Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Whistle-Blower Says Pentagon Fired Him

A Pentagon scientist said he has been fired for complaining about waste, fraud and abuse in the “Star Wars” program. Aldric Saucier, 55, said an Army colonel handed him his dismissal notice as he was returning to his office after conferring with the staff of a House panel on national security, which he said is investigating his allegations. Saucier asserts that the Strategic Defense Initiative program has paid out some $800 million on allegedly “worthless strategic and missile defense studies now gathering dust.”