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Sam Harris
$11.53
By Adrienne Mayor
$19.77
$22
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theonion.com
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According to ABC News, the president intends to replace Gen. Bob Casey, who currently oversees the Iraq war, with Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, and when Gen. John Abizaid retires in March, Bush will ask Adm. William Fallon to take over Central Command. Leave it to Bush to find someone from the Navy to oversee two ground wars.
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According to internal audit documents obtained by The Washington Post, the Defense Department wasted millions of dollars by farming out contracting to the Interior Department in an effort to “expedite” the process. Through the program, Interior routinely awarded overpriced and under-monitored no-bid contracts in exchange for a fee from the Pentagon.
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Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer and contributor James Harris discuss Robert Gates, the virtues of “losing” at war, race in America and more.
Posted on Dec 23, 2006
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cnn.com
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Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command and the military chief of the Iraq fiasco, will retire in March. Though officials say Abizaid tendered his retirement before Rumsfeld was pushed out, his departure will allow Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Bush more flexibility in their Iraq makeover, as Abizaid has been a dogged opponent of increasing troop levels.
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The Pentagon has asked the White House for an additional $99.7 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for a total increase of $50 billion over last year’s record spending. According to the Congressional Research Service, military spending on Iraq, Afghanistan and other operations has exceeded $500 billion so far.
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The White House is considering whether to further pressure Iran by adding to the naval fleet already stationed in the Gulf region. The carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and four other ships and submarines already present could be joined by at least one additional carrier in this dicey bid to rattle Tehran.
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richardsilverstein.com
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President Bush has instructed Defense Secretary Robert Gates to provide a plan for increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps. A major increase would take years to achieve and would not alleviate problems associated with the White House’s plan to “surge” troop levels in Iraq.
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msnbc.com
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According to the Pentagon’s latest report, violence in Iraq has reached record levels in all measured categories, with a 32 percent increase in attacks on U.S. troops. The 50-page document also notes a 60 percent increase in civilian casualties since the formation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government.
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newmediamusings.com
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Truthdig contributor Marc Cooper, writing for The Nation, uncovers a growing movement of active-duty soldiers who are petitioning Congress to begin the withdrawal of troops. A 21-year-old soldier serving in Iraq who signed the petition says of the war: “The well is so poisoned by what we have done here that nothing can fix it.”
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pageoneq.com
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The Pentagon is expected to recommend expanding both the military and its presence in Iraq as part of its “double down” strategy. Another element of the plan, to be presented to President Bush on Wednesday, is likely to include a direct confrontation with Moqtada al-Sadr and his militia.
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guardian.co.uk
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While saying goodbye to the troops in Iraq, outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made what one can only hope was his last erroneous link between the war and 9/11: “We feel great urgency to protect the American people from another 9/11 or a 9/11 times two or three ... .”
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intelmessages.org
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Despite all the attention focused on the Iraq Study Group’s report, one of its more damaging allegations has largely escaped media scrutiny: The Pentagon and intelligence agencies are drastically underreporting acts of violence in Iraq. The panel said that one day the U.S. reported 93 acts of violence when in fact there were more than 1,100. (h/t: Randi Rhodes)
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Veteran journalist and Bush administration critic Seymour Hersh speaks to Amy Goodman on “Democracy Now” about what to expect from Robert Gates as defense secretary: “The reality is Gates is a fresh face and there’s a lot of people, [Brent] Scowcroft and James Baker among them, who are very worried about what’s going to happen in ‘08.” Watch it
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Image: AP; composite: Karen Spector / Truthdig
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By Joshua Scheer — Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) criticizes the leadership of his own party for announcing Tuesday that it would support a massive increase in spending for the Iraq war.
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Robert Gates has been confirmed by the Senate with enormous support. While much has been made of Gates’ “fresh perspective” on the war, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) pointed out that it is the president who structures policy. And this president is notorious for selectively listening to advice.
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freewebs.com/jesseburyj/
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Peggy Buryj was told in 2004 that her son Jesse died near Karbala, Iraq, sustaining a back injury while heroically defending an Army checkpoint. She would later learn that he was shot in the back. While the Army, which has destroyed important evidence related to the case, insists a Polish soldier fired the shot, a friend of Jesse’s who served with him told his mother an American soldier was to blame. (h/t: Buzzflash)
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wcsh6.com
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When asked during his confirmation hearing today whether the United States was winning the war in Iraq, Robert Gates said simply, “No, sir.” The nominee for defense secretary, who later went on to soften his position, is expected to receive a speedy confirmation.
Update: The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted unanimously to recommend approval of Gates’ confirmation.
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Rolling Stone
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The Pentagon’s favored weaponeer, above, has a proposal to stop global warming—without burning less oil, and for a tiny fraction of the cost of mainstream proposals. And it’s so crazy it just might work. It also might destroy the planet in the process. Interested? Read on ...
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By Molly Ivins — There’s been so much in print about how Daddy 41’s people are back in the saddle, I was terrified when I saw a photo of Dan Quayle among the pack.
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AP / David Hume Kennerly
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On Monday the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times will run a joint editorial calling for the resignation or removal of the defense secretary: “Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.”
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Kyle Snyder fled to Canada when the Army threatened to send him back to Iraq, where he says he had been made to perform duties for which he was not trained. Snyder’s lawyer says the Army had agreed to discharge his client if he came home but now intends to return him to his original unit.
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From Wired News: “Some of the web’s more popular “milblogs”—blogs maintained by present or former active duty military personnel—are going quiet following a renewed push by U.S. military officials to scan sites for security risks.”
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npr.org
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House Majority Leader John Boehner had some warm words for the embattled defense secretary on Sunday: “I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.” The remark prompted Democrats to renew their call to oust the enabling majority in Congress.
