Free Republic

Climate Change: As scientists confirm the earth has not warmed at all in the past decade, others wonder how this could be and what it means for Copenhagen. Maybe Al Gore can Photoshop something before December. It will be a very cold winter of discontent for the warm-mongers. The climate show-and-tell in Copenhagen next month will be nothing more than a meaningless carbon-emitting jaunt, unable to decide just whom to blame or how to divvy up the profitable spoils of climate change hysteria. The collapse of the talks coupled with the decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put...

While on the board of a Chicago-based charity, Barack Obama helped fund a carbon trading exchange that will likely play a critical role in the cap-and-trade carbon reduction program he is now trying to push through Congress as president. In 2000 and 2001, while Barack Obama served as a board member for a Chicago-based charitable foundation, he helped to fund a pioneering carbon trading exchange that is likely to fill a critical role in the controversial cap-and-trade carbon reduction scheme that President Obama is now trying to push rapidly through Congress. During those two years, the Joyce Foundation gave nearly...

"Venezuela's Central Bank announced on Tuesday that the country's economy fell into a recession in the third quarter, with the gross domestic product (GDP) tumbling 4.5% from the same period last year. But not to worry. Venezuela's genius dictator, Lieut. Col. Hugo Chávez Frías, got the country out of the recession in just one day!..."

British forces will pull out of Germany for good, nearly 70 years after the Allied victory in World War Two, as part of a Tory defence "revolution". The Shadow Defence Secretary told The Daily Telegraph that ending Britain’s 25,000 strong military presence on the Rhine would be part of a fundamental reorganisation of Nato forces designed to free troops for military operations outside Europe. The decision would close one of the unfinished chapters of the last war that saw the British military go from occupying force in the ruins of Nazi Germany in 1945 to guarantor of German security against...

A UKIP petition demanding a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU has been launched in the biggest-ever call to arms on the right to have a say over Europe. People will be given the chance to sign up to the petition online, by post or in the street at UKIP stalls run by party supporters. UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said: "This is a real chance for the people of Great Britain to show whoever forms the next Government that they are sick of being lied to and that they want a say over our continuing membership of the European...

THE RAAF's plan to acquire up to 100 F-35 joint strike fighters faces a further delay until next year as budget pressures continue to bear down on the Rudd government. In a long-awaited decision, cabinet's national security committee was due to sign off on the $16 billion purchase before Christmas. But defence budget pressures and Defence Department concerns about Australia becoming the lead foreign customer for the initial production models of the F-35 fighter are expected to force a postponement until the new year of a government green light for the acquisition. The expected delay in the NSC's consideration of...

KIRKUK — The use of non-governmental organizations to champion social issues is often a successful method of combating social and cultural woes. Some examples include anti-smoking and –litter campaigns in the United States. While the government of Kirkuk continues to develop, private citizens are encouraged to take on social challenges. The role of women in Iraq, and their contributions to Kirkuk, was the subject of a conference Nov. 19 at the Kirkuk Government Building. Non-Governmental Organizations representing women's issues attended the conference, which included groups who addressed issues ranging from illiteracy, domestic violence, small business development and civil rights awareness....

Iraqi veterinarians inspect recently-acquired medical supplies at the Kirkuk Agricultural Department, Nov. 17. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, distributed the medical supplies, including antibiotics and vaccinations, to Iraqi veterinarians from around Kirkuk province. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — In an effort to improve veterinary services and increase agricultural production, U.S. Soldiers distributed medical supplies to Iraqi veterinarians here, Nov. 17. Agriculture, agribusiness and related industries comprise the majority of the economic activity in this province, according to the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team. Northern Iraq relies heavily on the success of its...

Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Schmidt, Air Component Coordination Element airspace planner, observes while Iraq Civil Aviation Authority members discuss the new Iraqi airway structure, Nov. 18. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Johnny Saldivar, U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team. BAGHDAD — The Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) opened several new north to south routes within Iraqi air space, Nov. 18. In addition to the ICAA, members of the U.S. Air Force Air Component Coordination Element (ACCE), Washington Consulting Group (WCG) and various other agencies played a crucial role in opening these airways.According to Ali Khlil Ibrahim, Iraqi director...

