Pentagon

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Iraqi Police Force Should Be 'Scrapped'

Infighting, corruption force recommendation that US 'start over'

(Newser) - Corruption and sectarian biases are so deeply entrenched in the Iraqi police ranks that the force's structure must be “scrapped,” an independent panel will report to Congress next week. The recommendation stems from an examination of the 26,000-member police force that concludes “we should start over,...

Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'
Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'
Aug 30, 2007 4:37 AM CDT

Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'

Congressional auditors say most key goals unfulfilled

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has failed to meet most of the key political and military goals—the so called benchmarks—designed to measure the success of the US troop surge, congressional auditors say. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office has concluded that 13 of the 18 benchmarks remain unmet as...

Couric Will Report From Iraq, Syria
Couric Will Report From Iraq, Syria
Aug 29, 2007 8:24 AM CDT

Couric Will Report From Iraq, Syria

Anchor plans 10-day trip through Mideast before surge report

(Newser) - Katie Couric leaves today for a 10-day trip to Iraq and Syria, where she will cover the war and the turbulent Middle East as the Pentagon's September 15 deadline for a report on Iraq looms. Couric will spend six days in Iraq, twice anchoring "CBS Evening News" live from...

Puerto Rican Pacifists Say No To Pentagon

Activists undermine recruitment push with opt-out forms

(Newser) - Anti-war sentiment is pulsing through Puerto Rico, the Washington Post reports, even rattling dormant talk of independence. Pacifists have been giving high schoolers leaflets with instructions for avoiding Pentagon recruiters who have been ravenous in the poor island territory; an independence activist said the forms helped prevent young Puerto Ricans...

Pentagon Spent $1M on 2 Washers
Pentagon Spent $1M on 2 Washers
Aug 16, 2007 2:34 PM CDT

Pentagon Spent $1M on 2 Washers

Crafty twin sisters bilked government out of $20.5 million over 6 years

(Newser) - Twin sisters at a parts supplier scammed the Pentagon out of $20.5 million in fraudulent  shipping costs, including $998,798 they charged to ship two 19-cent washers and half a mil to ship three machine screws to Iraq. The Pentagon took six years to catch on to the sisters'...

Robots Get Their Own Surge
Robots Get Their Own Surge
Aug 13, 2007 4:59 PM CDT

Robots Get Their Own Surge

Military wants 3000 new war-bots ASAP

(Newser) - The military wants more robots, and it wants them fast. The Pentagon is looking to enlist more small, maneuverable 'bots that can look out for insurgents and bombs—1,000 by the end of this year and 2,000 more over the next five years, Wired reports. The military is...

US Loses 30% of Iraq Weapons
US Loses 30% of Iraq Weapons
Aug 6, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

US Loses 30% of Iraq Weapons

That's 110,000 AK-47s, 80,000 pistols

(Newser) - Nearly a third of US weapons doled out to Iraqi security forces over the past three years are unaccounted for, a GAO report says, and insiders are worried they've fallen into the hands of insurgents. The weapons that the Pentagon can no longer track include 110,000 AK-47 assault rifles...

New Party in Japan Prompts US Anxiety

Election winners threaten to veto anti-terror measures

(Newser) - The ruling party’s losses in Japanese elections last week are causing worry in the White House and the Pentagon, says the Financial Times. An anti-terror measure that that has allowed Japanese ships to refuel American vessels is set to expire in November, and the Democratic Party of Japan is...

Rumsfeld Denies Role in Tillman Cover-Up

On Hill, ex-Pentagon chief rejects personal responsibility

(Newser) - Donald Rumsfeld took no responsibility today for the bungled handling of the reporting and investigation of Pat Tillman’s death, saying he always stressed honesty at the Pentagon. Before a House committee, the ex-defense secretary denied allegations he was involved in the military plot to claim the ex-NFL star was...

General Censured in Tillman Death
General Censured in Tillman Death
Aug 1, 2007 6:26 AM CDT

General Censured in Tillman Death

Chief misled probe after friendly fire cut down ex-NFL star

(Newser) - A retired three-star general has been censured for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" following the friendly-fire death of ex-NFL star Pat Tillman, the AP reports. Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger misled investigators probing Tillman's death, which was initially said to be the result of...

