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. 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. 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. 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.
Darpa's Magic Plan: 'Battlefield Illusions' To Mess With Enemy Minds. 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.”
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.” 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.
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 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. 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. Obviously, the big story in the federal budget over the past 40 years is the dramatic rise in spending on transfer payments. 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. 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. The president’s new defense strategy will spark an epic war over the Pentagon budget. 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.
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. 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… Embassy of the United States Kabul, Afghanistan. December 22, 2011 In response to a question on Vice President Biden’s recent statement on the Taliban, U.S Ambassador Ryan C. Taliban Welcome Biden's 'Not our Enemy' Remark. Come with me through 117 pages of euphemisms, bureaucracy, and mayhem. Oops, April 15th… Special Ops' burden of success.