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HavenWorks.com/military/archive/2002 |
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/ Archive
/ 2002
- "Officials:
N. Korea Violated Buffer Zone: N. Korea Violated
1953 Armistice by Bringing Guns Into Buffer Zone, U.S.-U.N. Command Says."
... "North Korea violated the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War
by bringing machine guns into the buffer zone separating the two Koreas
on six occasions over the past two weeks, the U.S.-U.N. Command said Friday."
... "The U.S.-U.N. Command said an investigation confirmed reports by South
Korean soldiers that North Korean troops brought 7.62mm machine guns into
the Demilitarized Zone from Dec. 13 to Dec. 20."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "North
Korea orders expulsion of U.N. nuclear inspectors, says will open laboratory."
... "North Korea ordered the expulsion Friday of U.N. nuclear inspectors
and announced it will reactivate a laboratory able to produce weapons-grade
plutonium. The U.N. nuclear agency said its investigators were "staying
put" for now." ... "The inspectors were the last means that the International
Atomic Energy Agency had to monitor whether the facilities are being used
for nuclear weapons projects. Despite IAEA warnings, the North removed
monitoring seals and surveillance cameras from the nuclear complex at Yongbyon
earlier this week." -By Paul Shin
-AP via -SFGate.com
- "U.N.:
N. Korea Engaging in 'Brinkmanship': U.N. Agency
Says North Korea Is Engaging in 'Nuclear Brinkmanship'" ... "North Korean
workers have moved 1,000 fresh fuel rods to a storage site near the Soviet-designed,
5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon that was frozen in a deal with Washington
that ended the 1994 crisis, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency
said. A total of 8,000 such rods is needed to start the reactor." ... ""Moving
towards restarting its nuclear facilities without appropriate safeguards,
and towards producing plutonium raises serious nonproliferation concerns
and is tantamount to nuclear brinkmanship," Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, director
of the Vienna-based agency, said in a statement."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
Christmas
News
- "'Saddest
Christmas Ever' in Bethlehem." ... "Palestinians
marked what some called the saddest Christmas ever in the biblical city
of Bethlehem, walking to Mass through cold rainy streets bereft of holiday
cheer after weeks of Israeli military occupation." ... "Hundreds of Palestinians
and a few hardy tourists and pilgrims attended Christmas Day services in
the ancient Church of the Nativity, the reputed site of Jesus's birth,
but found little joy from an Israeli army pullback for the occasion." -By
Mark Heinrich -Reuters
- Christmas
News
- "At
Christmas Mass in Baghdad, worshippers offer special prayers for peace."
... "More than 100 Christians and peace activists gathered at a Catholic
church in Iraq's capital for Christmas Eve Mass Tuesday, offering special
prayers that war can be avoided." ... "Christians represent about 5 percent
of Iraq's 22 million population and live mainly in Baghdad and the north.
Iraq is predominantly Muslim and officially secular." -By
Nadia Abou El Magd -AP
via -SFGate.com
- "US
tries diplomacy, firm line on N. Korea." ... "The
Bush administration pressed North Korea diplomatically yesterday to refrain
from restarting a dormant nuclear reactor, even as Defense Secretary Donald
H. Rumsfeld warned that the US military could simultaneously take on both
Iraq and the communist Pyongyang regime." ... "''We are capable of fighting
two major regional conflicts,'' Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon. ''We're
capable of winning decisively in one and swiftly defeating in the case
of the other, and let there be no doubt about it.''" ... "Rumsfeld stressed
that no military action to halt Pyongyang's renewed nuclear ambitions was
imminent, and White House officials said the United States intends to pursue
a diplomatic course to persuade North Korea to abandon efforts to expand
its nuclear arsenal." -By John J. Lumpkin
-AP via -Boston/Globe
- 
- "French
journalist killed by US tank." ... "One of the best-known
television journalists in France, Patrick Bourrat, has died in hospital
in Kuwait." ... "He was injured on Saturday after being run over by a tank
while covering US military exercises in the desert." ... "Mr Bourrat, who
was in his 40s, was a correspondent for the TF-1 television station." ...
"American military officials say the precise circumstances of the accident
are being investigated."-BBC/News
-
- "U.S.
Said to Ready Kurd Areas in Iraq for Possible War."
... "American intelligence officials have been working alongside Kurdish
officials in recent weeks, and recruiters for an American-sponsored opposition
group have been selecting candidates for a program to train scouts and
translators that one day may help American forces inside Iraq, according
to Kurdish and Western officials." ... "American military planners have
visited secluded corners of the country to examine potential basing sites
for use in a war, according to a Western expert familiar with the activity."
... "No American military forces are based here yet, Kurdish officials
say, and recent Turkish and Arabic news reports of sizable military deployments
appear unfounded." (1, 2)
-By C. J. Chivers -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
-
- "US
agrees to share Iraq intelligence." ... "The United
States says it will share intelligence data about Iraq with United Nations
weapons inspectors following a request from chief inspector Hans Blix."
... "The agreement comes while the US is preparing for a rapid increase
in its military strength in the Middle East, almost doubling the number
of troops near Iraq." ... "Mr Blix told the BBC on Friday that, if US officials
knew where they thought Iraq was storing banned materials, he could send
his inspection teams to check." -BBC/News
-
- "Blair tells
his forces to prepare for war, but Blix seeks data."
