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Archived News Articles: NMD and Global Policy - 4th Qtr. 2004
From Wired News: 02:00 AM Oct. 01, 2004 PT
All's Fair in Space War By Noah Shachtman
The American military has begun planning for combat in space, an Air Force report reveals. And commercial spacecraft, neutral countries' launching pads -- even weather satellites -- are all on the potential target list. "Air Force Doctrine Document 2-2.1: Counterspace Operations" is an apparent first cut at detailing how U.S. forces might take out an enemy's space capabilities -- and protect America's eyes and ears in orbit. Signed by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper, the unclassified report sketches out who would be in command during a space fight, what American weapons would be used and which targets might be attacked. ... In the opening pages of Counterspace Operations, the Air Force announces that it has a new job: to maintain America's "space superiority" -- the "freedom to attack as well as the freedom from attack" in orbit. This emerging mission has become just as important to American forces as control of the skies, the report states. And together, the two form "crucial first steps in any military operation." ... the Air Force sees nearly every nation, and every insurgent group, as a potential adversary in space. ...
Counterspace Operations, released quietly in August, builds on previous Air Force reports on space combat. Earlier this year, the service released a "Transformation Flight Plan," discussing plans for outlandish, orbiting weapons, including giant metal rods that would be sent crashing earthward from above the skies. But the Flight Plan only examined "what weapon systems are planned, and what weapon systems they'd like to have to undertake space-war missions," Hitchens [Theresea Hitchens, vice president of the Center for Defense Information] explained. "Doctrine papers (like Counterspace Operations) spell out what the mission is, and how you go about accomplishing it. This is in some ways more important than the Flight Plan, because the latter is very much a 'wish list.' This paper is an official statement of what the Air Force actually intends to do." What the report makes clear is that the Air Force intends to put a halt to all sorts of commercial or neutral satellite operations, if they're seen as aiding an adversary. ...
At CDI: September 22, 2004
The Problems and Prospects of the New Alaska Missile Interceptor Site:
Ten Fallacies About Missile Defense By Philip E. Coyle, III
From Reuters: Sat Oct 2, 2004 06:36 PM ET
Sharon Calls for Expansion of Israel's Gaza Offensive By Corinne Heller
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel should expand its massive raid of northern Gaza, one of the army's deadliest offensives in more than four years of conflict with the Palestinians. ...
From Reuters: Tue Oct 5, 2004 06:04 PM ET
US Vetoes UN Measure Demanding Israel Leave Gaza By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate end to Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip that have cost some 68 Palestinian lives. A total of 11 nations voted in favor in the 15-member council. Britain, Germany and Romania abstained and U.S. Ambassador John Danforth exercised his veto power by voting "no." ...
From Reuters: Wed Oct 13, 2004 04:34 AM ET
Report: CIA Holds Top Al Qaeda Suspects in Jordan
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is holding top al Qaeda suspects in a secret Jordanian jail where they are subjected to interrogation methods banned in the United States, an Israeli newspaper said Wednesday.
Haaretz daily said at least 11 men held incommunicado in Jordan include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington, and Hambali, accused of being al Qaeda's ally in southeast Asia. There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials or Jordan, which is seen as a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror. Haaretz, citing international intelligence sources, said: "Their detention outside the U.S. enables CIA interrogators to apply interrogation methods that are banned by U.S. law, and to do so in a country where cooperation with the Americans is particularly close, thereby reducing the danger of leaks." ...
From AFP at SpaceWar: Oct 17, 2004
Britain agrees to station 'Son of Star Wars' missiles: report
LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair has secretly agreed to let the United States station interceptor missiles on British soil for the so-called "Son of Star Wars" defence system, according to a newspaper report Sunday. Britain has agreed "in principle" to a US request to site the interceptor missiles at an existing early warning radar centre in Fylingdales, Yorkshire, northern England, the Independent on Sunday reported. According to the paper, agreement was reached at a meeting last May in Washington attended by senior officials from the British embassy and the US State Department. However the British diplomats asked that no official announcement be made until after Blair faces a general election likely in the middle of next year, the newspaper said, without citing its sources. ...
