Pentagon

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>

White House Brief Makes Strong Case for Gay Rights

Urges Supreme Court to kill DOMA, suggests Obama will weigh in on Prop 8 case, too

(Newser) - The White House looks poised to make a robust defense of gay marriage before the Supreme Court. The first step came yesterday when the Justice Department filed a legal brief urging the court to declare the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, reports CNN . DOMA defines a marriage as a union...

Pentagon Grounds F-35s Over Cracked Engine

The fighter-jet program cost nearly $400B

(Newser) - The Pentagon says it has grounded its entire fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade. The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an Air Force version of the F-35. Other versions of the F-35...

New Drone Medal's Rank 'Degrading', Say Veterans

Award for remote control operators outranks combat medals like Bronze Star

(Newser) - The Pentagon's new medal for drone operators has sparked a backlash from veterans whose medals were earned on the battlefield but are ranked lower than the Distinguished Warfare Medal, the Military Times reports. The new medal is higher in the military's "order of precedence" than the Bronze...

GOP Blocks Nomination of Hagel, for Now

He's still expected to become defense secretary, but after Senate recess

(Newser) - The Chuck Hagel drama continued on Capitol Hill today, as Republicans refused to allow a final vote on his confirmation to become defense secretary, reports the Hill . Hagel is expected to prevail eventually—but now it can't happen until lawmakers return from the Presidents' Day recess. Expect the next...

Drone Pilots Eligible for New Military Medal

New Pentagon honor doesn't require being on battlefield

(Newser) - They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens. The troops that launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone, but now their battlefield contributions can be recognized. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced today...

US Might Expand 'Kill List' Into North Africa

Officials debate adding Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar

(Newser) - Amid the debate about whether US drone strikes go too far, the Wall Street Journal reports that US officials are considering a "significant" expansion of the nation's targeted-killing program into northwest Africa. Specifically, the powers-that-be are debating whether to add Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar to the Pentagon's...

Pentagon Leaders: We Wanted to Arm Syria Rebels

Panetta, Dempsey suggest military disagrees with White House decision

(Newser) - The response seemed to catch even questioner John McCain off guard, notes the Washington Post : When he asked Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey whether they supported a plan last summer to arm Syrian rebels, this exchange followed:
  • "We did," said Panetta.
  • “You did support
...

Pentagon on Cybersecurity Force: Quintuple It

900-member Cyber Command will soon be 5 times larger

(Newser) - Last year, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned of a " cyber Pearl Harbor "; now, the Pentagon is preparing for a digital battlefield. It's ballooning its Cyber Command from 900 people to a 4,900-strong combination of troops and civilians, the Washington Post reports—even as the government plans...

Obama Taps Hagel, Brennan for Pentagon, CIA

He praises both men at White House event

(Newser) - President Obama officially announced his nominations of Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense and John Brennan as CIA director today, praising both men for their records of service at a press event in the East Room of the White House. Hagel, Obama said, "knows that war is not an...

Obama Picks Chuck Hagel for Pentagon: Report

Announcement expected tomorrow

(Newser) - President Obama has settled on a nominee to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, and it is indeed Chuck Hagel, reports Mike Allen at Politico . “Chuck Hagel is a decorated war hero who would be the first enlisted soldier and Vietnam veteran to go on to serve as Secretary...

Is This Our First Female Defense Chief?

Michele Flournoy is on Obama's shortlist

(Newser) - It's possible the nation might have its first female defense secretary soon. With leading candidate Chuck Hagel running into stiff resistance , the name of Michele Flournoy is standing out on President Obama's shortlist, reports the Los Angeles Times . Its profile describes the 52-year-old Democrat as a policy wonk...

Source of Leak to Makers of Zero Dark Thirty Investigated

Vickers rumored to succeed Petraeus

(Newser) - Michael Vickers, a senior Defense official rumored to be a possible replacement for David Petraeus at the CIA, has been referred to the Justice Department after Pentagon investigators concluded that he leaked restricted information about the Osama bin Laden raid to Zero Dark Thirty filmmakers, two senior US officials tell...

US to Send Missiles, 400 Troops to Turkey

NATO force to defend against Syrian missile threat

(Newser) - The Pentagon says it will send Patriot air defense missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a deployment order today en route to Turkey from Afghanistan, a rep says. The...

Pentagon Spy Agency Sending Out Hundreds of Agents

Details emerge on the Defense Clandestine Service

(Newser) - The Pentagon's new spy agency will send up to 1,600 agents overseas to report on military matters in close cooperation with the CIA—and possibly beyond the reach of Congressional oversight, the Washington Post reports. But the agency's director, Michael Flynn, promises to keep Congress "in...

Women Sue Pentagon for Right to Fight in Combat

It's the second suit this year

(Newser) - Four female service members filed a lawsuit today challenging the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat, hoping the move will add pressure to drop the policy just as officials are gauging the effect that lifting the prohibition will have on morale. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in...

Top General Emailed Woman in Petraeus Scandal

Pentagon investigating John Allen's links to Jill Kelley

(Newser) - David Petraeus' sex scandal just got a lot bigger. The Pentagon has revealed that it is investigating Gen. John Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, for allegedly sending "inappropriate communications" to Jill Kelley, Petraeus' other other woman. The FBI referred the matter to the Pentagon on Sunday, Leon...

Pentagon: Iran Fired on US Drone

But the attack failed to hit craft over Persian Gulf

(Newser) - An Iranian attack aircraft fired at least twice at an unarmed US drone conducting routine surveillance in international airspace over the Persian Gulf, the Pentagon said today. The aircraft missed, and the Predator drone returned to base unharmed. The Nov. 1 shooting is unprecedented, said Pentagon press secretary George Little....

US Building Libya Commando Unit

Washington poised for strike on embassy attackers

(Newser) - Hoping to prevent a repeat of last month's attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, the Obama administration is ratcheting up efforts to help build a new Libyan commando force. Work was under way on the force before the attack, but the US is looking to speed the process....

Images From Today's 9/11 Ceremonies

President marks 11th anniversary

(Newser) - President Obama honored the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks today, observing a moment of silence at the White House and laying a wreath at the Pentagon before visiting graves of recent war dead from Afghanistan and Iraq at Arlington National Cemetery. "Our country is safer, and...

Pols Avoid Ground Zero as Cost Debate Rages

Obama, Romney put negative ads on hold

(Newser) - For the first time, no elected officials will speak at Ground Zero on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the AP reports. While many hailed the change as a separation of 9/11 from any sort of political agenda—"The fact that the politicians will not be involved, to...

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser