* Commercial Reactor To Sell Tritium
* Lawsuit filed to halt plutonium shipments
* Judge Blocks Plutonium Shipment
* Plutonium shipments through state blocked
More study needed on environmental effects, judge says
* NATO Chief Says U.S. Has Vital Role
* NATO: Kosovo Mission Needs Money
* Taiwan Confirms China Building New Nuclear Submarine
* China dismissed report that it was working on a new submarine
* China Sentences Alleged U. S. Spy
* U.S. Asks China About Sentence On Researcher
* US Criticizes China Over Jail Term
* George W Bush Defends "One China" Policy, Entrance To WTO
* French-German Nuclear Deal
* Japan to Put 96,000 Soldiers on Millennium Alert
* Japan Worker Exposed to Radiation
* Islands seek more pay for missile tests
* Pentagon To Pursue Vieques Plan
* Update: Disclosure of Y2K False Missile Alerts
* Russian General Sees Us Corporate Push On Star Wars
* Russia, U.S. Ignore Tensions to Ease Y2K Fear
* China Backs Russia Move on Chechnya
* Russia Guards Die in Truck Accident at nuclear plant
* U.S. Planes Attack S. Iraq Targets
* Report: Iraq-France Ties To End
* Deal May Give UAE Superior F-16s
* U.S. Missile Shield Technology Far From Ready
* McCain Would Cancel Unneeded Arms
* White House to take cyber-questions
* Ex-Rwandan leader convicted of genocide
----------- tritium
Commercial Reactor To Sell Tritium
Associated Press DECEMBER 08, 11:33 EST by DUNCAN MANSFIELD
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&STORYID=APIS7178GSG0
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee Valley Authority directors today approved a contract to make a key component for nuclear bombs, marking the first time in U.S. history that a commercial reactor will be used to produce the material.
The board voted 3-0 for the contract to produce tritium for the U.S. Energy Department at its Watts Bar plant in Spring City, about 55 miles southwest of Knoxville.
The vote came after the board heard from a half-dozen opponents who said it's wrong for the U.S. government to make the material as it seeks nonproliferation agreements to cut the world's nuclear weapons stockpile.
``I'm asking you in the name of God to say no to this madness,'' said Erik Johnson, a Presbyterian minister.
Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance said TVA was sending the wrong message to the rest of the world.
``They're watching what we do, not listening to what we say,'' he said.
Tritium is a hydrogen isotope that enhances the explosive power of nuclear warheads. Last year, the U.S. House approved legislation that would have blocked the use of a commercial reactor to make tritium, but the measure failed in the Senate.
No other country is known to be using a commercial reactor to make nuclear bomb material. However, an article in Jane's Intelligence Review last year suggested India obtained tritium for its nuclear tests from a commercial reactor.
Jack Bailey, a TVA vice president for engineering who headed contract negotiations, said the agency relied heavily on a report issued in July 1998 that concluded ``there were no international laws or agreements that would prohibit the production of tritium.''
The report was written by officials with the Defense Department, White House and other federal agencies and offices.
TVA, the nation's largest public power producer, was picked by the Energy Department last December to be the U.S. government's new source for tritium. For the last year, officials with the two agencies worked on a contract.
Energy Department officials say tritium isn't controlled by international nonproliferation agreements because it is not a so-called ``fissile material'' - plutonium and highly enriched uranium - that could produce an explosion on its own.
``The contract to produce tritium is essential to the Department of Energy's stockpile stewardship program to maintain the safety and the reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons deterrent,'' department spokesman Matthew Donoghue said Tuesday. ``It is essential for the Department of Energy in fulfilling its national security mission.''
Under terms of the contract, the Energy Department will pay TVA up to $9.9 million per year to make tritium. The contract could begin as soon as 2003 and run until 2035, when Watts Bar is scheduled to close.
-------- us plutonium
Lawsuit filed to halt plutonium shipments
Detroit News 11/07/99 By Lisa Singhania / Associated Press
http://detnews.com/1999/metro/9912/07/12070106.htm
A group of Michigan residents went to federal court Monday to try to block the U.S. government from shipping plutonium across the state. In an 18-page complaint, the plaintiffs asked Chief Judge Richard Enslen to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Energy, saying the agency has not done enough to show its plan is safe. A court hearing was scheduled for this afternoon in Kalamazoo.
A Department of Energy spokeswoman said she had not seen the lawsuit, and declined to comment.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the agency's assessment of its transportation plan for the plutonium is inadequate. The agency conducted public meetings and an environmental assessment, but no environmental impact study, according to the complaint.
The federal agency is shipping 4.25 ounces of plutonium from New Mexico to Canada as part of a test to determine whether commercial nuclear reactors in Canada can use material from decommissioned Russian nuclear weapons as fuel.
---
Judge Blocks Plutonium Shipment
By LISA SINGHANIA Associated Press Writer DECEMBER 07, 23:47 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&STORYID=APIS716U5V80
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/a/AP-Plutonium-Shipment.html
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the shipment of plutonium through Michigan, saying there are questions about whether the Department of Energy did enough study of potential environmental effects.
The shipment is part of a test to determine whether commercial nuclear reactors in Canada can use material from decommissioned Russian nuclear weapons as fuel.
U.S. District Chief Judge Richard Enslen issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting any shipments to Canada until Dec. 17.
U.S. Department of Energy lawyers had no comment after the ruling. In court, they told the judge that delaying the shipment could hurt U.S. credibility in negotiating nuclear disarmament treaties.
Alice Hirt, one of six individuals who filed a lawsuit along with the group Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, welcomed the decision.
``We have stopped them from proceeding, and now they've got to prove that they don't need to have an environmental impact statement,'' she said.
The federal government conducted public meetings and an environmental assessment, but did not do a more extensive environmental impact statement that the plaintiffs argued was required.
Department of Energy officials insist the shipment of 4.25 ounces of plutonium would be safe. In court Tuesday, the government said the plutonium will be transported in an armored tractor-trailer with heavily armed guards.
---
Plutonium shipments through state blocked
More study needed on environmental effects, judge says
Detroit News 11/07/99 By Jeremy Pearce / The Detroit News
http://detnews.com/1999/metro/9912/07/12080016.htm
KALAMAZOO -- A federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Energy's plans to truck plutonium fuel across Michigan on its way to Canadian nuclear reactors.
In a ruling late Tuesday, Chief Judge Richard Enslen said the Department of Energy "needs to make a more comprehensive environmental impact statement" before shipping nuclear fuel on public roads from Los Alamos, N.M., about 1,700 miles away.
"The entire project has affects and costs not addressed in the (Department of Energy) environmental assessment," Enslen said. Opponents of the plan, called Operation Parallex, argue that any fuel shipments would be vulnerable to fire, accidents and even terrorism.
"We feel this is a foot in the door to more shipments," said Alice Hirt of Holland, one of six plaintiffs in the case. The federal plan aims to recycle nuclear fuel from scrapped Cold War warheads in Russian and U.S. arsenals.
The federal ruling against shipments lasts 10 days. The activists suing the energy department are scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 14, when Enslen will decide on a preliminary injunction to stop shipments.
----------- nato
NATO Chief Says U.S. Has Vital Role
By The Associated Press New York Times December 7, 1999 Filed at 11:55 a.m. EDT
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Europe.html http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=EUROPE&STORYID=APIS716M3B00
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Citing a large gap between Europe and the United States in both military technology and readiness, NATO's new secretary-general said Tuesday that U.S. concerns about European defense moves are groundless.
Secretary-General Lord Robertson, speaking to reporters before meeting with President Clinton, said a new European defense initiative within NATO is not an attempt to move away from the United States or decouple U.S. and European defenses.
``These concerns and worries are misplaced,'' Robertson said.
