2011年6月27日星期一

Next Pentagon chief will formally end gay ban: Gates (AFP)

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – A formal end to the ban on gays serving openly in the US military will likely come by late July or early August, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates told AFP on Thursday.

Gates, revising his earlier forecasts, said in an interview that final approval to end the prohibition would be left for his successor at the Pentagon, Leon Panetta, who is due to take over from Gates on July 1.

Congress voted to repeal the ban in December and Gates had said previously that he might be able to sign off on the change before he steps down at the end of the month.

The new law requires the Pentagon to make any necessary changes and then the prohibition would end 60 days after the defense secretary, the top military officer Admiral Mike Mullen and President Barack Obama certify that the military is ready to move ahead.

"I will not certify," said Gates, but added he had launched preparations to pave the way for the move.

"What I have done is earlier this week met with the service chiefs and the service secretaries and we began what I would call the pre-certification phase of this," he said.

With a large percentage of the force having undergone training to adjust to the new rule, the chiefs of the armed services will now confer with their officers to check if the military is ready for the change, he said.

The chiefs, Gates said, will be asking "are we ready to proceed with this, are you confident that good order and cohesion and discipline will be maintained, and content that people have been trained adequately and so on."

Based on that exercise, the chiefs will then deliver their conclusions to the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Obama, he said.

Gates said he sought to start preparations in his final weeks in office to ensure the issue could be taken up by his successor next month without any delays.

"I wanted to get this started because when Mr Panetta comes in he's obviously going to have a lot of things on his plate.

"And I was concerned that if I didn't get this started it might be delayed several weeks until he was able to get to it and inform himself about it."

He added: "I think our hope would be that we would be in a position, and I underscore the word hope, to provide the certification sometime in the last half of July, early August."

Lawmakers voted to end the prohibition after the Pentagon issued a study that found a solid majority of troops were not bothered by the prospect of lifting the ban and that the military could implement the change without a major disruption or upheaval.


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US pair charged with Fort Hood-style massacre plot (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
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SEATTLE, Washington (AFP) – Two US men were charged Thursday with plotting to attack a Seattle military center with machine guns and grenades in the hopes of killing more people than a single gunman achieved in the deadly 2009 attack at Fort Hood.

Their aim was to inspire other Muslims to carry out similar attacks and one was allegedly caught on tape saying "Imagine how fearful America will be, and they'll know they can't push the Muslims around."

The men, who are reportedly converts to Islam, planned to use machine guns and grenades in order to kill as many people as possible in a military processing center that also houses a day care facility.

They were caught because a person the men recruited to join them contacted police to report the plot and agreed help with an FBI sting.

The charges were announced just hours after a US Marine reservist arrested near the Pentagon with an explosives component was charged in five late-night shootings at military installations that caused $100,000 in damage.

They come amid rising concerns about so-called home-grown terrorism in the United States.

"This is one of a number of recent plots targeting our military here at home," said Todd Hinnen, acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

"Driven by a violent, extreme ideology, these two young Americans are charged with plotting to murder men and women who were enlisting in the Armed Forces to serve and protect our country."

Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, aka Joseph Anthony Davis, 33, of Seattle, and Walli Mujahidh, aka Frederick Domingue, Jr., 32, of Los Angeles, were arrested late Wednesday after taking possession of machine guns they planned to use in the attacks.

The guns had been rendered inoperable as part of the sting operation, officials said.

"This is a sobering reminder of our need to be vigilant and that our first line of defense is the people who live in our community," US Attorney Jenny Durkan said in a statement.

"We were able to disrupt the plot because someone stepped forward and reported it to authorities."

The Seattle Times reported that the men are "self-radicalized" converts to Islam who had no known ties to Al-Qaeda or other terrorism groups.

A spokeswoman for the US attorney's office declined to comment on their background except to say that they are US citizens.

Charging papers said that Abdul-Latif has at least two felony convictions for robbery while Mujahidh has no convictions under either of his names.

Abdul-Latif allegedly approached the 'confidential source' -- who has an extensive criminal history -- for help on May 30 because he didn't have any weapons experience.

He initially said he wanted to drive a van through the guard gate at nearby Fort Lewis and kill soldiers in retaliation for the actions of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, the charge sheet said.

He later decided to target the processing center because many potential victims would be unarmed, it said, adding that he planned to make a DVD with the title "the reason we killing your people."

Mujahidh, who arrived in Seattle on Tuesday after taking a bus up from Los Angeles, allegedly said he would prefer being killed by police during the attack than ending up in jail and that he didn't care if he killed civilians along with soldiers.

"This is my way of getting rid of sins, man... I got so many of 'em," Mujahidh allegedly said in the secret FBI tapes.

Abdul-Latif said he didn't feel comfortable killing children but wanted to make sure the attacks were severe enough to garner a lot of attention.

"We're not only trying to kill people, we're trying to send a message," he allegedly said. "We're trying to get something that's gonna be on CNN and all over the world... That's what we want."

Both men face up to life in prison if convicted of the terrorism and weapons charges.

The November 5, 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in Texas left 13 people dead and 29 wounded. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan -- an American-born Muslim on Palestinian descent -- is charged in the attack.


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Va. man charged in 2010 DC-area military shootings (AP)

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By MATTHEW BARAKAT and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press Matthew Barakat And Eric Tucker, Associated Press – Fri?Jun?24, 6:20?am?ET

LEESBURG, Va. – A Marine Corps reservist arrested in a security scare near the Pentagon last week was charged Thursday in a series of pre-dawn shootings at the Pentagon and other military buildings in the Washington area last year.

Yonathan Melaku, 22, of Alexandria, has been in custody since early Friday, when he was caught after fleeing from police while trespassing inside Arlington National Cemetery after dark. His behavior and possessions prompted immediate suspicion from authorities, who closed the highways leading to the Pentagon during the Friday rush hour and launched an intensive investigation.

Federal prosecutors said in court documents Thursday that they found bomb-making materials in Melaku's backpack and later found a typewritten list of potential bomb components inside his home. Investigators also found a video he took of himself firing shots outside the National Museum of the Marine Corps last fall and repeatedly saying the Arabic words "Allahu Akbar," which means "God is Great."

"That's what they get. That's my target. That's the military building. It's going to be attacked," he said in the video, which shows him firing shots out the passenger-side window at the museum, according to court papers.

Melaku lists his religion as Muslim in military papers, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

He has been a Marine reservist since September 2007 but has never deployed overseas. The Marine Corps has initiated procedures to kick him out of the Corps, and Melaku is not objecting, said spokesman Lt. Col. Francis Piccoli.

