Defense
Faced with uncertainty, the Army is fighting an uphill battle not only to win internal Pentagon budget fights but also to convince Congress of its strategy. – Politico
Marines are about to see a lot of changes in their training as the Corps shifts from steady combat in Afghanistan to new missions focused on U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. – Defense News
Two members of Congress plan to urge the Defense Department to ensure U.S. troops wear only American-made uniforms and gear after Air Force Times revealed this summer that an airman deployed to Afghanistan was given Chinese-made boots by his unit. – Military Times
America’s top military officer is opposing the demotion of a four-star general who is accused of spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lavish travel and other expenses in a case that has been sitting on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s desk for weeks, U.S. officials said Thursday. – Associated Press
In favor of our military staying out of politics; perhaps if Gen. Dempsey is going to set himself up as the arbiter of the civil-military boundary, he needs to actually police both sides of it. And that means correcting the record when 44 misleads the public or caricatures our military as having only one view about an important national issue that goes directly to their military judgment. – Shadow Government
Cybersecurity
Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intelligence committee, slammed the administration’s cybersecurity approach today but expressed guarded optimism that his own stalled legislation — which the White House has threatened to veto — might be revived when Congress reconvenes after the election. – AOL Defense
NSA director and Cyber Command chief Gen. Keith Alexander stepped into the lion’s den [Thursday] to address the Chamber of Commerce, which helped kill cybersecurity legislation Alexander had strongly backed. – AOL Defense
The War
British judges have indicated that they will rule Friday on a protracted effort by the United States to secure the extradition of five detainees, including the firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, to face terrorism charges in American courts, British news reports said. – New York Times
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano repeatedly misled lawmakers about one of her department’s signature initiatives, the special centers where state and local police share information about terrorism with their federal counterparts, according to a congressional report. – Washington Times
The top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee lashed out against the White House’s recent deal to buy a maximum security prison in Illinois, claiming it sets the stage for U.S. terror detainees to be housed on American soil. – DEFCON Hill
Missile Defense
A controversial multinational battlefield antimissile program appears set to receive at least a few more months of U.S. federal support through the interim budget resolution approved by Congress last month, Inside Defense reported on Wednesday. – Global Security Newswire
Two prominent physicists and missile defense skeptics are criticizing the conclusion reached by a National Research Council expert committee that it would be inadvisable for the United States to pursue an early missile interception capability, Space News reported on Wednesday. – Global Security Newswire
Nuclear Weapons
The United States as of Sept. 1 held 1,722 strategic nuclear warheads fielded on 806 active ICBMs, submarines-based missiles and bombers, a reduction of 15 deployed weapons and six launch-ready delivery vehicles over the prior six months, the U.S. State Department indicated in data released on Wednesday. – Global Security Newswire
