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2005 Military News History Archive

2005 Military News

20051230

Indonesia - US - Business - Police - "Indonesian military admits being paid by US mining firm." ... "Indonesia's military admitted yesterday that officers received payments from a local subsidiary of the American mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to guard its huge Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, the western, Indonesian, half of New Guinea island." ... "The admission comes after a report in the New York Times claimed that Freeport Indonesia paid military and police officers, and several army units £11.7m from 1998 to 2004. Some officers allegedly received tens of thousands of pounds. If they kept any of the money themselves, it would be a criminal offence." -By John Aglionby -Guardian.co.uk
Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - US - Military - Prisons - Food - "Guantanamo Hunger Strike More Than Doubles; 84 Inmates Involved." ... "The number of detainees on a hunger strike at the U.S. naval base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay has more than doubled in the past week, the U.S. military said." ... "Forty-six detainees joined existing hunger strikers on Dec. 25, to bring the total number of prisoners refusing food to 84, the military said yesterday on the Southern Command's Web site. That's about a sixth of the internment center's inmates." ... "The military said the detainees are trying to put pressure on the U.S. to release them. Detainees' lawyers have said the hunger strikers are protesting their continued detention without trial and conditions at the base." -By Alex Morales -Bloomberg

20051229

Military - Auto - Airplane - "Corps pays $100K for retooled jeep." ... "The Marine Corps is paying $100,000 apiece for a revamped Vietnam-era jeep as part of its program to outfit the hybrid airplane-helicopter V-22 Osprey, Pentagon records show." ... "That's seven times what a deluxe commercial version of the vehicle costs. It's also three times what U.S. Export-Import Bank records show the Dominican Republic paid four years ago for a military version of the vehicle, called the Growler, a recycled version of the M151 jeep." -By Steven Komarow -USATODAY
EU - Global - Russia - US - Military - Politics - "EU sends up 1st of 30 satellites in GPS network." ... "The European Union on Wednesday launched the first satellite in its $4.5 billion Galileo global positioning system, a bid to enhance the world's growing reliance on satellite navigation and to break the U.S. monopoly on networks in space." ... "Many Europeans see political significance in the project too: The world's only civilian-controlled system will give Europe and its partner nations self-sufficiency from the United States, which has warned it could diminish or cut off GPS satellite coverage to countries considered enemies in times of national emergency." ... "The launch comes at a time when Russia is moving forward with a positioning system known as GLONASS. On Sunday it put into orbit three new satellites for the network, which is scheduled to be operational in 2010." -By Molly Moore-WashingtonPost via -ChicagoTribune
EU - Global - Russia - US - Military - Technology - "Sky-High Ambitions: Europe attempts to find its own place in the world of satellite navigation with the launch of GIOVE-A." ... "Europe has moved one giant step closer to operating its own long-awaited global navigation satellite system, Galileo, designed to challenge the domination of the U.S. military's GPS, or Global Positioning System." ... "GIOVE-A (or Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element) will be testing new technologies — including atomic clocks, signal generators and user receivers — for what has been a dream of the European Union since the early 1990s: a wide-ranging navigation system that is faster and more precise than GPS, provides an uninterrupted service under civilian control, and offers a commercial alternative to the U.S. system and its Russian counterpart, GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System)." -By Maryann Bird -TIME.com
People - Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics - Illinois - Florida - Virginia - "U.S. Defends Conduct in Padilla Case: Supreme Court Asked To Overrule 4th Circuit." ... "A federal appeals court infringed on President Bush's authority to run the war on terror when it refused to let prosecutors take custody of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla, the Justice Department said yesterday, as it urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene." ... "The sharply worded Justice Department filing was the latest salvo in an increasingly contentious battle over Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago [Illinois] in 2002 and initially accused of plotting to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb." Padilla was held for more than three years by the military before he was indicted last month in Miami [Florida] on separate criminal terrorism charges." ... "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit refused last week to allow prosecutors to take custody of Padilla from the military and rebuked the Bush administration for its handling of the high-profile case. The Bush administration took strong issue yesterday with the Richmond-based [Virginia] court's decision and appealed it to the Supreme Court." -By Jerry Markon-WashingtonPost

