NUCLEAR
Nuclear threat is real
Leftovers From an Old War
DU properties and hard-target munitions
Agni to dominate agenda Rahul Datta/New Delhi
Israel Calls Iran 'Biggest Threat'
Russia denies helping Iran develop weapons
The Nuke Factor
Putin Disputes Iran Weapons Report
Ukraine's Green party protests spent nuclear fuel transportation
Panel Recommends Ending Satellite Plan
Pirro's Election Bid Unaffected by Conviction of Her Husband
Peach Bottom Nuclear Reactor Should Not Be Relicensed
Bush tells of nuclear threat
White House summons biz chieftains
LBJ tape 'confirms Vietnam war error'
Berkley seeks inquiry into document release
MILITARY
Gunman fires on base used by U.S. military
War Support Ebbs Worldwide
No escape for Taleban from the 'daisy cutter'
America turns up the heat
N. Alliance Advances as U.S. Pounds Front Lines
Afghan opposition claims major advances
Fighters seize district, approach Mazar-e-Sharif
Afghan Opposition Claim Key Towns
U.S. Plucks Rebel From Afghanistan for 'Consultations'
Uzbekistan: Bush's New Best Friend
Better tracking urged of labs
Plan to gas Senate building scaled back
Senators Told of Lack of Answers in F.B.I. Inquiry on Bioterrorism
The Front Is Here, and You're Drafted
Bin Laden money networks targeted
DEA resources are stretched thin
Germany Ready to Send Force of 3,900
U.S. Likely to Delay Action on Iraq Curbs
Pakistan Clamps Down on Taliban Envoy
Air Force slow to transfer special bomb kits to Navy
ENERGY AND OTHER
Britain MOD blocks 4 offshore wind power projects
UK wind power firm seeks review of planning block
Fuel cell-generated electricity goes online on Long Island
New strains of rice promise better health and eyesight
World Bank says will help rebuild Afghanistan
WTO meeting shrinks amid attack fears, feuds
POLICE / PRISONERS
F.A.A. Adds to O'Hare Security
Greens, Airports and ID Cards
US strong on theory, weak on evidence
War is a conflict for America's Muslim youth
Terror attacks may have lasting effect on courts
U.S. Takes Steps to Bolster Bloc Fighting Terror
In President's Words: 'Lift This Dark Threat'
On the Dock, Holes in the Security Net Are Gaping
Beyond Our Shores, a Battle for Opinion
America's Resolve, Then and Now
ACTIVISTS
Now Is the Time to Act
70's Radical Reaffirms Guilty Plea
Relief Effort Races Winter to Save Millions
Protests look muted, stymied at Qatar and Ottawa
Environmental radical groups haven't been slowed
HUNDREDS OF EVENTS AGAINST THE WTO MINISTERIAL MEETING
CONFERENCE DU - PRAGUE - INVITATION - INFORMATION - DEADLINE
-------- NUCLEAR
Nuclear threat is real - Bush President says all nations must join fight
"President Bush yesterday delivered his most belligerent speech"
Matthew Engel in Washington
Wednesday November 7, 2001
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,589162,00.html
President Bush yesterday delivered his most belligerent speech since the wavering US bombing campaign began, issuing two extraordinary messages to his allies as he tried to keep them in line. After first raising the stakes of the war by giving a bone-chilling description of the consequences if Osama bin Laden should have nuclear weapons, Mr Bush then threatened his less steady allies with action should they remain tepid in the face of the terrorist threat.
"A coalition-builder must do more than just express sympathy. A coalition-builder must perform," the president said. "All nations, if they want to fight terrorism, must do something. It's time for action."
He again insisted that each country must help in its own way, and said he had no specific nation in mind, for now, but added: "It's going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity. You're either with us or you're against us in the fight against terror."
Mr Bush was speaking outside the White House alongside President Chirac of France after the first of an intensive round of meetings over the next few days designed to bolster the alliance and his own standing as both its leader and its cheerleader.
Mr Bush's new phase of activity comes amid growing concerns of an international wobble exactly one month after the beginning of the US bombing campaign.
He began with an early-morning broadcast to the anti-terrorism conference in Warsaw, when he warned of the nuclear threat from al-Qaida. "They're seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," he said. "Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation; and, eventually, to civilisation itself. So, we're determined to fight this evil and fight until we are rid of it. We will not wait for more innocent deaths."
When he was questioned about this later, the president reverted to his old tactic of verbally confronting his chief enemy by name.
"I did say that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida were seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction. And the reason I said that is because I was using his own words. He announced that this was his intention, and I believe we need to take him seriously.
"If he does have them, we will work hard to make sure he doesn't. If he does, we'll make sure he doesn't deploy them. This is an evil man that we're dealing with, and I wouldn't put it past him to develop evil weapons to try to harm civilisation as we know it."
The mood in the autumn sunlight, as the stars and stripes and the tricolour hung side by side, was one of bonhomie, and the two presidents smiled broadly. But once again, it was clear that American preoccupations in the war are not quite the same as those of their allies. "I must say the military aspect is necessary, yes," said Mr Chirac. "But there are other aspects." And he talked of those: about nation-building, the "urgent" need for humanitarian aid and "the crises in the world, crises that can fuel terrorism".
Like Britain, France is likely to play a leading European role in the coalition. Mr Chirac said he had already mobilised 2,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen for military operations to fight terrorism but gave no further details.
Mr Bush will play host today to Tony Blair, who is flying in on Concorde. It will be Mr Blair's second visit to Washington since the start of the crisis. Tomorrow the president will continue his confidence-building push by addressing the American people, concentrating on domestic terrorism.
On Saturday he will deliver his maiden address to the UN general assembly at the summit in New York, where he intends to repeat the warning that other countries must act or else. And next week he is expected to adopt a more measured tone when meeting Russia's President Putin.
The president has remained in the wings during the anthrax crisis and the indifferent news from Afghanistan over the past few weeks, but he is now seeking to control the agenda once again.
With US politicians and military chiefs giving conflicting signals in recent days over the length of the campaign, Mr Bush made clear his view that he was in it for the long haul - and that Afghanistan was only the start. "We are at the beginning of our efforts in Afghanistan. And Afghanistan is the beginning of our efforts in the world."
----
Leftovers From an Old War
November 7, 2001
By KARL F. INDERFURTH
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/07/opinion/07INDE.html?searchpv=nytToday
MCLEAN, Va. -- After a recent meeting with Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, Secretary of State Colin Powell proclaimed a new era: "Not only is the cold war over, the post-cold war period is also over." When President Vladimir Putin visits President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., next week, they will have an extraordinary opportunity to turn Secretary Powell's encouraging words into reality. Unfortunately, they will have their work cut out for them - the nuclear arsenals of the two nations are still stuck in the cold war.
The United States and Russia continue to maintain a combined total of over 13,000 long-range, or strategic, nuclear weapons, with the only plausible targets of such destructive power being each other. The two nations also have an estimated 6,000 tactical nuclear weapons - currently operational warheads intended for use on short-range battlefield sytems - most of them on the Russian side. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, has pointed out how preposterous this is. Nonetheless the United States and Russia still have prompt retaliatory war plans, with over 4,000 warheads ready to be launched in a matter of minutes. These missiles cannot be stopped once fired. Russia's deteriorating command and control system further increases the risk of an inadvertent or mistaken launch.
There is also the serious matter of reducing the threat of Russian nuclear weapons, materials and expertise ending up in hostile hands. In the past decade, cooperative efforts have produced impressive results, including the neutralization of more than 200 tons of nuclear material. But it is estimated that Russia still has a stockpile of enough plutonium and uranium, much of it inadequately secured, to produce the equivalent of tens of thousands of nuclear bombs. If even a minuscule fraction of Russia's nuclear weaponry, material or expertise leaked out of the country, it would be a bonanza for states or terrorist organizations that might do us harm. Clearly the safety of Russia's nuclear arsenal and America's own security are inextricably linked.
As President Bush and President Putin discuss these matters, they should know that Congress, during its latest session, has taken a number of steps to reduce the nuclear threat - and is likely to offer bipartisan support for further initiatives that result from the two presidents' efforts in Crawford. Both houses have added funds to Bush administration requests for American-Russian nonproliferation programs. The Senate has repealed the law preventing reductions in American nuclear forces below the floor - 6,000 strategic nuclear weapons - set by strategic arms reduction treaties, allowing Mr. Bush to make the deep cuts he has said he wants.
President Putin has already proposed that the United States and Russia each go down to 1,500 strategic warheads. President Bush's response should be commensurate and include provisions to ensure that mutual reductions are verifiable.
In June, Representatives John Spratt and Ellen Tauscher and Senator Mary Landrieu introduced the Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 2001. It includes a call for cuts in nuclear arms across the board - which would encompass tactical weapons not covered by current treaties - and should become a Congressional priority after the Crawford meeting.
A decade ago, President George H. W. Bush said that we had an "unparalleled opportunity" to "dramatically shrink the arsenal of the world's nuclear weapons." Rarely does history present second chances. President Putin and President Bush have been given one. If they seize it, we will indeed have entered the new era Secretary Powell proclaimed, in which not only the cold war but the post-cold war era will finally be over.
Karl F. Inderfurth was assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001. He is senior adviser to the Nuclear Threat Reduction Campaign.
-------- depleted uranium
DU properties and hard-target munitions
From: <nukeresister@igc.org>,
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 12:32:45 -0000
Subject: Re: Dai's inquiry re d.u. in Afghanistan
I am not a materials scientist, but from my understanding of "ductile" [Malleable, not brittle, easily drawn into wire or molded or shaped or hammered thin] I would not consider ductile as a virtue for large penetrating bombs.
Thanks for asking Jack. I'm not a materials scientist either!But I did check out Jane's informal reply to my enquiry.I was told that DU was not strong enough for hard target penetration.I checked with technical folk who know something about it and the web links at the end of this message.
[Note: Government specialists who probably monitor this site know the answers already.It must quite amusing for them watching us trying to get nearer to the actual facts.It might save media speculation if they will posted the relevant specifications.They may not have been aware of the contamination issues we are picking up].
Properties of DU
I was referring to Jane's original website quote (see below) that "DU's ductility is suitable for making penetrators ..." (see References below).Ductility ranges from very soft (or malleable) to very hard.The Jane's website reference in February (since removed) meant fairly hard.But their recent phone comments tried to suggest this was unsuitable for targets other than armour. "Ductility" is a bit vague but 30 mm DU penetrators (with some added Titanium) don't seem to bend when they hit armor at high speed.
So how is DU too soft for other hard targets?We aren't employed to be weapons designers - that's why I am asking for the facts from Government.But we need enough information to avoid being put off with patronising or misleading comments by politicians or PR people for manufacturers, the DoD or MoD.We got enough of that in the Balkans War.
It appears that several different physical qualities are involved in materials "strength" e.g. Young's modulus, different hardness ratings, tensile strength etc.The properties needed of the "dense metal" in Advanced Unitary Penetrators also depends on different manufacturing processes, alloy mixes and physical design.Its looks as if basic DU comes out a lot harder and less likely to bend than a lot of other metals, similar to the Co/Ni/Fe alloy used for the outer casings. Are these properties unsuitable for hard targets? - not on this data.
Only the weapons designers know exactly what qualities are wanted for specific hard target penetrators.For non-engineers these seem to be the main factors:
Properties needed in hard-target penetrators
The main reason for using"dense" or "heavy metal" in new version hard target bombs and cruise missiles is the increased kinetic energy available for an existing delivery system. High density metal (DU is 2.4 x heavier than Iron) means that the same weight and length penetrator can be smaller diameter.This is important because new upgrades have to fit the same size missile bodies or bomb dispensers.See the FAS sitehttp://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/hdbtdc.htmResearch data on ground penetration weapons relates penetration effectiveness to length against cross section area - thinner ones go deeper for the weight, whatever they are made of.
The pyrophoric (burns in air) quality of DU that helps it burn its way through armor is not relevant for the first stage of hitting hard targets.Bombs and cruise missiles go slower than anti-tank shells so DU is less likely to ignite on initial impact at slower speeds. Kinetic energy and nose cone design are most important to go through earth and concrete.Tungsten may be best for the tip if is not too brittle.But it would be far more expensive than DU for the main ballast or liners.
