International:
AL-QAIDA REBUILDING 'EFFECTIVE TERROR NETWORK'
Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.
American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.
The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan. Read the whole story here
Iran Launches Large-Scale War Games
Iran began its largest war games in almost a year Monday, just two days ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment or face further economic sanctions.
The elite Revolutionary Guards began three days of ground maneuvers, state-run media reported Monday.
State television said the exercise is the biggest since last March and is taking place in 16 of Iran's 30 provinces. The broadcast said an estimated 60,000 troops are participating in the maneuvers.
"All weapons possessed by the Guards' ground force ... including new weapons, will be tested during the war games," Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the Guards' ground force, was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying Monday. Read more here
Venezuela bolsters military against U.S.
Venezuela says it is beefing up its military capabilities -- including plans to develop the region's largest submarine fleet -- in preparation for any "asymmetrical conflict" with the United States.
The buildup, which also includes small arms, jet fighters and potentially air-defense missiles, is being carried out in compliance with all international and regional nonproliferation treaties, Venezuela's ambassador to Washington said in a telephone interview.
But by repeatedly characterizing any conflict with the United States as "asymmetrical," Bernardo Alvarez made clear that his government was contemplating the need to defend itself against the world's lone superpower, a nation with vastly greater military resources.
"We have simply been trying to upgrade our military equipment and maintain our defense while preserving balance in the hemisphere," said Mr. Alvarez, who insisted that Venezuela's Latin American neighbors need not worry about the buildup. Full story here
AL-QAIDA REBUILDING 'EFFECTIVE TERROR NETWORK'
Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.
American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.
The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan. Read the whole story here
Iran Launches Large-Scale War Games
Iran began its largest war games in almost a year Monday, just two days ahead of a U.N. Security Council deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment or face further economic sanctions.
The elite Revolutionary Guards began three days of ground maneuvers, state-run media reported Monday.
State television said the exercise is the biggest since last March and is taking place in 16 of Iran's 30 provinces. The broadcast said an estimated 60,000 troops are participating in the maneuvers.
"All weapons possessed by the Guards' ground force ... including new weapons, will be tested during the war games," Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the Guards' ground force, was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying Monday. Read more here
Venezuela bolsters military against U.S.
Venezuela says it is beefing up its military capabilities -- including plans to develop the region's largest submarine fleet -- in preparation for any "asymmetrical conflict" with the United States.
The buildup, which also includes small arms, jet fighters and potentially air-defense missiles, is being carried out in compliance with all international and regional nonproliferation treaties, Venezuela's ambassador to Washington said in a telephone interview.
But by repeatedly characterizing any conflict with the United States as "asymmetrical," Bernardo Alvarez made clear that his government was contemplating the need to defend itself against the world's lone superpower, a nation with vastly greater military resources.
"We have simply been trying to upgrade our military equipment and maintain our defense while preserving balance in the hemisphere," said Mr. Alvarez, who insisted that Venezuela's Latin American neighbors need not worry about the buildup. Full story here
Mideast summit ends with little progress
A Mideast peace summit designed to open a new chapter for Israelis and Palestinians fed up with violence concluded Monday with no new agreements and a pledge to keep talking. More
National:
Snow: Politicians Warning Of Iran War ‘May Be Trying To Protect Iran’
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow claimed that members of Congress who have warned about the possibility of a military strike against Iran may be “trying to protect Iran.” Watch here.
True ‘Fair And Balanced’ Coverage: Wallace Calls Out Feith For Lying On Fox News
Last week on Fox News Sunday, former Rumsfeld aide Douglas Feith told Chris Wallace, “Nobody in my office ever said there was an operational relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. It’s just not correct. I mean, words matter.”
Fox News pursued the matter and did a follow-up report this week. Wallace reported, “It turns out he did make that case [that there was an operational relationship] in a memo he sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee in October of ‘03.” Watch it here.
Snow: Politicians Warning Of Iran War ‘May Be Trying To Protect Iran’
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow claimed that members of Congress who have warned about the possibility of a military strike against Iran may be “trying to protect Iran.” Watch here.
True ‘Fair And Balanced’ Coverage: Wallace Calls Out Feith For Lying On Fox News
Last week on Fox News Sunday, former Rumsfeld aide Douglas Feith told Chris Wallace, “Nobody in my office ever said there was an operational relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. It’s just not correct. I mean, words matter.”
Fox News pursued the matter and did a follow-up report this week. Wallace reported, “It turns out he did make that case [that there was an operational relationship] in a memo he sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee in October of ‘03.” Watch it here.
McCain: Iraq War Mismanaged for Years
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday the war in Iraq has been mismanaged for years and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be remembered as one of the worst in history.
"We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement _ that's the kindest word I can give you _ of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war," the Arizona senator told an overflow crowd of more than 800 at a retirement community near Hilton Head Island, S.C. "The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously." More here
In Other News...
In Other News...
"Outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said yesterday that the increase of 17,500 Army combat troops in Iraq represents only the 'tip of the iceberg' and will potentially require thousands of additional support troops and trainers, as well as equipment -- further eroding the Army’s readiness to respond to other world contingencies."
In the first speech President Bush "has devoted to Afghanistan during his second term," he warned yesterday that he expected "fierce fighting" to flare in Afghanistan this spring, and called on NATO allies to send more troops.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) yesterday "strongly endorsed binding legislation requiring Bush to seek congressional authorization before any military strike on Iran."
From The Right: Carol Platt Liebau: Democrats surrender With their vote on Friday for a non-binding resolution condemning the President's troop surge, the Democrats have finally formalized their position: They have thrown their political fortunes squarely behind an American defeat in Iraq.
From The Left: Chris Hedges: American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America Chris Hedges's new book examines how Christian dominionists are seeking absolute power and a Christian state. According to Hedges, the movement bears a strong resemblance to the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s. Hedges is the former New York Times Middle East bureau chief and author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning."
Quote Of The Day: "My FOX guys, I love every single one of them." --Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, caught on an open mic singing the praises of Fox News's correspondents
(Sources: Breitbart, AP, DrudgeReport, NYT, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, CNN, WashingtonTimes, WashingtonPost, DemocracyNow, TownHall, ThePolitico, About.com)
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