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January 16, 2008Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement.

Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.Item numbers indicate order of appearance only.

AFGHANISTAN1. Gates Faults NATO Force In Southern Afghanistan

(Los Angeles Times)....Peter SpiegelIn an unusual public criticism, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he believes NATO forces currently deployedin southern Afghanistan do not know how to combat a guerrilla insurgency, a deficiency that could be contributing tothe rising violence in the fight against the Taliban.

2. 3,200 Marines To Deploy To Afghanistan In Spring(Washington Post)....Ann Scott TysonPresident Bush has approved an "extraordinary, one-time" deployment of about 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan forseven months starting this spring, the Pentagon announced yesterday, while defense officials continued to urgeNATO allies to supply more forces to fill a long-standing shortfall of 7,500 troops that commanders say are neededto improve security.

3. 4 Arrests Made In Kabul Hotel Attack(New York Times)....Abdul Waheed WafaPolice authorities in Afghanistan have arrested four people in the aftermath of the suicide bomb attack on Mondayevening at a Kabul luxury hotel and said Tuesday that three Americans and one Frenchwoman might have beenamong the six dead.

4. Taliban Says It Will Target Westerners In Kabul(USA Today)....UnattributedThe Taliban said its suicide bombers will attack restaurants where Westerners eat in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT5. Gates's Voice Moderating US Policies

(Boston Globe)....Bryan Bender...Gates's influence has brought the president's foreign policy more in line with that of the elder Bush, steering theadministration toward a more traditional model of coalition-building and advocating military force as a last resort,they said.

IRAQ6. Rice, In Baghdad, Praises New Law

(New York Times)....Solomon MooreSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday to brief Prime Minister Nuri Kamalal-Maliki and other top politicians about President Bush’s recent talks with Arab leaders and to praise recentlegislative progress.

7. As Al-Maliki Gains Strength, Some Question His Will For Unity

(USA Today)....Charles LevinsonWhen Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Nouri al-Maliki's government during a surprise visit to Baghdadon Tuesday, she was addressing an Iraqi prime minister who — for better or worse — has strengthened his grip onpower.

8. Iraqi Spending To Rebuild Has Slowed, Report Says(New York Times)....James GlanzHighly promising figures that the administration cited to demonstrate economic progress in Iraq last fall, whenCongress was considering whether to continue financing the war, cannot be substantiated by official Iraqi budgetrecords, the Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday.

9. Turkey Bombs Kurdish Rebels(New York Times)....UnattributedTurkish fighter jets bombed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the military said, the fourth majorairstrike in a month in what has become an extensive Turkish air campaign against the Kurdish fighters.

10. Fire Shuts Oil Refinery In Iraq(Los Angeles Times)....Garrett TherolfAn oil refinery near Iraq's southern port city of Basra probably will remain shut for days after a large fire Tuesdaythat highlighted the vulnerability of the country's energy infrastructure to criminal and political power struggles.

11. 3 US Soldiers May Have Died From Friendly Fire(Boston Globe)....Lolita C. Baldor, Associated PressThree Army soldiers who were gunned down during an intensive, three-hour firefight in Salahuddin Province northof Baghdad last week might have died from friendly fire, military officials said yesterday.

12. Official's Convoy Runs Over Children(Washington Times)....UnattributedFive schoolchildren were killed yesterday after being struck by a car in the convoy of a top judicial official during achaotic gunbattle with checkpoint guards, police and hospital officials said.

13. Displaced Iraqis Suffer Hardship(Washington Times)....John ZarocostasThe plight of the 1.2 million Iraqis internally displaced since February 2006 has continued to worsen, aggravated bya lack of access to food rations, health care and basic services such as clean water, sanitation and electricity, a reportby a global relief agency said.

14. Engineers Take IED Attacks 'Personally'(Washington Times)....Richard TomkinsThe unsung heroes of the war in Iraq — or any war — are the combat engineers, the men who go ahead of theinfantry to clear a path through the enemy defenses.

MIDEAST15. France Announces Base In Persian Gulf

(Washington Post)....Molly MoorePresident Nicolas Sarkozy announced Tuesday that France would establish a military base in the United ArabEmirates, making it the only Western power other than the United States to have a permanent defense installation inthe strategic Persian Gulf region.

16. Bomb Targets U.S. Car In Beirut(New York Times)....Nada BakriA bomb exploded next to an American Embassy vehicle on Tuesday, killing at least three civilians and woundingmany other people, including an American bystander and an embassy employee, Lebanese and American officialssaid.

17. Troubled Waters?(NBC)....Jim MiklaszewskiAnd there are new questions tonight about what has been reported as a confrontation between U.S. Navy warships

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and Iran in the Straits of Hormuz, a report that surfaced on the eve of the president’s trip to the Middle East, you mayrecall. The question is: was there, in fact, a real threat to American sailors ever, or some sort of a hoax?

ASIA/PACIFIC18. Visiting American Admiral Confers With Chinese Generals

(New York Times)....Jim YardleyChina must be more open about its rapid military buildup and should expand military collaboration with the UnitedStates to develop greater trust and thereby prevent misunderstandings and confrontation, the United Statescommander in the Pacific said Tuesday.

19. Admiral Pursues Chinese Answers, Ties(Washington Times)....Bill GertzThe commander of U.S. Pacific forces said in Beijing yesterday that he is troubled by China's missile buildup andanti-satellite weapons, but hopes military ties to its Communist Party-led forces will improve.

20. Port Request To Test China's Openness(Miami Herald)....Tim JohnsonThe Pentagon soon will ask China to approve a port call by a U.S. Navy vessel in Hong Kong, and will be watchingthe response as ''kind of a signal flare'' for whether China wants improving relations, a senior U.S. military officersaid Tuesday.

EUROPE21. Polish Official Says Deal Over U.S. Missiles Possible

(USA Today)....UnattributedPoland's defense minister said the United States appears willing to consider his country's insistence on U.S. securityaid in exchange for hosting U.S. missile-defense interceptors.

22. Warsaw Ups Ante For U.S. Shield(Washington Times)....Nicholas Kralev and Andrew BorowiecThe United States is headed for tough negotiations with Poland over a planned missile defense shield in EasternEurope, with Warsaw now demanding that Washington pour hundreds of millions of dollars into improving itsdefense capabilities.

23. Gates Discusses Missile Interceptors With Polish Defense Minister(Aerospace Daily & Defense Report)....John M. DoylePoland receives more military assistance from the U.S. than any other European nation, according to the DefenseDepartment, and Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich began two days of talks with Defense Secretary RobertGates at the Pentagon Jan. 15.

ARMY24. Oversight Of Iraq Contracts Is Shifted Amid Army Probes

(Philadelphia Inquirer)....Richard Lardner, Associated PressOversight for nearly $4 billion in Iraq war contracts has been shifted from a troubled procurement office in Kuwaitto an Army organization in Illinois as part of an ongoing effort to curb waste, fraud and abuse in military purchasing.

25. High-Profile Officer Nagl To Leave Army, Join Think Tank(Washington Post)....Thomas E. RicksOne of the Army’s most prominent younger officers, whose writings have influenced the conduct of the U.S. troopbuildup in Iraq, said he has decided to leave the service to study strategic issues full time at a new Washington thinktank.

NAVY26. Admiral Sees Littoral Ship As 'Workhorse In Our Navy'

(Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette)....Richard RymanThe U.S. Navy's top admiral said Monday he's committed to the littoral combat ship program while inspecting the

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first ship of that line under construction at Marinette Marine Corp.

27. Navy Is Asked For Road Money(Washington Post)....Steve VogelThe Montgomery County Council yesterday pressed the Navy to provide federal money for road improvementsneeded as part of the expansion of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

28. Navy Divers Honored For Work At I-35 Bridge Collapse In Minneapolis(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)....Cindy ClaytonNavy divers from the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two who worked to recover victims in the I-35 bridgecollapse in Minneapolis in August were honored with medals Monday for their efforts.

MARINE CORPS29. Marines Training On The Cutting Edge

(San Diego Union-Tribune)....Rick RogersThe Marine Corps is embracing breakthrough holographic technology to teach combat tactics and battlefield ethics atCamp Pendleton as troops there begin another major round of deployments to Iraq.

30. Marine Reported No Threat From Man Now Wanted In Her Slaying(USA Today)....Mike Baker, Associated PressA 20-year-old pregnant Marine who disappeared in December told victims' advocates at Camp Lejeune that shedidn't feel unsafe in the presence of the colleague now wanted in her death, Marine Corps officials said Tuesday.

31. Marines' Ad Campaign Targets Wider Audience(Wall Street Journal)....a Wall Street Journal staff reporterThe U.S. Marine Corps is rolling out a new ad campaign this week in an effort to target teachers, coaches, clergy andother groups that tend to have influence on kids' career paths.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE32. F-16 Crashes Near Key West; Pilot Ejects Safely

(MiamiHerald.com)....Associated PressAn F-16 fighter plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening during a routine training mission, aspokesman for Homestead Air Reserve Base said.

33. Copter Heroes Of Katrina Set To Go To Iraq(New Orleans Times-Picayune)....Paul PurpuraIn the past three years, the Army National Guard's 1/244th Air Assault Helicopter Battalion returned home from ayearlong tour in Iraq, served another six months on active duty because of Hurricane Katrina, and then beganre-training for a new combat mission and refitting its helicopters for battle.

MILITARY34. Lengthy Volunteer Stints Burn Out Military Wives

(USA Today)....Gregg Zoroya...She's not Army. She's not trained. Her only qualification, then at age 24, was being an officer's wife whovolunteered to run Bravo Troop's Family Readiness Group — a job of e-mailing and organizing potluck dinners inpeacetime. But when Bravo went to war, she became a social worker, grief counselor and a 24-hour hotlineovernight.

CONGRESS35. House To Vote On Troop Pay

(Philadelphia Inquirer)....Anne Flaherty, Associated PressThe House plans to pass as early as today a new defense-policy bill that includes a pay raise for troops.

36. Lawmaker Moves To Block Sale Of JDAMS To Saudi Arabia

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(Defense Daily)....Jen DiMascioRep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y. ) said yesterday he is moving to block the president's proposed sale ofprecision-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia.

AMERICAS37. Is Latin America Heading For An Arms Race?

(Christian Science Monitor)....Andrew DownieIncreased defense spending by Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador, coupled with significant arms purchases by Chileand Colombia, may mark the start of an arms race in South America – a region that hasn't seen a major war betweennations in decades.

AFRICA38. Combined Joint Task Force Commander Reflects On Progress In Horn Of Africa

(Mideast Stars and Stripes)....Zeke MinayaAsked about his accomplishments as head of the Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa, Rear Adm. JamesHart talks about the village of Assamo.

BUSINESS39. Wicker's Earmark Elicits Criticism

(Washington Post)....Matthew MoskSen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican congressman appointed to replace Trent Lott in December, last yearobtained a $6 million earmark for a defense contractor whose executives were among his top campaign contributorsand were represented in the matter by Wicker's former congressional chief of staff, according to federal records.

40. Carlyle In Talks To Buy Unit Of Booz Allen(Washington Post)....Thomas HeathThe Carlyle Group is in talks with Booz Allen Hamilton to purchase the technology and consulting firm'sgovernment business, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

POLITICS41. After Losing Son In Iraq, Retired Colonel Wages Challenge For Vet's House Seat

(USA Today)....Associated PressThe father of a Marine killed in Iraq announced Tuesday that he is running for the House seat held by the only Iraqwar veteran in Congress.

OPINION42. The News From Iraq: Reasons For Fear, Hope

(Philadelphia Inquirer)....Trudy Rubin...Having traveled to Baghdad last month, I can tell you that things in Iraq are much better than Democrats want tobelieve. But the current situation makes Republicans who prate of "victory" look foolish.

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Los Angeles TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 11. Gates Faults NATOForce In SouthernAfghanistanThe U.S. Defense secretarysays he thinks the soldiers fromCanada, Britain and theNetherlands do not know howto fight a guerrilla insurgency.By Peter Spiegel, Los AngelesTimes Staff Writer

WASHINGTON —In anunusual public criticism,Defense Secretary Robert M.Gates said he believes NATOforces currently deployed insouthern Afghanistan do notknow how to combat aguerrilla insurgency, adeficiency that could becontributing to the risingviolence in the fight against theTaliban.

"I'm worried we'redeploying [military advisors]that are not properly trainedand I'm worried we have somemilitary forces that don't knowhow to do counterinsurgencyoperations," Gates said in aninterview.

Gates' criticism comes asthe Bush administration hasdecided to send 3,200 U.S.Marines to southernAfghanistan on a temporarymission to help quell the risingnumber of attacks. It alsocomes amid growing frictionamong allied commanders overthe Afghan security situation.

But coming from anadministration castigated for itsconduct of wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, such U.S.criticism of the North AtlanticTreaty Organization iscontroversial. Many NATOofficials blame inadequate U.S.troop numbers earlier in thewar in part for a Talibanresurgence.

"It's been very, verydifficult to apply the classiccounterinsurgency doctrinebecause you've had to stabilizethe situation sufficiently tostart even applying it," said oneEuropean NATO official, whodiscussed the issue oncondition of anonymity

because he was not authorizedto speak for the alliance. "Evenin the classiccounterinsurgency doctrine,you've still got to get thefighting down to a level whereyou can apply the rest of thedoctrine."

Gates' views, however,reflect those expressed recentlyby senior U.S. military officialswith responsibility forAfghanistan. Some have saidthat an overreliance on heavyweaponry, including airstrikes,by NATO forces in the southmay unwittingly becontributing to rising violencethere.

"Execution of tasks, in myview, has not beenappropriate," said one top U.S.officer directly involved in theAfghan campaign whodiscussed internal assessmentson condition of anonymity."It's not the way to do business,in my opinion. We've got towean them of this. If theywon't change then we're goingto have another solution."

Gates has publiclycriticized European allies in thepast for failing to sendadequate numbers of troopsand helicopters to the Afghanmission. But concerns aboutstrategy and tactics are usuallycontained within military anddiplomatic channels.

In the interview, Gatescompared the troubledexperience of the NATO forcesin the south -- primarily troopsfrom the closest U.S. allies,Britain and Canada, as well asthe Netherlands -- withprogress made by Americantroops in the eastern part ofAfghanistan. He traced thefailing in part to a Cold Warorientation.

"Most of the Europeanforces, NATO forces, are nottrained in counterinsurgency;they were trained for the FuldaGap," Gates said, referring tothe German region where aSoviet invasion of WesternEurope was deemed mostlikely.

Gates said he raised hisconcerns last month inScotland at a meeting of

NATO countries with troops insouthern Afghanistan andsuggested additional training.

But he added that hisconcerns did not appear to beshared by the NATO allies."No one at the table stood upand said: 'I agree with that.' "

The NATO forces are ledby a U.S. commander, ArmyGen. Dan McNeill, who hascalled for greater contributionsby NATO countries. Somemember nations are reluctant todeepen their involvement.

NATO officials bristled atsuggestions that non-U.S.forces have been ineffective inimplementing acounterinsurgency campaign.They argued that the south,home to Afghanistan's Pashtuntribal heartland that producedthe Taliban movement, haslong been the most militarilycontested region of thecountry.

The European NATOofficial, who is directlyinvolved in Afghan planning,angrily denounced theAmerican claims, saying muchof the violence is a result of thesmall number of U.S. troopswho had patrolled the regionbefore NATO's takeover inmid-2006, a strategy thatallowed the Taliban toreconstitute in the region.

"The reason there is morefighting now is because we'veuncovered a very big rock andlots of things are scurryingout," the NATO official said.

Pentagon concerns haverisen as violence in the southhas steadily increased, even asother parts of Afghanistan havebegun to stabilize.

Last year was the deadliestfor both U.S. and allied forcesin Afghanistan since the 2001invasion, according to thewebsite icasualties.org.

But both U.S. and NATOofficials have expressedoptimism that easternAfghanistan, which is underthe control of U.S. forces ledby Army Maj. Gen. DavidRodriguez, has substantiallyimproved in recent months.

Rodriguez implemented acampaign that incorporated

many of the same tactics beingused in Iraq by Army Gen.David H. Petraeus, the U.S.commander in Baghdad whoco-wrote the military's newcounterinsurgency fieldmanual.

"If you believe all thethings you hear aboutAfghanistan, this ought to bereal hot," Navy Adm. WilliamJ. Fallon, commander of U.S.troops in the Middle East andCentral Asia, said of easternAfghanistan. "More than halfthe border is Pakistan, it's arough area, historically it'sbeen a hotbed of insurgentactivity. It's remarkable in itsimprovement."

At the same time, violencehas continued to rise in thesouth, which is controlled by a11,700-soldier NATO forcelargely made up of the British,Canadian and Dutch forces.Britain saw 42 soldiers killedlast year, almost all in southernAfghanistan, its highest annualfatality count of the war;Canada lost 31, close to the 36from that country killed in2006. American forces lost 117troops in 2007, up from 98 in2006, but U.S. forces arespread more widely acrossAfghanistan.

"Our guys in the east,under Gen. Rodriguez, aredoing a terrific job. They've gotthe [counterinsurgency] thingdown pat," Gates said. "But Ithink our allies over there, thisis not something they have anyexperience with."

Some U.S.counterinsurgency experts haveargued that the backsliding isnot the fault of NATO forcesalone.

Some have argued that aneffective counterinsurgencycampaign implemented byArmy Lt. Gen. David W.Barno and Zalmay Khalilzad,who were the U.S. commanderin and ambassador toAfghanistan from 2003 to2005, was largely abandonedby officials who came later.

Barno retired from themilitary and heads the NearEast South Asia Center at theNational Defense University.

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In an article in the influentialArmy journal Military Reviewlast fall, he blamed both NATOand U.S. commanders formoving away from thecounterinsurgency plan since2006.

Barno accused NATO andU.S. forces of ignoring thecornerstone of acounterinsurgency campaign --protecting the local population-- and said they instead focusedon killing enemy forces.

"We had a fundamentallywell-structured, integrated U.S.Embassy and U.S. militaryunified counterinsurgencycampaign plan which we put inplace in late '03 that took us allthe way through about themiddle of 2005," Barno said inan interview. "And then it wasreally, in many ways, changedvery dramatically."

Currently servingAmerican officers, however,have singled out non-U.S.NATO forces for the bulk oftheir criticism. Among theconcerns is that NATO forcesdo not actively include Afghantroops in military operations.

