Obama Ordered Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran - NYTimes.com. Indefinite Military Detention: President Obama Waives It For Americans. WASHINGTON -- The White House released rules Tuesday evening waiving the most controversial piece of the new military detention law, and exempting U.S. citizens, as well as other broad categories of suspected terrorists. Indefinite military detention of Americans and others was granted in the defense authorization bill President Barack Obama signed just before Christmas, sparking a storm of anger from civil libertarians on the left and right.
The new rules -- which deal with Section 1022 of the law -- are aimed at soothing many of their gravest concerns, an administration official said. Those concerns are led by the possibility that a law that grants the president authority to jail Americans without trial in Guantanamo Bay based on secret evidence could easily be abused. "It is important to recognize that the scope of the new law is limited," says a fact sheet released by the White House, focusing on that worry.
The categories of people exempted by the rules: Another GOP member proposes fix to detainee language in defense law - The Hill's Floor Action. Gibson is one of several Republicans and Democrats that have pushed for a fix to the NDAA. That bill, which passed last year, reaffirms the authority of the government to detain suspected terrorist associates and requires military detention of anyone who plots an attack against the United States.
The bill does say explicitly that no new authority is created to detain U.S. citizens, and that the military detention language does not apply to citizens. But several members said they feared the language could still create some wiggle room for the administration, and wanted extra assurances that U.S. citizens would be protected. A spokeswoman for Gibson, Stephanie Valle, said Gibson does not believe the NDAA erodes the civil liberties of Americans, but that he has heard from constituents who are worried about the bill. "Therefore, in an effort to allay the remaining concerns of our constituents, Congressman Gibson introduced H.R. 4092," she said. In December, Rep. Obama unveils plan to streamline government.
President Barack Obama asks Congress to grant him "consolidation authority" to merge agencies performing similar functions. Obama plan would replace the Commerce DepartmentObama elevates the Small Business Administration to a Cabinet-level agencyPlan could save $3 billion by cutting 2,000 jobs through attritionGOP spokesman says proposal only comes after years of government growth Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for more power to streamline and reorganize the federal government, a move designed to claim the political middle ground in an election likely to be dominated by questions about Washington's role in the economy. The president asked legislators to grant him the authority to merge agencies that perform similar functions. If that power is granted, Congress would be required to hold an up-or-down vote on the president's streamlining plan within 90 days of its submission. California Rep. CNN's Kate Bolduan contributed to this report.
Obama Consolidating Business-Promotion Agencies. I have a passion for not-very-consequential government reorganization schemes, so I was glad to see the president announce one today. Specifically, he's fed up with the fact that "currently, there are six major departments and agencies that focus primarily on business and trade in the federal government. " In response, he wants to consolidate the Small Business Administration, the US Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the US Trade and Development Agency, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation with what they're calling the Commerce Department's "core business and trade functions" (which I think means not the Census Bureau) into a single "into one department, with one website, one phone number, one mission: helping American businesses succeed.
" This is not, in truth, that big a deal but it's probably a good idea that should, at a minimum, make it easier for people to know where to go for what. Darpa's Magic Plan: 'Battlefield Illusions' To Mess With Enemy Minds | Danger Room. Arthur C. Clarke once famously quipped that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So perhaps it was inevitable that the Pentagon’s extreme technology arm would eventually start acting like magicians — and try to create illusions on the front lines. In its new budget, unveiled on Monday, Darpa introduced a new $4 million investigation into technologies that will “manage the adversary’s sensory perception” in order to “confuse, delay, inhibit, or misdirect [his] actions.” Darpa calls the project “Battlefield Illusion.” “The current operational art of human-sensory battlefield deception is largely an ad-hoc practice,” the agency sighs as it lays out the project’s goals.
Ultimately, the aim is to “demonstrate and assess the operational effectiveness of advanced human-deceptive technologies on military ground, sea, and airborne systems.” If this all sounds a little outside the military norm, it shouldn’t. Harry Houdini performing. The Mess in Afghanistan « BernardFinel.com. I think it is now pretty clear that the 2009 decision to dramatically escalate the war in Afghanistan was a tragic mistake. A few recent stories highlight this: Glenn Greenwald comments on a new Sunday Times report about drone strikes targeting rescuers: As I indicated, there have been scattered, mostly buried indications in the American media that drones have been targeting and killing rescuers.
