Senate Armed Services Committee

Congress Should Support Pentagon Energy Security Efforts

Phyllis Cuttino | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: Pentagon, Congress, Department of Defense, Biofuels, National Security, Energy Security, Senate Armed Services Committee, Clean Energy, Pew Charitable Trusts, Video, Green News

Congress should support policies that will reduce our reliance on foreign oil, not undermine them. There is too much at stake for the nation's energy future to do anything less.

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Senate Panel Reins In Pentagon On Clean Energy

AP | By DONNA CASSATA | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Video, Military Green Energy, Senate Armed Services Alternative Energy, Pentagon Alternative Fuel, Pentagon Green Energy, Senate Armed Services Committee, Military Alternative Energy, Military Environment, Green Energy, Green News

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's investment in green energy requires too much green paper for some in Congress. A sharply divided Senate Armed Services C...

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Bill Would Put Women On Front Lines In Battle

HuffingtonPost.com | Michael McAuliff | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Women in Combat, US Military, Women in War, Video, Women in Battle, Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Poll, Gillibrand, Kirsten Gillibrand, Gender Equality in Combat Act, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military opened more jobs to women this week that are closer to combat, but a new bill being introduced in the Senate would all...

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Dem Chairman Faults White House, Fellow Dems For Detainee Policy

AP | By DONNA CASSATA | Posted 11.18.2011

Read More: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Suspected Terrorists, Senator Carl Levin, Video, Terrorists, Defense Bill, Dianne Feinstein, Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, Senate Intelligence Committee, Detainees, Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday faulted the White House and fellow Democrats for mischaracterizing provisi...

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Congress: Reject Indefinite Detention

Human Rights Watch | Posted 12.21.2011

Read More: Senate Armed Services Committee, Congress, National Defense Authorization Act, Terrorism, Counterterrorism, Civil Liberties, Mccarthyism, World News

The US Congress should reject provisions in a defense spending bill that would permit long-term indefinite detention without trial of terrorism suspec...

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Harry Reid Blocks Defense Bill Over Detainee Provisions

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: Senate Armed Services Committee, 112th Congress, Harry Reid, Harry Reid Defense Bill, John McCain, Video, National Defense Authorization Act, Carl Levin, Detainees, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised that the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012 will not come up for a v...

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Senator Harry Reid Takes a Stand Against NDAA

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: Human Rights, National Defense Authorization Act, National Security, Counterterrorism, Law and Security, Terrorism, Senate Armed Services Committee, John Brennan, Senator Reid, Indefinite Detention, Politics News

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has sent a terrific letter explaining why he won't be bringing the Armed Services Committee's reported version of the National Defense Authorization Act to the Senate floor for a vote.

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Pressure Grows To Add Haqqani Network To Terrorists List As U.S. Patience Wears Thin

HuffingtonPost.com | Andrea Stone | Posted 11.28.2011

Read More: Haqqani Network Al Qaeda, Video, Kirsten Gillibrand Haqqani Network, Lindsey Graham Haqqani Network, Senator Lindsey Graham, Nato, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Senate Armed Services Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand Lindsey Graham, Haqqani Network, Kabul-Attack-US-Embassy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Carl Levin, Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. senators Wednesday urged the State Department to designate the al Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani network as a terrorist organization ...

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House Rejects Effort To Prohibit Funds For U.S. Involvement In Libya

AP | DONNA CASSATA | Posted 09.06.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Libya Conflict, House of Representatives, John McCain, Congress, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Senate Armed Services Committee, Betty McCollum, Democrats, Gitmo, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Gaddafi, Libya, Transitional-National-Council, Libya Rebels, Muammar Gaddafi, 1973-War-Powers-Act, Nato, Dennis Kucinich, Guantanamo Bay, Norm Dicks, Libyan Rebels, Brad Sherman, Tom Cole, Justin Amash, War Powers Resolution, Republicans, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to bar military aid to Libyan rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi but stopped short of prohibiting funds for U...

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On Tap To Replace Gates at Pentagon, Panetta sounds like.. Gates

HuffingtonPost.com | David Wood | Posted 08.09.2011

Read More: Afghan War, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, War in Afghanistan, Leon Panetta Robert Gates, Senate Armed Services Committee, Robert Gates Leon Panetta, Leon Panetta, Robert Gates, Panetta Confirmation Hearings, CIA Director Leon Panetta, US Troop Withdrawal, Politics News

Robert Gates is due to retire as defense secretary in three weeks, but his named successor, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, said Thursday he plans to co...

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Pentagon On Joint Strike Fighter: Too Expensive, But There Is No Alternative

Posted 07.19.2011

Read More: F-35, Ashton Carter, John McCain, Lockheed Martin, Robert Gates, Joint Strike Fighter, Senate Armed Services Committee, David Venlet, Christine-Fox, Business News

By Colin Clark Editor, AOLDefense WASHINGTON -- The U.S. must buy the Joint Strike Fighter, but it's not affordable right now. That was the so...

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Boehner: U.S. Needs To Maintain Relationship With Pakistan

AP | By DONNA CASSATA | Posted 07.03.2011

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration was investigating whether Pakistan knew Osama bin Laden was hiding deep inside the country as House Speaker Joh...