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Nov. 20, 2009 – Afghanistan was among the issues that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay discussed during a bilateral meeting here today. In a speech to the Halifax International Security Forum here, Gates recognized the contributions and sacrifices that Canadian servicemembers have made in that country. “In Afghanistan, the Canadian military has more than distinguished itself in battle in some of the most dangerous parts of the country,” Gates said. Canada has more than 2,800 troops in the ground in Afghanistan, serving in Regional Command South, where Canadian generals have commanded...

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — A Missouri National Guardsman in training to become a military truck driver faces charges of making a terrorist threat in a school near Whiteman Air Force Base. According to court records, the trainee, Pfc. Michael John Frederick, 19, went into a Sedalia high school during a Saturday evening event and told the superintendent that the Army had told him to warn area schools that escaped prisoners might be trying to kidnap students. Frederick was wearing his military uniform when he made his warning about escaped inmates. However, there were no escaped inmates...

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Nov. 20, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay met here today to discuss bilateral, hemispheric issues, but reporters’ questions afterward were all about Afghanistan. In their meeting, MacKay and Gates discussed building a maritime surveillance capability, defense issues in the Arctic and security cooperation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. But Afghanistan was in the background of all discussions. In his second-term inaugural address yesterday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that he wants to assume security control in his country by 2014, and Gates was asked if...

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday. The pair, a man and a woman who have diplomatic status in Russia, were stopped by Swedish customs officers Wednesday morning as they drove off a ferry from Helsinki, the Finnish capital. Customs officials discovered Russian cigarettes in the car driven by the couple, Swedish Customs spokeswoman Monica Magnusson told Reuters. The two North Koreans claimed diplomatic immunity. "They were accredited as diplomats in Russia, but had no accreditation in Sweden," she said....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested five suspected members of the al-Qaida in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist groups today during three combined security operations conducted with U.S. advisors in the Iraqi cities of Ramadi, Tikrit and Kirkuk, military officials reported. Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched two buildings in Ramadi for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leader believed to be responsible for multiple vehicle-borne bomb attacks in the region. After questioning those in the buildings and examining evidence found at the scene, Iraqi forces arrested two suspected al-Qaida in Iraq associates. In Tikrit,...

KABUL, Nov. 20, 2009 – Afghan and international forces in Afghanistan killed an enemy militant and detained several terrorism suspects today, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-international security force killed an enemy militant in Takhar province while pursuing a facilitator for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan terrorist organization who is responsible for financing militant activities and transporting foreign fighters into the region. The force searched a compound in the rural Bangi district east of Kunduz City. During the search, the enemy militant displayed hostile intent and was killed. The search was completed without further incident. There has been an increased...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009 – Based on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine last month, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki has directed broader health coverage from his department for Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. Research found that three illnesses – B cell leukemias, Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease -- possibly are associated with Agent Orange exposure. Those conditions join a list of related diseases for which Vietnam War veterans already receive compensation, such as prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, soft-tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma. "Since my confirmation as secretary,...

The response on this book tour has been overwhelming. We are truly humbled, and I thank you. I've been told that yesterday there were supporters in Noblesville who stood in long lines for hours in the cold and rain, and the book signing event ended without a chance to say hello to everyone who showed up. I am so sorry. We are working on a solution for those who were left behind. I apologize. - Sarah Palin

PAKTIA PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Nov. 20, 2009 – Afghan National Army soldiers got their first Humvee egress assistance training at Forward Operating Base Thunder here Nov. 16. An Afghan soldier exits a Humvee during egress training at Forward Operating Base Thunder, Afghanistan, Nov. 16, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Evelyn Chavez  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The training is a newly added supplement to recent training offered to Afghanistan’s 203rd Corps soldiers that teaches students hand and arm signals, basic driving principles and road rules. “This was good training for us,” one Afghan soldier said. “The teachers...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009 – Though the National Guard has a role in reconstruction missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s a temporary one, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told an audience at the Joint Senior Leadership Conference at the National Harbor yesterday. Left to right: Army Col. Eric Grimm, commander of the California Army National Guard's 40th Infantry Division agribusiness development team; Pedro Torres, a U.S. Agriculture Department representative; Army Sgt. Jeff Johanson, team leader for the agribusiness team; and Ted Wittenberger, U.S. Agency for International Development senior civilian representative, speak with Gulrahaman, chief of police, in Asmar, Afghanistan, Nov....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2009 – Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millett, who earned the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading what reportedly was the last major American bayonet charge, died Nov 14. Retired Army Col. Lewis L. Millet wears his Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and other medals earned in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He served as honorary colonel of the 27th Infantry Regiment Association, and was active in veterans events almost to his death Nov. 14, 2009. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Millett, 88, died in Loma...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 20, 2009 – A Basra, Iraq, native brings 50 years of experience as an architect, a master’s degree and a resume that reads like a travel guide ranging across Europe and the Middle East and even Japan to his job as leader of the Iraqi facilities engineering team here. A worker at the Anzio logistics site on Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, bends rebar to be used in the placement of housing trailers for U.S. troops Nov. 14, 2009. The work at the site is being overseen and planned by an Iraqi facilities engineering...

