Archive By Date | Today's Links to Search By
Activists' News | Nuclear | Depleted Uranium | Military | Police
Alternative Energy Etc. | From Subscribers
NUCLEAR
Powell Draws Mixed Reviews from Nonproliferation Experts
Abraham Leaving Energy Department
Asia-Pacific powers target terror, nuclear arms, trade
Baroness Symons Welcomes Nuclear Agreement
Old uranium is a killer
German arrested in Switzerland in Libya nuclear probe
German Scientist Arrested in Nuclear Probe
U.N. Finds No Nuclear Bomb Program in Iran
Europeans Say Iran Agrees to Freeze Uranium Enrichment
U.S. is skeptical of Europe-Iran nuclear solution
Nuclear accord upsets Iran press
Text of Iran-EU nuclear agreement
'Iran tried to acquire N-equipment at Lavizan'
Securing nuclear materials unfinished
Nuclear-power Industry Sees Signs Of A Revival
Nuke plant decommissioning 'progressing'
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
Salem Nuclear accused of ignoring repairs
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
Nuke plant decommissioning 'progressing'
Waste can stay in N.M., EPA rules
A New Vision for Nuclear Waste
MILITARY
In Sudan, a Sense of Abandonment Victims See Little Help From Outside
U.N. Imposes Arms Embargo on Ivory Coast
U.N. Imposes Arms Embargo on Ivory Coast Amid Violence
EU urged to maintain China arms sales ban
Russia Ready to Supply Weapons to Iraq - Defense Minister
Ex-Boeing CFO Pleads Guilty in Druyun Case
Lockheed Martin Delivers Reliable Net-Centric Communications To Iraq
Sarkozy, Clement want balance of power to be maintained at EADS
China faces up to growing unrest
Colombia Proposes 10-Year Terms for Paramilitary Atrocities
Few Foreigners Among Insurgents
Insurgent strikes many
U.S. and Iraqis Continue Battle Against Rebels in Mosul
Insurgent Attacks Spread In Iraq
Fallujah Battered And Mostly Quiet After the Battle
Rebels Attack in Central Iraq and the North
Palestinians Hold Meeting Among Rivals About Power
Rumsfeld Urges Latin American Cooperation
2 top CIA officers quit after clash with Goss staff
CIA Chief Seeks to Reassure Employees E-Mail Sent After 2 Officials Resign
C.I.A. Churning Continues as 2 Top Officials Resign
Killing the messenger
Russia Claims U.S. Spy Plane Spotted Near Black Sea Border
Former G.I.'s, Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go
Punishment recommended for soldiers who refused
Iraq Casualties
Marines Probe Apparent Slaying of Wounded Iraqi
CAPTIVES TV Report Says Marine Shot Prisoner
Military Bases Are Told Not To Sponsor Boy Scout Troops
Punishment Urged for Reservists Who Disobeyed
Trial Begins for Three Kosovo Albanians Accused of War Crimes
POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE
Supreme Court Rebukes Texas Again Over a Death Sentence
Poppies Retain Powerful Hold on Afghanistan
Homeland Security Employees Required to Sign Secrecy Pledge
Approval Imminent for National WMD, Terrorism Response Plan
U.N. Chief for Human Rights Raises Concern on Falluja
FBI Faulted in Arrest of Ore. Lawyer
POLITICS
Iraq Gained $21 Billion Illicitly, Senate Panel Says
Nevada's Reid tapped to lead shrunken Senate Democratic caucus
Powell Announces His Resignation
Analysis Moves Cement Hard-Line Stance On Foreign Policy
Bush Nominates Rice to Replace Powell at State Department
As Powell Leaves, Hardliners Make Their Move
Congressmen urge Bush to drop guest-worker plan
Nevada's Reid tapped to lead shrunken Senate Democratic caucus
VOLUSIA COUNTY ON LOCKDOWN
ENERGY
Green Car Sets Speed Record
Abraham resigns from DoE
Some Steps Taken on Critical Energy Issues, but No Breakthroughs
OTHER
Terror Informant Ignites Himself Near White House
Election Over, McCain Criticizes Bush on Climate Change
E.P.A. Says Enforcement Shows Results
-------- NUCLEAR
Powell Draws Mixed Reviews from Nonproliferation Experts
Global Security Newswire
By Mike Nartker
November 16, 2004
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004_11_16.html#92702479
WASHINGTON - On the day he announced his resignation, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday received mixed reviews from experts for his handling of arms control and nonproliferation issues (see GSN, Oct. 27).
Powell formally submitted his letter of resignation to President George W. Bush on Friday. During a press conference yesterday to announce his departure, Powell said he had "always" indicated to the president his intent to serve four years as secretary of state.
"As we got closer to the election and the immediate aftermath of the election, it seemed the appropriate time and we were in mutual agreement that it was the appropriate time for me to move on," Powell said.
Bush issued a statement yesterday thanking Powell for his service, calling him "one of the great public servants of our time."
"He is a soldier, a diplomat, a civic leader, a statesman, and a great patriot. I value his friendship. He will be missed. On behalf of all Americans, I thank him for his many years of service," Bush said.
During his tenure, Powell has had to address a number of arms control and nonproliferation issues, ranging from a successful effort with Russia to negotiate the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty - which calls for cuts to both countries' deployed nuclear arsenals - to halting suspected nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea.
Nonproliferation experts yesterday provided a mostly downbeat assessment of Powell's record on such issues, with some saying that his views received little attention within the administration.
Never before has a secretary "entered with such great expectations and left with such meager results," said Joseph Cirincione, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nonproliferation Project.
Instead, Undersecretary of State John Bolton played a larger role than Powell concerning nonproliferation issues, according to William Potter, director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Bolton has been called a leading neoconservative in the administration.
Arms Control Association Executive Director Daryl Kimball yesterday, though, described Powell as leaving behind "a mixed legacy" regarding nonproliferation. Kimball praised Powell's efforts to have the White House engage North Korea on its nuclear program, as well as the secretary's support for negotiations on a treaty to ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Kimball also said, though, that Powell had "not succeeded" in some areas, such as achieving a permanent solution to the North Korean nuclear issue.
One issue likely to loom large in Powell's legacy, according to experts, is the administration's allegation that Iraq possessed widespread WMD capabilities prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. In February, Powell presented a detailed overview to the United Nations of prewar Iraq's alleged WMD efforts in an attempt to gain international support for the war. Powell's presentation was later found to contain a number of errors, and coalition inspectors have determined that prewar Iraq did not possess WMD stockpiles or large-scale programs to produce them at the time of the U.S. invasion.
"We'll have to see in his memoirs what he has to say about that," said Charles Pena, director of defense policy studies at the CATO Institute.
Kimball said, though, that it was Powell's influence that led the Bush administration to go before the United Nations in the first place before invading Iraq.
Experts said that Powell's departure will remove a key voice of moderation from the Bush administration.
"There's really not a moderate voice left," Cirincione said.
Potter said that Powell's departure, along with the resignation of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, would likely increase the influence of the Defense Department in arms control and nonproliferation issues "in the short term."
In his remarks yesterday, Powell said that he would continue to serve as secretary of state until a replacement is in place.
Earlier today, Bush nominated national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to replace Powell. Citing people close to Rice, the New York Times reported today that she had wanted to either replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense or return to Stanford University, where she had previously been provost, but would serve as secretary of state if asked.
In addition to Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has also decided to leave the State Department, according to reports. Armitage's departure was hinted at yesterday during a department press briefing.
"I think all of us realize that the two of them, Secretary Powell and Deputy Secretary Armitage, have been a very successful team," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "So there's generally the expectation that it's like Bosnia: in together, out together."
Boucher also suggested yesterday that other department officials may also leave following Powell's departure.
"I do know personally for me and for many others that there was a something about working for Secretary Powell that made us sort of stay in jobs longer than we might otherwise have done. And so for, I think, various people it might be time to move on. We'll just have to see how that sorts itself out," he said.
-----
Abraham Leaving Energy Department
Nonproliferation Efforts Won Praise
By Greg Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52857-2004Nov15.html
Spencer Abraham joined the exodus from President Bush's Cabinet yesterday, submitting his resignation as energy secretary after four years of running a department that faced a series of high-profile challenges.
Abraham's watch coincided with the California energy crisis of 2001, the collapse of Enron and the energy-trading market, last year's investigation of a major blackout in the Midwest and Northeast, record oil and gasoline prices, and stepped-up efforts to secure Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the repository for the nation's nuclear waste.
He worked to destroy nuclear stockpiles in Russia and to reorganize his department's nonproliferation offices, winning praise from the International Atomic Energy Agency for his efforts. Abraham also was an enthusiastic advocate for advancing research into hydrogen power.
The administration's signature effort during his tenure was a change in direction in national energy policy. But the package of legislation pushed by Bush and Vice President Cheney, who both had ties to the energy industry in their days as businessmen, remains stalled in conference committee.
Abraham, 52, said in his letter to the president on Sunday that he is proud of his accomplishments but needs to spend more time with his wife and three young daughters.
The former Republican senator from Michigan was an unlikely choice for secretary of energy. He had no experience in the energy field and once even advocated abolishing the department. The easygoing Abraham wound up winning generally good reviews, although critics charged that he went along with an administration that was too friendly to industry.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Abraham served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle before being elected to the Senate in 1994. His primary area of expertise was his home state's auto industry.
"Going into the job without a strong energy background, I thought, was a huge asset for him, that he wasn't automatically aligned with oil or coal or gas. He really could approach all of the different energy sectors with an evenhanded approach," said former Michigan governor John M. Engler, who heads the National Association of Manufacturers and is a friend of Abraham's.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, praised Abraham for his bipartisan spirit.
"He was always willing to hear our perspective, which I appreciate," Bingaman said. "I think he's had a very difficult job" because Cheney has clearly been the administration's lead voice on energy policy, the senator added.
Advocates for the environment and for alternative energy say Abraham did not provide leadership during a time of increasing concern about global warming and dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Although the Bush administration deserves credit for making energy policy a national priority, it produced a strategy that relies too heavily on fossil fuels, said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park.
Abraham's successor will have to pick up the matter and push Congress to act, experts said, as well as deal with the unresolved matter of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Abraham said he will stay in office until a successor is confirmed. If that stretches beyond Inauguration Day, Jan. 20 -- which is likely -- he will qualify as the longest-serving energy secretary.
After leaving office, Abraham plans to stay in the Washington area and work in private business, Engler said.
Staff writer Dafna Linzer in New York contributed to this report.
-------- asia
Asia-Pacific powers target terror, nuclear arms, trade
Nov 16, 2004
Agence France Presse
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041116/wl_asia_afp/apec_041116232630
SANTIAGO (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) and partners in the Asia-Pacific axis converge to thwart North Korea (news - web sites)'s nuclear weapon plans, press the "war on terror" and rip away trade barriers.
Foreign and trade ministers were gathering Tuesday in Santiago, against the backdrop of the soaring peaks of the Andes, for a two-day conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (news - web sites) forum.
The talks, a fuzzy combination of official agendas and informal political arm-twisting, aim to produce a strong message for a weekend summit of the 21 APEC (news - web sites) leaders, including US President George W. Bush (news - web sites).
A massive security operation had yet to reach its peak a day before the ministerial meeting began.
At the airport, security was low-key.
Military-style police screened officials and their bags on entry to the Espacio Riesco conference center. Three police on horseback stood in a field of hip-high grass on one side of the building.
Santiago and its five million inhabitants are under surveillance by at least 3,500 police, officials said.
Radical groups plan a student march Wednesday.
The Chilean Social Forum said it would hold a rival summit, and a protest march on Friday through the center of Santiago.
Broader security risks will occupy the policymakers.
Powell -- vowing to work hard until the "very, very end" as he announced his resignation Monday -- set his sights on North Korea, which has refused to participate in six-country talks to end its nuclear weapons drive.
"(We will) make sure that we use our alliances in Asia and the partnerships we have in Asia to keep pressing to find a solution to the North Korean nuclear program," Powell said at a news conference in Washington Monday, two days before his arrival.
Bush, who announced Tuesday that his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), will succeed Powell, seems bound to push his core agenda, the "war on terror" and the Iraq conflict.
In the runup to the talks, the US leader called Philippine President Gloria Arroyo to patch up relations, soured when she withdrew Filipino troops from Iraq at the demand of insurgents who took a Filipino truck driver, Angelo de la Cruz, hostage.
The terrorism stakes in Asia are high.
Indonesia has suffered a spate of attacks this decade by the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people died.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group has been kidnapping foreigners in the southern Philippines.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra initially cancelled plans to attend the November 20-21 summit due to a surge of violence in the mainly Muslim south, although officials confirmed Sunday that he would attend.
Asia-Pacific leaders also want to wrench back their role as the standard bearers for free trade.
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, who arrives Wednesday, touted a batch of one-on-one free trade agreements with Singapore, Chile and the United States. Talks are under way for deals with Peru and Thailand, he said.
"The United States hopes to work with others to build on APEC's market-opening efforts," he said in Washington.
APEC powers are struggling over how to deal with a growing network of free-trade agreements. They also hope to inject new dynamism into a major round of World Trade Organization (news - web sites) negotiations, begun in Doha, Qatar in 2001.
Business leaders in the APEC Business Advisory Council have called on the APEC leaders to put some zip in the free-trade agenda by studying setting up their own Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
Taiwan said it backed the scheme.
"Chinese Taipei has expressed our view of approval on the issue of the FTAAP," Huang Chih-Peng, director of the Board of Foreign Trade, said at a news conference, according to an official translation of his remarks.
He recognized, however, that some APEC members had reservations, noting that APEC economies differed hugely. It was unclear how much support the plan will get from APEC, which generally shirks binding agrements.
APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea (news - web sites), Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
-------- britain
Baroness Symons Welcomes Nuclear Agreement and Looks Forward to Deepening Co-Operation Between UK and Iran
Scotsman.com
16 Nov 2004
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3766832
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE News Release issued by the Government News Network on 16 November 2004
I am delighted to welcome HE Eng Eshaq Jahangiri, Minister of Industry and Mines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to London and to meet him this afternoon. His visit is especially timely. Yesterday's agreement on Iran's nuclear programme and future co-operation between Europe and Iran provides a framework within which both sides can build mutual confidence. It is vital that the agreement should be fully implemented, to allow this process to begin. Over the next few months, I hope we will be able to make progress in a wide range of areas. I have been discussing with the Minister how this might be taken forward. I hope his visit will show the great potential for co-operation between the UK and Iran, if we can achieve the necessary political basis, and mutual confidence.
Notes for Editors:
1. The agreement came into force on 15 November 2004.
2. The text of the agreement is set out below:
AGREEMENT
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with the support of the High Representative of the European Union (E3/EU), reaffirm the commitments in the Tehran Agreed Statement of 21 October 2003 and have decided to move forward, building on that agreement.
The E3/EU and Iran reaffirm their commitment to the NPT.
The E3/EU recognise Iran's rights under the NPT exercised in conformity with its obligations under the Treaty, without discrimination.
Iran reaffirms that, in accordance with Article II of the NPT, it does not and will not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. It commits itself to full cooperation and transparency with the IAEA. Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol voluntarily pending ratification.
To build further confidence, Iran has decided, on a voluntary basis, to continue and extend its suspension to include all enrichment related and reprocessing activities, and specifically: the manufacture and import of gas centrifuges and their components; the assembly, installation, testing or operation of gas centrifuges; work to undertake any plutonium separation, or to construct or operate any plutonium separation installation; and all tests or production at any uranium conversion installation. The IAEA will be notified of this suspension and invited to verify and monitor it. The suspension will be implemented in time for the IAEA to confirm before the November Board that it has been put into effect. The suspension will be sustained while negotiations proceed on a mutually acceptable agreement on long-term arrangements.
The E3/EU recognize that this suspension is a voluntary confidence building measure and not a legal obligation.
Sustaining the suspension, while negotiations on a long-term agreement are under way, will be essential for the continuation of the overall process. In the context of this suspension, the E3/EU and Iran have agreed to begin negotiations, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement on long term arrangements. The agreement will provide objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes. It will equally provide firm guarantees on nuclear, technological and economic cooperation and firm commitments on security issues.
A steering committee will meet to launch these negotiations in the first half of December 2004 and will set up working groups on political and security issues, technology and cooperation, and nuclear issues. The steering committee shall meet again within three months to receive progress reports from the working groups and to move ahead with projects and/or measures that can be implemented in advance of an overall agreement.
In the context of the present agreement and noting the progress that has been made in resolving outstanding issues, the E3/EU will henceforth support the Director General reporting to the IAEA Board as he considers appropriate in the framework of the implementation of Iran's Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol.
The E3/EU will support the IAEA Director General inviting Iran to join the Expert Group on Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle.
Once suspension has been verified, the negotiations with the EU on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement will resume. The E3/EU will actively support the opening of Iranian accession negotiations at the WTO.
Irrespective of progress on the nuclear issue, the E3/EU and Iran confirm their determination to combat terrorism, including the activities of Al Qa'ida and other terrorist groups such as the MeK. They also confirm their continued support for the political process in Iraq aimed at establishing a constitutionally elected Government.
FCO Press Office: 020 7008 3100
Press Office, Downing Street (West), London SW1A 2AH Telephone: 020 7008 3100 Fax: 020 7008 3734
-------- depleted uranium
Old uranium is a killer
Nov. 16, 2004
Pulitzer Central Coast Newspapers
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2004/11/16/sections/opinion/111604letters.txt
David Baskett's case in his letter, "Old Uranium and its uses," is written by a corporate cheerleader. Depleted Uranium (DU) is the Uranium 238 isotope with U234 and U235 removed. As a result, alpha particle emissions are increased, creating a greater internal hazard to life.
The Pentagon tested this toxic waste during the 1973 Arab/Israeli war. When DU slams into a target, it becomes pyrophoric and up to 70 percent becomes vaporized, rendering it toxic dust. The Department of Energy recently admitted that DU-contaminated uranium has been processed with neptunium, plutonium and U236 at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant in Kentucky.
During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, physicist Doug Rokke was assigned to direct a military clean-up of allied vehicles hit by DU. Within eight months of their mission, the first of his team died from larynx cancer due to inhaled DU dust which permeated Iraq. All members of this team have died from a variety of cancers.
The military/industrial complex told us the lie that Agent Orange was safe for our troops in Vietnam. The same military/industrial complex tells us that DU is safe. Corporate cheerleaders tell us daily that toxic sludge is good for you.
James Murr Santa Maria
-------- europe
German arrested in Switzerland in Libya nuclear probe
(AFP)
Nov 16, 2004
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041116153508.k00blpu5.html
KARLSRUHE, Germany - A German engineer has been arrested in Switzerland on suspicion of helping Libyan efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, German federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
The 61-year-old, identified only as Gotthard L., was detained on Saturday in the Swiss canton of St Gallen on an international arrest warrant.
He is suspected of helping to develop a gas centrifuge to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons over a two-year period from 2001, for which he was paid between four and five million Swiss francs (3.4 million and 4.25 million dollars), a statement from the prosecutors said.
His arrest follows others linked to what investigators believe is a network of mainly Dubai-based engineers who supplied nuclear equipment and know-how to Libya.
The network is believed to be linked to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who admitted this year to supplying nuclear technology to other countries.
Another German man, Gerhard W., was arrested in August and released on bail by German authorities before being re-arrested in South Africa in September.
And last month, German authorities arrested Urs Tinner, a 39-year-old Swiss engineer, on suspicion of involvement in the ring.
Libya announced last year that it was abandoning attempts to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons after months of secret negotiations with London and Washington.
-----
German Scientist Arrested in Nuclear Probe
Nov 16, 2004
Associated Press
By DAVID RISING
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_re_eu/germany_libya_nuclear_2
BERLIN - A 61-year-old German engineer became the latest European scientist arrested on suspicion of helping Libya's now abandoned effort to build a nuclear bomb, German prosecutors said Tuesday.
Swiss authorities arrested the engineer, identified only as Gotthard L., on Nov. 13 in the canton of St. Gallen, acting on an international warrant, according to the German federal prosecutor's office.
The name of a German living in Switzerland, Gotthard Lerch, has previously emerged in investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.
The engineer was arrested on suspicion that he helped in the development of a gas centrifuge to enrich uranium for use in atomic weapons, for a fee of up to $4.25 million, said Frauke Scheuten, a spokeswoman for the German prosecutor's office.
The arrest came during an investigation into the nuclear proliferation network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist who admitted in February that he passed nuclear technology to other countries, and was the latest involving a European, according to prosecutors.
In August, German authorities arrested Gerhard Wisser, whom they described as a main suspect. He was released on bail but re-arrested in South Africa in September. Gotthard L.'s home was searched at the time, but authorities lacked evidence to arrest him, prosecutors said. Last month, they arrested Swiss engineer Urs Tinner, 39, on allegations he was a member of the ring.
The three are accused of attempting to deliver centrifuge parts made by a South African company to Libya between 2001 and 2003 at the request of Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan who prosecutors said was a middleman between the network and Libya.
The parts were shipped to Dubai and loaded onto a German-registered freighter with false customs papers, headed for Libya, but are not believed to have reached their destination, prosecutors said.
The IAEA said in January that Pakistani scientists were involved in selling technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (news - web sites). The Pakistani government detained several scientists, including Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb and a national hero. He admitted to the charges but was pardoned by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
The agency's announcement came a month after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi renounced his weapons programs - a move meant to help rebuild relations with the West. The European Union (news - web sites) last month ended 12 years of sanctions against Libya and eased an arms embargo, and the United States lifted most of its commercial sanctions in April.
-------- iran
U.N. Finds No Nuclear Bomb Program in Iran
Agency Report and Tehran's Deal With Europe Undercut Tougher U.S. Stance
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52673-2004Nov15.html
In its most positive assessment of Iran in two years, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported yesterday that it had found no evidence the nation had a nuclear weapons program and that Tehran's recent cooperation with the agency has been very good.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog's report, along with Europe's acceptance of a wide-ranging nuclear agreement with Tehran, capped a pivotal day for the Islamic republic's relations with the West and left little chance for the Bush administration's Iran strategy to succeed in the near term.
U.S. officials, who agreed to discuss policy on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that both the IAEA's upbeat tone and the European deal deeply undercut the White House's diplomatic drive to confront Iran now with the prospect of international sanctions.
"We still think they should go to the U.N. Security Council, but it's clear no one is with us on that right now," one senior policymaker said.
Instead, the administration will focus on lobbying IAEA board members to approve more aggressive inspections in Iran and an automatic referral to the Security Council if Tehran breaks any part of the European deal, U.S. policymakers said.
President Bush's senior foreign policy officials are expected to discuss wording for the resolution and a strategy for the IAEA's Nov. 25 board meeting in Vienna over the coming days.
On Sunday, Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear programs in exchange for European guarantees that it will not face the Security Council as long as their agreement holds. Iran has said its programs are for energy production, but the equipment and expertise could also be used for making weapons.
Officials from the State Department and the National Security Council were briefed by European diplomats in Washington yesterday and raised concerns regarding one item in the deal.
In a last-minute concession to Iran, the three European powers agreed that the suspension would begin Nov. 22 and that until then Iran would complete converting up to 15 tons of raw uranium to a state that makes it nearly ready for enrichment. The process still leaves Iran a long way from being able to make bomb-grade uranium, and the converted material would be stored by the IAEA, but its insistence on completing that work worried U.S. officials.
The IAEA said it would start tagging and sealing equipment at other facilities first and move on to the conversion plant on Nov. 22. Inspectors need to complete the verification by the time the IAEA board meets three days later.
"We believe that the conclusion of this agreement can both allow for confidence-building in respect of Iran's nuclear program and represent a significant development in relations between Europe and Iran," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday as he confirmed the deal.
Throughout European capitals there were toasts for the deal, and Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said it started a "new chapter" for Iran.
In addition to the suspension, the agreement commits Iran to support two U.S.-led endeavors: the war against al Qaeda and efforts to establish a democratic government in Iraq. Iran is holding several senior al Qaeda leaders and exerts significant influence in neighboring Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the deal indicated "a little bit of progress," but no other official would comment publicly on it. Administration spokesmen said the government was reviewing the IAEA report and the agreement.
In his 32-page report yesterday, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei wrote that "all the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities," such as weapons programs.
ElBaradei said there he could not rule out the possibility that Iran is conducting a clandestine nuclear weapons program. But its decision to suspend work aimed at developing a new energy source could make it more difficult to pursue a covert program. "It becomes harder to conceal without legitimate activities," said Robert Einhorn, who ran the State Department's nonproliferation bureau until 2001.
Several outstanding issues remain in the Iran investigation, mostly due to missing Iranian paperwork and a lack of cooperation from Pakistan, which supplied much of Iran's nuclear equipment. But ElBaradei wrote that Iran's cooperation had increased and that he would no longer need to issue special reports on a regular basis.
Over 18 years, Iran secretly assembled uranium enrichment and conversion facilities that could be used for a nuclear energy program or to construct an atomic bomb. The underground sites became a target of a massive IAEA investigation after they were exposed by an Iranian exile group two years ago.
Iran, rich in oil and gas, says its efforts are aimed at building a new energy source. But the scale and secrecy of the program fueled suspicions that Tehran planned to develop nuclear weapons.
While the IAEA inspections will continue, Iran and Europe's three main powers will begin talks for a final accord that would give Iran lucrative trade deals with the EU when it permanently halts its nuclear work.
An Iranian diplomat, Hassan Rohani, said the negotiations "will be a matter of months, not years." But European officials insisted the talks will be open-ended to avoid time-pressured negotiations. One European diplomat said Europe expected the negotiations to last two years or more.
--------
Europeans Say Iran Agrees to Freeze Uranium Enrichment
November 16, 2004
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16iran.html?pagewanted=all&position=
PARIS, Nov. 15 - France, Britain and Germany announced Monday that they had reached a formal agreement with Iran committing the country to freeze a critical part of its nuclear program in exchange for an array of possible rewards.
Under the complex but limited agreement, intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear bombs, Tehran has agreed to suspend all of its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities while it negotiates the benefits it is to receive.
While both sides were relieved to reach an agreement, neither seemed particularly satisfied. Both sides had to make hard concessions, and the pact fell far short of the comprehensive deal the Europeans had hoped for, by which Iran would permanently stop enriching uranium.
Iran is the second largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the announcement of the deal appeared to have calmed fears in the commodities markets, propelling crude oil prices to their lowest levels in almost two months.
"We believe that the conclusion of this agreement can both allow for confidence-building in respect of Iran's nuclear program and represent a significant development in relations between Europe and Iran," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain said in a written statement. "It is essential now for the agreement to be implemented in full."
In Brussels, Javier Solana, the European Union's senior foreign affairs official, said the deal could open the way for "a solid, long-term agreement" with Iran if there could be "lasting confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."
Enriched uranium has become a contentious issue because it can be used to make nuclear weapons as well as fuel for nuclear power plants.
The Bush administration reacted cautiously to the announcement, saying top officials wanted to study the agreement's details before endorsing it. But Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that "we have seen a little bit of progress, hopefully, over the last 24 hours."
Administration officials said conservative hard-liners, most notably John R. Bolton, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security, were highly skeptical that Iran would carry out the accord without cheating. Officials were also said to be concerned that by itself the deal might lead to complacency that the problem of Iran's suspected nuclear arms program was being addressed.
The Europeans were deeply embarrassed after Iran violated a much vaguer agreement to suspend enrichment activities that was reached in Tehran 13 months ago. This time, the Europeans insisted that Iran accept the new agreement as negotiated and rejected Iran's attempts in the last several days to modify it.
In a related development, the United Nations agency that monitors nuclear programs said Iran had informed the agency that it would suspend its uranium enrichment program starting a week from now. That step, which covers verification and monitoring, was a necessary part of the pact with the Europeans.
But the agency, known as the International Atomic Energy Agency, did not totally reject the view of the United States and the three European countries that Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons, saying it could not rule out covert activities.
"All the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities," the agency said in a report, referring to possible weapons activity. "The agency is, however, not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran."
Under the agreement with the Europeans, there must be "objective guarantees" that Iran's nuclear program "is exclusively for peaceful purposes." In exchange, the Europeans must provide "firm guarantees on nuclear, technological and economic cooperation and firm commitments on security issues."
Specifically, Iran agreed to suspend "the manufacture and import of gas centrifuges and their components," all work on plutonium separation and the construction or operation of any plutonium separation installation, and "all tests or production at any uranium conversion installation."
Last year's agreement said nothing about the production and assembly of centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, and when inspectors from the United Nations agency caught Iran building them, the Europeans felts duped.
The agreement also commits both sides to combating terrorist activities, including those of Al Qaeda and the Iranian opposition group known as the People's Mujahedeen.
Once the suspension of enrichment is verified, the European Union will restart negotiations on a trade and cooperation agreement with Iran. It will also "actively support" negotiations for Iran to enter the World Trade Organization, a move that the Bush administration has blocked and can continue to block.
Iran's leadership has steadfastly held to the position that Iran is not engaged in a nuclear weapons program but has the sovereign right to enrich uranium. So as a face-saving gesture, the agreement says Iran's suspension of enrichment activities "is a voluntary confidence-building measure and not a legal obligation."
Hassan Rowhani, Iran's chief negotiator on nuclear issues, reiterated that point in a news conference in Tehran on Monday, calling uranium enrichment "Iran's right," and adding that "Iran will never give up its right to enrich uranium."
He also said the suspension during negotiations for the incentives package "will be a matter of months, not years," an assertion that the Europeans immediately rejected.
"Suspension must remain in force until the I.A.E.A. gives Iran a clean bill of health," said one European official. "If the suspension is lifted the process is deemed to have broken and we, the Europeans, will withdraw and go to the Security Council."
Making concessions on its nuclear program has been widely unpopular inside Iran, and Mr. Rowhani was put on the defensive by conservative Iranian journalists.
When a reporter for the official Islamic Republic News Agency remarked, "The reason Iran has given so many concessions is because the Iranian team was weak," Mr. Rowhani replied that the country's best diplomats had conducted the negotiations and "this is the outcome of our best diplomacy."
Another Iranian journalist cited an interview in an Iranian newspaper that accused Iran of giving "a pearl in exchange for a lollipop."
"That's not true," Mr. Rowhani shot back.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Tehran for this article, and Steven R. Weisman from Washington.
--------
U.S. is skeptical of Europe-Iran nuclear solution
November 16, 2004
By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20041115-102908-2962r.htm
Washington reacted skeptically yesterday to the news of a short-term negotiated solution between Iran and Europe whereby Tehran said it would temporarily freeze its uranium-reprocessing activities.
European policy-makers, however, hailed the agreement as an important step toward a long-term settlement.
In the deal cut with Britain, France and Germany, Iran managed to duck being brought before the U.N. Security Council, frustrating U.S. demands that Iran be punished for what it claims is Tehran's covert nuclear-weapons program.
"It is an attempt by Iran to forestall being reported to the Security Council and an attempt to separate us from our European allies," said a U.S. government official familiar with the issue.
"It's not OK with us," the official said, but then added: "It's worth something. The Europeans will have told the Iranians if they screw this up, they will report them to the Security Council."
The administration repeatedly has demanded that Iran permanently stop enriching uranium, seen as a potential first step toward developing nuclear arms. Iran, a major oil producer, insists that its nuclear program is geared only toward generating electricity.
The White House took a cautious approach to the announcement yesterday, with spokesman Scott McClellan saying that Washington wanted to discuss the accord further with its allies.
"We will have more to say after we've had the opportunity to learn more about the specific details," Mr. McClellan said. "At this point, we have not had that opportunity."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States will "be looking to the International Atomic Energy Agency to be able to verify the commitments on suspension and to be able to report, we hope, if the Iranians really do comply."
But France and Britain both heartily welcomed Iran's pledge to suspend uranium enrichment by Nov. 22 as an important step in the drawn-out diplomatic effort to bring Iran back into the international fold.
"We believe that the conclusion of this agreement can both allow for confidence-building in respect of Iran's nuclear program and represent a significant development in relations between Europe and Iran," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday issued a report stating that all the declared nuclear material in Iran had been accounted for.
But IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei added that the agency was "not yet in the position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials" that could be used in a weapons program.
The deal between Tehran and the three European nations revealed that Iran was looking for a comprehensive aid and trade package with Europe in exchange for a longer-term agreement.
The U.S. government official predicted that a final accord would be months, if not years, away.
Details of the current pact were not clear, and Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, insisted Iran's ultimate goal was a full nuclear-fuel cycle, including uranium enrichment - deemed legal under IAEA protocols.
"It is no problem if Iran wants to start uranium enrichment," Mr. Rohani said on state television. "Based on the agreement, it is said the Europeans will support Iran to become a member of the fuel-cycle club."
Mr. Rohani said Iran hoped that the deal with Europe would help nudge Iran off the nuclear agenda of the IAEA, where the United States has been holding Tehran's feet to the fire regarding its nuclear ambitions.
Europe won two important concessions from Tehran in the deal - a suspension on the production of uranium tetraflouride, a precursor to the gas used in centrifuges, and the length of that freeze.
In exchange, once the suspension is verified, Europe will actively support Iran's negotiations to enter the World Trade Organization and restart a trade and cooperation agreement it had with Tehran.
"This is a big deal for Iran," said Valerie Lincy, nuclear-arms control research associate at the Wisconsin Project. "If they had not arrived at an agreement, there was a pretty strong chance Europe would have supported the Security Council option."
But whether the United States would endorse the deal, and how warm its endorsement is, is an open question.
"It's not a defeat, and it's not a victory. It's more of a wait-and-see," she said.
•This article is based in part on wire service reports.
--------
Nuclear accord upsets Iran press
bbc
16 November, 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4015525.stm
The Iranian press is unhappy at the deal Tehran has agreed with the European Union to suspend most of its uranium enrichment in a bid to resolve the dispute over its nuclear programme.
Most commentators think the agreement shows Iran in a weak light, although some take solace that the country has been given the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
This is undoubtedly an unlimited suspension of uranium enrichment. It is exactly the same illegitimate and illegal demand from European countries which Iran had previously clearly rejected.
Kayhan
What Iran has agreed is the cessation of uranium enrichment under the name of a long term and a full scale suspension. No one can offer this right to foreigners before it is ratified in the Majlis [parliament]. If Iranian negotiators think that Iran's dossier won't be sent to the UN Security Council, they should know that first, there is nothing to guarantee this. But secondly, we shouldn't be afraid of it.
Jomhuri-ye Eslami
No major changes have been made in Iran's nuclear dossier. However Iranians had expected to obtain more than what we have got.
Khorasan
At least the agreement, though not desirable, has prevented the emergence of a consensus between the US and the European countries against Iran's nuclear technology.
Shargh
Iranians have every right to know the details of the current and the earlier agreements between Iran and the European countries. Perhaps the most recent agreement was the best possible but the negotiators should explain to the people what had weakened Iran's position in the nuclear negotiations.
Aftab-e-Yazd
The EU big three ultimately accepted our right to use nuclear technology for civil use. The key point in the latest agreement is that Iran's right to peaceful nuclear activities has been established.
Iran Daily
BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
-----
Text of Iran-EU nuclear agreement
tehrantimes.com
November 16, 2004
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=11/16/2004&Cat=2&Num=007
TEHRAN (MNA) -- The Mehr News Agency received a copy of the final text of the recent nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the European Union. Following is the text of agreement:
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with the support of the High Representative of the European Union (E3/EU), reaffirm the commitments in the Tehran Agreed Statement of 21 October 2003 and have decided to move forward, building on that agreement.
The E3/EU and Iran reaffirm their commitment to the NPT.
The E3/EU recognize Iran's rights under the NPT exercised in conformity with its obligations under the Treaty, without discrimination.
Iran reaffirms that, in accordance with Article II of the NPT, it does not and will not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. It commits itself to full cooperation and transparency with the IAEA. Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol voluntarily pending ratification.
To build further confidence, Iran has decided, on a voluntary basis, to continue and extend its suspension to include all enrichment related and reprocessing activities, and specifically: the manufacture and import of gas centrifuges and their components; the assembly, installation, testing or operation of gas centrifuges; work to undertake any plutonium separation, or to construct or operate any plutonium separation installation; and all tests or production at any uranium conversion installation. The IAEA will be notified of this suspension and invited to verify and monitor it. The suspension will be implemented in time for the IAEA to confirm before the November Board that it has been put into effect. The suspension will be sustained while negotiations proceed on a mutually acceptable agreement on long-term arrangements.
The E3/EU recognize that this suspension is a voluntary confidence building measure and not a legal obligation.