BUT once inside the target (recognised by the AUP's Hard Target Smart Fuze) and ignited by the weapon's explosive charge, DU's pyrophoric quality are likely to make it an effective incendiary device as in tanks.Tungsten would not do this.
Incendiary effects may be important because one requirement for the new generation of penetrators is for use against suspected chemical and biological weapons facilities (see FAS link above). We are not talking GBU-28 technology here (old gun barrels with explosives and fins).These are highly strategic, high value targets.The FAS link above refers to the AUP (BLU-116) for the GBU-24.See also http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-24.htmThe same AUP technology seems to apply to the AUP-113 used in the GBU 37 bunker busters http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gam.htm used since 1997 according to FAS.
DU still seems as functional as Tungsten for hard-target penetration effect, far more effective for incendiary effect and far cheaper, except in health and environmental costs.In military terms it seems suited to purpose.Whether environmental consequences are acceptable, and what precautions are thereforeneeded, are political, not military questions.
DU hazards in the Afghan - facts needed urgently We are concerned citizens, not munitions experts.The points above are taken from available websites, comparing information and using it to test denials that DU is being used in the Afghan war.On 1st November the UK Defence Minister Geoff Hoon told the UK Parliament on 1st November "It is not being used at present".
The UK Government has its own definition of truth - known in UK as "spin".Taken literally Mr Hoon's comment that DU is not being used at present literally means "not at the time I am speaking".It does not answer the questions "has DU been used in the Afghan war in the last 4 weeks?" or " Will it be in the near future?".It does not give the facts needed for the central question - "What is the dense metal used in the latest hard-target smart bomb and cruise missile systems?"
I am an occupational psychologist.I am concerned about the potential occupational health and safety hazards of DU for aid workers, media teams and public health and safety for civilian communities.There is a special concern for troops sent to check out targets hit by hard target guided weapons munitions - the highest DU risk locations if these suspicions are correct. Employers including NGOs and other allied forcesneed these facts urgently NOW - to take precautions or increase medical support.Political delay will cost more lives.
Political responsibility for answers
Thank you for checking the interpretation of my data Jack.I hope this is sufficient explanation to keep asking the main questions. It is important that we check our case before going public to politicians or media.The reasons above increase my suspicions that DU is most likely to be the dense metal in the AUP series of hard-target warheads.
Now it is up to our elected representatives, employers (e.g. NGO's and media companies) and the media to help put these questions to the US and UK governments.We need answers fast.Every day more bombs and missiles are being used and more ground forces being sent into the Afghan War.If DU is being used in some of these systems every day delay will risk more lives.
Dai Williams, UK eosuk@btinternet.com
REFERENCES:
Extracts from Jane's Defence website Depleted Uranium - FAQs (Feb 2001) DU is a heavy metal that, when alloyed with titanium (up to 0.75% by weight), becomes a material with a density (18,600kg/m3) and ductility suited to making penetrators for kinetic energy anti-tank munitions, or liners for shaped-charge warheads. During the Balkans operations from 1992 to 1996, only the US Air Force acknowledges its use in some of its 30mm cannon shells fired from the GAU-8A cannon. It is true that some guided weapons used depleted uranium to increase the penetration effect and that the 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, used to protect warships at sea from sea-skimming missiles, also has a percentage of DU rounds.
Current description at http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw010108_1_n.shtml (Jane's Depleted Uranium - FAQs, 7 Nov 01 )
What is Depleted Uranium? Depleted Uranium (DU) is only used as a penetrator. It is not a warhead, bomb or explosive.
Who used it in the Balkans? During the Balkans operations from 1992 to 1996, only the US Air Force acknowledges its use in some of its 30mm cannon shells fired from the GAU-8A cannon. It is true that some guided weapons used depleted uranium to increase the penetration effect and that the 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, used to protect warships at sea from sea-skimming missiles, also has a percentage of DU rounds.
Other online sources:
Properties of elements: http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/periodic-table/phys.html see Uranium (238)Youngs modulus 208 similar to Cobalt, Nickel and Iron.Tungsten much higher. Density very similat to Tungsten.Hardness (Brinell) similar to Tungsten, 3-4x higher than Co, Ni, Fe. Properties of alloys: http://www.matweb.com/composition.htm Enter Uranium 50%+ and submit for data.See tensile strength for cast, annealed and wrought versions. Enter Cobalt 5%+, Nickel 5%+ and Iron 5%+ and see properties for some kinds of copper/nickel/steel alloys as used in the GBU 24 outer casing.
-------- india / pakistan
Agni to dominate agenda Rahul Datta/New Delhi
The Pioneer (India)
November 7, 2001
From: Harsh Kapoor <aiindex@mnet.fr>
The state of India's Agni missile programme and nuclear weapons preparedness will be the high point of the forthcoming Army Commanders Conference later this month. The ground for sensitive discussion will be prepared during the two-day definitive interaction between the scientists and the Army in Devlali starting on Wednesday.
The seminar organised by the Army Training Command at the School of Artillery, Devlali near Nashik will see scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the artillery focussing attention of nuclear weaponisation of the Agni missile.
The conclusions of this seminar will form part of the Commanders Conference to be addressed by the Prime Minister. The Commanders are likely to learn the political leaderships mind on the nuclear weaponisation programme in view of China and Pakistan posing a definite threat to India's security concerns, sources said here on Tuesday.
The Prithvi missile system with a range of 250 kilometres and capacity to carry 1,000 kilos of weapon payload yet to be integrated fully into the Army, Pakistan has integrated Hatf-II with composite rocket regiment of its Gujranwala based 30 Corps.
The Indian defence services, moreover, are not in the nuclear loop of the nuclear weaponisation though it became a nuclear weapon state after the Shakti series of tests in Pokhran in 1998. The Commanders are likely to seek the government's views on the involvement of the defence services in the nuclear loop as they will be the end users in case of a war, sources said.
Facing China in the eastern sector is a major concern for the Army as China has deployed its tactical nuclear weapons in Tibet. The Devlali seminar will discuss the state of Agni missile which is to be deployed to counter the Chinese threat.
With a range of 2,500 kilometres and a capacity of carrying 1000 kilos of nuclear weapon payload, the Agni cannot be in operational readiness due to the Government's policy of no first use, sources said. The scientists and soldiers will discuss the process to keep this missile in unweaponised or recessed state. They will also deliberate upon the crucial issue of who will be the controlling authority. The other issues will include the nuclear core and non-nuclear component and safety (arming and fusing). The conclusions will form the agenda for the Commanders conference, sources said.
The Commanders conference will also see a discussion on the delay in acquiring weapon systems.
-------- iran
Israel Calls Iran 'Biggest Threat'
Wed, Nov 07
By BARRY SCHWEID,
AP Diplomatic Writer
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011107/12/int-us-mideast
WASHINGTON (AP) - Iran is the biggest terrorist threat in the Middle East and receives critical support from Russia for its nuclear weapons program, an Israeli Cabinet minister said Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted in an American television interview taped Monday in the Kremlin that Russia was not providing dangerous weapons technology to Iran. He called such suspicions a "legend," or fable.
But Ephraim Sneh, a former Israeli general and now transportation minister, said he was certain "the central support for the Iranian nuclear project is provided by Russia."
Sneh told reporters at breakfast that Israel was on friendly terms with Russia. But, he said, "We don't sweep things under the rug."
Informed that Putin was denying the link in an interview on ABC-TV's "20/20," Sneh said "it doesn't change the situation." He said Israel had advised Russia that its support for Iran was damaging Israel's security.
Sneh, in Washington for a meeting with Condoleezza Rice, who is President Bush's assistant for national security affairs, said he did not want to advise the United States how to organize its campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan.
"We understand there is an American need and we feel our obligation to help" by not interfering, Sneh said.
But he said Iran and Syria, which the Bush administration has solicited for its anti-Taliban coalition, are countries that support terrorism.
"We believe they cannot be considered as countries that fight terrorism," Sneh said. "If someone forgets that we are willing to remind them."
The ex-general said Iran has deployed thousands of missiles in southern Lebanon, across Israel's northern border. The missiles have a range of 40 to 45 miles, he said.
Hezbollah, a militant group branded a terrorist organization by the State Department, has attacked Israel from southern Lebanon. Its arms are provided by Iran and transit through Syria, Sneh said.
"Iran stands in first place as a sponsor of terrorism," he said.
----
Russia denies helping Iran develop weapons
11/07/2001
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/06/putin.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected U.S. suspicions that Russia has provided dangerous weapons technology to Iran. Putin also praised President Bush, with whom he will meet next week, as someone with whom he can do business and a leader who keeps his word. In an interview in the Kremlin with Barbara Walters for ABC's 20/20 program, Putin struck a conciliatory stand on almost all fronts. He indicated, for instance, that he could be ready to strike a deal to clear the way for a U.S. anti-missile shield program.
"We could reach quite quickly mutual agreements," Putin said in an interview conducted on Monday and set to air on Wednesday. He added that the Russian position on a missile shield "is quite flexible."
But he also cautioned that a settlement "can only be found as a result of very intense negotiations."
Both Putin and Bush have said they would like to cut nuclear arsenals, which now number about 6,000 warheads for each country. The Russians have suggested cuts as low as 1,500; U .S. officials have discussed a range of between 1,750 and 2,250. In exchange, the U.S. would like to conduct missile tests now barred by a 1972 arms control treaty.
On the touchy issue of Iran, the Russian president rejected as a "legend" that Iran is receiving technology from Russia for missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
"We have not ever sold anything to Iran, out of the range of technology or information that would help Iran develop missiles, or weapons of mass destruction," Putin said.
Russia has some projects with Iran in atomic energy, he said. But "it has nothing to do with developing nuclear weapons. We are categorically opposed to transferring any technologies to Iran that would help it develop nuclear weapons."
The issue has been underlined as serious and troubling by U.S. officials, who otherwise speak warmly of growing rapport between Washington and Moscow.
On another front, Putin ruled out sending Russian troops to Afghanistan to help the United States root out Osama bin Laden and smash his al-Qa'eda terrorist network.
"To us this solution would be unacceptable. To us, sending troops to Afghanistan is like for you, the U.S., returning your troops to Vietnam," Putin said. The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan before withdrawing in defeat in 1989.
Still, Putin said the Russian army is helping the United States in rescue operations, even on Afghan territory, and said he had shown Bush intelligence data indicating terrorists in the separatist republic of Chechnya plan to kill Americans.
"The Americans should know about that," Putin said.
Reaffirming Russia's support for the U.S. war against terrorism, Putin said it would be very difficult but possible to find bin Laden.
"It is important," he said. "The main players in this should be brought to justice. But this will not resolve the overall terrorist problem."
On the war itself, Putin said the United States was losing "not in the military but in the information."
"It seems to me that in the information field, terrorist are acting more aggressively and more offensively, and they're presenting opposition in terms of emotions," he said.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Putin was the first foreign leader to call Bush to register support for the United States. In the interview, he said he wished he could have done something to prepare the United States for the assault.
"I had the feeling of guilt for this tragedy," he said. "I don't know whether it would have been possible to prevent these strikes on the United States by the terrorists. But it was a pity that our special services didn't get the information on time, and warn the American people and the American political leadership about the tragedy that came to pass."
Putin praised Bush at several points.
"I believe it's not accidental that he became the president of the United States. He sees better and deeper and understands the problems more accurately," the Russian president said.
"We argue about some problems, disagree about things, but I noticed that if he agrees with something, and if he says yes, he actually pushes the question down to resolution, to fruition, and we assess this quite positively," Putin said.
"We can do business with this man, and he lives up to the agreements that he reaches," the Russian leader said.
-------- israel
The Nuke Factor
Wednesday, November 7, 2001
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51802-2001Nov6.html
George Will ["The F-16 Solution," op-ed, Nov. 1] got a basic fact wrong about Israel's preemptive 1981 attack. He wrote, "Iraq was about to receive a shipment of enriched uranium for its reactor near Baghdad -- enough to build four or five Hiroshima-size bombs."
