|
Archived News Articles: NMD and Global Policy - 3rd Qtr. 2003
From The BBC: Tuesday, 1 July, 2003, 13:46 GMT 14:46 UK
US plans hypersonic bomber
The United States is planning to build an unmanned hypersonic aircraft capable of striking any target in the world within two hours.
The initial description of the concept - called the "reusable hypersonic cruise vehicle" (HCV) - has recently been placed on the website of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the central research and development organisation of the Pentagon. ... The HCV air/spacecraft could be operational by 2025. ... the United States will be able, using aircraft based on its own territory, to strike at individual targets without warning and without the need for foreign bases. ... the Research Agency also proposes a shorter term (by 2010) weapons system. It would be based on what is known as a "Small Launch Vehicle" (SLV) which would blast into space carrying the Common Aero Vehicle. This is essentially a bomb dropped from space which then freefalls or glides onto its target. ...
From Reuters: Tue Jul 1, 3:01 PM ET
U.S. Ends Military Aid to 35 Countries By Jonathan Wright
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was cutting off military aid to 35 countries, including Colombia and six nations seeking NATO membership, because they back the International Criminal Court and have not exempted Americans from possible prosecution. ...
From Reuters: Fri July 4, 2003 05:43 PM ET
Bush Vows Pre-Emptive Attacks Against Enemies By Patricia Wilson
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (Reuters) - President Bush said on Friday the United States is still at war and vowed to attack any "terrorist group or outlaw regime" that threatens the United States with mass murder. ...
"The United States will not stand by and wait for another attack or trust in the restraint and good intentions of evil men," Bush said on a sun-scorched day in the U.S. heartland. "We are on the offensive against terrorists and all who support them. We will not permit any terrorist group or outlaw regime to threaten us with weapons of mass murder. We will act, whenever it is necessary, to protect the lives and the liberty of the American people," he said. A giant American flag provided the backdrop for Bush on a makeshift stage set up on a base airfield. It was flanked by bomber, fighter and attack aircraft including a B-1 bomber and a Stealth F-117 fighter. ...
"Our nation is still at war. The enemies of America plot against us. And many of our fellow citizens are still serving and sacrificing and facing danger in distant places," Bush said. ... "Without America's active involvement in the world, the ambitions of tyrants would go unopposed, and millions would live at mercy of terrorists. With Americans' active involvement in the world, tyrants learn to fear, and terrorists are on the run," he said. ...
From The Sydney Morning Herald: July 5 2003
Force down rogue state jets, say US, Australia By Marian Wilkinson
Australian and United States officials meeting in Brisbane next week will discuss an aggressive military operation to force down aircraft and board ships suspected of carrying prohibited weapons from North Korea, Iran, Syria and Libya. "This is something very different from what we've done before," the US Under Secretary for Arms Control, John Bolton, said in Washington before leaving for the Brisbane meeting. "It's a much more robust approach to interrupting the flow of commerce in weapons of mass destruction." The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, will host the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday of 11 countries, including Britain, Japan, France, Germany and Spain. But the proposals being pushed by Australia and the US are expected to raise difficult questions of international law and could provoke a military confrontation with countries like North Korea. The communist regime has reportedly said it will consider the interception of its ships an act of war. Mr Bolton dismissed this threat, saying: "The North Koreans are filled with bluster. We're not seeking to create provocation, we're seeking to solve the problem of WMD proliferation." ...
From The NYT: July 5, 2003
Pentagon Seeking New Access Pacts for Africa Bases By ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON, July 4 — The United States military is seeking to expand its presence in the Arab countries of northern Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa through new basing agreements and training exercises intended to combat a growing terrorist threat in the region.
Even as military planners prepare options for American troops to join an international peacekeeping force to oversee a cease-fire in Liberia, the Pentagon wants to enhance military ties with allies like Morocco and Tunisia.
It is also seeking to gain long-term access to bases in countries like Mali and Algeria, which American forces could use for periodic training or to strike terrorists. And it aims to build on aircraft refueling agreements in places like Senegal and Uganda, two countries that President Bush is to visit on his five-nation swing through Africa that begins on Tuesday. ...
From Reuters: 11 Jul 2003 22:26:40 GMT
Bush's Nigeria talks to focus on Liberia and oil By Patricia Wilson
ABUJA, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush is likely to be pressed by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday to send troops to help restore peace in Liberia as he ends an African trip in the major U.S. oil supplier. Nigeria's position as fifth largest crude exporter to the United States will give Obasanjo clout when he takes up growing calls across Africa for Bush to contribute troops to a mainly African peacekeeping force for Liberia. ...
