Weapons of War

"In just five years, Bush has challenged more than 750 new laws, by far a record for any president, while becoming the first president since Thomas Jefferson to stay so long in office without issuing a veto." [more]

There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. [more]

The Missile Defense Agency has spent $80 billion since 1985 and has very little to show for it. Over the next five years, the U.S. government will dump another $50 billion into missile defense programs. Yet rogue states probably will be able to come up with cheap countermeasures to foil costly defensive systems. [more]

"The deals were agreed as three Polish soldiers were killed in Iraq Wednesday and four injured when their Sokol helicopter made an emergency landing south of Baghdad." [more]

"The Palestinian nonviolent movement is as old as the Palestinian liberation movement itself. As far back as the 1930s, Palestinians engaged in nonviolent protests and demonstrations against the British Mandate authorities. This form of protest peaked with the breakout of the 1987 intifada." [more]

"During the last three years, this holocaust has not only spread wider but also been given a general acceptability, to such an extent that now it seems to be a matter of routine even when several hundred Muslims are slaughtered in a single day." [more]

"Rape in war, if committed by combatants, is both a grave human rights violation and a war crime. Yet it has long been mischaracterized as a private crime, the ignoble act of wayward soldiers. Worse still, it has been accepted precisely because it is so common." [more]

"The Judea and Samaria Police is investigating the Gedud Ha'ivri (the Jewish Brigade), a militant right-wing group based in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuach, for setting up unauthorized roadblocks in which its members randomly select Palestinian vehicles for inspection." [more]

"The Treasury Department lists the Jewish Legion and the Voice of Judea as Kahanist aliases and prohibits U.S. citizens from transactions with them. The group's Web site invites volunteers to Israel for a paramilitary training program in West Bank Jewish settlements." [more]

"In a report to be released Monday, Amnesty International said the sexual attacks in Darfur amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. But it said it did not have sufficient evidence to show that the Janjaweed, as the government-backed militias are known, have carried out genocide in Darfur, as some critics of Sudan's government maintain." [more]

The Democrats on the committee foolishly bought into an agreement that will likely postpone a committee report on that more important issue until after the election. Yet voters would profit from information about whether the Bush administration pressured the intelligence community or exaggerated, twisted the truth or even lied about the Iraqi threat in its rush to justify war. [more]

"With protestors coming to New York and Boston for the conventions, might we see the first domestic use this summer? Gruenler hints: 'All I can say is there are cities you would recognize.' " [more]

"Arabs are angry when they see dead Iraqi infants with half their skulls blown away due to missile strikes. The Arab satellite channels convey this reality, they don't manufacture it. If Arabs are increasingly angry at the US - which they certainly are - this is almost totally due to the consequences of US military and political policies, not the reporting of these policies by Arab television." [more]

"Practices such as lying to prisoners, intimidating them, screaming at them, stripping them, hiding their faces under hoods, and depriving them of toiletries and comforts are permissible to a degree if there is a valid reason, Ritz said./ But he drew the line at the sort of excesses allegedly committed by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, such as sodomizing prisoners with a broom and forcing them to simulate and commit sex acts." [more]

"Training has begun on Integraph, a state-of-the-art police dispatch system that uses global positioning to track officers, looking similar to a live video game playing itself out on a real-time map of San Jose. The 2-year-old technology, set to debut in mid-June, is used by a handful of police agencies, including those in San Diego and Santa Rosa." [more]

"But accepting such a radar system could overstep the boundaries of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. The treaty states that Japan can house military-related facilities of the United States only for 'the defense of Japan and maintenance of peace and stability in the Far East.'/ The planned missile defense system is designed to protect Japan. But the radar system would in effect be solely for the defense of the United States." [more]

"At least 80 foreign mercenaries — security guards recruited from the US, Europe and South Africa and working for American companies — have been killed in the past eight days. The occupation authorities have kept the figures secret." [more]

"Ohio is the 46th state to pass a law allowing residents to apply for a permits or licenses to not only own guns but to carry them concealed in most public places, said Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Carrying a gun in government buildings, in schools, day-care centers and some other public areas remains illegal." [more]

"It's possible...that even a stable fly, or something as tiny as an aphid, could be used to distribute deadly pathogens over a wide geographical area in a surprisingly rapid and efficient manner. Bugs as delivery systems for weapons of mass terror." [more]

"The new exercises will use a series of exercise activities of increasing complexity, and simulate a terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction in Connecticut and New Jersey, the Homeland Security Department said. The specific scenarios for the exercises are still being developed." [more]

"Proliferation is merely globalization of weapons of mass destruction. ... Proliferation, however, is not, as the President seemed to think, just a rogue state or two seeking weapons of mass destruction; it is the entire half-century-long process of globalization that stretches from Klaus Fuchs's espionage to Tahir's nuclear arms bazaar and beyond. The war was a failure in its own terms because weapons of mass destruction were absent in Iraq; the war policy failed because they were present and spreading in Pakistan." [more]