Sustaining the suspension, while negotiations on a long-term agreement are under way, will be essential for the continuation of the overall process. In the context of this suspension, the E3/EU and Iran have agreed to begin negotiations, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement on long-term arrangements. The agreement will provide objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. It will equally provide firm guarantees on nuclear, technological and economic cooperation and firm commitments on security issues.
A steering committee will meet to launch these negotiations in the first half of December 2004 and will set up working groups on political and security issues, technology and cooperation, and nuclear issues. The steering committee shall meet again within three months to receive progress reports from the working groups and to move ahead with projects and/or measures that can be implemented in advance of an overall agreement. In the context of the present agreement and noting the progress that has been made in resolving outstanding issues, the E3/EU will henceforth support the Director General reporting to the IAEA Board as he considers appropriate in the framework of the implementation of Iran's Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol.
The E3/EU will support the IAEA Director General inviting Iran to join the Expert Group on Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle.
Once suspension has been verified, the negotiations with the EU on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement will resume. The E3/EU will actively support the opening of Iranian accession negotiations at the WTO.
Irrespective of progress on the Nuclear issue, the E3/EU and Iran confirm their determination to combat terrorism, including the activities of Al Qa'ida and other terrorist groups such as the Mek. They also confirm their continued support for the political process in Iraq aimed at establishing a constitutionally elected Government.
--------
'Iran tried to acquire N-equipment at Lavizan'
IranMania.com
November 16, 2004
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=27047&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
LONDON, Nov 16 (IranMania) - Iran tried to acquire equipment that could have been used in uranium enrichment at the Lavizan site in Tehran which the United States says was used for developing weapons of mass destruction, the UN atomic agency said in a report Monday.
Iran gave this new information only last month about Lavizan, a plot of land from which buildings and topsoil were removed over the past year.
Iran has said the site was razed since the Defense Ministry was returning the land to the city of Tehran, after having used it since 1989 for a physics research center studying casualties due to possible nuclear attacks, the report said.
But it said "in October 2004, Iran provided some information to the agency" about the physics research center trying "to acquire dual use materials and equipment that could be useful in uranium enrichment or conversion activities."
The IAEA has found "no evidence of nuclear material" from "vegetation and soil samples" it has taken at Lavizan but said this may be because all the topsoil had been removed.
Suspicion has surrounded the Lavizan site since satellite images from a US commercial firm showed that buildings which had been there in August 2003 had been razed to the ground by March 2004 and that topsoil had been taken away.
The Washington think tank the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said on its website that this set alarm bells ringing "because it is the type of measure Iran would need to take if it was trying to defeat the powerful environmental sampling capabilities of IAEA inspectors."
Environmental sampling involves swipes taken to find traces of radiation.
Washington claims that Iran is hiding an atomic weapons program and has urged the IAEA The United States has been pushing to have the U.N. Security Council impose sanctions on Iran for allegedly contravening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The IAEA also took environmental samples from "two whole body counter," machines, designed to measure radiation on humans, which were connected with Lavizan "and a trailer said to have contained one of the containers while it was located at Lavizan," the report said.
The IAEA said it was still looking, however, for the trailer that contained the other counter, in order to check it for radiation that might show what sort of work the Iranians were doing at Lavizan.
According to Reuters, the IAEA said the UN inspectors were investigating attempts by Iran to acquire materials that could be used for uranium enrichment at a razed site called Lavizan, which Washington suspects may have been linked to atomic arms work.
The IAEA found no traces of nuclear materials at Lavizan but acknowledged that Iran's decision to completely raze the site made it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
Iran has acknowledged producing a small amount of plutonium, which can be used as fuel in nuclear weapons, but told the IAEA it had carried out no plutonium-related activities after 1993. The IAEA has been investigating plutonium solution stored in bottles in Iran to verify this.
The IAEA said in the report that "the age of the plutonium solution in the bottles appeared to be less than the declared 12-16 years" and that "the plutonium could have been separated after 1993."
According to AFP, the IAEA meanwhile also said in the report that it had requested to visit the military complex of Parchin, 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Tehran, "in order to provide assurance regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities at that site" but was still waiting for permission to go there.
Iran has denied carrying out any nuclear-related work at Parchin, but a senior US official told AFP in September that the United States was concerned about high-explosives testing in Parchin that may "amount to (nuclear) weapons intent".
The official said the concern about Parchin was that the Iranians may be working on testing "high-explosive shaped charges with an inert core of depleted uranium" as a sort of dry test for how a bomb with fissile material would work.
The official said the IAEA had, according to verbal accounts, dropped the mention of Parchin in its September 1 report on Iran, as well as a reference to concern about Iran's work with beryllium.
Beryllium has civilian applications but can also be used in combination with polonium to make a neutron initiator that is effectively a trigger for a nuclear bomb.
However, the IAEA will continue to investigate the discovery of traces of enrichment uranium found in Iran and other issues that have never been satisfactorily explained. The uranium traces raised concerns that Tehran had been secretly enriching uranium for use in weapons.
The IAEA said it has no evidence to support such suspicions.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
Securing nuclear materials unfinished
Abraham leaves his mark on Energy Department
San Mateo County Times
By Ian Hoffman
November 16, 2004
http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2538314,00.html
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham lasted longer than most of his predecessors in an agency that he once hoped to abolish and a job that often has been a political dead end.
Abraham did not elaborate on his own future in his resignation letter Monday to President Bush, but it's clear that several of his initiatives with the greatest potential impact will remain incomplete when he leaves office.
Abraham shook up security in the nation's nuclear-weapons complex, expanded efforts to secure foreign nuclear materials and ordered consolidation of U.S. nuclear material.
Breaking more than 60 years of tradition, he ordered management of the world's first nuclear weapons lab, Los Alamos, operated by the University of California since 1943, put up for competitive bid.
What happens in those areas could determine who looks after the majority of U.S. nuclear bombs and warheads, and how secure
A-bomb ingredients at home and abroad will be.
But as Washington insiders speculated on Abraham's replacement, the talk was of gas prices and energy policy, matters over which the energy secretary can have surprisingly little influence.
Two of the three prospective nominees are well known in energy and political circles, but not viewed as know-
ledgeable about nuclear weapons, nonproliferation policy or nuclear security.
Retiring Sen. John Breaux, D-La., has close ties to the oil and natural gas industry and supports President Bush's plans to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. He deflected accusations in mid-1990s that several companies were shortchanging the government by underestimating the royalties due on oil and gas harvested from federal lands. Because he is a Democrat and a former senator, Breaux could offer an easy confirmation.
Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute trade group, also is mentioned as an Abraham replacement. He is a former Yale classmate and a loyal friend of the president, as well as a Bush "pioneer," raising more than $100,000. In the 2004 election, Kuhn assembled Bush contributions from electric company CEOs.
Abraham's deputy, Kyle McSlarrow, is often mentioned as a successor. He runs the Energy Department day-to-day and heads a joint U.S.-Russian Energy Working Group set up by Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is well-liked on Capitol Hill and well-versed in nonproliferation and security issues.
The next secretary will inherit the massive task of negotiating tighter security for Russian nuclear facilities, clean-out of highly enriched uranium -- the material most easily made into a nuclear bomb -- from dozens of unsecure research reactors and the costly tightening of security at U.S. nuclear facilities.
Abraham's critics say he took too long to tackle each of those problems, especially securing Russian weapons materials.
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, said she hoped the next secretary would be "productive and innovative (at) returning nonproliferation efforts to the administration's priority list."
But on toughening security at home, domestic critics often underestimated the resistance within the Energy Department and its network of factories and laboratories.
"While they had been paying lip service to security, they really hadn't been (improving security) and he made them," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group.
It took the agency almost three years to upgrade the estimated terrorist threat to its nuclear materials facilities after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. This new number of potential attackers, known as the "design basis threat" and issued a few months ago, could drive hundreds of millions of dollars in new security arrangements, depending on how fast an energy secretary presses the issue.
Last summer, Abraham promised to review storage of nuclear materials nationwide, including hundreds of pounds of plutonium and uranium at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Lab officials acknowledge some material is waste residue and can be removed. But they say they need much of what remains, plus more for new research on exotic methods of plutonium separation and the experimental fashioning of weapons components.
Security critics say the work can be performed at more secure facilities elsewhere, such as the Nevada Test Site, away from residential neighborhoods.
"For the first time, a secretary of energy said, 'Do we really need these materials at Livermore? Let's look at that.' That's a big step for a secretary to even ask the question," Brian said. "I hope he set the standard for the next secretary."
Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman@angnewspapers.com .
----
Nuclear-power Industry Sees Signs Of A Revival
The Day
11/16/2004
By KATHRYN KRANHOLD
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=A591E7EE-DFDA-413B-B466-C3681A16D32C
New York- The nuclear-power industry is laying the groundwork to build new plants in the U.S. for the first time in more than two decades.
Buoyed by the re-election of President Bush, whose administration has pushed to expand nuclear power as part of its national energy plan, the industry sees a window of two to three years in which the political environment could make it easier to win approval for new projects.
Late last week, two separate consortiums consisting of power companies and reactor makers received word that the Department of Energy would share in the cost of obtaining regulatory approval for new nuclear reactors. The two groups expect the cost of winning that approval to be about $500 million apiece, due to the detailed engineering and testing required by regulators for new reactors.
"There's lots of enthusiasm for what we're trying to accomplish here," said William D. Magwood IV, director of the Energy Department's office of nuclear energy, science and technology. "If both of these goes to fruition, we could see new nuclear plants by 2014."
In part, the revived prospects for nuclear power stem from the volatile energy market and concerns about global warming, which are forcing utilities and their power-generation vendors to consider alternatives. Faced with skyrocketing natural-gas prices and uncertainty about the costs of containing carbon emissions from coal-fired plants, electric companies believe nuclear plants are becoming more economically competitive and safer.
They are also being driven by manufacturers - General Electric Co. and its longtime rival Westinghouse Electric Co., along with a new entrant, Canada's Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., or AECL - who are looking to sell newly designed reactors into the long-dormant U.S. market, which dried up in the early 1980s amid public outcry over safety and investors' dismay over high costs. Since then, the companies have continued to build reactors overseas in Asia and Europe; GE currently is nearing completion of new reactors in Taiwan. But the U.S. remains the most coveted market because of its economic might and hunger for new sources of energy.
While opposition to new plants is likely to be fierce, the companies and Energy Department hope to win approval for construction from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as early as 2009.
The Energy Department also is pushing to overcome legal and regulatory hurdles to establish a depository for used nuclear fuel in Nevada. Power companies say they won't build new plants without a storage site. They currently store spent fuel at their plants.
To be sure, the power companies and their reactor makers are being cautious not to commit formally to new plants. Longtime proponents of nuclear energy, fearful of being burned by policy changes, are seeking solid government guarantees before proceeding. The collapse of support for nuclear power in the 1980s cost the industry billions of dollars.
So far, the proposed new plants would be built at existing facilities. One group, led by Virginia's Dominion Resources Inc., is proposing to build a new reactor, designed by AECL, on a site in Mineral, Va., where a nuclear plant has operated since 1980.
A second, much larger consortium led by Exelon Corp. and Entergy Corp., plans to select in 2007 a newly designed reactor from either GE or Westinghouse for a potential new plant. The consortium, NuStart Energy Development LLC, hasn't selected a site but is considering existing locations in Clinton, Ill., and Port Gibson, Miss.
GE and Westinghouse, longtime competitors since they built their first reactors in the 1950s, are marketing new reactors that they say are more economical to build and operate. GE says its design takes a new approach to safety, relying on an automated system triggered by gravity instead of human operators to release 360,000 gallons of water to flood a core containing radioactive fuel if it becomes necessary to prevent a meltdown. The design attempts to eliminate human error, which contributed to the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pa.
Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse, which was acquired by the British government in 1999, recently received approval from the NRC for its own new reactor design, which has safety features similar to those of the GE reactor. The approval enables it to begin offering customers clearer cost estimates and construction schedules, and the company, which has invested close to half a billion dollars on its latest reactor, is hoping to land contracts to build new reactors for China in the next year. "This opens up possibilities for us," said Westinghouse Chief Executive Steve Tritch.
By contrast, GE has so far invested about $100 million in its new design. But under Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, it is aggressively pursuing regulatory approval for its new design. "The opportunity exists for the industry to come together around the right technology for a new nuclear plant," said John Rice, chief executive of GE Energy, one of the conglomerate's two biggest businesses.
Electric companies also won't have to carry the entire financial burden this time around. GE, Westinghouse and government-owned AECL say they will share the financial risks of building new nuclear plants. That could include providing loans or equity to utilities that build new plants or construction budget guarantees. Such support was missing in the 1970s and 1980s when utilities got clobbered by billions of dollars in cost overruns, among other things.
Nuclear power currently accounts for nearly 20 percent of all the electricity produced in the U.S., compared with 51 percent coal and 17 percent natural gas. To maintain that mix, the industry says new plants must be built in the U.S. as older ones are retired.
One big challenge, however, is convincing the public that nuclear energy is safe. Opponents charge that utilities aren't adequately maintaining existing plants to prevent possible accidents.
The nuclear industry points to a strong overall safety record since the Three Mile Island accident, in which no one was killed, though a small amount of radioactive material leaked into the atmosphere. But the 1986 explosion and deadly aftermath at the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear plant - which was caused by major design flaws and by engineers who were conducting unauthorized tests - continues to haunt the public's view of nuclear power. More recently, a deadly explosion in Japan this year, in which a steam pipe broke because of poor maintenance, caused five deaths.
"Reactors aren't inherently safe," said David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union for Concerned Scientists, a group that monitors the industry.
Lochbaum, who has sat in on hearings on the new reactor designs, said he thinks they are safer because they have fewer pieces of equipment to operate and maintain.
But "a lot of those new features haven't been tested yet except in cyberspace," he said. Nuclear opponents also worry that new plants could become targets of terrorist attacks.
Said GE's Mr. Rice, "You've got all this hysteria. You still have in the rearview mirror Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, which people haven't forgotten about." Reactors made by Westinghouse and GE already dot the U.S. landscape. Of the 103 reactors currently operating, 49 use Westinghouse-owned designs and another 34 have GE-made models.
For now, utility executives are hedging their bets on the new reactors, saying each has its pros and cons and they prefer to make a final judgment when they see pricing and final designs. Though Westinghouse is ahead with design approval, some executives expect that GE's new model could be cheaper because it will produce more electricity and spread capital costs across bigger plants.
GE's new design has no large water pipes entering the lower portion of a reactor below the fuel core. The risk in older models is that if those pipes, which carry water in and out of the vessel, burst, water could flow rapidly out of the container's bottom and leave the core uncovered. GE's new design places the pipes above the core so water can't drain out as quickly in case of an accident.
In case of accidents, both GE's and Westinghouse's designs use gravity rather than operator-run pumps to force water in and out of reactor vessels and flood the area surrounding the core containing fuel. GE's reactor also holds more water.
The NuStart consortium says that cost as much as design will determine its choice of a reactor. A new GE reactor that can provide power to about 1.5 million households could cost roughly $1.8 billion, or 20 percent less than its current model. Westinghouse's reactor, which is smaller, could cost about $1.14 billion once the costs associated with doing detailed engineering plans are recovered.
Building two of AECL's newest reactors, which would produce the same amount of power as one of GE's, would cost about $1.89 billion. But Canada stresses that unlike other reactors, its design doesn't require the plant to be shut down during regular, lengthy refuelings. They argue to utilities that that will increase their revenue during the several weeks such refueling typically takes.
The Department of Energy cautions that these construction estimates are overly optimistic and new plants are likely to cost more. Still, proponents argue that nuclear power is efficient. Nuclear power, they note, costs about $1.71 a kilowatt-hour to operate over the life of a plant, compared to $1.85 for coal and $4.06 for gas, according to industry estimates. In addition, nuclear doesn't emit pollutants, while coal's carbon emissions contribute to global warming.
"I cannot see any energy future ... without an expanded nuclear base," John Rowe, Exelon's chairman and chief executive, told a group of managers at a climate policy meeting this summer.
-------- connecticut
Nuke plant decommissioning 'progressing'
11/16/2004
The Middletown Press
By JOSH MROZINSKI
http://www.middletownpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13371354&BRD=1645&PAG=461&dept_id=10856&rfi=6
MIDDLETOWN -- The decommissioning of the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power plant continues to progress, according to a company spokeswoman.
An update of the progress will be given at tonight's Community Decommissioning Advisory Committee meeting at the Connecticut Light & Power building on Randolph Road.
"Since we started self-performance work last fall, decommissioning is about 50 percent complete," Kelley Smith, spokeswoman for the plant, said. "As of this week we'll have 26 casks on the fuel storage pad."
The decommissioning process, which began in 1998, involves demolishing buildings and moving 43 spent-fuel and greater than Class-C Waste into dry casks at a storage area which is three-quarters of a mile from the plant. Greater than Class-C Waste is cut-up metal from the reactor vessel.
The spent-fuel and waste will eventually be transported to Yucca Mountain in Nevada when it opens. Smith said the fuel transfer will be completed by the first quarter of 2005.
Smith said they've started to take down the turbine building and have three buildings and structures now undergoing demolition. Five buildings and structures, she said, have been demolished.
She said the two-story building involved in the late September fire has been torn down. The fire broke out in the building during demolition. Workers were outside of the building pulling down steel beams when the fire broke out.
The workers were cutting the steel beams with torch cutting equipment. The beams became hot from the cutting, and the insulation that was behind the beams caught fire when it was exposed to the air from the workers pulling down the beams.
There were no injuries in the fire.
"Overall, things are moving very smoothly and we are making good progress," Smith said.
Hugh Curley, chairman of the Community Decommissioning Advisory Committee, said condition reports will be reviewed at the meeting. Demolition, he said, seems to be speeding up while the radiological activity has entered a regular pace.
He said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which couldn't attend the late September meeting, will report on the last six months of the plant's decommissioning.
And talk about how to demolish the containment dome, he said, will continue. The question is more about how to get rid of the bulky waste and its schedule than how the dome should be demolished, he said. The waste could be taken away on barge or on the river.
He thinks the plant will take the route of its sister plant, Maine Yankee, in Wiscasset. Curley, who witnessed the destruction of the dome in June, said at the meeting that the blast left a 75-foot high pile of ruble.
The columns were wrapped to keep the blast from spreading debris.
Curley said there also might be a discussion on what the future community oversight of the storage site will look like.
"There should be a vehicle to call management to the table," Curley said.
To contact Josh Mrozinski, call (860) 347-3331, ext. 222 or jmrozinski@middletownpress.com.
-------- delaware
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
By JOHN SULLIVAN
November 16, 2004
nytimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/nyregion/16salem.html?ex=1101272400&en=5b30a0ee783857da&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1
Two years ago, federal regulators uncovered problems with a critical system in one of three reactors at the Salem nuclear power station in South Jersey. But when regulators returned last July, the company that owns the reactor, P.S.E.G. Nuclear L.L.C., still had not fixed the endangered system, and the regulators said that if it was not fixed, the reactor would have to be shut down. The repairs were finally made, and the regulators declared themselves satisfied.
But last month, during an emergency shutdown at the reactor, that same system, the high-pressure coolant-injection system, malfunctioned, and operators at the plant had to turn to other equipment to make sure the reactor did not overheat dangerously. Federal investigators, who launched an immediate investigation, said recently that they do not believe that the earlier problems with the cooling system were the cause of the malfunction during the October emergency. But they said their inquiry was continuing at the troubled plant, where for months regulators and private consultants have found serious problems with equipment, maintenance and the ability of employees to raise safety concerns.
"To the best of my knowledge, there is no way the two issues could have a common cause," Eugene W. Cobey, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission official in charge of the investigations at Salem, said in a recent interview, referring to the repairs that were made to the system and the problems it had last month. "They are totally separate issues."
Other experts are not so sure. David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said it was too early to rule out a connection between the July repairs and the October malfunction. After reviewing federal reports describing the repairs, Mr. Lochbaum said it was possible that the changes had contributed to the malfunction, although he said further tests would have to be made to discover the actual cause. "That remains to be answered," he said.
The most recent investigation comes at a difficult time for the Salem station, which is the country's second-largest nuclear plant in terms of power generation. In a nine-month investigation that concluded this summer, federal regulators and technical consultants found maintenance problems such as a leaky generator and malfunctioning pumps. Some employees said they were reluctant to report maintenance problems for fear of angering their supervisors. P.S.E.G. Nuclear has pledged to spend millions to fix the aging equipment and has promised to ensure that employees feel free to report any new problems. The N.R.C. has placed the company under increased scrutiny until all the repairs are made.
The high-pressure coolant-injection system was not one of the areas that attracted the concern of regulators during the nine-month investigation. The system is an important piece of equipment, but it is rarely used. It is designed to shoot tremendous amounts of water - about 5,000 gallons per minute - into the reactor to ensure that overheating does not occur.
The system, which helps maintain water levels that adequately cover the nuclear fuel, is considered critical because if the water ever dropped below the fuel, it could result in a meltdown. Unsatisfied with the company's efforts to fix the two-year-old problems with the system, regulators determined in July that it was not capable of delivering enough water in extreme conditions, like very high pressure inside the reactor. The company solved the problem by increasing the size of openings in pipes that deliver water to the reactor, enabling the system to pump more water in a shorter time. The regulators signed off on the improvements.
But then came the emergency last month. A steam pipe burst in a building outside the reactor, and the control room operators turned to the high- pressure coolant-injection system to stabilize water levels as the plant was shut down. But, according to the N.R.C., the operators were forced to use other equipment when a circuit breaker repeatedly shut off a vacuum pump on the system.
Experts like Mr. Cobey and Mr. Lochbaum disagree on whether changing the pipe openings might have increased stress on the vacuum pump. P.S.E.G. officials have said they do not believe there is a connection between the malfunction and the July repairs. The question is expected to be addressed by the company and regulators before the system is reactivated.
Some critics have asked why P.S.E.G. did not perform more intensive tests before restarting the system in July. The company said it was not required to perform the more intensive tests because it had not made any fundamental changes to the system.
The nuclear reactor involved in the shutdown, the Hope Creek reactor, has remained offline since the shutdown in October. The company said managers had decided to keep it closed to perform long-scheduled repairs. The closing was originally scheduled to last 52 days, and P.S.E.G. says the repairs are on schedule so far.
The three reactors that make up the Salem station are on the Delaware River about 15 miles south of Wilmington. The station provides about 60 percent of the electric power supplied to P.S.E.G.'s two million electricity customers in New Jersey.
Company officials say the closing is not expected to have any impact on consumers. Before the reactor returns to service, P.S.E.G. will report to the N.R.C. on the causes of the equipment problems and on its repair efforts.
-------- new jersey
Salem Nuclear accused of ignoring repairs
November 16, 2004
By JEROME MONTES Staff Writer, (856) 794-5115
Press of Atlantic City, NJ,
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cumberland/111604NUCLEARSAFETY2.cfm
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TOWNSHIP - A former employee of the Salem Nuclear Generating Station says a decision to restart the facility's idle Hope Creek reactor without making repairs to a water re-circulation pump could have disastrous consequences.
Dr. Kymn Harvin was a former manager at the plant who says she was fired in 2003 for raising safety concerns. She has since filed a "whistleblower" lawsuit against Public Service Enterprise Group's nuclear division, which owns the facility.
Harvin said sources within the facility informed her PSEG officers plan no repairs for a section of the pump subject to severe vibrations.
The pump provides coolant for Hope Creek's reactor core. Nuclear watchdog groups say the vibrations could lead to a break in the pump's piping and a worst-case scenario known as a "loss-of-cooling-water" incident.
"If everything works as designed, the reactor core will not overheat and fail despite such a pipe break," said Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "If one or more safety systems fails, the result could be meltdown."
"Once again PSEG officers have put profits and production ahead of ensuring the safety of employees and the public," Harvin said. "It is pretty tough for employees to hold the line on safety when their bosses make bad decisions like this one."
PSEG spokesman Skip Sindoni disputed Harvin's statement. He said no final decision has been reached regarding repairs or replacing parts.
Sindoni said an independent team examining the pump concluded there was no need for repairs to the vibrating section.
"But the leadership here is still discussing the issue," he added. "We haven't made a final decision yet. We won't restart the plant until we're confident it's safe to do so."
The plant has drawn heavy criticism from federal regulators and independent consultants on numerous safety issues and maintenance problems.
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently investigating an Oct. 10 steam leak that prompted the shutdown of Hope Creek reactor, one of three at the plant. The reactor has remained idle since then for repairs and refueling.
Hope Creek has suffered other mishaps since the leak. A Freon leak on Oct. 28 temporarily restricted access to the building's second floor. On Nov. 3, a worker was hospitalized after fracturing his fingers and suffering slight radiation contamination.
NRC officials said Monday their investigators are still evaluating the re-circulation pump.
Harvin maintains PSEG's decision has been made. She says issues at the pump only surfaced because of the actions of another unidentified employee who was terminated for raising safety concerns.
Harvin added the pump has been in disrepair for years because PSEG has been unwilling to spend the millions of dollars needed to fix it.
"PSEG keeps saying safety is its top priority," she said. "If that was true, it would be a no-brainer to replace this pump instead of taking chances with everyone's safety."
To e-mail Jerome Montes at The Press:
JMontes@pressofac.com
-----
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
November 16, 2004
NY TIMES
By JOHN SULLIVAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/nyregion/16salem.html
wo years ago, federal regulators uncovered problems with a critical system in one of three reactors at the Salem nuclear power station in South Jersey. But when regulators returned last July, the company that owns the reactor, P.S.E.G. Nuclear L.L.C., still had not fixed the endangered system, and the regulators said that if it was not fixed, the reactor would have to be shut down. The repairs were finally made, and the regulators declared themselves satisfied.
But last month, during an emergency shutdown at the reactor, that same system, the high-pressure coolant-injection system, malfunctioned, and operators at the plant had to turn to other equipment to make sure the reactor did not overheat dangerously. Federal investigators, who launched an immediate investigation, said recently that they do not believe that the earlier problems with the cooling system were the cause of the malfunction during the October emergency. But they said their inquiry was continuing at the troubled plant, where for months regulators and private consultants have found serious problems with equipment, maintenance and the ability of employees to raise safety concerns.
"To the best of my knowledge, there is no way the two issues could have a common cause," Eugene W. Cobey, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission official in charge of the investigations at Salem, said in a recent interview, referring to the repairs that were made to the system and the problems it had last month. "They are totally separate issues."
Other experts are not so sure. David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said it was too early to rule out a connection between the July repairs and the October malfunction. After reviewing federal reports describing the repairs, Mr. Lochbaum said it was possible that the changes had contributed to the malfunction, although he said further tests would have to be made to discover the actual cause. "That remains to be answered," he said.
The most recent investigation comes at a difficult time for the Salem station, which is the country's second-largest nuclear plant in terms of power generation. In a nine-month investigation that concluded this summer, federal regulators and technical consultants found maintenance problems such as a leaky generator and malfunctioning pumps. Some employees said they were reluctant to report maintenance problems for fear of angering their supervisors. P.S.E.G. Nuclear has pledged to spend millions to fix the aging equipment and has promised to ensure that employees feel free to report any new problems. The N.R.C. has placed the company under increased scrutiny until all the repairs are made.
The high-pressure coolant-injection system was not one of the areas that attracted the concern of regulators during the nine-month investigation. The system is an important piece of equipment, but it is rarely used. It is designed to shoot tremendous amounts of water - about 5,000 gallons per minute - into the reactor to ensure that overheating does not occur.
The system, which helps maintain water levels that adequately cover the nuclear fuel, is considered critical because if the water ever dropped below the fuel, it could result in a meltdown. Unsatisfied with the company's efforts to fix the two-year-old problems with the system, regulators determined in July that it was not capable of delivering enough water in extreme conditions, like very high pressure inside the reactor. The company solved the problem by increasing the size of openings in pipes that deliver water to the reactor, enabling the system to pump more water in a shorter time. The regulators signed off on the improvements.
But then came the emergency last month. A steam pipe burst in a building outside the reactor, and the control room operators turned to the high- pressure coolant-injection system to stabilize water levels as the plant was shut down. But, according to the N.R.C., the operators were forced to use other equipment when a circuit breaker repeatedly shut off a vacuum pump on the system.
Experts like Mr. Cobey and Mr. Lochbaum disagree on whether changing the pipe openings might have increased stress on the vacuum pump. P.S.E.G. officials have said they do not believe there is a connection between the malfunction and the July repairs. The question is expected to be addressed by the company and regulators before the system is reactivated.
Some critics have asked why P.S.E.G. did not perform more intensive tests before restarting the system in July. The company said it was not required to perform the more intensive tests because it had not made any fundamental changes to the system.
The nuclear reactor involved in the shutdown, the Hope Creek reactor, has remained offline since the shutdown in October. The company said managers had decided to keep it closed to perform long-scheduled repairs. The closing was originally scheduled to last 52 days, and P.S.E.G. says the repairs are on schedule so far.
The three reactors that make up the Salem station are on the Delaware River about 15 miles south of Wilmington. The station provides about 60 percent of the electric power supplied to P.S.E.G.'s two million electricity customers in New Jersey.
Company officials say the closing is not expected to have any impact on consumers. Before the reactor returns to service, P.S.E.G. will report to the N.R.C. on the causes of the equipment problems and on its repair efforts.
-------- pennsylvania
Nuke plant decommissioning 'progressing'
Middletown Press
By JOSH MROZINSKI
11/16/2004
http://www.middletownpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13371354&BRD=1645&PAG=461&dept_id=10856&rfi=6
MIDDLETOWN -- The decommissioning of the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power plant continues to progress, according to a company spokeswoman.
An update of the progress will be given at tonight's Community Decommissioning Advisory Committee meeting at the Connecticut Light & Power building on Randolph Road.
"Since we started self-performance work last fall, decommissioning is about 50 percent complete," Kelley Smith, spokeswoman for the plant, said. "As of this week we'll have 26 casks on the fuel storage pad."
The decommissioning process, which began in 1998, involves demolishing buildings and moving 43 spent-fuel and greater than Class-C Waste into dry casks at a storage area which is three-quarters of a mile from the plant. Greater than Class-C Waste is cut-up metal from the reactor vessel.
The spent-fuel and waste will eventually be transported to Yucca Mountain in Nevada when it opens. Smith said the fuel transfer will be completed by the first quarter of 2005.
Smith said they've started to take down the turbine building and have three buildings and structures now undergoing demolition. Five buildings and structures, she said, have been demolished.
She said the two-story building involved in the late September fire has been torn down. The fire broke out in the building during demolition. Workers were outside of the building pulling down steel beams when the fire broke out.
The workers were cutting the steel beams with torch cutting equipment. The beams became hot from the cutting, and the insulation that was behind the beams caught fire when it was exposed to the air from the workers pulling down the beams.
There were no injuries in the fire.
"Overall, things are moving very smoothly and we are making good progress," Smith said.
Hugh Curley, chairman of the Community Decommissioning Advisory Committee, said condition reports will be reviewed at the meeting. Demolition, he said, seems to be speeding up while the radiological activity has entered a regular pace.
He said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which couldn't attend the late September meeting, will report on the last six months of the plant's decommissioning.
And talk about how to demolish the containment dome, he said, will continue. The question is more about how to get rid of the bulky waste and its schedule than how the dome should be demolished, he said. The waste could be taken away on barge or on the river.
He thinks the plant will take the route of its sister plant, Maine Yankee, in Wiscasset. Curley, who witnessed the destruction of the dome in June, said at the meeting that the blast left a 75-foot high pile of ruble.
The columns were wrapped to keep the blast from spreading debris.
Curley said there also might be a discussion on what the future community oversight of the storage site will look like.
"There should be a vehicle to call management to the table," Curley said.
To contact Josh Mrozinski, call (860) 347-3331, ext. 222 or jmrozinski@middletownpress.com.
-------- us nuc waste
Waste can stay in N.M., EPA rules
tri-cityherald
By Annette Cary
November 16th, 2004
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/5785780p-5719330c.html
The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that 602 drums of plutonium-contaminated waste from Hanford may remain for now in a Department of Energy underground repository in New Mexico.
However, no more similar waste may be sent to the national repository until EPA approves procedures for evaluating the contents of the Hanford waste. DOE already has stopped shipments.
The stop applies only to solid waste from Hanford's Plutonium Finishing Plant. In a letter sent Friday to DOE headquarters from EPA headquarters, EPA said an additional 926 drums of mixed oxides from the Plutonium Finishing Plant were correctly characterized and sent to the repository, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP.
Plutonium left in the plant when it shut down operations in 1989 has been converted to a stable form for storage, and waste from the plant that is contaminated with certain levels of plutonium is being sent to WIPP for disposal. The plutonium was produced at Hanford for the nation's national nuclear weapons program during the Cold War.
"In our initial assessment of the underlying causes for this violation, we have determined that the Hanford site operated according to its established procedures," said the letter from Elizabeth Cotsworth, director of EPA's Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. "That is, it sent only waste certified for disposal at WIPP by the DOE's Carlsbad Office."
The 602 drums in question were certified by Carlsbad even though an August 2003 letter from EPA to DOE put restrictions on sending certain types of waste from the Hanford plutonium plant to WIPP.
In an EPA inspection earlier that summer, the Hanford plant had been unprepared for an evaluation of its system that used historical knowledge and documents to characterize waste, rather than a direct analysis of waste to certify it as acceptable for WIPP.
DOE discovered it had allowed waste shipments in violation of EPA regulations and notified EPA in an October letter. DOE's Carlsbad office has refused to make that letter public.
EPA does not believe the 602 drums sent improperly to WIPP pose a threat to human health, the environment or the long-term performance of WIPP. However, it will continue to assess whether documentation was technically sufficient.
The drums still could be removed from WIPP, but EPA does not believe that will be necessary.
Taken in conjunction with other waste characterization issues from other DOE sites, EPA considers the violation significant, according to the letter. It indicates the need "for significant attention from DOE management to improve internal coordination and oversight," Cotsworth wrote.
----
A New Vision for Nuclear Waste
Storing nuclear waste underground at Yucca Mountain for 100,000 years is a terrible idea. A better approach may be to buy some time-until new containment technologies mature.
By Matthew L. Wald
December 2004 Technology Review
November 16, 2004
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/12/wald1204.asp?p=0
Map of "Dozens of Yucca Mountains": http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/12/wald31204.jpg
When American Airlines Flight 11 flew at low altitude down the Hudson River valley on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, its target was the north tower of the World Trade Center. But its impact is still being felt at a cluster of buildings it passed about five minutes before it reached lower Manhattan, at a nuclear-reactor complex called Indian Point in Buchanan, NY. Adjacent to the site's two operating reactors are two buildings packed with highly radioactive spent-fuel rods, in pools of water 12 meters deep and tinged Ty-D-Bol blue by boron added to tamp down nuclear chain reactions. The soothing hum of the pumps that circulate the building's warm, moist air-and, critically, keep the water cool-lends an atmosphere of industrial tranquility.
Without that cooling water, the fuel cladding might overheat, melt, catch fire, and release radiation. Whether the impact of a Boeing 767 like Flight 11 could drain one of the pools and disable backup water pumps, starting such a fire, is far from clear. Nevertheless, the threat of terrorism in general and the flyover of Flight 11 in particular have reignited the debate about why all of this dangerous fuel is still here-indeed, why all spent fuel produced at Indian Point in three decades is still here-and not at Yucca Mountain, the federal government's burial spot near Las Vegas, where it was supposed to be shipped beginning six years ago.
Late this past summer, a construction project began at Indian Point that will allow the fuel to be pulled out of the pools. But it's not going to Yucca. The government says Yucca won't be ready until 2010. Executives in the nuclear industry say a more likely date is between 2015 and never. So instead of traveling to Nevada, Indian Point's fuel is traveling about 100 meters, to a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. On a late-summer day this year, a backhoe tore out maple and black-walnut trees to make way for a concrete pad. Beginning next year, the first of a planned 72 six-meter-tall concrete-and-steel casks will be placed there, a configuration that adds storage capacity and thus allows the twin power plants to keep operating. Though they provide a hedge against a worst-case fuel-pool meltdown, these casks are merely another temporary solution. The fact that they're needed at all represents the colossal failure of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca plans and technology.
Yet as engineering and policy failures go, this one has a silver lining. Conventional thinking holds that Yucca's problems must be solved quickly so that nuclear waste can be squirreled away safely and permanently, deep within a remote mountain. But here's the twist: with nuclear waste, procrastination may actually pay. The construction of cask fields presents a chance to rethink the conventional. The passage of several decades while the waste sits in casks could be immensely helpful. A century would give the United States time to observe progress on waste storage in other countries. In the meantime, natural radioactive decay would make the waste cooler and thus easier to deal with. What's more, technological advances over the next century might yield better long-term storage methods. "If it goes on for another 50 years, it doesn't matter. It could go on for 100 or 200 years, and it's probably for the better," says Allison Macfarlane, a geologist at MIT and coeditor of a forthcoming book on Yucca. "We've got plenty of time to play with it."
The government must now accept that its Yucca plan is a failure and that casks are the de facto solution. Indian Point's cask pad will not be the first; about two dozen operating reactors have them already. Others are likely to soon join the list. And some casks-at Rowe, MA, Wiscasset, ME, Charlevoix, MI, and a site near Sacramento, CA-are nuclear orphans, having outlived their reactors. Each cask pad is roughly the size of a football field, floodlit, watched by motion sensors and closed-circuit TV, and surrounded by razor wire and armed guards. Given the homeland-security concern posed by nuclear-waste facilities, and the need to guard them individually, do we really want 60 of them-serving all 125 commercial reactors that have ever operated-to rise around the nation, many near population centers? If casks are the solution for the next generation or two, they should be put in one place.
Yucca is already on tenuous ground; in July a federal appeals court said that to open the mountain burial site, the government would have to show that it could contain waste for hundreds of thousands of years. Extensive scientific analyses by the Energy Department show it cannot. The court's decision throws the whole question back to the U.S. Congress, which must now decide whether to proceed with Yucca at all. This presents an opportunity to align policy with physics and abandon the Yucca-or-bust dogma that has dominated the debate for nearly 20 years. Casks, centrally located, could make the high-level-waste problem a lot easier to solve and increase national security much sooner, too.
The Tunnel Vision
The federal fixation on Yucca Mountain now spans two decades. Beginning in the early 1980s, the government agreed to take waste from any nuclear utility that paid a tariff of a tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour generated by its reactors. All the companies quickly signed up. But the selection of Yucca, 150 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas, was never driven by science. The site was chosen by that august group of geologists and physicists, the U.S. Congress. So far, the Energy Department has spent about $6 billion on development, including building an eight-kilometer, U-shaped tunnel through the mountain, in some places nearly 300 meters below the surface. It plans to spend at least $50 billion more to build dozens of side tunnels, package the waste in steel containers that look like the tanker portion of a gasoline truck, place the waste in the tunnels, and operate the site for 50 to 100 years before sealing it for eternity.
Problems have plagued Yucca since the beginning. In Senate debate, proponents stressed how dry it is. Yucca is, in fact, located in what is now a desert. But it turns out that the ground is moist. Even the 19 or so centimeters of rain the mountain gets each year is a major problem. Over time, moisture can corrode even the best alloys known to man. Corrosion would mean that rainwater percolating through the ground could carry radioactive materials with it and convey them to irrigation systems and drinking-water wells in the region, delivering substantial doses of radiation to unsuspecting people generations hence.
Heat is another problem. The shorter-lived radioactive isotopes in used fuel, principally cesium-137 and strontium-90, give a single fuel assembly, fresh out of the reactor, a heat output equal to that of about 20 handheld hair dryers. That's why each power plant has an adjacent storage pool that circulates cooling water. Once the fuel was underground at Yucca, it would be hot enough to boil ground water into steam. Steam could corrode the containers or break up surrounding rock, raising uncertainty about secure burial. Spreading the waste out would dissipate the heat, but it would also greatly reduce Yucca's storage capacity. Then there's the problem of radioactive decay. High-energy particles can interact with surrounding materials, breaking them down or causing them to give off hydrogen, a gas that can explode or burn.
Early this year, researchers at Catholic University of America, hired by the state of Nevada, took samples of the kind of metal the Energy Department wants to use at Yucca and put them in some water mixed with the minerals present in the mountain. As a series of speakers lectured reporters on why Yucca was a bad idea, the researchers sautéed the metal over a burner. By the time the lectures were done, the samples had corroded, some of them all the way through. How faithfully the stunt reproduced the chemistry of Yucca Mountain is debatable. But clearly, Yucca is subject to serious doubts. "You have to think somewhere back in the premise structure of the whole thing, something was dreadfully wrong," says Stewart Brand, a San Francisco-based consultant who once advised the Canadian government on what to do with its own waste.
Cooler Fuel
The argument against casks is that they are merely temporary, not meant to serve longer than perhaps 100 years, and that they are a kind of surrender, leaving this generation's waste problem to a future generation to solve. Yet their impermanence is exactly what's good about them. A century hence, spent reactor fuel will be cooler and more amenable to permanent disposal. In fact, within a few decades, the average fuel bundle's heat output will be down to two or three hair dryers. After 150 years, only one-thirty-second of the cesium and strontium will remain. The remaining material can be buried closer together without boiling underground water. Reduced heat means reduced uncertainty.
Granted, spent fuel will be far from safe after such a relatively short period. Even after 100 years, it will still be so radioactive that a few minutes of direct exposure will be lethal. "It's many, many, many thousands of years before it's a no nevermind," says Geoffrey Schwartz, the cask manager for Indian Point, which is owned by Entergy Nuclear. "But the spent fuel does become more benign as time goes by."
The fuel could be more valuable, too. For decades, industry and government officials have recognized that "spent" reactor fuel contains a large amount of unused uranium, as well as another very good reactor fuel, plutonium, which is produced as a by-product of running the reactor. Both can be readily extracted, although right now the price of new uranium is so low, and the cost of extraction so high, that reprocessing spent fuel is not practical. And the political climate does not favor a technology that makes potential bomb fuel-plutonium-an item of international commerce. But things might be different in 100 years. For starters, the same fuel could be reprocessed much more easily, since the potentially valuable components will be in a matrix of material that is not so intensely radioactive.
And in 100 years, advances in reprocessing technology might make the economics compelling. The existing American technology dates from the Cold War and involves elaborate chemical steps that create vast quantities of liquid waste. But an alternative exists: electrometallurgical reprocessing. Though research into the technique has lagged of late because of the economic climate, the concept might be taken more seriously in the future. Electrodes could sort out the garbage (the atoms formed when uranium is split) from the usable uranium (the uranium-235 still available for fission and the uranium-238 that can be turned into plutonium in a reactor), in something like the way jewelers use electrometallurgy to apply silver plate. Resulting waste volumes would be far smaller.
Perhaps most importantly, in 100 years, energy supply anddemand might be very different. Reprocessed nuclear fuel might well become a critical part of the energy supply, if the world has run out of cheap oil and we decide that burning coal is too damaging to our atmosphere. If that happens, we might have 1,000 nuclear reactors. On the other hand, we might have no reactors, depending on the progress of alternate energy sources like solar and wind. At this point, it's hard to tell, but we are not required to make the decision now; we can put the spent fuel in casks for 50 years and then decide if it is wheat or chaff.
There is a final, more practical reason that we might choose to take the plutonium out of spent fuel for reactor use: it makes the remainder easier to store. For the most part, what's left will not be radioactive for nearly as long, and the sheer volume of material will be lower. Mark Deinert, a physicist at Cornell University, says reprocessing, like recycling, removes about half of the material from the waste, dramatically decreasing storage costs and effectively doubling the capacity of a facility like Yucca.
Betting on Better Storage
While nuclear waste would be easier to handle in 50 or 100 years, it would still require isolation for several hundred thousand years. But there is every reason to expect that storage technology will improve in the next century. When we decide to permanently dispose of the waste, either after reprocessing or without reprocessing, we may be smarter at metallurgy, geology, and geochemistry than we are now.
Today, the basic technology at Yucca is a stainless-steel material called alloy 22, covered with an umbrella of titanium-a "drip shield" against water percolating down through the tunnel roof. That could look as primitive in 100 years as the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer looks to us in 2004. Or it might simply be obsolete. Space-launch technology could become as reliable as jet airplanes are today, giving us a nearly foolproof way to throw waste into solar orbit. The mysteries of geochemistry might be as transparent as the human genetic code is becoming, which would mean we could say with confidence what kind of package would keep the waste encased for the next few hundred thousand years.
Or there might be easier ways to process the waste. For example, particle accelerators, routinely used to make medical isotopes, could provide a means to make the waste more benign. The principle has already been demonstrated experimentally: firing subatomic particles at high-level radioactive waste can change long-lived radioactive materials to short-lived ones. Richard A. Meserve, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and now the chairman of a National Academy of Sciences panel on nuclear waste, says this technology, known as transmutation, might become more practical in 100 years. The technology of accelerators has advanced in the last few years, he says, and it is a good bet that it will continue to do so.
Some alternative storage technologies may need only a few more years of research and development. One is ceramic packaging. Ceramics have good resistance to radiation and heat, and they don't rust. At the moment, nobody casts ceramics big enough to hold fuel assemblies, which are typically about four meters long. But there is no theoretical limit to the sizes of ceramics; there has simply been no economic incentive to make giant ones. Nor will there be, until the only likely customer for them, the Energy Department, decides that the metal it is shopping for now isn't up to the job.
Another alternative calls for mixing waste with ceramics or minerals to form a rocklike material comprising about 20 percent waste. The waste would be chemically bound up in stable materials that are not prone to react with water. With a few decades' grace time, engineers could build samples and test them in harsh environments. But even though the idea has been around for more than 10 years, no one has put serious research money into it, since its only possible American customer, the Energy Department, has been committed to Yucca.
That situation shows no sign of change. The Energy Department, following Congress's orders, has so far declined to consider alternatives. Man-Sung Yim, a nuclear researcher at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, argues that some of these technologies are already mature but have been shoved aside in the Energy Department's rush, possibly futile, to open Yucca. "My reading at this point is, people working at the Yucca Mountain project office do not really want to change the design. The more change you bring in, the more delayed the processes," Yim says. "It's a pity, because we could make it better."
Central Casking
But the pursuit of the perfect solution (assuming deep geologic disposal even could be perfected) has ignored a realistic solution. And when the perfect fails, as now seems likely, we will be left with something no rational person would have chosen: waste sites scattered from coast to coast, in places where reactors used to be, each with its own security force, maintenance crew, and exclusion zone. "We're here to run a business as efficiently as possible," says John Sanchez, the project manager who oversaw the planning for the pad at Indian Point when he worked at Consolidated Edison, the site's former owner. "In a perfect world, you would not have 60 of anything, if you could have one." But after 20 years of pursuing geologic disposal, and 15 years of chasing Yucca and avoiding any mention of a plan B, just such an ad hoc, and suboptimal, solution is emerging.
And it's emerging without the support of the Energy Department. Testifying before the Senate Energy Committee over the summer, Kyle McSlarrow, the Energy Department's deputy secretary, said that "continued progress toward establishing a high-level waste repository at the Yucca Mountain site is absolutely essential." He told another committee on the same day that with progress toward Yucca's opening, "industry saw clearly that the nuclear-power option was truly back on the table." (The department would not make McSlarrow or other officials available for comment for this article.)
Cask storage is not pretty, but what's wrong with the idea of an industrial repository, a few hectares set aside for the next century or so, a single, guarded location in a little-populated area, a location that in ten years or so will be remarkable only because it's a place where the snow doesn't stick? Macfarlane of MIT says making such site secure and terrorist-proof would cost $6.5 billion, at most. "Isn't that worth it? How much have we spent on Iraq? Look what we got for that money. And there's more at risk here," she says.
Finding a central site poses obvious challenges; nobody wants any type of radioactive waste site in his or her backyard. But after extended negotiations, a group of utility engineers, including Sanchez, cut a deal with the Skull Valley band of the Goshute Indian tribe for a long lease on part of its reservation 80 kilometers west of Salt Lake City. The area already hosts an air-force bombing range, a nerve gas depot and incinerator, and a dump for low-level radioactive waste; the Goshutes figure they can use the rent to buy themselves land in a nicer neighborhood.
Some experts think the federal government could take over the Goshute project and push it to completion, but there is a snag-an ironic one, given the fears of a September 11-style attack on a nuclear site. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined that an F-16's crashing into the casks on its way to or from the test site is a "credible accident." But while such a crash would doubtless be disastrous, casks do provide some safety advantages over today's fuel pools. The fuel in casks is much more spread out and does not require a flow of cooling water to prevent spontaneous, spreading fire. Thus the worst-case effects are more limited. In any case, one remote central site would be easier to protect with air defenses than numerous scattered sites.
Those scattered sites are already creating local problems. The casks from the former reactor in Wiscasset, ME, are blocking the redevelopment of the peninsula where they're stored, a valuable industrial site. A cask site near the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Welch, MN, is adjacent to a tribal day-care center and casino, which is nobody's idea of a long-term solution. Inevitably, in the wake of September 11, the Indian Point casks will be a locus of fear. These outcomes will seem even sillier in 30 years, when many of the reactors that made the waste are gone.
Sanchez recalls carrying a picnic lunch to the stand of maples and black-walnut trees now being replaced with a concrete pad for storing nuclear waste. As the years roll by, fewer and fewer people will know those trees existed. Several decades from now, as today's aging nuclear power plants are decommissioned, people may not remember that the reactors themselves existed. If we don't take action soon, however, casks of waste will stand alone on that bluff above the Hudson River-and in dozens of other places across the country.
Matthew L. Wald, a reporter in the Washington bureau of the New York Times, has written about the nuclear industry for 25 years.
-------- MILITARY
-------- africa
In Sudan, a Sense of Abandonment Victims See Little Help From Outside
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52663-2004Nov15?language=printer
NEW AL-JEER SUREAF, Sudan -- The Bush administration has called it genocide. Other governments have labeled it ethnic cleansing and the world's worst humanitarian crisis. There have been calls for collective action and promises of relief. There have been somber reminders of the slaughter in tiny Rwanda a decade ago and solemn vows not to let such a thing happen here, in Africa's largest country.
But months later, the displaced inhabitants of Darfur, in western Sudan, find themselves consoled by little more than words. No Western country has been willing to commit troops to a small peacekeeping mission mounted by the African Union, while aid donors have been distracted by the conflict in Iraq, and U.N. sanctions have been frozen by diplomatic disputes.
The depth of the crisis can be felt in this steamy, desolate camp for the displaced, where Fatina Abdullah's family is still on the run from marauding Arab militiamen. She fled her village weeks ago, and her current home is under a wooden cart. Her son Bakheit, 8, is weak from diarrhea, anemia and a chest infection, afflictions that have killed dozens of children here.
"No one cares," said Abdullah, 45, burying her face in work-scarred hands. The ailing boy lay by her side, gasping for air and perspiring heavily. "No one is protecting us."
Since Sept. 9, when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell declared that the events in Darfur constituted genocide, U.N. officials estimate that the death toll has nearly doubled, to 70,000, in a region where African rebels have been battling government troops and Arab militiamen known as the Janjaweed for the past 20 months.
Violence and crime are surging, with almost daily reports of assaults against aid workers and civilians, while squalid tent cities continue to swell. More than 1.4 million people have fled their farms and villages.
In a recent agreement with rebel forces, the government agreed to establish a no-fly zone and the fighters promised to allow food convoys to reach thousands of displaced families. But U.N. officials said both sides had repeatedly violated a long-standing cease-fire, and some fear the new agreement may also collapse.
Meanwhile Jan Pronk, the top U.N. envoy to Sudan, has warned that Darfur "may easily enter a state of anarchy." Pronk said there were "strong indications" that war crimes had occurred "on a large and systematic scale."
In addition, according to U.N. officials, almost half the families in Darfur still do not have enough to eat, and 200,000 people are unable to receive food rations because of armed attacks on convoy routes. In one turbulent area called Zalengi, some 160,000 civilians have been cut off from food aid since Sept. 25 because roads are blocked.
"We need a political solution quickly here," said Bettina Luscher, a public affairs officer with the World Food Program. "Things are getting far worse and more complicated by the day. We are really concerned about how we will feed these people by the end of the year."
The continuing international reluctance to address the Darfur crisis has led critics -- including diplomats and former peacekeeping officials -- to complain that the United States and other powers have cynically substituted dramatic rhetoric for meaningful actions. One such critic is Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who led the stymied U.N. peacekeeping mission during the 1994 Rwanda massacres.
"The use of the word 'genocide' was nothing more than the U.S. playing politics with a term that should be sacrosanct," said Dallaire, who argues that the American government should back up its words with deeds, in part by "putting a lot more pressure" behind efforts to bolster the African Union mission.
Charles R. Snyder, the State Department's senior representative on Sudan, defended the U.S. role in Darfur, saying the Bush administration took the lead when no other country was willing to do so and has been the largest donor of aid.
"The word 'genocide' was not an action word; it was a responsibility word," Snyder said in a telephone interview. "There was an ethical and moral obligation, and saying it underscored how seriously we took this. . . . If I didn't believe the U.S. was doing enough, I would resign."
An Underfunded Mission
With Darfur edging toward chaos and no Western country willing to send in troops, the burden of trying to contain the situation has fallen to the 700 African observer forces stationed there. The fledgling African Union says it needs $220 million to finance the mission for one year and is still $80 million short.
Beginning late last month, in its first and only regional operation to date, the U.S. military airlifted several hundred African soldiers from Nigeria and Rwanda into Darfur as part of a plan to increase troop strength to about 3,000.
But some experts assert that a force 10 times that number is needed, and that the troops need a stronger mandate so they can intervene in fighting and criminal activity. Some experts and diplomats have also raised concerns that the Africans, who lack military vehicles and helicopters, may not be adequately equipped for the task.
"Sudan is something that all members of the international community have to deal with," said Howard F. Jeter, who was U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2001 to 2003. "The Nigerians . . . are willing to risk their own lives to bring stability on the continent. We have to help them do it right."
Dallaire said Darfur needed a force of up to 44,000 peacekeepers, who would set up checkpoints and safe aid corridors, disarm combatants and be given the power to protect civilians. To date, the government of Sudan has refused to permit a peacekeeping force to enter the country.
"The mission of observing will do nothing except destroy the credibility of African Union troops," Dallaire said. He said it was unfair to criticize observer troops as "inept when it's not their fault. Observing people getting beaten up and dying is useless."
Already, the African troops have faced volatile situations in which they are greatly outnumbered and unable to help. Last week, more than 100 Sudanese police officers with guns, sticks and teargas overran a refugee camp in an attempt to force occupants to move to another location. Some refused to leave and took refuge in a mosque, while the soldiers careered through the camp in trucks, swinging their batons.
Two African Union officers arrived from a nearby base to investigate, but they were armed only with notebooks and cameras. Lt. Col. Henry Mejah, a Nigerian, said he tried to interview a Sudanese commander, but the man yelled at him and stormed away. Other police officers screamed at Capt. Rex Adzagba Kudjoe, a Ghanaian, when he tried to take photographs of the site. Shortly afterward, the two officers left.
Two days later, another bulldozer rammed into the camp, crushing homes that had just been rebuilt. Residents said they were beaten when they refused to leave for a new camp in a remote and vulnerable location. An 8-year old girl, Manahula Jacob Ali, was shot in the foot. Sadia Hamiss Adriss, 16, had a zigzagging gash in her cheek.
"Why are they still bulldozing and shooting and beating people?" Matina Mydin, a nurse treating victims in a nearby clinic, demanded angrily. "Where is the will of the international community?"
Shifting Deadlines
Several factors have contributed to the lack of international attention to Darfur, according to experts and officials.
The Bush administration has backed a peace deal in an older, separate conflict between the Sudan government and rebels in the south. Even though it has accused the Khartoum government of genocide, it is reluctant to jeopardize that agreement by pressing too hard on Darfur.
Proposed U.N. sanctions have been frozen because of a veto by China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Sudan is China's fourth-largest supplier of oil. Meanwhile, deadlines for the imposition of sanctions keep slipping.
First, the Security Council set an Aug. 30 deadline for Khartoum to rein in the Janjaweed. One month later, the council voted to consider unspecified sanctions if the situation did not improve. Last week, the European Union warned Sudan it would impose sanctions if security in the Darfur region did not improve within two months.
There is also widespread international disagreement over whether genocide has occurred.
The Bush administration had weakened its hand, critics said, by its narrow interpretation of the 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which calls on signatories to prevent and punish genocide. The administration's position is that the convention does not require a government to take action after it makes a finding of genocide.
"It's like taking an accused murderer to court," said Ted Dagne, an African analyst with the Congressional Research Service. "The judge declares him guilty, but then he says, 'Sorry, there are no prisons, so you are free.' "
According to Pronk's report, both the Khartoum government and the Janjaweed may be implicated in mass crimes. The report cited human rights observers who said armed security forces had dug up over 40 bodies from a mass grave in northern Darfur.
African rebel groups, in turn, have been stepping up attacks on government outposts. A new group called the National Movement for Reformation and Development is not a party to the cease-fire agreement and is now reportedly fighting another African rebel faction.
Relief officials said there was also insufficient international funding for food and medical aid. Donors have been slow to respond to calls for help, and U.N. officials said their relief agencies had received only about 75 percent of the $534 million they needed to provide food, water and emergency supplies for one year.
Without a political solution, aid officials said, people may remain locked in camps and dependent on food aid for years.
"If the international community continues to waver and equivocate," said Sam Totten, an American expert on genocide, "there is no doubt in my mind that 10 years from now the international community will [be apologizing] to the victims of Darfur [as it once did to] the Tutsis of Rwanda."
--------
U.N. Imposes Arms Embargo on Ivory Coast
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A20
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52294-2004Nov15.html
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 -- The Security Council unanimously adopted a French-sponsored resolution Monday to immediately ban arms exports to Ivory Coast in an effort to prevent the country from descending into anarchy.
The resolution also threatens to impose within one month travel restrictions and an asset freeze on officials or rebels who disrupt the peace process in the West African country or incite followers to engage in violence. The council's measures are to remain in force until December 2005.
The resolution's passage places the 15-nation council squarely behind France in its efforts to restore calm in the former French colony. It condemns Ivory Coast's decision to take up arms against French troops, particularly a Nov. 6 air attack on the French army base in which nine French soldiers and an American aid worker were killed.
The imposition of an arms embargo comes as Ivory Coast's president, Laurent Gbagbo, has stepped up efforts to rebuild his air force, which France destroyed in retaliation for the killing of French troops. The government has ordered three Sukhoi fighter jets and three Mi-24 helicopters, according to Reuters.
France's military reaction triggered days of protests by anti-French demonstrators and fed calls for the withdrawal of more than 4,000 French troops from Ivory Coast. More than 5,000 French and other Western residents of Ivory Coast, including nonessential U.N. staff and humanitarian relief officials, have been forced to flee the country because of fear of reprisals.
Ivory Coast's U.N. ambassador, Djessan Philippe Djangone-Bi, said he could neither confirm nor deny reports that his government is rearming. But, he said, "no head of state will condone a situation in which he is exposed and his people are exposed" to aggression.
Djangone-Bi said it was unfair that France, as a party to the conflict in Ivory Coast, has led the diplomatic push in the council for sanctions. "Usually you cannot be judge and judged," he said.
The Security Council resolution demands that both government and rebel officials observe the terms of a May 2003 cease-fire agreement. The council also issued a stern warning to Ivory Coast to "stop all radio and television broadcasting inciting hatred, intolerance and violence."
French and U.N. officials say government media outlets have been fueling anti-French sentiments in the country in recent weeks. Juan Mendez, the top U.N. adviser on the prevention of genocide, suggested Monday that Ivory Coast officials could face prosecution by the International Criminal Court if the government fails to halt such hate speech.
South African President Thabo Mbeki asked the council to delay action on the sanctions resolution Friday in order to pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis. But the African Union called for an immediate arms embargo after Gbagbo failed to attend peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, over the weekend and shut off electricity to the country's rebel-controlled northern territory.
Fred Eckhard, the United Nations' chief spokesman, said the situation in Ivory Coast remained "tense" as more than 10,000 refugees have fled the country for eastern Liberia.
--------
U.N. Imposes Arms Embargo on Ivory Coast Amid Violence
November 16, 2004
By WARREN HOGE
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/africa/16nations.html?pagewanted=all
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 - The Security Council voted unanimously, 15 to 0, on Monday night to impose an immediate arms embargo on Ivory Coast and to extend sanctions to include forbidding travel and freezing assets of selected individuals in a month if a cease-fire agreement is not fully restored by then.
The resolution, put forward by France and co-sponsored by six other nations, including the United States, had originally proposed starting the arms embargo on Dec. 10, but delegates at an emergency African Union meeting over the weekend in Nigeria asked the Council to make the weapons ban effective right away to try to calm tensions in the divided West African country.
The arms embargo will remain in effect for 13 months, to run parallel with the extended sanctions, which go into effect Dec. 15.
The 18-month cease-fire was dramatically broken on Nov. 6 when the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, resuming attacks on rebels in the northern half of the country, bombed a French military camp, killing nine soldiers and one American civilian. France retaliated the same day by destroying most of the small Ivoirian Air Force.
The tough French response set off days of rioting in the city of Abidjan. The main targets of the attackers were citizens of France, the former colonial power, which has 5,200 troops in Ivory Coast.
The exodus of French and other foreigners from the country continued Monday, with more than 5,000 people evacuated since Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported from Abidjan. Fred Eckhard, the spokesman for Secretary General Kofi Annan, said 10,000 refugees had fled to Liberia during the past two weeks.
Juan Méndez, Mr. Annan's special adviser on genocide, said hate speeches were being broadcast by Ivory Coast radio and television stations and spurring armed militant groups to go on rampages.
West African leaders and the French government have expressed particular concern over the chaotic conditions in Ivory Coast, once the region's most prosperous and stable society, because of the possibility of clashes being ignited in neighboring countries with similar ethnic tensions.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has offered to mediate the conflict between the Muslim north and the largely Christian south, and he said Monday in Brussels that he would meet later this week with the rebel leader, Guillaume Soro.
In Paris, Defense Minister Michčle Alliot-Marie said France was determined to prevent Ivory Coast from splitting in two, an outcome that she said would lead to a multiplication of crises in other countries. "By intervening," she said, "I am certain we avoided massacres of the sort we saw in Rwanda."
-------- arms
EU urged to maintain China arms sales ban
STRASBOURG (AFP)
Nov 16, 2004
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041116160416.gpju9wru.html
The European Union was urged Tuesday to maintain its ban on selling arms to China, despite pressure from some EU member states to finally lift the embargo imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
But a report submitted to the European Parliament also urged changes to a code of conduct on arms sales, which supporters of lifting the ban say could serve as a backup once the embargo is ended.
Those who want the ban to remain argue that China must improve its human rights record but an increasingly vocal movement led notably by France says the embargo is outdated 15 years after the Tiananmen Square events.
The EU parliament report urged the bloc's member states "to maintain the EU embargo on trade in arms with the People's Republic of China and not to weaken the existing national limitations on such arms sales, EU memberto prevent."
"The EU's arms export control policy must be such as to ensure coherence in terms of the community's external policy action, including its goals in the areas of...strengthening of democracy promotion of human rights," it said.
EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten noted that China is continuing its lobbying campaign to persuade the EU to lift the ban ahead of an EU-China summit next month.
He gave an even-handed summary of arguments for and against, but noted bluntly that "China's observance of some basic human rights ... continues to fall well short of international norms."
"Without making any direct link, we have ... consistently told China at the highest level that lifting the embargo would be greatly assisted if they could take concrete steps in the field of human rights," he added.
The EU report noted in particular that an EU Code of Conduct needs to be reviewed before the blanket embargo can be lifted, as its wording is unclear and "is leading to diverging interpretations" of the rules by EU states.
It therefore called on EU governments to conduct a "thorough review" of the code, aiming to strengthen guarantees that lifting the arms ban on China would not lead to a free-for-all on weapons sales.
Of the EU'S 25 states, Germany has joined in France in urging a lifting of the ban, while Britain and Italy have since expressed their support for such a move. But key opponents include Denmark and the Netherlands.
--------
Russia Ready to Supply Weapons to Iraq - Defense Minister
MosNews
16.11.2004
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/11/16/iraq.shtml
Moscow is prepared to resume weapons shipments to Iraq upon request, Russia's defense minister announced Tuesday.
"We really could do it in a principally important case - if the government of Iraq asks us to engage in military and technological cooperation," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Itar-Tass news agency.
"Whether people like it or not, but historically the basis of the arms shipped to Iraq were Soviet."
He added that the Iraqi government has never complained about the quality of Soviet weapons.
Ivanov also said that if Iraq asked Russia to help train troops to use those weapons, Russia was ready to help, as long as the training did not take place in Iraq. It could either take place in Russia, or on a third territory.
-------- business
Ex-Boeing CFO Pleads Guilty in Druyun Case
By Jerry Markon and Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page E01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51778-2004Nov15.html
The former chief financial officer for Boeing Co. pleaded guilty yesterday to a conflict-of-interest charge, admitting his role in the illegal hiring of an Air Force official who was overseeing military contracts involving the aerospace giant.
Michael M. Sears, 57, entered his plea in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. Sears, who was once considered a leading candidate to be Boeing's chief executive, now faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 21. He is free on $50,000 bond.
Sears acknowledged that he orchestrated the hiring of Air Force procurement official Darleen A. Druyun, who became vice president in charge of Boeing's missile defense systems in January 2003. Court documents said employment negotiations began while Druyun still worked at the Air Force, overseeing Boeing contracts that included a controversial $23 billion tanker deal between the company and the military service. Druyun earlier pleaded guilty in the scheme.
Druyun's admissions that she inflated prices on Boeing contracts to curry favor with her prospective employer have rippled through the defense industry and the Air Force, spurring the largest review of how the military buys weapons since a previous contracting scandal in the 1980s. Boeing rivals such as Lockheed Martin Corp. are protesting the favoritism Druyun showed Boeing in competitions for weapons systems contracts. The protests could cost the Pentagon millions if the Defense Department decides to reimburse Boeing's rivals for their costs developing contract proposals and bids.
Sears's plea to a single charge of aiding and abetting acts affecting a personal financial interest was another step in the federal probe of Chicago-based Boeing. Court documents said Sears e-mailed numerous other senior officials at Boeing about his negotiations with Druyun and even had the matter placed on the agenda for a meeting of a group of top executives.
But law enforcement sources said it is difficult to prove criminality in complicated corporate cases like this one, and they said it is unclear whether anyone else would be charged. Much depends, the sources said, on what Sears tells the government in debriefings over the next several months.
"Just because someone was [copied] on an e-mail does not mean they were willfully involved in the conduct," said one law enforcement official who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "The logical thing was to get Sears to plead and then see where the ball carries you."
Stuart B. Nibley, a Washington lawyer who is a government contracting expert, said one key question will be whether other Boeing executives knew that Druyun had not yet recused herself from dealing with Boeing matters at the Air Force when she started her employment discussions.
"Just the very fact that the e-mails were sent and meetings set indicated some level of knowledge existed," said Nibley. "It just depends on whether that knowledge rose to the level that Mr. Sears had."
In a firm voice and with his hands clasped in front of him, Sears admitted his guilt yesterday before U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. He did not otherwise speak at the hearing, and Sears and his lawyers would not comment afterward.
Federal officials hailed the guilty plea. "Michael Sears's secret employment negotiations with a senior Air Force official struck at the heart of the integrity of the multibillion-dollar defense acquisition process," said U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty.
Joseph A. McMillan, special agent in charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's Mid-Atlantic Field Office, said Sears "knew the rules," but that "he and Druyun decided to circumvent the rules."
In a statement yesterday, Boeing said Sears's plea reinforced "what we have said before -- that no Boeing executive other than Mr. Sears engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with Ms. Druyun's hiring."
Druyun earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting that she negotiated the Boeing job while still overseeing the tanker deal. Last month, she was sentenced to nine months in prison after admitting that she had initially lied to prosecutors about the extent of her deceptions.
At her sentencing, Druyun admitted that she had approved excessive prices on contracts awarded to Boeing to enhance her job prospects with the company. Among other things, she said she had committed the Air Force to buying 100 airplanes from Boeing at an inflated price of about $20 billion as a "parting gift" before her Pentagon retirement.
Sears, an avionics engineer, spent 28 years at McDonnell Douglas Corp. before it was bought by Boeing in 1997. He then ran Boeing's multibillion-dollar military aircraft and missile defense unit until he was named chief financial officer in 2000, making him a likely successor to Philip M. Condit as Boeing's chief executive. Condit resigned a week after the company fired Sears and Druyun.
Court documents said Sears and Druyun tried to cover up their employment discussions, which began using Druyun's daughter, who also worked at Boeing, as an intermediary. Sears gave "misleading and evasive answers" to internal investigators and at one point, documents said, told Druyun to "hang tough.''
----
Lockheed Martin Delivers Reliable Net-Centric Communications To Iraq
Nov 16, 2004
Clarksburg MD (SPX)
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-comms-04zzs.html
Lockheed Martin announced Monday that it has completed installation of the Coalition Multinational Network (CMN). This is a new network-centric satellite communications system for Coalition Forces in Iraq.
Developed for U.S. Central Command, the CMN provides satellite-based, bandwidth on-demand services, with high quality voice capabilities and secure broadband data communications for coalition military forces. The system is developed under the U.S. Army's Rapid Response Program contract awarded last year.
The CMN system uniquely integrates advanced commercially-available satellite communication technology and reduces satellite usage by dynamically expanding and contracting bandwidth, based on the user's instantaneous need.
This innovative technology approach reduces satellite leasing requirements by approximately 60 percent, over current conventional technology being utilized today.
"This architecture represents a significant net-centric solution for forward-deployed users, providing access to the Global Information Grid (GIG). The use of bandwidth-on-demand technology and network management capabilities significantly reduces recurring costs for both satellite time, and operation and maintenance services," said Richard Skinner, Lockheed Martin vice president for Transformational Communications.
"It will also provide superior service quality, by extending GIG access to remote locations in a consistent, flexible and easy-to-operate infrastructure."
Coalition users at division, brigade and battalion levels will now have high-speed access to the enterprise servers, databases and numerous applications, including e-mail, file transfer protocol download, online meeting forums, whiteboard collaboration and instant messaging. This service is also well suited for streaming audio and video applications.
The advanced technology utilized in CMN permits direct terminal-to- terminal connectivity using only a single satellite hop, reducing satellite delay by 50 percent. This yields significant improvements in voice quality and secure call reliability for users.
"This system will enhance theater network capabilities and services, providing a stable, cost-efficient, interoperable and sustainable communications system for the deployed forces," added John Mengucci, Lockheed Martin general manager and vice president for Department of Defense (DoD) Systems.
"CMN is a link to the future and will be a critical precursor to the next generation transformation communications systems."
Implementation of the CMN is part of the Army's Kuwait Iraq C4 Commercialization (KICC), which is providing enduring communications infrastructure for U.S. and Coalition forces.
-----
Sarkozy, Clement want balance of power to be maintained at EADS
BERLIN (AFP)
Nov 16, 2004
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041116154703.zm7blqco.html
Berlin and Paris are committed to maintaining the current balance of power at the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company, the French and German economy ministers said Tuesday, amid speculation France is keen on a tie-up between EADS and French defence technology firm Thales.
"If a (merger) proposals were put forward, the French and German sides would talk about it first. But what ever happens, we're very keen on maintaining the balance in our partnership" within EADS, French Economy Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told a joint news conference with his German counterpart Wolfgang Clement.
And Clement said: "The balance of power (within the group) is a key condition for cooperation."
The comments were made amid speculation that Sarkozy was pushing for a tie-up between EADS and Thales, which would effectively shift the balance of power within EADS towards the French.
The two ministers were talking after a meeting of a special Franco-German working group set up to explore possibilities for industrial cooperation between the two countries.
Seeking to calm German fears about a possible shift in the balance of power, Sarkozy insisted that he had no knowledge of any concrete merger project between EADS and Thales.
"To be frank, there was very little talk about this issue. But when something was said it was to say that neither of the companies has been approached on the matter."
Press reports said that Paris was wanting to sell Thales, in which it holds a stake of 31.3 percent, to EADS, in a move that would create a new company with combined sales of 40 billion euros (52 billion dollars), equal in size to Boeing.
But since France and Germany currently own 30 percent apiece of EADS, such a move would give France a bigger say in the merged company.
Furthermore, Thales is a Franco-British group and so a "tie-up between Thales and EADS would pose a diplomatic problem with the British," a source close to the matter said.
-------- china
China faces up to growing unrest
By Paul Mooney,
Nov 16, 2004
Asia Times
http://atimes.com/atimes/China/FK16Ad01.html
BEIJING - Government officials were shocked when a traffic incident erupted into pitched street battles between majority Han Chinese and ethic Muslims in a small village in Henan, an impoverished province in east-central China. The government put the number of people killed at seven, with 42 injured. The New York Times, quoting unnamed local sources, said that some 148 people were killed in the disturbance, including 18 policemen. The incident was just the latest in a string of protests that have taken place in recent weeks around China, and that have deeply worried central government leaders.