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Tucker Carlson says he understands the Pentagon’s lies to the Tillman family because, as he puts it: “Telling the truth is really hard.”
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Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV expressed concern Thursday over the failure of the military’s new Baghdad strategy to curb mounting levels of violence in the city: “In Baghdad alone, we’ve seen a 22% increase in attacks during the first three weeks of Ramadan, as compared to the three weeks preceding Ramadan.”
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A coroner has ruled the fatal shooting of an already wounded British journalist by U.S. troops to be an “unlawful act.” Though it refused to take part in the inquest, the Pentagon defended the shooting: “We have always gone to extreme measures to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage.”
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spiegel.de
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A high-ranking active duty general has endorsed Bob Woodward’s characterization of criticisms the general made of the Bush administration, referring to the Iraq war as a “debacle” and saying: “The Joint Chiefs have been systematically emasculated by Rumsfeld.”
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Check out these two new (unrelated) reports by men who embody the Truthdig mission of drilling beneath the headlines:
Daniel Ellsberg: “Time to Drive Out the Bush Regime”—The man who gave the world the Pentagon Papers delivers an impassioned plea to a new generation of activists to heed the lessons of Nixon and even Hitler when taking stock of the Bush administration?s nuclear ambitions.
Sam Harris: “God’s Rottweiler Barks”—The bestselling author of ?The End of Faith? gives a fiery response to Pope Benedict XVI?s speech on the interplay between faith and reason.
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From Benslade.com
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By Daniel Ellsberg — The man who gave the world the Pentagon Papers delivers an impassioned plea to a new generation of activists to heed the lessons of Nixon and even Hitler when taking stock of the Bush administration’s nuclear ambitions.
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Legislation put forward by the Bush administration this week would legalize the same torture techniques recently banned by the Army. By selectively interpreting the Geneva Conventions, the legislation would allow CIA operatives and even the Army, should it decide to revert to previous rules, to conduct interrogations using unsavory methods.
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Civilian casualties in Iraq rose by 50% during the last three months, according to a report released by the Pentagon. The report on security and stability in Iraq examined the sectarian violence that grips the country, saying ?Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq? but that the fighting does not meet the ?strict? definition of a civil war.
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More roadside bombs were planted in July than in any other month during the Iraq war, indicating a sharp rise in violence as the country moves toward all-out civil war. According to data obtained by The New York Times, 2,625 devices either exploded or were discovered in July, compared with 1,454 in January.
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The Pentagon has ordered up a series of studies to examine the military’s failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports the Boston Globe. According to one of the authors, the findings (scheduled for this fall) “won’t be pretty.”
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In their new book “Without Precedent,” 9/11 Commission Chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton discuss their frustration with the Pentagon and FAA, whose misstatements almost led to an investigation into possible deception.
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Long suspected and ultimately confirmed news from the AP: “The Sept. 11 commission was so frustrated with repeated misstatements by the Pentagon and FAA about their response to the 2001 terror attacks that it considered an investigation into possible deception, the panel’s chairmen say in a new book.”
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How do you begin to unravel the conspiracy theories and mysteries surrounding the U.S. Air Force’s response on 9/11? Get your hands on over 30 hours of never-before-released NORAD tapes. Vanity Fair’s Michael Bronner did just that, and pieces together a picture of the “chaotic military history of that day—and the Pentagon’s apparent attempt to cover it up.” Complete with audio clips. (h/t bb.net)
Posted on Aug 2, 2006
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From the BBC
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The Pentagon has grown concerned as more and more service members send personal combat videos—some set to music—to websites such as Youtube and Myspace. The military has no official policy on the practice, but rumors abound of behind-the-scenes pressure to limit the flow of footage out of Iraq.
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The Department of Defense monitored e-mails from college students who were planning protests against the Iraq war and against the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The Pentagon apparently started digging after receiving tips through a website used for soliciting anti-terror tips from civilians and military personnel. (Link - reg req’d)
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From EA
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Supposed Internet experts, working off $7 million in public money, reported to the Pentagon and to Congress that terrorists are retooling American video games for use as recruitment tools. Problem is, it wasn’t the terrorists who did the retooling; it was American fans—something a 10-year-old could have discovered by using Google…(more)
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The U.S. military said it would revise an official medical document that classified homosexuality as a disorder alongside mental retardation, impulse control disorders and personality disorders.
Original story
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From AMERICAblog
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A Pentagon document still lists homosexuality as a mental defect akin to retardation and impulse control disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned the position.
News report
See the actual document
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From the BBC
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Bowing to a Freedom of Information request, the U.S. government has released a video of what is apparently (thanks, reader Lorenzo) American Airlines Flight 77 slamming into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The group that made the FOIA request did so to dispel conspiracy theories.
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The exiled Iraqi who provided faulty intelligence on Iraqi WMDs to the Pentagon and the N.Y. Times is acting as a broker between the U.S. and Iran, according to Raw Story.
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The presidential spokesman won’t say at what point the president learned of a Pentagon report which concluded that Iraqi weapons trailers discovered after the invasion were not—as Bush later claimed—WMD factories.
No wonder McClellan won’t answer. This could amount to proof positive that Bush outright lied about WMD.
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From stopanimaltesting.com
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The animal rights organization has obtained video footage of pigs being stunned with Taser guns as part of a Pentagon nonlethal weapons testing program. (This video is not for the queasy.)
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From washingtonpost.com
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The retired commander, who was leading key forces in Iraq just a year ago, told CNN: “It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense.”
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By Molly Ivins — The more that administration leaders play games with definitions of democracy and weasel wording about torture, the less they can be believed about anything. So if they someday tell the truth, no one will believe them.
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By Molly Ivins — I do like the idea of supporting democracy ... and think we should try it—especially here in the U.S. of A.
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