Defense

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday warned that "this is not a time for premature victory parades or self-congratulation."

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Congress should demand that the Department of Defense (DoD) give detailed reports on its plans to withdraw troops from Iraq as those plans develop, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended today in a new report.

"Without more specific reporting from [DoD], Congress may not be able to effectively exercise its oversight responsibilities" as troops and materiel begin to come home, the GAO wrote.

"Congress may wish to consider directing DOD to report specific details on the status of reposturing plans and how it intends to mitigate issues such as those we identify," the GAO recommended.

President Bush yesterday announced he would withdraw 8,000 troops from Iraq by February, and the Bush administration is still negotiating with Iraq over how long and how many troops will stay there. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview earlier this summer that a 16-month timetable seemed right to him.

DoD's plans lack clearly defined roles and responsibilities for those managing the removal of equipment from Iraq, according to the GAO. DoD began planning for withdrawal in the fall of 2007, with a "logistical framework" coalescing in May 2008, the GAO found.

Today's report recommended DoD keep an eye on the following isses, mainly focusing on the removal of equipment, not soldiers themselves:

We identified the following nine issues that DOD should consider as it develops a comprehensive plan for reposturing U.S. forces from Iraq: (1) agreed-upon guidance for environmental cleanup and the disposition of property, which could affect the time and cost of closing bases in Iraq; (2) guidance and plans for the reposturing of contractors from Iraq; (3) accountability and disposition of contractor-managed government-owned property; (4) the possibility of restrictive conditions on the use of facilities in Kuwait and other neighboring countries; (5) availability of power-washing equipment and stands, called wash racks, and the number of customs inspectors in Kuwait; (6) capacity of military transports and convoy security assets, including limits on the main supply route; (7) increased demand for access to mental health care providers; (8) infrastructure requirements of returning units; and (9) requirements for training and equipment reset to restore readiness. DOD has begun to address these issues.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates will allow a Defense Department (DoD) official to testify before a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee, reversing previous DoD protests and agreeing to cooperate with an investigation on sexual assault in the military, the committee announced today.

Dr. Kaye Whitley was instructed by superiors not to appear at a July 31 hearing on the matter despite a subpoena from the committee. Whitely serves as director of the DoD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

A superior official claimed that he, not Whitley, was accountable to Congress on the military's sexual assault prevention efforts. Read more...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is hailing the rescue of three American defense contractors from Colombian rebels.

Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Thomas Howes had been held by rebels, along with kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, since 2003 when their surveillance plane crashed in the Colombian rainforest.

Colombian spies rescued the hostages yesterday, posing as rebels and tricking their captors into handing them over.

"The news that three Americans and their fellow captives held by Colombian rebels have been freed is the answer to the hopes and prayers of so many," Pelosi said in a statement last night.

Congressional interest in the Air Force's much-contested aerial refueling tanker contract is expanding. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on July 15 to examine the actions of the Air Force in awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS North America. Boeing lost to the two companies and has successfully protested the award with the Government Accountability Office.

-Roxana Tiron

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) today called on President Bush to declassify information regarding plans for U.S. military bases in Iraq, expressing concern about speculation of permanent bases.

The administration's critics have speculated that Bush intends to establish permanent bases, as the administration pushes for a security deal between the U.S. and Iraq. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, has denied any such plans.

In a letter to Bush today, Waxman asked that "in light of these [Crocker's] statements, I respectfully request that you exercise your authority under Executive Order 12958 to declassify information regarding the plans for military bases in Iraq."

"Mr. President, many Americans believe that a plan exists to establish military bases in Iraq that will remain indefinitely.

The U.S. ambassador to Albania may have personally approved an effort to cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition shipped to Afghanistan, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said today.

Furthermore, the State Department withheld that information from the committee when it looked into the matter in April, Waxman says.

Major Larry Harrison, the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Albania, told Waxman's committee in a June 9 interview that the ambassador had met with Albania's defense minister in November 2007, and that the two decided to aid AEY, Inc. in its destruction of Chinese packaging housing ammunition it was sending to Afghanistan, Waxman said today.

AEY's 22-year old president was indicted last week under allegations of illegally sending Chinese ammo to Afghanistan under government contract. AEY received $300 million in federal contracts.

Harrison also alleged that his input was redacted from a State Department report on the embassy's involvement with AEY. The committee had asked the embassy for information in April, and embassy officials denied his input from a briefing, Harrison alleged.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Waxman today asked that the ambassador and five other embassy officials give transcribed interviews to the committee no later than July 11.

A New York man who laundered bribes for former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) was sentenced to more than eight years in a federal prison, the Associated Press reports.

Thomas Kontogiannis had pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. Prosecutors said that he had helped Cunningham launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Cunningham from defense contractors.

Cunningham, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to accepting about $2.4 million in bribes, is serving more than eight years in prison.

Two contractors also linked to Cunningham have been convicted on charges that they gave kickbacks to Cunningham for help in obtaining government contracts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the United States' military needs to prepare to for the threats of "smaller, irregular forces" that have spurred on military conflicts in the past 25 years.

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, Gates said that another major American conventional ground operation is unlikely in the near-future.

"[I]t is hard to conceive of any country confronting the United States directly in conventional terms -- ship to ship, fighter to fighter, tank to tank -- for some time to come," he said. "The record of the past quarter century is clear: the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Israelis in Lebanon, the United States in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Smaller, irregular forces -- insurgents, guerrillas, terrorists -- will find ways, as they always have, to frustrate and neutralize the advantages of larger, regular militaries."

Gates added that the United States has strength in its Navy and Air Force, which can defeat "any -- repeat, any -- adversary who committed an act of aggression."
"It is true that we would be hard-pressed to launch a major conventional ground operation elsewhere in the world at this time - but where would we sensibly do that?" he said.

Gates welcomed more scrutiny of military spending, especially when money is used for war and not to modernize forces.

"First, I believe that any major weapons program, in order to remain viable, will have to show some utility and relevance to the kind of irregular campaigns that, as I mentioned, are most likely to engage America's military in the coming decades," he said.

He said that programs such as the Army's Future Combat Systems, which calls for a group of manned and unmanned forces working together, must demonstrate its value for the "irregular challenges" the country will face to justify its cost, which could exceed $200 billion.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is asking fellow members of Congress not to rush to judgment when reviewing the $35 billion air force tanker contract awarded to a group that includes the European Aeronautic Defence And Space Company (EADS).

Several House members have criticized the Defense Department for giving the contract to EADS and its U.S. partner Northrop Grumman and not to U.S.-based Boeing. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) has suggested that Congress block funding for the deal.

But Hensarling, chairman of the Republican Study Group, writes in his letter that the deal with EADS will still create American jobs. He adds that the debate should be over "which tanker serves our airmen best" and that overturning the Defense Department decision could risk setting off a trade war with other countries.

Boeing has filed a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office, which is scheduled to rule on the case by June 19.

Download Hensarling's letter here.