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THE WASHINGTON TIMES The CIA's chief weapons inspector said he cannot rule out the possibility that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were secretly shipped to Syria before the March 2003 invasion, citing "sufficiently credible" evidence that WMDs may have been moved there. Inspector Charles Duelfer, who heads the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), made the findings in an addendum to his final report filed last year. He said the search for WMD in Iraq -- the main reason President Bush went to war to oust Saddam Hussein -- has been exhausted without finding such weapons. Iraq had stockpiles of chemical and...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Detainees at Guantanamo Bay are providing the U.S. military with its best information on America's No. 1 enemy, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror group, says a new Pentagon report. More than three years after many of the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters were captured in Afghanistan, the 550 prisoners continue to divulge new information on recently nabbed bin Laden operatives and on remotely detonated bombs killing U.S. troops in Iraq. "The Joint Task Force, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, remains the single best repository of al Qaeda information in the Department of Defense," said the recently compiled report....

A key figure in the Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal has given Army investigators a lengthy sworn statement accusing others of misconduct at the Iraq prison. The statement from Pvt. Charles Graner, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., comes as the Army may file more charges in the case against personnel who supervised military police officers such as Pvt. Graner. He had first refused to talk, but later agreed under a grant of immunity. At his court-martial, prosecutors portrayed Pvt. Graner as the ringleader in a group of Reserve MPs who abused and humiliated detainees...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Military commanders say they have a better picture today than they did a year ago of the deadly insurgency in Iraq, thanks to better intelligence collection and analysis. The Pentagon estimates the enemy force at 12,000 to 20,000 fighters. It is a heterogenous grouping of Saddam Hussein loyalists, criminals and foreign terrorists led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab Zarqawi. A Pentagon official said there are questions about how many insurgents are hard-core fighters as opposed to "fence sitters" who might participate in an attack but then lie dormant for weeks at a time. "There are many part-timers who...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES In the privacy of their E-ring offices, senior Pentagon officials have begun to entertain thoughts that were unimaginable a year ago: Iraq is turning the corner. Military officials and analysts say the clearing out of enemy-infested Fallujah in November, the Jan. 30 elections and the increasing willingness of Iraqis to fight and die for a democratic country are contributing to the momentum. "This is still a tough fight. We don't want anyone to think that it is not," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, a military analyst who strongly supports Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld....

Marine Corps 1st Lt. Ilario Pantano says he demoted the sergeant who is expected to be the chief witness against the officer, who is charged with murdering two Iraqi insurgents. Lt. Pantano's attorney, Charles Gittins, has labeled Sgt. Daniel L. Coburn a "disgruntled" Marine who had a motive for falsely accusing his client. In his first newspaper interview, Lt. Pantano said he fired Sgt. Coburn as a squad leader after the sergeant made an "unforgivable" mistake last year by failing to clear buildings in an old brick factory in Iraq's Triangle of Death. "He sat the squad down and they...

The Army says about half of 24 suspicious deaths of detainees had insufficient evidence to prove foul play or were justified homicides. Spokesmen released the breakdown after a spate of news stories appeared this week on the death toll of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials say some stories left the impression that all the deaths were still the subject of suspected foul play by soldiers, when they were not.

*SNIP* ......Raid on a vehicle traveling in western Baghdad .....After the raid, officials reviewed the overhead video provided by a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle used in the operation. After closely studying the video, a man was seen leaping out of the back of a van and rolling to the side of the road shortly before the vehicle was stopped. Officials think the man was Zarqawi..... *SNIP*

InfiltratedWe asked a Marine officer recently back from the Triangle of Death in Iraq to describe the abilities of Iraqi forces and whether Sunnis are joining in any significant numbers. The officer answered, "I honestly don't know, but I do know that all of the units in my area of the Triangle of Death are infiltrated and are constantly being purged only to be reinfiltrated." continued