Although U.S. officials have approved the European Security and Defense Identity, which does not include U.S. participation, they have cautioned that it not become separate from the NATO umbrella. The initiative was formalized at a summit in Helsinki, Finland, last week.
``What the Europeans have done is to wake up, especially after Kosovo, to the imbalance inside the alliance,'' he said. ``They're responding to years and years of advice being given by American that the Europeans must shoulder a greater burden.''
The European initiative is part of an effort to develop forces that can respond to issues in which the United States may not want to involve itself.
``We're not talking about some hypothetical situation where the Europeans go off and start World War III on their own,'' Robertson told the reporters. ``We could double our capabilities as they stand at the moment and still not be able to do very much on our own.''
He noted that European nations combined spend only 60 percent of what the United States spends on European defense.
``America, because of its sheer size and indeed the concentration of effort, is able to make the investment in a lot more technical systems,'' he said, noting U.S. possession of the precision bombing capabilities required in modern warfare.
Europe lags, too, in the readiness of its troops, he said, noting that with a force of 2 million across the continent, countries struggled to muster 40,000 soldiers for the Kosovo peacekeeping force. Robertson, formerly a British defense minister, said Europe in some ways has ``a paper army.''
Some Americans see any European defense that has the potential of operating outside NATO as a plot, instigated by the French, to weaken U.S. ties in Europe. Similarly, Europeans view U.S. moves to build an American national missile defense system as threatening to create an imbalance in the risk shared by NATO allies.
Robertson said, however, that Defense Secretary William Cohen got a good reception when he explained the Clinton administration's position on missile defense during his European trip last week.
Robertson cited ``a wide appreciation'' for the need to build a limited shield against rogue states with ballistic missiles and accidental firings of nuclear weapons.
But he said there are concerns among Europeans of an imbalance in protection, of the impact on treaties with Russia and for the cost of a long-range missile defense system.
He said Cohen, however, made it ``absolutely clear'' that no decision would be made on a U.S. system without weighing all the factors, including cost, effectiveness and the views of allies.
---
NATO: Kosovo Mission Needs Money
By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer DECEMBER 07, 04:15 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=EUROPE&STORYID=APIS716D0EO0
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - NATO's secretary-general warned that the international community faces a serious security challenge in Kosovo unless it sends more police to the province and starts building a fair justice system.
``There's a very thin line between success and failure in Kosovo, and we're walking that line at the moment,'' Lord Robertson said Monday in an interview after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
While the NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Kosovo has been a success given the level of violence in Kosovo over the past 10 years, he said the U.N. civilian effort hasn't moved quickly enough. Robertson said he and Annan agreed that a key problem was money.
``The message from the NATO secretary-general is that if we make a very small investment now, it will save a colossal amount of money later if it all goes wrong,'' Robertson said.
Kosovo needs a 4,200-strong civilian police force to take over work being done by the NATO-led force known as KFOR, but there are fewer than 2,000 police in the province now, he said.
Kosovo also needs a fair and objective justice system and civil administration, he said, and it needs to pay the salaries of teachers, judges and the Kosovo Protection Corps, the civil defense unit that includes many members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The KLA fought for Kosovo's independence from Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic.
The United Nations has been taking charge of administering Kosovo, while NATO is largely in charge of keeping the peace in the province.
Last week, the commander of NATO forces in Kosovo, Gen. Klaus Reinhardt, told the alliance the United Nations was $120 million short to pay civil servants and $10 million short in funding the Kosovo Protection Corps.
``The problem that we are faced with is that a very small investment now could make all the difference, but for the lack of it, we are risking a security challenge that will cost the international community much more,'' Robertson said. ``We need to make that investment in the next few months.''
The former British defense minister, who has been NATO's chief for eight weeks, said he has delivered this message to 16 NATO heads of government - and he will deliver it again when he meets President Clinton today in Washington.
``The reaction is sympathy,'' Robertson said, speaking of his meetings with the government leaders.
He said Clinton, who was in Kosovo two weeks ago, knows the problem well.
One of the most serious problems is the reluctance of many governments to pay salaries because they believe this implies a long-term commitment, he said.
``Yet, if you don't pay salaries, people won't do the work. And there are alternative governments in embryo. There are alternative lifestyles in crime and the black market which will take over if the sensible way forward is not chosen,'' he warned.
Robertson alluded to the KLA's take over of local government operations after NATO forces entered Kosovo in June following a 78-day bombing campaign.
``There are grave risks that alternative government structures are in place that the international community would find difficult to roll back,'' he said.
``But I'm not pessimistic. If the money is invested, then I believe it will work. And the success we have had up to now is a success that deserves to be reinforced and supported.''
----------- china
Taiwan Confirms China Building New Nuclear Submarine
Inside China Today Tuesday, Dec 7 at Prague 06:43 am, N.Y. 12:43 am
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=116298
TAIPEI, Dec 7, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Taiwan confirmed Tuesday that China is building a new type of nuclear submarine that could threaten the United States.
"Judging from its research and development process, the submarine is scheduled to be put into service in the year 2005," Major General Chao Lien-ti told reporters.
The Washington Times reported Monday China is about to construct its first Type 094 missile submarine, capable of carrying a smaller underwater variant of China's new DF-31 international ballistic missile called Julang-2.
The missile would have a range of about 7,400 miles (11,935 kilometres), the paper said.
Taipei has been alarmed by the continued arms buildup by the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
"According to foreign experts' estimates, the military forces of the Chinese communists are expected to rise to the level enabling them to use force against Taiwan from 2005 on," Defense Minister Tang Fei said last month.
He said military expenditure would be raised by 40 billion Taiwan dollars (1.26 billion US) for the next fiscal year to cope with the perceived growing threat from China.
With the increase, the Nationalist island's military outlay would amount to 300 billion Taiwan dollars in 2001.
Taiwan also plans to put a low-altitude anti-missile system into service in 2005. A research team at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology told reporters last month several breakthroughs had been made in developing an anti-ballistic missile system.
Tang said Chungshan would play a key role in the project although some weapons and equipment would also be imported, adding it could take 10 years and cost Taiwan up to 300 billion Taiwan dollars.
The PLA lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off Taiwan in 1996 ahead of the island's first direct presidential elections.
The crisis did not end until Washington sent two battle carrier groups to waters off the island. ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse)
---
Deseret News Tuesday, December 07, 1999
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,145009184,00.html?
China BEIJING - China dismissed on Tuesday a Washington Times report that it was working on a new submarine that would be targeted against U.S. nuclear forces and carry missile warheads built with stolen U.S. nuclear secrets.
---
China Sentences Alleged U. S. Spy
Inside China Today Tuesday, Dec 7 at Prague 05:11 am, N.Y. 11:11 pm
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=115828
HONG KONG, Dec 5, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) China sentenced a U.S.-based missile expert to 15 years in jail for leaking state secrets in a trial held last week, a Hong Kong-based human rights organization said Saturday.
Hua Di, a Chinese-born U.S. green card holder was tried and sentenced on November 25 by the Beijing Intermediate People's Court, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
Hua filed an appeal with the Supreme People's Court on Thursday the center said.
Hua, 63, had been studying at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Evidence in his trial included an essay he wrote which outlined the basic technical abilities of Chinese missiles, the center said.
The researcher is suffering from a rare form of male breast cancer, the group said, and his family in Beijing previously requested his release on medical grounds.
The Beijing Public Security Bureau arrested Hua when he visited his family in China while travelling on a Chinese passport in January 1998, despite government assurances that he would not be apprehended.
Hua was previously an expert at the Central Commission on Military Science but sought political exile in the United States following the military crackdown on democracy protests on Tiananmen Square in 1989, the center said.
The United States made representations to the Chinese government on Hua Di's behalf, but negotiations have yielded few results.