In October, as many as 50,000 demonstrators lined up in front of government offices in a small town in Sichuan province and set a police van on fire to protest the beating of a migrant worker, allegedly by a government official. Ten days later, in Hanyuan county, also in Sichuan, an estimated 100,000 farmers stormed a government building and battled police over land lost to a dam project and what they called inadequate compensation. Order was not restored until martial law was declared and paramilitary forces were scrambled to the scene.
On October 29, hundreds of heavily equipped security forces imposed a curfew on university campuses in Inner Mongolia after a planned concert by a popular Mongolian rock band was canceled, according to the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center in New York.
And when security guards this month stopped Uighur Muslims in Guangzhou selling fried mutton from a street mall, fighting erupted between riot police and angry Uighurs, leaving several people injured,
Despite 25 years of economic growth that has made China the envy of its neighbors, income disparities are growing and corruption is spiraling, resulting in mounting anger and a sharp rise in the number of disturbances around the country.
Outlook Weekly, a Communist Party mouthpiece, reported recently that China experienced more than 58,000 major incidents of social unrest in 2003 - up 15% from a year earlier - with more than 3 million people taking part in the protests.
Another indication of the scope of the problem is China's Petition Office, which hears public grievances, and which was inundated with more than 10 million petitions last year. According to the Southern Weekly, just two out of every 1,000 cases were resolved. While legal experts argue that the Petition Office should be replaced by rule of law, others are concerned that the dismantling of the system could exacerbate the situation by blocking the release of pent-up anger.
Making matters worse for the government, China's "new media" appear to be reaching a critical mass. While news of unrest is usually blacked out of the Chinese media, word is now spreading quickly via the widespread use of modern communications, including mobile phones, faxes, instant messages and the Internet, reaching Chinese nationwide. Activists in China have also become more adept at communicating with the foreign media. Within the past year, for example, dissatisfied Chinese citizens have begun to contact foreign journalists directly using mobile phones, short messages, faxes and e-mail.
Dru Gladney, professor of Asian studies and anthropology at the University of Hawaii, said its difficult to tell whether the string of recent disturbances represents an increase in unrest or whether we're beginning to learn about more such incidents.
"I think the real new dimension is that activists on the streets and across the country are communicating with each other, and this didn't happen before," said Gladney. "Really, what's different now is the transregional coordination and awareness, rather than an increase" in unrest.
And, Gladney told Asia Times Online, bottling up these channels of communication won't be as easy. "This is clearly of concern to the leadership, but I'm not sure the government can prevent it," he said. "We're dealing with the cell-phone generation where people are in communication more than before. You can't turn back the clock on that."
Enver Can, vice president of the World Uyghur Congress based in Germany, agreed. "The communist government ultimately will not be able to change the tide of globalization and keep its people immune from the free flow of information," said Can. "The Chinese Communist Party will misjudge the situation if it still believes that its key weapon is the control of information."
Can, an ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang, told Asia Times online the situation is spinning out of control. "I have expected such disturbances for years," he said, adding that the government has up until now maintained stability through a "hardline" policy. Can said the rising gap between the new rich and poor, regional economic disparities, the crackdown against minorities and religious groups and the migrant-worker problem all spell continued trouble for the Communist Party.
"I would say that the government will face more and more unrest in the coming years," he predicted. "The string of recent protests might very well be the beginning of nationwide civil unrest."
"This is not a big threat to the party's control," countered Ren Wanding, a veteran political dissident who spent 11 years in prison for his activities. "China is an autocratic state and it is very strong," he told Asia Times Online.
Thomas Bernstein, professor of political science at Columbia University, said the countryside is under-policed and the situation could become serious "under certain conditions". However, he explained to Asia Times Online that these "conditions" do not yet seem to be present and that the People's Armed Police force is large enough to deal with the problem. "I would think a country the size of China could tolerate widespread but localized unrest," said Bernstein.
More important, said Bernstein, is the lack of leadership and organization, which means a "united front of the aggrieved is not likely to be formed ... For any social movement, one really needs leadership, whether generated from within the group or outside," he said. "I don't see any evidence that intellectuals are interested - many sympathize, but many despise the peasants."
Bernstein also argued that urban-rural tensions work against laborers and peasants uniting, and that the government has made efforts to keep the two groups separated.
The "counter-hegemony" that scholars say is essential for radical change "is simply not present", Bernstein said. "If there's going to be regime change, there has to be a viable established opposition, either legal or illegal," he said. "There is none in China."
Gladney too believes that China is not yet in danger of falling into chaos. "I think we're a ways from that," he said. "You need multiple, large-scale events across the country."
Gladney, an expert on China's Muslim community, said the recent Muslim disturbances in Henan and Guangdong showed no sign of coordination or links with fellow believers in other parts of the country, although there were unconfirmed rumors of truckloads of Muslims from outside Henan being stopped by police on their way to the site of the violence.
"The key to dissatisfaction itself is never enough to produce a revolution or regime change," said Bernstein. "The regime has to be weakened in a truly significant way, and I don't see that."
Chinese and foreign experts said that for the most part, farmers and workers don't have a problem with the central government but with local officials. Bernstein said protesters do not attack the regime itself, but are "rebelling in the name of the center".
"The center sides with the peasants over issues such as the financial burdens, so the villagers are angry at local governments and hope that the center will come and help them," he said.
Gladney said a lot of the anger is directed against mid-level local officials, and that Muslim violence generally has more to do with local issues of ethnic and social class conflict, and less to do with radical Islam or separatism.
"It's clear that these are not anti-state protests - and certainly not made by radical Islamists," said Gladney. "They're not national issues, but local ones. They're protests to the state, and not against the state."
The central government has reinforced its role as savior by using what some have called a "fire brigade" approach, or buy-off strategies. In one recent example, some 7,000 striking textile workers in Xianyang, a city in Shaanxi province, called off a seven-week strike after authorities made some concessions. While the strike leaders were picked off one by one, the rest of the strikers soon returned to the factory floor. Bernstein said, however, that this confidence may ultimately erode "if the center can't deliver."
Bernstein argued that one should not underestimate the capacity of the government to reform, and he cited several accomplishments over the past two years: abolishing unfair fees, eliminating the grain tax, offering support for rural education, and raising grain prices - all moves, he said, that have lightened the peasants' burden.
Sources said the government is split on how best to deal with the situation, with some senior officials proposing beefing up police forces and using strong-arm tactics, while others argue for reform and reason.
"It would be better for the Communist Party to tell the truth, and to try to regain the confidence of the people by introducing democratic reforms," said Uyghur activist Enver Can. "If the party does not face the reality, and delays introducing radical reforms, no one can guarantee that the people will continue to be as docile as they used to be.
"I think the greatest threat to the Chinese government is its own policy of suppression against its own people," he continued. "If a government does not serve its own people, it loses legitimacy."
Paul Mooney is a veteran freelance correspondent based in Beijing.
-------- colombia
Colombia Proposes 10-Year Terms for Paramilitary Atrocities
November 16, 2004
By JUAN FORERO
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/americas/16colombia.html?pagewanted=all
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Nov. 15 - A panel of legislators plans to present President Álvaro Uribe's government with a bill this week that would provide prison sentences of up to 10 years for any right-wing paramilitary fighters found guilty of atrocities and require them to return any ill-gotten gains, according to people who have worked on the proposed legislation.
The proposed penalties would form part of the government's conditions for a peace agreement with the United Self-Defense Forces, a right-wing militia financed by landowners and drug traffickers that emerged in the 1990's to combat the Marxist rebels who have fought against the government for the past four decades.
For months, Mr. Uribe's government has conducted talks with the militia aimed at disarming thousands of its fighters. Though illegal, the paramilitaries consider themselves allied with the state, using selective assassinations and mass killings to undermine the rebel forces.
But with their leaders facing murder charges here and drug trafficking charges in the United States, the paramilitaries have been pressing for an amnesty and protection from extradition in exchange for a complete demobilization of their 15,000 fighters by the end of 2005. The government is seeking a legislative framework for the peace talks because the existing penal code is deemed inadequate to deal with crimes committed during the years of civil conflict.
A bill proposed last year by President Uribe and backed by the Bush administration would have effectively granted immunity to the paramilitary leaders in exchange for laying down their arms.
But that plan prompted a chorus of criticism from foreign diplomats, the United Nations, human rights groups and some of Mr. Uribe's own allies, who said the plan would allow paramilitary commanders wanted for mass murder and cocaine trafficking to go free.
Now, as the paramilitaries prepare to follow through on an offer to demobilize 3,000 fighters later this month, the 25-page bill appears to be the legal framework Colombia's government has wanted to move forward in the talks. The proposal has the support of conservative allies of Mr. Uribe and key leftists in Congress like Wilson Borja, who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt orchestrated by paramilitaries.
"The most important thing about this law is that it has ample political support," said Senator Rafael Pardo, an influential supporter of Mr. Uribe who has spearheaded the drafting of the bill. "It's not being proposed by the opposition, or the government or some other sector."
The Uribe administration may propose changes later this week, but a final bill is expected to be presented to Congress next week. Passage is expected early next year, and the country's Constitutional Court would also have to give its approval.
The biggest impediment, though, is the 10-member paramilitary negotiating team.
In interviews last week in a swath of territory ceded to the paramilitaries for talks, one commander, Diego Fernando Murillo, who did not know details of the bill in Bogotá, was emphatically opposed to serving jail time.
"If someone says give up, turn in your arms and you'll spend 30 years in jail, well, we cannot do that," he said. "I always like to say, 'Let's not think of yesterday's dead.' "
Another commander, Rodrigo Tovar, carefully choosing his words, said he could accept punishment as long as there were "parameters of dignity." He would not say for how long he would go to jail, but said, "If you ask me, I could say I won't spend one year in jail, but it's not up to Rodrigo Tovar."
The paramilitaries also remain concerned about American requests for the extradition of several commanders for cocaine trafficking. The bill says nothing about extradition, though Mr. Uribe's government has signaled to the paramilitaries that it may be flexible on the matter.
Under the proposed law, militiamen from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia would admit their crimes, provide investigators with details of Colombia's vast paramilitary structure, compensate victims and turn in land and other belongings obtained illegally.
The bill would create a special unit of prosecutors to investigate crimes, and a special tribunal to hand down sentences.
Those paramilitary fighters deemed not to have committed crimes against humanity or other serious violations, like drug trafficking, would receive amnesty.
But top commanders would face at least eight years in jail, and possibly as many as 10. Others involved in serious crimes would probably face five years' imprisonment.
The bill asks that a special council be created to oversee reparations payments, which paramilitary commanders would be required to make to ensure their freedom after serving jail time. The victims of paramilitary violence would also take part in judicial proceedings, providing evidence if need be, and in the reparations process.
The paramilitaries may balk at some demands in the bill and at mechanisms to ensure that commanders abide. The group's leaders have publicly argued that they are not a scourge on Colombia but rather the country's saviors - having rid vast regions of leftist rebels by killing thousands of villagers accused of supporting insurgents.
"I ask, who is going to give me reparations?" said Mr. Tovar, who controls up to 5,000 men across northern Colombia.
Senator Pardo, though, says that if the law passes, the paramilitaries have no choice. They are already moving forward on disarmament, he said, and this may be their last chance.
"Since this is the only alternative, it has to be acceptable to them," Mr. Pardo said. "They have to accept."
-------- iraq
Few Foreigners Among Insurgents
Judging from fighters captured in Fallouja, all but about 5% are Iraqi, U.S. officials say.
The Los Angeles Times
By John Hendren
November 16 2004
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/la-fg-fighters16nov16,0,19927.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
CAMP FALLOUJA, Iraq - The battle for the city of Fallouja is giving U.S. military commanders some insight into this country's insurgency, painting a portrait of a home-grown uprising dominated by Iraqis, not foreign fighters.
Of the more than 1,000 men between the ages of 15 and 55 who were captured in intense fighting in the center of the insurgency over the last week, just 15 are confirmed foreign fighters, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. ground commander in Iraq, said Monday.
There was evidence that an organized force of foreign fighters was present. One dead guerrilla bore Syrian identification. A number of insurgents believed to be foreigners wore similar black "uniforms," each with black flak vests, webbed gear and weapons superior to those of their Iraqi allies.
But despite an intense focus on the network of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Zarqawi by U.S. and Iraqi officials, who have insisted that most Iraqis support the country's interim government, American commanders said their best estimates of the proportion of foreigners among their enemies is about 5%.
The overwhelming majority of insurgents, several senior commanders said, are drawn from the tens of thousands of former government employees whose sympathies lie with the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, unemployed "criminals" who find work laying roadside bombs for about $500 each and Iraqi religious extremists.
"Over time, it's the former regime elements that are the threat," said Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Casey for a visit to bases in Baghdad and outside Fallouja before meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
Before the battle, U.S. officials frequently stressed the role of foreign fighters in Fallouja. Last week, as the battle got underway, Myers told reporters that the city was "a major safe haven for former regime elements and foreign fighters, in particular Zarqawi and his folks."
It was not clear how many foreign fighters might have slipped out of Fallouja before the U.S. military began its assault early last week and how many may still be fighting in the southern neighborhoods of the city, where clashes continue.
A loose coalition of foreign and domestic fighters has shown few signs of a centralized command, said senior American defense officials. The Iraqi government and the U.S. military telegraphed the Fallouja offensive with calls for civilians to leave the guerrilla stronghold. But despite those early warnings, the insurgents failed to cut off military supply routes and to reinforce isolated fighters, Myers said.
"There is not someone in charge," Casey said. "There's collaboration between the Islamic extremists, between the foreign fighters and between the former regime elements. And it's a marriage of convenience."
U.S. forces also have found large caches of arms in Fallouja containing a wide variety of weapons, including car bombs ready to be deployed, bomb factories and heavy weapons, scattered among houses, businesses and other buildings.
Commanders cautioned that identifying foreign militants is no exact science. Of the 3,000 fighters that some officials believe were holed up in the city at the dawn of the battle, by U.S. estimates at least 1,600 are dead. However, estimates of the death toll among insurgents have varied widely; many bodies remain hidden in rubble or have not yet been recovered in the streets.
Most of the insurgents "sanitized" themselves, officials said, removing identification and clues to their nationality.
"It's hard to tell," Casey said. American, Iraqi and British troops "are resorting to looking at the Korans in their back pocket and trying to figure out where it was published to try to get some sense of nationality."
Allawi acknowledged in an interview Monday that the insurgents were largely made up of his countrymen, but continued to assert that foreign fighters had often been responsible for suicide car bombings and other spectacular attacks that he said were designed to derail elections scheduled for January.
"We don't have exact numbers and exact figures, but always the foreign elements, terrorists, are used for something else" than the tasks chosen for Iraqi insurgents, Allawi said, citing car bombings in particular. "The terrorists are trying to hurt the multinational force and us, to disrupt the police, to disrupt the army, the national guard."
He called those assaults a national "campaign of intimidation."
Allawi has firsthand knowledge of that campaign. Three members of his family were recently kidnapped by insurgents. The two female relatives were released Sunday, Iraqi officials confirmed, but a male cousin remained in insurgent hands.
"The insurgents will kidnap family members, they will murder government officials. They will murder police. We have found that some of the most effective leaders in the national guard or the Iraqi police are murdered or assassinated," said Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division. "I think we're seeing right now the last stand of the real hard-liners."
The insurgents' goal, added Casey, is to keep minority Sunni Muslims - many of whom sympathize with Saddam Hussein, their former Sunni president - from participating in the January election process, undermining its legitimacy.
"They've had to go to the intimidation to keep the Sunni from participating in the political process, because they were losing," Casey said.
U.S. and Iraqi strategists plan to respond by supplementing Iraqi police with Iraqi national guard or army troops, possibly supported by U.S. forces.
The foreign fighters that have joined the insurgency appear to have largely crossed through Syria, military officials said. A small number of Syrians have been captured, along with two Moroccans caught on the first night of the offensive last week. A campaign of intimidation has prompted Iraqi border guards to abandon their posts, U.S. defense officials said.
Iraqi government and American authorities alike blame the Syrian government.
"It's hard to believe Syria doesn't know it's going on," Myers said.
"Whether or not they're supporting it is another question. That said, you could say if Syria wanted to stop it they could stop it, or stop it partially."
At the urging of U.S. forces, the Iraqi government shut down the border crossing to Syria at the western Iraqi city of Qusaybah and allowed only commercial vehicles to pass at one Syrian crossing and one Jordanian site, Natonski said. Men of fighting age have not been allowed to cross, he added.
------
Insurgent strikes many
Terrorist leader al-Zarqawi may have used the Internet to call for attacks across Iraq.
The Associated Press
By Robert H. Reid
November 16, 2004
http://www.thesunlink.com/bsun/nw_national/article/0,2403,BSUN_19093_3331160,00.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers battled insurgents northeast of Baghdad on Monday in clashes that killed more than 50 people. Some guerrillas were said to be "fighting to the death" inside Fallujah, where American forces struggled to clear pockets of resistance.
At least five suicide car bombers targeted American troops elsewhere in volatile Sunni Muslim areas north and west of the capital, wounding at least nine Americans. Three of those bombings occurred nearly simultaneously in locations between Fallujah and the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, the U.S. command said.
The zone between Fallujah and Ramadi was one of at least three areas Monday in which insurgents pulled off almost-simultaneous attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces, suggesting a level of military sophistication and planning not seen in the early months of the insurgency last year.
Pressing their own offensive in central and northern Iraq, insurgents attacked police stations, Iraqi security forces, U.S. military convoys and oil installations across a wide area of the Sunni heartland.
In a speech found Monday on the Internet, a speaker said to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the country's most feared terror leader, called on his followers to "shower" the Americans "with rockets and mortars" because U.S. forces were spread too thin as they seek to "finish off Islam in Fallujah."
The worst reported fighting Monday took place about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad after assaults, at almost the same time, on police stations in Baqouba and its twin city, Buhriz.
Gunmen abducted police Col. Qassim Mohammed, took him to the Buhriz police station and threatened to kill him if police didn't surrender the station. When police refused, the gunmen tied the colonel's hands behind his back and shot him dead.
U.S. and Iraqi troops rushed to the scene, setting off a gunbattle that killed 26 insurgents and five other Iraqi police, Iraqi officials said.
At the same time, insurgents attacked a police station in Baqouba and seized another building. U.S. aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs before the end of the fighting, in which four American soldiers were wounded, the U.S. command said.
During the fighting, U.S. troops came under fire from a mosque, the U.S. military said. Iraqi security stormed the mosque and found rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other weapons and ammunition, the statement said.
In one of the car bombings along the Fallujah-Ramadi corridor, the attacker rammed into a Marine armored vehicle, wounding the four troops inside. The two other bombings caused no injuries - including one in which the driver rammed his car into a tank but his explosives failed to explode.
Witnesses reported a fourth car bombing late Monday in Ramadi against a U.S. convoy but there was no report of casualties.
In Mosul, where an uprising broke out last week in support of the Fallujah defenders, a suicide driver tried to ram his bomb-laden vehicle into a U.S. convoy, the military said. He missed but set off the explosives, wounding five soldiers, four of them slightly.
Four American soldiers were wounded when their patrol ran over a land mine Monday near Beiji in northern Iraq, the military said.
Saboteurs blew up an oil pipeline Monday, shutting down Iraqi oil exports from the north, and set fire to a storage and pumping station in northern Iraq, officials said.
In Baghdad after nightfall Monday, heavy explosions rocked the Green Zone - the barricaded neighborhood that houses the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy. Loudspeakers warned, "Take cover, take cover."
Gunmen carried out near-simultaneous attacks on a police station and an Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Suwayrah, 25 miles south of Baghdad, killing seven Iraqi police and soldiers.
During a news conference in Baghdad, Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib, himself a Sunni, condemned the growing attacks on Iraqi police and security forces, calling them part of a campaign "to divide this country and thrust it into a civil war."
"They are trying by all means to divide this country and to create an ethnic and sectarian war," al-Naqib said of the insurgents.
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said police had arrested the leader of a militant group behind the killing of some foreign hostages. Moayad Ahmed Yasseen, leader of the group Muhammad's Army, was captured along with some of his followers, Allawi said. He did not say what kidnappings the group has been involved in.
However, a statement by the prime minister's office later described Muhammad's Army as the "armed wing of an organization created by Saddam Hussein" to fight for the return of the Baath party to power.
The spike in violence accompanied the American-led assault against Fallujah, the main insurgent stronghold, 40 miles west of Baghdad. The week-old offensive in Fallujah has left at least 38 American troops and six Iraqi soldiers dead.
The number of U.S. troops wounded is now 320, though 134 have returned to duty. U.S. officials estimated more than 1,200 insurgents have been killed.
In a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon, Marine Col. Michael Regner, operations officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said U.S. and Iraqi forces had captured more than 1,052 prisoners in Fallujah, most of them are Iraqis but some foreigners.
"Very few of them are giving up," Regner said. "They're fighting to the death."
He said U.S. troops and Marines were working their way back from the southern part of the city toward the northern part, clearing out pockets of resistance and recovering caches of weapons.
The offensive was intended to secure Fallujah so that national elections can go ahead in January as scheduled.
But Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, told The Guardian newspaper in Britain that the insurgency could derail the plan to hold elections in January.
"Holding free and fair elections on time is an obligation that we have undertaken toward the Iraqi people," Saleh was quoted as saying. But he added: "Nearer the time, the Iraqi government, the United Nations, the independent election commission and the national assembly will have to engage in a real and hardheaded dialogue to assess the situation."
Meanwhile, a convoy of ambulances and relief supplies trying to enter Fallujah was forced to turn back because the fighting made it too dangerous, the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent said. The Red Crescent and Red Cross have been unable to gain access to people inside Fallujah during more than a week of violence.
Allawi's office confirmed that two of his female relatives who were kidnapped last week have been released. Allawi's cousin, Ghazi Allawi, 75, his cousin's wife and his cousin's pregnant daughter-in-law were abducted at gunpoint last Tuesday in Baghdad. There was no word on the cousin.
-----
U.S. and Iraqis Continue Battle Against Rebels in Mosul
November 16, 2004
By EDWARD WONG and JAMES GLANZ
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16cnd-iraq.html?ei=5094&en=556b47999fa314da&hp=&ex=1100667600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all&position=
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 16 - American and Iraqi forces continued operations today against fighters in the northern city of Mosul, one of several cities in Iraq where guerrillas staged a counteroffensive as American troops struggled to flush the remaining insurgents from the rubble-strewn streets of Falluja.
The American military said in a statement today that the forces were striking against "isolated pockets of insurgent fighters" in the city. Bridges have been sealed off to civilian traffic and a 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew has been imposed, the statement said.
Over the past few days, guerrillas in Baquba, Mosul, Kirkuk and Suwaira stormed police stations, set oil wells ablaze and struck at American military convoys with suicide car bombs, routing Iraqi security forces in several coordinated assaults and severely damaging parts of the country's petroleum-based economic lifeline.
Those attacks took place as a weeklong offensive continued in Falluja, where a five-hour gun battle broke out in the southernmost reaches of the city on Monday morning. Tanks and other armored vehicles had fought their way through the area and had seemingly quashed all remaining resistance to the weeklong offensive, although some rebels had stayed hidden in the bombed-out landscape of the district and came out fighting around dawn, killing at least two marines.
"They're clearly fighting until the last man," said Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl, commander of the First Battalion, Eighth Regiment, First Marine Expeditionary Force.
The wave of attacks across the Sunni Muslim heartland suggested that guerrillas were ready to carry on the war despite the loss of their safe haven in Falluja. The most intense fighting on Monday took place in Baquba, northeast of the capital. Insurgents there ambushed American troops near a downtown police station and laid siege to another station in a southern suburb.
As the Americans battled near the first station, more insurgents began firing down on them from a nearby mosque, said Capt. Bill Coppernoll, a spokesman for the Army's First Infantry Division. The fighting became so intense that American jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on the insurgents, and up to 20 fighters were killed, he said.
Overnight, insurgents attacked an oil storage tank in the north and set fire to four oil wells. In Mosul, torn by a daring revolt that began last week, guerrillas tried ramming an American patrol and a checkpoint with suicide car bombs, wounding at least five soldiers. The Iraqi interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, said he expected the rebels to mount more ambitious strikes.
"Today, it's quieter in Mosul, but we expect a surge in attacks in the coming two days," he said at a news conference in Baghdad on Monday.
On Sunday, he said, insurgents snatched a wounded policeman from his hospital bed, killed and mutilated the man and hung his body in a public area.
Since the American-led invasion of Iraq 19 months ago, the insurgents have demonstrated a remarkable adaptability in the face of vastly superior American firepower. American commanders acknowledge that rebel leaders fled Falluja in the days before the invasion and are probably behind the current counteroffensive.
On Monday evening, an Internet audio recording attributed to the country's most wanted militant leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, exhorted fighters in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle to keep up the war against the Americans.
"Once they have finished in Falluja, they will head toward you," Mr. Zarqawi said. "You must not let them succeed in their plan."
"The war is very long, and always think of this as the beginning," he said. "And always make the enemy think that yesterday was better than today."
In a written statement on Monday, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the leader of a militant group called the Army of Muhammad had been arrested. He identified the man as Moayed Ahmed Yassin.
The Army of Muhammad is believed to be responsible for the beheadings of several Iraqi and foreign hostages and is the armed wing of a group created by Saddam Hussein to fight for the return of his Baath Party, Dr. Allawi said.
The prime minister's office confirmed Monday that two of Dr. Allawi's relatives had been released by kidnappers. Last Tuesday, insurgents seized Dr. Allawi's 75-year-old cousin, Ghazi Majeed Allawi, the cousin's wife and their daughter-in-law. The next day, a group called Ansar al Jihad posted an Internet message saying the three would be beheaded unless Dr. Allawi called off the siege of Falluja and released all prisoners in Iraq.
The two women have been freed, but the fate of the cousin, Ghazi Allawi, is unknown.
Gunmen carried out near-simultaneous attacks on a police station and an Iraqi National Guard station in the town of Suwaira, 25 miles south of the capital, The Associated Press reported. Five guardsmen and two policemen were killed, including Maj. Hadi Refeidi, the director of the Suwaira police station.
In a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, Col. Michael Regner, the operations officer for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said American forces had secured all of Falluja, but were still fighting with bands of die-hard insurgents in bombed out buildings and winding alleys.
"A hundred percent of the city is secure," Colonel Regner said, adding that American and Iraqi forces "can go anywhere at anytime throughout that city."
But even after the battle on Monday in Shuhada, the southern neighborhood that was the insurgents' last stronghold in Falluja, sniper fire kept troops sporadically pinned down and gunfire could be heard.
Colonel Regner declined to provide estimates of the number of insurgents killed, saying, "It's not a true reflection of the success that we've had in this battle."
Commanders in Iraq are required to report estimates of the numbers of fighters their troops have killed, but this is often an inexact science. Some numbers are derived from actual counts of bodies, but others come from gauging how many fighters were in a building before it was pulverized by a bomb or before their remains were taken away for the quick burial required by Islamic tradition.
But Colonel Regner said that as of Monday afternoon, 1,052 insurgents had been captured, all but one or two dozen of whom were Iraqis. The others were foreign fighters from countries he did not identify.
He said 38 American soldiers had been killed in the Falluja operation and 320 wounded. Of the wounded, 134 had returned to duty. He said there had been 6 Iraqi soldiers killed in action and 28 wounded, two of whom had returned to duty.
The danger for troops now, he said, was from small bands of fighters, up to a dozen in a group, popping out of "spider holes" and shooting American troops in the back or legs. "They are fighting to the death," he said.
Colonel Regner asserted that relief aid was beginning to flow into Falluja, and that engineers were now in the city, examining how to restore electricity. Military programs for disbursing aid and restoring infrastructure have bogged down in other cities, like Najaf, where American-led assaults caused huge damage.
Even as fighting in Falluja was dying down, violence was increasing in nearby Ramadi, the colonel said. He said that "for about a week now, it's been tougher in Ramadi" than it was before the Falluja offensive began.
He said a second Marine battalion had been sent to Ramadi to bolster the battalion that had been in place there, and that American forces were killing or capturing an undetermined number of insurgents, some of whom had fled Falluja, and seizing weapons throughout the city.
The battle in Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, began about 7 a.m., when insurgents with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked American troops near a downtown traffic circle and police station. Guerrillas also fired at the Americans from a mosque, Captain Coppernoll said.
Once American and Iraqi forces killed or chased off the insurgents, he said, they searched the area around the mosque and found three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 29 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 2 mortar devices, 10 mortar rounds and hundreds of bullets.
At the same time, insurgents attacked the police station in the southern suburb of Buhriz, long a trouble spot, and burned four police cars.
At 7:50 p.m., in Old Baquba, at least 15 insurgents piled off a bus and took up positions along a rooftop, Captain Coppernoll said. They blocked off roads heading west by planting bombs. As the firefight surged, the Americans called in a fighter jet that dropped two 500-pound bombs on insurgents massed in an open area, the captain said.
As many as 20 insurgents were killed, and four Americans soldiers were wounded, he said. A doctor at Baquba Hospital told Reuters that the hospital had received eight dead from the fighting.
Farther north, guerrillas set fire to four oil wells near the Kirkuk fields. They also bombed a pipeline leading west to the oil refinery in Bayji, the largest in Iraq. Other fighters attacked an oil storage tank by the export pipeline leading from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The bombing of the storage tank took place southwest of Mosul, where American and Iraqi forces are struggling to recover from a revolt that began Thursday, when insurgents overran a half dozen police stations and made off with weapons, body armor and squad cars. Hundreds of policemen fled. At least seven policemen and 30 fighters have been killed in recent clashes, said Mr. Naqib, the interior minister.
Insurgents driving two car bombs attacked an American patrol on the road to Tal Afar, a guerrilla stronghold west of Mosul, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia, the units charged with controlling northern Iraq. The first car bomb missed a light-armored Stryker vehicle and detonated, wounding five soldiers. The second was destroyed by gunfire.
Guerrillas have begun using tandem suicide car bombs recently, Colonel Hastings said. The number of car bombs in Mosul has at least doubled during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which ends on Tuesday, Colonel Hastings said.
Other clashes erupted around Mosul. A bomb exploded beneath a police car at the Zahoor police station, one of the stations looted and burned by rebels on Thursday.
And in their battles, he said, the mujahedeen always win.
Dexter Filkins contributed reporting from Falluja for this article. Eric Schmitt reported from Washington, an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Mosul, and Christine Hauser contributed reporting from New York.
--------
Insurgent Attacks Spread In Iraq
'Hard Fighting' Expected In Mosul in Coming Days
By Karl Vick and Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50713-2004Nov15.html
BAGHDAD, Nov. 15 -- Insurgent attacks spread Monday to another Sunni Muslim city, Baqubah, and a nearby village, where bands of armed men attacked two police stations simultaneously, the U.S. military said. American forces used airstrikes to blunt the assault, the latest that insurgents have launched in apparent response to the U.S. offensive in Fallujah.
Two 500-pound bombs were dropped on insurgent positions after a two-hour firefight in which guerrilla reinforcements arrived by bus, took positions on a roof and blocked a road, according to the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Mosul, a city of 1.8 million, where large numbers of insurgents went on the offensive late last week. "I expect the next few days will bring some hard fighting," said Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, the senior U.S. commander in the area. "The situation in Mosul is tense but not desperate."
U.S. forces last week stormed into Fallujah, which insurgents had controlled since spring. American policymakers portrayed the operation as a decisive move to clean out a major stronghold of foreign fighters and Iraqis opposed to the country's interim government.
The insurgents have struck back hard in Fallujah and also turned up the heat in many other cities dominated by Sunni Muslims, who were favored over the majority Shiite Muslims by the government of former president Saddam Hussein. Operating in unusually large groups, fighters have attacked in Ramadi, to the west of Fallujah, and Samarra, Baiji, Tall Afar, Hawija and Mosul to the north.
Their strategy was stated Monday in a new recording attributed to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of a large insurgent group affiliated with al Qaeda. If the U.S. military "finishes Fallujah, it will move in your direction," the voice said to be Zarqawi's warned followers. "Beware and deny it the chance to carry out this plan."
The speaker said that U.S. forces were overextended and would be unable to respond everywhere. "Shower them with rockets and mortars and cut all the supply routes," he said.
A senior Iraqi official said Monday that about half of Mosul's police officers have returned to duty, reinforced by an armored U.S. battalion and truckloads of Iraqi troops and police commandos. But sporadic fighting continued in the city, and insurgents set on fire an oil storage facility outside the city.
Interior Minister Falah Naqib grew emotional during a news conference in Baghdad while describing the killing of a Mosul police officer. "Yesterday in Mosul, they abducted a wounded member of the police from the hospital," Naqib said. "They dismembered him.
"He was wounded," he repeated. "They dismembered him, and then his remains were hanged in a public square until his fellow policemen were able to secure his body.
Close to 1,000 members of the interim government's security forces have died in the insurgency. Intimidation of those who remain is a prime goal of the guerrillas. Naqib said that threats are directed not at recruits but at their family members. Kidnappings of recruits are also on the rise.
Meanwhile, the office of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi confirmed reports that two female relatives of Allawi's had been released by kidnappers but that Allawi's elderly male cousin remains captive.
The badly mutilated body of a Western woman, assumed to be another kidnapping victim, remained unidentified after being found on a Fallujah street.
To the east, new fighting in Baqubah, long a flash point for attacks on U.S. forces, began about 7 a.m. with simultaneous attacks on two police stations, one in the city, the other in the nearby village of Buhriz.
Protected by dirt-filled fences to guard against car bombs, the stations were targeted by rocket-propelled grenades, rifle fire and, at one station, fire from a heavy machine gun, according to Army Capt. Bill Coppernoll, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division.
Elements of the division responded and reported taking fire from multiple spots, including a mosque. A search of the area around the mosque produced three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 29 grenades, two mortar tubes, 10 mortar rounds and hundreds of rounds of ammunition for AK-47s assault rifles, the military said in a statement.
Four American soldiers were wounded in the fighting. The military reported that more than 20 insurgents were killed, and news services said seven civilians and five police officers, including the police chief of Buhriz, also died.
In a separate attack in Baghdad, seven civilians were killed and seven wounded when a mortar round landed in the Dora neighborhood. At least five suicide car bombers wounded at least nine U.S. troops elsewhere in Iraq, the Associated Press reported.
--------
Fallujah Battered And Mostly Quiet After the Battle
By Jackie Spinner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52675-2004Nov15?language=printer
FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 15 -- Even the dogs have started to die, their corpses strewn among twisted metal and shattered concrete in a city that looks like it forgot to breathe.
The aluminum shutters of shops on the main highway through town have been transformed by the force of war into mangled accordion shapes, flat, sharp, jarring slices of metal that no longer obscure the stacks of silver pots, the plastic-wrapped office furniture, the rolls of carpet. These things would be for sale, except there are no traders, no customers, hardly any people at all in the center of Fallujah.
U.S. Marines searching for insurgents in the Jolan neighborhood in the northwestern side of the city on Monday did see two elderly men emerge from a pile of rock. The men, who looked too old to fight, pointed to their stomachs. They were hungry. They were given brown, plastic pouches of military rations and disappeared back into the rocks, the Marines recounted.
Black smoke rose from buildings across the city as U.S. artillery continued to bombard insurgent positions and weapons bunkers a day after commanders declared that the city had been liberated.
On a cinderblock wall near the Othman bin Afan mosque on the main east-west highway that divides the city, someone had scrawled: "Islam came back again." But there was no one to welcome right now, and no one to receive it.
And if the brave holy warriors are living long lives, as another graffiti scrawl proclaimed, they were not doing it at the deserted Arch of Victory Square, its metal monument arch and painting of Saddam Hussein crumpled months ago by a roadside bomb aimed at a U.S. convoy.
Eight days ago, U.S. and Iraqi forces barreled through a defensive mud wall thrown up around the city. Using tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, they charged through the center and sides of the insurgent-controlled city. Most of the 250,000 residents had fled in anticipation of the attack, the largest operation since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March last year.
U.S. commanders say they now control the city except for a few pockets of resistance, mostly in the southernmost part. There, the crack of gunfire could still be heard on Monday, as American forces battled the last of the fighters.
Elsewhere in the city, it was mostly quiet.
"Everything is calming down," said Lance Cpl. Joshua Williams, 21, of Sherman, N.Y., who was cleaning his M-16 rifle on a cot in a warehouse the Marines had taken over.
