Department of Defense

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US Can't Be Sure Pakistan's $5.6B Went to Fight Terror

Suspect accounting makes tracking funds nearly impossible: GAO report

(Newser) - The Defense Department cannot show that nearly $6 billion the US has sent to Pakistan since 2001 has been used, as intended, to fight terrorism. In a report yesterday, the Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon hadn’t properly tracked the funds, CNN reports, blindly signing off on questionable charges—...

Nuclear Parts Still Missing: Pentagon Report

Sensitive components remain unaccounted for in mess that cost Air Force brass jobs

(Newser) - The investigation that resulted in the dismissal of top US Air Force brass two weeks ago also found that hundreds of nuclear-missile parts remain missing, the Financial Times reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon needed "to re-establish positive control of these sensitive, classified components" in announcing the...

FBI Stalled in Addressing Prisoner Abuse

Report says agents didn't participate in torture, but knew of it

(Newser) - FBI agents dragged their feet in reporting torture inflicted on prisoners by Defense contractors and CIA employees, an an internal FBI report shows, but agents themselves generally did not participate in torture. FBI brass, however, was scolded for not providing more guidance or “pressing harder” to curb other agencies’...

Pentagon Emails Detail TV Propaganda Plans
Pentagon Emails Detail
TV Propaganda Plans
analysis
May 10, 2008 4:23 PM CDT

Pentagon Emails Detail TV Propaganda Plans

Defense officials sought military experts willing to "carry our water"

(Newser) - Need more proof that the Pentagon coached ostensibly impartial military analysts about what to say on TV? In Salon, Glenn Greenwald reveals emails from one top defense staffer who suggested developing a core group of insiders who are “most reliably friendly” and that “we can count on to...

Judge Purges General From Gitmo Case
Judge Purges General From Gitmo Case
May 10, 2008 12:10 PM CDT

Judge Purges General From Gitmo Case

Says he's not impartial; move could throw wrench in 9/11 trials

(Newser) - A military judge has expelled a Pentagon general from the case of a Guantanamo detainee in a move that could open the military tribunal system to further attacks. The judge said the general—who is supposed to be impartial as overseer of the Gitmo legal process—worked too closely with...

9/11 Suspects Won't See Trial on Bush Watch

Lack of precedent has Gitmo cases moving at snail's pace

(Newser) - Guantanamo Bay inmates likely will not be tried for charges connected to the Sept. 11 attacks while President Bush is still in office, US officials say. The system set up in 2006 for trying charges brought against the prisoners is crawling. "Every little detail ends up being contested, because...

Rumsfeld Dodged Early Iraq Failures: Sanchez

Former general speaks out in new book, describes lies and 'total BS'

(Newser) - Early mistakes in Iraq—and the extent of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's involvement in them—are the subject of a Time excerpt from a book by the former commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Sanchez details an effort by Rumsfeld to get him to agree, on paper,...

Bill Would Defend Troops From Incoming Playmates

Playboy way off base, says proposed ban

(Newser) - A Republican lawmaker wants to keep America's fighting men and women out of harm's way—the harm he says is caused by exposure to incoming copies of Playboy and Penthouse. The Military Honor and Decency Act sponsored by Georgia congressman Paul Broun would tighten existing laws to prevent the magazines...

Pentagon Purse Strings Ensnare TV Military Analysts

Commentators linked to defense contractors

(Newser) - Several so-called "independent" military analysts who often support Defense Department positions on TV news programs have been linked closely to defense contractors and the Pentagon in an extensive New York Times investigation. "We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’...

Workers Charge Laptops to Lingerie on Fed Credit Cards

Audit: Nearly half of purchases broke rules

(Newser) - Millions of dollars government employees charged to federal credit cards went for less-than-appropriate perks ranging from digital cameras to dating services, sexy lingerie, laptops, and a $13,000 postal party, reports the Washington Post. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that 48% of major purchases on federal credit...