Military records for Melaku do not show any violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Piccoli said. But Melaku did miss mandatory training exercises from Oct. 14 through Oct. 17. The first shooting, at the Marine Corps museum, occurred on Oct. 17. Melaku made up some of the drills he missed and continued to report for monthly assignments after October, Piccoli said.

Investigators said Melaku was carrying a backpack last Friday with a quantity of ammonium nitrate, which is widely used in explosives and is available commercially as fertilizer; a spiral notebook containing references to al-Qaida, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden; spent 9 mm shell casings; work gloves; a head lamp; and cans of spray paint.

The ammonium nitrate was contained in plastic bags marked "AN," though authorities said the substance was inert.

Ballistics evidence shows that a 9mm handgun was used in last year's shootings, and the spent shell casings in Melaku's backpack were the same brand as those used in last year's shootings, according to an affidavit.

Inside his bedroom, authorities found a numbered list of items — including an alkaline battery, battery connector for 9 volt, LED light, and epoxy or super glue — consistent with producing a bomb.

At a news conference Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride said it was possible Melaku could face further charges.

Investigators say forensic evidence links Melaku to five shootings last October and November, including at a U.S. Coast Guard recruiting office and a Marine Corps recruiting sub-station. He was charged in two of the shootings, outside the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

The FBI said at the time that the shooter was likely someone with a gripe against the military.

If convicted of all the charges already filed, Melaku would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years in prison and a maximum of life.

Melaku was "not on our radar prior to Friday's events," said James McJunkin, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office. It appears Melaku had intended to carry out some sort of vandalism in the cemetery, McJunkin said. Authorities believe he was acting alone.

The federal charges, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, allege two counts each of damaging federal property with a gun and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. He did not make an initial court appearance on those charges Thursday, and a hearing that had been scheduled in state court on unrelated larceny charges was canceled.

The charges were announced as federal authorities in Seattle arrested two men in a plot to use machine guns and grenades in an attack on a military recruiting station that also houses a daycare.

Homeland Security officials do not think it is likely there will be coordinated terrorist attacks against military recruiting and National Guard facilities, according to a May 31 assessment by the department, the National Guard Bureau of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division, the U.S. Army Recruiting Command and other organizations.

The agencies did agree, however, that lone offenders or groups will continue to try to launch attacks against these facilities, according to the assessment, marked "for official use only" and obtained by The Associated Press.

An official has said Melaku has no known ties to al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization.

___

Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan and Jessica Gresko contributed to this report from Washington.


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No trace of Agent Orange found in S.Korea after dumping claim (Reuters)

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SEOUL (Reuters) – Investigators looking in to claims that a large amount of the defoliant Agent Orange was buried at a U.S. military base in South Korea have found no trace of the toxic chemical, the U.S. Army said on Thursday.

South Korean and U.S. experts have been working to determine the validity of testimony by ex-servicemen in May that they had buried the toxic herbicide at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, about 300 km (200 miles) southeast of Seoul, in 1978.

The U.S. military has moved swiftly to address concerns that the chemical may have contaminated the soil.

The speedy response stands in contrast to what many Koreans saw as a sluggish U.S. reaction to the accidental deaths of two school girls hit by a military vehicle in 2002.

The deaths fueled a surge of anti-American sentiment that helped the campaign of a liberal presidential candidate who, at the end of that year, defeated a conservative opponent who was considered pro-U.S.

"To date, no evidence of Agent Orange has been discovered either on Camp Carroll or in the adjacent community," the U.S. 8th Army said in a statement.

The finding were the result of "non-intrusive" surveys using radar and magnetometer on the locations identified in the testimony and tests on water samples taken from areas outside the camp, it said. Results of tests on water samples from wells on the base have yet to be released.

Further tests were scheduled through mid-July and more might be conducted later, it said.

Agent Orange was used to clear vegetation during the Vietnam War and was also used years later on the Demilitarised Zone border dividing the Korean peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The herbicide is suspected or causing serious health problems, including cancer, and birth defects.

The U.S. military has said a large amount of chemicals was buried at Camp Carroll but they had been removed more than 30 years ago.

South Korea has been investigating a separate report of toxic chemical dumping in the 1960s by the U.S. military at an old base near the capital.

The United States has about 30,000 soldiers in South Korea defending the U.S. ally from North Korea.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)


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DOD lacks policy, oversight on military sexual assault: report (Reuters)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – No evidence exists that the Department of Defense office mandated to oversee military sexual assault investigations does so, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

"The take-aways are that the DOD should step it up and fulfill their oversight responsibilities," Brenda Farrell, the GAO Director of Defense Capabilities and Management told Reuters on Thursday.

In 2005, the DOD established the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program (SAPR) to address military sexual assault, after studies found such assaults were highly under reported.

For fiscal year 2010, 3,158 incidents were reported, a slight decrease from FY2009, but the trend over the prior three years had been an increase in reported cases from when the program was launched.

For the 2,594 completed sexual assault investigations in FY2010, the DOD's Inspector General's Office conducted no oversight according to the study, which Farrell directed.

Though the IG Office has been required by statute since 2006 to create a policy on sexual assault prevention and response, the GAO found that five years later, no such policy exists.

That has resulting in inconsistent development of procedure for investigating sexual assault incidents among the various military services, said the report, released on Wednesday (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-579?source=ra).

The GAO, a government watchdog body, also found no monitoring exists to assure personnel pursuing sexual assault allegations meet competency standards.

DOD Inspector General Gordon Heddell said in a statement emailed to Reuters: "We take the matter of sexual assaults very seriously ... while we concur with the GAO recommendations, we disagree with the characterization that the DoD IG has not performed its responsibilities."

FUNDS FOR TRAINING

In addition to personnel, the DOD allocates funding above the military services' operating budgets toward sexual assault prevention. SAPRO provided the military with nearly $3 million in FY2009 and 2010 to improve training on prosecution of sexual assault cases.

The report stated that such resources are not being used effectively. In examples noted by the GAO, only the Air Force requires its investigators to consult available experts during a sexual assault investigation.

The Army's Criminal Investigation Command will immediately assess a case as founded or unfounded before referring it to the primary steps of the investigation process.

"The (IG Office) has not performed these responsibilities, primarily because it believes it has other, higher priorities," the report states, such as an increase in demand for its services from overseas operations and the government's current budget challenges.

The GAO analyzed DOD and military service policies and procedures relevant to sexual assault, and interviewed senior officials in the DOD and military and civilian lawyers from April 2010 to June 2011.

Some people interviewed for the report said ambiguities in the Uniform Code of Military Justice make such cases more difficult to prosecute and may cause unwarranted acquittals.

"The GAO has been directing the military to improve its handling of sexual assault cases for many years now, and has traditionally met with the same kind of sluggish response we see here," said Professor Helen Benedict of Columbia University, who has written extensively on women in the military and sexual assault.

"I'd like to see the government push for sexual assault cases to be handled in civilian courts ...The military has had long enough to get its act together over sexual assault ... and it's failed."

(Editing by Jerry Norton)


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Unarmed Minuteman missile launched from Calif. (AP)

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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off early Wednesday on a test flight from California to a target in the Pacific Ocean, but a communications problem forced the launch command to be issued by ground control rather than an airborne launch control system, the Air Force said.

The ICBM roared out of a silo at 6:35 a.m. PDT and its re-entry vehicle reached a target near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands after an approximately 30-minute flight over 4,200 miles of ocean, a base statement said.

The launch command was supposed to have been sent by an E-6B Mercury jet from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., but a communication issue during the countdown required the command to be sent from Vandenberg control instead, the Air Force said. The E-6B is a four-engine derivative of the Boeing 707 that serves as an airborne command, control and communications platform.

The Air Force said there were also unscheduled countdown holds Wednesday due to bad weather downrange and detection of boats at times in the launch hazard area.

Col. Keith Balts, the 30th Space Wing vice commander, said in a statement that the launch team trains for the types of scenarios it faced Wednesday morning. The range operations were safe and the launch was successful, he said.

Vandenberg regularly tests ICBMs to collect data on the weapons' accuracy and reliability. The Minuteman 3 used in the test had been pulled off alert from its silo near Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

Another Minuteman 3 launch is scheduled July 27 from Vandenberg, located on the coast about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles.


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US, Japan delay plan to shift Okinawa bases (AFP)

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and Japan scrapped a 2014 deadline for a controversial shift of a US base in Okinawa, but stood firmly behind the plan in the face of opposition in both countries.

The future of the Futenma air base on the subtropical island has bedeviled ties between the Pacific allies for years, and both governments have been eager to push ahead on a 2006 deal instead of restarting exhaustive negotiations.

In a joint statement after top-level talks, Tokyo and Washington said the relocation "will not meet the previous targeted date of 2014" but renewed their commitment to complete the project "at the earliest possible date."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meeting with their Japanese counterparts, also confirmed plans to move 8,000 Marines and some 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam.

Under the 2006 agreement between previous governments, the United States planned to shut the flashpoint Futenma base in Okinawa, which has long been a source of grievance as it lies in a crowded urban area.

The Japanese and US leaders on Tuesday endorsed building a replacement base with V-shaped runways at Henoko on an isolated stretch of beach elsewhere on the strategically located island.

A number of activists on Okinawa demanded that the base be removed entirely from the island, the often reluctant host to half of the 47,000 US troops based in Japan under a post-World War II treaty.

US senators recently moved to force the Pentagon to consider a new option, saying the current plan is too costly and politically unrealistic when Japan should be focusing on the rebuilding from its massive earthquake.

Gates said the effort led by Senators Jim Webb and Carl Levin, members of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, "is really a manifestation of growing congressional impatience about the lack of progress."

"We both reaffirmed the US government's commitment to the 2006 realignment plan, but at the same time emphasized the importance of concrete progress over the course of the next year," Gates told a news conference with Clinton.

The center-left Democratic Party of Japan swept to power in a historic 2009 election and pledged to review the Futenma deal. The party's first prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, quit within a year after the Obama administration refused to budge.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa called the delay on Futenma "the cost entailed in democracy" and said he would keep trying to persuade skeptical Okinawans.

"The purpose of the US realignment is to maintain deterrence and to reduce the local burden, so we will be making maximum efforts with the United States to achieve both objectives," Kitazawa said.

Under an alternative plan drafted by Webb, a former Marine who represents Virginia, Futenma would be closed and its air assets largely shifted to Okinawa's existing Kadena Air Base.

Webb also proposed shifting some of the existing air assets from Kadena to elsewhere in Japan and Guam, a solution he said would ease both congestion and costs in Okinawa.

Webb called Tuesday's statement on the base realignment "predictable" and voiced confidence that the US Congress would block funding for the move to Guam until the Pentagon studies alternatives.

The delay in the current Futenma plan "underscores the importance of resolving US basing realignments in a more realistic manner for the good of our alliance and for our strategic posture in East Asia," he said.

The two countries in their statement hailed post-earthquake defense cooperation and took a new step by agreeing to allow export of a joint missile shield the allies have been building together to face the North Korean threat.

Japan, officially pacifist since World War II, ended a ban on arms exports in 2005. Under Tuesday's agreement, the United States has the right to export the next-generation Standard Missile 3 system.

Prospective buyers may include Australia, South Korea and members of the European Union as they share strict guidelines against transfers to third countries, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Satoru Satoh said.


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US Army sergeant, colleague charged in bribes scheme (AFP)

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US Army sergeant and his colleague took more than $170,000 in a bribes and money laundering scheme at Camp Arifjan, a US military base in Kuwait, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The 11-count indictment made public in Wheeling, West Virginia, charged Sergeant First Class Richard Evick, 41, with receiving the bribes from two firms that had contracts with the Defense Department in Kuwait.

The indictment also charged Evick and colleague, Crystal Martin, 48, with laundering bribe money through US and Kuwaiti bank accounts, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and US Attorney William Ihlenfeld of the Northern District of West Virginia.

Evick and Martin were arrested earlier.

The indictment alleged that Evick took bribes on contracts worth more than $25 million to bring bottled water and other goods to the US base.


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US grounds fleet of F-22 fighter jets, indefinitely (AFP)

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of F-22 fighters, the most sophisticated combat aircraft in the world, after problems emerged with the plane's oxygen supply, officials said Friday.

The radar-evading F-22 Raptors have been barred from flying since May 3 and Air Force officials could not say when the planes would return to the air.

"The safety of our airmen is paramount and we will take the necessary time to ensure we perform a thorough investigation," spokeswoman Captain Jennifer Ferrau told AFP.

The Air Force was probing possible breakdowns in the oxygen supply system for the plane after several pilots reported problems, according to the journal Flight Global.

In one case, an F-22 scraped tree tops before landing and the pilot could not remember the incident, indicating a possible symptom of hypoxia from a lack of air, the magazine reported.

Ferrau said it was too soon to say for certain that the technical problem was related to an onboard oxygen generating system, known as OBOGS.

"We are still working to identify the exact nature of the problem. It is premature to definitively link the current issues to the OBOGS system," she said.

Since January, F-22 pilots have been barred from flying above 25,000 feet (7,600 meters), following the crash of a Raptor jet in Alaska during a training flight.

