By Barbara Starr
A U.S. Army sergeant first class stationed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has been charged with allegedly secretly videotaping female cadets in their shower and latrine areas, according to Army officials.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael McClendon was charged May 14 with 13 "specifications" or allegations of "indecent conduct" in making videos between July 2009 and May 2012. Army criminal investigators are now contacting more than a dozen women who might have been videotaped, according to Army spokesman George Wright.
Wright said the investigation has been going on since May 2012, but charges were not made until last week because the Army was still trying to assemble computer evidence and identify the women involved.
By Barbara Starr
The Army has suspended the top general at Fort Jackson in South Carolina due to allegations of adultery and assault, an Army spokesman says.
Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts was relieved of his duties Tuesday as commanding general of the Army training center and Fort Jackson while the allegations are being investigated, said spokesman Harvey Perritt of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Roberts was suspended by Gen. Robert Cone, head of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
FULL POST
CNN's Barbara Starr reports on an extraordinary allegation being leveled against the nation's top Marine, Gen. James Amos, stemming from that infamous video of Marines urinating on corpses in Afghanistan. The complaint against Amos was first reported by the Marine Corps Times.
Warning: the images contained in this piece may be disturbing.
By Barbara Starr
The U.S. military has updated plans to "capture or kill" alleged perpetrators of the deadly terror attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, CNN has learned.
The development comes amid growing pressure on the White House to show progress in the effort to catch those who killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last September 11.
Officials emphasize that military planning has been underway since the immediate aftermath of the armed assault.
One part of the plan calls for potentially putting U.S. military personnel on the ground inside Libya, if ordered by President Barack Obama.
Two U.S. officials confirmed the details to CNN, but declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the information.
The plan was updated and discussed at the highest levels of the military as recently as last week.
By CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr
Several dozen combat-ready U.S. Marines stationed in southern Spain have been put on alert to potentially move into Libya and assist in the evacuation of American personnel if the unrest grows there in the coming days, a senior military official confirms to CNN.
The Marines have not yet moved from their base, but could be ordered to move closer to Libya so they could get there faster if a full evacuation is ordered.
A team of special operations forces also are on standby in Germany to assist, if needed.
The Marines in Spain are supposed to be ready to move within six hours of notification. By moving them closer, that time frame could be cut in half.
The Marines were sent to Spain in recent weeks as part of a new permanent contingency force capable of moving into North Africa very quickly after the deadly attack in Benghazi last year showed military forces were not close enough to assist.
The force in Spain totals about 500 Marines with six V-22 aircraft they can use to move quickly.
The United States has already withdrawn some embassy personnel, but with militants blocking some portions of the city, the military option would be used if personnel cannot get to the commercial airport, the official said.
By Barbara Starr
A Facebook page with sexually explicit comments denigrating female Marines was taken down after a congresswoman who complained about it was threatened on that site, an aide to the lawmaker told CNN.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, made public a letter she wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos on Wednesday about "F'N Wook" and others like it, asking them to review them and take action.
A Speier staffer told CNN on Thursday the page was taken down after her office made Facebook aware of threatening remarks about her that the aide said appeared on that site.
By Barbara Starr
In an unprecedented action, an Air Force commander has stripped 17 of his officers of their authority to control and launch nuclear missiles.
The 17 are being sent to undergo 60 to 90 days of intensive refresher training on how to do their jobs. The action comes after their unit performed poorly on an inspection and one officer was investigated for potential compromise of nuclear launch codes, according to Lt. Col. John Dorrian, an Air Force spokesman.
The story was first reported by The Associated Press.
The action was taken by the deputy commander of the 91st Operations Group, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, whose officers run launch control centers for the Minuteman III nuclear missiles from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
By Barbara Starr
The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.
U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.
One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.
By Barbara Starr
The Pentagon has in recent days stepped up planning for potential military intervention in the Syrian civil war, specifically because of growing evidence the regime may have used chemical weapons, CNN has learned.
"There is intensified planning in the works as more precise information comes in on the Syrian regime's potential use of chemical weapons and the body of evidence grows," a senior administration official said.
The official, who has direct knowledge of the effort, declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.
If President Barack Obama were to order action, it could involve thousands of U.S. troops. But all of the options face serious military challenges.
FULL POST
By Joe Johns, Barbara Starr, Gloria Borger, and Carol Cratty, CNN
Months after the FBI cleared Tamerlan Tsarnaev in its investigation of possible connections to jihadist causes, the Russians approached the CIA as well to look into him, CNN has learned.
But what was provided by the Russians in late September 2011 was "basically the same" information that had been given the previous March to the FBI, according to a government official.
The source said the communication was a "warning letter" sent to the CIA.
Tsarnaev, 26, suspected along with his younger brother of bombing the Boston Marathon early last week, died on Friday following a violent confrontation with police.
FULL POST
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