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DALLAS, May 3, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today urged Americans to learn from past mistakes and steel their resolve to see the war on terror through to victory.  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tells members of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce on May 3 that the United States must persevere against violent extremism and learn from the lessons of history as it prepares to face the future. Air Force photo by Michael Tolzmann   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates warned during an address to the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce here that giving...

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2007 – It’s time for the Iraqi government to step up and “do hard work,” but withdrawing U.S. troops too quickly would ultimately backfire, President Bush told an American Legion post in Fairfax, Va., today. Bush said the decision to send more troops to Iraq to help stabilize the capital was tough but necessary. Military commanders he talked with support the plan as the only real option in light of escalating violence. The president said the generals recognized that leaving Iraq before the Iraqis had enough trained troops to secure Baghdad would have left a dangerous...

By Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO Iraqi police provide security in a section of Kadhimiyah, Iraq, on March 29, 2005. Department of Defense photo by Air Force Senior Airman Lapedra P. Tolson. BAGHDAD — Under the watchful eye of the Iraqi Police and Army, over a million Shiite pilgrims gathered in peace over the weekend in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighborhood to commemorate the death of the 7th Imam.The event, in which the faithful visit the al-Kadhimiyah Shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, was sheltered from much of the violence that has plagued other religious celebrations in recent years. Security for the...

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2006 – The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East told Congress today he’s “rarely seen it so unsettled or so volatile” and urged continued regional and coalition pressure to confront problems before they escalate further. Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, joined Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The leaders expressed concern about growing sectarian violence in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad. Abizaid called the violence “as bad as I’ve seen it” and warned...

Saturday July 22, 4:44 PM U.S. carefully watching possibility of N. Korea nuke test (Kyodo) _ The United States is vigilantly watching the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test now that it has test-fired ballistic missiles, a senior U.S. administration official told Kyodo News on Friday. "I wouldn't rule it out," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding he is unaware of any indication from North Korea that it plans to test its nuclear weapons. Asked if the United States is exercising "vigilance" about a nuclear test, the official said, "Very absolutely." North Korea warned of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2006 – The U.S. attorney general called today's indictment of three Ohio men who conspired to kill U.S. citizens overseas, particularly military forces in Iraq, another indication that the United States must remain vigilant in fighting terrorism. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced indictments against three men he said were part of a terrorist conspiracy that has operated in Toledo, Ohio, over the past year. Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum were indicted in the U.S. District Court in Ohio. The three were charged with "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against persons or individuals overseas...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2005 – No war has ever been won on a timetable, and the war in Iraq can be no exception, a former commander in Iraq who's now assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Dec. 2. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, assistant to Marine Gen. Peter Pace and former commander of the 4th Infantry Division, told grassroots supporters of the military partnering with the America Supports You program that an artificial timetable is no way to begin troop withdrawals from Iraq. Decisions about troop levels need to be condition-based, grounded in increasing self-reliance...

Last fall, Vietnam veteran James Gilchrist, 56, was listening to George Putnam's talk show on KCAA-AM (1050). He often listens to conservative radio shows in his small home office in an Aliso Viejo planned community, where he proudly displays his Purple Heart and dog tags.He heard a guest on the show, Chris Simcox, complain about lax border enforcement. His words resonated with Gilchrist, who long wondered why communities in Orange County teemed with people who don't speak English. Gilchrist called Simcox, a veteran crusader against illegal immigrants at the Arizona border.

WASHINGTON — A bill that would require all states to verify federal immigration documents and birth certificates before issuing federally recognized drivers' licenses to its residents is still in limbo as Congress returns from its Easter recess and possibly toward a renewed push. The "Real ID Act," sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (search), R-Wis., passed the House 261-161 on Feb. 10. The act would prohibit anyone without a federally recognized state-issued ID from boarding an airplane or accessing federal programs that require federally recognized identification. Critics say that the legislation would hit at least 10 states particularly hard,...

MEXICO CITY - The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada, confronting the growth of rival groups in Europe and Asia, hope to strengthen their free-trade pact by signing an "Initiative for North America" next week in Texas, Mexico President Vicente Fox said Wednesday. But Fox made clear that tensions remain over how to secure the countries' borders, criticizing new U.S. walls running along parts of its 2,000-mile frontier with Mexico. "No country that is proud of itself should build walls," he said. Fox, President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin are scheduled to meet March 23 at...

