Pentagon // Current TV

CBS News' Dan Rather: Osama bin Laden Was Near Death in 2002

Shortly after the 9/11 Terror Bombings, CBS' Dan Rather reported in 2002 that the... more

maasanova
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20 days ago
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2 comments

Pentagon signals "acute" problems in Afghanistan

The Pentagon has issued a warnin that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are gaining strength in... more

BillCorcoran
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27 days ago
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Marine faces boot for anti-Obama Facebook posts

SAN DIEGO — A Marine sergeant who started a Facebook group that is openly... more

Radical_Centrist
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2 months ago
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14 comments

Defense Department Finalizing Cyberwar Operations Guidelines

“I think the capabilities are available in cyber to virtually cripple this... more

Paisano1
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2 months ago
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2 comments

Forgetting the Past, One Military Movie at a Time

- When the entertainment industry gets in bed with the Pentagon, censorship is inevitable.

joeeddy
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3 months ago
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1 comment

For War-Minded Fiscal Conservatives

Love the Economics dislike the foreign policy? Oxymoron my friend by Ryan Dawson... more

maasanova
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3 months ago
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0 comments

RT: FBI Tries To Coax Muslim Into Bombing US Capitol (LOVE THIS WOMAN!)

LOVE THIS WOMAN! http://youtu.be/j1sYlW5al_4

Radical_Centrist
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3 months ago
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11 comments

Pentagon working with FAA to open U.S. airspace to combat drones

With a growing fleet of combat drones in its arsenal, the Pentagon is working with the... more

Radical_Centrist
added this
3 months ago
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2 comments

U.S. military beginning review of Syria options

Another fake humanitarian crisis after provacatuers were sent into Syria to stir... more

maasanova
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4 months ago
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42 comments

NYPD and Pentagon to place mobile scanners on the streets on NYC

NYPD and Pentagon place mobile scanners on the streets on NYC New York City’s... more

MotherForTruth
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4 months ago
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0 comments

Iran Is The Scariest Menace In History Of Scary Menaces

This Modern World highlighting the NY Times/mass media propagating the... more

maasanova
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5 months ago
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1 comment

American and Israeli intelligence agencies invented fairytale known as 'Al Qaeda'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFFF-m8HW88 All this debate about TSA oppressive... more

maasanova
added this
5 months ago
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2 comments

Billion Dollar Airplanes or Schoolbooks?

Anyone who denies there are big flaws in our military's procurement practices is... more

omnipotentpoobah
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5 months ago
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1 comment

Obama Defense Secretary says dead Iraqis worth the price of war

They're just Muslims anyhow... **** Panetta Channels Madeleine Albright: A... more

maasanova
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6 months ago
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5 comments

The Trillion-Dollar Lawsuit That Could End Financial Tyranny

The fascist cabal known as the Bilderbergers, CFR, committee of 300 etc., is... more

worrg
added this
6 months ago
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7 comments

Congress Sanctions Offensive Military Action in Cyberspace

Section 954 of the the FY 2012 defense authorization act states that “Congress... more

Paisano1
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6 months ago
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0 comments

leaked DoD footage of how a modified Flu Vaccine can be Used to Modify Human Behaviour

n a small auditorium labeled BC232 a man is presenting a discussion on how the... more

FreePressTV
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6 months ago
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0 comments

Today's Military: The Most Top-Heavy Force in U.S. History

After Thanksgiving, waistlines aren't the only things that are bloated--the Pentagon's top ranks are fattening at an alarming rate.

Despite a plan set forth by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to rein in the Department of Defense's (DoD) increasingly top-heavy force and assurances from Pentagon personnel that these plans were being enacted, the U.S. military is still adding top brass faster than you can say tryptophan.

In September, I testified before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel about the military becoming increasingly top-heavy as a result of growth in the proportion of general and flag officers at the Pentagon. This trend, which we at POGO dubbed Star Creep, is costly to taxpayers who have to foot the large bill for every new general and admiral. It also hinders military effectiveness by leading to what Gates referred to as a “bureaucracy which has the fine motor skills of a dinosaur.”

My fellow witnesses at the hearing—several generals and admirals as well as former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley—assured the concerned Committee that they had everything under control. They cited Gates’ Efficiency Initiatives, which purportedly eliminate 102 general and flag officer positions, as evidence of the DoD’s commitment to combating Star Creep. Stanley confirmed to Chairman Jim Webb (D-VA) that Gates’ successor—Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta—supported these efforts and, “has accepted the policies and the things put in place by his predecessor.” (Stanley tendered his notice of resignation in late October.)

What Senator Webb and I did not know at the time—and perhaps Stanley did—was that Gates’ initiative to cut general and flag officers had already come to a screeching halt. Data that were released recently on the DoD personnel office's website tell the tale.

New personnel data

When POGO began its analysis of Star Creep, the most recent data available to the public were from April 2011. Thus, when I presented Chairman Webb our recommendation that Secretary Panetta work to fully enact Gates’ Efficiency Initiatives to combat Star Creep and heard the other witnesses declare their support for the initiatives, I had no way of knowing that the DoD had already completely reversed course on Gates’ efforts.

Seventeen general and flag officers were scheduled to be eliminated between May and September through Gates’ Efficiency Initiatives. But the DoD didn’t reduce its top brass at all. Instead, six generals were added from May to September, increasing the number of general and flag officers from 964 to 970. Moreover, from July 1, 2011—Panetta’s first day as Secretary of Defense—to September 30, the Pentagon added three four-star officers. Coincidentally, this is precisely the number of four-star officers Gates cut during his final year as SecDef, from June 2010 to the end of June 2011. Thus, in just three months, Panetta undid a year’s worth of Gates’ attempts to cut the Pentagon’s very top brass. It’s doubtful that Gates would consider Panetta’s current rate of adding a new four-star officer every month conducive to efficiency.

One of these new four-star officers is Admiral Mark Ferguson, who became vice chief of naval operations and consequently a four-star admiral less than a month before he testified at Senator Webb’s hearing. Ironically, this beneficiary of Star Creep wrote in his prepared statement that the “Navy supports these efficiency actions and anticipates additional review to reduce or merge flag officer positions.” At the hearing he expanded upon this, stating that “We [the Navy] remain absolutely committed to create a more agile, flexible, and effective flag officer staff structure.” Apparently, this support and commitment to flag officer efficiencies includes adding admirals.After Thanksgiving, waistlines aren't the only things that are bloated--the... more

dliebelson
added this
6 months ago
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0 comments

Is Congress about to put you out of work?

Now that the deficit committee failed, war profiteer CEOs are launching an all-out... more

Derrick_Crowe
added this
6 months ago
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16 comments

Propagandastan

Why is the Pentagon spending tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars to whitewash the... more

kvb1
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6 months ago
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1 comment

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