Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 28.
september 2005 / Timeline September 28, 2005
Version 3.5
27. September 2005, 29. September 2005
09/28/2005
National Security Archive Marks International Right to Know
Day
Commends State Department for Monitoring Access to Information in
Human Rights Reports
http://www.nsarchive.org
Washington, D.C., September 28, 2005 - Marking International Right
to Know Day, the National Security Archive commended the Department
of State for including access to government information as one
factor evaluated in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices. Transparency and information are essential to allow
people to scrutinize and debate the actions of their government,
combat corruption, and promote democracy. In its open letter to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Archive also requested
that the Department include access to information an independent
category in the reports, to increase the prominence and recognition
of this fundamental human right department-wide.
09/28/2005
Egypt proposes nuclear-free-zone in Middle East
VIENNA (AFP) Sep 28, 2005
http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050928124308.br8wiiey.html
Egypt Wednesday proposed the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the
Middle East and blasted Israel for standing in the way, at a
meeting in Vienna of the UN atomic watchdog.
09/28/2005
Soldier's Parents Feuding Over His Death Payouts
Palm Beach (FL) Post
September 28, 2005
By Jane Musgrave, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
It's been more than a year since Pfc. Brandon Sapp was blown to
bits in Najaf, Iraq, but fighting hasn't stopped on the home
front.
His mother, Hope Veverka, insists she just wants to be fully
recognized as the parent of a young soldier killed in combat. His
father, John Sapp, is equally insistent that he just wants to carry
out his late son's wishes.
The two who have rarely seen eye to eye since they were
divorced nearly 20 years ago are fighting over one of the
less honorable spoils of war: Money.
And they are not alone.
Disputes over who gets a dead GI's government benefits are playing
out among family members from Lake Worth to Los Angeles, said those
who run agencies to help military families cope.
And, while they have erupted since the first soldier hoisted a
weapon, the ugly skirmishes have been exacerbated by a generous
measure federal lawmakers passed this year, somberly telling
television cameras that it was a way to help ease the pain of those
who lost loved ones in combat.
When Congress increased the payout for a soldier's death from
$262,420 to $500,000, family arguments increased exponentially,
military agency officials said.
"Any time large amounts of money are involved it can cause
difficulties within families," said Bonnie Carroll, who founded the
nonprofit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors after her
husband, a brigadier general, was killed in an Army plane crash in
1992.
"It's sad that the mother feels left out," Kathleen Moakler, deputy
director of the National Military Family Association, said when
told of Veverka's distress.
But, Moakler said, as hard as it may be, Veverka has to accept that
it was her late son who decided that the bulk of his benefits would
go to his father.
Parental payments
What John Sapp received:
$200,000 as the prime beneficiary of Brandon Sapp's life insurance
policy.
$100,000 in death gratuity 'to provide immediate cash to meet the
needs of the survivors.'
What Hope Veverka received:
$100,000 as another beneficiary of Brandon's life insurance
policy.
Some of Brandon's personal belongings, half of his private $10,000
life insurance policy.
09/28/2005
FCC Mandate Forces 'Backdoors' in Broadband ISPs and
VoIP
EFF and Others to Challenge Privacy-Invasive Rule
Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0928-09.htm
http://www.cdt.org/digi_tele/20050923fcc-calea.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-151A1.pdf
WASHINGTON - September 28 - The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) has issued a "First Report and Order" confirming its
expansion of the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA) to the Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
is planning to challenge the rule in court.
The new rule forces Internet broadband providers and
"interconnected" Voice-over-IP (VoIP) providers to build backdoors
into their networks to make it easier for law enforcement to listen
in on private communications. EFF has argued against this expansion
of CALEA in several rounds of comments to the FCC.
"A tech mandate requiring backdoors in the Internet endangers the
privacy of innocent people, stifles innovation, and risks the
Internet as a forum for free and open expression," said Kurt
Opsahl, EFF staff attorney.
