If the Pentagon does slow the huge building and deployment program, which was ordered several years ago by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, it won't affect the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere against terror suspects.

NPR: Military Weighs Cutbacks, Shifts In Drone Programs

The law does not allow, for example, the Pentagon to keep funding going for a ship building program by shifting money being spent on a military golf course.

CNN: Top Senate Republican doubts damage from defense cuts

The Pentagon's No. 2 has traditionally run "the Building, " managing its vast bureaucracy and effectively being the ultimate allocator of funds among its competing programs and responsibilities.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Gordon England's war

The Pentagon report concluded that KBR failed to ground a water pump at the building, and the company did not report improperly grounded equipment during routine maintenance.

CNN: Take back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon

U.S. officials say Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda organization are the prime suspects in last week's attacks that may have killed more than 5, 000 people -- including a Pentagon civilian worker who died Tuesday of injuries suffered when a hijacked jetliner crashed into the building.

CNN: Rumsfeld: U.S. must 'drain the swamp'

The Bushes will then travel to the Pentagon for an observance, remembering the lives lost when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building.

CNN: Bush to visit sites of Sept. 11 terror attacks

The Pentagon reckons the country is unlikely to have one in operation before 2015, but is considering building at least two by 2020, along with associated vessels.

ECONOMIST: China is piling up more weapons than it appears to need

Meanwhile in Washington, the Pentagon - the heart of the US defence establishment - reopened on Wednesday, even though only half of the building is safe for use after attack by another crashing hijacked jet.

BBC: Welshman filmed early crash shots