Artillery was very important in this battle, and the central highway through town bears the singed, pockmark evidence. To minimize danger to ground troops, artillery batteries struck suspected insurgent targets before the infantry went in. Airstrikes and mortar fire added to the pressure.
Whole blocks were battered this way. Broken glass, furniture, pipes and other debris are piled up on the sidewalks.
Iraq's Red Crescent Society sent seven truckloads of food and medicine to the city, but U.S. forces stopped the convoy at the main hospital, the Reuters news agency reported. Marine commanders said there was no need for humanitarian relief inside the city because so few people remained.
Fallujah looks like a city from which everyone has walked away.
A fruit and vegetable stand near the Arch of Victory Square was abandoned, but it still had brown woven baskets neatly arranged on a rack of shelves. The city smelled like dust, ash -- and death.
A few blocks from the fruit stand, the decaying, burned corpse of a bearded man in a black tribal robe lay on the street, the arms extended.
U.S. armored vehicles took up position at the end of some city blocks, while soldiers and Marines on foot skirted booby-trapped buildings and unexploded bombs and mines to search every house, every building, looking for insurgents.
As Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, was touring a western neighborhood near the neck of a bridge that crosses the Euphrates River, a firefight erupted between Marines conducting the house sweep and insurgents hiding on a narrow street.
The sound of the skirmish intensified, and Hejlik walked toward the crack of guns and bang of mortars. His security detail and aides followed behind him, guns at the ready. Hejlik watched for a while and then returned to his vehicle.
Asked how the battle was going, Hejlik looked out at the deserted street. "This is what we do," he said. "This is what we do well."
Later, as the sun set and he prepared to return to a military outpost outside the city, Hejlik said he was pleased with the outcome of the battle and the way American troops were taking care of the city until its residents could return.
"What I saw out here is a bunch of professional Marines and soldiers who were protecting the property of the Iraqi people," Hejlik said. "But they continue to whack the bad guys."
In the distance, an artillery shell whizzed through the air and landed with a bang, a sound that honking vehicles might have drowned out had there been any traffic. Instead, there was only silence. After the sun set on the purple horizon, there was nothing to see at all.
--------
INSURGENTS
Rebels Attack in Central Iraq and the North
November 16, 2004
By EDWARD WONG and JAMES GLANZ
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16iraq.html?pagewanted=all&position=
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 15 - A rebel counteroffensive swept through central and northern Iraq on Monday as American troops struggled to flush the remaining insurgents from the rubble-strewn streets of Falluja.
Guerrillas in Baquba, Mosul, Kirkuk and Suwaira stormed police stations, set oil wells ablaze and struck at American military convoys with suicide car bombs, routing Iraqi security forces in several coordinated assaults and severely damaging parts of the country's petroleum-based economic lifeline.
A five-hour gun battle broke out in the southernmost reaches of Falluja on Monday morning, a day after tanks and other armored vehicles fought their way through the area and had seemingly quashed all remaining resistance to the weeklong offensive. But some rebels had stayed hidden in the bombed-out landscape of the district and came out fighting around dawn, killing at least two marines.
"They're clearly fighting until the last man,'' said Lt. Col. Gareth Brandl, commander of the First Battalion, Eighth Regiment, First Marine Expeditionary Force.
The wave of attacks across the Sunni Muslim heartland suggested that guerrillas were ready to carry on the war despite the loss of their safe haven in Falluja. The most intense fighting took place in the morning in Baquba, northeast of the capital. Insurgents there ambushed American troops near a downtown police station and laid siege to another station in a southern suburb.
As the Americans battled near the first station, more insurgents began firing down on them from a nearby mosque, said Capt. Bill Coppernoll, a spokesman for the Army's First Infantry Division. The fighting became so intense that American jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on the insurgents, and up to 20 fighters were killed, he said.
Overnight, insurgents attacked an oil storage tank in the north and set fire to four oil wells. In Mosul, torn by a daring revolt that began last week, guerrillas tried ramming an American patrol and a checkpoint with suicide car bombs, wounding at least five soldiers. The Iraqi interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, said he expected the rebels to mount more ambitious strikes.
"Today, it's quieter in Mosul, but we expect a surge in attacks in the coming two days,'' he said at a news conference in Baghdad.
On Sunday, he said, insurgents snatched a wounded policeman from his hospital bed, killed and mutilated the man and hung his body in a public area.
Since the American-led invasion of Iraq 19 months ago, the insurgents have demonstrated a remarkable adaptability in the face of vastly superior American firepower. American commanders acknowledge that rebel leaders fled Falluja in the days before the invasion and are probably behind the current counteroffensive.
On Monday evening, an Internet audio recording attributed to the country's most wanted militant leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, exhorted fighters in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle to keep up the war against the Americans.
"Once they have finished in Falluja, they will head toward you,'' Mr. Zarqawi said. "You must not let them succeed in their plan.''
"The war is very long, and always think of this as the beginning,'' he said. "And always make the enemy think that yesterday was better than today.''
In a written statement on Monday, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the leader of a militant group called the Army of Muhammad had been arrested. He identified the man as Moayed Ahmed Yassin.
The Army of Muhammad is believed to be responsible for the beheadings of several Iraqi and foreign hostages and is the armed wing of a group created by Saddam Hussein to fight for the return of his Baath Party, Dr. Allawi said.
The prime minister's office confirmed Monday that two of Dr. Allawi's relatives had been released by kidnappers. Last Tuesday, insurgents seized Dr. Allawi's 75-year-old cousin, Ghazi Majeed Allawi, the cousin's wife and their daughter-in-law. The next day, a group called Ansar al Jihad posted an Internet message saying the three would be beheaded unless Dr. Allawi called off the siege of Falluja and released all prisoners in Iraq.
The two women have been freed, but the fate of the cousin, Ghazi Allawi, is unknown.
Gunmen carried out near-simultaneous attacks on a police station and an Iraqi National Guard station in the town of Suwaira, 25 miles south of the capital, The Associated Press reported. Five guardsmen and two policemen were killed, including Maj. Hadi Refeidi, the director of the Suwaira police station.
In a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, Col. Michael Regner, the operations officer for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said American forces had secured all of Falluja, but were still fighting with bands of die-hard insurgents in bombed out buildings and winding alleys.
"A hundred percent of the city is secure,'' Colonel Regner said, adding that American and Iraqi forces "can go anywhere at anytime throughout that city.''
But even after the battle on Monday in Shuhada, the southern neighborhood that was the insurgents' last stronghold in Falluja, sniper fire kept troops sporadically pinned down and gunfire could be heard.
Colonel Regner declined to provide estimates of the number of insurgents killed, saying, "It's not a true reflection of the success that we've had in this battle.''
Commanders in Iraq are required to report estimates of the numbers of fighters their troops have killed, but this is often an inexact science. Some numbers are derived from actual counts of bodies, but others come from gauging how many fighters were in a building before it was pulverized by a bomb or before their remains were taken away for the quick burial required by Islamic tradition.
But Colonel Regner said that as of Monday afternoon, 1,052 insurgents had been captured, all but one or two dozen of whom were Iraqis. The others were foreign fighters from countries he did not identify.
He said 38 American soldiers had been killed in the Falluja operation and 320 wounded. Of the wounded, 134 had returned to duty. He said there had been 6 Iraqi soldiers killed in action and 28 wounded, two of whom had returned to duty.
The danger for troops now, he said, was from small bands of fighters, up to a dozen in a group, popping out of "spider holes'' and shooting American troops in the back or legs. "They are fighting to the death,'' he said.
Colonel Regner asserted that relief aid was beginning to flow into Falluja, and that engineers were now in the city, examining how to restore electricity. Military programs for disbursing aid and restoring infrastructure have bogged down in other cities, like Najaf, where American-led assaults caused huge damage.
Even as fighting in Falluja was dying down, violence was increasing in nearby Ramadi, the colonel said. He said that "for about a week now, it's been tougher in Ramadi'' than it was before the Falluja offensive began.
He said a second Marine battalion had been sent to Ramadi to bolster the battalion that had been in place there, and that American forces were killing or capturing an undetermined number of insurgents, some of whom had fled Falluja, and seizing weapons throughout the city.
The battle in Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, began about 7 a.m., when insurgents with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked American troops near a downtown traffic circle and police station. Guerrillas also fired at the Americans from a mosque, Captain Coppernoll said.
Once American and Iraqi forces killed or chased off the insurgents, he said, they searched the area around the mosque and found three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 29 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 2 mortar devices, 10 mortar rounds and hundreds of bullets.
At the same time, insurgents attacked the police station in the southern suburb of Buhriz, long a trouble spot, and burned four police cars.
At 7:50 p.m., in Old Baquba, at least 15 insurgents piled off a bus and took up positions along a rooftop, Captain Coppernoll said. They blocked off roads heading west by planting bombs. As the firefight surged, the Americans called in a fighter jet that dropped two 500-pound bombs on insurgents massed in an open area, the captain said.
As many as 20 insurgents were killed, and four Americans soldiers were wounded, he said. A doctor at Baquba Hospital told Reuters that the hospital had received eight dead from the fighting.
Farther north, guerrillas set fire to four oil wells near the Kirkuk fields. They also bombed a pipeline leading west to the oil refinery in Bayji, the largest in Iraq. Other fighters attacked an oil storage tank by the export pipeline leading from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The bombing of the storage tank took place southwest of Mosul, where American and Iraqi forces are struggling to recover from a revolt that began Thursday, when insurgents overran a half dozen police stations and made off with weapons, body armor and squad cars. Hundreds of policemen fled. At least seven policemen and 30 fighters have been killed in recent clashes, said Mr. Naqib, the interior minister.
Insurgents driving two car bombs attacked an American patrol on the road to Tal Afar, a guerrilla stronghold west of Mosul, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia, the units charged with controlling northern Iraq. The first car bomb missed a light-armored Stryker vehicle and detonated, wounding five soldiers. The second was destroyed by gunfire.
Guerrillas have begun using tandem suicide car bombs recently, Colonel Hastings said. The number of car bombs in Mosul has at least doubled during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which ends on Tuesday, Colonel Hastings said.
Other clashes erupted around Mosul. A bomb exploded beneath a police car at the Zahoor police station, one of the stations looted and burned by rebels on Thursday.
But the violence had calmed since then, and children could be seen playing in some parks.
At one playground, Amin Muhammad, 10, and his friends raced around with plastic guns. "We divide ourselves into two teams,'' he said, "the mujahedeen versus the American forces.''
And in their battles, he said, the mujahedeen always win.
Dexter Filkins contributed reporting from Falluja for this article, Eric Schmitt from Washington and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Mosul.
-------- israel / palestine
Palestinians Hold Meeting Among Rivals About Power
November 16, 2004
By JAMES BENNET
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16mideast.html
GAZA, Nov. 15 - The new chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Mahmoud Abbas, met here Monday night with militant leaders as he began trying to solve the intricate political puzzle that Yasir Arafat left at his death.
The meeting came at a moment of high tension among and within Palestinian factions. Politicians, security chiefs and militants are vying to preserve or increase their authority after the death last week of Mr. Arafat, by far the most popular and influential Palestinian figure.
In a sign of the delicacy of the discussions, Mr. Abbas did not even raise one central question, whether Palestinians should stop attacks against Israelis, participants in the meeting said.
Instead, they said, Mr. Abbas urged the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join in elections in the governing Palestinian Authority, while leaders from those groups demanded that Mr. Arafat's dominant faction, Al Fatah, share more power.
Mr. Abbas, a longtime negotiator and a critic of the Palestinian uprising who lacks a strong political base, faces the challenge of holding his own Fatah faction together while somehow disarming or containing militants, a step the more powerful Mr. Arafat was unwilling to take.
The meeting came a day after Mr. Abbas escaped unharmed when two Palestinian security officers were killed in a burst of gunfire at a memorial service for Mr. Arafat here.
Mr. Abbas does not appear to have been a target of the shooting. Palestinians said the clash occurred between supporters of rival Fatah leaders in Gaza: Muhammad Dahlan, an ally of Mr. Abbas, and Ahmed Helis, an Arafat loyalist and the head of a powerful family here.
"It shows the anarchy that has been building here," said Salah Abdel Shafi, a political analyst. "And people are very, very tense. The people who have been loyal to Arafat are very worried."
After the meeting on Monday night, Muhammad al-Hindi, a leader here of Islamic Jihad, said his group was "requesting a unified leadership in order to rebuild the P.L.O." with a "joint vision."
Speaking in the street outside the P.L.O. office here, he said the group would not discuss a cease-fire with Israel because "resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinians."
Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which officially seek Israel's destruction, are not members of the P.L.O. But militant leaders say they will consider joining the umbrella organization if it retreats from its support of the Oslo accords with Israel. Mr. Abbas, who signed the accords on behalf of the P.L.O., wants to nudge the groups in the opposite direction, toward accommodation with Israel.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas representative at the meeting, said he had emphasized to Mr. Abbas "our refusal of an individual decision maker that is governing the Palestinian arena," a reference to the dominance of Fatah. "We are opposed to any monopoly on power," he said.
But Dr. Marwan Kanafani, a Palestinian legislator and former aide to Mr. Arafat, said the obvious route to power sharing was elections. "If the people elect a party to rule, they should rule," he said.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have refused in the past to run for positions in the Palestinian Authority because it was created by agreement with Israel, through the Oslo accords.
Palestinian officials say they will hold elections on Jan. 9 for Mr. Arafat's post of president of the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abu Zuhri said that before deciding whether to nominate a candidate for president, Hamas wanted to determine the "frame" of the elections - that is, whether running would imply support for Oslo and a two-state solution.
The militant groups demand that municipal and legislative elections, in which they are more likely to take part, be held as soon as possible.
Fatah officials say Mr. Abbas, who is known as Abu Mazen, will be their consensus candidate for president. But he said at the meeting that he had not yet decided whether to run, participants said.
As the meeting broke up here after 9 p.m., Mr. Dahlan, who supports Mr. Abbas for president and has suggested that he himself may run in a separate election to head Fatah, arrived in a convoy of vehicles bristling with burly guards. He swiftly walked through the steel doors into the P.L.O. office.
But in an apparent sign of the mounting tension, Mr. Abbas's guards blocked most of Mr. Dahlan's armed men from entering. Holding semiautomatic rifles, the men briefly bunched up together in the doors before Mr. Dahlan's guards stepped away, back into the street.
-------- latin america
Rumsfeld Urges Latin American Cooperation
Nov 16, 2004
Associated Press
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=734&e=3&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/rumsfeld
QUITO, Ecuador - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that Latin American countries must work together to counter drug trafficking and international terrorism.
Rumsfeld, in South America for a conference of Western Hemisphere defense ministers, told reporters that he hopes to strengthen regional security agreements in the Americas aimed at stopping narcotics and terrorist organizations.
He met with Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez and Defense Minister Nelson Herrera and was later to meet with his counterparts from Brazil, Argentina and several Central American countries.
It was unclear how much of a willing ear his pitch received from Herrera, who, in a press conference with Rumsfeld, repeatedly emphasized his country's sovereignty in dealing with international terrorism, drug trafficking and other problems that trouble the region.
Asked about the civil war in Colombia, Herrera responded in Spanish, "The problem of Colombia is the problem of Colombia. The problem of Ecuador is the problem of Ecuador."
In truth, Colombia and Ecuador cooperate to some degree, and Rumsfeld praised these efforts. A senior Colombian rebel leader, Simon Trinidad, was captured in Quito in January and turned over to the Colombian government.
The U.S. government provides training, intelligence and weapons to support Colombia's government in its civil war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's main leftist rebel group known by its Spanish acronym FARC, and a smaller rebel group known as the ELN.
Rumsfeld didn't address Herrera's comments, but said of drugs, terrorism and organized crime: "In the 21st Century, we are finding these problems are increasingly global and regional. They are not problems that affect only one country and as such they cannot be solved by only one country."
The conference was to begin Wednesday.
Despite Rumsfeld's calls for cooperation, there are significant gaps between the policies of the United States and many of the largest countries in Latin America. Many opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) and push a U.N.-based multilateral foreign policy. Only a few sent troops to Iraq, and only one country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States - El Salvador - still has troops there.
Also expected to be on the conference's agenda is the ongoing peacekeeping effort in Haiti - which have drawn hundreds of troops from several Latin American countries, as are concerns about international terrorist organizations operating in the region.
In particular, U.S. defense officials say Hamas and Hezbollah conduct significant fund-raising activities in a few areas in South America with large Islamic populations.
"With respect to squeezing down on financing of terrorists. The only way that can be done is through extensive cooperation in the global war on terror," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld has previously acknowledged fears that international terrorist organizations would send operatives into the United States through holes in the U.S. border.
"These human smuggling routes into our country from this hemisphere could be used just as easily for terrorists," he said.
Also Monday, Rumsfeld said he had not yet discussed his future in President Bush's Cabinet.
Rumsfeld said his priorities are unchanged: "To win the global war on terror, to continue the work in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is a part of that war, and to see that we move the department, continue the process of transforming so that it is appropriate for the 21st century."
He would provide no hint about whether he would stay, either for months or through the second term, saying such discussions would be with the president first.
-------- spies
2 top CIA officers quit after clash with Goss staff
November 16, 2004
By Shaun Waterman
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041115-115537-7175r.htm
The two most senior managers of the CIA's clandestine service resigned yesterday after clashing with staff brought in by Director Porter J. Goss, robbing the nation's spies of a leadership team that one agency veteran said was its best in years.
The resignations of Stephen Kappes, deputy director for operations, and Michael Sulick, the associate deputy director, were announced yesterday evening by Mr. Goss after several days of rumors and speculation.
"I thank Steve and Mike for their meaningful contributions that range from the Cold War to the terrorist threats of today," Mr. Goss said, adding that the men will retire from federal service.
The new CIA director said he had "already begun the process to name a new deputy director for operations."
"I have asked a senior covert officer in the DO's clandestine service to serve in that position," he said, though he did not name the person.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, played down the significance of the move, saying, "People leaving during a transition is not unexpected.
"When you get a change of leadership, a new direction, there will always be people who choose to leave rather than be part of that," he said.
Others were not so sanguine.
The senior Democrat on the intelligence committee, Rep. Jane Harman of California, told CNN that the agency's clandestine service was "imploding," and she blamed a cadre of officials imported by Mr. Goss from the intelligence committee, which he chaired until his nomination this summer to head the CIA.
Mrs. Harman called the new team, led by CIA Chief of Staff Patrick Murray, the committee's former staff director, "highly partisan [and] quite inexperienced."
The clandestine service - which recruits and operates agents - is the most secret part of the CIA, and is in the vanguard of efforts to strengthen U.S. counterterrorism by improving intelligence about terror groups.
The two men were "the strongest leadership the DO has had in many, many years," said John Macgaffin, a CIA veteran who held Mr. Sulick's post in the early 1990s.
Mrs. Harman appeared to concur. "They were viewed as very capable people," she said.
Mr. Macgaffin said Mr. Kappes, for example, was the agency's point man in the negotiations with Libyan intelligence chief Musa el-Kusa, which resulted in Libya's acknowledgment and abandonment of efforts to develop chemical and biological weapons.
On Friday, CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin announced his decision to retire, which he called "purely personal."
Two former senior agency officials who maintain close contacts at CIA headquarters in Langley, and who were interviewed independently, said the resignations look like the first of several.
One accused Mr. Goss of reneging on promises he had made not to politicize the agency. "He's bringing in partisan people and giving them hire-and-fire power."
Mike Scheuer, one of the agency's top terror-hunters, who resigned last week so he could speak freely in the debate over intelligence reform, said CIA staff are feeling "a lot of anxiety about the way [Mr. Murray and his team] are behaving."
"It looks to many like they're trying to reform us with a meat cleaver," he said.
-----
CIA Chief Seeks to Reassure Employees E-Mail Sent After 2 Officials Resign
By Dana Priest and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A51301-2004Nov15?language=printer
Hours after the two top clandestine service officers at the CIA resigned yesterday, Director Porter J. Goss asked employees to remain loyal to the agency and rebutted allegations that he had a partisan agenda.
"We provide the intelligence as we see it and let the facts alone speak to the policymakers," Goss wrote in an internal e-mail to CIA employees, according to two people who read it to The Washington Post. Goss told them to expect "a series of changes" in the days and weeks ahead, "in the organization, personnel" and mission of the agency.
The e-mail was the first communication from Goss to the wider CIA audience since controversies arose over senior aides he has appointed.
Goss has said he believes the CIA's clandestine service is dysfunctional and needs changes. His critics say the director, a former CIA case officer and Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, is purging the agency of career officers whom he incorrectly perceives as critical of Bush administration policies.
In addition, Goss has over the last month put in charge several former Hill staff members who are not well regarded by senior officials because they lack managerial and operational experience, and are believed to have treated career officers disrespectfully.
This is not the first time a new director's personnel changes have put the agency in turmoil, but the criticism of the Goss team's actions is the first to raise questions of partisanship.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday that Goss and some White House officials were concerned that unauthorized disclosures of information by the CIA during the election campaign "were intended to damage the president," and he accused a "rogue" element within the agency of carrying them out.
Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, yesterday accused Goss's aides of having partisan motives. Targeting officials in the clandestine service, whose job is to manage CIA operations around the world, for leaks of a prewar National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was "totally misguided," she said.
The two resignations yesterday, of Deputy Director of Operations Stephen R. Kappes and his deputy, Michael Sulick, will "undermine the morale of the workforce that had undergone a renaissance since the failures of 9/11," she said.
Goss yesterday named the current director of the counterterrorism center to replace Kappes. His name is being withheld by The Post because he is still undercover. He is a 28-year employee with lengthy experience in Latin America and was the chief of station in Mexico, according to several former CIA officers.
"There will be no gap in our operations fighting the global war on terror, nor in any of our other vital activities," Goss said in a separate statement released yesterday.
Kappes is a widely respected officer who helped persuade Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to renounce weapons of mass destruction this year. Sulick, whose career includes assignments in South America, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, headed the agency's counterintelligence center until becoming Kappes's deputy. Both are highly regarded by clandestine service colleagues, said 10 former CIA officials who worked with them.
Also last week, the agency's deputy director, John E. McLaughlin, retired.
The personnel moves follow a series of confrontations between Goss's new chief of staff, Patrick Murray, and senior operations staff members.
Last week, Murray demanded that Kappes fire Sulick after Sulick criticized Murray at a meeting, according to several current and former CIA officials. Kappes declined and offered his resignation. McLaughlin announced his retirement, and several other senior operations officers have threatened to resign, the current and former officials said.
Goss's internal e-mail also attempted to calm fears that Murray has wide-ranging authority and that Goss intends to dilute the power of the directorate of operations. Last week, Murray told managers that the directorate will lose its key role in appointing station chiefs and regional division chiefs, according to several current and former employees.
"The division deputy directors," Goss's statement said, "would have complete responsibility for managing their components." Murray "organizes and manages the duties and priorities of my staff."
A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
McCain also cited a leak of information about Michael V. Kostiw, Goss's initial choice for the number three position at the agency, as evidence of partisan opposition to the new director. That leak, concerning a 20-year-old shoplifting incident, resulted in Kostiw's withdrawal from consideration for that job. He is now a special assistant to Goss.
"The information was leaked before he even got there," McCain said.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said that he had expected changes at the CIA based on past failures but that Goss "must provide some explanation for this rash of departures among senior officials."
In 1977, when retired admiral Stansfield Turner was named CIA director by President Jimmy Carter, he brought to agency headquarters what one former CIA official described as "a Navy boarding party armed with sabers." Turner's aides fired several senior clandestine officials, and although the actions were resented they were never believed to have had partisan motives.
--------
C.I.A. Churning Continues as 2 Top Officials Resign
November 16, 2004
By DOUGLAS JEHL
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16intel.html?pagewanted=all&position=
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The head of the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service and his deputy both resigned their posts on Monday, effective immediately, becoming the most significant casualties of an effort by Porter J. Goss to overhaul the agency's spying operations.
The officials, Stephen R. Kappes, the deputy director for operations, and Michael Sulick, the associate deputy director, announced their moves at a morning staff meeting after days of clashes with advisers to Mr. Goss, the new director of the agency, intelligence officials said. Mr. Goss said in a written statement that the two men had "formally advised that they are stepping down.''
Mr. Goss has selected a covert officer who runs the agency's Counterterrorism Center to become the new chief of the clandestine service, known as the directorate of operations, the officials said. They declined to name the officer, a former chief of American espionage operations in Latin America, because he is still under cover. They said he had been chosen despite having been removed from the Latin American post in 1997 after a C.I.A. inspector general's report criticized him for "a remarkable lack of judgment.'' At the time, many at the C.I.A. considered his removal to be unwarranted.
Mr. Kappes and Mr. Sulick are highly regarded within the C.I.A. Their departures, which prompted loud protests from former intelligence officials, suggest that Mr. Goss is confident of having a mandate from the White House to make sweeping changes. The resignations of other senior officials within the operations directorate may follow, the former officials said.
In his statement, Mr. Goss promised that "there will no gap in our operations fighting the global war on terror, nor in any of our other vital activities.''
The officer designated by Mr. Goss to take over the operations directorate was stripped of his Latin America post for attempting to intervene on behalf of a boyhood friend who had been arrested on narcotics charges in the Dominican Republic. An intelligence official noted that Mr. Goss had chosen him "in full knowledge'' of that episode, saying, "The guy served his time in the penalty box, and he went on to do good things.''
Mr. Goss said that the newly designated clandestine services chief had "a long history of strong performance in senior management positions, both domestically and abroad, most recently leading our agency's critical efforts against the terrorist target.''
With tensions between the C.I.A.'s new leadership and senior career officials still extraordinarily high, senior members of Congress appeared sharply divided in their view about whether Mr. Goss was going too far in reshaping the C.I.A. after a series of intelligence failures on Iraq and terrorism.
Representative Jane Harman of California, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, called the moves unwarranted, and warned that they could well ignite an "implosion" within the C.I.A. But Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said he believed that Mr. Goss should do "whatever is necessary" to clean house at the agency.
In an interview, Mr. McCain said he told President Bush last week that "the C.I.A. was dysfunctional and unaccountable and that they refused to change." The senator said he believed the C.I.A. had acted as a "rogue agency" in recent months by leaking information about the war in Iraq that was seen as detrimental to Mr. Bush and his re-election campaign.
Since before the American invasion in 2003, the White House has regarded the C.I.A. as too cautious about Mr. Bush's plan to wage war in Iraq. The tensions between the agency and the White House grew particularly sharp this summer after news reports disclosed the existence of a new National Intelligence Estimate that portrayed a dark future for Iraq in the coming 18 months.
But Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Republican on the Intelligence Committee, said he was concerned about the impact of the moves by Mr. Goss.
"There's no question when a new leader comes into an organization, there are adjustments made, and people leave," Mr. Hagel said in a telephone interview. But he added: "We have to be careful here that we don't lose an entire top tier of senior experienced C.I.A. operatives and managers. I've got some questions why these people have left, how many more are going to leave, and whether it's a personality conflict or a policy conflict. If we find ourselves without a senior group of C.I.A. hands, that would certainly not enhance American security and might undermine our security."
Mr. Hagel said that he and other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee would seek answers to those questions in closed meetings this week.
Mr. Kappes and Mr. Sulick threatened to resign last week after clashes with Patrick Murray, a former House Republican official who is Mr. Goss's chief of staff and whom they regarded as undermining their authority, former intelligence officials said. The men agreed to reconsider their decision over the weekend, intelligence officials said, but there was no indication that either Mr. Goss or the White House had tried to persuade them to stay on.
Even before those clashes, Mr. Goss had begun to sound out the Counterterrorism Center chief and other candidates to take over the clandestine service, former intelligence officials said.
The departures will leave Jami A. Miscik, the deputy director for intelligence, and Donald M. Kerr, the deputy director for science and technology, as the highest-ranking members still in place from the team of George J. Tenet, who stepped down as director of central intelligence in July.
The C.I.A. said that Mr. Kappes and Mr. Sulick planned to retire, but would first join the agency's Career Transition Program. In that program, they will join John E. McLaughlin, the deputy director of central intelligence, who announced his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 2, and at least four other senior officials who held high-level posts under Mr. Tenet. A. B. Krongard, the No. 3 official under Mr. Tenet, was dismissed in September by Mr. Goss.
As deputy director for operations, Mr. Kappes had been in charge of the agency's spying and other covert operations worldwide. He is a former marine who spent more than 20 years at the C.I.A., serving as station chief in Moscow and a Middle Eastern capital. Before assuming the post in August, when he succeeded James L. Pavitt, Mr. Kappes was Mr. Pavitt's principal deputy.
Mr. Sulick had been associate deputy for counterintelligence under Mr. Pavitt, and moved up to become Mr. Kappes's principal deputy.
In an interview, Ms. Harman, the Congressional Democrat, said that she believed Mr. Goss had placed too much authority in a small cadre of former House Republican aides, including Mr. Murray, whom the new intelligence chief has installed as senior advisers. "I don't begrudge him the right to make changes,'' Ms. Harman said. "I don't begrudge him the right to bring some of his own people to the agency. What I'm criticizing is that he has an all-new management team that has a reputation as partisan and inexperienced, and it is clearly generating an enormous reaction that is not beneficial to the agency and to the war on terrorism.''
Senator Bob Graham of Florida, a Democrat who is close to Mr. Goss, said in a separate interview that Mr. Goss was "driven by the right motivations'' in overhauling the agency's top management. "There are lots of problems within the intelligence agencies, and those are not going to be solved by papering them over and without taking the bold steps necessary.''
But Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, issued a statement that called on Mr. Goss to "take immediate steps to stabilize the situation at the C.I.A.''
"There is no doubt that changes needed to take place at the C.I.A., and people should be held accountable for past failures,'' Mr. Rockefeller said in the statement. "However, the departure of highly respected and competent individuals at such a crucial time is a grave concern.'' He added: "The C.I.A. workforce must understand where he is taking the agency and why, and he must provide some explanation for this rash of departures among senior officials."
-----
Killing the messenger
Porter Goss' purge at the CIA will ensure the agency is full of Bush yes men -- but it will seriously damage U.S. intelligence.
Salon.com
By Spencer Ackerman
Nov. 16, 2004
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/killing-messenger.html
The current war inside the CIA began with a stolen package of bacon. During a 1981 grocery run in Langley, Va., Michael Kostiw decided against paying $2.13 for a few strips of salted, fatty pork. Unfortunately for him, his 10 years of experience as a case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency was poor training for petty thievery, and after he was caught by supermarket employees the CIA placed him on administrative leave. He opted for a quiet retirement from Langley.
But not long ago he was back -- briefly. When Porter Goss, a Republican representative from Florida and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, became director of central intelligence on Sept. 24, he named Kostiw, his chief staffer on terrorism, as his executive director, Langley's third in command. The prospect of Kostiw, a partisan GOP Hill staffer, effectively running day-to-day affairs at the CIA was too much for some of his prospective employees to take, however. Although the agency had prevailed on the local authorities over 20 years ago to wipe Kostiw's police record clean, Walter Pincus, the veteran intelligence reporter for the Washington Post, related the long-forgotten bacon heist on Oct. 3, citing "four sources." As one former intelligence official observes -- not without a hint of admiration -- "that was a vicious leak." And it worked. Within days, a humiliated Kostiw withdrew his name from consideration for the position. Chalk up a scalp for the CIA.
These days, however, most of the scalps belong to longtime intelligence officials. Since his appointment, Goss has given his top aides -- basically, his former staff from the intelligence committee -- the green light to draw up lists of people to fire. The zeal with which Goss' enforcers are exercising their power has led to angry resignations by top CIA veterans like Stephen Kappes, who had taken over as deputy director of operations just this summer, and brought the brutal shakeup onto the front pages. The CIA's case officers and analysts, meanwhile, are extremely distressed by Goss' slashes at the professional staff. "I do nothing but talk to disgruntled and sick people there," says a recently retired senior CIA official.
And that suits the White House just fine. Many conservatives in and outside the administration, especially the neoconservatives, view the CIA as a subversive element bent on stymieing Bush's agenda. The last several months of the presidential campaign saw a series of intelligence disclosures concerning Iraq and the war on terrorism that the White House regarded as intended to derail Bush's reelection. Many agency employees believe that administration officials rewarded them for their best efforts at divining the truth about al-Qaida, Iraq, nuclear proliferation and other urgent threats to U.S. national security with derision, political pressure and blame for the mistakes of policymakers. Now, with the arrival of Goss as DCI, they see the Bush administration intent not so much on reforming the CIA as crushing it. And as is already clear, many intelligence veterans don't plan on going quietly into the night.
There's a good chance that 2005 will be the worst year ever in the history of the CIA. That's saying a lot, considering black marks -- real and perceived -- like the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, the 1975 and 1976 "Church Committee" (led by Sen. Frank Church) reports that compared the agency to a rogue elephant, and the successful al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But consider what the CIA faces in the coming months. In March, the so-called WMD Commission is scheduled to deliver its report rating the intelligence community's performance on combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Since Bush established the commission in February as a means of deflecting the political controversy that arose from the absence of WMD in Iraq -- in essence, premising the commission on the question of what other proliferation threats the CIA might have screwed up -- its report is expected to be scathing in its criticism of intelligence professionals.
And that's just for starters. The biggest shock the CIA is bracing itself for is the reorganization of the intelligence community recommended by the 9/11 commission. While the exact contours of the restructuring are still subject to arduous conference-committee reconciliation between House and Senate negotiators, the CIA stands to lose its cherished position as first among equals in the intelligence community. "People are absolutely freaking out," says a retired CIA official. "Their whole structure is being rehabbed and they don't know how. The uncertainty makes them crazy."
Into this den of anxiety stepped Goss, hardly a reassuring figure. Though Goss is a former CIA case officer himself ("a hundred years ago," sniffs a former official), it didn't exactly endear him to the agency when he shed his reputation for relative bipartisanship and professionalism to write opinion articles accusing John Kerry and other Senate Democrats of slashing intelligence funding while he chaired the House Intelligence Committee. (Never mind that Goss himself cosponsored a 1995 deficit-reduction measure that entailed firing 20 percent of CIA personnel over five years.) And while promoting the president's political ambitions, he was hardly subtle about his own. After stifling a proposal by Democrats on the committee to consolidate the fractious intelligence community earlier this year, Goss reversed course in June to propose giving the DCI control of 70 percent of the estimated $40 billion intelligence budget (nearly 90 percent of which is controlled by the Pentagon) -- precisely at the same time he was dropping hints around Washington that he wanted the job.
Even more vexing to CIA veterans was Goss' willingness as a congressman to demean the agency if it meant protecting Bush. Though Langley had successfully prevailed on the Justice Department to investigate an administration leak of the identity of undercover operative Valerie Plame -- a potentially criminal act aimed at discrediting Plame's husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, who had exposed Bush's duplicity about supposed Iraqi attempts at acquiring nuclear material from Niger -- Goss dismissed the entire scandal as "wild and unsubstantiated allegations." He tastefully told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in October 2003, "Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation."
But Goss tossed his most deadly grenade into Langley in June by attaching a report to the annual intelligence authorization bill calling the agency "dysfunctional" and accusing it of "misallocation and redirection of resources, poor prioritization of objectives, micromanagement of field operations and a continued political aversion to operational risk." This attack appeared while Goss was actively campaigning to replace George Tenet, who had suddenly announced his retirement as DCI that month. Some CIA officials saw Goss' grandstanding as a way of endearing himself to Bush. As a parting shot, Tenet even posted on the CIA Web site a letter to Goss passionately calling his report "frankly absurd" and "ill-informed." But Tenet's letter failed to stop Goss' nomination and confirmation as DCI.
Goss brought with him many of his principal congressional aides, who bear a reputation for condescension and hostility to the CIA, as well as fierce partisanship. "Kostiw's the best of the bunch," says a retired senior official. "Words fail me to describe the rest of them." And Goss didn't just give them top positions in the agency, he invented new posts for them, as mediators between the DCI and the intelligence and operations directorates. "They are not positions that are rigorously defined in agency regulations," observes Steven Aftergood, an intelligence policy expert with the Federation of American Scientists. "Rather, they are invested with whatever authority Goss wants to give them, which means they could be very important indeed."
As his chief of staff and senior advisor for strategic programs, Goss brought two senior Republican House Intelligence Committee aides, Patrick Murray and Merrell Moorhead. Clashes with Murray led to Kappes' departure on Monday. But some CIA officials are particularly concerned about Jay Jakub, a former GOP subcommittee staff director who's now Goss' nebulously titled senior advisor for operations and analysis. Jakub, a principal author of the June intelligence committee report, was a CIA analyst and case officer before serving as chief investigator on ultraconservative Rep. Dan Burton's inquiry into Democratic campaign finance during the 1996 election. "He's widely viewed as having very strong partisan views," says one of Jakub's former CIA colleagues. "Jay leaps too early. He acts on his views, and often doesn't seem like a measured decision maker." (Through a spokeswoman, Goss and his senior staff declined requests for interviews.)
