Found below are a few news items that caught my attention this past week. I am hopeful that the titles and short commentary will encourage SFTT readers to click on the embedded links to read more on subjects that may be of interest to them.

I am currently traveling in Europe so I do apologize that some of my editing tools are not easily available.  The information is good – Dr. Orange article brings tears to my eyes – so do cut me a little slack on my editing skills.

Drop me an email at [email protected] if you believe that there are other subjects that are newsworthy.

Meet Dr. Orange and the Agent Orange Coverup

Young had drawn the nickname decades earlier as an Air Force expert on herbicides used to destroy enemy-shielding jungle in Vietnam. Since then — largely behind the scenes — the scientist, more than anyone else, has guided the stance of the military and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Agent Orange and whether it has harmed service members. Young tested the weed killer for the Air Force during the war, helped develop a plan to destroy it at sea a decade later — a waste of good herbicides, he’d said — then played a leading role in crafting the government’s response to veterans who believed the chemicals have made them sick. For a while, he even kept a vial of Agent Orange by his desk.  Read more by clicking link below . . .

https://www.propublica.org/article/alvin-young-agent-orange-va-military-benefits?

Trump and TV Host Clash on Military Strategy

The Republican presidential nominee has faced criticism for his insistence that the operation to reclaim Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, has been a “disaster,” and some military experts have blasted him for seeming unfamiliar with military strategy. “The defense secretary is on the ground. He says they’re making progress,” ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said of the Mosul operation. “He’s encouraged by the progress. The former dean of the Army War College says this shows Trump doesn’t know a damn thing about military strategy.” Trump responded with a common refrain about the Mosul operation lacking the element of surprise. The Army War College. Let me tell you, the element of surprise,” he said. “I’ve been hearing about Mosul now for three months. ‘We’re going to attack, we’re going to attack,’ meaning Iraq is going to attack, but with us, OK? We’re going to attack.”  Read more by clicking on hyperlink below . . .

http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-military-expert-mosul-stephanopoulos-2016-10?r=US&IR=T

Russia Flexes Military Muscle

Recent high-profile Russian military deployments are designed to showcase new Russian capabilities and a willingness to operate in many areas simultaneously, U.S. and alliance officials said. The Russian flotilla that is steaming toward Syria, led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, is unlikely to have a decisive effect on that conflict, according to U.S. officials. Russian naval capabilities haven’t been modernized as much as its air force or ground units—and the air power the Kuznetsov can bring is limited, the officials said.  Read more by clicking on hyperlink below . . .

http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-flexes-military-muscle-with-recent-deployments-1477576322

General Dynamic Scout Tank

U.S. Army Combat Vehicles To Have Laser Weapons by 2017

US Army combat vehicles could be equipped with drone-killing lasers as early as next year.
Researchers with the Army and General Dynamics Land Systems are now testing concept vehicles for a Stryker-mounted laser weapon to protect soldiers from missiles, mortars, and artillery, Scout Warrior reports.  In tests, the system is so far capable of shooting down 21 out of 23 drone targets, and officials say it could be put to use on the battlefield just 11 months from now.   Click on hyperlink below to read more and see video . . .

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3880440/Army-vehicles-laser-weapons-shoot-enemy-drones-2017.html#ixzz4OMMZ0gst

Whistleblowers Sandbagged by NSA and CIA

Do the Committees that oversee the vast U.S. spying apparatus take intelligence community whistleblowers seriously? Do they earnestly investigate reports of waste, fraud, abuse, professional negligence, or crimes against the Constitution reported by employees or contractors working for agencies like the CIA or NSA? For the last 20 years, the answer has been a resounding “no.”  My own experience in 1995-96 is illustrative. Over a two-year period working with my wife, Robin (who was a CIA detailee to a Senate committee at the time), we discovered that, contrary to the public statements by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell and other senior George H. W. Bush administration officials (including CIA Director John Deutch), American troops had in fact been exposed to chemical agents during and after the 1991 war with Saddam Hussein. While the Senate Banking Committee under then-Chairman Don Riegle, D-Mich., was trying to uncover the truth of this, officials at the Pentagon and CIA were working to bury it.  Read the article by clicking on the hyperlink below . . .

When CIA and NSA Workers Blow the Whistle, Congress Plays Deaf

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