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Fifth AF Unit Fails Nuke Inspection

December 17, 2008 5:11 PM

ABC News' Luis Martinez Reports: For the fifth time this year an Air Force unit has failed an inspection of its operational readiness to handle its nuclear weapons stockpile, but Air Force officials say the failure spotlights a beefed up inspection process reinvigorated this year in the wake of a series of Air Force missteps that have refocused the service's attention on its nuclear mission.

According to a statement from Air Force Space Command, the 90th Missile Wing from F.E.Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming underwent a two-week inspection that identified " deficiencies in several areas," but "the wing remains certified to perform its strategic mission."

It is the fifth unit this year to have failed a "Nuclear Surety Inspection" or NSI, a comprehensive inspection conducted by the Air Force's Inspector General that measures a unit's nuclear readiness. The inspections cover the administration of a unit's operations, the supervision of missiles, facility maintenance and security of  nuclear materials.

So far two of the Air Force's bomb wings and three missile wings have failed their NSI's this year, but despite the failures all of them maintained their certification to continue handling nuclear weapons.

In May, the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota failed a NSI when security personnel were observed playing videogames on their cellphones while on watch.  Last month, the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana had issues with a personnel program that ensures only highly trained personnel are allowed to work near nuclear weapons. 

The inspections failures add to the Air Force's troubles at a time when it has refocused attention on its nuclear mission in the wake of embarassing missteps.  These included the revelation in March that two years before, the Air Force had mistakenly shipped four nuclear warhead cone assemblies to Taiwan.  Ultimately 15 officers, including six generals received punishments for their involvement in the incident.  That incident coupled with B-52's carrying nuclear armed cruise missiles over the nation's heartland ultimately led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to fire Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley.

It is Defense Department policy not to release the specific findings from NSI's, but a Defense Official says that unlike the other two wings, the failures did not involve security or personnel readiness, but rather paperwork related to the maintenance of checklists used to maintain the Minuteman missiles housed at the base's nuclear silos.  The wing now has 90 days to rectify the specific failures in preparation for a follow-on inspection.  The wing at Minot passed its second review, the Malmstrom review is scheduled for early next year.   

The Space Command statement says, "with the added emphasis and focus placed on the nuclear enterprise, Air Force Space Command has increased the intensity, depth and rigor of all inspection activities to ensure that every aspect of a unit's mission is thoroughly examined."

Air Force Space Command spokesman Col. Dewey Ford says of the inspections, "we've really beefed them up, these are tough tests that have been reinvigorated."  The test consists of 13 measures of readiness and Ford says that if one of those is rated a failure then the whole review rates as a failure. "It is a test where you have to get everything right."

Col. Ford says failures aren't unusual in the NSI process and that "historically there have always been failures involving the NSI's."  But with the refocus on the nuclear mission another Air Force officer says "failure is now part of the equation."  Another official said the failures should be looked at in perspective, "It's like you have a 1,000 questions on a test and you miss one and you fail," but the important thing is you are still certified to conduct the nuclear mission.

December 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (5)

AG Mukasey Recused in Madoff Investigation

December 17, 2008 11:42 AM

ABC News' Jason Ryan Reports: Attorney General Michael Mukasey has recused himself from the Justice Department investigation into Bernard Madoff and Madoff Investment Securities, according to Justice Department officials in Washington.

Mukasey's son Marc Mukasey, who works for Bracewell & Giuliani in New York, is working on some angle of the defense team. Officials in Washington declined to answer if the Attorney General knew Bernard Madoff personally from his time in New York.

A recent Bloomberg article noted, "Reached by phone at home, Madoff official Frank DiPascali referred calls to his lawyer, Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor now at Bracewell & Giuliani in New York, who declined to comment. His father is U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, a former New York federal judge."

December 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Eleven U.S. Embassies Receive Suspicious White Powder

December 17, 2008 9:58 AM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: Several U.S. embassies in Europe received envelopes this week containing a suspicious white powder, the State Department said.  At least eight embassies received letters on Tuesday, and others were received today. So far, all tests for dangerous substances have come back negative.

The U.S. embassies in Berlin, Bucharest, Bern, Brussels, Dublin, Copenhagen, Riga, Rome, Oslo, Stockholm, and Madrid each received at least one envelope, causing authorities to take precautionary steps in case the powder was hazardous.

Spanish hazmat and fire crews cordoned off the embassy today in response to a letter that was received, though officials note the building was not evacuated.

