for potential new terrorist attacks on the homeland and other catastrophic events, the organization’s commander said here yesterday. Joint Task Force Civil Support helps coordinate federal efforts to help civil authorities prepare for and manage the effects of possible terrorist attacks on the homeland involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or other high-explosive weapons, Army Maj. Gen. Bruce E. Davis, the task force’s third commander, said at the second-annual Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear conference in...

Japan, U.S. detail ROK evac plans / Countries to assist citizens in crisis The Yomiuri Shimbun The Japanese and U.S. governments have begun work to strengthen a cooperative system in the event of a contingency on the Korean Peninsula, including the creation of a plan to evacuate civilians of the two countries living in South Korea, sources said. According to the sources, the Japanese government is considering an evacuation plan that will oblige the nation to provide a temporary refuge for Americans evacuated from South Korea, while the plan would require the United States to help transport Japanese evacuees using...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed six terrorists and captured 32 suspected terrorists today, military officials reported. Coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained two others during a raid against al Qaeda terrorists today in Baghdad. While moving toward the targeted building, coalition forces encountered two armed men who had exited nearby buildings. Coalition forces assessed the two armed men as an immediate threat and engaged them. Both men were wounded. Coalition forces immediately rendered first aid and transported the two men to a nearby medical facility. Upon further investigation, coalition forces determined the men...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2006 -- Afghan and coalition forces killed four terrorists and one civilian this morning, and Afghan National Police arrested six suspected Taliban extremists yesterday. Afghan and coalition forces raided compounds near the village of Darnami, in Khowst province, early this morning, killing four suspected terrorists and an adolescent girl. Before the raid, combined forces requested the peaceful surrender of people within the compounds. But the suspected terrorists refused to comply and began firing. "Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the young girl who was killed," said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman....

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2006 – The Taliban’s habit of using human shields during attacks on coalition forces may have caused the deaths of a number of Afghan civilians during a recent incident in Kandahar province, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe said in the Afghan capital Oct. 28. “Sadly, in asymmetric warfare, when you’re battling an insurgency, typically, the insurgents do not play by the same rules that we would like to play by,” Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who was visiting the country, told reporters at a Kabul news conference. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan Ministry...

SAN DIEGO A Camp Pendleton Marine will plead guilty next week for his role in the killing of an Iraqi man last April, his father said Friday. Pfc. John J. Jodka, 20, of Encinitas will plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, father John Jodka told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. In exchange for the plea, murder, kidnapping and other charges will be dropped, the elder Jodka said. Jodka is one of seven Marines and one Navy corpsman who were charged in the murder of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the town of Hamdania, west of Baghdad. As...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2006 – Settling for less than victory in Iraq would embolden terrorists and invite more attacks on the American people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told civilian business, academic and local government leaders today at the Pentagon. The secretary welcomed 45 civilian leaders from throughout the nation before they leave later today for a weeklong trip to the Middle East through the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference that will offer a firsthand look at the military at work in the war on terror. This asymmetric conflict against non-state actors who operate largely in ungoverned areas poses a far...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sep. 3, 2006 – Civilians make up more than 84 percent of the people killed by suicide bombers throughout Afghanistan this year, military officials here reported today. As of Aug. 12, officials at Combined Forces Command Afghanistan said, 105 out of the 124 people killed by suicide bombers were civilians. During that period, five coalition servicemembers were killed, while 14 Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police were killed. The other 105 suicide-bombing fatalities were innocent civilians, officials said. “This is what the Taliban extremists offer the people of Afghanistan – death and destruction,” said Army Col. Thomas...

The military justice system is largely unknown to the American public. Other than an occasional, and usually inaccurate, depiction of a court-martial or other military proceeding on a TV show or movie, most people do not have an understanding of or appreciation for the military justice system. This is not surprising, since relatively few Americans have contact with the military, let alone the military justice system. By any measure, the military justice system compares very favorably to any civilian justice system. The cornerstone of the military justice system is the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Congressionally enacted after World War...