20051227

Government - Military - Psychology - Health - "A Political Debate On Stress Disorder: As Claims Rise, VA Takes Stock." ... "The spiraling cost of post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans has triggered a politically charged debate and ignited fears that the government is trying to limit expensive benefits for emotionally scarred troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "A total of 215,871 veterans received PTSD benefit payments last year at a cost of $4.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 1999 -- a jump of more than 150 percent." ... "Experts say the sharp increase does not begin to factor in the potential impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the increase is largely the result of Vietnam War vets seeking treatment decades after their combat experiences." (1, 2) -By Shankar Vedantam -WashingtonPost
US - Iraq - Police - "U.S. Seeks To Escape Brutal Cycle In Iraqi City: 3rd Try at Pullout Depends on Police." ... "On one of his last days in Iraq, Sgt. Dale Evans looked out over the turbulent city from a rooftop tower piled high with sandbags, manning a machine gun. Below him, rows of Bradley Fighting Vehicles stood at the ready. Dusty streets were lined with coiled barbed wire and abandoned houses pockmarked from gunfire -- a protective no-man's land around a base that U.S. commanders describe as their "battleship" in downtown Samarra." ... "This month, Evans and his company from the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, will leave Patrol Base Uvanni, beginning a third attempt in as many years by U.S. forces to hand this Sunni city over to Iraqi police. It's a major test for the U.S. military in Iraq, and one U.S. commanders here say they can't afford to fail." ... "Since 2003, Samarra has come to symbolize the trials and errors of U.S. strategy in Iraq -- a cycle of military offensives, lulls and new waves of lethal insurgent attacks." (1, 2) -By Ann Scott Tyson -WashingtonPost

20051226

Government - Military - Intelligence - Secret - Prisons - Civil Liberties - Privacy - Law - Media - Politics - "Fear destroys what bin Laden could not." ... "One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help." ... "If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled." ... "Had anyone said our president would invade a country and kill 30,000 of its people claiming a threat that never, in fact, existed, then admit he would have invaded even if he had known there was no threat -- and expect America to be pleased by this -- I would have thought our nation's sensibilities and honor had been eviscerated." ... "If I had been informed that our nation's leaders would embrace torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for years without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have laughed at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them." ... "If someone had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent as revenge against a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda by bankrolling supposedly independent journalists and commentators, and ridicule a 37-year Marie Corps veteran for questioning U.S. military policy -- and that the populace would be more interested in whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy -- I would have called the prediction an absurd fantasy." -By Robert Steinback -Miami/Herald
US - Iran - Nuclear- Military - Politics - Bill Frist - "Reining in Iran." ... ""Iran's ruling mullahs have waged a 26-year campaign to suppress dissent, support terror and pursue a nuclear weapons program. In recent weeks, it has become clear that international efforts to stop Iran's atomic program have failed to bear fruit. Unless we act quickly, the United States will have a nuclear crisis on its hands." ... "If we let Tehran develop nuclear weapons covertly while IAEA negotiations slog forward, Iran's theocrats will have little reason to negotiate with anyone. The U.S. needs to act before a regime that has denied the real Holocaust unleashes another. " -By Bill Frist -LAtimes
Iraq - Politics - "Iraq Contingent May Grow if Attacks Persist, Pace Says." ... "Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace said Sunday that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase next year, not decrease, if the insurgency continued." ... "The four-star Marine general said that any decision to withdraw or deploy additional troops in Iraq would depend mostly on whether the insurgency continued to launch deadly attacks against U.S.-led forces and friendly elements of the fledgling Baghdad government." -By Josh Meyer -LAtimes
Iraq - Terrorism- Police - Politics - "Gunmen kill Iraqi forces, bombs shake Baghdad." ... "Guerrillas killed 10 Iraqi policemen and soldiers in attacks north of Baghdad on Monday, while the capital itself was rocked by five major explosions that left at least eight dead." ... "It was one of the bloodiest days in Iraq since the largely peaceful election on December 15, when rival ethnic and sectarian groups took part in a vote for a new parliament. By nightfall, at least 20 were killed and over 40 injured." -By Deepa Babington with contributions by Faris al-Mehdawi in Baquba, Aseel Kami and Gideon Long -Reuters.co.uk

