Department of Defense

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US Troops to Train Syrian Rebels for ISIS Takedown

Train-and-equip plan for moderate Syrian opposition designed to derail insurgents

(Newser) - In continuing efforts to thwart Islamic militants in Syria, the US Defense Department confirmed last night that it's sending 400 troops to train moderate Syrian opposition, Army Times reports. Trainers will set up shop in Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with the six- to eight-week training sessions tentatively set...

Caterer Fined $389M in Years-Long Pentagon Scam

Supreme Group pleads guilty to $48M fraud

(Newser) - A firm that until last year provided food and water to 130,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan has pleaded guilty to fraud. Supreme Group, according to court papers, "devised and implemented a scheme to overcharge the United States" in an $8.8 billion contract, the Justice Department says in...

Pentagon Gifts Cops French Horns, Personal TVs

Defense Department also gave Calif. police ... snow gear

(Newser) - Just what Los Angeles County police need: 500 snowshoes and 1,600 parkas. Need aside, that's what they were handed by the Defense Department in March, according to a breakdown of $4.3 billion in surplus military supplies sent to police departments across the country since 1997. Think that'...

Obama Nominates Ashton Carter for Defense Secretary

Pentagon vet will 'hit the ground running,' president says

(Newser) - We're one step closer to finding Chuck Hagel' s replacement: President Obama announced today he's nominating Pentagon ace Ashton Carter to take over as secretary of defense, the AP reports. Although some fear that Carter's insider status may hamper his ability to come up with creative solutions...

Panetta: Obama 'Lost His Way,' 'Lacks Fire'

Ex-CIA, DoD head describes frustration in new memoir

(Newser) - The man who ran the CIA from 2009 to 2011 and the Pentagon from 2011 to 2013 has got some pretty scathing things to say about his old boss in his new memoir, Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace, and in interviews with USA Today and...

US Blew Millions Shipping Military Trucks: Report

GAO report suggests it would have been cheaper to just blow them up

(Newser) - It would've been more financially prudent to blow up now-useless US military vehicles used in Afghanistan instead of what the Pentagon actually did: ship them back home. A GAO report released yesterday and cited in USA Today says that from October 2012 to October 2013, the Army and Marines...

Pentagon Aims to Train Small Syria Opposition Force

Program could start next year, slowly expand

(Newser) - The Pentagon has a plan to train some moderate opposition fighters in Syria, but it may struggle to win congressional approval. Administration officials want to start small, training just 2,300 people; the program would be "scalable" from there, a top defense official tells the Wall Street Journal . It...

Pentagon: Bergdahl Back on Active Duty

Set to meet with officer investigating his disappearance

(Newser) - After weeks of counseling , Bowe Bergdahl has returned to active duty, the Defense Department announced today, according to the AP . His exact duties haven't been disclosed yet, but according to the New York Times he'll live in barracks at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where his therapy...

Government Trying to Fix Our Memories

Pentagon invests $40M in research into implants

(Newser) - It sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick: Direct brain recording, a shorthand for probing the brain to listen to its chatter. But the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is dedicating $40 million to this high-tech field to help the estimated 270,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war...

Secret Tapes of Gitmo Force-Feedings Do Exist

Well, at least tapes of one detainee being force-fed

(Newser) - In an unprecedented ruling, non-government officials have been given the go-ahead to view secret recordings that depict force-feedings at Guantanamo Bay—a ruling that by its nature establishes the fact that these tapes actually do exist, reports the Guardian . A federal judge yesterday ruled that lawyers for Abu Wa’el...

15 of US' Benghazi Sources Have Been Killed

Senate report also concludes that consulate attack was 'preventable'

(Newser) - The US government didn't do enough to prevent the attack on the Benghazi consulate, a long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee report concludes. The bipartisan report chastises the CIA for operating out of a different building than the State Department—a facility the military didn't even know about, the Washington ...

Top Gun Inspiration Makes History at Pentagon

Christine Fox is acting No. 2, highest defense post ever held by a woman

(Newser) - For someone who has spent a chunk of her career in the wonky position of budget strategist for the Pentagon, Christine Fox now has two decidedly unwonky gems on her resume:
  • President Obama today appointed her as the acting No. 2 at the Pentagon, an "unprecedented move" that gives
...

Military's Budget Plan: Cut Pay, Benefits

Defense Dept. looking at options as budget set to shrink

(Newser) - It's long seemed unthinkable, but US military personnel could soon see cuts to their pay and benefits. Top commanders are considering such cuts as they deal with a decreasing budget, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chair said this weekend. While acknowledging that "we can't pay [soldiers] enough,...

CIA&#39;s &#39;Cruel, Inhumane&#39; Torturers? Doctors

 CIA's 'Inhumane' 
 Torturers? Doctors 
NEW REPORT
Nov 4, 2013 7:41 AM CST

CIA's 'Inhumane' Torturers? Doctors

New report finds disturbing ethical violations

(Newser) - The doctor's ethical directive, "first do no harm," would seem to not-so-subtly indicate that medical professionals not engage in torture ... but an independent taskforce finds that the CIA and the Pentagon asked doctors and psychologists working at US detention facilities (including Guantanamo Bay) to do just that....

US Plan to Arm Syria Rebels Gets a Boost

But Pentagon cites continuing concerns

(Newser) - Last month, the White House said it planned to arm Syrian rebels —but members of Congress haven't been thrilled with the idea. Now, however, Capitol Hill seems to be coming around, Reuters reports. Despite "strong reservations ... We got a consensus that we could move forward with the...

Socialite Sues FBI, Pentagon in Petraeus Scandal

Jill Kelley says officials deliberately leaked false info

(Newser) - The Florida socialite whose complaints about threatening emails ended up exposing David Petraeus' affair with his biographer is suing the FBI and the Department of Defense for leaking her name—and "false and defamatory" information about her. Jill Kelley's lawsuit says she and her husband were dragged into...

Military's Latest Sex Scandal: Recruiters

Defense Dept. has promised to address

(Newser) - The latest sex crime scandal for the military involves recruiters, the Washington Post reports in a detailed look at some of the cases of sexual assault and rape found in its ranks recently. One example: An Air Force recruiter is charged with raping or committing other crimes over three years...

After Closest Vote Ever, Chuck Hagel Sworn In

He'll next address Pentagon workers

(Newser) - Chuck Hagel's 58-41 confirmation vote wasn't just close; it was the closest ever for a defense secretary, notes Reuters , with just four Republicans voting in favor of the Republican, who was sworn in this morning. The closed-door ceremony will be followed by an address to Pentagon workers at...

5 Cuts Pentagon Should Make Now
 5 Cuts Pentagon 
 Should Make Now 
OPINION
Feb 26, 2013 12:08 PM CST

5 Cuts Pentagon Should Make Now

Start with the F-35 mistake: Paul Barrett

(Newser) - To hear the Pentagon tell it, the looming sequester cuts will hurt military readiness and put the nation at genuine risk. "Flapdoodle," writes Paul Barrett at Businessweek . "The military is manufacturing a crisis to protect its wasteful, bloated, poorly designed budget." He suggests five cuts the...

Hagel Nomination Clears Filibuster

Senate will vote to confirm in a matter of hours

(Newser) - The Senate has voted 71-27 to end debate on Chuck Hagel's nomination for secretary of Defense, paving the way for his all-but-guaranteed confirmation later this afternoon. Republicans had been filibustering Hagel's nomination, with the last vote to end debate on Feb. 14 falling just short of the 60-vote...

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