Obama has finally released the details of his new nuclear weapons policy. In short:

• No further development of any new nuclear weapons — even while tyrants and terrorist organizations around the world aggressively pursue nuclear options. (Note: the average age of America’s existing warheads is 26 years. It does not take long to fall behind in modern times.)
• No nuclear retaliation against non-nuclear nations, even if we have been viciously attacked through biological or chemical means. (Note: exceptions are made for N. Korea and Iran.)

Meanwhile, Russia announces that it has the option of backing out of the recent nuclear disarmament agreement with the U.S. any time it “feels threatened” by US missile defence plans. For instance, deploying new missile interceptors in Europe.

China continues to upgrade its growing nuclear arsenal in a veil of secrecy. Iran continues to develop nuclear capabilities in the face of a feckless Obama and an ineffectual U.N. North Korea will continue to ignore everyone in its quest to develop nuclear weapons.

In the end, nothing has changed except that America will not be developing bunker busting tactical nukes or even modernizing the capabilities of our existing aged nuclear arsenal. And that we promise to play nice if attacked.

Change, yes. Hope, no.

Technorati Tags: American Nuclear Weapons Policy, Barack Hussein Obama the Dangerous Choice

The Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) is an experimental military program that intends to destroy missiles with a basketball-sized laser beam mounted on a modified 747. The military performed a successful test earlier this week:

An explanation of the technology can be found in this video.

Technorati Tags: ALTB, Airborne Laser Testbed, American Military, Yankee Ingenuity, Laser Weapons, Directed Energy Weapons

The Army Times conducted a poll of military personnel. In summary:

A word from academia:

“The military has been perceived as a conservative Republican institution,” said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University and a special adviser to the National Security Council from 2005 to 2007.

“A lot of people thought that eight years of frustration with the Bush administration was going to undermine that,” he said. “This evidence suggests that it hasn’t undermined it as much as they thought, at least not yet.”

Indeed not. After all, the total lack of experience (and understanding) of B. Hussein Obama doesn’t bode well for a Democrat takeover.

But the interesting thing about this poll is the answer to this question:

What is the most important issue for you in deciding for whom you will vote for president?

Note: percentages estimated from looking at a graph for anything
other than "Overall", but they are pretty darn close.

Who would have thought that the prosecution of the war would be third on the list of priorities for those charged with carrying the fight to our enemies? Could it be because they know they are winning, and thus other items take precedence? Or could it be because character counts, no matter what the issue? Well, for Whites, Hispanics, and "Other" anyway.

Anyone see any ACORN representatives staking out military bases? No? I wonder why . . .

A detailed look at how the military has attempted to rise to the challenge of the deadliest component modern urban warfare. For once, WaPo impresses.

Precursor to the Terminator series? Who’s to say? But what was once saving lives as a bomb disposal robot has been retooled to carry weapons for combat. Pictured is a SWORDS* bot, 3 of which have been deployed to Iraq. None have fired a shot to date, but expect that to change.

They are designed to be used in high-risk situations, like scouting narrow streets infested with snipers before a foot patrol is sent in. Major Saitta, a consultant for the program, nails it when he says:

Anytime you utilize technology to take a U.S. service member out of harm’s way, it is worth every penny.

Although these metal soldiers were ready to go in 2004, they had a tendency to spin out of control from time to time. As this isn’t exactly desirable during a firefight, they were kept at home while work continued. But now, according to Danger Room:

So the radio-controlled robots were retooled, for greater safety. In the past, weak signals would keep the robots from getting orders for as much as eight seconds — a significant lag during combat. Now, the SWORDS won’t act on a command, unless it’s received right away. A three-part arming process — with both physical and electronic safeties — is required before firing. Most importantly, the machines now come with kill switches, in case there’s any odd behavior. “So now we can kill the unit if it goes crazy,” Zecca says.

Danger Room also has a video from Future Weapons, while Gizmodo has additional pictures. Via Digg.

* special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system

Four days ago, Michael Yon covered an al Qaeda massacre in a small village in Iraq:

Soldiers from 5th IA [Iraqi Army] said al Qaeda had cut the heads off the children. Had al Qaeda murdered the children in front of their parents? Maybe it had been the other way around: maybe they had murdered the parents in front of the children. Maybe they had forced the father to dig the graves of his children.

Yon’s latest dispatch addresses the fact that the MSM has studiously avoided reporting the tragedy:

But for those publications who actually had people embedded in Baqubah when the story first broke and still failed to cover it, their malaise is inexplicable. I do not know why all failed to report the murders and booby-trapped village: apparently no reporters bothered to go out there, even though it’s only about 3.5 miles from this base. Any one of the reporters currently in Baqubah could still go to these coordinates and follow his or her nose and find the gravesites. . . .

If much of mainstream media does not recognize barbarity, clearly their readers can and do. Readers throughout the world might consider contacting their local papers and favorite websites with the link to this update. The story is very important in that it is well-documented with photos and video, and the Iraqi and American soldiers who were present are named and easily reachable. Those mainstream reporters currently in Baqubah could readily take up the baton.  