... "The United States and Britain should give United Nations weapons inspectors
more intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, chief
inspector Hans Blix said Friday." ... "Prime Minister Tony Blair, meanwhile,
told British troops he was making "all the preparations necessary" for
war." ... ""If the U.K. and the U.S. ... have evidence, then one would
expect that they would be able to tell us where this stuff is," Blix told
the British Broadcasting Corp. radio." -By Jill Lawless
-AP via -IHT.com
- "South
Korea picks liberal Roh for president." ... "Ruling
party candidate Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election on
Thursday, a result that could complicate ties with the United States as
the allies grapple with North Korea's nuclear programme." ... "The triumph
of Roh, 56, a populist human rights and labour lawyer, marks a stunning
turnaround after the 11th-hour desertion of his election alliance partner,
Chung Mong-joon." ... "The United States has 37,000 troops helping protect
the South from its reclusive neighbour. North and South Korea are technically
still at war as the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty."
-By Paul Eckert -Reuters
via /Asia
- "U.S.
Sets Late January Decision on Iraq War." ... "The
Bush administration has set the last week in January as the make-or-break
point in the long standoff with Iraq, and is increasingly confident that
by then it will have marshaled the evidence to convince the U.N. Security
Council that Iraq is in violation of a U.N. resolution passed last month
and to call for the use of force, officials said yesterday." ... "In a
boost to the administration's position, Hans Blix, the United Nations'
chief weapons inspector, plans to tell the Security Council today that
Iraq failed to account fully for chemical and biological bombs and warheads
it had assembled as well as materials it bought that could be used to produce
more of them, U.N. and administration officials said." -By
Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung-WashingtonPost
- 
- Christmas
News
-
- "When
a 'Christmas Truce' put war on back burner." ...
"Christmas came to the battlefield in "the Great War to end all wars,"
and that story became the stuff of legend." ... "The History Channel tells
what happened when British and German soldiers laid down their arms to
meet in a No Man's Land strewn with the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Never before --and never again, probably -- was there ever such a celebration
as The Christmas Truce." -By Ann Hodges
-HoustonChronicle.com
- "Terror
Suspects Found With Chemicals in Paris." ... "In
the latest sweep against suspected Islamic militant groups here, French
officials said today that they had arrested four people early Monday and
had seized chemicals and a military personal-protection suit, suggesting
that the suspects may have been preparing a chemical attack." -By
John Tagliabue -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "U.S.
officials: Saddam ready to target his own country, blame U.S."
... "Iraq is preparing to destroy its own oil fields, food supplies and
power plants and blame the destruction on U.S. bombs during a war, U.S.
intelligence officials said Wednesday." ... "The officials, briefing reporters
at the Pentagon, said they have evidence Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
has plans to wreck his own infrastructure to foster a humanitarian crisis
and turn international opinion against any U.S. and British advance into
his territory." ... "Citing the need to protect intelligence sources, the
officials declined to describe that evidence. They spoke on condition of
anonymity." -By John J. Lumpkin
-AP via -SFGate.com
OPINION
- 
-
- TIA:
Total Information Awareness
- "Snooping
in All the Wrong Places: Not only would the
Administration's plan to centralize every American's records destroy privacy,
the security payoff would be minimal." ... "The 2002 elections proved one
thing: The promise of security wins votes. The GOP campaigned on a pledge
to make the country safer, and it brought home one of the biggest midterm
victories in decades. That huge win may have emboldened the Bush Administration
to ignore widespread criticism of the Defense Dept.'s $240 million effort
to develop a Total Information Awareness system (TIA)." ... "The outrage
over TIA doesn't seem to have reached the President's ear, but it should.
It's not too late for him to realize the folly of such a plan. Funded by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project would
combine every American's bank records, tax filings, driver's license information,
credit-card purchases, medical data, and phone and e-mail records into
one giant centralized database. This would then be combed through for evidence
of suspicious activity." -By Jane Black
-BusinessWeek/Daily
- "Russia
'regrets' Bush missile plan: Moscow has expressed
"regret" at U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to deploy a limited
missile shield by 2004, saying the move could lead to a new arms race."
... "The Russian statement came a day after Bush ordered the U.S. Defense
Department to begin work within two years on deploying the first interceptors
that are to form the base of the missile defence system." ... "The Bush
administration intends to ask the U.S. Congress to allocate $1.5 billion
for 2004-2005, on top of the $8 billion already budgeted."
-CNN /World
/Europe
- "Bush
Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists."
... "The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the
Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical
and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence
officials said." ... "Despite the authority given to the agency, Mr. Bush
has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials said.
The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of Al
Qaeda as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force."
... "The president is not legally required to approve each name added to
the list, nor is the C.I.A. required to obtain presidential approval for
specific attacks, although officials said Mr. Bush had been kept well informed
about the agency's operations." ... "But the decision by the Bush administration
to authorize, under certain circumstances, the killing of terrorist leaders
threatens to thrust it into a murky area of national security and international
law that is almost never debated in public because the covert operations
are known only to a small circle of executive branch and Congressional
officials." (1, 2)
-By James Risen and David Johnstone
-NYTimes via-AltaVista-News
-
- "Iraqi
jet tried to trap U.S. jets." ... "An Iraqi fighter
jet attempted to lead two U.S. fighter planes over a battery of surface-to-air
missiles Friday in the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, Pentagon officials
told CNN." ... "Aware of the missiles' location, the U.S. planes turned
south to avoid the potential trap, a Defense Department spokesman said.
The pilots knew the location of the missiles because of training and coalition
surveillance capabilities, the spokesman said." -By
Kris Osborn -CNN
/World
- 
- "U.S.
