Yahoo! News: U.S. Military

U.S. Military

• US charges defense contractor with Afghan killing (AP)

  AP - A defense contractor who once provided personal security for Afghanistan's president was charged with shooting a handcuffed Afghani civilian after hearing the man had inflicted serious burns on a fellow contractor, prosecutors said.

• Pentagon arms buyer says defense budget should rise (Reuters)

  Reuters - President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are recommending that President-elect Barack Obama boost overall defense spending for at least the next five years, the top U.S. arms buyer said on Thursday.

• Gates meets with Obama defense transition team (AFP)

  AFP - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Thursday with President-elect Barack Obama's defense team, opening a more substantive phase of the political transition at the Defense Department.

  
  

• US panel warns of Chinese espionage (AP)

  AP - China has accelerated computer espionage attacks on the U.S. government, defense contractors and American businesses, a congressional advisory panel said Thursday.

  
  

• Iraqi parliament likely to approve US pact (AFP)

  AFP - Iraq's parliament appeared likely to approve a comprehensive US military pact that would see all troops leave by the end of 2011 despite a loud and contentious debate of the measure on Thursday.

  
  

• Top Iraq Shiite cleric demands MP vote on US pact (AFP)

  AFP - Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's highest Shiite religious authority, on Thursday lashed out at lawmakers who had left on a pilgrimage instead of voting on a divisive US military pact.

  
  

• Pentagon defends decision on Lockheed fighter jet (AP)

  AP - The Pentagon's chief weapons buyer on Wednesday defended as a "prudent approach" his decision to initially provide less money than Congress mandated for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 fighter jet program until the next administration can assess its aircraft needs.

• Northrop sees defense spending steady in near term (Reuters)

  Reuters - Northrop Grumman Corp Chief Executive Ron Sugar on Wednesday said U.S. defense spending would likely remain steady for the next few years, but significant changes might occur in fiscal 2011 and 2012, depending on the priorities of the Obama administration.

• White House confident Iraq accord will pass (AFP)

  AFP - The United States on Wednesday expressed confidence that Iraqi lawmakers will approve a controversial military pact that allows US troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011.

  
  

• Hardline Iraqi MPs shout down US pact in parliament (AFP)

  AFP - Lawmakers loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shouted down the Iraqi parliament's second reading on Wednesday of a military pact allowing US troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011.

  
  

• Boeing shares fall to 5-year low on earnings worries (Reuters)

  Reuters - Boeing Co shares tumbled 6.5 percent to a nearly five-year low on Tuesday as analysts expressed concerns about the plane maker and defense contractor meeting profit estimates over the next two years, as it grapples with production delays, airlines' lack of financing to buy planes, and risks that the new U.S. administration will cut defense spending.

• US, Iraq differ on Iranian meddling in military pact (AFP)

  AFP - Senior US and Iraqi officials differed on Tehran's role in stalling a military accord that will allow US troops to remain in Iraq until 2011, as Iran on Tuesday sent mixed signals on the deal.

  
  

• US pullout of Iraq should depend on conditions: Mullen (AFP)

  AFP - US military leaders are comfortable with a 2011 deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq but it should depend on conditions on the ground, the US military chief said Monday.

  
  

• Iraq war set to end not on Bush's terms (AFP)

  AFP - President George W. Bush appears to have had to back down from his long-held opposition to an unconditional troop withdrawal from Iraq, with a timetable which Barack Obama will likely speed up.

  
  

• Militias lack strength to mount Iraq uprising: US commander (AFP)

  AFP - Iranian-backed "special groups" lack the strength to mount an uprising in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite Sadr City district, having suffered heavy losses, a US brigade commander said Monday.

  
  

• Congo rebels push north despite Nkunda peace pledge (Reuters)

  Reuters - Well-armed Tutsi rebels in eastern Congo have pushed back demoralized army troops and advanced north despite their leader's pledge to support a ceasefire and peace talks, witnesses said on Monday.

  
  

• Iraqi cabinet approves US military pact (AFP)

  AFP - Iraq's cabinet approved a wide-ranging military pact on Sunday that will govern the presence of more than 150,000 US troops stationed in the country, a source in parliament said.

  
  

• Iraqi cabinet expected to approve US military pact (AFP)

  AFP - Iraq's cabinet met Sunday and was expected to approve a wide-ranging and controversial military pact that includes a timetable for the withdrawal of all US troops by the end of 2011.

  
  

• US helicopters in SKorea move to Iraq, Afghanistan (AP)

  AP - The United States will withdraw 20 Apache attack helicopters from South Korea for redeployment in Iraq and Afghanistan next year, the U.S. military said Sunday.

• US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 555 (AP)

  AP - As of Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, at least 555 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.