Obasanjo, a major player in Liberia's peace efforts, will welcome Bush's visit as a show of support for his own rule after political opponents alleged massive vote-rigging in his re-election in April. He has also faced growing unrest from an impoverished population, including a general strike over fuel prices that ended on Tuesday, as he tries to steer Nigeria out of the shadow of years of military rule and a reputation for corruption. Bush's Africa trip was partly designed to boost security on a continent Washington fears could become a hideout for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda because of porous borders and swathes of lawless territory. ...
Since dismissing Africa as outside U.S. security interests during his 2000 campaign for the presidency, Bush has reassessed the continent's strategic importance in the light of the al Qaeda threat and volatility in the oil-producing Middle East. The former Texas oilman, who flew into the West African regional powerhouse on Friday after visiting Senegal, South Africa, Botswana and Uganda, sees African oil producers as key to lessening dependence on Middle Eastern suppliers. ...
"The president did not come to Africa for the purpose of taking anyone's oil or imposing our will on anybody," Powell told reporters on Thursday. ...
Nigeria has the second largest economy in Africa after South Africa, but about two-thirds of Nigerians live below the poverty line of about one U.S. dollar a day because the benefits of oil have not filtered through due to mismanagement and corruption. ...
Exclusive to American Free Press: July 11, 2003
Media Leviathan, U.S. Intelligence Form Secret Cabal By M. Raphael Johnson
A quiet gathering of the media’s top elites to discuss mergers, with a keynote address by the head of the CIA, escaped mention in the mainstream press.
From The Independent (UK): 13 July 2003
Blair seeks new powers to attack rogue states By Andy McSmith and Jo Dillon
Tony Blair is appealing to the heads of Western governments to agree (to) a new world order that would justify the war in Iraq even if Saddam Hussein's elusive weapons of mass destruction are never found. It would also give Western powers the authority to attack any other sovereign country whose ruler is judged to be inflicting unnecessary suffering on his own people. ...
From AP: Jul 21, 12:10 PM (ET)
4,500 U.S. Troops Set for Liberia Duty By PAULINE JELINEK
WASHINGTON (AP) - Some 4,500 more American sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia to be ready for possible duty in the embattled West African nation, officials said Monday. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed a deployment order over the weekend sending a three-ship amphibious ready group from its position off the Horn of Africa into the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said. That would put the group in a position to get to the west coast of Africa faster, if needed for an evacuation of Americans, peacekeeping or some other mission.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital of Monrovia was hit by mortar fire Monday, and U.S. officials in Washington said a number of building(s) in the complex had been hit by gunfire, though they believe the embassy itself is not a target.
With the weekend deployment order, it would take the amphibious group several days to get into the Mediterranean, where it would await further orders, Pentagon officials said. From there, it would take seven to 10 days to get to Liberia, if ordered to do so, officials said. ...
From NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES at MSNBC:
Liberia in chaos, some evacuations
MONROVIA, Liberia, July 21 — Newly arrived Marines helped evacuate 23 Americans from the U.S. Embassy in Liberia on Monday, as mortar fire rained down around the compound and other parts of the capital, killing at least 60 people. The Americans were evacuated by 41 Marines who arrived Monday to reinforce embassy security in what could be a prelude to a 2,000-strong Marine force arriving on the USS Iwo Jima. ... In Washington, NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reported that the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault task force — with 2,000 Marines and 2,500 sailors on three ships — was ordered to leave Djibouti on Africa’s east coast and head for the Mediterranean in the direction of Liberia. The trip is expected to take three weeks. ...
From Yurica Report: Wednesday, 23 July 2003, 12:59 pm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00184.htm
Fraud Traced to the White House By Katherine Yurica
How California’s energy scam was inextricably linked to a war for oil scheme
From Reuters: Thu July 24, 2003 05:06 PM ET
Sept. 11 Report Details U.S. Intelligence Failures By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There was no single "smoking gun," but intelligence agencies missed opportunities to disrupt the Sept. 11 plot in the months before the hijacked plane attacks, a U.S. congressional report said on Thursday. ... A section on whether there was any Saudi support for the hijackers remained classified except for one page. ...