Lets Missile Shipment Proceed." ... "Skirting a face-off
with Yemen, the United States on Wednesday let an intercepted shipment
of North Korean missiles proceed to the Persian Gulf country after receiving
assurances the Scuds would not be transferred elsewhere in the tense region."
... "The agreement was reached through unusual high-level diplomacy involving
Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell, on the
one hand, and President Ali Abdallah Salih of Yemen on the other." -By
Barry Schweid -AP
via -DesMoinesRegister
-
- 
- "U.N.
inspects new Iraqi military factory." ... "With a
new group of inspectors at work in Iraq, bringing the total to 70, the
U.N. inspection teams visited six sites Wednesday -- including a military
factory built in 1999." ... "In other searches during the day, inspectors
continued their work at the al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center on the
south side of Baghdad and at the Akashat uranium mine, about 420 kilometers
(260 miles) west of Baghdad, near the Syrian border." ... "Several tons
of uranium have been under seal at al-Tuwaitha since the previous round
of inspections ended in 1998." -Contributed to by
Nic Robertson and Rym Brahimi
-CNN /World
-
-
- "U.S.
Warns Iraq It Has Nuclear Option." ... "The United
States raised the temperature in its confrontation with Iraq over weapons
of mass destruction, saying it could go nuclear if such weapons were used
against its forces or its allies." ... "Washington issued the warning Tuesday
as U.N. arms inspectors carried out the most intensive inspections in Iraq
of their current mission and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry accused Washington
of trying to find a pretext for war." -By Nadim Ladki
-Reuters /World
-
-
- "U.S.
Sees Nuclear Deterrence Against WMD Attack." ...
"The six-page strategy document says deterring attacks with the threat
of "overwhelming force" is an essential element in protecting America and
its allies from weapons of mass destruction, also known as WMD." ... ""The
United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to
respond with overwhelming force -- including through resort to all our
options -- to the use of WMD against the United States, our forces abroad,
and friends and allies," the strategy report said." ... ""In addition to
our conventional and nuclear response and defense capabilities, our overall
deterrent posture against WMD threats is reinforced by effective intelligence,
surveillance, interdiction and domestic law enforcement capabilities,"
it said." -By Randall Mikkelsen
-Reuters /World
- "China
launches new stealth fighter project." ... "The Shenyang
Aircraft Company has been selected to head research and development of
a new heavyweight fighter for China's People's Liberation Army Air Force
(PLAAF), according to a senior source at the China Aviation Industry Corp
I (AVIC I)." ... "Development of the engines and weapon subsystems for
the fourth-generation fighter has been underway for some time, according
to the source, who revealed that a number of design concepts have already
been created. Wind-tunnel tests of these are about to start. Images of
the concepts show a twin-engine aircraft sharing some design traits with
Lockheed Martin's stealthy F/A-22 multirole fighter, now undergoing tests
with the US Air Force, such as the internal carriage of its weapon systems.
The Chinese designs retain a more conventional wing, however, and use a
single vertical tail fin." -By Yihong Chang
-Jane's/Defence/Weekly
-
- "With
forces at ready, war could be swift: US troop
counts in the Mideast rise, ready for a campaign very different from Gulf
War." ... "The hammer of US military force is almost ready for use against
Iraq, even as the diplomatic struggle between Washington and Baghdad continues."
... "There are now some 80,000 uniformed American personnel in the region,
counting troops deployed in Afghanistan. While an actual attack would likely
require a final sprint deployment of strike units, most of the elements
for war are now in place, as symbolized by this week's command-and-control
exercise in Qatar." -By Faye Bowers and Peter Grier
-CSMonitor
- "Pentagon
indicates progress in U.S.-China ties." ... "The
Pentagon on Monday indicated creeping progress in resumed military ties
with China after the first top-level defence talks between the two nations
since President George W. Bush took office two years ago." ... ""The talks
were useful, professional. They were real discussions. They were not stilted
set pieces. And that's good," Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas
Feith said after a day-long meeting with Chinese General Xiong Guangkai,
deputy chief of the People's Liberation Army[.]" -By
Charles Aldinger -Reuters/Asia
- "Peace
monitors arrive in Indonesia's bloodied Aceh." ...
"The monitors are from the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian
Dialogue, which brokered the landmark deal between Indonesia and the separatist
Free Aceh Movement (GAM)." ... "Thousands have died in the 26-year insurgency."
... "The accord calls for a ceasefire and elections in the staunchly Muslim
province on the northern tip of Sumatra island and for monitoring teams
comprising rebel, Indonesian and foreign representatives to be set up to
ensure the ceasefire holds." ... "But unresolved by the peace plan is a
fundamental disagreement: the rebels want independence while Jakarta is
only prepared to grant special autonomy." -Reuters/Asia
-
- "Soldier
Pleads in Classified Photo Case: Soldier Pleads
Guilty in Attempted Sale of Photos of Top-Secret Military Facility." ...
"A soldier has pleaded guilty to trying to sell a newspaper photographs
of a top-secret bunker where U.S. government leaders would be taken in
a nuclear attack." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "U.S.
begins war game in Qatar in possible preparation for Iraq war."
