Security

June 25, 2008 -- "We are shocked and appalled to learn that Jesus Navarro Montes was recently released by a Mexican Judge. Navarro Montes is a suspect in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar. Agent Aguilar was killed in a heinous act of violence on January 19 in the Yuma Sector, while attempting to stop two vehicles that illegally entered the country and were absconding into Mexico.

We are working with a determined Mexican Government, and our Department of Justice, to seek swift justice for the Aguilar murder. We have also assured Agent Aguilar’s family that every resource is being called upon in the relentless pursuit of justice.    » read more »

25 June 2008 -- The U.S. military says a roadside bombing in Baghdad has killed an American soldier - the 10th U.S. fatality in Iraq since Monday.

The military says the powerful bomb went off Wednesday in the predominantly Shi'ite eastern half of Baghdad.

Iraq has seen an increase in deadly attacks on Americans in recent days. Bomb attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq killed seven U.S. nationals Tuesday, including soldiers and civilians. On Monday, a gunman killed two U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad.

At least 26 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month, an increase over the 19 who died in May. But, U.S. fatalities are well below last year's figures and the U.S. military says violence in Iraq has dropped to a four-year low.    » read more »

Irbil -- 24 June 2008 -- The U.S. military says bomb attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Tuesday killed at least 16 people, including seven Americans. In the deadliest attack, a bomb exploded inside a local council building in Baghdad's Sadr City district, killing 10 people. The bomb went off as a group of U.S. officials and soldiers entered an office for a meeting with Sadr City council members.

A U.S. military spokesman for the Baghdad area, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Stover, says it appears that a bomb was planted inside the District Advisory Council building in a southern neighborhood of Sadr City.    » read more »

N.J. Sens Act After Bush Administration Admits It Will Miss Deadline To Screen 100 Percent Of Nation's Cargo

June 23, 2008 -- NEWARK, NJ – Today, Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) joined executives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as they announced their introduction of a new bill to increase security at the nation’s 361 ports.

Their bill comes after the Bush Administration admitted to Senator Lautenberg that it will miss a deadline to screen 100 percent of the nation’s cargo for radiological and nuclear weapons. Their bill would, for the first time, create minimum security standards for all containers entering the United States.    » read more »

17 June 2008 -- Iraqi officials say a car bomb has killed 51 people and wounded 75 others at a market in a mainly Shi'ite area of Baghdad. Tuesday's bombing in the Hurriyah district of western Baghdad was the deadliest in the Iraqi capital in more than three months.

The car bomb triggered a fire that engulfed a multi-story building containing shops and apartments. Many of the victims were trapped in that building.

Baghdad had been relatively calm since May 11, when U.S. and Iraqi forces began observing a truce with Shi'ite militants that ended weeks of fighting.

In another attack Tuesday, an Iraqi television news reporter, Muhieddin Abdul-Hamid was shot dead near his home in the northern city of Mosul.    » read more »

17 June 2008 -- The Pentagon says reports that Taliban forces have taken over several villages in southern Afghanistan are false, and that any Taliban offensive in the area will be defeated.

The Pentagon says a U.S. patrol in the Arghandab district of Kandahar Province Tuesday encountered no Taliban forces.

Troops in Kandahar City, Afghanistan: Photo by Pierre Gazzola (CC)    » read more »

16 June 2008 -- Pakistani police say a bomb has exploded outside a Shi'ite mosque in the country's northwest, killing at least four people.

The bomb went off in the city of Dera Ismail Khan Monday as worshipers were leaving the mosque after evening prayers.

The explosion destroyed parts of the mosque and wounded at least two people.

Police say they suspect the bomb was on a timer. They do not know who planted the device.

Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province has a history of sectarian violence.

Last month, gunmen killed at least six Shi'ite Muslims in two suspected sectarian attacks in Dera Ismail Khan.    » read more »

Kabul/Geneva (ICRC) – The protracted armed conflict in Afghanistan is causing great suffering for ordinary people across the country, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan, meeting today in Paris.

Afghan child waiting to see doctor: DOD photo.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2008 – The current number of forces in Afghanistan is enough to accomplish the mission, but it’ll take awhile to do so, the U.S. officer who just finished his tour as commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan said here today.

Mortar fire, Afghanistan: Photo by soldiersmediacenter (CC)

“Let’s just say that somebody waved a magic wand, and by gosh, between the Afghans and the international force you’d produced a force that was well over 400,000,” Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill said to reporters at a Pentagon news conference.    » read more »

15 June 2008 -- A spokesman for Iraq's radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says his movement will not directly participate in provincial elections scheduled for October 1.

Sadr's spokesman said Sunday that the movement instead will support "technocrats and independent politicians" in the polls.

He said the movement will not directly contest the elections because it does not want to be part of sectarian divisions.

Iraq's 18 provinces will choose governing councils in the elections, which Washington says will help to stabilize the country by giving more power to local leaders.

Unresolved debate over a draft election law could postpone the vote. The law is expected to ban parties with militias from contesting elections.    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after the Administration announced it will provide $10.2 billion in aid to Afghanistan:

“This is a good start – but only a start. We have to remember that one-third of the promised funds have already been delivered by Congress.

As for the remainder, the breakdown of how the funds are distributed and allocated is key: Will there be a genuine increase in development aid and will it actually reach the Afghan people?    » read more »

11 June 2008 -- Turkey has stepped up military operations this year against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region. These operations include frequent cross-border shelling campaigns. The Kurdistan government is again condemning Turkish military action in Iraq.

Kurdish village, Dohuk, Kurdistan: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) photograph by ACoE photographer Jim Gordon

Kurdistan officials say Turkey's military frequently shells unpopulated mountain areas not far from the Turkish border. Turkey says it is targeting rebels of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, the PKK, which has been fighting for independence in southeastern Turkey for nearly 25 years.    » read more »

12 June 2008 -- Iraqi officials say insurgents carried out several bombings in Baghdad Thursday, killing four people, including a U.S. soldier.

In the deadliest attack, a car bomb struck a patrol of Iraqi police commandos in the Allawi district of central Baghdad, killing one commando and two civilians. Another 15 people were wounded.

The U.S. military says a roadside bomb in western Baghdad killed an American soldier.

Elsewhere, the U.S. military says coalition forces killed four militants and detained nine others in operations against al-Qaida in central and northern Iraq since Wednesday.    » read more »

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va., June 9, 2008 – If it were not for the serious decline in the Air Force’s nuclear mission focus and performance, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, he would not have felt the need to replace the Air Force leadership.

Gates asked for and received the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley on June 6 in the wake of an investigation that found problems with the focus, performance and effective leadership of the service’s nuclear weapons program.

Speaking to airmen and Air Force civilians of Air Combat Command, Gates called the nuclear mission the Air Force’s most sensitive one.    » read more »

6/9/2008 - Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates arrives June 9 to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Secretary Gates is visiting Peterson AFB to deliver a speech reinforcing his message that the Air Force must apply more rigor to its responsibilities with nuclear weapons on the heels of the resignation of the Air Force’s top two leaders.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrives at the Peterson air base flight line June 9: U.S. Air Force photo/Duncan Wood

Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler, the commander of Air Force Space Command; Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., the commander of NORAD – U.S. Northern Command; and Col. Jay Raymond, the 21st Space Wing commander; greeted Secretary Gates upon his arrival.