The UK Daily Mail prints an article written by a Muslim that was at one time an actual member of the network that planned and attempted to execute the recent bombings in London and Glasgow:

When I was still a member of what is probably best termed the British Jihadi Network – a series of British Muslim terrorist groups linked by a single ideology – I remember how we used to laugh in celebration whenever people on TV proclaimed that the sole cause for Islamic acts of terror like 9/11, the Madrid bombings and 7/7 was Western foreign policy.

By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this “Blair’s bombs” line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.

As we celebrate our freedom in this country, it is important to remember that there is evil in this world whose objective is to destroy us, that we have young men and women fighting that evil as they help rebuild a nation that is experiencing that evil every day.

Support Michael Yon as he brings us the truth.

Support those who sacrifice by giving to these charities rated A+ by the American Institute of Philanthropy:

• Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (100% of contributions raised by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund go towards support of our troops and their families; all administrative expenses are underwritten by the Fund’s Trustees.)
• Fisher House (Only 3% of funds go towards administration and fundraising)

Memorial Day grew out of the horror of the great Civil War which ripped this nation asunder. It is a day that has been set aside that we may remember our fallen heroes, those that have died while defending our noble experiment, the greatest nation in the history of Man.

This is the sixth Memorial Day in a row in which we find our nation confronting a great evil. While liberals moan about keeping Islamofascists locked up on a Caribbean island, our soldiers are kicking down doors in Iraq to find torture chambers.

A recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house turned up crude instruments of torture and an instruction manual that graphically depicts how they are to be applied, such as using a power drill to drill through a hand or applying a hot iron or even a blowtorch to the skin. The instructions do not tell captors to provide religious materials, legal counsel or cultural-specific meals. They do show how to break limbs and gouge an eye from its socket.

A month ago five people were rescued from just such a torture house, one of them a mere boy and all of them beaten daily with chains and cables. This is the evil that the enemy brought to our shores.

Makes “waterboarding” look like a walk in the park, doesn’t it? Makes getting your picture taken with a collar on and girl holding the end of a leash a little tame, doesn’t it.

The media is virtually ignoring the story of the al-Qaeda torture manual and victims rescued. It does not fit their agenda the way that months of Abu Ghraib coverage furthered their cause.

Similarly, the media is under-reporting the freeing of 42 Iraqis, one as young as 14, from an al-Qaeda prison. Some had been held as long as four months, suspended from ceilings, beaten and tortured. Some had broken bones.

Our troops are doing good things in Iraq.

On this Memorial Day we should remember all our soldiers, active and retired, alive and deceased. We should be grateful to those who have given their all and support those currently facing the horrors of war.

I encourage you to fly an American flag in memory of soldiers no longer with us, and open your hearts and wallets to support today’s soldiers and their families. Some suggestions:

Disabled American Vets
Operation Gratitude (Read a news story about Operation Gratitude)
Adopt a Platoon
Treats for Troops
Operation Top Knot
Fisher House
Operation Hero Miles
Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund
USO

Alternatively (or in addition to), you can support former Green Beret and current photojournalist Michael Yon as he publishes the most unbiased truth about the situation in Iraq.

On 21 March 2007, the Queen of England awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross to two unusual recipients.

Pictured is Private Michelle Norris of C Company, 1 Bn the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. She is the first female to ever receive the be awarded the Military Cross.

Last year she braved sniper fire to administer life saving first aid to her vehicle commander.

• More from Defence News
• Read her citation 
• Watch the video of a news report

This is Major William D. Chesarek Jr. of the United States Marine Corps. He is the first US soldier to receive the United Kingdom’s Distinguished Flying Cross since the Second World War.

Although he trained to fly a Super Cobra helicopter for the US Marines, Major Chesarek is serving as an exchange officer assigned to Royal Air Force’s 847th Naval Air Squadron, Commando Helicopter Force. These days he is flying the RAF’s Lynx Mk7 helicopter.

During the action that had Private Norris’ unit under attack, Major Chesarek flew his helicopter low over the “insurgents” to disperse the crowd. Instead, he drew fire. But when he heard that someone on the ground had been hurt and that a casualty evacuation was necessary, he took action:

Chesarek made the unconventional move – what’s considered an “implied mission” in military parlance — to conduct a medical evacuation with the Lynx to help a British soldier with a life-threatening head injury. As the only aircraft available to assist, he landed the Lynx near the company in distress as his door gunner and another crew member jumped out.

“My door gunner jumped out and picked up the injured soldier and put him in the helicopter,” Chesarek said. “My other crew member had to stay, or we would have been overweight to fly.”

Heroes. God bless ‘em!

Glenn Reynolds has a few links that should put a stake in the heart of the revisionist claims that returning Vietnam vets were never spat on.

Hat Tip to non-blogging Advised by Wolves.

The NRA is offering a free year of membership for anyone on active duty. Just go here to sign up:

On behalf of the nearly four million members of the National Rifle Association of America, thank you for serving our country! We deeply appreciate your sacrifice, and would like to offer you a complimentary one-year membership in the NRA as a token of our gratitude and respect.