Stories related to: Pentagon

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 stood to be chewed out by Karl Rove if they didn’t plan info-gathering trips right. More »

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 against the other five alleged planners, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were approved. More »

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 carry our water.” A Rumseld aide agreed, adding, "We're already doing a lot of this." The allegations first surfaced in a New York Times investigative piece. More »

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 the prosecution, fueling critics’ argument that the system is designed to score convictions, the New York Times reports.  More »

The Pentagon will stop sending fallen troops to a crematorium that also handles pets, McClatchy reports. A Delaware Air Force base had been sending the bodies of troops killed in battle to a crematorium that had two separate facilities, one for humans, another for pets. The move was prompted by complaints from a soldier who accompanied the body of a friend and noticed the pet facility. More »

The Pentagon may send 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan to make up for a NATO shortfall, administration officials say.The move would bring US troop levels there to 40,000 and require relocating American forces from Iraq, the New York Times reports. While NATO countries have promised to send about 2,000 additional troops, so far only France, which has pledged 700, has begun preparing forces. More »

NBC anchor Brian Williams is digging himself an ever deeper, more shameful hole by brushing off a New York Times exposé that questioned the “core credibility” of network war reporting, Glenn Greenwald asserts in Salon. The piece revealed Pentagon propaganda efforts that indict NBC News and others, but when forced to comment yesterday, Williams disgracefully protested innocence—claiming the retired generals he features are “beyond reproach.” More »

The Pentagon ordered filthy barracks at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and garrisons throughout the US Army cleaned up after a soldier's father posted embarrassing images of foul living conditions on YouTube. The dad welcomed his 22-year-old son home safe from Afghanistan, but was horrified by the living conditions at Fort Bragg documented in his son's photos. Generals not only ordered barracks cleaned, but apologized to father and son. More »

The number of men in Iraq's security forces is estimated to be a healthy 530,000. Trouble is, a "substantial number" of them are injured, dead, or AWOL, a new government audit says. The review casts doubt on Pentagon reports about Iraqi capabilities and questions Baghdad's ability to train its own forces, the Military Times reports. More »

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,’” is the way one former general characterized Pentagon manipulation of his TV commentaries. More »

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of the architects of the war in Iraq who resigned from the Bush administration when the US became mired in the insurgency, is writing his memoirs, Reuters reports. The 75-year-old former congressman won't take an advance and will donate the book's proceeds to a not-for-profit foundation. The memoirs will cover his life from the Depression through the Bush years. More »

Laws banning torture and assault should not apply to US military interrogators overseas, argues a 2003 Justice Department memo released yesterday. The Defense Department was told not to rely on the memo nine months after it was issued, but it established a legal foundation for controversial interrogations, the Washington Post reports. The document contends that presidential wartime powers override laws and treaties, and details justifications for using aggressive tactics against suspected terrorists. More »

The men and women who work in our country’s most classified weapons and intelligence R&D programs—the New York Times calls them "stealthy armies of high-tech warriors" — have developed their own culture, complete with inside humor. That's on display in a new a book by Trevor Paglen on their patches—the kind worn on uniforms—which feature aliens, dragons, ghosts, and superbabes. More »

Some 95 of the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems are a total of $295 billion over budget and arrive an average of 2 years late, according to the Government Accountability Office. But GAO auditors say the Pentagon is getting sloppier, not better, reports the Washington Post . "It's taking longer and costing more," says a GAO director. More »

A former terror suspect will reveal details of tortures he suffered in 5 years of US custody tonight on 60 Minutes, reports CBS News. American authorities seized the ethnic Turk in Pakistan and continued to torture him even after determining he was innocent, he charges. The Pentagon refutes his claims. "The abuses are not only unsubstantiated and implausible, they are simply outlandish," said a Pentagon spokesman in a statement. More »

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 until this week that the US realized that the shipment contained missile parts. More »

Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun researcher told the New York Times the chance of success is 50%. More »

The Pentagon has rifled through 600,000 pages of Iraqi intelligence docs and found no sign of: a plot to kill George Bush, Sr. in 1993. a Saddam Hussein-al-Qaeda link. a connection between Baghdad and Abdul Rahman Yasin, an alleged Sept. 11 plotter. In fact, Hussein and his ministers are recorded on tape asking whether Washington or "Zionists" had planned World Trade Center attack. More »

Boeing isn't taking its loss of a $35 billion military contract to Northrop Grumman and Airbus lying down, Reuters reports. A company vice president said he was "as confident as he could be" that Congress would overturn the Air Force's decision to buy refueling tankers from Boeing's European rival. The firm charges that the Air Force broke federal and military rules in the decision-making process and ended up choosing a riskier plane than Boeing was offering. More »

Seeking to duck controversy, the Pentagon did not screen returning US troops for brain injuries for more than 2 years. Top brass feared that soldiers would blame minor health woes on brain trauma—which could spark another Gulf War Syndrome, Air Force Col. Kenneth Cox told USA Today . But one lawmaker blasted the move as "baloney. There was no need to delay this." More »