Leatherneck Weekend Extra - 5 October 2008

Sunday Morning Reading

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• FEATURE: SecDef Gates Vs. The Pentagon Bureaucracy: Deja Vu (time.com)
  On Monday Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave a speech at the National Defense University in Washington excoriating the military establishment he inherited on taking the job almost two years ago....
• FEATURE: "A Fight To The Death" In Battles Against Militants Pakistani Leader Zardari Is Increasingly Isolated And Besieged (newsweek.com)
  The security guard on the CCTV screen cut a lone, heroic figure. It was Sept. 20, and the guard stood at the barricaded entrance of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel trying to douse the explosives-laden truck while others around him ran for cover....
• FEATURE: CEO Discusses Blueprint For America's Energy Future (coloradoan.com)
  National energy policies have to change if the United States is to keep up with new energy possibilities and end its dependence on foreign oil, said the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy....
• FEATURE: Q&A: South Carolina Marines In Afghanistan (thestate.com)
  More than four dozen South Carolinians are serving with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Recently a few of the South Carolina Marines answered a questionaire e-mailed to them by The State....
• REPORT: Heeding The Call In A New Age Of War (onlineathens.com)
  Get an inside look at the role of a Marine recruiter as Sgt Robert Romans talks about the changes over the years in recruiting....
• COLUMN: The Bell Of Balangiga, A Case Of Amnesia (inquirer.net)
  A few months before we celebrated the centennial of Philippine Independence in 1998, there was a flurry of activity to recover the Bells of Balangiga, considering their great spiritual value as symbols of our struggle for liberty and independence....
• OPINION: U.S. Should Boost Nonmilitary Security (fpif.org)
  At a time when national consensus on anything is rare indeed, here's one example: The balance between our spending on military forces and other security tools — like diplomacy, nonproliferation, foreign aid and homeland security — needs to change....