Pentagon

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Pentagon to Re-Open $35B Air Force Tanker Bid

(Newser) - The Pentagon will re-open a $35 billion contract to build the Air Force's fleet of new refueling tankers and pick a new winner by the end of the year, congressional sources say. The Office of the Secretary of Defense—not the Air Force—will oversee the new competition between Boeing...

Brass: Let Gays Serve Openly
 Brass: Let Gays Serve Openly 
Jul 8, 2008 2:40 AM CDT

Brass: Let Gays Serve Openly

Study says gays don't undermine military

(Newser) - Four high-ranking retired military officers have called on Congress to repeal the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy, saying that it makes it extremely difficult for gays in the US military, reports AP. Allowing gays to serve openly would not undermine the morale, discipline or effectiveness of units in...

Pentagon Backtracks, Extends Afghanistan Tours

2,200 Marines will remain another 30 days despite repeated denials

(Newser) - The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather...

Gitmo Prisoner Charged in Cole Bombing

Torture claims will be central to defense

(Newser) - A suspected al-Qaeda terrorist held at Guantanamo Bay for six years has been charged with masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and injured 50 others. The treatment of Saudi prisoner Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri in custody, which included waterboarding by interrogators, will be a...

Polluting Pentagon Rebuffs EPA Orders

Pentagon challenges agency's right to order toxic chemical clean up

(Newser) - The Pentagon is holding out on an Environmental Protection Agency order to clean up pollutants from three military bases where chemicals have become an "imminent and substantial" threat to the public health and environment, the Washington Post reports. The Defense Department also won’t sign contracts to clean up...

Pakistan Routs Taliban Forces in Major Offensive

Government abandons diplomatic tack to cut militant violence

(Newser) - Pakistan blasted suspected militant hideouts today, launching its biggest offensive against Taliban forces since electing a government last March. The military cleared three militant outposts and forced the insurgents west, CNN reports. For weeks, tensions have mounted between militants and Islamabad, which abandoned its diplomatic strategy as insurgent strikes increased.

Fighting Forces Get No Break on Fuel Price Hikes

Pentagon fuel expenses have doubled in 3 years

(Newser) - Consumers at the gas pump aren't the only ones suffering sticker shock: Military units in Iraq and elsewhere will see another hike in fuel costs next week, the second increase this budget year amid soaring oil prices. On July 1, the cost for refined fuel used by troops will jump...

Afghan Taliban Resurgence Alarms Pentagon

Pentagon report cautions a renewed insurgency

(Newser) - Taliban militants in Afghanistan have regrouped “into a resilient insurgency” that has US  allies "losing ground and slipping backwards," a new Pentagon report concludes. Bombing attacks set a record in 2007, and are on track to top that in 2008. Security conditions in the war-torn country have...

Contrast in Defense Chiefs: Blunt Vet vs. Rhodes Scholar

How Obama and McCain's potential Pentagon leaders stack up

(Newser) - How would a McCain Pentagon differ from Obama's? NPR sits own with two potential defense chiefs and finds common ground in their praise of Robert Gates' reforms but big differences in their approach to Iraq and in their own styles. Richard Armitage is an earthy McCain adviser and Vietnam vet...

Top Engineers Shun Military
Top Engineers Shun Military
Jun 25, 2008 2:15 AM CDT

Top Engineers Shun Military

Costs soar as sought-after project managers head for private sector

(Newser) - Greater "geek cachet" and higher pay is diverting engineering managers from the military into places like Microsoft and Google, the New York Times reports. The result is a dearth of  managers overseeing military projects, which government investigators largely blame for long delays and $295 billion in cost overruns. The...

Fierce Military Lawyers Take On Gitmo Fight

Defense attorneys wage tough battles for terror suspect clients

(Newser) - Military lawyers appointed to represent Guantanamo prisoners have been fighting in their clients' corner with unexpected fierceness, the New York Times reports. The lawyers have infuriated prosecutors by challenging the administration's war crimes system and demanding rights for their clients. One of them describes the task as a "historic...

Party Leaders in House Reach Deal on War Funds

Bipartisan agreement allocates $163B for Iraq, Afghanistan through early 2009

(Newser) - A two-year fight between the White House and Democrats over war funding has been resolved, the New York Times reports. House leaders reached a deal to allocate $163 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through early next year. The measure, expected to be approved by the full House...

CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips
CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips
Jun 18, 2008 8:06 AM CDT

CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips

Methods were 'reverse-engineered' from manuals

(Newser) - The CIA gave the Pentagon advice about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques to be used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, the Washington Post reports. Documents shown to a Senate committee yesterday reveal that the agency had a bigger role than first thought. Torture is "subject to...

Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Grilling in Torture Probe

Defense Department lawyers played bigger role in Gitmo than first thought

(Newser) - Pentagon lawyers had more input than was initially thought into the harsh interrogation techniques used on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, sources close to a Senate investigation have told the New York Times. Documents from 2002 reveal that officials in the Department of Defense, then run by Donald Rumsfeld, researched techniques like...

Audit Shows Billions Unaccounted for in Iraq

Almost $8.2B in Iraq War funding evaded federal rules, reports the Pentagon

(Newser) - A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in taxpayer money spent in Iraq found that nearly all of the handouts skirted federal rules, and millions of dollars in contracts were awarded with little or no record of what they were for, reports the New York Times. Take the $320.8...

Military at War With Rising Fuel Costs

Pentagon, with hefty budget worries, trying synthetic, greener options

(Newser) - Fuel costs are hitting the US military harder than most, the Wall Street Journal reports, and it's moving forward with efforts to switch to synthetic, and greener, alternatives. Chugging 340,000 barrels of oil per day, the military is the nation's largest consumer; synthetic fuels and massive solar arrays are...

'20th Hijacker' Tried Suicide at Gitmo

Detainee 'lost all hope' after learning of capital charges

(Newser) - A man accused of being al-Qaeda's 20th 9/11 hijacker tried to kill himself at Guantanamo Bay last month, Reuters reports. A lawyer for the Saudi said he cut his wrist open after learning that the Pentagon had filed capital charges against him. The charges were dropped last week without explanation...

Pentagon to Build Giant Prison in Afghanistan

New Bagram complex marks intention to hold prisoners abroad for years to come

(Newser) - The Pentagon is planning to build a huge new detention complex in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times, acknowledging that the US expects to hold prisoners there for many years to come. The 40-acre, $60-million facility at Bagram Air Force Base will replace the existing makeshift prison in a converted...

Rove Linked to Talking-Heads Scandal, Despite Denial

White House denies it knew of Pentagon program, but adviser turns up in documents

(Newser) - The plot thickens in the case of “military analysts” programmed by the Pentagon to give the party line on TV, Glenn Greenwald asserts in Salon: Documents show the White House—despite denials—had a hand in keeping the retired generals “on message”—and indeed that Pentagon higher-ups...

Charges Dropped Against '20th Hijacker'

Case against other accused 9/11 planners will go forward

(Newser) - The US has dropped charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani, who allegedly planned to be the “20th hijacker” in the 9/11 attacks, Reuters reports. The US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay rejected the charges against Qahtani “without prejudice,” meaning that the Saudi citizen may yet face prosecution. The charges...

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