I think that it has been well established that "conservatives" or whatever it is they call themselves these days (e.g., storm troopers) in matters concerning politics value little more than the state's power in which they imagine themselves to participate and the supposed glory that war and domestic national securitism brings to them. Now strictly speaking this is a delusion, because their only access to power lies in the accidental agreement of their opinions with those of the managers of the state. This access will evaporate as soon as the state does something that displeases our conservatives. It is always...

WAS Bernard Kerik a stalker? As the illicit romance between former top cop Kerik and publishing titan Judith Regan went down the drain in late 2002, the jilted Kerik snapped, according to people who knew them both. He not only followed his ex-lover around town — he seemed to be following her children, two business associates of Regan's told me yesterday. One associate, who has not seen or spoken to Regan in a year and a half, said, "She had me in her office one day, raving about how he was stalking her." That was in late 2002, long before...

Security sources in southern California have told Stratfor about incidents involving "vehicle-spoofing" -- or the use of falsely marked utility vehicles. The markings -- said to be fairly professionally done -- were identified by investigators looking into drug-smuggling cases. That said, the potential for vehicle-spoofing and other types of disguises as terrorist tactics is a cause for concern. The use of vehicles disguised as official or corporate cars, vans or trucks is an old tactic among criminals and militants that still bears review. It has cropped up everywhere -- from Iraq and Saudi Arabia to Maryland and San Diego --...

U.S. 'Part of the Battleground' In Terror War, General Says By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, May 13, 2004 – While American forces are fighting overseas, it's likely that terrorists are planning another attack on the United States, a senior military officer noted here today. "We are at war in this country," Army Lt. Gen. Edward G. Anderson III noted to attendees at the annual Technet information technology conference. Anderson is the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command and vice commander of the U.S. element of North American Aerospace Defense Command. NORTHCOM, with headquarters at Peterson Air Force...

How about this for an air tasking order: Design an information and telecommunications set-up that protects 52 million square kilometers of territory. Put in it a data management system and a data bank that will allow people to track more than 2 million species of plants and animals. Finally, it is not to be solely a military tool, but one that many different civilian agencies will use as well. Brazilian air force Maj. Gen. Ramon Borges Cardoso did not receive exactly that air tasking order in 1997, but that was his mission as the man in charge of putting together...

Police have cancelled a terror alert announced earlier Wednesday for the Gush Dan and Sharon region after 2 illegal Palestinian workers and an Israeli Arab were apprehended near the Tel Aviv Central bus station in the late afternoon. The three have been transferred to the Shin Bet for interrogation. Several moments after the explosion of a bus tire at 3:40 p.m. in the Tel Aviv central bus station, a Subaro utility van was trapped in Chelnov street, near the Tel Aviv central bus station after a chase. Three Palestinians were found inside, but without any explosives. The three were interrogated...

It would not have occurred to me, as it did to young Nat Heatwole, to bring box cutters onto an airplane just to see if I could get away with it. Even if I wanted to be useful, as Heatwole is claiming, I have the problem of sounding the alarms every time I've gone to the airport in the past two years. The metal eyelets on my shoes have sounded the beepers. Heatwole, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., said he went through normal security checks at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Sept. 14 and at Raleigh-Durham on Sept...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government charged American Airlines on Friday with discriminating against passengers perceived to be Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian or Muslim in its first racial bias complaint against an airline.The Transportation Department alleged that 10 people, mostly U.S. citizens, were removed from their flights or denied boarding even though they had tickets and passed security checks.Most of the incidents cited in the administrative complaint occurred within three months of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the department said.American said it would fight the charges and denied that passengers were discriminated against by its crew or the crew of American...

CORPORATE security is an illusion. So is personal financial privacy. I should know; I spent five years of my life in federal prison for proving it. A recent survey by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI found that 90 percent of U.S. companies responding had detected security breaches during the preceding year. Many companies believe that they can protect their information and networks from the bad guys by acquiring security technologies such as fire-walls, anti-virus software and biometric authentication systems. But while it's essential to use technology to prevent and detect hackers, it is naive to rely on technology...

For a fighter pilot, flagging attention could bring crashing consequences. The same holds true for air-traffic controllers, for airport-security personnel and for other industries as well. And lapses in attention are always likely because vigilance is hard work for the human brain. But the drain on the brain can be reduced and performance enhanced by prompting attention, according to research by a team of University of Cincinnati and Catholic University of America psychologists. The research, performed at the University of Cincinnati which houses the nation's largest vigilance testing laboratory, was just published in the January 2003 issue of the quarterly...