Security
Sixty killed in Libya fighting
Libyan rebels say they repelled attack on Az Zawiya
Libya asks UN Security Council to suspend sanctions
Venezuela’s Chavez proposes ex-U.S. President Carter join Libya mission
Saleh rejects opposition’s offer for early exit
Members of Yemen president’s party quit amid unrest
Saudi Arabia imposes protest ban
Saudis mobilise thousands of troops to quell growing revolt
Former Egyptian interior minister goes on trial on corruption charges
In Bahrain, a key opposition leader signals openness to compromise
Qaboos fires 3 ministers
Terrorists kill four Iran forest guards: Report
No state with temporary border: Abbas
Abbas calls for full Palestinian membership in the UN
U.S. Wavers on ‘Regime Change’
The Economist: It’s not over yet
Algeria Opposition Joins Protest Wave
53 African Union peacekeepers killed in Somalia offensive
Bhatti’s killing leaves Pak govt split wide open
China moves to curb military power, offers social justice amidst ‘Jasmine’ calls
‘China invite’ to Kim Jong-il son
N. Korea Wants South to Return Captured Boaters
Missile defense, Russia’s WTO membership top U.S.-Russian agenda in 2011
COIN in Mexico?

Maritime
Iranian ships have re-entered Red Sea from Suez Canal

Military
DDGs lead billet list as manning details emerge

My little voice tells me that the Army’s deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, is going to be doing some heavy backpedaling over these recent comments while “preparing the battlefield” for a possible repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:

“Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still racists and bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them,” Lt. Gen. Bostick said. “But these people opposing this new policy will need to get with the program, and if they can’t, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you’re always going to have those that oppose this on moral and religious grounds just like you still have racists today.”

Speaking as one Christian, I doubt significant numbers of us will leave the military should the law change. We’re smart enough to realize that while we believe homosexuality is a sin, you can’t bar people from serving just because they sin. Otherwise, no one would be able to serve (Rom 3:23). We’re also smart enough to realize that we live in a democracy, and the people get to decide under what rules we live while we’re in uniform. The thing the good general–and the culture at large–seems to forget is what it really means to be “tolerant”.

Of course, we were warned (Jn 15:18-21).

Taliban Uses Kids In Fight Vs. U.S.: Children Employed As Human Shields
Afghan children as young as 3 years old are being used by the Taliban as human shields or to gather spent cartridges, and teenagers are being given motorcycles for planting roadside bombs, U.S. Marines say.

Senate could debate gays in military this week
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring the annual defense authorization bill to the floor Thursday, opening up the possibility for an ugly debate over whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military as early as next week.

Christian voters losing faith in Obama
Many doubt that the president’s a believer and remain skeptical that he shares their values.

Bacteria unfazed by drugs are found
An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: A new gene that can turn many types of bacteria into superbugs resistant to nearly all antibiotics has sickened people in three states and is popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday.
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Navy Times reports on the unprecedented diversity of the entering class at the Naval Academy:

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, who has made diversity a top priority, said minorities will make up about 35 percent of the Class of 2013. That’s 7 percentage points higher than the Class of 2012, which had the most minorities up to that point.

The aim is to increase the ranks of minority officers in the Navy. When students graduate, they are commissioned as officers.

“Now, enrollment is not the measure, but if you want to get commissionings you’ve got to get people enrolled here,” Fowler told the academy’s Board of Visitors, which functions as a Board of Trustees at a civilian college.

While increasing the number of minority students is a big step forward, Fowler emphasized that the academy’s work is not done.

“We need to ensure a successor of mine can tell this board in four years that not only did we have the most acceptances — that we have the most commissioning of minorities in the history of the Naval Academy,” Fowler said. “That is a true measure.”

The academy has seen a big increase in the number of black students — from about 6 percent in the Class of 2012 to about 10 percent for the incoming class. The number of Hispanic students is more than 14 percent in the Class of 2013, up from more than 10 percent the year before.

Just for the record, here are Wikipedia’s numbers on the demographic mix of the U.S.:

The U.S. population’s distribution by race and ethnicity in 2006 was as follows:

Total population: 299 million
White alone: 74% or 221.3 million
Not including the 23.2 million White Hispanic and Latino Americans: 66% or 198.1 million
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, of any race: 14.8% or about 44.3 million
Black or African American alone: 13.4% or 40.9 million
Some other race alone: 6.5% or 19 million
Asian alone: 4.4% or 13.1 million
Two or more races: 2.0% or 6.1 million
American Indian or Alaska Native alone: 0.68% or 2.0 million
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander alone: 0.14% or 0.43 million