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – Extremists in Afghanistan attacked coalition forces from a religious site yesterday, and targeted several civilian areas this week, including a bridge, a school and a wedding party, military officials in Afghanistan reported. Extremists began firing on coalition forces in the village of Nowzad in Helmand province yesterday. The sniper fire came from the direction of a religious shrine. There were no reported injuries to coalition forces or damage to equipment. In a separate incident in Kandahar province, a supply convoy received small-arms fire from a nearby mosque. While there were no casualties in this incident,...

From correspondents in Beirut ISRAELI warplanes dropped thousands of leaflets in Hizbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburb today, urging residents to stay away from the group's offices and buildings, witnesses said. "For your own safety and because of our desire not to harm any civilians who are not involved (with Hezbollah), you should refrain from staying in areas where Hezbollah is present and operating," said the Arabic-language leaflets, signed "The State of Israel".

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2006 – The top U.S. general in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq issued a statement today expressing "heartfelt condolences" to the families of four Iraqi civilians killed March 12 in Iraq. "We understand this is painful, confusing and disturbing, not only to the family who lost a loved one, but to the Iraqi people as a whole," Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, said in their joint statement. "The loss of a family member can never be undone." The statement was issued in response to the...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, July 2, 2006 – News reports published June 30 that claimed coalition forces fired rockets in Afghanistan's Kunar province, allegedly killing a school headmaster and injuring two others, are false, military officials here said today. A Combined Forces Command Afghanistan statement said the three people noted in news articles are, in fact, Taliban extremists responsible for conducting attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. According to the statement, three extremists attacked a coalition patrol on a road in the province's Pech district June 29, and the soldiers responded with small-arms and mortar fire, all positively observed by...

The Civilian Casualty Fable II: What Haditha Reveals Haditha does not reveal what anti-war liberals want it to reveal: the savagery of an unwelcome and fatigued U.S. military and a war out of control. Oddly enough, they are entirely unaware that their obsession with Haditha is in fact an admission that the civilian casualty figures tossed around these last three years are, and have always been, propaganda. This civilian casualty fable began with the Lancet study in the fall of 2004, which claimed 100,000 civilian dead and painted a picture of indiscriminate U.S. military destruction: "Making conservative assumptions, we think...

Sailors' Social Security nos. on Web siteBy LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 55 minutes ago Sailors man the rails as the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville (LPD 13), an element of the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), departs Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, June 6, 2006. Personal data on 28,000 U.S. sailors and their families appeared on a public Web site this week, the Navy said on Friday, marking the latest in a string of data breaches involving American military personnel. (Matthew Bookwalter/U.S. Navy/Handout/Reuters) WASHINGTON - The Navy has begun a criminal investigation...

Improvements to the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System will streamline news product transmission from military and civilian journalists to the United States for use by civilian media. TIKRIT, Iraq, June 6, 2006 — Military journalists have always needed a link between soldiers on the battlefield and the civilian media, from the steamy jungles of Vietnam to the smoldering deserts of Iraq. Modern technology now allows that link to be made within seconds from anywhere in the world. The Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System, or DVIDS, is a system that allows both military and civilian journalists to transmit media...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A third set of allegations that U.S. troops have deliberately killed civilians is fueling a furor in Iraq and drawing strong condemnations from government and human rights official. "It looks like the killing of Iraqi civilians is becoming a daily phenomenon," the chairman of the Iraqi Human Rights Association, Muayed al-Anbaki, said Friday after video ran on television of children and adults slain in a raid in Ishaqi in March. Al-Anbaki's comments came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki upbraided the U.S. military over allegations that Marines killed two dozen unarmed civilians in Haditha, calling it...

The U.S. Border Patrol is alerting Mexican officials when civilian border patrol groups detain or allegedly mistreat suspected illegal immigrants, according to a newspaper report published Tuesday. The policy is meant to assure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Mario Martinez told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario. On Tuesday, the agency called the article inaccurate. Citing interviews with Border Patrol agents and documents on a Mexican government Web site, the newspaper reported agents notify Mexican authorities when members of civilian groups such as the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps apprehend...