20051225

US - Iraq - "A look at U.S. military deaths in Iraq." ... "As of Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005, at least 2,168 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count." ... "Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 2,029 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20051223

Jerry Lewis - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Government - Military - Money - Law - Politics - California - "Close ties make Rep. Lewis, lobbyist Lowery a potent pair." ... "From powerful positions on the House Appropriations Committee, California [Republican Representative] Rep. Jerry Lewis has greenlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal projects for clients of one of his closest friends, lobbyist and former [Republican Represenatative from California] state Congressman Bill Lowery." ... "Meanwhile, Lowery, the partners at his firm [Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White] and their clients have donated 37 percent of the $1.3 million that Lewis' political action committee received in the past six years." ... "One of the defense companies that received federal contracts with [convicted California Republican Representative Randy "Duke"] Cunningham's support was a Lowery client [Brent Wilkes' ADCS Inc.]. And some of the money was disbursed when Cunningham was a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee and Lewis was the committee chairman." ... "Lowery, his partners and their spouses have contributed $135,000 to Lewis' campaigns and political action committee over the past decade, routinely giving the maximum allowed by law. Lowery also organizes and hosts Lewis fundraisers. And many of Lowery's defense-contractor clients contribute to Lewis as part of their lobbying strategy." ... "Taken together, they have contributed $480,000 to Lewis' political action committee since 2000." ... "Last year Lewis used some of that money to wow the Republican leadership with checks for $650,000 in "excess campaign funds" to help maintain Republican control of the House." ... "In 1999 Lewis became chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, which oversees more discretionary spending than any other congressional body." ... "Despite that early demonstration of fiscal toughness, earmarks in the defense bills exploded on Lewis' watch." ... "Many of the earmarks went to clients of Lowery's firm, which grew even more prosperous when Lewis' principal defense-earmarks gatekeeper, Letitia White, joined the firm in 2003." -By Jerry Kammer with contributions by Denise Davidson, Erin Hobbs and Peter Uribe -CopleyNews.com via -SignOnSanDiego.com
US - Iraq - "Rumsfeld suggests some U.S. troops will be heading home from Iraq." ... "The reductions would bring U.S. troop levels down from about 158,000 to slightly under 130,000. But Rumsfeld warned that "until it's announced, the government's decision hasn't been announced. Therefore it's not final."" -By Richard Sisk -MercuryNews
Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics - Florida - "Terror case challenges White House strategy: An appeals court refused the government's request to have Jose Padilla transferred to Florida for a criminal trial." ... "Suddenly, terror suspect Jose Padilla seems a lot more dangerous to the Bush administration." ... "It has nothing to do with his suspected involvement in Al Qaeda bomb plots, analysts say. Rather, the administration worries that the US Supreme Court might agree to hear Mr. Padilla's case and decide one of the most pressing constitutional issues in the war on terrorism. And by all appearances, government lawyers think they might lose." ... "The issue: Does President Bush have the power as commander in chief to order the open-ended military detention of US citizens that he deems enemy combatants?" -By Warren Richey -CSMonitor

20051222

Government - Law - Military - Terrorism - Alaska - Oil - Environment - Health - Education - Jobs - Money - "Senate Extends Patriot Act, Kills Alaska Drilling (Update1)." ... "The U.S. Senate broke a legislative logjam and cleared the way for its holiday departure last night with a series of short-term compromises that extended the Patriot Act and blocked drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." ... "Democrats prevailed in getting Senate Republican leaders to abandon the oil-drilling plan, which was attached to the defense budget." ... "[House] Lawmakers passed a $142.5 billion budget for health, education and jobs programs that cuts funding from last year's spending plan, sending the measure to Bush for his signature. The House approved the measure 215-213 on Dec. 14." ... "The health budget reduces funding for the No Child Left Behind education initiative, special education and job training. It freezes funding for the National Institutes of Health and low- income heating assistance." -By Catherine Dodge -Bloomberg
Karl Rove - Dick Cheney - Military - Environmental - Political - Business - "Department's Mission Was Undermined From Start." ... "[Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom] Ridge, who had won a Bronze Star as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, knew he might be stepping into another quagmire at DHS. "Part of him was excited," said then-EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. "Part of him thought it was a no-win situation."" ... "Clearly, he could not count on unlimited financial support. And working in the White House, he was already learning he could not count on absolute political support, either." ... "One stark example was the White House's blockade of a Ridge-supported plan to secure large chemical plants. After Sept. 11, Whitman had worked with Ridge on a modest effort to require high-risk plants --especially the 123 factories where a toxic release could endanger at least 1 million people -- to enhance security. But industry groups warned Bush political adviser Karl Rove that giving new regulatory power to the Environmental Protection Agency would be a disaster." ... ""We have a similar set of concerns," Rove wrote to the president of BP Amoco Chemical Co." ... "In an interagency meeting shortly before DHS's birth, White House budget official Philip J. Perry, who also happens to be Cheney's son-in-law, declared the Ridge-Whitman plan dead." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Christopher Lee with contributions by Spencer S. Hsu and Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics - Florida - "Court Bars Transfer of Padilla To Face New Terrorism Charges." ... "A federal appeals court yesterday refused to authorize the transfer of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla to face new criminal charges, issuing a strongly worded opinion rebuking the Bush administration and its handling of the high-profile terrorism case." ... "In issuing its denial, the court cited the government's changing rationale for Padilla's detention, questioning why it used one set of arguments before federal judges deciding whether it was legal for the military to hold Padilla and another set before the Miami [Florida] grand jury." ... "In requesting the transfer to Justice Department custody, the government suggested that the 4th Circuit vacate its ruling allowing Padilla to be held as an enemy combatant. But the 4th Circuit yesterday also refused to lift the earlier decision and suggested that the Justice Department request was made to avoid further judicial scrutiny." ... "The judges said prosecutors had left "an appearance that the government may be attempting to avoid consideration of our decision by the Supreme Court." They said they welcomed Supreme Court intervention because of the "enormous implications" of the Padilla case." -By Jerry Markon -WashingtonPost

20051221

Iran - Secret - Nuclear - Military - Politics - EU - US - UN - "The West's patience wears thin with Iran's hard line." ... "When European nations resume talks with Iran in Vienna Wednesday over that country's nuclear ambitions, two dangerous new factors are in play. On the one hand, the patience of the Europeans and the United States with Iran is running thin. On the other hand, Iran's newly elected president has shocked a string of nations with some megalomanic pronouncements that if supported by his people would plunge Iran back into isolation. The stage is not set for compromise and consensus." ... "At issue is whether Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear technology for military purposes is purely for peaceful purposes, as it claims. The European nations and the US doubt that, pointing to a string of deceptive Iranian actions, including hiding from the International Atomic Energy Agency its secret installations to enrich uranium and produce plutonium." -By John Hughes -CSMonitor