Although highly enriched uranium can be used to build a bomb, Iraq received only about 25 pounds of such fuel, barely adequate for a single high-tech weapon and insufficient for a Hiroshima-style bomb. The real threat was that Iraq would operate the reactor to produce sufficient plutonium for a much bigger nuclear arsenal.
But Mr. Will is correct that highly enriched uranium fuel can be diverted for nuclear weapons, which is why the United States and its allies stopped building reactors with such fuel in 1978 and have converted nearly all their reactors to low-enriched fuel unsuitable for weapons.
In this light, it is remarkable that Germany recently built a research reactor near Munich that will use 800 pounds of bomb-grade uranium fuel during the next decade.
Given today's terrorist threat, it is reckless in the extreme to provide such a tempting target. American officials should tell their German counterparts to cease and desist from a plan that endangers us all.
ALAN J. KUPERMAN
Venice, Calif.
-------- russia
Putin Disputes Iran Weapons Report
New York Times
November 7, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Putin-Interview.html?searchpv=aponline
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted in an American television interview that Russia is not the source of anthrax spores circulating in the United States and said his country's smallpox supply is safe.
He also denied that Russia has provided dangerous weapons technology to Iran. And he praised President Bush, with whom he will meet next week, as someone with whom he can do business and a leader who keeps his word.
In an interview in the Kremlin with Barbara Walters for ABC's ``20/20'' program, Putin struck a conciliatory stand on almost all fronts. He indicated, for instance, that he could be ready to strike a deal to clear the way for a U.S. anti-missile shield program.
``We could reach quite quickly mutual agreements,'' Putin said in an interview conducted on Monday and set to air on Wednesday. He added that the Russian position on a missile shield ``is quite flexible.''
But he also cautioned that a settlement ``can only be found as a result of very intense negotiations.''
Both Putin and Bush have said they would like to cut nuclear arsenals, which now number about 6,000 warheads for each country. The Russians have suggested cuts as low as 1,500; U.S. officials have discussed a range of between 1,750 and 2,250. In exchange, the U.S. would like to conduct missile tests now barred by a 1972 arms control treaty.
Asked if he is concerned that either anthrax or smallpox could be bought or stolen from a Russian source, Putin answered, ``No. I believe it would be impossible.''
The highly contagious and deadly smallpox virus was eradicated 21 years ago and is known to survive only in laboratories in the United States and Russia. Germ warfare experts suspect that other countries, including North Korea and Iraq, may have secretly obtained stocks.
Anthrax has been studied for years as a biological weapon with the potential weapon to sicken tens of thousands, including through a Soviet-era germ warfare program.
``Those materials have been guarded, were guarded in the Soviet Union, and Russia, very securely,'' Putin said. ``So I exclude that possibility. I believe this is true of anthrax and smallpox.''
On the touchy issue of Iran, the Russian president rejected as a ``legend'' that Iran is receiving technology from Russia for missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
``We have not ever sold anything to Iran, out of the range of technology or information that would help Iran develop missiles, or weapons of mass destruction,'' Putin said.
Russia has some projects with Iran in atomic energy, he said. But ``it has nothing to do with developing nuclear weapons. We are categorically opposed to transferring any technologies to Iran that would help it develop nuclear weapons.''
The issue has been underlined as serious and troubling by U.S. officials, who otherwise speak warmly of growing rapport between Washington and Moscow.
On another front, Putin ruled out sending Russian troops to Afghanistan to help the United States root out Osama bin Laden and smash his al-Qaida terrorist network.
``To us this solution would be unacceptable. To us, sending troops to Afghanistan is like for you, the U.S., returning your troops to Vietnam,'' Putin said. The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan before withdrawing in defeat in 1989.
Still, Putin said the Russian army is helping the United States in rescue operations, even on Afghan territory, and said he had shown Bush intelligence data indicating terrorists in the separatist republic of Chechnya plan to kill Americans.
``The Americans should know about that,'' Putin said.
Reaffirming Russia's support for the U.S. war against terrorism, Putin said it would be very difficult but possible to find bin Laden.
``It is important,'' he said. ``The main players in this should be brought to justice. But this will not resolve the overall terrorist problem.''
On the war itself, Putin said the United States was losing ``not in the military but in the information.''
``It seems to me that in the information field, terrorist are acting more aggressively and more offensively, and they're presenting opposition in terms of emotions,'' he said.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Putin was the first foreign leader to call Bush to register support for the United States. In the interview, he said he wished he could have done something to prepare the United States for the assault.
``I had the feeling of guilt for this tragedy,'' he said. ``I don't know whether it would have been possible to prevent these strikes on the United States by the terrorists. But it was a pity that our special services didn't get the information on time, and warn the American people and the American political leadership about the tragedy that came to pass.''
-------- ukraine
Ukraine's Green party protests against spent nuclear fuel transportation
Wednesday, November 07, 2001
By Associated Press
http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/11/11072001/ap_45475.asp
KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's Green party started to collect people's signatures across the country against spent nuclear fuel transportation from Bulgaria to Russia through Ukraine, the party's leader said.
A train carrying 41 metric tons (45.1 short tons) of spent nuclear fuel from an atomic power plant in the Bulgarian town of Kozlodui is due to pass through Ukraine on its way to a Russian chemical plant. The Green party is especially alarmed by the lack of information about the transportation route and the nuclear fuel containers' quality, said party leader Vitaliy Kononov, according to the Interfax news agency.
Ukraine was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and caught fire, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. Nuclear safety issues remain sensitive in the country.
"Does a country, which went through the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, need alien nuclear waste to be taken across its territory?" Kononov said. He said parliament should cancel Ukraine's participation in the 1997 accord signed with Bulgaria, Russia, and Moldova that authorizes such shipments.
Kononov spoke a week after a group of Russian and Ukrainian environmental organizations appealed to Ukraine's parliament and President Leonid Kuchma to stop the shipment.
Russia has long imported spent nuclear fuel rods from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Hungary for reprocessing under a Soviet-era system, but a 1992 law prohibits the practice from being expanded. Earlier this summer, a new law overturned that ban, raising fears among environment protection activists that Russia could be turned into a nuclear dump.
Proponents of the plan maintain it is safe and say it could earn the country US$20 billion over the next decade that could be spent on environment clean-up efforts.
-------- u.s. nuc weapons
Panel Recommends Ending Satellite Plan
New York Times
November 7, 2001
By JAMES DAO
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/07/politics/07SATE.html?searchpv=nytToday
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 - At the urging of its Republican leadership, the House Appropriations Committee is recommending canceling an expensive infrared satellite system that the Pentagon considers vital to missile defense.
The satellites are intended to track ballistic missiles as they soar through the atmosphere, providing data that would help interceptor missiles tell missiles from decoys and home in on and destroy warheads.
The Pentagon had proposed putting two dozen such satellites, at an estimated cost of $11 billion to $20 billion, into low orbits above the earth over the next two decades to provide continuous surveillance against missile attacks.
But in a report that has yet to be voted on by the full House, the Appropriations Committee contends that the satellite program is over its budget and behind schedule. It also cites an internal Pentagon study that questions the effectiveness of the satellites in discriminating between warheads and decoys.
Noting that ground-based radar might be a less expensive alternative to the satellites, the committee recommended denying the Bush administration's entire request of $385 million for the satellite program in the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Instead, the committee proposed transferring most of that money to other satellite and radar programs.
"This was not ready to move forward," said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Representative Jerry Lewis, a California Republican who is chairman of the Pentagon subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
"By taking away the funding, the committee is making clear they need to do more development and testing of this system in order for it to become an integral part of national missile defense," Mr. Specht added.
But Pentagon officials said that canceling or sharply cutting the satellite program would be a major setback to the Bush administration's missile defense plan.
"It would degrade the future capability of the overall missile defense program," said Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
"Ground-based systems are limited by the curvature of the earth," Colonel Lehner added. "They don't have the range of a space-based system, which can cover the whole planet."
Congressional officials said the fate of the satellite program before the full House and in the Senate was unclear. The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to reduce the program by $96.6 million, while the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to vote on the Pentagon spending bills.
The satellites, known as the space- based infrared system-low, are being developed by two competing teams, one led by TRW and Raytheon, the other by Spectrum Astro and Northrop Grumman.
The system had its roots in the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative, when it was known as Brilliant Eyes. Using infrared sensors, the satellites are intended to locate warheads when they reach the mid-course of their trajectory, sending back to earth data that would help ground-based radars and interceptor rockets to fix on a threatening warhead.
Proponents contend that the satellites would be valuable not just for tracking long-range nuclear-tipped missiles, but also short-range weapons, known as theater missiles, that could be fired at American troops overseas.
"It's an essential component if ballistic missile defenses are to work effectively," said Representative John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat who supports the program. "Not just for national missile defense, but also theater missile defense."
Pentagon officials have often cited the infrared satellites in responding to critics who contend that a missile shield would be easily fooled by decoys released alongside warheads in space. By identifying the difference in temperature between a decoy and warhead, the satellites would, in theory, be able to guide an interceptor toward the real target, the Pentagon contends.
Critics of missile defense question whether any system would be effective in picking out decoys. But they concede that a missile defense is likely to be more effective with the infrared satellites than without them.
"The job of the attacker is easier if there is not a S.B.I.R.S.-low system," said Lisbeth Gronlund, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an arms control group.
But over the years, the satellite program has been repeatedly criticized by Congressional investigators and Pentagon testers.
In a report released in February, the General Accounting Office, Congress's investigative arm, asserted that the satellite program was being rushed and was likely to face technical failures and major cost overruns.
The investigators found, for example, that the Pentagon was proposing to launch the first satellites before critical software had been completed.
"The S.B.I.R.S.-low program is at high risk of not delivering the system on time or at cost or with expected performance," the report concluded.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
-------- new york
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
Pirro's Election Bid Unaffected by Conviction of Her Husband
New York Times
November 7, 2001
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/07/nyregion/07WEST.html?searchpv=nytToday
WHITE PLAINS, Nov. 6 - A year after her husband was sentenced to federal prison on tax fraud charges, Jeanine F. Pirro, the Westchester district attorney, emerged victorious in her bid for a third term tonight, beating an unknown rival who sought to link Mrs. Pirro to her husband's case.
Mrs. Pirro, a Republican, was leading the Democratic challenger, Tony Castro, a former Bronx prosecutor, by 53 percent to 46 percent, with 91 percent of the precincts reporting. That is far short of her 2-to-1 landslide over an unknown four years ago.
Mrs. Pirro declared victory, but Mr. Castro said he would not concede until all the votes had been counted.
"This has been a tough journey and a tough fight, both personally and professionally," Mrs. Pirro told supporters at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains.
Mr. Castro, 44, had portrayed Mrs. Pirro, 50, as a willing beneficiary of her husband's cheating and as evasive about her role in the family's finances. He also criticized her as a relentless media hound who devoted too many resources to garnering publicity.
Mrs. Pirro's victory came as Westchester Democrats posted some key successes. Andrew J. Spano, the county executive, beat Larry I. Horowitz, a Republican making his first bid for countywide office, 55 percent to 42 percent, incomplete returns showed.
In a race that attracted national attention, Maria McHugh, a Republican running for the County Legislature in place of her husband, who died in the World Trade Center attack, lost to the incumbent Democrat, Vito Pinto. According to early returns in other races, it appeared the Democrats would expand their control of the 17-member Legislature by two seats, for a 10-to-7 majority. Mrs. McHugh, 34, a homemaker in Tuckahoe with three children, had never run for political office. But she made appearances with Republican heavyweights, including Gov. George E. Pataki and Mrs. Pirro, and appeared on television news programs.
The Sept. 11 attack, however, for the most part pushed the races to the background, as several candidates suspended campaigning for a few weeks and then sought to gain the attention of voters fixated on the terrorism.
Most political analysts had predicted that the incumbents would be safe because they had raised much more money than their rivals and had presided over relatively calm, prosperous times.