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is fond of telling reporters that "weakness is provocative" in explaining the administration's Ronald Reagan-esque policy of peace through strength. A new book shows where the defense secretary may have borrowed the phrase. "Fritz Kraemer on Excellence," by Hubertus Hoffmann, is a celebration of work of the World War II combat veteran and noted defense strategist who died in 2003 at age 95. The book ...quotes Mr. Kraemer as warning American leaders against the "provocative weakness" embodied in the Munich deal between British leader Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler that "was the first step on...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES The top U.S. commander for Iraq said yesterday that the insurgency there grew in numbers and in effectiveness in the three months before the Jan. 30 elections, but could not field enough terrorists to derail the historic vote. "No doubt that the Sunni-Arab insurgency in Iraq was stronger through the period, November, December, January, than it was the same time last year," Gen. John Abizaid, the overall commander of the Persian Gulf region, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "So it did, in fact, increase in intensity."

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Army's 3rd Division returns to IraqBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished February 26, 2005 The Army's 3rd Infantry Division is back in Iraq, 22 months after it stormed the country from Kuwait and was the first U.S. unit to penetrate downtown Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein.     The Fort Stewart, Ga.-based division has a new commander and a whole new combat configuration. Of its roughly 20,000 soldiers, about 50 percent participated in the invasion and subsequent occupation that saw a rise in lawlessness and a burgeoning insurgency.     "Our soldiers, for the most part, feel like this is the...

An eyewitness to the killing of two Iraqis by Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano says in a sworn statement that the officer, who has been charged with murder, twice ordered the insurgents to stop in Arabic before opening fire, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times. Lt. Pantano had told investigators that he fired at the Iraqis after they walked toward him and refused to stop, according to the documents. His platoon had stopped the Iraqis as they left a house where insurgents were making bombs. "While I took my security post, I heard Lt. Pantano yell stop...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Some insurgents are contacting the U.S. military and the Iraqi transition government about giving up the fight in light of the Jan. 30 elections, the Pentagon said yesterday. Larry Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said the American military command is not directly involved in negotiations. He portrayed the process as Iraqis talking to Iraqis, in consultation with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "Since the elections, obviously, a lot of Iraqis who have been opposing this transition to self-government in Iraq are, I would guess, rethinking their situation," Mr. Di Rita told a...

Some in the Bush administration were aghast this week to see hard-nosed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe travel to Caracas and be photographed shaking hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In fact, one senior official called it "Uribe's surrender." The two publicly settled a dispute over Colombia's snatching of a communist rebel, Rodrigo Granda, in December in Caracas. Mr. Chavez accused Colombia of violating Venezuelan sovereignty. Colombia wondered why Granda was free in Caracas and carrying a Venezuelan passport. Mr. Chavez, a left-wing ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro who talks of bringing a socialist revolution to Latin America, is viewed by...

He is the kind of Marine officer who seems to come off the assembly line, so patriotic that he rejoined the Corps after September 11 and went to Iraq to kill terrorists. That is why it is so hard for 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano and his family to understand how the Marine Corps could call the platoon leader a murderer. He escaped death in Iraq despite daily patrols and raids in the notorious Sunni Triangle. Back home at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Lt. Pantano, 33, found out the Corps has filed two premeditated murder charges for shooting two Iraqi insurgents in...

The Bush administration has lodged a formal protest with Russia for agreeing to provide the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez more than 100,000 AK-47 rifles that U.S. officials believe could be used to aid left-wing uprisings in Latin America.     The administration in December sent a secret letter of protest (formally called a demarche) to the Russian Embassy in Washington, according to senior U.S. officials. The officials say the warning was followed up by concerns expressed directly to the Russian defense and foreign ministers.     The protests come at a time when U.S. intelligence reports say that Mr. Chavez is working...

