White House mum on alleged coverts ops in Iran
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House declined to comment Monday on a news report that US lawmakers last year approved 400 million dollars to ramp up covert operations in Iran to undermine Tehran’s leadership.

White House grants Army request for more brass
WASHINGTON - The White House has done an about-face and given the Army permission to add five new generals who would oversee purchasing and monitor contractor performance.

New Iraq report: 15 of 18 benchmarks satisfactory
WASHINGTON - No matter who is elected president in November, his foreign policy team will have to deal with one of the most frustrating realities in Iraq: the slow pace with which the government in Baghdad operates.

Bush may send more troops to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is weighing whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Bush said it has been a “tough month” in Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops died during the past two months than in Iraq.

Air Force Finds Lax Nuclear Security
Most overseas storage sites for U.S. nuclear weapons, particularly in Europe, need substantial improvements in physical security measures and the personnel who guard the weapons, according to a newly available Air Force report. The Blue Ribbon review of nuclear security was conducted after it was discovered that a B-52 bomber had flown across the United States, from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, with neither the pilots nor ground crews aware that six cruise missiles under one wing held real nuclear warheads.

Chemical weapons’ transport plan draws fire
The Pentagon is considering a plan to ship deadly chemical weapons to military sites in four states to accelerate the destruction of the munitions, a new report to Congress says. The idea of transporting such lethal agents along routes such as from Colorado to Oregon is prompting opposition from Congress and watchdog groups. They say the plan exposes the American public to unnecessary risks as the U.S. government is concerned about terrorist attacks.

China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo
WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.” What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners. The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Center for medical intelligence expanding
FREDERICK, Md. - A military intelligence unit that had tracked medical threats to troops worldwide is expanding its mission to include civilians at home.

US identifies ‘aliases’ of blacklisted groups
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Wednesday accused two blacklisted Pakistan-based groups of operating under “new aliases” to try to skirt financial sanctions.

US contradicts itself over its own ID theft advice
WASHINGTON - When it comes to the risks of identity theft, the U.S. government isn’t taking its own advice. The nation’s Medicare agency and the Pentagon compel at least 52 million Americans to carry their Social Security numbers in their wallets, contrary to warnings by the Federal Trade Commission that people should avoid doing so.

US senator prepared to push Indian nuclear deal in Congress
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior US senator said he would push Congress to adopt a civilian nuclear deal with India if New Delhi was keen to pursue it as reported. “If these reports are in fact true, and I hope they are, I am committed to work hard in order to get Congress to approve such a deal — as long as the required steps are taken and if the agreement with the United States meets the requirements of US law,” said Democratic Senator Joseph Biden.

New proposed mileage standards draw critics on both sides
WASHINGTON — Automakers charged Tuesday that proposed new mileage standards are too tough while consumer groups complained that they’re too lenient.

Democrats in Congress mull new economic stimulus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress are gearing up to pass a second election-year economic stimulus package, but unlike the $152 billion measure that passed in February, they are not counting on getting the support of President George W. Bush.

Watchdog group files ethics charge against Coleman
WASHINGTON - A watchdog group asked the Senate ethics investigators on Tuesday to look into whether Sen. Norm Coleman’s living arrangement on Capitol Hill violates the rules.

Dueling ads pressure Congress on Medicare
WASHINGTON - Two powerful health trade groups will begin airing dueling ads this week in their fight over Medicare, hoping to influence Congress as lawmakers face pressure to reverse scheduled cuts in doctor fees.

CACI Denies Use of Torture in Iraq
CACI International, an Arlington-based provider of interrogators to the U.S. military in Iraq, said it “rejects and denies” allegations from four Iraqi men who said they were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison. Similar lawsuits filed in the past four years await trial. The four men say contractors hired by CACI and L-3 Communications Holdings beat and humiliated prisoners.