NucNews - January 3, 2005 -------- NUCLEAR Energy Department Awards $21 Million for Nuclear Research WASHINGTON, DC, January 3, 2005 (ENS) http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2005/2005-01-03-09.asp#anchor4 The Bush administration is pumping an additional $21 million into nuclear energy research. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has announced 35 research awards to U.S. universities totaling $21 million over three years to further the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative and the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative. The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative is transmutation of spent nuclear fuel, an effort conceived in two phases. The first emphasizes advanced technical enhancements to the current commercial nuclear power infrastructure by reducing the volume of spent nuclear fuel requiring placement in a geologic repository through extraction of uranium. The second phase would require the introduction of next generation nuclear energy systems to reduce the toxicity of nuclear waste. "Successful implementation of these technologies would enable the United States to reclaim the significant energy value contained in spent fuel and significantly reduce the need for a second U.S. repository," John Herczeg of the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology told a meeting of his Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) colleagues in 2002. "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has invested over US$100 million in transmutation research and development over the past three years," he said then. Generation IV nuclear systems are a group of nuclear reactor technologies that could be deployed by 2030. The DOE says they represent improvements in economics, safety and reliability and sustainability over currently operating reactor technologies. The goal of the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative is to demonstrate the economic commercial scale production of hydrogen using nuclear energy by 2015 through thermochemical "cracking” of water, using water and high temperature heat as the process inputs. Several other processes are being piloted including high-temperature electrolysis of water. The Energy Department has restructured its Nuclear Energy Research Initiative to provide U.S. universities with the opportunity to participate directly in the agency’s priority efforts to develop the nuclear technologies that Abraham says "could pave the way to an economy that relies less on imported fossil fuels and will allow the nation to meet its long-term environmental goals." The awards announced December 23 are the first to result from what Abraham says is a new approach to peer-reviewed nuclear technology research and development. They are intended to engage students and professors in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) major nuclear energy research and development programs. “This vitally important research will benefit both our advanced technology development efforts and our academic system to have America’s best and brightest students and professors work with us to conduct this challenging research,” Abraham said. “The awards we announce today will bring us a step closer to a better, more secure energy future and also help develop the scientists and engineers that will keep the United States at the forefront of technology well into the future.” But environmentalists are not convinced that nuclear development will produce a more secure energy future. "Nuclear power can neither address our short-term energy problems, nor can it effectively combat global climate change," says Michael Mariotte, executive director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a Washington, DC anti-nuclear advocacy group. "We need to implement cost-effective energy efficiency solutions and to invest in the technologies of the 21st century," he says. The 35 projects were selectedfrom 160 proposals from universities all over the United States. The selected projects will be conducted at 25 U.S. universities in 22 different states. Many of the participants represent institutions that have not participated in DOE nuclear technology programs in recent years. The DOE will now enter into negotiations with the 25 universities selected to reach final cooperative agreement terms including award dates. The research projects and additional information on other DOE nuclear science and engineering educational initiatives that are sponsored by the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology are available at www.nuclear.gov. -------- india / pakistan India's national security adviser Dixit dead 03 Jan 2005 07:46:09 GMT Source: Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL163946.htm NEW DELHI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A powerful Indian official involved in pushing forward the peace process with nuclear rival Pakistan died of a heart attack on Monday. National Security Adviser Jyotindra Nath Dixit, 68, was a no-nonsense former top diplomat with a reputation for being a hawk, who was appointed national security adviser last May when the Congress-led government came to power. "Yes, he passed away this morning," an official at the prime minister's office said. Analysts said Dixit's death could further slow the peace process with Pakistan, which has been in danger of stagnating in recent months. Pakistan offered its "deep condolences". A Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement described Dixit as a respected professional with a "profound understanding of South Asia". Dixit was considered the architect of India's post-Cold War foreign policy and analysts said his death would also affect the dialogue process with China, which was at a historical juncture and poised for a breakthrough. "Given his position in the hierarchy, and the fact that he was handling both the India-Pakistan and India-China talks, his death will certainly have an impact on the momentum of dialogue," said Uday Bhaskar, director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. "He had brought a certain personal rapport to the talks process. The person who replaces him will take time to get a grasp and to develop a personal rapport." The pipe-smoking former diplomat was India's high commissioner or ambassador to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh before retiring a decade ago as the foreign secretary, or the country's top diplomat. In July last year, Dixit and Chinese Executive Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo led the talks to demarcate the 3,500-km (2,200-mile) border, an issue that has lingered for more than four decades. Ties between India and China -- the world's two most populous nations, who fought a border war in 1962 -- have been warming in recent years. -------- russia MODERNIZATION OF RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR POTENTIAL DOES NOT POSE THREAT TO THE WEST - LAVROV MOSCOW, January 3, 2005 (RIA Novosti) http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5277065&startrow=1&date=2005-01-03&do_alert=0 The West should not regard the modernization of Russia's nuclear potential as a threat, announced Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with a leading German newspaper. "The modernization of our defensive potential is necessary to maintain Russia's Armed Forces in combat readiness and to ensure the security of the Russian state," he underlined. He also said, "there are plenty of processes under way around Russia that we can also consider as potential threats to the security of the Russian state." "We are partners with NATO, although we do not see any particular reason for NATO's expansion. We are partners with the U.S., although we do not see any particular reason for development of a missile defense program. We just want these processes to be transparent," the Russian foreign minister stressed. He pointed out that Russia, respecting the right of countries to create their own alliances and partnerships, was nevertheless surprised with the way the NATO expansion had been conducted. "Practically on the same day of the announcement of the expansion, NATO commenced the flights of AWACS planes along the Russian borders and deployed combat aircraft on Lithuanian airfields. NATO was in such a hurry that it looked as if something was about to happen there, although the situation in the region had never posed a security threat to the Alliance," Mr. Lavrov emphasized. He said that during the latest meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, Russia suggested developing a common system of monitoring and administering the air space. "Creation of such a system would not only be a practical evidence of mutual trust, but would also prevent crisis situations created either by natural causes or technical errors," the Russian foreign minister stressed. -------- u.n. ElBaradei's run a setback for US Reuters January 03, 2005 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11835778%255E2703,00.html VIENNA: Mohamed ElBaradei will run unchallenged for a third term as head of the UN nuclear watchdog, a move that puts a serious dent in the US campaign to oust him. Washington had sounded out Foreign Minister Alexander Downer about running for the job, but he turned down the offer. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday no other candidates had come forward before the December 31 deadline. As a result, Dr ElBaradei, an Egyptian lawyer and diplomat who has headed the agency since 1997, would run unchallenged. "No new candidates were submitted for the position of director-general," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. US officials complain that Dr ElBaradei is not only soft on Iraq and Iran, but has withheld information from the IAEA board of governors that would bolster the US campaign to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council for economic sanctions. Dr ElBaradei insists there is no proof that Iran is seeking the bomb, as Washington claims. But he has repeatedly said the jury is still out. Nations on the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors will attempt to reach a common position before deciding whether to re-elect Dr ElBaradei. Diplomats say that might take several months. The US could still block Dr ElBaradei's re-election if it mustered 12 no votes from the other 34 nations. But diplomats say that appears highly unlikely. Washington's efforts to oust Dr ElBaradei were damaged last month when the Washington Post reported that the US had tapped his phones. -------- u.s. nuc facilities Energy Department Awards $21 Million for Nuclear Research WASHINGTON, DC, January 3, 2005 (ENS) http://ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2005/2005-01-03-09.asp#anchor4 The Bush administration is pumping an additional $21 million into nuclear energy research. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has announced 35 research awards to U.S. universities totaling $21 million over three years to further the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative and the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative. The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative is transmutation of spent nuclear fuel, an effort conceived in two phases. The first emphasizes advanced technical enhancements to the current commercial nuclear power infrastructure by reducing the volume of spent nuclear fuel requiring placement in a geologic repository through extraction of uranium. The second phase would require the introduction of next generation nuclear energy systems to reduce the toxicity of nuclear waste. "Successful implementation of these technologies would enable the United States to reclaim the significant energy value contained in spent fuel and significantly reduce the need for a second U.S. repository," John Herczeg of the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology told a meeting of his Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) colleagues in 2002. "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has invested over US$100 million in transmutation research and development over the past three years," he said then. Generation IV nuclear systems are a group of nuclear reactor technologies that could be deployed by 2030. The DOE says they represent improvements in economics, safety and reliability and sustainability over currently operating reactor technologies. The goal of the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative is to demonstrate the economic commercial scale production of hydrogen using nuclear energy by 2015 through thermochemical "cracking” of water, using water and high temperature heat as the process inputs. Several other processes are being piloted including high-temperature electrolysis of water. The Energy Department has restructured its Nuclear Energy Research Initiative to provide U.S. universities with the opportunity to participate directly in the agency’s priority efforts to develop the nuclear technologies that Abraham says "could pave the way to an economy that relies less on imported fossil fuels and will allow the nation to meet its long-term environmental goals." The awards announced December 23 are the first to result from what Abraham says is a new approach to peer-reviewed nuclear technology research and development. They are intended to engage students and professors in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) major nuclear energy research and development programs. “This vitally important research will benefit both our advanced technology development efforts and our academic system to have America’s best and brightest students and professors work with us to conduct this challenging research,” Abraham said. “The awards we announce today will bring us a step closer to a better, more secure energy future and also help develop the scientists and engineers that will keep the United States at the forefront of technology well into the