US MILITARY, THE PENTAGON & INTELLIGENCE ARCHIVE :

Please note : Most publications move older stories into their archives which may require a fee to view the full story. Some stories listed below may no longer be available online.

Washington Post, 28 May 08, by William Branigin
U.S. Navy Waiting for Junta's Permission to Deliver Burma Aid
'The United States is prepared to step up deliveries of relief supplies to Burma from Navy ships off the coast of the cyclone-ravaged nation but cannot wait much longer for permission from Burma's military rulers, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said today.'

Stars and Stripes, 30 May 08, by Teri Weaver
Gates to address buildup on visit to Guam
'Defense Secretary Robert Gates will make his first trip to Guam as the top Pentagon official this week to discuss military buildup on the island, according to Air Force officials. During the two-day trip, Gates will meet with local leaders and military commanders to discuss the planned move of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, a major portion of the long-term buildup.'

The New York Times 'City Room', 23 May 08, by Corey Kilgannon
Riding the Waves with the Navy Seals
'When I picture Navy Seals, it is those superhuman swimmer-soldiers who get dropped behind enemy lines to swim upriver and do something ultra stealthy and secret and life-threatening. Well, the Mark V is used to deliver them and their Zodiac powerboats to the general area of their mission.'

Washington Post, 22 May 08, by Karen DeYoung
Petraeus: Diplomacy, Not Force, With Iran
'Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush's nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage to address the challenges posed by Iran.'

Washington Post, 15 May 08, by Karen DeYoung
Gates: U.S. Should Engage Iran With Incentives, Pressure
'The United States should construct a combination of incentives and pressure to engage Iran, and may have missed earlier opportunities to begin a useful dialogue with Tehran, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 May 08, by Conrad Mulcahy
U.S. officers battle visa hurdles for Iraq aides
'... given the risks the interpreters took, and [Colonel Michael] Zacchea and others are taking up the cause. They have created a growing network of aid groups, spending countless hours navigating a byzantine immigration system that they feel unnecessarily keeps their allies in harm's way. There is, they say, a debt that must be repaid to the Iraqis who helped the most. To them it is an obligation both moral and pragmatic.'

The New Yorker, 19 May 08, by Sue Halpern
Annals of Psychology: Virtual Iraq
'Using simulation to treat a new generation of traumatized veterans. ... Like Virtual Vietnam, Virtual Iraq is a tool for doing what's known as prolonged-exposure therapy, which is sometimes called immersion therapy.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 08, by Jill Carroll
A soldier's quest to save Iraqi, Afghan interpreters
'Targeted by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, they find a haven in America.'

Washington Post, 01 May 08, by Ann Scott Tyson
Mullen Cites U.S. 'Vulnerability'
'The nation's top military officer warned yesterday that the transition to a new American president will mark a "time of vulnerability" as the United States fights two wars, and he said military leaders are already actively preparing for the changing of the guard.'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 May 08, by Howard LaFranchi
U.S. death toll rises as it digs in against Iraq's Shiite militias
'At least 47 US soldiers were killed in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since September. Many of the casualties are a result of the recent assault on the Mahdi Army.'

International Herald Tribune, 24 Apr 08, by Thom Shanker
New jobs set for 2 U.S. commanders with Iraq role
'A Pentagon plan to elevate General David Petraeus and his former deputy means that the two commanders most closely associated with President George W. Bush's current strategy in Iraq will have responsibilities over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan extending into the next administration.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Apr 08, by David Stout
Petraeus, top U.S. general in Iraq, nominated for a higher post
'General David Petraeus, who has commanded United States troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated to head the United States Central Command, which oversees military operations across a wide swath of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday.'

Washington Post, 24 Apr 08, by Dan Eggen
CIA Foresaw Interrogation Issues
'The CIA concluded that criminal, administrative or civil investigations stemming from harsh interrogation tactics were "virtually inevitable," leading the agency to seek legal support from the Justice Department, according to a CIA official's statement in court documents filed yesterday.'

Washington Post, 24 Apr 08, by Dana Milbank
What the Family Would Let You See, the Pentagon Obstructs
'... the de facto ban on media at Arlington funerals fits neatly with an effort by the administration to sanitize the war in Iraq.'