20051220

Government - Military - Intelligence - Total Information Awareness - Secrecy - Consumer - Telecommunications -Databases - Privacy - Law -West-Virginia - Dick Cheney - Terrorism - "Bush, Democrats swap charges over his approval of wiretaps." ... "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, released a letter he wrote to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 17, 2003, the day he learned of the surveillance in a meeting with Cheney, three other lawmakers and the heads of the CIA and NSA. Rockefeller expressed deep misgivings and said the program reminded him of Total Information Awareness, a controversial Pentagon effort to mine credit-card data, cellphone calls and even bank withdrawals to spot terrorist activity." ... ""These concerns were never addressed, and I was prohibited from sharing my views with my colleagues" by secrecy laws, Rockefeller said Monday. He accused the president and his aides of "repeatedly misrepresenting the facts" in recent days and demanded a "full investigation into the legal and operational aspects of the program" now that the program has come to light." -By Todd J. Gillman -DallasNews.com via -SeattleTimes.NWsource

20051219

Government - Military - Intelligence - Privacy - Law - Politics - "Bush's Snoopgate: The president was so desperate to kill The New York Times' eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper's editor and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn't just out of concern about national security." ... "The problem was not that the disclosures would compromise national security, as Bush claimed at his press conference. His comparison to the damaging pre-9/11 revelation of Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, which caused bin Laden to change tactics, is fallacious; any Americans with ties to Muslim extremists-in fact, all American Muslims, period-have long since suspected that the U.S. government might be listening in to their conversations. Bush claimed that "the fact that we are discussing this program is helping the enemy." But there is simply no evidence, or even reasonable presumption, that this is so. And rather than the leaking being a "shameful act," it was the work of a patriot inside the government who was trying to stop a presidential power grab." ... "No, Bush was desperate to keep the Times from running this important story-which the paper had already inexplicably held for a year-because he knew that it would reveal him as a law-breaker." -By Jonathan Alter -MSNBC/Newsweek
Afghanistan - US - Military - "Afghanistan Convenes Newly Elected Parliament." ... "An elected Afghan parliament was sworn in today for the first time in more than 35 years, and will face threats from drug lords, rampant corruption and a surge in suicide bombings." ... "President Hamid Karzai, his voice breaking with emotion, said Afghans had won the world's respect with their difficult struggle to build a democracy, but he cautioned that a lot of hard work still lay ahead." ... "Vice President Dick Cheney, and his wife, Lynne, had front-row seats to the opening of parliament, along with U.S. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann and Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who commands about 20,000 U.S. troops here. Many of those soldiers are still battling Taliban and other insurgents four years after a U.S. and Afghan forces toppled the Islamic extremists' regime." -By Paul Watson -LAtimes

20051216

Turkey - Military - Law - Authors - History - Media - TV - Censorship - "'Terrorised' writers lament state's assault on free speech: Trial of Turkey's greatest living author is focusing attention on attempts to control public opinion." ... "Ertugrul Kurkcu has been hauled before the judges for saying the wrong thing so many times that he has almost lost count. "Six or seven trials, always acquitted, but I did get a 10-month jail sentence from a military court for translating a Human Rights Watch report," says the veteran leftwing Turkish dissident." ... "He took one case to the European Court of Human Rights last year. The case was annulled and the Turkish government paid him €5,000 compensation." ... "Mr Kurkcu's problem is that he keeps colliding with the country's notion of "Turkishness", and that spells danger for writers, historians and novelists, who bring the wrath of the establishment down on their heads every time they are deemed to have belittled it." ... "A raft of other regulations make it possible for Turkey to muzzle, fine and pressure the publishing industry, newspapers and television stations for stepping out of line. Censorship flourishes, too, through requirements that manuscripts be submitted to state authorities for approval and special licensing arrangements that oblige the books industry to get official stamps before a book can be published." -By Ian Traynor -Guardian.co.uk
Secret - Government - Military - Terrorism - EMail - Telecommunications - Law- Politics - History - "Bush Authorized Domestic Spying: Post-9/11 Order Bypassed Special Court." ... "President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in the United States, despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying, sources with knowledge of the program said last night." ... "For more than four years, the NSA tasked other military intelligence agencies to assist its broad-based surveillance effort directed at people inside the country suspected of having terrorist connections, even before Bush signed the 2002 order that authorized the NSA program, according to an informed U.S. official." ... "The effort, which began within days after the attacks, has consisted partly of monitoring domestic telephone conversations, e-mail and even fax communications of individuals identified by the NSA as having some connection to al Qaeda events or figures, or to potential terrorism-related activities in the United States, the official said." ... "It has also involved teams of Defense Intelligence Agency personnel stationed in major U.S. cities conducting the type of surveillance typically performed by the FBI: monitoring the movements and activities -- through high-tech equipment -- of individuals and vehicles, the official said." -By Dan Eggen with contributions by Dafna Linzer and Peter Baker -WashingtonPost

