War
On Terror
An
American female surgeon and two medical workers were killed
at a missionary hospital in Yemen by a terrorist on Monday.
According to reports, a male terrorist pretending to be a patient,
disguised his semiautomatic rifle to make it look like a child.
Then, upon entering the hospital, he shot the doctors to death
and wounded a pharmacist. The "Yemen Observer" says
their interviews indicate the terrorist was aware that the doctors
would be together for a meeting and had prepared ahead of time
by shaving his beard. One account said he was wearing clothing
that covered the weapon he had hidden under his arm, and he
blended in with others as he entered unnoticed through the pharmacy.
(Full
Story)
January
16-31 Stories
Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Appeals for Identical Attitudes
to Terrorism
NEW
YORK–RIA Novosti –In New York today, Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov appealed for identical attitudes to terrorism in
different countries, be it the USA, the Mideast, Europe or Chechnya.
"Acts of terrorism cannot
be justified," he told journalists upon his arrival in
New York. (Full
Story)
Bush
Sees Iraqi Rockets as ‘Troubling, Serious’ Situation
WASHINGTON-
President Bush believes the discovery of a dozen empty rocket
heads designed to deliver chemical weapons is a "troubling
and … serious" development, his lead spokesman said
today.
Ari
Fleischer said at a routine White House press briefing that
the 12 warheads U.N. inspectors discovered in Iraq Jan. 16 are
not listed in the declaration that country submitted to the
U.N. Security Council. (Full
Story)
Saddam’s
‘Secret Service’ and ‘Secret Weapons’, Described by Former Bodyguard
No
WMD in Saddam`s palaces – only unimaginably stringent personal
security
(DEBKAFile)–Hans Blix, chief UN weapons inspector
in Iraq and Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the internationial nuclear
agency, have not turned up any Iraqi scientists or civilians
to interview outside the country’s borders. After two
days of negotiations with Iraq officials in Baghdad, they came
out with a 10-point accord that guarantees very little help
for their search.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly
, however, did locate a highly knowledgeable defector from Saddam
Hussein’s immediate circle – one, moreover, willing
to talk. His name – or more precisely one of his many
aliases – is Jassem Abdullah. He managed to escape from
Baghdad four months ago. (Full
Story)
Two
Terrorists Suspected of Kidnapping Russian Defense Ministry
Officer Arrested in Ingushetia
MOSCOW
–Two terrorists suspected of kidnapping a Russian Defence Ministry
officer have been arrested in Ingushetia (North Caucasian republic
neighbouring on Chechnya).according to RiIA Novosti.
The criminals were arrested by
anti-crime police officers and an Interior Ministry mobile detachment
in the village Troitskaya of the Sunzhensky district, the Russian
Interior Ministry disclosed to RIA Novosti. The participants
in illegal armed formations, R. Balayev, 21, and M. Ozdoyev,
19, confessed that on January 17th, 2003, they took part in
the kidnapping of Major A. Kozyakov. (Full
Story)
Coalition
Forces Target Iraqi Military Communication Sites
MACDILL
AFB, TAMPA — In response to Iraqi hostile acts against Coalition
aircraft monitoring compliance of United Nations Security Council
Resolutions over Southern Iraq, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition
aircraft used precision-guided weapons to target eight unmanned
cable repeater sites that are part of Iraq’s military
air defense command and control system. The sites were located
between Al Kut, approximately 95 miles southeast of Baghdad,
and An Nasiriyah, approximately 170 miles southeast of Baghdad.
(Full
Story)
Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Meets North Korean Leader in Pyongyang
BEIJING,
January 20th, 2003 (from RIA Novosti correspondent) — Special
presidential envoy and deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov
met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Monday.
According to informed sources, the meeting discussed a package
of Russia’s initiatives to settle the North Korean nuclear problem.
No other details have been reported so far.
Alexander Losyukov has been visiting
the North Korean capital since Saturday. He has already met
the first deputy Foreign Minister of North Korea, Kang Sok-ju,
to discuss the nuclear problem and security in the Korean peninsula.
