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Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz sent a letter Wednesday to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., rebuffing the lawmaker's attempt "to gather records from two top department officials related to the Air Force's multibillion dollar plan" to lease 100 Boeing 767 commercial jets "for use as aerial refueling aircraft," CongressDailyAM reports. (Subscription Required) # Meanwhile, McCain sent a letter Wednesday to Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolton citing "new cost estimates that 'called into question' whether the deal conforms to federal laws governing such leases," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday left open the possibility that Turkey's offer to deploy thousands of troops to Iraq a move seen just weeks ago as a critical breakthrough for U.S. diplomacy could be dropped because of Iraqi opposition.</p>

Congress is rushing to beat the Nov. 1 deadline to renew the tax ban on Internet access as a variety of interested parties with tax axes to grind are jumping on the debate. Jumping into the fray are cash-strapped local and state governments who fear the renewed legislation could drain tax dollars away while others ranging from VoIP companies to broadband suppliers have their own vested interests. The bipartisan legislation in the Senate is sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and George Allen (R-Va.) and would permit a small group of states grandfathered on the issue to collect Internet access...

Rice rebukes general over anti-Islam talk The White House is irked by the remarks of the officer, who likened the war against Muslim militants to a battle with Satan WASHINGTON - A top White House aide, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, has effectively rebuked a senior Pentagon officer for comments viewed as demeaning to Islam and Muslims. The remarks included a comparison of the war against Islamic militants to a battle with Satan. 'The President's views on this are absolutely clear,' Ms Rice said on ABC television on Sunday. 'This is not a war between religions. No one should describe...

Final Titan II launches from Vandenberg by Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danét 30th Space Wing Public Affairs 10/20/2003 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The Air Force's 13th and final Titan II rocket launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload from here Oct. 18 at 9:17 a.m. The launch took place following two recent delays. The mission was delayed Oct. 15 when an air-conditioning duct became detached from the booster's payload fairing. The fairing surrounds the satellite atop the rocket. The duct is required to maintain environmental conditions for the satellite before launch. It was delayed again Oct. 16...

History is on Boykin's side. All throughout American military history, from before the Civil War until now, it is replete with illustrations of great military commanders verbalizing their spirituality. Gen. MacArthur and Gen. Patton and multiple others called on God, prayed to God, gave God praise and glory for victories and called upon God to defeat their enemies. Not a single one of those military leaders ever was belittled, harassed or chastised for speaking out about their spirituality. --30--

In 1950, .. Dr. Howell, who participated in early scientific research into cloud seeding set up shop at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn using a police airplane to sprinkle silver iodide crystals into clouds over the Catskill watershed. Rains came and the reservoirs began to rise. ... Just last week, the National research Council issued a report on a two-year $1.1 million cloud seeding effort in Colorado.

This year, we have an opportunity to save Colorado's water. Water - the lack of it, the fights over it, the need for it - has defined the American West. Throughout the centuries, the value of water hasn't been really appreciated until it's scarce. Last year, nature challenged us with the worst drought in centuries. Some may have forgotten how tough this drought is on the people and the economy of Colorado. I haven't. Last summer, many ranchers sold off their herds early, at a devastating financial loss. The nation saw the plight of our farmers, whose crops withered and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drought will linger in the western United States this winter, but it is unclear whether the rest of the nation will face warmer, colder or normal winter weather, government forecasters said on Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its winter forecast that temperatures in the far West, Southwest, Southern Plains and Alaska will be above normal. Winter temperatures in the rest of the United States have an equal chance of being above, below or near normal according to current data, the agency said. "Without a strong El Nino or La Nina as a guide,...

Scottish scientist had floated similar theory in 1794 but few noticed Charles Darwin's landmark theory of evolution, described in The Origin of Species in 1859, was anticipated 65 years earlier by a scientist living and working in Edinburgh, newly published research says. Unfortunately, prescient geologist James Hutton wrote in a nearly impenetrable literary style and buried what would later turn out to be revolutionary concepts in a 10-page chapter in a 2,250-page book. Mr. Hutton has been called the "founder of modern geology" because he was the first to say geological records showed that the earth was millions and not...

Father, Son Accused Of Exporting Weapons To Iraqi Government SAN DIEGO -- A father and son from San Diego are being charged with brokering a deal to illegally provide Iraq with armored patrol boats shortly before the U.S.-led war began. The arrests are the first by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents charged with tracing Saddam Hussein's sources for weapons. Authorities said Sabri Yakou was arrested at Reagan National Airport near Washington Tuesday. He appeared before a federal magistrate Wednesday on charges of violating U.S. arms-control laws. Regard Yakou -- a naturalized U.S. citizen -- was arrested Saturday in Baghdad....