... A U.S. war game believed to be a rehearsal for an invasion of Iraq
began Monday in Qatar with senior commanders and battle planners conducting
a computer-assisted exercise to improve their ability to fight a war in
the region." ... General Tommy "Franks and his staff are controlling all
of Central Command's forces from a high-tech, portable headquarters set
up on Qatar's As Sayliyah army camp in the desert 20 miles outside of the
capital, Doha." ... "The modular, portable buildings and the high-speed
digital communications equipment, constructed by American defense contractor
Raytheon, is being used for the first time."
-AP via -USATODAY
- "National
Guard aids North Carolina: Tens of thousands
are still without electricity." ... "In a region left dark and cold by
a major ice storm, National Guard volunteers went door to door yesterday
to show residents how to heat their homes safely after two people died
of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm." ... "More than
200 people have sought medical help for carbon monoxide poisoning since
the ice storm downed trees and power lines Thursday." -By
Emery P. Dalesio -AP
via -Boston/Globe
-
-
- "Lack of evidence
hinders U.S. aims: Little expectation of actionable
‘smoking gun’ in declaration." ... "During his recent trip to Europe to
drum up support from the allies, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz
was asked by NATO ambassadors what it would take to prove that Iraq has
failed to give up its weapons of mass destruction. His reply illustrated
the subjective nature of the evidence against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
which depends on the eye of the beholder." ... "“It's like the judge said
about pornography,” Wolfowitz told the closed-door audience, according
to a participant. “I can’t define it, but I will know it when I see it.”"
... "While the Bush administration may need little convincing that Iraq
is in material breach of U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament, a
much higher standard of evidence will be required to convince key U.S.
allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, of the case for war." -Analysis
by Michael Dobbs -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
-
- "Military’s
use of satellites probed: Investigation launched
amid complaints of unfair advantages." ... "The General Accounting Office
is investigating the Defense Department’s use of commercial satellites,
after competitors complained that Washington-based Intelsat Ltd. has an
unfair advantage in a growing market." ... "Intelsat, incorporated in Bermuda,
is owned by companies and governments in 148 nations, including Iraq and
Iran. Its satellites help the U.S. military communicate with soldiers in
far-flung outposts." ... "The GAO investigation coincides with the Pentagon’s
increasing dependence on commercial satellite providers to provide extra
bandwidth, industry experts say. Government satellite programs have faced
delays and cost overruns even as information has become a key part of battlefield
strategy, they said." -By Renae Merle-WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- "Iraq
Hands UN Dossier, Denies It Has Banned Weapons."
... "Iraq handed the United Nations a huge dossier on its military programs
on Saturday, denying Iraq has any banned weapons and setting the stage
for a confrontation with Washington." ... "U.S. officials said on Friday
Washington was expected to declare Iraq in "material breach" of last month's
U.N. resolution 1441 if it stated it had no such weapons, setting the stage
for a possible military attack on Iraq by the United States." ... "But
they said Washington would not cite the breach as immediate grounds for
war, letting U.N. inspections continue while Bush courts partners to help
strike Iraq if needed." -By Haitham Haddadin
-Reuters /World
- "Iraq
Delivers Arms Declaration to U.N.: Iraq Delivers
Arms Declaration, Saying It Has No Weapons of Mass Destruction." ... ""We
apologize to you," Saddam said in a letter to the Kuwaiti people read on
prime-time Iraqi television. At the same time, at a U.N. compound on Baghdad's
outskirts, a government delegation was delivering a massive collection
of documents detailing Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear programs,
meeting a demand and a deadline set by U.N. resolution 1441." ... "Its
thousands of pages, to be flown Sunday to U.N. headquarters in New York
and the U.N. nuclear agency in Vienna, will be combed through for months
to come by U.N. analysts, intelligence agencies and diplomats, as Middle
East peace hangs in the balance." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
Law
Enforcement News
- "Feds
Raid Software Firm." ... "Federal agents who raided
a Quincy, Mass., software firm Thursday night continue to look for monetary
connections to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but sources say the firm's
software appears safe." ... "Ptech Inc., a developer of business-process
modeling software, was raided late Thursday night by U.S. Customs Service
agents, according to law enforcement officials. But initial concerns that
the company's technology may have compromised the security of its customers,
which include the FBI, the Department of Energy, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the Navy, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration
and the U.S. House of Representatives, now appear unfounded, according
to authorities." (1, 2)
-By Renee Boucher Ferguson, Dennis Fisher and Chris
Gonsalves -eWEEK
-
- "US
unpopular among key allies: Turkish leaders
put conditions on support for the US on Iraq, citing public opinion." ...
"America's flagging image around the world since the September 2001 terrorist
attacks is crimping the Bush administration's ability to build a coalition
for a possible Iraq war." ... "This week, Turkey's new Islamist government
bowed to domestic opinion, responding to American diplomatic pressure with
a "yes, but": The US may use Turkish territory for a military campaign
against Iraq, but only if it proceeds under the mantle of the United Nations
Security Council, and with a second UN resolution authorizing the use of
force." ... "The move represents the uneasy balance leaders around the
world are striking between what they consider a geopolitical necessity
-cooperating with the US - and domestic opposition to war with Iraq." -By
Howard LaFranchi -CSMonitor
-
- "High schools
give it up for Pentagon: Law requires giving
recruiters access to juniors, seniors." ... "A little-noticed provision
in a new federal education law is requiring high schools to hand over to
military recruiters some key information about their juniors and seniors:
name, address and phone number." ... "The No Child Left Behind law, signed
last January, pumps billions into education but also gives military recruiters
access to the names, addresses and phone numbers of students in 22,000
schools. The law also says that schools must give the military the same
access to their campuses that businesses and college recruiters enjoy."
