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December 2, 2008 9:54:59 PM CST

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Senate Armed Services Committee

Senate Armed Services Committee news stories

8 Stories

Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs

Communist methods became US training manual

New York Times New York Times Jul 2, 08 3:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Guantanamo Bay interrogators learned their techniques from Chinese Communists who used them on American POWs in the Korean War, the New York Times reports. A 1957 Air Force chart labeled Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance detailed methods like prolonged standing and exposure to cold, and was used as a training aid by military trainers. The chart was copied verbatim for use at Guantanamo. More »

CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips

Methods were 'reverse-engineered' from manuals

Washington Post Washington Post Jun 18, 08 8:06 AM CDT
(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 perception,"a CIA lawyer told officials at a 2002 meeting. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong." More »

More about:  Pentagon • Guantanamo Bay • CIA • interrogation techniques • harsh interrogation • Lindsey Graham • Senate Armed Services Committee

Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Grilling in Torture Probe

Defense Department lawyers played bigger role in Gitmo than first thought

New York Times New York Times Jun 17, 08 5:33 AM CDT
(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 waterboarding months before they were used on detainees. More »

More about:  Pentagon • Guantanamo Bay • Donald Rumsfeld • interrogation techniques • Carl Levin • harsh interrogation • Senate Armed Services Committee

 Senate Homecoming
 Won't Be Glorious 

Power will not fall in losing candidate's lap

New York Times New York Times May 26, 08 8:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - If Hillary Clinton does indeed lose the Democratic nomination, her Senate homecoming won’t be a glorious one, the New York Times reports. Clinton is still a junior senator, ranking 36th out of 49 Democrats, and would need to leapfrog a lot of people to become a committee chair—much less majority leader, which is considered fanciful in staid Senate circles. More »

More about:  Hillary Clinton • Senate • politics • Democratic nomination • Senate Democrats • Senate Armed Services Committee • legislature

Updated

 Senate
 Grills
 Petraeus
 on Basra 

McCain mixes up Sunnis, Shiites again

Associated Press Associated Press Apr 8, 08 11:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - The campaign trail ran through a scheduled Senate Armed Service Committee appearance by David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker today, as John McCain and Hillary Clinton helped grill the general and ambassador on Iraq. McCain zeroed in on the the widespread Iraqi defections in Basra last week, saying, “It was a disappointment.” "It was, although it is not over yet, Senator," Petraeus countered. More »

More about:  John McCain • David Petraeus • Iraq exit strategy • Basra • Ryan Crocker • Carl Levin • Senate Armed Services Committee

Updated

 Petraeus: Iraq Has Stepped Up; Gains Still Fragile

The surge is working, but things are still rough in places

Associated Press Associated Press Apr 8, 08 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraq's security has greatly improved since September, Gen. David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee today, thanks largely to Iraqis themselves. “Iraq has also conducted a surge,” Petraeus said, pointing to the improved Iraqi army and the contribution of Sunni Awakening groups. But he warned that those gains were “fragile and reversible,” and urged a pause in troop reductions after the surge drawdown ends in July. More »

More about:  John McCain • Iraq • David Petraeus • Ryan Crocker • testimony • Senate Armed Services Committee • Sunni Awakening

Afghanistan Is Out of Control: Intel Chief

Karzai controls just 30% of country, Taliban 10%, tribal leaders the rest

Guardian (UK) Guardian (UK) Feb 29, 08 2:05 PM CST
(Newser) - The 6-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan is failing, the US intelligence chief told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. Mike McConnell said Harmid Karzai’s US-backed government controls only about 30% of the country, with the Taliban holding another 10%, and the rest under tribal rule. Security, meanwhile, is “deteriorating” as the Taliban adopts Iraqi guerrillas' tactics. More »

More about:  Afghanistan • Taliban • NATO • Robert Gates • Hamid Karzai • US intelligence • Mike McConnell • Senate Armed Services Committee

Army to Shorten Combat Tours

Three years between deployments

Reuters Reuters Feb 27, 08 7:40 AM CST
(Newser) - The Pentagon aims to trim tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan from 15 months to a year with an eventual three years between deployments, the Army's top general told the Senate Committee on Armed Services yesterday. The change will be made after the military reduces troop levels this summer, Reuters reports, and commanders believe it possible even with a pause in the drawdown. More »

More about:  Iraq • Afghanistan • Pentagon • David Petraeus • Robert Gates • Carl Levin • troop levels • Senate Armed Services Committee • Gen. George Casey • drawdown • deployments

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