Pentagon – News Stories About Pentagon - Page 37

Rumsfeld Denies Role in Tillman Cover-Up

Aug 1, 2007 12:51 PM CDT

Rumsfeld Denies Role in Tillman Cover-Up

On Hill, ex-Pentagon chief rejects personal responsibility

(Newser) - Donald Rumsfeld took no responsibility today for the bungled handling of the reporting and investigation of Pat Tillman’s death, saying he always stressed honesty at the Pentagon. Before a House committee, the ex-defense secretary denied allegations he was involved in the military plot to claim the ex-NFL star was...

General Censured in Tillman Death

Aug 1, 2007 6:26 AM CDT

General Censured in Tillman Death

Chief misled probe after friendly fire cut down ex-NFL star

(Newser) - A retired three-star general has been censured for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" following the friendly-fire death of ex-NFL star Pat Tillman, the AP reports. Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger misled investigators probing Tillman's death, which was initially said to be the result of...

General Faces Demotion in Tillman Probe

Jul 26, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

General Faces Demotion in Tillman Probe

Six other officers will draw career-ending punishments

(Newser) - A retired three-star general who allegedly misled investigators about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan could be stripped of his stars and part of his pension, Pentagon officials told CNN. Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger told inspectors he didn't know the Green Beret was killed by...

Pentagon Destroys
Surplus Goods

Jul 23, 2007 2:21 PM CDT

Pentagon Destroys Surplus Goods

Surplus dealers angry at scope of gear purge

(Newser) - The Pentagon is scrapping millions of dollars of gear it has traditionally resold to surplus dealers, Time reports. The army claims that sorting passels of helmets, boots, and sleeping bags is too onerous, while suppliers are concerned the move is the vestige of an effort to keep old jet parts...

Heel-Dragging on Humvees Cost Lives

Jul 17, 2007 11:59 AM CDT

Heel-Dragging on Humvees Cost Lives

Officers in Iraq pled with Pentagon for years to replace dangerous vehicles

(Newser) - Officers in Iraq have been begging the Pentagon to replace their vulnerable Humvees with mine-proof MRAPs for years, but to no avail. Now senators Joe Biden and Kit Bond estimate that 700 lives could have been saved if the Pentagon had shipped out the MRAPs earlier, and USA Today reports...

Gates Sambas Out of Latin American Tour

Jul 9, 2007 5:35 AM CDT

Gates Sambas Out of Latin American Tour

Stays home to bolster Iraq war support after GOP desertions

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled a tour of Latin America just hours before he was set to depart in an effort to help shore up faltering support for the Iraq War, Bloomberg reports. Gates will stay home to prepare for the administration's July 15 update to Congress on the progress...

Military Shreds Old Fighter Jets

Jul 2, 2007 5:32 PM CDT

Military Shreds Old Fighter Jets

Parts from "Top Gun" planes were landing in the wrong hands

(Newser) - The US military is paying a contractor to destroy its retired fleet of F-14 fighter jets, after evidence surfaced that Iran had been acquiring the old parts and was intending to rebuild the planes, reports the AP. “There were things getting to the bad guys,” the contractor says....

Bush Preps for Exit Strategy on Surge

Jun 23, 2007 9:00 PM CDT

Bush Preps for Exit Strategy on Surge

White House orders reports that could counter pro-surge Petraeus come Sept.

(Newser) - The Bush administration has commissioned a slew of reports that could help it justify an end to the troop surge later this fall, the New York Times reports. Three months before Gen. Petraeus's planned report on the efficacy of the troop increase—expected to recommend a continuation of the surge—...

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics

Jun 21, 2007 6:25 PM CDT

CIA Helped Devise Torture Tactics

Agency believed to have teamed up with Pentagon

(Newser) - The CIA apparently colluded with the US military to develop torture techniques for interrogating terrorist suspects, Salon reports. The program was based on methods originally designed to teach American special forces how to withstand abuse if captured. While the military's role in this "reverse engineering" had been previously exposed,...

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

May 22, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

Analysis of Pentagon orders shows 8 more brigades in Iraq by year's end

(Newser) - The number of US combat troops in Iraq is being quietly doubled this year in what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a second surge, the paper concludes from an analysis of Pentagon orders. The combination of new combat brigades and lengthened tours for troops already stationed in Iraq could bring...

Pentagon Woos Tech Startups

May 7, 2007 11:38 AM CDT

Pentagon Woos Tech Startups

Venture capital firms play matchmaker in Defense search for new technologies

(Newser) - Infant tech companies are fast becoming a tributary in the pipeline between the Pentagon and big contractors, the Times reports. And in a new, official initiative, Defense is tasking venture capitalists to harvest ideas and technologies from the fast-moving tech startups they monitor, and small companies are winning coveted contracts.

Combat Soldiers' Blogs
Make Brass Queasy

May 3, 2007 3:57 PM CDT

Combat Soldiers' Blogs Make Brass Queasy

(Newser) - Some of the most riveting reporting about the war in Iraq is coming from the soldiers fighting it. As blogs from deployed soldiers proliferate, higher-ups are biting their nails over the ensuing transparency. Bloggers like Capt. Danjel Bout say posting provides "online therapy" and helps keep friends and the...

Bush Staying the Course on Veto

Apr 3, 2007 1:03 PM CDT

Bush Staying the Course on Veto

President refuses to compromise on Iraq funding

(Newser) - Bush is staying the course in the war with Congress, ripping into "Democrat leaders" in a press conference today, and repeating his vow to veto any bills with troop withdrawal deadlines that crossed his desk. Congress, he said, is more clearly interested in fighting political battles than real ones.

Army Uses Injured to Inflate Manpower

Mar 26, 2007 9:27 AM CDT

Army Uses Injured to Inflate Manpower

Injured soldiers deployed to training camps—and back to Iraq—in effort to boost active duty rolls

(Newser) - The Army sent soldiers recovering from injuries—some still on crutches—to a desert training center in California, in an apparent attempt to pad manpower statistics. Witnesses describe tents at Fort Irwin packed with soldiers in no shape to train, or even to walk, but counted by the Pentagon as...

Army Battles Officer Shortage

Mar 14, 2007 9:15 AM CDT

Army Battles Officer Shortage

Early promotions are used to fill gaps, in violation of regulations

(Newser) - The War in Iraq has left the Army so short of good officer material that the Pentagon is doling out promotions to unqualified soldiers, according to the Boston Globe. In 2006, the Army promoted thousands of soldiers ahead of schedule and against regulations to fill the void left by exhausted...

Pace: Homosexuality Is "Immoral"

Mar 13, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

Pace: Homosexuality Is "Immoral"

(Newser) - "Don't ask, don't tell" works fine for Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because "homosexual acts are immoral" and should not be condoned any more than adultery within the ranks. Pace defended the Pentagon's current policy on gays to the Chicago Tribune, opposing proposed...

Pentagon Exit Strategy Relies on Advisers

Mar 12, 2007 11:03 AM CDT

Pentagon Exit Strategy Relies on Advisers

Hopes for surge waning, DoD plans to replace troops with teams of advisers

(Newser) - Pentagon top brass preparing an exit strategy for Iraq should the troop surge fail are following the outlines set by the Iraq Study Group, using a small team of military advisers to replace troops as they stand down. It mirrors the strategy the military used in El Salvador in the...