Letter Never Sent

Indian detainee alleges US torture

What next? Attention immediately focused on Iraq. There are three reasons to attack Iraq:

1. Saddam Hussein is unpredictable and potentially a powerful ally for al Qaeda. Whatever the relationship in the past, the threat of a relationship in the future requires the elimination of Iraq’s regime.

2. All wars have a psychological component. There is a real perception within the Islamic world today that the United States is incapable of fighting a war to a definitive conclusion. The United States must demonstrate both its will and ability. Iraq serves the purpose well.

3. Iraq is an extraordinarily strategic country. It touches Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. An occupied Iraq would give U.S. forces the ability to wage covert and overt war throughout the region, setting the stage for the direct engagement and liquidation of al Qaeda, with or without the cooperation of regional governments.

I, for one, would still refuse to go. Maybe that’s the point, but I’m still not sure I like it.
Rangel calls for mandatory military service:

In October, he voted against a joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq. It passed 296-133 in the House and 77-23 in the Senate.

“When you talk about a war, you’re talking about ground troops, you’re talking about enlisted people, and they don’t come from the kids and members of Congress,” he said.

“I think, if we went home and found out that there were families concerned about their kids going off to war, there would be more cautiousness and a more willingness to work with the international community than to say, ‘Our way or the highway.'”

Massive US buildup continues, inspectors find no arms

Kinda cool. Not cool that people died, but cool that people inside a corrupt government can betray it. It’s hopeful.

Guardian:

Russian security services yesterday began an urgent investigation into their forces in Chechnya, after it was revealed that the truck driven by three suicide bombers into the government building in the capital, Grozny, killing at least 57 people, bore Russian military plates.
As rescuers were still combing the wreckage for survivors, Chechen government sources said both vehicles that ploughed through the gates of the most tightly guarded building in the country had passed through three military checkpoints on their way to Grozny.

The vehicles, the heavier of which bore Russian military plates and caused the greatest number of casualties by speeding a ton of TNT into the canteen during the lunch hour, had been driven from the Nadterechny district in northern Chechnya and passed unimpeded to Grozny.

December 12, 2002; In 1999, a Russian firm, AviaConversia offered for sale four different models of GPS jammers (for about $4000 each). This gear only puts out 4-8 watts, making them very tough to find and bomb. And the jammers can effectively block GPS signals out to 150-200 kilometers, depending on terrain. The jammer can run off batteries and weighs between 18 and 26 pounds (without batteries). When operating, the jammers consume less than 25 watts of power. Since AviaConversia announced their product, plans for building your own (from off the shelf components) have appeared on the Internet. Apparently, the parts can be obtained for less than a hundred dollars. Soldering skills required. Already assembled units are also available on the Internet for as low as $40. AviaConversia has since apparently disappeared. AviaConversia made much of its connections with the Russian armed forces and the implied assurance that its jammer worked. There have been no reports of the cheap jammers on the Internet being used, or to what effect. U.S. military experiments found that the cheap jammers were not that effective, and larger ones, built from off the shelf components, and costing nearly $10,000. For the last few years, the Department of Defense has been building and testing GPS Jammer detectors, and building homing systems sensitive to go after them. Other nations, such as Australia, have also been working on ways to defeat jammers. One method already available is to change the GPS frequency. But someone with access to the GPS satellites has to do this.