From The Washington Post: Friday, July 25, 2003; Page A01
White House, CIA Kept Key Portions of Report Classified By Dana Priest
President Bush was warned in a more specific way than previously known about intelligence suggesting that al Qaeda terrorists were seeking to attack the United States, a report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks indicated yesterday. Separately, the report cited one CIA memo that concluded there was "incontrovertible evidence" that Saudi individuals provided financial assistance to al Qaeda operatives in the United States. ...
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/24jul20031400/~
www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/pdf/conclusions.pdf
http://news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/911rpt/index.html
From The Independent (UK): 25 July 2003
US intelligence 'knew of hijackers' links with al-Qa'ida before 11 September attacks'
By David Usborne in New York
America's National Security Agency intercepted conversations in 1999 indicating that two of the hijackers involved in the 11 September attacks had direct links to al-Qa'ida, but it failed to pass the information on to other American intelligence agencies, a report published yesterday shows. ...
Senator Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat who is running for president, said the report exposed serial mistakes. When asked in a television interview yesterday if he thought the attacks could have been prevented without the errors, he said: "Probably, yes." ...
The picture might seem more bleak, Senator Graham added, if the public was given access to the missing parts of the report. "The most significant sets of events, in my opinion, are in the section of the report that has been censored and therefore won't be available to the American people," he said. ...
Archive from The BBC at GregPalast.com on RealOnePlayer: Nov. 2001
Bush blocked Bin Laden probes
From Reuters: Wed Jul 30, 5:03 PM ET
Pentagon Sees Growing Chinese Threat to Taiwan By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China, boosting military spending and deploying growing numbers of ballistic missiles, is pursuing a strategy for a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait aimed at bringing Taiwan to its knees before America has a chance to intervene, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. ... The report also said China's military training exercises "increasingly focus on the United States as an adversary." ...
From Reuters: Thu Jul 31, 2:49 PM ET
U.S. Calls China Missile Build-Up Destabilizing By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House warned on Thursday that China's build-up of ballistic missiles capable of striking Taiwan could destabilize the region, and said it was prepared to sell Taipei the weapons to defend itself. ...
From AP: Tue Aug 5, 3:50 AM ET
Japan Calls for Closer U.S. Military Ties By KENJI HALL, Associated Press Writer
TOKYO - Japan should bolster its defense against possible nuclear and terrorist attacks with better anti-missile systems and closer cooperation with the U.S. military, the government said in its annual defense report Tuesday. ...
From AP: Tue, Aug 05, 2003
Gov't Won't Release Terror Financing List By KEN GUGGENHEIM
WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department rejected a request from senators Tuesday and refused to release a classified list of Saudi individuals or organizations suspected of financing terrorist groups. A Treasury spokesman, Rob Nichols, said a department official misspoke when he told senators last week the list was unclassified, which would mean it was not restricted information. "The last thing we want to do is tip off terrorists that we are on to them," Nichols said. "We don't want to disrupt ongoing investigations, covert actions or potential law enforcement actions."
Administration attorneys are reviewing the degree to which the classified information can be provided or shared with Congress in closed session, said a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The refusal to release the list marks the second time in two weeks that the Bush administration has rejected requests by senators to declassify information about Saudi ties to terrorists. Democratic and Republican senators have urged the Bush administration to release at least part of a 28-page section of the congressional report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that deal with foreign support for the hijackers. People who have seen the section said it examines interactions between Saudi businessmen and the royal family that may have aided the hijackers. ...
From Mother Jones: August 6, 2003
Bush vs. Alien Torts
At MoveOn.org: Thu Aug 07 2003 11:48:22 ET
Al Gore's Speech On President Bush's Iraq Policy
Also: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4383.htm
From The Star (Canada): Aug. 9, 2003. 12:48 PM
Americans pay price for speaking out By KATHLEEN KENNA
Dissenters face job loss, arrest, threats - But activists not stopped by backlash
Opinion at What Really Happened: 09/13/03
THE RISE OF THE FOURTH REICH
At Online Journal: August 13, 2003
America, the Fourth Reich By Ian Gurney, Online Journal Contributing Writer
""Dictatorships start wars because they need external enemies to exert internal control over their own people." —Richard Perle
"Americans are the new Nazis. ... To say America is a democracy these days is just stretching things too far. ... Let's not mince words, George W Bush stole the presidency of the United States. He is not the democratically elected leader of America. ... this unelected cabal of neo-cons in the White House and the Pentagon have interests other than America at heart. This is not only undemocratic, it is treason. ... A country that is governed by a non-elected power is, as we have seen and heard these last few months concerning Iraq, Iran and North Korea, classed as a "dictatorship". ... "
From New Scientist: 19:00 13 August 03
Gamma-ray weapons could trigger next arms race
From The Guardian: Thursday August 14, 2003
US military pioneers death ray bomb by David Adam, science correspondent
Pentagon project brings fear of new arms race
American military scientists are developing a weapon which kills by delivering an enormous burst of high-energy gamma rays, it is claimed today. The bomb, which produces little fallout, blurs the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons, and experts have already warned it could spark a new arms race. ...
From BuzzFlash: August 15, 2003
If Bush Really Wants to Investigate the Cause of the Largest Blackout in American History, He Should Start with the Vice-President, Tom DeLay and Himself
" ... In June of 2001, Bush opposed and the congressional GOP voted down legislation to provide $350 million worth of loans to modernize the nation's power grid because of known weaknesses in reliability and capacity. ..."
From Greg Palast: Friday, August 15, 2003
POWER OUTAGE TRACED TO DIM BULB IN WHITE HOUSE by Greg Palast
--- The Tale of The Brits Who Swiped 800 Jobs From New York, Carted Off $90 Million, Then Tonight, Turned Off Our Lights
At Information Clearing House: Friday, August 22nd, 2003
Greg Palast on the Real Reasons for Blackout 2003
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/22/1529206
From Reuters: Fri Aug 22, 5:30 AM ET
Japan Ministry Seeks $1 Billion for Missile Defense
TOKYO (Reuters) - Prompted by worries over North Korea, Japan's Defense Ministry is set to make a budget request of more than one billion dollars for the next fiscal year to introduce a missile defense system, media said on Friday. The ministry also plans to boost its air-to-surface attack capability by ordering a GPS guidance system from the United States to convert its airforce's existing bombs into "smart bombs," the Mainichi Shimbun said in its late edition. ...
From The Guardian: Saturday August 23, 2003
Inside story of the hunt for Bin Laden
The al-Qaida leader is said to be hiding in northern Pakistan guarded by a 120-mile ring of tribesmen whose job it is to warn of the approach of any troops.
Rory McCarthy reports
" ... Experts who have been following the attempts of the Pakistanis and the US to find the al-Qaida leader have suggested that:
· The Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, struck a deal with the US not to seize Bin Laden after the Afghan war for fear of inciting trouble in his own country;
· The al-Qaida leader is being protected by a three elaborate security rings which stretch 120 miles in diameter; and
· The Pakistani special forces looking for him are no closer than they were a year ago. .."
From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Sept. 2003
It really is the pits By Christopher Paine
In the Energy Department’s crowded spectrum of technically challenged, hazardous, usually superfluous, but always costly nuclear projects—in the region where the blinking infrared of bureaucratic dysfunction meets the luminous green of pork-barrel politics—the partisans of new nukes detect a ray of hope.
This glimmer is called the Modern Pit Facility (MPF), the administration’s euphemism for a brand new $4 billion factory where new plutonium cores (“pits”) will be fabricated for those “weapons of mass destruction” the president is always lecturing other nations about.
The MPF would be able to produce 250–900 pits per year. Just to set the scale, the midpoint of this annual range would equal or exceed China’s entire nuclear arsenal. Energy says the United States must have the agility to: “rapidly change from production of one pit type to another; simultaneously produce multiple pit types;” and “produce pits of a new design in a timely manner.” But such bomb-making abilities don’t just knock the moral-political props out from under efforts to stem bomb programs in North Korea, Iran, India, and Pakistan. They’re a felonious frontal assault on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty itself. ...
From The NYT: August 26, 2003
Bush, Speaking to Veterans, Says Iraq May Not Be Last Strike By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 - President Bush defended his policy on Iraq today, declaring that the United States had struck a blow against terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. And Mr. Bush said the United States might carry out other pre-emptive strikes. ``No nation can be neutral in the struggle between civilization and chaos,'' Mr. Bush told members of the American Legion gathered in St. Louis for the group's convention.
``We've adopted a new strategy for a new kind of war,'' Mr. Bush said, to loud applause. ``We will not wait for known enemies to strike us again. We will strike them in their camps or caves or wherever they hide, before they hit more of our cities and kill more of our citizens. ... We will do everything in our power to deny terrorists weapons of mass destruction before they can commit murder on an unimaginable scale,'' Mr. Bush said. ``The security of this nation, and our friends, requires decisive action, and with a broad coalition, we're taking that action around the globe. We are on the offensive against terror, and we will stay on the offensive against terror.'' ...
From EurekAlert: 27-Aug-2003
Disparity in wealth is killing democracy, scholar warns
Political system awash in corporate money
From Associated Press at Yahoo: Thu Aug 28,10:27 PM ET
Bush Ends Nuclear Monitoring Program By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is eliminating a small Department of Energy program that monitors radioactive materials at federal sites, triggering questions from a Democratic congressman. ... The Nuclear Materials Stewardship Program was set up to monitor and dispose of surplus nuclear materials, including plutonium and uranium. ... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates the handling and disposal of radioactive waste and materials from research labs, power plants and hospitals.
From TIME Magazine: Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003
Confessions of a Terrorist By JOHANNA MCGEARY
Author Gerald Posner claims an al-Qaeda leader made explosive allegations while under interrogation
From Information Clearing House: 08/31/03
September 11th And The Bush Administration By Walter E. Davis, PhD
Compelling Evidence for Complicity
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 3, 2003
Born in U.S.A.? Not in Miami By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer
In Miami-Dade County, more than half the residents were born in another country.
That's the highest rate for any county in the country.
From AP: Wed Sep 3,11:45 PM ET
Poll: European Support for U.S. Fading By ROBERT WIELAARD
BRUSSELS, Belgium - After the Iraq war, support for U.S. global leadership has faded badly in European nations, most dramatically in Germany and France which strenuously opposed the war, according to a survey released Thursday. ...
From The NYT: September 4, 2003
France and Germany Oppose U.S. Plan for U.N. Role in Iraq By Richard Bernstein
BERLIN, Sept. 4 — The leaders of France and Germany, giving their first response to the Bush administration's turn to the United Nations for help in the occupation of Iraq, announced that their countries would not support an American draft of a Security Council resolution that would authorize both an expanded international force and financial help in Iraq. Meeting in the German city of Dresden today, President Jacques Chirac of France and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany said the American proposal, circulated to the Security Council on Wednesday, did not go far enough in transferring political control of Iraq to the Iraqis or give the United Nations a strong enough role in the proposed international force. ...
From The BBC: Last Updated: Friday, 5 September, 2003, 01:28 GMT 02:28 UK
US to search ships for WMD
The United States and 10 of its allies will press on with plans to intercept vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction despite a warning from China that the move could be illegal. The agreement, reached in Paris, endorses the American Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which President George W Bush announced earlier this year. ...
Comment at The Guardian(UK): Saturday September 6, 2003
This war on terrorism is bogus By Michael Meacher, meacherm@parliament.uk
The 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination
(Please read the comment at The Guardian. It is also copied to this Archive.)
From The Guardian: Saturday September 6, 2003
Meacher sparks fury over claims on September 11 and Iraq war
Fury over Meacher claims
By Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Michael Meacher, who served as a minister for six years until three months ago, today goes further than any other mainstream British politician in blaming the Iraq war on a US desire for domination of the Gulf and the world. Mr Meacher, a leftwinger who is close to the green lobby, also claims in an article in today's Guardian that the war on terrorism is a smokescreen and that the US knew in advance about the September 11 attack on New York but, for strategic reasons, chose not to act on the warnings. ...
The US government last night expressed abhorrence at Mr Meacher's views. An embassy spokesman in London said: "Mr Meacher's fantastic allegations - especially his assertion that the US government knowingly stood by while terrorists killed some 3,000 innocents in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia - would be monstrous, and monstrously offensive, if they came from someone serious or credible." ...
From The Star (Canada): Sep. 7, 2003. 06:34 PM
War on terror report card By HAROON SIDDIQUI
From The Star (Canada): Sep. 7, 2003. 06:36 PM
Reasons to fear U.S. By NOAM CHOMSKY
From Reuters: Mon September 8, 2003 11:26 AM ET
Rumsfeld: Criticism of Bush Strengthens U.S. Foes By Tabassum Zakaria
SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday opposition to the U.S. President was encouraging Washington's enemies and hindering his 'war against terrorism'. ...
From Physics Toady: September 2003
APS Study Points to Severe Limits on Boost-Phase Missile Defense By Jim Dawson
A two-year study challenges many of the assumptions behind the Bush administration's $600 million boost-phase program. Boost-phase missile defense, the strategy of destroying a hostile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as it climbs into the sky during the first few minutes of flight, is virtually impossible in all but a few limited circumstances, according to a 476-page report released in July by the American Physical Society. Although the report's authors were careful not to make any policy statements or recommendations, they did conclude that "when all factors are considered none of the boost-phase defense concepts studied would be viable for the foreseeable future to defend the nation against even first-generation solid-propellant ICBMs." ... For the 2004 budget, the Bush administration has proposed more than $600 million for boost-phase work as part of a $9 billion request for missile defense funding. Of the $600 million, about $60 million is for research on a high-speed interceptor rocket. The remainder is for continuing work on an airborne laser. ... At the unveiling of the study at a 15 July press conference, a reporter asked Kleppner, Lamb, and study staff director David Mosher, a nuclear policy analyst with RAND, if the findings didn't indicate that the millions of dollars going into the program were "money down the drain." All three indicated they would let people draw their own conclusions. William Brinkman, former APS president, added that the "technical results of the report are fairly clear."
From PINR: 08 September, 2003
''China's Distant Threat to U.S. Dominance in Asia'' By: Erich Marquardt
From The NYT: September 10, 2003
ISLAMIC ALLY: Questions Grow on Pakistan's Commitment to Fight Taliban
By DAVID ROHDE
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 9 — Two years after the Sept. 11 attacks, questions are growing about whether Pakistan, a crucial American ally in the campaign against terrorism, is mounting a sincere effort to crack down on a resurgent Taliban and other Islamic militants. The Pakistani military, which dominates the country, is credited by American officials with excellent cooperation in hunting down members of Al Qaeda. But members of the Afghan government and some Pakistani political and intelligence officials suggest that Pakistan is not doing all it could to stop Taliban forces from using its territory to attack Afghan territory, and that some elements of Pakistan's army are harboring Taliban and Qaeda members.
At least three low-level Pakistani army officers have been arrested on charges that they helped Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's chief of operations, hide in the country before his arrest in March, Pakistani intelligence officials said. These officials believe that that the most likely hiding place of Osama bin Laden is in the tribal areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border. Overwhelming public support for Mr. bin Laden among the area's religiously conservative Pashtun tribes continues to thwart efforts to arrest him, they said. Such support is also evident elsewhere. Islamic militants are again operating openly in Pakistan. ...
From Reuters: Wed September 10, 2003 05:11 PM ET
Bush Seeks to Toughen Anti-Terror Law By Randall Mikkelsen
QUANTICO, Va. (Reuters) - Saying the nation's security was at stake, President Bush on Wednesday called on Congress to "untie the hands" of law enforcement and pass tougher anti-terrorism legislation to deny bail to terror suspects and expand those eligible for the death penalty. ...
From Reuters: Wed September 10, 2003 05:27 PM ET
Bush Commemorates 9/11, Vows to Fight Al Qaeda By Randall Mikkelsen
QUANTICO, Va. (Reuters) - On the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush warned on Wednesday that al Qaeda was still plotting against Americans and must be hunted down and defeated. His remarks came as a new al Qaeda audiotape vowed further attacks on U.S. targets. "The memories of September 11th will never leave us. We will not forget the burning towers and the last phone calls and the smoke over Arlington," Bush said in speech at an FBI laboratory. "And we will never forget the servants of evil who plotted the attacks. And we will never forget those who rejoiced at our grief and our mourning," Bush said. ...
From The NYT: September 12, 2003
Exploiting the Atrocity By PAUL KRUGMAN
From The NYT: September 14, 2003
The Tax-Cut Con By PAUL KRUGMAN
At Information Clearing House: (2001)
John Pilger, documentary "The New Rulers of the World"
From Reuters: Sun September 14, 2003 07:16 PM ET
World Trade Talks Collapse in Rich-Poor Rift
By Patrick Lannin and Richard Waddington
CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - World trade talks seen as vital for the global economy collapsed on Sunday after rich and poor states failed to bridge deep divisions over issues ranging from farm reform to new trade rules. ...
From The Independent: 15 September 2003
Japan warns that it will attack if North Korea aims missile By David McNeill in Tokyo
Japan's Defence Minister has stressed his country's right to strike North Korean missile sites if an attack is thought imminent. ... The Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday that he wanted permanent changes to Article 9 - the section that renounces Japan's right to wage war ...
From Forbes: 10.06.03
The Richest People in America
Up from the ashes. After two years of declining values, the rich finally got richer. On this, FORBES' 21st annual edition of The Forbes 400, the aggregate net worth of the nation's wealthiest 400 citizens leapt 10% in the past year, to $955 billion ...
Opinion from The NYT: September 17, 2003
A Tax-Cut Victim
If there was one thing Americans had a right to expect from Congress, it was a federal plan to help the elderly pay for prescription drugs. It is a promise that has been made again and again — in particularly high decibels during the last presidential election. ... Unfortunately, things have changed. The government cannot afford the program now. That is the fault of President Bush and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate. They broke the bank with their enormous tax cuts. The country is facing the largest budget deficit in history, and there is no realistic plan for getting it under control. ... Dropping the proposal is, of course, just what a large chunk of the Republican Party was hoping for all along. For those Republicans, deficits are a useful tool to beat back popular entitlement programs ...
From Global Free Press: posted by ewing2001 on Thursday September 18, @08:53PM
from the INN-Report/GFP dept.
We met Meacher in Boston: "Both Wars were planned in advance before 9/11"
From The (Monroe) Guardian: Thursday September 18, 2003
President George W. Bush's speech in Monroe
" ... The biggest challenge we face is the security of our people. We’ve got to make sure that America is secure from the enemies that hate us. We’ve got to make America secure by having the economy grow so people can find work. ... It doesn’t matter how long it takes, America and many of our friends will find those who will harm the American people and bring them to justice. The only way to win the war on terror is to stay on the offensive. ... The best way to make sure the homeland is secure is to hunt these killers down one by one and bring them to justice, which the United States of America will do. As part of making sure America is secure I’ve laid out a doctrine that says that if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you’re just as guilty as the terrorist. If you provide money to terrorists, you’re guilty and we will hold you accountable. ... Our nation is more secure, the world is becoming more free and therefore more peaceful. ... "
From AFP at SpaceWar: Sep 18, 2003
Germany, France vow to press ahead with EU military
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany and France pledged Thursday to push ahead with plans to develop an autonomous EU military capability, despite criticism that it would double up with NATO. They committed themselves to transforming the European security and defence policy into a full-scale defence union "so that the EU can emerge as a full and equal partner on the world stage." ...
From The BBC: Friday, 19 September, 2003, 17:12 GMT 18:12 UK
Liberia to get 15,000 UN troops
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a force of up to 15,000 peacekeepers for Liberia.
The resolution, proposed by the United States, sets up a UN mission in Liberia to monitor last month's peace agreement between the government and rebels. ... No countries have yet committed troops to the proposed force, but the UN envoy to Liberia is currently holding discussions with several European governments. ...
From The Guardian: Friday September 19, 2003
IMF warns trade gap could bring down dollar By Charlotte Denny and Larry Elliott
The International Monetary Fund yesterday warned that the colossal United States trade deficit was a noose around the neck of the economy, emphasising that the once mighty dollar could collapse at any moment. Arguing that the world's big economies were already too dependent on the willingness of American consumers to live beyond their means, the IMF said the US could not continue to run a current account deficit of 5% of GDP. The IMF's chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said that it was just a matter of time before the gap closed, tipping the dollar into a potentially steep fall. ...
From Reuters: Sat September 20, 2003 11:52 AM ET
Democrats Decry 'Pattern' of Republican Abuses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Linking Texas' bitter standoff over redrawing its voting maps with the effort to recall California's Democratic governor, Democrats on Saturday accused President Bush and Republicans of using political dirty tricks to tighten their grip on power. ...
From LewRockwell.com: September 20, 2003
Neo-Jacobins Push For World War IV by Paul Craig Roberts
From The Guardian: Saturday September 20, 2003
What good friends left behind
Two years ago, as the bombs began to drop, George Bush promised Afghanistan 'the generosity of America and its allies'. Now, the familiar old warlords are regaining power, religious fundamentalism is renewing its grip and military skirmishes continue routinely. What was the purpose? John Pilger reports ...
" ... Today, with Afghanistan "liberated", the pipeline is finally going ahead, watched over by the US ambassador to Afghanistan, John J Maresca, formerly of Unocal. Since it overthrew the Taliban, the US has established 13 bases in the nine former Soviet central Asian countries that are Afghanistan's resource-rich neighbours. Across the world, there is now an American military presence at the gateway to every major source of fossil fuel.."
From Reuters at CNN: September 22, 2003: 11:27 AM EDT
Dollar hits 3-year low vs. yen
U.S. currency drops on signs of less Japanese market intervention; euro also gains on dollar. ...
From The BBC: Last Updated: Monday, 22 September, 2003, 21:04 GMT 22:04 UK
Weak dollar sparks share rout
A drop in the value of the dollar caused stock markets to plunge around the world on Monday. Leading stock market indexes in the US, Japan, France and Germany all fell heavily during the day's trading. The falls were triggered by a statement from the G7 group of rich nations, meeting in Dubai at the weekend, who called for market forces to set exchange rates. The statement hit US stock markets, as investors feared that a laissez-faire attitude towards the weak dollar would deter foreign investment. "If the dollar continues to fall, there is increasing risk that foreign investors will pull money out of US stocks and bonds," said Mike Kayes, chief investment officer at Eastover Capital. ...
From The NYT: September 24, 2003
Report Sees Risks in Push for Missile Defense By WILLIAM J. BROAD
The Bush administration's push to deploy a $22 billion missile defense system by this time next year could lead to unforeseen cost increases and technical failures that will have to be fixed before it can hope to stop enemy warheads, Congressional investigators said yesterday. ...
Dr. Philip E. Coyle III, a former head of weapons testing at the Pentagon, said in an interview that the report showed that if the system was switched on in late 2004, it would be "no more than a scarecrow, not a real defense." ...
At Salon: Sept. 24, 2003
Bad Moon on the rise By John Gorenfeld
Overcoming his church's bizarre reputation and his own criminal record, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon has cemented ties with the Bush administration -- and gained government funding for his closest disciples.
From Newsweek at MSNBC:
The Clark Critique By Gen. Wesley K. Clark
Sept. 29 issue — In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, many in the Bush administration seemed most focused on a prospective move against Iraq. This was the old idea of “state sponsorship”—even though there was no evidence of Iraqi sponsorship of 9/11 whatsoever—and the opportunity to “roll it all up.” I could imagine the arguments. War to unseat Saddam Hussein promised concrete, visible action. I WENT BACK through the Pentagon in November 2001, and one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. ...
From The NYT: Published: September 25, 2003
U.S. Remains Leader in Global Arms Sales, Report Says By THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 — The United States maintained its dominance in the international arms market last year, especially in sales to developing nations, according to a new Congressional report. The United States was the leader in total worldwide sales in 2002, with about $13.3 billion, or 45.5 percent of global conventional weapons deals, a rise from $12.1 billion in 2001. Of that, $8.6 billion was to developing nations, or about 48.6 percent of conventional arms deals concluded with developing nations last year, according to the report. Russia was second in sales to the developing world last year, with $5 billion, followed by France with $1 billion. ...
From Reuters: Thu September 25, 2003 05:57 PM ET
Bush to OPEC Don't 'Hurt Our Economy' By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after OPEC's surprise decision to cut oil supplies, President Bush pressed Saudi Arabia and other cartel members on Thursday not to act in ways that threaten the U.S. economy. ...
From The Telegraph (UK): (Filed: 08/06/2003
Now the US wants control of space By Julian Coman in Washington
"The United States is planning to take control of parts of space and develop patrolling military aircraft in orbit as part of a revived Star Wars proposal for an American military empire above the ozone layer. According to James Roche, the US Air Force Secretary, America's allies would have "no veto power" over projects designed to achieve American military control of space. The key theme of the ambitious plans is described as "negation" - the denial of the use of space for military intelligence, or other purposes, without American endorsement. ...
" ... A fleet of spacecraft will be developed, designed to attack and destroy future satellites of enemies and rivals. The rapid-launch "military space plane," the potential cost of which has not been disclosed, would also be used as a mobile "bodyguard" for US space installations. ...
" ... the Pentagon believes that the struggle to control space will form the next stage of a global arms race. Its plans confirm that America expects space to be "weaponised" in the medium-term future, and is determined to take an unassailable technological lead. ...
"Last month, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Ivanov, repeated Moscow's demands for the complete demilitarisation of space. In March last year, however, Peter Teets, the under-secretary of the air force and director of the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office), said: "I believe that weapons will go into space. It's a question of time. And we need to be at the forefront of that." ..."
From SpaceWar: Sep 29, 2003
Russia Proposes Global Ban On Space Arms
New York - Russia has proposed a global ban on the deployment of weapons in outer space reports Interfax. "We are for preparing a comprehensive agreement on the nondeployment of weapons in outer space and invite countries with space potential to join the Russian initiative," President Vladimir Putin told the 58th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. ...
Next Page, 4th Qtr. '03
Back to Previous Page
Back to Index
|