Hua, who remains a Chinese citizen, was hired by Stanford University's international security and military control center as a researcher in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Stanford has also sought Hua's release. ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse)
---
U.S. Asks China About Sentence On Researcher
Inside China Today Wednesday, Dec 8 at Prague 07:10 am, N.Y. 01:10 am
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=116221
WASHINGTON, Dec 7, 1999 -- (Reuters) The U.S. Embassy in Beijing has asked China for information on reports that a Stanford University researcher has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for leaking state secrets, a U.S. official said on Monday.
State Department spokesman James Foley said the United States was also "deeply concerned" about the health of the researcher, 63-year-old Hua Di, who was arrested in January 1998 while visiting relatives in China.
"Based on what we know of his activities as an academic researcher in the U.S., we are aware of no reason to justify his detention and sentencing," he added.
"Our embassy in Beijing has officially raised the case again and requested information about it from the Chinese government," he said.
Hua, a permanent resident of the United States, left China in 1989 after his involvement in the Tiananmen Square protests led the authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said last June that the Chinese authorities suspected Hua of leaking missile secrets to the U.S. military. It said last week he was appealing against the sentence to Beijing's high court.
Hua, who once worked on China's missile program, was charged with, among other things, revealing classified information in a 1992 article about China's ballistic missile program published in a U.S. journal, International Security.
---
US Criticizes China Over Jail Term
New York Times December 6, 1999 Filed at 6:12 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-China.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department criticized China on Monday for the conviction and 15-year prison term given to a Stanford University researcher who was detained while visiting China in January 1998.
Hua Di, a former high-ranking official in China's missile program, had been charged with leaking unspecified state secrets.
``Based on what we know of his activities as an academic researcher in the U.S., we are aware of no reason to justify his detention and sentencing,'' State Department spokesman James Foley said.
``We remain deeply concerned about Mr. Hua's reported health problems and need for medical treatment. We're concerned that his detention may have a chilling effect on academic exchanges between the U.S. and China.''
Foley said the U.S. Embassy has raised the case with Chinese authorities and has requested information about it.
---
George W Bush Defends "One China" Policy, Entrance To WTO
Inside China Today Tuesday, Dec 7 at Prague 05:11 am, N.Y. 11:11 pm
http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=114950
WASHINGTON, Dec 2, 1999 -- (Reuters) Republican presidential frontrunner George W Bush here Wednesday defended Washington's "one China" policy as well as Beijing's entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"I believe it is in our best interest to welcome China" in the WTO, he told the Republican Jewish Coalition, which celebrated its fifteenth anniversary by inviting Bush and his five rivals for the party's 2000 presidential nomination.
"Our relation with China is one of competition not of a strategic partnership", Bush added in a clear reference to president Clinton's policy of engaging China.
"I believe in the one China policy", said Bush, noting however that "should China move (against) Taiwan, I will help Taiwan defend itself."
Bush was the last speaker, following his five competitors -- including his closest challenger, Arizona Senator John McCain -- all of whom delivered mostly foreign policy speeches and discussed US ties with Israel.
Earlier in the day, Bush offered a plan to cut taxes 483 billion dollars over five years as a central piece of his economic policy were he to win the White House in November 2000.
The Republican candidates head for New Hampshire on Thursday, where Bush will participate in his first televised debate.
Commenting on the havoc caused Tuesday in Seattle by anti-WTO demonstrators, Bush said: "they got it wrong in Seattle ... they ought to protest against barriers and tariffs".
Bush, the clear frontrunner in the 2000 campaign according to the latest polls, also said that if elected president "one of my first acts will be to order a top to bottom review of our country's military."
"I will rebuild the military power of the United States," said Bush, the son of former president George Bush. Republicans have charged President Bill Clinton with allowing the US armed forces to decline.
Bush also called for revising the ABM missile treaty with Moscow and recommended that the US "withdraw" from the treaty if the Russians "don't want to renegotiate" to enable the US to deploy a missile defense system.
Other Republican candidates, such as McCain, expressed similar views, and criticized the Clinton administration for, in the senator's words, "squandering America's credibility abroad."
----------- france
FRENCH-GERMAN NUCLEAR DEAL
New York Times 12/07/99
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/world-biz-briefs.html
In a joint venture that will create a leading supplier and servicer of nuclear power plants, Framatome S.A. of France has agreed to merge its nuclear power construction and servicing activities with the Kraftwerk-Union unit of Siemens A.G. of Germany. The joint venture, with $3 billion in annual revenue, will be 66 percent owned by Framatome; Siemens will hold the remainder. John Tagliabue (NYT)
----------- japan
Japan to Put 96,000 Soldiers on Millennium Alert
By Reuters New York Times December 7, 1999 Filed at 4:25 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-japan-defense.html
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, which has come under fire for not being prepared for major disasters, announced on Tuesday it would put tens of thousands of military personnel on alert at year-end to deal with possible millennium bug-related accidents
About 96,000 Self-Defense Forces staff will be on alert across the country for two days from New Year's Eve to deal with possible emergencies triggered by the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer glitches, officials at the Defense Agency said.
The agency also plans to put more than 100 aircraft, warships and special vehicles on standby, and deploy several chemical warfare units, the officials said.
They stressed, however, that the agency was simply trying to be prepared for all contingencies associated with the millennium computer problem and was not going on the alert to cope with any possible military attacks.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi recently made a nationwide television appeal for people not to worry about the millennium bug, but he will still be on hand on New Year's Eve in case a crisis breaks out.
Obuchi plans to spend New Year's Eve at the prime minister's official residence in central Tokyo with some other ministers as a precaution in case of any major disruptions.
In October the government advised the public to stockpile several days' worth of food and water as a precaution, even though it said Japan was well prepared for the so-called Y2K bug.
Japanese cabinets have come under heavy fire in the past for their sluggish responses to crises such as the massive Kobe earthquake in 1995 and most recently, the nation's worst nuclear accident at a uranium processing plant last September.
Obuchi, whose popularity has tumbled lately due in part to ruling coalition squabbles, is keen to look ready for anything when the clock strikes midnight and the new millennium begins.
The millennium bug, or Year 2000 (Y2K) problem, could make some computers read the year 2000 as 1900, causing them to produce incorrect data or shut down.
That has raised concerns over the potential for serious problems with transportation, power, communication, banking and other systems which are highly reliant on computer technology.
The United States and Russia, meanwhile, are planning for defense specialists to sit together at a Colorado command center over the New Year to monitor the effect of Y2K on nuclear forces and prevent each from thinking the other has launched a strike.
---
Japan Worker Exposed to Radiation
New York Times December 7, 1999 By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Nuclear.html
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=ASIA&STORYID=APIS716GCMG0
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,145009184,00.html?
TOKYO (AP) -- A worker at a Japanese nuclear plant was exposed to a minute amount of radiation after he cut himself changing a pipe, officials said Tuesday.
The worker was taken to a hospital after cutting the little finger on his right hand on Wednesday at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s nuclear facility in Fukushima prefecture, company spokesman Kosei Sakai said.
Medical checks revealed that the amount of radiation he absorbed was not dangerous, Sakai said.
The incident follows a leak at another plant on Sept. 30 that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and exposed three workers to a potentially lethal dose of radiation.
Fukushima is about 150 miles northeast of Tokyo.
-------- marshall islands
Islands seek more pay for missile tests
Marshall Islands officials want the US $12-million fee for use of Kwajalein raised to a 'fair-market value.'
Colin Woodard Special to The Christian Science Monitor 11/07/99 WORLD
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/12/07/fp6s1-csm.shtml
KWAJALEIN, MARSHALL ISLANDS
From the air, you'd never guess that Kwajalein Atoll was of considerable strategic significance to the United States.