From SPX at SpaceWar: Oct 18, 2004
Boost-Phase Defense Not Effective For Protecting US: New Study
From Reuters: Wed Oct 20, 2004 06:51 PM ET
U.S. lawmakers seek release of CIA 9/11 report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers are asking the CIA to release its inspector general's report on Sept. 11 failures, with some Democrats saying the spy agency should avoid the appearance of playing politics that would result if it waits until after the election.
The top Republican and Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee sent a letter to the CIA asking for the report which examines the performance of CIA officials leading up to Sept. 11, and was mandated by the joint House-Senate inquiry into the 2001 attacks. ...
At OpEdNews.com:
Demand the Release of the CIA’s 9-11 Report! By Anthony Wade
Bush’s Appointee Porter Goss is Suppressing The Truth to Protect the President.
Tell the mainstream media they should be covering this!
From The Associated Press at MSNBC: 4:44 p.m. ET Oct. 22, 2004
Bush quietly signs corporate tax-cut bill
$136 billion measure assailed for catering to special interests
WASHINGTON - With no fanfare, President Bush Friday signed the most sweeping rewrite of corporate tax law in nearly two decades, showering $136 billion in new tax breaks on businesses, farmers and other groups. ...
At The Center for Immigration Studies: October 2004
A Jobless Recovery? Study Finds Immigrants Gained Jobs While Natives Lost Them
At The NYT: October 24, 2004
After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law By TIM GOLDEN
From Washington Post: Sunday, October 24, 2004; Page A01
Detainees Secretly Taken Out Of Iraq By Dana Priest
Practice Is Called Breach of Protections
At the request of the CIA, the Justice Department drafted a confidential memo that authorizes the agency to transfer detainees out of Iraq for interrogation -- a practice that international legal specialists say contravenes the Geneva Conventions. One intelligence official familiar with the operation said the CIA has used the March draft memo as legal support for secretly transporting as many as a dozen detainees out of Iraq in the last six months. The agency has concealed the detainees from the International Red Cross and other authorities, the official said. ...
From The Washington Post: Tuesday, October 26, 2004; Page A01
Increase In War Funding Sought By Jonathan Weisman and Thomas E. Ricks
Bush to Request Another $70 Billion
The Bush administration intends to seek about $70 billion in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, pushing total war costs close to $225 billion since the invasion of Iraq early last year, Pentagon and congressional officials said yesterday. White House budget office spokesman Chad Kolton emphasized that final decisions on the supplemental spending request will not be made until shortly before the request is sent to Congress. That may not happen until early February, when President Bush submits his budget for fiscal 2006, assuming he wins reelection. But Pentagon and House Appropriations Committee aides said the Defense Department and military services are scrambling to get their final requests to the White House Office of Management and Budget by mid-November, shortly after the election. The new numbers underscore that the war is going to be far more costly and intense, and last longer, than the administration first suggested. ... This request would come on top of $25 billion in war spending allocated by Congress for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. ...
From AFP at SpaceWar: Oct 27, 2004
US plans to acclerate deployment of Aegis warships for missile defense
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States plans to accelerate the deployment of Aegis warships in waters off North Korea to serve as forward radars for a missile defense system that is being readied for operations, a top US general said Tuesday. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, also said discussions were well underway with allies about placing a third site for ground-based interceptor missiles in Europe. He outlined US missile defense plans amid expectations that President George W. Bush will declare the missile defense system to be operational before the end of the year. ... Two Aegis destroyers already are operating in the Sea of Japan, their powerful tracking radars serving as the leading edge of a system of ground-based interceptor missiles centered in Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenburg Air Force Base, California . Obering said four or five Aegis warships will be operating by the end of the year ... They will serve initially only as forward radars to track long-range missiles. But starting next year they also will be equipped with SM-3 missiles designed to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles, he said. "We'll accelerate initial forward deployed radars into 2005," Obering said. While the North Korean missile threat is the focus of the initial missile defense system being set up in Alaska and California, the Pentagon also has begun to take steps to increase its coverage of the Middle East. "We also have plans, and have conducted quite a bit of consultations with our allies, on putting (in) a third interceptor site," he said. "In addition to Fort Greely and Vandenburg we'll put a site in Europe to expand that coverage to our allies." ...
Obering said the system's next integrated flight test will be in December, its first in nearly two years. Meanwhile, five interceptor missiles have been positioned in launch silos at Fort Greely, and a sixth is due to be added in November. Two more interceptor missiles are to go into silos at Vandenburg Air Force Base in California by the end of the year. ... A huge sea-based X-band radar that is capable of detecting an object the size of a golf ball from 1,000 miles away is being built on giant pontoons. Obering said it will be on station off Alaska by December 2005.
From WorldNetDaily: October 29, 2004 7:35 p.m. Eastern
Transcript of bin Laden statement
'It came to my mind to punish the oppressor'
You American people, my speech to you is the best way to avoid another conflict about the war and its reasons and results. I am telling you security is an important pillar of human life. And free people don't let go of their security, contrary to Bush's claims that we hate freedom. He should tell us why we didn't hit Sweden for instance. It's known that those who hate freedom don't have dignified souls like the 19 who were blessed. But we fought you because we are free people, we don't sleep on our oppression. We want to regain the freedom of our Muslim nation as you spill our security, we spill your security.
I am so surprised by you. Although we are in the fourth year after the events of Sept. 11, Bush is still practicing distortion and misleading on you, and obscuring the main reasons and, therefore, the reasons are still existing to repeat what happened before. I will tell you the reasons behind these incidents.
I will be honest with you on the moment when the decision was taken to understand. We never thought of hitting the towers. But after we were so fed up, and we saw the oppression of the American Israeli coalition on our people in Palestine and Lebanon, it came to my mind, and the incidents that really touched me directly goes back to 1982 and the following incidents. When the U.S. permitted the Israelis to invade Lebanon with the assistance of the 6th fleet. In these hard moments, it occurred to me so many meanings I can't explain, but it resulted in a general feeling of rejecting oppression and gave me a hard determination to punish the oppressors. While I was looking at the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it came to my mind to punish the oppressor the same way and destroy towers in the U.S. to get a taste of what they tasted, and quit killing our children and women.
We didn't find difficulty dealing with Bush and his administration due to the similarity of his regime and the regimes in our countries. Which half of them are ruled by military and the other half by sons of kings and presidents and our experience with them is long. Both parties are arrogant and stubborn and the greediness and taking money without right and that similarity appeared during the visits of Bush to the region while people from our side were impressed by the U.S. and hoped that these visits would influence our countries. Here he is being influenced by these regimes, royal and military. And was feeling jealous they were staying for decades in power stealing the nations' finances without anybody overseeing them. So he transferred the oppression of freedom and tyranny to his son, and they call it the Patriot Law to fight terrorism. He was bright in putting his sons as governors in states, and he didn't forget to transfer his experience from the rulers of our region to Florida to falsify elections to benefit from it in critical times.
We agreed with Mohamed Atta, God bless him, to execute the whole operation in 20 minutes. Before Bush and his administration would pay attention and we never thought that the high commander of the U.S. armies would leave 50 thousand of his citizens in both towers to face the horrors by themselves when they most needed him, because it seemed to distract his attention from listening to the girl telling him about her goat butting was more important than paying attention to airplanes butting the towers which gave us three times the time to execute the operation thank God.
Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your hands. Each state that doesn't mess with our security has automatically secured their security.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41181
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm
From The NYT: October 30, 2004
Part of 9/11 Report Remains Unreleased; An Inquiry Is Begun By JIM DWYER
One last chapter of the investigation by the Sept. 11 commission, a supplement completed more than two months ago, has not yet been made public by the Justice Department, and officials say it is unlikely to be released before the presidential election, even though that had been a major goal of deadlines set for the panel. Drawing from this unpublished part of the inquiry, the commission quietly asked the inspectors general at the Departments of Defense and Transportation to review what it had determined were broadly inaccurate accounts provided by several civil and military officials about efforts to track and chase the hijacked aircraft on Sept. 11. ...
From Reuters: Sun Oct 31, 2004 07:44 AM ET
U.S. Deploys Satellite Jamming System By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force quietly has put into service a new weapon designed to jam enemy satellite communications, a significant step toward U.S. control of space. The so-called Counter Communications System was declared operational late last month at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, the Air Force Space Command said on Friday ...
From Newsweek at MSNBC: Nov. 8 issue
America's Assignment By Henry Kissinger
" ... In its first months in office, the Bush administration challenged conventional wisdom when it proclaimed the concept of pre-emption as if it were an American invention. In fact, pre-emption is inherent in the structure of the new international order, regardless of who serves in the White House. ... "
From China Daily: 2004-11-01 09:03
US strategy to be blamed By Qian Qichen
" ... In the wake of September 11, the "Bush Doctrine" came out, in which the United States created "axes of evil" and "pre-emptive" strategies. It linked counter-terrorism and the prevention of proliferation to the reformation of so-called "rogue states" and "failed states." ... Under this doctrine, the United States has tightened its control of the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, strengthened its response ability to this outstretched "unstable arc," and put forward its "Big Middle East" reform programme. It all testifies that Washington's anti-terror campaign has already gone beyond the scope of self-defence. ... The philosophy of the "Bush Doctrine" is in essence force. It advocates the United States should rule over the whole world with overwhelming force, military force in particular. ...
" ... The current US predicament in Iraq serves as another example that when a country's superiority psychology inflates beyond its real capability, a lot of trouble can be caused. But the troubles and disasters the United States has met do not stem from threats by others, but from its own cocksureness and arrogance. The 21st century is not the "American Century." That does not mean that the United States does not want the dream. Rather, it is incapable of realizing the goal. ... "
From The Times Online: November 06, 2004
Europe ‘axis’ regroups to curb Bush in second term By Greg Hurst
FRANCE, Germany and Spain signalled a new alliance yesterday to strengthen the European Union’s political project as a counterbalance to the United States after the re-election of President Bush. The triple axis formed by “old Europe” powers, whose leaders were the most vociferous in opposing the Iraq war, was a rebuff to Tony Blair’s accusation that they were in a “state of denial” over the outcome of America’s presidential election.
Jacques Chirac, France’s President, declared that the result left the world “more multi-polar than ever” and said that Europe must react by strengthening its political unity and press ahead with its new constitution. ...
From The Observer at The Guardian: Sunday November 7, 2004
US ready to put weapons in space By Mark Townsend
Defence expert says America is likely to ignore treaty ban
America has begun preparing its next military objective - space. Documents reveal that the US Air Force has for the first time adopted a doctrine to establish 'space superiority'. The new doctrine means that pre-emptive strikes against enemy satellites would become 'crucial steps in any military operation'. This week defence experts will attend a conference in London amid warnings that President Bush's re-election will pave the way to the arming of space. ...
At Financial Times: November 7 2004 19:43
Dollar expected to fall amid China's rumoured selling
By Steve Johnson in London and Andrew Balls in Washington
From Reuters: Tue Nov 9, 2004 12:20 PM ET
Powell: U.S. Will Pursue Aggressive Foreign Policy
LONDON (Reuters) - President Bush has a fresh mandate to pursue an "aggressive" foreign policy, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday. In an interview with Britain's Financial Times newspaper, Powell said Bush had no intention of pulling back and insisted the newly re-elected president had a mandate to pursue American national interests in international affairs. ...
