Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- August 31, 2011

President Obama greeting veterans Tuesday after his speech to the American Legion annual conference in Minneapolis. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Obama Draws Line On Possible Cuts To Veterans Programs -- New York Times

MINNEAPOLIS — President Obama vowed on Tuesday that he would not allow cuts in programs for veterans as Congress and the administration look for ways to balance the budget.

In a somber speech to the annual convention of the American Legion that dwelled on the need to tackle unemployment among veterans, but offered little in the way of specifics about his overall economic proposals that are due next week, the president repeated his assertion of earlier this summer that after a decade of war, it was time to turn the country’s attention to domestic prosperity.

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MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE NEWS BRIEFS

RAF crews face sack as Libya campaign rages -- The Telegraph

Iranian anti-tank missile may fall into terrorists' hands -- Jerusalem Post

Russian Firm Got No-Bid Pentagon Contract After Selling Arms to Iran -- Danger Room

South Africa Reviews Defense Policy -- Defense News/AFP

China ship with 22 labs spied on India -- NDTV

LM official- F-35 production 3 per month "for the next couple of years" -- ELP

JLTV Program Going Through Big Changes -- Ares/Aviation Week

HMX-1’s Ospreys Getting VIP Kits -- Defense Tech

Now May Be Time To Weigh Destroyer Options -- Aviation Week

The Navy’s new masters of energy -- DoD Buzz

New stealth boat touted as ideal for special ops -- MSNBC

Admiral Defends Use of Elite Unit in Calamitous Raid -- New York Times

Program office brings home 'wounded warrior' -- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Everybody's Talking About The Bird -- Ares/Aviation Week

Arab Spring an 'intel disaster' for West -- UPI

WikiLeaks site comes under attack -- Breitbart/AP

Military can make free calls to US using Gmail -- MSNBC

Secrecy characterizes case against ex-CIA officer -- AP

Man who profited from fabricated military career gets 21-month sentence -- Washington Post

Arlington Working to Improve Burial Records -- Military.com

America’s ‘strategic learning disability’ -- Philip Ewing, DoD Buzz

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,474 -- Sacramento Bee/AP

At least 1,640 US military deaths in Afghanistan since 2001 -- Washington Post/AP