The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service are investigating the hoax letters. In a written statement Tuesday, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said all the letters have been postmarked from Texas and are similar in nature.

"Since Monday 12/8, letters containing a note and suspicious white powder have been received by the offices of more than 40 governors’ offices across the country. Additional letters have been received at several U.S. Embassies overseas," Kolko said.

"The white powder in each of these letters has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The powder has been forwarded to local laboratories for further testing. The FBI has contacted the governors’ offices and State Department to be on the lookout for additional letters," he added.

The embassy in Bucharest said its staff "followed established protocol for handling suspicious articles" after receiving the letter.

"The Embassy was not evacuated but was temporarily closed to the public. It has since reopened," the U.S. embassy in Bucharest said in a statement posted on its website yesterday.

December 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

Suspicious White Powders Sent to U.S. Embassies in Europe

December 16, 2008 2:54 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: Several U.S. embassies in Europe received envelopes today containing a suspicious white powder, the State Department said. So far, all tests for dangerous substances have come back negative.

The U.S. embassies in Berlin, Bucharest, Bern, Brussels, Dublin, Copenhagen, Riga and Rome each received at least one envelope, causing authorities to take precautionary steps in case the powder was hazardous.

According to State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, initial tests of the powder sent to Bucharest came back negative for hazardous material. Similarly, one of the three envelopes sent to Berlin also tested negative and two others sent there are still undergoing testing, Duguid said.

The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service are investigating the hoax letters. In a written statement, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said all the letters have been postmarked from Texas and are similar in nature.

"Since Monday 12/8, letters containing a note and suspicious white powder have been received by the offices of more than 40 governors’ offices across the country. Additional letters have been received at several U.S. Embassies overseas," Kolko said. "The white powder in each of these letters has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The powder has been forwarded to local laboratories for further testing. The FBI has contacted the governors’ offices and State Department to be on the lookout for additional letters."

The embassy in Bucharest said its staff "followed established protocol for handling suspicious articles" after receiving the letter.

"The Embassy was not evacuated but was temporarily closed to the public. It has since reopened," the U.S. embassy in Bucharest said in a statement posted on its website.

December 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

Attorney Says Case Against Blago 'Significantly Exaggerated'

December 15, 2008 1:32 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports from Chicago: Chicago defense attorney Ed Genson, who met with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich twice this weekend and who expects to be retained today, said that the case against the governor is "significantly exaggerated" and if he is retained, they will fight the charges.

"It's like a snowball running down the hill and it's gotten really really large. It's an avalanche now," Genson told reporters as he arrived at work Monday morning. "And... I think the case, the case that I've seen so far is significantly exaggerated. It's just, it's not what people think it is."

Genson met with Blagojevich for much of Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the lawyer's downtown Chicago offices.

Warned the attorney today, "If I'm trying the case, it's going to be a fight."

"Impeachment and criminal proceedings?" asked a reporter.

"Impeachment and criminal proceedings," Genson replied.

Genson said he expects to know this afternoon if he will take on the governor's case, but first he has to make sure there are no conflicts.

"I have conflicts and I have to talk with the other people and other potential clients and people who I've been retained for over the years, make certain that the conflicts are something that's, that doesn't prevent me from properly representing him," Genson said.

In the past, the high-profile attorney has represented R&B singer R. Kelly and media mogul Conrad Black.

"I very rarely have an insignificant challenge," he noted.

Genson said there was a Yiddish phrase that came to mind when asked about the case against the governor, but he refused to say what it was.

One reporter said he had heard from a source that the wire-tapped recordings of Blagojevich's conversations reveal "a guy there talking shop, but they don't see any overt acts."

Responded Genson with a smile, "I have a lot of respect for whoever said that to you, but I don't want to comment."

December 15, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (22)

Secret Service Shows Unusual Restraint in 'Bizarre' Shoe Incident

December 15, 2008 11:42 AM

ABC News' Ann Compton Reports: U.S. Secret Service officials in Washington say they are satisfied their agents responded with "the appropriate level of reaction" when an Iraqi journalist hurled two shoes directly at President Bush during a Baghdad news conference.

"Everyone in that room passed through several layers of security," Agent Ed Donovan tells ABC News. Screening included magnetometers, sweeps by K9 dogs and U.S. military bomb squads. Donovan says name identification checks were done on all the journalists to confirm they were representing news organizations.

