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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Department of Defense

Department of Defense stories: 113 news summaries

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Defense Dept. Opposed Anti-Rape Rule for Contractors

But lefties ripped GOP senators for nay votes

Oct 20, 09 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - When 30 Republicans voted against an Al Franken amendment prohibiting defense contractors from forcing their employees to agree not to sue if they’re raped, Jon Stewart and liberals everywhere went ballistic. But those 30 Republicans weren’t alone, the Huffington Post reports; the Defense Department opposed the amendment as... More »

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Senate • rape • Department of Defense • Jon Stewart • The Daily Show • contract law • Al Franken • Jamie Leigh Jones • KBR • Defense Dept • John Thune • Obama administration • defense contractors

 Top US Scientist 
 Busted for Spying 

Space researcher accused of trying to sell secrets to Israel

Oct 20, 09 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - A leading American space scientist has been charged with attempted espionage after being busted in an FBI sting operation. Stewart Nozette, who worked on classified aerospace projects for agencies including NASA and the Department of Defense, was arrested when he attempted to pass secrets to an FBI agent posing as... More »

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NASA • espionage • Mossad • Department of Defense • scientist • Stewart Nozette

Post Held Off Afghan Story at DoD Request

Pentagon got one-day delay, and redacted McChrystal report

Sep 23, 09 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - When Bob Woodward obtained Gen. Stanley McChrystal's classified report on Afghanistan, the Obama administration asked for and got a one-day delay in publication from the Washington Post, the paper reports. Woodward and the Post’s editor met with Pentagon officials Sunday and agreed to remove some sensitive information... More »

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Washington Post • Bob Woodward • Department of Defense • Pentagon Papers • Afghanistan war • Obama administration • Stanley McChrystal • redaction

Pragmatic Style Makes Gates White House Heavyweight

Defense secretary helps dismantle missile shield program he backed under Bush

Sep 22, 09 1:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has bridged the gap between the Bush and Obama administrations and become a major player in reshaping national security policy in the process, officials tell the New York Times. His pragmatic style—as seen in his decision to ditch the missile defense system he signed off... More »

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Afghanistan • Bush administration • Pentagon • missile shield • Robert Gates • Department of Defense • missile defense system • Obama administration

 Obama to 
 Pentagon: 
 Scale Back 
 Nuke Arsenal 

President rejects Defense review, plans international deal

Sep 21, 09 7:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama rejected the first draft of a Pentagon report on the US nuclear arsenal and is demanding a radical review ahead of deep cuts, according to the Guardian. The president, whose stated goal is the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, wants to see a range of options: cutting the... More »

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Barack Obama • United Nations • Pentagon • nuclear weapons • Department of Defense • nuclear disarmament • nuclear arsenal

 US to Beef Up 
 Afghanistan 
 Combat Force 

Up to 14K fighters swap places with noncombatant troops

Sep 2, 09 8:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Pentagon will add up to 14,000 combat troops to its Afghanistan force, replacing noncombatant support units with more "trigger-pullers" as casualties continue to climb. With support for the war waning, the Defense Department's "force optimization" plan will not increase the number of US troops, and... More »

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Afghanistan • Pentagon • US troops • Department of Defense • International Security Assistance Force • troop levels • Afghanistan war • defense contractors • Stanley McChrystal

analysis

No Child Left Unrecruited

Pentagon uses NCLB, other sneaky means
to get info on teens
in high school

Sep 1, 09 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - The military is using a host of behind-the-scenes methods—including the No Child Left Behind Act—to gather information on high school students for recruitment, writes David Goodman in Mother Jones. A little-known provision in NCLB, for instance, requires schools that get funding to supply recruiters with info on... More »

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Pentagon • Army recruiting • US military • recruitment • Department of Defense • data mining • high school students • Army Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

ANALYSIS

 Pentagon Grades 
 Reporters' War Coverage 

Documents shed light on Defense efforts to shape news from Afghanistan

Aug 27, 09 8:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - With a view to trying to influence coverage of the war in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is grading journalists’ work, the Stars and Stripes reports. The military newspaper says it has documents that counter official denials of the practice, with coverage rated as “positive,” “neutral,” or “... More »

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Pentagon • journalism • Department of Defense • Constitution • public relations • media coverage • Afghanistan war • Rendon Group

(Newser) - The scrapping of the F-22 has sent the US Air Force into an abrupt about-face, Time reports. Newly installed officials are asking for 100 cheap, multirole planes that can attack ground positions and also be used to train other countries' pilots in their use. The aircraft must have a... More »

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Robert Gates • Department of Defense • defense secretary • US Air Force • Iraq war • Afghanistan war • F-22 fighter jet • counterinsurgency • prop plane • Michael Donley

