NATO Reps Meet in Scotland to Discuss Afghanistan

NATO defense ministers and diplomats have met in Edinburgh, Scotland to discuss the future of the alliance's mission in Afghanistan. Hosted by Britain, the now familiar call for greater participation from some European states was one of the main themes. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London.

The Edinburgh meeting allowed the participants to take stock of the still tough and what will likely be a lengthy stay in Afghanistan.

On hand for the discussions were the defense and foreign ministers from countries with deployments in the troubled southern part of Afghanistan.

Hosting the conference was British Defense Minister Des Browne who once again said greater burden sharing would certainly be welcomed.

"Could other countries do more? Could we do with more? Yes, of course we could but the other side of the coin, of course, is that I am a politician and I am a realist and I understand you, known, the dynamics of alliances that are made up of countries of different political make-ups and governments of different types," he said. "I mean some of the governments are not there because of minority governments. They have a political will, but they do not have political process to deliver."

Britain is the largest contributor of after the United States with 7,800 troops deployed.
Among those attending the Scottish meeting, was U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates who believes that some in Europe have lost sight of why allied troops are there.

He wants NATO to adopt and publish a short statement spelling out clearly why forces are still there six years after the Taliban was ousted from power.

A NATO heads of government meeting will take place in April and leaders there are expected to firm up the alliance's strategy for Afghanistan.

Gates warns that gains made over the years can be lost unless a comprehensive military, economic and diplomatic package is set in motion.

Specifically, he says 3,500 trainers are needed for the Afghan police and the army needs 16 helicopters.

Over the past 18 months, Taliban insurgents have increased their attacks in the south, employing a variety of tactics including roadside and suicide bombings and kidnappings.

Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/12/mil-071214-voa07.htm

Two California men enter guilty pleas on terror charges

14 December 2007: Two of four men indicted in August 2005 for plotting to attack U.S. military facilities, Israeli government facilities and Jewish synagogues in the Los Angeles area pleaded guilty to terrorism charges today. Kevin JAMES, a/k/a Shakyh Shahaab MURSHID and Levar WASHINGTON, a/k/a Abdur RAHMAN appeared before a court in Santa Ana and pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States. Both will be sentenced next year.

In a statement released by Justice Department officials, the third man, Gregory Patterson, a/k/a Bilal, was expected to enter a plea of guilty on Monday to one charge of conspiracy to commit terrorism. The fourth member of the group, Hammad SAMANA, a U.S. resident from Pakistan, was assessed as unfit to stand trial. He is currently receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison, according to the US Attorney's Office.

According to the indictment, JAMES (MURSHID) founded an Islamic terrorist group in 1997 while incarcerated at California State Prison-Sacramento, and recruited other inmates for the organization identified as Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh,, or JIS. In 2004, he recruited Levar WASHINGTON. Upon being released from prison, WASHINGTON began recruiting other co-conspirators to plot terrorist acts and commit armed robberies – the latter to fund purchases of firearms, ammunition and explosives.

Beginning sometime about December 2004, WASHINGTON, PATTERSON and SAMANA targeted and conducted Internet research on and surveillance of U.S. military facilities in the Los Angeles area as part of their plot to kill U.S. military personnel. In July 2005, Patterson and Samana allegedly used computers to research military targets in the Los Angeles area, while Samana drafted a document listing Israeli and U.S. targets in Los Angeles. In addition to the U.S. military targets, the co-conspirators specifically targeted Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area, including the Israeli Consulate, El Al and synagogues. They also allegedly engaged in firearms and physical training, in preparation for attacks.

Source: http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/LAfour121407

Mudslide closes Oregon Highway 30 after dam breaks

A mudslide closed U.S. Highway 30 after a cracked dam broke open above Woodson in Columbia County. Earlier Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Forestry requested that ODOT close the highway because of the potential for a slide in this area at Eilertsen Creek.

Source: http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=47478&TM=24384.42

Work begins on Chain of Rocks levee berms

Work has started on another phase of large berms of sand and dirt designed to improve the Chain of Rocks Canal levee. The goal of the $46.4 million project is to make the levee, owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, capable of withstanding a 500-year flood. When new FEMA maps come out in March, they are expected to show that the Chain of Rocks levee system and four other metro-east levee systems do not meet the new standards for whether a levee is capable of withstanding a 100-year flood. The corps has been adding berms at the Chain of Rocks levee for the past couple of years, and at the current level of federal funding, the work is expected to continue another five years. The project also includes adding relief wells, which allow water to get out from below the levee without causing erosion, and a new water-pumping station. In the current phase of work, an 18-acre berm of sand and dirt is being built along the east side of the Chain of Rocks Canal levee, north of Interstate 270.

Source: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/story/201357.html

Agencies monitor air quality; officials consider evacuations

A fire that broke out about 4:40 p.m. Monday at InterGroup International Ltd., in Champion, Ohio, has caused more than $1 million in damages, according to Champion’s fire chief. The Ohio State fire marshal is investigating the cause of the blaze, which destroyed a 42,000 square-foot storage facility. On Tuesday, smoke was still coming from the facility and Champion’s Fire Department was working with the Trumbull County and Northeast Ohio Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) teams as well as the Ohio and U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies to monitor air quality around the smoke plume. The agencies originally decided to let the fire extinguish itself because it cannot be put out with water due to the high oxygen levels created by the burning plastics. However, a Champion firefighter said Tuesday night that new calculations by the EPA showed the fire could continue burning for three weeks, so a contractor was being brought in to smother the fire instead. On Tuesday evening the fire department began warning residents they may have to evacuate if conditions did not improve.

Source: http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=25809

Young, poor prefer cell phones

More than one in eight households have cell phones but lack traditional, landline telephones, according to a federal study released Monday that tracks the country’s growing dependence on wireless phones. The data, reported twice a year, suggested that the number of households relying solely on cell phones may be growing more slowly than it had in the past. But the researchers said the slowdown might be due to changes in their survey, including altering the order of some questions and some of the wording. The growth of families reachable only by cell phone has been of special interest to the telephone industry, providers of 911 emergency services, and public and private polling organizations. The federal data showed once again that young, poor, male, and Hispanic people are likelier to have only wireless telephone service.

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gdmC4QL0gqIxS2sopb2IU9Y0DBgQD8TEODH00

Ohio gets the message on data breaches

After announcing in September that a computer tape containing information on approximately 85,000 current and former state employees and another 47,000 tax payers had been stolen from a car, the State of Ohio has signed a contract with McAfee for 60,000 licenses of its Safe Boot encryption program. The Ohio breach occurred when a back-up computer tape was stolen out of a car that belonged to an employee of the state. That employee, an intern, was specifically tasked with transporting the tape, which contained names, Social Security numbers, and other identifying information on 64,467 state employees, 19,388 former employees, and another 47,245 tax payers. It was completely unencrypted, meaning the data would be easily accessible. The tape’s loss is expected to cost the state around $3 million in direct costs. The state will start using the new software early next year.

Source: http://www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=941&Itemid=138