One question was whether voters would punish Mrs. Pirro, who has built a reputation as an aggressive prosecutor focused on crimes against children and women, for the wrongdoing of her husband, Albert, who is serving a 29-month sentence in prison. A lawyer and lobbyist, he was convicted of writing off as business expenses some $1.2 million in personal expenses, including cars, plane tickets and fine art.
Mrs. Pirro had signed the joint tax returns that formed the basis of the federal government's case but has said that she did not know they were improper.
Mr. Spano's election to a second term came as no surprise. He had raised more than $1 million and ran on promises to keep cutting property taxes while continuing work to preserve open space and improve county government services.
His opponent, Mr. Horowitz, raised only a small fraction of Mr. Spano's war chest, and Republican insiders have said he ran as a favor to the party with the expectation that he would be backed for a judgeship next year. Mr. Horowitz has denied that, but, in an interview, suggested that he was owed something by the party.
In the final days of the campaign, the issue of security at the Indian Point nuclear plants in Buchanan played a prominent role, with Mr. Horowitz calling for the placement of anti-aircraft missiles to defend them and Mr. Spano expressing confidence in the existing security.
The incumbent County Clerk, Leonard N. Spano of Yonkers, a Republican who is not related to the victor in the county executive's race, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, Lisa Copeland, the Mount Vernon city clerk.
North of Westchester, in Putnam County, in a fiercely contested race, incumbent Sheriff Robert Thoubboron lost to Donald B. Smith, the deputy county executive by a margin of 76 percent to 24 percent.
-------- pennsylvania
Peach Bottom Nuclear Reactor Should Not Be Relicensed
Reactors Are Terrorist Targets; Aging Reactors Pose Safety Hazards, Generate Dangerous Waste
Nov. 7, 2001
From: Noel Petrie, Public Citizen <NPETRIE@citizen.org>
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Peach Bottom nuclear plant in Pennsylvania should not be relicensed because, like reactors throughout the countryit is a terrorist target and its equipment will pose safety hazards for surrounding communities as it ages, Public Citizen told federal officials today.
Because of these reasons, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should halt its process for relicensing Peach Bottom, Public Citizen said in comments filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The comments coincide with two public hearings the NRC is holding today on the reactor's relicensing. The hearings are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, 6085 Delta Road in Delta, Pa.
"Security is the elephant in the nuclear power industry's living room," said Hugh Jackson, policy analyst with Public Citizen. "Yet the NRC is continuing to move forward and relicense old nuclear power plants as if the September attacks never happened."
Nuclear power plants were originally licensed for 40 years. License renewals would allow them to operate for an additional 20 years. The licenses for Units 2 and 3 at Peach Bottom, located 45 miles west of Philadelphia, are scheduled to expire in 2013 and 2014 respectively. (Unit 1, which was built using a more primitive design, ran for just seven years and was shut down in 1974 because of mechanical problems.)
In the weeks since Sept. 11, the NRC has continued to process relicensing applications as if there were no heightened concerns about the safety of commercial nuclear facilities. Many people, though, are worried. Mock drills have shown nuclear plants to be relatively easily accessed by intruders, and a disciple of Osama bin Laden has been quoted in the news as saying that the terrorists who struck on Sept. 11 should have targeted a nuclear plant.
"Relicensing old nuclear power plants, which will continue to tempt terrorists far, far into the future, should never have been started in the first place, and it certainly shouldn't be done now," Jackson said.
Public Citizen has long opposed the relicensing of nuclear power plants, citing, among other issues, increased risks from aging reactors. Reactor vessels can become brittle over time, and steam generator tubes can deteriorate and leak, potentially releasing radiation into the air. The longer a reactor operates, the more nuclear waste it generates. Also, the nation still has no workable solution for the disposal of deadly nuclear waste.
Public Citizen supports a shift in national energy policy away from fossil and nuclear fuels and toward conservation and renewable energy sources. Public Citizen noted in its comments to the NRC that even the commission's so-called "generic environmental impact statement" for relicensing nuclear power plants states that "conservation technologies produce enough energy savings to permit the closing of a nuclear plant" in most electricity service areas.
If the NRC persists in processing Exelon's license renewal application, Public Citizen will call on the NRC to conduct a comprehensive analysis of available conservation technologies as part of the environmental statement to be prepared on Peach Bottom relicensing. Specifically, the NRC should evaluate the potential of conservation and energy efficiencies as the preferred alternative to license renewal.
"The NRC ought to take its own paperwork seriously for a change," Jackson said. "If it did, the agency would close down most of the 103 reactors in operation around the country."
Peach Bottom is one of seven nuclear power plants with active relicensing applications. The other plants are Edwin E. Hatch, located northwest of Savannah, Ga.; Turkey Point, located northeast of Miami, Fla.; Surry, located near Williamsburg, Va.; North Anna, located northwest of Richmond, Va.; Catawba, in South Carolina, just south of Charlotte, N.C.; and McGuire, located west of Charlotte, N.C.
The NRC projects that 29 plants will be relicensed over the next six years. The agency already has relicensed three plants: Calvert Cliffs in Maryland; Oconee in South Carolina; and Arkansas Nuclear One.
-------- us nuc politics
Bush tells of nuclear threat
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 7, 2001
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20011107-355377.htm
President Bush yesterday told Eastern European leaders that the al Qaeda terrorist group is seeking nuclear weapons and compared the Taliban regime to the fascist leaders who ravaged Europe for half a century.
The goal of the terrorist groups is "to destabilize entire nations and regions," Mr. Bush said in a speech delivered live via satellite to leaders of 17 nations gathered in Warsaw.
"They are seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation and, eventually, to civilization itself," Mr. Bush said.
In one of his most direct global appeals to date, Mr. Bush said, "Like the fascists and totalitarians before them, these terrorists - al Qaeda, the Taliban regime that supports them, and other terror groups across our world - try to impose their radical views through threats and violence.
"We see the same intolerance of dissent, the same mad, global ambitions, the same brutal determination to control every life and all of life."
Mr. Bush said if civilized countries join together - quickly and with full commitment - terrorism can be defeated.
"We will not wait for the authors of mass murder to gain the weapons of mass destruction. We act now, because we must lift this dark threat from our age and save generations to come."
As Mr. Bush addressed the Eastern European leaders, paramilitary police yesterday arrested two Turks attempting to sell weapons-grade uranium to undercover officers in Istanbul, police said. The suspects had agreed to sell the officers 2.56 pounds of uranium of a quality that could be used to develop a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Times that if the uranium was confirmed to be of weapons grade, it would be the first time that such material has reached the market.
"As long as I have been in this office, I have not come across a single case of weapons grade uranium," said the official, who noted that the U.S. Embassy in Turkey had not yet confirmed the quality of the seized uranium.
Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States has provided friendly countries high-tech detection devices to locate radioactive materials.
The devices can penetrate moving trains or shipping containers, the official said. In his address, the president said coalition partners must cooperate on an unprecedented scope to defeat terror.
"All nations, if they want to fight terror, must do something. It is time for action," Mr. Bush reiterated in a Rose Garden appearance with French President Jacques Chirac. "Over time, it's going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity. You're either with us or you're against us in the fight against terrorism."
Mr. Bush walked a fine line when speaking to Eastern European leaders from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia.
While seeking to invoke the specter of World War II, the U.S. president risked offending leaders from Russia and former Soviet states, where communism still has supporters.
But Mr. Bush did not cross the line, as Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did last month when suggesting the Bush administration risked repeating the errors of 1938 - when Britain conceded Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler - by trying to win Arab support for the international coalition against terrorism.
"For more than 50 years, the people of your region suffered under repressive ideologies that tried to trample human dignity. Today, our freedom is threatened once again," Mr. Bush said from the White House Blue Room.
The Eastern European leaders gathered at the invitation of Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski to discuss ways they can cooperate in fighting terrorism. While some are seeking admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Bush administration officials said the president made no promise to promote their membership in exchange for cooperation.
Mr. Bush painted a striking picture of life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
"It's terrifying. Women are imprisoned in their homes, and are denied access to basic health care and education. Food sent to help starving people is stolen by their leaders. The religious monuments of other faiths are destroyed.
"Children are forbidden to fly kites, or sing songs, or build snowmen. A girl of 7 is beaten for wearing white shoes. Our enemies have brought only misery and terror to the people of Afghanistan - and now they are trying to export that terror throughout the world," the president said.
But Mr. Bush said the Afghan people, many of whom oppose the Taliban and its terrorist arm al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, can still act.
"I've seen some news reports that many Afghanistan citizens wish the Taliban had never allowed the al Qaeda terrorists into their country. I don't blame them. And I hope those citizens will help us locate the terrorists - because the sooner we find them, the better the people's lives will be," Mr. Bush said.
Still, he vowed to protect civilians as the U.S.-led military campaign seeks to destroy the Taliban and al Qaeda.
"Our efforts are directed at terrorist and military targets because - unlike our enemies - we value human life. We do not target innocent people," he said.
Later in the day, after his White House meeting with Mr. Chirac, Mr. Bush said his statement that bin Laden is seeking weapons of mass destruction is not news.
"The reason I said that is because I was using his own words. He announced that this was his intention."
Mr. Chirac endorsed the Bush position, saying the U.N. Security Council had already acknowledged the legitimacy of the U.S. war on terrorism and said all countries must participate.
"Each must contribute according to its capabilities, but none may refuse to help in the war against terrorism," the French president said.
Yesterday's address came at the beginning of a weeklong campaign to boost world support for the war against terrorism, especially the first phase - knocking out the Taliban and bin Laden's al Qaeda.
The president will deliver a national address tomorrow from Atlanta, then this weekend attend a U.N. conference, where he will meet with more world leaders.
• Ben Barber contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
----
[Some things never change.et]
White House summons biz chieftains
By Peter Bart,
Variety Editor-in-Chief
Wednesday November 7
Reuters
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20011107/en/industry-war_1.html
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The Bush administration's outreach to Hollywood has taken on new urgency.
The industry's top leaders, including Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, will assemble in Beverly Hills Sunday morning with Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, to hammer out a specific agenda for the entertainment industry to aid the fight on terrorism.
An initial meeting between White House aides and showbiz figures took place Oct. 17, but some in attendance expressed frustration because of a lack of specifics. The Sunday meeting will attempt to address this problem.
Moreover, while the initial meeting involved mainly filmmakers and actors, the Sunday session will resemble an industry summit. Invitations were signed by Motion Picture Assn. of America president Jack Valenti, Viacom Entertainment CEO Jonathan Dolgen and Paramount Pictures chairman Sherry Lansing on the instigation of the White House. The invites subsequently went out to the owners and CEOs of the various studios and networks, most of whom quickly agreed to attend.
The invitation stressed the nonpartisan nature of the meeting -- Lansing and Dolgen are well-known liberals -- while stressing the importance of launching an industry-wide effort to help the war effort.
The purpose of the meeting will be to identify strategies and agree on practical ideas, which may involve films as well as TV messages.
One source emphasized that the production of outright propaganda films will not be on the table. Showbiz, the invitation said, has long held the power ``to communicate, educate and inspire'' -- skills that must now be dedicated to the present crisis.
Sunday's meeting represents a major coming together of Hollywood and the Bush Administration. A key figure in arranging the session was Gerald Parsky, who ran the Bush campaign in California.
While the initial October meeting included the likes of Academy of Television Arts & Sciences chairman Bryce Zabel and producer-director Lionel Chetwynd, the Sunday session will be limited to Hollywood's senior statesmen.
``Once we work out some specific objectives, the creative community will be invited back in,'' one source said.
The press will be barred from the Sunday summit, which will take place in late morning at a Beverly Hills hotel.
One executive who planned to attend the meeting likened the effort to those that followed Pearl Harbor.
In 1941, the studios quickly mobilized films carrying ``positive'' messages such as ``This is the Army,'' and brought out a series of films like ``Wake Island'' and ``Torpedo Boat,'' which brought the public closer to the war. Film titles were even rearranged to boost morale: ``Message from Main Street'' became ``Main Street on the March.''