... "Students and parents who oppose the law can keep their information
from being turned over to the military, but they must sign and return an
“opt-out” form." -By Ken Maguire
-AP via -MSNBC
-
- 
- "CIA
Target: Americans: Officials: U.S. Citizens
Working for Al Qaeda Can Be Killed in CIA Actions." ... "American citizens
working for al Qaeda overseas can legally be targeted and killed by the
CIA under President Bush's rules for the war on terrorism, U.S. officials
say." ... "The authority to kill U.S. citizens is granted under a secret
finding signed by the president after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that
directs the CIA to covertly attack al Qaeda anywhere in the world. The
authority makes no exception for Americans, so permission to strike them
is understood rather than specifically described, officials said." ...
"Previously, the government's authority to kill a citizen outside of the
judicial process has been generally restricted to when the American is
directly threatening the lives of other Americans or their allies." -By
John J. Lumpkin -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
TIA:
Total Information Awareness
-
- Law
Enforcement News
- "Why
the Pentagon will watch where you shop: New
Total Information Awareness project will sniff company databases for terrorists."
... "Should Uncle Sam know as much about you as MasterCard does?" ... "In
essence, that may be the key question posed by the Pentagon's new Total
Information Awareness (TIA) project." ... "This effort - whose Latin motto
[Scientia Est Potentia] translates as "knowledge is power" - aims to create
huge databases that sift through the purchases, travel, immigration status,
income, and other data of hundreds of millions of Americans. Its purpose:
to sniff out the terrorists among us." ... ""There are three parts to the
TIA project," says Edward Aldridge, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition,
technology, and logistics." ... "The first part of the technology is voice
recognition, which would include sifting through electronically recorded
transmissions and provide rapid translations of foreign languages." ...
"The second part is to develop a tool that would discover connections between
transactions, such as passports, airline tickets, rental cars, gun or chemical
purchases, as well as arrests and other suspicious activities." ... "And
the third part is collaborative - a mechanism to allow information-and
analysis-sharing among agencies." ... ""If [the testing] proves useful,"
Mr. Aldridge says, "TIA will then be turned over to the intelligence, counterintelligence,
and law enforcement communities as a tool to help them in their battle
against domestic terrorism."" -By Faye Bowers and
Peter Grier
-CSMonitor/buy
- "Saddam’s sons
wield ample power: Both are brutal, but youngest
being groomed to lead Iraq." ... "According to U.S. intelligence officials
and Iraqi dissidents, Uday [the older brother at 36] has used his position
as head of Iraqi TV and Babel, the country’s biggest newspaper, to sell
advertising that local businessmen are “encouraged” to buy if they want
to remain in business." ... "Uday is also the head of Fedayeen, the paramilitary
group to which more than one-third of all government workers now belong."
... "At 34, Qasay [also: Qusai Saddam Hussein] is increasingly seen as
the second most powerful man in Iraq after his father." ... "He is a member
of the nation’s highest body, the Revolutionary Command Council; commander
of the Special Security Organization and the Republican Guard; and deputy
commander of the Baath Party’s Military Bureau." ... "Qasay’s key role,
though, is head of the Special Security Organization, which controls all
security and intelligence operations of the regime, monitoring the myriad
organizations assigned to both domestic and overseas spying. It is also
the innermost of the concentric rings of security around Saddam." -By
Robert Windrem -MSNBC
- "Iraqi
'compliance' doubted." ... "President Bush said Monday
that early signs of Iraq's compliance with United Nations arms inspections
"are not encouraging" and warned that Baghdad must submit a "full and accurate"
account of its weapons of mass destruction by week's end." ... "But the
strong rhetoric also reflects U.S. officials' private concern about the
perception that Iraq has largely cooperated with the initial five days
of inspections. A chief administration worry: Even the appearance that
Iraq is meeting its responsibilities could unravel the international will
to use force to disarm Saddam." -By Bill Nichols
-USATODAY
- 
-
- "Antiwar
Effort Gains Momentum: Growing Peace Movement's
Ranks Include Some Unlikely Allies." ... "... [Daphne] Reed fretted over
the particular suffering that would befall Iraqi women; their sons and
husbands would be killed, she said, and the women would be left in the
rubble to fend off contaminated water and starvation." ... ""I said that
all mothers should automatically be against war," Reed said. "It was against
their nature to be violent instead of nurturing." Maybe, she said, it was
time to start a movement -- Mothers Against War." ... "Most members of
Mothers Against War are grandmothers in their seventies whose lives are
already full. Yet they spend hours a day on the Internet, reading and spreading
information on Iraq and the United States and planning for marches, e-mail
campaigns and teach-ins." -By Evelyn Nieves-WashingtonPost
-
- "Military space
programs face delays: Officials say defense
programs are over budget, ‘in trouble’" ... "Senior military and defense-industry
officials are acknowledging that most of the nation’s largest military-space
programs —including the satellites needed to construct an elaborate missile-defense
shield over the U.S. —are behind schedule and over budget." ... "Among
the space programs experiencing problems are the two satellite systems
needed to deploy a ground-based missile-defense system: both have been
restructured this year after delays related to design and integration issues.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s next-generation spy satellites, known
as Future Imagery Architecture, are more than a year delayed and almost
$3 billion over cost, spurring an internal Pentagon debate about whether
to proceed with the program at all, say people familiar with the discussions."