Many at the CIA fear that Goss will enforce loyalty to the Bush administration at the expense of good intelligence work. "A word I heard a lot from Goss is 'teamwork,'" says a just-departed agency official. "Whether he meant teamwork inside the building or with the administration, I don't know. But I suspect he means the latter." Adds another retired official, "One thing everybody is watching with some concern is how far down the politicization goes. It's been very contained up to this point. It's not just how intelligence gets treated and slanted, but how these people bring partisanship into a lower level" of Langley officials. And if that happens, says the first official, "we lose the reason for our existence. If there's any hint of pressure, it's worse than having no intelligence at all."
Illustrating this fear is the cautionary tale of the CIA's 2002 examination of the dubious connection between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein. As a result of intense pressure from senior Bush administration officials, including Vice President Cheney -- many of whom had already concluded that a solid connection existed -- CIA analysts prepared a report titled "Iraq and al-Qaida: Assessing a Murky Relationship." Or at least a few of them did. Circulated that June, as the administration sought rationales for an invasion of Iraq, the report excluded the assessments of the agency's Near East and South Asia (NESA) office, which generally cast doubt on either an existing or a prospective alliance between Saddam and Osama bin Laden. The paper was chiefly the product of the CIA's terrorism analysts, who explained that their approach was "purposefully aggressive in seeking to draw connections, on the assumption that any indication of a relationship between these two elements could carry great dangers." Jami Miscik, the CIA's deputy director for intelligence, told Senate Intelligence Committee investigators that the paper was intended to "stretch to the maximum the evidence you had." The exclusion of NESA prompted an inquiry by the agency's ombudsman into politicization.
Despite CIA professionals' general skepticism about the White House's desired conclusions and attempt to stay within the confines of responsible intelligence work, a slanted study still emerged. Yet the facts did constrain the analysis, and the report stated that there existed "no conclusive evidence of cooperation on specific terrorist operations." In frustration, a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst detailed to the office of Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who sponsored much of the effort to manipulate intelligence to connect al-Qaida to Saddam, contended to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his chief deputies that the "CIA's interpretation ought to be ignored." (In its public pronouncements about the alleged ties, the Bush administration generally followed the DIA analyst's advice.)
Now, with Goss at the helm and the independence of the agency under siege, many at Langley fear that the Bush administration won't have to worry anymore about being told anything it doesn't already believe.
The widespread animosity toward Goss is likely to mark his entire tenure. Effective, long-lasting DCIs typically owe their success to an ability to balance three constituencies: the White House, Capitol Hill and Langley. DCIs who neglect their CIA power base don't often survive or implement much. Goss seems to be predicating his career on deliberately antagonizing the agency and forcing it into submission. But without the support of the agency he runs, Goss will be forced to rely on the warm wishes of the president for his continued service, which will only escalate the bitterness between Goss and the CIA.
The director has already shunned those who've pleaded for conciliation. Four former deputy directors of operations attempted to "tell him to stop what he was doing the way he was doing it," an ex-senior official told the Washington Post, but Goss refused to meet with them. As tensions rise between Goss and the agency, they risk becoming mutually reinforcing -- and difficult to defuse. If Goss thought the CIA was dysfunctional before, he has guaranteed that it is now. Caught in the balance is the intelligence work indispensable to waging the war on terror. "If the trust [in CIA leadership] isn't there, you just can't be successful," warns a former intelligence official who worries about operatives and analysts having to keep one eye on bin Laden while reserving the other for fighting off their bosses.
Backed by a White House that rarely fires its loyal subordinates, Goss could very well be at Langley for a long time despite his shaky start. When Goss gave his introductory address to CIA employees in September, he received two standing ovations -- when he walked in and again when he finished up. A former CIA official who was present at the ceremony remarks, "Let him do it again today. He'll probably need security."
-------
Russia Claims U.S. Spy Plane Spotted Near Black Sea Border
MosNews
16.11.2004
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/11/16/spypldrob.shtml
A U.S. surveillance plane making a flight near Russia's Black Sea coast turned back after Russia sent a fighter jet to investigate, Russia's Air Force spokesman said Tuesday.
Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevsky said Monday's incident involved a U.S. Orion plane based on the Greek island of Crete, the Interfax news agency reported.
The plane was spotted about 10 kilometers (6 miles) off the Russian border, Drobyshevsky was quoted as saying. It did not respond to queries from the ground and a Su-27 fighter plane was sent to intercept it. The Orion then increased speed and left the area around the border, Drobyshevsky reportedly said.
Drobyshevsky's office could not immediately be reached for further comment.
The Orion, a four-engine turboprop, is used as a maritime surveillance craft and is equipped with submarine detectors.
-------- us
Former G.I.'s, Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go
The New York Times
By MONICA DAVEY
November 16, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/national/16reserves.html?pagewanted=3&ei=1&en=257bba43b14c1771&ex=1101618710
The Army has encountered resistance from more than 2,000 former soldiers it has ordered back to military work, complicating its efforts to fill gaps in the regular troops.
Many of these former soldiers - some of whom say they have not trained, held a gun, worn a uniform or even gone for a jog in years - object to being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan now, after they thought they were through with life on active duty.
They are seeking exemptions, filing court cases or simply failing to report for duty, moves that will be watched closely by approximately 110,000 other members of the Individual Ready Reserve, a corps of soldiers who are no longer on active duty but still are eligible for call-up.
In the last few months, the Army has sent notices to more than 4,000 former soldiers informing them that they must return to active duty, but more than 1,800 of them have already requested exemptions or delays, many of which are still being considered.
And, of about 2,500 who were due to arrive on military bases for refresher training by Nov. 7, 733 had not shown up.
Army officials say the call-up is proceeding at rates they anticipated, and they are trying to fill needed jobs with former soldiers as they did in the Persian Gulf war of 1991.
Still, the resistance puts further strain on a military that has summoned reserve troops in numbers not seen since World War II and forced thousands of soldiers in Iraq to postpone their departures when their enlistment obligations ended.
Tensions are flaring between the Army and some of its veterans, who say they are surprised and confused about their obligations and unsure where to turn.
"I consider myself a civilian," said Rick Howell, a major from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who said he thought he had left the Army behind in 1997 after more than a decade flying helicopters. "I've done my time. I've got a brand new baby and a wife, and I haven't touched the controls of an aircraft in seven years. I'm 47 years old. How could they be calling me? How could they even want me?"
Some former soldiers acknowledge that the Army has every right to call them back, but argue that their personal circumstances - illness, single parenthood, financial woes - make going overseas impossible now.
Others say they do not believe they are eligible to be returned to active duty because, they contend, they already finished the obligations they signed up for when they joined the military. A handful of such former soldiers, scattered across the country, have filed lawsuits making that claim in federal courts.
These former soldiers are not among the part-time soldiers - reservists and National Guard members - who receive paychecks and train on weekends, and who have been called up in large numbers over the last three years.
Instead, these are members of the Individual Ready Reserve, a pool of former soldiers seldom ordered back to work. Ordinarily, these former soldiers do not get military pay, nor do they train. They receive points toward a military retirement and an address form to update once a year.
When soldiers enlist, they typically agree to an eight-year commitment to the Army but often are allowed to end active duty sooner. Some of them join the Reserves or National Guard to complete their commitment; others finish their time in the Individual Ready Reserve.
For officers, the commitment does not expire unless they formally resign their commissions in writing, a detail some insist they did not know and were not told when they signed their contracts, although Army officials strongly dispute that.
Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, a spokeswoman for the Army, said people in the service are well aware of the provision. "We all know about it," Colonel Hart said.
She said problems with the call-ups of former soldiers have involved a relatively small number of people, are being worked out, and are hardly unique to this conflict. In the first gulf war, she said, more than 20,000 former soldiers were called up. With medical problems and no-shows, only about 14,400 were actually deployed, she said.
Most of the deployments in the first gulf war lasted 120 days, the Army said. The current call-ups are more likely to last a year.
Of those seeking exemptions now, the Army is studying each person's case individually, Colonel Hart said, and has no set rule on what allows a person to avoid deployment. Army officials are still weighing more than half of the requests. So far, only 3 percent of requests for exemptions have been turned down, while 45 percent have been approved.
As for the former soldiers who failed to appear at bases by their assigned dates, the Army is trying to reach them, one by one, to discuss their circumstances, Colonel Hart said. In late September, some Army officials suggested that they would pursue harsher punishments - declaring people AWOL and possibly pursuing military charges - but the Army has since taken a quieter, more conciliatory approach.
"These are challenging times in their lives," Colonel Hart said, adding that some former soldiers who failed to report might have moved and not received the Army's notice. "We're contacting them as best as possible."
For the rest, though, some questions linger over who really qualifies for the callback.
Colette Parrish said she burst into tears the evening that her husband, Todd, walked into their house in Cary, N.C., with a letter from the Army calling him back to service. "We had no idea this could happen," she said. "We hadn't been preparing for any of it because we thought it wasn't possible."
At first, Mr. Parrish, 31, said he was convinced that the letter was just an administrative error because he believed that his time in the Individual Ready Reserve had ended.
He had gone to college on an R.O.T.C. scholarship, then served four years as a field artillery officer. He said he resigned his commission after that, became an engineer, and still owed the Army four years in the Individual Ready Reserve to complete his total obligation.
To Mr. Parrish, who has filed a lawsuit against the Army in federal court in North Carolina, that obligation ended on Dec. 19, 2003. But the Army apparently does not agree, and says that it never accepted Mr. Parrish's resignation as an officer.
As the court fight has continued, Mr. Parrish's date to report to Fort Sill, Okla., has been pushed back, again and again, one month at a time. Instead of thinking about long-term plans, for his wife and their future family, he is living in 30-day increments.
He said he always looked back on his service years fondly, and with a deep sense of patriotism.
"I guess I feel disillusioned now," he said. "This isn't about being for or against the war. It's not about Democrats or Republicans. It's just a contract, and I don't think this is right. If they need more people, shouldn't they get them the right way? How many more like me are there?"
Mark Waple, Mr. Parrish's lawyer, said he had received calls from 30 other former soldiers in recent months, all of whom had heard of Mr. Parrish's case and had similar stories.
At least two other former soldiers have filed suit over the question.
In Hawaii, David Miyasato, a former enlisted soldier who served in the first gulf war, said he would never go AWOL; he would have gone to Iraq, he said, if need be.
But Mr. Miyasato also said that his eight-year commitment ended nearly a decade ago. After he received his letter calling him back to service, he said, he called the Army repeatedly to argue that he was not eligible. Finally, he said, with his date to report to a base in South Carolina just days away, he contacted a lawyer and filed suit on Nov. 5.
"This was actually my last resort," said Mr. Miyasato, a former truck driver and fuel hauler who said that, at 34, he led an entirely different life, with an 8-month-old daughter and a window-tinting company to run. "I had been calling around everywhere for help."
On Nov. 10, Mr. Miyasato said, he learned that the Army had rescinded his orders.
In New York, Jay Ferriola, a former captain in the Army, filed a suit saying he had resigned his officer's commission in June and no longer qualified for call-up in the Individual Ready Reserve. On Nov. 5, the Army rescinded his orders and honorably discharged him.
"This shows that the system works," Colonel Hart said. "If the soldiers bring their situations to our attention, we're going to do what's right."
Barry Slotnick, Mr. Ferriola's lawyer, said he wondered how many other soldiers might be in similar positions, but without the money, the contacts or the certainty to sue. Mr. Slotnick said he had received numerous calls from others since he filed Mr. Ferriola's case in late October.
"We might as well add another phone bank," Mr. Slotnick said. "What I can see is that there are many, many cases of people being called up that shouldn't have been. This is a backdoor draft. I also have to wonder how many are already in Iraq who shouldn't be there, who just didn't think to question it."
The Army's current plan is to fill 4,400 jobs through March from among 5,600 former soldiers ordered to duty. But an Army official said last month that more former soldiers, perhaps in similar numbers, might be called on later next year, as well.
For now, those being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan are being asked to handle a variety of support positions, including truck drivers and fuel and food suppliers.
Months ago, the Army said some of the former soldiers would be needed to play the French horn, the clarinet, the euphonium, the saxophone and the electric bass as part of the military's bands, but the notion drew criticism from members of Congress who questioned the need to order people to give up their civilian lives to play instruments. Colonel Hart said the Army has since filled the musician jobs with volunteers.
Before going to Iraq, former soldiers are receiving as many days of training as they need, an Army spokesman said. Some of the soldiers said they were worried, though, about the prospect and safety of trying to get up to speed in a few months.
"These guys like me are basically untrained civilians now," said Mr. Howell, the former helicopter test pilot. Mr. Howell said he left the Army years ago with an injured back, knee and elbow, leaving him wondering about his own physical condition.
"I don't even have a uniform anymore," he said. "But they don't have any more reserves left, so we're it. All they want is some bodies to go to Iraq, just someone to be there, to sit on the ground."
When he left the military in 1997 as part of a reduction in forces, Mr. Howell said, he saw a note in the "little print" in his annuity agreement about a future commitment. But he said he was told that his obligation to the Individual Ready Reserve would be brief and meant little anyway. "They said it was just a way of having me on the books," he said.
After that, Mr. Howell said, he jumped into the civilian world. He got married. He and his new wife began building a house. They struggled to have children.
In September, his first child, Clayton, was born. Just before that, his orders arrived.
"It does rip my heart out that these young men and women are over there, and there is part of me that wants to be with them," he said recently. "But I have responsibilities here now."
Mr. Howell said he had applied to the Army for an exemption but was recently turned down. If he loses his appeal, he will be given a new reporting date. His best hope, he said, is that his appeal is buried somewhere at the very bottom of a big stack of them.
-----
Punishment recommended for soldiers who refused fuel supply mission: US Army official
WASHINGTON (AFP)
Nov 16, 2004
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041116164246.shkswxqh.html
A US Army investigation has recommended punishment for two dozen members of a supply platoon that refused orders to deliver fuel to an army base in an area of Iraq where insurgents were active, an army official said.
The official said four or five members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company could face court martial but the others faced administrative punishment ranging from reprimands to fines and demotions, or a combination of the three.
Some members of the army reserve unit already have been notified of so-called Article 15 actions that carry administrative punishment, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The inquiry was opened after 18 soldiers refused orders on October 13 to go on what relatives later said was a "suicide mission" through rebel territory to deliver fuel to an army base in Taji, north of Baghdad, from Tallil air base in a relatively quiet part of southern Iraq.
Six others initially refused the orders as well but then relented. Those six were believed to have received reprimands or to have been reassigned, the official said.
"Of the 18, there are four or five who could face court martial," the army official said.
The soldiers complained through family members in the United States that their trucks were poorly maintained and lacked armor protection for the mission.
The mission was carried out without incident hours later by a replacement crew, according to Pentagon officials, who portrayed the incident as an isolated case of insubordination.
Brigadier General James Chambers, the commander of the 13th Corps Support Command, relieved the commander of the supply company at her request about a week after the incident, a sign that the breakdown in discipline was seen in part as a failure of leadership.
-----
Iraq Casualties
The Washington Post
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52983-2004Nov15?language=printer
Total number of U.S. military deaths and names of the U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war as announced by the Pentagon recently:
1,194 Fatalities
In hostile actions: 928
In non-hostile actions: 266
Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Pickering, 20, of Marion, Ill.; 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Base, Hawaii. Killed Nov. 10 in Anbar province, which includes Fallujah.
Staff Sgt. Gene Ramirez, 28, of San Antonio; 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 10 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Justin D. Reppuhn, 20, of Hemlock, Mich.; 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 11 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Abraham Simpson, 19, of Chino, Calif.; 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 9 in Anbar province.
Pfc. Dennis J. Miller, Jr., 21, of La Salle, Mich.; 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armored Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Camp Casey, Korea. Killed Nov. 10 in Ramadi.
Cpl. Peter J. Giannopoulos, 22, of Inverness, Ill.; Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Chicago. Killed Nov. 11 in Babil province.
Cpl. Romulo J. Jimenez II, 21, of Miami; 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Killed Nov. 10 in Anbar province.
Spec. Thomas K. Doerflinger, 20, of Silver Spring; 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), based at Fort Lewis, Wash. Killed Nov. 11 in Mosul.
Cpl. Joshua D. Palmer, 24, of Blandinsville, Ill.; Marine Corps Reserve 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, based in Portland, Ore. Died as a result of a non-hostile vehicle accident in Anbar province.
Staff Sgt. Michael C. Ottolini, 45, of Sebastopol, Calif.; Army National Guard's 579th Engineer Battalion, based in Petaluma, Calif. Killed Nov. 10 in Balad.
Staff Sgt. Sean P. Huey, 28, of Fredericktown, Pa.; 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Camp Greaves, Korea. Killed Nov. 11 in Habbaniyah.
Cpl. Theodore A. Bowling, 25, of Casselberry, Fla.; 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 11 in Anbar province.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods, 22, of Jacksonville, Fla.; 3rd Marine Division Detachment, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, based at Kaheohe Bay, Hawaii. Killed Nov. 10 in Fallujah.
Staff Sgt. Theodore S. Holder II, 27, of Littleton, Colo.; 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 11 in Anbar province.
2nd Lt. James P. Blecksmith, 24, of San Marino, Calif.; 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 11 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Kyle W. Burns, 20, of Laramie, Wyo.; 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 11 in Anbar province.
Cpl. Jarrod L. Maher, 21, of Imogene, Iowa; 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Died Nov. 12 as a result of a non-hostile gunshot wound at Abu Ghraib.
Sgt. Morgan W. Strader, 23, of Croosville, Ind.; 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 12 in Anbar province.
Cpl. Nathan R. Anderson, 22, of Howard, Ohio; 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Killed Nov. 12 in Anbar province.
Cpl. Brian P. Prening, 24, of Sheboygan, Wis.; Marine Corps Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Chicago. Killed Nov. 12 in Babil province.
Maj. Horst G. Moore, 38, of San Antonio; Army's 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), based at Fort Lewis, Wash. Killed Nov. 9 in Mosul.
1st Lt. Edward D. Iwan, 28, of Albion, Neb.; Army's 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Vilseck, Germany. Killed Nov. 12 in Fallujah.
Sgt. Jonathan B. Shields, 25, of Atlanta; Army's 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (Armor), 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Tex. Killed Nov. 12 in Fallujah.
Spec. Raymond L. White, 22, of Elwood, Ind.; Army's 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (Armor), 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Tex. Killed Nov. 12 in Baghdad.
Lance Cpl. David M. Branning, 21, of Cockeysville, Md.
Lance Cpl. Brian A. Medina, 20, of Woodbridge.
Both Marines were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Both were killed Nov. 12 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Wesley J. Canning, 21, of Friendswood, Tex.; 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Killed Nov. 10 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson, 19, of Las Vegas; 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 12 in vehicle incident while conducting combat operations in Anbar province.
Sgt. James C. Matteson, 23, of Celoron, N.Y.; Army's 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Vilseck, Germany. Killed Nov. 12 in Fallujah.
Cpl. Kevin J. Dempsey, 23, of Monroe, Conn.; 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C. Killed Nov. 13 in Anbar province.
Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth, 20, of Mount Pleasant, Mich.; Combat Service Support Battalion 1, Combat Service Support Group 11, 1st Force Service Support Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 13 in Anbar province.
Sgt. Byron W. Norwood, 25, of Pflugerville, Tex.; 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Killed Nov. 13 in Anbar province.
Spec. Jose A. Velez, 23, of Lubbock, Tex.; 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Tex. Killed Nov. 13 in Fallujah.
All troops were killed in action unless otherwise indicated.
Total fatalities include three civilian employees of the Defense Department.
A full list of casualties is available online at www.washingtonpost.com/nation
SOURCE: Defense Department's www.defenselink.mil/news -- The Washington Post
--------
Marines Probe Apparent Slaying of Wounded Iraqi
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52359-2004Nov15.html
Marine commanders in Iraq are investigating an incident in which a Marine apparently shot and killed a severely wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah, a Pentagon official said last night.
Images of the incident, captured Saturday on videotape by Kevin Sites, a freelance correspondent working for NBC News who is embedded with a Marine unit, were broadcast last night on several news networks. The videotape shows a squad of Marines entering the building and seeing several Iraqis lying against a wall, either dead or gravely wounded. One Marine shouts something about one Iraqi feigning death. The Marine then shoots the man in the head.
The networks did not broadcast the entire tape, saying some of it was too graphic. "NBC has chosen not to air the most gruesome of the images," NBC anchorman Brian Williams said in introducing the videotape.
According to Sites, the wounded men were insurgents who had battled a different group of Marines the day before. In that firefight, 10 Iraqi fighters were killed and five were wounded. Those five were treated with field bandages and left in the mosque because the conditions of combat did not allow the Marines to bring them out. Other Marines were supposed to collect the wounded Iraqis and take them for treatment, but, for reasons not yet known, that did not happen, Sites said.
Then, on Saturday, the Marines received a report that the area, which they thought had been cleared, had been reoccupied by insurgents, Sites said. A different squad of Marines that had not been involved in the previous day's encounter was sent to investigate. It entered the mosque and saw the men lying on the floor. It was then that the shooting occurred, according to the videotape.
The Marine who shot the wounded Iraqi had been wounded the day before but returned to duty. Since the incident he has been taken out of front-line duty, Sites said.
"My understanding is that the Marines have launched an inquiry into it," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He warned against overreacting to the videotape: "I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. We don't know all the facts here."
The Marine investigation was begun yesterday by the staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, of which the major ground unit is the 1st Marine Division, Whitman said. He said he did not know the unit involved, but Sites is embedded with the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Marine Division, according to his Web site, www.kevinsites.net.
Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in Fallujah, confirmed that an investigation was underway and added: Let me make it perfectly clear: We follow the law of armed conflict. We hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability. The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued."
Thomas Lee, a former Navy officer who now teaches at Fordham University School of Law in New York, said that since 1864, the Geneva Conventions governing the law of war have prohibited the killing of wounded or sick enemy combatants.
The situation in the videotape appears to resemble an incident in Kufa, south of Baghdad, in the spring that resulted in the Army bringing charges of murder and dereliction of duty against an officer in the 1st Armored Division.
In that May 21 incident, Capt. Rogelio M. Maynulet shot the wounded driver for militant Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr. Maynulet then told a fellow officer that the man was so badly wounded, with part of his skull blown away, that he shot him out of compassion, according to a military legal proceeding held in Germany in September.
Several other Army soldiers in Iraq have been charged with murder, manslaughter and other offenses in connection with the treatment of detainees or curfew breakers. Also, four soldiers in the 1st Cavalry Division have been charged with premeditated murder of Iraqi civilians.
Retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich said that such incidents can only damage the U.S. cause in Iraq. "We cannot prevail in this conflict if our actions suggest that we do not value Muslim life or that we view Muslims as an inferior species," said Bacevich, who now teaches international relations at Boston University. "My sense is that such an impression has already taken hold in the Arab world. This incident can only reinforce that impression."
Correspondent Jackie Spinner in Fallujah contributed to this report.
---------
CAPTIVES TV Report Says Marine Shot Prisoner
November 16, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16marine.html
United States marine shot and killed a wounded and apparently unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque in the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja, according to pool television pictures broadcast Monday. A Marine spokesman in Washington said the shooting was under investigation.
The shooting on Saturday was videotaped by a pool correspondent, Kevin Sites of NBC News television, who said three other previously wounded prisoners in the mosque also had apparently been shot again by the marines inside the mosque.
The incident played out as the Third Battalion, First Regiment of the First Marine Division returned to the unidentified Falluja mosque on Saturday. Mr. Sites was embedded with the unit.
Mr. Sites reported that a different Marine unit had come under fire from the mosque on Friday. Those marines stormed the building, killing 10 men and wounding 5 others, Mr. Sites said. The marines said the fighters in the mosque had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles.
The marines had treated the wounded, he reported, left them behind and continued on Friday with their drive to retake the city from insurgents.
On the video as the camera moved into the mosque during the Saturday incident, a marine can be heard shouting obscenities in the background, yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead.
The video then showed a marine raising his rifle toward a prisoner laying on the floor of the mosque, but neither NBC News nor CNN showed the bullet hitting the man. At that moment the video was blacked out but the report of the rifle could be heard.
The blacked out portion of the video tape, provided later to Associated Press Television News and other members of the network pool, showed the bullet striking the man in the upper body, possibly the head. His blood splatters on the wall behind him and his body goes limp.
Mr. Sites reported that a marine in the same unit had been killed just a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent.
The events on the videotape began as some of the marines from the unit accompanied by Mr. Sites approached the mosque on Saturday, a day after it was stormed by other marines.
A spokesman at Marine headquarters in the Pentagon, Maj. Doug Powell, said the incident was "being investigated." He had no other details other than to confirm that the incident had happened Saturday and that the marines involved were part of the First Marine Division.
---------
Military Bases Are Told Not To Sponsor Boy Scout Troops
Associated Press
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A08
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52547-2004Nov15.html
CHICAGO, Nov. 15 -- The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide that they should not directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has improperly supported a group that requires members to believe in God.
The settlement, announced Monday, came in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which says American military units have sponsored hundreds of Boy Scout troops.
"If our Constitution's promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based on religious beliefs," said ACLU lawyer Adam Schwartz.
The Pentagon said it has long had a rule against sponsorship of non-federal organizations and denied that the rule had been violated. But it agreed to send a message to posts worldwide warning them not to sponsor Boy Scout troops or other such groups.
The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events.
The settlement does not resolve other ACLU claims involving government spending that benefits the Boy Scouts, such as money used to prepare a Virginia military base for the Boy Scout Jamboree and grants used by state and local governments to benefit the Scouts, Schwartz said.
The original ACLU lawsuit named as defendants the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education. The schools settled, agreeing not to engage in official sponsorship of scouting activities.
--------
DISCIPLINE
Punishment Urged for Reservists Who Disobeyed
November 16, 2004
The New York Times
By ERIC SCHMITT and ARIEL HART
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16troops.html?pagewanted=all
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - An Army investigation has recommended that two dozen members of an Army Reserve unit in Iraq be punished for disobeying orders last month to deliver fuel to another base, a Pentagon official and relatives of the soldiers said Monday.
Most of the reservists will probably receive fines, demotions or reprimands, but four or five could face courts-martial on more serious charges, said the Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry's recommendations had not been announced.
About 18 members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in Rock Hill, S.C., were held for nearly two days after refusing orders on Oct. 13 to drive a fuel convoy from Tallil Air Base, near Nasiriya in southern Iraq, to Taji, 15 miles north of Baghdad. The soldiers complained that their vehicles had not been properly outfitted, their fuel was contaminated, and they were not being escorted by armed vehicles.
The inquiry found fault with six other soldiers, the Pentagon official said, but it was not clear if that included the unit's commander and top noncommissioned officer, who were later reassigned.
The mission was eventually carried out by other troops in the unit, but the incident fueled criticisms by Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, and other critics, that the Bush administration had failed to outfit soldiers in Iraq with adequate equipment in an increasingly dangerous country.
Last month, Brig. Gen. James E. Chambers, the head of the unit's parent command, the 13th Corps Support Command, ordered two inquiries into the incident. Preliminary findings showed that the unit's trucks were not armored and were among the last in his command scheduled to get such protection because they usually operated in less risky parts of Iraq.
A spokesman for General Chambers, Maj. Richard Spiegel, said in a statement on Monday, "Certain administrative actions have been initiated as a result of this review and more actions, including criminal charges, are possible in the future." But Major Spiegel declined to provide further details.
The military said in a statement earlier this month that the unit had resumed limited operations.
"Specifically, they are supporting convoy missions by providing gun truck escorts and crews as well as serving as vehicle commanders and crew members in the vehicles of sister units," the statement said. "The 343rd expects to resume fuel delivery missions, with their own vehicles, in the near future."
Armor has been added to the unit's M931 tractor rigs, five-ton gun trucks and Humvees, the statement said.
Teresa Hill, mother of one of the reservists, said Monday that the troops were being told of their punishments. Her daughter, Specialist Amber McClenny, whose message on an answering machine was for days the only first-person account of the incident available to reporters, told her mother she feared that the military would make an example of her.
Ms. Hill said in a telephone interview that her daughter called her with an update this weekend. According to Ms. Hill, "She said they've called in five soldiers and said, 'You will have an Article 15.' "
In the military's legal system, an Article 15 is a nonjudicial punishment that can result in penalties including fines, reduction in rank or written reprimand. A soldier can refuse an Article 15 and request a court-martial proceeding.
Specialist McClenny was told to report separately to hear her punishment. "She feels like she's being used as a poster child," Ms. Hill said. About a dozen reservists who refused to go to Taji remained in the same camp with Specialist McClenny. Beverly Dobbs, the mother of another reservist, said her son Joe had called her on Saturday morning and said he had been called before a review board the day before. He and his fellow soldiers were being called in three at a time.
"He was supposed to go talk to some lawyers and stuff today," Ms. Dobbs said. "He said he wasn't for sure what he was going to do yet," she added in a telephone interview. "He said, 'You might have to get me a lawyer, Mama.' "
"I'll say it over and over, I do not understand why they're having to go through this," she said. "They joined because that was a dream for all of them. It can be ruined because they're not willing to listen to what they're trying to say. To my mind they saved lives by not going out."
Eric Schmitt reported from Washington for this article, and Ariel Hart from Atlanta.
-------- war crimes
Trial Begins for Three Kosovo Albanians Accused of War Crimes
November 16, 2004
By NICHOLAS WOOD
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/europe/16kosovo.html?pagewanted=all
JUBLJANA, Slovenia, Nov. 15 - The first international war crimes trial of former ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo began in The Hague on Monday, with three men accused of torturing and killing a group of prisoners under their control during the conflict in that Serbian province from 1997 to 1999.
All three are former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian force that battled with Yugoslav troops and the police there, until military intervention by NATO ended the conflict and placed the region under the authority of the United Nations.
The group on trial includes Fatmir Limaj, a senior commander of the rebel group during the war, who later became one of Kosovo's best-known ethnic Albanian politicians. The three men, in their first brief court appearance on Monday, pleaded not guilty.
This is the first trial of ethnic Albanian fighters by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for war crimes committed during the Kosovo conflict.
Previously, the tribunal has indicted only Serbs for violence against civilians during the Kosovo conflict, but it has tried more than 60 cases - Serbs, Bosnian Serbs and Croats - for the wars of the 1990's that tore up Yugoslavia. United Nations officials estimate that up to 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed by Serbian-led security forces in Kosovo, most between March and June 1999.
The tribunal has recently turned its attention to possible war crimes committed by the rebels, though, and the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, has said further indictments of ethnic Albanians will be announced before the end of the year.
Mr. Limaj, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala, are accused of detaining up to 38 Serbs and Albanians at a makeshift prison camp near the village of Lapusnik in the center of the province in May 1998.
According to the indictment, the three "participated in maintaining and enforcing the inhumane conditions at the camp" and "aided and abetted the torture and beating of detainees." The indictment accuses Mr. Bala of executing 21 detainees who were led away from the camp into the Berisa mountains. It says he was given orders by Mr. Limaj shortly before the killings.
Elsewhere in the region on Monday, the Bosnian Serb police announced the arrest of eight Bosnian Serbs wanted by a Bosnian court, charged with war crimes committed during the conflict there, from 1992 to 1995. They are the first war crimes suspects to be arrested by the Bosnian Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia since the end of the war.
The Bosnian Serb leadership has been under significant international pressure to cooperate with the prosecution of war crimes and has been accused by international officials of protecting leading suspects, including the Bosnian Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic. It has not yet transferred any of the indicted suspects to the tribunal in The Hague.
In Kosovo, the possibility that more ethnic Albanian suspects will be arrested has caused some concern among United Nations officials in the province.
The security situation remains volatile there after 19 people were killed and more than 4,000 Serbs and other minorities were forced from their homes when ethnic Albanian mobs went on the rampage in March.
Tensions are expected to increase as Kosovo nears possible negotiations on its future status sometime next year.
-------- POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE
-------- death penalty
Supreme Court Rebukes Texas Again Over a Death Sentence
November 16, 2004
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16scotus.html
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The Supreme Court overturned a Texas death sentence on Monday while delivering its latest rebuke to the way the death penalty is being handled by judges in the state, which has executed far more people than any other in the modern era of capital punishment.
The errors committed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in upholding the death sentence of LaRoyce L. Smith were so clear to a majority of the Supreme Court that the justices decided the case in the inmate's favor on the basis of the briefs, without hearing arguments.
Only Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the unsigned 12-page opinion. They did not write an opinion of their own.
Mr. Smith was convicted in 1991 of murdering a co-worker at a Taco Bell restaurant in Dallas where he had recently worked. He was 19. With an I.Q. of 78, he had reached the ninth grade in special education classes.
In the sentencing phase of his trial, the jury sentenced him to death under a procedure that the Texas Legislature was then in the process of amending to conform to Supreme Court rulings.
The justices said Monday that the Texas appeals court ignored problems the Supreme Court had already identified and that it should have known, when it affirmed the sentence last April, that the jury instructions made the death sentence unconstitutional.The state court "erroneously relied on a test we never countenanced and now have unequivocally rejected," the justices said.
In the last few years, the Supreme Court has overturned a number of death sentences in Texas while making evident its frustration with both the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the federal court that hears habeas corpus petitions from Texas inmates.
With Texas having the second-biggest death row in the country, the Supreme Court's increasingly careful monitoring of death sentences in that state could have a significant effect on the overall death penalty picture.
Jordan Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas who is Mr. Smith's lawyer, said although dozens of inmates might be freed from the Texas death row as a result of the ruling in Smith v. Texas, No. 04-5323, dozens of others in similar circumstances had been executed.
All were sentenced under a variant of jury instructions that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in opinions that began in 1989 and ended on June 24 of this year, when the court overturned another death sentence in a case, Tennard v. Dretke.
Although the Tennard case had already been argued and a decision was imminent, the Texas appeals court rejected Mr. Smith's appeal without waiting for the Supreme Court's further clarification. The question the justices dealt with in all these cases was whether Texas juries had received instructions that permitted them to give adequate weight to any mitigating factors offered by the defendant to show why he should not be executed.
Under the Texas law that the Supreme Court approved when it permitted capital punishment to resume in 1976, a death sentence was mandatory if jurors answered yes to two questions: Was the killing deliberate, and would the defendant present a continuing danger to society?
There was no room for consideration of mitigating circumstances that the court found in subsequent decisions had to be considered by the jury if the defendant offered them.
After the court ruled in 1989 that Texas had to give jurors the chance to consider mitigating factors, the state added new instructions. Jurors who wanted to take mitigating factors into account should do so by answering no to one of the two questions, even if they believed that the correct answer was yes.
In a decision in 2001, the Supreme Court found this response constitutionally flawed. It then amplified that decision in the Tennard case in June.
Both in 2001 and in June, the justices said, telling jurors to answer the questions honestly and while at the same time instructing them to disregard their own answers placed the jurors in an untenable position, most likely preventing them from giving proper weight to the defendant's mitigating evidence.
The court said Monday that Mr. Smith's mitigating evidence of a low I.Q. and troubled family background - his father stole from the family to support a cocaine habit and was sent to prison - were substantial enough to require the jury's consideration.
Of the 943 executions in the country since 1976, Texas has carried out 335, more than the next six states combined. It has 457 people on death row, second to the 635 in California, which has conducted 10 executions.
-------- drug war
Poppies Retain Powerful Hold on Afghanistan
By Wahidullah Amani
November 16, 2004
KABUL, Afghanistan, (ENS)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2004/2004-11-16-02.asp
Despite renewed pledges by the government to eradicate the drug trade, those who produce the raw material for heroin insist they have no alternative. In a televised press conference following his recent electoral victory, President Hamed Karzai vowed to redouble efforts to halt drug trafficking.
"There will definitely, definitely not be any drug thing in Afghanistan, we are going to be dedicated, strong in working against that," he said.
Afghan President Hamed Karzai (Photo courtesy UN) Yet, even as he was speaking, the autumn harvest was under way. In southwestern, eastern and northeastern parts of the country, farmers are expecting a bumper crop - and the biggest yields will be from opium poppies.
Farmers across the country insist that they will continue to plant and harvest poppies until the government provides them with alternative crops and financial support.
