Free Republic

The Pentagon announced Friday that it is launching a task force to study unidentified flying objects after reports of sightings from service members. The Pentagon said in a statement that Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF), which will fall under the Navy. “The Department of Defense established the UAPTF to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs," the Pentagon said. "The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national...

When David Norquist came to the Senate for his confirmation hearing to be Defense Department comptroller in May, he declared, “It is time to audit the Pentagon.” He laid out a get-tough approach to members of the Armed Services Committee who were eager after years of delays for the military to finally get its financial books in order. The new push would include “calling out” individuals in the Pentagon who were creating weaknesses in the financial reporting of an estimated $2.4 trillion in assets. Norquist, the brother of Republican tax activist Grover Norquist, was quickly confirmed the same month and...

DHS also says the high-tech answer to border control will take 5 years to build WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's plan to build a high-tech ''virtual fence" along the Southwest border will require nearly $8 billion and five years to complete, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. The report, demanded by Congress, provided the most detailed timeline and cost estimate yet for completion of a Secure Border Initiative designed to bring the border under operational control by the end of 2011. The Department of Homeland Security concedes that it has effective control of 284 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile...