Reuters reports that the U.S. Army, fresh off missing its latest annual recruiting goal, has launched an unprecedented effort to coax former troops to sign up again for active-duty military service. But it's not a sign of desperation.
The Army this month began contacting 78,000 people who previously served in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to pitch them on the idea of leaving behind their civilian lives and returning for another stint in uniform, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
Unlike in the past, they now can return to the Army without giving up their previous rank or undergo the rigors of basic training, said Hilferty, who described it as the first program of its kind for the Army.
The Army fell about 7,000 short of its goal of sending 80,000 recruits into basic training in fiscal 2005, which ended September 30. Officials attributed the shortfall to the Iraq war and other factors. The fiscal 2006 recruiting goal again is set at 80,000.
Hilferty said the new program, which targets people who left the military within the past five years and particularly those who were in branches other than the Army, is not a sign of recruiting desperation."
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel
Bush knew that Saddam wasn't tied in with Al Qaida, from the very beginning. No suprise to those who have followed this closely. Cheney's claiming otherwise only continues his misconstruction of reality.
"Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.
The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.
One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.
The September 21, 2001, briefing was prepared at the request of the president, who was eager in the days following the terrorist attacks to learn all that he could about any possible connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. "
"Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.
The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.
One of the more intriguing things that Bush was told during the briefing was that the few credible reports of contacts between Iraq and Al Qaeda involved attempts by Saddam Hussein to monitor the terrorist group. Saddam viewed Al Qaeda as well as other theocratic radical Islamist organizations as a potential threat to his secular regime. At one point, analysts believed, Saddam considered infiltrating the ranks of Al Qaeda with Iraqi nationals or even Iraqi intelligence operatives to learn more about its inner workings, according to records and sources.
The September 21, 2001, briefing was prepared at the request of the president, who was eager in the days following the terrorist attacks to learn all that he could about any possible connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. "
Monday, November 21, 2005
Cheney Continues Attacks on War Critics
It's interesting that Cheney has given up claiming that the Congress had the same information that the Whitehouse did, and has shifted to basically saying "trust us". Interesting too is his claim that the onus on Saddam was to prove that he didn't have weapons of mass destruction, as if the Whitehouse had no obligation to the American people to ensure that the reasons given for going to war actually had merit.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President
Dick Cheney denied on Monday that the administration was trying to stifle dissent by lashing out at
Iraq war critics, but said he drew the line at what he called shameless charges by some Democrats that the president distorted prewar intelligence.
"This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety. It has no place anywhere in American politics, much less in the United States Senate," Cheney said.
Cheney, who was a leading voice in the run-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion in warning of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to al Qaeda, said the administration presented the best available intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs.
Cheney said it had not been Washington's responsibility to prove that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction before launching the 2003 Iraq invasion but it was up to Saddam to show that he did not have them.
Cheney acknowledged that "flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight." But Cheney added: "Any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped, fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false."
Cheney's comments were the latest in an acrimonious political debate in Washington over the progress and origins of the war at a time when President George W. Bush's popularity rating is at its lowest.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President
Dick Cheney denied on Monday that the administration was trying to stifle dissent by lashing out at
Iraq war critics, but said he drew the line at what he called shameless charges by some Democrats that the president distorted prewar intelligence.
"This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety. It has no place anywhere in American politics, much less in the United States Senate," Cheney said.
Cheney, who was a leading voice in the run-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion in warning of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to al Qaeda, said the administration presented the best available intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs.
Cheney said it had not been Washington's responsibility to prove that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction before launching the 2003 Iraq invasion but it was up to Saddam to show that he did not have them.
Cheney acknowledged that "flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight." But Cheney added: "Any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped, fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false."
Cheney's comments were the latest in an acrimonious political debate in Washington over the progress and origins of the war at a time when President George W. Bush's popularity rating is at its lowest.
Lie detectors may be next step in airline security | Tech News on ZDNet
Tech News on ZDNet
A new walk-through airport lie detector made in Israel may prove to be the toughest challenge yet for potential hijackers or drug smugglers.
Tested in Russia, the two-stage GK-1 voice analyzer requires that passengers don headphones at a console and answer 'yes' or 'no' into a microphone to questions about whether they are planning something illicit.
The software will almost always pick up uncontrollable tremors in the voice that give away liars or those with something to hide, say its designers at Israeli firm Nemesysco.
'In our trial, 500 passengers went through the test, and then each was subjected to full traditional searches,' said Chief Executive Officer Amir Liberman. 'The one person found to be planning something illegal was the one who failed our test.'
