News Headline

U.S. Ramps Up Withdrawal From Iraq

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:08:28 -0700

The U.S. military is packing up to leave Iraq in what has been deemed the largest movement of manpower and equipment in modern military history — shipping out more than 1.5 million pieces of equipment from tanks to antennas along with a force the size of a small city. The massive operation already underway a year ahead of the Aug. 31, 2010 deadline to remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq shows the U.S. military has picked up the pace of a planned exit from Iraq that could cost billions. The goal is to withdraw tens of thousands of troops and about 60% of equipment out of Iraq by the end of next March, Brig. Gen. Heidi Brown, a deputy commander charged with overseeing the withdrawal, said.

Senate Rejects Additional F-22 Fqunding

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:55:26 -0700

The Senate voted block expansion of one of the country's most controversial and expensive defense programs, the F-22 fighter jet program. The vote gave the White House and Pentagon a key victory over congressional supporters of the F-22, many of whom represent states and districts where jobs are tied to the production of the jet. The vote, which stripped $1.75 billion for an additional seven F-22s from the fiscal year 2010 budget, was a reversal of an earlier Senate committee decision to include money for the program. The change came in a response to strong pressure from President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and several key senators who argued that the additional planes are not needed or wanted by the military.

Deaths of U.S. Troops Exceed 5,000 In Wars

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:07:25 -0700

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached two solemn milestones Monday: July has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and the combined death toll surpassed 5,000. Four Americans were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr said. That brings the number of U.S. servicemembers killed so far this month to at least 30. The previous deadliest month was June 2008, when 28 died, the Pentagon said. In Iraq, where casualties have dwindled in recent months, at least six Americans have died so far in July. Deaths on both fronts pushed the total U.S. fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan to at least 5,002, according to the Pentagon. That number includes 4,332 military deaths in Iraq and 669 in Afghanistan, as well as 14 Defense Department civilians in both countries.

U.S. Report On Terrorism Detainees Delayed 6 Months

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:51:56 -0700

A key report ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama as part of his effort to close the internationally condemned Guantanamo prison will be delayed six months, but officials insisted they were still on track to shut it down by January. Amid divisions between lawmakers and the administration over the fate of Guantanamo inmates, Obama aides said a task force developing a new policy on terrorism detainees would miss its Tuesday deadline for offering him a full list of recommendations. Instead, the government panel issued an interim report late on Monday that provided an overview of the options, including prosecution in U.S. civilian courts and by military commission or the transfer of suspects to other countries.

U.S. Would Funnel More Money Into Diplomacy

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:25:16 -0700

The State Department is poised to realize significantly larger percentage budget increases than the Pentagon — a reflection, officials say, of a bipartisan consensus that civilians should play a greater role in U.S. foreign policy. Bills passed recently by House and Senate committees would increase State Department and related spending by about 25% from what was spent in 2008 and nearly double the 2005 level. The new money, some of which is included in a 2009 supplemental spending bill passed and signed last month, is set for 1,300 new diplomats, major new development programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan and increases in foreign and humanitarian assistance. By contrast, overall spending by the military would increase .2% to $664 billion under the Defense Department's 2010 budget proposal.

GAO Finds Security Lapses At Federal Buildings

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:52:35 -0700

It cost $150 and took about four minutes for government investigators, working in a sting operation, to make small bombs from materials they carried into high-security federal buildings that house major agencies with national security or law enforcement responsibilities. The recent sting by the Government Accountability Office exposed lax security procedures by the Federal Protective Service, the agency tasked with guarding more than 1 million workers at 9,000 federal buildings nationwide. Mark L. Goldstein, who led the investigation, told lawmakers that his team carried bombmaking materials into 10 high-security federal buildings in the past year. The materials could be purchased in stores or online and cost roughly $150. Once inside, investigators assembled bombs in restrooms and then walked around with them, undetected. In only one instance did a security guard question an investigator carrying suspicious materials.

Cyberattacks Hit U.S. and South Korean Web Sites

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:46:26 -0700

Cyberattacks that have crippled the Web sites of several major American and South Korean government agencies since the July 4th holiday weekend appear to have been launched by a hostile group or government, South Korea’s main government spy agency said. Although the National Intelligence Service did not identify whom they believed responsible, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the spy agency had implicated North Korea or pro-North Korea groups. A spokesman at the intelligence agency said it could not confirm the Yonhap report, which said that the spy agency briefed lawmakers about their suspicions. The opposition Democratic Party accused the spy agency of spreading unsubstantiated rumors to whip up support for a new anti-terrorism bill that would give it more power.

Robert McNamara, Ex-Defense Secretary, Dies

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:53:46 -0700

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, a key architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at age 93, according to his family. McNamara was a member of Kennedy's inner circle during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war. But he became a public lightning rod for his management of the war in Vietnam, overseeing the U.S. military commitment there as it grew from fewer than 1,000 advisers to more than half a million troops.

Rail’s Hazardous Cargo Debate Back on Track

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:48:08 -0700

The derailment of freight trains carrying ethanol, in Illinois, earlier this month highlights the struggle to prevent such disasters along the 140,000-mile U.S. rail network. The pressure is on to tackle outstanding safety issues with hazardous-cargo shipments expected to soar in coming years. Fears that terrorists might view chemical-laden tankers as easy targets adds to the urgency. But competing interests that sometimes pit the government against railroads, suburbs against cities or chemical makers against environmentalists complicate efforts to secure the transport of about 1.7 million carloads of hazardous material per year.

Report: Easy For Suspected Terrorists To Buy Guns In U.S.

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:28:36 -0700

Nearly 900 people on the FBI’s terror watch list applied for and received a certificate to buy a gun in the United States between 2004 and 2009, according to a Government Accountability Office report. In all, some 90 percent of the people on the watch list who applied passed the required background check, said the report, which was requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) of New Jersey. Gun-control activists say the report demonstrates potentially lethal flaws in gun laws. But gun-rights advocates counter that the terror list is perhaps a greater menace in itself. They see it as ripe for manipulation — allowing the government to tar people as terrorists when it is politically expedient to do so.