Washington Post, 22 Apr 08, by Josh White and William Branigin
Gates Assails Pentagon on Resources for Battlefields
'Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday criticized the U.S. military services for not moving aggressively enough to provide critical resources to the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying it has been "like pulling teeth" to get the Pentagon's conventional Cold War bureaucracy to adapt to the needs of current wars.'

New York Times/AP, 21 Apr 08
Pentagon chief says Air Force should do more
'While Gates' comments were directed mainly at the Air Force, his concern about faster fielding of unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft included a broader appeal to the entire military. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps have been expanding their fleets of drone aircraft.'

New York Times, 22 Apr 08, by Patricia Cohen
Talking Veterans Down From Despair
'The veterans hot line is part of a specialized effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to reduce suicide by enabling counselors, for the first time, to instantly check a veteran’s medical records and then combine emergency response with local follow-up services. It comes after years of criticism that the department has been neglecting tens of thousands of wounded service men and women who have returned from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

New York Times/AP, 20 Apr 08
Wars, guns and money
'No weapon is more important to tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than the carbine rifle. And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M4s they trust with their lives.'

New York Times, 16 Apr 08, by Thom Shanker
Pentagon Seeks Authority to Train and Equip Foreign Militaries
'Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Congress on Tuesday to grant the Pentagon permanent authority to train and equip foreign militaries, a task previously administered by the State Department, and to raise the annual budget for the effort to $750 million, a 250 percent increase.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Apr 08, by Lizette Alvarez
Recruitment of felons up in U.S. Army and Marine Corps
'Strained by the demands of a long war, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps recruited significantly more felons into their ranks in 2007 than in 2006, including people convicted of armed robbery, arson and burglary, according to data released by a House committee.'

Human Events, 08-09 Apr 08, by General David H. Petraeus
Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq
[pdf] 'It clearly is in our national interests to help Iraq prevent the resurgence of Al Qaeda in the heart of the Arab world, to help Iraq resist Iranian encroachment on its sovereignty, to avoid renewed ethno-sectarian violence that could spill over Iraq's borders and make the existing refugee crisis even worse, and to enable Iraq to expand its role in the regional and global economies.'

Washington Post, 10 Apr 08, by Peter Baker and Jonathan Weisman
Bush to Cut Army Tours to 12 Months
President Supports Suspending Pullout Of Forces in Iraq

Christian Science Monitor, 08 Apr 08, by Peter Grier
Petraeus to Congress: reassess Iraq before further troop cuts
'The US strategy would effectively end Bush's role in the war, pushing decisions to his successor.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr 08, by Jill Carroll
While reservists serve, their jobs don't always wait
'As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, tensions are mounting between the military's civilian volunteers, trying to step back into their professions, and employers, straining at times to cope with a growing cadre of workers who are away at war for months then expect to regain their former jobs.'

Washington Post, 10 Apr 08, by Steve Vogel
The Young Lions of Able Troop
'To the Cadre on the Front Lines Of Improving Care at Walter Reed, The Challenge Can Rival Combat'

Washington Post, 03 Apr 08, by Dana Hedgpeth
Contracts for Body Armor Filled without Initial Tests
'Government auditors said yesterday that nearly half of 28 contracts to manufacture body armor for Army soldiers were completed without the gear ever going through an initial test.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Apr 08, by Tom McCawley
Pentagon overspent budget by $295 billion
'The Pentagon has gone hundreds of billions of dollars over budget in recent years on key weapons systems, including aircraft, ships, and satellite, said a government audit. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said for the sixth year in a row that the Pentagon had significantly gone over budget, but according to a report presented to Congress this week, the problem is getting worse.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Apr 08, by Mark Mazzetti
Pentagon is expected to close intelligence unit
'The Pentagon is expected to shut a controversial intelligence office that has drawn fire from lawmakers and civil liberties groups who charge that it was part of an effort by the Defense Department to expand into domestic spying. The move, government officials say, is part of a broad effort under Defense Secretary Robert Gates to review, overhaul and, in some cases, dismantle an intelligence architecture built by his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Apr 08, by William J. Broad
Uniform patches hint at secret U.S. military programs
'The classified budget of the Defense Department, concealed from the public in all but outline, has nearly doubled in the Bush years, to $32 billion. That is more than the combined budgets of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation and NASA. Those billions have expanded a secret world of advanced science and technology in which military units and federal contractors push back the frontiers of warfare.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Mar 08, by C.J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt
Finding of fraud led to suspension of company supplying arms to Afghanistan
'When the United States Army decided this week to suspend the main supplier of munitions to Afghan security forces from future federal work, it did so after a field investigation documented what it called an act of fraud. ... the army's Procurement Fraud Branch visited an Afghan ammunition storage site in January after the shipment arrived. There, investigators found that ammunition certified as Hungarian was actually made in China, according to the memorandum.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Mar 08, by Steven Lee Myers and Thom Shanker
Bush given plan to put off further troop cuts in Iraq
'Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as at any time during five years of war under plans presented to President George W. Bush on Monday by the senior American commander and the top American diplomat in Iraq, senior administration and military officials said.'

Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar 08, by Peter Grier
U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit 4,000, but rate is slowing
'The pace of attacks – and US fatalities – has dropped since last June.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Mar 08, by David M. Herszenhorn
Estimates of Iraq war cost were not close to ballpark
'At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration predicted that it would cost $50 billion to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein, restore order and install a new government. Five years in, the Pentagon tags the cost of the Iraq war at roughly $600 billion and counting. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and critic of the war, pegs the long-term cost at more than $4 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office and other analysts say that $1 trillion to $2 trillion is more realistic, depending on troop levels and on how long the American occupation continues.'

New York Times, 23 Mar 08, by
Military Kin Struggle With Loss and a Windfall
'For some relatives of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the money feels, at first, like an affront, as if the government were putting a price tag on a loved one’s life. Others are thrown off balance by the sudden infusion of $500,000, spending with abandon to assuage grief or finding themselves besieged by hard-up friends and relatives. And the newfound wealth often strains relations among in-laws.'

Washington Post, 13 Mar 08, by Joby Warrick and Michael Abramowitz
Fallon's Resignation Is Not Seen as Step Toward Attack on Iran
'The abrupt resignation of the Pentagon's top Middle East commander has silenced one of the Bush administration's fiercest opponents of a unilateral military strike against Iran, yet top administration officials themselves do not see real prospects for military action before the end of President Bush's term, current and former U.S. officials say.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Mar 08, by Thom Shanker and David Stout
Top U.S. commander in Middle East is retiring early
'Admiral William Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East, whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon said Tuesday afternoon.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 Mar 08, by Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane
Pentagon review cites tapes showing interrogations
'The Defense Department is conducting an extensive review of the videotaping of interrogations at military facilities from Iraq to Guantánamo Bay, and so far it has identified nearly 50 tapes, including one that showed what a military spokesman described as the forcible gagging of a terrorism suspect.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Mar 08, by Thom Shanker
Proposal would let U.S. troops in South Korea have families with them
'The commander of American forces in South Korea is urging the Pentagon to allow thousands of troops stationed there to have spouses and children live with them during tours of duty.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Mar 08, by Patrik Jonsson
U.S. troops buy own gear for safety, style in battle
'Since 9/11, the market for tactical war gear has expanded from nearly nonexistent to nearly $150 million in sales each year, which includes sales directly to soldiers as well as to the Pentagon, according to industry sources.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Mar 08, by Thom Shanker
Joint Chiefs chairman emphasizes U.S. role in Pakistan
'[Admiral Mike] Mullen said the United States was willing to offer assistance for things like training, transport helicopters and night-combat operations, but he stressed that he was bringing no specific proposals on this visit and that he would await formal requests from Pakistan's military.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Mar 08, by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker
U.S. plan widens role in training Pakistani forces
'The United States military is developing a plan to send about 100 American trainers to work with a Pakistani paramilitary force that is the vanguard in the fight against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, American military officials said.'

