Security Developments

• Petraeus Leaves Room for Pullout Changes - Gen. David Petraeus left open the possibility of recommending that President Barack Obama delay his plans to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next summer if the new commander can't turn around the stalemated war.
• McChrystal to Retire with 4-Star Rank - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, stripped of his command in Afghanistan by President Obama, will retain his four-star rank as he retires, the White House said Tuesday.
• Arizona Unhappy on Border Troop Numbers - Two Republican governors are criticizing the number of National Guard troops President Barack Obama is sending to their states to help protect the border with Mexico.
• Marine Accused in War Crime Back on Duty - Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III put on his uniform and reported for duty Tuesday despite lingering accusations that he killed an unarmed Iraqi man in what became a major war crime case.
• Two charged in Montgomery County home invasion - The dead man had ordered a bacon cheeseburger. A receipt from that meal was the unlikely clue that police said helped them unlock the mystery behind a fatal June 9 shoot-out in a suburban Montgomery County home and led to the arrest of two men in the attack.

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Defense News

• After Afghan Trip, Carter To Hear Industry's Efficiency Ideas - Following a 10-day swing through Afghanistan, Pentagon acquisition executive Ashton Carter will again huddle with industry officials about defense officials' push to more effectively buy weapons and services from private companies.
• Allen Named Acting Commander of CENTCOM - U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen was named acting commander of U.S. Central Command on June 30.
• Carter Promotes Pentagon Procurement Efficiency - The Defense Department must become more efficient in providing the military capabilities the nation needs, a senior Pentagon official said here yesterday.
• Airmen Conduct Ground-Breaking Aeromedical Evacuation Mission - Members of the 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, executed the first U.S. and British aeromedical evacuation mission to airlift non-validated casualties.
• New supersonic plane could hush sonic booms - A new design concept for a futuristic faster-than-sound aircraft could break through legal barriers to supersonic flights over land by shushing the sonic booms created by such vehicles.

Afghanistan–Pakistan Developments

• NATO says district Afghan Taliban chief arrested - NATO says Afghan and international forces have captured a Taliban district leader after a four-hour gunbattle in Helmand province.
• Petraeus Pledges Look at Strikes in Afghanistan - Calling the protection of his troops a “moral imperative,” Gen. David H. Petraeus said Tuesday that he would closely review restrictions on United States airstrikes and artillery in Afghanistan, which have cut down on civilian casualties but have been bitterly criticized by American troops who say they have made the fight more dangerous.
• Senior U.S. commander restricts Humvee use in Afghanistan - The once-ubiquitous Humvee may become a rare sight in some parts of Afghanistan following a decision by the senior U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan to restrict the use of the vehicles in the field.
• 4 killed in Taliban attack on U.S. aid agency compound in Afghanistan - Taliban militants attacked the compound of a U.S. aid agency subcontractor in northern Afghanistan early Friday, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others, government officials said.

Homeland Security

• Terror chief defends targeting US citizens - A top counterterrorism official on Wednesday defended the government's right to target U.S. citizens perceived as terror threats for capture or killing, citing the example of the renegade al-Qaida-linked cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
• Al-Qaida to launch English propaganda newspaper - Al-Qaida is preparing to launch its first online propaganda newspaper in English, a move that could help the terror group recruit inside the U.S. and Europe.
• Prosecutors: NY suspect spilled Russia spy details - Within hours of his capture, U.S. prosecutors say, Russian spy suspect Juan Lazaro admitted his name was an alias.

Weapons and Tactics

• Concealed guns for (almost) everyone? - Some state lawmakers want to loosen Utah’s already liberal gun laws by following the Last Frontier’s example and allowing any legal gun owner to pack a concealed weapon without a permit.
• Mine Detection System Flying Towards Operational Evaluation - Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have begun the next phase of the flight test program leading to the "final exam" Operational Evaluation and potential approval next year for full-rate production of the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS).
• Latest Counter-IED Equipment Showcased - Tackling the threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was top of the agenda at the MOD's Defence Equipment and Support showcase event, Defence Vehicle Dynamics (DVD), this year.

High Risk Logistics

• Cargo movers look at ways to weather global financial crisis - Stock prices of India’s top logistics firms have eroded by 15% to as much as 87% since January as the global financial crisis put a drag on demand for goods from the country, forcing these companies to consider collaborations and whittle costs.

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FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE & COST

I was born in Jackson Memorial Hospital in Lexington, Virginia.  This hospital was once the home of the famous General Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate States Army of Virginia.  At the time my father was a farmhand and they lived on the farm where he worked in a tiny set of living quarters we would call a shack.  In all of their lives they never owned a foot of any of the land of these United States of America except two grave plots and neither of them are in either of those plots.  To say they were poor would be too nice a descriptive term.  Whenever dad owned a vehicle in the early years it was always a piece of junk that required constant work and repair and I was six years old before we even had one of those.

Full article can be seen at: http://www.ustraining.com/new/btw/chaplain/070610chaplain.htm

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