Pentagon

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Pentagon Tells Red Cross Who's in Secret Prisons

Military grants group access to prisoners

(Newser) - After years of refusing the Red Cross information about terror suspects held in two secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has quietly reversed course, the New York Times reports. The military has begun providing the identities of prisoners at the sites in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanstan. Under...

Congress Relents, Slashes Unwanted Jet Order

(Newser) - House leaders are slashing their $550 million order for eight new executive jets for use by senior government officials, caving to pressure from fellow lawmakers and the Pentagon, Politico reports. John Murtha’s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee had more than doubled the Pentagon’s original request for $220 million to buy...

Pentagon Releases More 'Scare Force One' Photos

(Newser) - The Pentagon has released 145 new photos of the Air Force One flyover that rattled New Yorkers in April, CNN reports. The flight was for a White House photo shoot, but city officials and the public were not informed. The photos show the Boeing plane, the military version of the...

Pentagon Weighs Ban on Facebook, Twitter

(Newser) - The US military is considering restrictions on access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, citing privacy and security concerns, the Military Times reports. “Sometimes people, because of the nature of these sites, can have a tendency to get lax in what they put on there,” a...

Obama Picks Up Steam in Congress Over F-22 Funds

Lawmakers had opposed Prez's bid to cut money

(Newser) - In a shift, the White House looks likely to win over Congress in its bid to cut $1.7 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter jet, Politico reports. Congress had looked set to support the measure last week, but the administration is pressing hard with Defense Secretary Robert Gates...

US Army to Add 22K Soldiers
 US Army to Add 22K Soldiers 
Jul 21, 2009 2:16 AM CDT

US Army to Add 22K Soldiers

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is temporarily boosting the Army's ranks with 22,000 new soldiers, reports the Army Times. The increase, which follows a permanent increase of 65,000, will reduce the strain on the forces over the next three years, according to Gates. The hike "will be used...

Cyborg Bugs Could Warn of Fires, Chemical Attacks

(Newser) - Cyborg bugs may sound like creatures in a Michael Bay movie, but they could save your life, New Scientist reports. The Pentagon is trying to implant electrodes in crickets and cicadas—which communicate via wingbeats—and program them to “speak” differently around certain chemicals. “The insect itself might...

Pentagon Mulls Smoking Ban for Troops

Military smoking, especially common in combat, costly for VA

(Newser) - Pentagon health experts are pushing for the military to ban tobacco, a move that would upend a traditionally smoky culture, the USA Today reports. Tobacco use is rising among troops, many of whom turn to cigarettes to relieve combat zone stress, and that winds up costing the Pentagon and Veteran's...

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam
legacy
Jul 6, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

'Whiz Kid' McNamara Could Not Escape Vietnam

(Newser) - Robert McNamara led many careers but will be best remembered for his time as secretary of defense during the Vietnam War. Though he privately disagreed with some decisions, he maintained a public optimism about “McNamara’s War” that earned him derision, Reuters reports. Describing the impact of the war...

Boeing Looks to Old 777 Model in Airbus Battle

Will re-tool tanker to compete for Pentagon refueling contract

(Newser) - With its 787 Dreamliner delayed, Boeing is turning to its 14-year-old 777 to compete with Airbus’ next plane, Bloomberg reports. At the Paris Air Show today, Boeing said it may make a new wing for the 777 in an effort to boost fuel efficiency, and will also showcase a 777-based...

Pentagon's Cybercommand Raises Privacy Fears

Militarization of cybersecurity fuels debate on rules of engagement

(Newser) - Plans to put America's cybersecurity under the control of the Pentagon are raising some thorny privacy and diplomacy issues, the New York Times reports. President Obama has insisted that the military, under the cybercommand being developed, will not be monitoring private sector networks and Internet traffic—but Pentagon officials say...

No 'False Flag' for China Spy
No 'False Flag' for China Spy
Jun 11, 2009 9:12 PM CDT

No 'False Flag' for China Spy

Claim that Pentagon mole thought he was dealing with Taiwan not true, indictment reveals

(Newser) - A Pentagon official who said he was tricked into giving classified information to China by an agent who claimed to work for Taiwan was actually aware for a full decade that he was dealing with China, the AP reports. The indictment today of James Fondren Jr also revealed that Fondren...

Conflicts of Interest Rampant in Pentagon Travel: Study

Foreign governments, private firms back officials' trips

(Newser) - Pentagon officials have taken some 22,000 trips whose $26 million tab was picked up by non-governmental sources like private firms and foreign governments, a study finds. The travel is “riddled with conflicts of interest,” said the head of a group behind the study. The medical industry was...

Pentagon Drops Ball on Contractor Oversight: Report

Says tens of billions in contracts lack decent US supervision

(Newser) - Though US defense contracting has reached “unprecedented proportions” in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department isn’t adequately monitoring the contracts, according to an independent watchdog. A report to be presented to Congress tomorrow says the government lacks central records showing the identities, activities, and pay of some 240,...

Pentagon Prefers Blimps to $35M Spy Planes

(Newser) - Financially grounded by the recession, the Pentagon and governments around the world are launching blimps to spy on their enemies, the Economist reports. Such balloons cost far less than Predator and Global Hawk drones—which can sell for $35 million each—and stay airborne for more than a week, while...

Pentagon Builds Legion of 'Hacker Soldiers'

US lags behind in cyberwarfare: experts

(Newser) - Military recruiters may still prize the strapping jock, but military contractors are wooing the scrawny computer geek to join the ranks of young "hacker soldiers" enlisted to defend the US in cyberwarfare, the New York Times reports. Most of the biggest companies, like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, have...

Pentagon Plans New Command for Online War

Military unit will complement Obama's new civilian office

(Newser) - The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a new military command devoted to cyberspace as the armed forces ramp up abilities to not only defend against computer attacks but launch them as well, the New York Times reports. The new command will work in concert with a civilian organization, which President...

Afghan Taliban Have Momentum: Gates

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the...

Pentagon: 1 in 7 Gitmo Prisoners Rejoin Fight

(Newser) - A Pentagon report concludes that 74 of 534 prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay returned to militant activity—a recidivism rate of 14%, or about 1 in 7, the New York Times notes. The report, still under review, could complicate President Obama’s goal of shutting the facility by January because...

Bullying Rumsfeld Used Bible to Sway Bush on Iraq
Bullying Rumsfeld Used Bible to Sway Bush on Iraq
GLOSSIES
May 17, 2009 1:00 PM CDT

Bullying Rumsfeld Used Bible to Sway Bush on Iraq

Former Pentagon chief undermined president, former aides say

(Newser) - Donald Rumsfeld isn’t a preacher, but nearly every morning after the Iraq invasion, he handed President Bush a national security digest containing Biblical quotations intended to influence his decisions. This tactic, Robert Draper writes for GQ in a lengthy look at Rummy's standing among administration contemporaries, epitomizes the former...

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