MetaFilter posts tagged with pentagon

The C-17 Globemaster III

Joe Beese — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:44:21 -0800

January: Newly sworn-in President Obama says, "We need greater investment in... essential systems like the C-17 cargo... aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power." April: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says, "Our analysis concludes that we have enough C-17s, with the 205 already in the force and currently in production." May: The Office of Management and Budget proposes the termination of the C-17 program with a savings of $17 billion. July: The 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill includes funding for the program. September 29: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) proposes an amendment to strip that funding - "You can't walk through these hallways without bumping into a lobbyist from Boeing." September 30: By a vote of 64 to 34, the Senate defeats the amendment.

Sex, bribes and videotape

ryoshu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:01:17 -0800

FBI whistleblower, Sibel Edmonds, has gone on record with her allegations of government corruption and treason. (previously)

Onward Christian Soldiers

ericb — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:13:44 -0800

"In the days surrounding the invasion of Iraq, cover sheets...began adorning top-secret intelligence briefings produced by [former defense secretary] Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon. The sheets juxtaposed war images with inspirational Bible quotes and were delivered by Rumsfeld himself to the White House, where they were read by the man who, after September 11, referred to America's war on terror as a 'crusade.'" "...Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics—his administration peers—are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty."

What Is And What Should Never Be

gman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:57:58 -0800

The Pentagon plans to spend $400 million to develop a giant blimp that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below. I only used that first link because clicking on a 'print version' of an LA Times link reverts back to the original page.

How The Pentagon Bankrupts America

homunculus — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:40:13 -0800

America's Defense Meltdown: Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress (2.3 MB PDF). A new report from the Center for Defense Information on the DoD's wastefulness, and suggested solutions. Recommended holiday reading from James Fallows and Andrew Sullivan.

US Military Presence Worldwide

homunculus — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:35:22 -0800

Mission Creep: "Bush and Rumsfeld may be history, but America's new global footprint lives on." Here's the Table of Contents for the whole series.

Cyber Command Über Alles

homunculus — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:55:24 -0800

Attention Geeks and Hackers: Uncle Sam's Cyber Force Wants You! Welcome to Cyberwar Country, USA

Can you trust a television military analyst?

Mo Nickels — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:32:25 -0800

Television military analysts are wooed, courted, and privileged by the Pentagon. An in-depth investigative report by the New York Times uncovers logrolling, shilling, touting, back-scratching, and just plain bias on the part of the experts that television networks put on the air to talk about the war. Some of them appear to be as good as owned by the Defense Department. "The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air. Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves."

China's military budget increases.

wilful — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:27:25 -0800

China has announced it will increase defence spending by 18% to 417.8bn yuan (US$59bn; £30bn) this year. The US Department of Defense estimates the true figure is at least double that (huge .pdf). China spends less on defence, as a proportion of GDP, than the US, UK, France and Russia. The US is concerned that China is developing weapons that would disable its enemies' space technology - such as satellites - in the event of a conflict (what, like this one?).

Secret Military Patches

Miko — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:30:29 -0800

I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me is a new book by author and interesting person Trevor Paglen. He collects patches designed by military personnel to commemorate secret "black-ops" projects.

Christian Embassy at the Pentagon and on the hill. Scary.

specialk420 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:02:56 -0800

Christian Embassy at the Pentagon and on the hill. Scary.
more here. "We're the aroma of Jesus Christ?"

Prepare for sweet everlasting holy war.

Mr_Zero — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:41:25 -0800

The military has used video games for sometime to help with training and recruitment. Recently the Pentagon put it's stamp of approval on a new game that will be distributed to the troops for recreational purposes. It is called Left Behind: Eternal Forces, in which the goal is to "kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus".

The First Casualty of War? Truth

amberglow — Sat, 12 May 2007 13:01:47 -0800

War vs. Democracy: Untold Stories from the Lynch / Tillman Hearing -- ...U.S. soldiers whose injuries or deaths remain mired in secrecy. Pat Tillman's brother and fellow Army Ranger Kevin Tillman advocated strongly for other families still waiting for answers. ... "The family was told, it was -- quote -- 'an ambush by insurgents.' Two years later, they found out that those -- quote -- 'insurgents' happened to be the same Iraqi troops that he was training. Before his death, he told his chain of command that these same troops that he was training were trying to kill him and his team. He was told to keep his mouth shut." ... Thorough and eye-opening examination of the many ways the military spun, lied, withheld information on soldier deaths and injuries for propaganda purposes (and even delayed action until cameras were present in the Jessica Lynch rescue).

Ethics, mental health, reviewed

ClaudiaCenter — Sat, 05 May 2007 02:01:04 -0800

Pentagon survey on troops in Iraq. Coverage from US News, AP.

Mind Games.

Sticherbeast — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:23:48 -0800

Mind Games. "She speaks about her situation calmly, occasionally laughing at her own predicament and her struggle with what she originally thought was mental illness....Like Girard, Naylor describes what she calls "street theater" -- incidents that might be dismissed by others as coincidental, but which Naylor believes were set up. She noticed suspicious cars driving by her isolated vacation home. On an airplane, fellow passengers mimicked her every movement -- like mimes on a street." Link goes to a Washington Post story - reg. may be required.

Habeas Corpus Thisus!

Second Account For Making Jokey Comments — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:31:37 -0800

The Pentagon has set down the rules regarding trials of terrorist suspects facing trial in the new military commissions court system. At least one US military attorney, Major Michael Mori, who is defending Australian terror suspect David Hicks, has blasted the new rules saying that the Pentagon still do not include fundamental rights such as habeas corpus.