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John McCain Heading To Libya

AP | By DONNA CASSATA | Posted 06.21.2011

Read More: Middle East Protests, United Nations, Senate Armed Services Committee, United Nations Security Council, Benghazi, UN Security Council, Barack Obama, Gaddafi, Libya, Libya No Fly Zone, Muammar Gaddafi, Nato, Libyan Rebels, Operation Odyssey Dawn, Nato Airstrikes, Libya Protests, World News

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain, one of the strongest proponents in Congress of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, is heading to the rebel s...

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Professor Lawrence Davidson Discusses Egypt, the U.S., and Israel

Kathleen Wells, J.D. | Posted 05.25.2011

Lawrence Davidson says, "Keep your eye on the language: When South Africa assigned rights according to race they called it apartheid. When Israel ass...

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Why Oversight Matters: The Consequences of Hiring Criminals and Insurgents to Guard US Bases

Erica Gaston | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Corruption, Detention, Afghanistan, Exit Strategy, Senate Armed Services Committee, Civilian Casualties, Afghanistan War, Detainees, Anti-Corruption, Senate, Detainee Abuse Afghanistan, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, Detainee Abuse, Accountability, Counterinsurgency, Afghanistan Civilian Deaths, World News

When U.S.-employed base guards commit extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, or other harassment of the local population with no consequences, the local community holds the U.S. responsible.

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Senate Report Trashes Afghan Mercenaries

AP | ANNE FLAHERTY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Senate Armed Services Committee Report, Afghanistan Contractors, Afghanistan Private Security, Afghanistan, Senate Armed Services Committee, Afghanistan Mercenaries, Senate Armed Services Mercenaries, Afghanistan War, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Heavy U.S. reliance on private security in Afghanistan has helped to line the pockets of the Taliban and threatens the safety of co...

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More Swill From the Pentagon Budget Busters

Winslow T. Wheeler | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Deficit, Qdr, Department of Defense, Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Spending, Quadrennial Defense Review, William Perry, House Armed Services Committee, Politics News

Having participated avidly in driving our military forces into the ground, the members of a recently released defense review report have proposed that more of the same is inadequate; they want much more of the same.

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The Military Wants Diversity -- Will Congress Stand in its Way?

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mike Mullen, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Presdient Obama, Kerry Eleveld, Attitudes Aren't Free, Jim Webb, Pentagon Working Group, Senate Armed Services Committee, Military Diversity, Air University Press, Palm Center, Politics News

Democrats, in both the White House and Congress, are still scarred by the Rovian tactics of the past, which successfully used gay rights as a wedge issue against them.

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White House Ducks Afghanistan Exit

Tom Andrews | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John McCain, Congress, Robert Gates, Afghanistan Surge, Afghanistan, Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, Joe Lieberman, General Petraeus, Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable, Barack Obama, Politics News

It was difficult watching the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing of General David Petraeus today. The number one line of questioning...

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Petraeus Faces Questions From War-Weary Lawmakers

AP | ANNE GEARAN and ANNE FLAHERTY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Petraeus, Afghanistan, Afpak, Afghanistan War, Stanley McChrystal, Petraeus Senate, Petraeus Confirmation, Petraeus Afghanistan, Senate Armed Services Committee, Coin, Military, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Gen. David Petraeus left open the possibility of recommending that President Barack Obama delay his plans to start withdrawing troo...

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General Petraeus and His Senate Vassals

Winslow T. Wheeler | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, Congress, General Mcchrystal, Afghanistan, David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, Congressional Oversight, Senate Armed Services Committee, General Petraeus, Afghanistan War, Politics News

We will see no frowns when the SASC considers the Petraeus nomination. The committee's most recent hearing with the general was attended by politicians supplicating him to offer any response he might care to. It wasn't oversight; it was bad theater.

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General David Petraeus Fainted OMGZ: The Mediagasm (VIDEO)

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Video, War in Afghanistan, Mediagasm, Fainting Petraeus, General David Petraeus, Senate Armed Services Committee, Media Criticism, Petraeus Hearing, Petraeus Faints, Media News

The long war in Afghanistan is the source of any number of scary moments, but you want to know what has to happen for the entire media to freak out en...

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DADT Repeal Vote: Congress To Vote On Military Gay Ban

AP | JIM ABRAMS | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pentagon, Gays in the Military, Gay Rights, Military, Dadt Repeal, Senate Armed Services Committee, Dadt, DADT Vote, Joe Lieberman, Carl Levin, Defense Department, DADT Congress, Military Gay Vote, Patrick Murphy, Politics News

UPDATE: The House has passed an amendment to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The amendment, tied to a defense bill, passed with 234 yeas and 194 nays....

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Three Generals Put New Twist on March Madness

Aubrey Sarvis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, March Madness, General Dennis Laich, Army, Stars and Stripes, Dutch Military, General Sheehan, The Netherlands, General Conway, Dadt, Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, General John Adams, Marine Corps, General Mixon, Carl Levin, Srebrenica, Politics News

Thankfully, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen are taking the repeal of DADT very seriously. It's time for these Generals to get over March Madness and start playing "Follow the Leader."

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Gay Soldier on DADT: "I Will Risk My Life; I Ask to Be Treated Simply Like Anyone Else in the Service."

Chris Matthews | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Afghanistan, Dadt, Senate Armed Services Committee, Homophobia, Politics News

On the eve of the Senate Armed Services Committee's vote on "Don't ask, don't tell," I read a letter from an American serviceman in Afghanistan. "I found out this soldier under my command was gay," he began. "I learned about it after he died."

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