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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Senate Armed Services Committee

Senate Armed Services Committee stories: 14 news summaries

 Obama Looks to Lieberman 
 to Lead 'Don't Ask' Repeal 

Conn. independent has opposed policy on gays in military since '93

Oct 13, 09 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - After President Obama's pledge this weekend to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the White House turned immediately to key senators on the Armed Services Committee—in particular Joe Lieberman. A House bill to repeal the policy has 177 sponsors, but the White House is eager for Senate legislation with bipartisan... More »

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gay rights • Don't Ask, Don't Tell • US military • Joe Lieberman • gays in the military • Senate Armed Services Committee • Obama administration


 Afghanistan Push 
 Meets Resistance 
 —From Democrats 

Levin, Pelosi object to troop buildup; Obama weighs options

Sep 11, 09 9:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Support for the war in Afghanistan is dwindling among Democrats as President Obama mulls increasing US involvement in the region, the New York Times reports. Ahead of an expected request for more troops from the US commander in the country, the chair of the Senate armed services committee says he’... More »

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Afghanistan • Nancy Pelosi • Congress • troop surge • Carl Levin • Afghan Army • Senate Armed Services Committee • Afghanistan war • Obama administration • President Obama

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Will
Get Senate Hearing

Senate committee to examine consequences of military's gay policy

Jul 27, 09 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate Armed Services Committee will convene a fall hearing to examine the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy governing gay service members, the Albany Times Union reports. Chairman Carl Levin agreed to hold the hearings at the encouragement of New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,... More »

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gay rights • Senate • Don't Ask, Don't Tell • US military • civil rights • Carl Levin • Senate Armed Services Committee • Kirsten Gillibrand

Detainees, Once Acquitted, May Still Die at Gitmo

Like Bush, Obama administration argues for indefinite detention

Jul 8, 09 6:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and other military prisons may not be freed even if a US commission acquits them of all charges, an Obama administration official testified yesterday. The Defense Department rep told a Senate committee that detainees would be assessed on an individual basis and that prisoners might... More »

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Guantanamo Bay • detainee • Lindsey Graham • Senate Armed Services Committee • detainees • military commissions • war powers • Obama administration • indefinite detention

US Readied Waterboarding as Early as 2001

Harsh tactics were readied even before suspects captured

Apr 22, 09 6:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Bush administration prepared to use waterboarding and other harsh tactics widely considered to be torture 8 months before the Justice Department approved them, and even before capturing a high-level terrorist suspect, the Washington Post reports. A Senate investigation reveals these brutal interrogation methods were approved despite warnings that they... More »

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Bush administration • CIA • torture • secret prisons • Carl Levin • waterboarding • harsh interrogation • Senate Armed Services Committee

(AP) - Gen. David Petraeus said today that militant insurgents in Afghanistan are growing in strength but will be fought "relentlessly and aggressively" by bolstered American troops. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan said the United States would take the fight... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • Pakistan • David Petraeus • al-Qaeda • Senate Armed Services Committee • insurgency

Gitmo 'Torture' Modeled on Chinese Grilling of US POWs

Communist methods became US training manual

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... More »

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CIA • Guantanamo Bay • interrogation • Carl Levin • Guantanamo prisoners • interrogation techniques • harsh interrogation • Senate Armed Services Committee

CIA Gave Pentagon Torture Tips

Methods were 'reverse-engineered' from manuals

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... More »

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

Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Grilling in Torture Probe

Defense Department lawyers played bigger role in Gitmo than first thought

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... More »

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

 Senate Homecoming
 Won't Be Glorious 

Power will not fall in losing candidate's lap

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... More »

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

Updated

 Senate
 Grills
 Petraeus
 on Basra 

McCain mixes up Sunnis, Shiites again

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... More »

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

Updated

 Petraeus: Iraq Has Stepped Up; Gains Still Fragile

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

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... More »

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Iraq • John McCain • 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

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... More »

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

Army to Shorten Combat Tours

Three years between deployments

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,... More »

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

14 Stories


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