20051215

Government - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Prisons - Law - Arizona - "Bush backs down on proposed torture ban." ... "President Bush on Thursday abandoned his opposition to an anti-torture amendment by Sen. John McCain in the face of overwhelming support for the measure in Congress." ... "Bush backed down from a veto threat after being unable to muster support from one-third of either the House or Senate, even though his own Republican Party controls both chambers. The measure by McCain, R-Ariz., is attached to the annual defense spending bill that funds the war on terrorism." ... "The amendment says no one in U.S. government custody, whether prisoner of war or terrorist," shall be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," regardless of where the prisoner is being held." -By John Diamond with contributions by David Jackson -USATODAY
US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - "Bush Admits Mistakes but Defends War: He accepts responsibility for acting on flawed intelligence but says the invasion was justified. Aides hope his candor will boost his ratings." ... "President Bush said Wednesday that he accepted responsibility for deciding to wage war in Iraq in part on the basis of faulty intelligence, but that he remained convinced history would conclude he had done the right thing." ... "Speaking hours before Iraqis began arriving at the polls to elect a new government, Bush acknowledged miscalculations and mistakes before and after the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003." ... ""It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush told a group of political leaders and scholars at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson Center. "As president, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq, and I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities."" -By Warren Vieth -LAtimes

20051214

Military - Intelligence - Law - Secrets - Arizona - "New Army Rules May Snarl Talks With McCain on Detainee Issue." ... "The Army has approved a new, classified set of interrogation methods that may complicate negotiations over legislation proposed by [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain to bar cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees in American custody, military officials said Tuesday." ... "The techniques are included in a 10-page classified addendum to a new Army field manual that was forwarded this week to Stephen A. Cambone, the under secretary of defense for intelligence policy, for final approval, they said." ... "The addendum provides dozens of examples and goes into exacting detail on what procedures may or may not be used, and in what circumstances. Army interrogators have never had a set of such specific guidelines that would help teach them how to walk right up to the line between legal and illegal interrogations." -By Eric Schmitt with contributions by Joel Brinkley -NYTimes

20051213

Hurricane Katrina - Disaster - Government - Politics - "Battle brews over a bigger military role: The Pentagon tilts toward taking more authority in major disasters - worrying governors, lawmakers." ... "The lessons learned from hurricane Katrina appear to be putting the Pentagon on a collision course with governors and lawmakers worried about the expanding role of the military in disaster response." ... "Gaining currency at the highest levels of the Pentagon is the idea that during a catastrophic event - either natural or terrorist - the Department of Defense should replace the Department of Homeland Security as the agency in charge of the federal response." ... "In many ways, the notion is limited, affecting only how the federal government deploys its own resources. Yet in a nation founded on a distrust of military control, any suggestion of giving the armed forces greater authority on American soil faces centuries-old skepticism. Moreover, it comes at a time when governors are already feeling besieged by an administration that, they feel, is too eager to wrest power from them." -By Mark Sappenfield -CSMonitor