"'Transformation has no end state -- it is a continual process,' Curran told the subcommittee. '… The goal is to continually strive to spiral mature capabilities into the current force so that over time our Army more closely resembles the vision of the Future Force.'" [more]

"The United States must improve its defenses, but there really is only one option: to take the fight to the enemy, he said. 'We are breaking up cells and disrupting plots. We're staying on offense, tracking al Qaeda around the world,' he said." [more]

"After a few more slides, there was a shot of Bush looking under furniture in the Oval Office. 'Nope,' Bush said. 'No weapons over there.' More laughter. Then another picture of Bush searching in his office: 'Maybe under here.' Laughter again." [more]

"Although the complete Land Warrior System -- a modular, integrated fighting system that includes everything an infantry soldier wears or carries on the battlefield -- is not due to be fielded until 2007, troops in the field already benefit from several of its components." [more]

"The United Nations Secretary-General, Koffi Annan, wrote in his Millennium Report: 'When robust and comprehensive economic sanctions are directed against authoritarian regimes, a different problem is encountered. Then it is usually the people who suffer, not the political elites whose behaviour triggered the sanctions in the first place.'" [more]

"The jamming concept originated in Israel in the early '90s and is currently used by U.S. troops in Iraq. The United States has tested an air-dropped cell-phone jammer, WolfPack, that can knock out all cell-phone traffic in a combat zone." [more]

"While we’re all fretting over the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft’s Justice Department is after much bigger game." [more]

"'The trap is sprung,' said a senior American administration official speaking from Washington, saying that the Libyan resolution sets a precedent for future I.A.E.A. resolutions on Iran. 'It makes it very hard not to at some point address Iran's breaches by referring them to the Security Council,' he said." [more]

"Wisconsin is not alone in reconsidering the Matrix, or Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange. Of the 13 states that originally signed up, six remain. Concerns center on how detailed a picture it could paint of a person's life and activities." [more]

I saw a narrow and deeply flawed policy favored by some executive appointees in the Pentagon used to manipulate and pressurize the traditional relationship between policymakers in the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies. I witnessed neoconservative agenda bearers within OSP usurp measured and carefully considered assessments, and through suppression and distortion of intelligence analysis promulgate what were in fact falsehoods to both Congress and the Executive Office of the President. [more]

"Mr Kay, who was formerly a UN weapons inspector, called for the president to go further. 'It's about confronting and coming clean with the American people. He should say we were mistaken and I am determined to find out why,' he said." [more]

"According to past and present military and intelligence officials, however, Washington’s support for the pardon of Khan was predicated on what Musharraf has agreed to do next: look the other way as the U.S. hunts for Osama bin Laden in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan ..., where he is believed to be operating. American commanders have been eager for permission to conduct major sweeps in the Hindu Kush for some time, and Musharraf has repeatedly refused them. Now, with Musharraf’s agreement, the Administration has authorized a major spring offensive that will involve the movement of thousands of American troops." [more]

"Tens of thousands are on the move now as the Pentagon carries out the largest rotation of forces in its history, relieving battle-weary soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait with fresh forces. By late March, 130,000 troops will be leaving Iraq and 105,000, including some of the 319th, will arrive. As many as 50% of these will be reservists or National Guard." [more]

"The secretary is not particularly moved by accusations that the intervention in Iraq is 'illegal.' 'I am not a lawyer; I dropped out of law school,' he jokes." [more]

"'...I can't give a precise viewpoint regarding it because we don't do any inspections in Israel,' ElBaradei told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television when asked about the extent of Israel's nuclear weapons program." [more]

"Advanced Research and Development Activity works for all the nation's intelligence services, including the CIA, FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency and parts of dozens of other departments. Its budget is part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program and is secret." [more]

"Although it has always been promised that the ubiquity of networked computing would enable a host of alternative information sources, what is found is that -- in practice and when push comes to shove -- the allegedly vast ocean of alternatives all say the same thing, with only minor variations, all drawing from the same text, the same myth." [more]

An Air Force report sheds light on little-known plans by the U.S. military to develop space-based weapons. Some analysts fear the effort could spark a new arms race. [more]

"More than 60 influential scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, issued a statement yesterday asserting that the Bush administration had systematically distorted scientific fact in the service of policy goals on the environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weaponry at home and abroad ... According to the report, the Bush administration has misrepresented scientific consensus on global warming, censored at least one report on climate change, manipulated scientific findings on the emissions of mercury from power plants and suppressed information on condom use." [more]

"The Darpa project, called 'Metabolic Dominance' or 'peak soldier performance,' is part of a wider, future-facing Pentagon research push to develop grunts who are pretty much immune to normal human demands. The agency has sunk millions into programs to reduce the need for sleep and is investigating ways to keep injured GIs pulling the trigger for days on end -- without help from a medic." [more]

"He said that the US and UK governments 'must have known' that the evidence presented by their intelligence services about places in Iraq where there might be WMD 'was erroneous', because 'we made it known to them'." [more]

" 'We have been following the question of Iran pretty closely and there's no doubt in our mind that Iran continues to pursue a nuclear weapons program,' Armitage said in a press interview in Washington. Earlier Thursday, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Disarmament John Bolton made a similar remark in Berlin. 'We're not convinced Iran has come completely clean,' said Bolton." [more]

"To get public attention off of Kay's report (and resignation), Bush has used his political skills to try to silence his former weapons inspector, and to preempt Kay's knowledge and suggestions by making it yesterday's news." [more]

"Iraq demonstrated that waging war against a nation that has not attacked another and ousting its leader — even a dictator — smacks of arrogance and sours allies whose help is needed in fighting other enemies and financing postwar reconstruction." [more]

"This missile has a range of 700-2,700 KM and it can carry 1,100 kg of explosive material." [more]

"Pakistan's approach to dealing with the problem has contrasted with the Libyan and the Iranian approach. Libyan's, under pressure, opted to essentially wrap up their nuclear program. Last week a US air force plane carried 55 tons of paper and equipment related to Libya's nuclear program to the US. Iran, meanwhile, under pressure gave 'South Asian' names to the IAEA inspectors divulging the source of their technology. Pakistan has resisted pressure to rollback its nuclear program, while choosing to take steps to enhance Pakistan's credentials as a responsible nuclear state." [more]

"In fiscal year 2002, the Big Three received a total of more than $42 billion in Pentagon contracts ... This is an increase of nearly one-third from 2000, Clinton's final year. These firms get one out of every four dollars the Pentagon doles out for everything from rifles to rockets. In contrast, Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is underfunded by $8 billion a year, with the additional assistance promised to school districts swallowed up by war costs and tax cuts." [more]

"The Pentagon plans to begin operation of a national missile defense system this summer, putting the first missile interceptors on alert weeks ahead of a previous autumn deadline." [more]

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, invoking emergency powers, has authorized the Army to grow temporarily by 30,000 troops above its congressionally approved limit of 482,000 to facilitate a restructuring of forces severely strained by operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and counterterrorism missions elsewhere." [more]

Nobody disagrees that W.M.D's are absolutely monstrous weapons, but that shouldn't prevent us from making realistic assessments of their capabilities for harm, argues Ivan Eland. [more]

"Today's soldiers carry as much as 100 pounds of equipment. That's exhausting, even for the toughest grunt. In the future, the Army wants to dump up to half that gear onto the back of a drone. But military scientists are worried that robots with wheels won't be able to follow their human masters across mountain passes, up stairs and through forest trails." [more]

"Part of a secret $3 billion in new funds ... will go toward the creation of a paramilitary unit manned by militiamen associated with former Iraqi exile groups. Experts say it could lead to a wave of extrajudicial killings, not only of armed rebels but of nationalists, other opponents of the U.S. occupation and thousands of civilian Baathists." [more]

"Scores of Iraqi civilians were killed or injured needlessly, because Britain failed in its duty as an occupying power, a human rights group claims. " [more]

"The decision to demolish houses suspected of sheltering insurgents resembles a tactic long in use by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to punish the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Like the Israelis, troops with the 4th Infantry have also flattened wide swaths on roadsides to inhibit the laying of bombs." [more]

"About 70 allied soldiers have died in November, already making it the deadliest month since April, when 73 troops died. President Bush declared major combat over May 1." [more]

"The giant Caterpillar bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, now comes with a controversial new feature: remote control." [more]

"Consider that the total enlistment goal for active Army and Army reserves in the fiscal year ended Oct. 1 was 100,000. If half of the 140,000 troops currently in Iraq were to go home and stay, two-thirds of this year's recruits would be needed to replace them." [more]

"Portable missiles were fired at incoming planes [in Iraq] several times in recent weeks, one senior official said. Most of those incidents have not been reported to the public." [more]

"The United States was the leader in total worldwide sales in 2002, with about $13.3 billion, or 45.5 percent of global conventional weapons deals, a rise from $12.1 billion in 2001. Of that, $8.6 billion was to developing nations, or about 48.6 percent of conventional arms deals concluded with developing nations last year." [more]

"Essential Viewing's technology has already been tested in the US by the military driving a robot around New York. Hardy said the robot looked like a multi-armed sophisticated bomb disposal vehicle, adding that the technology was down to 'some very scary maths'." [more]

"Scientists working for Silex Systems Ltd, which leases space at the Commonwealth Government's Lucas Heights reactor near Sydney, are developing techniques to enrich uranium with lasers. " [more]

"Until now, the assumption in Washington was that Saudi Arabia was content to remain under the US nuclear umbrella. But the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US has steadily worsened since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington." [more]

"He described Al-Khalid and Al-Zarar as cheapest and fine fighting machines, which can be termed more battle-worthy than the western tank. 'I have talked to Turkish and Saudi leadership, as Al-Khalid mass production with a price tag of only $ 2 million, as compared to $ 7 million of any western tank, has started. The tank has already been inducted in the armoured corps.'" [more]

"Clusters of scientists shut the laboratory door on the military half a century ago in reaction to the horrors of atomic bombs, and again decades later in disgust with the Vietnam War. But today such refuseniks are rare and scattered—in large part, they say, because so many of their colleagues doing basic research are addicted to military money." [more]

"Classified spending next fiscal year will reach about $23.2 billion of the Pentagon's total request for procurement and research funding. When adjusted for inflation, that is the largest dollar figure since the peak reached during President Ronald Reagan's defense buildup 16 years ago." [more]

"Today, with the tremendous controversy over the administration's pre-war assertions, it is impossible to overstate the importance of the archive that produced Iraq's 12,500 pages of claims that comprise the most detailed record of Iraq's weapons programs." [more]

"Pentagon data on the number of crashes per hours flown show that the Global Hawk has a crash rate 50 times higher than the F-16 fighter, a plane that frequently flies more dangerous missions and at lower altitudes." [more]

"Such weapons would allow military commanders to increase firepower without being forced to push the nuclear button. Experts have warned that if the US scientists succeed in building a gamma ray bomb, it could force other countries to start nuclear programmes, or worse, encourage those who already possess nuclear weapons to use them." [more]

"The effect of a nuclear-isomer explosion would be to release high-energy gamma rays capable of killing any living thing in the immediate area. This material could cause long-term health problems for anybody who breathed it in." [more]

" 'If there are any uninvited guests — swimmers and divers — trying to cause harm to U.S. and coalition naval assets, the dolphins can detect and locate them,' said Lt. Josh Frey, a spokesman of the 5th Fleet." [more]

"A 1980 UN convention banned the use against civilian targets of napalm, a terrifying mixture of jet fuel and polystyrene that sticks to skin as it burns. The US, which did not sign the treaty, is one of the few countries that makes use of the weapon." [more]

"While insisting that it has no plans to resume testing, the administration has asked Congress for funds for a project that would cut down the amount of time it would take for the cold war-era test site in Nevada to start functioning again." [more]

"American jets killed Iraqi troops with firebombs — similar to the controversial napalm used in the Vietnam War — in March and April as Marines battled toward Baghdad." [more]

"Hawks in the Pentagon and the energy department are pushing for the development of tactical nuclear weapons with yields of less than 5 kilotons and hardened 'bunker buster' nuclear bombs, designed to penetrate deeply buried targets, where enemy leaders or weaponsmay be hidden." [more]

"'I was much more comfortable with end-strength during the cold war than I am today,' said the Republican, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma. He said reducing the size of the military after the collapse of communism left America's ground force 'in near crisis' as it was stretched to deal with expanding global commitments in the battle against terrorism." [more]

"The matter-of-fact way in which Rumsfeld suggested [nuclear weapons'] possible role [in US combat] was a rare public sign of a growing effort by the administration to end the decade-long ban on developing and testing new nuclear bombs." [more]

"If a plane was flying with a no-fly-zone to the left, and the pilot started banking left to enter the zone, the avionics would counter by banking right. Lee's system, called 'soft walls', would first gently resist the pilot, and then become increasingly forceful until it prevailed." [more]

"The ultimate goal would be a 'reusable hypersonic cruise vehicle ... capable of taking off from a conventional military runway and striking targets 9,000 nautical miles distant in less than two hours.' " [more]

"The consequences of failure rates are magnified by the numbers of grenades used: To destroy one air-defense system covering 100 square yards requires 75 rockets, each carrying 644 grenades — a total of 48,300. The 16 percent failure rate listed by the Pentagon produces 7,728 unexploded grenades, scattering them over 600 square yards." [more]

"Two former senior British ministers accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of deceiving the public at the start of a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday into the government's justification for launching a war with Iraq." [more]

"Diplomats at the United Nations see the latest International Atomic Energy Agency annual report seeking Iran's cooperation on nuclear plant inspections as yet another sign of mounting pressure on Tehran." [more]

"A British scientist and biological weapons expert [said]: 'They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were — facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons.' " [more]

"A third of the American public believes U.S. forces have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll. Twenty-two percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons." [more]

"US military units assigned to track down Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have run out of places to look and are getting time off or being assigned to other duties even as pressure mounts on US President George W. Bush to explain why no banned arms have been found." [more]

"Before asking Congress for a Joint Resolution authorizing the use of American military forces in Iraq, [Bush] made a number of unequivocal statements about the reason the United States needed to pursue the most radical actions any nation can undertake — acts of war against another nation. Now it is clear that many of his statements appear to be false." [more]

