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If there was ever a more irresponsible decision by a U.S. attorney general than Eric Holder's decision to try the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack and four others as common criminals in a civilian court in New York City, I can't recall it. He is gambling with the nation's security and providing a platform that will give aid and comfort to the enemy at a time of war. And he is doing so with no discernible benefit, least of all to showcase the strength of our judicial system. Does Eric Holder remember the most infamous criminal trial of the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the Defense Department will conduct a broad review of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting that left 13 dead and dozens injured. Former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, former chief of naval operations, will head the initial 45-day review, which will inform a follow-on investigation expected to last four to six months. “The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers,” Gates said during a Pentagon briefing. “It is prudent to determine immediately whether...

http://c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/11/19/HP/R/26172/congressional+investigation+into+Fort+Hood+Shooting.aspx

THE CASE FOR SPACE-BASED DEFENSE The growing interest in nuclear technology by countries such as Iran presages the possibility that one or more nations may attempt to harness such a capability in the form of an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the United States, a prominent political scientist has warned. Such a scenario, writes Brian Kennedy of the Claremont Institute in the November 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal, is not far-fetched. "It would require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is...

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is joining Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in publicly declaring that the attack on Fort Hood is likely an act of Islamist terrorism. Cornyn wrote a letter to President Barack Obama today urging the White House not to let "political correctness" get in the way of investigating the Nov. 5 massacre that left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded.

As Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, officially begins his inquiry this week into the disturbing failures that enabled Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan to stay in uniform, it must go beyond the normal excuses related to bureaucratic bungling. With the discussion this week devolving into interagency finger-pointing, lost has been the simple fact that the failures were systemic. Although the military has done valiant work fighting in Muslim lands, it doesn't seem to grasp how to assess when Muslim personnel could pose an internal threat. It's easy to rely on hindsight to second-guess after the fact, but based...

While Israel is interested in purchasing the fifth-generation stealth Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin, it will likely hinge its order on US acceptance of its demand that Israeli defense industries be allowed to participate in the aircraft's production, senior defense officials said Thursday. On Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and discussed potential Israeli involvement in the production of the JSF, also known as the F-35. In the past, Israeli aerospace companies have been integrated into the production of aircraft purchased by the IAF. During their meeting, as well as a meeting...

The federal government at all levels has hired and promoted Muslims to influential positions. It requires “sensitivity training” for federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

President Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday. That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official. In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership...

I think this is new information, but honestly, the sheer volume of missed red flags has led me to lose track. We already knew that the FBI shrugged off Hasan’s e-mails to jihadbot preacher Aulaqi, but did we know that a Pentagon investigator operating as part of the joint terrorism task force did the same thing? If we didn’t, we do now. Two officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case on the record said the Washington-based joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI was notified of communications between Hasan and a...

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said it wasn't notified that U.S. intelligence agencies had intercepted emails between suspected Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan and an extremist imam until after last week's bloody assault, fueling new questions about whether the government missed warning signs that could have helped prevent the incident. A senior defense official said that federal investigators didn't tell the Pentagon that they were investigating months of communication between Maj. Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, who knew three of the Sept. 11 hijackers and hailed Maj. Hasan as a "hero" after the Army officer allegedly killed 13 people and wounded...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is wrapping up deliberations on war strategy in Afghanistan and is considering final Pentagon options that include sending about 30,000 more troops, officials said on Saturday. A deployment of that size would be less than the 40,000-troop increase recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but more than many of Obama's Democratic allies may support. Record combat deaths have eroded U.S. public support for the war, and a decision to expand troop levels could become a political liability for the president ahead of congressional elections next...

The U.S. military said on Tuesday it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end. The U.S. Air Force began upgrading its ability to predict possible collisions in space after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium collided on Feb. 10. General Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, called the collision the "seminal event" in the satellite industry during the past year and said it destroyed any sense that space was so vast that collisions were...