This remote ring of coral islets is set in the very center of the vast Pacific Ocean and is far from just about everything. Most of its islets are little more than glorified sandbars covered in coconut and pandanus trees, looking very much like a tropical paradise.
But Kwajalein is more "Dr. Strangelove" than "Blue Lagoon." Today it sits at the center of complicated ongoing negotiations that will have serious consequences for both the Marshalls and the development of the Pentagon's $10.5 billion National Missile Defense (NMD) program.
That's because leaders of the tiny Republic of the Marshall Islands, a former US-administered Trust Territory, want to raise the rent the US pays for use of Kwajalein Missile Range, a key facility for NMD testing.
"We think the Marshallese people are entitled to a much better deal for use of this unique asset," said Foreign Minister Phillip Muller. The current US payments for use of Kwajalein - about $12 million annually - must be raised to an unspecified "fair-market value," he said.
PETER KING - STAFF
Kwajalein has been at the center of US nuclear weapons development since it was captured from Japan near the end of World War II. It was the staging ground for 67 above-ground US atomic tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the 1940s and '50s.
For the past four decades, Kwajaelin's 850 square mile lagoon has served as the bull's-eye for tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, 5,000 miles away. Virtually every ICBM in the US arsenal was test fired at Kwajalein, from Titan and Polaris to the MX. The Pentagon has invested more than $4 billion in sophisticated systems that track incoming warheads. Divers can then recover warheads and test vehicles from the shallow lagoon.
"[Kwajaelin's] the only place where you can do exoatmospheric tests of long-range missiles," says Bill Congo of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., which operates the Kwajalein Range. "We've been testing out there for 40 years, and it's been a very successful facility."
With the end of the cold war, Kwajalein Missile Range's future looked bleak, with budget cuts and downsizing. But its prospects changed almost overnight in August 1998 when North Korea test fired a medium-range Taepo-Dong missile over Japan, shocking defense planners and reviving support for the creation of a missile shield to protect the US and its allies.
"Missile defense has given a new lease on life for the Kwajalein base," says Richard Baker, an expert at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
During NMD tests, intercept vehicles are launched from Kwajalein to destroy incoming missiles. The current prototype - the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle - is designed to soar into space at more than 4,500 miles an hour, identify and evade decoys, and strike an incoming warhead with such force that both vehicles are vaporized. "Without Kwajalein they'd never get the proper trajectory and altitude to test this kind of system," says Dan Smith of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information.
NO 'BLUE LAGOON': A radar tower dwarfs palms on this tropical paradise that is host to US missile tests. GIFF JOHNSON/REUTERS/FILE
Under current treaties, the US can unilaterally extend its leases on Kwajalein for another 15 years at fixed rents, and the Pentagon's official position is that no negotiations are necessary. As a practical matter, however, it would be extremely difficult to continue operations at Kwajalein without the cooperation of the Marshallese.
The base was created after World War II, when the Marshall Islands were a US-administered United Nations Trust Territory, and hundreds of residents were forced from their homes with little compensation. During the 1970s and 1980s, exiled landowners organized civil protests, including the reoccupation of restricted islands, forcing the US to increase rents. Imata Kabua, one of Kwajalein's biggest landowners, led many of the protests; he is now president.
Mr. Muller has hinted at a resumption of such protests should the US refuse to renegotiate. "We know from history what they are capable of doing," he told Reuters in February.
In the Marshallese capital, Majuro, most hope the US will increase rents at Kwajalein. But, speaking privately, many here fear that some of the country's leaders may use Kwajalein's newfound leverage to promote their own interests, rather than those of the country. The Marshall Islands are in the midst of complex negotiations over the future of US development support that now runs about $40 million a year - a figure that represents nearly three-quarters of the country's gross domestic product.
Dozens of interviews indicate that outside government circles there appears to be considerable support among Marshallese for the US to enhance oversight and accountability over any new funds it provides. Years of mismanagement and abuse of power by some government officials resulted in major gains for the opposition party in elections held Nov. 15, the first electoral defeat for the ruling circle since the Marshalls gained independence 13 years ago.
Former US Ambassador William Bodde says the nearly $1 billion the Marshalls has received from the US over the past 15 years "has produced a few millionaires, but most of the population continues to live under deplorable ... conditions."
Even in Majuro, essential services such as education, health care, and waste disposal are dismal. On Ebeye, a 78-acre islet on Kwajalein Atoll that is home to more than 14,000 Marshallese, electricity and water supplies are sporadic. Meanwhile, the government has lost millions on failed hotels and expensive aircraft.
Marshallese negotiators could try to use Kwajalein's value to the Pentagon to increase pressure in Washington to minimize the strings attached to any future US development support. "They're hoping the Defense Department is going to save the day for them," a knowledgeable source in Majuro says. "They'll play Kwajalein for everything they can."
For further information:
Kwajalein Missile Range Kwajalein Center and Approach Control Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, Land of Tomorrow EscapeArtist.com
----------- puerto rico
Pentagon To Pursue Vieques Plan
New York Times December 7, 1999 Filed at 4:19 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-US-Puerto-Rico.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Navy and Puerto Rico need a ``cooling off'' period to resolve a dispute over whether bombing practice should resume on the outlying island of Vieques, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
``I think there's room for dialogue here,'' said the spokesman, Kenneth Bacon.
Bacon said that an envoy, Rear Adm. Kevin Green, would be in Puerto Rico later this week to begin talks with local citizens and officials in an effort to sell them on the administration's plan to resume bombing practice next spring at sharply reduced levels and without live ammunition.
``Obviously, tempers are hot now and we're hoping that there can be a time for cooling off as people review terms of this package,'' Bacon said.
He declined to say whether the administration would move ahead if objections from Puerto Ricans remain as strong as they are now.
``I think I won't speculate on what's going to happen,'' Bacon said. ``I will assume that everybody will be able to sit down and agree to the package that has been presented and we can begin working under terms of that package.''
President Clinton last Friday extended the present moratorium on Navy bombing until next spring. Then, however, his plan calls for a scaled-back resumption of training using inert bombs, with all training to be phased out within five years.
Puerto Rico would get $40 million as an incentive under the plan. But Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello has said it is unacceptable because it does not go far enough in closing down the bombing range, which has been used by the Navy since the end of World War II.
The bombing has always drawn opposition from Puerto Rican leaders and citizens. But the controversy boiled over after a civilian security guard was killed by an errant bomb in April.
Pentagon officials have said that Clinton's decision will mean the next aircraft carrier battle group to deploy abroad from the East Coast, led by the USS Eisenhower and the USS Wasp, will leave their home station of Norfolk, Va., in February in a reduced state of combat readiness.
The next battle group, led by the USS George Washington, ``would train toward the end of March, so there's some time to continue discussions,'' Bacon said.
``We're going to be sitting down with the Puerto Ricans, both government officials and citizens' groups over the next few months and talking to them about what the package means for them and what it means for the Navy,'' Bacon said.
As to whether the administration might modify or try to sweeten the plan, Bacon said, ``I think the package is as far as we can go at this stage.''
----------- russia Y2K
Update: Disclosure of Y2K False Missile Alerts 12-7-99
From CarolMoore@kreative.net in D.C. 202-635-3739
I just got a call from AF Major Perry Newis from the U.S. Space Command Center returning my calls about their plans to alert media and public about Y2K false missile alerts. On the one had he kept assuring me that there would be 40 representatives of the media there who would be briefed frequently. On the other, he kept saying that they would not necessarily tell the press if there were false missle alerts. He confirmed that that decision would be made by the President. He also said he was aware of the movement to De-Alert Nuclear weapons. He said people should feel free to call him with more questions.
The number: 719-554-5010
As you know, the United State and Russian have set up the Center for Strategic Stability and Y2K, at the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado Springs to deal with false nuclear missle alerts due to Year 2000-related computer problems. Today Susan Hansen in Pentagon Y2K Public Affairs told me that information about false alerts would go to the President's Information Coordination Center.
Obviously Clinton would decide on making the information public. She also kept telling me that there would be lots of media in Colorado Springs seeking information. However, she did not know if that meant the press and public would be told of any false missile alert.
Press and public knowledge of any false missile alerts that occur because of Y2K will help raise public consciousness to the necessity for de-alerting nuclear weapons. Therefore, peace, anti-nuclear and de-alert activists must demand that:
1) the press and public receive immediate notice of any and all false missile alerts, now and in the future.
2) this Center remain permanent because year 2000-related computer problems and false alerts could persist for years,
Below are several relevant numbers/addresses/emails to contact to confirm the information above and/or to contact to demand the press and public be told of any false alerts.
President Bill Clinton The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461
(Contact your congressional representatives as well.)
Council Chair John A. Koskinen,
President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion,
202-456-7171 456-7171 (Fax)
http://www.y2k.gov
The Council's Information Coordination Center
http://www.y2k.gov/new/icc.html
Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, 202-224-5224 Year2000@y2k.senate.gov - Ask for Ron Speer or Paul Nicholas
Stephen Horn's House Y2K Committee 225-5147 Ask for Matt Ryan
Pentagon Public Affairs Y2K Contact-- Susan Hansen, CIV, OASD/PA" 703-693-6858 <susan.hansen@osd.pentagon.mil> (Returns calls promptly.)
Colorado Springs Center for Strategic Stability Public Affairs--Col. Black 719-554-5010 (Public affairs has not returned any calls so far.)
Y2K Military Links
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/y2k/misc_frelate.htm http://www.y2k.gov/java/info1c.html
North American Aerospace Defense Command And United States Space Command Y2k Page
http://www.spacecom.af.mil/norad/y2k.htm
---
Below are excerpts from The President's Council's Information Coordination Center - http://www.y2k.gov/new/icc.html
What will the ICC do with the information it gathers?
The ICC will use the information it gathers to provide regularly updated Y2K status reports on system operations to private sector and government decision-makers as well as to the public.
ICC status reports, or bulletins, to the public will be provided as often as significant new information becomes available. These status reports, along with individual agency press releases, will be posted on the www.y2k.gov web site. This information will also be provided to operators of the Government's toll-free Y2K information line - 1-888-USA-4-Y2K.
Will the ICC make policy decisions on behalf of the Federal Government?
No. The ICC is not a policy-making entity. Information received by the ICC will be analyzed and a complete, regularly updated status report will be provided to Federal agency decision-makers who will ultimately determine what, if any, Federal actions are appropriate in response to Y2K-related difficulties.
End Update.
---
Russian General Sees Us Corporate Push On Star Wars
Russia Today Tuesday, Dec 7 at Prague 06:43 am, N.Y. 12:43 am
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=114896
MOSCOW, Dec 1, 1999 -- (Reuters) Big companies with an eye on fat profits rather than potential foes are the force behind U.S. plans to develop a Star Wars-style missile defense system, a Russian general said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Major-General Vladimir Dvorkin, who heads Russia's strategic missile research institute, also told the military Krasnaya Zvezda that U.S. arguments why Washington should breach the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty simply did not wash.
Dvorkin reiterated Russia would respond if the United States deployed a missile defense system against what Washington sees as a threat from so-called rogue states. But he said Moscow believed diplomacy could still rescue the ABM treaty, which Russia considers a cornerstone of arms control.
"One can only assume the main reason is not threats but satisfying the interests of military-industrial sectors connected to ABM and of financial groups," the general said, developing a line of attack heard during a Cold War battle of words with Washington in the 1980s over a Star Wars plan.
"Since there has been a considerable blockage in implementing the Star Wars program, it is necessary to clear the blockage and secure profits," Dvorkin said.
He said the United States advanced three main arguments to justify its anti-missile scheme. One was the threat from so-called rogue states such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq. The second was the limited scope of the existing U.S. anti-missile system. Finally, Washington argues the 1972 treaty is outmoded.
"Third countries are nearer to us than to the United States and so any instability in those places could be a more serious threat to us," Dvorkin said, adding Russia considered it impossible for rogue states to "surprise" the world with a new ballistic missile.
"Even if a satellite broadcasting songs glorifying some great leader or other is successfully launched it does not mean an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead has been developed," the general said. He was referring to a North Korean launch last year.
He said the U.S. plan envisaged a twin system that could intercept several dozen defense-dodging missiles and that Washington could easily afford to expand the network.
"That makes the second argument completely unconvincing," Dvorkin said. He also denied the ABM treaty was outdated, saying the philosophy behind nuclear deterrence remained the same.
He said if the United States went ahead Russia would come with "asymmetrical" responses such as placing treaty-busting multiple warheads on new Topol-M missiles. He also said Russia's economic crisis would not be eternal and Moscow would then build its own national missile defense if needed.
"Nonetheless I believe the reserves of political, diplomatic and other measures are far from exhausted," Dvorkin said.
---
Russia, U.S. Ignore Tensions to Ease Y2K Fear
By Reuters New York Times December 7, 1999 Filed at 11:49 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-yk-russia.html
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Few people doubt Russia has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world but many need convincing the missiles will stay put when midnight chimes on Dec. 31.
The United States and Russia, despite relations being at a post-Cold War low, are eager to oblige as they prepare for the so-called Y2K millennium bug, which may cause some computers to confuse 2000 for 1900 and misfunction or crash.
``Doomsday is not going to happen,'' Sergei Rogov, director of the USA/Canada think tank in Moscow, told Reuters. ``But my television set might go off.''
That succinctly sums up Russia's conundrum. The world's largest country and second largest nuclear power is less dependent on computers than many others, particularly in defense, but is less prepared for Y2K because it woke up to the problem late and has little cash to spend on it.
Western governments predict the lights may go out in Russia but are surprisingly more upbeat about the safety of Russia's vast nuclear arsenal -- kept in prowling submarines, on land in silos or on mobile launchers and aboard long-range aircraft.
That confidence stems largely from a Russian and U.S. decision to sit together at a Colorado command center over the New Year to monitor the effect of Y2K on nuclear forces and prevent either from thinking the other has launched a strike.
Russia has 2,000 nuclear-tipped missiles on permanent alert compared with 2,440 in the U.S.
WATCHING Y2K AROUND THE CLOCK
Eighteen Russian defense specialists will fly to Colorado and start their joint watch with U.S. colleagues on Dec. 27, working shifts around the clock for three weeks at Peterson Air Force Base, headquarters of the U.S. Space Command.
``This sharing will reduce the chance that a turn-of-the-millennium computer error will create an end-of-the-year security incident,'' Defense Secretary William Cohen said recently.
It is a measure of the significance both sides attach to the problem, and to calming public nerves, that the Y2K watch is going ahead despite diplomatic tensions which, ironically, include U.S. plans to deploy an antimissile shield.
Earlier this year, the Russians temporarily called a halt to cooperation because of Moscow's anger over the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. But things got back on track.
With less than a month to go, the Russians are close to completing their pre-Colorado training and the center is ready. The aim is to spot any unannounced missile launches, not just from the two main nuclear powers, or aircraft off course.
Back in Russia, defense officials sound optimistic about their own equipment and safeguards.
``Security systems, systems that control armaments including nuclear weapons, use sophisticated technology that will not be affected by computer malfunctions,'' Yuri Bogun, spokesman for the Pacific Fleet, told Reuters. ``The Y2K problem will not affect the fleet.''
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, the government's Y2K supremo and the man in charge of Russia's defense industry, expects nothing more than minor glitches in the civilian arena despite a lack of money and gloomier predictions abroad.
