03/29/2005

U.S. Troop Level In Iraq To Grow
Deployments Will Be Extended For Elections
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 1)
The Pentagon said that it will boost the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to
about 150,000, the highest level since the U.S. occupation began 19 months
ago. Most of the increase in the troop count—which now stands at about
138,000—will come from the extended deployment of units already there as
others arrive. That will keep some troops in Iraq for combat tours of 14
months, beyond the year-long mission that most service members are told to
expect.

U.S. To Increase Its Force In Iraq By Nearly 12,000
(New York Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 1)
The American military presence in Iraq will grow by nearly 12,000 troops by
next month, to 150,000, the highest level since the invasion last year, to
provide security for the Iraqi elections in January and to quell insurgent
attacks around the country, the Pentagon announced. The tours of about
10,400 soldiers and Marines in Iraq will be extended—in some cases for the
second time—for up to two months, even as their replacement units begin to
arrive.

Arms Inspectors Said To Seek Access To Iran Sites
(New York Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 1)
International inspectors are requesting access to two secret Iranian
military sites where intelligence suggests that Tehran's Ministry of Defense
may be working on atomic weapons, despite the agreement that Iran reached
this week to suspend its production of enriched uranium, according to
diplomats in Vienna. The inspectors at the International Atomic Energy
Agency base their suspicions on a mix of satellite photographs indicating
the testing of high explosives and procurement records showing the purchase
of equipment that can be used for enriching uranium.

CORRECTIONS

Correction
(Washington Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 19)
The number of Iraqis wounded in the war was incorrectly reported in
yesterday's editions of Helle Dale's column. The sentence should have read:
Iraq's Health Ministry estimates by comparison that, all told, 3,853 Iraqis
have been killed and 15,517 wounded.

IRAQ

Marines Fend Off Militants In Iraq
Coalition Raids Sunni Stretch
(Washington Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 14)
U.S. Marines backed by helicopters and a tank fought off Iraqi insurgents
who attacked them with mortars during a series of raids hunting weapons and
suspected militants south of Baghdad. One Marine was wounded.

Fallujah Fight Among Deadliest In Years For U.S.
(Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2004)
Seventy-one U.S. troops died in the November battle to retake the city of
Fallujah, according to the top Marine commander in Iraq, a toll
significantly higher than the previous count of 51 deaths. An additional 623
American troops were wounded, said Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, up from
an injury count of 425 issued more than two weeks ago.

Iraqi President Backs January Elections
Influential Sunni Wants 'Dialogue' To Avert Boycott
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 30)
Interim Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar, a Sunni Muslim tribal sheik, added his
influential voice to calls for national elections to be held in Iraq as
scheduled on Jan. 30, placing him at odds with a number of Sunni parties
concerned that violence in their political heartland will make voting there
impossible.

Allawi Woos Sunni Arabs To Take Part In Election
(New York Times, December 2, 2004)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi met in Jordan with Iraqi exiles and tribal
and religious leaders as part of a campaign to coax reluctant Sunni Arabs
into taking part in the coming Iraqi elections.

Insurgency Leaves Mosul Ill-Prepared For Elections
As Vote Nears, Iraqi City Must Replace Lost Voter Files And Secure Polling
Stations
(USA Today, December 2, 2004, Pg. 6)
Iraqi and U.S. authorities had expected to encounter problems registering
voters in the volatile Sunni Triangle, but Mosul, with a population of 1.7
million, is proving to be one of the biggest challenges to holding free
elections set for Jan. 30. With only two months to go, the local government
has yet to devise a plan for registering voters after insurgents torched
most of the city's records during an uprising last month.

Marines: Fallujah Battle A Source Of Pride
(New York Times on the Web, December 1. 2004)
More than 50 Marines have died since the Fallujah attack began Nov. 8, and
skirmishes still take place in the city. Yet for some Marines, their
performance in one of the major battles of the Iraq conflict is a source of
pride. "Fallujah is going to be right up there among the most successful
battles in Iraq," said Maj. Tom Davis, 45, of St. Cloud, Minn. "It's where
the rubber meets the road. That is where our heroes did their best."

Report From Iraq: Fifth Of Six Parts
Enemy Gains Some Respect
(Miami Herald, December 2, 2004)
Trained to fight a military with armor on a field, U.S. troops marveled at
the tenacity of insurgents in a cat-and-mouse pursuit in Fallujah.

Body In Iraq Is Not Aid Worker's
(Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2004)
A mutilated body found in Iraq is not that of kidnapped aid worker Margaret
Hassan, the British government said. The Foreign Office said it continued to
believe that Hassan had been killed, although the evidence was not
conclusive.

IRAQ—ABU GHRAIB

Reservist Was Coerced, Lawyers Say
Defense Tries To Exclude Evidence Against England In Abuses At Abu Ghraib
(Baltimore Sun, December 2, 2004)
Attorneys for Pfc. Lynndie England told a military judge at Fort Bragg,
N.C., that the young Army reservist was sleep-deprived and coerced when she
told investigators that Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad
had been humiliated and photographed "just for fun." Defense attorneys want
three incriminating statements England made about the abuses thrown out by
the presiding judge before she stands trial in January. Her lawyers also
want to exclude the now-infamous photographs that show England flashing a
thumbs-up sign near naked Iraqis and holding a leash tied to the neck of a
nude detainee.