More than one-third of Americans ages 17-24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues, U.S. military officials said. Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon's director of accessions, said the United States has "an obesity crisis." "There's no question about it," Gilroy told the Navy Times. "Kids are just not able to do push-ups, and they can't do pull-ups. And they can't run." The Pentagon figures -- 35 percent of the roughly 31.2 million Americans ages 17-24 are ineligible for military service -- are drawn from data from the Centers for Disease Control. In a study scheduled to be...

There've been satellites orbiting Earth for half a century. But getting information to and from them is still a pain. Which is why Pentagon research arm Darpa is looking to finally hook the orbiting spacecraft up with reliable broadband connections. It's part of a larger movement to extend terrestrial networks into space, and eventually build an "Interplanetary Internet." In the meantime, we might even get less-than-crappy satellite internet service - if the project works out, of course. Darpa recently issued a request for information about supplying "persistent broadband ground connectivity for spacecraft in low-Earth orbit." The idea would be to...

The hits just keep on coming, while you wait in line, Gitmo detainees will have their vaccines delivered,...these are the fools running our country...(Story here)

The Pentagon's top military officer oversaw a secret war game this month to evaluate the two primary military options that have been put forward by the Pentagon and are being weighed by the Obama administration as part of a broad-based review of the faltering Afghanistan war, senior military officials said. The exercise, led by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, examined the likely outcome of inserting 44,000 more troops into the country to conduct a full-scale counterinsurgency effort aimed at building a stable Afghan government that can control most of the country. It also examined adding...

You would think that an unpiloted space plane built to rocket spaceward from Florida atop an Atlas booster, circle the planet for an extended time, then land on autopilot on a California runway would be big news. But for the U.S. Air Force X-37B project — seemingly, mum's the word. There is an air of vagueness regarding next year's Atlas Evolved Expendable launch of the unpiloted, reusable military space plane. The X-37B will be cocooned within the Atlas rocket's launch shroud — a ride that's far from cheap. While the launch range approval is still forthcoming, SPACE.com has learned that...

A new shapeshifting chemical robot being developed for Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Army has been unveiled by Pentagon researchers. ChemBot is a small mobile device that looks like a gelatinous blob, it can change shape to navigate through tight spaces and will be used by the army for intelligence gathering, and search and rescue missions. The chemical robot moves from place to place by way of a process called 'jamming' which causes the material to transition between semi-liquid and semi-solid states with only a slight change in volume. Jamming technology allows the scientists to make...

<p>WASHINGTON — Only nine months ago, the Pentagon pronounced itself reassured by the early steps of a new commander in chief. President Obama was moving slowly on an American withdrawal from Iraq, had retained former President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and, in a gesture much noticed, had executed his first military salute with crisp precision.</p>

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2009 – A military institution designed to provide emergency communications has moved to new quarters in the Pentagon. Gary Sessums, left, Navy Capt. Rick Low and John Grimes discuss communications capabilities at the new Military Affiliate Radio System office in the Pentagon, Oct. 21, 2009. DoD photo by Sally Sobsey  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. John G. Grimes, the former assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration, cut the ribbon on the new Military Affiliate Radio System office on the fifth floor of the Pentagon today. The facility is packed with shortwave radios, radio-telephone...

Also missing from the vague accusations leveled at the general is some sort of motive for his behavior. No one has accused him of racism yet... Here's why I said "yet": *** The army is also "in a war against the White House -- and they feel they have [President] Obama boxed in," Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh told several hundred people in Duke University's Page Auditorium on Tuesday night. "They think he's weak and the wrong color. Yes, there's racism in the Pentagon. We may not like to think that, but it's true and we all know it." ***...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 17) -- More than 3,000 U.S. troops scheduled to deploy to Iraq won't go after all, as the military tries to draw down troop levels in the war-torn country, a Pentagon spokesman said Saturday. The 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division will not replace a North Carolina National Guard unit already in Iraq, Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told CNN. The 3,500-troop combat team, based in Fort Drum, New York, was to leave in January, he said. "[The cancellation] reflects a thorough assessment of the security environment in Iraq and continued improvement in the ability of the...

