Armed forces news and stories by mail.com

Armed forces

Syrian rebels slam Assad inaction on Israeli raid
Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed President Bashar Assad for not responding to a rare Israeli airstrike near Damascus, calling ...
Marine survey lists concerns on women in combat
Male Marines listed being falsely accused of sexual harassment or assault as a top concern in a survey about moving women into combat jobs, and ...
Australian general gets key US Army post
Maj. Gen. Richard Burr salutes with his palm facing out, like he's shielding his eyes from the sun. He wears a wide-brimmed felt "slouch hat" with a ...
Marine leader: skepticism in infantry about women
The head of the Marine Corps — the most male of all military branches — said Thursday the infantry side is skeptical about how women will perform in ...
Senate group focuses on border security
A bipartisan group of senators working to craft immigration legislation is focusing on how to define when the border is secure, one of several ...
Sept. 11 judge rules on censor but little else
The second round of pretrial hearings in the Sept. 11 case sputtered to a close Thursday with the judge ordering the government to remove censorship ...
Congress grapples with gap on scofflaw contractors
With thousands of civilian contractors remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan, Justice Department officials want Congress to resolve a legal issue they say ...
Joint Chiefs: Looming cuts would 'hollow' military
The military's top leaders are warning Congress that automatic spending cuts looming in March would force the Pentagon to slash operating budgets, ...
Columbia's 7 astronauts were close, diverse crew
The seven astronauts who died aboard space shuttle Columbia 10 years ago were husbands, fathers, wives and a mother. Military pilots, doctors and ...
Week of unrest weakens Egypt's Islamist leader
Egypt's Islamist president has been significantly weakened by a week of violent protests across much of the country, with his popularity eroding, the ...
Egypt army chief warns state could collapse
Residents of this Mediterranean coastal city burying their dead from Egypt's wave of political violence vented their fury at Egypt's Islamist ...
US eyes drone base in Africa with al-Qaida in mind
Plans to base unarmed American surveillance drones in the African nation of Niger highlight the Obama administration's growing concern about extremist ...
Immigration overhaul? GOP, Dem senators vow action
Side by side, leading Democratic and Republican senators pledged Monday to propel far-reaching immigration legislation through the Senate by summer ...
Congo deal delayed at African Union meeting
A large-scale peace agreement to end fighting in Congo that would see more peacekeeping forces enter the region was delayed Monday over what the ...
Court rulings dim outlook for Guantanamo trials
A civilian appeals court has now reversed the verdicts of the only two Guantanamo Bay prisoners convicted in trials by military tribunal, casting a ...
Suit reveals ties among radical abortion opponents
A lawsuit against a Kansas woman who publicly proclaimed her admiration for the man who gunned down one of the country's few late-term abortion ...
African leaders meet in Ethiopia amid Mali crisis
African leaders met in the Ethiopian capital Sunday for talks dominated by the conflict in Mali as well as lingering territorial issues between the ...
Child soldier's tale illustrates Mali's dirty war
The boy sits with his knees tucked under his chest on the concrete floor of the police station here, his adolescent face a tableau of fear. He's still ...
American women have served and died from the first
American women have served and died on the nation's battlefields from the first. They were nurses and cooks, spies and couriers in the Revolutionary ...
A look at countries where women are in combat
From France's Joan of Arc to female resistance fighters in World War II and the black-clad women warriors of the Viet Cong, history is filled with ...
1st woman to lead in combat 'thrilled' with change
Former U.S. Army Capt. Linda L. Bray says her male superiors were incredulous upon hearing she had ably led a platoon of military police officers ...
Women in combat: Good to go if they meet standards
Women in the military must have the same opportunities as men to take on grueling and dangerous combat jobs, whether loading 50-pound artillery shells ...
Women already serve in some combat-related jobs
The Pentagon is knocking down old barriers to women serving in combat, but some already are in risky jobs. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's order, ...
Navy: Random alcohol tests for sailors in US
The Navy said Wednesday it will conduct random blood-alcohol tests on its sailors in the United States starting next month, a sign of how concerned ...
Report: Myanmar still recruits child soldiers
Myanmar is still recruiting and using child soldiers, despite embracing democratic reforms and a U.N. agreement to end the practice, a human rights ...