Bush Blasts Lawmakers for Neglecting Bills

Hundreds sue contractors running burn pits

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of service members and employees of Kellogg Brown & Root have filed lawsuits against the contractor, which burns vast amounts of trash on US bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying the thick smoke from the burn pits has made them sick. KBR operates more than two dozen of the pits, burning such toxic material as water bottles, paint, solvent, dead animals, and even medical waste, the Washington Post reports. More»

(NEWSER) - A House member is incensed that a Pentagon official, reporting a 25% increase in combat-zone sexual assault against women, said servicemen should “wait until she's sober,” the New York Daily News reports. “This woman is not in the right line of work,” Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, says of Dr. Kaye Whitley. Whitley said the remark was inspired by a recruiting poster entitled “My Strength is for Defending.” More»

Chilling details emerge in indictments of five guards in deaths of 17 Iraqis

(NEWSER) - Five guards working for the Blackwater security company in Baghdad opened fire without provocation and massacred Iraqi civilians on a busy Baghdad intersection in 2007, according to chilling indictments filed against the men. The guards, protecting a convoy, used automatic weapons and grenade launchers to fire on cars, houses, a traffic cop and a school, killing 17 and wounding 20, reports the New York Times. More»

Defense secretary wants to close Gitmo, focus on Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - Assuming he keeps his job, Robert Gates will have a transformed set of instructions come Jan. 20: Once charged with winning the war in Iraq, the defense secretary will now have to end it. But Gates and Barack Obama have substantial agreements about the nation's military strategy, the New York Times reports, from shifting more troops to Afghanistan to shutting down Guantanamo. More»

Post Traumatic Stress a 'bigger problem than we realize,' says chief

(NEWSER) - Every member of the US military should undergo screening for post-traumatic stress disorder upon returning from combat in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has recommended. As many as 1 of every 5 returning combat vets suffers from mental health problems, USA Today reports. "I think it's a bigger problem than we know," said Michael Mullen, an admiral whose post gives him authority over all four service branches. More»