On 20 November 2009, emails and other documents, apparently originating from with the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. If real, these emails contain some quite surprising and even disappointing insights into what has been happening within the climate change scientific establishment. Worryingly this same group of scientists are very influential in terms of economic and social policy formation around the subject of climate change.As these emails are already in the public domain, I think it is important that people are able to look through them and judge for themselves. Until I am told otherwise I...

GLOBAL WARMING JUNK SCIENCE PROVEN A CONSPIRACY—- ManBearPig Is Finally Dead! I’m serial! Recently “discovered” classified emails and files prove that the junk scientists behind the global warming movement knowingly perpetrated a fraud on the global community. The files were posted on the internet– HERE. The Telegraph reported: If you own any shares in alternative energy companies I should start dumping them NOW. The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW; aka ManBearPig) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (aka...

US Legislators want new tax to pay for war in Afghanistan By Andrew Moran. Nov 20, 2009 Appropriations Committee Chairman Wisconsin Congressman Dave Obey, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee John Murtha of Pennsylvania and Connecticut Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larsen issued a statement on Thursday proposing a new tax, “Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010,” that would directly pay for the war in Afghanistan, according to AFP. The trio believes the new tax would pay for the wars without deficit spending. (snip) If this bill would be passed then it would affect anyone who makes an annual salary as little as $22,000...

A trio of Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would impose a surtax to pay for the war in Afghanistan. Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Dave Obey (Wis.), Defense Appropriations Subcommittee John Murtha (Pa.), and Democratic Caucus chairman John Larsen (Conn.) say that the bill woild end the practice of paying for the war with deficit spending. "Regardless of whether one favors the war or not, if it is to be fought, it ought to be paid for," the lawmakers said in a statement. "Now the president is being asked to consider an enlarged counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan, which proponents...

The Obama Justice Department is having problems prosecuting terrorist cases because top department attorneys have conflicts of interest. According to documents obtained exclusively by The Washington Times, Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, No. 3 official in the Justice Department, had to recuse himself on at least 13 active detainee cases and at least 26 cases listed as either closed or mooted....

The West is "disappointed" over Iran's failure to respond positively to a UN-brokered nuclear deal, diplomats said in a statement Friday following a meeting of the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany. However, no new sanctions were discussed during the meeting, according to an EU source. "We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement ... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations," the statement said, noting that Teheran had not responded positively to the proposal of the International Atomic Energy Agency. An EU official said there was no mention of imposing further...

GENEVA (AFP) – The world's biggest atom-smasher, shut down after its inauguration in September 2008 amid technical faults, restarted on Friday, a spokesman for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said. "The first tests of injecting sub-atomic particles began around 1600 (1500 GMT)," CERN spokesman James Gillies told AFP. He said the injections lasted a fraction of a second, enough for "a half or even a complete circuit" of the Large Hadron Collider built in a 27-kilometre (17-mile) long tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. "If all goes well tonight we will try to circulate a beam of particles...

It's official: the organisers of the Copenhagen climate conference conceded last weekend that it cannot deliver a final, legally binding deal. Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the conference host, is hoping for a "political deal", followed by a legal one in 2010. The question now is how specific the political deal will be. Speaking at a meeting of Asian leaders in Singapore, Rasmussen said the Copenhagen agreement should be "precise on specific commitments and binding on countries committing to reach certain targets. We need the commitments. We need the figures. We need the action." His climate minister, Connie...

Forecasts of climate change are about to go seriously out of kilter. One of the world's top climate modellers said Thursday we could be about to enter one or even two decades during which temperatures cool. "People will say this is global warming disappearing," he told more than 1500 of the world's top climate scientists gathering in Geneva at the UN's World Climate Conference. "I am not one of the sceptics," insisted Mojib Latif of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University, Germany. "However, we have to ask the nasty questions ourselves or other people will do...