future.” But environmentalists are not convinced that nuclear development will produce a more secure energy future. "Nuclear power can neither address our short-term energy problems, nor can it effectively combat global climate change," says Michael Mariotte, executive director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a Washington, DC anti-nuclear advocacy group. "We need to implement cost-effective energy efficiency solutions and to invest in the technologies of the 21st century," he says. The 35 projects were selectedfrom 160 proposals from universities all over the United States. The selected projects will be conducted at 25 U.S. universities in 22 different states. Many of the participants represent institutions that have not participated in DOE nuclear technology programs in recent years. The DOE will now enter into negotiations with the 25 universities selected to reach final cooperative agreement terms including award dates. The research projects and additional information on other DOE nuclear science and engineering educational initiatives that are sponsored by the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology are available at http://www.nuclear.gov . -------- new hampshire Reporters view tightened security at Seabrook nuclear power plant By TERRY DATE Monday, January 3, 2005 New Hampshire Democrat Staff Writer http://www.fosters.com/January2005/01.03.05/news/bu_0103a.asp SEABROOK — Reporters swiped their temporary badges, placed a hand in a glove box and swung through clicking turnstiles before entering Seabrook nuclear power plant’s protected area last month on a tour of the facility’s recently upgraded security. The upgrade, required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of Oct. 29, includes improved detection systems as well as more rigorous training standards for security personnel, costing the plant $14 million in the last year, said John Giarrusso, security manager for FPL Energy Seabrook Station. The glove box, a "hand geometry" identification system, followed gates that check for explosives and metal, and X-ray all employees, contractors and visitors who pass through the security building and into the protected area. A vast marsh, double fences and 20-foot-high guard towers with bullet-proof windows protect operations buildings including Unit 1, the reactor. A force of well over 100 security personnel work at the plant, employees of the Wackenhut company, a private contractor. Seventy-five percent of them are former law enforcement, military or security personnel. "It’s a perfect fit for law enforcement and military (personnel) to come into," Giarrusso said. Before starting, the personnel undergo eight to 10 weeks of training. Later, along with the rest of the security force, they partake in weekly and monthly drills against mock adversaries, as well as annual exercises, Giarrusso said. Wackenhut has provided security since December 2002, said Giarrusso, one of four security staff members employed by FPL Energy at the plant. The Wackenhut officers also complete handgun and rifle training, practicing shooting through smoky conditions and while wearing a gas mask, and during daylight and night hours. More than two years ago, former Seabrook Station security officers quit in protest over lax firearm training. Improved security, mandated by the NRC, was required of all nuclear plants as of Oct. 29, and comes in the wake of heightened safety concerns following the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Outside the Seabrook security building sit 1,500 feet of double concrete barriers filled with crushed stone — referred to as the "Great Wall of Seabrook" — to prevent penetration by a vehicle, said David Barr, coordinator of educational programs The plant also coordinates with intelligence agencies, the FBI and Seabrook police. Plant security talks weekly with Seabrook Police Chief David Currier. In March 2003, when an intruder was suspected, local police arrived within 42 seconds. In addition, employees are subject to random drug and alcohol testing. Before gaining employment they must pass a psychological test and background check, including a review of education, work, credit and any criminal history. Beyond this, employees are trained to observe fellow workers and report any perceived threat or aberrant behavior. Also on Wednesday, Seabrook Station spokesmen briefed the media Monday on how communications would be handled in the event of a plant emergency. The briefing, required by the NRC, outlined four classes of emergencies: an unusual event; an alert; a site area emergency; and a general emergency. Each emergency requires plant officials to notify the state Office of Emergency Management and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Those officials, in turn, work with the six communities in Massachusetts and 17 in New Hampshire within a 10-mile radius of the plant. Seabrook Station has never had an emergency above an unusual event, a non-life-threatening incident and the lowest level emergency. The plant has had nine of these in 15 years of operation. -------- pennsylvania Meeting on troubled PA nuclear plant pushed back a week Associated Press Posted on Mon, Jan. 03, 2005 http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/breaking_news/10556978.htm KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has delayed a meeting to discuss whether a nuclear power plant in Salem County is safe enough to start up again. The meeting had been scheduled for Wednesday, but has been pushed back to Jan. 12 because the commission has not finished a report on one problem at the Hope Creek plant, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC's regional office. The Hope Creek plant, one of three on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek, was shut down after a steam leak on Oct. 10. But activists and several government officials, including New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell, say the plant's owner, Public Service Energy Group, should also replace a recirculation pump at the reactor before restarting. PSEG says the pump is safe enough to operate and that it will replace the part the next time the plant has a regularly scheduled shutdown for refueling and maintenance. The NRC has not ordered PSEG to keep Hope Creek shut down, but the energy company has agreed not to restart until it gets an OK from the agency. The Jan. 12 meeting will be held in Swedesboro. -------- tennessee Leak means nuclear reactor will close early THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, January 3, 2005 http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031779984672 SPRING CITY, Tenn. - A leak at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant is prompting the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut the reactor down for repairs sooner than planned. About 2 gallons of radioactive water leaks each day inside one of the four steam generators at the plant, said TVA spokesman John Moulton. The water is contained within the generator, which is designed to transfer heat from the nuclear reactor to create steam to generate electricity, regulators said. "TVA is monitoring the leak and any radiation it may cause," said Mike Marshall, the section chief for the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions projects division. "It is well below the allowable limits." To plug the leak, TVA will stop power generation at the plant in late winter, rather than in the spring as planned originally, Moulton said. TVA plans to spend more than $300 million to replace the steam generators at the Watts Bar plant in fall 2006, Moulton said. TVA serves 8.5 million people through 158 distributors in North Carolina, Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi and Virginia. TVA ran into similar problems with the steam generators at one of its two reactors at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy two years ago. Utilities across the nation are having to replace these expensive pieces of equipment at pressurized water reactors like Watts Bar because of leaking tubes affecting power generation. The $7 billion Watts Bar nuclear station is eight years into a licensed 40-year lifetime. -------- MILITARY -------- business War Profiteers January 3, 2005 Center for Corporate Policy http://www.corporatepolicy.org/topics/topten2004list.htm The Center for Corporate Policy's Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004 1) AEGIS In June, the Pentagon's Program Management Office in Iraq awarded a $293 million contract to coordinate security operations among thousands of private contractors to Aegis, a UK firm whose founder was once investigated for illegal arms smuggling. An inquiry by the British parliament into Sandline, Aegis head Tim Spicer's former firm, determined that the company had shipped guns to Sierra Leone in 1998 in violation of a UN arms embargo. Sandline's position was that it had approval from the British government, although British ministers were cleared by the inquiry. Spicer resigned from Sandline in 2000 and incorporated Aegis in 2002. The Aegis contract has stirred up considerable controversy, even in the shadowy world of private military contractors. A protest by rival bidder Dyncorp - whose bid was deemed unacceptable by the Army - was dismissed by the General Accountability Offfice, which concluded that Dyncorp "lacked standing to challenge the integrity of the awardee (Aegis)." Spicer's defendants point out that there is no provision in contract law to deny a contract based on a bidder's "colorful" past. Critics say that's just the problem. U.S. and international law have failed to address the role of PMCs in Iraq, resulting in a near-total lack of accountability that epitomizes what's wrong with the corporate takeover of Iraq. "Who gives the orders? Where do contractors fit in the chain of command? Who is responsible if things go wrong?" Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) asks. Not only do PMCs fall outside the Military Code of Justice but, thanks to another order passed by Paul Bremer (CPA order #17), it's not clear that they could be prosecuted under Iraq's own laws. That's because the order grants foreign contractors, including private security firms, full immunity from Iraq's laws, even if they injure or kill an innocent party. 2) BearingPoint Critics find it ironic that BearingPoint, the former consulting division of KPMG, received a $240 million contract in 2003 to help develop Iraq's "competitive private sector," since it had a hand in the development of the contract itself. According to a March 22 report by AID's assistant inspector general Bruce Crandlemire, "Bearing Point's extensive involvement in the development of the Iraq economic reform program creates the appearance of unfair competitive advantage in the contract award process." BearingPoint spent five months helping USAID write the job specifications and even sent some employees to Iraq to begin work before the contract was awarded, while its competitors had only a week to read the specifications and submit their own bids after final revisions were made. "No company who writes the specs for a contract should get the contract," says Keith Ashdown, the vice president of Washington, DC-based Taxpayers for Common Sense. "BearingPoint was selected through a transparent and competitive bidding process to undertake the challenging Economic Governance project in Iraq," says BearingPoint's John LaPlace. "We were pleased to be selected to lead this work, just as we were pleased to be selected through competitive bids to lead similar large reform efforts in Afghanistan, Montenegro, Kosovo and other countries around the world." Neither Crandlemire nor other critics have ever said that BearingPoint broke the law. But the company's ties to the Bush administration (according to the Center for Responsive Politics, BearingPoint employees gave $117,000 to the 2000 and 2004 Bush election campaigns, more than any other Iraq contractor) is an example of "crony contracting" that undermines the legitimacy of those who might claim to be working to establish competitive markets in the "newly liberated" country. 3) Bechtel Schools, hospitals, bridges, airports, water treatment plants, power plants, railroad, irrigation, electricity, etc. Bechtel was literally tasked with repairing much of Iraq's infrastructure, a job that was critical to winning hearts and minds after the war. According to the company's contract, "the U.S. government envisions a post-war reconstruction effort as a highly visual symbol of good faith toward building trust for economic, social and cultural efforts as well as for political stability in the region." To accomplish this, the company hired over 90 Iraqi subcontractors for at least 100 jobs. Most of these subcontracts involved rote maintenance and repair work, however, and for sophisticated work requiring considerable hands-on knowledge of the country's infrastructure, the company bypassed Iraqi engineers and managers. Although Bechtel is not entirely to blame, the company has yet to meet virtually any of the major deadlines in its original contract. In October, according to AID, the CPA had restored only 4,400 MW of electrical generating capacity target, falling short of its goal of 6,000 MW by end of June (AID's goal was 9.000, a level that existed in the country before the first gulf war). According to a June GAO report, "electrical service in the country as a whole has not shown a marked improvement over the immediate postwar levels of May 2003 and has worsened in some governorates." Some of the delay is obviously due to the difficulties of getting employees and materials safely to project sites. 