On Sunday, Alexander Losyukov described his Pyongyang negotiations
as "active, friendly, positive and showing readiness for
co-operation." According to the Xinhua news agency, the
reaction to Russia’s initiatives may be voiced later in the
day during the expected meeting between the Russian presidential
special envoy and the chairman of the North Korean Supreme People’s
Assembly’s Presidium, Kim Young-nam.
War
or Peace? The Choice is Iraq’s
WASHINGTON
— "The choice between war and peace will not be made
in Washington, or indeed in New York," Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld said. "It will be made in Baghdad, and
the decision is facing the Iraqi regime."
The fact
that the inspectors have not yet come up with new evidence of
Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program could itself be evidence
of Iraq’s noncooperation, Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon news
conference. (Full
Story)
Hot
Zone: Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Ships
have departed from both the East and West coast of the U.S.
as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered an additional
35,000 troops to the Persian Gulf region. The British have also
boosted their military might in recent days, sending the helicopter
carrier Ark Royal last Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003, from Loch Long
in Scotland
The
increased activity comes as UN inspectors uncovered 12 empty
chemical weapon warheads that the Iraqis forgot to mention in
their 12,000 page declaration to the UN.
Meanwhile,
evidence that Saddam has never given up his quest for amassing
the world’s most deadliest threats to human life are becoming
easier to recognize as Iraq’s denials don’t match information
that is already known to the public. In October 2002, a Public
Affairs Magazine reported that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father
of Pakistan’s nuclear program, is one of a group that
is believed to have helped Iraq with its continued nuclear and
missile efforts. (Full
Story)
North
Korea: Diffusing A Ticking Bomb
Since
North Korean action to agitate the standing nuclear controls
agreements, the DMZ of just 2.5 miles in width and 156 miles
in length has attracted renewed global concern. The DMZ separates
one million North Korean troops and about 37,000 U.S. troops.
Each day, highly trained troops from each side stand a mere
35 feet from each other. But although that may be routine, the
extraordinary steps that civilized countries are taking to communicate
with North Korea are critical, since in recent years North Korean
missile tests have threatened Japan, and the DPRK’ s instability–along
with advanced nuclear power–threatens neighbors near and far.
(Full
Story)
Iraq
and the Use of Chemical Weapons
Iraq’s chemical weapons arsenal is not some hypothetical problem,
but a danger and a weapon Saddam Hussein has used in the past.
Hussein
had been in power only a year when he declared war on neighboring
Iran in 1980. He flexed his muscles against the Persian Gulf
region’s largest military power, but one weakened by post-shah
disarray. Iraq had a more modern military and banked on a fast,
easy victory. (Full
Story)
Bone
Marrow Offers New Hope for Human Brain
Those
suffering with Parkinson’s can look to a new study that strongly
suggests some cells from bone marrow can enter the human brain
and generate new neurons and other types of brain cells. If
researchers can find a way to control these cells and direct
them to damaged areas of the brain, this finding may lead to
new treatments for stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological
disorders.
"This study shows that some
kind of cell in bone marrow, most likely a stem cell, has the
capacity to enter the brain and form neurons," says Eva
Mezey, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), who led the study. Earlier work
by Dr. Mezey and others has shown that bone marrow cells can
enter the mouse brain and produce new neurons. However, the
new study is the first to show that this phenomenon can occur
in the human brain. (Full
Story)
Iraq
Knows More About Missing U.S. Airman
Saddam
Hussein’s government has information it hasn’t shared about
the fate of a U.S. pilot shot down over Iraq during the Persian
Gulf War, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said.
Navy
Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher’s F/A-18 Hornet fighter was downed
by enemy fire during the first day of the air war over Iraq
on Jan. 17, 1991, according to DoD. (Full
Story)
‘Eagle
Eyes’
WASHINGTON–In
a world where Islamic extremists are involved in elaborate plans
to force earth’s civilization into their vision of Islamic domination
through terror attacks, people are being taught to pay attention
to their surroundings, to be observant, and if suspicious activities
are seen, report it to law enforcement officials. As we have
seen since 9-11, what one man or woman reports can save many
lives. People have also found that things out of place can be
reason for concern. Many citizens have discovered thus far important
oddities, such as an oddly packed bag, a vehicle out of place,
or a man nonchalantly trying to light his shoe on fire while
on an aircraft. Observance and reporting suspicious activities
is encouraged, as seen with the US military this week.
