Tag: pentagon

Pentagon Reluctantly Admits Russian ‘Incremental Gains’ In Eastern Ukraine

With just days to go before the United States gets a new Commander-in-Chief with Trump’s inauguration on Jan.20, the Pentagon has made a rare admission, acknowledging that Russian forces are basically dominating on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Pentagon during its daily press briefing on Monday acknowledged Russian forces’ “incremental gains” in the Donbass. Below is from the question and answer transcript: 

Q:  And then a completely different topic — can you give us an update on the Ukrainian battlefield? Does Putin indeed have the upper hand right now?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER:  Well, what we’re seeing on the battlefield is that, especially in the East, Russia has made some incremental gains. Of course, it’s very tough fighting, as well as in the Kursk region as well. But when you talk about the upper hand, of course, tactically, again other than those incremental gains, what you’re seeing strategically is that again Russia has not achieved any of Its strategic objectives that it set for itself almost three years ago.

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The CDC, Palantir and the AI-Healthcare Revolution 

The Pentagon and Silicon Valley are in the midst of cultivating an even closer relationship as the Department of Defense (DoD) and Big Tech companies seek to jointly transform the American healthcare system into one that is “artificial intelligence (AI)-driven.” The alleged advantages of such a system, espoused by the Army itself, Big Tech and Pharma executives as well as intelligence officers, would be unleashed by the rapidly developing power of so-called “predictive medicine,” or “a branch of medicine that aims to identify patients at risk of developing a disease, thereby enabling either prevention or early treatment of that disease.”

This will apparently be achieved via mass interagency data sharing between the DoD, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the private sector. In other words, the military and intelligence communities, as well as the public and private sector elements of the US healthcare system, are working closely with Big Tech to “predict” diseases and treat them before they occur (and even before symptoms are felt) for the purported purpose of improving civilian and military healthcare.

This cross-sector team plans to deliver this transformation of the healthcare system by first utilizing and sharing the DoD’s healthcare dataset, which is the most “comprehensive…in the world.” It seems, however, based on the programs that already utilize this predictive approach and the necessity for “machine learning” in the development of AI technology, that this partnership would also massively expand the breadth of this healthcare dataset through an array of technologies, methods and sources.

Yet, if the actors and institutions involved in lobbying for and implementing this system indicate anything, it appears that another—if not primary—purpose of this push towards a predictive AI-healthcare infrastructure is the resurrection of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-managed and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-supported program that Congress officially “shelved” decades ago. That program, Total Information Awareness (TIA), was a post 9/11 “pre-crime” operation which sought to use mass surveillance to stop terrorists before they committed any crimes through collaborative data mining efforts between the public and private sector.

While the “pre-crime” aspect of TIA is the best known component of the program, it also included a component that sought to use public and private health and financial data to “predict” bioterror events and pandemics before they emerge. This was TIA’s “Bio-Surveillance” program, which aimed to develop “necessary information technologies and a resulting prototype capable of detecting the covert release of a biological pathogen automatically, and significantly earlier than traditional approaches.” Its architects argued it would achieve this by “monitoring non-traditional data sources” including “pre-diagnostic medical data” and “behavioral indicators.” While ostensibly created to thwart “bioterror” events, the program also sought to create algorithms for identifying “normal” disease outbreaks, essentially seeking to automate the early detection of either biological attacks or natural pathogen outbreaks, ranging from pandemics to presumably other, less severe disease events.

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Pentagon Launches Fresh Assault On Houthis In Yemen Ahead Of 2025

The war in Yemen and the Red Sea continues to intensify, following several ballistic missiles launched on Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis last week and this month. The pattern is that for whatever the Western coalition throws at the Houthis in terms of bombing raids, the militant group only intensifies its assaults.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that forces under US Central Command (CENTCOM) have launched fresh attacks on Yemen after the Houthi militants targeted American warships and commercial ships earlier the same day.

US Navy ships and aircraft conduced the new attacks, striking Houthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, according to the CENTCOM statement.

