McCain clashes with Panetta over U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq
Washington (CNN) - Deep disagreements surfaced on Capitol Hill Tuesday over whether the United States has moved too quickly to withdraw troops from Iraq.
The Obama administration will withdraw all U.S. military personnel by the end of the year, after negotiations with Iraq broke down last month over leaving behind a small force for training and security. Some 30,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq now, and only a small number of U.S. military will remain behind, attached to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
FULL STORY
Dire warnings from Pentagon over potential defense cuts
Washington (CNN) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta turned up the heat on Congress Monday, warning that looming automatic budget cuts would undermine national security and set off a financial chain reaction from the hallways of the Pentagon, to the battlefields of Afghanistan, to civilian assembly lines.
The Pentagon already is digesting $450 billion of reductions over the next decade but now fears an additional $600 billion or more may be imminent if Congress cannot reach a deal on spending.
FULL STORY
Disappearing breed: the war spending watchdog
Washington (CNN) - The government watchdogs who've raised the alarm about billions of dollars of war-zone waste and fraud are falling silent or are missing in action.
The Commission on Wartime Contracting was created by Congress in 2008 as a kind of all-star team of government and accounting experts. It held 25 hearings, its members traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq and they made eight reports to Congress. As of September 30, it was out of the watchdog business with the expiration of its charter.
FULL STORY
Some gay service members ready to celebrate 'don't ask' repeal
Washington (CNN) - The reactions range from gloom-and-doom predictions to big countdown parties and smaller celebrations to ho-hum business-as-usual as the U.S. military changes its rules Tuesday and allows gay men and lesbians to serve openly.
A minute into the new day, 12:01 a.m., the old "don't ask, don't tell" rule that has been in force since the Clinton administration is gone.
FULL STORY
Senators level new criticism at Pakistan for sheltering terrorists
WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. senators didn't miss a chance Tuesday to voice frustration with Pakistan over how it takes billions of dollars of American aid while providing safe havens to terrorists to build bombs and launch cross-border attacks on U.S.troops in Afghanistan.
"Well, something's got to give, something's got to change," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a hearing. "Because it just can't continue this way, for them to expect that we're going to have a normal relationship with them - which we all hope for."
FULL STORY
Recent Comments