4) BKSH & Associates Chairman Charlie Black, is an old Bush family friend and prominent Republican lobbyist whose firm is affiliated with Burson Marsteller, the global public relations giant. Black was a key player in the Bush/Cheney 2000 campaign and together with his wife raised $100,000 for this year's reelection campaign. BKSH clients with contracts in Iraq include Fluor International (whose ex-chair Phillip Carroll was tapped to head Iraq's oil ministry after the war, and whose board includes the wife of James Woolsey, the ex-CIA chief who was sent by Paul Wolfowitz before the war to convince European leaders of Saddam Hussein's ties to al Qaeda). Fluor has won joint contracts worth up to $1.6 billion. Another client is Cummins Engine, which has managed to sell its power generators thanks to the country's broken infrastructure. Most prominent among BKSH's clients, however, is the Iraqi National Congress, whose leader Ahmed Chalabi was called the "George Washington of Iraq" by certain Pentagon neoconservatives before his fall from grace. BKSH's K. Riva Levinson was hired to handle the INC's U.S. public relations strategy in 1999. Hired by U.S. taxpayers, that is: Until July 2003, the company was paid $25,000 per month by the U.S. State Department to support the INC. BKSH has also represented other foreign governments, including Columbia and Equatorial Guinea. In July, O'Dwyer's, the public relations industry trade publication, reported that BKSH would represent the new government of Haiti (established after a U.S.-supported coup that had thrown Jean Bertrand Aristide out) "on a pro bono basis." "We're not looking to make any money off these people," Black explained. "It's a very poor country. We're just trying to do what we can to help out." O'Dwyer's has also reported that Levinson is now representing Radio Sedaye Iran (Radio Voice of Iran), a Beverly Hills-based network that advocates regime change in Iran. 5) CACI and Titan Although members of the military police face certain prosecution for the horrific treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, so far the corporate contractors have avoided any charges. Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba reported in an internal Army report that two CACI employees "were either directly or indirectly responsible" for abuses at the prison, including the use of dogs to threaten detainees and forced sexual abuse and other threats of violence. Another internal Army report suggested that Steven Stefanowicz, one of 27 CACI interrogators working for the Army in Iraq, "clearly knew [that] his instructions" to soldiers interrogating Iraqi prisoners "equated to physical abuse." The Army says it has referred cases involving unidentified employees of CACI to the Department of Justice. Through his attorney, Stefanowicz denies any wrongdoing. "The CACI personnel performing services in Iraq were at all times subject to the military chain of command and took their orders from military personnel," CACI officials responded to intense scrutiny of its involvement in the atrocities in a statement released in July. "While these advisors provide valuable insight and advise to the military intelligence officers they serve, they do not issue orders or exercise operational control of interrogation activities." "Titan's role in Iraq is to serve as translators and interpreters for the U.S. Army," company CEO Gene Ray said, implying that news reports had inaccurately implied the employees' involvement in torture. "The company's contract is for linguists, not interrogators." But according to Joseph A. Neurauter, a GSA suspension and debarment official, CACI's role in designing its own Abu Ghraib contract "continues to be an open issue and a potential conflict of interest." Nevertheless, the GSA and other agencies conducting their own investigations have yet to find a reason to suspend the company from any new contracts. As a result, in August the Army gave CACI another $15 million no-bid contract to continue providing interrogation services for intelligence gathering in Iraq; In September, the Army awarded Titan a contract worth up to $400 million for additional translators. The companies' apparent success in waging an aggressive damage-control campaign has been aided by heavy-hitting lobbyists. For CACI: former representatives Vin Weber (R-MN) and Vic Fazio (C-CA), as well as Edward Kutler, an aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In addition, CACI has retained a firm managed by former House Speaker Bob Livingston (R-LA), among others. Titan's impressive stable of lobbyists includes Michael Herson and Van Hipp, who once worked at the Pentagon under then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. "It is patently clear that these corporations saw an opportunity to build their businesses by proving they could extract information from detainees in Iraq, by any means necessary. In doing so they not only violated a raft of domestic and international statutes but diminished America's stature and reputation around the world," says Susan Burke, an attorney who joined with the Center for Constitutional Rights to file a RICO lawsuit against CACI and Titan in June. Another national security concern has snagged at least one Titan employee already. One of Titan's translators, Ahmed Fathy Mehalba, was arrested after visiting his family in Egypt with classified information contained on computer disks that he had taken with him from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mehalba has been in jail, awaiting trial ever since. Meanwhile, allegations of bribery association with Titan's operations in Saudi Arabia and other countries have wrecked an anticipated $2 billion buyout by Lockheed Martin. 6) Custer Battles At the end of September, the Defense Department suspended Custer Battles (the name comes from the company's two principle founders - Michael Battles and Scott Custer) and 13 associated individuals and affiliated corporations from all federal contracts for fraudulent billing practices involving the use of sham corporations set up in Lebanon and the Cayman Islands. The CPA caught the company after it left a spreadsheet behind at a meeting with CPA employees. The spreadsheet revealed that the company had marked up certain expenses associated with a currency exchange contract by 162 percent. Robert Isakson, a company employee, drew attention to the problem by filing a false claims action against the company. Isakson also alleged that Custer's "war profiteering ... contributed to the deaths of at least four Custer Battles employees." In a prepared statement, company attorneys suggested that the government's decision to not participate in Isakson's case is evidence that the charges are baseless, and that "the individuals [involved] filed this claim solely as a last ditch effort to achieve a competitive edge over CB." The suspension was the first for any company in association with its work in Iraq. The FBI and the Pentagon inspector general's Defense Criminal Investigative Services are both conducting ongoing investigations. 7) Halliburton In December Congressman Waxman (D-CA), announced that "a growing list of concern's about Halliburton's performance" on contracts that total $10.8 billion have led to multiple criminal investigations into overcharging and kickbacks. In nine different reports, government auditors have found "widespread, systemic problems with almost every aspect of Halliburton's work in Iraq, from cost estimation and billing systems to cost control and subcontract management." Six former employees have come forward, corroborating the auditors' concerns. Another "H-bomb" dropped just before the election, when a top contracting official responsible for ensuring that the Army Corps of Engineers follows competitive contracting rules accused top Pentagon officials of improperly favoring Halliburton in an early-contract before the occupation. Bunnatine Greenhouse says that when the Pentagon awarded the company a 5-year oil-related contract worth up to $7 billion, it pressured her to withdraw her objections, actions that she said were unprecedented in her experience. Halliburton spokesperson Beverly Scippa says that while she cannot comment on the allegations until specific charges are filed, any suggestion that the company's involvement made it difficult for other companies to fairly compete are "absolutely untrue," pointing to a earlier GAO report that found that Halliburton/KBR was "the only contractor DOD had determined was in a position to provide the services within the required time frame given prewar planning requirements." But others, including Waxman, believe that Greenhouse's version of events corroborates existing evidence that the contracting process was biased toward Vice President Dick Cheney's old company. Pentagon officials referred the matter to the Pentagon's inspector general, a move that critics say effectively buried the issue. (For everything you want to know about Halliburton and more visit Halliburton Watch). 8) Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin remains the king among war profiteers, raking in $21.9 billion in Pentagon contracts in 2003 alone. With satellites and planes, missiles and IT systems, the company has profited from just about every phase of the war except for the reconstruction. The company's stock has tripled since 2000 to just over $60. Lockheed is also helping Donald Rumsfeld develop a new tech-heavy integrated global warfare system that the company promises will change transform the nature of war. In fact, the large defense conglomerate's sophistication in areas as diverse as space systems, aeronautics and IT will allow it to play a leading role in the development of new weapons systems for decades to come, including a planned highly-secure military Internet, a spaced-based missile defense system and next-generation warplanes such as the F-22 (currently in production) and the Joint Strike Fighter F-35. When it comes to defense policy, Lockheed's network of influence is virtually unmatched. E.C. Aldridge Jr., the former undersecretary of defense for acquisitions and procurement, gave final approval to begin building the F-35 in 2001, a decision potentially worth $200 billion to the company. Although he soon left the Pentagon to join Lockheed's board, Aldridge continues to straddle the public-private divide: Rumsfeld appointed him to a blue-ribbon panel to study advanced weapons systems. Former Lockheed lobbyists and employees include the current secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, secretary of transportation Norm Mineta (a former Lockheed vice president) and Stephen J. Hadley, Bush's proposed successor to Condoleeza Rice as his next national security advisor. Lockheed is not only represented on various Pentagon advisory boards, but is also tied to various influential think tanks. For example, Lockheed VP Bruce Jackson (who helped draft the Republican foreign policy platform in 2000) is a key player at the neo-conservative planning bastion known as the Project for a New American Century. 9) Loral Satellite In the buildup to the war the Pentagon bought up access to numerous commercial satellites to bolster its own orbiting space fleet. U.S. armed forces needed the extra spaced-based capacity to be able to transmit huge amounts of data to planes (including unmanned Predator drones flown remotely by pilots who may be halfway around the world), and guide missiles and troops on the ground. Industry experts say the war on terror literally saved some satellite operators from bankruptcy. The Pentagon "is hovering up all the available capacity" to supplement its three orbiting satellite fleets, Richard DalBello, president of the Satellite Industry Association explained to the Washington Post in 2003. The industry's other customers - broadcast networks competing for satellite time - were left to scramble for the remaining bandwidth. Loral Space & Communications Chairman Bernard L. Schwartz is very tight with the neoconservative hawks in the Bush administration's foreign policy ranks, and is the principal funder of Blueprint, the newsletter of the Democratic Leadership Council. In the end, the profits from the war in Iraq didn't end up being as huge for the industry as expected, and certainly weren't enough to compensate for a sharp downturn in the commercial market. But more help may be on its way. The Pentagon announced in November that it would create a new global Intranet for the military that would take two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars to build. Satellites, of course, will play a key part in that integrated global weapons system. 10) Qualcomm Two CPA officials resigned this year after claiming they were pressured by John Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for technology security to change an Iraqi police radio contract to favor Qualcomm's patented cellular technology, a move that critics say was intended to lock the technology in as the standard for the entire country. Iraq's cellular market is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues for the company, and potentially much more should it establish a standard for the region. Shaw's efforts to override contracting officials delayed an emergency radio contract, depriving Iraqi police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers and border guards of a joint communications system for months. Shaw says he was urged to push Qualcomm's technology by Rep. Darrell E. Issa, a Republican whose San Diego County constituency includes numerous Qualcomm employees. Issa, who received $5,000 in campaign contributions from Qualcomm employees from 2003 to 2004, sits on the House Small Business Committee, and previously tried to help the company by sponsoring a bill that would have required the military to use its CDMA technology. "Hundreds of thousands of American jobs depend on the success of U.S.