-By Anne Marie Squeo -WSJ.com
via -MSNBC
- "Al
Qaeda blamed as attack on Israelis in Kenya kills 15."
... "Suicide bombers blew up a hotel in Kenya on Thursday, killing 15 people,
minutes after missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby,
in apparently synchronised attacks on Israeli tourists." ... "Israeli and
Kenyan officials swiftly blamed the al Qaeda network but Washington said
it was premature to point the finger at the group it holds responsible
for the September 11 attacks on the United States." ... "A Kenyan security
source said it was believed attackers who targeted the Israeli airliner
used shoulder-borne missile launchers. German intelligence sources described
the weapons as Soviet produced SA 7 ground-to-air missiles." -By
Noel Mwakughu -Reuters/Asia
Thanksgiving
- "Marines
Celebrate Thanksgiving in Kuwait: Marines Make
Their Own Thanksgiving in the Deserts of Kuwait." ... "As the United States
prepares for a possible war with Iraq, the Marines have established Camp
Commando on the edge of a Kuwaiti military base to act as their command
headquarters. From here, they will be able to control the tens of thousands
of Marines who could arrive in Kuwait." ... "A few weeks ago, the base
was virtually sand." ... "For these soldiers mostly from the 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. it was yet another
Thanksgiving away from home." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
- "U.N.
inspectors complete surprise visits at two sites in Iraq."
... "International arms monitors searched a military missile-testing range
and a state factory outside Baghdad Wednesday, starting a new round of
inspections that could determine the future of peace in the Middle East."
... "Inspectors did not immediately disclose their findings." ... "On the
basis of satellite photos, U.S. intelligence analysts have suggested that
a new, square, steel-girder stand for holding and testing missile engines
at al-Rafah might be used for missiles larger than allowed under U.N. resolutions.
Iraq is forbidden to develop missiles over 90 miles in range."
-AP via -USATODAY
- "U.N.
Monitor Says Iraqis Are Denying Having Arms Cache."
... "Iraqi officials have told United Nations inspectors in Baghdad that
they have no weapons of mass destruction and expressed reservations about
inspections of President Saddam Hussein's palaces, Hans Blix, one of the
inspections chiefs, said here today." ... "Briefing the Security Council,
Mr. Blix said Iraqi officials had pledged to cooperate fully with the inspections,
but had also raised a host of skeptical questions about a declaration of
chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons due on Dec. 8." (1, 2)
-By Julia Preston -NYTimesvia
-AltaVista-News
- "Bush
hails military's private sector "outsourcing"." ...
"President Bush on Monday praised an Air Force base with a history of outsourcing
work to the private sector, something he wants to do with nearly half the
nation's federal civilian jobs." ... "Bush saluted saluted Offutt Air Force
Base in Nebraska, where he stopped during his zigzagging odyssey back to
Washington on Sept. 11, 2001." -By Scott Lindlaw
-AP via -Salon
-
- "Global
goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq: Young Americans
may soon have to fight a war in Iraq, but most of them can't even find
that country on a map, the National Geographic Society said Wednesday."
... "The society survey found that only about one in seven -- 13 percent
-- of Americans between the age of 18 and 24, the prime age for military
warriors, could find Iraq. The score was the same for Iran, an Iraqi neighbor."
-AP via -CNN
- "Security
overhaul OK'd: Reorganization to be the largest
in 50 years." ... "The Senate overwhelming approved the creation of a new
Department of Homeland Security yesterday, paving the way for the biggest
federal government reorganization in a half century and putting to rest
a contentious political issue." ... "By a 90-to-9 vote during the final
hours of an unusual lame-duck session, senators agreed to move 170,000
employees from 22 existing government agencies into a single department
dedicated to domestic security." ... "It will be the largest governmental
reorganization since 1947, when the United States realigned its military
under the Department of Defense and created the National Security Council
and the CIA." -By Susan Milligan
-Boston/Globe
-
- "A
year after Taliban, little change: The US pledged
more aid to Kabul, but Iraq may distract from rebuilding efforts." ...
""The situation in Iraq has done no good whatsoever for the situation in
Afghanistan," says Charles Heyman, a defense analyst and editor of Jane's
World Armies in London, referring to a waning interest in solving the problems
of this war-tattered nation. "Afghanistan is beginning to be put in the
'too-difficult' box."" ... "Instead, the country's competing ethnic groups,
the enduring power of local warlords, and a reluctance on the part of participating
nations to expand the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) beyond
the capital has led to an approach Mr. Heyman defines as "covering over
some patches when its possible, until anyone has some time to sort it out
properly."" -By Ilene R. Prusher
-CSMonitor
- "Will
Iraqi troops collapse or fight? Elite forces
are expected to show resolve, but ordinary troops may quickly lay down
arms." ... "One of the most unpredictable elements of a possible US-led
war against Iraq is how much resistance the 420,000-strong Iraqi military
would mount against a better-trained and better-equipped American and allied
force." ... "Top Pentagon officials, hopeful of swift victory, suggest
that the bulk of Iraqi soldiers would be unlikely to defend the government
for long -if at all. They cite the example of the 1991 Gulf War, when some
70,000 Iraqi troops laid down their arms during the first three or four
days." ... "Nevertheless, elite Republican Guard units and security forces
assigned to defend Baghdad and protect Iraqi President Saddam Hussein may
put up greater resistance." -By Ann Scott Tyson
-CSMonitor
|
- [PDF]
- "Iraq:
A strategic look. Iraq 101." 572k PDF via -CSMonitor |
|
-
-
- "Military trial
plans nearly done: Bush to decide which detainees
will be tried by tribunals." ... "The government is nearly ready to go
forward with military tribunals for suspected al Qaeda operatives in U.S.
custody in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan, pending completion of final
details and approval from President Bush, according to federal officials."