As a result, local forces inthe south are now less capablethan those in the east, whichoperate very closely with theirAmerican counterparts.

"Every time you see ourguys in the field, you don'thave to look very far and you'llsee them," said the senior U.S.officer involved in the Afghancampaign. "Getting the Brits todo this and the others is a littlemore of a problem."

In addition, U.S. militaryofficials said NATO forces inthe south are too quick to relyon high-caliber firepower, suchas airstrikes, a practice whichalienates the local population.

"The wide view there,which I hear from Americans,is that the NATO militaryforces are taking on a Sovietmentality," said one seniorU.S. military veteran ofAfghanistan. "They're stayingin their bases in the south,they're doing very littlepatrolling, they're trying toavoid casualties, and they'reusing air power as a substitute

for ground infantry operations,because they have so littleground infantry."

The European NATOofficial said, however, thatalliance data show that allcountries, including the U.S.,use air power in similaramounts when their troopscome in contact with enemyforces.

"Everyone is grateful forthe Americans ... but this kindof constant denigration of whatother people are doing isn'thelpful," the official said. "Italso makes the situation lookworse than it is."

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 112. 3,200 Marines ToDeploy To AfghanistanIn SpringBy Ann Scott Tyson,Washington Post Staff Writer

About 2,200 Marines fromthe 24th Marine ExpeditionaryUnit based at Camp Lejeune,N.C., will deploy in March tosouthern Afghanistan, whereTaliban insurgents haveescalated attacks andrepeatedly seized territory overthe past year.

"This has been timed tomaximize our ability to take onthe Taliban should they choose-- unwisely, I may add -- toattempt a second springoffensive," Pentagon presssecretary Geoff Morrell saidyesterday. Those Marines willfocus on combat operationsand work under a NATOcommand led by Canada.

Another 1,000 Marinesfrom the 2nd Battalion, 7thMarine Regiment, based inTwentynine Palms, Calif., willtake train Afghan securityforces, primarily the police,and will work under U.S.command.

The deployment will bringU.S. forces in Afghanistan tomore than 30,000 troops, thegreatest number since theU.S.-led overthrow of theTaliban government in late2001. There are currently about

28,000 non-U.S. foreign troopsin Afghanistan, according toPentagon data.

Defense Secretary RobertM. Gates has long urgedNATO allies to provide moreforces and lift restrictions ontheir combat roles inAfghanistan, and officials saidthe decision to send the U.S.Marines does not alleviate thatneed. "It is our hope that ourallies in NATO and otherpartners ... in Afghanistan willsee what more they can do toadd forces to bring down theshortfall that will exist evenafter we deploy theseadditional Marines," Morrellsaid. This would include, "atthe very least," sending forcesto replace the Marines whenthey leave at the end of thisyear, he said.

Stretched thin by rotationsto Iraq and Afghanistan, theU.S. military has struggled tomuster the additional troops."Finding these forces has beendifficult," Morrell said.

As a result, the MarineCorps will have to sustainthrough 2008 a high pace ofdeployments -- which nowdictate that Marines in combatunits spend about as much timeat home as in the war zone --whereas previously that tempowas expected to ease in thespring, said Col. Dave Lapan, aMarine Corps spokesman.

The 24th MarineExpeditionary Unit wasalready scheduled to deploy forseven months to the MiddleEast, where it was to serve as acontingency force, or "theaterreserve," for U.S. CentralCommand, led by Adm.William J. Fallon. AnotherU.S. combat force will now fillthat role, which normallyinvolves only a few months ofcombat time.

The Marines headed toAfghanistan will not comefrom Iraq, where Gates hasmade it clear that they are stillneeded. Nevertheless, theinitial drawdown of U.S. troopsfrom Iraq -- particularly thedeparture last fall of twoMarine infantry battalions fromAnbar -- has helped make it

possible to send reinforcementsto Afghanistan, Morrell said.

"We are reaping thebenefits to some extent fromthe success we have beenseeing in Iraq," he said.

New York TimesJanuary 16, 20083. 4 Arrests Made InKabul Hotel AttackBy Abdul Waheed Wafa

KABUL, Afghanistan —Police authorities inAfghanistan have arrested fourpeople in the aftermath of thesuicide bomb attack onMonday evening at a Kabulluxury hotel and said Tuesdaythat three Americans and oneFrenchwoman might have beenamong the six dead.

Foreign officials in Kabulcould not confirm the numberof Americans who had beenkilled, and on Monday theState Department confirmedonly one American death.

At a news conference, thechief of the National SecurityDirectorate, Amrullah Saleh,said that one of the menarrested had been taken intocustody in the hotel, theSerena, 20 minutes after theattack. He was disguised in apolice uniform and waswearing an explosives belt, andhotel cameras had capturedhim shooting at people, Mr.Saleh said.

Two other attackers diedas they detonated theirexplosives in the Serena, whichis frequented by foreigners, inone of the most brazen assaultsby the Taliban in the heavilyprotected heart of the Afghancapital.

The police also arrested aman who they said planned theattack, provided the weaponsand explosives, and transportedthe three attackers to the hotel.He was arrested in easternAfghanistan, near the Pakistanborder.

The two other peoplearrested were brotherssuspected of putting theattackers up in their home inKabul before the bombing, Mr.Saleh said, and a videotape

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found at the house showed twoof the attackers, the arrestedman and one of the men killed,talking about their readinessfor a suicide mission. Mr.Saleh said the third attackerwas not videotaped, indicating“he was either a foreignnational or he was not able tospeak the local language.”

One American and aNorwegian journalist werereported Monday as beingkilled. But Mr. Saleh said thedead included an Afghanguard, three Americans andone Frenchwoman. Thenationality of the sixth personkilled could not immediatelybe disclosed, he said.

A Taliban spokesman,Zabihullah Mujahid, repeatedthe group’s claim ofresponsibility on Tuesday,saying the attack was aimedmainly at the Norwegianforeign minister, Jonas GahrStoere, who was attending ameeting at the hotel but wasnot hurt. Norway has 500peacekeeping troops stationedin Afghanistan.

“We will carry out moreattacks in the capital where theforeigners stay,” Mr. Mujahidsaid.

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 114. Taliban Says It WillTarget Westerners InKabul

The Taliban said itssuicide bombers will attackrestaurants where Westernerseat in the Afghan capital ofKabul.

The warning came a dayafter a bombing and shootingattack at the Serena Hotel lefteight people dead. Four arrestshave been made.

"We have jihadists inKabul right now, and soon wewill carry out more attacksagainst military personnel andforeigners," Talibanspokesman Zabiullah Mujahidsaid.

United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki

Moon and the U.N. SecurityCouncil condemned the suicideattack and called for addedefforts to stop the Taliban.

Boston GlobeJanuary 16, 20085. Gates's VoiceModerating US PoliciesStances on war, torture, Iranmark key shiftBy Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON - WhenRobert M. Gates was sworn into replace Donald H. Rumsfeldas secretary of defense,President Bush said he wascounting on his new Pentagonchief to "forge a new wayforward in Iraq."

But in the year since hewas hired to reverse USfortunes there - advocating amilitary "surge" that by mostaccounts has reaped significantdividends - the unassumingformer CIA director andconfidant of the president'sfather, George H.W. Bush, hasalso been undertaking a muchbroader mission.

Gates, 64, in an alliancewith his former aide, Secretaryof State Condoleezza Rice, hashelped to roll back some of themost hawkish stances of thefirst six years of the Bushpresidency - on the use oftorture, US-Iranian relations,and the policy of preemptivewar that Vice President DickCheney, Rumsfeld, and othersespoused, according tointerviews with current andformer administration officialsand private analysts.

Gates's influence hasbrought the president's foreignpolicy more in line with that ofthe elder Bush, steering theadministration toward a moretraditional model ofcoalition-building andadvocating military force as alast resort, they said.

"What you have is achange in the climate aroundthe president," said BrentScowcroft, who served asnational security adviser for thefirst President Bush, whenGates served as his deputy andRice oversaw Soviet affairs.

Given his background as aformer CIA analyst andpresident of a major university,Gates has a "different kind ofpersonality and outlook" thanhis highly ideologicalpredecessor, Scowcroft said.Gates's influence has helpedreplace the "formidablepressure" exerted on thepresident by Cheney,Rumsfeld, and theirneoconservative allies with "amuch more nuanced foreignpolicy."

For example, top nationalsecurity officials clashed withCongress and human rightsadvocates over their refusal torule out "waterboarding," aninterrogation technique thatinvolves simulated drowningand is deemed torture by theGeneva Conventions.

But when the chairman ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staffequivocated in Novemberwhen asked whether heconsidered waterboarding to betorture, Gates cut him off. "Nomember of the US military isallowed to do it, period," Gatessaid.

Besides railing againsttorture as an interrogationtactic in the war on terror,Gates has advocated closingdown the Guantanamo Baydetention center in Cuba,which he believes has sulliedAmerica's reputation.

He has successfullypushed the administration toengage Iran to help improvesecurity in Iraq, over theobjections of Cheney. Breakingwith Rumsfeld, Gates alsonegotiated with Russianofficials to assuage their angerover a US plan to erect anantimissile system in EasternEurope.

Then in late November,Gates surprised theWashington establishment byadvocating a major increase inthe State Department's budget,saying the United States "mustfocus our energies beyond theguns and steel of the military."

Scowcroft, a close friendof Gates, said Gates considersthe speech at Kansas StateUniversity to be among his

proudest moments as defensesecretary. It was also a breakfrom Rumsfeld and signaledthat Gates believes the militaryshould not be the primary toolof American foreign policy.

"There is no more talkabout spreading democracy" byforce, said Joseph Nye, aformer assistant secretary ofdefense in the Clintonadministration who teaches atHarvard University. "Bob is avery practical, sensible person.I think they would have been alot better off if he had been thedefense secretary in 2001."

Nye recalled howRumsfeld was dismissive of"soft power" - the use ofdiplomacy and othernoncoercive means toinfluence adversaries. Askedabout soft power at a 2003Army conference, Rumsfeldreplied, "I don't know what itmeans," Nye recalled.

At Kansas State four yearslater, Gates declared, "I amhere to make the case forstrengthening our capacity touse soft power" and advocated"a dramatic increase inspending on the civilianinstruments of nationalsecurity" like diplomacy,economic aid, and culturalexchanges.

"What better illustrationcan you have of thedifferences" between Gates andRumsfeld, Nye said.

While Gates is hailed as abreath of fresh air, critics sayhe is still presiding over awidely unpopular war in Iraq.

Michael O'Hanlon, adefense analyst at theBrookings Institution, believesGates's heavy focus on Iraq hascome at the expense of the warin Afghanistan, where violenceis up and insurgents aremaking gains on coalitionforces.

"In Afghanistan, Gates'srecord is mixed," O'Hanlonsaid.

Nevertheless, Gates haswon high marks fromlawmakers in both parties onCapitol Hill.

Most Democrats andRepublicans hail his efforts to

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reach out to both parties and toallies around the world, and torestore the government'scredibility.

"He has been verystraightforward," saidRepresentative Ike Skelton ofMissouri, the Democraticchairman of the House ArmedServices Committee. "He givesus periodic briefings on thesituation in the Middle Eastthat he pledged he would do.He told us at his confirmationhearing that he would notmislead us and has lived up toit."

In the Bush Cabinet, Gateshas found an intellectual soulmate in Rice, a formeruniversity administrator,according to thoseknowledgeable about theadministration's internaldeliberations.

Gates "allows Condi toexpand more in her areas whenshe couldn't before, when shegot slapped down every timeshe moved," Scowcroft said.

Meanwhile, formersecretary of state James A.Baker III, another member ofthe elder Bush's inner circle, isalso considered close to Gates.Baker was one of the keymoderate voices that helped thefirst President Bush build aninternational coalition in the1990-91 Persian Gulf war andwas among those who warnedagainst invading Iraq in 2003without United Nationsbacking.

"There is a sense that thesystem is working again," saidJohn Hamre, former deputysecretary of defense in theClinton administration andrecently picked by Gates tohead the Pentagon's DefensePolicy Board AdvisoryCommittee.

"The system had brokendown rather badly, and there isa feeling that things are back toa regular order," Hamre said.

Gates's stewardship couldhelp salvage the president'sforeign affairs legacy.

"Robert Gates is abipartisan moderate rather thana highly partisan hard-liner,"said Loren Thompson,

president of the LexingtonInstitute, aconservative-leaning think tankspecializing in defense policy."He is nobody's idea of aliberal, but he knows how tomake a government of dividedparties and diverse viewpointswork. Bush has been draggedback to the center by Gates."

New York TimesJanuary 16, 20086. Rice, In Baghdad,Praises New LawBy Solomon Moore

BAGHDAD — Secretaryof State Condoleezza Ricemade a surprise visit to Iraq onTuesday to brief PrimeMinister Nuri Kamal al-Malikiand other top politicians aboutPresident Bush’s recent talkswith Arab leaders and to praiserecent legislative progress.

Speaking alongside Iraq’sforeign minister, HoshyarZebari, inside the Green Zone,Ms. Rice singled out thepassage of a new law onSaturday as an important steptoward reconciliation withformer members of SaddamHussein’s government, who aremostly Sunni Arabs. The lawwould allow some formerofficials from Mr. Hussein’sBaath Party to fill governmentpositions and impose a strictban on others.

American diplomats hadurged the Iraqi government toimprove the oldde-Baathification process andincluded a new vetting processamong a list of politicalbenchmarks to beaccomplished during theAmerican troop increase.

Under the old law, tens ofthousands of Baath Partymembers were purged from thegovernment. Critics said thatthe process was politicized,arbitrary and far too restrictive,and complained that it onlyaggravated sectarian tensionsand inflamed the Sunni Arabinsurgency.

But the new law hasloopholes that some criticshave said may ultimately makeit more restrictive than the old

one. Although Ms. Riceacknowledged that the newmeasure remainedcontroversial, she praised it asan example of Iraq’s emergingdemocracy.

“I don’t know of any lawthat has ever been passed thatis everything that everybodywants,” she said. “That’s thenature of democracy. The lawwill be more than some peoplewanted. It will be less thansome people wanted. That’sthe nature of democraticcompromise.”

Some leaders said the lawwould give more jobs toex-party members, whileproviding purged Baathistswith pensions, which the oldprocess did not do. But somehard-line Shiite politicians whosupported the law, andminority Sunni political partymembers who did not, agreedthat the legislation was evenmore restrictive than theoriginal process, and that itwould be used to justify furtherpurges.

One clause prohibitsformer Baathists from workingin several of Iraq’s mostimportant ministries, includingForeign, Interior and Defense,despite American plans tointegrate more Sunni Arabsinto Iraq’s security forces.Critics of the law said it couldhave the opposite of itsintended effect, and eventuallyrekindle sectarian bloodshedafter the current lull inviolence.

United States officials,who had been pushing the IraqiParliament to adopt a lawrevising the de-Baathificationprocess, billed the newmeasure as a criticalaccomplishment thatvindicated the strategy of anAmerican troop increase. Butsince its passage on Saturday,American officials had beenconspicuously tight-lippedabout its content as theystudied the legislation closelyand tried to gauge its impact.

Although Ms. Rice did notaddress the most controversialportions of the law, she wasupbeat about its passage.

“This law, theAccountability and JusticeLaw, is clearly a step forwardfor national reconciliation,” shesaid. “It is clearly a stepforward for the process ofhealing the wounds of the past,and it will have to be followedup by implementation that is inthe same spirit of nationalreconciliation.”

President Bush, in aninterview with reporters inRiyadh, Saudi Arabia, said thelegislation was a sign of Iraq’smaturing political process afterdecades of brutal repressionunder Mr. Hussein.

“A political systemevolves and grows,” he said.“It grows when people haveconfidence. It grows when thegrass roots begins to agitate forchange. It grows when there’salternatives. There’scompetition emerging.”

Ms. Rice and Mr. Zebaripredicted that progress wouldsoon be made on two morecrucial benchmarks: a nationaloil revenue sharing law and anagreement on the contestednorthern city of Kirkuk.

On Sunday, a broad swathof sectarian, ethnic and secularparties formed a coalition topush for greater centralcontrols on regionalhydrocarbon resources and toset aside a planned popularreferendum on the status ofKirkuk, an oil-rich city thatIraq’s powerful Kurdishalliance regards as part of thesemiautonomous region ofKurdistan.

The coalition pitsnationalist interests against theKurdish and Shiite parties,including the Supreme IraqiIslamic Council, which havepushed for more regionalpower. Competing Kurdish andArab claims for Kirkuk, whichremains among Iraq’s mosttroubled areas, remain aparticularly delicate problem,which American officials havecompared to a ticking timebomb.

Mr. Zebari, who is also aprominent Kurdish leader, saidhe hoped Kirkuk’s statuswould be resolved within six

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months, and described the newpolitical alliance as a positivedevelopment and played downpotential tensions.

“There are new alliancesbeing built and being formed,”he said. “I don’t think weshould be terrified of suchpolitical developments. I thinkit is all healthy.”

Earlier on Tuesday, avehicle in an eight-vehicleJustice Ministry convoyslammed into a group ofchildren on their way to schoolin downtown Baghdad, killinga 9-year-old boy and injuringfour other children. Theaccident set off a gunfightbetween Iraqi soldiersstationed nearby and ministryguards traveling with theconvoy.

A witness named Ahmed,who gave only his first namefor fear of reprisals, said thesame convoy had run over amotorcyclist in the same placelast year. Ahmed said that oneof the vehicles drove onto asidewalk, hitting severalchildren and slamming onechild against a telephone pole,killing him.

“He did not stop at thatpoint,” Ahmed said. “Heturned his vehicle around,running over another child.Then Iraqi soldiers shot thetires.”

In other violence, amember of a Concerned LocalCitizens group, one of theSunni tribal militias that haveturned against the insurgents,died in a clash with gunmen inBaghdad, according to the Iraqipolice.

Iraqi security officials saidthat American and Iraqi forceshad killed 17 gunmen insouthwest Baquba, the capitalof troubled Diyala Province,and killed another gunman in anorthern suburb.

Two suicide bombersexploded near a policecheckpoint in Tikrit, inSalahuddin Province, killingone officer and wounding twoConcerned Local Citizensmembers and six civilians.

