Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is re-opening the bidding for a $35 billion Air Force contract for refueling tankers. Only, as the New York Times’ Leslie Wayne reports, a Pentagon "special acquisitions committee," not the Air Force, will decide if Boeing or Northrop Grumman and EADS should get the contract.

It’s the latest humiliation for the Air Force, which, according to a GAO report, seriously messed up in deciding that Northrup Grumman and EADS deserved the contract. Now the contract won’t be rewarded until December at the earliest.

The Times brings out many of the plots and subplots surrounding the botched contract.  These include outrage from some lawmakers that a European company, EADS, should be partly responsible for U.S. defense.-MB

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