-developed wireless technologies like CDMA," Issa claimed in a letter to Donald Rumsfeld. But the Pentagon doesn't seem to be buying the argument. The DoD's inspector general has asked the FBI to investigate Shaw's activities. (For an excellent, in-depth investigation of Qualcomm see Michael Scherer, "Crossing the Lines," Mother Jones, Sept./Oct. 2004) ---- 4 Firms to Vie for Army Intelligence Support Work By Roseanne Gerin Special to The Washington Post Monday, January 3, 2005; Page E04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43433-2005Jan2.html Four companies were chosen to compete for work to be assigned under a five-year, $209 million contract to provide information technology, management and intelligence support services to the Army Intelligence and Security Command. L-3 Communications Corp. was one of the companies chosen, and its effort will be led by the company's government services unit based in Chantilly. A joint venture, also based in Chantilly, was the second competitor chosen. Members of the Intelligence Enterprise Joint Venture include ManTech International Corp. of Fairfax and EWA Land Information Group Inc. of Herndon. The other competitors selected were Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego and Sytex Inc. of Doylestown, Pa. Under the Rapid Labor Service Support Requirement contract, the firms are to compete to provide support in management, technical assistance and information technology engineering to the Intelligence and Security Command. The firms also will provide system, network and software support services for the Defense Department Intelligence Information System Integration and Engineering Support project. The Army Intelligence and Security Command collects intelligence and conducts intelligence-related activities. It now is focused on Iraq, where it is analyzing hostile-activity trends and patterns. The command also works with other branches of the military to support joint operations, as well as bringing in leading edge technologies. Roseanne Gerin is a staff writer with Washington Technology. For contract details, go to www.washingtontechnology.com. ---- Contracts Awarded By Judith Mbuya Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 3, 2005; Page E04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43430-2005Jan2.html AAI Corp. of Hunt Valley won a $71.9 million contract from the Army Aviation and Missile Command for eight additional Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle systems. Contrack International Inc. of Arlington won a $63.9 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers for the design and construction of the Afghan national army regional brigade facilities. Alliant Ammunition and Powder Co. of Radford won a $5.1 million contract from the Army Field Support Command for a facility use contract at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. BAE Systems Applied Technologies Inc. of Rockville won an $11.4 million contract from the Naval Air Systems Command Aircraft Division for technical and engineering support for development, procurement, integration, testing, installation and certification of shipboard communication systems; development and integration of these systems at shore sites; and the development, testing and integration of mobile and airborne communication systems designed to interface with the command, control, communication, computers and intelligence architecture of surface combatants. Veridian Systems Division of Arlington won a $7.5 million contract from the Headquarters Electronic Systems Center for Distributed Common Ground Support Integration Support. Radian Inc. of Alexandria won a $7.1 million contract from the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command for 305 add-on armor crew protection kits with air conditioning for the M915 and M915A1 tactical vehicles. Alutiiq Security and Technology LLC of Chesapeake, Va., won a $49.8 million contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center to provide Army National Guard Bureau assistance in developing, implementing and maintaining programs that facilitate the protection and security of assets related to the Critical Infrastructure Protection program. Alutiiq Security and Technology LLC of Chesapeake, Va., won a $49.7 million contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center to provide Army National Guard Bureau and other Defense Department and government agency assistance in developing, implementing and maintaining electronic security systems programs. Bell Boeing Joint Program Office of Patuxent River, Md., won a $37.2 million contract from the Naval Air Systems Command to design, develop, manufacture, test, install and provide logistics and maintenance support for gear box test stands and ancillary equipment for the V-22 aircraft. Raytheon Systems Co. of Reston won a $8.9 million contract from the Headquarters Electronic Systems Center to provide production and delivery of shipboard receive suites and sub-surface receive suite to replace the fleet's asynchronous transfer mode global broadcast capability with new Internet Protocol based capability and additional Navy fiscal 2004 production quantities. Booz Allen Hamilton of McLean; Portage Environmental of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Systems Research and Applications Corp. of Fairfax; and Team Integrated Engineering Inc. of Evergreen, Colo., won an $850 million contract from the Headquarters Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence to provide a full range of advisory and assistance services. Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Tilt Rotor Team of Patuxent River, Md., won a $25.2 million contract from the Naval Air Systems Command to exercise an option for interim contractor support comprised of aircraft logistical support for CV-22 developmental testing and operational assessment. The Army awarded $6.4 million contracts each for remediation services to Plexus Scientific Corp. of Columbia and HydroGeoLogic of Herndon. Resource Consultants Inc. of Vienna won a $10.4 million contract from the Navy for engineering and related technical and logistics services. Booz Allen Hamilton of McLean won a $9.1 million contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Aviation Safety Reporting System and related systems. BAI Aerosystems Inc. of Easton won a $2.3 million contract from the General Services Administration for instruments and laboratory equipment. -------- iraq Iraq battling more than 200,000 insurgents: intelligence chief AFP: 1/3/2005 http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=35545 BAGHDAD, Jan 3 (AFP) - Iraq's insurgency counts more than 200,000 active fighters and sympathisers, the country's national intelligence chief told AFP, in the bleakest assessment to date of the armed revolt waged by Sunni Muslims. "I think the resistance is bigger than the US military in Iraq. I think the resistance is more than 200,000 people," Iraqi intelligence service director General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani said in an interview ahead of the January 30 elections. Shahwani said the number includes at least 40,000 hardcore fighters but rises to more than 200,000 members counting part-time fighters and volunteers who provide rebels everything from intelligence and logistics to shelter. The numbers far exceed any figure presented by the US military in Iraq, which has struggled to get a handle on the size of the resistance since toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003. A senior US military officer declined to endorse or dismiss the spy chief's numbers. "As for the size of the insurgency, we don't have good resolution on the size," the officer said on condition of anonymity. Past US military assessments on the insurgency's size have been revised upwards from 5,000 to 20,000 full and part-time members, in the last half year, most recently in October. Defense experts said it was impossible to divine the insurgency's total number, but called Shahwani's estimate a valid guess, with as much credence, if not more, than any US numbers. "I believe General Shahwani's estimation, given that he is referring predominantly to active sympathizers and supporters and to part-time as well as full-time active insurgents, may not be completely out of the ballpark," said defense analyst Bruce Hoffman who served as an advisor to the US occupation in Iraq and now works for US-based think-tank RAND Corporation. Compared to the coalition's figure, he said: "General Shahwani's -- however possibly high it may be, might well give a more accurate picture of the situation." Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq analyst with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, put Shahwani's estimates on an equal footing with the American's. "The Iraqi figures do... recognize the reality that the insurgency in Iraq has broad support in Sunni areas while the US figures down play this to the point of denial." Shahwani said the resistance enjoys wide backing in the provinces of Baghdad, Babel, Salahuddin, Diyala, Nineveh and Tamim, homes to Sunni Arabs who fear they will lose influence after the elections. Insurgents have gained strength through Iraq's tight-knit tribal bonds and links to the old 400,000-strong Iraqi army, dissolved by the US occupation in May 2003 two months after the US-led invasion, he said. "People are fed up after two years, without improvement. People are fed up with no security, no electricity, people feel they have to do something. The army was hundreds of thousands. You'd expect some veterans would join with their relatives, each one has sons and brothers." The rebels have turned city neighborhoods and small towns around central Iraq into virtual no-go zones despite successful US military efforts to reclaim former enclaves like Samarra and Fallujah, he said. "What are you going to call the situation here (in Baghdad) when 20 to 30 men can move around with weapons and no one can get them in Adhamiyah, Dura and Ghazaliya," he said, naming neighborhoods in the capital. The spy chief also questioned the success of the November campaign to retake Fallujah, which US forces have hailed as a major victory against the resistance. "What we have now is an empty city almost destroyed... and most of the insurgents are free. They have gone either to Mosul or to Baghdad or other areas." Shahwani pointed to a resurgent Baath party as the key to the insurgency's might. The Baath has split into three factions, with the deadliest being the branch still paying allegiance to jailed dictator Saddam Hussein, he said. Shahwani said the core Baath fighting strength was more than 20,000. Operating out of Syria, Saddam's half-brother Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan and former aide Mohamed Yunis al-Ahmed are providing funding and tapping their connections to old army divisions, particularily in Mosul, Samarra, Baquba, Kirkuk and Tikrit. Saddam's henchman, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, still on the lam in Iraq, is also involved, he said. Another two factions, which have broken from Saddam, are also around, but have yet to mount any attacks. The Baath are complemented by Islamist factions ranging from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda affiliate to Ansar al-Sunna and Ansar al-Islam. Asked if the insurgents were winning, Shahwani answered: "I would say they aren't losing." -------- israel / palestine Powell says next Palestinian leader must end terrorism 03/01/2005 By The Associated Press http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/522159.html WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed concern Sunday about whether the Palestinian Authority will move firmly to end terrorist violence after choosing a new president. Powell said he found it "disturbing" that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the favorite to succeed the late Yasser Arafat, would campaign for support while being carried on the shoulders of gunmen considered heroes to many Palestinians but terrorists by most Israelis. Powell said nonetheless he remains convinced that Abbas' "prevailing position" is recognition of "the need to end terror and the need to try to persuade all segments of the Palestinian population to move away from terror and to move toward this opportunity for peace." "If they don't move in that direction, then we're going to be stuck again. So we need reformed Palestinian leadership that deals with this terrorist threat," Powell told NBC's "Meet the Press." Powell said that if Abbas becomes president, however, he may have to do more than just try to persuade terrorists to stop their violence. "He may have to undertake operations against them," Powell said. "If he does that, and shows a real commitment to end terror, I think he will find an Israeli partner ready to work with him, and he will certainly find the international community, and the especially the United States, ready to play an important role," he said. Powell told CNN's "Late Edition" he was confident that the Jan. 9 elections for a new leader of the Palestinian Authority would proceed as planned. "The Israelis know that they have to open the area up to allow people to campaign and to get to registration places and poll places, and we've also seen a solution to the problem of Palestinians voting in East Jerusalem," Powell said. "So I think we're moving forward toward successful elections on the 9th." Asked whether President George W. Bush should name a special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Powell said that over the past four years "we've never really had conditions in place." Abbas holds a significant lead over his rivals in the campaign, according to a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research that was published Sunday. Bush has put a revitalized Middle East peace process among the foreign policy priorities of his second term. -------- spies MI6 double agent was 'betrayed by a journalist' January 03, 2005 By Gregory Feifer and Michael Evans Times (UK) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1424438,00.html A RUSSIAN double agent who worked for MI6 for ten years before having to defect for his own safety is at the centre of a new mystery over who betrayed him to the KGB. Oleg Gordievsky, who has lived in Britain since his escape from Moscow in the boot of a car in 1985, is now claimed to have been