Grounding an entire fleet of aircraft is a rare step, officials said.

In November 2007, the Air Force grounded all F-15 fighters after one of the planes broke apart in flight and crashed.

The planes were not allowed back in the air until March 2008, said Major Chad Steffey.

The Air Force has more than 160 F-22 Raptors in its fleet and plans to build a total of 187.

The planes have not been used in the NATO-led air campaign in Libya or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.


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2011年6月26日星期日

White House criticizes House defense spending bill (Reuters)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration sharply criticized a $649 billion defense spending bill in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday as lawmakers began debating next year's Pentagon funding, including the war in Afghanistan.

The White House said in a policy statement it strongly opposed elements of the defense appropriations bill in the House because of proposed spending cuts and restrictions on the handling of Guantanamo detainees.

"If a bill is presented to the president that undermines his ability as commander-in-chief or includes ideological or political policy riders, the president's senior advisers would recommend a veto," the statement said.

The White House raised its concerns as the House began debating the bill to set levels for most military spending for the 2012 fiscal year beginning in October.

The measure was expected to face a large number of amendments, including a move to halt U.S. participation in the NATO-led campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi by barring any spending on the effort.

With President Barack Obama struggling to reduce the nation's $1.4 trillion deficit, war-weary lawmakers facing cuts to social programs used the debate to press the administration to end the war more quickly and cut defense spending more deeply. The current House measure cuts Obama's spending request by $8.9 billion.

"As we spend over $2 billion a week on this decade-long war, critical programs, like programs for women and children, nutrition programs, food stamps and Medicare are on the chopping block. Enough is enough. There is no military solution in Afghanistan," said Representative Barbara Lee, who pledged to seek an amendment to end funding for the Afghan war.

Representative Alcee Hastings said the United States needed a "lean and powerful" military but "we also have great needs in this country and we cannot continue to slash funding for essential programs here at home in favor of ever-increasing funding for wars abroad."

The appropriations bill is a long way from final passage. The Senate's version of the bill is still in committee. Whatever version is ultimately passed by the House would have to be reconciled with a bill adopted by the Democratic-led Senate before it would go to Obama for his signature.

GUANTANAMO

The White House expressed particular concern with House efforts to place restrictions on how it handles terrorism terrorists held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The House bill would prevent the transfer of self-proclaimed September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and any other foreign terrorism suspect to the United States, effectively preventing them from facing U.S. trial or imprisonment.

That language "is a dangerous and extraordinary challenge to the critical executive branch authority to determine when and where to prosecute detainees, based on the facts and the circumstances of each case and national security interests," the White House statement said.

"It unnecessarily constrains the nation's counterterrorism efforts and would undermine national security, particularly where federal courts are the best -- or even the only -- option for incapacitating dangerous terrorists," it said.

The measure is part of a long-running struggle between Obama and some lawmakers over whether terrorism suspects should be prosecuted as enemy combatants before military commissions or as criminal suspects in federal courts.

In April, the administration abandoned a two-year effort to prosecute Mohammed and four suspected September 11 co-conspirators in a federal court. Attorney General Eric Holder said lawmakers had "tied our hands" by blocking funding for the move in 2011.

The White House also objected to a series of cuts the House made in its spending request, including a reduction in funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that it said would "undermine the nation's ability to invest in innovation and ideas" important for national security.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)


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US Marine reservist charged in military site shootings (AFP)

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US Marine reservist arrested near the Pentagon with an explosives component was charged Thursday in five shootings at military installations and could face more charges, prosecutors said.

Yonathan Melaku, 22, "was not on our radar screen" until he was arrested about 1:30 am (0530 GMT) last Friday in Arlington National Cemetery, James McJunkin, assistant director in charge of FBI's Washington field office, told reporters.

The cemetery, where thousands of members of the military and dignitaries are interred including former president John F. Kennedy, was closed to visitors at the time of Melaku's arrest.

Police found spent shell casings, four bags containing ammonium nitrate and a spiral notebook with numerous Arabic statements referencing the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and "The Path to Jihad," in a backpack he allegedly dropped during a pursuit.

A search of Melaku's home found a typed list titled "Timer" that included nine items that would be needed to make a time power unit and firing mechanism of an improvised explosive device along with a video tape of one of his late-night shooting sprees.

The video shows Melaku repeatedly firing a handgun out of the passenger-side window of an automobile driving near what appears to be the US Marine Corps Heritage Museum.

Melaku allegedly made numerous statements on the video, including "That's my target. That's the military building. It's going to be attacked," and at the conclusion of multiple shots exclaiming "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Greater."

Melaku joined the US Marine Corps Reserve in 2007, and is currently listed as a Marine reservist lance corporal and a motor vehicle operator with Combat Engineer Support Company.

He has been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal but has not deployed overseas, faces life in prison if convicted of the charges.

He is accused of causing over $100,000 in damage in the shootings, which took place from October 17, 2010 through November 2, 2010 at the Pentagon; a Marine Corps recruiting sub-station in Chantilly, Virginia; a US Coast Guard recruiting office in Woodbridge, Virginia; and two shootings at the Marine Corps museum.

"Today's charges allege a long-term pattern of violent behavior against the US military that escalated until his detention last Friday," said US Attorney Neil MacBride.

"The affidavit states that what began as a drive-by shooting at the National Museum of the Marine Corps grew to a series of armed attacks targeting multiple military installations seeking to shut them down.

"It culminated with Mr. Melaku's apprehension near the Pentagon in possession of a backpack containing ammonium nitrate, one of the components used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing."


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Wife: Seattle bomb plot suspect is proud American (AP)

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By MANUEL VALDES and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Manuel Valdes And Mike Baker, Associated Press – Sat?Jun?25, 1:54?pm?ET

SEATAC, Wash. – The father of one of the two men charged with planning to attack a Seattle military recruiting station said he's shocked, but videos apparently posted by the suspect on YouTube show a man sympathetic to al-Qaida's leader in Yemen and passionate about a radical interpretation of Islam.

Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif has a criminal record and a troubled family past, but allegations that he plotted a terrorist attack surprised those who knew him.

"He never spoke to anybody," Aziz Junejo, a spokesman for the SeaTac mosque, said Friday as he pointed to the spot where Abdul-Latif often sat. "He was sort of anti-social in that sense. It was completely a shock to us."

Abdul-Latif's videos strayed on a range of topics — from U.S. politics to Muslim doctrine to the British royal wedding. He praises fighters in the videos, asking for blessings for those who struggle for the cause of Allah. And, at some points, he calls for action.

