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A plan to give the U.S. Military more access to Colombian bases will focus on anti-drug and counter-insurgency missions without raising U.S. troop levels over e...

A plan to give the U.S. Military more access to Colombian bases will focus on anti-drug and counter-insurgency missions without raising U.S. troop levels over established limits. A senior U.S. defense official says the proposal to allow U.S. forces to use up to seven Colombian military installations has stirred regional concern and fueled tensions in the Andes, where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his leftist allies oppose U.S. Influence. Washington says the plan is an extension of existing cooperation with Colombia, which has received more than $5 billion in U.S. aid to battle cocaine traffickers and Marxist guerrillas fighting the oldest insurgency in Latin America. (Reuters)

NASA doesn’t have nearly enough money to meet its goal of putting astronauts back on the moon by 2020 — and it may be the wrong place to go anyway. That’s one of the harsh messages emerging from a sweeping review of NASA’s human spaceflight program, the Washington Post reports. Although it is just an advisory panel, the Human Space Flight Plans Committee could turn the entire space program upside down. Appointed by President Obama and headed by retired aerospace executive Norman Augustine, the 10-person panel has held a series of marathon meetings in recent weeks to try to Velcro together some kind of plausible strategy for NASA.

Other Stories We’re Following

Former procurement chief offers plan for expediting stimulus contracts (GovExec)

VA tries new ‘corporate’ acquisition (FCW)

Justice sues bulletproof vest manufacturer for false claims (GovExec)

Homeland Security seeks to expedite Gulf Coast recovery through arbitration (GovExec)

DHS expands global trusted traveler program (FCW)

NIH emphasizes health IT in its new $20 billion contract (FCW)

DHS plans cybersecurity wiki (FCW)

Free Park Weekends Having Little Effect (Washington Post)

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