20051212

US - Iraq - World - Intelligence - Politics - "Peace-making a core mission in new Pentagon policy." ... "After years of internal debate, the Pentagon has embraced a fundamental change in policy which calls for the U.S. armed forces to be equally adept at waging war and making peace." ... "The new course, announced in a Pentagon directive, follows widespread criticism of the conduct of the war in Iraq, where U.S. forces scored a swift, decisive victory over conventional opponents but found themselves ill-equipped to deal with post-combat chaos and an increasingly effective insurgency." ... "The directive says that establishing order and security, restoring essential services and meeting the humanitarian needs of the population of a vanquished country were a "core U.S. military mission.""" ... "The directive specifies the need for better language skills, more regional expertise, better intelligence and counterintelligence, more emphasis on studying foreign cultures and more coordination with foreign governments, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations." (1, 2) -By Bernd Debusmannn -Reuters

dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/300005.htm

Iran - Religious - Nuclear - Military - Terrorism - Politics - "Iran's not-so-secret hatred." ... "Since taking office, Ahmadinejad has pushed Iran further into hatred, intolerance and theocratic tyranny--quite a feat in a repressive country that funds terrorists around the world. He has sacked many of the pragmatists in the government and replaced them with hard-liners. There are signs that even the despotic mullahs who run the country are getting nervous. They reportedly moved recently to strip him of some of his power." ... "If only the threat from Iran were limited to fierce rhetoric." ... "Just a few days ago, Mohamed ElBaradei, the ultra-cautious head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, hinted that Iran could be a lot closer to developing a bomb than was thought previously. He said the international community is "losing patience" with Iran. Robert Joseph, a top State Department official, said Friday that Iran is "very aggressive, very determined to develop nuclear weapons."" -ChicagoTribune
US - Iraq - Military - Politics - "Bush Estimates 30,000 Iraqis Killed in War." ... "In a rare, unscripted moment, President Bush on Monday estimated 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the high price Iraqis have paid in the push for democracy." ... "``I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis,'' Bush said. ``We've lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq.''" ... "The U.S. military does not release its tally of Iraqi dead, but there is some consensus from outside experts that roughly 30,000 is a credible number. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Bush was not giving an official figure but simply repeating public estimates." -By Nedra Pickler -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Iraq - Law - US - Military - "Early Voting Begins in Iraq; Nine Killed." ... "Thousands of Iraqi forces will be protecting polling stations, with U.S. and other coalition troops ready to help in case of a major attack." ... "Most attention has focused on Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the Jan. 30 election to protest the continued U.S. military presence. That enabled the Shiites and Kurds to dominate parliament, a move that sharpened communal tensions and fueled the Sunni-dominated insurgency." ... "This time, more Sunni Arab candidates are in the race, and changes in the election law to allocate most seats by province instead of based on a party's nationwide total all but guaranteed a sizable Sunni bloc in the next assembly." -By Qassim Abdul-Zahra -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

20051209

Books - US - Iraq - Military - Religion - "Iraq war debate enters new phase." ... "You might not expect a West Point graduate, Vietnam vet and career soldier to come out with a book titled "The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Addicted to War." But that's what Andrew Bacevich, who now directs the program in International Relations at Boston University, has done." ... "A self-described conservative, Bacevich argues that Americans have fallen prey to a "military metaphysic." By that he means all international problems are seen as military problems and the likelihood for finding a solution except through military means is discounted. The result is war as a permanent condition with the only acceptable plan for peace a loaded pistol. One has only to consider the relative weight given to the Pentagon and the State Department to get the point." ... "As a pastor what most interested me is Bacevich's careful tracing of the role of leading religious conservatives in promoting a "crusade theory of warfare," to replace the more long-standing and cautious doctrine of just war. A crusade theory of warfare provides the mindset and justification for offensive military action, for so-called preventive wars like the current war in Iraq. The just war ethical tradition mandates the use of force for defensive, not offensive, purposes." -By Anthony B. Robinson -SeattlePI.NWsource