"We must establish jihad," Abdul-Latif said in a video posted in May. "I don't care what anybody says about that: You can turn me in to the FBI or whatever. We need to establish jihad with the tongue, with the heart and with the hand."

In particular, Abdul-Latif singles out U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The United States has put the radical Muslim leader, now in Yemen, on a kill-or-capture list, something that irked Abdul-Latif about President Barack Obama.

"He's made war against Islam," Abdul-Latif said. "He's even put a hit out on Anwar Al-Awlaki, our brother sheikh — may Allah protect him."

The Associated Press could not independently confirm the YouTube account was Abdul-Latif's, but the name and age posted on the account match him, and the videos appear to depict him.

Abdul-Latif, 33, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, was arrested Wednesday with Walli Mujahidh, 32, following an investigation prompted by an informant who told authorities the two men wanted to attack a military facility in the Seattle area.

The two men were taken into custody after they showed up at a warehouse garage to pick up machine guns they planned to use in the attack, authorities said Thursday. The weapons had been rendered inoperable by federal agents and posed no risk to the public.

They are scheduled to attend a bail hearing next week.

"I'm shocked," Tony Davis, Abdul-Latif's father, told KOMO News. "I'm really sad that that's my oldest son."

Court documents show that Abdul-Latif has had a troubled life, which in part he blamed on his upbringing.

Abdul-Latif was born in San Diego and graduated from Hoover High School there in 1996, said Jack Brandais, a spokesman for San Diego Unified School District.

His parents divorced when he was a teen, according to an interview he gave for a psychological evaluation before his 2002 conviction for robbing a convenience store in Bremerton, Wash.

Abdul-Latif reported having "a lot of abandonment" growing up, the report said. He was raised by his mother until he was 12, when he moved in with his father, who was absent for long periods of time "and neglected to provide enough food and other essentials."

His grades in high school were below average and he acknowledged to using drugs, according to the documents.

Abdul-Latif's wife, Binta Moussa-Davis, told television station KING she was shocked.

"He's proud to be American. He loves his own country. He loves his family," she said. "I don't know if he got involved with bad people. I don't have any idea."

On Friday, Moussa-Davis, who is originally from Niger, went to the SeaTac mosque to ask for financial aid from worshippers, The Seattle Times reported.

"My husband worked to take care of me," said Moussa-Davis, 46. "I don't know how to pay. He's the one to pay for food and rent."

He and Mujahidh are charged in federal court with conspiracy to murder officers and employees of the United States, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and possession of firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence. Abdul-Latif is also charged with two counts of illegal possession of firearms.

It wasn't immediately clear how the suspects became acquainted, though Mujahidh formerly lived in Seattle. He was convicted in municipal court of violating a domestic violence protection order stemming from a 2007 incident.

Mujahidh voluntarily spoke with investigators after the arrests and confessed, according to the federal complaint against them.

There was no answer at Moussa-Davis' apartment Friday. A truck for Abdul-Latif's janitorial business, Fresh N' Clean, sat parked near his two-bedroom apartment. An American flag lay on the floor of the vehicle. Apartment managers posted notices on every door informing tenants that a man had been arrested.

A man who answered Tony Davis' phone number Saturday said, "We don't want to talk to anybody about what's going on with our son."

Downstairs neighbor James Dinwiddie said he would often see Abdul-Latif with his young son, and he seemed to be an attentive father. But Dinwiddie also said that fights would sometimes erupt in the apartment between Abdul-Latif and younger men who might be his son and stepson.

"He looked like a normal person," Dinwiddie said. "I showed him respect because he showed me respect."

Dinwiddie said there was no indication that Abdul-Latif adhered to radicalism or that he had trouble with the law.

"I never thought I'd be living by a terrorist," said Mozaia Walton, who lives one floor down. "I'm just glad they got him."

In audio and video recordings, the men discussed the plot at length, discussing how to time their attack at military recruits, such as by tossing grenades in the cafeteria, the complaint said.

"If we can get control of the building and we can hold it for a while, then we'll get the local news down there, the media down there, you know what I'm saying," Abdul-Latif was quoted in a court document as saying. "It's a confined space, not a lot of people carrying weapons, and we'd have an advantage."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press counterterrorism reporter Eileen Sullivan in Washington, D.C., AP writer Mike Baker in Olympia, Wash., and correspondent Elliot Spagat in San Diego.

____

Manuel Valdes can be reached at http://twitter.com/manevaldes. Mike Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP.


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Feds charge 2 with supplying Iranian military (AP)

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MACON, Ga. – Prosecutors in Georgia say two Americans were at the center of a complex plot to illegally ship aircraft parts to the Iranian military.

Prosecutors said Thursday that the two Americans have pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally export fighter jet and attack helicopter parts from the U.S. to Iran. Five other people based in France, the United Arab Emirates and Iran have been charged with helping.

An indictment says the companies purchased parts from a firm run by Michael Todd, of Macon. The indictment also says Hamid Seifi of Chicago purchased aircraft parts from Todd on behalf of a company in Iran. The supplies were funneled to Iran through the French company.

Seifi has been sentenced to more than 4 years in prison. Todd's sentencing is scheduled for August.


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Today in History (AP)

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Today is Wednesday, June 22, the 173rd day of 2011. There are 192 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 22, 1911, Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

On this date:

In 1611, English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers aboard the Discovery; their fate remains unknown.

In 1870, the United States Department of Justice was created.

In 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.

In 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa as it invaded the Soviet Union.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the "GI Bill of Rights."

In 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa ended with an Allied victory.

In 1969, singer-actress Judy Garland died in London at age 47.

In 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. Attorney General to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He was released 19 months later.)

In 1981, Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock star John Lennon. Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was deposed as president of Iran.

In 1993, former first lady Pat Nixon died in Park Ridge, N.J., at age 81.

Ten years ago: The British government announced that 18-year-old Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were 10 years old when they kidnapped and killed toddler James Bulger, had been granted parole. Striking Comair pilots ratified a new contract, ending a three-month strike.

Five years ago: During a visit to Hungary to commemorate the 1956 revolt against communism, President George W. Bush said war-weary Iraqis could learn from the Hungarians' long and bloody struggle against tyranny. The Bush administration confirmed it had gained access to international banking records as part of a classified program to choke off financial support for terrorism. The Red Cross admitted Israel as a member and allowed it to use a star of David as its symbol.