CALEA, a law passed in the early 1990s, required that all telephone
providers build surveillance backdoors into their networks. Due to
pressure from EFF and other privacy groups, Congress expressly
exempted information services like broadband. But the new details
released on September 23rd show that the FCC has decided to ignore
Congress's decision to protect the Internet, instead forcing all
"facilities-based" providers of any type of broadband Internet
access service, as well as interconnected VoIP services, to make
their networks wiretap-ready. According to the FCC, all VoIP
communications on a given service must be wiretap-ready if the VoIP
service offers the capability for users to connect calls with the
public switched telephone network (PSTN), even those communications
that do not involve the PSTN.
Practically, what this means is that the government will be asking
broadband providers -- as well as companies that manufacture
devices used for broadband communications -- to create new
backdoors for surveillance, imperiling the privacy and security of
citizens on the Internet. It also hobbles technical innovation by
forcing companies involved in broadband to redesign their products
to meet government requirements.
Acknowledging that the FCC is reaching beyond Congress's intention
by expanding CALEA to the Internet, FCC Commissioner Michael J.
Copps admitted that "[the] statute is undeniably stretched," and
FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy issued a plea that Congress
revisit its decision to exempt the Internet, stating the
"application of CALEA to these new services could be stymied for
years" by litigation.
"The FCC's overreach is an attempt to overrule Congress's decision
to exclude 'information services,'" said EFF Senior Staff Attorney
Lee Tien. "By mandating backdoors in any service that has the
capability to replace functions provided by a telephone, the FCC
has stretched the statute to the breaking point."
09/28/2005
GAO: GLOBAL WAR ON
TERRORISM
DOD Should Consider All Funds Requested for the War When
Determining Needs and Covering Expenses
In fiscal years 2004 and 2005, DOD received funding for GWOT
through both funds included in its annual appropriation and
supplemental appropriations. In fiscal years 2004 and 2005, the
military services received about $52.4 billion and $62.1 billion,
respectively, in supplemental appropriations for GWOT (1) military
personnel and (2) operation and maintenance expenses. The Army, Air
Force, and Navy also received in their annual appropriations a
combined $7.9 billion in fiscal year 2004 and a combined $7.6
billion in fiscal year 2005, which DOD described as being intended
to support GWOT. The military services absorbed the increase into
their annual appropriations and allocated it based on their
judgment of where the funds were most needed. DOD’s
accounting systems, however, do not separately identify these
additional appropriations, and there are no reporting requirements
for DOD to identify to which appropriation accounts the funds were
allocated; consequently, the military services have lost visibility
over these funds and do not know the extent to which they are being
used to support GWOT. Despite having asked for the increase to
support GWOT, DOD is not explicitly counting these additional funds
when considering the amount of funding available to cover GWOT
expenses.
For fiscal year 2004, regarding supplemental appropriations for
GWOT military personnel expenses, the Navy and Marine Corps
reported more in obligations than they received in supplemental
appropriations, while the Army and Air Force received more in
supplemental appropriations than their reported obligations. Each
of the services reported more in GWOT operation and maintenance
obligations than it received in supplemental appropriations. To
cover the differences (gaps), DOD and the services exercised a
number of authorities provided them, including transferring funds
and reducing or deferring planned spending for peacetime
operations. However, in considering the amount of funding available
to cover the gaps, DOD did not explicitly take into account the
funds provided through its annual appropriation that as previously
noted it described as for the support of GWOT. If DOD had
considered these funds, it could have reduced the Army’s GWOT
gap and eliminated the GWOT gaps of the Air Force and Navy. For
fiscal year 2005, the services’ forecasts of GWOT obligations
for the full fiscal year as of June 2005 suggest a potential gap of
$500 million for military personnel for the Air Force and potential
gaps of about $2.7 billion and about $1 billion, respectively, for
operation and maintenance for the Army and Air Force. To cover
expenses, DOD and the services again plan to take a variety of
actions, including reprogramming funds and reducing or deferring
planned spending. However, DOD is again not explicitly considering
the funds provided through its annual appropriation, which it
described as for the support of GWOT. If counted in fiscal year
2005, the amounts potentially could reduce the Army’s and
eliminate the Air Force’s GWOT gaps and eliminate the need
for reprogramming funds and reducing or deferring planned
spending.
09/28/2005
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