From Reuters: Tue Nov 9, 2004 05:03 PM ET
Stalled Immigration Reform 'High Priority' for Bush By Alistair Bell
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Revamping U.S. immigration laws to let more Mexicans work legally in the United States is a high priority, Secretary of State Colin Powell said, although a skeptical Congress could still block the plan. ...
At Reuters: Wed Nov 10, 2004 08:09 PM ET
Bush says U.S. Mideast plans to benefit "all mankind" By David Morgan
At The Washington Post: Thursday, November 11, 2004; Page A01
Gonzales Named to Succeed Ashcroft as Attorney General By Dan Eggen
At Infowars.net: Nov 11 2004
Who is Alberto Gonzales? By Steve Watson
From VOICE OF AMERICA: 11 November 2004
Arafat Dead at 75 By Lisa Bryant
Paris - Yasser Arafat is dead. His death was announced early Thursday morning in France, where the Palestinian leader has been ailing for days. Yasser Arafat's death was announced both by Palestinian officials and the Percy Medical Hospital outside Paris, where the Mr. Arafat arrived for treatment of a mysterious illness nearly two weeks ago. ...
From The Washington Post: Thursday, November 11, 2004; Page A20
Bush Sees 'Opening' for Mideast Peace in Arafat's Death By Glenn Kessler
The death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gives the Bush administration a rare diplomatic opening in the stalled Middle East peace process, though the extent and reach of the U.S. involvement is still to be determined, administration officials said. One administration official said last night President Bush has come to understand that much of the opportunity depends on how the United States responds in the first days and weeks after Arafat's death. A battle between radical and moderate elements within Palestinian society appears certain to emerge, and direct U.S. involvement might ensure that moderate leadership takes hold in the Palestinian Authority, he said.
Yesterday afternoon, as Arafat was in his last hours of life, Bush signaled that deeper U.S. engagement in Middle East peace efforts was imminent. He said he saw an "opening for peace" and if the new Palestinian leadership requests assistance, the United States "will be more than willing to help build the institutions necessary for a free society to emerge." ...
At Reuters: Thu Nov 11, 2004 10:30 AM ET
After Arafat Death, Sharon Vows to Pursue Gaza Plan By Mark Heinrich
At 9-11 Visibility Project: Thursday, Nov 11, 2004
The collapse of the WTC by Kevin Ryan, Underwriters Laboratories
" ... the buildings should have easily withstood the thermal stress caused by pools of burning jet fuel. ... "
Video at Prison Planet: November 14 2004
WTC Construction Manager: Towers Were Designed to Take Numerous Plane Crashes
At The Washington Post: Saturday, November 13, 2004; Page A01
Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Agency Is Said to Be in Turmoil Under New Director Goss
Commentary at Consortium News: November 13, 2004
Big Media, Some Nerve! By Robert Parry
From The Observer: Sunday November 14, 2004
US to deploy hyper-missiles By Robin McKie and David Smith
Anywhere on Earth could be targeted 'within two hours'
American scientists are developing hypersonic cruise missiles that will fly 10 times faster than current rockets, penetrate concrete armouring and could be launched from any site in the world. The missiles would have a range of 9,000 miles, more than a third of Earth's circumference and be able to reach their targets within two hours. First prototypes are expected to be tested next year, though the missile is not expected to be deployed until the end of the decade. ... The new missiles will exploit supersonic combustion ramjet - or scramjet - technology. Nasa engineers will tomorrow attempt to fly a robot X-43A scramjet over the Pacific at speeds around 7,200 mph, 10 times the speed of sound. ...