Prez. Incapable of making rational decisions Frolicking in the Quicksand: How the Obama Administration Keeps Making Huge Mistakes in the Middle East By Barry Rubin thelastcrusade.org Of course, the Obama Administration has its defenders. They either ignore criticism of the Administration’s foreign policy or claim it is all partisan and ideological. And yet the truth is that if you watch the government's policy on a daily basis it is truly remarkable how many dumb, avoidable mistakes are made.I won’t supply a long list here but instead will talk about the latest one. Let’s take it step by step to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi, a skeptic on sending more troops to Afghanistan, also said in an interview with National Public Radio aired on Friday that there was not strong support among her fellow Democrats in Congress for "any big ramp-up of troops" to oppose resurgent Taliban forces. She told NPR she had asked fellow Democrats to give President Barack Obama room to decide his Afghan strategy, which is expected to...

Detainees at a camp in Baghdad, Iraq have found a way to get under the skin of guard troops from Wisconsin. And it has to do with football and a painful chapter for some Green Bay Packers fans who consider Brett Favre a traitor for joining the rival Minnesota Vikings. First Lieutenant Tim Boehnen of New Richmond says the detainees are familiar with Favre and picked up on the troops' discussion about the quarterback's performance with the Vikings. Lt. Col. Tim Donovan says the detainees at Camp Cropper needle the guards about Favre's success as a Viking.

BEIJING – Washington's ambassador to Beijing hit out Friday at negative U.S. media coverage of President Barack Obama's visit to China, saying it failed to take into account important progress on many issues. Although producing no breakthroughs on key issues, Obama's first state visit to the Asian giant that ended Wednesday was heralded by both sides as a success. The trip was the top news story in China, drawing strong interest from the Chinese public who, surveys suggest, are largely positive in their view of the American president.

Senator John Kerry described international terrorism as “primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation,’’ and urged voters to think of deadly jihadist violence as merely “a nuisance’’ that we need “to reduce’’ - akin, he said, to gambling or prostitution. Kerry lost that election, and the Bush administration’s very different approach - treating terrorist attacks as acts of war, not criminal violations - continued for four more years. Pre-empting terror in advance, not prosecuting it after the fact, remained the overriding priority. Counterterrorism efforts under George W. Bush were aggressive and they drew much criticism. But whatever else might be...

More than 50 oil tankers are anchored off Britain - pieces in a game in which the only winners are market speculators. The losers are the millions of British motorists paying over the odds for their petrol and diesel. After yesterday's report in the Daily Mail on how several so-called 'oil shark' tankers were moored near the Devon coast, dozens more vessels were revealed to be loitering off-shore. Some are carrying aircraft fuel or fuel for homes. Others are empty, waiting to be restocked before setting off around the globe. But according to industry experts, a significant number are 'oil...

Two-thirds of Americans expect an Islamic suicide bomb attack on American soil within six months, according to a new poll that also shows Republicans are significantly more concerned than Democrats. Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies said one of the most shocking findings of his recent polling on the subject was that 65 percent are expecting an attack within six months. "Some of the communication between Fort Hood shooter Hasan and al-Qaida figures included discussion of such attacks inside the United States, and it has been a common form of violence in the Middle East for years," he said. "Now, Americans...

There's big news for climate change students. A hacker has gotten into the computers at Hadley CRU, Britain's largest climate research institute and a proponent of global warming, and seems to have uncovered evidence of substantial fraud in reporting the "evidence" on global warming; the unlawful destruction of records to cover up this fraud ,conspiracy,and deceit in the entire operation. While hacking into the institute's records is inappropriate if not illegal, the activities disclosed appear illegal and damaging to science and the economies of the world. At first many of us were inclined to dismiss the posted emails from the...

WASHINGTON - The International Atomic Energy Agency and Syria are walking a tightrope and appear to be headed toward a collision over two nuclear sites where undeclared uranium was recently found. The agency found traces of uranium at the Dair Alzour nuclear site that are not included in Syria's declared inventory, according to a just released report. The Syrians said the uranium came from the Israeli missiles used to destroy the nearby al-Kibar reactor in September 2007. The presence of uranium particles was detected at a second site near Damascus -- the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor. Syria said it came...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- CIA Director Leon Panetta arrived in Pakistan Friday to discuss the issue of the location of the leadership of the Taliban with security officials. Panetta was to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and top military and intelligence officials, Pakistan's The National newspaper reported. He is expected to discuss issues related to the leadership of the Taliban believed to be hiding in the tribal border regions along the Afghan border. Pakistani officials denied claims the leadership is in the area, the report said.

