Top Military News Headlines | December 14, 2010

Top headlines include a look at the life of Veteran Diplomat Richard Holbrooke and a judgment of the progress in Afghanistan one year into the surge.

Veteran U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke Dies

Richard Holbrooke, an American diplomat who covered many of the globe’s trouble spots in a career spanning nearly a half-century, died Monday. The U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan suffered a tear in his aorta and collapsed on Friday while at the State Department. He had been hospitalized since. He was 69.

Christian’s Death Verdict Spurs Holy Row In Pakistan

It began in the summer of 2009 as a quarrel over water in a sweltering farm field in the province of Punjab. When the heated words were over, Asia Noreen Bibi was charged under the strict blasphemy laws of predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

WikiLeaks actions: An act of cyberwar?

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has built sophisticated cyberwarfare capabilities in recent years, but it is not using those tools against WikiLeaks as the website publishes hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. reports amid calls that the site should be stopped.

Army Launches Program to Field New Camo

Less than five years after the Army fully outfitted Soldiers with uniforms printed in what it claimed was a single camouflage scheme suitable to all environments, the service launched a new search for a “family” of camo patterns that will help hide troops in deserts, forests and the places in between.

ACLU Sues to Get Military Rape Records

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Sexual assault pervades the military, but the Pentagon refuses to release records that fully document the problem and how it is handled, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups said in a federal lawsuit that seeks access to the records.

Judging Progress One Year Into Surge

KABUL, Afghanistan — One year after President Obama ordered a troop buildup to halt the Taliban’s momentum, the war in Afghanistan has not broken decisively in favor of U.S.-led forces — at least not yet.

Twentynine Palms tank unit to deploy to Afghanistan

The Marine Corps has identified the unit that will operate the first U.S. tanks used in the 9-year-old war in Afghanistan.

Blocked bill may weaken armed services panels

A majority of troops and the American public may see no problem with gays openly serving in the military, but a minority in the Senate has managed to block legislation that would have allowed such a change.

Blast Kills 6 NATO Troops In Afghanistan

An explosives-packed minibus blew up at the entrance of a joint NATO-Afghan base in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing six NATO troops and two Afghan soldiers as they prepared to head out on patrol.

Taliban small-arms attacks nearly double

Taliban small-arms attacks against U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan are nearly twice what they were a year ago, a reflection of increased coalition penetration of Taliban strongholds and the insurgency’s resilience, military officials and analysts said.

NKorea Threatens SKorea With Nuclear War

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea warned Monday that U.S.-South Korean cooperation could bring a nuclear war to the region, as the South began artillery drills amid lingering tension nearly three weeks after the North’s deadly shelling of a South Korean island.