... "Pentagon General Counsel William J. Haynes II has met in recent weeks
with senior officials in other agencies, including the Justice Department,
to outline the plans that have been put in place for the tribunals, also
known as military commissions." -By Susan Schmidt
and Bradley Graham-WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- 
- "North
Korea issues new missile-test threat to Japan." ...
"North Korea kept up its recent threats to resume missile tests on Monday,
saying it may end its test moratorium if Tokyo goes ahead with developing
a missile defence shield with the United States." ... "Japanese Defence
Minister Shigeru Ishiba told the parliament earlier this month that if
studies over the missile shield yielded positive results, Japan should
step up the project to a development stage." -Reuters/Asia
- "U.S.
Turns Horn of Africa Into a Military Hub." ... "For
the first time since American troops withdrew from Somalia after a bloody
firefight in the streets of Mogadishu, the United States military is rebuilding
its combat power in the Horn of Africa." ... "The main goal this time is
to put American forces in position to strike cells of Al Qaeda in Yemen
or East Africa. But the Pentagon has also begun to use Djibouti to train
its forces in desert warfare — skills that could be applied in Washington's
campaign against terrorist groups or on the battlefields of Iraq." ...
"France, which had colonized Djibouti (pronounced ji-BOOT-e) before it
became independent in 1977, still maintains a force of 2,800 strong here.
Djibouti, in fact, is France's largest foreign military base." ... "The
Central Intelligence Agency is flying classified missions from an airfield
in Djibouti using the Predator, an pilotless drone equipped with Hellfire
missiles, according to Western officers." (1, 2,
3)
-By Michael R. Gordon
-NYTimes via
-AltaVista-News
Microsoft
News - 
-
- "Briton
Indicted as Hacker: Entry to U.S. Military
Systems Called Biggest Ever Detected." ... "An unemployed British computer
system administrator was indicted yesterday in Alexandria and New Jersey
on eight counts of computer fraud for alleging [sic] penetrating about
100 U.S. government computers, shutting down networks and corrupting data
in what U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty called "the biggest hack of military
computers ever detected."" ... "From February 2001 to March 2002, two federal
grand juries alleged, Gary McKinnon, 36, of London, exploited a known security
problem with Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 to break into 92 computers
at NASA, the Pentagon, and more than a dozen military installations in
14 states." -By Brooke A. Masters-WashingtonPost
>TechNews
TIA:
Total Information Awareness - 
- "Pentagon
Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans."
... "As the director of the effort, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, has described
the system in Pentagon documents and in speeches, it will provide intelligence
analysts and law enforcement officials with instant access to information
from Internet mail and calling records to credit card and banking transactions
and travel documents, without a search warrant." ... "Historically, military
and intelligence agencies have not been permitted to spy on Americans without
extraordinary legal authorization." ... "In order to deploy such a system,
known as Total Information Awareness, new legislation would be needed,
some of which has been proposed by the Bush administration in the Homeland
Security Act that is now before Congress. That legislation would amend
the Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to limit what government agencies
could do with private information." (1, 2)
-By John Markoff -NYTimes
via -LawMeme
-
- "Clock
Ticks for Hussein After Security Council Vote." ...
"By all accounts, United Nations inspectors will do very little inspecting
and will base their appraisal of Iraqi cooperation on the accuracy of the
"confession" that Mr. Hussein will have to make about the weapons projects
whose existence he had denied and which administration officials have said
he has been hiding in secret bunkers, underground caves and mobile laboratories."
... "But if Mr. Hussein fails to meet the detailed demands of the United
Nations inspection force, or if his disclosures do not tally with information
supplied to inspectors by American and other Western intelligence agencies,
Mr. Bush made clear today that the United States would declare him in "material
breach" of the Security Council resolution." (1, 2)
-By Patrick E. Tyler -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- "U.S. quietly
builds up around Iraq: Heavy equipment, 63,000
troops in position, awaiting word." ... "Throughout the region — from the
Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa to Central Asia — there are at least
63,000 U.S. troops." ... "While nearly 14,000 of those troops are focused
on operations in Afghanistan, the bulk of those forces is in a position
to participate should the decision be made to attack Iraq in the weeks
or months ahead." ... "The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group is
in the area — and F14s and F/A18s are flying missions over southern Iraq
as part of coalition patrols of no-fly zones." ... "Those jets — along
with Air Force F16s flying from Kuwait — are striking Iraq’s air defenses
in the south in response to the firing of Iraqi missiles or anti-aircraft
guns at U.S. and British jets on patrol.." ... " ... by mid-December, four
carrier battle groups could all be in striking distance of Iraq." -By
Tammy Kupperman -MS-NBC
-
- "U.N.
passes Iraq resolution on weapons inspections:
Bush: 'All nations must continue to pressure Saddam'" ... "The United Nations
Security Council on Friday approved a resolution that demands unfettered
access for U.N. inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq." ... "All 15 member states of the Security Council voted in favor
of the resolution." ... "Iraq has seven days to accept the resolution's
terms." ... "Within 30 days, Iraq must send the U.N. a list of its
weapons." ... "Within 45 days, Iraq must allow inspections to begin."
