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An image said to come from inside an Iranian military site shows an explosives containment chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that UN inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted at the site. Iran denies such testing and has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a chamber. The image was provided to The Associated Press by an official of a country tracking Iran's nuclear program who said the drawing proves the structure exists, despite Tehran's refusal to acknowledge it. The official said he could not discuss the drawing's origins beyond that it was based on information from...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama and his Afghanistan war council turn to Pakistan Wednesday, exactly eight years after the first thunderous US air raids heralded a conflict that still lacks an exit strategy. Obama will gather top security, military and political advisors in the secure White House Situation Room for a third in-depth meeting on Afghan policy as he mulls whether to pitch thousands more troops into the unpopular war. On Tuesday, the president told lawmakers he had no intention of reducing the US military footprint in Afghanistan, which will reach 68,000 troops by the end of this year,...

BEIJING — Declaring “we hope you won’t make the same mistakes we made,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited China to join the United States in an ambitious effort to curb greenhouse gases, as she toured an energy-efficient power plant in Beijing on Saturday. “When we were industrializing and growing, we didn’t know any better; neither did Europe,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Now we’re smart enough to figure out how to have the right kind of growth.” The gas-fired power plant, which uses sophisticated turbines made by General Electric, is nearly twice as efficient as the coal-fired plants that supply...

GLASGOW, Scotland - The fast-moving investigation into failed car bombings in Glasgow and London has swept up at least five physicians and a medical student, officials said Tuesday, including a doctor seized at an Australian airport with a one-way ticket. Many of the men had roots outside Britain — with ties to Iraq, Jordan and India — and worked together at hospitals in Scotland or England, officials said. None of the plotters arrested so far is named on U.S. terror watch lists that identify potential suspects, according to a senior American counterterror official who spoke on condition of anonymity because...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2007 – America’s nine unified combatant commands will be in the spotlight as the Pentagon Channel launches a completely redesigned biweekly half-hour news and information program. “Focus on the Force” was originally produced by American Forces Network and featured stories about a wide range of military related topics. “Through a turn of events we ended up taking over the product, and we wanted to give it a new and different look,” said Pentagon Channel news director Gene Brink. “The combatant commands are strategically located around the world to support or conduct U.S. military missions. We want...

BAGHDAD — Senior U.S. officials in Iraq are calling a four-point plan released Oct. 3 by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to halt sectarian violence “a significant step in the right direction.” Maliki’s plan, released Oct. 3, aims at uniting Shiite and Sunni parties to reduce and ultimately stop growing sectarian violence that threatens Iraq. “This … shows that the Iraqi leaders want their country to succeed and are responding to the wishes of their people for security,” said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, in a statement released yesterday....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- The Defense Department is focusing efforts to ensure servicemembers stationed overseas and in the United States know their options for voting in the 2006 congressional and local elections. Sept. 3-9 is Armed Forces Voters Week. Officials caution that this is the last safe week to submit a Federal Post Card Application, or request voter registration forms and absentee ballots that meet most state deadlines. The Defense Department is responsible for ensuring the right to vote for military members and their families, and also for U.S. citizens living overseas. It accomplishes this through the Federal Voting...

Pace Focuses on Human Dimension of Iraq WarBy Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service MOSUL, Iraq, Aug. 14, 2006 -- Meeting with troops during visits to combat zones helps keep Marine Gen. Peter Pace focused and gives him “ground truth,” the general said during an interview here yesterday. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Marines at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Aug. 13. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A meeting with troops a day earlier at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad, turned poignant when a young lieutenant...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2006 – President Bush brought together his interagency team on Iraq today at Camp David to discuss plans to help Iraq's new government succeed now that its Cabinet is fully formed and terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. Attendees at the session, who included Vice President Richard B. Cheney; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received a three-hour briefing on Iraq this morning from top military and diplomatic officers in Baghdad. After briefings from Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of...

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2006 – Many Americans believe the nation's troops deserve support during wartime, but servicemembers returning with severe injuries will need special support the rest of their lives. Rolling Thunder New York Chapter 3 members march in the St. Patrick's Day parade, March 5: from left, Sue Orts, chapter board chairman Bill Palmer, secretary Mary Lewis, treasurer Tony Hilinski, president Ron Orts and Dave Hansen. The chapter will host a fundraiser Aug. 27 to benefit Marine Sgt. Eddie Ryan who suffered severe brain injuries in Iraq. Courtesy photo   Members of "Rolling Thunder" Chapter 3 in upstate New...