One year ago: White House Budget Director Peter Orszag announced he was stepping down. South Carolina Republicans chose Nikki Haley, an Indian-American and tea party favorite, to run for governor (she went on to win a runoff and the general election). Dino Ciccarelli, Cammi Granato and Angela James were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as players; Jimmy Devellano and the late Daryl "Doc" Seaman were elected as builders. South Africa became the first host nation not to advance in 80 years of World Cup play.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Ralph Waite is 83. Singer-actor Kris Kristofferson is 75. Movie director John Korty ("The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman") is 75. Actor Michael Lerner is 70. Broadcast journalist Brit Hume is 68. Singer Peter Asher (Peter and Gordon) is 67. Actor Andrew Rubin is 65. Actor David L. Lander is 64. Singer Howard "Eddie" Kaylan is 64. Singer-musician Todd Rundgren is 63. Actress Meryl Streep is 62. Actress Lindsay Wagner is 62. Singer Alan Osmond is 62. Actor Murphy Cross is 61. Actor Graham Greene is 59. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper is 58. Actor Chris Lemmon is 57. Rock musician Derek Forbes is 55. Actor Tim Russ is 55. Rock musician Garry Beers (INXS) is 54. Actor-producer-writer Bruce Campbell is 53. Rock musician Alan Anton (Cowboy Junkies) is 52. Actress Tracy Pollan is 51. Rock singer-musician Jimmy Somerville is 50. Author Dan Brown ("The Da Vinci Code") is 47. Rock singer-musician Mike Edwards (Jesus Jones) is 47. Rock singer Steven Page is 41. Actor Michael Trucco is 41. Actress Mary Lynn Rajskub (RYS'-kub) is 40. TV personality Carson Daly is 38. Rock musician Chris Traynor is 38. Country musician Jimmy Wallace is 38. Actor Donald Faison (FAY'-zahn) is 37. Actress Alicia Goranson is 37. TV personality/actor Jai Rodriguez is 32. Actress Lindsay Ridgeway is 26.

Thought for Today: "If you look at life one way, there is always cause for alarm." — Elizabeth Bowen, Irish author (1899-1973).

(Above Advance for Use Wednesday, June 22)

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Zimbabwe general says Tsvangirai is security threat (Reuters)

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HARARE (Reuters) – A top Zimbabwe general said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was a security threat fronting Western interests, which justified military involvement in politics, state media reported on Thursday.

President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF is fighting with Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change over a new constitution and a date for elections after being forced into a unity government in 2009.

Douglas Nyikayaramba, a brigadier-general in the Zimbabwe National Army, told the official Herald newspaper in an interview that Tsvangirai and his MDC party were working with Western powers to remove Mugabe from power.

"Tsvangirai doesn't pose a political threat in any way in Zimbabwe, but is major security threat. He takes instructions from foreigners who seek to effect regime change in Zimbabwe," Nyikayaramba told the Herald.

"This is what has invited the security forces to be involved because we want to ensure we protect our national security interests," he said.

Nyikayaramba's comments came after Tsvangirai last weekend challenged military chiefs to remove their uniforms if they wanted to challenge him politically.

Tsvangirai and his officials were not immediately available for comment. They were traveling in Spain.

"WILL DIE FOR MUGABE"

Defense chiefs in Zimbabwe have in the past publicly backed Mugabe's candidature ahead of elections and have vowed never to salute a leader who did not take part in the country's 1970s independence war, a reference to Tsvangirai.

The MDC says security forces should stay out of politics and that the public support for Mugabe is meant to intimidate the population into backing the veteran leader.

The coalition has helped stabilize the economy and reduced political violence, but is fraught with squabbles over how to share executive power and MDC demands to reform the security apparatus, which ZANU-PF rejects.

Mugabe, 87, in power since independence in 1980, and his ZANU-PF wants elections to be held this year but Tsvangirai says without a new constitution and electoral reforms, the ballot would not be free and fair.

The unity government was formed after a disputed election in 2008 that was marred by violence.

"President Mugabe will only leave office if he sees it fit or dies. No one should be talking about his departure at the moment. We will die for him to make sure he remains in power," Nyikayaramba said.

(Editing by Alison Williams)


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Analysis: North Sudan flexes military might before split (Reuters)

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KHARTOUM (Reuters) – North Sudan has sent in the army along the vaguely-defined border area between north and south to stamp its authority there and eke out concessions before the south splits away with most of the nation's oil.

Khartoum sent tanks into the disputed Abyei region on May 21 and two weeks later sent troops to crush southern-aligned fighters in Southern Kordofan, which has the most productive oilfields that will be left in the north after July 9.

The north Sudanese government seems to be betting the south, which voted to split in January, will be reluctant to challenge the north's mightier army and risk a war that could threaten its goal of recognition from Khartoum as a new African state.

But Khartoum's strategy has already angered Western powers, whose goodwill may prove vital in securing up to $38 billion in debt relief. It also fuels tensions in areas that produce oil, the lifeblood of both the northern and southern economies.

"(Northerners) are underdogs from the economic side. They are going to be more affected by the secession than the south. They want to offset that by being the 'upper dogs' on the security side," said Fouad Hikmat from the International Crisis Group think tank.

Asserting military strength along the border could give the north leverage as the two sides hammer out unresolved questions like how to manage the country's oil proceeds and divide debt.

"They are trying to corner the SPLM (the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement). They are putting the SPLM in a very difficult situation in Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile," said Hikmat.

Sudan's vast area and webs of ethnic and tribal loyalties have defied easy division, leaving flashpoints in border states like Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

DIVIDING A NATION

Khartoum's specific goals differ in each region.

In Abyei, with its valuable pasture land and some modest oil production, the north wants concessions, analysts say. The area is claimed by both sides. But a plebiscite on its fate has not happened because of disputes over who should be allowed to vote.

In Southern Kordofan, the north wants to crush a well-armed and seasoned group of fighters, many from the ethnic Nuba group who sided with the SPLM's military wing in two decades of civil war that ended with the 2005 peace treaty. The north fears a resurgence by the group could threaten a vital oil area.

The 2005 treaty led to the referendum on secession, when Southerners overwhelmingly backed a split. It set the stage for Africa's largest nation to be divided. But, until now, that had proceeded with far less violence than many had predicted.

Even when divided, the two nations will depend on each other. About 75 percent of Sudan's total 500,000 bpd of crude output lies in the south. But exports depend on a pipeline that passes through the north.

Southern President Salva Kiir, speaking in May when the Abyei conflict flared, said the south would not strike back.

"We thought that as neighbors we would be the best friends. We need them and they need us," he told a news conference.

But, as the deadline to separation approaches, analysts said Khartoum is determined to show it is the more powerful partner.

"Khartoum's view of the July 9 date for Southern independence is rather different from Juba's," Eric Reeves, a researcher at Smith College and activist on Sudan issues, said.