Much ballyhooed Future Combat System could lose ground in the push toward digitization servicewide Trading armor for knowledge: Can the Army do it? Long before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks launched the war on terrorism — in fact, even before the first war against Iraq — Army officials were pondering transformation. In many ways, transformation and modernization are not new issues for U.S. military forces. Yet in recent years, the effort has taken on a new sense of urgency because of fundamental global changes brought about by the end of the Cold War, which has necessitated that the armed...

<p>Korea envoy needed Former Secretary of State George Shultz said the Bush administration should appoint a high-ranking special envoy for North Korea.</p> <p>In an interview at his office at the Hoover Institution, Mr. Shultz said the nuclear crisis with Pyongyang, which a year ago revealed a covert uranium-enrichment program for arms, needs a specialist to address the problem. He said it would be similar to what former Defense Secretary William Perry did for the Clinton administration after leaving the Pentagon.</p>

SunnComm won't sue grad student Last modified: October 10, 2003, 2:16 PM PDT By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com update In an abrupt reversal, SunnComm Technologies said Friday that it will not sue a Princeton University graduate student who published a paper that describes how to bypass CD copy-protection technology simply by pressing the Shift key. SunnComm had angrily assailed Princeton doctoral student John "Alex" Halderman just a day before, claiming that his academic paper was "at best, duplicitous and, at worst, a felony." The company had pledged to file a civil suit against Halderman under the Digital Millennium...

<p>Washington -- Congress is wading into the public power struggle between Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice over control of the Iraq reconstruction program.</p> <p>The House Appropriations Committee has sided with Rumsfeld in the bureaucratic spat that broke into the open last week when President Bush awarded Rice oversight responsibility for the multibillion-dollar reconstruction program in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>

Army Chief Pushes Smaller Units USA TODAY October 10, 2003 WASHINGTON - Amid concern that the Army is too small to fight the war on terrorism, its top general is launching an experiment aimed at increasing combat power without adding troops. Gen. Pete Schoomaker, who returned from retirement this summer to take command of the nation's largest military service, says he will create more units in some divisions by putting fewer soldiers in each unit. For instance, he will reorganize the 3rd Infantry Division, which has three combat brigades, into five brigades. A division, usually 15,000 to 20,000 troops, is...

WASHINGTON - The 2004 defense appropriations bill that passed Congress on Thursday includes more than $500 million in Wichita-related projects. Wichita-area programs include: $280.6 million for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System, also known as JPATS, for the Air Force. Raytheon makes the JPATS, which is used for pilot training. $19.5 million for Navy JPATS. $31 million for four new UC-35 Marine Corps aircraft, which are made at Cessna. $8.5 million to buy additional aircraft from Cessna for modernization of the Civil Air Patrol. $4.9 million for Aircrew Survival Radio Test Sets for the Air Force's survival radios. The sets,...

Elusive report Ever since The Washington Times disclosed a secret Pentagon "lessons learned" report Sept. 3, House Democrats have tried to get a copy. But they keep being blocked by the Defense Department and the Republicans. ... One part of the report says, "Late formation of DoD [Phase 4] organizations, limited time available for the development of detailed plans and pre-deployment coordination. Command relationships (and communication requirements) and responsibilities were not clearly defined for DoD organizations until shortly before [the war] commenced." ... The Pentagon initially responded to The Times story by saying the report reflected the military's tradition of...

Basic missile defense planned for deadline 09/28/03 KENT FAULK News staff writer HUNTSVILLE - The quest to shoot down ballistic missiles began Sept. 8, 1944. That was the day the first German long-range V-2 missiles fell on Paris and London during World War II. Since then, the United States has spent billions of dollars looking for ways to bring down enemy missiles, but a shield to protect all 50 states has been elusive. The only defense is still a prayer and a deep bomb shelter. That may be about to change. Facing a presidential deadline, the military plans just about...

With half the Army's combat power tied up in Iraq, pressure from Capitol Hill is growing on the Bush administration and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to increase the size of the nation's largest military service by as much as two active duty divisions, or about 40,000 troops. ... Gen. John M. Keane, the Army's soon-to-retire vice chief of staff, told the House Armed Services Committee last week at a hearing that the service had never asked Rumsfeld for an increase in force size despite support for such a move on the committee. Army leaders, he said, feared the money...