TAMPA, Fla., May 1, 2006 – Civilian leaders returned here yesterday from a whirlwind trip through Southwest Asia with a fresh new perspective about U.S. military operations under way and the caliber of the men and women serving the country in uniform. The 47 business, academic, civic and organizational leaders, all participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, agreed that it's one thing to draw conclusions based on what they read in newspapers and see on TV, but quite another to draw their own firsthand conclusions. The group members visited Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar to observe ongoing operations. They met...

CENTRAL PERSIAN GULF, April 28, 2006 – Civilian opinion leaders who visited the USS Ronald Reagan today got a taste of what it's like to be the biggest, toughest guy on the block - one whose presence brings comfort to his friends but fear in his enemies. Participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference watch stand on the USS Ronald Reagan's flight deck and watch F-18 Hornets take off for missions supporting ground troops in Iraq. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The business, civic, organizational and academic leaders, all participants in the Joint Civilian...

MANAMA, Bahrain, April 27, 2006 – Civilian leaders got an introduction here today to one of the least-recognized success stories in the Middle East: how the U.S. Coast Guard is helping keep Iraq's offshore oil terminals operating and training Iraq's new marine force to maintain port and waterway security in the region. Lukin Gilliland Jr., managing director of Aquila Capital Parters in San Antonio, uses a battering ram to get access to a mock shipboard compartment during a training drill in Manama, Bahrain, for participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Larry Chambers,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SWORD, Kuwait, April 26, 2006 – Participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference got a taste of what U.S. forces running convoys through Iraq experience every day as they took positions on Humvees and navigated the hazards of a counter-improvised explosive device training course here. The participants, civilian business, civic and academic leaders from around the United States, donned flak vests and Kevlar helmets before maneuvering with Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit through the notional Al Bassayab province of Iraq. Their 13-vehicle convoy's mission was to deliver materials from Forward Operating Base Dagger to Forward...

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 27, 2006 – More than 400 middle school, high school and college students from across Texas flocked to student expositions at Huston-Tillotson University here Feb. 25 seeking information about military service and civilian jobs in the Defense Department. The expositions were part of the two-day National African American History Month observance sponsored by DoD and Huston-Tillotson in conjunction with historically black colleges and universities. The students were provided information about appointments at the service academies, entry into ROTC programs and civilian career opportunities in DoD, including how to participate in civilian intern programs. Missy Adunbarin, 18, a...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2006 – Defense leaders took time today to thank civilian leaders who have demonstrated solid support for men and women in uniform. The civilian leaders, at the Pentagon for an alumni meeting of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, represent a "who's who" of civilian business owners, chief executive officers, educators, local politicians and civic leaders. All have participated in the JCOC program and many serve as advocates for military members in their communities and businesses. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld lauded the group members' efforts and those of others supporting military members in myriad ways. He cited the...

Dear Civilians, We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation have many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas we would like your assistance: 1) The next time you see an adult talking (or wearing a hat) during the playing of the National Anthem... kick their ass. 2) When you witness firsthand someone burning the American Flag in protest... kick their ass. 3) Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay...

12/1/2005 - SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) -- “Mayday. Mayday.” The distress call is familiar to most people who watch television and movies. But when it is made for real, it can make a pilot’s mouth go dry and his stomach cramp. That is the feeling pilot Naim Fazlija said he when he had to make the distress call to German radar controllers when his Piper Chieftain twin-engine lost its electrical system on a flight from the Netherlands to Geneva last month. The civilian charter plane was flying at 11,000 feet over a hazy Germany. Mr. Fazlija said he and...