As the Bureau put it: “Between May 2009 and June 2011, at least fifteen attacks on rescuers were reported by credible news media, including the New York Times, CNN,Associated Press, ABC News and Al Jazeera.” So, this is a war crime, just to be clear. Then we have this NYT story about a new article in Armed Forces Journal: “How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding? Look, I don’t actually know how to measure success in Afghanistan. Indeed, it looks like we are going to accelerate our “transition from a combat role” to 2013. Anyway, a few thoughts on this: U.S. special forces rescue Somalia aid workers. U.S. State Department was in close contact with Denmark about the raidRescued American's father was "flabbergasted" when Obama called him with the newsPrime Minister Raila Odinga of neighboring Kenya says he backs more U.S. action in SomaliaJessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted were kidnapped in October in Somalia Washington (CNN) -- U.S.
Special Forces parachuted overnight into Somalia from fixed-wing planes, then advanced on foot to a compound holding two kidnapped international aid workers and freed them, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The nine gunmen holding the hostages -- an American and a Dane -- were killed, the officials said. Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Thisted, 60, had been held since October 25, when they were abducted in Galkayo, central Somalia, after they visited humanitarian projects, said the Danish Refugee Council, the agency for which they worked. Neither was harmed, the aid group said. Obama to Panetta: 'Good job' on rescue Navy SEALs strike again Capt. Obama unveils plans for pared-down military. NEW: Panetta meets with British defense secretaryPresident Barack Obama outlines a review of Pentagon strategyThe new Pentagon plan calls for measured spending cuts Republican critics say the plan undermines U.S. military power Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama unveiled his administration's plan Thursday for a leaner, cheaper military, a reflection of Washington's fiscal belt-tightening and slower national economic growth.
The president insisted the new strategy -- which eliminates the military's ability to actively fight two major wars at once -- will allow U.S. armed forces to effectively combat terrorism while confronting any new threats from countries like China and Iran. "Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow, because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership," Obama announced during a rare presidential visit to the Pentagon.
Panetta: Smaller military is preferable. The GOP’s plan to spare defense, target federal workers. Even before the supercommittee’s demise, John McCain vowed to nullify the cuts to defense spending that would automatically go into effect if the group couldn’t come to a deal. Thursday, McCain took the next step toward making good on that promise. (Getty Images) Together with five other Republican senators — including minority whip Jon Kyl, a member of the dissolved supercommittee — McCain unveiled a bill to eliminate the triggered defense cuts for a year. The legislation would replace the $109 billion in cuts that are scheduled to happen in 2013 with cuts to the federal workforce instead: It extends the federal employee pay freeze through June 2014 and “restricts federal hiring to only two employees for every three leaving, until the size of the federal government workforce is reduced by five percent,” which is expected to save $127 billion within 10 years.
That said, even if the bill passed, it would still leave about $491 billion in triggered defense cuts that would begin in 2014. Misleading Images on Defense Spending. The Washington Examiner ran this Heritage Foundation chart on January 10 under the title (not online) “Defense spending at lowest levels in 60 years”: Dramatic, eh? It shows defense spending plunging for the past 40 or more years. Except … wait a minute … has defense spending plunged? This chart from the Cato Institute’s Downsizing Government project sheds some light: In fact, Pentagon spending in real, inflation-adjusted dollars has roughly doubled since 2000 and is up about 50 percent since 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War.
(And note that the recent figures don’t include the cost of the ongoing wars.) So what’s going on? Obviously, the big story in the federal budget over the past 40 years is the dramatic rise in spending on transfer payments. Cato and Heritage scholars have often differed on U.S. foreign policy and the defense budget that it implies. Pentagon to Present Vision of Reduced Military. Air Force, via European Pressphoto Agency Reductions are expected in the program for the F-35 fighter jet. Balancing Needs and Costs This is the third article in a series that is examining the American military and the decisions confronting it in a new age of austerity. More From the Series » In a shift of doctrine driven by fiscal reality and a deal last summer that kept the United States from defaulting on its debts, Mr.