"For nearly three weeks, hundreds of villagers who live in the shadow of the high earthen berm and barbed wire fences that surrounded the labyrinth of the Iraqi nuclear program here bathed in and ingested water laced with radioactive contaminants from the barrels." [more]

"American and British intelligence analysts with direct access to the evidence are disputing claims that the mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making deadly germs. In interviews over the last week, they said the mobile units were more likely intended for other purposes and charged that the evaluation process had been damaged by a rush to judgment." [more]

"The Pentagon's intelligence service reported last September that it had no reliable evidence that Iraq had chemical agents in weaponized form." [more]

"This ... bad behavior by the North Koreans has resulted in negative public opinion in Japan, providing the agency with an opening to speed up acquisition of an 'off-the-shelf' missile defense system. Additionally, Washington has been pushing its East Asia allies hard to establish missile defense systems in concert with the United States." [more]

"The Pentagon has finally discovered evidence of weapons of mass destruction — buried in a US Army base 50 miles from Washington DC." [more]

"The team searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is ending its operation without having found proof that Saddam Hussein had stocks of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons." [more]

"The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a $400.5 billion bill for the Pentagon that clears the way for possible research on low-yield nuclear weapons, backs its missile defense program and supports a swifter, more mobile fighting force, lawmakers said on Friday." [more]

"The United States' arsenal of 10,000 nuclear weapons isn't enough. The country needs more bombs, and the place to make them is the scandal-plagued Los Alamos National Laboratory." [more]

"Thousands of non-Americans joined the US military hoping it would speed up their citizenship applications." [more]

"Human and mechanical errors send 10 percent or more [missiles] astray, Pentagon and civilian experts say — a disastrous percentage for civilians living near the intended targets." [more]

"'Smart dust' devices are tiny wireless microelectromechanical sensors that can detect everything from light to vibrations. Thanks to recent breakthroughs in silicon and fabrication techniques, these 'motes' could eventually be the size of a grain of sand." [more]

"It is among the most horrific weapons in any army's collection: the thermobaric bomb, a fearsome explosive that sets fire to the air above its target, then sucks the oxygen out of anyone unfortunate enough to have lived through the initial blast. In the next few months, the U.S. Army will start putting this sweeping power in the hands of individual soldiers." [more]

"Perhaps the least surprising thing about the second Gulf war is that it began with a volley of Tomahawk missiles. Since they were first used in the 1991 conflict, they have become the ultimate symbol of US military power. A hi-tech weapon that promised blood-free combat has changed the way America thinks about war." [more]

"In a speech last night, President Bush turned America's first new security strategy in 50 years into the rationale for war." [more]

"We should outlaw the term collateral damage. Above all else, the damage done by the weapons of war is to the flesh, muscle, bone and psyches of real people, some of them children. If we're willing to inflict such terrible damage, we should acknowledge it and not hide behind euphemisms." [more]

"For the first time since the Panama invasion in 1989, the US may be fighting a largely urban war. Thus the tactics and technology it uses will be crucial in determining the level of casualties and perhaps the length of the war itself." [more]

"U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf may be armed with radioactive bombs and missiles hundreds of times more potent than similar weapons used during the Gulf War and the U.N. military campaign in Bosnia." [more]

"It costs the Department of Defense roughly $11,000 to lure in each recruit, a price tag that has doubled in the last decade, in part because 64 percent of young Americans say they definitely would not volunteer for military service under any conditions." [more]

"The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon's war plan for Iraq entailed shocking the Iraqi leadership into submission quickly with an attack 'much, much, much different' from the 43-day Persian Gulf war in 1991." [more]

"The US is preparing to use the toxic riot-control agents CS gas and pepper spray in Iraq in contravention of the Chemical Weapons Convention, provoking the first split in the Anglo-US alliance." [more]

"The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq." [more]

"Military planners at the United States Central Command expect to rely on many kinds of information warfare — including electronic attacks on power grids, communications systems and computer networks, as well as deception and psychological operations — to break the Iraqi military's will to fight and sway Iraqi public opinion. [more]

"The Bush administration is planning a secret meeting in August to discuss the construction of a new generation of nuclear weapons, including 'mini-nukes', 'bunker-busters' and neutron bombs designed to destroy chemical or biological agents, according to a leaked Pentagon document." [more]

"The US Air Force is examining the feasibility of a nuclear-powered version of an unmanned aircraft. The USAF hopes that such a vehicle will be able to 'loiter' in the air for months without refuelling, striking at will when a target comes into its sights." [more]

"New US weaponry such as the microwave bomb could see Iraq defeated within two weeks, a Kuwaiti analyst has argued." [more]

"Air-war strategists call it 'shock and awe': Bombard your enemy with such force that the battle quickly tips in your favor — or never has to be fought on the ground at all." [more]