Pentagon Inventing Group Hits 50, Looks to Next Strides

Freewheeling DARPA helped create the Internet

(Newser) - A small Defense Department agency credited with inventing the Internet and rockets that sent men to the moon is turning 50, the Washington Post reports, and is fine-tuning its next innovations. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's work spans biology, satellites and aircraft; it has no permanent labs and its...

Couple Seeks $25K Over Google's 'Street View'

Privacy-seeking couple claims 'mental suffering' after home appears online

(Newser) - Google gave in to the Defense Department, but can it fight a couple in Pittsburgh? Aaron and Christine Boring are seeking more than $25,000 for invasion of privacy by Google's “Street View” feature, the Smoking Gun reports. The couple says that a “major component of their purchase...

Gates Orders Full Nuclear Inventory
Gates Orders Full Nuclear Inventory
Mar 28, 2008 6:32 AM CDT

Gates Orders Full Nuclear Inventory

Missile fuses shipped to Taiwan were second mishap in a year

(Newser) - Secretary of State Robert Gates has ordered Pentagon officials to take a new inventory of all US nuclear weapons and related equipment, the Washington Post reports. The count, to be completed in 60 days, is in addition to a specific probe into how 4 missile fuses were shipped accidentally to...

China Furious Over US/Taiwan Nuke Mixup

Beijing warns of 'disastrous consequences'

(Newser) - Beijing unloaded on Washington today, enraged by reports that the US had accidentally sent nuclear missile parts to Taiwan. China demanded a full US investigation, and said the mistake had “disastrous consequences.” China told the US to halt all arms shipments to Taiwan to “avoid endangering the...

Nuke Fluke: US Sent Missile Parts to Taiwan

Defense Dept. didn't realize error through nearly 2 years of Taiwanese queries

(Newser) - The US accidentally shipped components used in nuclear missiles to Taiwan in 2006, CNN reports. Instead of helicopter batteries, the Defense Department sent fuses designed to allow 1960s ballistic missiles to detonate; no actual nuclear material was involved. Taiwan quickly alerted the US to the error, but it wasn’t...

Top Admiral Fired for Lying to DoD Probe

Navy cans him for misleading inquiry into improper relationship

(Newser) - The Navy has fired a vice admiral for giving the Department of Defense "false and misleading information" during an investigation, reports the Navy Times. John Stufflebeem, the director of the Navy staff, lied to an inquiry into an alleged inappropriate relationship while serving as a military adviser to former...

Wounded Warriors Saluted at Pentagon

Quiet indoor ceremony honors injured

(Newser) - A poignant and little-known ceremony featuring wounded vets is held privately indoors at the Pentagon every six weeks, reports the Wall Street Journal. It's called the "Wounded Warrior March." Hundreds of Defense Department employees line the corridors of the Pentagon to applaud, cheer, shake hands, or hug servicemen...

War Architect Blasts CIA, State Dept. for Iraq Fumbles

Ex-defense official says his advice was ignored

(Newser) - A top Iraq war architect slams the CIA and State Department for flawed handling of the build-up and eventual invasion in a new book, the Washington Post reports. Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of defense, takes shots at Colin Powell, Tommy Franks, and ex-occupation chief Paul Bremer, among others, for brushing...

US Bases Block Google Camera Crews
US Bases
Block Google
Camera Crews
Mar 7, 2008 4:07 AM CST

US Bases Block Google Camera Crews

General warns of security breach after base photos go online

(Newser) - Google camera teams have been banned from US military installations after panoramic views of the inside of a Texas base ended up on the internet, the AP reports. The street-level images show "where all the guards are, how the barriers go up and down, how to get in and...

Stunned Boeing Presses USAF to Explain Choice

Scheduled debriefing not soon enough for jilted company

(Newser) - Boeing is calling for an “immediate debriefing” on the Air Force's choice of a foreign company to build its fuel tankers, Bloomberg reports. The selection of Airbus and Northrop Grumman is to be the subject of a scheduled March 12 meeting, but Boeing says that isn’t protocol. “...

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