"We are not able to support our families unless we grow opium," said Tela Mohammad, from Mer Mandab district, Helmand province. "The government wants to prevent its cultivation, but doesn't help [farmers]."
He said he would keep growing opium, "even if it costs me my head."
Farmers throughout Afghanistan said that the main reasons they depend on opium crops are long-running drought and widespread poverty. They complain the government hasn't been able to find a better solution.
Ashiqullah, from the village of Jazib in Helmand province, said, "We have an irrigation problem in our area. There isn't enough water in the rivers to irrigate the fields properly, and we don't get a better harvest. So we have to grow opium, because there is not enough water for wheat and corn."
But government officials focus on public awareness campaigns, rather than taking any concrete step to prevent rising production.
"We inform people in the villages that we will destroy their fields if they cultivate opium," said Dad Mohammad, head of police of Helmand. "We won't let anyone grow it."
Ahmadullah Alizai, head of the counter-narcotics department for southwestern Afghanistan, said, "According to decree no. 53 of President Karzai, no one has the right to grow opium, and we have informed all farmers."
Despite such pledges, opium cultivation continues. And farmers warn that if the government cracks down, they will fight back.
Sher Agha, from the village of Shah Karez in Kandahar province, said, "If the government uses power, people will resist."
A field of opium poppies in Afghanistan (Photo courtesy FAO) Mer Dad of Shenwar district in Nangarhar province, said he would take extreme measures to protect his opium crop.
"I must support 17 family members - I can't let them to die from hunger," he said. "I will even plant mines to preserve my fields."
Government officials have promised seed, equipment and medicines for farmers as an incentive to stop growing opium. But in eastern provinces of Afghanistan such as Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan, farmers have continued growing opium despite such promises.
Farhad, from Rodaat district in Nangarhar province, said he owed a lot of money to various people and was relying on opium to get him out of debt. "God willing, if I can harvest 35 kilos of opium, then all my problems will be solved," he said.
In Nangarhar, a key growing region, the government has even attempted aerial spraying to eradicate the poppy crop. Thus far, such attempts have not been very effective.
In the north, farmers are also sceptical of the government's ability to curtail opium production.
"Growing anything else isn't that profitable," said Sufi Payenda of the village of Yangi Hariq, in Balkh province. "We can't sustain our lives by growing other plants, so we won't stop growing opium."
Sayed Mohammed was irrigating his fields in near the village of Arzankar village in the Chahar Bulak district of Balkh province. "I grow opium on two jerib [4,000 square metres] of land near the stream. And when this land is ready, I will grow it here as well," he said.
Farmers in the north said they would continue to grow opium even if it puts their lives at risk.
"We will die from hunger if we don't grow opium," said Malim Mohammad Zaher, from village of Kutaki in Balkh province. "Even if the government tries to kill us, we won't stop."
Just as in other regions, efforts by officials in the north to stop opium production have failed.
Afghan poppy farmers in a field of mature opium poppies (Photo credit unknown) Mohammed Tayeb, head of education department at the agricultural institute in Balkh, said there are 439 villages in the province which each grow opium on an area of at least 54 jerib [108,000 square meters] of land. According to him, the majority of farmers in the region are growing some opium.
One reason the government has been so ineffective in combating the narcotics trade is because of the widespread participation of militia groups and local officials.
Mohammed Zahir Haqbar, head of the counter-narcotics department in the interior ministry, accused some officials of being involved in trafficking drugs abroad.
"No one would dare [participate in trafficking] unless some governmental officials were involved in this business," he said.
However, there is hope that with international assistance, the government can make a dent in opium production.
General Mohammed Daud, deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics, said that over the next three years, the United States and Great Britain will help Afghan farmers through dam construction and the provision of seed and fertilizer. And he promised more robust enforcement of narcotics laws.
"The government is more capable than in previous years, and we have strong support from the international community," he said. "We should decrease production of narcotics by 50 per cent every year."
Daud said it is time for the government to declare holy war - jihad - on narcotics.
"It is jihad, and there is no greater service that can be rendered to Afghans and the people of the world," he said. "It is our religious, Islamic duty."
The United Kingdom has pledged $6.83 million to fund a two year UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project to help eliminate opium production in Afghanistan by developing alternative livelihoods in the country's main poppy producing areas, the Organization announced today.
The funding is for the first phase of a $25.5 million five year multidonor program developed by the FAO to support alternative agricultural livelihoods, targeting more than 1.5 million people in poppy producing provinces.
{Published in cooperation with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). Wahidullah Amani is an IWPR staff writer in Kabul. This report drew on material from the Pajhwok news agency, an IWPR project.}
-------- homeland security / national intelligence
Homeland Security Employees Required to Sign Secrecy Pledge
Gag Order Raises Concern on Hill
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52977-2004Nov15.html
The Department of Homeland Security is requiring thousands of employees and contractors to sign nondisclosure agreements that prohibit them from sharing sensitive but unclassified information with the public.
The department was rebuffed, however, when it also tried to require congressional aides to sign the secrecy pledges as a condition for gaining access to certain materials, majority and minority spokesmen for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security said yesterday.
DHS spokeswoman Valerie Smith said in an interview that all 180,000 employees and contractors are being required to sign the three-page forms as part of working for the agency, a policy formalized in May. State and local security officials are asked to sign the statement for classified information only.
Smith said the agreements do not exempt underlying information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Signers are given the form "simply to inform and educate them about the sensitivity of that information and the need to protect it. . . . It does not do anything to further obscure or shroud that information," she said.
But congressional critics and government watchdog organizations such as the Federation of American Scientists call the policy a potentially precedent-setting expansion of official secrecy whose provisions are overly broad and unworkable, if not unconstitutional.
Ken Johnson, spokesman for House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), said GOP aides have been approached by DHS officials as a group and individually. One junior aide contacted directly signed the agreement, but his supervisors and Cox repudiated it as soon as they found out.
"We have steadfastly refused to sign any nondisclosure agreements. From our perspective it would be inappropriate, and at the very least unnecessary," Johnson said. "This is unclassified material and Congress has a right to it without signing away our lives."
Democratic staff also refused to sign nondisclosure agreements, minority committee spokeswoman Moira Whelan said.
"They're forgetting who's overseeing who," another panel official said.
Steven Aftergood, editor of the federation's newsletter, which reported the policy last week, said the DHS is sweeping whole categories of government information under restrictions previously used only for classified data. Such categories include "official use only" and "law enforcement sensitive."
"Its likely consequence will be to chill even the most mundane interactions between department employees and reporters or the general public," said Aftergood, who obtained a copy of the form under the Freedom of Information Act. "Employees will naturally fear that even the most trivial conversation could mean a violation of this draconian agreement, and so the result will be a new wall between the government and the public."
The form defines as "sensitive" any information that could "adversely affect the national interest or the conduct of federal programs" or violate a person's privacy, a much lower barrier than damaging national security.
Violators risk administrative, disciplinary, criminal and civil penalties. One provision provides that signers consent to government inspections "at any time or place" to ensure compliance.
Scott Armstrong, representing U.S. newspapers and journalist groups, said the agreement imposes no limit on how long information can be restricted, and allows data to be declared sensitive or official "at the whim of any bureaucrat."
Armstrong expressed concern that pending legislation to overhaul the intelligence agencies would give a new national intelligence director authority to remake the clearance classification system along the lines of the DHS plans.
Senate aides said the goal is to shift authority for classifying information to the new director, not to broaden that authority.
"We have taken seriously the 9/11 Commission's concern that current security requirements nurture over-classification and excessive compartmentalization of information among agencies," Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) said yesterday in a written statement. "We want to allow as much transparency and information sharing as possible without threatening the need to protect information and sources that is required of intelligence missions."
--------
Approval Imminent for National WMD, Terrorism Response Plan, Says U.S. Homeland Security Official
Global Security Newswire
By Joe Fiorill
November 16, 2004
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004_11_16.html#B522CB06
WASHINGTON - An integrated national plan for U.S. WMD and terrorism response is likely to be approved by Cabinet secretaries by the end of this week, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary James Loy said here today.
By this time next year, the final National Response Plan will have replaced the disparate plans now in effect at federal agencies that work on WMD and terrorism response, the former Coast Guard commandant said at a maritime-security conference organized by Defense Today and held at George Washington University.
A February 2003 directive by President George W. Bush required the fledgling Homeland Security Department to design and implement the National Response Plan and the associated National Incident Management System in a bid to "establish a single, comprehensive approach" to managing terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies (see GSN, Sept. 30).
The National Incident Management System is intended to guide operations during incidents and is based on the Incident Command System, already widely used by emergency agencies around the country. The broader National Response Plan lays out the administrative structure behind response operations, bringing together existing plans such as the Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan and the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan.
Under last year's directive, the response plan and operational system were to be developed by the Homeland Security Department, then reviewed by the president's Homeland Security Council, which includes several Cabinet secretaries.
The directive required federal agencies to adopt the incident-management system and to help to develop, and ultimately adopt in their own practice, the overall emergency-response plan. The president instructed agencies by fiscal 2005 to give emergency-response grants only to those states and localities that practiced the National Incident Management System.
Among the effects of the National Response Plan is the designation of a "primary federal agency" charged with managing the response to each type of incident envisioned.
According to a draft of the plan, Homeland Security's Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate would be responsible for WMD response "regardless of the cause," as well as for general coordination of emergency management for all hazards.
Homeland Security agencies would also be in charge of several other areas. The department's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate would be responsible for infrastructure protection and for information, and its Border and Transportation Security Directorate would be responsible both for border and transportation security and for terrorism preparedness generally.
The State Department would be responsible for international coordination, while the Defense Department would be responsible for protecting the U.S. territory against military attacks.
-------- human rights
U.N. Chief for Human Rights Raises Concern on Falluja
November 16, 2004
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16cnd-fall.html?oref=login
The United Nations' high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, said today that she was concerned that the rules of war intended to protect civilians and combatants had been violated in Falluja during the fighting between American-led forces and insurgents.
Ms. Arbour issued her remarks in a statement on the same day that the American military said from Iraq that it was investigating an allegation of the unlawful use of force by an American marine in the death of an enemy combatant.
That investigation centered on an incident in Falluja, captured on film by a television reporter, in which a United States marine shot and killed a wounded and apparently unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque in Falluja on Saturday.
An offensive of more than a week between the American military and Iraqi government forces against insurgents in Falluja, a city about 35 miles west of Baghdad, has left 38 American and 6 Iraqi soldiers killed, Col. Michael Regner, the operations officer for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said on Monday.
The number of Iraqi casualties has not been officially announced. The Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, has said he does not believe any civilians were killed in the offensive, which has left more than 1,200 insurgents dead, according to a Reuters report.
Other Iraqi officials are reporting instances of civilian casualties. In a Reuters report, an Iraqi relief committee member, Mohammed Farhan Awad, said he saw 22 bodies buried in rubble in Falluja's northern Jolan district on Sunday.
Ms. Arbour, in her statement, expressed concern over the lack of information regarding civilian casualties, as well as the "poor access" by civilians in the city to the delivery of humanitarian aid and about the lack of information regarding the number of civilians casualties.
"The High Commissioner considers that all violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be investigated and those responsible for breaches - including deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, the killing of injured persons and the use of human shields - must be brought to justice, be they members of the Multinational Force or insurgents," said the United Nations statement quoting Ms. Arbour.
The American military said that their investigation into the Falluja mosque shooting was meant to "determine whether the Marine acted in self-defense, violated military law or failed to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict." The marine has been withdrawn from the battlefield pending the results of the investigation, it said.
-------- police
FBI Faulted in Arrest of Ore. Lawyer
Study by Forensic Experts Cites Mistakes in Fingerprint Identification
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52907-2004Nov15.html
SEATTLE, Nov. 15 -- In their hurry to help find suspects in the March terrorist bombings in Madrid, FBI fingerprint examiners succumbed to top-down institutional intimidation and failed to correct an obvious blunder that led to the detention of an innocent Oregon lawyer, according to a panel of forensic experts.
"To disagree was not an expected response" within the FBI's bureaucratic culture, according to a report on the panel's findings. It said that once a supervisor in the agency's fingerprint unit had wrongly identified a print from the bombing investigation in Spain, "it became increasingly difficult for others in the agency" to tell him he had made a mistake.
The seven-member panel of international experts was assembled in June by the FBI to explore the reasons for the arrest of Brandon Mayfield, a Portland area lawyer and convert to Islam, which proved a major embarrassment in the Bush administration's war on terrorism. The report was published in the November-December issue of the Journal of Forensic Identification. The Justice Department is also investigating the case.
FBI agents detained Mayfield, 38, in connection with train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 and injured 2,000. Spanish investigators ultimately linked the bombing to al Qaeda and the mistaken fingerprint to an Algerian man, prompting the FBI to release Mayfield, who had been held for two weeks on a material-witness warrant. The FBI apologized for "the hardships this matter has caused."
The FBI blamed its error, in part, on the poor quality of digital fingerprint images provided by Spanish authorities. The expert panel, however, found that this assessment was not supported by the facts.
"All of the committee members agree that the quality of the images that were used to make the erroneous identification was not a factor," according to a synopsis of the panel's findings written by Robert B. Stacey, head of the quality assurance unit for the FBI's laboratory division.
His report added that when Spanish officials said the FBI was wrong, the fingerprint unit "immediately entered into a defensive posture."
Mayfield sued the federal government last month, alleging that his rights were violated because of his faith. Gerry Spence, a high-powered Wyoming lawyer and the lead plaintiff's attorney in the case, has not said how much money Mayfield is seeking in damages.
The civil suit alleges that the FBI had access to biographical information on Mayfield before its erroneous finding of a fingerprint match.
Steven Wax, who was Mayfield's criminal lawyer in Portland in the spring, said Monday that the panel's report is "tremendously significant" because it points to systemic problems with the FBI's fingerprint analysis techniques.
But Wax said that the panel did not explore whether FBI knowledge of Mayfield's life -- his Muslim faith or his work as a defense attorney for a Portland man who admitted trying to help the Taliban in Afghanistan -- might have predisposed the agency to use subjective fingerprint analysis as a way of linking Mayfield to the Madrid bombings.
"Is this a fingerprint mistake, or does it go beyond the business of fingerprinting with the contamination of the process with other information?" Wax asked.
The primary factor in the botched match was "human error" exacerbated by a shoddy system of peer review, the report said. After a supervisor made the initial mistake that linked a latent print to Mayfield, lower-level fingerprint examiners were afraid to rock the boat, the panel found. It concluded that these lower-level experts, when asked to verify the prints, should not have been permitted to know what a supervisor had concluded.
"The examiners should be encouraged to step forward, without fear of reprisal, if they disagree," the report said, strongly suggesting that this was not the case last March in the FBI latent print unit.
The print was found on a bag left in a van near a train station where three of the four bombed trains originated. Spanish police sent copies of it to other law enforcement agencies.
The panel recommended a major change in the way print examiners are assigned, especially in high-profile cases. Instead of allowing a supervisor to make initial findings, the panel said, rank-and-file examiners should be "the primary analysts."
In the bureaucratic culture of the FBI that existed last fall, the panel said, "a subordinate may not feel comfortable challenging the conclusion of a supervisor."
The panel's recommendations are likely to be reviewed by Congress. But in the meantime, according to Stacey, the quality assurance chief in the FBI's laboratory division, the agency is taking them seriously and "firmly believes that it will be made better as a result."
-------- POLITICS
-------- corruption
Iraq Gained $21 Billion Illicitly, Senate Panel Says
U.N. Sanctions Bypassed, Inquiry Finds
By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52758-2004Nov15.html
Iraq illicitly earned an estimated $21.3 billion by circumventing United Nations sanctions between 1991 and 2003, according to estimates released yesterday by a U.S. Senate panel.
The figure -- double a previously released estimate -- was derived by Senate investigators who examined proceeds from a range of moneymaking schemes, such as kickbacks charged for humanitarian goods, surcharges on oil sales and the illegal export of oil.
Investigators for Republicans on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations also released new details of how the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein manipulated the U.N.'s oil-for-food program, which was designed to allow Iraq to sell oil to purchase food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
"The oil-for-food program was intended to allow the government of Iraq to provide for humanitarian aid and assistance for its people," Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee's subcommittee, said during a hearing yesterday. "Instead, under the oil-for-food program, Saddam Hussein generated massive amounts of money that had one sole purpose: to keep him in power."
During the hearing, lawmakers also raised alarm about documents contained in a recent report by former U.S. weapons inspector Charles A. Duelfer that suggested foreign leaders and a top U.N. official may have received lucrative vouchers to purchase Iraqi oil. Duelfer, who testified at the hearing, said that while Iraqi documents listed the names of various officials, he could not say for certain that they actually used the vouchers and profited from trading the oil.
Duelfer's report, released last month, said that Hussein had raised $11 billion in illegal income between 1991 and 2003. A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report provided a lower estimate of illegal payoffs during the oil-for-food program -- between 1997 and 2003 -- than Senate investigators calculated.
Fred Eckhard, a U.N. spokesman, cast doubt on the Senate numbers, saying that they "look exceedingly high" but that officials were still reviewing the data.
Coleman renewed his complaints that the U.N. had failed to cooperate with his subcommittee's investigation. Eckhard declined to comment.
The subcommittee's investigation, one of several congressional inquiries into Iraq's circumvention of U.N. sanctions, has been underway for seven months and Coleman said the panel would continue probing the matter. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to probe corruption in the oil-for-food program.
Iraq raised the bulk of its illicit proceeds by illegally exporting oil between 1991 and 2003, according to subcommittee documents. The report also described how Iraq would contract for first-rate goods and accept delivery of items of lesser value; the supplier would receive a percentage of the difference in price and Iraq would keep the rest.
The report also detailed a pattern of illegal surcharges and kickbacks that Iraq demanded on contracts during the oil-for-food program.
Investigators cited one case in which Iraq's oil ministry told a contractor to inflate prices charged to the country and to then deposit a kickback in an Iraqi government account in Switzerland.
The Weir Group PLC, a Glasgow, Scotland-based company that makes industrial valves and pumps for the oil industry and other uses, complied by boosting the original 2.2 million euro price by 13 percent and depositing the difference between its original offer and the revised offer into an Iraqi account in Switzerland, said Steven Groves, a counsel to the subcommittee.
Weir officials were not in their offices and could not be reached last night. The company released a statement in July acknowledging that prices had been inflated and said it was investigating.
Groves said that money was effectively stolen by Hussein for his own purposes and was not put to its intended use of buying food, medicine or other humanitarian goods for the country's residents.
Staff writer Colum Lynch contributed to this report.
-------- us politics
Nevada's Reid tapped to lead shrunken Senate Democratic caucus
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By David Espo
November 16, 2004
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20041116-0935-senatedemocrats.html
WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada won election as leader of the shrunken Democratic minority on Tuesday and said he stands ready to cooperate with Republicans or confront them as he deems necessary.
"I always would rather dance than fight. But I know how to fight," he said at a news conference after the Democratic rank and file chose him leader for the Congress that convenes in January.
Reid won his post as House Republicans, buoyed by election gains, tapped Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois for another term as speaker. Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas was re-elected majority leader, and the balance of the GOP leadership won new terms as well.
Reid, 64, said he and Democrats would stress expanded access to health care and increased support for education. "I believe in the minimum wage and we have to raise it," he said.
Reid also cautioned majority Republicans not to "mess with the rules" in the Senate by trying to make it easier to override Democratic objections to some of President Bush's judicial nominations.
He said the Senate had confirmed 203 of President Bush's court nominations over the past four years and blocked 10. "I think they are crying wolf all too often," he said of Republicans who used the 10 thwarted nominations to label Democrats as obstructionists.
Reid takes over a party with 44 seats in the new Congress, fewer than at any time since the Great Depression. He succeeds Sen. Tom Daschle, who was defeated for re-election on Nov. 2 in South Dakota.
The 64-year-old Nevadan, who has long served as Daschle's second-in-command, was elevated to leader in a closed-door meeting of Democrats who will serve in the Senate that convenes in January.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois was unopposed to replace Reid as the party's whip, the Democrat's second-ranking Senate leader.
Daschle has served as party leader since 1995, leading Democrats in periods in which they were in the minority, the majority and then back again.
There were other reminders of the Nov. 2 election as Democrats met in a historic room in the Capitol. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts participated in the session as he picked up his Senate duties two weeks after losing his bid for the White House.
Reid said Kerry won ovations from fellow Democrats several times during the closed-door meeting.
Reid has a soft spoken demeanor, but he showed an unyielding side when asked a question he did not want to answer.
"Next question," he said when asked about his relationship with Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican who has openly flirted with switching parties.
When the reporter persisted, Reid said again, "next question."
The Nevada lawmaker played an instrumental role in Sen. James Jeffords' decision to leave the GOP and become an independent in 2001, a switch that gave Democrats the majority.
Reid was nominated for the party leadership job by Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, who served in the post in the 1970s and 1980s. Seconding the nomination was Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who occasionally vexed Daschle by crossing party lines.
"I said he will lead this caucus into a new era and oppose where necessary, compromise where possible and avoid the obstructionist label," Nelson said of his closed-door remarks.
With the exception of abortion rights and gun control, both of which he opposes, Reid's recent voting record on major issues puts him in the mainstream of Senate Democrats.
A veteran of 22 years in Congress, he voted against President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and opposed the final version of the administration's landmark Medicare overhaul legislation in 2003.
Like a majority of Democrats, he voted to give Bush authority to use military force to oust Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and voted many months later to spend $87 billion to help pay the costs of military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, he helped bottle up a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages, and sided with organized labor when it sought to make sure no worker lost overtime rights under new administration regulations.
He's also worked with environmentalists to block oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
As well, he's been a loyal supporter of Democratic filibusters against 10 of Bush's judicial nominees deemed extremists by a coalition of civil rights, women's and other groups.
An early test of Reid's strategy is likely to come on judicial appointments, and already, there is some pressure on him to stay the course set by Daschle.
"I would think that Senator Reid and a number of Democratic senators and hopefully some moderate Republicans this time would continue that strategy," said Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way, which worked to block several of Bush's appointments to the courts.
----
Powell Announces His Resignation
Secretary of State Clashed With Cheney and Rumsfeld; Rice to Succeed Him
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50926-2004Nov15?language=printer
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced his resignation yesterday, ending four years of battles with Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over the course of U.S. foreign policy.
Administration officials said Powell, whose departure was announced by the White House along with three other Cabinet resignations, will be replaced by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of President Bush's most trusted confidantes. Rice will be replaced by her deputy, Stephen J. Hadley, administration officials said. The Rice and Hadley announcements will be made as soon as today, the officials said.
Republican officials said the selection of Rice reflects Bush's determination to take personal control of the government in a second term, especially departments and agencies that he felt had undermined him in the first four years. Powell's departure is also a victory for conservatives, removing the administration's most forceful advocate for negotiations and multilateral engagement on such issues as Middle East peace and curbing nuclear activities in Iran and North Korea.
A White House official said Powell, who helped persuade Bush to seek approval from the United Nations before invading Iraq, indicated to the president weeks or months before Nov. 2 that he planned to leave soon after the election. But one government official with personal knowledge of the situation said Powell had second thoughts and had prepared a list of conditions under which he would be willing to stay. They included greater engagement with Iran and a harder line with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Powell and Bush met at the White House on Friday, the date on the secretary's letter of resignation. Details of the meeting could not be learned, but White House officials said the secretary was not asked to stay. A senior State Department official said Powell made no demands of the president and gave no hints that he might stay, an account echoed by White House aides.
Bush issued a statement yesterday calling Powell "one of the great public servants of our time" and praising "the calm judgment and steady resolve he has brought to our foreign policy."
In an appearance yesterday afternoon in the State Department briefing room, Powell said he will stay "a number of weeks or a month or two, as my replacement goes through the confirmation process." He described his departure as long in the making.
"In recent weeks and months, President Bush and I have talked about foreign policy and we've talked about what to do at the end of the first term," Powell said. "It has always been my intention that I would serve one term. And after we had had a chance to have good and fulsome discussions on it, we came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time."
Foreign policy experts predicted that Powell's resignation, and Rice's ascension, could result in a more coherent message from the Bush administration. Kenneth Adelman, a conservative foreign policy specialist, worked with Powell during the Reagan administration. "Powell is a wonderful, wonderful person," he said. "The sad part about this episode in this Bush administration is fundamentally he and the president disagreed on central issues on national security and foreign policy."
Rice, by contrast, "certainly shares Bush's views and has learned better than anyone what Bush's views are," Adelman said. "You are not going to have that split in a second term."
The White House announced Powell's departure along with the resignations of three other Cabinet members -- Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Their departures -- along with the earlier resignations of Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, and the likely departure of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge for a lucrative post in private industry -- mean that Bush will replace about half of the 15 heads of executive departments for his second term.
Administration officials said more departure announcements are likely, including one from Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, the lone Democrat in the Cabinet.
Three of the departments will be headed by officials who are White House staff members and close to Bush: Ashcroft is being replaced by White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, and Paige is likely to be replaced by Bush domestic policy adviser Margaret Spellings. Both Gonzales and Spellings worked for Bush in Texas. A Bush aide said the goal is to signal a Cabinet "that clearly takes a team approach."
The impact, according to one Republican close to the administration, will be to "control the government, not just the White House" in the second term and to give the president "an enhanced ability to control the broad sweep of policy undertaken in the second term."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan suggested that the resignations were a mix of voluntary and involuntary. "The president has the right to make decisions about who makes up his team for a second term," he said.
Administration officials said Rumsfeld, the other most prominent member of Bush's war cabinet, will continue to run the Pentagon for the foreseeable future.
"The decision was made to keep Rumsfeld and drop Powell because if they would have kept Powell and let [the Rumsfeld team] go, that would have been tantamount to an acknowledgment of failure in Iraq and our policies there," one government official said, requesting anonymity to speak more candidly. "Powell is the expendable one."
Rumsfeld was asked during a news conference yesterday if he had submitted his resignation to Bush. "I haven't discussed that with him at all, in writing or orally," he said. Rumsfeld did not say whether he had discussed the matter with Cheney.
Powell has consistently shown up in polls as the administration's most popular figure. He was accorded movie-star treatment by mammoth crowds in 1995 during the book tour for his autobiography, "My American Journey." He kept his party affiliation secret during his military career, and both parties sought him as a presidential candidate. He finally said he was a Republican who supports affirmative action and abortion rights.
When Bush was Texas governor and running for president, his flirtations with Powell -- who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush during the Persian Gulf War -- bolstered his case that he could handle foreign policy. Powell was the first African American to become secretary of state, and Rice will be the first black woman in that office.
During his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Powell was known for the Powell Doctrine, which called for the use of overwhelming force for a quick, clean victory and minimal cost in American lives. But as secretary, he was repeatedly outmaneuvered by the Pentagon and was never able to persuade the administration to adopt that approach in Iraq, or to accept the State Department's plans for post-invasion occupation in Iraq.
Powell brought together representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and Russia to design the "road map" for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but has not been able to persuade the White House to use the muscle necessary to implement it. Powell is also credited with improving U.S. relations with Russia and China, helping to persuade Libya to give up weapons of mass destruction, pushing the administration to increase its commitment to the international fight against AIDS, and promoting the administration's Millennium Fund, which linked U.S. aid to democratic reform.
Powell, 67, objected in private to the timing of the invasion of Iraq and to the way the United States prepared for it. But in what friends see as irony, one of the most memorable appearances of his tenure was his February 2003 presentation to the United Nations, televised live worldwide, in which he used satellite photos and other evidence -- some of it since discredited -- to make the case for using force against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Kenneth M. Duberstein, chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan and a friend of Powell's, said the secretary's decision "is about him getting his life back again."
"He wants to be able to tinker under the hood and go to hardware stores and eat rotisserie chicken, just like he used to," Duberstein said.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said in a statement lamenting Powell's resignation that he has "commanded international respect" and "leaves the State Department as still the most respected, most trusted, and most popular leader in America today."
Staff writer Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.
---------
Analysis Moves Cement Hard-Line Stance On Foreign Policy
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52540-2004Nov15.html
By accepting Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's resignation, President Bush appears to have taken a decisive turn in his approach to foreign policy.
Powell's departure -- and Bush's intention to name his confidante, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, as Powell's replacement -- would mark the triumph of a hard-edged approach to diplomacy espoused by Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Powell's brand of moderate realism was often overridden in the administration's councils of power, but Powell's presence ensured that the president heard divergent views on how to proceed on key foreign policy issues.
But, with Powell out of the picture, the long-running struggle over key foreign policy issues is likely to be less intense. Powell has pressed for working with the Europeans on ending Iran's nuclear program, pursuing diplomatic talks with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and taking a tougher approach with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Now, the policy toward Iran and North Korea may turn decidedly sharper, with a bigger push for sanctions rather than diplomacy. On Middle East peace, the burden for progress will remain largely with the Palestinians.
Moreover, in elevating Rice, Bush is signaling that he is comfortable with the direction of the past four years and sees little need to dramatically shift course. Powell has had conversations for six months with Bush about the need for a "new team" in foreign policy, a senior State Department official said. But in the end only the key official who did not mesh well with the others -- Powell -- is leaving.
"My impression is that the president broadly believes his direction is correct," said former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
Rice sometimes backed Powell in his confrontations with Cheney and Rumsfeld, but more often than not she allowed the vice president and the defense secretary to have enormous influence over key diplomatic issues. More to the point, she is deeply familiar with the president's thinking on foreign policy -- and can be expected to ride herd on a State Department bureaucracy that some conservatives have viewed as openly hostile to the president's policies. The departures of Powell and his deputy, Richard L. Armitage, could trigger a wholesale reshuffling of top State Department officials.
"Condi knows what the president wants to accomplish and agrees with it," said Gary Schmitt, director of the Project for the New American Century, a think tank that frequently reflects the views of hard-liners in the administration. "One of Powell's weaknesses is that even when he signed on to the president's policy, he was not effective in managing the building to follow the policy as well."
Of course, senior officials often become advocates of the bureaucracies they head. For decades, there has been an institutional split between the State and Defense departments -- though many say the battles in Bush's first term were especially intense -- and so ultimately Rice may find herself in conflict with her Cabinet colleagues over the best diplomatic approach.
Danielle Pletka, vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, said she doubts the battles will end, even if the top officials are less divided on ideology. "This has nothing to do with Colin Powell or Don Rumsfeld or Condi Rice," she said. "This is a time of real turmoil, a crossroads in history, and figuring out how to deal with these things is not a smooth plot where everything unrolls easily from beginning to end."
For the rest of the world, Powell was considered a sympathetic ear in an administration that often appeared tone-deaf to other nations' concerns. There will be "teeth-gnashing" over Powell's departure by many foreign officials, said Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, national security adviser in President Bill Clinton's second term. "Colin was the side door they could get into when they could not get through the front door."
"The president ultimately set the course," Berger added. "Colin has had a hard hand to play over the last several years in selling policies not popular to allies."
Powell had long indicated he planned to leave when Bush's first term ended. But with Rumsfeld under fire for his handling of the Iraq war, particularly the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and new opportunities for peacemaking in the Middle East after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, some people close to Powell detected hints he might consider staying for a period of time in the second term -- in part to burnish his legacy.
Powell has had a mixed and frustrating tenure as secretary of state, with his most memorable moment -- his 2003 speech to the United Nations making the case that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that were later never found -- arguably also his lowest point. The U.N. speech tarnished Powell's legacy, even though his personal popularity remains high -- both among the public and inside the State Department.
Much of Powell's tenure was marked by fierce battles with his bureaucratic foes and by few lasting achievements in key foreign policy areas. Under his watch, North Korea added to its arsenal of nuclear weapons and Iran has advanced dramatically in building a nuclear weapon. The invasion of Iraq was ordered by Bush despite Powell's misgivings, and Powell was often frustrated as he tried to steer U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Powell did, however, champion a new approach to development aid, tied to whether a country advances in building political and economic institutions.
A senior State Department official said that Powell's resignation was almost a foregone conclusion given the tension Powell had with the president, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Powell just never fit: Bush had to ask for reassurance that Powell would be with him in the Iraq war, Powell believed Cheney had a "fever" about al Qaeda and Iraq, and Powell felt Rumsfeld was never straightforward, practicing his "rubber gloves" approach of never taking a stand in the inner council, this official said.
The bad blood between Cheney and Powell dates to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Cheney, then the defense secretary, felt that Powell sometimes failed to keep him informed, and even tried to exclude him from some aspects of war planning. In his 1996 autobiography, "My American Journey," Powell expressed some puzzlement about Cheney's character. As a leader of congressional Republicans, he wrote, Cheney "preferred losing on principle to winning through further compromise."
Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks contributed to this report.
---------
Bush Nominates Rice to Replace Powell at State Department
November 16, 2004
By DAVID STOUT
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16cnd-cabi.html?hp&ex=1100667600&en=b97fabe4e8c22f6a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 - President Bush today nominated Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser and for years one of his most trusted advisers, to be the next secretary of state, succeeding Colin L. Powell.
"The secretary of state is America's face to the world," Mr. Bush said at a midday White House ceremony as a beaming Ms. Rice stood beside him. In Ms. Rice's face, the president said, people of other nations will see "the grace, strength and decency of our country."
Ms. Rice said she felt humbled to be asked to succeed "my mentor and dear friend," Mr. Powell, whose resignation was announced on Monday.
If she is confirmed by the Senate, which seems all but certain, Ms. Rice would be the second woman to be secretary of state (Madeleine K. Albright was the first) and the first black woman to hold the post.
"Under your leadership," Ms. Rice told Mr. Bush, "America is fighting and winning the war on terrorism." She applauded the American-led campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq as helping to plant the seeds of "democracies in the heart of the Muslim world."
Mr. Bush also announced that Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, is being promoted to Ms. Rice's old position. The president praised Mr. Hadley as "a man of wisdom and good judgment" who had served under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford as well as under President George H.W. Bush. Mr. Hadley's appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
Confirmation of Ms. Rice is virtually assured. Republicans will have 55 of the 100 seats in the new Senate, and some Democrats have already said they expect confirmation. And partisan politics aside, senators are traditionally inclined to approve a president's choices for cabinet positions.
But Ms. Rice will almost certainly face sharp questions about her role in the months leading up to the war in Iraq, given the flaws in intelligence about Saddam Hussein's supposed possession of unconventional weapons. She could face questions, too, about the intelligence bureaucracy's collective failure to discern the clues that preceded the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Ms. Rice has already testified before the independent bipartisan 9/11 commission.
Ms. Rice, who has a Ph.D. but prefers not to be addressed as "doctor," is an acknowledged expert in Russian affairs. But while she was provost of Stanford University for several years, she has never headed a bureaucracy as vast as that of the State Department.
She said today that she looks forward to working with "the great people" in the department, many of whom she already knows from her years in government service.
Although unforeseen events can derail plans in diplomacy, Ms. Rice has already offered some hints on what she hopes to accomplish under the president she has served, by all accounts, with the most steadfast loyalty since his days as governor of Texas.
She has told friends she looks forward to a period of diplomacy less clouded by memories of the Sept. 11 attacks. And on the weekend after Mr. Bush won re-election, Ms. Rice gave him a memo on how the United States might improve relationships with countries in Europe and the Middle East. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bush announced that he intended to visit Europe "as soon as possible" after his inauguration.
Mr. Bush used one of his favorite themes today as he introduced Ms. Rice. The president said Ms. Rice had experienced the transforming "power of liberty" as a girl who grew up in the segregated South. "She has seen freedom denied and freedom reborn," Mr. Bush said.
"The United States has undertaken a great calling of history," Mr. Bush said, alluding to American efforts to promote a lasting peace in the Middle East, in a new Iraq and between Israel and Arab nations. "Condi Rice is the right person" to lead the State Department amid such challenges, Mr. Bush said, using Ms. Rice's familiar nickname.
The nomination of Ms. Rice continues a shakeup of Mr. Bush's cabinet as he looks forward to a new term. The resignation of Richard L. Armitage, the deputy secretary of state, was also disclosed today. He had been expected to depart with Mr. Powell.
Ms. Rice, who turned 50 on Sunday, is a native of Birmingham, Ala. She earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981.
By all accounts, Ms. Rice has enjoyed an extraordinarily close relationship with Mr. Bush. "Mr. President, thank you again for this great opportunity and for your continued confidence in me," she said today.
----
As Powell Leaves, Hardliners Make Their Move
by Jim Lobe,
November 16, 2004
(Inter Press Service)
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=3986
Monday's announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell, by far the most popular of U.S. President George W. Bush's war cabinet, has submitted his resignation marks the formal launch of a new scramble for top national-security posts that could bring an even more hardline configuration to power.