... "Iraq is accused of possessing weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear,
biological, chemical -- in violation of the ceasefire treaty it signed
when Baghdad lost the 1991 Persian Gulf War." -Report
contributed to by Jane Arraf -CNN
-
-
-
- "US,
France agree on new Iraq resolution. " ... "The U.N.
Security Council set the vote for 10 a.m. EST after the United States and
its cosponsor Britain, at French urging, changed the wording in a key provision
that would declare Iraq in "material breach" of its U.N. obligations."
... "The change addresses concerns by France, Russia, Syria and others
that the original text would have let the United States determine on its
own whether Iraq had committed an infraction." -By
Edith M. Lederer -AP
via -Boston/Globe
- "US
hits Qaeda in Yemen: Fires missile from spy
plane, killing 6 in car." ... "A US missile fired from a [Predator] spy
plane destroyed a car in a lawless stretch of northern Yemen Sunday, killing
a senior Al Qaeda leader and five other members in the first American military
strike against the terrorist group outside Afghanistan since the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks." ... "The Hellfire missile was fired from a CIA-controlled,
unmanned plane, according to US officials quoted by news agencies. The
Yemeni news agency SABA said initial information indicated the dead included
Ali Qaed Sinan al-Harithi, also known as Abu Ali." -By
Anthony Shadid -Boston/Globe
- "Sharon
puts hardliner in defence post." ... "Ariel Sharon
has named as his new defence minister a former army chief of staff who
is under investigation by Scotland Yard for alleged war crimes in the occupied
territories." ... "The appointment of Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz to
such a crucial post has confirmed suspicions that Israel's prime minister
would lurch further to the right after Labour walked out of his coalition
on Wednesday." -By Chris McGreal and Brian Whitaker
-Guardian.co.uk
- "U.S.
soldiers train for battle in streets of Iraq." ...
"Since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Pentagon has been preparing soldiers
and Marines to fight battles in villages, towns and cities. Those cluttered
landscapes had been largely ignored as a training ground since the days
of World War II, when GIs slugged their way across Europe by seizing hundreds
of hamlets in close combat with the German Army." ... "The reason for the
renewed focus: By the end of this decade, three-quarters of the world's
population will live in metropolitan areas. And that's where the U.S. military's
top commanders expect to fight, in part because no conventional army would
want to battle America's high-tech, smart-bomb equipped force in the open."
... "At bases from Fayetteville, N.C. to Seattle, the Army and Marines
have built scale models of downtown areas to simulate the complexities
of urban fighting. Several blocks in size, these artificial cities are
used to teach soldiers and Marines a range of skills, from how to spot
booby-trapped buildings to fighting enemies who would have no qualms about
using civilians as human shields." -By Dave Moniz
-USATODAY
-
- "U.S.
and France Near Deal on Iraq Attack." ... "The United
States and France are moving toward a compromise on Iraq that would oblige
the Bush administration to consult the United Nations Security Council
before embarking on military action against Saddam Hussein but still leave
it the freedom to act alone." ... "American officials and foreign diplomats
said that under the proposed compromise, the United States would take part
in a Security Council debate if Iraq failed to comply with expected new
United Nations demands for the destruction of its chemical and biological
weapons." (1, 2)
-By Steven R. Weisman
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Experts:
Valium Gas Used in Raid." ... "Military experts and
toxicologists say Russian commandos probably pumped a gas containing Valium
into a Moscow theater to subtly disable and disorient heavily armed Chechen
rebels prior to Saturday's dramatic assault." ... "Experts also mentioned
BZ [a hallucinogenic drug], or 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, as a possibility
for the gas used by the Russians." ... "BZ was a research focus of the
U.S. Army during the Cold War at the former Edgewood Area labs near Washington.
It belongs to a class of drugs known as anticholinergics that interrupt
the brain's chemical messaging system between cells, leading to confusion
and hallucinations. It needs an hour to take effect, so authorities would've
had to release it into the theater long before the actual assault." -By
Joseph B. Verrengia -AP
via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Sniper
- "Sniper
Hunt Culminates in 2 Arrests: Two Arrested
in D.C.-Area Sniper Case; Law Enforcement Sources Certain They Have Culprits."
... "The weapon found in the Chevrolet Caprice was a Bushmaster rifle,
according to a law enforcement source." ... "The AR-15 is the civilian
form of the M-16 military assault rifle. As a soldier, Muhammad received
a Marksmanship Badge with expert rating the highest of three ratings in
use of the M-16, according to Army records. Police also found a scope and
tripod in the car, the official said." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
- Sniper
- "Ex-Army
Marksman, Teen-Ager Arrested in Sniper Case." ...
"A Gulf War veteran who was an expert Army marksman was arrested along
with a teen-ager on Thursday in the Washington area sniper case, fueling
hopes a three-week murder spree that left 10 dead was over." ... "The two
were arrested while they slept in a car at a highway rest stop in rural
Maryland, and authorities found a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle inside.
The sniper's victims were all felled with .223 caliber ammunition." ...
"Government sources identified the two as former U.S. Army combat engineer
John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17." - By
Mark Wilkinson -Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
Sniper
- "Sniper
spy in the sky." ... "The army spy plane that is
taking to the skies above the Washington area is a sign of the intense
pressure investigators are under as they struggle with a lack of clues."
... "RC-7 reconnaissance planes are loaded with camera equipment with a
range of up to 20 miles (32 kilometres), advanced night vision and heat-seeking
equipment." -By Kathryn Westcott
-BBC/News