Human Events, 28 Feb 08, by W. Thomas Smith, Jr.
Cracks in America's Air Defenses
'The sad fact is that our primary air-supremacy jets are old, metal-fatigued, and coming apart. Many were built more than two decades ago before many of the pilots flying them today were born.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Feb 08, by Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe
Iraq drains resources from U.S. Pacific Command
'Admiral Timothy Keating, the four-star admiral who oversees a territory encompassing more than half the earth's surface and five of the world's largest standing armies, has steadily fewer forces at the ready in the event of a crisis. The war in Iraq is depriving Keating and other commanders of their ability to respond to a military crisis, draining away thousands of personnel and critical equipment, as well as hamstringing their ability to conduct exercises and forge alliances with foreign nations that one day could prove instrumental, according to interviews with senior military leaders and specialists.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Feb 08, by Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt
U.S. commander supports pause in Iraq troop reductions
'The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East has said he will endorse a brief pause in troop reductions from Iraq this summer but will then seek a resumption of withdrawals to ease stress on the overall military and allow him to balance deployments across the volatile region.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Feb 08, by Mark Mazzetti and Somini Sengupta
U.S. and India to strengthen security ties
'With a landmark nuclear energy pact between the United States and India stalled, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that the nations would nonetheless strengthen their security ties as India looked to embark on a closer — and still contentious — level of military cooperation with the United States.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Feb 08, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Khalid al-Ansary
Gates urges quick end to Turks' military operation in Iraq
'Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the Turkish military on Wednesday to abandon by mid-March their invasion of guerrilla-controlled lands in the northernmost reaches of Iraq. But Turkish officials said the government had no intention of ending military operations in Iraq before all its targets had been destroyed.'

Washington Post, 28 Feb 08, by Steve Vogel
Walter Reed Health Care Improves, GAO Says
'The Army has significantly improved its support for service members undergoing medical treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals, but it still faces shortages of staff and other gaps, GAO officials told a congressional committee yesterday.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Feb 08, by Mark Mazzetti
U.S. defense chief pledges to aid Indonesian military
'Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday pledged arms upgrades and other Pentagon support for Indonesia, as the Bush administration forges closer ties to a country's military still viewed skeptically by some in Congress for past human rights abuses.'

NewsHour, 22 Feb 08
Battlefield Lessons
[mp3 audio] 'A report on new technologies used in Iraq and throughout the U.S. military medical system to provide wounded soldiers a better chance of surviving.'

American Forces Press Service, 20 Feb 08
Navy Missile Hits Decaying Satellite Over Pacific Ocean
'A network of land, air, sea and spaced-based sensors confirms that the U.S. military intercepted a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth's atmosphere, defense officials announced in a press release.'

Press Association, 20 Feb 08
US bids to shoot down spy satellite
'A US Navy heat-seeking missile is getting its first real-world use in an attempt to demolish a crippled US spy satellite before the orbiting craft falls back to Earth. But the targeting of the satellite - which could come on Wednesday night - is not the mission for which this piece of the Pentagon's missile defence network was intended.'

The Independent, 20 Feb 08, by Tom Chivers and agencies
Out-of-control satellite to be shot down tonight
'China and Russia have expressed concerns over the plan, saying that it represents a veiled weapons test and that it is the first step in a new, space-based phase of the arms race.'

ABC News, 19 Feb 08, by Gina Sunseri, Luis Martinez and Ned Potter
Taking Aim at the Spy Satellite
'As soon as the space shuttle Atlantis is safely out of the way, the Navy will take aim this week at a crippled satellite that is hurtling toward Earth. If a missile launched by the Navy succeeds in taking out the bus-sized satellite as streaks across the sky 150 miles up, it will be one of the longest shots ever.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 17 Feb 08
Refusal to send bomb-resistant trucks to Iraq led to marine deaths, study says
'Hundreds of U.S. marines may have been killed or wounded by roadside bombs in Iraq because Marine Corps officials refused an urgent request in 2005 from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, a Marine Corps report concludes.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 Feb 08, by Lisa W. Foderaro
For veterans of Iraq war, a long wait for mental help
'The draft report, "Fort Drum: A Great Burden, Inadequate Assistance," which was given to The New York Times last week, was done by Veterans for America, a nonprofit advocacy organization for wounded members of the armed forces.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 07 Feb 08
U.S. confirms it is training Pakistani special forces
'U.S. military advisers are helping the Pakistanis double the size of their elite commando force in a continuing effort to blunt the rising threat of terror groups and anti-government militants operating in Pakistan's unruly tribal areas, a senior Defense Department official said.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Feb 08, by Mark Mazzetti
Intelligence chief cites Qaeda threat to U.S.
'Al Qaeda is gaining in strength from its refuge in Pakistan and is steadily improving its ability to recruit, train and position operatives capable of carrying out attacks inside the United States, the director of national intelligence told a Senate panel on Tuesday.'

