Politics - US Military latest news

The Marine Corps may begin shifting its major combat forces out of iraq to focus on Afghanistan in 2009 if greater security in Iraq allows a reduction of Marines there, top Pentagon officials said yesterday.

BAGHDAD, May 9 -- Iraqi police announced early Friday the capture of Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, the leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in iraq, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report.

BANGKOK, May 8 -- Two U.N. transport planes loaded with cyclone relief supplies landed in Burma on Thursday, as international leaders heightened pressure on the country's secretive military government to fully embrace foreign help. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tried unsuccessfully to telephone Burma's top general to press the case personally.

The Bethesda naval hospital's multimillion-dollar expansion will get underway in the next two weeks as the military moves to consolidate medical operations in the area and create a world-class trauma center.

United States Air Force Medical Qualification Standards for flying duty.

Unless otherwise indicated, these restrictions and requirements are applicable for non-prior service students, no matter what training phase an airman is in.

BAGHDAD, May 9 -- A U.S. military spokesman said a man detained Thursday in northern iraq is not wanted terrorist Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, the leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in iraq.

Reuters - The U.S. military has dropped plans to assign the former commander of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Pakistan, after sharp criticism of his Guantanamo command in Pakistani media, the New York Times reported in its Friday editions.

AFP - canada's industry minister confirmed Friday he is blocking the sale of leading space firm MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates to a US defense contractor, saying it provided no net benefit to canada.

Burma's ruling military junta today impounded United Nations food shipments bound for the storm-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta, forcing a temporary suspension of U.N. aid deliveries. A U.N. official later said shipments would resume tomorrow, and the United States said it has received approval to fly in a single cargo plane on Monday.