The military has less than $4 million to fix Y2K problems. Even some individual companies in the West are spending more and the Pentagon is shelling out $3.8 billion.
``As always there is not enough financing. (But) I can boldly declare that nothing anywhere near as terrible will happen as we are presently being frightened with.'' he said.
Power failures could hit the defense sector but missile bases have their own generators. ``There may be much larger problems in the energy system but the strategic forces, because they are ready to fight a nuclear war, can operate for some time using their own energy supply,'' Rogov said.
NUCLEAR RISK GALVANIZED TWO SIDES
Although not linked to the nuclear arsenal, Russia's atomic power stations, especially those like the Soviet-era Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, worry many in the West. Western governments see the risk of a Y2K nuclear accident in the East as minimal but greater than in the West.
The prospect of a failed early warning system or inadvertent missile launch galvanized Moscow and Washington to cooperate in a way that would have been unthinkable before.
Joshua Handler, a nuclear researcher at Princeton, said Washington was particularly anxious to have Russians sitting in Colorado so there was no misunderstanding about U.S. Trident submarine movements if Russia's early warning system fails.
``The U.S. worries that the Russians may not be able to see what the U.S. is up to and so may make a mistake,'' he said.
Rogov said there had been near misses in the past. ``It is impossible to deny Y2K is a problem and of course one should take into account a long record of technical mistakes both in the United States and the (former) Soviet Union and Russia in evaluating data,'' he said, referring to times when the sides came close to retaliating to false alerts.
``Right now as far as the Strategic Rocket Forces and other components of the Russian strategic triad are concerned this problem has been admitted by the military and they have in the last several months focused on some of the technical issues.''
One of those problems was the discovery that all but one of seven Cold War-era ``hotline'' links between Washington and Moscow needed fixing because of Y2K. Specialists from both sides have been working to update equipment.
If, despite all the tests and planning, Russia's military chiefs have any last-minute doubts about their missiles they may opt for a drastic, if somewhat prosaic, tactic.
``As far as I can tell people in the Rocket Forces or the General Staff, if they feel their systems are in any way vulnerable to ... Y2K, they will just turn them off for a day or two or a week,'' said nuclear expert Pavel Podvig.
Yet intriguingly, the reverse could also turn out to be true, Handler said, even though the Russians say their nuclear arms systems rely on computers with no Y2K-style date stamp.
``In terms of missiles, the main problem is that they will not work -- not that they will somehow inadvertently shoot off,'' Handler said. ``I would say the same for the other weapons and stored warheads as well. Come Jan. 1, 2000, the Russians may find themselves with some or a large portion of their nuclear force non-operational.''
---
China Backs Russia Move on Chechnya
By CHRISTOPHER CHESTER Associated Press Writer DECEMBER 07, 11:50 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=EUROPE&STORYID=APIS716JLJO0
The United States, the European Community and many other nations are urging Russia to abandon its plan to intensely bombard Chechnya's capital, but there is no talk of sanctions or other measures if Moscow ignores their appeals.
China was one of the few countries to express support for Russia, which is bombarding the capital and has demanded that citizens leave by this weekend or be killed.
But nations urging that Russia show restraint have largely limited themselves to issuing statements. None has threatened to reduce trade or other ties over the issue.
In Washington, President Clinton expressed alarm Monday about Russia's bloody campaign in Chechnya.
In a speech on human rights, Clinton said bombing already has resulted in heavy loss of life and has pushed at least 200,000 people from their homes. He said he was particularly disturbed about Russia's warning that residents of Grozny must evacuate by Saturday or risk devastating rocket and artillery attacks.
``That means that there is a threat to lives of the old, the infirm, the injured people and other innocent civilians who simply cannot leave or are too scared to leave their homes,'' the president said.
``Russia will pay a heavy price for those actions, with each passing day, sinking more deeply into a morass that will intensify extremism and diminish its own standing in the world.''
In London, the British Foreign Office summoned Russian ambassador Yuri Fokine today to protest the Russian ultimatum.
A government official said the ambassador would be told ``in no uncertain terms'' of British disapproval of the planned massive air and artillery attack on Grozny.
Such criticism has failed so far to deter Moscow.
Russian forces entered Chechnya in September following incursions by Chechen-based Islamic militants into neighboring Dagestan republic. The militants have also been blamed for apartment bombings in Russian cities that left 300 people dead, though no one has been convicted in connection to the bombing.
China expressed support for Russia's actions.
``The Chinese side understands and supports the efforts made by Russia to maintain its national unification and territorial integrity,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing.
Zhang declined to say whether Moscow's three-month war in Chechnya would be discussed during President Boris Yeltsin's visit to China on Thursday and Friday, insisting it was Russia's internal affair.
``China's principled stand is very clear. China has always been opposed to interference in other countries' internal affairs by any country in any name. We think that the Chechnya issue is the internal affair of Russia. And I think that most countries in the world have already acknowledged this fact,'' Zhang said.
Zhang's comments came as Russia claimed to have opened a safe corridor for civilians to flee Grozny. But few people seemed willing to risk the trip today as bombs continued to fall on the Chechen capital.
In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency expressed alarm over the fate of Chechnya's remaining civilian population, arguing that those who are left in Grozny appear to have little prospect of escaping safely.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata stressed to Russian authorities Monday that civilians trapped by fighting are ``our top concern,'' spokesman Kris Janowski said.
In Brussels, the European Union foreign ministers issued a statement Monday cautioning Moscow that its military campaign ``and the unacceptable threat to the people of Grozny can only perpetuate, not break, the cycle of violence in the Northern Caucasus.''
At the United Nations, the head of Europe's 54-nation security organization urged Moscow on Monday to refrain from carrying out the threatened attack on Grozny.
Knut Vollebaek said massive air and artillery strikes against the capital might achieve ``a short-term victory'' but the conflict will not be solved by military means - only by a political settlement.
``I hope, of course, that the Russians will not carry out the threats that they have made,'' said Vollebaek, who is chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
---
Russia Guards Die in Truck Accident
By The Associated Press New York Times December 7, 1999 Filed at 8:00 a.m. EDT
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Russia-Accident.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,145009184,00.html?
MOSCOW (AP) -- Six Interior Ministry guards were killed when their truck fell into a pit at a nuclear power plant under construction in southern Russia, the Interfax news agency said Tuesday.
The guards had just finished their shift Monday at the plant outside the city of Volgodonsk when the truck fell into a pit that had been dug to build the foundations for a reactor, the report said.
The condition of two survivors was not immediately known.
----------- Iraq
U.S. Planes Attack S. Iraq Targets
by LEON BARKHO Associated Press DECEMBER 07, 08:20 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=MIDEAST&STORYID=APIS716GJ7O0
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi anti-aircraft gunners fired at U.S. and British warplanes as they attacked targets in southern Iraq, state-run newspapers reported Tuesday.
The papers, quoting a military statement, said the planes entered Iraqi airspace in 20 waves Monday morning and carried out ``22 military sorties'' over the provinces of Basra, Dhiqar, Missan, Najaf, Qadissiya, Muthana and Karbala, all in southern Iraq.
The United States, which along with Britain polices two no-fly zones over Iraq, said just six planes attacked military installations Monday, and that it was in retaliation for anti-aircraft fire from a military radar site in southern Iraq.
The U.S. Central Command based in Florida said in a statement that four U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets and two F-14 Tomcats took part in the attack, then returned safely to the USS John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. statement said damage from the bombing had yet to be assessed.
The Iraqi papers accused the U.S. planes of attacking ``our civil and service installations.'' They reported that Iraqi anti-aircraft gunners fired back, forcing the attacking planes to flee ``to their hideouts of evil and blasphemy in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.''