"Unilateralism is a weak name for the foreign policy sketched in 'The National Security Strategy of the United States of America.' The strong name for it is imperialism. We will be hearing more about that as Europeans come to assess the actions of the Bush administration in the light of this thirty-one-page manifesto. Practical wisdom in the face of terror comes to be identified with the always apposite words of a single man." [more]

"Because of past scandals, the agency had largely dropped its paramilitary operations. But the war on terrorism has brought it back into the business." [more]

"As the Pentagon continues a highly visible buildup of troops and weapons in the Persian Gulf, it is also quietly preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons in a war against Iraq, according to a report by a defense analyst." [more]

"The military economy drains the civilian economy and this trend has been accelerating into what Melman called a 'huge change' in the American economy. He writes: 'This deindustrialization has happened so quickly that America's capacity to produce anything is seriously undermined.' " [more]

"Simple solutions to complex problems rarely succeed. Few problems today are thornier than trying to prevent terrorist acts. So pundits have been calling for the use of 'truth serum' for interrogation of suspected terrorists. Alas, no such drugs are known to work." [more]

"The Air Force calls them 'go pills,' and that is what they do: keep pilots going in the air long after their tired minds and bodies would have preferred to fall asleep." [more]

"Two prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus have voiced support for a nationwide military draft, saying that children of the rich should serve alongside less privileged Americans in the war on terrorism." [more]

"It marks the first time since the 1960s that the U.S. government will field an anti-missile system. President Reagan first announced the major shift toward strategic defenses and away from offensive nuclear missiles in 1983." [more]

"The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said." [more]

"As the United States fights a war on terrorism and prepares for possible war with Iraq, development and advocacy of nonlethal weapons are accelerating." [more]

"The Pentagon is preparing to use anti-personnel land mines in a war with Iraq, despite U.S. policy that calls for the military to stop using the mines everywhere in the world except Korea by 2003." [more]

"The Bush administration published a new strategy today on combatting weapons of mass destruction that included a statement, clearly directed at potential opponents like Iraq. Washington is prepared to 'respond with all our options' if such weapons are used against American troops or allies." [more]

"Since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Navy has fired about 1,100 earlier-model Tomahawks, including up to 70 against Taliban and Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan." [more]

"Buried in the $393 billion defense authorization bill that Congress approved this week was an obscure item that has raised concerns that the administration is gradually moving toward creating new kinds of nuclear weapons." [more]

"The Pentagon is moving the jet that fired the opening salvos of the last two U.S. wars to within easy striking distance of Iraq, erecting tent-like portable hangars for the batwinged B-2 bomber on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia." [more]

"Afghanistan was the first conflict in which drones are known to have been used as weapons platforms. Now they are being used against al-Qaeda and their use is likely to expand in the future because of their flexibility and because they do not directly put US personnel at risk in attacks on targets." [more]

"A Bush administration intelligence review has concluded that four nations — including Iraq and North Korea — possess covert stocks of the smallpox pathogen, according to two officials who received classified briefings, [though] an authoritative official said there is 'no reason' to believe bin Laden succeeded in obtaining the smallpox pathogen." [more]

"An unmanned aircraft, operated by the CIA, tracked a suspect al-Qaeda vehicle in a remote corner of Yemen and then, at the command of the plane's ground controller, fired a missile which killed everyone inside. With this attack, the United States has opened up a new front in its war on terror." [more]

"For decades, nonlethal, or humane, weapons have been discussed, developed, disavowed, seldom used and often ridiculed as oxymoronic. [Yet] have we reached the point, technologically and philosophically, where incapacitating arms might come into their own? More broadly, can there be a humane war?" [more]

"Navy pilots are conducting mock strikes against airfields, towers and other military sites in Iraq in preparation for a possible military campaign." [more]

"The possible compromise follows weeks of intense negotiations. It would allow France to argue that it had secured the right of the Security Council to take a vote, even if it was ignored by the United States." [more]

"This document presents military's estimate of U.S. forces now deployed to the Central Command area of operations and focused upon Iraq. It is quite probable that a war may be launched within the next three to six months. Currently, more than over 35,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are in the Persian Gulf area, in over half a dozen countries, and more are arriving. " [more]

This article analyzes U.S. defenses against biological and chemical warfare, determining that U.S. forces are still not adequately prepared. [more]

"Acknowledging a much wider testing of toxic weapons on its forces, the Defense Department says it used chemical warfare and live biological agents during cold-war-era military exercises on American soil, as well as in Canada and Britain, according to previously secret documents cleared for release to Congress on Wednesday." [more]

"Saddam Hussein's regime 'is busy enhancing its capabilities in the field of chemical and biological agents,' Vice President Dick Cheney told the Veterans of Foreign Wars in August, adding, 'These are not weapons designed for the purpose of defending Iraq. These are offensive weapons for the purpose of inflicting death on a massive scale.' Billed by the White House as laying out the case for military action against Iraq, the speech employed the phrase 'weapons of mass destruction' eight times. George W. Bush also regularly uses 'weapons of mass destruction' as a collective term for chemical, biological, and atomic arms. In his 2002 State of the Union address, for example, the president stated that the United States would not 'permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most dangerous weapons,' citing chemical, biological, and atomic arms as equal concerns." [more]