The GK-1 is expected to cost between $10,000-$30,000 when marketed. A spokesman for Moscow's Domodyedevo airport, which is using a prototype, said 'the tester (lie detector) has proved to be effective and we are in principle ready to use it.'
A new walk-through airport lie detector made in Israel may prove to be the toughest challenge yet for potential hijackers or drug smugglers.
Tested in Russia, the two-stage GK-1 voice analyzer requires that passengers don headphones at a console and answer 'yes' or 'no' into a microphone to questions about whether they are planning something illicit.
The software will almost always pick up uncontrollable tremors in the voice that give away liars or those with something to hide, say its designers at Israeli firm Nemesysco.
'In our trial, 500 passengers went through the test, and then each was subjected to full traditional searches,' said Chief Executive Officer Amir Liberman. 'The one person found to be planning something illegal was the one who failed our test.'
The GK-1 is expected to cost between $10,000-$30,000 when marketed. A spokesman for Moscow's Domodyedevo airport, which is using a prototype, said 'the tester (lie detector) has proved to be effective and we are in principle ready to use it.'
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Cheney says war critics 'dishonest, reprehensible' - He's at it again.
Cheney says war critics 'dishonest, reprehensible' - Yahoo! News: "Cheney said the suggestion Bush or any member of the administration misled Americans before the war 'is one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city.'"
When is Dick Cheney going to come back to earth, or at least develop some semblance of integrity? I remember clearly yelling at my TV during a Cheney interview when he maintainedthat Al Quaida and Saddam had 9/11 ties even after the 9/11 Commission and President Bush had admitted they didn't exist.
Why is his Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, talking with every member of the press he can dial about Valerie Plame after her husband outted the Niger Yellow Cake story?
Why did Cheney set up his own intelligence group to second guess the CIA intelligence reports to the President. Why did senior CIA personnel quit the CIA saying that their views of Iraq had been ignored by the White House?
The is no kettle that Dick Cheney can fairly call black.
When is Dick Cheney going to come back to earth, or at least develop some semblance of integrity? I remember clearly yelling at my TV during a Cheney interview when he maintainedthat Al Quaida and Saddam had 9/11 ties even after the 9/11 Commission and President Bush had admitted they didn't exist.
Why is his Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, talking with every member of the press he can dial about Valerie Plame after her husband outted the Niger Yellow Cake story?
Why did Cheney set up his own intelligence group to second guess the CIA intelligence reports to the President. Why did senior CIA personnel quit the CIA saying that their views of Iraq had been ignored by the White House?
The is no kettle that Dick Cheney can fairly call black.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
CIA "Black" Prisons Uncovered
No wonder the Bush Administration is fearful of the Senate bill to limit torture.
"According to the Washington Post, the prisons are referred to as "black sites" in classified U.S. documents and virtually nothing is known about who the detainees are, how they are interrogated or about decisions on how long they will be held.
About 30 major terrorism suspects have been held at black sites while more than 70 other detainees, considered less important, were delivered to foreign intelligence services under rendition, the paper said, citing U.S. and foreign intelligence sources.
The top 30 al Qaeda prisoners are isolated from the outside world, have no recognized legal rights and no one outside the CIA is allowed to talk with or see them, the sources told the newspaper."
"According to the Washington Post, the prisons are referred to as "black sites" in classified U.S. documents and virtually nothing is known about who the detainees are, how they are interrogated or about decisions on how long they will be held.
About 30 major terrorism suspects have been held at black sites while more than 70 other detainees, considered less important, were delivered to foreign intelligence services under rendition, the paper said, citing U.S. and foreign intelligence sources.
The top 30 al Qaeda prisoners are isolated from the outside world, have no recognized legal rights and no one outside the CIA is allowed to talk with or see them, the sources told the newspaper."
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Experts say US is losing war on terror
Two U.S. terrorism experts Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon have have concluded the United States is losing the war on terrorism.
"Despite an early victory over the Taliban and al Qaeda in
Afghanistan, the two former Clinton administration officials say
President George W. Bush's policies have created a new haven for terrorism in Iraq that escalates the potential for Islamic violence against Europe and the United States.
America's badly damaged image in the Muslim world could take more than a generation to set right. And Bush's mounting political woes at home have undermined the chance for any bold U.S. initiatives to address the grim social realities that feed Islamic radicalism, they say."
"Despite an early victory over the Taliban and al Qaeda in
Afghanistan, the two former Clinton administration officials say
President George W. Bush's policies have created a new haven for terrorism in Iraq that escalates the potential for Islamic violence against Europe and the United States.
America's badly damaged image in the Muslim world could take more than a generation to set right. And Bush's mounting political woes at home have undermined the chance for any bold U.S. initiatives to address the grim social realities that feed Islamic radicalism, they say."
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