Pentagon
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates is trying to prepare the defense industry for a huge decline in defense spending. Fiscal concerns could cause the Pentagon to abandon some military missions, and reduce the size of the armed forces. He\'s preparing to retire next month and in one of his last speeches, he told the American Enterprise Institute, that the days of post 9/11 unchallenged defense spend are numbered. He said neither the money nor the political support are there.
May 25, 2011 -
U/S intelligence agents are on the hunt around the world for Osama bin Laden\'s associates. Fred Burton, VP of intelligence at Stratfor says, \"the first step is the identification of the individual and the second step is what country are they located in and can you find them.\" Mullah Omar, Ayman at Zawahiri and Anwar al Awlaki are the top of the list. And if any of them are in Pakistan says Burton, \"That\'s going to pose a unique problem at this time.\" That problem is restoring trust between the two countries in time to capture them before they disappear.
May 25, 2011 -
President Barack Obama has sent a blunt and chilling warning to Al Qaida. \"We not only took out (Osama Bin Laden) the symbol and operational leader of Al Qaida, we walked off with his files.\" He called it the largest treasure trove of intelligence ever seized from a terrorist. \"Today every terrorist in the al Qaida network should be watching their back, because we\'re going to review every video, examine every photo, read every one of those millions of pages, we\'re going to pursue lead,\" said Mr. Obama. He told an audience at the CIA, they\'re going to go wherever they have to go to finish the job.
May 23, 2011 -
The Army surgeon general says U.S. troops in Afghanistan are suffering with the highest rates of mental health problems since 2005 and morale is skidding. The report is a significant and detailed glimpse of the psychological cost of the battle that commanders claim has reversed the momentum of the insurgency. The doctors say morale is suffering given the dramatic increase in fighting, which is at the highest level since they started doing their mental health studies in 2003.
May 23, 2011 -
Why did Al Qaida appoint Saif al Adel as their interim leader? U.S. intelligence sources say there is a split in the al Qaida organization and there a those who don\'t trust him and feel as though the Egyptian contingent of the organization which is led by Al Qaida number two Ayman al Zawahiri is not radical enough. A former U.S. intelligence official says most of the Al Qaida rank and file wanted a Saudi because they are perceived as having better Islamic credentials. What does the discord mean for Al Qaida? Experts say al Qaida is accustomed to disagreements.
May 23, 2011 -
So who\'s leaking the material from the Bin Laden raid? Former CIA Osama Bin Laden chief Michael Scheuer on CNN said only a handful high well known ranking intelligence officials have access to it. It\'s also especially ironic because several former intelligence officials say that some members of the media were being scrutinized after being suspected of receiving classified material and legal action pursued. No word yet on whether an investigation into the Bin Laden leaks will happen or not.
May 23, 2011 -
The killing of a Hassan al-Qahtani, a Saudi diplomat in Karachi, Pakistan has raised a lot of questions in the intelligence world. Why him? Why wasn\'t he driving an armored vehicle? Why was he even driving himself? Karachi is known to be a hotbed of terrorist activity and the Saudi government is known to be hated by Al Qaida. In the meantime The Saudi\'s say they will increase security for their diplomats around the world and at home. Al Qaida has vowed it will avenge the death of Osama bin Laden.
May 23, 2011 -
China and the U/S will hold their first top tier military talks since 2009 this week and there will be a 500lb elephant in the room. Pakistan has reportedly been approached by the Chinese about sharing the wreckage of the stealth helicopter used in the Osama Bin Laden raid. Pakistan supposedly has said it will not share it, but the U/S military is still leery about that according to sources close the Pentagon. The Chinese are trying to develop a fleet of stealth air craft of their own.
May 23, 2011 -
Two New York men were arrested in a sting after police witnessed them trying to buy guns and grenades. Algerian-born Ahmed Ferhani, 26, and Moroccan-born Mohammed Mamdouh, 20, bought three pistols, ammunition and an inert grenade after a seven-month sting. At a news conference, New York Police commissioner Ray Kelley said \"Farhani also expressed interest in bombing the \"Empire State Building.\" The plot unraveled Wednesday. It was the 13th planned attack by Islamist militants on New York City since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
May 23, 2011 -
Lawyers are reviewing whether permitting same-sex marriages on U.S. Navy bases will work. They’re also checking into whether allowing chaplains to officiate would be acceptable as well once a ban on gays serving openly in…
May 19, 2011 -
The Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Armed Services committees have been granted permission to see the photographs of Osama Bin Laden after he was killed. The CIA has asked them to make an appointment to see them. President Barack Obama said last week making the photos available for public viewing because it could incite violence and be used by al Qaeda as a propaganda tool. The committee members on the other hand have top secret clearances and are bound by them and can not reveal any details about anything that is top secret.
May 11, 2011 -
The CIA declined to comment on a report that the identity of the Station Chief in Islamabad had been exposed. By all accounts the Agency seems to be suggesting it will not bring home the station chief. It was just last December that the identity of the previous station chief in Pakistan was leaked and had to be recalled immediately, for his own safety. Experts say sour relations between the U.S. and Pakistan is the reason why this kind of thing is happening. They say the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistani territory without their knowledge by U.S. forces is likely the reason behind the lack of cooperation.
May 11, 2011 -
President Barack Obama met with troops at Fort Campbell in Kentucky to congratulate them on the success of special forces units based there that killed Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. While there, he reiterated his intention to start pulling back U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer, and also indicated Bin Laden\'s demise shows the U.S. strategy is working. The President spoke to a general military audience and then met privately with the Navy Seals that carried out the Bin Laden mission.
May 11, 2011 -
Fort Campbell is going to be the scene of a visit today by President Obama. He\'s expected to meet with some of those involved in the military assault that killed Osama bin Laden. Fort Campbell is home to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which participated in the raid against bin Laden. A team of Navy SEALs raided a compound in Pakistan, killing the terrorist mastermind. Bin Laden was later buried at sea. Authorities are combing through effects he left behind.
May 11, 2011 -
The alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is getting a new lease on life.
May 05, 2011