General Faces Demotion in Tillman Probe

Six other officers will draw career-ending punishments

(Newser) - A retired three-star general who allegedly misled investigators about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan could be stripped of his stars and part of his pension, Pentagon officials told CNN. Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger told inspectors he didn't know the Green Beret was killed by...

Pentagon Destroys Surplus Goods
Pentagon Destroys
Surplus Goods
Jul 23, 2007 2:21 PM CDT

Pentagon Destroys Surplus Goods

Surplus dealers angry at scope of gear purge

(Newser) - The Pentagon is scrapping millions of dollars of gear it has traditionally resold to surplus dealers, Time reports. The army claims that sorting passels of helmets, boots, and sleeping bags is too onerous, while suppliers are concerned the move is the vestige of an effort to keep old jet parts...

Heel-Dragging on Humvees Cost Lives
Heel-Dragging on Humvees Cost Lives
Jul 17, 2007 11:59 AM CDT

Heel-Dragging on Humvees Cost Lives

Officers in Iraq pled with Pentagon for years to replace dangerous vehicles

(Newser) - Officers in Iraq have been begging the Pentagon to replace their vulnerable Humvees with mine-proof MRAPs for years, but to no avail. Now senators Joe Biden and Kit Bond estimate that 700 lives could have been saved if the Pentagon had shipped out the MRAPs earlier, and USA Today reports...

Gates Sambas Out of Latin American Tour

Stays home to bolster Iraq war support after GOP desertions

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled a tour of Latin America just hours before he was set to depart in an effort to help shore up faltering support for the Iraq War, Bloomberg reports. Gates will stay home to prepare for the administration's July 15 update to Congress on the progress...

Military Shreds Old Fighter Jets
Military Shreds Old Fighter Jets
Jul 2, 2007 5:32 PM CDT

Military Shreds Old Fighter Jets

Parts from "Top Gun" planes were landing in the wrong hands

(Newser) - The US military is paying a contractor to destroy its retired fleet of F-14 fighter jets, after evidence surfaced that Iran had been acquiring the old parts and was intending to rebuild the planes, reports the AP. “There were things getting to the bad guys,” the contractor says....

Bush Preps for Exit Strategy on Surge

White House orders reports that could counter pro-surge Petraeus come Sept.

(Newser) - The Bush administration has commissioned a slew of reports that could help it justify an end to the troop surge later this fall, the New York Times reports. Three months before Gen. Petraeus's planned report on the efficacy of the troop increase—expected to recommend a continuation of the surge—...

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics
CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics
Jun 21, 2007 6:25 PM CDT

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics

Agency believed to have teamed up with Pentagon

(Newser) - The CIA apparently colluded with the US military to develop torture techniques for interrogating terrorist suspects, Salon reports. The program was based on methods originally designed to teach American special forces how to withstand abuse if captured. While the military's role in this "reverse engineering" had been previously exposed,...

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'
Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'
May 22, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

Analysis of Pentagon orders shows 8 more brigades in Iraq by year's end

(Newser) - The number of US combat troops in Iraq is being quietly doubled this year in what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a second surge, the paper concludes from an analysis of Pentagon orders. The combination of new combat brigades and lengthened tours for troops already stationed in Iraq could bring...

Pentagon Woos Tech Startups
Pentagon Woos Tech Startups
May 7, 2007 11:38 AM CDT

Pentagon Woos Tech Startups

Venture capital firms play matchmaker in Defense search for new technologies

(Newser) - Infant tech companies are fast becoming a tributary in the pipeline between the Pentagon and big contractors, the Times reports. And in a new, official initiative, Defense is tasking venture capitalists to harvest ideas and technologies from the fast-moving tech startups they monitor, and small companies are winning coveted contracts.

Combat Soldiers' Blogs Make Brass Queasy

(Newser) - Some of the most riveting reporting about the war in Iraq is coming from the soldiers fighting it. As blogs from deployed soldiers proliferate, higher-ups are biting their nails over the ensuing transparency. Bloggers like Capt. Danjel Bout say posting provides "online therapy" and helps keep friends and the...

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