Tag Archives: military

Warned About bin Laden?

Q: Did Oliver North warn Al Gore about Osama bin Laden at Senate hearings in 1987? A: This ridiculous hoax has been circulating since 2001, even though the secretary of the U.S. Senate and North himself have debunked it.

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Rescue of Captain Phillips

Q: Did Obama delay the rescue of Captain Phillips? A: No. Military officials say that the claims being made in a widely circulated chain e-mail are false.

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Here There Be Pirates

We’ve been getting lots — you might even say a vast number — of queries about a new chain e-mail making the rounds. It’s about everyone’s new favorite topic: pirates. And the e-mail simultaneously praises the Navy SEALs who dramatically rescued Capt. Richard Phillips from three Somali pirates April 12 while …
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Afghanistan History

President Obama seemed to rewrite history in his remarks on Friday in Strasbourg, France, telling an audience at a town hall event: Obama, April 3: But after the initial NATO engagement in Afghanistan, we got sidetracked by Iraq, and we have not fully recovered that initial insight that we have …
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Obama’s Prime Time Pitch

President Obama sometimes strayed from the facts or made dubious claims during his hour-long evening news conference March 24. He said his budget projections are based on economic assumptions that “are perfectly consistent with what Blue Chip forecasters out there are saying.” Not true. The average projection by leading …
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Tiny Iran

Feb. 26 marked the beginning of the Conservative Political Action Committee (or CPAC) annual convention. Conference speakers include leading figures from the Republican Party as well as conservative columnists, pundits and activists. Among yesterday’s speakers was John Bolton, U.N. ambassador under President George W. Bush and now a senior fellow …
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Ride into the Danger Zone

The Air Force’s much-criticized F-22 has been a favorite subject of much of the blogosphere, particularly since Mark Bowden’s feature article praising the fighter appeared in the March issue of The Atlantic . Tuesday night the discussion went mainstream, with Obama’s oblique reference to “Cold War weapons we don’t use.” …
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Military Oath

Q: Is President Obama planning to have the military swear an oath to him rather than to the Constitution? A: No, the "news report" that makes this claim is intended as satire.

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Nancy Pelosi’s Personal Jet

Q: Did Nancy Pelosi order up a 200-seat jet for her personal use? A: The Democratic House speaker normally flies in a 12-seat Air Force jet, just as her Republican predecessor did. This rumor stems from a request by the House sergeant at arms, not Pelosi, for a jet large …
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Virginia’s Military Absentee Ballots

Q: Was the deadline for absentee ballots from military members extended in Virginia? A: A hearing is scheduled Dec. 8 to decide whether Virginia election officials should count absentee ballots that arrived late. In response to a lawsuit filed before Election Day by John McCain’s campaign, a judge had ordered …
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