Reporting was contributedby Steven Lee Myers from

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; AbeerMohammed, Stephen Farrell,Balen Y. Younis and QaisMizher from Baghdad; andIraqi employees of The NewYork Times from Baghdad,Diyala, Kirkuk andSulaimaniya.

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 107. As Al-Maliki GainsStrength, SomeQuestion His Will ForUnityBy Charles Levinson, USAToday

BAGHDAD — WhenSecretary of State CondoleezzaRice praised Nouri al-Maliki'sgovernment during a surprisevisit to Baghdad on Tuesday,she was addressing an Iraqiprime minister who — forbetter or worse — hasstrengthened his grip on power.

As recently as last fall,al-Maliki's coalitiongovernment appeared to be indanger of collapsing. Sincethen, he has taken advantage ofa dramatic drop in violencethroughout Iraq to fend offchallenges from other politicalparties and exert more controlover security forces.

Some analysts and U.S.military officers doubt that the57-year-old Shiite leader willuse his increased clout to healdivisions between Sunnis andShiites, although last week,al-Maliki helped push throughthe parliament the first majorlaw aimed at reconciliationbetween the two religioussects.

The bill would allow someformer low-ranking membersof Saddam Hussein's politicalparty back into governmentjobs.

Rice called the measure "astep forward for healing thewounds of the past."

"Al-Maliki is stronger nowthan at any point since takingpower," says Mithal al-Alusi,an independent Iraqi lawmakerwho has criticized al-Maliki'sgovernment for failing to

control Shiite militias. "Otherparties thought they couldpressure him and bring downhis government, but al-Malikifought back — and he won."

Since he took office inApril 2006, Al-Maliki hasstayed in power largely byarguing that no one else in Iraqwas equipped to replace him.Last spring, lawmakers loyal tothe anti-American clericMuqtada al-Sadr, representingthe largest Shiite party in theparliament, withdrew supportfor al-Maliki. In August, sixSunni Cabinet ministersfollowed suit. On bothoccasions, al-Maliki ignoredcalls to resign.

Some politicians sayal-Maliki has done a moreeffective job of playingpolitical hardball.

They cited his reaction to arecent uprising by Kurdishmembers of his coalition whowere angry over his failure tohold a vote on the status of theoil-rich city of Kirkuk andother issues.

Shortly after a meetingwith al-Maliki on Sunday,Shiite and Sunni leadersannounced a rare joint coalitionopposed to some Kurdishdemands for autonomy.

Though al-Maliki's officeinsists the prime minister hadnothing to do with the alliance,Kurdish lawmaker MahmoudOthman was among those whosaw it as a savvy politicalmaneuver that gave al-Maliki abargaining chip to use innegotiations with the Kurds.

"I think al-Maliki mayhave encouraged the pact,"Othman said.

Brig. Gen. David Phillips,the senior U.S. officer incharge of training the Iraqipolice force, is among thosewho accuse the prime ministerof resisting efforts toaccommodate the country'sSunni population, whosealienation in postwar Iraq hasbeen the driving force behindthe insurgency.

"Al-Maliki is an effectiveleader if you're looking at thisfrom a sectarian agenda,"Phillips said.

Phillips criticizedal-Maliki's office for holdingup the appointments of Sunnipolice officers and attemptingto remove Sunni soldiers fromstrategically important armyunits, such as those in chargeof guarding the sacred Shiiteshrine in Samarra.

President Bush has alsoexpressed frustration withal-Maliki's inability to brokercompromises on benchmarklaws.

Al-Maliki's chief politicaladviser, Sadiq al-Rikabi, saysthe prime minister has beeninstrumental in restoringsecurity to Baghdad's streetsand in encouragingreconciliation between Shiitesand Sunni.

"The prime minister hassaved Iraq and all the MiddleEast from the disaster of asectarian war," al-Rikabi said.

Steve Biddle, a formeradviser to the senior U.S.commander in Iraq, Gen.David Petraeus, says astrengthened al-Maliki mayspell trouble for the U.S.mission in Iraq.

"It's not clear to me that astronger al-Maliki is in ourinterests," Biddle said. "We'retrying to drag him kicking andscreaming to a morecompromise-orientedwillingness to acceptconcessions.

"In a sense, the strongerthe guy gets, the more powerhe has to resist what we wantbecause he doesn't need us asmuch."

New York TimesJanuary 16, 20088. Iraqi Spending ToRebuild Has Slowed,Report SaysBy James Glanz

Highly promising figuresthat the administration cited todemonstrate economic progressin Iraq last fall, when Congresswas considering whether tocontinue financing the war,cannot be substantiated byofficial Iraqi budget records,the Government Accountability

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Office reported Tuesday.The Iraqi government had

been severely criticized forfailing to spend billions ofdollars of its oil revenues in2006 to finance its ownreconstruction, but lastSeptember the administrationsaid Iraq had greatlyaccelerated such spending. ByJuly 2007, the administrationsaid, Iraq had spent some 24percent of $10 billion set asidefor reconstruction that year.

As Gen. David H.Petraeus, the top Americancommander in Iraq, and RyanC. Crocker, the Americanambassador to Iraq, prepared inSeptember to report toCongress on the state of thewar, the economic figures werea rare sign of progress withinIraq’s often dysfunctionalgovernment.

But in its report onTuesday, the accountabilityoffice said official IraqiFinance Ministry recordsshowed that Iraq had spentonly 4.4 percent of thereconstruction budget byAugust 2007. It also said thatthe rate of spending hadsubstantially slowed from theprevious year.

The reason for thedifference, said Joseph A.Christoff, the G.A.O.’s directorof international affairs andtrade, was that few officialIraqi figures for 2007 wereavailable when GeneralPetraeus and Mr. Crocker wentto Congress.

So the administration, withthe help of the FinanceMinistry in Baghdad, appearsto have relied on a combinationof indicators, including realexpenditures, ministries’suggestions of projects theyintended to carry out, andcontracts that were still undernegotiation, Mr. Christoff said.But actual spending does notseem to have lived up to thoseestimates for spending onreconstruction, a budget itemsometimes called capital orinvestment expenditures, headded.

“So it looked like animprovement, but it wasn’t an

improvement,” he said.The United States

Treasury Department and StateDepartment criticized theconclusions in commentsincluded in the report, sayingthat the G.A.O. had notaccounted for all places in theIraqi budget where investmentor capital expenditures hadbeen made. But the report saidthose departments had not beenable to identify specific placeswhere those other expenditureshad taken place.

A spokeswoman for theUnited States Embassy inBaghdad said Tuesday that shecould not comment. The WhiteHouse press office did notrespond to a request forcomment.

After the United Statesspent more than $40 billion torebuild Iraq’s falteringelectricity, water, sewage,transportation and petroleumsectors, with mixed results atbest, Iraq’s failure to devote itsown resources to continue thetask brought severe criticismfrom Western government andtechnical organizations.

The reasons for thatfailure, Iraqi and Americanofficials said, included thechallenges of carrying outconstruction projects in adangerous countryside, a lackof expertise in a nation drainedof technical talent, and a fearthat new anticorruptionmeasures would be widelyused to prosecute Iraqi officialsaccustomed to operating in aculture of bribes and financialback-scratching.

Still, after Iraq’s failure tospend its own money onreconstruction was firstdisclosed in late 2006, Iraqiand American officialsrepeatedly asserted that theproblems would be much lesssevere the next year, as the newgovernment led by PrimeMinister Nuri Kamal al-Malikifound its way.

In addition, the officialssaid, with the American troopincrease and securityimprovements, securityproblems would lessen. AndAmerican training programs

were producing more skilledIraqi contracting and financeofficials. The figures put forthin September appeared toendorse those claims.

But the accountabilityoffice figures, which Mr.Christoff said were takendirectly from Finance Ministryrecords, show that throughAugust 2007 the Iraqigovernment had spent less thanhalf the percentage of itsinvestment budget that it hadspent in the same period in2006.

Rick Barton, co-director ofthe postconflict reconstructionproject at the Center forStrategic and InternationalStudies in Washington, said allmeasures of economic progressin Iraq were difficult to pindown precisely. But he said theUnited States, taking thosedifficulties into account, shouldhave been wary of toutingprogress before the facts wereclear.

“The data in these placesis hugely unreliable to beginwith, primarily because nobodygets out in the field to seewhat’s going on,” Mr. Bartonsaid. “But what is probablytroubling is that when youknow this, you shouldn’t beusing this to create wrongimpressions or falseimpressions and pretendingthat you know what’s goingon.”

New York TimesJanuary 16, 20089. Turkey BombsKurdish Rebels

ISTANBUL — Turkishfighter jets bombed Kurdishmilitants in northern Iraq onTuesday, the military said, thefourth major airstrike in amonth in what has become anextensive Turkish air campaignagainst the Kurdish fighters.

The military reported onits Web site that it “effectivelyhit” targets belonging to theKurdistan Workers’ Party, orP.K.K., in the Zap, Avashin,Basyan and Hakurk regions.No casualties were reported.

The strike came as Gen.

Ergin Saygun, the second incommand of the Turkishmilitary, visited Baghdad fortalks on the Kurdish rebelgroup. General Saygun metwith Iraqi officials and the topAmerican commander, Gen.David H. Petraeus. Theydiscussed “a range of militaryissues, as well as ways toestablish cooperation in thestruggle against terror,”according to the Turkishmilitary.

The attack was part of acalculated campaign againstthe rebel group that began onDec. 1, when Turkish soldiersshelled rebel positions in Iraqiterritory.

At the time, the Turkishmilitary and government wereunder tremendous publicpressure to act against thegroup, which had carried out ahumiliating ambush in Octoberthat killed 12 Turkish soldiers.

Los Angeles TimesJanuary 16, 200810. Fire Shuts OilRefinery In IraqPotential sabotage suspectsare numerous in the Basraarea, plagued by violencebetween rival political andcriminal factions.By Garrett Therolf, LosAngeles Times Staff Writer

BAGHDAD —An oilrefinery near Iraq's southernport city of Basra probably willremain shut for days after alarge fire Tuesday thathighlighted the vulnerability ofthe country's energyinfrastructure to criminal andpolitical power struggles.

Five men suffered severeburns, and the sky was clottedwith thick smoke until thetwo-hour fire wasextinguished. The refineryprovides petroleum products toconsumers in southern Iraq.

"There was severe damageto the refinery," said BasraGov. Mohammed Waeli,adding that the facility wouldremain closed for days.

The Basra area is subjectto entrenched banditry,estimated to cost the state

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billions of dollars each year, atthe hands of rival gangs, manyof them suspected of affiliationwith Shiite Muslim politicalparties that control the area.

As a result, "you can'timagine who wouldn't" commitsabotage in Basra, said aWestern advisor to the Iraqigovernment. "These could belocal rivalries; they could bebroader rivalries."

The blaze may have beentied to "local advantage, maybepayback. Who knows?" theadvisor said. "The situation inBasra [is]: It's hard to tell ifthere are any good guys."

Officials saysmuggling-related violence isrooted in battles taking place inBasra among political factionsand criminal gangs. Localchapters of the SupremeIslamic Iraqi Council, Waeli'sFadila party and Shiite clericMuqtada Sadr's movementhave all been accused ofinvolvement in the lucrativesmuggling trade.

British forces withdrewfrom the city in September, butofficials worry about thelawlessness that still exists.

"The national governmentis trying to get the situationssorted in Basra to reducecorruption and get the [local]parties out of running things.It's not just the oil -- it's theports, the points of entry -- it'severything," the Westernadvisor said.

Historically, two-thirds ofIraq's oil output came fromsouthern fields and flowedthrough Basra. More than 1.5million barrels of oil still movethrough the area every day,providing the bulk of thecentral government's revenue.

Iraq's proven oil reservesare estimated to be around 115billion barrels, the world'sthird-largest after SaudiArabia's and Canada's.

Witnesses said Tuesday'sblaze was ignited by a rocketor mortar attack, but theiraccount did not win fullendorsement from authorities.Investigators said they werenot yet able to rule outmechanical failure.

Meanwhile, Iraq's OilMinistry alleged that ahelicopter belonging to theU.S.-led coalition wassomehow responsible -- acharge denied by the military.

Hakim Mayahi, head ofthe Basra provincial council'ssecurity committee, said, "Weshould not forget that there areinternational terroristorganizations and regionalcountries' intelligence agenciesthat often interfere in order tocreate security chaos in Iraq."

Anthony Cordesman, ofthe Center for Strategic andInternational Studies inWashington, said the manyconflicting gangs "make itpretty damn difficult tounderstand what is going on."

The effects, however, areacute.

"All of the impact of aninterruption is feltimmediately, because there areno stockpiles; there is nothingto absorb the shocks," said theWestern advisor to the Iraqigovernment.

Meanwhile in Baghdad,Justice Ministry vehiclesslammed into a group offourth- and fifth-grade studentsTuesday. The disturbancecaused guards at a nearbycheckpoint for the ForeignAffairs Ministry to open fire.Five boys were killed in theinitial accident.

Elsewhere in the capital,Majid Khudair Lafta, a Shiiteleader of a local volunteergroup, was killed in aconfrontation with gunmen.

The volunteer groups,known as concerned localcitizens, are largely made up offormer insurgents who haveagreed to work alongsideU.S.-led security forces inexchange for payment. Theyhave been credited withcontributing to Iraq's recentdecrease in violence.

Along the nation'snorthern perimeter, Turkishattack planes bombardedKurdish villagers, according tosources in the KurdistanWorkers Party, a rebel TurkishKurd group. The attacks couldnot be immediately confirmed

by Turkish authorities.Times staff writer Ned

Parker and specialcorrespondents in Irbil,Baghdad and Basracontributed to this report.

Boston GlobeJanuary 16, 200811. 3 US Soldiers MayHave Died FromFriendly FireBy Lolita C. Baldor,Associated Press

WASHINGTON - ThreeArmy soldiers who weregunned down during anintensive, three-hour firefightin Salahuddin Province northof Baghdad last week mighthave died from friendly fire,military officials saidyesterday.

The three 101st AirborneDivision soldiers were part ofan Army company that wasattacked by as many as 15insurgents on Jan. 8, afterdiscovering several largecaches of explosives.

Military officials said thedeaths were being investigatedto determine whether thesoldiers were killed by shotsfrom the enemy or by USforces, including members oftheir unit and aircraft called infor backup.

A detailed account wasgiven by several officials to theAssociated Press.

The three soldiers weresearching buildings southwestof Samarra early that Tuesdaymorning when they found morethan 1,000 pounds ofhomemade explosives, two55-gallon barrels rigged toblow up, a roadside bomb,bullets, and bomb-makingmaterials.

Soon afterward theydiscovered that a secondbuilding was filled withexplosives, guns, ammunition,and a disassembled suicidevest.

When they moved in onthe insurgents, reports said, thesoldiers discovered anextensive tunnel and trenchnetwork that was defended by

10 to 15 of the enemy, whoattacked the company usingmortars, grenades, and guns.

The fight lasted aboutthree hours, escalating to amassive battle with US aircraftblasting the insurgents withrockets, several bombs, and.50-caliber guns.

At some point soldiersdiscovered that two membersof their unit - Private FirstClass Ivan E. Merlo, 19, of SanMarcos, Calif., and PrivateFirst Class Phillip J. Pannier,20, of Washburn, Ill., had beenkilled. Three others wereinjured, and one of them -Sergeant David J. Hart, 22, ofLake View Terrace, Calif. -later died.

Washington TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 1412. Official's ConvoyRuns Over Children

BAGHDAD — Fiveschoolchildren were killedyesterday after being struck bya car in the convoy of a topjudicial official during achaotic gunbattle withcheckpoint guards, police andhospital officials said.

The children, ages 6 to 10,were hit by the car during anexchange of gunfire betweenthe official's security team andIraqi police who opened fireafter the convoy failed to stopat a checkpoint in centralBaghdad.

The police and hospitalofficials said the children wereheading to school in theal-Salhiyah district near theForeign Ministry compound.

Bosho Ibrahim, Iraq'sdeputy justice minister, saidthe convoy carried Midhatal-Mahmoud, president of theSupreme Judicial council, thecountry's top legal oversightagency.

Washington TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 1513. Displaced IraqisSuffer HardshipRelief not reaching evacuees

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By John Zarocostas,Washington Times

GENEVA — The plight ofthe 1.2 million Iraqis internallydisplaced since February 2006has continued to worsen,aggravated by a lack of accessto food rations, health care andbasic services such as cleanwater, sanitation andelectricity, a report by a globalrelief agency said.

Population displacementwithin and from Iraq "remainsone of the largest and mostserious humanitarian crises inthe world," the InternationalOrganization for Migration(IOM), a European-basedintergovernmentalorganization, said in a report.

More than 2 million Iraqishave taken refuge inneighboring Jordan and Syria.A total of 2.4 million havebeen displaced within thewar-torn nation since 2003,including 1.2 million that wereforced from homes sinceFebruary 2006, when sectarianviolence changed the scale ofthe uprooting.

"Although militaryoperations, crime and generalinsecurity remain factors,sectarian violence became theprimary driver for populationdisplacement," said the report,which draws on a survey of142,000 displaced familiesthroughout the country.

By religion and ethnicity.nearly 61 percent of thepopulation displaced in 2007are Shi'ite Arabs, 28.2 percentare Sunni Arabs, 3.6 percentare Christians, and 2.6 percentare Sunni Kurd, the study said.

The survey found that only22 percent of the internallydisplaced people had regularaccess to the government'spublic distribution of foodrations, while another 22percent said they had "noaccess at all."

Despite the pressinghumanitarian needs, the IOMreport voiced concern that only25 percent of agency's $85million proposal to assistinternally displaced people andother vulnerable groups in Iraqhas been funded by donor

countries."We welcome the funding

we have received from thedonors including the U.S.which has contributed asignificant amount to ourappeal. But overall theresponse is a disappointingone, given the scale of thehumanitarian crisis and theneeds which are so clearlyevident," said IOM chiefBrunson McKinley, a formerU.S. ambassador.

Washington TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 1414. Engineers Take IEDAttacks 'Personally'Reporter recalls explosion withfront-line teamBy Richard Tomkins,Washington Times

FORWARDOPERATING BASENORMANDY, Iraq -- Theunsung heroes of the war inIraq — or any war — are thecombat engineers, the menwho go ahead of the infantry toclear a path through the enemydefenses.

