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SU-34 (SU-27IB) FLANKER FIGHTER BOMBER AIRCRAFT, RUSSIA The Su-34 (also known as Su-27IB) fighter bomber has been developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau Joint Stock Company in Moscow and the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association at Novosibirsk in Russia. First deliveries of the fighter bomber are expected to begin in 2006 and it is planned as a replacement for Tu-23M and Su-24 aircraft. Su-34 is one of a number of Russian aircraft (Su-27, Su-30, Su-33 and Su-35) which have been given the NATO codename Flanker. The Su-34 fighter bomber is a derivative of the Su-27 fighter aircraft. The aircraft design retains...

Now that military operations in Iraq have come to an end, assessments will be rolling in from every direction of the political compass. We'll be seeing a fair amount of Monday-morning quarterbacking, particularly from the gloom-and-doom armchair generals. (They're so popular, that phrase is now part of the lexicon) There will be the occasional shocked and awed apology from a pundit or two. As far as the anti-Bush movement is concerned, where you'll find the bitterest of anti-war demagogues, mutterings about how things will get worse and could have been better will pollute the airwaves. But this Second Gulf War...

Reducing troops in Iraq would be 'a disaster,' McCaffrey says By Eric Rosenberg Hearst Newspapers Monday, May 5, 2003 WASHINGTON — A force of about 100,000 American troops will be needed to police Iraq for the next five years in order to bring stability and a democratic-style government to the country, a former U.S. commander in the first Persian Gulf War said Monday. Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who commanded the 24th Mechanized Division that helped expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, said a smaller occupation force could undermine the swift U.S.-led victory that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. There...

<p>There is more shock than awe among Iraqis these days. Social disarray and increasing anti-Americanism (or "anti-occupationism") in Iraq have confused and dismayed the Bush administration as well as the American public. This is certainly not what we expected when we "won" this war.</p>

MEXICO CITY -- Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday the United States needs to involve more countries in rebuilding Iraq and that the United Nations should not be weakened in the process. Clinton spoke at a political conference in Mexico City, where he also met with President Vicente Fox at the presidential residence. "What's done is done," Clinton said, referring to the war in Iraq. "We cannot let this be a precedent for weakening the U.N.," he said. "We have to have honest inspections for chemical and biological weapons, and we need to have a sensible attempt to involve the...

Monday, April 28, 2003 Andy Rooney Has War Guilt Andy Rooney says he was wrong about his views on going to war with Iraq - sort of, that is. "I felt chastened," the cranky "60 Minutes" commentator told the Associated Press. "I had to think that I was a little wrong. There's no question that it's better without him in there, without Saddam Hussein." "A little wrong"? Earlier this month he was less wishy-washy about President Bush's decision to launch Operation Iraqi Freedom. He said April 10, "And I must say that fortunately he's president and I'm not." In reciting...

Rooney Draws Ire With Anti-War Statements Fri Apr 25 By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer NEW YORK - Andy Rooney, who covered World War II and was one of television's few voices to strongly oppose the war in Iraq (news - web sites), says he's chastened by the quick fall of Baghdad but doesn't regret his "60 Minutes" commentaries. AP Photo Rooney said Thursday he received thousand of letters in response to his anti-war statements. "I'm in a position of feeling secure enough so that I can say what I think is right and if so many people think it's...

Jack Kemp is on Hannity and Colmes critizing Newt Gingrich for criticizing Colin Powell. Jack claims that Newt's statement plays into the hands of Daschle. Jack thinks that Newt's opinion was poorly timed. Newt thinks that we should have been tougher with our diplomacy, and I see nothing wrong with that.

General Chides Critics of 'Easy' War NewsMax.com Wires Wednesday, April 23, 2003 WASHINGTON – Don't tell the commander of U.S. ground forces in Baghdad that Operation Iraqi Freedom was an "easy" success. "I get very upset when I hear anybody say that this was so easy. There are 600-plus Americans who are dead or wounded in the course of this conflict, and it wasn't easy for them," Army Lt. Gen. David McKiernan said today in a video-teleconference at the Pentagon. "I don't think you'll find anybody that says it was an easy fight. So if I sound a little emotional,...

Although Canada never looms large on the U.S. radar screen, President Bush lately seems to be waking up each morning and asking himself a question: What can I do today to screw over Jean Chretien? The U.S. president has never warmed to a Canadian prime minister who: a) made clear his preference for Al Gore in the 2000 election; b) golfs regularly with Bill Clinton; and c) refused to make his country part of the "coalition" fighting Gulf War II. In the past few weeks, the Bush administration has seemingly worked overtime in the kitchen to dish up revenge in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. lawmaker said on Sunday the United States had underestimated the first phase of what he envisaged could be a four to five-year effort to rebuild Iraq after American-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. The United States had not planned the post-war transition as carefully as the military campaign that removed Saddam from power, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They started very late," Lugar said of U.S. efforts to restore political stability to Iraq. The power vacuum left by the end of Saddam's rule...

LAST week in Key West, Florida, I witnessed an extraordinary event: a group of thirty-something Americans, while enjoying a meal in a restaurant, raised their Margaritas and Daiquiris and proposed a toast to Tony Blair. In the past, the average American, if challenged, could not supply the name of the British Prime Minister. Now, Blair is a hero, and a good many Americans would gladly trade him for Bush. While Blair is often derided in Britain for being Bush’s poodle, in America it’s a different story. Over there he’s widely admired for his defence of the UN, a heroic, if...

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been unhappy with the criticism of their war effort by former military men appearing on television. So am I, but for a different reason. The top people at the Pentagon are wondering why these ex-military talkers can't follow the company line on how well the war has been fought. I'm wondering why these spokesmen for militarism are on TV in the first place. Here's a list: Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor, Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Maj....

By Ed Offley Now that the U.S. Central Command has formally announced that combat operations are over in Iraq, it’s time to assess the campaign and cite the outstanding, if not other-worldly, performance of key players. Not the military campaign: We know how that went. It went like a hot bayonet through butter. After deploying over 250,000 American and British military forces in the Persian Gulf region, the U.S. Central Command on March 19, 2003, simultaneously launched a ground invasion and precision air strikes aimed at isolating and neutralizing Iraqi command authorities. Less visible, special operations forces roamed from the...