ATLANTA, May 3, 2006 – With the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process shutting down 25 major installations and radically realigning 24 others over the next six years, a BRAC conference under way here is focusing on growth as well as downsizing, a defense official told reporters here today. "Traditionally when we've done these events, they've been very much closure-focused," said Philip W. Grone, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment. But this conference, he added, also features "a very healthy focus on growth." This is happening because many areas will gain substantial numbers of uniformed and civilian military...

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2006 – Deployed reserve-component troops are receiving support packaged a little differently from they're used to, thanks to a Virginia-based nonprofit organization supporting them by supporting their children. Linda Davidson (seated) and Gail Kruzel (standing, left) organized Our Military Kids, Inc., to help maintain normalcy in the lives of children with a deployed reserve-component parent. Michelle Nelson, now an Our Military Kids staff member, is the wife of a Virginia Army National Guardsman whose unit served as the pilot unit for the program. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Linda Davidson...

2/3/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Just as the fall of the Soviet Union led to changes in how the U.S. military is organized and operates, the post-Sept. 11 world requires continuation of that process, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Feb. 1. At a Pentagon news conference, Mr. Rumsfeld and Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talked about next week's anticipated delivery of the Quadrennial Defense Review, or QDR, to Congress. "More than a decade has passed since the Cold War ended and the Soviet empire went, as was once predicted, into the...

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's presidential campaign is focusing on the millions who leave for better-paying jobs in the United States, with candidates promising to create better opportunities at home while railing against American immigration policies. Illegal migration should again seize the spotlight Thursday, when the three major presidential hopefuls begin official campaigning after a Christmas break mandated by the country's electoral body. Although they disagree on almost everything else, the top candidates for the July 2 election have all pledged to bolster the economy and attract international investment to make Mexican jobs attractive enough to keep people from heading north....

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2006 – For the next three days, the military and its families have the opportunity to learn a little more about each other. CinCHouse, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping military spouses understand and thrive in military life, is hosting its first convention today through Jan. 12 in San Diego. About 350 spouses are registered to attend the event. "The best thing ... attendees will walk away with is a better understanding of military families," Meredith Leyva, CinCHouse founder and Navy wife, said. To help with that understanding, CinCHouse has designed several panel discussions to address...

FORWARD LOGISTICS AREA ANACONDA, Iraq, Dec. 26, 2005 – It doesn't matter how many troops you have or how well trained they are if you can't sustain them. Coalition logisticians are working with the nascent Iraqi army to build a logistics capability for the force. Army Lt. Col. Steven Shapiro, chief of operations for 3rd Corps Support Command and selected for promotion to colonel, said the command's soldiers are training Iraqis through schools and, mostly, through on-the-job experience. "We're training the Iraqis to follow up and provide support to their forces as they engage the enemy," Shapiro said during an...

BEIJING (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved through a packed schedule on his first official business day in China, from a morning speech praising a Silicon Valley-designed solar chip as part of "the future" of energy efficiency to a ceremonial dinner at the historic Great Hall of the People. Schwarzenegger, who arrived Monday for a three city trade mission, used his first full day in Beijing to highlight renewable energy and preside over a series of business roundtables with Chinese and California business leaders. He was set to address students at Quinghua University and host a showcase of California products...

Two members of the state Assembly's Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing yesterday in San Diego to address what the state can do to protect coastal waters from being polluted by sewage from Mexico. But the answer appeared to be that in this time of tight finances, the best the state can do is keep pressuring the federal government for funding for sewage treatment. State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña called the hearing because of her concerns about the tentative plan to award a no-bid contract to a private company called Bajagua, which is proposing to build a sewage treatment plant...

WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites)'s former crew mates vouch for his Vietnam war heroics in a documentary being released in the midst of a campaign debate about his actions as a swift boat skipper. "Brothers in Arms," a first film by journalist Paul Alexander, features Kerry and four men who served with him on Patrol Craft 94, the last of three boats he commanded during the war and the one from which he won the Silver Star for chasing down and killing a combatant who threatened his crew with a rocket. With testimony from crew mates who...

MILWAUKEE - Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) sought to rally voters in this battleground state Saturday, invoking the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., and urging Americans to come together on "the things that unite us, not the things that divide us." Just two days before the start of the Democratic National Convention, Edwards focused on one Midwest swing state while presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) set his sights on another — Iowa. The ticket's No. 2 said one of his missions is to introduce himself and the party's soon-to-be presidential nominee...