In September, a funny thing happened.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of the U.S. Central Command and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth ended up in front of Congress to discuss how the now infamous “train and equip” program for Syrian rebels was going. Specifically, they were asked how many of the fighters that had participated in the program were still operating on the ground.
Austin’s answer: “four or five.”
In what will likely not surprise too many, The Pentagon has admitted it has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade. Confirming yet another conspiracy theory is conspiracy fact, FBI director Robert Mueller testified before Congress that the bureau employed spy drones to aid investigations, but in a "very,very minimal way, very seldom." The report concludes, "the appetite to use spy drones in the domestic environment to collect airborne imagery continues to grow."
Authorities in the US hope to retain the Syrian opposition or so called rebels even though there is a ceasefire in place and despite their abysmal failure before. Top US commander, General Lloyd Austin said that Pentagon has requested permission to resurrect an effort to train Syrian opposition fighters for battles against ISIS, but on a smaller scale than a previous program that failed and was scrapped last year. Washington previously struggled to define which fighters ‘deserved’ to get US funds and equipment, which often end up in the hands of the terrorists.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is to head the Pentagon’s new Innovation Advisory Board. The board will consist of 12 members that would be hand-picked by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Eric Schmidt. The cosy relationship between Google and the government is worrisome, according to Wikileaks founder and whistle-blower Julian Assange. Sputnik reports: On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will head the Pentagon’s new Innovation Advisory Board.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been recruited as the head of a new Pentagon advisory board aimed at bringing cutting edge Silicon Valley ideas to the U.S. military. U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter announced the new appointment on Wednesday, saying that he hopes that Schmidt will be able to use his experience at Google to bring the U.S. military up-to-date technologically. Businessinsider.com reports: Carter is due to discuss the new Defense Innovation Advisory Board with Schmidt during the annual RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco.