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Archived News Articles: NMD and Foreign Policy
2/1/2002 from Reuters:
dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020131/ts/attack_dc_1419.html
US Threatens 'Terror' States, Seeks More Arms
By Anton Ferreira and Sayed Salahuddin
Thursday January 31 6:43 PM ET
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States
threatened on Thursday to impose its own justice on
countries it saw as backing terrorism and unveiled plans
to spend billions more dollars on arms.
``If you're one of these nations that developed weapons
of mass destruction and you're likely to team up with a
terrorist group or you're now sponsoring terror, and you
don't hold the values that we hold dear true to your
heart, then you too are on our watch list,'' President
Bush said in a speech in Atlanta. ...
Although Bush did not mention them by name in his
speech, he was clearly alluding to Iran, Iraq and North
Korea -- the three nations that in his State of the
Union address on Tuesday he charged represented an
``axis of evil.''
Bush said such nations ``better not try to terrorize
America and our friends and allies or the justice of
this nation will be served on them as well.''
Bush's defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, called for
billions of dollars in spending on high-tech weapons to
defend the United States against ``the unknown, the
uncertain, the unseen and the unexpected'' after the
Sept. 11 attacks. ...
2/1/2002 from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/international/01MISS.html
Plan to Stop Missile Threat Could Cost $238 Billion
By JAMES DAO
February 1, 2002
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - Building and operating the major
missile defense programs now under development by the
Bush administration could cost as much as $238 billion
by 2025, according to a study released today by the
Congressional Budget Office.
The study provides one of the most detailed and
comprehensive cost analyses to date of the Pentagon's
missile defense programs, which include ground- and
ship-based missiles and space-based lasers. President
Bush has said he wants to build a "layered" system
capable of shooting down missiles at varying points in
their trajectory. ...
2/2/2002 from The Washington Post:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/698660.asp?pne=msn
Bush budget proposes some deep cuts
Highway, job training funds could be sliced
By Eric Pianin
THE WASHINGTON POST
Feb. 3 - President Bush this week will seek sharp cuts
in highway funding, Army Corps of Engineers water
projects, congressional environmental initiatives, job
training and scores of other domestic programs,
reflecting the darker side of a fiscal 2003 budget that
calls for record spending increases for the military and
for domestic security. ...
... With war expenditures, the economic downturn and a
major tax cut eliminating the once-projected budget
surplus, Bush plans to cut or freeze spending in many
parts of the government and to dip into Social Security
and Medicare funds that previously were off limits,
according to administration officials, congressional
aides and special interest groups. ...
Bush will formally unveil his budget on Monday,
seeking $2 trillion in overall spending in the fiscal
year beginning Oct. 1 for defense, domestic programs,
foreign aid and interest on the national debt. After
several years of surpluses, the new budget projects that
spending will exceed revenue by about $80 billion. ...
2/2/2002 from ABCNews:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/abc/20020202/wl_abc/axis020131
U.S. Watches 'Axis' States
ABCNEWS.com
Fri Feb 1,11:36 PM ET
ABCNEWS' Terry Moran contributed to this report
With the eyes of the nation - and the world - on him,
President Bush this week declared that a new "axis of
evil" - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea - pose a deadly and
unacceptable threat to the United States.
The statement was a significant expansion of the scope
of the war on terror. But his administration apparently
has developed no clear plan to achieve this goal. ...
"We're threatening in a sense to go to war with each of
these three countries," says former National Security
Adviser Sandy Berger. "That's a pretty big battlefield." ...
North Korea responded to Bush's "axis of evil" remark
for the first time today, in a statement carried by its
official news agency KCNA. North Korea said it, "will
never tolerate the U.S. reckless attempt to stifle the
[North] by force of arms but mercilessly wipe out the
aggressors." ...
China also signaled its strong disapproval to the
inclusion of its neighbor North Korea in Bush's "axis"
remarks today. "The Chinese side does not advocate
using this kind of language in international relations,"
said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan. ...
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told reporters
that Bush's portrayal of Iraq "is a stupid statement and
inappropriate of the president of the biggest country."
In Iran, President Mohammad Khatami told his Cabinet
that Bush had committed "an insult to the Iranian
nation."
2/2/2002 from AP:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020202/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_kim_jong_il_2
N. Korea Hints at Military Boost
By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer
Sat Feb 2, 6:36 AM ET
SEOUL, South Korea - Three days after President Bush
said North Korea was part of an "axis of evil," leader
Kim Jong Il said his regime may increase the
capabilities of the world's fifth-largest army to
prevent an invasion. ...
U.S. officials say North Korea is armed with long-range
missiles and up to 5,000 tons of biochemical weapons -
and possibly a few crude nuclear devices. ...
North Korea "is fully capable of fighting a war with the
U.S. It should clearly know that the option to 'strike'
is not its monopoly," KCNA said. ...
2/2/2002 from Reuters:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020202/ts_nm/budget_defense_dc_1&cid=578
Bush Pushes for $120 Billion Defense Budget Boost
By Charles Aldinger
Sat Feb 2,10:18 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the biggest U.S. military
buildup in two decades, President Bush will press
Congress on Monday to raise defense spending by $120
billion over the next five years to $451 billion by
2007, senior U.S. officials said on Saturday. ...
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said they
expected lawmakers to approve next year's 12 percent
budget increase despite major controversy over Bush's
costly plan to build a missile defense system for the
United States. ...
Bush has already announced that he plans to call for an
increase to $379 billion next year to arm and prepare
the U.S. military for war against both "terrorist"
guerrillas and nations in the years ahead.
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, which has toppled that
country's ruling hard-line Islamist Taliban movement and
battered the Afghan-based al Qaeda, is already costing
Washington more than $1 billion a month. ...
Bush's budget includes $7.8 billion for missile defense,
a figure unchanged from the current year. But critics of
the testing program to shoot down missiles from "rogue"
states are concerned over a Congressional Budget Office
estimate this week that it could cost $238 billion over
the next 15-25 years.
2/3/2002 from AP, and TIME.com:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020203/D7HEPA2G0.html
Rumsfeld: Some Al-Qaida Hide in Iran
By MATT KELLEY 02/03/2002 2:52 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) - Some Taliban and al-Qaida members who
escaped Afghanistan have "found refuge" in Iran, Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.
Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials also
charged that Iran was creating instability inside
Afghanistan by funneling arms to various factions within
the country. ...
Iran has helped in creating the interim Afghan
government and raising money to rebuild its
war-shattered neighbor, Secretary of State Colin Powell
said. But President Bush's grouping Iran with North
Korea and Iraq as part of an "axis of evil" supporting
terrorism was justified, U.S. officials said. ...
Iranian officials have denounced Bush's comments and
denied giving any help to the Taliban or Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. Iran's government
had strongly opposed the Taliban regime before its
eventual collapse last year. ...
"We have any number of reports that Iran has been
permissive and allowed transit through their country of
al-Qaida," the secretary (Rumsfeld) said on ABC's "This
Week." ...
Rice and administration officials defended Bush's "axis
of evil" label, saying critics of the phrase should
focus on the three countries' misdeeds, not Bush's
words. North Korea is the source for ballistic missiles
for other hostile countries and Iraq has refused to
allow inspectors to see its weapons of mass destruction
programs, Rice said.
While Bush's speech was not a declaration of war, Powell
and Rice said the president would consider using any
aspect of U.S. power - political, diplomatic, economic
or military - against such terrorist countries.
"We prefer diplomatic ways, political solutions. We're
not looking for a war; we're trying to avoid war,"
Powell said. ...
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,198857,00.html
Did Iran Help al Qaeda Escape?
TIME has learned that officials in western Afghanistan
believed Tehran hard-liners helped terrorists flee
BY TIM MCGIRK/HERAT
Saturday, Feb. 02, 2002
2/3/2002 from Reuters:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20020203/ts_nm/arms_conference_dc_5
U.S., Russia at Odds Over War on Terrorism
By John Chalmers
Sun Feb 3, 8:56 AM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Russia laid bare its
differences with the United States over the war on
terrorism on Sunday, challenging President Bush's attack
on the "axis of evil" and accusing the West of double
standards. ...
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov ... said Russia
had its own list of "rogue states," naming U.S. ally
Saudi Arabia, which Moscow says helps fund Chechen
separatists fighting its own troops: "Not many people in
the West like the fact that we have some commercial ties
with the countries which you describe as rogue states,"
Ivanov said. "Well, we don't like ... some of your
allies like Saudi Arabia or Gulf states who give finance
to terrorist organizations." ... Ivanov also accused
the West of "double standards" for failing to condemn
the Chechens as "terrorists" with the same vigor as they
pursue Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. He
warned that disagreements over who was counted a
terrorist could undermine the U.S.-led coalition Russia
has joined against the Islamists that the United States
blames for the September 11 attacks on New York and
Washington. ...
2/3/2002 from AP:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020202/D7HE5OF00.html
U.S. Allies Express War Reservations
By TONY CZUCZKA
02/02/2002 4:38 PM EST
MUNICH, Germany (AP) - U.S. allies in the war on
terrorism expressed strong reservations Saturday about
signals from Washington that the campaign could be
expanded beyond those responsible for the Sept. 11
attacks to include President Bush's "axis of evil." ...
Several American defense experts said the United States
is prepared to act unilaterally.
"Never has the United States been more unified, never
has it been more purposeful, never has it been more
willing, if necessary, to act alone," said Richard
Perle, a senior Republican foreign policy adviser and
former State Department official. "If we have to choose
between protecting ourselves against terrorism and a
long list of friends and allies, we will protect
ourselves against terrorism." ...
2/4/2002 from AP:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020204/pl/budget_16.html
Bush Unveils $2.13 Trillion Budget
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Monday February 4 12:20 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush sent Congress a $2.13
trillion budget Monday that would provide billions of
dollars in new spending for the war on terrorism and
homeland security while squeezing money from scores of
other programs such as highway and environmental
projects.
After four years of surpluses, Bush's budget projects
the government will go in the red through 2004,
including a $106 billion deficit this year. ...
``The president funds large new tax cuts by tapping
Social Security,'' said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff
director for the GOP-led House Budget Committee. ``Over
10 years, we are depleting $1.5 trillion of the Social
Security trust fund.'' ...
Critics contended Bush was wielding the budget knife to
protect his most prized economic achievement: last
year's passage of a massive $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax
cut. ...
Bush proposes getting $1.2 billion in new revenue by
leasing the drilling rights in Alaska's Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, something strongly opposed by
environmentalists. ...
Also set aside for now is the president's goal last year
of paying off $2 trillion of the national debt to
improve the government's balance sheet in preparation
for the retirement of baby boomers.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
2/4/2002 from Space.com
http://www.space.com/news/rumsfeld_space_020204.html
Space Goal Part Of U.S. Military Transformation
By Leonard David, Senior Space Writer
posted: 10:00 am ET, 04 February 2002
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - U.S. President George W. Bush
is proposing a nearly $380 billion Pentagon budget that
helps overhaul America's military might, including
strengthening U.S. capabilities in space. ...
"Hardening U.S. space systems and building capabilities
to defend our space assets could dissuade adversaries
from developing and using small killer satellites to
attack and cripple U.S. satellite networks. New
earth-penetrating and thermobaric weapons could make
obsolete the deep underground facilities where today
terrorists hide and terrorist states conceal their
weapons of mass destruction capabilities," Rumsfeld
said. ...
According to SPACE.com sources, one new space-based
weapon is dubbed a "thunder rod" - a non-nuclear device
hurled from Earth orbit that damages select targets on
the ground. ...
The Department of Defense has been "reorganized and
revitalized" to move forward on missile defense research
and testing "free of the constraints" of the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Rumsfeld said, and "to
better focus on space capabilities."
Rumsfeld said "defending the U.S. requires prevention,
self-defense and sometimes preemption." ...
2/5/2002 from Reuters:
dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020205/ts/attack_iran_kharrazi_dc.html
Iran Moves to Ease Tension with U.S.
By Ali Raiss-Tousi
Tuesday February 5 1:58 PM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran moved Tuesday to ease tension
with the United States, seeking help from Washington to
arrest any al Qaeda fighters who may have fled to the
Islamic republic from Afghanistan.
``Instead of waging negative propaganda, the Americans
had better give us any information they have so that we
go after them and keep them out of Iran,'' he (Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi) told a news conference. ...
2/5/2002 from AP:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/powell_34
Powell Dismisses Iraq Talks Offer
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Tue Feb 5, 4:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - An Iraqi offer conveyed through the
Arab League for a dialogue with the United Nations drew
a curt and negative response Tuesday from Secretary of
State Colin Powell. "It should be a very short
discussion," Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. "The inspectors have to go back on our
terms." ...
On another subject, Powell took a big step toward
agreement with Russia on cuts in U.S. and Russian
long-range nuclear weapons stockpiles. ... On Tuesday,
Powell told the Senate committee, "We do expect it will
be legally binding." He said the administration was
considering an executive order by the President or even
a treaty, something senior administration officials have
dismissed as a tedious and out-of-date approach. ...
Questioned about Bush's designation of Iran, Iraq and
North Korea as an "axis of evil," Powell said, "There
are others in this category." He did not identify them.
Meanwhile, he said the designation "does not mean we are
not ready to engage in dialogue" with Iran, Iraq and
North Korea. For instance, Powell said, "We are ready to
talk to North Korea any time they are ready to come back
to the table," and without preconditions. ...
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