The present conflict poses more complex problems for Hollywood, however. There is heightened sensitivity to the possible injection of propaganda into the media bloodstream.
``Hollywood can contribute in positive ways without becoming a propaganda organ,'' one top executive insisted.
----
LBJ tape 'confirms Vietnam war error'
FROM MARTIN FLETCHER IN WASHINGTON
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 07 2001
Times of London
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001384600,00.html
PRESIDENT Johnson admitted in a secret tape recording that the incident he used to win congressional approval for the Vietnam war probably never happened, according to a book published yesterday.
In 1964, days after an alleged North Vietnamese attack on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, Congress approved a resolution authorising the President to take "all necessary steps, including the use of force" to help America's southeast Asian allies.
Johnson used the "Gulf of Tonkin resolution" to drag America ever deeper into the Vietnam war - to the consternation of many Congressmen.
In a secret recording Johnson berated Robert McNamara, his Defence Secretary, for misleading him. "You said: 'Damn, they are launching an attack on us, they are firing on us.' When we got through with all the firing, we concluded maybe they hadn't fired at all."
The book, Reaching for Glory, was edited by the historian Michael Beschloss from Johnson's tapes and the diary of Lady Bird, his wife.
-------- us nuc waste
Berkley seeks inquiry into document release
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Wednesday, November 07, 2001
By STEVE TETREAULT
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-07-Wed-2001/news/17394312.html
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., on Tuesday asked the District of Columbia Bar to investigate an impropriety allegation against a law firm working on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project.
Berkley said she is seeking an inquiry into Winston & Strawn, a Chicago-based firm that holds a $16.5 million contract to advise the Department of Energy on license preparations for a proposed spent fuel repository.
Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed it was checking accusations that someone in the agency gave a Winston & Strawn representative a licensing document that has not been made public.
According to Nevada officials, the document later turned up with officials in the Yucca Mountain program. They said the document, which the commission was expected to make public in coming months, could give program managers an advantage in preparing a license application over the objections of the state and environmentalists who oppose the project.
Berkley's letter said "premature release" of the document is a "breach of agency procedure" and is "further corrupting the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain project."
Charles Connor, a Winston & Strawn attorney and spokesman, said Tuesday he had not seen the Berkley letter and wouldn't comment on it.
Cynthia Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., bar, said Berkley's letter will be forwarded to the Office of Bar Counsel, which fields complaints against lawyers licensed to work in the city and conducts hearings into allegations of wrongdoing.
The bar counsel has a separate conflict of interest complaint Berkley filed Oct. 12 against Winston & Strawn, Kuhn said. That complaint was based on reports that the firm had been performing work on the nuclear waste program while it was registered to lobby Congress on behalf of the Nuclear Energy Institute, which favors a Yucca Mountain repository.
The Energy Department's inspector general also is investigating possible conflicts of interest by the law firm.
-------- MILITARY
Gunman fires on base used by U.S. military
USA Today
11/07/2001
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001/11/07/gunman-usbase.htm
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - A Qatari gunman opened fire Wednesday on an air base used by U.S. military aircraft and was shot and killed by guards. The Pentagon didn't have any reports of Americans being wounded.
The Al-Adid Air Base base is some 60 miles south of the capital, Doha, where a major World Trade Organization meeting kicks off on Friday.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the shooting did not immediately appear to be connected to the WTO meeting. "From all early appearances, there are no indications of such a connection. That can change, of course."
The shooting took place several hours before the American WTO delegation was scheduled to arrive at a different military facility, Fleischer said. "The delegation we have sent there landed safely without incident, proceeded to their hotel."
The official Qatar News Agency, quoting an Interior Ministry official, said the shooting at Al-Adid Air Base took place at 10:30 a.m.
In Washington, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke declined to answer a question on how many U.S. soldiers or planes might have been at the base at the time of the incident.
Clarke said the Pentagon didn't have any reports of Americans being wounded.
Under an agreement between the United States and Qatar, the base is being used by U.S. military aircraft. Last month, a U.S. master sergeant was killed in a forklift accident while building an air strip in Qatar, becoming the first U.S. casualty linked to the strikes on Afghanistan.
The Qatari agency identified the gunman as Abdullah Mubarak al-Hajiri. It said that al-Hajiri fired several bullets at the air base. The guards shot back, killing al-Hajiri instantly.
Investigations were under way to determine the cause of the incident, the agency added without giving details.
---
War Support Ebbs Worldwide
Sept. 11 Doesn't Justify Bombing, Many Say
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 7, 2001; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51068-2001Nov6.html
MEXICO CITY -- It was a traditional altar for Mexico's Day of the Dead observance, filled with flowers, candles and sweet bread laid out for departed loved ones. Except this one also featured bagels and photos of New York, and it sat next to the U.S. Embassy here as a show of solidarity with the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mexicans who showed up to inaugurate the display made clear their sympathy for the dead in the United States. But they also made clear that sympathy did not necessarily translate into support for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. "I think the government of President Bush has gone too far; the war frightens me," said Guadalupe Loaeza, a columnist and social commentator who helped organize the altar display.
Such views seem to be increasingly widespread around the world. The initial outburst of solidarity after Sept. 11 has frayed considerably as U.S. warplanes bomb Afghanistan relentlessly for the fifth week running. This is true not only in Arab and other Muslim countries, where the U.S. military campaign has provoked popular outrage, but in other countries where people feel less of a direct connection to the events.
In opinion polls and interviews in several countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, many people who said they were horrified by the Sept. 11 attacks added that the horror then does not justify the bombing of Afghanistan now -- even if their governments continue to back the U.S. campaign. In a war that Bush has described as a battle between good and evil, many said it is not so simple.
A poll taken this week for France 3 television and France Info radio, for instance, showed support among the French for the U.S. military campaign has dropped to 51 percent, down from 66 percent shortly after the bombing began Oct. 7. Support also has declined in Germany, where polls show more than 65 percent of respondents now want the U.S. attacks to end, and in Spain, where a poll for Cadena SER radio showed 69 percent of those surveyed want the bombing to stop.
Even in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair has become a cheerleader for the U.S. campaign, popular support for the bombing has begun to slip, sinking from 74 percent soon after the attacks in Afghanistan began to 62 percent in a poll conducted last week.
The views of Xu Maomao, 31, a human resources manager in Beijing who attended a candlelight vigil in late September to mourn the U.S. victims, typify the evolution of public opinion in many countries: "I supported the military strikes at first, but now I don't know what to say," she said. "I keep hearing about the lack of electricity in Afghanistan, or civilians and children being killed. But only once in a while is there anything about a terrorist base being hit. With all that high technology, can't the United States do better?"
The Chinese government still supports Washington, but popular support seems to have weakened as more bombs have fallen. The government has offered strong endorsement of the fight against terrorism and cautious support for the U.S. military campaign, but it has done little to rally the public behind the cause.
"I think the United States has been too harsh and unreasonable," said Tong Zhifan, 22. "It's big and powerful, and it doesn't care how others feel. You can't behave like that. Isn't that why America was attacked?"
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin's strong backing of the bombing campaign muted most criticism at first. But in recent weeks, many Russians seem to have developed doubts about the U.S. venture into a country known as the Soviet Union's Vietnam. One poll this week found 46 percent of respondents convinced that the United States will fail.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, there were outpourings of public sympathy in Moscow, including huge mounds of flowers, teddy bears and traditional Russian icons piled up outside the U.S. Embassy. But that has not necessarily translated into public support for the bombing.
With the new war in Afghanistan unfolding uncomfortably close to Russia's southern border, concerns range from practical complaints about U.S. military tactics to longer-term fears about the new American presence in Russia's Central Asian sphere of influence. Some fear that the United States will drop bombs, then walk away from Afghanistan, leaving Russia to deal with a mess in its back yard.
"With every day, the Americans and the world public are increasingly doubtful about the efficiency of U.S. actions," said Vladimir Lukin, deputy speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament. While Russia remains a willing participant in the anti-terrorist alliance, he warned, "the possibility of difficulties cropping up within the coalition itself is growing because the U.S. does not offer what is usually called the light at the end of the tunnel."
Misgivings are growing among close allies as well.
"The basic pro-American sentiment is still there, but there is growing unease because of the reports of the women and the children being killed," said Tim Pat Coogan, a prominent Irish author and historian who lives in Dublin.
Coogan said that many Irish think the United States did not give enough thought to the long-term political future of Afghanistan before starting the military campaign. "They seem to have bombed first and worried about the political alliances afterward," he said.
"People here know that many of the scenes of horror and civilian casualties are Taliban propaganda," Coogan said. "But we've heard so much about elite troops and smart bombs and modern electronic devices -- where are they? The Americans seem to be making a mess of their campaign. Sometimes it makes you shake your head in despair and think of Vietnam."
Here in Mexico, an increasingly close U.S. ally and a country that has traditionally stayed out of international disputes, President Vicente Fox is walking a political tightrope by supporting the U.S. military effort. He and his top advisers have been blasted by critics who say that Mexico should support only peaceful, diplomatic solutions to international conflicts.
Pedro Reyes Linares, a leader of Mexican labor and community groups, said the United States should have turned to international courts, not bombs. He said the U.S. effort resulted from typical American impatience.
"It's clearly not a war between good and evil," he said. "The impression is that there are other motives behind the war. It's not just hunting down the terrorists, but achieving greater control in a strategic area with rich resources, and the possibility of exploiting oil and minerals."
Criticism of the United States has even shown up on the radio in Mexican folk songs known as corridos . One song, "The Mistake of the CIA," goes, in part: "They are looking for you, bin Laden, the terrorist that the CIA trained, that was the biggest mistake of the American government."
Farther south, the media in Argentina and Brazil have focused increasingly on civilian casualties in Afghanistan, fueling already strong anti-American sentiment. Bin Laden has emerged as a symbol of anti-Americanism among Brazil's leftist and anarchist youth. His photo now shows up at rallies alongside local favorites such as Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
Members of two of the main soccer clubs in Rio de Janeiro have worn bin Laden T-shirts to games and unfurled bin Laden flags when their team scored a goal. Bin Laden has also become an underground hero among the street gangs that rule Rio's hillside ghettos. Already resentful of the U.S. war on drugs, they see bin Laden as a symbol of power and resistance to the United States. The paper bags of cocaine selling for $1 each in Rio's ghettos have bin Laden's image stamped on them and sport new names such as "Taliban Cocaine."
In South Africa, sympathy for the United States has turned to scorn with reports of Afghan civilian casualties.
"I do not understand the arrogance of the Americans," said Siphiwe Moerane, a graphics designer sitting in a Johannesburg coffee shop. "How do you wage war against an entire country to get one man? We were all sorry to see the loss of so many American lives on September 11. But why do Americans seem to think that their lives are more valuable than lives outside their borders? This is what makes people so angry at the U.S."
Many Africans, who empathize with Afghanistan's impoverished population, also hear echoes of colonialism and racism in the U.S. and British attacks. Many Africans still hold a grudge against the British for their colonial role in Africa. And they recall bitterly Washington's support for such despots as the late Mobutu Sese Seku of Zaire, warlords such as Angola's Jonas Savimbi and South Africa's apartheid-era white-minority government.
"No one in his right mind can defend the gruesome murder of innocent children and the elderly in pursuit of one man whose guilt cannot be proved beyond doubt," Garth le Pere, director of the Institute for Global Dialogue, told reporters in Johannesburg.
"It simply means that America has no regard for innocent lives lost in other parts of the world," said Sipho Seepe, a South African political analyst. "For them the concept of innocent lives lost applies to situations where white and people of Western origin are involved. When it is black people's lives or those of people of Indian origin, the concept does not apply."
Public support in Kenya for the U.S. campaign appears to be holding firm, despite a demonstration in the heavily Muslim port city of Mombasa that turned into a riot. That incident was at least matched in the public consciousness by the unprecedented spectacle of President Daniel arap Moi leading a march supporting the United States in the aftermath of the attacks. And Kenyans still remember vividly the 1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi that killed 207 Kenyans and 12 Americans.
