Defense Department: July 2009

TPMMuckraker
Defense Department: July 2009

Zachary Roth | July 27, 2009, 2:12PM

The Feds may be circling uncomfortably close to Rep. John Murtha as they probe kickbacks to defense contractors and possible earmarks-for-campaign-cash deals. But the veteran Democratic power-broker doesn't seem to be sweating it. In fact, he's acting as defiant as ever.

A Murtha spokesman tells TPMmuckraker that the Pennsylvania congressman has not hired a lawyer in connection with the investigations.

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Topics: Defense Contractors, Defense Department, Earmarks, John Murtha, Lobbyists

Bowe Bergdahl

Senior Military Officials on Bergdahl: 'He's Not A Deserter'

Rachel Slajda | July 23, 2009, 3:45PM

Yesterday, we reported that we hadn't heard a clear story from the Pentagon about how Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan. We started looking after a Fox News analyst claimed the soldier deserted (and therefore should be executed by the Taliban).

But last night, an NBC News correspondent reported that Pentagon officials are certain Bergdahl is not a deserter.

"Senior military and Pentagon officials, not only in Washington but there on the ground in Afghanistan, say there's no question he's not a deserter," said Jim Miklaszewski, NBC's Pentagon correspondent.

Video after the jump.

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Topics: Afghanistan, Bowe Bergdahl, Defense Department

Defense Department

U.S. Soldier Captured In Afghanistan: What Happened?

Zachary Roth | July 22, 2009, 3:45PM

We've told you recently about Ralph Peters, the Fox News analyst who accused a U.S. soldier, captured in Afghanistan, of deserting his buddies. Peters, a retired U.S. Army officer, said said the Taliban could save the U.S. "a lot of legal hassle" by executing the soldier.

But Peters' heartlessness and stupidity aside, the underlying story of the captured soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, is worth a closer look too -- especially because the Pentagon so far hasn't given a clear story about just how Bergdahl ended up in enemy hands.

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Topics: Bowe Bergdahl, Defense Department

CIA

CIA Vet: Agency Doesn't Need Secret Program To Target al Qaeda

Zachary Roth | July 13, 2009, 3:57PM

Earlier today, we raised a few questions about the notion that the secret CIA program that Dick Cheney reportedly withheld from Congress concerned an effort to kill or capture al Qaeda leaders. And now a top counter-terror expert is doing the same.

Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief, told TPMmuckraker that because we've been in a state of war against al Qaeda since just after September 11, there would have been no need for a secret CIA program that received special legal authorization.

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Topics: CIA, Defense Department, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta

Donald Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld On Abandoning Geneva: 'All Of A Sudden, It Was Just All Happening'

Justin Elliott | July 3, 2009, 6:03PM

Donald Rumsfeld has finally said he's sorry. Sort of.

In an interview with biographer Bradley Graham, the former secretary of defense says he has regrets about the administration's controversial detainee policy.

The twist is that Rumsfeld doesn't regret the policy itself -- specifically the abandoning of the Geneva Conventions for detainees picked up in Afghanistan. Rather, he regrets how the policy was formulated.