U.S. and British planes have been patrolling no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, saying they are protecting Kurds and Shiites there from attacks by Iraqi armed forces.
The allies say they target only military installations when they are fired upon and strive to limit civilian casualties or damage.
Iraq says the zones are a violation of international law and has frequently challenged the allied planes.
---
Iraq Urges UN To Renew Oil Program
By LEON BARKHO Associated Press Writer DECEMBER 06, 23:26 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=MIDEAST&STORYID=APIS7168P2O0
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq asked the United Nations on Monday for a six-month renewal of its oil-for-food program, but reiterated that it will not accept a draft British-Dutch resolution calling for the revival of U.N. weapons inspections.
In a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Iraq turned down stopgap extensions of the U.N.-approved program because they were impractical, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.
Aziz ``expressed Iraq's readiness to deal with a full extension of the oil program,'' the agency reported.
The U.N. Security Council voted to extend the program for two weeks last month and for another week on Friday, provoking protests by Iraq.
The oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell limited quantities of oil, in an exception to U.N. trade sanctions, and to use the money to buy food, medicine and other essential supplies. The program routinely has been renewed every six months since its inception in December 1996.
The latest renewals, supported by the United States, were to spur council members to reach agreement on a new comprehensive policy toward Iraq.
Under U.N. resolutions, sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait are not to be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction.
A draft British-Dutch resolution links a partial suspension of sanctions to the resumption of disarmament inspections. It is expected to upgrade the oil-for-food program by removing the financial ceiling of $5.2 billion and allowing foreign companies to invest in the country's battered oil industry.
Aziz told Annan that ``Iraq categorically rejects the British resolution,'' because it ``imposes new coercive conditions on Iraq which threaten its sovereignty and national interests,'' the news agency said.
Iraq has said its weapons programs had ended and that all sanctions should be ended.
The U.N. Security Council resumed talks Monday to hear whether Russia would support a U.S.-backed resolution.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said his country's stance hadn't changed, and offered some amendments to the resolution. But Western diplomats said real negotiations with Moscow would begin on Tuesday.
Russia's position on the resolution is considered crucial, since many Iraq watchers believe China will follow Russia's lead in any vote on an overall new policy. France, Iraq's other ally on the council, recently was accused in the Baghdad media of leaning towards resolution, already backed by the United States and Britain.
---
Report: Iraq-France Ties To End
By LEON BARKHO Associated Press Writer DECEMBER 05, 17:37 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=MIDEAST&STORYID=APIS715EI600
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - France will lose all of its trade benefits with Iraq, including lucrative oil development deals, if it votes in favor of a U.N. resolution backed by the United States, Iraq's most influential newspaper said Sunday.
The warning in Babel, the daily newspaper owned by President Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Odai, singled out French oil giants Elf Aquitaine and Total, which are nearing completion on deals for the development of two large oil fields.
If the resolution is passed, ``logic says that both Elf and Total will have to close their offices in Baghdad and leave. That means they will lose the huge oil investment opportunities they have been granted,'' Babel said in a front page editorial signed by Abdulrazzaq al-Hashimi, a senior member of the ruling Baath party and former ambassador to France.
Iraq also ``will put an end to the preferential treatment given to French companies,'' it said.
Russia and China - Iraq's closest allies among the five permanent Security Council members - as well as France have favored suspending sanctions soon after Iraq allows U.N. weapons inspectors to return. But the United States and Britain demand a longer waiting period and Iraqi answers to disarmament questions.
Attempts to reach a compromise have dragged on nearly a year, but a vote appears to be drawing near.
Babel did not say whether Iraq would punish its other two major trading partners - Russia and China - if they agreed to the proposal. Both have signed deals to develop oil fields in Iraq.
Later Sunday, Saddam met with several members of Iraq's highest legislative body - the Revolutionary Command Council - to discuss the U.N. resolution.
``The meeting stressed Iraq's rejection of the evil British draft resolution and Iraq's position not to deal with any formula that does not contain the comprehensive and unconditional lifting of the sanctions,'' the official Iraqi News Agency said.
The United States is pressing U.N. Security Council members to reach agreement on the proposed resolution, which charts a new policy toward Iraq that would restart U.N. weapons inspections as well as upgrade the humanitarian program in the country.
U.N. arms inspectors left Iraq almost a year ago on the eve of U.S.-British airstrikes. The government had vowed not to let them return. Nizar Hamdoun, a deputy foreign minister, said Saturday that Iraq would only allow the inspectors back if U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait were abolished.
France is among Iraq's major trading partners under the U.N.-approved oil program, which permits oil sales worth $5.2 billion every six months despite the sanctions. French exports to Iraq were estimated at a half-billion dollars during each the past two phases of the program.
-----------
Deal May Give UAE Superior F-16s
DECEMBER 04, 21:36 EST
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=MIDEAST&STORYID=APIS714SVAO0
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Lockheed Martin Corp. is negotiating an $8 billion jet-fighter deal that, for the first time, would reportedly give a foreign nation an F-16 fleet technologically superior to U.S. Air Force jets.
Under the deal, which could be signed this month, the United Arab Emirates would spend about $3 billion to research and develop technology that is not available on F-16s flown by U.S. pilots.
The 80 jets would be built in Fort Worth by Lockheed Martin. They would have agile-beam radar systems, radar-jamming devices and computerized flight controls that are more sophisticated than similar equipment now on board the U.S.'s F16s, the manufacturer says.
Joe Stout, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, told The Dallas Morning News for a story in Saturday's editions that the contract, postponed several times already, could be signed by the end of the month.
It must then be approved by Congress. The Defense Department has endorsed the contract, which is being negotiated by the State Department.
The deal with the UAE, an oil-rich nation made up of seven Arab sheikdoms on the Persian Gulf, is being brokered by the State Department through a direct commercial sale license.
In October, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen announced that the United States and the Emirates were close to making a deal.
The Air Force has made no public comment on the deal except to tell Congress recently that ``the UAE is expected to become a major arms customer into the future.''
----------- us nuc weapons
U.S. Missile Shield Technology Far From Ready
New York Times December 7, 1999 By Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-starwars-technol.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For all the domestic political appeal of a system to shield America from nuclear missile attacks and the unease the plan has generated in Russia, China and among U.S. allies, weapons experts say the technology is far from ready.
Propelled by strong political support for the idea among both Democrats and Republicans, the Clinton administration is moving ahead with the system -- a scaled-down version of former President Ronald Reagan's ``Star Wars'' space-based missile shield -- and will make a decision next summer on deployment.
The plan is for work to begin on a tracking radar base in Alaska in 2001 for the first phase of the system to be operating by 2005.
The system, which will eventually have 100 interceptors, will be designed to shoot down some intercontinental ballistic missiles fired by accident or by so-called ``rogue'' states, but not to provide full umbrella protection against concerted nuclear attack.
President Clinton has committed himself to make a decision on deployment next June, depending on reports of its feasibility, cost and the effect it will have on international arms control treaties.
Many experts are confident a limited anti-missile system capable of shooting down a few incoming intercontinental missiles is technologically within reach but there is concern that the timetable laid out is too short.
``Whether it is technologically feasible is not really an argument any more,'' said Greg Seigle, a reporter who writes on missile defenses for Janes Defense Weekly. ``It is just a question of when is it feasible? When is it cost effective? And when is it reliable?''
Many are skeptical about the system's ability to work under real conditions, when an attacker can use decoys and other devices to avoid the detection of the warhead by an interceptor missile.
A U.S. intelligence study in September judged that North Korea, Iran and Iraq would be able to develop ``penetration aids'' such as balloon decoys, chaff and jammers based on ''readily available technology.''
