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Pentagon & Beyond 
Top News
- VA chipping away at oldest disability claims in backlog
- What's the latest on phased retirement?
- New mobile tools gives agencies ‘giant innovation permission slip'
- Congress pressures agencies to speed up office consolidations
- Furlough Friday: Multiple agencies took advantage of holiday weekend
- Data breach puts DHS employees at risk of ID theft
- IRS replaces official in Tea Party controversy
- Commerce nominee sails through hearing
- Obama nominates Archuleta as next OPM director
- FedRAMP achieves another cloud security milestone
- Tangherlini to be nominated as permanent GSA chief
- House GOP panel moves on deep budget cuts
- OMB reworking financial system requirements
- Federal retirement funds temporarily tapped
- Friday federal headlines - May 24, 2013
National Security Correspondent J.J. Green has traveled three continents covering intelligence, terrorism, and security issues. From Afghanistan to Africa, Iraq to Ireland, there isn't anywhere J.J. won't go, nor anyone he won't talk with, to get the stories affecting the defense and national security communities.
Foiled
We're learning more about the plot to blow up a synagogue in New York and shoot down military planes in the same area. The men allegedly began their plot in 2008 and were discovered by authorities when they recruited an undercover informant operating out of a mosque into their group. The informant allowed law enforcement agencies to monitor the group's activities, and gave the men inert plastic explosives and an inoperable FIM-92 "Stinger" missile two weeks ago.
Detainee Photos
Some predicted it would happen and it did. President Barack Obama says the detainee abuse photos he wants to prevent from being released are "not really sensational", but at the same time they could put U.S. troops at risk. So he's directed White House lawyers to fight the court-ordered release of the photos. He says he won't stand for abuse of prisoners. Just recently, White House said it would release the photos, citing little chance of defeating an ACLU challenge to have them released.
Change in Afghanistan
Dissatisfaction with progress in Afghanistan has cost General David McKiernan his job there. SECDEF Robert Gates said "new leadership" is required. He said the situation requires "fresh thinking and fresh eyes." So he's assigned Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal to replace him. McChrystal is a former commander of special operations forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Right now, he's director of the U.S. military Joint Staff.
Pull Out Not Guaranteed
The Associated Press is reporting the top U.S. general in Iraq is hedging his bets about whether U.S. combat troops will pull out of the volatile city of Mosul on schedule next month. Gen. Raymond Odierno says U.S. and Iraqi forces are in the midst of a neighborhood-by-neighborhood sweep of Mosul ahead of a June 30 deadline to hand over security for the city to Iraqi forces.
Army Worldwide Public Affairs Symposium
Hundreds of Army public affairs officers from around the world are in the area this week. They're attending the Army Worldwide Public Affairs Symposium. The goal is to learn how to better promote the Army. And many of the attendees we're doing just that --promoting their home-bases, while interacting with the media . "We train all of the army intelligence solider airmen, sailors, marines and coast guardsmen in a variety of intelligence specialties" says Tanya Linton from Ft. Huachuca Arizona. That training includes the joint weapons intelligence course --"which is basically battlefield forensics. We can look at the site of an explosion and track it back to the bomb makers," adds Linton.
Chinese Build-up
The chairman of the joint chiefs says China's build of air, sea and miltiary power, which is fueled by it's strong economy looks to be aimed at the United States. Admiral Mike Mullen said China has the right to meet it's security needs but he's concerned the build up might require the U.S. to work with it's Pacific allies to respond. Mullen told the Navy League China's developing maritime resources that appear to be targeted at the U.S.
Charges Dismissed
Prosecutors have dismissed all charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing U.S. defense secrets, ending a four-year legal saga. During that time former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush administration supporters had to take the witness stand. At the heart of Keith Weissman's and Steven Rosen's case was the question of whether secret negotiations and discussions between government officials, lobbyists and reporters are legal.
Afghan Corruption
United States must do more to help Afghanistan battle the corruption undermining critical programs to rebuild the war-torn country, a top government watchdog The Associated Press reports. According to the AP, Arnold Fields, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said Afghan officials have made repeated pleas for assistance in ensuring the billions of dollars in international aid they're receiving are spent properly. Yet graft and fraud remain significant problems even as more U.S. tax dollars flow into the country.
Pandemic Imminent
Now that the World Health Organization has confirmed the entire globe is on the brink of a H1/N1 pandemic. The military will play a role in dealing with it. A Pentagon spokesperson indicates the Health and Human Services department and Centers for Disease Control are spearheading the effort right now and have not necessarily asked the military for help. But if and when the request comes, a variety of options may be on the table. Including systems used to track infectious diseases and possible logistic help for medicine delivery.
Caution About Afghanistan
The Associated Press] says Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday told Marines being deployed to Afghanistan that a U.S. victory there would look similar to progress in Iraq, but he cautioned that more civilians with skills beyond the battlefield will be needed, The Obama administration has called up 17,000 more troops to supplement the 38,000 American troops already fighting a resurgence of the Taliban. It said last month it would send several hundred citizens, from agronomists to economists, to work on reconstruction and development issues as part of the military's counterinsurgency campaign.
Iraq: Not a Done Deal
A hiccup in Iraq. "We're supposed to have all combat forces out of the cities by June," says U.S. military spokesman General David Perkins. But the before that can happen, Al Qaida has to be dealt with. Perkins says "We have said before, for al Qaida to win they have to take Baghdad, but in order to win they have to hold on to Mosul." They are still holding on in Mosul. Perkins says to bring the conflict to an end, Iraq's neighbors, particularly Syria, are going to have to stop allowing foreign fighters to come into Iraq.