Several
plastic containers and what appeared to be a timing device were
found near a military checkpoint at the Pentagon yesterday,
arousing the suspicion of a passer-by.
Soon afterward, members of the
Arlington Fire Department and the Pentagon Force Protection
Agency were on the scene. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations
was contacted.
Alert notices sent out over e-mail
and the Pentagon’s emergency communications system informed
those in the immediate area of what action to take. (Full
Story)
Powell:
International Community Should Remember Issue at Hand
WASHINGTON
–Senior U.S. and British officials put up a united front here
today in discussing the two countries’ determination to disarm
Saddam Hussein.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell and his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw, said U.N. Security Council member countries need
to remember that the issue facing them is disarming Iraq, not
squabbling over how long to give U.N. inspectors to find a "smoking
gun" there.
"Let’s
not lose sight of the fact that the issue is the disarmament
of Iraq," Powell told reporters after meeting with Straw
at the State Department. "Not how much more time the inspectors
need, but how much more time should we give to Iraq when they
have not used the time they’ve been given to do what is required
of them, and that is to disarm." (Full
Story)
‘Act
of Terror’ if Saddam Destroys Iraq’s Oil Fields
Destruction
of the oil fields truly would be an act of terror, the US Department
of Defense said Friday during a briefing and graphic slide presentation
with background information on Iraqi sabotage. The DoD is saying
that Saddam has in the past demonstrated his intent to use terrorist
kinds of tactics against his own people. And certainly using
the oil fields as a hostage to the economic future of the country
would be a terrorist act against his own people. It cost coalitions
partners and Kuwait partners over $20 billion to recraft the
oil infrastructure that was destroyed by Saddam during the Gulf
War. (Full
Story)
Russia’s
Anti- Terror Campaign
Despite
pressure from Jordanian officials on Russia to prevent an attack
on Iraq–a country the US, Britain and a few other countries
have found to be a sponsor of terror–Russia has been aggressively
conducting it’s own anti-terror campaigns within Russian territories.
Grozny
was the site of a recent terrorist attack that killed 57 innocent
people while they were at work and wounded over 150 others.
Since that time, security efforts to protect civilians and hunt
out terrorists have intensified an already aggressive campaign
by Russian officials to prevent terror attacks. (Full
Story)
Anti-Terror
Raids in Spain, Italy and UK Find Terrorist Weapons Cache
“Those
arrested were preparing to commit attacks with explosives and
chemical materials,” said Spanish Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar after 180 Spanish police officers raided homes in
the Catalonia region to uncover “a major terrorist network…linked
in this case to the Algerian Salafist group, a splinter cell
of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which has clear connections
with the criminal organization of bin Laden.” Spain, along
with Italy and the United Kingdom, have led a European charge
in the battle against terror over the past 3 weeks to discover
shocking information and materials that has prevented numerous
attacks across the face of Western Europe. (Full
Story)
"As
we fight this war, we will remember where it began – here,
in our own country."
On Tuesday
evening, the President of the United States addressed the nation
and was heard by nations of the world as he told about the progress
of the war on terror and the dire terror threats posed by the
Iraqi regime.
Saddam
is a "brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression
… with ties to terrorism" said Bush. "Saddam
has already killed thousands of his own people, and left many
disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are
obtained – by torturing children while their parents are
made to watch." Saddam, a "dictator, who is assembling
the world’s most dangerous weapons" is not only a
threat to those living in the Middle East, but his unaccounted
for weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological agents
are available for al Qaeda and other terrorists to use against
the U.S. and her friends and allies.
President Bush: "There are days when
the American people do not hear news about the war on terror.
There is never a day when I do not learn of another threat,
or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order
in this global war against a scattered network of killers."
(More
Iraq–War on Terror Remarks)