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/begin my translation N. Korea May Have Fired Up To 12 Missiles Six launches including Taepodong-2 were confirmed...the additional launches were being investigated It is possible that N. Korea launched six additional launches of short-range and shore-to-ship missiles, in addition to six launches of Taepodong-2, Nodong, and Scud surface-to-surface missiles, during dawn and morning hours of July 5th. Senior government sources said, "The confirmed launches so far by N. Koreans are one Taepodong launch and five launches of Nodong and Scud missiles, totaling six. However, we have indications that, between 7am and 8:13am, six additional missiles are launched, which we...

At least 22 senators were spotted sporting seersucker suits yesterday in a bipartisan display of Southern-tinged fashion organized by Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.). Lott dubbed the occasion "Seersucker Thursday" and posted a notice on a table in the Senate well yesterday reminding colleagues to wear their white-and-light-blue-striped suits of cotton and rayon. He said it was the sixth or seventh annual wearing of the seersucker, which traditionally takes place on the second Thursday of June, when it gets "nice and warm.” Senate leaders Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wore seersucker, but the Democratic leaders did not. Sens....

WASHINGTON — Are y'all set for the sartorial splendor of today's summer seersucker spectacle in the U.S. Senate? "It's a Southern thing," said Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), organizer of the bipartisan show of stripes. "But it has spread far and wide — from sea to shining sea." On the Senate floor, the cool, crisp cotton fabric will be the fashion order of the day. And the seersucker suits will cross gender as well as party lines. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has arranged for women senators to join their male colleagues in this rite of the season. "Things have been pretty...

The press is trumpeting the "failure" of the recent weapons 'Turn-In' program in Iraq. A few missing points:   We aren't disarming the Iraqis, as some irresponsible reporters are claiming - small arms are fine, RPGs and Seersucker missiles aren't.   The press didn't bother to report our 70 + days of successes following the liberation of Baghdad - of confiscating so much ammo one wrong flare could have blown holes in Baghdad big enough to hold the press corps and their egos.   How many weapons did we take in in Iraq in just 5 days last week?   From CENTCOM's DAILY police logs:   COALITION AND IRAQI...

May 27 — Defense Department officials have told NBC News that coalition troops have found more than 30 missiles in Iraq over the last few days, including some missiles and missile-launching components of French and German origin. DEFENSE OFFICIALS said 33 Seersucker surface-to-surface missiles, along with two launchers, were found on the al-Faw peninsula in southern Iraq. No warheads were discovered. A Roland surface-to-air missile launcher was also found, with two missiles, near Mosul. A defense official told NBC News that the missiles were being examined to see how new they were. Some components of Roland missile systems are produced...

CAMP DOHA, KUWAIT -- All but two of nine U.S. and Kuwaiti Patriot intercepts of Iraqi missiles over a 13-day period beginning March 20 were performed by Guidance Enhanced Missiles, or GEMs, introduced into the fleet seven years ago, according to Army Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, commanding general of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command. Just two rockets Iraq launched were shot down by brand new Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles. Most engaged missiles were Al-Samoud and Ababil-100 surface-to-surface rockets fired from southern Iraq towards Kuwait, often operating on the outer limits of their approximately 90-mile maximum range,...