"I'm supporting it definitely, since the Americans are trying to attack the terrorists, not Islam," said John Ngagna, 19, a student. "They're not fighting the religion, they're fighting those responsible. Kenyans understand that."
Elsewhere as well, public support is still strong. In Canada, a poll last week found that 74 percent of people surveyed support the war in Afghanistan. Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute, a Toronto charity that promotes the study of history in schools, said Prime Minister Jean Chretien deserves much of the credit because he did not raise false expectations of a short war.
"The result is, Canadians are more reconciled with complexities we entered into," Griffiths said.
"I am proud to have such a close association with the United States," said Joe Warmington, 36, a Canadian who writes a column for the Toronto Sun called Night Scrawler. "I think we should be where Great Britain is; we should be the first off the block."
In Japan, which has clung to pacifism since the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, polls show that most people either support the bombing of Afghanistan or see it as unavoidable. Support for military action has actually increased, from a range of 42 to 52 percent just before the airstrikes began to a range of 57 to 83 percent in the past two weeks.
The popular prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, pushed for and won passage of a bill on Oct. 29 allowing Japan to send its military outside the nation's territorial waters to give logistical support to U.S. troops. Analysts describe the government as eager to avoid a repeat of the Persian Gulf War experience, when Japan was criticized for offering financial assistance but little military support.
Asked about the bombing of Afghanistan, Yoshihito Nakagawa, a 46-year-old architect, said Japan had to be involved and support the United States. "For now, it's the only way," he said.
But Japan's deep pacifist streak is still evident. Yoshiaki Nagashima, 59, dug out photographs of Afghanistan he took in 1978 and exhibited them this week at a small gallery in Tokyo -- photos of children laughing and smiling. When the airstrikes began, he said, "I felt the egotism of the superpower."
Correspondents DeNeen L. Brown in Toronto, Anthony Faiola in Buenos Aires, Susan B. Glasser in Moscow, Jon Jeter in Johannesburg, Philip P. Pan in Beijing, Kathryn Tolbert in Tokyo and Karl Vick in Nairobi, and special correspondent Sarah Delaney in Rome and researcher Laurie Freeman in Mexico City, contributed to this report.
-------- afghanistan
No escape for Taleban from the 'daisy cutter'
Tim Ripley
Wednesday, 7th November 2001
The Scotsman
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/text_only.cfm?id=121413
Photo Fuel Air Bomb in action:
http://www.antiwar.com/photos/airburst.gif
AMERICA'S enemies in Afghanistan are now being attacked with huge 15,000lb fuel air bombs that kill every creature within a square mile radius of the impact point.
The first of these weapons, sometimes called "vacuum bombs" or "daisy cutters", were dropped out of the rear cargo ramps of a USAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft on Sunday with the aim of terrorising Taleban troops opposing Northern Alliance forces.
Short of nuclear weapons, fuel air explosives are the most powerful weapons in the US arsenal and their use indicates that the Pentagon is trying to break Taleban morale.
Officially called the BLU-82, the bomb was designed during the Vietnam war to clear helicopter landing zones in thick jungle, but has since been used as a psychological terror weapon to break enemy resistance at key points of the battlefield.
Eleven were used to devastating effect during the 1991 Gulf war, with one attack alone killing an estimated 4,500 Iraqi troops. US Special Force troops are the only units equipped with the bombs and they co-ordinate their attacks with leaflet drops and propaganda broadcasts to induce enemy troops to desert or surrender.
The tactic worked spectacularly well in Kuwait, where thousands of Iraqis surrendered rather than risk being on the receiving end.
According to one British Army expert: "Within the blast effect radius of the BLU-82, lethality to personnel is 100 per cent" - which is military speak for saying anyone caught by the explosion dies.
The weapons are a combination of warheads, which first explode and spread a fine kerosene vapour into the atmosphere. A secondary explosion then ignites the fuel vapour, creating a massive pressure wave. Anyone caught in the conflagration is incinerated and the blast wave sucks out oxygen behind it, creating a vacuum that ruptures lungs.
"Personnel near the ignition point are obliterated," added the expert. "Those on the fringes are likely to suffer internal injuries - burst ear drums, crushed organs, ruptured lungs, severe concussion and possibly blindness."
No confirmation has emerged from the Pentagon of where the BLU-82s have been used, but they are "wide area" rather than precision weapons so cannot be used near civilian population areas or Northern Alliance lines.
The ideal targets would be concentrations of Taleban troops protected by field fortifications, bunkers or armoured vehicles. The fuel vapour of the weapon instantly penetrates into bunkers, vehicles or buildings before ignition. Experts say conventional body armour and bunkers provide no protection.
One US Special Forces soldier described the aftermath of a BLU-82 attack on Iraqi troops: "Many of our soldiers were at loss to explain what caused the Iraqis to die. After days or even weeks worth of exposure to the desert , evidence of blood had typically dried or become obscured by oil and sand particles so the Iraqi corpses showed absolutely no outward sign of violent death.
"Fuel air bombs merely suffocated their victims and they fell where they stood. Victims were typically found with massive amounts of blood flowing from all bodily orifices."
He added: "It is a very violent and painful way to die ."
----
America turns up the heat
15,000lb fuel-air bombs dropped on Taleban front line
BY ROLAND WATSON IN WASHINGTON AND
MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 07 2001
UK Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001380017-2001385141,00.html
Germany prepares to send in troops THE drive for a pre-winter military breakthrough in Afghanistan took off yesterday, with a dramatic escalation in US bombing clearing the way for the first significant advance in weeks by the Northern Alliance.
The US deployed for the first time its fearsome 15,000lb "daisy cutter" fuel-air bombs, guided by scores of American special forces troops who were dropped on to Afghan soil at the weekend.
The Northern Alliance seized the three districts of Zari, Keshendeh and Aq-Kupruk, taking it a significant step closer to the strategic city of Mazar-i Sharif. Two hundred Taleban fighters were reported to have been killed and 300 taken prisoner in heavy ground fighting.
US aircraft are now flying up to 120 sorties a day as they work closely with the Northern Alliance, focusing their efforts increasingly on trying to force the fall of Mazar-i Sharif. The city would offer the coalition forces a key staging-post and airbase from which to conduct operations through the winter, making it easier for the US to maintain the aerial bombardment of Taleban forces and to resupply opposition and US forces on the ground.
The fall of Mazar-i Sharif is regarded in Washington as the minimum requirement before the onset of winter, if only to show the world and the Taleban that the bombing, now into its fifth week, has achieved some success.
Military planners and Western diplomats have not yet given up hope that the Taleban could collapse quickly, undermined by mass defections once territory starts to change hands, but the more realistic planning is on the basis that they will not, and that even with Mazar-i Sharif captured the coalition will need to supply thousands of troops in the field.
The clearest sign of escalation came with the massive daisy cutter bombs, which float to the ground by parachute. The blast impact is said to be similar to that from a small tactical nuclear weapon. General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "They make a heck of a bang when they go off and the intent is to kill people."
To underline the Pentagon's co-operation with the Northern Alliance, military chiefs said for the first time that it was supplying weapons to the anti-Taleban forces. They had previously only admitted to sending ammunition, food and other supplies.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said that the number of US special forces troops had been doubled, with many landing on Afghan soil over the weekend.
Until last week Washington had maintained an even hand among opposition groupings, wary of the political consequences of one force claiming power before a broad-based interim government had taken shape. That caution has been abandoned, partly because of assurances from the Northern Alliance, and partly because the failure to mobilise anti-Taleban opposition in the south means their forces represent the only possibility of a breakthrough on the ground.
Mr Rumsfeld and President Bush cautioned, however, against expecting swift progress on the battlefield. Mr Rumsfeld said that it was "not going to be a steady march", and advances would occasionally be matched with setbacks, while President Bush said that the conflict in Afghanistan was of "uncertain duration".
The developments came as President Bush evoked the terrors of totalitarian rule and the horrors of a terrorist nuclear threat as he tried to mobilise world opinion for the fight.Mr Bush used a satellite address to a conference of 17 Eastern European countries to give warning that the whole world was vulnerable.
"What afflicted the American nation could afflict any nation," he said. "Freedom is threatened once again. These terrorist groups seek to destabilise entire nations and regions. They are seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation and eventually to civilisation itself."
President Chirac of France used a visit to the White House to say that 2,000 members of the French Armed Forces were already committed to the coalition military effort. France has also committed a number of ships and reconnaissance aircraft. Germany also paved the way for the first deployment of its troops in a fighting role outside Europe since 1945, agreeing to mobilise 3,900 troops.
President Bush said that countries that did not offer concrete military help in the war would be held "accountable for inactivity". "A coalition partner must do more than express sympathy," he said.
The Pentagon meanwhile provided a full casualty list from the commando raid on Kandahar over two weeks ago, seeking to counter suggestions that the mission had been aborted after heavy Taleban fire. Mr Rumsfeld said that two of the special forces troops had broken bones in their feet on landing, 23 others had suffered minor cuts, five were injured by flying fragments from US explosives and one broke a finger.
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N. Alliance Advances as U.S. Pounds Front Lines
By Keith B. Richburg and William Branigin
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 7, 2001; 12:37 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54770-2001Nov7.html
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 - American warplanes bombed Taliban front-line positions around the key city of Mazar-e Sharif, allowing the opposition Northern Alliance to claim significant territorial gains, while farther south U.S. planes dropped propaganda leaflets aimed at winning the support of ordinary Afghans.
The bombing around Mazar-e Sharif appeared to be part of a more coordinated military effort between the American forces in the air and the Northern Alliance on the ground. An alliance spokesman was quoted as saying that American fighters assisted an opposition advance by pinpointing Taliban forces as they were retreating in their pickup trucks.
The aerial leafleting, meanwhile, is part of a stepped-up psychological warfare, or "psy-ops" campaign that included the start of new propaganda radio broadcasts on three frequencies today. One set of leaflets encouraged Afghans to tune in to the radio broadcasts at designated hours in the morning and early evening.
Another leaflet distributed over this northern area was about the size of a dollar bill, with color pictures printed on each side. One picture shows women in traditional flowing "burqas" being struck by a male guard with a turban, and the caption reads; "Do you want such a future for your wives and children, begging for food?" The opposite side shows a picture of masked and hooded gunmen brandishing their weapons and encircled in what appears to be a bull's-eye. The caption says, "Push Out the Foreign Terrorists."
The writing on the leaflets is in both Dari and Pashtun, the dominant languages of Afghanistan.
U.S. officials see the information campaign, also referred to as "unconventional warfare," as a critical element of the overall effort to capture or kill Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, wanted for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and to dismantle his al Qaeda terrorist network. While bin Laden has tried to convince Muslims worldwide that it is their duty to join in a "jihad," or "holy war," against the United States, American officials want to undermine bin Laden's credibility in the Moslem world by stressing the thousands of innocent people killed when hijacked planes slammed into the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and into a field in Pennsylvania.
"On September 11, 2001, thousands of people were killed en masse in the United States," the transcript of one radio broadcast says, according to the U.S. military press service. "Among them was a two-year-old girl. Barely able to stand or dress herself. Did she deserve to die? Why was she killed you ask? Was she a thief? What crime had she committed? She was merely on a trip with her family to visit her grandparents. Policemen, firefighters, teachers, doctors, mothers, father, sisters, brothers all killed. Why?"
Another broadcast says, "We have no wish to hurt you, the innocent people of Afghanistan." It warns people to "stay away from military installations, government buildings, terrorist training camps, roads, factories or bridges," according to a transcript of the broadcast.
The psy-ops campaign is run by members of the Army Special Operations Unit from Fort Bragg, who were reportedly dispatched here in the early days of the military campaign against Afghanistan which began one month ago. Along with the bombers in the sky are EC-130E Commando Solo II aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, which are constantly broadcasting music, news and information inside Afghanistan.
The effort is similar to other psy-ops campaigns undertaken in Kosovo, Bosnia, Panama, and Somalia.
What is less certain is how many Afghans are actually listening.
Today's leaflets, announcing the new radio broadcasts and frequencies, caused some confusion when some Afghans mistakenly believed they were being given free radios from the United States; no radios ever materialized. Others said they had trouble tuning in to the frequencies at the designated 5 p.m. start-up time. And in this dirt-poor, war-ravaged country, many people simply cannot afford to own a radio.