betrayed by a British journalist working for a magazine in Washington. Mr Gordievsky, in an interview with The Times, discounted the latest theory, although he admitted that he still did not know who tipped off the KGB that he was a double agent. The allegation is made in a new book, Spy Handler, which chronicles the 40-year KGB career of Victor Cherkashin, who was deputy KGB chief in Washington in the mid-1980s. He recruited two of the most notorious American spies — Aldrich Ames, a senior CIA officer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994, and Robert Hanssen, another CIA officer, who was given a life sentence in 2001. Mr Cherkashin recruited Ames in 1985, the same year as Mr Gordievsky’s enforced defection, and it was previously assumed that it was the CIA man who had betrayed Mr Gordievsky. However, in the new book, co-authored by Mr Cherkashin and Gregory Feifer, a scholar in Russian studies and former Radio Free Europe Moscow correspondent, the ex-KGB officer says: “I knew Gordievsky was a British spy when Ames fingered him, which he did after we asked him to provide more information about the suspected SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) agent.” He then maintains: “A Washington-based British journalist who occasionally provided us with information had tipped me off that Gordievsky was spying for the British SIS.” Although the book does not identify the journalist, it appears to have been someone who had been recruited by the KGB as a so-called “agent of influence” — a Cold War term describing a person who was not involved in spying but was in a position to help the Russian cause with propaganda and disinformation. Mr Cherkashin referred to the journalist as a “he”, but the imminent publication of the book has generated speculation that the correspondent he had in mind was Claudia Wright, an Australian-born writer who was working for the New Statesman magazine in Washington in the mid-1980s. In 1994 a former junior officer in the Washington KGB residence, Yuri Shvets, claimed in a book to have recruited a journalist codenamed Sputnitsa in the 1980s, whom Mr Cherkashin identified as Claudia Wright. She died in 1991. Told of the latest allegations, Mr Gordievsky said: “How would a journalist ever have known that I was working secretly for MI6? It sounds to me like an attempt by the surviving members of the KGB of the 1980s to spread disinformation.” However, he acknowledged that he had always suspected that someone, so far unidentified, had played a part in betraying him to the Russians, wittingly or unwittingly. When Moscow began to suspect his double role, Mr Gordievsky — then acting KGB chief in London — was summoned back to Russia for interrogation. He was not kept in custody and after contacting his MI6 handlers escaped across the Finnish border in the boot of a car. Mr Gordievsky said that he doubted that Ames had been the first person to betray him. In an interview a few years ago, he said, Mr Cherkashin had claimed that the CIA man had told him about the British spy during his third debriefing session, on June 10, 1985. “I was by then already in Moscow under house arrest, so somebody else must have been involved, but who it was remains a mystery to this day,” he said. His own theory is that he may have been betrayed unwittingly by someone mentioning his name inside the British Embassy in Moscow, which was picked up by the numerous bugging devices installed by the KGB. -------- us Military's Test at High Schools Brings a Salvo of Concerns Monday, January 3, 2005 by Liz F. Kay Baltimore Sun http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0103-02.htm A few days before her holiday break, South River High School junior Emily Hawse took a three-hour standardized test offered by military officials that suggests possible careers for students while helping to identify promising recruits. Hawse, 16, of Davidsonville said she did not realize until the day of the exam that it had a military link. She said students were told not to go to the Edgewater school that morning if they didn't want to take the test, called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. "We couldn't go to class if we wanted to," said Hawse, who is undecided about her future but said it doesn't include the military. At a time of heightened awareness of military recruitment, the aptitude test offered free by the Defense Department is drawing criticism. Although Baltimore area school districts have made the test available for years, some Anne Arundel County students and their parents complained recently when the test was scheduled during class time at some schools, and it was unclear to some students that they could opt out. The tests have also raised concerns in other places. In a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb, a high school junior refused to take the exam. And critics of the program say they field inquiries from all over the country. They say military recruiters use the test to identify students with skills that would be useful in the armed forces. "You're getting hot leads as opposed to cold leads," said Oskar Castro, an associate with the Youth and Militarism Program of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group. Area school and military officials defend the test as a valuable career-planning tool. "This is actually a community service that the Department of Defense provides to help every generation of youth find where they fit in the world about them," said Chris Arendt, deputy director of accession policy at the Pentagon. In the Baltimore area, nearly 1,400 Anne Arundel students took the test last school year, along with about 1,000 from Baltimore County, nearly 500 from Baltimore, 181 from Carroll County and 573 from Howard County. In Howard, three schools with ROTC programs offer the test, school district officials said. Baltimore administers the test to seniors on a voluntary basis, generally at career and technology schools, and at schools with ROTC programs. Baltimore County makes it available to students who request it. Anne Arundel County school officials say the test is not mandatory but acknowledge that the message might not have been clear to all students, given the many standardized tests they must take. "This is one of the first times where kids get to choose whether they take a test," said Jonathan Brice, spokesman for the Anne Arundel schools. Next year, officials said, they will emphasize that the test is voluntary. The test, which has been given to recruits since 1968, measures verbal and math skills, and knowledge in areas such as automotive maintenance and repair, electronics and mechanics. It was expanded to schools at the urging of the federal Labor and Education departments, Defense Department officials say. Military recruitment of high school students has come under scrutiny recently with the war in Iraq continuing. Such efforts were criticized in the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11. In addition, the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools that receive federal funding to provide military recruiters with students' names, addresses and phone numbers unless parents have opted out. Schools also must allow recruiters to have the same access to campuses that colleges have. The military's vocational aptitude test is not part of the No Child Left Behind requirement, and the test's "career explorations" Web site says students who agree to take the test aren't making any obligations. Nationwide, 722,450 students took the test during the past school year, according to the Defense Department. That includes more than 8,700 Maryland students from 175 schools. The assessment has evolved several times since it was developed from tests used by branches of the military, said Arendt, a Navy captain. He said he remembers taking an early version of the test while he was in high school in the 1970s. "It gave me, as a student, a good idea about what I could and could not look forward to in careers," he said. Students or parents who are concerned about how information about them is used have options, he said. One is to indicate on the test that they do not want their results released to military recruiters. "They get the results, and it's transparent to us," Arendt said. Some students and their families aren't aware of that option, Castro said. For more than 18 years, the committee has answered questions about the test from families who encounter it in their schools. As for casting the test as a career-planning tool, he said, "We think it's a disingenuous use of the test." Area school officials say the tests can suggest opportunities in military and civilian jobs. "It's a career-interest inventory," said Rhonda C. Gill, Anne Arundel's director of pupil services. "It's not done in any way, shape or form to focus kids on going into the military." In Carroll County, all seven high schools have made the test available to students since the late 1970s, said Barbara Guthrie, the school system's guidance supervisor. Typically, a handful of students sign up for it at each school, she said, but at Winters Mill High School, 70 students took the test this year. "It's helpful to students and parents as well, but you use it in combination with lots of other assessments in schools to help students figure out future plans and what their abilities are," Guthrie said. Although some Anne Arundel schools administer the test more formally than schools in other counties, officials noted that students aren't required to take it. Of 250 South River juniors, 70 chose not to take the test on one of the two days it was offered last month. While ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders were taking the PSAT countywide in October, a little more than half of the seniors at Broadneck High School took the military test, said guidance counselor Joe Kozik, as did seniors at North County and other high schools. At Broadneck, several parents called to get more information about the test. "I think the Iraq war has certainly raised concerns on multiple levels," said Broadneck Principal Cindy Hudson. The test serves a purpose for military recruiters. Kozik noted that recruiters are especially interested in the test results of five Broadneck students this year. Because of the reporting requirements of No Child Left Behind, Kozik said, "whether you take this test or not ... we by law have to provide your name to the federal government." At South River High School, some juniors left their classes to take the test two weeks ago. Others remained in class or went to school later rather than take it. Emily Hawse said knowing the test's military connection earlier would not have kept her from taking it. "I was thinking that this might help me for college," she said. Her mother, Monica M. Hawse, agreed that the test would be useful but added, "I think everybody - kids, parents, teachers - should know it's affiliated with the military." Megan Lloyd, 16, a junior from Edgewater, said she learned about the test when a military recruiter spoke to her class. She was interested in anything that could help her decide what path to pursue and was not concerned about the military connection. "The man who came into our social studies class made me feel comfortable about it," she said after classes one day. "It's not like they're going to hound you about it," said fellow Edgewater resident Charlie Fischer, 16, who is considering the armed forces and college. "Or at least, we hope not," Lloyd said. Sun staff writers Athima Chansanchai and Laura Loh contributed to this article. ---- U.S. military speeds relief January 03, 2005 By Denis D. Gray ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.washtimes.com/world/20050103-122016-8665r.htm ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN — One of the largest U.S. military relief operations in history helped speed the pace of aid to desperate victims of Asia's tsunami disaster yesterday, delivering critical supplies to haggard survivors in severe need of food and water. Flying in and out of flattened villages, American helicopters carried water, biscuits and other bare necessities to ravaged Indonesian communities, some of which had been impossible to reach since a Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami ravaged coastlines in Asia and Africa. Relief efforts still were hampered by the destruction of roads, ports and airfields, especially in Indonesia, where almost 14,000 more deaths were reported yesterday, bringing the total to more than 94,000 in that country and more than 137,000 overall. The arrival of U.S. warships and helicopters boosted the relief drive and offered a glimpse of the scope of devastation. "There is nothing left to speak of," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Vorce of San Diego, who was one of the helicopter pilots flying from the USS Abraham Lincoln to the northern tip of Sumatra, where the tsunami took its greatest toll. The giant aircraft carrier and four other U.S. Navy vessels, crewed by more than 6,500 sailors and Marines, moved into position on Saturday off Indonesia to conduct one of the largest U.S. military operations in southern Asia since the Vietnam War. From a low-flying helicopter, the 70 miles of shoreline south of the Aceh provincial capital, Banda Aceh, looked like a skeleton coast. Villages, one after the next, were obliterated. Concrete foundations were all that remained of most structures. Only a few mosques remained intact, surrounded by wasteland. Thousands of emerald green rice paddies had been peeled away, replaced by fetid swamps, mangled tree trunks and sea slime. Americans delivered aid to shattered communities along Sumatra's coast. In the town of Kuede Teunom, 8,000 of its 18,000 people died. A few minutes after landing, the helicopter lifted off and another descended. The U.S. military also sent a flotilla of Marines and water-purifying equipment to Sri Lanka. The aid deliveries were a mere drop in an ocean of need — but priceless nonetheless, said