The fate of two Canadians kidnapped in Baghdad hung in the balance last night as questions were raised about the viability of the government's plan to re-open its embassy there next year as planned. The Canadian humanitarian workers were snatched in a violent neighbourhood in western Baghdad along with a British and U.S. citizen. The Canadian government, which has no formal diplomatic presence in Iraq, was frustrated by its inability to help. The government restated its 19-month-old advisory that warns Canadians to stay out of the country. Insurgents have abducted at least 200 foreigners since then, including a handful of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran on Friday took the highly unusual step of running a costly full-page ad in the New York Times defending its nuclear activities and accusing the United States and European allies of creating an "unnecessary crisis." As U.S. and other key officials met in London to discuss efforts to force Tehran to abandon what they believe is a weapons-related program, Iran in its advertisement issued a detailed rebuttal of all charges and said it resumed uranium conversion this week because Britain, France and Germany, under U.S. pressure, violated a 2004 agreement. But Iran also held out the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2005 – Afghan National Army medics teamed up with deployed U.S. military medics and doctors from Bagram Air Base and Forward Operating Base Salerno, and members of the civil affairs team from 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, to provide basic medical assistance to four villages in Afghanistan's Khowst province Oct. 24 through 27. The team treated 1,328 Afghan men, 1,022 women, 4,245 children and 577 animals in the villages of Tere Zayi, Jaji Maydan, Gurbuz and Tani. Services included providing de-worming medication to the residents and animals, and handing out vitamins, anti-inflammatory...

ROYAL AIR FORCE STATION MILDENHALL, England, Oct. 24, 2005 – For one participant in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, the visit here Oct. 21 wasn't just an introduction to the Air Force; it was a mini family reunion. William Transier, co-chief executive officer and director of the Endeavour International Corp. in Houston, got to meet up with his nephew, Air Force 1st Lt. Scott Morrison, a co-pilot with the 351st Air Refueling Squadron here. Transier said he knew Morrison was assigned to Mildenhall, but didn't know that this base was the one JCOC would be visiting. "When I saw the...

ABOARD THE USS MOUNT WHITNEY, Oct. 21, 2005 – Business leaders participating in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference today got to visit a one-of-a-kind Navy ship and sail off the coast of Naples, Italy. The USS Mount Whitney, the flagship for the 6th Fleet, is the only Navy ship with a hybrid crew of civilian and military personnel. About 60 percent of the crew are Navy personnel, and 40 percent are civilian mariners from the Military Sealift Command. The USS Mount Whitney is being used as a test platform for the hybrid crew model, said Navy Capt. Tadd Wheeler, commanding...

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 19, 2005 – Business professionals traveling with the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference expressed pride and confidence in U.S. troops after meeting with U.S. special operations forces at Panzer Kaserne Range Complex here Oct. 18. "You see these guys and you think, 'How could we ever have a chance of losing?'" said Joel Cantor, president and chief executive officer of Gulf Atlantic Real Estate, in Tampa, Fla. Cantor said he was amazed by the bravery of the troops, many of whom had served in Iraq and expressed a desire to go back and finish the job there. Conference...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2005 – The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference will eventually expose participants to all branches of the military, but the group's first day was a "Marine day." The civilian business professionals and elected officials, who came from all over the country, spent most of Oct. 17 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and they got to take in several aspects of Marine training. The group started out its visit with old-fashioned Marine Corps chow. Participants ate lunch with students in "The Basic School," the preparatory course for all Marine officers. They then went outside, where they watched a...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Civilian volunteers disclosed Friday that they have been patrolling California's southern border for months in an effort to spot illegal immigrants and drug smugglers crossing from Mexico. A group called Friends of the Border Patrol says it its volunteers have been keeping watch since June on a 100-mile stretch of the border from the Pacific Ocean to Calexico in the Imperial Valley, according to Andy Ramirez, the lead organizer. Ramirez has said volunteers patrol on private property at least 1,000 yards from the border, hoping to avoid boisterous protesters. He declined to divulge the number of...

Iran has carried out its threat to restart its nuclear programme, removing the seals on a uranium-conversion plant. The UN's nuclear watchdog has issued a resolution expressing “serious concern” at the move, but the case will not yet be sent to the Security Council. European offers of incentives to dissuade the Islamic Republic from building atomic bombs have not proved enticing enough. Is a more aggressive approach called for? THESE are particularly edgy times for anyone concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons. On Sunday August 7th, the latest round of six-country talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme ended in...