Video of the incident shows the Iraqi man stand up and hurl one shoe and then the second shoe two seconds later. President Bush ducked both. The head of the presidential protective detail was seen reaching the President's side within six seconds, by which time the Iraqi had already been pulled to the ground from behind by a man in leather jacket, likely another Iraqi.

"There doesn't appear to be any over-reaction" on the part of American agents, Donovan says, confirming the Secret Service agents who poured into the room did not draw their weapons. 

It is common these days for Secret Service agents to hang back, out of camera view, when the president is in a confined room with people, like the journalists, who were allowed to bring with them pads and pens, small audio recorders, and of course their shoes.

At the press conference, the head of the president's security detail scrambled to the lectern but not until the second shoe had been thrown. President Bush motioned to the agent to standby, declining to be hustled out of the room. At least five other American agents pour in from that exit behind the President, three took positions directly in front of the President, and other agents rushed into the midst of the seated reporters. No visible weapons were drawn, which seems to show unusual restraint, since agents are trained to assume that any assault is part of a broader attack by not one but several assailants.

At headquarters, it is a given that video will be reviewed over and over again, and become part of the Secret Service training -- on what NOT to do.

December 15, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (308)

Iraqi Man Throws Shoes at President Bush

December 14, 2008 12:54 PM

ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports from Baghdad: Not everyone is excited about President Bush's surprise trip to Iraq.

An Iraqi journalist in Prime Minister Nouri-al Maliki's palace threw two shoes at President Bush during a joint press conference with Maliki. The president quickly had to duck to avoid the shoes, while Maliki stretched out his right hand to try to catch the second one. Neither leader was hit.

As he threw the shoes the man, identified as Muntadhar al-Zaiydi, a local television correspondent, yelled "This is a farewell kiss, dog!" and, "This is the end!"

Watch it Here:

Displaying the soles of shoes or throwing shoes is not polite behavior anywhere, but in much of the Arab world the shoe is used as a special tool of insult or affront. Before the Iraq war, Saddam Hussein had a mosaic of former President George H.W. Bush on the ground at the entrance to the main foreign hotel in Baghdad, the Al-Rashid. You had to step on Bush's face to get in.

Right after the fall of Saddam, men beat his ubiquitous posters with their shoes.

Al-Zaiydi was grabbed and dragged out of the news conference screaming.

Bush, who reacted spryly as he saw his assailant winding up, joked about the incident, saying, "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want you to know. "

As security grabbed the man, White House press secretary Dana Perino got knocked beneath her eye by a microphone and ended up with a small shiner.

After order had been restored to the room, the man could still be heard screaming from another room.

December 14, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (222)

Bush Dodges Shoes on Farewell Iraq Visit

December 14, 2008 8:13 AM

ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports from Baghdad:

President Bush's fourth and final visit to Baghdad may not have been quite the fond farewell he had in mind. Amid official visits with Iraqi leaders, the president wound up having to dodge a pair of shoes thrown by a screaming Iraqi journalist.

The surprise trip, Bush's first to Iraq since September 2007, was intended to celebrate a security pact between the U.S. and the Iraqi government.

Bush's schedule included talks with Iraqi leaders, U.S. troops and officials stationed in Iraq.

But at a joint news conference held with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a man identified as Muntadhar al-Zaiydi, a local television correspondent, threw a shoe at Bush and yelled, "This is a farewell kiss, dog!" and, "This is the end!"

The shoe sailed right past the president's head and the thrower was grabbed and dragged out of the room screaming.

Bush joked about it, saying, "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want you to know."

The man's screams were still audible after he had been taken to a separate room.

Displaying the soles of one's shoes is considered a deep insult in much of the Arab world.

Despite the dramatically improved security in Iraq, every effort was made to keep the president’s travel plans quiet.

Reporters invited to make the trip were not told about it until Friday and were allowed to tell only one superior and a spouse.

By 7 p.m. Saturday, the reporters had assembled at Andrews Air Force Base, where they were escorted through an unmarked gate.

Secret Service agents took all the reporters’ cell phones, Blackberries and iPods. The group then was loaded into a black van and taken to a closed hangar where Air Force One, a massive 747, awaited.

The reporters were loaded onto the dark plane and told to keep their window shades down. Within an hour the president arrived by car at the hangar.

The president almost never comes to the back of the plane, but shortly after 9 p.m. he did come back.