Code word compromise The Joint Staff at the Pentagon last week ordered an investigation into the compromise of several programs that were revealed in a book by author William Arkin. According to a Jan. 25 cable from the Joint Staff to 14 military units, most of them involved in special operations, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has asked for an "opsec" or operational security assessment of possible national security damage to special access programs and other "operational compromises" in the book, "Code Names." The U.S. Special Operations Command will be the lead...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Women in combat ban again at issueBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished February 4, 2005 The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has ordered an investigation into whether transformed Army divisions are violating the Pentagon rule against sex-integrated support units embedding with land combat battalions.     Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter said that his staff should complete the inquiry soon, at which time he will assess whether the Army is complying.     "We're looking into this issue," the California Republican said. "We don't have many preliminary results, but the committee is looking at this. It's a serious...

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that Sunday's historic elections in Iraq have ignited a "tipping of support for the government" by Iraqis now more willing to help security forces defeat insurgents. [**snip, snip**] Mr. Rumsfeld and his top aide, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, also rebutted charges from two prominent Iraq policy critics -- Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. [**skipping Rumsfeld on "tipping," Wolfowitz on insurgency**] [...] Mr. Biden also said several times [at Condi's hearings] that there are only 4,000 trained Iraqi security forces. But Mr. Rumsfeld yesterday...

The Army said yesterday it is "premature" to say whether the service will ask for changes in rules forbidding women in combat, a day after President Bush said firmly that he opposes changing the rules against assigning women to ground combat.     The Washington Times asked Army headquarters at the Pentagon whether, given the president´s statement, the service would end a yearlong internal discussion about lifting the so-called "collocation rule" to change the rules prohibiting mixed-sex units commingling with combat units. Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said: "The policy concerning women's roles in the military is still in effect....

Defense officials say that the Donald H. Rumsfeld-John McCain relationship, never the closest or friendliest, really soured at a private meeting the two had last summer. The strong-willed defense secretary and the equally hard-nosed Republican senator from Arizona, both ex-Navy pilots and hawks on Iraq, were supposed to make peace over two nagging issues. Mr. McCain did not believe Mr. Rumsfeld was adequately paying attention to, or disclosing information about, the Boeing tanker lease scandal Mr. McCain took to the Senate floor Nov. 19 and read e-mail excerpts and called the Boeing deal "a case of either a systemic failure...

Defense officials say that the Donald H. Rumsfeld-John McCain relationship, never the closest or friendliest, really soured at a private meeting the two had last summer. The strong-willed defense secretary and the equally hard-nosed Republican senator from Arizona, both ex-Navy pilots and hawks on Iraq, were supposed to make peace over two nagging issues. Mr. McCain did not believe Mr. Rumsfeld was adequately paying attention to, or disclosing information about, the Boeing tanker lease scandal; Mr. Rumsfeld wanted Mr. McCain to lift his opposition to several Pentagon nominations bogged down in the Senate. Rather than serving as a peacemaker, the...

January 7, 2005Notes from the PentagonCIA in IraqThe CIA has been given a leading role in developing the Iraqi intelligence service in Baghdad. U.S. officials say the new spy agency reflects the same institutional weaknesses as the CIA, including poor operational security, bad counterintelligence and an emphasis on process over results. U.S. officials say the biggest problem is that at least 5 percent of the new intelligence agency members were recruited from the former Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein's repressive security and intelligence service that had about 15,000 members. The service began last summer and has about 1,000 members. The director is...

The deployment of thousands of sailors, airmen and Marines for the post-tsunami relief mission in Asia is adding new pressure to U.S. armed forces already stretched thin by the global war against al Qaeda and other terrorists.     Commanders have had to review war plans for any threatening action by North Korea as they pulled ships, aircraft and troops from the Pacific and sent them away from the Korean Peninsula to Indian Ocean storm centers. [snip]The Pentagon said yesterday that more than 13,000 personnel, 21 ships and 121 aircraft are taking part in rescues and supply drops in Thailand, Indonesia,...