In Iraq, they performanother task as well: Findingand destroying improvisedexplosive devices (IEDs), themilitary term for roadsidebombs that al Qaeda has usedwith horrific effect on U.S.troops and haplessnoncombatants.

"They take this personally,it's not just a job," said Sgt.Richard West, a 12-year Armyveteran from Grapevine, Texas."I just can't describe the angerand hurt they feel whensomeone is hurt or killed by anIED they missed."

Sgt. West is a member ofthe 38th Combat EngineerBattalion, 4th Stryker CombatBrigade Team of the 2ndInfantry Division. He's been hitat least three times in Iraq byIEDs. The last incident, whenhe was outside his armoredvehicle, left him with a dozenshrapnel wounds.

A specialist who asked notto be named is also with the38th. He'd been hit four times

in Iraq when he spoke to me.He was happy to speak ofanything and everything butfell silent when asked his fullname, his hometown and hishome state.

"My family doesn't knowmuch of this. And I want tokeep it that way," he said.

I had been out with theroute clearance teams beforebut had never encountered anIED. That all changed at 6:33a.m. Jan. 8, the kickoff day forOperation Raider Harvest inDiyala province's northernDiyala River Valley, to rootout al Qaeda terrorists.

The mission of the 3rdSquadron, 2nd Platoon of the38th was to lead a company ofinfantrymen in armoredStryker troop carriers into thearea while clearing their pathof IEDs.

IEDs come in all shapesand sizes; they can beconcealed under freshly laidgravel or in roadside trashheaps or disguised as discardedplastic jugs. They can bedetonated by a crushwire ortripwire or by an operatorusing a cell phone or otherelectronic device. They can bemade with plastic explosive,TNT or unused ordnance, suchas mortar or artillery shells.

And they kill — suddenly,devastatingly, horribly.

"You sure you want to dothis?" an Army public affairssergeant had asked the nightbefore. "You'll be in the mostdangerous position, but in thesafest vehicle, a Buffalo."

"Good to go," I said, myego fed by the prospect ofbeing at the so-called tip of thespear. "I want it."

The Buffalo is in no wayan attractive vehicle. It weighsabout 40 tons and looks like agigantic box on wheels. But ithas a V-shaped bottom todeflect explosive blasts as wellas upper armor. It's also fittedwith a hydraulic arm with agiant fork on the end for"interrogating" suspiciousobjects and holes.

It does its job well, ascumbersome as it is. It also hasample leg room, a special perk

in a military vehicle not to becasually dismissed.

On my Buffalo, there wasa crew of four. Three wereveteran combat engineers whohad survived previous IEDblasts. The fourth was a19-year-old private straight outof training school.

The first village weentered was Silsil. It lookedinnocuous enough as wecrossed a canal and slowlyrolled up its main street. Therewere small vegetable and fruitstands in front of homes andshops; orchards of oranges andpomegranates were close by.The streets were deserted at thebreak of day.

One hundred yards, 125yards, we traveled from thecanal, slowly making our wayto a T-junction. Everyonescoured visually for IEDcrushwires while electronicequipment sent out waves tojam any electronic detonatorsignals.

At 150 yards, as weslowed for the junction, thespecialist, who was driving,called out: "Do I go right or lef..."

He never finished thesentence. The last letter in"left" was replaced by amassive, metallic bang. Almostsimultaneously, the Buffalowas lifted into the air and thencrashed down.

There was no sound fromthe four soldiers in the Buffalo,not immediately anyway,except for heavy breathing.Everyone just listenedanxiously. Was there going tobe a second explosion — fromthe fuel tanks or from adaisy-chained IED?

The dust, dirt and gravelwrapped us in an impenetrablegray-brown blanket as debrisrained down on us.

Later came thenear-hysterical jokes andbantering when it appearedthere would be no explosionNo. 2. We'd survived. Ourvehicle was a mess — it'sframe was bent, armor platingblown off — but we'dsurvived.

The IED was estimated to

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have contained 50 to 60pounds of TNT. It was buriedunder the packed gravel roadand exploded directly beneathus, set off by a crushwire thathad been covered over to blendin with the road surface. It lefta crater 2½ feet deep and 5 feetacross.

Others later that dayweren't so fortunate. Two menin a Stryker were severelywounded after striking an IED,a fact that didn't sit well withthe engineers, who took theinjuries personally.

Later that day, we weretaken to a medical facilitywhere we were poked, probedand questioned.

"Don't tell them you'rehurting if you want to go outagain tomorrow," someonewhispered in my ear.

I kept my mouth shut.When I failed the eye exam, Itold the medical technician thatit was because I didn't have myglasses with me. The wobblyperformance on heel-toeexercises was the result of badknees, I added; my inability toperform the memory tests ofword lists and reciting the firstfour letters of the alphabetbackwards were the result of"senior moments."

We went out again thenext day, and it was uneventful— for us. Six soldiers and theirIraqi interpreters were killednearby when they entered abooby-trapped house .

As we returned to ForwardOperating Base Normandy, theconversation in the Buffaloturned to who had a stash ofAdvil or Tylenol. Theheadaches had set in with avengeance, but none of thecrew wanted to risk beingmedically restricted from dutyby going to the medicalbuilding for pills.

I'm on medical restrictionnow. I couldn't hide theconcussion as well as theothers. There's only so muchyou can claim to be the resultof age or wobbly knees. And awonky eye and fluid in an earhelped push me to go back tothe doctor and confess.

But tomorrow is a new day

and there are new missions.Where to go and what to do?Well, the 38th did give me anopen invitation.

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 1115. France AnnouncesBase In Persian GulfDeal With U.A.E. Seen asWarning to IranBy Molly Moore, WashingtonPost Foreign Service

Sarkozy signed the deal inAbu Dhabi with Sheik Khalifabin Zayed al-Nahyan, presidentof the U.A.E., describing it as"a sign to all that France isparticipating in the stability ofthis region of the world."

The base, announced at theend of a three-day visit bySarkozy to Persian Gulfcountries, is part of his effort toraise France's international anddiplomatic profile.

Though small in size -- atleast 400 navy, army and airforce personnel -- theinstallation would be animportant symbol for bothcountries.

The announcement signalsa shift in the political realitiesand sensitivities of the regionfrom the days of the firstU.S.-led war against Iraq in1991, when most Persian Gulfcountries demanded that theUnited States keep its bases inthe region officially secret.

Sarkozy also used his visit,with stops in Qatar and SaudiArabia, to cement his alliancewith the United States indemanding that Iran -- seen bymany of its Persian Gulfneighbors as a growing threat-- halt its uranium enrichmentprogram. President Bush isalso in the region this week,issuing similar pointedcriticism of Iran.

French officials said theU.A.E. military base, coupledwith an agreement to help theEmirates build two nuclearreactors for energy production,is intended in part to warn Iranagainst taking aggressive stepstoward any of its neighbors.

"France responds to its

friends," Sarkozy told reportersafter signing the militaryagreement. "France and theEmirates signed a reciprocaldefense accord in 1995. Ourfriends from the Emiratesasked that this accord beprolonged and asked that abase with 400 personnel beopened."

France is a major armssupplier to the U.A.E. andother Middle Eastern countriesand stages regular jointmilitary exercises with theEmirates.

In two of the largestweapons sales to the U.A.E. inrecent years, France signed a$3.4 billion deal involving 63Mirage 2000 fighter aircraftand a $3.4 billion agreement tosupply 390 Leclerc tanks.

The French base will beset up in Abu Dhabi, thelargest and wealthiest of theseven emirates, and willbecome operational in 2009,according to French officials.Officials declined to providespecifics of the base'soperations. Abu Dhabi is justacross the Persian Gulf fromIran.

French Vice Adm. JacquesMazars, who will head theproject, said that in addition tothe 400-plus people at the base,as many as 150 French navypersonnel would be assigned toa U.A.E. naval base in AbuDhabi, according to newsservice accounts from theregion.

The United States hasstrategic military bases inmany parts of the Middle East,including the Navy's 5th Fleetheadquarters in Bahrain. TheBritish military is part of thecoalition naval task force basedin Bahrain and operates aircraftfrom a U.S. air base in Qatar.

Sarkozy also used his tripto solidify other ties. Heextended agreements in theU.A.E. for economic,education and cultural projectsand signed new accords ontransportation and intellectualproperty rights.

Both the French and U.S.presidents cautioned thepetroleum-producing states

about the high price of oil,currently around $90 perbarrel, and urged them to raiseproduction to help bring downprices.

New York TimesJanuary 16, 200816. Bomb Targets U.S.Car In BeirutBy Nada Bakri

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Abomb exploded next to anAmerican Embassy vehicle onTuesday, killing at least threecivilians and wounding manyother people, including anAmerican bystander and anembassy employee, Lebaneseand American officials said.

The explosion occurred asPresident Bush toured theregion. It was the first attackon American interests inLebanon since the 1983 truckbombing that killed 241American service members atthe United States Marinebarracks here.

Lebanese and Westernofficials said the embassyvehicle was probably the targetof the attack, though no oneclaimed responsibility for thebomb and initial investigationscould not determine if it hadbeen placed under a car or onthe side of the road.

The bomb blew up as theembassy’s armored sport utilityvehicle passed, narrowlymissing it but wounding itsdriver and killing twoLebanese in the car behind it,and a Syrian bystander,security officials said. At least20 other passers-by and shopand office workers werewounded.

The blast occurred on acoastal road north of Beirut,the capital, in a busy industrialdistrict called Bourj Hammoud.It destroyed at least six cars,shattered windows and toremasonry from buildings.

“The scene was inhumane;it was devastating,” said Alaaal-Hatil, 35, an Egyptian shopworker. “There was blood andflesh everywhere. I could notlook.”

The American who was

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wounded in the blast wasidentified as Mathew Clason, aMinnesota native who arrivedtwo weeks ago to work at theNational Evangelical Church.

In Washington, SeanMcCormack, a StateDepartment spokesman, saidtwo embassy employees hadbeen in the vehicle damaged bythe blast, which could be heardacross the capital and sent graysmoke billowing near theMediterranean coast.

The driver was slightlywounded and the other staffmember was fine, Mr.McCormack told reporters. Hesaid no American diplomats orUnited States citizens had beenin the vehicle.

Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice, who is withMr. Bush on his regional tour,condemned the attack but saidit would not change Americanpolicy in Lebanon. “TheUnited States will, of course,not be deterred in its efforts tohelp the Lebanese people, tohelp the democratic forces inLebanon, to help Lebanonresist force and interference intheir affairs,” she told reportersfrom Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The explosion on Tuesdayincreased concern in a nationalready paralyzed by a powerstruggle between theWestern-backed rulingmajority coalition and theopposition, which is led by theShiite militant group Hezbollahand supported by Iran andSyria. The dispute has blockedthe election of a president,leaving the country withoutone for more than a month.

In the last three years, thecountry has also had a string ofassassinations of anti-Syrianofficials, journalists and a topLebanese Army official.

Prime Minister FouadSiniora held an emergencycabinet meeting to condemnthe attack. Members of theruling coalition, who haveblamed Syria for mostassassinations, condemned theattack. The majority leader ofParliament, Saad al-Hariri, saidthe bombing was intended todestabilize Lebanon and block

its recovery. Hezbollah’sleader, Sheik HassanNasrallah, also condemned it.

Mr. McCormack saidagents from the Bureau ofDiplomatic Security at theState Department would workwith Lebanese authorities toinvestigate it and that theAmerican Embassy in Beirutwas reviewing security. “Weare going to take a look at whatimplications, if any, there arefor our security posture inBeirut,” Mr. McCormack said.

Graham Bowleycontributed reporting fromNew York.

NBCJanuary 15, 200817. Troubled Waters?By Jim Miklaszewski

NBC Nightly News, 7:00PM

WILLIAMS: And thereare new questions tonightabout what has been reportedas a confrontation betweenU.S. Navy warships and Iran inthe Straits of Hormuz, a reportthat surfaced on the eve of thepresident’s trip to the MiddleEast, you may recall. Thequestion is: was there, in fact, areal threat to American sailorsever, or some sort of a hoax?

We get more from ourcorrespondent at the Pentagon,NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski.

JIM MIKLASZEWSKI:This video, edited and releasedby the U.S. Navy, was the stuffof high seas drama.

U.S. SAILOR: Fiveunidentified small surfacecontacts inbound.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Sunday, January 6th, fiveIranian revolutionary guardspeedboats closing fast onthree U.S. warships in theStrait of Hormuz. The Navysays seven minutes into thisencounter, their warshipsreceived an ominous soundingradio call.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE:I am coming to you. You willexplode after a few minutes.

MIKLASZEWSKI: U.S.military officials at firstthought the broadcast came

from Iranians, either in theboats or on shore. January 7th,Iran denied it had provoked theU.S. warships, then on January9th claimed the audio had beenfabricated. But that same day,U.S. military officials in thePersian Gulf acknowledgedthey could not tie thatthreatening radio call to theIranian boats. That’s becausethe call came through onchannel 16, a frequency like aCB radio that’s open toeveryone.

GEOFF MORRELL[Pentagon Press Secretary]: Itmay be an impossible task tofigure out where a transmissionover a common channel mayhave emanated from.

MIKLASZEWSKI: Still,on January 9th on a trip toIsrael, President Bush issued astern warning to Iran.

PRESIDENT GEORGEW. BUSH: There will beserious consequences if theyattack our ships – pure andsimple.

MIKLASZEWSKI: Criticscontend the administrationused the encounter at sea toassure Middle East allies theU.S. would remain tough onIran.

PHILIP GORDON[Foreign Policy Analyst]: Ithink the temptation to hypethe threat does exist, did exist.That’s not to say that thereisn’t a threat there to beginwith; there is.

MIKLASZEWSKI: Acharge the Pentagon todaystrenuously denied.

MORRELL: But thisnotion that in any way this washyped or – or this was in anyway hyped is absurd.

MIKLASZEWSKI:Whatever the politics andwherever the radio messageoriginated, U.S. militaryofficials insist the Iranian RevGuard boats did pose a threatthat could have had deadlyconsequences.

Jim Miklaszewski, NBCNews, the Pentagon.

New York TimesJanuary 16, 2008

18. Visiting AmericanAdmiral Confers WithChinese GeneralsBy Jim Yardley

BEIJING — China mustbe more open about its rapidmilitary buildup and shouldexpand military collaborationwith the United States todevelop greater trust andthereby preventmisunderstandings andconfrontation, the UnitedStates commander in thePacific said Tuesday.

The commander, Adm.Timothy J. Keating, wasvisiting China as one of its topgenerals said the United Statesstill far surpassed China’smilitary capacity and shouldnot be concerned about thebuildup. “We don’t have theability to make you afraid ofus,” said Gen. Chen Bingde,chief of general staff of thePeople’s Liberation Army.

The four-day visit byAdmiral Keating followed adiplomatic dispute last year inwhich China unexpectedlydenied the aircraft carrier KittyHawk a scheduledThanksgiving port call in HongKong. Days earlier, Chinablocked two Americanminesweepers from docking inHong Kong during badweather.

American military officialssaid that refusing theminesweepers safe harborviolated international navalcustom and law.

“We were unhappy thatthe visit was canceled; we havediscussed it,” Admiral Keatingsaid Tuesday at a news briefingat the American Embassy.Asked whether Chinesemilitary leaders had explainedwhy the ships were rebuffed,he said, “We didn’t spend awhole lot of time on why.”

China has given varyingexplanations for the incidentsand suggested that they werereprisals because last year theUnited States governmenthonored the Dalai Lama, theTibetan spiritual leader who isconsidered a separatist byChinese leaders.

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China has also beenunhappy about recentAmerican arms sales toTaiwan. On Monday, Chinesegenerals met with AdmiralKeating and urged the UnitedStates to stop selling weaponsto Taiwan, which Beijingconsiders a breakawayprovince.

Before meeting withAdmiral Keating, GeneralChen intimated that the KittyHawk had not followedappropriate protocol. “If yourship wants to stop by in HongKong, you have to follow theinternational rules and gothrough some procedures,” hetold a camera crew from ABCNews.

Admiral Keating said thatthe Kitty Hawk had followedappropriate protocols for thevisit and that General Chen hadnever mentioned anyprocedural issues during theirmeeting.

Washington TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 319. Admiral PursuesChinese Answers, TiesBy Bill Gertz, WashingtonTimes

The commander of U.S.Pacific forces said in Beijingyesterday that he is troubled byChina's missile buildup andanti-satellite weapons, buthopes military ties to itsCommunist Party-led forceswill improve.

"We are concerned aboutdevelopment of long-rangecruise and ballistic missiles.We're concerned aboutanti-satellite technology,execution thereof. We'reconcerned about area-denialweapons," Adm. TimothyKeating told reporters.

A year ago, China sentshock waves through militaryand civilian leadership byshooting down a weathersatellite with aground-launched missile in atest of a weapon that no othercountry has.

Area-denial arms are whatthe Pentagon calls weapons

used to attack U.S. aircraftcarriers and ships. Theyinclude ballistic and cruisemissiles with precision-guidedwarheads for strikes againstcarriers and other warships thatwould defend Taiwan in anyconflict, the Pentagon has said.

Adm. Keating is on hisfirst visit to China sinceBeijing blocked the aircraftcarrier strike group Kitty Hawkfrom making a long-scheduledport visit to Hong Kong inNovember. China also hasblocked earlier and later shipvisits.

Chinese officials did notexplain yesterday their reasonsfor blocking the ships, butAdm. Keating said he wasassured that future requests forship visits would receive "morefavorable consideration."

"We were unhappy thatthe visit was canceled. Wehave discussed it," he said,noting that despite his inquiriesduring meetings "we didn'tspend a whole lot of time onwhy."

After the Kitty Hawk wasdenied entry to Hong Kong, itreturned to its home port inJapan and on the way angeredChina by sailing through theTaiwan Strait.

"We don't need China'spermission to go through theTaiwan Straits in internationalwaters," Adm. Keating said.

Despite the Chinesestonewalling, Adm. Keatingindicated he wanted to developcloser ties to a military that iscontrolled by the rulingCommunist Party of China andnot the government, singlingout Gen. Guo Boxiong, vicechairman of the CommunistParty Central MilitaryCommission, as an emergingfriend.

