SDFM The Business of Defense
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Segment 1: Inherited IRA\'s Segment 2: Caroline A. Miller
January 18, 2012 -
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A review of legally oriented mail to prisoners facing charges for war crimes at Guantanamo Bay prison has been ordered. Rear Adm. David Woods says it balances the need for defense attorneys to communicate with their clients with demands for security and safety on the base. Woods made the statement at a pre-trial hearing in a case against a Saudi man charged with orchestrating the deadly attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is considered one of al-Qaida\'s most senior leaders.
January 18, 2012 -
More than 200 political prisoners were freed in Myanmar last week. As a result, the U.S. upgraded diplomatic relations. It might also embolden the opposition and that might lead to pressure on the West to lift sanctions. It\'s one of the most reclusive countries in the world. It\'s opened up after 50 years of hard-line rule. Myanmar a neighbor of China represents a potential, key ally for the US in a troubled region.
January 17, 2012 -
Three star Marine Corps. General Thomas Waldhauser has been appointed to oversee the case an Internet video allegedly showing Marine snipers urinating on dead bodies in Afghanistan. He has named another officer to do an internal Marine Corps investigation, in addition to a criminal probe under way by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Waldhauser will decide what to do as a result of the investigations. No one has been charged.
January 17, 2012 -
Afghanistan\'s government and the Taliban are both denouncing the video that has surfaced on the Internet, allegedly showing four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters. Marine Corps. Commandant General James Amos has assigned a Marine General Officer and senior attorney, both with extensive combat experience, to head up an internal Preliminary Inquiry into the matter. Once the investigation and Preliminary Inquiry are complete and the facts have been determined, then the says the Marine Corps will take the appropriate next steps. He says in a statement, \"Rest assured that the institution of the Marine Corps will not rest until the allegations and the events surrounding them have been resolved.\"
January 17, 2012 -
For the second time in less than a week -- an American ship has rescued Iranian mariners in distress. The Pentagon says a Coast Guard cutter picked up six Iranians from a cargo boat in the northern Persian Gulf. One of the Iranian crew members had suffered burns after the boat had some kind of engine trouble. Last Thursday, a Navy ship rescued 13 Iranian fishermen from pirates holding them hostage aboard their ship.
January 17, 2012 -
One aircraft carrier strike group is in the Arabian Sea and another is on its way to the region. Is there any connection to increasing tensions with Iran? The Pentagon says no. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world\'s most productive oil shipping lane because of sanctions over its nuclear program. The USS Carl Vinson arrived in the Arabian Sea on Monday. A second carrier strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is on its way.
January 17, 2012 -
24 year old Craig Benedict Baxam who was born in Takoma Park, Md. And attended Laurel High School, was charged with attempting to provide material support to African based terror org Al-Shabaab. Baxam was arrested December 23, 2011 by police in Kenya allegedly trying to join the terror group. He joined the U.S. Army in 2007 and served four years including tours in Iraq and Korea. Before his separation from the military last year, he secretly converted to Islam and authorities say he was radicalized via the internet.
January 17, 2012 -
A review of legally oriented mail to prisoners facing charges for war crimes at Guantanamo Bay prison has been ordered. Rear Adm. David Woods says it balances the need for defense attorneys to communicate with their clients with demands for security and safety on the base. Woods made the statement at a pre-trial hearing in a case against a Saudi man charged with orchestrating the deadly attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is considered one of al-Qaida\'s most senior leaders.
January 17, 2012 -
Libyan officials, who are cooperating with the United States as part of the fight against terrorism, says Algeria has been targeted for destabilization. They also tell US officials that several weeks ago Ayman Al-Zawahiri the leader of Al-Qa\'ida, sent military emissaries to train Libyan rebels. Among those sent was one military leader with 20 years of Al Qaida experience.
January 17, 2012 -
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will hold a news conference today to unveil a new \"more realistic\" vision for the U.S. military, including cuts to ground force numbers as a result of budget strains. And they\'re going to have a special guest --President Barack Obama. This event will also discuss the growing strategic importance of Asia as well as maritime and air power as the military reshapes itself for the coming years.
January 17, 2012 -
As Comptroller General, Mr. Dodaro helps oversee the development and issuance of hundreds of reports and testimonies each year to various committees and individual Members of Congress.
January 17, 2012 -
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