Well, this should get interesting. The Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain was hacked yesterday, apparently by Russian black hats, and thousands of sensitive documents, including emails from climate scientists dating back a decade, were posted online. More here. Officials at Hadley, a leading global-warming research center, have apparently confirmed to an Australian publication that the documents are genuine. The whole affair has much of the blogosphere alight. Blogs skeptical of man-made global warming see blood in the water. Some of the old emails from scientists made public apparently make references to things like “hid[ing] the decline,” referring to global...

The University of East Anglia's Hadley Climatic Research Centre appears to have suffered a security breach earlier today, when an unknown hacker apparently downloaded 1079 e-mails and 72 documents of various types and published them to an anonymous FTP server. These files appear to contain highly sensitive information that, if genuine, could prove extremely embarrassing to the authors of the e-mails involved. Those authors include some of the most celebrated names among proponents of the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Senior officials from six world powers expressed disappointment on Friday that Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential ability to make nuclear bombs and urged Tehran to reconsider. "We are disappointed by the lack of follow-up on the three understandings (in the proposed deal)," said senior European Union official Robert Cooper after a meeting of officials from Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia and China.

LIMA, Peru - Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists. Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn't the only one doing such killings.

For the past couple of months I have worried about the risks of a failed presidency. No one should want this, regardless of party affiliation. It is harmful and dangerous to our economy and country. However, it appears obvious to me that the royal regime known as Obama has ended. Seth Leibsohn writing in the National Review summarized it this way: "This is reminiscent of the Jimmy Carter years - the last time the U.S. was seen as weak - unable to move and coax other countries, unable to reassure dependent allies, unable to have the respect of the world...

RZD President Vladimir Yakunin gave United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood a presentation on the program to develop high-speed rail transport in Russia. The presentation took place at the RZD Science and Technical Information Centre at Rizhsky Station, and was attended by the US ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle. The RZD president showed the high-speed Sapsan train to the delegation from the US Department of Transportation, and described the program to develop high-speed rail transport in Russia up to 2030. The US transportation secretary said he was impressed by the first Russian high-speed train, built jointly by German and Russian...

Yesterday, Somali pirates attacked the commercial cargo ship Maersk Alabama. This time, however, an armed security team successfully thwarted the attackers. Last April, Somali pirates successfully attacked the Alabama, kidnapping ship’s Captain Phillips and holding him hostage until Navy SEAL snipers killed the captors. In 2008, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the U.S. Navy’s fleet in that area, specifically warned that the Navy “can’t be everywhere” and that “shipping companies have to take responsibility for their own ships.” It appears that after the last near-tragedy, Maersk took the warning seriously. But the story also highlights media bias against self-defense....

ROME — A Vatican researcher claims she has found a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin and says the discovery proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus' burial cloth.The claim made in a new book by historian Barbara Frale drew immediate skepticism from some scientists, who maintain the shroud is a medieval forgery.Frale, a researcher at the Vatican archives, says the faint writing emerged through computer analysis of photos of the shroud, which is not normally accessible for study.Frale says the jumble of Greek, Latin and Aramaic includes the words "Jesus Nazarene" and mentions he was...

Britain’s Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, suffered a data breach in recent days when a hacker apparently broke into their system and made away with thousands of emails and documents. The stolen data was then posted to a Russian server and has quickly made the rounds among climate skeptics. The documents within the archive, if proven to be authentic, would at best be embarrassing for many prominent climate researchers and at worst, damning. The electronic break in itself has been verified by the director of the research unit, Professor Phil Jones. He told Britain’s Investigate magazine's TGIF Edition...

A suspected US drone aircraft fired two missiles in North Waziristan on Friday, killing eight people, the second such attack this week. Eight militants were killed in a US missile strike in northwest Pakistan on Friday, officials said. The United States has carried out 45 attacks with its pilotless, missile-firing aircraft in northwest Pakistan this year as its forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have faced an intensifying Taliban insurgency.