An internal Army memo is ordering Pentagon officials to tightly control the flow of information on policy debates after draft briefings leaked to a newspaper showed proposals for putting female soldiers closer to land combat.     The internal memo was written by Lt. Gen. James Campbell, who directs the Army staff at the Pentagon. The Campbell memo was sent to a list of more than 30 Army policy-makers, warning them about press leaks.     The memo was dated Dec. 13, the same day The Washington Times reported on an Army briefing to Gen. Campbell that recommended doing away with a Pentagon rule...

The Pentagon is scurrying to find cuts in projected defense spending as part of President Bush's deficit-reduction campaign, defense and industry officials say.     The cuts would not be in the current budget, which took effect Oct. 1, but in the fiscal 2006 defense appropriation, which goes to Congress early next year.     "They have got a major budget drill going on," said a defense industry executive who is trying to protect the company's programs. This source said the White House Office of Management and Budget wants cuts of up to $10 billion a year.     The source, like others for this story,...

Commanders have requested to nearly double the number of armored utility vehicles in Iraq to 8,000, in yet another shift in equipment needs to keep pace with an insurgency that continues to strike troops. [snip] Within weeks, [Acting Army Secretary Les] Brownlee convened a summit at the Pentagon of defense contractors who design and build armor. [snip] AM General responded by increasing production of "up-armored" Humvees (as opposed to "thin skin" Humvees) from 150 to 450 a month. By this fall, the Army had put 5,000 in Iraq, only to learn a few weeks ago that commanders had upped the...

At the heart of a dispute over legislative intelligence reform are confidential meetings between the defense secretary and the CIA director during which they decided where to point spy satellites.     Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and former CIA director George Tenet, and their staffs, talked frequently about where to position satellites that relay overhead images and overheard conversations during the war on terror. [snip] The procedure for "tasking intelligence assets," as the discussion is called, is spelled out in the 1947 National Security Act. Amended numerous times since then, the act details the working relationship between the CIA director...

The Colombian terrorist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, threatened to attack President Bush during his stop in Colombia this week. U.S. intelligence officials said reports from the region indicated that the Marxist group, which has conducted numerous bombings and terrorist attacks in the country, had planned to conduct some type of bombing or shooting attack during Mr. Bush's visit. The president traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, on Monday in a show of support for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The stop came after the Pacific Rim summit in Chile. Mr. Bush said at a press conference that since...

A lawmaker and veterans are calling on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to reverse administration lawyers who agreed to warn military bases against officially sponsoring the Boy Scouts of America as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Critics of the settlement said that the Pentagon caved to the ACLU, which said the government improperly supported a group that requires belief in God, and that it was particularly offensive after the Nov. 2 elections, when the most pressing voter issue was the country's values.

The ongoing shake-up at the CIA is a welcome development for senior Pentagon officials that promises to end the agency's below-the-radar opposition to some aspects of President Bush's war on terrorism. Defense Department sources privately complained that parts of the CIA's entrenched bureaucracy of analysts opposed the military's large role in a war against al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Before the September 11 attacks, the CIA had the lead in hunting al Qaeda. Afterward, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld took over that role and put the military on a terrorist-hunting mission that trespassed on some CIA roles. "Let's just...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Saddam's fears prevented coup, CIA report showsBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished October 11, 2004 The United States has learned why neither the Iraqi military nor the CIA was able to topple Saddam Hussein in a classic coup d'etat.     The CIA's voluminous report on Saddam's regime details how he stayed a safe distance from the Republican Guard. The seven army divisions stood as Saddam's most potent weapon. They invaded Kuwait, crushed uprisings in the Shi'ite south and Kurdish north and protected Baghdad. But Saddam did not trust the Guard's commanders.     "[The Republican Guard] was the last and the...