"We're developing, Ibelieve, an honest and truefriendship," he said. "I can pickup the phone and call some ofthese guys. General Guo, he'sgoing to be a pal. We've gotdifferences. He acknowledgesthem. I acknowledge them. Butwe're working through them."

Adm. Keating said hepressed Chinese military

leaders to be more open aboutthe reasons behind theirmilitary buildup, whichincludes long-range strategicnuclear missiles andsubmarines, satellite-killingmissiles and cyber-warfarecapabilities.

"Increased transparencycan lead to greater trust thatreduces the potential formisunderstanding.Misunderstanding can lead toconflict or crisis and that isvery much not in our interest,"he said.

Miami HeraldJanuary 16, 200820. Port Request ToTest China's OpennessDespite several recent, pricklymaritime incidents between theU.S. and China, the UnitedStates will seek permission todock a Navy vessel soon.By Tim Johnson, McClatchyNews Service

BEIJING -- The Pentagonsoon will ask China to approvea port call by a U.S. Navyvessel in Hong Kong, and willbe watching the response as''kind of a signal flare'' forwhether China wantsimproving relations, a seniorU.S. military officer saidTuesday.

China denied a port call tothe USS Kitty Hawk aircraftcarrier and its escort ships overThanksgiving, and turned awaytwo minesweepers fleeingstormy seas and an Air Forceaircraft taking supplies to theU.S. consulate there.

Adm. Timothy Keating,the chief of the U.S. PacificCommand, based in Hawaii,said he told Chinese officials,``We were unhappy that the[Kitty Hawk] visit wascanceled.''

''We are very anxious toensure our ability to visit HongKong,'' Keating said. He saidhe'd told Chinese diplomatsand military leaders that thePentagon would ask for thegreen light for another U.S.naval vessel to visit HongKong ``fairly soon.''

Keating said Chinese

leaders didn't explain why theU.S. vessels were turned awaylast November. He said,though, that Chinese diplomatsand military leaders hadindicated that the new U.S.request would ``receivefavorable consideration.''

Keating said the requestwould serve as a test todetermine the level of ''trustand confidence andtransparency'' that Chinesemilitary leaders desired withthe Pentagon.

''We think it's kind of asignal flare for positiveimproving relations,'' he said.

Keating's announcementcame a day after a Chinesegeneral brushed aside concernsabout his nation's growingmilitary strength, andsuggested that the Kitty Hawkcarrier group did not followprocedure.

''The distance betweenChina and U.S. militaries isbig. If you fear China's militarybuildup, you don't have muchcourage,'' Gen. Chen Bingde,army chief of General Staff,said Monday. ``We don't havethe ability to make you afraidof us.''

Of the Kitty Hawk, Chensaid: ``If your ship wants tostop by in Hong Kong, youhave to follow the internationalrules.''

Keating said he didn'tknow to what Chen wasreferring. But he said he wassure that ``whateverinternational rules wererequired to be observed ... wereobserved.''

About 50 U.S. navalvessels a year usually makeport calls in Hong Kong.

Keating defended thedecision made after the portdenial to send the Kitty Hawk,three guided missile destroyersand a guided missile cruiserthrough the Taiwan Strait, apotential military flash pointbarely 100 miles wide. Chinaclaims the independentlygoverned Taiwan as part of itsterritory.

''We don't need China'spermission to go through theTaiwan Strait. It is

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international water. We willexercise our free right ofpassage whenever andwherever we choose,'' Keatingsaid, adding that ''the weatherwas pretty crummy'' in Pacificwaters outside Taiwan, makinga strait transit desirable as theships sailed toward Japan.

The last time an entireU.S. carrier group wentthrough the strait was in 2002.

Keating said friction overthe port calls and the TaiwanStrait transit showed the needfor dialogue between the U.S.and Chinese militaries.

''We don't want to beconfrontational about this,''Keating said of the straittransit. 'I understand thatChina's going to go, `Hey,what are you doing here?'Well, we'll explain. And thatgoes to [improving]transparency. If they have aquestion, ask. We'll tell themthe truth. So, too, would werequest that sort of healthyrobust dialogue in the case of adenial of a port-visit request... .Yes or no, and here's why.''

News media speculationover why China denied the portvisits focused on Chineseunhappiness over U.S.weapons sales to Taiwan andthe awarding in October to theDalai Lama, Tibet's exiledspiritual leader, of the highestmedal of the U.S. Congress.

In other remarks, Keatingsaid the Pentagon had invitedChina to take part in CobraGold, a multinational exercisein Thailand in May.

He strongly urged China totake steps toward greatertransparency about its militaryand the intent of a buildup toavoid the risk of missteps withU.S. forces, including thepossibility of conflict betweensubmarine fleets.

''The Chinese military isdeveloping impressivecapabilities. We are watchingcarefully,'' Keating said, notingU.S. concern about China'sdevelopment of cruise andballistic missiles, anti-satellitetechnology and specialweapons to deny access toterritory or sea.

Keating, who made hisfirst visit to China as U.S.Pacific commander last May,said one reason for hisfollow-up visit ``is to expressour interest -- in fact ourrequirement -- for transparencywith the Chinese military.''

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 921. Polish Official SaysDeal Over U.S. MissilesPossible

Poland's defense ministersaid the United States appearswilling to consider hiscountry's insistence on U.S.security aid in exchange forhosting U.S. missile-defenseinterceptors.

Bogdan Klich, on his firstvisit to Washington as defenseminister under the new Polishgovernment, said last week thathe would press forstrengthening Poland's short-and mid-range air defenses.

The proposedmissile-defense site hasangered Russia, which haswarned that its missiles couldtarget the base in Poland.

Washington TimesJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 1322. Warsaw Ups AnteFor U.S. ShieldSays base 'risk' with addedcostsBy Nicholas Kralev andAndrew Borowiec,Washington Times

The United States isheaded for tough negotiationswith Poland over a plannedmissile defense shield inEastern Europe, with Warsawnow demanding thatWashington pour hundreds ofmillions of dollars intoimproving its defensecapabilities.

The Bush administrationconsidered the deal almostdone under Poland's previousgovernment, but the recentlyelected Prime Minister DonaldTusk has raised serious

questions about the costs andbenefits from the missilesystem for his country.

Mr. Tusk sent his defenseminister, Bogdan Klich, toWashington this week to makethe new government's case."We believe that the injectionof American funds intomodernization of our armedforces would balance the riskto our security linked to theconstruction of the base," Mr.Klich told the Dzienniknewspaper before leavingPoland.

Mr. Klich met yesterdaywith Defense Secretary RobertM. Gates after holding talkswith Deputy Secretary of StateJohn D. Negroponte onMonday.

"It's a negotiation. We areallies, but even allies havenegotiations," StateDepartment spokesman SeanMcCormack told reporters."They have a certain set ofinterests, and we want to talkto them about how, in theframework of thesenegotiations and ourunderstanding, that we canaccommodate their interests."

U.S. officials did not saywhether they would acceptPoland's new demands, butthey indicated that thesignificance of the missileproject for the administrationwould translate into flexibilityduring the negotiations.

"They have some domesticconcerns which they are tryingto address, while at the sametime we are trying to figure outhow to work with them tocontinue to move forward onwhat we believe to be aprogram of vital importancenot just for us but really forEurope," said Pentagonspokesman Geoff Morrell.

Mr. Klich said after hismeeting with Mr. Gates: "Westill in Poland do not see theright balance between the costsand the benefits of thisinstallation."

The $3.5 billion systemknown at the Pentagon as theBallistic Missile DefenseEuropean Capability isintended to protect Europe and

the United States against alimited intermediate- andlong-range ballistic missileattack from the Middle East,particularly Iran.

The Bush administrationwants to place 10 interceptormissiles in Poland, for which itwould have to build a base, anda radar installation in theCzech Republic.

But Mr. Tusk and otherCabinet members have saidthat hosting part of the systemwould make Polish air spacemore vulnerable.

"We feel no threat fromIran," Foreign Minister RadekSikorski told the Warsaw dailyGazeta Wyborcza. "It is not thebenefits but the risks of thesystem that have to bediscussed fully. ... We cannotcarry the cost alone."

Mr. Morrell said yesterdaysuch statements "are nothelpful." He reminded thePoles that the United Stateswas "instrumental in thembecoming members of NATO."

"They are the biggestbeneficiary within Europe ofdefense aid. Nearlythree-quarters of a billiondollars under the Bushadministration has beenprovided to the Polish militaryin military aid," he said. "Andbecause of that specialrelationship, we believe thatwe can overcome whateverdifferences may exist on thisissue very quickly."

Another complicatingmatter for the U.S. is Mr.Tusk's promise to repairrelations with Russia, whichhave been strained since theend of the Cold War andparticularly under the previousPolish government.

Russian PresidentVladimir Putin has describedthe planned installation ofinterceptors and radar sites inEurope as the start of a newarms race and suspendedRussia's participation in theConventional Forces in Europetreaty.

Andrew Borowieccontributed to this article fromGeneva.

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Aerospace Daily & DefenseReportJanuary 16, 200823. Gates DiscussesMissile InterceptorsWith Polish DefenseMinister

Poland receives moremilitary assistance from theU.S. than any other Europeannation, according to theDefense Department, andPolish Defense MinisterBogdan Klich began two daysof talks with Defense SecretaryRobert Gates at the PentagonJan. 15.

U.S. plans to placeballistic missile interceptors inPoland took up the bulk of theconversation, said Pentagonspokesman Geoff Morrell. Hecalled the talks "frank butproductive."

Poland is "the biggestbeneficiary within Europe of[U.S.] defense aid," saidMorrell, placing the total U.S.assistance at "nearlythree-quarters of a billiondollars under the Bushadministration."

The U.S. wants to placethe interceptors in Poland,along with a radar warningsystem in the Czech Republic,to protect Europe and the U.S.from ballistic missile attacksby Iran and other so-calledrogue states.

But Klich told reporterslast week before departing forWashington that locating theinterceptors in Poland wouldmake Polish airspace "morevulnerable" to attack. The newPolish government, whichbelieves its predecessor failedto conduct tough negotiationsabout financing theinterceptors and theirmaintenance, is seekingadditional assistance from theU.S., including Patriot missilesto boost its air defensecapabilities.

The U.S. missile plan hasangered Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, who sees themissiles' potential proximity toRussia's border as a threat.

Morrell said Washington'stimeline for basing the missilesis "as soon as possible." Butofficials at the State andDefense departments want towork out Polish concerns, hesaid. Polish opinion polls aresaid to be running againstbasing the missiles in Polandand some Democratic leadersin the U.S. Congress havequestioned the cost, capabilityand necessity of theground-based system.

-- John M. Doyle

Philadelphia InquirerJanuary 16, 200824. Oversight Of IraqContracts Is ShiftedAmid Army ProbesBy Richard Lardner,Associated Press

WASHINGTON -Oversight for nearly $4 billionin Iraq war contracts has beenshifted from a troubledprocurement office in Kuwaitto an Army organization inIllinois as part of an ongoingeffort to curb waste, fraud andabuse in military purchasing.

The change in control ofthe 12 contracts formaintenance and other supportwork is not a reflection of poorperformance by the companies,said Mike Hutchison, deputydirector for acquisition at theArmy Sustainment Commandin Rock Island, Ill. Rather, thetransfer is part of a broaderinitiative aimed at overhaulingthe Kuwait contracting office,which the Army has identifiedas a hub of corruption.

In a separate action, twoteams poring over hundreds ofother contracts issued by theKuwait office have referred anunspecified number of awardsto criminal investigators andauditors for further review,according to the Army MaterielCommand at Fort Belvoir, Va.If any wrongdoing isuncovered, the number ofArmy military and civilianemployees accused ofaccepting bribes and kickbackscould grow. More than 20 havebeen charged so far.

The Kuwait contractingoffice, located at CampArifjan, buys gear and suppliesto feed, clothe and house U.S.troops as they move in and outof Iraq. The pace of thatoperation grew rapidly after thebeginning of the Iraq war inMarch 2003.

An initial Army probe ofthe Kuwait office uncoverednumerous problems, includinginadequate staffing andoversight, high staff turnoverand poor record-keeping.

In the last few months,new leadership has beeninstalled and more officersassigned. The Army alsotransferred active contractsworth $1 million or more toSustainment Command, wherethere is a deeper pool ofpersonnel with experience incomplex acquisitions.

The work being doneunder the dozen supportcontracts includes janitorialservices, transportation,operation of a firing range, andprovision of security at U.S.installations.

The largest of the dozencontracts now being managedby Sustainment Command isheld by Combat SupportAssociates. The Californiacompany gained notoriety forhiring the former BlackwaterUSA guard accused of killingan Iraqi in Baghdad inDecember 2006. Hutchisonsaid that the command hadreviewed the Combat Supportcontract and found areas thatcould be improved, but that theArmy was satisfied with thecompany's record.

The contract-review teamsalso examined a sampling ofthe roughly 6,000 contractsworth $2.8 billion issued by theKuwait office since 2003. Oneteam inspected 339 contractsunder $25,000 in value;another checked 313 contractsworth more than $25,000.

Both found problems andalerted the Army Audit Agencyand the Army CriminalInvestigation, but no detailswere released.

The Criminal InvestigationCommand has 87 ongoing

investigations related toallegations of contract fraud inIraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.Twenty-four people have beencharged with contract fraud,and more than $15 million inbribes has changed hands,spokesman Chris Grey said.

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 525. High-Profile OfficerNagl To Leave Army,Join Think TankBy Thomas E. Ricks,Washington Post Staff Writer

One of the Army’s mostprominent younger officers,whose writings haveinfluenced the conduct of theU.S. troop buildup in Iraq, saidhe has decided to leave theservice to study strategic issuesfull time at a new Washingtonthink tank.

Lt. Col. John Nagl, 41, is acoauthor of the Army’s newmanual on counterinsurgencyoperations, which has beenused heavily by U.S. forcescarrying out the strategy ofmoving off big bases, livingamong the population andmaking the protection ofcivilians their top priority.

A Rhodes scholar, Naglfirst achieved prominence forhis Oxford University doctoraldissertation, which waspublished in 2002 as a booktitled “Learning to Eat SoupWith a Knife:Counterinsurgency LessonsFrom Malaya and Vietnam.”The introduction to a recentedition of the book was writtenby Gen. Peter Schoomaker, atthe time the Army’s chief ofstaff.

Nagl led a tank platoon inthe 1991 Persian Gulf war andserved in Iraq in 2003 and2004 as the operations officerfor an Army battalion in Iraq’sAnbar province. “I thought Iunderstood something aboutcounterinsurgency,” Nagl toldthe New York Times Magazinein January 2004, “until I starteddoing it.”

After serving in Iraq, he

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became an assistant tothen-Deputy Secretary ofDefense Paul D. Wolfowitz.Next, under the stewardship ofGen. David H. Petraeus, nowthe top U.S. commander inIraq, he helped produce theArmy’s counterinsurgencymanual. He then became thecommander of a battalion inFort Riley, Kan., that teachesU.S. soldiers how to train andadvise Iraqi forces. He hascontinued to have a highprofile, with interviews onNational Public Radio, “TheCharlie Rose Show” and “TheDaily Show With Jon Stewart.”

Nagl said in a brieftelephone interview yesterdaythat he has filed his papersrequesting retirement. “I lovethe Army very much,” he said,but he added that he decided toleave after discussing his futurewith his family. “It’s not thestrain of repeateddeployments,” he said, but “abelief that I can contributeperhaps on a different level —and my family wants me toleave.”

He said he plans tobecome a fellow at the Centerfor a New American Security,a centrist think tank recentlyfounded by Kurt Campbell andMichèle Flournoy, Clinton-eraPentagon officials. Nagl saidhe looks forward to workingwith them. “I hope to focus onnational security for theremainder of my days,” hesaid. “Obviously you don’thave to do that in uniform.”

Nagl’s departure is aserious loss for the Army, saidretired Marine Col. T.X.Hammes. “He’s a seriousstudent of warfare, he’s smart,he’s articulate, he’ssuccessfully led troops incombat, and he’s worked at thehighest levels of thePentagon,” said Hammes,himself the author of a book oncontemporary war. “The Armyjust doesn’t have that manyofficers with his set ofqualifications.”

Green Bay (WI) Press-GazetteJanuary 15, 2008

26. Admiral SeesLittoral Ship As'Workhorse In OurNavy'Roughead visits MarinetteMarine to inspect USSFreedomBy Richard Ryman

MARINETTE — The U.S.Navy's top admiral saidMonday he's committed to thelittoral combat ship programwhile inspecting the first shipof that line under constructionat Marinette Marine Corp.

"The most important thingis getting this ship to sea andgetting it out there operating,"said Adm. Gary Roughead,chief of naval operations."Once we get these two shipsto sea, we'll see the value in theLCS program."

Marinette Marine isbuilding the USS Freedom(LCS-1) as part of a teamheaded by Lockheed Martin. Ateam led by General Dynamicsis building a second ship, USSIndependence (LCS-2), inMobile, Ala. The programshave experienced delays andcost overruns that prompted theNavy to cancel contracts fortwo more prototypes.

Navy Times said inJanuary 2007 that a cost reviewof the USS Freedom showedthat the estimated price hadjumped from a planned $220million to between $331million and $410 million,according to a Navy official.

The price of GeneralDynamic's ship also was rising.Navy Times reported in Marchthat LCS-2 also might costabout $400 million.

"Regrettably, we had tocancel LCS 3 and 4, but thatwas the best thing to do,"Roughead said.

Marinette Marinerepresentatives said delays andhigher costs resulted, in part,from the availability of partsand materials and, in part, fromthe normal learning curve ofbuilding a prototype vessel.

Roughead said he iscommitted to ordering moreFreedom Class ships after theprototypes have been tested

and cost issues analyzed."I predict the LCS will be

a workhorse in our Navy," hesaid. "We are looking at whatthe acquisition strategy shouldbe."

Roughead said progresshas been made on Freedomsince he saw it six months ago,and he's comfortable with thedelivery schedule. He declinedto say when delivery would be.

The 377-foot Freedom iscapable of speeds in excess of40 knots and can operate inwater less than 20 feet deep.

The ship will act as aplatform for launch andrecovery of manned andunmanned vehicles. Itsmodular design will allow theship to be reconfigured forantisubmarine warfare, minewarfare or surface warfaremissions on an as-neededbasis.

Roughead has beentouring all Navy shipyardssince becoming chief of navaloperations in September.

The chief of navaloperations is thehighest-ranking officer in theU.S. Navy and is a member ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I'm going to be making alot of decision. I like to havewalked the ground and talkedto the people building theships," he said.

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. B627. Navy Is Asked ForRoad Money

The Montgomery CountyCouncil yesterday pressed theNavy to provide federal moneyfor road improvements neededas part of the expansion of theNational Naval Medical Centerin Bethesda.

At a meeting yesterday,council members echoedconcerns voiced last week bythe county Planning Boardover the Navy’s contention thatit has no responsibility forfunding $70 million in roadimprovements outside thefacility, including wideningWisconsin Avenue.

“We don’t have it [themoney] and the state ofMaryland doesn’t have it, andit is fundamentally yourresponsibility,” councilmember Roger Berliner(D-Potomac-Bethesda) toldDavid K. Oliveria, the Navy’sprogram manager. The Navy isexpanding the hospital inconjunction with thePentagon’s planned closure ofWalter Reed Army MedicalCenter in 2011.

Oliveria said the county’srequest “will have to beconsidered” by the Navy in itsevaluation of the publicresponse to its draftenvironmental impactstatement, which was releasedlast month.

Steve Vogel

Norfolk Virginian-PilotJanuary 15, 200828. Navy DiversHonored For Work AtI-35 Bridge Collapse InMinneapolisBy Cindy Clayton, TheVirginian-Pilot

NORFOLK -- Navy diversfrom the Mobile Diving andSalvage Unit Two who workedto recover victims in the I-35bridge collapse in Minneapolisin August were honored withmedals Monday for theirefforts.

They paused with amoment of silence and recitedthe names of the people whosebodies they recovered from theMississippi River.

“You executed extremelyprofessionally and never gaveup,” said Col. Mike Chesney,the defense coordinatingofficer in Minneapolis. “Yourepresent what’s best about ourmilitary.”

Those who deployed to thebridge had medals pinned totheir uniforms in recognition oftheir work during a ceremonyat Little Creek NavalAmphibious Base. The unitalso received the MeritoriousUnit Commendation for workdone throughout 2007.

The 17 divers who were

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deployed to Minneapolisworked with local, state andfederal agencies to findmissing people, remove debrisand recover vehicles from tonsof concrete and steel that fellinto the River on Aug. 1.

Hennepin County, Minn.,Sheriff Richard W. Stanekattended the ceremony at LittleCreek and thanked themembers of the unit for theirhard work.

“It wasn’t easy, I knowthat,” Stanek told the unitmembers. “The18 feet ofwater, the currents, tons andtons and tons of concrete andsteel and rebar and vehicles. Iknow what you did under thatwater.”

He praised the cooperationbetween his department and theNavy unit.

“We’d serve with you anyday,” Stanek said.

According to the Navy, thefollowing people were givenawards: Lt. Li Ping Sung,Chief Warrant Officer DougFasseel, Chief Warrant OfficerDaniel Mikulski

San Diego Union-TribuneJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 129. Marines TrainingOn The Cutting EdgeHigh-tech simulator unveiledat Camp PendletonBy Rick Rogers, Staff Writer

The Marine Corps isembracing breakthroughholographic technology toteach combat tactics andbattlefield ethics at CampPendleton as troops there beginanother major round ofdeployments to Iraq.

Marine officials yesterdayunveiled the InfantryImmersion Trainer, a high-techprototype simulator that residesin a former – and decidedlylow-tech – tomato-packingplant that still bears directionsfor truck drivers.

The 32,000-square-foot,$2.5 million training groundbecame reality after a requestfrom Gen. James Mattis,former commander of the 1stMarine Expeditionary Force at

Camp Pendleton. The programcapitalizes on 15 years of Navyand Marine research oneverything from bodymovements to urban warfare,coupled with the latestadvancements in simulationfrom defense companies suchas Lockheed Martin.

The new training area is “apretty big deal ... that'sexpected to save lives,” saidCol. Clarke Lethin, chief ofstaff for the 1st MarineExpeditionary Force.

He added that it also couldhelp guide Marines through thetough process of makingsplit-second battle decisionsinvolving morality and legality.

“As we go through thewar, it's changing out there.There are more no-shoots thanshoots,” Lethin said. “We wantto make sure that we areshooting the right people.”

During the Iraq war, someincidents in the combat theaterhave embarrassed the MarineCorps and called into questionits leadership and training onethics.

The government charged agroup of Camp PendletonMarines with murdering twodozen civilians Nov. 19, 2005,in Haditha, Iraq. Members ofanother unit from the basewere charged with kidnappingand executing a grandfatherApril 26, 2006, in the village ofHamdaniya.

In a third case, a fewcurrent and former members ofa Camp Pendleton companyhave been charged or are beinginvestigated for allegedlykilling detainees Nov. 9, 2004,during an offensive in Fallujah.

The eight Hamdaniyadefendants struck pleaagreements or were convictedduring courts-martial, with themastermind found guilty ofunpremeditated murder andsentenced to 15 years in thebrig.

The Haditha courtproceedings are ongoing. Twodefendants are set forcourt-martial on the charge ofinvoluntary manslaughter,while two others are scheduledfor trial because they are

accused of not properlyscrutinizing the 24 civiliandeaths.

Last year, the Pentagonacknowledged that its first-eversurvey on the ethics of U.S.troops in Iraq underscored theneed for stronger training,intervention and leadership.

The study found that only40 percent of Marines wouldreport a member of their unitfor killing or wounding aninnocent civilian. One-third ofthe Marines surveyed wouldturn in someone for stealing,and 30 percent would report aunit member for unnecessarilydestroying property.

Figures for the Army wereabout 15 percent higher inthose three categories, but eventhey were depicted by thereport's authors as being inclear need of improvement.

The new simulationprogram is designed toreinforce ethical conduct, honesmall-unit infantry skills andsharpen Marines' combatinstincts.

It takes its inspiration froma city block in Iraq that U.S.troops typically would patrol,complete with a warren ofshops and houses. Hardly adetail is overlooked among theprops, modeled withHollywood set-designtechniques: Laundry hangs onthe clotheslines. A grill sitsagainst a wall. Propane tanksare placed here and there amidthe musky scent of unpavedstreets and alleys.

Perched in the rafters areprojectors that cast life-sizeimages of civilians andinsurgents on wall after wall inthe building. Live actors andpyrotechnics round out theintegration of sight, sound andsmell.

“It's called hyper-realistictraining,” Marine Cpl. EddieWright said.

During an April 2005battle in Fallujah, arocket-propelled grenade blewoff Wright's hands. Now, heworks as a military trainingcoordinator for the SanDiego-based StrategicOperations, the organization

operating the InfantryImmersion Trainer.

The simulator “offers anurban environment like the onewe are fighting in over there,”said Wright, 32. “It gets youthinking more along the linesof what you have to think overthere to be successful.”

A lot of that thinking mustbe done in a flash, such aswhen troops have to clearrooms.

So the Marines practicethis process during theirsimulation exercises. Afterbursting through doors, theyhave fractions of a second todecide whether to shoot. Theyuse specially modifiedweapons to fire small-armsmarking system rounds, whichare similar in concept topaintball rounds.

The training facilityopened without fanfare inNovember. Relatively fewMarines have run through thesimulation course, but thosewho have give it high marks.

“It's definitely Iraq,” saidLance Cpl. William Hawkins,21, of Kokomo, Ind.

“It's pretty good,” saidLance Cpl. Jason Trehan, 24,of Toledo, Ohio, as his menregrouped after clearing aroom.

“It has the looks and thesounds,” said Trehan, who hasserved two tours in Iraq withthe 1st Battalion, 4th MarineRegiment.

The immersion programfigures to be a central part offuture infantry training as theMarine Corps continues itspresence in the Anbar provinceof Iraq and will take onexpeditionary combat inAfghanistan this spring.

The converted warehouseprovides another training toolfor Marines, who alreadypractice in an outdoorsimulated town called MojaveViper, spend months refiningtheir weapons skills, study thedangers of improvisedexplosive devices, learn basicArabic, receive culturaltraining and undergo otherpreparations for warfare.

Marine commanders

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would like to make the newsimulation trainer moreversatile so it can depictadditional types of missions –combat and humanitarian.

Yesterday, they asked agroup of defense contractors totour the facility and submitsuggestions for enhancing thetraining's realism andexpanding its range of scenes.

On the wish list for Lethin,the 1st Marine ExpeditionaryForce's chief of staff, arescenarios portraying a meetingwith a sheik, vehicle searchesand a riot.

Trehan and Hawkins havetheir own suggestions. Theywould like to see a muchbigger and taller simulationarea, one that couldaccommodate Marines runningacross rooftops or tacklingconflicts not confined to aroom.

“Size matters,” Trehansaid. “Sometimes a firefightcan consist of a house;sometimes it can consist ofseveral blocks.”

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 530. Marine Reported NoThreat From Man NowWanted In Her SlayingBy Mike Baker, AssociatedPress

JACKSONVILLE, N.C.— A 20-year-old pregnantMarine who disappeared inDecember told victims'advocates at Camp Lejeunethat she didn't feel unsafe in thepresence of the colleague nowwanted in her death, MarineCorps officials said Tuesday.

Marine Cpl. Cesar Laureannever violated the militaryprotective order directing himto stay away from Lance Cpl.Maria Lauterbach, and hecontinued to report for work ontime in the weeks after herdisappearance, said Col. GarySkolowski, the judge advocategeneral officer for the 2ndMarine Expeditionary Force.

"At no time did sheindicate that she was

threatened by Cpl. Laurean,"Skolowski said. "When shewas asked if she felt threatenedby Cpl. Laurean, she said shedid not feel threatened."

Authorities confirmedTuesday that remains foundlast weekend in a fire pit inLaurean's backyard were thoseof Lauterbach and her fetus.Onslow County medicalexaminer Charles Garrett saidLauterbach, eight months'pregnant when she vanished,died of "traumatic head injurydue to blunt force trauma."

The autopsy did notanswer all the questions aboutthe circumstances ofLauterbach's death, countyprosecutor Dewey Hudsonsaid.

Detectives are still not surewhether she gave birth beforeher slaying.

Laurean, 21, is believed tohave fled Jacksonville earlyFriday morning, after leaving anote in which he admittedburying Lauterbach's body. ButTuesday, officials said theythink he has gone into hidingand is no longer on the run.

"We believe it's certainlypossible, based on him beingout there for this long, and nothaving any sightings, that he isgetting help," Onslow CountySheriff's Capt. Rick Sutherlandsaid.

Authorities said Tuesdayafternoon they found Laurean'sblack pickup in a motelparking lot in Morrisville, notfar from where it had been seenby witnesses in Durham, about150 miles northwest ofJacksonville.

It was unclear how longthe truck had been at theMicrotel Inn. Front deskworker Sherrie Joyner saidLaurean never checked in.

Wall Street JournalJanuary 16, 2008Pg. B1431. Marines' AdCampaign TargetsWider Audience

By a WALL STREETJOURNAL Staff Reporter

The U.S. Marine Corps isrolling out a new ad campaignthis week in an effort to targetteachers, coaches, clergy andother groups that tend to haveinfluence on kids' career paths.The ad, which will appear onFox's hit-show "AmericanIdol," marks a shift for theMarines, which has previouslyaimed its marketing directly atyoung adults and dependedsolely on programs that air onnetworks such as Walt Disney'sESPN or News Corp.'s FX."American Idol" has a broaderaudience that includes adults aswell as kids. One of thecommercials, made by WPPGroup's JWT, features a line ofMarines standing in formationin front of landmarks acrossthe U.S. such as the GoldenGate Bridge and IndependenceHall. The ad campaign alsoincludes an online and printcomponent. The Marines istargeting adults because "notmany youngsters nowadayshave grown up withgrandfathers or fathers in theservice," says Lt. Col. MichaelZeliff, a spokesman for theU.S. Navy.

MiamiHerald.comJanuary 15, 200832. F-16 Crashes NearKey West; Pilot EjectsSafely

KEY WEST, Fla. -- AnF-16 fighter plane crashed intothe Gulf of Mexico on Tuesdayevening during a routinetraining mission, a spokesmanfor Homestead Air ReserveBase said.

The plane went into waterswest of Key West at about 7:30p.m., said spokesman TimNorton. The plane's pilot,whose name has not beenreleased, ejected from theaircraft and was picked up by aNavy helicopter.

Norton said the pilot wastaken to a Key West hospitaland was released hours later.

The pilot is assigned to the482nd Fighter Wing, based inHomestead, Norton said.

Authorities are

investigating the crash.

New Orleans Times-PicayuneJanuary 15, 200833. Copter Heroes OfKatrina Set To Go ToIraq'It's a busy time' for NationalGuardBy Paul Purpura, West Bankbureau

HAMMOND -- In the pastthree years, the Army NationalGuard's 1/244th Air AssaultHelicopter Battalion returnedhome from a yearlong tour inIraq, served another six monthson active duty because ofHurricane Katrina, and thenbegan re-training for a newcombat mission and refitting itshelicopters for battle.

And after nearly a year ofbeing on alert for mobilizationand seeing a turnover within itsranks caused by their Katrinalosses, Task Force Voodoo, asthe 400-soldier battalion callsitself, is going back to Iraq.

"It's a busy time to be inthe National Guard," saidbattalion commander Lt. Col.Patrick Bossetta, a onetimeLSU linebacker who has setaside his law practice and realestate development ventures inNew Orleans because of hisongoing military obligations.

In mid-April, following asend-off ceremony at theSoutheastern LouisianaUniversity campus inHammond, the battalion'stroops and fleet of 30 UH-60Blackhawk helicopters willdeploy to Fort Sill, Okla., forintensive combat training.

Task Force Voodoo willthen deploy to an undisclosedbase north of Baghdad as an airassault helicopter battalion.The battalion resumed thatmission on Oct. 1, 2006, andwith it, Task Force Voodoowas enlarged by the addition ofa helicopter company from theFlorida Army National Guard.

In Iraq, they will work forground commanders, gettingtheir infantry troops and gearinto the fights.

"It is getting his combat

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power where he needs it, whenhe needs it," Bossetta said ofthe air assault role.

While active-duty Armyunits serve in Iraq for15-month tours, DefenseDepartment policy is thatNational Guard units serve ayear at most, Bossetta said.

An invaluable resource forstateside emergencies, such ashurricanes, the battalion will begone for the 2008 stormseason. Bossetta said threeBlackhawks will be availablein the state, which has militaryagreements with other states tosupply equipment andmanpower during emergencies.

Unlike the active-dutymilitary, the National Guardhas a federal wartime missionand a stateside one, such as itswork during Katrina or itsongoing operations in NewOrleans, where 360 soldiersand airmen are helping thePolice Department patrol thecity.

The 1/244th is not the firstLouisiana National Guard unitto face a second federalmobilization since Sept. 11,2001, said Maj. MichaelKazmierzak, Guardspokesman.

Last month, theheadquarters and servicecompanies for the 769thEngineer Battalion deployed toIraq, four years after the entirebattalion deployed toAfghanistan. About 80 soldiersin the headquarters companyfor 165th Combat SustainingSupport Battalion in BossierCity will be shipping out toIraq soon, while the Guard hasfrequently had individualsoldiers and airmen volunteerto deploy overseas to fillvacancies. A small team ofvolunteers will ship out toAfghanistan this month to helptrain that country's soldiers, hesaid.

"We get requests forvolunteers a lot," Kazmierzaksaid.

The last time Task ForceVoodoo went to Iraq, itsmission was essentially that ofan aerial transportation serviceto fly dignitaries, such as

then-Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld and even thedeposed dictator SaddamHussein. Hussein flew at leasttwice in Task Force VoodooBlackhawks, said Bossetta,who flew one of those trips.

Seven months after itreturned to New Orleans, withKatrina forecast to strikeLouisiana, Gov. KathleenBlanco declared a state ofemergency and Task ForceVoodoo returned to activeduty. After riding out the bruntof the storm in Baton Rouge,their Blackhawks were the firsthelicopters of their type to beairborne as winds died down.During the ensuing days, theyrescued and moved 16,000people.

The battalion's facilities atthe New Orleans LakefrontAirport were swamped by thetidal surge, expediting theunit's move to Hammond,where new facilities are beingbuilt. Much of its equipmentwas destroyed during thestorm, and about 100 soldierswho lived in the New Orleansarea lost their homes.

"It's been a difficult roadback," Bossetta said.

Some soldiers and theirfamilies opted to leave the areabecause of the storm, andothers left the unit after theIraq deployment, Bossetta said.

"It's like a whole new unitcame on board," he said. Hedid not quantify the turnoverbut said, "It has not been allthat horrible."

The unit still has retainedexperience in both its officerand enlisted ranks, said 1st Sgt.Danny Bergeron of Slidell, thebattalion headquarterscompany first sergeant.

"So I think we know whatwe're walking into," saidBergeron, who will deploy toIraq for the third time,including the 1991 PersianGulf War. "They should beable to do their jobs and nothave any questions."

The new blood includesseasoned pilots and some freshfrom Army aviation schoolwho are in the hands of ChiefWarrant Officer Laz Murphy, a

Blackhawk pilot who rackedup 500 combat flight hoursduring the battalion's last Iraqdeployment.

Murphy took leave fromher job with the Baton RougePolice Department last monthto help prepare the youngerpilots, as she braces herself foranother stint away. During herlast deployment, she returnedto the states briefly, gotmarried and then went back toIraq.

This time, she will leavebehind a 1-year-old daughter.

"Going this time is goingto be a little harder," Murphysaid of the "heart-wrenching"separation that will betempered thanks toInternet-basedcommunications.

An influx of financingsince Katrina has allowedBossetta to bring air crews onactive duty for training thatincludes replicating desertconditions at acentral-Louisiana site, Bossettasaid.

That has enabled them toaccumulate more flight time,particularly at night, with theaid of night-vision goggles. InIraq, the pace will more thanquadruple. Stateside, the unittypically accumulates about350 flight hours monthly; inIraq, they'll fly about 1,800hours monthly.

"We go every day,everywhere," said Bossetta,who is making his third trip toIraq, including the 1991 war,during which he was an activeduty Army helicopter pilot.

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 134. Lengthy VolunteerStints Burn OutMilitary WivesFamily support leaders bearbrunt of rising stress on homefrontBy Gregg Zoroya, USA Today

FORT BRAGG, N.C. —During the worst of BravoTroop's 15-month tour in Iraq,when soldiers were dying inbunches, families here poured

out their fear, frustrations andeven hysteria onto one youngwoman: Bana Miller.

She's not Army. She's nottrained. Her only qualification,then at age 24, was being anofficer's wife who volunteeredto run Bravo Troop's FamilyReadiness Group — a job ofe-mailing and organizingpotluck dinners in peacetime.

But when Bravo went towar, she became a socialworker, grief counselor and a24-hour hotline overnight. Atvarious times, wives threatenedto commit themselves to amental institution or go to themedia if Miller did not helpbring their husbands home.

"I was in this alternativeuniverse thinking: 'What hasmy life become?' " says Miller,who grew up in the Main Linesuburbs of Philadelphia andmarried the boy she met inseventh grade.

As the Iraq war nears asixth year, the Army has morethan 3,000 volunteers such asBana Miller, and many arebuckling under the pressure ofduties that they never expectedwould be so hard or last solong. The Army and MarineCorps lean on these familysupport volunteers to be thefirst stop for familiesstruggling to deal with war,separation and loss.

"Two volunteer leadershad to step down … becausethey needed a break," says LisaMeyers, the wife of acommand sergeant major in the82nd Airborne and asupervising volunteer leaderhere. "Most of the leaders areon their third or fourthdeployment back-to-back."

Miller persevered for morethan 12 months. Within twofew weeks after Capt. MatthewMiller came home Oct. 29, shereadily handed off the job toanother wife.

Volunteer burnout hastouched Army and MarineCorps bases nationwide, saysFonta Footman-Mitchell,director of volunteer servicesfor the National MilitaryFamily Association, a supportand advocacy group with

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liaisons at U.S. militaryinstallations. From 5% to 7%of the association's ownvolunteers also have quit, shesays.

Though neither couldprovide statistics, the Armyand Marine Corps are seeingan increase in turnover amongvolunteers, according toMarine Lt. Col. JacquelineMelton, head of familyreadiness programs, andWilliam Bradner, a spokesmanfor the Army's Family andMorale, Welfare andRecreation Command.

Melton says the increasingturnover in volunteers stemsfrom "the demands of wartimeoperations."

Volunteers grow weary of"not knowing when (combatmissions) will end," Bradnersays.

The problem, says Melton,is that the volunteer programsare "based on a peacetimemodel with normal deploymentcycles and largely supported onthe backs of our dedicatedvolunteers."

The Army and Marines,whose troops bear the brunt ofground combat in Iraq andAfghanistan, are trying to easepressures.

The Marines, Melton says,are spending $30 million overtwo years to shift fromvolunteers to paid staffmembers. The Army isspending $45 million to hireabout 1,000 full-time workersto help some volunteers,Bradner says.

Some say the Army couldgo even further.

"If I had my wish ofwishes, all the (volunteerfamily support programs)would be run by paidemployees," says MicheleVotel, wife of Brig. Gen. JoeVotel, assistant divisioncommander for the 82ndAirborne Division.

War is 'uncharteredterritory'

Volunteerism is essentialto military installations. At thecore are those who supportmilitary families — wiveshelping other wives and

servicemembers' parents inmost cases. The Army callsthem Family Readiness Groups(FRGs). The Marines have theKey Volunteer Network.

They are structured alongmilitary lines, often with thewife of a division commanderoverseeing family supportwithin the division, the wife ofa brigade commander doing thesame at that level and so on. Inthe Army — where half thesoldiers are married andfamilies are prevalent — thestructure extends to thecompany or troop level, wherevolunteers deal directly withthe spouses or parents.

In peacetime, the job isalerting families to servicesand news about the unit, andarranging meetings.

"It would be similar toyour church," Meyers says."Your congregation steps up tohelp — that's what an FRGdoes."

Wars in Afghanistan andIraq brought new stresses,Marine and Army leadersfound.

"For 500,000 spouses and700,000 children, six years ofwar is uncharted territory,"Army Secretary Pete Gerentold an Association of theUnited States Army audiencein October. "Our familysupport systems … did notcontemplate the operationaltempo our families areexperiencing today."

Despite many resourcesfor families, including a24-hour Military OneSourcehelp line for anything fromcounseling to financial advice,officials saw a trenddeveloping. Troubled wivesgravitate to other wives — theFRG or Key volunteers.

"It does seemparadoxical," Bradner says."We've got this volunteer beingthe face of the Army."

Recruiters promise that themilitary will take care offamilies, so wives assume theirFRG or Key volunteer willhelp with anything from fixinga flat tire to babysitting.Demands grow more franticwith deployments and

casualties."They forget that we all

have children or work or haveour own husband in combat,"says Beth Poppas, abattalion-level FRG leaderhere. "And they call you at allhours of the night. You want todo things for them. I try to behelpful. It just gets to the pointwhere you just can't take itanymore."

Volunteers are told by theArmy and Marine Corps to bedispassionate — provideresource contacts to troubledfamilies and send them on theirway. But volunteers find thisdifficult, particularly whenthey all have spouses fightingside by side in Iraq orAfghanistan.

"They take it uponthemselves to mothereveryone," Meyers says.

"When somebody is inpain," Miller says, "my firstreaction is to help alleviate thatpain and to help them grieve inwhatever way they grieve, justholding their hand whilethey're going through a funeralprocess, or fielding phone callsor whatever they needed me todo. … I was the person there togive them a hug.

"It's a difficult thing to tryand turn off and say, 'Youknow, I need to go home andget some sleep.' "

'I was breaking down'Raised in the tended

colonial villages of Main Line,Miller says she neverenvisioned a military life,much less becoming the go-toperson for dozens of anxiousmilitary wives and parents.

She is the daughter ofJordanian immigrants — herfather a former senior associatedean at Villanova University'sSchool of Business and hermother a child psychologist.Bana Najdawi, the oldest ofthree, met Matt Miller inmiddle school and they datedthrough high school.

Matt's grandfather is aretired Army colonel, and hisdream was to join the military.While Matt went to the U.S.Military Academy at WestPoint, N.Y., Bana studied

communications at SyracuseUniversity. They married aftergraduation on Oct. 30, 2004,shortly before Matt was postedto Fort Bragg.

They live off post, and shetook a public relations job inRaleigh, N.C. "We kind of justwanted to create our ownlives," she says. "We didn'twant the Army to take over."

As Bravo Troop preparedto go to Iraq last year,however, it needed an FRGleader. Because thecommander of Matt's unit wasunmarried and Matt is Bravo'sexecutive officer, Bana Millervolunteered.

Soon, soldiers' wivesbegan contacting her for almostanything.

"We had people calling upsaying, 'I need to get atrampoline set up in mybackyard,' " says Miller, whopolitely referred them to Armyservices or suggested that aneighbor help.

When Defense SecretaryRobert Gates announced at anews conference in April thatcombat tours would beextended to 15 months, eightfamilies called Miller at workin 15 minutes demanding moreinformation. In 24 hours, threedozen families would weigh inby phone or e-mail, anxious toknow more. Miller had nothingto tell them.

"They thought this was myfull-time job, that I was gettingpaid to do it. It's not," Millersays. "I'm working 60 hours aweek. But I'm also working 30to 40 hours a week as an FRGleader."

Nothing, however, wouldprepare her for how to dealwith combat and casualties.

In 15 months of fighting inDiyala province north ofBaghdad, the 5th Squadron,with Bravo Troop, wouldsuffer nearly 40% casualtiesamong its 300 soldiers.Twenty-two were killed, halfin Bravo Troop. Fiveparatroopers would earn SilverStars. A sixth would berecommended posthumouslyfor a Distinguished ServiceCross, second only to the

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Medal of Honor.In one April day, nine

Bravo Troop soldiers would bewiped out in a single attack.

Bravo's first fatality onNov. 16, 2006, was Matt's bestfriend, Capt. John "Ryan"Dennison, who was shot todeath by insurgents.

Bana Miller had to informfamilies about any deaths inthe squadron — calls known asred-line messages.

"The first that I made Iwas breaking down," she says.Co-workers drove her home.

Back home in Bryn Mawrthat Thanksgiving, her familysaw her react to news reportsof casualties. "I mean she wasshaking, physically shakingimmediately after the newssegment," recalls her youngerbrother, Hume Najdawi.

An 'overwhelming'situation

By Christmas 2006, ascasualties mounted, wives werecalling Miller demanding thathusbands be sent home. Onethreatened to — and finally did— go to a local televisionstation to complain. Anothersaid she might miscarry andwould have herself committedif her husband did not return.

"I tried to talk her throughit," Miller says. "There wasonly so much that I could do."

With each news storyabout attacks, Miller wasflooded with calls.

"They were all thesepeople who are demanding andhysterical," she recalls. "It'sunderstandable because peoplejust want information, andthey're not getting it."

Meanwhile, her job andher volunteer work collided.

"I tried to make thebalance as best I could," shesaid. "But at the same time —when you have somebodycrying on the phone, or a lot oftimes I was a mother's onlycontact for information abouther son — it was a definitebalancing act."

Miller says she was tooclose to the problem to findfault with it.

"I could never sit back andget perspective," she says. "I

certainly wasn't the only FRGleader going through it. I neverstopped to question it."

Friends saw mountingstrain.

"She was tired, stressedout and worried the wholetime," recalls former Syracuseclassmate and close friendRobin Nathan of Atlanta. "Shehad to keep it together becauseshe had all these peopledepending on her."

Miller worked the phonesdelivering red-line messages.Four squadron paratrooperswere killed on March 25, 2007;four on April 7.

"It's not a job that I wantedto do. I didn't want to becalling and saying, 'I'm sorry,there's been another casualty,' "she says.

One family called back,railing for 15 minutes thatMiller had ruined their Easterwith such news.

"I just let them say it," shesays.

Others praised her forhelping them feel connected totheir soldier. Miller waslearning she had a way withpeople.

Across continents, Mattand Bana Miller comfortedeach other by satellite phone,sometimes just listening to theother's breathing, not saying aword. "We just both needed theother person," Matt says.

He says her job was mademore difficult becauseproblems at home can haveripple effects on the war front."Any break in teamwork orfrustrations between peopleback home just caused almost amirror effect" in Iraq, he says.

Last April was especiallydifficult. A suicide truck driverdetonated his explosive-ladenvehicle outside a compound inthe village of As Sadah, killingnine Bravo soldiers. It tookthree days for the Army toreach all nine families forformal notification.Meanwhile, other familieslived in terror that someonewould come knocking, andthey hounded Miller for news.

"That was completelyoverwhelming," she says.

Families of two deadsoldiers lived near Fort Bragg,and Miller worked with othervolunteers to coordinate meals,housekeeping or funerals.

"I was up until 2 a.m.every morning," she says."After work, I would gostraight to families' houses andjust sit with them."

Death became so secondnature that Miller's last red-linemessages were delivered withno emotion at all. "I hatedthat," she says. "I never wantedto be calloused."

In the end, Miller says, shefelt overwhelmed andsomewhat resentful that theArmy had taken over her lifefor a year.

She also learnedsomething about herself. "Ilove counseling," she says."I'm actually going back to getmy master's in counseling."

Philadelphia InquirerJanuary 16, 200835. House To Vote OnTroop PayBy Anne Flaherty, AssociatedPress

WASHINGTON - TheHouse plans to pass as early astoday a new defense-policy billthat includes a pay raise fortroops.

President Bush rejected anearlier version of thelegislation because he said itwould expose the Iraqigovernment to expensivelawsuits.

Democrats yesterday sentthe bill back to the HouseArmed Services Committee,which will quickly redraft themeasure to address Bush'sconcerns and send it back tothe floor for a final vote byweek's end.

The decision to revise thebill without attempting to blockBush's action reflects thedifficulty that Democrats havehad in challenging thepresident on even minor issues.Democrats lack the two-thirdsmajority needed to override apresidential veto.

The new bill is expected toincrease troop pay by 3.5

percent, retroactive to Jan. 1.Overall, the bill authorizesabout $696 billion in defensespending, including $189billion for the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan. In addition tosetting pay raises for servicemembers, the bill's primarypurpose is to guide Pentagonpolicy, including settingrestrictions on the Pentagon'smultibillion-dollar acquisitionprogram.

Amended will be aprovision by Sen. FrankLautenberg (D., N.J.) thatwould have guaranteed thatU.S. victims of state-sponsoredabuse have the right to suethose governments in court.The legislation was embracedby Republicans. Bymid-December, the bill passedby overwhelming margins inboth chambers.

A couple of weeks later,after Iraqi officials objected,Bush announced hisopposition. He said the billwould subject the Iraqigovernment, struggling torebuild itself, to expensivelawsuits seeking damages fromthe Saddam Hussein era.

The new bill will probablygrant Bush the authority towaive the provision, effectivelymaking it null and void,according to a Democraticaide, who spoke on conditionof anonymity because thedecision was not final.

Defense DailyJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 136. Lawmaker MovesTo Block Sale OfJDAMS To SaudiArabiaBy Jen DiMascio

Rep. Anthony Weiner(D-N.Y. ) said yesterday he ismoving to block the president'sproposed sale ofprecision-guided missiles toSaudi Arabia.

The president on Jan. 14formally notified Congressabout its intent to sell up to 900Joint Direct Attack Munitions(JDAM) worth as much as

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$123 million to the MiddleEastern country, according to astatement from the DefenseSecurity Cooperation Agency.

Lt. Gen. Gary North,commander of CentralCommand's Air Forces,yesterday discussed the sale,saying that having similarequipment helps build thenation's relationships in theMiddle East and helps thenations work together as a jointteam.

"It's our westernequipment. It's our westerntechnology. It's our westerntactics. And when we arewilling to share the releaseabletechnologies, it goes a longway to breed trust and avoidconflict in the region," Northsaid at a breakfast sponsoredby DieticaDFI. "This is whereour congressional support forforeign military funding andforeign military sales becomesso vitally important to ourbusiness."

Weiner and Rep. RobertWexler (D-Fla.) arecosponsoring a resolution thatwould pull the plug oncongressional support for thesale of the GPS-guidedweapons made by Boeing.They argued yesterday thatSaudi Arabia has not been agood partner in terms ofapplying sanctions to Iran orbringing down the price of oil.

Congress has 30 days topass that kind of resolution;Weiner acknowledged doing sowill be a difficult task.

Rep. Tom Lantos(D-Calif.) leads the HouseForeign Affairs Committee,which has jurisdiction overforeign military sales.

A spokesman for thecommittee said early this weekhe is not providing support formoving Weiner's resolutionfrom the committee to theHouse floor.

During a press briefingyesterday, Weiner saidleadership has provided nocommitment to consider theresolution. He said he intendedto meet last night with HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi(D-Calif.) to discuss it.

In the meantime, Weinerand Wexler are trying to gathercosponsors, in the hopes thatthe Foreign Affairs Committeewould reconsider.

Currently 51 membershave signed the resolution,including twoRepublicans--Rep. MikeFerguson (N.J.) and Rep.Walter Jones (N.C.).

Christian Science MonitorJanuary 16, 200837. Is Latin AmericaHeading For An ArmsRace?Recent increases in defensespending by Brazil andVenezuela are attractingobservers' attention.By Andrew Downie,Correspondent of TheChristian Science Monitor

São Paulo, Brazil --Increased defense spending byVenezuela, Brazil, andEcuador, coupled withsignificant arms purchases byChile and Colombia, may markthe start of an arms race inSouth America – a region thathasn't seen a major warbetween nations in decades.

"There is a real risk of itescalating and it could becomevery dangerous," says MichaelShifter, the vice president ofpolicy at the Inter-AmericanDialogue in Washington.

Concern has grown in thewake of recent purchases byVenezuela and Brazil.Venezuelan President HugoChávez, flush with oil money,has spent freely on attack andtransport helicopters, Russianfighter planes, and 100,000Kalashnikov rifles.

In neighboring Brazil,which, with half of LatinAmerica's landmass andpopulation, President LuizInácio Lula da Silva recentlyasked Congress to allocate10.13 billion reais ($5.6billion) – a 53 percent increase– for its 2008 military budget.

Those increases came afterChile invested significant sumsearlier in the decade. Colombiahas received hundreds ofmillions of dollars in US

drug-war aid for militarypurchases. And now Ecuador isalso spending more onweapons.

"I think that it is done indifferent places for differentmotivations," says Mr. Shifter,who testified before the USCongress last year on theimplications of Venezuela'sincreased military spending."[Mr.] Chávez is using this aspart of mobilizing the countryand thinking of a possibleattack from the US. In Chile, itis much more about giving thearmed forces what they want.Colombia spends because a lotof the [US] aid comes in theform of military equipment."

The problem, continuesShifter, is that "there istremendous mistrust betweencountries ... if you don't knowwhat your neighbors' intentionsare, then it is natural is to buildup as much as you can toprepare for any contingency."

Some South Americannations worry about Chávez'sambitions and do not want himto gain a significant militaryedge.

"Brazil won't say it, butChávez's build up is what hasmade it invest in its military,"says Reserve Col. GeraldoLesbat Cavagnari, coordinatorof the Strategic Studies Groupat Unicamp university in SãoPaulo.

Brazil and Venezuelaalready vie for politicalsupremacy in South Americawith Chávez bringing togetherthe radical leftists under hissocialist banner and PresidentLula leading a more measuredcoalition of social democrats.At this point, the two leadersare friends and the two nationshave no border quarrels orhistorical feuds that could flareup. But there are tensionsbetween Venezuela andColombia over gas-richterritorial waters and borderareas where Colombia's FARCguerrillas are active. AndVeneuzela has made claims onthe western part of Guyana.

But few people believeChávez is buying weapons inorder to attack a neighbor. He

has warned opponents of hisBolivian ally Evo Morales that"rifle and machine guns willthunder" if they try to topplePresident Morales butVenezuela still does not have amilitary machine capable ofshock and awe, analysts said.

In addition, its army isone-third the size of Brazil's,and distinctly less experiencedand battle hardened thanneighboring Colombia's.

Any attempts to settleterritorial claims on westernGuyana would give both theUS and Britain, a formercolonial power, reasons toenter the fray.

Yet the thought of anunpredictable leader withmodern weaponry concernssome of the continent'smoderates. Moreover, manyanalysts say the region cannotafford to devote large amountsof money to weaponry. Povertyis still a major problem in mostSouth American countries andthat – along with infrastructure,justice, and education – is seenas a more worthy priority thansubmarines or fighter planes.