CIA Was Wary Of U.S. Interrogation Methods In Iraq
(Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2004)
CIA officers in Iraq were ordered to stay away from a U.S. military
interrogation facility last year because agency officials questioned the way
detainees were being interrogated, according to a December 2003 report on a
secret special operations unit.

MIDEAST

Iran Reportedly Hides Work On A Longer-Range Missile
(New York Times, December 2, 2004)
Iran is secretly developing a longer-range ballistic missile than it has
publicly acknowledged, with the capacity to strike targets as far away as
Berlin, an opposition group asserts. The group says the missile, which it
says could have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, is being developed
with help from North Korean scientists, even as Iran has agreed to curbs on
its nuclear program in a new pact with three European countries.

U.S. Told Of Iranian Effort To Create Nuclear Warhead
(Washington Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 3)
Recent intelligence shows Iran has been working to produce a missile
re-entry vehicle containing a small nuclear warhead for its Shahab missiles
and has encountered problems developing a reliable centrifuge system for
uranium enrichment, U.S. officials said.

FBI Searches Offices Of Israel Lobbying Group As Part Of Spy Probe
(USA Today, December 2, 2004, Pg. 4)
The FBI searched the offices of the premier pro-Israel advocacy group in the
United States for more than six hours, taking away computer files and
issuing subpoenas to four senior staffers in a continuing probe of whether a
midlevel Pentagon analyst passed classified information to Israel. Both the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Israeli government have
denied any wrongdoing.

WHITE HOUSE

President Outlines Foreign Policy
Cooperation Called Top Priority;
Onus for Mideast Peace Placed On Palestinians
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 32)
President Bush outlined a second-term foreign policy that would make
international cooperation his administration's top priority but put
responsibility for Middle East peace efforts on the Palestinians, a tough
stance at odds with some U.S. allies. Addressing Canadian officials at the
end of a two-day trip to the country, Bush vowed that his first order of
business would be to build "multilateral institutions," signaling that,
after a contentious first term, he was eager for more fruitful diplomacy.

Bush Presses Canada On Ballistic Missile Defense
(New York Times on the Web, December 1, 2004)
President Bush caught Canadian officials off guard in calling openly for
joint action on a continental missile defense shield. Bush made clear his
desire for Canada's support in setting up an anti-missile system in Alaska
to protect western North America, a politically sensitive issue that
Canadian officials said before his visit was unlikely to be raised.

CONGRESS

FY '06 Defense Budget To Go To Hill Feb. 7
(Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, December 2, 2004)
The Bush Administration's fiscal 2006 defense budget request will be sent to
Congress on Feb. 7, 2005, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman.

ARMY

Amputees Struggle To Return To Duty
Precedent-Wary Army Must Weigh Capability
(New Orleans Times-Picayune, November 30, 2004, Pg. 1)
As some military amputees struggle to re-qualify for active duty service,
the Army is torn between a profound emotional commitment to its fallen
warriors and its cold mission of providing fit, tough soldiers for war. Like
much of society, it had been biased against amputees and other people with
disabilities, according to current officers and retired military amputees.
Now, it is trying to throw off those preconceptions while treating all
soldiers fairly. It is a battle. In a series of high-level meetings this
fall, senior officers and federal officials were unable to write a clear new
policy for helping amputees.

Warriors Of 4th Share Pain Of Loss
Fort Hood Division Known For Aggressive Missions In Iraq
(Dallas Morning News, December 2, 2004)
The death of seven members of the 4th Infantry Division in the crash of a
Black Hawk helicopter near Fort Hood, Tex., on Monday underscores the
soldier's reality: Combat isn't the only risk of danger.

INTELLIGENCE

Tenet Criticizes Intelligence Bill
Ex-CIA Director Opposes Proposed Separation Of Duties
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 5)
Former CIA director George Tenet criticized an intelligence restructuring
bill's plan to create a director of national intelligence, saying it would
separate the new intelligence chief from direct control over the case
officers and analysts who are overseas and "taking risks."

TERRORISM

Judge Questions Sweep Of Bush's War On Terrorism
Pentagon Says 550 'Enemy Combatants' Are Confined Properly, Seeks Benefit of
Doubt On Detentions
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 4)
A federal judge questioned the Bush administration's broad definition of its
powers to indefinitely imprison alleged Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, especially those who never took up arms against the
United States. Government lawyers, who are seeking to dismiss the claims of
54 Guantanamo detainees who have challenged their imprisonment, said that a
federal court should not micromanage the president's war on terrorism.

Fate Of Guantánamo Detainees Is Debated In Federal Court
(New York Times, December 2, 2004)
The Washington courtroom of federal Judge Joyce Hens Green served as the
stage for the beginning of what is expected to be a long and bruising second
phase of the legal battle over the Bush administration's efforts to keep the
fate of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the hands of the
military instead of federal judges.

