U.S. Armed Forces Activities

Latest Articles

Hemp — the law, the musical

Dept. of Really Strange Bedfellows
When liberal congressmen like Barney Frank begin co-sponsoring bills with libertarians like Ron Paul, there must be something funny in the air.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 29, 2009

Review: In The Loop

A Doctor Strangelove for the Iraq War
Six years ago, Armando Iannucci's slick and merciless satire might have drawn more blood, but even now it blows away the recent competition with its sharp, sardonic dialogue and uncompromising cynicism.
By PETER KEOUGH | April 15, 2009

49. Kid Rock

TRAILER RASH
Damn near every time we went to the movies last year, we got stuck watching Kid Rock’s god-awful propaganda flick. Let’s leave aside for a moment that Kid Rock looks ridiculous. It takes a special kind of white-trash moron to equate — as his shitty little commercial does — NASCAR drivers with National Guard members serving in Iraq. Let us point out the obvious: one of these groups risks its lives for the glory of fat rednecks and money, while the other fights for freedom. Comparing these two is just silly — almost as silly as someone from Detroit wearing cowboy boots.
By Boston Phoenix Staff | March 25, 2009

Culture wars

The Army's controversial anthropology program
American anthropologist Paula Loyd was in Afghanistan, discussing living costs with a local man when suddenly he doused her with fuel from a jug he was carrying and set her on fire.
By PETER PIATETSKY | March 16, 2009

Soldiers committing suicide

US troops are killing themselves in record numbers
On July 22, 2004, unable to handle the intensity anymore — the daily vomiting, the feeling that he was a murderer — Lucey wrapped a garden hose around his neck and hanged himself.
By JASON NOTTE | March 17, 2009

Examining the state of Iraq's democracy

Only eight candidates for office were murdered during this year's campaigning, down from 200 in 2005
Why don't people laugh out loud, or at least guffaw, when they hear about US troops overseas assisting elections? Too many US states and municipalities have dysfunctional voting systems for us to be proudly tutoring anyone else.
By ANDISHEH NOURAEE | February 23, 2009

Review: Lark and Termite

Total immersion
"Language Immersion" is the name of a program set up by the US Army in Korea just prior to the North's invasion of the South.
By PETER KEOUGH | January 29, 2009

In harm's way

The tragedy of Rakan Hassan and the impossibility of a Hippocratic Oath for journalists
Most of the job-related fears that keep journalists up at night are relatively mundane, but on rare occasions, a more ominous scenario presents itself.
By ADAM REILLY | August 06, 2008

Is RI making the most from its tourism appeal?

Critics call a variety of agencies a wasteful approach in this small state
If you were going to promote Rhode Island's plate of idiosyncratic attractions to potential visitors in other states, what would be the best way to do it?
By IAN DONNIS | July 24, 2008

Trying out an anti-demonstration ‘sonic cannon’

Non-lethal weapons
The Maine Marine Patrol is considering purchasing a “sonic cannon” capable of broadcasting earsplitting, “disorienting” sounds, like those that have been used to break up peaceful demonstrations in public spaces in Iraq and the country of Georgia.
By JEFF INGLIS | July 16, 2008

Reality bites

Will Obama make good on his plan to exit Iraq by 2010? Don’t bet on it.
The war in Iraq has been on the back burner of the American political scene for some time.
By EDITORIAL | July 09, 2008

Criminal intent

Ed Burns on writing Iraq
Ed Burns — former Baltimore homicide detective, Vietnam vet, and long-time writing partner with David Simon, both on the The Wire and on Generation Kill , spoke with the Phoenix about the new series.
By ADAM REILLY | July 07, 2008

The wages of war

The creators of The Wire take on Iraq in Generation Kill
The Iraq War poses a strange problem for the American public.
By ADAM REILLY | July 07, 2008

A night in Guantánamo

Staying in a replica cell, with no waterboarding included
I’d volunteered to spend the night in the replica cell (which is modeled on the ones at Gitmo) because we’ve all heard stories about unlivable conditions at Gitmo but can’t come close to imagining what it must be like.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 18, 2008

