14th August, 1998

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Pentagon will soon begin its inoculation program for its troops in the U.S. against the threat of anthrax.

Troops in the Persian Gulf began getting the shots earlier this year.  This is a follow-up to Defense Secretary William Cohen's December order for all 1.4 million men and women in uniform to take the series of six shots to protect against a biological attack which began in the Persian Gulf.  According to an unidentified Pentagon source, U.S. troops heading for Korea would be among the first to get the next round of shots.

Hatred and Genocide

The BBC has reported that the turmoil in the African nation of the Congo has increased with the president fleeing the capital of Kinshasa.  It also reported that Congolese radio broadcasts have called for Rwandans to be massacred "without mercy" and "to take revenge" on Rwandan Tutsis.  Listeners are being  urged to arm themselves in preparation for an extended war.  The radio said, "People must bring a machete, a spear, an arrow, a hoe, spades, rakes, nails, truncheons, electric irons, barbed wire, stones, and the like, in order, dear listeners, to kill the Rwandan Tutsis."   The BBC noted that "radio broadcasts were used extensively by the former Rwandan government to mobilise Hutu militia during the genocidal civil war of 1994.  Over one million Tutsis are thought to have been killed."

Billion Dollar Rocket Explodes

The U.S. Air Force reported that a Titan 4A rocket with a top-secret military spy satellite code-named Vortex on board exploded in a billion-dollar fireball just after blastoff from Cape Canaveral yesterday.   The unmanned rocket, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, lifted off at 7:30 a.m. EDT with the Vortex satellite, built to listen in on military and government communications in places such as the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and China, and blew up at a height of about 20,000 feet.

India Works on New Medium Range Missiles

The Nando Times reported today that according to Indian Defense Minister Fernandez, India has started the creation of a new and more powerful version of its current medium-range "Agni" ballistic missile, Defense Minister George Fernandes announced here Tuesday.  According to the report: "Fernandes was quoted by a defense ministry spokesman as saying the new model would have a longer range than the existing 'Agni' (Fire) intermediate- range missile, which can carry a one-ton nuclear warhead up to 930 miles. The Agni has been successfully tested over 930 miles but has not yet been deployed by the military. India's ruling right-wing Hindu nationalists who took office in February--traditionally hawkish towards arch-rival Pakistan, came to power in February-March elections after pledging to build nuclear weapons and ensure the nation's defense.

War Looming in Central Africa

The Associate Press reported that tensions have escalated in the Congo capital of Kinshasa.  It said that in front of the city's main stadium, thousands of young men and women offered to fight as Kinshasa prepares for a battle against ethnic Tutsi rebels and their alleged allies.  Ethnic Tutsi rebels revolted in the eastern Kivu region and western Congo last week.  The government accused neighboring Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the rebels although both insist they have nothing to do with the revolt.  This past weekend, as many as 5,000 men and women enlisted in militia units and the army with a vow to defend Kinshasa as soldiers are on front lines or have joined the opposition.  The reports said, "More and more civilians are pledging to take up arms, and some are already wielding machetes and toting AK-47 assault rifles."

Danger of All Out Conflict between India and Pakistan

London's Daily Telegraph's Sunday edition reports:  "shelling along the 450-mile Line of Control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir has increased fears that the region is heading for all-out war. Given that both India and Pakistan have recently tested nuclear devices, the conflict could be catastrophic.

Two of India and Pakistan's three wars have been fought over Kashmir. The present border bombardment, which locals describe as heavier than that during the entire 1948 and 1965 wars put together, has seen an estimated 50,000 rounds of ammunition expended so far, and heavy artillery used for the first time."

According to Reuters, Syed Ali Shag Geelani, the chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference and leader of 14 separatists groups in Indian controlled Kashmir, has said Thursday that India and Pakistan could wage nuclear war over the disputed territory.  He was quoted as saying, "The situation is going from bad to worse...Kashmir is the root cause of the tension between India and Pakistan. If the problem is not solved both the countries could wage nuclear war."  Geelani labeled the Muslim militants who have waged a fierce eight-year revolt against Indian security forces in the Kashmir valley "freedom fighters," saying: "Peaceful means have not worked. We do not call the militants' activities violence. It is violence by the Indian side. The militants are fighting for a just and noble cause."
 
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