He was dressed casually in a jacket and a baseball cap reading “43.” He joked with reporters that the plan for a secret departure had worked, and that no on had recognized him.

"They thought I was a different president,” he said.

Once the president returned to the front of the plane, the 747 was wheeled out of the hangar and took off in darkness, arriving in Baghdad in daylight more than 10 hours later.

Upon landing in Baghdad, the president was greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top general in Iraq, Ray Odierno.

Bush will leave office on Jan. 20 with Iraq remaining the defining issue of his presidency. Since the 2003 invasion of the country, more than 4,200 U.S. military men and women have been killed and the U.S. has spent nearly $600 billion fighting the war. The Status of Forces Agreement, a new U.S. and Iraqi security agreement that calls for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011, will go into effect in January.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced stop in Iraq Saturday. Gates has been tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to remain in his post.

During the president election, Obama called for the careful removal of all U.S. combat troops within the first 16 months of his presidency. He has singled an interest in increasing U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.

December 14, 2008 in White House | Permalink | User Comments (287)

Could Auto Bailout Bill Hurt Aviation?

December 11, 2008 5:49 PM

ABC News' Lisa Stark Reports: Even as Congress struggles to agree on a bailout bill to try to save jobs in the automobile industry, another industry is warning the proposals, as written, could hurt their industry.

Supporters of business aviation have written to lawmakers opposing the legislation because it may include a provision that discourages, if not forbids, auto executives from using private planes for business.

The CEOs of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford created a firestorm of anger and controversy when they each flew private company jets to Washington D.C. to plead for a taxpayer bailout. They got the message. For their second trip to Capitol Hill, each drove the 500 miles from Detroit.

The bailout legislation would limit or even forbid car companies from owning or leasing private aircraft.

That doesn't fly with the business aviation community.

"This provision sets a damaging precedent," said James Coyne, President of the National Air Transportation Association, in a letter to lawmakers. Coyne pointed out that thousands of small businesses provide charter and private aircraft.

"Using legislation intended to save jobs in one sector of the economy to impact jobs negatively in another, equally important sector, is unconscionable," he added.

The National Business Aviation Association has also weighed in. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, president and CEO Ed Bolen said the bill "appears to prohibit the use of business aviation in ALL situations, including when it is the sole mode of transportation available to a business, or it is the most prudent and cost-effective solution."

Despite this opposition, lawmakers may be hard pressed to back down, with the image of those auto company corporate jets still fresh in their minds.

December 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (19)

North Korea talks end in stalemate, future uncertain

December 11, 2008 12:23 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: The latest round of the Six Party Talks ended in stalemate today after four days of wrangling to get North Korea to agree on a plan to verify its declared nuclear capability.

"There was a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations there, but ultimately (North Korea) was not ready to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required," US negotiator Christopher Hill said today.

The deadlock effectively ends the Bush administration's attempts to rid Pyongyang of its nuclear capability and leaves the matter up to the incoming team of President-elect Barack Obama, something the North Koreans might be waiting for before making a deal.

This was actually the second attempt to get a verification deal.

Hill returned from an October trip to North Korea proclaiming that he had secured a deal on verification and as a result the US removed North Korea from its list of State Sponsors of terrorism.

It was soon apparent, however, that the deal Hill obtained in Pyongyang was not as firm as he had indicated. US officials say the agreement was never put into writing and verification efforts reached a dead end over North Korea's refusal to allow experts to remove samples from its nuclear facilities, something US officials publicly said they would be allowed to do per Hill's initial agreement.

"What's unfortunate is that the North Koreans had an opportunity here. There was an open door, and all they had to do was walk through it," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters today.

It appears there will be some cost to North Korea for failing to agree to verification terms this week. The State Department said late today the decision to provide North Korea with energy assistance for its cooperating in de-nuclearization is "under review."

John Bolton, the hawkish former Bush administration official who has loudly and publicly decried Washington's softer position towards Pyongyang, felt vindicated today when he told the Washington Times, "They should have rethought it about five years ago, because these talks were doomed from the outset, and some of us said so."

The failure of the negotiations in Beijing this week leaves the future of the Six Party Talks in the air. The on-again, off-again talks had shown signs of progress until the recent roadblocks, but it remains to be seen how an Obama administration will approach the negotiations.

Obama has said he will pursue an active diplomatic approach to North Korea's nuclear program, but it remains to be seen if he will keep Chris Hill as lead negotiator or look to replace him with someone new.

December 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (2)