At Reuters: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:46 AM ET
Secretary of State Powell Resigns By Saul Hudson
From The Sydney Morning Herald: November 16, 2004
Bush threatens mankind, says Caldicott By David Williams
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Helen Caldicott fears US President George Bush's re-election will lead to Armageddon and she isn't sure if mankind would survive another four years. ... Mr Bush's win meant "endless war and I think it could mean nuclear war", she said. ... "They [the Bush administration] have been able to con the American people with their extremely brilliant propaganda and brainwashing, with the help of the media .. they consistently lie. On the whole the American people don't really understand the dynamics of the right at all. They don't know that Bush et al want to go into Iran next and that they want to dominate the world militarily and that they want to put weapons in space. I don't think they [the American public] understand. It is a mandate for Bush to do absolutely anything he wants. I know people don't like me using this word but they're fascists." ...
From Reuters: Wed Nov 17, 2004 02:31 PM ET
Neoconservatives Gain Strength in New Bush Team By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Neoconservatives, seen as the ideological architects of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, appear to be gaining strength in President Bush's second administration, foreign policy analysts said on Wednesday. The "neocons," as they are known in Washington seemed in ideological retreat a year ago after the U.S. occupation of Iraq was shaken by a bloody insurrection. Led by Vice President Dick Cheney, they argued that U.S. interests and values in the Middle East were best pursued through "regime change" in Baghdad. They predicted that U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators and that a democratic Iraq would quickly emerge and lead to the spread of democracy throughout the region. ...
Many key appointments in Bush's second term remain to be made. But analysts believe the replacement of Colin Powell as secretary of state by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has already strengthened the neocons' hand. Many are watching to see whether undersecretary of state John Bolton, a hard-liner on confronting Iran and North Korea, is promoted to the number two position at the State Department. Meanwhile at the Pentagon, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and undersecretary Douglas Feith, both key neocons, remain firmly in place. "Bush has made it clear he wants to fight and win the war against various radical Islamic terrorist movements and he wants to expand the boundaries of the free world. He will use all available tools but diplomacy is always more effective when backed by the credible threat of force," said Clifford May, a former communications director for the Republican Party, now with the Center for Defense of Democracies. ...
From AFP at Yahoo: Wed, Nov 17, 2004 2:31pm ET
Bush confronted with intelligence crisis as senior CIA officials resign
WASHINGTON (AFP) - CIA Director Porter Goss has reminded agency employees that they are not to "identify with, support or champion opposition" to the US administration in the latest salvo of a struggle for political control of the intelligence agency. "We support the administration and its policies in our work," Goss said in the memo e-mailed to employees late Monday. ...
The memo also reminded CIA employees of their "oath of secrecy" and that communication with the media was through CIA's public affairs office while any contacts with Congress should be through its office of congressional affairs. It followed the resignations of the two top officials of the agency's clandestine service after a confrontation with Goss' chief of staff that reportedly stemmed from a threat to hold the agency's counter-intelligence chief responsible for news leaks about personnel. ...
From The Associated Press at Yahoo: Wed, Nov 17, 2004 11:14pm ET
Senate OKs $800B Debt Limit Hike By ALAN FRAM
WASHINGTON - A divided Senate approved an $800 billion increase in the federal debt limit Wednesday, a major boost in borrowing that Sen. John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the fiscal policies of President Bush. The mostly party line, 52-44 vote was expected to be followed by House passage Thursday. Enactment would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion — $2.23 trillion higher than when Bush became president in 2001, and more than eight times the debt President Reagan faced when he took office in 1981. ...
Administration officials urged lawmakers to act quickly. The government reached its $7.38 trillion borrowing cap last month, and since then the Treasury Department has paid federal bills by taking cash from a civil service retirement account, which it plans to repay. "We are nearing the end of our rope, and it is critical that Congress act," said Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could force a federal default and leave the government unable to pay Social Security recipients, federal workers and other obligations. ...
