Rumsfeld insists U.S. needs Gitmo

Washington The prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be needed for years to come, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday, adding there is no alternative location to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists held there.

At a news conference, Rumsfeld defended U.S. handling of hundreds of detainees at the prison, many captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan. About 520 are there now. Others have been released or turned over to their home countries.

Key Senate Republicans said Tuesday that closing the prison will not fix a U.S. image tarnished by allegations of detainee abuse.

Critics try to overturn ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

New York Critics of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy are gaining allies, including a few conservative congressmen and a West Point professor, as they try to overturn the ban on out-of-closet gays and lesbians in the armed forces.

Opponents of the policy are highlighting the struggles of Army and Marine recruiters. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network says in a new report that many highly trained specialists – including combat engineers and linguists – are being discharged involuntarily while the Pentagon “is facing extreme challenges in recruiting and retaining troops.”

U.S. analyst charged with spying for Israel

Washington A Defense Department analyst suspected of leaking secrets to Israel engaged in a nearly two-year pattern of deception, meeting with two lobbyists and an unidentified embassy official, officials alleged Monday.

Lawrence A. Franklin was charged with conspiracy and communicating classified data, including details of a secret U.S. policy paper and information about weapons testing by countries in the Middle East.

Among the allegations are that Franklin passed information to an official of a foreign embassy. Sources believe it was that of the government of Israel.

Franklin, 58, has served as a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.