BUSINESS

E-Mails Provide A Glimpse Into 'Iron Triangle'
Boeing Deal Is Example Of Ties Among Military Services, Defense and Congress
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 33)
As series of internal Pentagon e-mails involving the Boeing tanker leasing
deal provide an unusual glimpse into part of what scholars described more
than 20 years ago as the "Iron Triangle"—the enduring alliance between the
military services, the defense industry and their congressional advocates.
"Everyone's nervous," Acting Undersecretary of Defense Michael W. Wynne
warned in a confidential e-mail to Air Force Secretary James G. Roche on
July 8, 2003.

EUROPE

Europeans Set To Succeed NATO In Bosnia
(New York Times, December 2, 2004)
Just over nine years after it first deployed troops to help bring an end to
the civil war in Bosnia, NATO is winding up its peacekeeping operations
there and making way for a new European-led force. In a ceremony today, the
dark blue flag of the alliance will be lowered and much of its
responsibilities will be handed over to the European Union, which has never
before taken on a military operation on such a scale.

AFGHANISTAN

Embassy Warns Americans In Afghanistan
(USA Today, December 2, 2004)
Militants based in Pakistan are planning to infiltrate Western relief
organizations and companies in Afghanistan as part of a plot to abduct U.S.
citizens, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said. The warning also said that
Americans were at risk from suicide attacks and that it was unclear when any
attack might take place.

OPINION

Stick With Jan. 30
Jim Hoagland
(Washington Post, December 2, 2004, Pg. 35)
The United States, Britain and their coalition partners have managed since
June to uphold the necessary fiction that they no longer occupy Iraq. They
need to make their strategic falsehood come true in 2005 by sticking to the
Jan. 30 target date for the Iraqi election and by ensuring that it leads to
majority rule. Fallujah, in its own way, already voted for its view of
Iraq's future, and lost.

What We Won In Fallujah
Max Boot
(Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2004)
For all their success in Fallujah, we should not expect U.S. troops to
completely pacify Iraq anytime soon. "What they can do—what they are
doing—is to keep the insurgents from derailing a political process that, one
hopes, will soon result in the creation of a legitimate government that can
field indigenous security forces and defend itself."

To Win, Restore Bush's Goal
Max Singer
(Washington Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 17)
A senior fellow of the Hudson Institute writes that if Washington wants a
relatively peaceful establishment of an independent free government in Iraq,
it needs to stop supporting the Sunni minority, many of whom have
anti-American undemocratic politics, and start allowing the Shiite majority,
which wants a government of laws and is more pro-American, to control their
own country. "It is not rocket science to think we might do better
supporting the 60 percent of the country favoring democracy rather than the
20 percent who want to ally with Arab dictators."

Intelligence Reform Held Hostage
Is Rep. Hunter Misinformed Or Greedy For Turf?
Jane Harman
(Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2004)
The ranking Democratic member of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and a negotiator on the intelligence reform bill writes that
the legislation would not affect the military's access to tactical
battlefield intelligence, contrary to criticism by House Armed Services
Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, and would actually improve intelligence
sharing.

Why The Fallujah Mosque Shooting Matters
Thomas J. Raleigh
(Chicago Tribune, December 1, 2004)
A retired Army lieutenant colonel writes that the countries on whose
cooperation and support the United States depends to confront terrorism and
proliferation will never accept "deep regrets" about the "isolated" shooting
in a Fallujah mosque and assurances that the incident will be "thoroughly
investigated." "We must unambiguously tell the Arab and Muslim worlds that
such behavior is unacceptable. Should we do this, we will at the same time
take a significant step toward regaining the trust and confidence of our
traditional allies; a trust that we continue to fritter away in stupid and
avoidable ways."

EDITORIAL

Red Double-Crossed Again
(Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2004, Pg. 12)
Once upon a time, the International Committee of the Red Cross was a
humanitarian outfit doing the Lord's work to reduce the horrors of war. So
it is a special tragedy to see that it has increasingly become an
ideological organization unable to distinguish between good guys and bad.
"No longer careful, scrupulous and neutral, the ICRC has become just another
politicized pressure group like Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch."

Rumsfeld For Defense
(New York Sun, November 30, 2004, Pg. 10)
"Most of those who want Messrs. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Feith gone, are the
ones who wanted Mr. Bush gone. The reasons Mr. Bush could give for hanging
on to the Pentagon team are the same reasons a lot of voters had when they
went to the polls to re-hire Mr. Bush for four years: a tremendous pair of
successes in strategy and in execution."

In Defense Of The Scouts
(Washington Times, December 2, 2004, Pg. 18)
First the Pentagon planned to stop sponsoring Boy Scout troops because
Scouts are required to pledge belief in God. Then Defense Secretary (and
Eagle Scout) Donald Rumsfeld promised he won't allow that. Now Congress is
making noises about backing up the Scouts with legislative protection. "A
growing number of legal scholars think the arguments against the Boy Scouts
of America no longer stand scrutiny, and we're heartened to hear it."