Indonesian military spokesman Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki. "They've helped us reach places we have not had the time, or manpower, or equipment to go to," said Col. Basuki, noting that Americans had helped clear helicopter landing spaces for the arrival of future supplies. "It really speeds up the distribution of aid to [Sumatra's] west coast." Elsewhere, reporters were given their first look at the wiped-out village of Malacca, on the Indian island of Car Nicobar, where the only structure still standing was a statue of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. About 4,000 people are missing on the Andaman and Nicobar islands, an Indian territory off the coast of Malaysia. In India, which suffered more than 9,000 deaths, officials insisted that there was still hope for survivors. But the search was essentially over in Tamil Nadu state, the southern region which bore the brunt of the sea surge in the country. Veera Shanmuga Moni, a top administrator of Tamil Nadu's Nagappattinam district, said about 600 people on the missing list would be declared dead soon. For the first time since the tsunami struck eight days ago, humanitarian agencies voiced optimism. "I'm happy to report that we are not having too many difficulties with our distribution," said Heather Hill, a spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Program, which passed out 50 tons of rice and 8 tons of biscuits and dried noodles in Aceh province on Saturday, their first day of operation. Four Indonesian navy frigates loaded with supplies arrived off the coast of the fishing village of Meulaboh, one of Aceh's worst-hit spots. Others flew into Meulaboh by helicopter, including five American doctors from the USS Shoup and teams from the Japanese Red Cross and Spanish Red Cross with enough supplies to care for 30,000 people and provide clean water for 40,000. "Survivors have nothing," said Red Cross health specialist Caroline Dunn in Geneva. "Shelter, food, clean water and medicine all are lacking." In Banda Aceh, on Sumatra's hard-hit northwestern tip, 24-year-old fisherman Tengku Sofyan was discovered barely alive under his beached boat — the first survivor found in three days. Witnesses said Mr. Sofyan was at sea when the tsunami hit Dec. 26. His boat was tossed onto the beach at Lampulo, where he was trapped for a week without food and water. He was the first missing victim discovered alive since Friday. "He's in extremely fragile condition, especially mentally," said Dr. Irwan Azwar, who treated the fisherman. After a week of digging through rubble, rescue workers said the chances of finding more of the missing alive bordered on hoping for miracles. "If you survived the earthquake, you probably were killed by the tsunami," said Lamsar Sipahutar, the head of the search team in Indonesia. Nevertheless, in Aceh, some already were starting to look to the future. UNICEF spokesman John Budd said refugees were eager to get their children back to school and resume normal life. He said the agency was planning to establish 600 schools to serve 120,000 youngsters in stricken parts of Sumatra. The disaster's confirmed toll surpassed 137,000 with the confirmation of almost 14,000 additional deaths in Indonesia. U.N. officials said they expected it to top 150,000, although the final total might never be known. Five million people were left homeless. In Sri Lanka, where nearly 29,000 people were killed, more than 20 countries have sent or pledged aid. Medical teams from Japan, Israel, China, India and Russia were among the more than 500 local and foreign physicians dispatched to the disaster zone. Rice, sugar and lentils were being transported daily on two dozen trucks from the U.N. World Food Program. In Thailand, where the death toll approached 5,000, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the world's compassion and generosity was "more than we expected." "We have had no experience like this before," he said. "But now, we have a lot of expertise and experts to help us. That is what we are really happy with." -------- homeland security / national intelligence Homeland Security business faulted January 03, 2005 ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050102-112556-8450r.htm The largest Homeland Security Department contractors include two companies that paid millions of dollars to settle charges they defrauded the Pentagon, one firm that paid a foreign corruption fine and a business accused of botching a computer system for veterans hospitals, records show. About a quarter of the $2.5 billion awarded to the 50 largest Homeland Security contractors came under no-bid contracts, agency records show. That is lower, however, than the 44 percent of Pentagon contracts given under "other than full and open competition." The rest of the money paid to the top contractors — a bit more than $2 billion — was for contracts awarded through competition, the records show. Some of the nation's largest federal contractors have won the new business of protecting America from terrorists, including many with a recent history of legal run-ins with the government, the records show. The two companies with the most business — nearly $700 million between them — were Boeing Co. and Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a partnership of defense giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Those companies have paid more than $250 million in the past three years to settle charges of improprieties with their Pentagon contracts. Homeland Security audits also have accused the two companies of overcharging, in Boeing's case by $49 million. Homeland Security officials gave Congress a list of the top contractors through July and their competition status amid criticism of the agency's management and oversight of its money. The criticism has ranged from overcharges to exorbitant employee awards that came at taxpayers' expense. The department was created by pulling together 22 federal agencies with 180,000 employees and dramatically increased funding — up to $33 billion for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Officials blame some of the problems on growing pains. "The department recognizes it has many challenges, and from the day it stood up has taken positive steps to build and improve the department's contract management system," spokesman Larry Orluskie said. Analyst James Carafano of the conservative Heritage Foundation said some agencies within the department, such as the Coast Guard, have more serious contract oversight problems than others. "In some cases, you have programs which have been created out of thin air, and in other cases, you have people managing programs which are far larger than anything they've done in the past," Mr. Carafano said. Although the list of big contractors is dominated by well-known, large companies, a few lesser-known players have won large contracts. For instance, Chenega Technology Services Corp., an Alaska Native corporation, won a $500 million no-bid contract to maintain and repair screening equipment at ports and border crossings under a legislative provision written by Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Homeland Security's biggest contractor this year, Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), is upgrading and expanding the Coast Guard's fleet of ships, boats, airplanes and helicopters. Clark Kent Ervin, the department's inspector general, said in a report that hiring ICGS to install new engines in HH-65 helicopters would take longer and cost more than if the Coast Guard did the work itself. The original ICGS proposal for the project was a month late and included "$123 million worth of goods and services that the Coast Guard did not ask for and could not afford," Mr. Ervin's report said. The Coast Guard defended the contract, telling Mr. Ervin it believes the program is properly managed. ICGS spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell-Jones said the company agreed. Another report from Mr. Ervin said Boeing — Homeland Security's second-largest contractor last year — overcharged the department $49 million on a massive contract to install and maintain bomb detection and other screening equipment at U.S. airports. Boeing spokesman Fernando Vivanco denied any overcharging and said the company met the contract's tight schedule. "Nobody thought it could be done, and we did it," he said. Homeland Security's critics also questioned a $229 million contract to technology giant BearingPoint. The Department of Veterans Affairs abandoned a BearingPoint computer system for a Florida hospital last fall because it failed a nine-month testing process. The Justice Department and VA are investigating. -------- prisons / prisoners Lugar Condemns Plan To Jail Detainees for Life Reuters Monday, January 3, 2005; Page A02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42999-2005Jan2.html A leading Republican senator yesterday condemned as "a bad idea" a reported U.S. plan to keep some suspected terrorists imprisoned for a lifetime even if the government lacks evidence to charge them. The Pentagon and the CIA have asked the White House to decide on a more permanent approach for those it is unwilling to set free or turn over to U.S. or foreign courts, The Washington Post said in a report yesterday that cited intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials. Some detentions could potentially last a lifetime, the report said. Influential senators denounced the idea as probably unconstitutional. "It's a bad idea. So we ought to get over it and we ought to have a very careful, constitutional look at this," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday." Sen. Carl M. Levin (Mich.), senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, cited earlier U.S. Supreme Court decisions. "There must be some modicum, some semblance of due process . . . if you're going to detain people, whether it's for life or whether it's for years," Levin said, also on Fox. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department declined to comment, and a Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke of the Air Force, had no information on the reported plan. As part of a solution, the Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, plans to ask Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told The Post. The new prison, dubbed Camp 6, would allow inmates more comfort and freedom than they have now and would be designed for prisoners the government believes have no more intelligence to share. The Post said the outcome of a review underway would also affect those expected to be captured in the course of future counterterrorism operations. One proposal would transfer large numbers of Afghan, Saudi and Yemeni detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center into new U.S.-built prisons in their home countries, it said. -------- torture Is Bush being disobeyed on torture? January 03, 2005 Washington Times By Nat Hentoff http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050102-090728-3092r.htm Indications increase — documented through the Freedom of Information Act, by concerned FBI agents and troubled counterintelligence sources — that some Guantanamo detainees are being brutally assaulted and even tortured. These reports, including U.S. Navy documents, seem at odds with the president's emphatic reaction to the Abu Ghraib photographs: "We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being." A Dec. 2 federal court hearing in Washington shed some illumination on whether the president's abhorrence of torture is being ignored down below in the U.S. base in Cuba. Lawyers were in that court on behalf of some of the Guantanamo detainees held there for very long periods. As reported by the Associated Press, Judge Richard Leon asked Deputy Associate Attorney General Brian Boyle whether detention is legal if the evidence on which detainees are being held was extracted entirely through torture. "Torture is illegal," said the judge. "We all know that." Mr. Boyle answered that if the status-review military tribunals for these detainees "determine that evidence of questionable provenance were reliable, nothing in the due process clause (of the Constitution) prohibits them from relying on it." (As Judge Leon had noted, evidence obtained through torture is, to say the least, questionable.) At the December hearing, Judge Leon pressed Mr. Boyle further, asking whether the government recognizes any restrictions on evidence obtained by torture. The judge had reasonably appeared to regard Mr. Boyle's use of the term, "evidence of questionable provenance," as including the use of torture. This time, Mr. Boyle was more direct in his answer, saying that — as the Dec. 3 Los Angeles Times reported — "the United States never would adopt a policy that would have barred it from acting on evidence that could have prevented the September 11 terrorist attacks even if the data came from questionable practices like torture by a foreign power." Mr. Boyle may have been referring — although he was not explicit — to the practice of "extraordinary rendition," where the CIA has sent hard-to-track detainees to accommodating countries where torture is practiced. Accounts of this covert outsourcing of torture were part of the recent congressional debate on such a provision approving the practice in the September 11 intelligence-reform bill (and in a startling article by Dana Priest in the December 27 Washington Post). Language in the Houseversion, which would have made this relay system of torture an official American policy, was struck out of the final bill. This was fortunate, considering the world's view of us, and our view of ourselves. But we don't know if itstillcontinues covertly. JudgeLeon pressed on, asking the deputy associateattorney general whether American courts could review cases of detainees where evidence has been obtained from torture by U.S. (not foreign) personnel. Mr. Boyle replied that torture is against American policy and any