...another less attractive but probably more realistic version of modern warfare in Iraq today ...

amberglow — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 16:31:40 -0800

Pentagon to Soldiers: Don't Post those Trophy Videos Online ... another said it made him feel good to bring the gruesome reality of a soldier's life in Iraq to those living safely behind their "clean, white picket fences at home". ...the taking and posting of trophy video served as some kind of relief from the psychological stresses of serving as a soldier in such a violent and acutely dangerous place. ... and from PBS' Mediashift: Your Guide to Soldier Videos From Iraq

Duncan Hunter next on the corrupt Califonian Congressmen list?

specialk420 — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 09:24:03 -0800

Randy Cunningham, Jerry Lewis... Duncan Hunter?
Is Duncan Hunter - the California Congressman who staged the cynical pull out of iraq vote/stunt last spring, the next powerful washington insider to be implicated in the growing list of corrupt or questionable California Congressmen?

New 9/11 Footage to Show Pentagon Plane Hit

Meccabilly — Tue, 16 May 2006 10:08:18 -0800

It's going to be as fake as the moon landings! The BBC reports that the US defense department is to release a video of the plane crashing into the Pentagon on 11 September. We've touched on this before, but will this close the conspiracy case for Flight 77?

often using “truth-based” information — to borrow from the vernacular of the military specialists who deal in the manipulation of words and images — as a substitute for truth.

amberglow — Mon, 01 May 2006 16:53:05 -0800

Their view is that psyops can be directed toward global transregional audiences. My view is that that’s not possible because it directs psyops against our own friends and allies and even at our own public. ... In Mind Games, Columbia Journalism Review thoroughly examines the disintegrating lines between Public Affairs, Psy-Ops, IO, the public, and the truth. Some old friends are mentioned too: the Lincoln Group, the Rendon Group, the Pentagon, our own media, and others. If truth is our greatest weapon, as Rumsfeld has said, how can the administration hope to prevail in an information war when it is not honest with itself?

Rebels in the Ranks

digaman — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 09:40:53 -0800

"I've been silent long enough... My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions--or bury the results." Marine Lieutenant General Greg Newbold, the Pentagon's former top operations officer, becomes the latest military insider to raise his voice against the "zealots" who led the US into war in Iraq. He writes in Time magazine: "Never again, we thought, would our military's senior leaders remain silent as American troops were marched off to an ill-considered engagement. It's 35 years later, and the judgment is in: the Who had it wrong. We have been fooled again... After 9/11, I was a witness and therefore a party to the actions that led us to the invasion of Iraq--an unnecessary war." During the Vietnam war, such discontent among soldiers sparked a massive campaign of disobedience and peace activism (as well as, more darkly, fragging) within the ranks, as recounted in a new documentary called Sir! No Sir! Can it happen again? Ask the Soldiers for the Truth.

Daniel Ellsberg interview

afu — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:57:00 -0800

I don't believe they'll give up on the bases and the oil. Nor will its successors, Republican or Democrat. So I think that's what we will be doing, staying forever. Unless the rest of us, outside the government, force change on the leadership of the Democrats as well as the Republicans, which will be difficult and take a long time.

From DailyKos comes an excellent series of interviews with Daniel Ellsberg; leaker of The Pentagon Papers. Part 1: The Pentagon Papers and the Overlooked 1968 Leaks, Part 2: Judith Miller, the New York Times and Government-Controlled Press, Part 3: The Cult of Secrecy in Government and Its Undermining of Democracy, Part 4: Whistleblowing and Effective Activism, Part 5: Iraq/Vietnam Parallels and Other Foreign Policy Fiascos and Part 6: Bush, the Next 9/11 and the Approaching Police State.

Your Hosts, Lynndie and Charles, Welcome You to the New Interrogation Facility

digaman — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:54:15 -0800

Adieu, Abu Ghraib -- we hardly knew ye (classified, ya know.) In the wake of a damning Amnesty International report, military spokesperson Keir-Kevin Curry says the infamous Baghdad prison will be closed within three months, its occupants transferred to other facilities in Iraq, including Camp Cropper (and don't ask what's happening there , or the terrorists win.) Or is Curry's statement premature? And would the closing of Abu Ghraib represent a change of policy, or merely rebranding the same old same old to avoid bad associations?

Sticker Shock and Awe

digaman — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 09:59:59 -0800

Then: Q - Mr. Secretary, on Iraq, how much money do you think the Department of Defense would need to pay for a war with Iraq? Rumsfeld - Well, the Office of Management and Budget, has come up come up with a number that's something under $50 billion for the cost. How much of that would be the U.S. burden, and how much would be other countries, is an open question. And now: The estimated cost to US taxpayers of the Iraq war to date is $250 billion and rising, or $100,000 per minute. Total cost of the Bush doctrine of spreading "democracy" since September 11th -- half a trillion dollars, or nearly the cost of the 13 years of the Vietnam War, adjusted for inflation. What else could we have done with that kind of money? Also see here.

... they want to set the record straight. ...

amberglow — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 07:02:47 -0800

an example of Operation Homefront? --this news report about a Reservist back from Iraq is apparently part of a new Pentagon propaganda operation aimed at us. ...Did Diaz return to the U.S. on emergency leave with an agenda -- to offer a positive spin that could help counter growing concerns among Americans about the U.S. exit strategy? How do we know that's not his strategy, especially after he discloses that superior officers encouraged him to talk about his experiences in Iraq? ...