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Afghan opposition claims major advances
USA Today
11/07/2001
By Tim Friend, USA TODAY
http://usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/06/attacks.htm
KHOJA BAHAUDDIN, Afghanistan - Commanders of forces battling the ruling Taliban in northern Afghanistan claimed progress in the ground war Tuesday. They said they had captured three districts near the key city of Mazar-e Sharif. They also claimed that hundreds of Taliban troops had surrendered and that half a dozen Taliban commanders had been captured.
None of the claims by commanders of the Northern Alliance forces could be verified independently. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wouldn't comment on the reports.
"You know, there are so many reports about this village or that village. I like to let the dust settle and see where it is at the end of some period of time after there has been a pause," he said.
Abdullah, the Northern Alliance's foreign minister, said the reported victories are an "important beginning" for what is likely to be a long and difficult campaign over the next weeks and months in northern Afghanistan.
Anti-Taliban forces appear to be preparing for major ground offensives across a 100-mile swath of front lines stretching from Mazar-e Sharif to Kalakata, about 20 miles from the Northern Alliance's military headquarters here. But Abdullah stressed that an all-out assault cannot be made without more intensive U.S. airstrikes and better coordination between the United States and the alliance.
Abdullah said one example of how coordination could be improved is better communication of the timing and intensity of airstrikes to facilitate follow-up action by rebel ground troops.
Despite more than a week of bombing in this part of northeast Afghanistan, Taliban troops have not retreated from their strongholds. Abdullah said the hard-line Islamic militia's front lines near Kalakata are among the strongest in Afghanistan. He said he came to the military headquarters here to assess the Taliban's stronghold and the rebels' ability to recapture the region.
Hashmattullah Moslih, a military analyst and member of the Northern Alliance, said he met here Monday night with key officials, including alliance President Burhanuddin Rabbani, to discuss military strategies. He said Rabbani echoed Abdullah's desire for more intensive airstrikes and better coordination from the United States.
Moslih said the goal here is to retake the Taloqan district before winter sets in. He said Taloqan is crucial to creating a direct supply pipeline from the front lines in the far north to the capital, Kabul.
Now, supplies to Northern Alliance ground forces near Kabul must be routed far to the east through Afghanistan's highest mountains. Taloqan is near a mountain pass. Control of that city and the pass would make it far easier to move supplies of arms and aid from Tajikistan and Northern Alliance territory in the northeast to troops near Kabul.
Mazar-e Sharif, which is now controlled by Taliban forces, is also an important battleground. The largest airfield in northern Afghanistan is there. Control of that airfield could give U.S. and Northern Alliance forces a key staging point for bringing in troops, equipment and supplies.
Control of the city and roads leading in and out could also encourage neighboring Uzbekistan to open its border at Termiz, allowing easier movement of humanitarian aid and military supplies into Afghanistan from Uzbekistan.
Questions have been raised here about whether the rebel forces are equipped well enough for a sustained battle against Taliban positions on the front lines. But Monday afternoon, 20 truckloads of munitions provided by the Russians were transported across the Tajik border to northern Afghanistan and taken to the front lines near Kalakata, sources said.
The shipments reinforce the likelihood that a ground attack on Kalakata could begin in the next week.
---
Fighters seize district, approach Mazar-e-Sharif
USA Today
11/07/2001
http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/07/attacks.htm
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan opposition claimed its fighters edged closer to the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday, and U.S. special forces reported Northern Alliance fighters on horseback charged Taliban tanks and armored personnel carriers. Officials of the ruling Taliban denied losing territory but acknowledged fighting was intense. In Washington, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said the fighting south of Mazar-e-Sharif was "very fluid" and that the opposition appeared to be making progress. Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said of the alliance fighters: "They're taking the war to their enemy and ours."
Capturing Mazar-e-Sharif would be a major victory for the Northern Alliance because it would open supply corridors to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and cut Taliban supply lines to the west of the country.
U.S. bombers were also in action Wednesday across northeastern Afghanistan, pounding Taliban artillery positions near the border with Tajikistan. Reporters at this village 45 miles north of Kabul could hear the roar of warplanes and the thud of distant explosions after sundown.
The private South Asia Dispatch Agency also reported air attacks around Kandahar in the south and Jalalabad in the east of the country.
After 10 days of heavy air attacks along the front lines south of Mazar-e-Sharif, opposition spokesman Ashraf Nadeem said the Northern Alliance had captured Shol Ghar district and that some opposition units were within 10 miles of the city.
In Kabul, Taliban officials denied losing Shol Ghar but said they were rushing 500 fresh troops to front lines south of Mazar-e-Sharif to block the opposition advance.
The claims could not be independently verified. The border with Tajikistan, 35 miles north of Mazar-e-Sharif, is closed, and Western reporters in Northern Alliance-controlled territory more than 150 miles to the east cannot reach the area without crossing Taliban lines. However, reporters stay in daily contact with commanders by telephone.
Pace confirmed that U.S. special forces teams were with opposition forces near Mazar-e-Sharif "to help in directing airstrikes." The general said the American soldiers reported cavalry charges, with opposition fighters on horses going against Taliban armor. "These folks are aggressive," he said of the alliance.
The commander of Shiite Muslim fighters in the alliance, Mohammed Mohaqik, said opposition officers would confer over the next two days on plans to capture Mazar-e-Sharif without incurring large civilian casualties.
President Bush launched airstrikes against Afghanistan on Oct. 7 after the ruling Taliban militia refused to hand over Osama bin Laden for his alleged role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, reportedly said Wednesday that the Taliban will never hand over bin Laden and will fight America if necessary for 100 years. Zaeef made his comments during a dinner for Pakistani editors in Islamabad; one of those who attended provided details on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, Pakistan told Zaeef to stop using the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad for propaganda against any third country after a series of news conferences in which he accused the United States of "terrorism" and "genocide" in the bombing of Afghanistan.
In other developments:
- The brother of Afghan tribal leader Hamid Karzai insisted he was still in Afghanistan despite a statement by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he had been "extracted" by U.S. helicopters over the weekend. Ahmed Karzai said in Quetta, Pakistan, that his brother was in Afghanistan organizing resistance to the Taliban.
- Authorities across Europe raided homes and businesses and seized thousands of documents as part of a global crackdown on bin Laden's terrorist network.
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf arrived in France on his first international trip since Sept. 11. Musharraf supports the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign despite opposition from Muslim groups at home.
Three opposition columns - each led by warlords representing different ethnic groups with competing interests - are moving on Mazar-e-Sharif, and coordination among the different groups has been less than seamless.
U.S. jets played a key role in Wednesday's opposition advance, targeting several pickup trucks packed with departing Taliban troops as well as hitting fortified positions, Nadeem said by satellite telephone.
Elsewhere, U.S. warplanes struck at Taliban positions on the Kabul front and in northern Takhar province near the border with Tajikistan. The attacks in Takhar were aimed at helping the opposition recapture its former stronghold in the city of Taloqan, which the Taliban took in September 2000.
On the front north of Kabul, an opposition commander, Qand Agha, said a U.S. jet hit a Taliban tank and that a B-52 bomber dropped 20 bombs around the front line in one hour Wednesday afternoon.
"It is improving but it is not enough," Agha said of the bombing. "I would like to see the Americans drop at least 200 bombs a day."
The latest attacks indicated yet another shift in U.S. bombing strategy during the air campaign, now in its fifth week.
In the first stage, attacks centered on Kabul and other major cities, followed about two weeks ago by a shift to front line positions about 30 miles north of the capital and in the far north of the country.
In recent days, however, the number of attacks on the Kabul front appear to have diminished and airstrikes in northern Takhar and in the Mazar-e-Sharif area have increased.
"We are preparing for an attack on Kabul," said opposition spokesman Mohammed Abil. "But the first priority is the northern offensives," meaning Takhar and Mazar-e-Sharif.
In villages surrounding Jabal Saraj, leaflets that witnesses said were jettisoned from a B-52 bomber tumbled from the sky. Children and adults scrambled to pick them up.
The leaflets showed a picture of a radio and antenna, and detailed times and frequencies for radio broadcasts in the Pashtun and Dari languages. The United States has been broadcasting anti-Taliban statements into Afghanistan.
Others showed a Taliban official beating a woman and included the message: "Is this the future you want for your women?"
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Afghan Opposition Claim Key Towns
New York Times
November 7, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Attacks-Afghanistan.html?searchpv=aponline
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -- Backed by heavy U.S. bombing, Afghan opposition forces claimed the capture Tuesday of several key towns on the road to Mazar-e-Sharif in their first reported significant advance against Taliban defenses.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said an assessment of the claimed move against the strategic northern city would have to wait until the ``dust settled'' and there was a pause in the fighting.
Even if true, it would mean opposition forces were several dozen miles away across mountainous terrain from Mazar-e-Sharif, with winter closing in.
But after seesawing battles south of Mazar-e-Sharif in recent weeks, the opposition said intense strikes by American planes helped open the way for Tuesday's advance. The alliance had complained earlier that U.S. bombing was not heavy enough.
U.S. jets also hit Taliban positions on another main front of the war, north of the capital, Kabul, dropping more than a dozen bombs and raising black smoke over the valley.
Rumsfeld said U.S. military planners hope that American help to the opposition alliance -- including weapons and ammunition -- will unite its factions so ``that we will see more success'' on the ground.
The Pentagon has said small numbers of American special forces teams are working with northern alliance forces to train and equip them, provide them with additional ammunition and weaponry, and identify targets for U.S. strike aircraft.
U.S. forces are playing similar roles with other opposition groups in the south and elsewhere, although the closest coordination has been with the northern alliance.
The Pentagon also intends to start delivering cold-weather clothing to the northern alliance, officials say.
President Bush launched airstrikes against Afghanistan on Oct. 7 after the ruling Taliban militia refused to hand over Osama bin Laden for his alleged role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In other developments:
-- Bush pledged ``to keep relentless military pressure'' on bin Laden and the Taliban, saying it is essential to keep terrorists from acquiring nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
-- Germany said it would commit 3,900 troops for the U.S. war on terrorism, opening the way for the nation's widest-ranging military engagement since World War II. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said there are no immediate plans to deploy ground troops.
-- Rumsfeld said the United States extracted Hamid Karzai, a southern opposition leader, from Afghanistan over the weekend. Taliban forces had been chasing Karzai as he tried to rally support among ethnic Pashtun tribes for an alternative to the Taliban.
-- The Bush administration said it will help Pakistan stop smugglers from trucking weapons across its porous border with Afghanistan, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan said.
The northern alliance, which launched a three-pronged attack Sunday toward Mazar-e-Sharif, seized Ogopruk and two other towns in a pre-dawn assault, said Ashraf Nadeem, an opposition spokesman. The area is 45 miles south of Mazar-e-Sharif.
``We attacked while the Americans were bombing,'' Nadeem said in a satellite telephone interview. ``It was not only us who killed. It was mostly the Americans.''
In recent weeks both sides have taken and lost villages around Mazar-e-Sharif. Retaking the city, which the Taliban captured from the opposition in 1998, would likely lead to the collapse of the Islamic militia's power in the northern region.
Nadeem claimed 300 Taliban defenders died and 300 defected to the opposition during Tuesday's fighting. Five opposition fighters were killed and nine wounded, he said. His account could not be independently verified, and there was no comment from the Taliban on the claims.
The towns' capture allowed opposition forces to push Tuesday toward Shol Ghar, and heavy fighting was reported about 30 miles southeast of Mazar-e-Sharif, Nadeem said.
Rumsfeld declined to confirm the claims of an opposition advance. ``There are so many reports about this village or that village,'' he said. ``I like to let the dust settle and see where it is at the end of some period of time after there has been a pause.''
The United States wants the Afghan opposition, a loose coalition of fighters dominated by ethnic minority Tajiks and Uzbeks, to make significant gains ahead of winter. Fighting traditionally tapers off then because snow closes roads and hampers the resupply of troops.
