News Headline

Panel: Biological Attack Likely by 2013

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:36:18 -0500

The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism. The report suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists. The commission is also encouraging the new White House to appoint one official on the National Security Council to exclusively coordinate U.S. intelligence and foreign policy on combating the spread of nuclear and biological weapons. The report acknowledges that terrorist groups still lack the needed scientific and technical ability to make weapons, but warns that gap can be overcome, if terrorists find scientists willing to share or sell their know-how.

Obama Seeks Iraq Pullout in 16 Months

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:14:59 -0500

Barack Obama says the U.S.-Iraq security agreement approved by Iraq's parliament puts the U.S. on a "glide path" toward reducing forces there. As he named Robert Gates to continue on as defense chief, with a new mission to reduce U.S. involvement in Iraq, the president-elect said he'll listen to Gates, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders on the ground in determining how to proceed with a troop withdrawal. Obama told reporters in Chicago that he still thinks 16 months is the "right time frame" for removing U.S. combat troops from Iraq. He said the top priority is making sure troops are safe during that transition, and that the Iraqi people are well served as their government takes on more security responsibilities.

Bush Regrets Iraq WMD Failure

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:11:31 -0500

Outgoing U.S. President George Bush has said his biggest regret is the failure of intelligence over Iraqi weapons. In a wide-ranging TV interview, he declined to say whether he would have decided to invade Iraq if he had known it had no weapons of mass destruction. The outgoing president told ABC television: "The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq." He added: "I wish the intelligence had been different." Mr. Bush — whose approval ratings are at an historic low — said he was happy for history to be his judge. "I will leave the presidency with my head held high," he said.

U.S. Terror Investigators Sent to India

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:44:44 -0500

The government ordered FBI agents to fly to India to investigate the bloody Mumbai attacks that killed at least five Americans. U.S. citizens still in the city were warned their lives remain at risk. Intelligence officials looked urgently for clues about the identity of the attackers, a crucial unknown as Indian officials charged, without giving details, that “elements in Pakistan” were involved. A tentative rapprochement between the two nuclear-armed rivals could hang in the balance, and a U.S. counterintelligence official cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the militants. President George W. Bush pledged cooperation with Indian authorities and mourned the deaths of more than 150 people at the hands of gunmen who attacked targets across India’s financial capital.

Clinton Named Secretary of State

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:15:52 -0500

President-elect Barack Obama has nominated his former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. Mr. Obama described the former first lady as a woman of "tremendous stature" who had his "complete confidence." Mrs. Clinton lost out to Mr. Obama when the two contested a bitterly fought race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. The expected announcement comes after weeks of speculation as to what, if any, role Mrs. Clinton would play in an Obama administration. At a news conference in Chicago, Mr. Obama also announced nominations for other key national necurity team posts. Mr. Obama said Robert Gates would remain as defense secretary, while retired Marine Gen. James Jones was named as White House national security adviser.

Gates Stays on At Pentagon

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:13:46 -0500

Seeking experience in wartime, President-elect Barack Obama intends to re-enlist Defense Secretary Robert Gates as head of the Pentagon — if only temporarily — and has chosen a retired Marine general to be White House national security adviser, officials said. Gates and retired Gen. James Jones would bring decades of experience to the administration of a 47-year-old commander in chief who campaigned on a pledge to redeploy combat troops in Iraq within 16 months while simultaneously ramping up the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. While Gates has accepted Obama's appointment, it was not clear that Jones had done the same.

Iraqis Negotiate on Security Pact

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:08:34 -0500

Intensive last-minute negotiations were under way to corral votes in the Iraqi Parliament for a security and strategic framework agreement that, if approved, would be a road map for the complete withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in three years. Much is at stake for the country, which still relies on American forces to fight the remnants of the insurgency, and for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who spent eight months negotiating the pact with the Americans. Maliki has waged a strong and skillful lobbying campaign for its passage — a feat charged with political danger when many Iraqis still see the Americans as an occupying power.

Obama to Tackle Contracts Explosion

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:30:12 -0500

The economic crisis. Two wars. A flood of wounded veterans. Those are just a few of the huge problems that President-elect Barack Obama will face in office. But the president-elect has said he also plans to grapple with a dilemma that's much less visible: the explosion in government contracts under the Bush administration. The Bush administration has hired private industry to take over more of the government's work than any administration ever. It has made history.

Pentagon Plans Afghanistan Surge

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:48:50 -0500

The Pentagon hopes to send surge troops into Afghanistan before the elections next fall to improve security and facilitate voter registration, Robert Gates, U.S. defense secretary, said. ”We would like to be able to get some of those additional brigade combat teams into Afghanistan before the elections so that they can make a contribution to greater security,” said Mr Gates. The Pentagon is sending one combat brigade team — roughly 3,500 — to Afghanistan in January to help quell the rising violence. General David McKiernan, the U.S. general who commands NATO forces, has requested another three combat brigades, an aviation combat brigade, and support troops.

Report: U.S. Power Will Decline

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:19:37 -0500

A new government report paints an alarming picture of an unstable future for international relations defined by waning American influence, a fragmentation of political power and intensifying struggles for increasingly scarce natural resources. The report, "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World," was drafted by the National Intelligence Council to better inform U.S. policymakers — starting with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama — about the factors most likely to shape major international trends and conflicts through the year 2025. "Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States' relative strength — even in the military realm — will decline and U.S. leverage will become more constrained," says the report, which is the fourth in a series from the Intelligence Council.