"It wishes to settle various issues by military force, to change the facts on the ground as of July 9," he said.

In Southern Kordofan, the north said it would not tolerate an armed group within its boundaries and demanded the Nuba fighters disarm or leave. Juba says it cannot ask the fighters to go south because they are northerners and not part of its army.

MOUNTING TOLL

The result could be a long guerilla war pitting the north against fighters who are familiar with the area's hilly terrain. That would disrupt trade and transport with the south and also open up Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to more international criticism.

Bashir is already wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of masterminding genocide and war crimes in Darfur, another area that will stay in the north and where rebels have fought with Khartoum accusing it of neglect.

"I don't think it's really possible for the Sudanese armed forces to achieve complete victory in Southern Kordofan," said Aly Verjee, researcher at the Rift Valley Institute think tank.

"They can drive the opposition into the mountains and weaken their classic military capabilities but they won't fully defeat them," he said.

Humanitarian groups fear a mounting death toll in Southern Kordofan. Over 60,000 people have fled, the United Nations says. Human rights groups have accused Khartoum of waging a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Nuba.

Khartoum rejects this, saying it is fighting an armed rebellion and the army is there to protect civilians.

More than 100,000 have also fled violence in Abyei. The two sides signed a deal on June 20 to pull troops out and bring in Ethiopian peacekeepers after talks in Addis Ababa. But analysts say conflict could flare up again without a long-term solution.

Talks on Southern Kordofan have made less progress, officials say, with the north telling the south that it is an internal issue and they should not interfere. Even if a deal is reached it might not carry weight with Nuba groups who felt left out of the 2005 deal that left Southern Kordofan with the north.

"We might see, politically speaking, a de facto division of the state (Southern Kordofan)," analysts Verjee said.

"Not one with a nice, neat boundary, but one where pockets of the SPLM and associated elements are able to survive and exert control," he said, comparing it to the pockets of resistance that have held out against Khartoum in Darfur.


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Joint Chiefs chairman calls Obama plan risky (AP)

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By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer Robert Burns, Ap National Security Writer – Thu?Jun?23, 11:24?am?ET

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military's top officer told Congress on Thursday that President Barack Obama's decision to withdraw up to 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer is riskier than he originally was prepared to endorse.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee that he supports the president's plans, which have been widely interpreted as marking the beginning of the end of the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan.

Mullen said the pullout plans are "more aggressive and incur more risk" than he had considered prudent.

"More force for more time is, without doubt, the safer course," Mullen said. "But that does not necessarily make it the best course. Only the president, in the end, can really determine the acceptable level of risk we must take. I believe he has done so."

Obama announced Wednesday evening that the U.S. and its allies had achieved enough in Afghanistan to merit a drawdown of forces beginning this summer. Obama said 10,000 troops would come home by the end of this year, to be followed by as many as 23,000 next summer. That will leave about 68,000 U.S. troops there.

Mullen, who is retiring Oct. 1, was blunt in testifying about the risks and potential rewards of Obama's decision.

"No commander ever wants to sacrifice fighting power in the middle of a war," Mullen said. "And no decision to demand that sacrifice is ever without risk. This is particularly true in a counterinsurgency, where success is achieved not solely by technological prowess or conventional superiority, but by the wit and the wisdom of our people as they pursue terrorists and engage the local populace on a daily basis. In a counterinsurgency, firepower is manpower."

On the other hand, Mullen said, taking the safer course would have entailed other kinds of risks, such as increasing the Afghan government's dependence on the U.S.

"We would have signaled to the enemy and to our regional partners that the Taliban still possessed strength enough to warrant the full measure of our presence," Mullen said. "They do not."

Under critical questioning by committee Republicans, Mullen said that while Obama's decision on a timetable for the troop withdrawal was more aggressive than he had recommended, he believes it can be safely executed.

"It increases the risk but not substantially," Mullen said. Asked what risk he was describing, Mullen said he was referring to the risk of succeeding in the "overall mission." He added, "It's a manageable risk."

Many Democrats had urged Obama to pull out U.S. troops faster, while other lawmakers — particularly Republicans — have taken the opposite view.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Mullen at Thursday's hearing that he fears the Obama plan "will significantly undermine" the goal of transferring full responsibility for security to the Afghan government by the end of 2014.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee's top ranking Democrat, endorsed the drawdown as "modest" and said that taking 33,000 U.S. troops out while adding more than 120,000 Afghan security forces limits the risk. He said it would be more risky for the U.S. to stay too long.

___

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.


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Intelligence shift shows change in Afghan war aims (AP)

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WASHINGTON – Military intelligence officers were scrambling a year ago to collect and analyze the social, economic and tribal ins and outs of each valley and hamlet in Afghanistan.

This information wasn't the kind of secret or covert material many military intelligence specialists were used to. But it was seen as crucial to helping commanders tell the good guys from the bad, learn what Afghans really needed from their government and undermine the Taliban-led insurgency by winning hearts and minds over time.

Since last fall, top intelligence leaders in Afghanistan shifted their focus back to targeting the enemy in the more traditional way, by mapping their networks and analyzing what made the Taliban tick.

They didn't stop collecting the other information. But their goal now was helping tell commanders what they needed to know to kill insurgents and drive the enemy to the negotiating table.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States will start bringing home U.S. troops next month. His announcement is part of a gradual scaling back of American operations and ambitions in Afghanistan that's expected to emphasize raids over governance, making tracking Afghan culture and bolstering the government less important, three current officials in Afghanistan said.

The White House has been frustrated by Afghanistan's corruption and the inability of President Hamid Karzai's government to provide competent officials to serve far-flung provinces. That has helped shrink U.S. goals, and the new bottom line is a government strong enough to prevent terrorists' safe havens from returning.

Targeting insurgent leaders and their support networks is seen as an important part of the U.S. exit strategy. The thinking is that Taliban leaders will be more ready for a deal if they feel threatened personally.

The U.S. has confirmed preliminary outreach to the Taliban, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last week that fruitful talks probably are a long way off.

These developments come as the man in charge of military intelligence in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Steve Fogarty, has shifted his focus to how the U.S. gathers social, economic and tribal data, and how troops are getting access to it.

But he may now face a closing window of opportunity to bolster those programs, with the looming drawdown of manpower and resources as ordered by an administration fed up with the war's $10 billion-a-month cost.

A secret U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan issued in February said raids and small-scale special-operations-led stability operations were showing progress, but projects meant to bolster Afghan governance were not yet taking hold, according to the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

That assessment was one factor in Obama's decision to withdraw all but a small contingent of the current approximately 100,000 forces by 2015, said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic discussions.