At Reuters: Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:34 PM ET
Bush Signs Into Law Debt Ceiling Increase
Video at Information Clearing House:
Hijacking Catastrophe 9/11, Fear, and the Selling of American Empire
At Online Journal: November 20, 2004
A Conservative Christian Republican says listen to whistleblower Sibel D. Edmonds
By Karl W. B. Schwarz
From The Independent: 21 November 2004
US 'Star Wars' missiles will be in Europe in five years By Severin Carrell
The US wants to base at least 10 missiles in Europe for the "son of Star Wars" missile defence system within the next five years, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. The Pentagon has also already decided to prepare for a major new missile interceptor base in Europe and is starting detailed studies to find the best site - including possible bases in the UK. ...
From The NYT: November 22, 2004
Powell to Seek U.S. Aid for Palestinians By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, arriving in Israel for his first visit in a year and a half, said Sunday that he would work with Palestinian leaders to come up with an American financial aid package in the next few weeks to facilitate Palestinian elections and improve their security forces. ...
From U.S. Newswire: 11/23/2004 10:21:00 AM
Center for Immigration Studies: Immigrant Population at Record High in 2004; Total Up 4 Million Since 2000, Half of Growth from Illegal Aliens
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ - An analysis of data not yet published by the Census Bureau shows that the nation's immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached a new record of more than 34 million in March of 2004, an increase of over four million just since 2000. ...
At Center for Immigration Studies:
Economy Slowed, But Immigration Didn't By Steven A. Camarota
" ... Immigrants now account for nearly 12 percent of the nation’s total population, the highest percentage in over 80 years. ... Mexico, accounting for 31 percent of all immigrants in 2004 ... The CPS shows that between March of 2000 and March 2004, the Mexican immigrant population increased by 2.1 million. ... "
From AFP at SpaceWar: Nov 24, 2004
Brazil to start enriching uranium next month: official
BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazil will start enriching uranium next month after getting the green light from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the government announced Wednesday after months of negotiations. ...
From VOA News: 24 November 2004
Ukraine Vote Not Legitimate, Powell Says
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warns of consequences unless Ukrainian officials investigate instances of fraud in Sunday's presidential election. ...
Bush Administration Urges Ukraine Not to Certify Disputed Presidential Election
By Meredith Buel
From AFP at the Australian Broadcasting Corp.: Thurs, Nov. 25, 2004. 6:04am(AEDT)
US rejects Ukrainian election result
The United States has rejected the results of the presidential election in Ukraine, and Secretary of State Colin Powell is calling for a review of the tally. "We cannot accept this result as legitimate, because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," Mr Powell said. "We call for a full review of the conduct of the election and the tallying of election results." Pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich has been declared the winner of the ballot over pro-Western Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. ...
From Reuters: Wed Nov 24, 2004 03:38 PM ET
U.S. Rejects Ukraine Vote Result, Sees Consequences By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday rejected the results of Ukraine's disputed presidential election and warned the authorities of "consequences" if they do not investigate the alleged fraud. ... "If the Ukrainian government does not act immediately and responsibly, there will be consequences for our relationship, for Ukraine's hopes for a Euro-Atlantic integration and for individuals responsible for perpetrating fraud," he said. ...
At The Guardian: Friday November 26, 2004
US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev By Ian Traynor
From The Washington Post: Friday, November 26, 2004; Page A02
Congress Seeks to Curb International Court By Colum Lynch
Measure Would Threaten Overseas Aid Cuts to Push Immunity for U.S. Troops
UNITED NATIONS -- The Republican-controlled Congress has stepped up its campaign to curtail the power of the International Criminal Court, threatening to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid to governments that refuse to sign immunity accords shielding U.S. personnel from being surrendered to the tribunal. The move marks an escalation in U.S. efforts to ensure that the first world criminal court can never judge American citizens for crimes committed overseas. More than two years ago, Congress passed the American Servicemembers' Protection Act, which cut millions of dollars in military assistance to many countries that would not sign the Article 98 agreements, as they are known, that vow not to transfer to the court U.S. nationals accused of committing war crimes abroad. A provision inserted into a $338 billion government spending bill for 2005 would bar the transfer of assistance money from the $2.52 billon economic support fund to a government "that is a party" to the criminal court but "has not entered into an agreement with the United States" to bar legal proceedings against U.S. personnel. The House and Senate are to vote on the budget Dec. 8. ...