Pentagon Tells Red Cross Who's in Secret Prisons

Military grants group access to prisoners

Aug 22, 09 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - After years of refusing the Red Cross information about terror suspects held in two secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has quietly reversed course, the New York Times reports. The military has begun providing the identities of prisoners at the sites in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanstan. Under... More »

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CIA • Pentagon • human rights • US military • Department of Defense • Red Cross • terror suspects

(Newser) - Congress plans to spend $550 million to upgrade and expand the fleet of jets used to ferry federal officials around the country and abroad, the Wall Street Journal reports. Funds approved by the House for the military-run fleet call for two 737s and two Gulfstream jets on top of the... More »

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Congress • Department of Defense • air travel • US Air Force • military jets

Gates Refuses to Ban Smoking in War Zones

Defense secretary rejects Pentagon study's recommendation

Jul 16, 09 1:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - American troops in war zones won't have to battle the enemy while suffering nicotine withdrawal, CNN reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is willing to consider some of the recommendations in a Pentagon-commissioned report calling for a totally tobacco-free military, but he has no intention of ordering stressed-out troops in combat... More »

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Robert Gates • smoking • tobacco • US military • Department of Defense • smoking ban • anti-smoking

Wiretapping Memos Drafted in 'Inappropriate' Secrecy: Report

Only 3 Justice officials knew of program

Jul 10, 09 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The legal justification for the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was handled with unprecedented secrecy that sidestepped usual Justice Department procedure, the Washington Post reports. Only three Justice officials—John Ashcroft, John Yoo, and staff attorney James Baker—were made aware of the program and participated in drafting memos... More »

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Bush administration • Department of Justice • John Ashcroft • Department of Defense • secrecy • warrantless wiretapping • John Yoo • James Baker

(Newser) - The Bush administration stonewalled human rights organizations and branches of the US government that sought an investigation into the alleged mass murder of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in 2001, the New York Times reports. As many as 1,500 people may have died in the incident, under the command... More »

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Afghanistan • Bush administration • Taliban • investigation • FBI • human rights • war crimes • Department of Defense • Northern Alliance • Obama administration • mass graves • Abdul Rashid Dostum

Pentagon Mulls Smoking Ban
for Troops

Military smoking, especially common in combat, costly for VA

Jul 10, 09 8:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pentagon health experts are pushing for the military to ban tobacco, a move that would upend a traditionally smoky culture, the USA Today reports. Tobacco use is rising among troops, many of whom turn to cigarettes to relieve combat zone stress, and that winds up costing the Pentagon and Veteran's... More »

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military • Pentagon • smoking • tobacco • Department of Defense • smoking ban • anti-smoking

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates launched the military's new cyberspace surveillance command yesterday, with a mission to defend military computers and to orchestrate potential cyber attacks on enemy nations, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the short run, the US Cyber Command will be part of the Strategic Command, which... More »

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Internet • Robert Gates • cyberwarfare • US military • Department of Defense • computers • military commanders

Conflicts of Interest Rampant in Pentagon Travel: Study

Foreign governments, private firms back officials' trips

Jun 11, 09 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pentagon officials have taken some 22,000 trips whose $26 million tab was picked up by non-governmental sources like private firms and foreign governments, a study finds. The travel is “riddled with conflicts of interest,” said the head of a group behind the study. The medical industry was... More »

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travel • Pentagon • Department of Defense • conflict of interest

Pentagon Drops Ball on Contractor Oversight: Report

Says tens of billions in contracts lack decent US supervision

Jun 9, 09 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Though US defense contracting has reached “unprecedented proportions” in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department isn’t adequately monitoring the contracts, according to an independent watchdog. A report to be presented to Congress tomorrow says the government lacks central records showing the identities, activities, and pay of some 240,... More »

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Congress • Pentagon • oversight • Department of Defense • security contractors • Iraq contractors • Defense Dept • House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • defense contractors • monitoring • Wartime Contracting Commission

Pentagon Plans New Command for Online War

Military unit will complement Obama's new civilian office

May 29, 09 7:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Pentagon is pushing ahead with a new military command devoted to cyberspace as the armed forces ramp up abilities to not only defend against computer attacks but launch them as well, the New York Times reports. The new command will work in concert with a civilian organization, which President... More »

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Pentagon • cyberwarfare • cyberterrorism • US military • Department of Defense • Obama administration

 Afghan Taliban Have 
 Momentum: Gates 

Defense sec says US has months before support wanes

May 26, 09 8:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Taliban have the momentum in the war in Afghanistan and the US is rapidly losing time to turn it around before public support runs out, Robert Gates tells the Wall Street Journal. The defense secretary said in an interview that American support for the war will recede unless the... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • Pentagon • Robert Gates • Department of Defense • defense secretary • Afghanistan war • Obama administration

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