American warplanes had destroyed “seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea,” the statement continued. “There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment in either incident,” it said.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam denounced the strikes as “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”

CENTCOM has justified the new action as necessary “to degrade Iran-backed Houthi efforts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region.”

Earlier on Tuesday the Houthis had also launched two more missiles at Israel. These direct attacks on Israel out of Yemen are coming almost daily at this point, and Israeli forces have also stepped up aerial attacks on Yemen in coordination with the Western coalition in the Red Sea.

Just days ago, on Thursday, Israel conducted some of the largest attacks on Yemen to date, hitting the international airport in Sanaa and other facilities. 

But the Houthis have clearly remained undeterred. Short of a full-scale ground invasion, these Western coalition aerial attacks are unlikely to do anything but prolong the war, which the Houthis say is a response to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip.

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Drones continue to buzz over US bases. The military isn’t sure why or how to stop them

A series of drone sightings over military bases across the country has renewed concerns that the US doesn’t have clear government-wide policy for how to deal with unauthorized incursions that could potentially pose a national security threat.

“We’re one year past Langley drone incursions and almost two years past the PRC spy balloon. Why don’t we have a single [point of contact] who is responsible for coordination across all organizations in the government to address this?” the recently retired head of US Northern Command and NORAD, Gen. Glen VanHerck, told CNN. “Instead, everybody’s pointing their fingers at each other saying it’s not our responsibility.”

Indeed, there have been multiple instances of drone incursions over military bases since mysterious drone swarms were spotted around Joint Base Langley-Eustis and other sensitive military sites in Virginia last year, and since a Chinese spy balloon transited the continental US in 2023.

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Pentagon Reveals the US Has More Than Twice the Number of Troops in Syria Than Previously Disclosed

The US has 2,000 troops in Syria, far more than the 900 number the Pentagon has been sharing publicly.

On Thursday, the Pentagon revealed the US has roughly 2,000 troops occupying Syria, more than twice the number it has been disclosing.

For years, the US has said it has about 900 troops inside Syria. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the troops levels have been at 2,000 for a “while,” well before the regime change that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Since the regime change in Syria on December 8, the Pentagon has been asked repeatedly about the number of US troops in the country and kept repeating the 900 number. Ryder claimed he had just learned that it was significantly higher than he had been saying.

“As you know, we have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria. In light of the situation in Syria and the significant interest, we recently learned that those numbers were higher, and so asked to look into it. I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria,” he said.

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Pentagon funds alternative meat protein from fungus for military food to meet sustainability goals

The Pentagon is funding alternatives to meat protein, which includes using fungi for food for U.S. service members as part of the White House’s sustainable bioeconomy agenda.

The Department of Defense is focusing on investments into fungi protein as an alternative to animal protein, after initially seeking to fund lab-grown meat earlier this year in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Critics have pushed back on such initiatives, arguing that they are negatively affecting the military.

In November, the DOD announced that it had given 34 awards totaling over $60 million to bioindustrial firms under the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP). $1.38 million was given to The Fynder Group “to plan a bioproduction facility for fungi-based proteins that can be incorporated into military ready-to-eat meals.”

The program is part of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14081, “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy,” which is “aimed at bolstering America’s bioeconomic strengths while helping the Department achieve advanced defense capabilities,” according to the DOD.

The projects that were awarded funding from the DOD program “will be eligible to receive follow-on ‘build’ awards providing access to up to $100 million to construct U.S.-based bioindustrial manufacturing facilities,” the DOD announcement added.

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U.S. Department of Defense: “We don’t know what the activity is…”

“We have had confirmed sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle,” the spokesperson said. “This is not a new issue for us. We’ve had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now. It’s something that we routinely respond to in each and every case when reporting is cited.”

The spokesperson said military installations have means to detect and respond to such drones, and that security personnel are trained to identify, categorize and employ those tools to keep drones from flying unauthorized over U.S. military bases.

Right now, the FBI, DHS, FAA and DOD have been unable to determine who is responsible for flying the drones, and there’s no indication that there are adversary nations involved.