"U.S. defense chiefs believe that a fleet of Pelicans will enable them to deliver thousands of troops, tanks and aid anywhere in the world in a fraction of the time it takes cargo ships." [more]

"The task force is a combined force of Army Green Berets, Delta Force and Navy SEALs, including its crack counterterrorism unit, the naval special-warfare development group that used to be known as SEAL Team Six. Foreign nations, including New Zealand and Australia, also assigned some of their best "hunters and killers" to the group." [more]

"The Pentagon is preparing to consolidate control of most of the global war on terrorism under the U.S. Special Operations Command, according to government sources, signaling an intensified but more covert approach to the next phase in the battle against al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups." [more]

"Aelvoet's spokesperson told reporters that the politician's decision had been made to resolve her "personal conflict with the position of the government" and to remain "coherent with her green beliefs."" [more]

"Finally, the assault on ìal-Georgeî made clear that attacking cities without having a big numerical advantage is a risky endeavor. More-hawkish members of the Bush administration have suggested that a U.S. force of 80,000 would be enough to defeat Mr. Husseinís 400,000-member army and 100,000-strong Republican Guard. Theyíre counting on the army being dispirited and the rest of the force turning on Mr. Hussein at some point in the fighting. In the assault on 'al-George,' however, it took 980 Marines to roust just 160 rebels from urban terrain. And despite wielding a 6-to-1 advantage, the Marine force still took about 100 casualties." [more]

"The Agni missile, with a range of 1,500 miles, is undergoing field trials and will be introduced into the arsenal of the nation's armed forces, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The most advanced version of the Agni could hit most targets in neighboring Pakistan and reach well into China." [more]

"Those findings are particularly troublesome, taken with the increase in the age of military personnel and the declining interest among high-school males in joining the military. Between 1980 and 1997, the average age of active-duty personnel increased from 25 to 27. And the percentage of high-school males who said they will "definitely" join the military declined from 12 percent in the mid-1980s to 8 percent." [more]

"The United States retained its position as the world's biggest arms dealer, but its arms transfer agreements declined to nearly $12.1 billion from $18.9 billion in 2000, the Congressional Research Service reported. American arms sales last year accounted for nearly 46% of all weapons sales. Russia was second with $5.8 billion and France third with $2.9 billion." [more]

" 'The significance of this qualitative leap could be compared to the transition from cold steel to firearms, or from conventional weapons to nuclear weapons. This new type of weapons differs from previous types in that the near-Earth medium becomes at once an object of direct influence and its component.' " [more]

"Last week the Pentagon, for the first time, secured funds from Congress to develop "mini-nukes", low-yield nuclear weapons designed in particular to destroy underground bunkers. The plan to build a new generation of nuclear weapons, military analysts say, is behind the growing pressure on the White House to withdraw from the comprehensive test-ban treaty. American nuclear scientists last week also secured an agreement whereby tests on new warheads could start within a year of any request, rather than the existing mandatory delay of three years. They have been instructed to drill new boreholes in the test grounds of the Nevada desert." [more]

"While the government has been using satellite technology for more than 40 years, it has begun to delegate certain tasks to the growing commercial satellite industry to save government satellites for more precise and classified work. The commercial industry can provide a ''big picture'' context in which to place the more-detailed images from government satellites." [more]

"A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force Surgeon-General's Office in Washington confirmed pilots are given the stimulant Dexedrine, generically known as dextroamphetamine, to stay alert during combat missions in Afghanistan. Pilots refer to Dexedrine as 'go-pills.' The sleeping pills they are given, called Ambien (zolpidem) and Restoril (temazepam), are referred to as 'no-go pills.'" [more]

"Sitting in the broiling sun, US Army Col. Bruce Jette, the head of the robotics team, is both triumphant and apologetic: 'Today is the first time conventional forces have ever employed robots in a wartime environment.' " [more]

ìWith the addition of Jim and Dennis to the Federal Team we are now able to more extensively and responsively meet the needs of our military and intelligence community customers,î said Joe Dodd, Space Imagingís vice president of Federal Alliances. ìOur Federal Sales team offers expertise in all security applications of imagery to include decision support tools for national and global security; military training; 3-D modeling and simulation; disaster assessment and risk management; humanitarian relief and emergency response; facilities management; and environmental management.î [more]

"Amid renewed evidence that pro-nuclear hawks are increasingly holding sway, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration is increasing funding for nuclear weapons research and testing programmes. The funding would allow the US to be ready to return to underground tests within 12 months - a requirement of the US Nuclear Posture Review, which was unveiled by the Bush administration this year." [more]