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry conceded yesterday that he probably will not be able to convince France and Germany to contribute troops to Iraq if he is elected president. The Massachusetts senator has made broadening the coalition trying to stabilize Iraq a centerpiece of his campaign, but at a town hall meeting yesterday, he said he knows other countries won't trade their soldiers' lives for those of U.S. troops. "Does that mean allies are going to trade their young for our young in body bags? I know they are not. I know that," he said. Asked about that statement...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Syria not keeping promiseBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished October 5, 2004 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that, despite Syrian promises to clamp down on terrorists crossing into Iraq, he has seen little action.     Secretary of State Colin L. Powell extracted a promise Sept. 22 at the United Nations from the Syrian foreign minister that Damascus would stop terrorists moving from its soil into Iraq to kill soldiers and civilians from the United States and other coalition members.     "It's a tough military mission and a tough political mission, but I sense a new attitude from the...

. Burkett later provided a second name as the source, but CBS says it has been unable to verify the source's connection to the Guard. On Sept. 10, when Mr. Rather was asked whether an internal probe was needed, he said it was "not even discussed, nor should it be." Yesterday, CBS said a soon-to-be-named panel would conduct an "independent review" to "help determine what actions need to be taken." Col. Burkett has waged a long campaign to discredit Mr. Bush's military service. A CBS statement last week said it got the memos from "unimpeachable sources." Col. Burkett, who has...

A disgruntled former Texas National Guard soldier is the focus of intense media scrutiny into whether he leaked hotly disputed memos to CBS News on President Bush's military record. The former Army Guardsman is retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett of Abilene. For years, he has charged, but not proven, that Mr. Bush's political operatives sanitized the then-Texas governor's Air National Guard records at Guard headquarters in Austin, Texas...[snip] Mr. Burkett's attorney, David Van Os, said yesterday through a spokeswoman that he has been instructed by his client not to comment. The New York Times reported yesterday that Mr. Van Os...

The memos that CBS News says were written and signed by President Bush's National Guard commander do not follow guidelines mandated in Air Force regulations, which the officer had followed in documents that are known to be authentic.     Air Force manuals on proper memo-writing, which date back at least to 1965, say no period should be placed after an officer's abbreviated rank. Thus, in signing a memo, the "Lt" in the rank of lieutenant colonel is not supposed to have a period at the end. Mr. Bush's commander, the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, followed that regulation in...

[snip] The Times noticed differences in the two sets of signatures and asked Mr. Hussey to do an evaluation. The Times provided Mr. Hussey with copies of the CBS documents, which he dubbed Q-1-3, and records known to have been signed by Col. Killian, (K-1-3). "It is my opinion based on the examination of the Q-1 through Q-3 and K-1 through K-3, that Jerry B. Killian probably did not sign his name to Q-1 and his initial to Q-3," Mr. Hussey said in a signed letter to The Times. "As to the authenticity of the CBS documents, that is Q-1...

Questions about George W. Bush's Air National Guard service during the Vietnam War have been raised by Democrats and the press in all his campaigns since 1994.     Aides to Democratic Gov. Ann Richards once tried to advance a story in 1994 that the president's father helped him win a coveted spot in the Texas Guard, according to press accounts at the time. Other Democrats say he missed drills while he focused on business and politics.     Today, as President Bush seeks a second term, the Democratic National Committee again has embraced the issue, as polls show that its presidential candidate, Sen....

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld charged yesterday that Iran is fueling the deadly insurgency in Iraq with money and fighters. But, in an interview with editors and reporters of The Washington Times, Mr. Rumsfeld acknowledged that the United States has limited options because other nations are "not willing" to join in pressuring Iran, which has shown behavior that Mr. Rumsfeld said is "not part of the civilized world." The defense secretary, a main architect of President Bush's strategy of attacking Islamic terrorists worldwide, declared of the insurgency in Iraq, "They're losing." His assessment came on a day when the military...

Al-Sadr linked to mass killings By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published September 1, 2004 A U.S. military intelligence report says that followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr imprisoned, killed and mutilated Iraqis who opposed his insurrection. American intelligence officers are now investigating in the town of Najaf, the site of Sheik al-Sadr's bloody standoff with coalition forces. A U.S. military officer told The Washington Times that the command recently acquired photos of 15 to 20 mutilated bodies that appear to be Iraqis lying in a courtyard. A written U.S. intelligence report, a copy of which was obtained...