“To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent,” the spokesperson said. “But … we don’t know. We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin.”

The spokesperson said that the military has “limited authorities” when it comes to conducting investigations off of military installations in the United States, and is also prohibited from conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the United States which might be used to determine the origins of who might be flying the drones. But the spokesperson also said those military installations have good relations with local law enforcement, who can conduct investigations off the installation.

“We have to coordinate with law enforcement to try to do that, which we are doing,” the spokesperson said. “And we do that on a routine basis at nearly all of our locations. We have good relationships and excellent coordination, and we respond quickly to try to identify them.”

The spokesperson also said the department is frustrated with the appearance of the drones.

“The main point is to deter the activity using some of our electronic means that can respond to most of these small commercial systems and deny them access to the airspace over our bases,” the spokesperson said. “We don’t know what the activity is. We don’t know … if it is criminal. But I will tell you that it is irresponsible. Here on the military side, we are just as frustrated with the irresponsible nature of this activity.”

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Pentagon Sparks Social Media Uproar After Posting a Bewildering Message on its Website as Suspicious Drones Invade America

The Pentagon on Friday once again illustrated we do not have the best and brightest leading us, as suspicious drones invade sensitive areas across America and on military bases.

As Jim Hoft previously reported, several mysterious drones were spotted flying over New Jersey last week. The drones were spotted over at least 12 counties, prompting mayors to contact the governor and demand answers.

This has raised alarm bells across America, with suspicion a foreign adversary is responsible. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) claimed on Wednesday that he had sources that Iran is responsible.

“I learned from very high sources, from very qualified sources, Iran launched a mothership a month ago that contains these drones, Van Drew said. “It’s off the east coast of the United States.”

It’s not just New Jersey either. Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan revealed on Friday that he had personally witnessed several drones over his residence in recent days.

There have also been drone sightings over U.S. Military bases.

The Department of Defense’s dismissive response to these alarming sightings has only inspired anger, mockery, and confusion. Then, on Friday, the agency sent out a so-called “test” message on its website that only raised eyebrows further.

The best way to describe the text is complete utter gibberish.

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Pentagon Says No Evidence of Foreign Adversaries as Federal Investigators Remain Baffled by Mystery Drone Sightings

Large, often noisy, and launched from unknown locations by unidentified parties, ongoing sightings of mystery drones over New Jersey remain a problem, according to federal officials who are ramping up efforts to get to the bottom of the matter.

The sightings, which have occurred since mid-November, are currently being investigated by federal agencies that include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as well as local and state law enforcement in New Jersey and surrounding states where observations of the mystery drones have occurred.

Speaking from Washington on Wednesday, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed to reporters that the ongoing drone sightings are not linked to any U.S. military drone activities, while also confirming that the Pentagon currently has no evidence to suggest they are being controlled by foreign actors.

“At this time, we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity, or are the work of an adversary,” Singh said yesterday, stating that the DoD was aware of no threats to U.S. military assets resulting from the drone incidents.

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Bombshell Report: Oversight Subcommittee Finds Pentagon Deliberately Delayed National Guard Deployment on January 6 — Cover-Up by DoD Inspector General Exposed

In a fiery letter to the Department of Defense Inspector General, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, exposed the “systemic failure” within the Pentagon on January 6, 2021.

Loudermilk accused the DoD of intentionally delaying the deployment of the D.C. National Guard (DCNG) and of publishing an Inspector General report that “whitewashes” the events to protect top Pentagon officials.

The letter, addressed to Defense Department Inspector General Robert P. Storch, challenges the findings of Report No. 2022-039, which the DoD Inspector General’s office had presented as a comprehensive review of the Department’s role during the Capitol riots.

Loudermilk’s Subcommittee on Oversight, tasked with probing security failures on January 6, asserts that the report contains glaring inaccuracies and conveniently ignores testimony that exposes Pentagon misconduct.

The DoD IG’s report reveals a troubling oversight in assessing the actions of senior DoD officials, including Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, who failed to relay deployment orders to Major General William Walker, the DC National Guard Commander, on January 6.

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