"The NPR's recommendations will affect more than just US planning. Allies and adversaries alike have reacted to the new US nuclear posture with trepidation, wariness, and even anger. Many countries took issue with the new "hit list" of possible US nuclear force targets that included states without nuclear weapons. Countries targeted by the new policy also voiced their disagreement, and may even choose to respond to the policy shift with their own strategy or deployment changes." [more]

"The 100-kilowatt infrared laser, which is being developed for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter by defence companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, is far more powerful than any laser ever used in war. But because it is designed to attack targets such as other fighter aircraft, ground vehicles and anti-aircraft batteries, it is exempt from the Geneva Convention's ban on blinding weapons." [more]

"In Afghanistan as in every war, corporations play a central role to protect their interestsówhether those interests are the profits from waging war or the geostrategic spoils of war." [more]

"Police departments and the Pentagon are flocking to Norris' headquarters in San Diego to see this revolutionary technology for themselves. The problem with past attempts to make an acoustic weapon is that sound traveled in every direction, affecting the operator, as well. Norris' narrow ultrasound beam takes care of that problem, meaning police could use it to subdue suspects or quell riots, without hurting bystanders or the operator, because the sound is directional." [more]

"The X-45 has been developed at a cost of $256m to carry weapons into combat and could be in service by 2010. Officials expect the plane will be able to carry more than 3,000 pounds (1,350 kilograms) of bombs to drop on enemy radar and missile batteries." [more]

"Pushed aside is the earlier preoccupation with antimissile defenses, space-based weaponry and other programs designed primarily to protect the United States against foreign aggressors. Instead, the new emphasis is on a far more interventionist, proactive strategy in which the United States would stand ready to strike militarily around the world wherever and whenever it thought its security might be threatened." [more]

"Since the United States military campaign began in Afghanistan, the unmanned spy plane has gone from a bit player to a starring role in Pentagon planning. Rather than the handful of 'autonomous vehicles,' or A.V.'s, that snooped on Al Qaeda hideouts, commanders are envisioning wars involving vast robotic fleets on the ground, in the air and on the seas ó swarms of drones that will not just find their foes, but fight them, too." [more]

"What is the difference between the massacre of 5,000 innocent civilians killed by a lawless group of virtually unknown origin and the massacre of 5,000 innocent civilians massacred by a legally existing agency known as the military? As far as the lives of these innocent people are concerned, it does not make any difference at all. However, as far as our government officials are concerned, there is a great difference. In fact, US government officials had referred to the innocent civilians killed in New York and Washington, DC as victims while they viewed the innocent civilians killed in Afghanistan with American weapons merely as collateral damage!" [more]

"U.S. officials said Riyad has been seeking intermediate-range missiles as well as biological, chemical and nuclear weapons from Islamic allies. They said China and Pakistan have been the most prominent suppliers in the Saudi effort." [more]

"The House approved its version of the fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill June 27 after voting to shift $30 million from the Missile Defense Agency's space-based interceptor program to the agency's Airborne Laser." [more]

" 'We must take the battle to the enemy and where necessary pre-empt grave threats to our country before they materialize,' Cheney told several hundred people in Charlotte, N.C. 'The only path to safety is the path of action. The United States of America will act, and we will defeat the enemies of freedom,' he said." [more]

"We are excited to have someone with Captain Chenoweth's experience and expertise join our firm to lead our efforts in supporting the Navy's transformation initiatives," said Paul Branske, senior vice president of ITS. "His extensive background in directing high performance flight test, integrated product development and aviation depot-level repair teams is a key asset to ITS's growth." [more]

"Meet the Penetrator, one of the 'mini-nukes' the Bush administration wants to develop for conventional wars." [more]

"Last Monday, to back that explicit threat, [Bush] announced an increase in US military spending of 15 per cent, the biggest in 20 years, more than double the military spending in all of the European Union. The rise will be $36 billion this year, $48 billion next year and $120 billion over the next five years, rising to a staggering two trillion over the next five years." [more]

"Nothing is therefore more important than a revision of the concept of security as the basic principle of state politics. European and American politicians finally have to consider the catastrophic consequences of uncritical use of this figure of thought." [more]

"As the investigation into the anthrax attacks widens to include federal laboratories and contractors, government officials have acknowledged that Army scientists in recent years have made anthrax in a powdered form that could be used as a weapon. Experts said this appeared to be the first disclosure of government production of anthrax in its most lethal form since the United States renounced biological weapons in 1969 and began destroying its germ arsenal." [more]

"Details of the tsunami bomb, known as Project Seal, are contained in 53-year-old documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. / Papers stamped 'top secret' show the US and British military were eager for Seal to be developed in the post-war years too." [more]

"Taken together Virilio's grey ecology and 'hyper-vigilance regarding immediate perception' constitute a bold reaffirmation not only the life of the planet, but our own lives, our memories, the anima of our souls; everything that distinguishes us from mere automata." [more]