20051208

Iran - Israel - Saudi Arabia - Palestine - Germany - Austria - Military - History - "Update 2: Iranian President: Move Israel to Europe." ... "Iran's hard-liner president, who has called for Israel's destruction, said Thursday that the Jewish state should be moved to Europe if the West wants to make up for the Holocaust." ... "Speaking to reporters at an Islamic summit in the Muslim holy city of Mecca [Saudi Arabia], Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied that European countries backed the founding of Israel in the Middle East in 1948 out of guilt over the Holocaust." ... ""Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II, Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps," Ahmadinejad said. "Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is taken to prison or gets condemned."" ... ""Let's give some land to the Zionists in Europe or in Germany or Austria, so they can have their government there," he said. "They faced injustice in Europe, so why do the repercussions fall on the Palestinians? Offer a piece of land from Europe, and we will back this decision and will not attack this government."" -AP via -Forbes

20051207

Japan - Iraq - "Japan extends Iraq troops mission: Japan has extended its military deployment in Iraq for another year." ... "The decision, announced after a meeting of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet, means the troops can stay until 14 December 2006." ... "Japan has about 500 troops in Samawa in southern Iraq, training Iraqi security forces and helping with reconstruction, but not engaging in combat roles." ... "However, there was media speculation that the troops could be pulled out before their new mandate is fully up." ... "The Japanese troops could be pulled out before the new expiration date if conditions change, either on the ground, or in the make-up of the coalition forces, Kyodo news agency said on Wednesday."-BBC /News
US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Opinion - Economy - "Poll: Bush's Ratings Bump Up." ... "The President’s overall approval rating has risen from 35 percent in October to 40 percent now, and his ratings on handling the economy and the war in Iraq have also improved." ... "The Bush Administration continues to face criticism from many Democrats and other war opponents about the way pre-war intelligence was handled, and whether there truly was a compelling connection between Iraq and the terror threat to the United States. Fifty-two percent of Americans think the Bush Administration deliberately misled the public in making the case for war, while 44 percent say it did not." ... "An overwhelming majority of Americans think this Congress should be asking questions about pre-war intelligence. Fifty-six percent call it a very important line of questioning, and another 24 percent call it somewhat important." -CBSNews

20051206

US - Germany - Afghanistan - Secret - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Prisons - Law - Politics - VA - "German citizen held in secret prison sues ex-CIA director." ... "A German citizen whom the CIA abducted from Macedonia and held in a secret prison in Afghanistan for five months sued former CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday, saying he'd been tortured." ... "[Khaled] Al-Masri's lawsuit, filed by ACLU lawyers in Alexandria, Va. [Virginia], sheds light on the CIA's secret practice of "extraordinary renditions," using special teams to capture suspected terrorists and transport them to countries that practice torture or to one of the agency's reported secret prisons in Eastern Europe or Asia." ... "In the four years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA has captured about 3,000 people, including some top al-Qaida leaders, according to a Washington Post report. Intelligence committees in Congress have been told that the CIA's inspector general is investigating possible "erroneous renditions."" ... "U.S. officials refuse to confirm or deny the existence of secret prisons." -By Frank Davies and Warren P. Strobel -MercuryNews
US - Iraq - Niger - Lewis Libby - Dick Cheney - Military - Politics - Law - "Plame Is Set to Leave the CIA." ... "[Valerie] Plame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak." ... "Plame is married to Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador, who was sent by the CIA to Africa in February 2002 to evaluate claims that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy weapons-grade uranium in Niger. Wilson found the claims unverifiable and publicly criticized the intelligence used by the administration to justify the war against Iraq." ... "Administration officials began a campaign to discredit Wilson and identified Plame in conversations with several journalists, potentially violating a law against unmasking undercover agents. A federal grand jury recently indicted former [Vice President Dick] Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges that he repeatedly lied to investigators." -By Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes
Japan - Iraq - "Japan Should Keep Troops in Iraq, Al-Jaafari Says (Update1)." ... "Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al- Jaafari said Japan should extend its deployment of troops in his country." ... "Japan has about 600 troops in Samawah helping rebuild hospitals and schools and their term ends on Dec. 14. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi intends to extend the mission for another year, Kyodo News reported today, citing a copy of the government's new deployment plan." -By John Brinsley -Bloomberg