Panetta is expected to outline plans for carefully shrinking the military — and in so doing make it clear that the Pentagon will not maintain the ability to fight two sustained ground wars at once. Instead, he will say that the military will be large enough to fight and win one major conflict, while also being able to “spoil” a second adversary’s ambitions in another part of the world while conducting a number of other smaller operations, like providing disaster relief or enforcing a no-flight zone. Mr. Many who are more worried about cuts, including Mr. Mr. In New Strategy, Panetta Plans Even Smaller Army. Pool photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will announce proposed Pentagon cuts on Thursday. Mr. Panetta is to disclose the strategy guiding hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon budget cuts during an unusual Defense Department news conference on Thursday, when is to appear in the Pentagon briefing room and make remarks ahead of those by Mr.
Panetta and Gen. Mr. Military experts familiar with Mr. White House and Pentagon officials sought to portray Mr. The new military strategy is driven by at least $450 billion in Pentagon budget cuts over the next decade. As part of the new reality, Mr. Senior aides to both Mr. The Army is already is slated to drop to a force of 520,000 from 570,000, but Mr. A smaller Army would be a clear sign that the Pentagon does not anticipate conducting another expensive, troop-intensive counterinsurgency campaign, like those waged in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Some areas of Pentagon spending will be protected. The president’s new defense strategy will spark an epic war over the Pentagon budget. Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images It looks like something seriously different is about to happen with the defense budget—and not just the budget, but the way the Pentagon does business and the military fights wars.
Fred Kaplan is the author of The Insurgents and the Edward R. Murrow press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Follow President Obama sought to dramatize this fact—or at least to deepen its impression—by going to the Pentagon press room himself (something no previous president had ever done) to lay out the main points of the new “Defense Strategic Guidance,” a document that was hammered out in a half-dozen meetings involving the president, the service chiefs, and the national-security bureaucracy.
But certain inferences can be drawn from some of their statements. Take a close look at these remarks: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta: The Army and Marine Corps will no longer need to be sized to support large-scale stability operations. Two big questions come to mind. Budgeting for a new military vision. By CNN's Larry Shaughnessy Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta unveiled details of a budget plan that slices half a trillion dollars in spending increases over the next 10 years and serves as a blueprint for the administration's vision of how America's military needs to change.
The savings would begin in October, the start of fiscal year 2013. Panetta, speaking Thursday at the Pentagon, said he will request a total budget that is $33 billion smaller than the current one. All told, his plan meets Congress's mandate to reduce Pentagon spending by $487 billion in the next 10 years. To accomplish that, Panetta said, a new strategy was developed for the military force of the future: "The military will be smaller and leaner, but it will be agile, flexible, rapidly deployable and technologically advanced. It will be a cutting-edge force. " For example, he said, the Army will save money by pulling two of its four brigades out of permanent bases in Europe to bases in the United States.
Gen. Outrage at Biden's Taliban Comment: Daily Beast Writers Weigh In. Come with me through 117 pages of euphemisms, bureaucracy, and mayhem. Oops, April 15th… Why do they call it a tax “return”? The cable company doesn’t call its bill a “waste-of-time return.” Or is the IRS saying that, since government prints the money, we’re supposed to return it to where it came from? Anyway… Got up bright and early this morning—by freelance-writer standards—around 10:30 AM. Freelance Writer, Let Me Point Out Some Further IRS Abuses of the English Language… I have a file cabinet. At least no tipping is expected. Googled “File Income Tax”… Found a lot of ads offering to do this for free. Scrolled Down… Until I came to irs.gov/Filing, which I take to be the real thing. Clicked… And got a page with the IRS logo. I’m easily distracted when doing my taxes, aren’t you? Page with Crest Was Titled… “Do I Need to File a Tax Return?”
Had thought there was a law about that. The IRS wanted me to answer some questions. Clicked Some More… Got “Your Rights as a Taxpayer.” Address Is Requested… Statements 2011 | Embassy of the United States Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban Welcome Biden's 'Not our Enemy' Remark. Special Ops' burden of success.