``That means that while the system may work on a test range against mock warheads that it won't work in the real world against even a few warheads if the attacker takes simple steps to foil the system,'' cautioned Lisbeth Gronlund, a physicist and arms control expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
ARMY SUCCESSFULLY TESTS THAAD SYSTEM
The U.S. Army and Navy are both working on theater missile defense systems. Last summer, after six successive failures, the Army successfully tested its THAAD (Theater High Altitude Area Defense) system, scoring two direct hits under controlled conditions. And in October part of the NMD (National Missile Defense) system was successfully tested, with an interceptor demonstrating that it could detect and ram into a mock warhead.
However, the technology has worked only under strictly controlled conditions.
Both theater missile defense and NMD systems would follow incoming missiles on radar and guide interceptors to them. NMD and THAAD interceptors would not carry warheads, but use ''hit-to-kill'' impact technology to destroy incoming missiles. In addition they would eventually use satellite infrared sensors to detect and track missile launches.
Some experts say that the leap from theater missile defense technology to NMD, which would shield a far larger area, requires a much longer research and development period.
Former Air Force Chief of Staff General Larry Welch, who led a panel reviewing the NMD, cautioned the program was on a tight, high-risk schedule and any slippage would delay it.
``Our concern was that if things don't come off right on schedule, then people will begin to say it isn't working,'' Welch told a specialist defense publication last week.
Some think the Pentagon would be wise to finish testing the THAAD before moving ahead with NMD.
``It makes little sense to insist on deploying NMD before shorter-range systems with much slower interceptors, like THAAD...can be fielded,'' Michael O'Hanlon, a weapons expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution wrote recently in Foreign Affairs magazine.
The unexpectedly fast development of longer-range missiles by North Korea and Iran have added urgency to the NMD program.
``Given the luxury of time, I believe we would have a much less ambitious development schedule. The fear is that the threat won't wait. It could emerge with little or no warning,'' noted Jeffrey Isaacson, a senior physical scientist at RAND, an institution specializing in military and security affairs.
----------- us politics
McCain Would Cancel Unneeded Arms
Dec. 7, 1999; 6:42 p.m. EST By David Espo AP Political Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991207/aponline184234_001.htm
CONCORD, N.H. -- On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain called Tuesday for deployment of a missile defense system, cancellation of unneeded weapons and military pay raises to maintain America as "the greatest force for good on earth."
A 22-year Navy veteran and former Vietnam prisoner of war, McCain outlined a policy of "rogue state rollback" to contain threats from nations such as Iraq and North Korea. He said his goal as president would be "not simply to contain rogue regimes, but to drive them from power."
The Arizona senator has risen sharply in the polls in recent months in New Hampshire, site of the nation's first presidential primary next year, and is aiming his presidential campaign at independent voters as well as Republicans.
He criticized political leaders "on both sides of the aisle and at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue who ask the military to do too much with too little, and who misdirect scarce defense dollars to their political priorities, rather than to vital defense needs."
The 1972 ABM treaty with the former Soviet Union does not allow deployment of a missile defense shield, McCain said. But he said the United States should discuss the issue with Russia to see whether that pact can be altered to permit deployment.
If not, he said, "I will withdraw from a treaty that has become a relic of the Cold War if it cannot be made relevant to our current security needs."
McCain made his remarks before a Rotary Club luncheon meeting a few blocks from the state capital, as well as at a question-and-answer session with reporters.
He arranged to deliver a more formal address Tuesday night at the USS Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum in New York. As a young Navy aviator in the 1960s, McCain served aboard the Intrepid in the Mediterranean.
The lawmaker lived up to his reputation for candor during the day when he cheerfully told reporters he didn't believe he had outlined any new positions in his remarks. He and his aides said his speech was designed to pull together views on defense and national security issues as the Feb. 1 primary day approaches.
He said "the future of our country and the world depends upon the strength and will of America."
Asked after his New Hampshire remarks for specifics on unneeded weapons system, McCain listed the C130 aircraft; the B2 bomber; and the Seawolf submarine as examples.
He also said he favors creation of a new base closing commission, to identify and eliminate military facilities that are no longer needed.
Aides also said McCain favors elimination of "Buy America" provisions in current law that prevent the Pentagon buying from international suppliers as well as domestic companies.
In all, he said he believed he had identified within the current defense budget "nearly $20 billion that must be directed to high priority needs."
On military pay, he called for increases of three percent a year beginning next year, on top of the 4.8 percent recently enacted approved by Congress and President Clinton. Aides said the cost would be $4.3 billion over three years.
In addition, McCain favors exempting military personnel overseas from the federal income tax, aides said. They listed the cost to the government of $800 million a year.
In the post Cold War world, the senator said, "our strategic interests have evolved" and include violence promoted by nationalist and ethnic rivalries; the spread of weapons of mass destruction to rogue states; the threat of warfare directed against vital computer systems; and terrorism.
"Rogue states are the main threat to peace and freedom," he said, and added "we must use public and private diplomacy, targeted economic measures and military assistance to aid forces seeking freedom from" them.
America must also be prepared "to back up these measures with American military force" when the nation's interests are threatened.
McCain also said the Pentagon must move ahead with development of improved theater missile defense systems under development, and added that "most importantly....we must defend the United States itself from ballistic missile attack."
McCain was critical of current national security preparations. "It is time to end the disingenuous practice of stating that we have a two-war strategy when we are paying for only a one-war military," he said.
He noted that during the war around Kosovo last spring, the Army was "unable to deploy its premier Apache helicopter forces in time to play a vital role. The Air Force's inventory of air-launched cruise missiles fell to 70 from the 1,000 level the Pentagon says it needs to handle two major theater wars," he said
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White House to take cyber-questions
12/06/99- Updated 09:11 AM ET By Susan Page, USA TODAY
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncsmon03.htm
WASHINGTON - White House correspondents, beware.
Reporters' exclusive franchise for posing questions to the White House press office ends Monday with a new Internet feature called ''Ask the White House.'' The White House will announce that major news Web sites can survey their visitors and submit five of the most-asked questions each week for written responses.
Question No. 1: Did President Clinton get a flu shot this fall season?
Answer: Yes.
No subject areas have been put off-limits, White House spokesman Barry Toiv said.
Could Matt Drudge, who runs a controversial Web site that has pursued Clinton scandals, submit questions? ''We're looking for sites with a hard-news focus and broad outreach,'' Toiv said. Translation for fledgling correspondents: That's a ''no.''
The feature was proposed by America Online as part of a new Government Guide site that organizes federal and state government Web sites in a directory for consumers. AOL surveyed its own employees to come up with the first five questions, being unveiled Monday at www.governmentguide.com, from the flu shot query to a question about the tumultuous World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.
The ''Ask the White House'' feature offers ''a special cyberpass to the most exclusive press conference in the world,'' said Kathleen Delaski, AOL's director of government programming. She said Web visitors ''will be able to take a virtual seat between Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas in the White House briefing room.''
Republican congressional leaders will get a place at the podium as well. Their responses will be posted next to those from the White House.
----------- war crimes
Ex-Rwandan leader convicted of genocide
USA Today December 7 1999
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm
ARUSHA, Tanzania - A U.N. court Monday convicted a former Rwandan militia leader of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison. Georges Rutuganda was vice president of the ferocious Interahamwe militia which, together with the army and security forces, led the 1994 mass murder of Rwanda's minority Tutsis. Rutuganda is the sixth Rwandan to be convicted of genocide by the Tanzania-based tribunal and the fourth to be sentenced to life in prison, the maximum penalty allowed under court rules. The U.N. Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was created in late 1994 and began trying cases 18 months later, has 40 suspects in custody. Rwanda is holding its own trials of genocide suspects, so far trying more than 1,500 people. Nearly 130,000 additional suspects remain in jail awaiting trial.