Federal Judge Slams War President

AP: Michigan

A United States Federal Judge has declared that the President and his administration have over stepped the bounds provided by the Constitution and Federal Law by claiming that Presidential War Powers provide the President with additional power that abrogates the express power of the Executive delineated in the Constitution.

After more than three years of war, which has been termed a Civil War, the administration has taken it upon itself to "violate express clauses of the Constitution, especially Art. IV Section 2, as well as Federal Law," according to the Federal Judge who heard the case."

There simply is no justification for expanded "war powers" in the Constitution," the judge said, and "therefore the Emancipation Proclamation must be struck down."Detroit Free Press, 1863.

Army realigns Combat Force Training, Faces Opposition

AP: Fort Benning, Georgia

In keeping with the push by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld for a "smarter" force, the United States Army has moved the training for soldiers and officers for tank warfare (known as "armor") from its traditional home of Fort Knox, Kentucky to Fort Benning, Georgia, where it will be combined with the infantry school there, to create a "maneuver" school that will integrate forces better. According to Pentagon Spokesman LTC Reed Carr, the two branches have developed some separate cultural systems, and the belief is that by having them train together, they will be more effective in developing and executing doctrine.

However, the soldier's effected are not sure that it is a good idea. SSG Jesus Barrios, a tank commander just graduating from advanced schooling for non-commissioned officers, likes Fort Knox just fine. "And while I can see how having us train the infantry will be good and enlightening for those troglodytes, I fail to see what we tankers will get out of it. I mean honestly, I already know all the cuss words," he added.

Fort Benning soldiers are also concerned about the change. MSG Jim Boyd, an instructor at the Infantry School, said "My main concern is about the gentrification of post. So long as my kids were only competing in school against the kids of other grunts, the playing field was level. But now they will be thrown into competition with much smarter kids, from better families, and I don't think that is fair. Plus, I just find it difficult to communicate with tankers: they think too much."

Time will tell if this new cultural immersion accomplishes its mission of developing the infantry, or just lowers the high standards of the elite armor force.