-Caveat Lector-
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20011221-95780908.htm
China-al Qaeda nexus
Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
China continued to supply arms to Osama bin Laden's al
Qaeda terrorist even after the group began the
September 11 attack on America, says a senior U.S.
official.
The official said that a week after the terrorist
attack, the ruling Taliban and the al Qaeda fighters
embedded among them, received a shipment of
Chinese-made SA-7 missiles. The shoulder-fired
anti-aircraft weapons are similar to the U.S. Stinger.
This official says the shipment raises serious
questions about Beijing's pledge to help fight
terrorism.
We already know the Taliban and al Qaeda got
sizable arms shipments from China, which borders
Afghanistan on the north. Opposition forces found huge
amounts of Chinese ammunition in the caves of Tora
Bora. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says
Chinese have been found fighting among al Qaeda.
Earlier this week, Mr. Rumsfeld said eastern
alliance forces near Tora Bora made another
China-related discovery. "They also interestingly seem
to have captured a good deal of Chinese ammunition,"
Mr. Rumsfeld said.
One U.S. official said the Chinese ammunition may
have been left over from the 1980s, when Beijing,
along with the United States, was a major supplier of
the anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing
said Tuesday he had "no idea" what Mr. Rumsfeld was
referring to in mentioning the large quantities of
Chinese ammunition found in al Qaeda caves.
Asked if China had sold weaponry to Afghanistan
or neighboring nations, the spokesman said, "the
United Nations once adopted the resolution on weapon
embargo against Afghanistan, and China has acted
according to the Security Council resolutions."
China tests M-11
China's military is improving the accuracy of its
newest short-range ballistic missile, the CSS-7. U.S.
intelligence agencies detected a flight test of a
CSS-7 earlier this week from a test facility in
northwest China.
"There was a missile launch of a CSS-7," said a
U.S. official familiar with reports of the test at the
Shuang Chengzi missile center in Gansu province,
northwest of Lanzhou. "This is part of a continuing
series of tests they are conducting to improve the
accuracy of the missile."
China has deployed about 350 short-range missiles
opposite Taiwan and is building up to a force of about
600 missiles over the next several years.
The missiles are a mix of both CSS-7 and CSS-6
missiles. The CSS-7 is also known as the M-11, and
defense officials say the current force is being
improved with Mod 2 versions that are more lethal in
targeting Taiwan.
Officials said the flight test is believed to be
one of the Mod 2 versions of the missile.
Navy unreadiness
Navy sources tell us it's not the worst carrier
inspection report they've ever seen. But at this time
in history, with the USS John F. Kennedy the next
carrier to enter the war on terrorism, the sources
were amazed the ship was in such bad shape.
"The ship was seriously degraded in her ability
to conduct air operations," said a report by a Navy
Board of Inspection and Survey of the Dec. 3-7
inspection. "Three of four aircraft elevators were out
of commission, two of four catapults were degraded,
and the overall flight deck firefighting capability
was seriously degraded. These major system
degradations were in addition to a significant number
of deficiencies noted in the fueling system. "
Then there was the question of the ship's two
power plants.
"The propulsion plant was evaluated to be
extremely unreliable and determined to be routinely
operated out of safe parameters and in non-standard
configuration," said the report, a copy of which we
obtained. "Two shaft seals had unacceptable leakage
rates."
"Topside corrosion, including the condition of
the mast, superstructure and catwalks, was the worst
observed in three years."
The report accused the commanders of "complacency
with a massive number of seemingly obvious electrical
safety deficiencies."
"It is my finding," a senior inspector wrote,
"that USS John F. Kennedy could not prudently
demonstrate safe and reliable underway operations."
And in a parting shot, the inspector said the
crew could not be counted on to conduct "an accurate
self-assessment numerous critical systems, reported as
fully operational, were demonstrated with safety
features bypassed."
The Navy took immediate action, firing the
carrier's commanding officer, Capt. Maurice Joyce. "It
was a bad day for the Big John and she burped," he
told the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla, the
ship's home port. "The week before, she was glorious."
The Kennedy is due to depart for Puerto Rico next
month for crew training, and then head for the
Mediterranean in early spring. Iraq or Somalia could
be in her sights.
It is the lone sour note in an otherwise
excellent performance by Navy air during the war
against terror and the campaign in Afghanistan. Navy
planes have carried out the bulk of tactical missions,
while evading enemy fire and scoring few bombing
miscues.
Facility misstatement
A U.S. Central Command investigation into the
bombing of Red Cross warehouses in October has found
that the facilities were not marked and that the
humanitarian agency never gave the coordinates of the
facility to the U.S. military, as it claimed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) issued a statement two days after U.S.
warplanes inadvertently bombed two Red Cross
warehouses in Kabul on Oct. 25.
The Geneva-based ICRC "deplored" the bombing and
claimed in its statement that the warehouses, which
had been used by Taliban forces, were marked with
large, nine-foot by nine-foot red crosses on white
backgrounds that were "clearly displayed" on each
roof.
It also said that bombing such marked buildings
was "a violation of international humanitarian law."
The ICRC also said it had informed the U.S.
military of the exact location of its warehouses after
an earlier bombing on Oct. 16.
However, the Central Command investigation found
that the ICRC was wrong, we are told by a defense
official.
"Centcom did an investigation and found that the
ICRC never gave us the coordinates and that the
buildings were located in an industrial complex and
that none of the buildings were marked," the official
said.
Sorties
�Most senior administration officials in recent
weeks voiced a belief that Osama bin Laden was holed
up in the Tora Bora region � all except Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, Joint Chiefs of
Staff chairman, said, "In the hunt up there, we think
we know in general where he is. Can't be sure, but we
think we know."
Vice President Richard B. Cheney, asked last week
if bin Laden was in Tora Bora, answered, "In that
general area."
"A few days ago, we believed he was in that
area," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem told reporters on
Monday. "Now we're not sure."
But Mr. Rumsfeld steadfastly has refused to say
he believed the terrorist was around Tora Bora �
possibly to fend off any subsequent charge that the
U.S. military let him slip away. Asked this week if
bin Laden had left Tora Bora, Mr. Rumsfeld answered,
"That presumes he was there. Since we did not know
that with precision, and we don't know if he is there
now, it would be difficult to answer that question."
�Correction: We misstated last week the number of
grave sites each acre allows at Arlington National
Cemetery. It is 600 grave sites.
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