Powell's disappearance will remove the most influential foreign-policy moderate - and the greatest skeptic about the use of military force - from the administration's top ranks, thus strengthening the hardline coalition - led by Vice President Dick Cheney - of aggressive nationalists, neoconservatives, and the Christian Right that dominated policy-making after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
Powell's resignation, which will take effect only when a successor is confirmed by the Senate, will almost certainly be followed by that of his deputy and best friend, Richard Armitage, thus opening up another powerful slot in the foreign-policy bureaucracy.
The two most prominently mentioned possible nominees to succeed Powell have been current national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Washington's United Nations ambassador, former Senator John Danforth, a patrician Republican and ordained Anglican priest with little foreign-policy experience.
Both are considered relatively easy marks for hardliners, whose gusto and talent for bureaucratic infighting are well established. Neither has anything close to Powell's political standing or public credibility; nor does either one have the connections to the military brass that sometimes enabled Powell, a former chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, to circumvent the Pentagon's civilian leadership.
Rice, who does have the advantage of a close personal relationship with Bush that Powell never established, was widely criticized during the first term for failing to enforce discipline on the various agencies, while Danforth, whose tenure as Bush's special envoy to Sudan was described as almost entirely "ornamental" by one insider, is considered a hands-off manager of the "old school," who has little patience for the nitty-gritty of policy, let alone policy-making.
Although Rice has talked frequently about returning to academic life, she is widely believed to want the job currently held by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who, however, reportedly wants to hang on for at least another year. Some observers believe Rice might be willing to go to the State Department if she had first shot at the Defense Department when Rumsfeld retires.
A Soviet military specialist by training and experience, Rice was first recommended to Bush by his father's national security adviser, retired General Brent Scowcroft.
But Scowcroft, who also helped mentor Powell, quickly became disillusioned with his protégé when she sided more with the hardliners after 9/11 than with Powell, tilting the balance of power within the administration strongly in Cheney's favor.
Scowcroft and other "realists" have also been deeply disappointed by Rice's failure to effectively coordinate the policy-making process and then enforce discipline on all agencies to ensure that policy is being followed. In several instances, for example, the Pentagon is known to have deliberately stymied or ignored policy decisions with respect to China, Iran, and Iraq, with impunity.
The administration's realist critics have held out hope that Bush may yet appoint one of their own to take Powell's place - either the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, or Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel. Both men, however, voiced strong public criticism of U.S. policy in Iraq during the election campaign, angering Cheney, in particular.
"Cheney looks to be at least as powerful in this term as in the last," a Republican congressional aide told IPS on Monday. "He thinks that dissent is disloyalty."
While Powell's resignation was long anticipated, the context of Monday's announcement - particularly recent turmoil at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - makes it more charged.
On Friday, CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin announced his retirement, which he insisted was "a purely personal decision."
But on Monday, the agency's two top clandestine service officers also announced their retirements, after a weekend filled with charges and counter-charges regarding tensions between the career staff and the management team brought in by new CIA director and former Republican Representative Porter Goss, who took over in July from George Tenet.
Their departure followed that of Michael Scheuer, a clandestine officer who ran the CIA's office that tracked terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s. In a best-selling book published last summer, Scheuer had strongly criticized the U.S. invasion in Iraq as a diversion from the larger "war on terrorism."
Tenet, widely seen as a Powell ally in inter-agency debates, left the agency after a series of congressional committee reports that found serious failures in the agency's performance, particularly as it related to Iraq, and Goss was reportedly given a mandate to institute major reforms.
While the resignations were depicted by some as the result of personal and professional vendettas carried out by Goss' staff, including several who formerly served in mid-level positions at the CIA, other reports indicated it was part of a much broader political housecleaning.
"The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," one "former senior CIA official" told Newsday on Sunday. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president's agenda," the official was quoted as saying.
That interpretation was bolstered by two blasts from prominent neoconservative writers, who charged that high-ranking CIA officials were responsible for a series of leaks damaging to both the administration and Goss.
"It is time to reassert harsh authority so CIA employees know they must defer to the people who win elections, so they do not feel free at meetings to spout off about their contempt of the White House, so they do not go around to their counterparts from other nations and tell them to ignore American policy," wrote New York Times columnist David Brooks.
Neoconservatives in particular have long sought thoroughgoing purges of both the State Department, particularly its Near East bureau, and the CIA, arguing both have been too optimistic about the intentions of Washington's foreign enemies, especially Arabs.
In a book, An End to Evil, published almost one year ago, arch-hawk and former Defense Policy Board (DPB) Chairman Richard Perle called on Bush to replace career officers in the State Department, the CIA, and even the National Security Council (NSC) with political appointees.
Thus, neoconservatives are currently promoting Perle protégé Danielle Pletka, a vice-president of American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and outspoken and unapologetic supporter of the Likud-led government in Israel, for the post of assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs to replace career diplomat William Burns when he moves on early next year.
Depending on who takes Powell's place, Pletka's appointment would clearly suggest a purge was underway. Observers note that it was Rice who appointed Elliott Abrams, another strong Likud supporter, to the top Mideast spot on the NSC in December 2002.
If Rice does indeed take Powell's place, she is likely to be succeeded by one of four possible candidates: her current deputy, Stephen Hadley; Cheney's powerful neoconservative national security adviser, I. Lewis Libby; Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz; or the ultra-unilateralist Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, who is also being touted as a possible deputy secretary of state.
If Danforth were moved to State, on the other hand, Bolton, who served briefly as assistant secretary for international organizations under Bush's father, may be sent to the United Nations. Bolton is best known in Washington for his hostility to multilateral institutions, especially the UN.
--------
Congressmen urge Bush to drop guest-worker plan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
By Jerry Seper
Nov 16, 2004
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_go_co/senate_democrats
The chairman of a House International Relations subcommittee yesterday urged the Bush administration to drop its proposed temporary guest-worker program and not "reward Mexican nationals living and working illegally in the United States" with legal status.
"It is our hope that in future discussions with the Mexican government, you will encourage Mexico to do its part to address illegal immigration rather than encourage their citizens to illegally enter the U.S.," said Rep. Elton Gallegly, California Republican, who heads the subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and human rights, in letters to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
"Cooperation with our close neighbor Mexico is essential, but we also feel that Mexico must respect our sovereignty and our laws, and should encourage its citizens to do the same," Mr. Gallegly said in the letter, which was co-signed by 21 other members of Congress.
The letter was sent in response to recent trips to Mexico by Mr. Powell and Mr. Ridge to discuss amnesty proposals, according to Tom Pfeifer, Mr. Gallegly's spokesman.
In January, President Bush proposed a temporary guest-worker program for illegal aliens living and working in the United States. Offered as a set of principles and not as specific legislation, it would allow illegal aliens to remain if they have jobs and to apply as guest workers.
Under the proposal, the aliens could stay for an undetermined number of renewable three-year periods, after which they could seek permanent legal status.
"I have great respect for President Bush, Secretary Powell and Secretary Ridge," Mr. Gallegly said. "However, granting amnesty by legalizing illegal immigrants is detrimental to our national and economic security. "Hospitals are closing across the country due to the burden of illegal immigration, college students find that summer jobs have dried up due to illegal immigration, and wages across the board are depressed by the overwhelming influx of cheap and illegal labor," he said.
Mr. Gallegly said amnesties "only encourage more people to cross the border illegally," which he said was proven by a twofold increase in illegal immigration after a 1986 amnesty offered during the Reagan administration.
"Today, national security also dictates that we gain control of our borders," he said. "As the September 11 commission and many security professionals have noted, terrorists can easily blend in with the thousands of Mexican nationals who attempt to - and succeed in - crossing our border surreptitiously every day.
"Our policies are providing cover for our enemies," he said. In addition to Mr. Gallegly, others to sign the letter were Republican Reps. Lamar Smith, Sam Johnson and John Culberson of Texas, John Hostettler of Indiana, Charlie Norwood and Nathan Deal of Georgia, Ed Royce and Gary G. Miller and Dana Rohrabacher of California, and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
Also, Reps. John J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. of Tennessee, Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, Kevin Brady of Texas, Robert B. Aderholt of Alabama, Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. of Mississippi, John Sullivan of Oklahoma, J. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina, Barbara Cubin of Wyoming, Sue Myrick and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina and Steve King of Iowa.
-----
Nevada's Reid tapped to lead shrunken Senate Democratic caucus
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By David Espo
November 16, 2004
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041116/ap_on_go_co/senate_democrats
WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada won election as leader of the shrunken Democratic minority on Tuesday and said he stands ready to cooperate with Republicans or confront them as he deems necessary.
"I always would rather dance than fight. But I know how to fight," he said at a news conference after the Democratic rank and file chose him leader for the Congress that convenes in January.
Reid won his post as House Republicans, buoyed by election gains, tapped Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois for another term as speaker. Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas was re-elected majority leader, and the balance of the GOP leadership won new terms as well.
Reid, 64, said he and Democrats would stress expanded access to health care and increased support for education. "I believe in the minimum wage and we have to raise it," he said.
Reid also cautioned majority Republicans not to "mess with the rules" in the Senate by trying to make it easier to override Democratic objections to some of President Bush's judicial nominations.
He said the Senate had confirmed 203 of President Bush's court nominations over the past four years and blocked 10. "I think they are crying wolf all too often," he said of Republicans who used the 10 thwarted nominations to label Democrats as obstructionists.
Reid takes over a party with 44 seats in the new Congress, fewer than at any time since the Great Depression. He succeeds Sen. Tom Daschle, who was defeated for re-election on Nov. 2 in South Dakota.
The 64-year-old Nevadan, who has long served as Daschle's second-in-command, was elevated to leader in a closed-door meeting of Democrats who will serve in the Senate that convenes in January.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois was unopposed to replace Reid as the party's whip, the Democrat's second-ranking Senate leader.
Daschle has served as party leader since 1995, leading Democrats in periods in which they were in the minority, the majority and then back again.
There were other reminders of the Nov. 2 election as Democrats met in a historic room in the Capitol. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts participated in the session as he picked up his Senate duties two weeks after losing his bid for the White House.
Reid said Kerry won ovations from fellow Democrats several times during the closed-door meeting.
Reid has a soft spoken demeanor, but he showed an unyielding side when asked a question he did not want to answer.
"Next question," he said when asked about his relationship with Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican who has openly flirted with switching parties.
When the reporter persisted, Reid said again, "next question."
The Nevada lawmaker played an instrumental role in Sen. James Jeffords' decision to leave the GOP and become an independent in 2001, a switch that gave Democrats the majority.
Reid was nominated for the party leadership job by Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, who served in the post in the 1970s and 1980s. Seconding the nomination was Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who occasionally vexed Daschle by crossing party lines.
"I said he will lead this caucus into a new era and oppose where necessary, compromise where possible and avoid the obstructionist label," Nelson said of his closed-door remarks.
With the exception of abortion rights and gun control, both of which he opposes, Reid's recent voting record on major issues puts him in the mainstream of Senate Democrats.
A veteran of 22 years in Congress, he voted against President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and opposed the final version of the administration's landmark Medicare overhaul legislation in 2003.
Like a majority of Democrats, he voted to give Bush authority to use military force to oust Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and voted many months later to spend $87 billion to help pay the costs of military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, he helped bottle up a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages, and sided with organized labor when it sought to make sure no worker lost overtime rights under new administration regulations.
He's also worked with environmentalists to block oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
As well, he's been a loyal supporter of Democratic filibusters against 10 of Bush's judicial nominees deemed extremists by a coalition of civil rights, women's and other groups.
An early test of Reid's strategy is likely to come on judicial appointments, and already, there is some pressure on him to stay the course set by Daschle.
"I would think that Senator Reid and a number of Democratic senators and hopefully some moderate Republicans this time would continue that strategy," said Ralph Neas, head of People for the American Way, which worked to block several of Bush's appointments to the courts.
-------- voting
VOLUSIA COUNTY ON LOCKDOWN
BlackBoxVoting.Org
November 16, 2004
http://residentbush.com/Aftermath-2004_BlackBox-Volusia.html
Here's what happened so far:
Friday Black Box Voting investigators Andy Stephenson and Kathleen Wynne popped in to ask for some records. They were rebuffed by an elections official named Denise. Bev Harris called on the cell phone from investigations in downstate Florida, and told Volusia County Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe that Black Box Voting would be in to pick up the Nov. 2 Freedom of Information request, or would file for a hand recount. "No, Bev, please don't do that!" Lowe exclaimed. But this is the way it has to be, folks. Black Box Voting didn't back down.
Monday Bev, Andy and Kathleen came in with a film crew and asked for the FOIA request. Deanie Lowe gave it over with a smile, but Harris noticed that one item, the polling place tapes, were not copies of the real ones, but instead were new printouts, done on Nov. 15, and not signed by anyone.
Harris asked to see the real ones, and they said for "privacy" reasons they can't make copies of the signed ones. She insisted on at least viewing them (although refusing to give copies of the signatures is not legally defensible, according to Berkeley elections attorney, Lowell Finley). They said the real ones were in the County Elections warehouse. It was quittin' time and an arrangment was made to come back this morning to review them.
Lana Hires, a Volusia County employee who gained some notoriety in an election 2000 Diebold memo, where she asked for an explanation of minus 16,022 votes for Gore, so she wouldn't have to stand there "looking dumb" when the auditor came in, was particularly unhappy about seeing the Black Box Voting investigators in the office. She vigorously shook her head when Deanie Lowe suggested going to the warehouse.
Kathleen Wynne and Bev Harris showed up at the warehouse at 8:15 Tuesday morning, Nov. 16. There was Lana Hires looking especially gruff, yet surprised. She ordered them out. Well, they couldn't see why because there she was, with a couple other people, handling the original poll tapes. You know, the ones with the signatures on them. Harris and Wynne stepped out and Volusia County officials promptly shut the door.
There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. Harris looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at Harris and Wynne, who drove away a small bit, and then videotaped the license plates of the two vehicles marked 'City Council' member. Others came out to glare and soon all doors were slammed.
So, Harris and Wynne went and parked behind a bus to see what they would do next. They pulled out some large pylons, which blocked the door. Harris decided to go look at the garbage some more while Wynne videotaped. A man who identified himself as "Pete" came out and Harris immediately wrote a public records request for the contents of the garbage bag, which also contained ballots -- real ones, but not filled out.
A brief tug of war occurred, tearing the garbage bag open. Harris and Wynne then looked through it, as Pete looked on. He was quite friendly.
Black Box Voting collected various poll tapes and other information and asked if they could copy it, for the public records request. "You won't be going anywhere," said Pete. "The deputy is on his way."
Yes, not one but two police cars came up and then two county elections officials, and everyone stood around discussing the merits of the "black bag" public records request.
The police finally let Harris and Wynne go, about the time the Votergate.tv film crew arrived, and everyone trooped off to the elections office. There, the plot thickened.
Black Box Voting began to compare the special printouts given in the FOIA request with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. By this time, Black Box Voting investigator Andy Stephenson had joined the group at Volusia County. Some polling place tapes didn't match. In fact, in one location, precinct 215, an African-American precinct, the votes were off by hundreds, in favor of George W. Bush and other Republicans.
Hmm. Which was right? The polling tape Volusia gave to Black Box Voting, specially printed on Nov. 15, without signatures, or the ones with signatures, printed on Nov. 2, with up to 8 signatures per tape?
Well, then it became even more interesting. A Volusia employee boxed up some items from an office containing Lana Hires' desk, which appeared to contain -- you guessed it -- polling place tapes. The employee took them to the back of the building and disappeared.
Then, Ellen B., a voting integrity advocate from Broward County, Florida, and Susan, from Volusia, decided now would be a good time to go through the trash at the elections office. Lo and behold, they found all kinds of memos and some polling place tapes, fresh from Volusia elections office.
So, Black Box Voting compared these with the Nov. 2 signed ones and the "special' ones from Nov. 15 given, unsigned, finding several of the MISSING poll tapes. There they were: In the garbage.
So, Wynne went to the car and got the polling place tapes she had pulled from the warehouse garbage. My my my. There were not only discrepancies, but a polling place tape that was signed by six officials.
This was a bit disturbing, since the employees there had said that bag was destined for the shredder.
By now, a county lawyer had appeared on the scene, suddenly threatening to charge Black Box Voting extra for the time spent looking at the real stuff Volusia had withheld earlier. Other lawyers appeared, phoned, people had meetings, Lana glowered at everyone, and someone shut the door in the office holding the GEMS server.
Black Box Voting investigator Andy Stephenson then went to get the Diebold "GEMS" central server locked down. He also got the memory cards locked down and secured, much to the dismay of Lana. They were scattered around unsecured in any way before that.
Everyone agreed to convene tomorrow morning, to further audit, discuss the hand count that Black Box Voting will require of Volusia County, and of course, it is time to talk about contesting the election in Volusia.
-------- ENERGY
-------- alternative energy
Green Car Sets Speed Record
Paris (ESA)
Nov 16, 2004
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/energy-tech-04zzzh.html
When the non-profit organisation IdeeVerte Competition decided to create a 'green' racing car, they turned to space technology to make it safer. Running on liquefied petroleum gas, one of the least polluting fuels, and lubricated with sunflower oil, the car is protected against fire hazards by space materials. 'Green' does not have to mean slow - last week the car set a new speed record of 315 km/h.
"The car of the future will have to respect the environment. This is the only way to create a sustainable transportation system in our world," says Alain Lebrun, President of the IdeeVerte Competition.
"Today there are many new technologies available which have low impact on the environment. We also have more sustainable energy sources available such as liquid natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biofuels, hydrogen and fuel-cells.
"What better way to raise public awareness than putting them to the best test of all: developing a racing car?" asks Lebrun. "The racing track is the ultimate laboratory and also a fantastic place to display the 'green' car technology to come."
Green idea for racing
In 1993 the IdeeVerte Competition was founded as a non-profit organisation made up of independent engineers and technicians concerned about the environment and the pollution generated by today's cars. As motor sport enthusiasts, the objective was to create a non-polluting racing car.
The head of ESA's Technology Transfer and Promotion Office (TTP) Pierre Brisson explains, "in 2002 we decided to support the project by making available advanced space technologies. We have always been keen to support programmes related to environmental protection, especially in the motor field and, together with the IdeeVerte racing team, we identified several space technologies to help them improve safety, in particular to reduce the fire risk."
Space technologies at work
Altogether four technologies from space programmes are used in the racing car to improve overall safety by reducing the risk of fire and its effects.
"The primary fire hazard in an LPG fuelled high-performing racing car such as this is the possibility that heat from the engine and the exhaust will ignite parts of the car. Therefore, the first thing we did was to install very good heat insulation material designed for ESA's Ariane launchers," explains Nicolas Masson from Bertin Technologies.
Bertin Technologies, part of ESA's TTP network of technology brokers, has participated in bringing together the different industrial partners.
To reduce heat transmission from the 1000° C hot primary exhaust system to the engine area, the exhaust system is insulated with a heat wrapping material. This prevents the engine over heating and reduces the risk of igniting a gas leak.
In addition, this helps to retain the heat in the exhaust system thus increasing the horsepower. The thermal wrapping for the exhaust system is a combination of standard solutions used in motor racing enhanced with material developed for the European Ariane launcher.
Notes Nicolas Masson, "it would also be a good idea to use this insulation technology around a standard exhaust system on petrol-driven cars, as the catalytic converter would heat up more quickly and operate better".
To protect the LPG fuel tank, another heat insulation technology was chosen: a special thermal, shield developed for the engines used by the Ariane launchers.
In case of engine fire, this shield blocks the heat transmission so well that the fire must burn for at least 45 minutes before the tank is heated to a level where the pressure will open the safety valve. This gives plenty of time for the fire extinguishers, also originating from space developments, to put the fire out.
Nicolas Masson emphasizes that "without the Ariane thermal shield the fire would heat the fuel tank so fast that the pressure would open the safety valves within five minutes and the gas that escaped would feed the fire with potentially catastrophic results. This technique could be applied right away to cars that run on LPG to make them safer".
Space technology has also been used for the LPG fuel tank and the fire extinguishers. The fuel tank is made of a special lightweight titanium developed by aerospace engineers as it withstands shock better than steel.
The technology used for the three fire extinguishers on the car comes from the Russian launchers and is similar to the pyrotechnical engines used in the airbags installed in today's cars.
These can be activated either manually by the driver or automatically by a security control unit connected to sensors that measure engine temperature, fire and escaping gasses.
Even to determine the speed the car turns to ESA technology. The IdeeVerte car carries on board a V-Box, an EGNOS-compliant tracking system from the Race Logic Company. This box uses the EGNOS signal to determine the speed, acceleration and position of the car in real-time.
-------- energy
Abraham resigns from DoE
16 November 2004
Nuclear Engineering International
http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=132&storyCode=2025382
Spencer Abraham handed president Bush his resignation as energy secretary on 15 November. The head of the US Department of Energy (DoE) told Bush that he wishes to spend more time with his family.
Abraham was senator for Michigan between 1995 and 2001 where he authored 22 pieces of legislation. He unsuccessfully proposed to dismantle the DoE during this period and came to joke about the apparent contradiction when he was appointed as head of the department in January 2001. He went on to hold the post longer than any before.
Abraham's tenure saw a huge increase in nuclear non-proliferation efforts and the beginnings of Bush's hydrogen initiative but also the USA's worst ever blackout and the soaring of crude oil prices to $56 per barrel. He faced pressure, as will his successor, over proposed oil drilling in the Alaskan wildlife refuge and a series of problems with the Yucca Mountain repository project.
Bush may seek to appoint one Democrat to his otherwise Republicans-only cabinet, as he did in 2001, to gather Democratic senate votes and ease the path of the currently stalled Energy Bill. Potential successors to Abraham include:
- Senator John Breaux: a Democrat from Louisiana, but observers think he may be committed to working as a lobbyist next year.
- Tony Garza: current US ambassador to Mexico and former member of the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry in the state where Bush served as governor.
- J Bennet Johnson: the former Democratic senator of Louisiana, he has been a lobbyist for eight years and turned down the position in 2001.
- Tom Kuhn: president of the Edison institute, a lobby group for electric utilities. Attended Yale university with Bush.
- William Martin: served as deputy energy secretary under president Ronald Reagan.
- Kyle McSlarrow: Abraham's current deputy, he already handles day-to-day affairs, is chair of the US-Russia Energy Working Group and well-liked in Washington.
Nuclear Engineering International (c)2004 Published by Wilmington Publishing Ltd.
-----
Some Steps Taken on Critical Energy Issues, but No Breakthroughs
NY Times
November 16, 2004
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16energy.html?ex=1101272400&en=c19600d8ae2758fc&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - When he took office as energy secretary, the main issues facing Spencer Abraham included an outmoded electricity industry, security at the nuclear weapons laboratory at Los Alamos in New Mexico, the legal liability of producers of the gasoline additive MTBE, the future of nuclear power, the development of clean-coal technology, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, mileage standards for automobiles, the storage of nuclear waste and atomic weapons proliferation overseas.
Those remain among the critical issues for the Energy Department, an agency with more than 100,000 employees and contractors and a $23 billion-a-year budget.
In the meantime, gasoline prices have nearly doubled, and a blackout crippled the Northeast and upper Midwest. Little has been accomplished in those areas, either.
The main reason is that hard as Mr. Abraham tried to push a comprehensive energy bill in Congress, the lawmakers were unable to resolve their political, commercial and geographic divisions, and year after year, energy legislation foundered.
"He faced a lot of tough issues," Frank Maisano, an energy industry lobbyist, said. "While he may not have seen the fruits of his labor, he may have made accomplishments possible for his successor."
Mr. Maisano compared Mr. Abraham to "a middle reliever who comes into the game after the starter and holds on to the lead until the closer comes in for the last inning."
Mr. Abraham was instrumental in the enactment of a law in 2002 to establish Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for the disposal of nuclear waste from power plants. Additional steps have been stymied by court rulings and budget shortfalls.
He had some success on securing nuclear weapons in the hands of countries in the former Soviet Union.
Past energy secretaries are not remembered for major achievements. The problems the department deals with are difficult politically and often, like high gasoline prices, beyond its capacity to solve.
Mr. Abraham remained in office for a full four-year term, something few have done since the first energy secretary, James R. Schlesinger, took office in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter and resigned two years later.
Mr. Abraham did not set the administration's energy agenda. That was done in 2001 by a panel headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, and Mr. Cheney was recognized as the administration's leading spokesman on energy.
"The partisanship in Washington during the past several years kept Congress from passing a comprehensive energy policy that could have begun to improve our energy future," said former Gov. John Engler of Michigan, a Republican who is president of the National Association of Manufacturers. "But Spence pushed a variety of measures that will continue into the future."
In his resignation letter, Mr. Abraham said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
-------- OTHER
Terror Informant Ignites Himself Near White House
Yemeni Was Upset at Treatment by FBI
By Caryle Murphy and Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 16, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A51575-2004Nov15?language=printer
A Falls Church man who worked as a federal informant on terrorism set himself on fire in front of the White House yesterday, hours after announcing his suicide attempt and citing his growing despondency over how the FBI managed his case.
Mohamed Alanssi, 52, approached the northwest guardhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue about 2:05 p.m. and asked the security detail to deliver a note to President Bush. When uniformed Secret Service officers turned him away, he stepped about 15 feet from the guard post and used a lighter to ignite his jacket, according to the U.S. Park Police.
Secret Service officers wrestled him to the ground and doused the flames with fire extinguishers. Alanssi was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was listed in critical condition with burns over about 30 percent of his body, authorities said.
Alanssi, who is from Yemen and also uses the name Mohamed Alhadrami, recently discussed his work as a federal informant in a series of interviews with The Washington Post. Yesterday morning, he informed the newspaper by faxed letter and by telephone that he was going to "burn my body at unexpected place." He also sent a copy of a letter he said he had faxed to the FBI agent in New York who is handling his case. The Post alerted the agent and provided a copy of the letter.
In two telephone conversations yesterday, Alanssi told a Post reporter that he would provide 10 minutes' notice of his suicide attempt and that only then would he reveal the location. When he called a third time, Alanssi said he had poured gasoline and would be setting himself on fire in two minutes, not 10, and it would take place near the White House. The newspaper informed D.C. police, who notified the special operations unit and the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over Lafayette Square.
In the recent interviews, Alanssi expressed anguish over not being able to visit his family in Yemen. He said that he suffers from diabetes and heart problems and that his wife is seriously ill with stomach cancer. Alanssi said he could not travel to his native country because he has no money and because the FBI, which is expecting him to testify at a terrorism trial in New York, was keeping his Yemeni passport.
"I must travel to Yemen to see my sick wife (stomac cancer) and my family before I testify at the court or any other places," Alanssi wrote FBI agent Robert Fuller in New York, according to the copy he provided The Post yesterday. "Why you don't care about my life and my family's life? Once I testify my family will be killed in Yemen, me too I will be dead man."
The FBI declined to comment on Alanssi's identity or his claims of working with the bureau. "We don't have a policy on revealing who is a cooperator or informing witness," said Joe Valiquette, an FBI spokesman in New York. The U.S. attorney's office in the eastern district of New York, which is prosecuting the terrorism-related trial in January, also declined to comment.
Alanssi, who described himself as a once-successful businessman in Yemen, also was upset with the FBI because he said agents had not kept promises they made to secure his cooperation. Those promises included a large, but unspecified, amount of money, eventual U.S. citizenship and protection of his identity, he said.
Alanssi said that he went to the FBI in New York shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and offered information on alleged financers of al Qaeda working in Yemen. He said he quickly became a major informant for the FBI, on occasion traveling to Yemen to gather intelligence.
He volunteered that the FBI paid him $100,000 in 2003. But he said he had been expecting much more because he said some agents told him he would "be a millionaire." And although he was promised permanent residency in this country, he said, he has not received it.
Alanssi said he did not have enough money to pay his medical bills or buy his prescription drugs. He said he recently underwent an operation at a Fairfax hospital to unclog his arteries.
"It is my big mistake that I have cooperated with FBI," he said in a recent interview. "The FBI have already destroyed my life and my family's life and made us in a very danger position . . . I am not crazy to destroy my life and my family's life to get $100,000," he said.
Alanssi also alleged that the FBI had failed to adequately protect his role in a sting operation conducted in Germany in January 2003. That led to the arrest of Mohammed Ali Hassan Al Moayad, a Yemeni cleric who is slated to go on trial Jan. 10 in New York on charges of providing material support to al Qaeda.
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft told the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2003 that Moayad had "boasted jihad was his field and trumpeted his involvement in providing money, recruits and supplies to al Qaeda, Hamas and other terrorist groups."
Alanssi said he played an important role in the success of that sting operation by persuading Moayad to travel from Yemen to Frankfurt, where the undercover investigation was carried out. Moayad allegedly boasted -- while U.S. and German agents taped the encounter -- of sending money and recruits to al Qaeda.
In a Jan. 5, 2003, affidavit supporting Moayad's arrest warrant, Fuller said that he had been working with an informant since November 2001. He described him as a Yemeni citizen who had provided reliable information and who had "contributed, in part, to the arrests of 20 individuals and the seizure of over $1 million."
Alanssi's identity was leaked, along with details of his role, and the case was the subject of a Washington Post story in 2003 and accounts in the Yemeni press. As a result, Alanssi said, his family had been harassed and threatened in Yemen, where Moayad, 55, is a prominent leader in Islamist circles.
A short, stocky man, Alanssi said that he was in the United States on a visitor's visa seeking business opportunities when the 2001 terrorist attacks took place. He said that he worked for the U.S. Embassy in Yemen in the mid-1970s and that he was angered by the attacks because he likes Americans.
He also saw an opportunity, he said, to pursue his dream of making it in business in this country.
In recent interviews with The Post, Alanssi, who has six children, sometimes was visibly upset, once breaking down in sobs.
In the letter faxed to The Post, Alanssi wrote: "I would like to tell all American People that I love them and I am proud to be a good friend for all American People, and I am asking them: Do you think what FBI did to me is it FARE or UNFAIR."
The incident rattled police officers and passersby outside the White House, where Pennsylvania Avenue was reopened to pedestrians recently. John and Beverly Beers, both 48, had just arrived from DeLand, Fla., and were out for a walk.
"I heard someone screaming," Beverly Beers said. "I saw flames, really quick, because they put them out. And then he was laying on the ground. . . . I just figured it was a person trying to get attention."
Staff writers David Cho, Maureen Fan and Susan Schmidt contributed to this report.
-------- environment
Election Over, McCain Criticizes Bush on Climate Change
November 16, 2004
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16mccain.html
Wasting no time distancing himself from President Bush on an issue that has long divided them, Senator John McCain yesterday called the White House stance on climate change "terribly disappointing" and said inaction in the face of mounting scientific data was unjustified.
Two weeks after the end of a campaign in which he stumped for Mr. Bush's re-election, Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, is convening a Senate hearing today on the human effect on climate and what to do about it.
Mr. Bush, citing the cost to the economy and what the administration describes as the uncertainty of the science, has opposed restrictions on carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases since early 2001, when he abandoned a pledge he made in his first presidential campaign to restrict carbon dioxide from power plants.
In contrast, for three years Mr. McCain has pushed for a bill he wrote with Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, that would create the first, modest curbs on greenhouse gases.
"This is a very time-sensitive issue," he said in an interview yesterday.
Dana M. Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said that Mr. Bush saw climate change as a serious issue but that he favored using voluntary means to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, as "a first step in an aggressive strategy to meet the challenge of long-term global climate change."
The focus of today's hearing, the last of Mr. McCain's six-year tenure as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, will be rapid warming in the Arctic, the subject of a recent report by a panel of nearly 300 scientists. The report, commissioned by eight nations with Arctic territory, including the United States, found that rising temperatures had already eroded glaciers, sea ice and permafrost and could lead to vast changes in the region's environment and in global sea levels by the end of the 21st century.
The hearing is the latest of more than a dozen on human-caused global warming that Mr. McCain has convened during his chairmanship of the committee. The new chairman is expected to be Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who has voted against Mr. McCain's bill but has often said that the warming climate poses a severe challenge to his state and particularly to indigenous Arctic cultures.
The hearings have been organized in part to build a case for the McCain-Lieberman bill, called the Climate Stewardship Act.
Mr. McCain said that the bill, which he describes as modest, had probably lost some support in the Senate because of the election results, but that he looked at this as a temporary setback.
"We got 43 votes," he said of the last vote on the bill, a year ago. "We may get less than that given the change in the Senate. But we need to get people on the record.''
Environmental campaigners and industry lobbyists have tended to agree that whatever the bill's short-term prospects in the Senate, it is very unlikely to pass in the House any time soon.
Mr. McCain said he had decided to agree to disagree with Mr. Bush on the issue during the campaign. But he strongly criticized frequent assertions by the White House, many Republican legislators and industry lobbyists that inaction was justified by uncertainty in the science.
For their part, advocates associated with industry say Mr. McCain has custom-tailored his hearings to play up the direst climate projections.
After a McCain climate hearing in September, for example, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian group opposed to regulations as a solution to most environmental problems, described the gathering as "another pep rally to build support for his energy rationing legislation" and said it had "focused on junk science."
But Mr. McCain said yesterday that the evidence, which he called alarming, was clearer than ever.
With several other senators, he visited the Arctic fringe in Norway and Iceland in late summer.
"It was remarkable,'' he said, "going up on a small ship next to this glacier and seeing where it had been just 10 short years ago and how quickly it's receded.''
Particularly disturbing, he went on, is the rapid pace of warming.
"The Inuit language for 10,000 years never had a word for robin," he said, "and now there are robins all over their villages."
--------
E.P.A. Says Enforcement Shows Results
November 16, 2004
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/politics/16enviro.html
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The Environmental Protection Agency released an annual report on Monday that showed enforcement actions in the last fiscal year would eliminate a billion pounds of pollution from the nation's air, land and water.
The report also said the agency held basically steady on the number of cases, 265, sent to the Justice Department for legal action. That compares with 250 in the final year of the Clinton administration and 268 in the fiscal year 2003.
"We're doing better. We're focused on results," said Thomas V. Skinner, the agency's head of enforcement. "The baloney about E.P.A. abandoning enforcement is just that, baloney. We're here. We're working hard. We're open for business. We're doing good things."
But as with most things the E.P.A. announces, the enforcement results were immediately challenged by environmental groups that said the agency was telling only part of the story; the rest of it, they said, was not so encouraging.
Eric V. Schaeffer, an E.P.A. enforcement lawyer in the Clinton administration who is now director of the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonpartisan organization, criticized the report for omitting the annual account of how many cases referred to the Justice Department have been brought to a conclusion. It was the first time in 10 years, Mr. Schaeffer said, that the category was excluded.
"But it's no wonder," he said, referring to a steady decline in case resolutions in the last four years, to the lowest point in a decade. Citing E.P.A. data, he said the number of cases that reached conclusion last year was 158, compared with 227 in 2001, 216 in 2002 and 195 in 2003.
"Referrals are stacking up," Mr. Schaeffer said, "and a good chunk of them are going nowhere."
Mr. Skinner said the agency was doing everything possible to drive down pollution through aggressive enforcement. He did not directly address actions taken by the Justice Department, but he said there was no basis for claims that agency enforcers were relaxing their efforts.
"I don't see career staff backing off at all," he said. "And no one has told me to back off."
The most compelling figure in the report is the projection of how much pollution will be eliminated as a result of enforcement actions taken in the 12 months before Sept. 30.
The one billion pounds is a 67 percent increase over the 600 million pounds of reductions in 2003 and a 54 percent increase over the 714 million pounds of reductions in the final year of the Clinton administration.
Mr. Skinner also pointed to the $4.8 billion that companies spent to comply with cleanup orders - a Bush administration record.
But Mr. Schaeffer said it was a bit disingenuous for the current E.P.A. to take credit. More than $3 billion of the total, he said, reflected two cases that were filed before President Bush was first elected. One led to the city of Los Angeles spending $2 billion to clean up sewer systems; the other, to Virginia Electric Power spending $1.2 billion for pollution controls on power plants.
Mr. Skinner conceded that some figures in the report reflected the cyclical nature of enforcement activities and that sometimes several big cases, like those cited by Mr. Schaeffer, skewed the final numbers. As an example, Mr. Skinner said, just 15 cases accounted for 997 million of the one billion pounds of reduction.
But he dismissed the idea that the numbers were presented in any way to suggest the administration is acting more aggressively against polluters than it really is, a common charge from environmental groups.
"We're producing great results," he said.
-------
------- OneList (submissions from subscribers)
------- Depleted Uranium Keeps On Killing!
-----------
Posted
without profit or payment for research and educational
purposes only,
in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.