From The International Herald Tribune at The NYT: November 26, 2004
Dollar Drops Further as Central Banks Reassess Reserves By ERIC PFANNER
LONDON, Nov. 26 - The falling dollar reached new depths against the euro today, after a weeklong erosion of value prompted by concern that the dollar's status as the premier international reserve currency is growing more precarious. The central bank of Russia said today that it would stop trying to peg the ruble solely against the dollar, shifting instead to a target based on a basket of global currencies. That could result in a decline in dollar purchases by the Russian central bank, whose currency reserves are dominated by dollar assets. ... Comments by a Chinese central bank official, suggesting that the bank might slow its dollar purchases, briefly sent the American currency into a volatile spin before they were retracted. Analysts say any move to shift those banks' assets out of dollars could result in a sharp long-term fall in the dollar, given that the United States requires a steady inflow of close to $2 billion a day in international funds to finance its current-account deficit, a broad measure of trade in goods and services. ...
At The NYT: November 28, 2004
Vast Borrowing Seen in Altering Social Security By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance President Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to administration officials, members of Congress and independent analysts. ...
Opinions at TomPaine: December 03, 2004
The Great Credit Card Scam By Rep. Bernie Sanders
All Mosquitos, No Swamp By Ray McGovern
At The Observer: Sunday December 5, 2004
Japan threatens huge dollar sell-off By Heather Stewart in Tokyo
From The Observer at The Guardian: Sunday December 5, 2004
America increases pressure on Annan over UN scandals By Paul Harris, New York
There is growing fear among United Nations officials that Secretary-General Kofi Annan may have lost the confidence of the organisation's most powerful constituent, the United States. Annan is mired in the deepest crisis of his career as America continues to put pressure on him to resign. ...
From REUTERS at The NYT: December 6, 2004
OPEC Nations Seen Cutting Worldwide Deposits in Dollars
At the DoD: Dec. 9, 2004
President Welcomes Intelligence Bill By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – Congress has passed – and President Bush will sign – a historic piece of legislation that will revamp the nation's intelligence system. ...
At Reuters: Thu Dec 9, 2004 10:39 AM ET
U.S. Alone Among Allies in Centralizing Spy Powers By Mark Trevelyan
At Infowars.com: December 9, 2004
Constitution Butchered in Winter of ‘04 By Alex Jones
From AFP at Yahoo: Thu Dec 9, 8:15 PM
Ex-CIA agent says sacked for not faking Iraq WMD reports
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A sacked CIA official has sued, alleging he was fired for refusing to fake reports supporting the White House position that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, local media said. Described as a senior CIA official who was sacked in August "for unspecified reasons," the lawsuit appeared to be the first public instance of a CIA agent charging he was pressured to concoct intelligence on Iraq. ...
From The Washington Post: Sunday, December 12, 2004; Page A01
IAEA Leader's Phone Tapped By Dafna Linzer
U.S. Pores Over Transcripts to Try to Oust Nuclear Chief
The Bush administration has dozens of intercepts of Mohamed ElBaradei's phone calls with Iranian diplomats and is scrutinizing them in search of ammunition to oust him as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to three U.S. government officials. ...
At American Free Press: December 12, 2004
BLACK BOX COVER-UP By Greg Szymanski
Rescue workers silenced after exposing 9-11 whitewash
From Bloomberg: Dec. 13, 2004
Police Need Not Say Why Arrest Made: U.S. High Court Overview
Police officers don't have to give a reason at the time they arrest someone, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a ruling that shields officers from false-arrest lawsuits. ... The decision was one of five issued by the court today in Washington. ...
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