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More About: Afghanistan • Stanley McChrystal • Adm. Mike Mullen • Pentagon • Barack Obama • Don't Ask, Don't Tell • Department of Defense • Stanley McChrystal Rolling Stone • David Petraeus • Hillary Clinton • gays in the military • Obama administration • Iraq • Nancy Pelosi • CIA • gay rights • intelligence • homeland security • US military • Kandahar • counterterrorism • Carl Levin • Afghanistan war • Top Secret America • Jeff Sessions

Military Honors Retiring McChrystal

General says career didn't end as he'd hoped

(AP) - After 34 years in the Army, Gen. Stanley McChrystal left behind legions of admirers and the prospect that his reputation as a ferocious fighter would one day eclipse the costly comments that appeared in Rolling Stone. "Over the past decade, arguably no single American has inflicted more fear on... More »

US Levies New Sanctions on N. Korea

Clinton, Gates visit DMZ, show solidarity with South

(AP) - The Obama administration pushed new sanctions today against North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced new measures during a visit to the DMZ four months after the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North.... More »

Angry Spy Crew Hits Back at WaPo Probe

Boast they've thwarted attacks

(Newser) - The intel community has struck back fast at a scathing Washington Post investigation that portrayed post-9/11 intelligence gathering as wastefully massive and out of control. "The fact is, the men and women of the intelligence community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day,... More »

US Intel Gathering Insanely Out of Control

Post 9/11 buildup has left us with more info than we can handle

(Newser) - In the wake of 9/11, the US has built an unspeakably massive top-secret counter-terrorism apparatus that appears to be riddled with waste, according to a major investigative piece that some 20 journalists spent nearly two years working on for the Washington Post . The paper found that 1,271 government organizations,... More »

Gates Clamps Down on Media/ Pentagon Relations

Worried the department has 'grown lax;' top brass will need clearance

(AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is now requiring even top military brass to get Pentagon clearance for contact with reporters in an order issued yesterday to military and civilian personnel worldwide. The order tells officials to make sure they are not going out of bounds or unintentionally releasing information that the... More »

McChrystal Was Doomed From 1st Words of 'Runaway'

Obama thought keeping general would undermine civilian command

(Newser) - One paragraph into “the Runaway General,” Barack Obama was pretty sure he’d fire Stanley McChrystal. An hour after the president got the Rolling Stone article, aides were summoned to discuss the possibility. “There was a basic meeting of the minds,” Rahm Emanuel tells the New ... More »

McChrystal Leaves White House Before Strategy Meeting

No word on his fate after 30-minute meeting with Obama

(Newser) - Stanley McChrystal left the White House after a 30-minute meeting with President Obama today—and didn’t return for the big strategy session that followed. There’s still no word on the general’s fate, or on how the meeting went— MSNBC says there’s “an almost complete lockdown... More »

Marines Fear They'll Never Storm a Beach Again

Much-revered maneuver hasn't been used since Korean War

(Newser) - Storming enemy beaches is almost the Marines’ raison d’être. The stories of the glorious amphibious assaults of the past “are encoded in our DNA,” one officer tells the LA Times . But there hasn’t been a beach assault since the Korean War, and many—including Robert... More »

Democrats Confront Pentagon on Afghan War

Violence is up, and so is lawmaker anxiety

(AP) - A schism deepened yesterday between US war leaders and Congress as top Democrats challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan. "I wouldn't call it eroding," Carl Levin said of support for the war. "But there's a lot of fair concern." That was especially... More »

Gates Has Unlikely Ally in Defense Fight: Tea Party

Conservative group willing to shrink military

(Newser) - Robert Gates wants to impose a new fiscal discipline on the military by slashing millions from weapons programs—and he may have an unlikely ally in his uphill battle: the Tea Party. The conservative group is so dedicated to cutting government spending that many of its members are backing off... More »

Pelosi, Hill Forced Obama to Back Deal on 'Don't Ask'

They threatened to move without him

(Newser) - Barack Obama went ahead with a plan to repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” only because Congress dragged him into it kicking and screaming. Lawmakers, particularly Nancy Pelosi and Carl Levin, threatened to push ahead without Obama, and he reluctantly struck a deal. “Levin made it clear that the... More »

Gates: US Lacks Cohesive Strategy in Iran

White House downplays defense secretary's missive to Jones

(AP) - The US lacks a viable long-term plan for dealing with Iran's nuclear program, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in a January memo that one anonymous White House official called a "wake-up call." As the New York Times reports, the missive came amid an administration push to develop a... More »

Gates Slams Wikileaks Over Videos of Civilian Killings

Leaked military videos show war 'through a soda straw'

(Newser) - An angry Robert Gates yesterday slammed Wikileaks just as the online operation is threatening to release a new secret military video revealing the 2009 US airstrike that killed some 100 civilians in Afghanistan. "These people can put out whatever they want and are never held accountable for it,"... More »

GOP Won't Rule Out Filibuster on Court Nominee

Jeff Sessions warns president to pick a 'mainstream' candidate

(Newser) - President Obama can avoid a Republican filibuster over his Supreme Court pick by choosing a judge who isn't "outside the mainstream," says Sen. Jeff Sessions, the GOP's ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. Asked on Meet the Press about whether a "big fight" looms, he responded, "... More »

Gates Makes It Harder to Kick Out Gay Soldiers

Discharges will now require testimony, general's approval

(AP) - Discharging a gay person for violating the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy will draw unprecedented scrutiny under new orders from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is already pushing to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the US military. Guidelines to be announced today call for testimony... More »

Next Target Taliban Stronghold of Kandahar

Meanwhile, Gates arrives in Afghanistan

(AP) - Preparations have begun for a crucial campaign to assert Afghan government control over Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said today. The NATO-led force is growing in districts around Kandahar that are under the Taliban thumb, ahead of an eventual military operation, McChrsytal said, though he added... More »

Iraq War Renamed 'Operation New Dawn'

'Operation Iraqi Freedom' history as most troops head home

(Newser) - The Obama administration has rebranded the Iraq War as it prepares to pull out most American troops. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" will become "Operation New Dawn" as of Sept. 1, when US troop levels are supposed to fall to around 50,000, the Washington Post reports. Defense Secretary Robert... More »

Pentagon: Repealing 'Don't Ask' Is About 'Integrity'

Gates, Mullen tell senators the year-long process has begun

(Newser) - Rolling back Don't Ask, Don't Tell boils down to a simple matter of "integrity," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told senators today. Adm. Mike Mullen and defense secretary Robert Gates took to Capitol Hill to provide details on how the Pentagon is beginning a year-long... More »

Military to Ease Off on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Gays outed by third parties won't be prosecuted

(Newser) - The military will no longer aggressively pursue disciplinary action against gay service members who are outed by a third party, the Pentagon will announce today. Under the new policy, gay personnel would face discharge only if they go public themselves on their sexual orientation. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm.... More »

Pentagon Starts Clock on Lifting Gay Ban

First step is review of how repeal would affect troops

(Newser) - The Defense Department will next week start the process of repealing the ban on gay people serving openly in the military—a process expected to last years, reports the AP. A special investigation into how the ban can be lifted without hurting morale or readiness of the troops is expected... More »

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