At the front line north of Kabul, U.S. jets targeted Taliban-held territory Tuesday near the Bagram air base and later the villages of Khan Agha and Barikab, and black smoke blanketed the area.
On the ground nearby, shots rang out on each side of the front. Opposition fighters say Taliban fire has lessened in recent days, but some say the lull is a sign the Taliban is saving ammunition to repel a large opposition advance.
Beyond a row of abandoned buildings, Taliban soldiers in baggy shirts and pants could be seen pacing, Kalashnikov rifles slung over their shoulders.
Zaubet, a 19-year-old opposition fighter, said he had seen the Taliban bringing in men and supplies in pickup trucks in the past few days.
In Kabul on Tuesday, Taliban gunners opened fire at what appeared to be a small U.S. spy plane that cruised over the city at mid-afternoon.
Later, puffs of black smoke could be seen in the southern outskirts of the city. Taliban gunners fired repeated bursts of anti-aircraft rounds, but it was unclear whether they hit anything.
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THE DISSIDENT
U.S. Plucks Rebel From Afghanistan for 'Consultations'
New York Times
November 7, 2001
By JANE PERLEZ with STEVEN LEE MYERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/07/international/asia/07REBE.html
QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov. 6 - Hamid Karzai, the Afghan exile who has emerged as the Bush administration's main hope for forging a southern alliance against the Taliban, was plucked from Afghanistan by American forces early Monday, brought to Pakistan and then ferried back across the border, senior Pentagon officials said today.
The operation showed considerable coordination between Mr. Karzai and the Bush administration, which has been criticized for lacking a strategy in the south, where the Taliban are strongest. Until now, the administration has concentrated its political and military support on more organized opposition forces in northern Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai, who secretly entered Afghanistan several weeks ago to organize opposition to the Taliban in their southern stronghold, survived a battle with the Taliban in the district of Derawat in Uruzgan Province last Thursday. A senior American military officer said today that Mr. Karzai, the head of a well-known Afghan family, had asked to be taken out of the mountainous region when it became clear that Taliban forces were closing in on his position.
"If we had done nothing, he would have died," the officer said.
At the Pentagon today, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Mr. Karzai had been spirited out with "a small number of his senior supporters and fighters" so that he could conduct "consultations."
Mr. Rumsfeld played down the operation to remove Mr. Karzai, which involved American Special Operations forces, saying "it was not an extraction in the sense of a military campaign."
Mr. Karzai apparently met with American officials and some of his own supporters in northern Pakistan before being taken back to his redoubt. Mr. Rumsfeld described the extraction of Mr. Karzai and the apparent sharing of information as a "very sensible arrangement."
Mr. Rumsfeld said the United States had provided Mr. Karzai with ammunition and food, but what else the administration has provided Mr. Karzai, who is considered more of a politician than a military strategist or commander, was not clear. The secretary suggested over the weekend that Washington was poised to place American advisers with him, but the senior Pentagon officials said advisers were not accompanying Mr. Karzai, though he remained in close contact with American officials.
In the family home in this border town, word of American cooperation infuriated Mr. Karzai's family, who said they feared that the American embrace would severely damage his efforts inside Afghanistan.
"Does he want people to think he is an American agent?" said Ahmed Karzai, a younger brother, during an interview today. Ahmed has become the chief conduit between Hamid Karzai and the outside world, giving interviews to foreign journalists about news from his brother, who calls in by satellite phone.
Ahmed also serves as a line to other anti-Taliban commanders who live here and appear to be waiting for the right moment to join Mr. Karzai.
Since the battle last Thursday, the Taliban have been denouncing Mr. Karzai as a tool of the United States and have insisted that they captured and then executed several of his supporters. "The moderates who oppose the Taliban are not happy with this," said another brother, Shah Wali. "The Taliban are now calling him an American agent. What should we fight against: Taliban propaganda or Rumsfeld propaganda?"
Both Ahmed Karzai and Shah Wali denied today - despite news reports to the contrary - that Mr. Karzai had left Afghanistan. They appeared concerned by the notion that he had left Afghanistan, a move that would be interpreted as one of weakness by the Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. Mr. Karzai, and most of the Taliban, are Pashtun.
On Monday, Ahmed Karzai said he had spoken to Hamid twice by satellite phone and was told by his brother that he was still in the region of Derawat. Today, Ahmed Karzai said his brother had phoned to say he was well and continuing his "political work" inside Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai is regarded warmly in Washington, in part because he has long seen Osama bin Laden as a serious threat. After the battle last Thursday, Mr. Karzai told Ahmed by satellite telephone that most attackers were Arabs and Pakistanis.
On Monday night, one of Mr. Karzai's supporters, a man in his 20's who returned to Quetta from the battlefield in southern Afghanistan, stressed that Arabs and Pakistanis had led the Taliban charge against Mr. Karzai.
The supporter, who had driven for more than a day from Mr. Karzai's hideout, said Mr. Karzai fielded about 200 fighters against the Taliban's 700s. Although the numbers could not be independently verified, it appeared that Mr. Karzai was outgunned and outmaneuvered until help came from American warplanes.
The supporter, who came to the Karzai home Monday night, said the fighting stopped when "the planes came." One of Mr. Karzai's anti- Taliban allies in Quetta, Yusef Pashtun, said Mr. Karzai had told him by telephone that the Taliban attack against him last Thursday was "highly professional."
Although Mr. Rumsfeld and other officials declined to discuss the "consultations" Mr. Karzai held, they suggested he had valuable intelligence that could be useful in the American campaign, now entering its second month.
Mr. Karzai is a leader of the Populzai clan, which is strongest in the Taliban heartland around Kandahar, Uruzgan, Helmand and Ghor Provinces. Mr. Karzai is asking the people in those areas to choose between their clan and the Taliban.
Because economic conditions had deteriorated and the Taliban had become so unpopular, Mr. Karzai was confident that the people would choose clan over the religious rulers, Ahmed said.
Rebel's Nephew Is Executed
JABUL-US-SIRAJ, Afghanistan, Nov. 6 - Taliban forces executed the 20-year-old nephew of the Pashtun dissident Abdul Haq on Monday night, family members reported today. The young man, Izetulla, was captured with Mr. Haq late last month during a failed expedition to organize Pashtun resistance to the Taliban government inside Afghanistan. Mr. Haq was hanged within hours of his capture.
"He was killed last night in Kabul," said Haji Kadir, Mr. Haq's brother and a leader in the opposition Northern Alliance, said in an interview today. "They shot him."
Mr. Kadir said he learned of his nephew's death this morning. Mr. Kadir said that Izetulla was the son of a third brother in the family, Haji Den, who served as education minister in the government that briefly ruled Afghanistan in the early 1990's before the country disintegrated into civil war.
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Uzbekistan: Bush's New Best Friend
Thursday, November 8, 2001,
Common Dreams,
by Frida Berrigan
The United States' new relationship with the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan once again raises questions about what sort of alliances the Bush administration will build to fight the war against terrorism. Uzbekistan has granted the U.S. access to its airfields for what it insists are "humanitarian" and "search and rescue" missions, but adamantly denies (in the face of evidence to the contrary) that U.S. troops, including Special Operations Forces, are on the ground.
In a special article on The Nation magazine's website, author Dilip Hiro relates a Uzbeki military officer's most up-to-date definitions for "humanitarian and "search and rescue." "If it means you have to take out half a dozen Taliban positions to 'rescue' your colleagues, then that is what you have got to do.... It could be considered 'humanitarian' to remove Taliban forces from a valley filled with civilians in need of food and medical supplies."
A recent New York Times article revealed that U.S. Green Beret troops were stationed in Uzbekistan and were training the Uzbeki military in marksmanship, infantry patrolling, map reading and other skills. In addition, the article made public the United States provision of "nonlethal" equipment like helmets, flak jackets, Humvee transport vehicles, and night-vision goggles to the Uzbeki military and border guards.
In the decade since its independence from the Soviet Union, U.S. weapons sales to Uzbekistan have gone from zero to more than $4 million in the last three years. Funding for the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program has also risen in the last few years, from $526,000 in 1999 to $550,000 for 2000. Now that Uzbekistan is our close ally in the war on terrorism, that figure is likely to increase substantially.
Although the New York Times made clear that U.S. Special Forces have been operating in Uzbekistan since 1996, the Uzbeki President denied it as recently as two weeks ago. In a news conference with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Karimov was asked the following question:
"Mr. President, how many American forces will be in your country? Which airfield have you offered? Did you agree that American Special Forces would be allowed to operate from Uzbekistan?"
He replied by saying, "Special Operations Forces will not be deployed in the territory of Uzbekistan."
Karimov's disavowal of the depth of his relationship with the United States points to the nation's iron fisted control of information, something that makes the country an attractive launching pad for U.S. operations. One Air Force official, quoted in the Washington Post, happily noted that "CNN can't film" U.S. aircraft taking off from Uzbeki airfields. Karimov's spokesman described Uzbekistan, which shares an 85-mile border with Afghanistan, as a "closed country."
According to the State Department's 2000 Human Rights report, "Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. [In 2000] the Government's poor human rights record worsened, and the Government continued to commit numerous serious abuses... Citizens cannot exercise their right to change their government peacefully... There were credible reports that security force mistreatment resulted in the deaths of several citizens in custody. Police and NSS forces tortured, beat, and harassed persons. The security forces arbitrarily arrested or detained pious Muslims and other citizens on false charges, frequently planting narcotics, weapons, or forbidden literature on them."
But the Bush administration is now turning a blind eye to the ugly underbelly of its new best friend. One unnamed U.S. government official compared the new Uzbeki-U.S. relationship to " modern dating...Sometimes you get married, sometimes you get a temporary restraining order." In the case of the relationship between Uzbekistan and the United States, "it seems like we're engaged and things are going well."
But, this "marriage" between Uzbekistan and the United States is one more instance of U.S. dependence on allies in the fight for "enduring freedom" that are not free or even democratic.
Frida Berrigan is a Research Associate at the World Policy Institute .
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Better tracking urged of labs
USA Today
11/07/2001
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/07/bioterror-usat.htm
WASHINGTON - Alarmed by anthrax attacks, senators called Tuesday for a new registration system for laboratories possessing deadly microbes with potential uses as biological weapons. Regulations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) require that public or private labs register with the government only if they ship deadly "select agent" microbes - about 40 bugs responsible for diseases such as anthrax and smallpox. Labs aren't required to register if they simply possess the microbes.
Nationwide, 250 labs have registered, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. James Caruso, deputy assistant FBI director for counterterrorism, said at a Senate hearing that "as of now, we don't know" which labs nationwide have stores of anthrax, despite efforts by agents to collect registry information.
Of the registered sites, Caruso said about 100 labs or private culture-shipping firms are registered to transfer anthrax. Investigators do not believe the anthrax used in the attacks, identified as belonging to the widely distributed Ames strain of the bacteria, came from a registered lab, he said.
"To my mind, this has been an area of intense sloppiness," said Sen. Diane Feinstein D.-Calif., who chaired the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information. "Entities are handling these agents, and no one knows who they are."
The regulations were created in 1996 after an Ohio microbiologist obtained bubonic plague germs through mail fraud. Before the rules were instituted, microbiologists traded select agents from lab to lab through informal means - such as a hand-off at a scientific conference. About 20 to 30 university labs nationwide currently work with anthrax on a regular basis, said hearing witness Ronald Atlas, head of the American Society of Microbiology.
Feinstein proposed new rules to require that all labs that possess select agents register with the CDC. Although hearing witnesses agreed with her call for more lab oversight, they cautioned that research labs still need access to dangerous microbes.
"Bioterrorists are not likely to follow the biosafety manual" and register their labs, regardless of whatever new rules are created, Atlas said. He estimated that perhaps 1,500 labs worldwide, including about 550 domestic facilities, handle select agents, "many of them in places with much looser transfer rules than we have here." Biological agents.
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Plan to gas Senate building scaled back
USA Today
11/07/2001
By Robert Davis and Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/07/anthrax-cleanup-usat.htm
WASHINGTON - Federal cleanup