Washington Post, 31 Jan 08, by Thomas E. Ricks
U.S. Commanders in Iraq Favor Pause in Troop Cuts
'Senior U.S. military commanders here say they want to freeze troop reductions starting this summer for at least a month, making it more likely that the next administration will inherit as many troops in Iraq as there were before President Bush announced a "surge" of forces a year ago.'

International Herald Tribune, 30 Jan 08, by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Thom Shanker
Bush hinting that Iraq troop cuts won't continue
'Four months after announcing troop reductions in Iraq, President George W. Bush is now sending signals that the cuts may not continue past this summer, a development likely to infuriate Democrats and renew concerns among military planners about strains on the force.'

Washington Post, 31 Jan 08, by Dana Priest
Soldier Suicides at Record Level
'Increase Linked to Long Wars, Lack of Army Resources'

Washington Post, 24 Jan 08, by Alec Klein
The Complex Crux Of Wireless Warfare
'Viability of Software for Army Weapons System Questioned'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 23 Jan 08
Army proposal would cut war tours to 12 months from 15
'Soldiers' battlefield tours would be cut from 15 months to 12 months beginning Aug. 1, under a proposal being considered by the Army as part of an effort to reduce the stress on a force battered by more than six years at war.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jan 08, by Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt
Pentagon weighs top Iraq general as NATO chief
'The Pentagon is considering General David Petraeus for the top NATO command later this year, a move that would give the general, the top American commander in Iraq, a high-level post during the next administration but that has raised concerns about the practice of rotating war commanders.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 08, by Thom Shanker
U.S. again debates how long to continue Iraq troop pullout
'When they decided last September to begin a slow withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the White House, Pentagon and military brass put off a harder decision about how long those withdrawals should continue. Now that battle is beginning again.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan 08, by Gordon Lubold
A rift over U.S. troop cuts in Iraq
'While General Petraeus is in no hurry for more than five brigades to leave, Secretary Gates weighs a bigger drawdown.'

Washington Post, 17 Jan 08, by Ann Scott Tyson
Army Chief May Shorten Tours In Iraq, Afghanistan by Summer
'Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's chief of staff, said yesterday he hopes to shorten the 15-month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan this summer. The move would end a policy, required by the buildup of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq last year, that has placed significant stress on soldiers and their families.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 08, by Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane
Account of CIA tapes is challenged
'The former Central Intelligence Agency official who authorized the destruction in 2005 of videotapes documenting harsh interrogation of detainees from Al Qaeda gave the order despite apparently being directed to preserve the tapes, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 16 Jan 08
Bush exempts U.S. Navy on sonar use
'President George W. Bush exempted the U.S. Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast - a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Jan 08, by Thom Shanker
Iran encounter grimly echoes '02 war game
'There is a reason American military officers express grim concern over the tactics used by Iranian sailors last weekend: a classified, $250 million war game in which small, agile speedboats swarmed a naval convoy to inflict devastating damage on more powerful warships.'

Washington Post, 10 Jan 08, by Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung
For U.S., The Goal Is Now 'Iraqi Solutions'
'In the year since President Bush announced he was changing course in Iraq with a troop "surge" and a new strategy, U.S. military and diplomatic officials have begun their own quiet policy shift. After countless unsuccessful efforts to push Iraqis toward various political, economic and security goals, they have decided to let the Iraqis figure some things out themselves.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Jan 08, by Thom Shanker
As troops do better on Iraq battlefield, relations with the media improve
'The anguished relationship between the military and U.S. news organizations appears to be on the mend as battlefield successes from the troop increase in Iraq are reflected in more upbeat news coverage.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jan 08, by David Johnston
Inquiry into CIA tapes seen as payback for FBI
'The Justice Department's criminal inquiry into the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation tapes will be carried out largely by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has been sharply at odds with the CIA over the agency's interrogation practices.'

2007 US Military, the Pentagon and Intelligence archive