The Pentagon has missed the deadline set by the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review for the retirement of the W62 nuclear warhead. Retirement of the warhead, which arms a portion of the 450 U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, was scheduled for completion in Fiscal Year 2009, which ended on September 30th. But the Department of Defense has been unable to confirm the warhead has been retired, saying instead earlier today: “The retirement of the W62 is progressing toward completion.” The 2001 Nuclear Posture Review decided that, “the W62 will be retired by the end of Fiscal Year 2009.” The schedule...

National Security: On the eve of a visit by China's No. 2 ranking military officer, the Obama administration loosens export controls on technology that will benefit Chinese missile development. It's deja vu all over again. The Pentagon has announced that Chinese Gen. Xu Caihou will visit the United States and meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Oct. 26. Xu is vice chairman of the People's Liberation Army Central Military Commission. While here, Xu will visit American military installations around the U.S., including the U.S. Pacific Command. Perhaps Xu will bring with him a note of thanks for the administration's...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had made no secret about the expanding US force in Afghanistan, despite a report suggesting troop numbers had been downplayed by the Obama administration. The Defense Department had consistently said the number of US forces would reach 68,000 by the end of the year, a Pentagon spokesman said. "Nothing's missing. Nothing's hidden," Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters. His comments came after the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Obama had approved the deployment of 13,000 troops beyond the 21,000 he announced publicly in March. But at least half of those 13,000...

The Pentagon has acknowledged that it is speeding up plans to deploy a massive bomb capable of knocking out deeply buried enemy facilities. The giant "bunker buster" is believed to add fighting power to the U.S. arsenal against Iran's nuclear program, defense experts argue. U.S. officials, however, have refused to confirm the connection. The 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator is capable of penetrating up to 60 meters of earth, or a thick layer of concrete, before exploding. It weighs more than 13 metric tons, allowing just one such bunker buster to be carried by U.S. bomber aircraft. "It is under development...

Note: The following text is a quote: Jury Convicts Defense Department Official of Unlawful Communication of Classified Information and Making False Statements James Wilbur Fondren Jr., was convicted by a federal jury today on charges involving providing classified information to a man working with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and lying to the FBI about it. Fondren was convicted of one count of unlawfully communicating classified information to an agent of a foreign government and two counts of making false statements to the FBI. He was acquitted of two unlawful communication of classified information, one count of conspiracy to...

Women should be allowed to serve aboard America's fleet of nuclear submarines, the nation's top military officer, Adm. Michael Mullen, quietly has told the Senate Armed Services Committee. If the Navy agrees to it, this would be a huge policy change and potentially a significant expansion of career opportunities for female officers and sailors. Women have been barred by Navy policy from submarines, even as the sea service began 15 years ago to integrate females into other seagoing combat roles including aboard surface warships and in fighter jets. Mullen, former chief of naval operations and a career surface warfare officer,...

To Bob Woodward, it was the modern-day equivalent of the Pentagon Papers. But to Obama administration officials, the classified assessment of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan represented, if published by The Washington Post, a potential threat to the safety of U.S. troops. The result was that The Post agreed to a one-day delay in publishing the report by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and that the paper's top editor engaged in a lengthy discussion Sunday with three top Defense Department officials in a meeting at the Pentagon... Woodward said in an interview Tuesday...

Obama promised to neuter America before the election in one of his campaign ads to supporters: That was one promise he decided to keep. As promised, Barack Obama will go ahead with his plan to weaken America's stand in the world. The Guardian reported today that Obama is pushing a radical plan to eliminate not hundreds but thousands of the nation's strategic warheads, via Free Republic. Barack Obama has demanded the Pentagon conduct a radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine to prepare the way for deep cuts in the country's arsenal, the Guardian can reveal. Obama has rejected the...

THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release                         September 11, 2009REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENTAT WREATH-LAYING CEREMONY AT THE PENTAGON MEMORIALThe Pentagon Arlington, Virginia9:34 A.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen and members of the Armed Forces, fellow Americans, family and friends of those that we lost this day -- Michelle and I are deeply humbled to be with you.Eight Septembers have come and gone.  Nearly 3,000 days have passed -- almost one for each of those taken from us.  But no turning of the seasons can diminish the pain and the loss of that day.  No...

WASHINGTON — The prospect that U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal may ask for as many as 45,000 additional American troops in Afghanistan is fueling growing tension within President Barack Obama's administration over the U.S. commitment to the war there. On Monday, McChrystal sent his assessment of the situation in Afghanistan to the Pentagon , the U.S. Central Command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NATO . Although the assessment didn't include any request for more troops, senior military officials said they expect McChrystal later in September to seek between 21,000 and 45,000 more troops. There currently are 62,000 American troops...

Washington may relocate the controversial missile defense system planned for Eastern Europe to the Balkans, Turkey or Israel, a Polish newspaper reports. The U.S. plan included 10 long-range interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. That plan will almost certainly be scrapped, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Washington is now looking for alternative locations including in the Balkans, Israel and Turkey, the daily says, citing U.S. administration officials and lobbyists based in Washington. "The signals that the generals in the Pentagon are sending are absolutely clear: as far as missile defense is concerned, the current...

The state’s adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard and Gov. Mike Rounds are among state leaders opposed to a Pentagon proposal involving control of how part-time military troops are used in any state. At the heart of the disagreement is who will command troops when they are sent to a particular state to deal with a hurricane, wildfire or other disaster. The military justifies a change in law as a natural extension of its use of federal forces. The governors see the Pentagon move as a strike at state sovereignty. Rounds agrees with the National Governors Association’s opposition...

A new high-tech helicopter that was designed to whisk U.S. President Barack Obama to safety in the event of a nuclear attack had a secret capability -- cooking. The helicopter, one of the world's most technologically advanced, was scrapped by the Pentagon for its high cost. Obama revealed on Monday it would have had an onboard kitchen. 'Among its other capabilities, it would let me cook a meal while under nuclear attack. I'll tell you something. If the United States of America is under nuclear attack, the last thing on my mind will be whipping up a snack,' he quipped...

Amid continuing tension over political upheaval in Iran, the U.S. Defense Department says it wants to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound "ultra-large bunker-buster" bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations. The Pentagon has requested Congress to provide the necessary funding to ensure that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a next-generation bomb known as MOP and built by Boeing, would be ready by July 2010, spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Aug. 3. The non-nuclear weapon will be the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever deployed. It carries 5,300 pounds of high explosive inside a 25.5-foot bomb casing of hardened steel...

AP article. Link only. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYXjTdai6HXR_LTHhw8MiBTa8X4AD9A25EA00

The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say. Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change. Recent war games and intelligence studies conclude that over the next 20 to 30 years, vulnerable regions, particularly sub-Saharan...

The House's bid to buy new executive jets on the Pentagon's budget has broadened a conflict between Congress and the administration over defense priorities. "It forces us to take money from things we do need to fund and redirect it for things we don't need," Geoff Morrell, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said Friday. "And in a time of war, we just can't afford that." Lawmakers' move to upgrade the fleet of government jets -- used for travel by lawmakers and other senior government officials -- is just one of more than 1,000 spending projects lawmakers added to...

Note: The following text is a quote: American Forces Press Service Defense Department Seeks to Expand Telework Program By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2009 – An updated Defense Department policy expected to be released next month will encourage more managers to adopt telework arrangements for their employees. Almost 17,000 department employees teleworked during the 2008 calendar year, Michael Sena from the Pentagon’s civilian personnel policy told American Forces Press Service. Teleworking, sometimes referred to as telecommuting, means employees work some portion of their work week from home or in another approved alternate location. Sena said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large "bunker-buster" bomb on the most advanced U.S. bomber as soon as July 2010, the Air Force said on Sunday, amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. The non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, which is still being tested, is designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers beyond the reach of existing bombs. If Congress agrees to shift enough funds to the program, Northrop Grumman Corp's radar-evading B-2 bomber "would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010," said Andy Bourland, an Air...