"An arms race on ourcontinent will oblige us todepart from the path of givingpriority to investments in socialprograms," says Jose Sarney, aBrazilian senator and a fiercecritic of Chávez. "Having amilitary power on the continentis dangerous for both Braziland... Latin America."

Nevertheless, no onewants to get left behind,especially Brazil. Investment inmodern weaponry, analystsagree, is long overdue forSouth America's biggestnation.

Years of neglect have leftmuch of Brazil's war machineobsolete or in disrepair.Meanwhile, its priorities havechanged from worrying aboutArgentina in the south toprotecting its jungle frontierson the north and west and itsterritorial waters that are hometo sizeable new finds of oil andgas.

"There are very realsecurity concerns that are beingneglected," says Martin Joyce,

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the South America defenseanalyst for Jane's. "One is theAmazon region where drugtraffickers are operating withimpunity. Secondly, we arealso seeing an increasedpresence of Colombianguerrillas, and that requiresmobility and that is why we seehelicopters and military airlifthigh on the priority list. Thenthere is the new oil reserves.Part of the reason for theprocurement of a nuclearsubmarine is because they saidthey need to protect thoseresources. Venezuela comesfairly low down the list."

Mideast Stars and StripesJanuary 16, 200838. Combined JointTask Force CommanderReflects On Progress InHorn Of AfricaEducation, water quality,health among improvementscitedBy Zeke Minaya, Stars andStripes

CAMP LEMONIER,Djibouti — Asked about hisaccomplishments as head ofthe Combined Joint Task Force— Horn of Africa, Rear Adm.James Hart talks about thevillage of Assamo.

The small Djiboutianhamlet sits near the border withSomalia. During his yeardirecting CJTF — HOA, thetask force has built a medicalclinic in the village, as well asconstructed improvements tothe local school and upgradedwater quality.

Those kinds of civicenhancements — targetingeducation, water quality andhealth — were spread allthroughout Eastern Africa, hesaid. “We are trying to do thatin many different places,” Hartsaid.

Hart is due to step downfrom his post in February,when he will be replaced byRear Adm. Philip Greene, Jr.

Greene is currently thedirector of policy, resourcesand strategy at U.S. NavalForces Europe/Africa at

Naples, Italy.During his tenure, adding

the U.S. military’s capability tothe existing network of aidorganizations and StateDepartment initiatives tooksome coordination, Hart said.

Previously, the militaryhad problems with continuityand credibility when it came tohumanitarian projects in theregion, according to leaders ofAfrican aid organizations.

Hart made it a priority toimprove communicationbetween the military, StateDepartment, non-governmentalorganizations and the variousAfrican governments.

Hart said that he askedhimself, “How do we take thegreat capability that theAmerican country has andwork through Africanorganizations?”

Hart placed liaisons withembassy and aid organizationsand reached out to Africangovernments. Theimprovements were quicklyevident.

“I’m glad to see themilitary get smart,” said KevinA. Rushing, deputy missiondirector for USAID inEthiopia.

Hart said he was glad tolearn from organizations thathad been in Africa longer.

“USAID has a long historyand has a strong network,”Hart said. “By developing arelationship we have learnedmuch from USAID.”

In the waning days of histenure at CJTF-HOA, Hart ishoping to include Rwanda inthe task force’s area ofresponsibility.

He also planned to escort agroup of Americanbusinessmen through theregion, to give them a glimpseof the potential in the area.

Hart said if he had moretime he would have liked tospread the message of the taskforce on a grass-roots levelthrough the radio.

“Everybody here hastransistor radios,” he said.“That’s how they get theirinformation here.”

Hart would not reveal

what his future plans were, buthe said that he has enjoyed histime in Africa.

“It’s been a real pleasurefor me to work with peoplehere,” he said.

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 339. Wicker's EarmarkElicits CriticismWatchdogs Decry $6 Millionfor ContractorBy Matthew Mosk,Washington Post Staff Writer

Wicker's earmark forManassas-based Aurora FlightScience fits a pattern thatrecently attracted bipartisancriticism and gave rise to themost far-reaching ethicsoverhaul legislation in ageneration: The firm retainedthe services of thecongressman's top aide after hepassed through the revolvingdoor to become a lobbyist, andits employees helpedunderwrite Wicker's reelection.

Over the past three years,as Aurora sought defensecontracts, the Republicanmember of the Appropriationsdefense subcommittee receivedescalating contributions fromthe company's executives.Aurora was Wicker's topsource of campaign funds in2006, campaign financerecords show. In 2005, thecompany flew the congressmanon a private jet to the ribboncutting of a manufacturingfacility it opened in Wicker'sMississippi district.

And just days afterWicker's chief of staff, JohnKeast, left his employ in 2006,Aurora began listing the formerstaffer on public forms as oneof its lobbyists in Washington.Wicker placed the earmark in adefense appropriations bill thatbecame law in November2007.

None of those contactswith the congressman violatedany laws. But they drewcriticism from the Project onGovernment Oversight andCitizens for Responsibility andEthics (CREW), nonprofit

groups that have tried tochange how Congress handlesearmarking.

"It's so commonplace thatpeople have becomedesensitized to the outrage, butthe fact is earmarks for thewell-connected leave thatmuch less money available forthe real needs of the Americanpublic," said Melanie Sloan,CREW's executive director."Congressional leaderspromised they were ushering inan era of cleaner government. Iguess not."

Wicker did not dispute hisrole in the earmark or thecompany's contacts with him,but said in an interview that hesees no problem with directingmoney to Aurora. He saidcontributions from itsemployees played no role inhis decision to request theearmark in March 2007. Themoney was meant to speeddevelopment of a new,unmanned aircraft that wouldbe able to fly for days at highaltitudes -- a valuable militarytool, Wicker said. And thecompany is developing theaircraft while creating jobs inhis home state.

"The long and short of itis, Aurora is putting out a goodproduct in return for thesefederal expenditures," Wickersaid yesterday. "It clearlypasses any cost-benefit test."Patti Woodside, aspokeswoman for Aurora, saidthe earmark was going todevelop "a vehicle with tons ofpotential. I don't think anyonewould dispute that this is aworthwhile endeavor." Theaircraft is in the research anddevelopment phase, Woodsidesaid. The company isdeveloping the aircraft for theArmy's Space and MissileDefense Command.

She said Aurora located itsfacility in Mississippi becausethe company's chief executivehad a close friend at theMississippi State University,not because of Wicker'srepresentation of the 1stCongressional District from1994 until his appointment tothe Senate. She also said that

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while the company's lobbyingfirm, Cornerstone GovernmentAffairs, hired Keast after heleft Wicker's employ, anotherlobbyist at the firm, DanFleming, took the lead inhelping them obtain federalfunding.

Messages left Monday andTuesday for Keast and Flemingwere not returned. A lobbyingdisclosure statement filed forthe period from Jan. 1 to June30, 2007, lists both as lobbyistsfor Aurora before the House onbudget issues. Wicker servedon the House Appropriationsdefense subcommittee beforehis appointment to the Senate.That appointment came shortlyafter Sen. Jim DeMint(R-S.C.)described earmarkingas the key factor in scandalsthat helped drive Republicansfrom power in 2006.

John Pruett, a fellow at theProject on GovernmentOversight, said: "There are athousand companies out therethat make unmanned vehicles.Why did he choose Aurora? Itpoints out that [it should notbe] ... left to the inclinations ofa representative. There shouldbe some standard."

John Cummings, aspokesman for the Armycommand, said he did notknow why Wicker submittedthe earmark request. "It's acongressional add," he said. "Itwas not requested. It wasn't inthe president's budget.Anything that comes in abovethat means it has not beenrequested by us."

Records show that Aurorachief executive John S.Langford made his firstcontribution to Wicker inMarch 2005. In April, Auroraflew Wicker, Keast and anotherstaffer on a private jet toStarkville, Miss., to attend theopening of the company's newfacility there. Under oldcongressional ethics rules, theprivate flight was valued at thecost of a commercial flight, or$3,083.

Wicker said the facility isin an area referred to as "thegolden triangle," on the borderbetween two congressional

districts, where several militarycontractors have factories. TheAurora plant has created 45jobs and promises to yield asmany as 200, Wicker said.

"It was not a requestedearmark from DOD," said KyleSteward, Wicker's spokesman."But I will say we haddiscussions with DOD. Theytold us no one else is as closeto developing this technologyas Aurora, and DOD folks arevery interested in it, and theysee this technology as a need inthe future."

On Feb. 5, 2006, afterworking jointly for Wicker andthe Appropriations Committee,Keast left to join Cornerstone.He registered to representAurora on Feb. 14, 2006.Cornerstone reported earning$40,000 in lobbying fees fromAurora that year. The sameyear, Aurora employeesdonated more than $13,000 toWicker -- his top campaigncontributor that year, accordingto the Center for ResponsivePolitics.

Wicker submitted hisearmark request on March 22,2007, less than two monthsafter the one-year cooling offperiod in which Keast wasbarred from lobbying Wickeron Aurora's behalf. Thecompany paid Keast's lobbyingfirm $60,000 in the first half of2007.

Wicker said yesterday hehad been "working withAurora" long before Keast lefthis staff, and that he wascertain that Keast "compliedwith all the waiting periods."Wicker said the company isone of several that havedonated money to him andbenefited from defenseappropriations when he was onthe subcommittee.

None of that shouldtrouble people, he said."Basically, I was just trying tocreate jobs for Mississippiansand provide a strong nationaldefense at the same time,"Wicker said. "I'm a good votefor a strong national defense.When we can combine thatwith creating good jobs inMississippi, in my mind, it's a

two-fer."Research director Lucy

Shackelford contributed to thisreport.

Washington PostJanuary 16, 2008Pg. D140. Carlyle In Talks ToBuy Unit Of Booz AllenBy Thomas Heath, WashingtonPost Staff Writer

Booz Allen spokesmanMarie Lerch last night declinedto comment on whetherCarlyle, based in the District,was in talks with the McLeanfirm. The report appreared onthe Web site of the FinancialTimes yesterday. A potentialsale has been the subject ofmedia speculation for weeks.

Carlyle spokesmanChristopher Ullman declined tocomment. The stage of thetalks could not be determined.

Booz Allen, which isprivately held, is among the topgovernment contractors in thecountry and one of the largestemployers in NorthernVirginia, with more than11,000 employees in theregion. It has 20,000employees worldwide, most ofwhom work on its governmentbusiness. Its clients include theNavy, Air Force and U.S.Agency for InternationalDevelopment.

On the commercial side,which is believed to be themore lucrative part of thebusiness, Booz Allen is awell-known source of marketresearch. About 20 percent ofits employees focus on thecommercial sector.

The consulting firm, whichwent public in 1970 and thenwas taken private six yearslater, is owned by 300 topexecutives and has about $4billion in revenue. About halfof that comes from thegovernment.

A marriage betweenCarlyle and Booz Allen couldmake sense for theprivate-equity giant for manyreasons. Carlyle has a long andlucrative history of owning anddoing business with

government defensecontractors, such as aerospaceand ground-based militaryprograms.

Carlyle owns VoughtAircraft Industries, anaerospace company. Its buyoutarm made a substantial profitwith the purchase andsubsequent sale of UnitedDefense, another militarycontractor.

Carlyle has about $75billion under management andis looking for places to put thatmoney to work. It recentlylaunched an infrastructure fundthat will invest in and operatetoll roads, water purificationsystems and other suchstructures.

Booz Allen hinted lastmonth that it might change itsstrategic direction. Itschairman, Ralph W. Shrader,sent an electronic memo toemployees in Decemberinforming them that thecompany was consideringseparating its commercial andgovernment businesses.

Shrader said in the memothat the strategy of splitting thecompany into two parts was inthe "development stage." Healso said both Booz Allen unitswere successful but werefacing vastly different businessmodels and regulatory issues.

Booz Allen Hamilton wasthe main sponsor of the PGATour stop in the Washingtonregion from 2004 to 2006.

USA TodayJanuary 16, 2008Pg. 941. After Losing Son InIraq, Retired ColonelWages Challenge ForVet's House SeatBy Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Thefather of a Marine killed in Iraqannounced Tuesday that he isrunning for the House seat heldby the only Iraq war veteran inCongress.

Thomas Manion, aRepublican who recentlyretired as a colonel in theMarine Reserves, is unhappy

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with positions Rep. PatrickMurphy, D-Pa., has takenagainst the war.

Manion's son, 1st Lt.Travis Manion, 26, ofDoylestown, Pa., died April 29during his second Iraq tourwhile living with an Iraqi unithe was leading and training.Manion said his son's deathwas a wake-up call to stepforward and serve.

"My son was about thiscountry, so I'm sure he'd bevery proud that I'm steppingforward and stepping on thefield, as he was, to try to makea difference for our country,"Manion, 53, said in a phoneinterview.

Adam Abrams, Murphy'sspokesman, said in a statementthat the freshman Democrat is"bringing people together —Democrats, Republicans andindependents" — to work forhis district.

"There will be plenty oftime for politics later," Abramssaid.

Murphy, 34, served as amilitary lawyer in Iraq with the82nd Airborne Division.Seizing on voters' discontentwith the Iraq war, Murphy in2006 beat then-congressmanMike Fitzpatrick with less than51% of the vote. Thecompetitive district includes apart of Philadelphia and itssuburbs.

In office, Murphy has beenout front in the Democrats'fight to get troops out of Iraqand was vocal in his oppositionto President Bush's "surge"plan announced early last year.As part of the plan, 30,000additional soldiers and Marineswere stationed in the country.

Although more troops diedin 2007 than in any other yearin the war, the death countdeclined substantially by theend of the year, and fightingwas calmed in parts of thecountry. The Iraqi government,however, has been criticizedfor making less politicalprogress than was promised.

Manion, a pharmaceuticalexecutive, said his son hadexpressed confidence in thedecision to increase troop

levels before he died. While"nobody wants the war to endas much as I do," Manion saidstability in Iraq is essential forstability in the Middle East,and U.S. military leadersshould be given an opportunityto make that happen.

Philadelphia InquirerJanuary 16, 2008Worldview42. The News FromIraq: Reasons For Fear,HopeBy Trudy Rubin, InquirerColumnist

Iraq is back. The story isback on page one and back inthe presidential primaries. Hasany political progress beenmade? And how long shouldwe stay? (John McCain justsaid 100 years was "fine withme.")

Having traveled toBaghdad last month, I can tellyou that things in Iraq aremuch better than Democratswant to believe. But the currentsituation makes Republicanswho prate of "victory" lookfoolish.

Everything is in flux.There are possibilities for Iraqipolitical progress in comingmonths, but they could bedissipated. How soon we canwithdraw substantial forcesdepends largely on whether thenext president has a morerealistic strategy for the regionthan George W. Bush.

The key change in Iraq,which makes other changespossible, is that the sectarianviolence has lessened.

"It is not over," Iraq'sshrewd foreign minister,Hoshyar Zebari, told me, "butit has died down. There are stillhot coals under the ashes, butthe overall atmosphere haschanged."

But as critics of Bushpolicy point out, the expressedpurpose of the "surge" - as laidout by Gen. David Petraeus -was to provide calm and spacefor Iraqi sectarian factions toformally reconcile. This wassupposed to be the prerequisite

for American troops to depart.The political benchmarks

set by the Iraqis - proposedlaws that were supposed toease the tensions betweenethnic and sectarian groups -have mostly languishedwithout passage. No one iscertain of the impact of thelaw, finally passed this week,to permit former members ofSaddam Hussein's Baath Partyto regain jobs and pensions.

More important are otherdevelopments going on furtherfrom public view.

One importantdevelopment is the beginningof feelers across sectarian linesto create new politicalmovements. Right now, mostof Iraq's political parties arebased on sect or religion. Butleaders of the largest Shiiteparty, the Islamic SupremeCouncil of Iraq (ISCI), aremeeting with Sunni triballeaders in Anbar province whoare thinking of forming newSunni political parties. There istalk of a possible newShiite-Sunni political alliancein the next parliamentaryelections. This kind of alliancemight do an end run around theinsular Shiite Dawa party ofPrime Minister Nourial-Maliki, and around the moresectarian Sunni parties now inthe parliament.

In other words, securitygains on the ground areencouraging new politicalthinking which will take moretime to jell.

There is also new strategicthinking among Iraqi leaders. Italked with ShiiteVice-President AdelAbdul-Mahdi, who has beenpushing for years for a status offorces agreement with theUnited States that wouldregulate the number and role ofU.S. forces. Such an agreementwill now be negotiated thisyear.

"Now we are all preparedfor negotiations," Mahdi says."Our long-term relationshipwill be defined. No one istalking about bases, even theAmericans. They are talkingabout facilities, training,

airfields." Mahdi said Iraqisstill needed "a strong partner"and urged Americans to havepatience. "We need time tobring Iraqis to politicalmaturity," he pleaded. But hethought that U.S. troop levelscould "go down by half in thenext year or two."

Of course many willquestion how much leveragethe Iraqis will have in suchtalks, but, if security improves,I think that leverage willincrease.

And Mahdi put forwardanother proposal that I think iskey to stability in Iraq.

Until now, Iraqi leaderswere leery of any regionalsecurity arrangement thatincluded Sunni Arab states,Iran and the United States,because they thought the SunniArabs might gang up againstShiite-led Iraq. But the Iraqioutlook has changed asrelations with Sunni Arabstates have improved.

"Now we think we need aregional pact to stabilize things- an agreement in which all canparticipate and be real partners,including Iran and Turkey.

"The United States shouldplay a helpful role," he added."We understand we can't [do aregional pact] without adialogue between the UnitedStates and Iran." That kind ofdialogue has not been on theagenda of the Bush WhiteHouse.

This brings me back to theU.S. election campaign. Thosecandidates who want to helpIraq need to pay attention towhat Iraqi leaders are saying.Anger at past Bushadministration mistakesshouldn't cause candidates tooverlook progress.

There is an urgent need forthis kind of serious regionaldiplomacy, which the Bushadministration has steadfastlyavoided - for a pact that wouldgive Iraq's neighbors a vestedinterest in aiding, notinterfering, with Baghdad'sfuture. This is the strategy thatshould be promoted byDemocrats who want to bringthe troops home.

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