Defense
The United States could slip into a recession if Congress fails to modify planned spending cuts and tax increases set to start next year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects in a new report. – Defense News
A pro-defense think tank has issued a new report that shows by congressional district the impact on local businesses of the potential $500 billion in across-the-board budget cuts looming in January. – Military Times
After years of ups and downs and threats of cancellation, the Army and Marines are about to award contracts to develop a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to replace the venerable and vulnerable Humvee. In an exclusive interview with AOL Defense, retired Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli — the man who did more than anyone to save the JLTV from cancellation — argued that the new armored truck is critical not just to protect US troops but to carry the fight to the enemy in future wars. – AOL Defense
A new, high-powered effort to boost development of the littoral combat ship (LCS) is kicking off, intended to help implement numerous proposals and suggestions to integrate the new ship type into U.S. Navy operations. – Defense News
Missile Defense
The U.S. is planning a major expansion of missile defenses in Asia, a move American officials say is designed to contain threats from North Korea, but one that could also be used to counter China’s military. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The War
A U.S. commando involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year has written an inside account of the still-classified mission that is scheduled to be released next month, according to the book’s publisher. – Washington Post
Federal officials said Monday that they had seized $150 million as part of a crackdown on a money laundering scheme linked to the Lebanese militant group Hiz”B”Allah. – CNN Money
In more than six years of spying on Muslim neighborhoods, eavesdropping on conversations and cataloguing mosques, the New York Police Department’s secret Demographics Unit never generated a lead or triggered a terrorism investigation, the department acknowledged in court testimony unsealed late Monday. – Associated Press
Taliban insurgents are using Facebook, YouTube and more recently Twitter to try to recruit terrorists and incite terrorist attacks, U.S. military officials say. – Washington Times’ Inside the Ring
Nuclear Weapons/CTBT
The United States could take up the debate over ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty after the November presidential election, Kyodo News on Tuesday quoted the head of the international body formed to manage the accord regime as saying. – Global Security Newswire
Nuclear weapons policy-makers and experts gathered recently at a nondescript conference center in Nebraska to grapple with a jolting, if somewhat arcane, paradox: Is it possible that futuristic conventional weapons could actually make a nuclear blast more likely? – Global Security Newswire