<p>WASHINGTON (Aug. 2) - Navy pilot Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the Gulf War in 1991 and it was there he apparently was buried by Bedouins, hidden in the sand from the world's mightiest military all these years.</p>

A Briton wanted in the United States for breaking into NASA and Pentagon networks in "the biggest military hack of all time" lost an appeal against his extradition Friday, making a U.S. trial more likely. Gary McKinnon, 43, has fought a three-year battle to avoid extradition, including going to the European Court of Human Rights, but he appeared to have run out of options as Britain's High Court ruled against his latest appeal Friday. The court rejected arguments by McKinnon's lawyers that extraditing McKinnon, who was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, would have disastrous consequences for...

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2009 – Plans to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within President Barack Obama’s one-year time frame are on track, the Pentagon’s top lawyer said today. The military held about 240 detainees at the center when Obama pledged days after his inauguration in January to close the facility. Since then, the interagency group assigned to reviewing the cases has made recommendations on more than half, including approving the transfer of more than 50 detainees to other countries, Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department general counsel, told the House Armed Services Committee in a prepared...

"The JSF jets, for which Australia is likely to pay $16 billion, were comprehensively beaten in highly classified simulated dogfights against Russian Sukhoi fighters, it has been reported. The war games, conducted at Hawaii's Hickam airbase last month, were witnessed by at least four RAAF personnel and a member of Australia's peak military spy agency, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, The West Australian said." "WA Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen said he had spoken to a third party with knowledge of the final classified test results who had claimed the JSF had been clubbed like baby seals by the simulated Sukhois, The...

The congressional fight over the F-22 fighter moves to the House on Wednesday as appropriators continue their drive to save the program over President Obama’s objections. The House Appropriations Committee will vote on its version of the fiscal 2010 defense appropriations bill, which emerged from subcommittee with $369 million worth of F-22 funding, enough to purchase advance parts for 12 planes. House members of both parties are standing behind their effort to save the F-22, despite the Senate’s decision Tuesday to strip its defense policy bill (S 1390) of $1.75 billion for the fighter. House supporters of the aircraft argue...

Former Democrat Rep. Nancy Boyda of Kansas was once so allergic to positive reports about the surge in Iraq that she walked out of a House hearing in a snit fit...[snip]...Boyda also attended radical ANSWER rallies in Washington DC in 2003 and 2004 and organized anti-war rallies in her home state. Where is she now? Why, she’s at the Pentagon as a new assistant deputy secretary of defense! Behold the moonbat revolving door:

"July 21/09: The US Senate votes 58-40 in favor of S.Amdt 1469, the Levin-McCain amendment to strip $1.75 billion for 7 F-22As out of the Senate’s FY 2010 defense budget. The additional funds had been inserted in committee, just as the recently-passed FY 2010 House defense budget proposal contains $369 million in initial funding for 12 more F-22s.The vote was heavily determined by state lines, with 40/50 states voting coherently. Both Republicans voted “yea” to F-22 funding removal in AZ, SC and WY. Both Democrats voted against the amendment in CA, CT, HI, NM, and WA. John Kerry [D-MA], who...

JERUSALEM - A senior US defence official has warned that an Israeli strike on Iran could have profoundly destabilising consequences, and would directly affect US interests. "A unilateral third-party attack on Iran's nuclear program could have profoundly destabilising consequences, and it wouldn't just affect the general level of stability in the region. It would affect Israel's security and it would affect our interests, and the safety of our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere," The Jerusalem Post quoted him, as saying. "It's a pretty big deal, and given the closeness of our relationship with Israel, I think we would...