such allegations would be "forwarded through command channels for military discipline." But that's not enough. We still need our civilian courts to decide whether we permit torture. One observation of note is that Mr. Boyle didn't retract his earlier admission (where he stated that evidence extracted from torture in other countries can be used against non-citizen detainees being held for interrogation as enemy combatants to discover their links to terrorists). So, although Congress did not include the outsourcing of torture in the September 11 intelligence-reform bill, that kind of evidence, according to this Justice Department official, is not prohibited. Accordingly, the lead on the AP story reporting on the Dec. 3 hearing was: "U.S. military panels reviewing the detention of foreigners as enemy combatants are allowed to use evidence gained by torture in deciding whether to keep them imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the government conceded in court." On Dec. 9, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, wrote Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld concerning torture by our own forces, expressing "deep concern over issues related to detainees being held in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. Recent reports indicate that not only were detainees mishandled and interrogated in a manner inconsistent with the Geneva Conventions (against torture), but that subsequent internal reports of abuse appear to have been suppressed ... Please inform me of the actions you intend to take." The American Civil Liberties Union has released, through the Freedom of Information Act, reports from FBI and U.S. Navy documents that detail what the ACLU calls "abuse and even torture" of detainees in Iraq and other U.S. interrogation centers — and indeed, official suppression of concerns by armed forces witnesses. Is Congress interested in holiday hearings on these actual documents? -------- us politics Schwarzenegger faces tough '05 January 03, 2005 (AP) http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050102-112556-4730r.htm SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A year ago, newly elected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faced a huge budget deficit, an unfriendly Legislature and uncertainty about his administration's direction. Little has changed as the Republican governor prepares to deliver his second State of the State speech Wednesday. California's budget shortfall is $8 billion and climbing, Democrats are still bristling over Mr. Schwarzenegger's calling them "losers" after the Nov. 2 elections, and many are questioning the governor's priorities. Some political analysts say Mr. Schwarzenegger's speech will be critical to defining his agenda for this year and for the rest of his term. "This is about the road to 2006 and beyond — not just getting an on-time budget this year or the litany of programs he's going to propose," said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican consultant based in Los Angeles. "This is going to be about substantive changes." Expectations remain high for the governor, who most Californians agree was able to generate some positive results during his first year in office. Buoyed by an improving economy, Mr. Schwarzenegger pushed a pro-business agenda and embarked on a trade mission to Japan to help change the state's image as unfriendly to commerce. Political gridlock in the Capitol has eased, thanks to his efforts to reach out to Democrats, and polls show that most voters think the state is headed in the right direction. Still, even Mr. Schwarzenegger's most ardent supporters say he faces tough decisions, including whether to raise taxes or cut programs to solve the state's economic crisis. Although he closed part of the state's budget gap, estimated at one point at $17 billion, he did it with borrowed money, one-time fixes and accounting gimmicks that won't be available in 2005. "The fiscal crisis facing California is every bit as severe, if not more so, than it was when he tossed [Governor Gray Davis] out of office," Mr. Hoffenblum said. Mr. Schwarzenegger has said that he opposes higher taxes and that the budget can be balanced by cutting the growth rate of key programs. But he has offered few details on what he proposes to do. The governor is expected to submit his budget plan to lawmakers next Monday. "It all gets back to the budget," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton. "If you are not credible on the budget, people begin to think you are a little less credible on other things. You are taken less seriously." Although Mr. Schwarzenegger has made some inroads with Democrats, the state's majority party, his early words, such as calling California lawmakers "girlie men," may have cost him credibility in the Legislature. Mr. Schwarzenegger could alienate Democrats even further by focusing in his speech on how legislative districts are drawn. If he appears intent on undermining Democratic power by redrawing legislative districts, he may be accused of ignoring the state's more pressing financial concerns. If Democrats are unwilling to accept some of his reforms, aides have hinted, the governor may take them to voters in an election he will call for late summer or fall. -------- Two Issues May Deeply Divide Next Congress Parties Are at Odds Over High Court, Social Security By Charles Babington and Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 3, 2005; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43009-2005Jan2.html The 109th Congress will convene tomorrow with pageantry and pleasantries, but two lurking, potentially explosive issues could turn it into one of the most partisan and contentious sessions in recent times. Just as judicial nominations have become unusually divisive, senators are anticipating the first Supreme Court vacancy in more than a decade. And President Bush is proposing significant changes to Social Security, the popular entitlement program that many Democrats consider a vital and inviolable legacy of their party. The new Congress will address hundreds of other questions, such as whether to limit civil liabilities, rewrite immigration laws and drill for oil in an Alaskan refuge. But politicians from left to right agree that those issues cannot rock the Capitol as much as battles over the high court and the federal retirement program. "Those are going to be the two epic fights in 2005," said Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union. Aides said Bush plans to kick off the Social Security debate with a major speech even before his second inauguration, on Jan. 20, then will try to keep up the pressure on Congress with a series of road trips that will include stops in areas with heavy concentrations of seniors so he can assure them they could not lose their checks under his proposal. Signaling his plans to work for all the major parts of his agenda, Bush will fly Wednesday to Illinois to make his case for medical liability reform, part of a suite of changes to laws governing lawsuits that the Senate plans to take up early in the year. Before turning to such long-anticipated issues, both chambers plan to act to fund and perhaps even enlarge Bush's commitment of at least $350 million toward recovery from the tsunami in South Asia, where the death toll is now at least 45 times the number of deaths from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Congress will do its part to help," House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said last week. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told CNN yesterday that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) had "made it absolutely clear that the Senate will come back in session whenever it is necessary to obtain the necessary supplemental funding to replenish these accounts." In many respects, the 109th Congress will resemble the 108th, which adjourned last month. Republicans again control the White House as well as both chambers of Congress, though by relatively small margins. Outwardly, the 435-member House has barely changed, with Republicans gaining three seats in November and both parties keeping their leadership teams in place. The Nov. 2 elections brought more change to the 100-seat Senate. Republicans netted four additional seats, boosting their once-tiny majority to a more comfortable 55 and, in the process, ousting the Democrats' leader of the past decade, Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.). But Democrats still hold enough seats to mount filibusters, the delaying strategy that requires 60 votes to halt. With Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, battling thyroid cancer, Senate Democrats soon may face a high-stakes decision on whether to filibuster a Supreme Court nomination, a move certain to ignite a ferocious fight with Bush and Republican senators. Democrats used filibusters in 2004 to block 10 conservative appellate court nominees who they said were outside the political mainstream. Frist has called the practice intolerable and threatened to rule that filibusters against judicial nominees are unconstitutional. Democrats say they would respond with an avalanche of parliamentary maneuvers that would bring the entire Senate to a halt. For now, both parties are playing a game of political chicken, unwilling to signal their intentions or temper their threats. Some Republicans say they cannot believe Democrats would filibuster a Supreme Court nomination, an act that would draw widespread attention. But many liberal groups will press Democrats to do just that if Bush nominates a staunch conservative who, among other things, might seek to outlaw abortion. "Assuming that he does that, and that Republican senators rubberstamp the nominee, Democrats will likely resort to using all available tools to prevent the confirmation, including the filibuster," said Nan Aron, head of the liberal Alliance for Justice. Bush, by recently renominating several of the judges filibustered last year, has signaled "his intent to make the next four years as bitter and partisan as we've ever seen," she said. The House plays no role in judicial nominations, but it will be amid the other major looming battle: Social Security revisions. Bush has called for allowing workers to divert some of their payroll taxes to private accounts, which could be invested in stocks and bonds. Critics from both parties say the president has not explained how he would pay for the revisions, and many Democrats oppose any change whatsoever in Social Security. Meanwhile, some prominent Republicans have their own proposals, suggesting Bush will have to unify his own party before pushing legislation through Congress. For example, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) wants to raise the level of income subject to Social Security payroll taxes, an idea Bush rejects. Even worse for the president, the powerful lobbying group AARP is spending $5 million on advertisements opposing his plan, which the retirees' group says is too risky. In light of such resistance, even some Bush allies are pessimistic. "The odds are probably not in favor of accomplishing something, but it's a fight worth having," Lessner said. After Social Security and judges, Congress's toughest issues are likely to involve spending and deficit questions, with some lower priorities eventually falling away. Already, administration officials have signaled they will wait until next year for a major push to rewrite the tax code, and one congressional aide involved in the discussions predicted there will be "other bags thrown overboard." Almost certain to be pushed, however, is a renewed attempt to pass a broad-based energy bill, including drilling for oil and gas in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Senators narrowly blocked the drilling provision last year, and supporters say the bigger GOP majority may prove the cure. As for limiting civil liabilities, Bush has made it a high priority and the House can be counted on again to send "tort reform" legislation to the Senate. The struggle there, however, might be intense. Some Senate Republicans who are lawyers -- including Graham, Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and newcomer Mel Martinez (Fla.) -- may have reservations about limiting victims' abilities to seek damages from hospitals, doctors, corporations or others that allegedly harmed people through neglect or other misdeeds. "I anticipate a very contentious and partisan Congress, with much of the initial conflict centered on the budget, Social Security reform and judicial appointments but eventually extending well beyond that," said Thomas E. Mann, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution. "Bush's best prospects are probably with the energy bill and some modest tort reform. If the situation in Iraq remains insecure and unstable after the [Jan. 30 Iraqi] elections, I expect opposition voices in Congress to begin pressing for an exit strategy." One of the most important actions of the first week will take place behind closed doors. House Republicans will pick a new Appropriations Committee chairman, who oversees all spending bills. The contenders -- Jerry Lewis (Calif.), Ralph Regula (Ohio) and Harold Rogers (Ky.) -- will be interviewed privately tomorrow, with the result announced Wednesday. House Republican strategists said the issue that may cause Bush the most problems with his own party is immigration, with leaders caught between their promise to take up new restrictions, which was part of the price for winning passage of intelligence reform in December, and the president's plan to give temporary legal status to undocumented workers if they have a job and register. "The president can make his agenda as ambitious as he wants," a Republican Senate aide said. "But it is going to be constrained by time, money and will." -------- OTHER -------- environment Catawba Indian Nation Signs Environmental Agreement With EPA WASHINGTON, DC, January 3, 2005 (ENS) http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2005/2005-01-03-09.asp#anchor5 The Catawba Indian Nation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have signed a Tribe/EPA Environmental Agreement, only the second one signed between the federal government and any Tribal government in the Eastern United States. The intent of the agreement, signed late last month, is to help the Tribe develop the capacity to overcome environmental problems, protect surface waters for traditional practices such as fishing, improve drinking water services, monitor both indoor and outdoor air quality, and promote economic and social development in an environmental friendly manner. The agreement describes the working relationship between the Tribe and EPA in language specific enough for planning purposes, but general enough to allow either party flexibility in meeting important goals. For instance, the Tribe is planning to test homes for the presence of radon, a colorless, odorless naturally occurring gas that can enter homes through the foundation. Long-term exposure to high levels of radon may cause serious health effects, including lung cancer. Radon is responsible for thousands of cancer related deaths each year in the United States. The agreement allows the Tribe discretion as to when and how this testing will be done. “This is the first time the Catawba Indian Nation and EPA have written down where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going as a team,” said Catawba Chief Gilbert Blue. “This agreement, only the second one signed between the Federal government and any Tribal Government in the Eastern United States, is historic,” said Jimmy Palmer, regional administrator of EPA Region 4, “and will provide a blueprint for action for our respective governments.” Blue said, “Jimmy Palmer and I have been talking about the need for such an agreement for some time. It is now a reality.” The Catawba Indian Nation consists of 2,800 members, many of whom live on 700 acres of Tribal land located near Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Tribe received federal recognition in 1993 and has been operating as a sovereign governmental entity since that time. The Tribe’s current environmental functions include monitoring the quality of drinking water and the air environment, managing the indoor air environment, and collecting and disposing of solid waste. Employees of the Tribe’s Department of Planning and Development are also active on local, state and national environmental councils and groups, studying new ways of protecting the environment and improving public health. -------- imf / world bank / wto (economics) World Bank Chief to Step Down in '05 With Bush's Backing Unlikely, Wolfensohn Plans to Leave Post After Term Expires By Paul Blustein Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 3, 2005; Page A04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43175-2005Jan2.html James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, said yesterday that he expects to leave his job after his term ends this year, heralding the end of a tumultuous decade at the helm of the development lender. "I've had 10 years, and I think that's probably enough," Wolfensohn said on ABC's "This Week" when asked whether he would like to stay beyond his second five-year term. "But if the need is there, I'll do whatever the [bank's member countries] want. My understanding and my belief is that probably during the course of this year I'll give over to someone else." The comment was the first public acknowledgement by Wolfensohn, 71 , that he is unlikely to win the backing of the Bush administration for a third term. In recent months World Bank officials have described him as eager to stay on well past June, when his term expires, but increasingly resigned to the prospect that the Bush team would prefer to replace him with someone else. Publicly, Wolfensohn has said only that around year-end he will assess his chances of being reappointed, and make up his mind then. By tradition, the United States, the largest shareholder among the World Bank's 184 member nations, chooses an American to head the bank, while Europe gets to choose the head of the International Monetary Fund. The administration is still in the early stages of sifting names of potential replacements for Wolfensohn, but administration sources have said that Washington plans to consult with other member nations and conduct a more "transparent" selection process than in the past, when the decision was made by a handful of top U.S. officials. Prominently mentioned as a candidate for the job is Robert B. Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative. Other possibilities include John B. Taylor, the undersecretary of the treasury for international affairs; Randall L. Tobias, the administration's global AIDS coordinator; Christine Todd Whitman, the former director of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Carla A. Hills, Zoellick's predecessor during the administration of President Bush's father. Tony Fratto, a Treasury spokesman, declined to comment yesterday, citing the administration's policy of not discussing personnel matters publicly. Wolfensohn was picked by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and reappointed in 2000. A former investment banker, the Australian-born Wolfensohn has led the bank with a high-voltage style, using his charisma, charm and frequently explosive temper to cajole and bully the bank's staff and board into changing the bank's focus toward a greater emphasis on alleviating poverty. The bank, which lends about $20 billion a year to developing nations, had been led for 15 years before Wolfensohn's arrival by a succession of relatively drab men and it was under attack from both ends of the political spectrum. Critics accused the bank of imposing austere economic policies on poor countries in exchange for its loans and also blamed the bank for propping up corrupt regimes. Wolfensohn put top priority on making the bank less arrogant and "top down" in its approach to poverty reduction, and he moved about two-thirds of the country directors from the bank's headquarters into the field. His legacy also includes his successful fight to grant substantial debt relief to several dozen of the world's poorest countries, and a declaration that corruption, a topic long ignored at the bank, is a "cancer" in the developing world. Although he won plenty of admirers, including many in aid groups that had long criticized the bank, he drew derision from others who viewed his management style as chaotic and wasteful of bank resources. He clashed with the Bush administration over whether the bank's aid was being used effectively and whether the bank ought to provide more of its aid to poor nations in the form of grants instead of zero-percent loans. -------- ACTIVISTS Demonstrators Mobilize Under a Slew of Causes Factions Plan Protests Over Several Days By Manny Fernandez Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 3, 2005; Page B01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43134-2005Jan2.html As inaugural planners organize a $40 million pageant for President Bush this month, Ashwini Hardikar is preparing for another kind of spectacle. The University of Michigan junior is one of thousands coming to Bush's second inauguration to show not their support for the president but their rage. "A lot of us are going to the inauguration out of desperation," said Hardikar, 20, who helped form a campus counter-inaugural committee to coordinate student trips to Washington. "We feel like we have to take desperate measures to feel like we've made a difference." The Jan. 20th inauguration -- shaping up to be one of the most heavily secured and expensive in history -- will be the scene of small and large demonstrations. Organizers from dozens of local and national groups are planning marches, rallies and acts of civil disobedience on Inauguration Day and the days before and after. Activists say the demonstrations will be as large -- if not larger -- than the protests at Bush's first inauguration in January 2001. They vow to create one of the biggest displays of opposition to the administration's foreign and domestic policies since the mass demonstrations at the summer's Republican National Convention in New York. The battle between protesters and authorities has already begun. One group, International ANSWER, is preparing to sue the National Park Service over access to the Pennsylvania Avenue NW inaugural route. Demonstrators also are complaining about Secret Service restrictions on parade-route signs and displays, including a ban on puppets, papier-mache objects, coffins and signs more than three feet wide, 20 feet long and a quarter-inch thick. "We think it's an illegal and unconstitutional overstepping by the Secret Service, working on behalf of the Bush administration, to prevent anti-Bush banners and signs from being visible along the parade route," said Brian Becker, national coordinator for ANSWER, an antiwar, anti-racism coalition. Kevin Sheridan, a spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, said the parade will be open to Americans of all political stripes. "The inauguration will celebrate all of the freedoms that make our democracy great, the First Amendment included," he said. Jim Mackin, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the agency respects the right of the public to demonstrate and "does not prohibit the presence of signs or props based on their content, only those items made of materials or of a size that could be used potentially in a threatening or harmful manner." Park Service officials have said allegations that they are restricting access to the parade route are false. The public and demonstrators will be allowed onto open areas of the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk, officials said. ANSWER's rally is one of several protests set for Inauguration Day, including a "die-in" and other actions still in the works in which people are preparing to risk arrest. "The energy level is so high that we can't anticipate less than a massive turnout," said Morrigan Phillips, 24, a Washington activist involved with the D.C. Cluster Spokescouncil, one of the main counter-inaugural coalitions that includes representatives from roughly 45 local and out-of-town groups. The Washington chapter of the group Free Republic plans to represent the other side, rallying on and near Pennsylvania Avenue to support the president and provide a haven from demonstrators, its co-leader, Kristinn Taylor, said. Four years ago, thousands of demonstrators filled parts of downtown and lined several blocks of the parade route in the largest inaugural protest since the one during President Richard M. Nixon's second inauguration in 1973. Most protesters were peaceful, though there were a few arrests and some vandalism. An egg, four green apples and a plastic water bottle were tossed in the direction of the president's limousine. Fueling those demonstrations were what many believed was a stolen election in 2000. This time, protesters said their dissent has been inflamed by what they called an unjustified war in Iraq. But the antiwar cause is one banner among many. Bush has been a popular target for left-leaning activists since he took office. Their anger has not subsided over the years, and the administration's policies at home and abroad have galvanized activists in antiwar, anti-globalization, pro-environment, pro-labor, abortion rights and AIDS movements. Some protesters said they are coming to Washington to oppose what they consider U.S. efforts to overthrow democratically elected leaders in Haiti, Venezuela and elsewhere. Some are coming because of the administration's support of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Others say their main reason for attending is opposition to the USA Patriot Act or alleged Election Day fraud. David Lytel, founder of the Committee to ReDefeat the President, said the group is organizing a rally at the Jefferson Memorial and is planning other events focused on raising questions about voter irregularities and the 2004 election. The D.C. Anti-War Network is sponsoring two actions -- a rally and march from Meridian Hill Park in Columbia Heights and a "die-in" to symbolize those who have died in Iraq or because of Bush policies. The details of the die-in are still being planned, but the street-theater action will take place near the parade route, organizers said. "We're not trying to cause destruction or anything like that," said District resident Peter Perry, 35, an organizer. "We're actually trying to open up debate over foreign and domestic policies." A group called Anarchist Resistance said it is planning a "festive and rowdy march." An organizer who identified himself as Rae Valentine, 24, described plans this way: "Our idea is to disrupt and put a black eye on Bush's coronation." The group's Web site says it is organizing under five "points of unity," one of which supports a "confrontational attitude." Other organizers are hoping a simple, silent gesture gets their message across. At least 10,000 protesters are expected to stand along the parade route and turn their backs as Bush goes by, said Jet Heiko, 31, national organizer for the Turn Your Back on Bush event. "It's something that's universally understood as being a symbolic statement of defiance," Heiko said. He and a number of other demonstrators said they are worried that heightened security for the first inauguration since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will stifle dissent. Becker said the Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild are preparing to take legal action on behalf of ANSWER this week against the Park Service, after the group received a permit that he said prevents protesters from gathering in large numbers. "Our permit is for tiny, tiny areas, behind bleachers or off the inaugural route, and that is an illegal denial of the public's access to the inaugural parade route," he said.