March to war

Why isn’t the press paying more attention to a possible attack on Iran?
During the course of two weeks in May, America’s top-ranking military officer went from warning that war with Iran could cripple the US military to rattling his saber at Tehran.
By ADAM REILLY | June 04, 2008

Constantine's Sword

At once depressing and exhilarating
Scarier than Jesus Camp (and infinitely smarter), Oren Jacoby’s documentary film of Boston Globe columnist James Carroll’s 2001 book Constantine’s Sword casts Christianity as a lost ark raided by the worst bullies of history.
By ROB NELSON | May 28, 2008

Twenty years pass, RI stays the same

Acclaim for dubious deeds is an Ocean State mainstay
Phillipe + Jorge were graciously asked to recall Rhode Island’s Monthly’s first dubious achievement-style Rhode Island Red Awards, as chosen in 1988 by your superior correspondents, during the mag’s 20th anniversary gala last week.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | May 07, 2008

Body of War

Poetic Americana
Tomas Young volunteered for the US Army right after 9/11, hoping to be sent to Afghanistan and chase down Osama bin Laden.
By GERALD PEARY | April 09, 2008

Trapped in Iraq

After suffering through the Petraeus hearings, it’s time for Congress to take responsibility for our sinkhole war.
Watching the Senate Armed Services and the Foreign Relations Committees question Iraq proconsul General David Petraeus about the status of the war was a disturbing experience.
By EDITORIAL | April 09, 2008

What happened to Bush’s responsibility for the war?

Iraq
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know how the American effort in Iraq was badly botched from the start.
By IAN DONNIS | March 26, 2008

The outsiders

None of Maine’s indy candidates can win a seat in the US Senate, but they will have a say in who does
Just a few months ago, the story-line of Maine’s 2008 US Senate race seemed inevitable.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 05, 2008

Iraq’s My Lai?

Looking at Haditha
Five years after the first bombs fell on Baghdad, the fog of war still roils thick in Iraq.
By MIKE MILIARD | February 12, 2008

Defending the universally loathed

The Phoenix looks with loving eyes at some of the worst people, places, and things in the world — and gives them a big hug
Forsaken entities deserve a second chance.
By PHOENIX STAFF | January 14, 2008

Three Wise Women

The Girls Next Door bring their gifts to the Playboy Mansion
Watching the show is like falling down the bunny hole ― everything socially acceptable (monogamy, independence, daywear) is naught.
By ELLEE DEAN | December 12, 2007

Cutting off your taxes to spite Uncle Sam

W-4 Peace
Take Larry Dansinger, who lives in Monroe, and who has withheld some or all of his owed taxes for years in opposition to US military action and policy.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | October 31, 2007

Rent a war

The real significance of hired guns in Iraq. Plus, combating Ann Coulter.
Wonder why the Iraq government changed its mind about expelling Blackwater, the rent-a-soldier company whose employees killed 17 civilians this past month?
By EDITORIAL | October 17, 2007

Kennebunkport protest expected to draw around 5000

Protest round-up
Cindy Sheehan seems unable to stay away from the peace movement that she publicly cut ties with just over two months ago.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 22, 2007

Letters to the Portland editor: August 3, 2007

Guard says thanks
I wish to thank you for the incredible depth and sensitivity in which you covered this complex issue, regarding postwar reintegration.
By LETTERS TO THE PORTLAND EDITOR | August 01, 2007

Pop goes to war

Music and movies are vital coping mechanisms for US servicepeople in Iraq. And often, say four local troops, after they get home.
Next time you put on the new Spoon single to make that subway ride go by a little faster, consider what musical escapism means to troops in Iraq.
By MIKE MILIARD | July 25, 2007

Candidates' stances on the war in Iraq

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | July 11, 2007

Today's Event Picks

[MUSIC] Mint Julep at Middlesex Lounge + Pop Music 8 Dimensions at Plough & Stars

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