Anti-coalition forces have killed a prominent Iraqi chemical-weapons scientist whom U.S. investigators were questioning at Abu Ghraib prison, in an attempt to unravel the mysteries of Saddam Hussein's arsenal.     The scientist's death is not the first such killing, and it has some U.S. analysts wondering whether there is a pattern and also whether the Iraqi insurgents had incredibly good intelligence and a deadly aim -- or were just lucky.     Last spring, according to two defense officials, the United States detained an Iraqi scientist who was active in the nation's development of chemical weapons.     The man, whom the sources declined to...

Saddam Hussein periodically removed guards on the Syrian border and replaced them with his own intelligence agents who supervised the movement of banned materials between the two countries, U.S. investigators have discovered. The recent discovery by the Bush administration's Iraq Survey Group (ISG) is fueling speculation, but is not proof, that the Iraqi dictator moved prohibited weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into Syria before the March 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led coalition. Two defense sources told The Washington Times that the ISG has interviewed Iraqis who told of Saddam's system of dispatching his trusted Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) to the...

Saddam Hussein periodically removed guards on the Syrian border and replaced them with his own intelligence agents who supervised the movement of banned materials between the two countries, U.S. investigators have discovered. The recent discovery by the Bush administration's Iraq Survey Group (ISG) is fueling speculation, but is not proof, that the Iraqi dictator moved prohibited weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into Syria before the March 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led coalition. Two defense sources told The Washington Times that the ISG has interviewed Iraqis who told of Saddam's system of dispatching his trusted Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) to the...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Saddam agents on Syria border helped move banned materialsBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished August 16, 2004 Saddam Hussein periodically removed guards on the Syrian border and replaced them with his own intelligence agents who supervised the movement of banned materials between the two countries, U.S. investigators have discovered.     The recent discovery by the Bush administration's Iraq Survey Group (ISG) is fueling speculation, but is not proof, that the Iraqi dictator moved prohibited weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into Syria before the March 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led coalition.     Two defense sources told The Washington Times...

Elite veterans prowl Pakistan By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES The United States, on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, is augmenting counterterror operations in Pakistan with scores of former special-operations warriors who work for the CIA and other agencies under contract. Thousands of U.S. troops are openly fighting in Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. The stated U.S. policy, however, is that no American troops are inside Pakistan pursuing bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorists or advising local troops. The reality is there are "a load of contracts" with U.S. agencies attracting veterans of Special Forces and other elite units to...

Covering up? U.S. officials tell us that the FBI is focusing on a single document in its investigation of former White House National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger. Investigators are trying to determine why Mr. Berger improperly removed a highly classified after-action report by Richard A. Clarke, an aide to Mr. Berger, that was harshly critical of the Clinton administration's response to the so-called millennium terrorist plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport and other targets in late 1999. Mr. Clarke was the National Security Council staff aide who ended up as a Democratic holdover in the Bush administration. He...

Democrats capped Sen. John Kerry's presidential nomination last night by showing a Hollywood-produced movie of his life, featuring amateur film clips and testaments about his service in Vietnam as commander of a Navy river patrol boat.     But a group of former sailors who served with Mr. Kerry are telling a different story. Rather than depicting Mr. Kerry as a war hero, they are quoted in a new book accusing him of exaggerating and falsifying his experiences.     The group says that of 23 crew members photographed with Mr. Kerry more than 30 years ago in Vietnam, only one supports his presidential...

Covering up? U.S. officials tell us that the FBI is focusing on a single document in its investigation of former White House National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger. Investigators are trying to determine why Mr. Berger improperly removed a highly classified after-action report by Richard A. Clarke, an aide to Mr. Berger, that was harshly critical of the Clinton administration's response to the so-called millennium terrorist plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport and other targets in late 1999. Mr. Clarke was the National Security Council staff aide who ended up as a Democratic holdover in the Bush administration. He...