Human rights groups join Wikileaks criticism

DoD also cutting improper payments, Army off-road GPS app tracks threats

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  • Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have joined military authorities in criticizing WikiLeaks.org for its publishing of classified Afghanistan war reports. Five groups said incomplete redacting of names endangers the lives of Afghans who might be helping the U.S. military, the Wall Street Journal reports. This echoes DOD sentiments, where brass from Secretary Robert M. Gates on down have expressed concern for the lives of troops. In response, the WikiLeaks founder asked the human rights groups for help with the redactions.
  • The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act is supposed to slash $50 billion dollars in improper payments. It requires agencies to come up with a plan to reduce overpayment errors. To learn how DoD plans to do that, listen to the interview with Mark Easton, the Deputy Chief Financial Officer at DoD on the Federal Drive by clicking here.
  • Imagine you’re a soldier, and you’ve got a map that can tell you where the next hidden roadside bomb is. Our next guest has developed a smart phone app that could make it reality. The app is a map-routing system that lets soldiers input obstacles and threats. Luke Catania is a Computer Scientist for the Army Engineer Research and Development Center. And he’s a winner in the Apps for the Army contest. To learn more about how his project might change things for soldiers, click here.

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