Your one-stop Pentagon! A scary as hell thought

Who needs a State Dept or a Directorate of National Intelligence, anyway, when the Pentagon is taking over more and more of those functions?

It's a great article with many angles. Tom Englehardt notes that leaking is OK, if you're a general trying to do an end run around civilians, including the Preznit, who will only intercede when the loss of face is overwhelming.

Tom also notes that Sec Def Gates, along with generals such as Petraeus and Odierno, will sometimes go straight to the teevee to try to work around the civilians, as in trying to keep troops in Iraq or Afghanistan past Obama's stated deadline. And I love that he labels Petraeus as the Teflon general.

No wonder Gates wants to continue deficit-inflating budgets, no matter his reputation as a trimmer.

That said, Bush started this by not having Rummy ride tighter herd on the generals, but, by making Afghanistan his own war, and other things, Obama has been not just an enabler, but an abetter of the brass hats expanding their powers at the expense of civilians, at least at the expense of the civilian at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

DoD goes rogue in A-stan and Pakistan

Sounds like Michael Furlong combined a desire to run CIA-type hits on Taliban, etc., in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, with an Ollie North-type diversionary financial scheme, both of which are surely illegal. And, like Ollie North, thoroughly nutbar, as this story makes clear.

It's also, in the case of illegal covert ops in Pakistan, incendiary.

With Bob Gates, you get eggroll

You also get stuck, if you’re a progressive ever-more-frustrated by Barack Obama’s cabinet picks, with all of Bob Gates’ political appointees. at the Defense Department.

“I have received authorization from the president-elect’s transition team to extend a number of Department of Defense political appointees an invitation to voluntarily remain in their current positions until replaced,” Mr. Gates said in a Friday e-mail.

And, most are taking the offer.

SEVERAL problems.

Obama’s stress on continuity, like his redefining “combat troops” in Iraq as I noted before, could say that he still isn’t 100 percent up to snuff on some DoD issues.

It could also say he’s investing too much energy, if you will, into the whole War on Terror, or “War on Terror,” and overblowing it.

With Bob Gates, you get eggroll

You also get stuck, if you’re a progressive ever-more-frustrated by Barack Obama’s cabinet picks, with all of Bob Gates’ political appointees. at the Defense Department.

“I have received authorization from the president-elect’s transition team to extend a number of Department of Defense political appointees an invitation to voluntarily remain in their current positions until replaced,” Mr. Gates said in a Friday e-mail.

And, most are taking the offer.

SEVERAL problems.

Obama’s stress on continuity, like his redefining “combat troops” in Iraq as I noted before, could say that he still isn’t 100 percent up to snuff on some DoD issues.

It could also say he’s investing too much energy, if you will, into the whole War on Terror, or “War on Terror,” and overblowing it.

With Bob Gates, you get eggroll

You also get stuck, if you’re a progressive ever-more-frustrated by Barack Obama’s cabinet picks, with all of Bob Gates’ political appointees. at the Defense Department.

“I have received authorization from the president-elect’s transition team to extend a number of Department of Defense political appointees an invitation to voluntarily remain in their current positions until replaced,” Mr. Gates said in a Friday e-mail.

And, most are taking the offer.

SEVERAL problems.

Obama’s stress on continuity, like his redefining “combat troops” in Iraq as I noted before, could say that he still isn’t 100 percent up to snuff on some DoD issues.

It could also say he’s investing too much energy, if you will, into the whole War on Terror, or “War on Terror,” and overblowing it.

When is an audit not an audit?

When the Defense Department is auditing one of its contractor big buddies.

“We have been basically on the trust system for years,” said one auditor. “It did not work on Wall Street and it is not working for federal contracts.”

Missing paperwork, obfuscation about paperwork and more – it’s all there, or not there.

FCC to investigate DoD propaganda

The Federal Communications Commission wants to see if the massive ex-brass hat TV talking head program uncovered by the NYT last year violates Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules.

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro and Congressman John Dingell wrote the FCC, saying the Communications Act requires that sponsors of such programming be identified.

Your Pentagon at work spying on you and more

The FBI’s notorious National Security Letters? Being used by the Pentagon to monitor American citizens’ telephone and Internet usage.

“Newly unredacted documents released today reveal that the Department of Defense is using the FBI to circumvent legal limits on its own NSL power,” said the ACLU, whose lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.

ACLU attorney Melissa Goodman said the Pentagon does not have the authority to get e-mail and phone records or lists of Web sites that people have visited, but noted the FBI can get that through NSLs.

Meanwhile, the Whatagon is going to get tough with colleges that have traditionally blocked or restricted its on-campus recruiting efforts. Per Army Times:

Under rules that will take effect April 28, defense officials said they want the exact same access to student directories that is provided to all other prospective employers.

Students can opt out of having their information turned over to the military only if they opt out of having their information provided to all other recruiters, but schools cannot have policies that exclude only the military, defense officials said in a March 28 notice of the new policy in the Federal Register.

And, the DoD is morphing “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays to “do know, don’t fly” for gay civilians, it would seem. The Pentagon initially refused to let Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s partner, Lauren Azar fly with her to Europe on a military plane on a Congressional trip:

The Pentagon said it was merely following House rules, which do not define domestic partners as spouses. (Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi’s office countered that the Pentagon has its own rules about who can go on its planes.

Both sides agree that Defense Secretary Robert Gates reversed the decision to keep Baldwin's partner, Lauren Azar, off the plane after getting contacted by Pelosi.

“It’s a matter of fairness that spouses should be allowed to go, and she is Ms. Baldwin's spouse,” said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly.

Ahh, it’s not like the brass hats have anything serious to worry about, like telling the truth about Iraq or something.