In early 2010, now-retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal's mission was to keep the population safe, in addition to the traditional hunt-the-enemy role. That meant understanding enough about a town or village to know whether the insurgency was best combated by killing a key leader, giving out loans to build a factory and provide jobs, or in many cases both, according to a senior intelligence official in Afghanistan.

The drawbacks of focusing solely on the enemy were laid out in a paper published by then-senior intelligence officer in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn. He called his work "Fixing Intel" and he bypassed traditional Pentagon channels to get it published by a Washington think tank.

After publication, Flynn put in place new layers of collection and analysis that included the Stability Operations Information Centers, whose staff members function like news reporters. They travel to field locations to collect intelligence that others didn't have time to share with the rest of the NATO-led effort.

Analysts also gathered "atmospherics." They asked Afghans what the man on the street was talking about, trying to get a sense of everything from sentiment about Karzai to whether they believed NATO troops were staying beyond 2014.

Flynn also championed the Human Terrain System, which uses anthropologists to study village and social networks throughout Afghanistan.

Most important, intelligence officials say, was his move to build district-by-district assessments to provide an encyclopedia of information readily available to the troops in the field.

Flynn left last fall. His predecessor, Fogarty, reorganized those three components — the information centers, atmospherics, and human terrain — into one location, at a base outside NATO headquarters.

That move was seen by some who had helped Flynn establish those operations as a rejection of the need for social, civil and tribal intelligence. They also pointed to a turnover in leadership at some of the stability centers and the dismantling of one center in eastern Afghanistan.

Two senior intelligence officials involved in the reorganization say it was simply a response to Gen. David Petraeus' priorities, when he took over from now-retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

Knowing the White House clock was running out, Petraeus knew he had limited time to show his troops had weakened the Taliban.

The top U.S. commander did try to send the message that social intelligence was important in tracking enemy networks, and he asked officers to count things such as the number of cellphone towers in an area, as a measure of success equal to the number of insurgents killed, the official said.

But some military intelligence teams in the field still interpreted the change in leadership from Flynn to Fogarty and the reorganization of some of Flynn's top projects as a shift back to what they had studied in school: targeting the enemy over protecting the population.

In parts of Afghanistan, they embraced the shift wholeheartedly, two U.S. officials say.

For instance, Kandahar's military intelligence center merges social and cultural data, satellite weather data and information gleaned from special operations raids. But the focus on the enemy is reflected in the souvenir coins the center hands out. Beneath the traditional counterinsurgency slogan, "Winning hearts and minds," is a picture of an armed insurgent, with a rifle-sight superimposed on him.

"People are still comfortable with what they know," said Douglas Ollivant, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, who just returned from a year serving as the senior counterinsurgency adviser in eastern Afghanistan.

"There's a level of synchronization between unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, and forces on the ground when it comes to targeting the enemy that simply isn't there, when we talk either about knowing which key leaders to talk to, or aid is needed and where," he said.

That doesn't mean leaders don't want or need the more detailed information, Ollivant said, "just that they haven't yet perfected the best way to get it."

Flynn remains influential. He was just promoted to the three-star rank and appointed to a high position advising the director for national intelligence. One of Flynn's co-authors, Marine Corps Capt. Matt Pottinger, says his paper "Fixing Intel" is all but required reading at military intelligence courses.

For those who think Fogarty's focus excludes social intelligence, a senior intelligence official points out that he set up his own version of human terrain analysis of Afghanistan two years ago, when he was Petraeus' intelligence officer at U.S. Central Command in Tampa.

In Fogarty's previous time in Afghanistan, he didn't have the staff to gather the kind of data Flynn advocated because the bulk of the resources were going to Iraq, according to a senior official in Afghanistan, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

With Petraeus on the way to being confirmed as CIA director, 33,000 U.S. troops headed from Afghanistan over the next 12 months, and a new focus on pounding the Taliban into peace talks, he may be facing that fight for resources all over again.

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Dozier reported from Washington and Kabul, Afghanistan.

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Online:

Flynn's paper: http://tinyurl.com/y8ckrrr


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Libya unrest forces IEA oil draw down (AFP)

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PARIS (AFP) – The developed countries took the near unprecedented step Thursday of drawing down their oil reserves to make good the loss of Libyan supply, aiming to keep prices in check ahead of peak demand.

The United States, the world's largest oil consuming nation, took the lead, saying it would would release 30 million barrels from its stocks, which at 727 million barrels, were at a historic high.

At the same time, it would monitor the situation and stood "ready to take additional steps if necessary," a statement said, as the news sent oil prices tumbling on the markets.

The International Energy Agency said meanwhile that 60 million barrels would be taken from reserves over the next month to cover lost Libyan output, only the third time the 28-member group has taken such a step.

In Washington, a senior US administration official said President Barack Obama "has been deeply concerned" about the disruption to oil supplies which has led to higher prices, dampening economic growth at home and abroad.

"We're taking this action ... to increase supply, to try to counter any shortfall and to meet the seasonal increase of oil demand over the summer."

"Today, for the third time in the history of the International Energy Agency, our member countries have decided to release stocks," IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said.

"This supply disruption has been underway for some time and its effect has become more pronounced as it has continued," the IEA said.

The reaction on the markets, which were falling earlier because of fears of a global slowdown, was immediate.

In late London trade, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in August, was down nearly $6 and Brent North Sea crude shed more than $8 to $105.72.

"The IEA totally surprised the oil market and shocked investors after deciding to supply ... 60 million barrels of oil in an attempt to drive crude oil prices lower," said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou.

Libyan supplies have dried up to a trickle since a popular uprising against leader Moamer Kadhafi began, prompting a coalition of NATO countries to launch air strikes against government forces to protect the civilian population.

The IEA is the energy arm of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. It was set up in response to the oil shocks of the 1970s and now has 28 members among advanced economies.

Total oil stocks in IEA countries amount to more than 4.1 billion barrels and of this nearly 1.6 billion barrels is in the form of public stocks exclusively for emergencies, the IEA said.

IEA net oil-importing countries have a legal obligation to hold crisis reserves of 90 days of net oil imports and stocks were currently at 146 days of imports, the statement noted.

The IEA said it estimated that "the unrest in Libya had removed 132 million barrels of light, sweet crude oil from the market by the end of May."

Despite "huge uncertainties (analysts agreed) that Libyan supplies will largely remain off the market for the rest of 2011."

In this light, the IEA said it "warmly welcomes" the announced intentions by major oil producing countries to increase production but this would take time.

The world economy was still recovering and "the threat of a serious market tightening, particularly for some grades of oil, poses an immediate requirement for additional oil or products to be made available to the market," the IEA said.


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