• Panetta: US foresees 'enduring presence' to fight al-Qaida in Afghanistan

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    WASHINGTON -- Al-Qaida fighters are still trying to make inroads into Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday, cautioning that battling the group would be a core U.S. mission there for years to come.

    “The goal here is an enduring presence,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

    Panetta made the comments as the United States weighs how large a military force to keep in Afghanistan when the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, ending a war that, at that point, will have stretched for more than 13 years.

    The United States currently maintains approximately 66,000 troops in Afghanistan, but the residual force may number less than 10,000. President Barack Obama could decide in the coming weeks, although no deadline has been set.

    As Taliban regroup, victims battle for 'free' Afghanistan

    Panetta said fighting the core al-Qaida group to prevent it from re-establishing a haven in Afghanistan was "going to be the fundamental thrust of the (counter-terrorism) effort."

    A narrow focus could help limit the size of the mission.

    "Although we clearly have had an impact on (al-Qaida's) presence in Afghanistan, the fact is that they continue to show up and intelligence continues to indicate that ... they are looking for some kind of capability to be able to go into Afghanistan, as well," Panetta said Thursday.

    PhotoBlog: Relentless Afghan conflict leaves traumatized generation

    “That’s something we just have to be continually vigilant in terms of protecting against,” he added.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    /

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    A U.S. defense official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, estimated there were still only about 100 al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan.

    But Jeffrey Dressler, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, said looking only at al-Qaida fighters -- as opposed to those who ally with them -- carried enormous risks.

    Meet Afghanistan's first female rapper

    "I think the mistake that we've made all along is too narrowly defining the threat," Dressler said.

    'Enablers'
    Beyond counter-terrorism, Panetta said the post-2014 U.S. presence in Afghanistan would also need to have a "train-and-assist mission" to further develop the Afghan Army.

    Slideshow:

    Kevin Frayer / AP

    In southern Afghanistan, the focus of the U.S. war effort, nearly all the Afghan soldiers are foreigners too. Photographer Kevin Frayer shows these soldiers in a series of portraits.

    Launch slideshow

    He also said the United States would need to provide "enablers" -- specialists who perform tasks such as destroying landmines or treating the injured -- to support U.S. forces.

    Obama calls 10 service members in Afghanistan to offer thanks

    Panetta declined to offer any estimate for the size of the force, saying that is "exactly what's being discussed" now. 

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • UK computer hacker wins 10 year fight against extradition to US

    After ten years of campaigning, a British computer hacker is told he will not be extradited to the US. ITN's Libby Wiener reports on the landmark decision for Gary McKinnon.

    By Peter Jeary, NBC News

    LONDON - A British computer hacker has won his 10-year fight against extradition to the U.S. with the U.K. government saying he was unfit to face the charges against him.

    In a statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday, Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May said that the extradition of Gary McKinnon, a 46-year-old computer administrator from London, "would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that extradition would be incompatible with Mr. McKinnon’s human rights.”

    “There is no doubt that Mr. McKinnon is accused of serious crimes, but there is also no doubt he is seriously ill," she said.

    McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome – a high-functioning form of autism – admits hacking into U.S. military computers, but claims he was looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Warrants for his arrest were issued in New Jersey and Virginia in late 2002, amid allegations by U.S. officials that  the former computer systems administrator accessed 97 military and NASA computers between 2001 and 2002, disabling key naval systems and causing more than $700,000 of damage. 

    One U.S. prosecutor called his activities “the biggest military computer hack of all time.”

    Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images, file

    Gary McKinnon won a 10-year fight on Tuesday against extradition to the U.S. He is seen here making his way into a London courthouse in July 2005.

    Complete Europe coverage on NBCNews.com

    Legal proceedings to have McKinnon extradited to the U.S. stepped up a gear in 2005, when he was re-arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit at his home in north London. What followed was a saga of appeals, reviews and adjournments, centering on McKinnon’s mental health and the fairness of the extradition request. This culminated in a decision in May 2010 by the Home Secretary that the case should be adjourned while further medical evidence was considered.

    Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA

    British Home Secretary Theresa May, seen here leaving a meeting at 10 Downing Street, announced on Tuesday that accused British computer hacker Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the United States after a 10-year battle.

    Two independent psychological reviews suggested that McKinnon was likely to commit suicide if he was extradited.

    It is now up to British prosecutors to decide whether McKinnon must face charges in Britain, May added. 

    His mother, Janis Sharp, said on the eve of Tuesday’s announcement, that the ups and downs of the legal process have been so cruel they amount to "waterboarding of the mind.”

    Among the diplomatic maneuvering the case provoked were discussions between Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama. Leaked documents also revealed how Cameron’s predecessor, Gordon Brown, had unsuccessfully proposed a deal to allow McKinnon to serve any prison sentence in a British jail.


    McKinnon’s supporters say he acted through "naivety" as a result of his condition, and should not be considered a criminal.

    U.K. hacker's latest U.S. extradition appeal fails

    "Gary is a classic computer nerd, he was looking for UFOs, that was what he was searching for," McKinnon's lawyer Karen Todner told BBC Radio on Tuesday morning.

    McKinnon was 14-years-old when he started developing computer software on his home computer. He started hacking after watching the 1983 movie War Games, in which a teenager brings the world to the brink of war by hacking into the Pentagon computer network.

    ITV News contributed to this report.

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  • Terrorist groups in Libya tried to coalesce in month leading to consulate attack, officials say

    Esam Omran Al-fetori / Reuters

    An interior view of the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 12.

    By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News

    Intelligence indicates that militant or terrorist groups were attempting to combine forces in the month preceding the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.


    "There was a thread of intelligence that groups in that environment in eastern Libya were seeking to coalesce," Gen. Martin Dempsey said in a briefing to Pentagon reporters, adding that there was nothing specific in the intelligence that indicated an attack on the U.S. consulate was imminent. 

    Dempsey said the intelligence was widely shared with all U.S. departments and agencies.

    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta added that the assault "clearly was a terrorist attack." Panetta said the investigation to pinpoint which terrorist groups were involved is ongoing.

    Panetta and Dempsey also reported that the joint U.S./Afghan patrols that had been suspended following a spike in "insider attacks" on American forces have been resumed, and that most U.S. and NATO forces have returned to normal operations alongside Afghan soldiers and police.

    Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com

    Panetta said the "insider attacks" were intended to undermine the trust built between U.S. and Afghan security forces.

    Gen. Dempsey added: "The Taliban tried to split us apart and it won't work."

    In an NBC News exclusive, Libya's President Mohammed Magarief tells NBC's Ann Curry that no mastermind has been arrested in the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi but that he believes it was a pre-planned act of terrorism involving elements of al-Qaida.

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  • US-Japan agree on new defense system to counter North Korea ballistic missiles

    Larry Downing / AFP - Getty Images

    Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, center, disembarks from his aircraft after arriving at US Yokota air base in Japan on Sunday.

    By NBC News wire services

    TOKYO -- U.S. and Japanese officials have agreed to put a second defense system in Japan aimed at protecting the country from the threat of a missile attack from North Korea, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.

    The exact location of the radar installation has not yet been determined. It will be in the south of the country, U.S. officials said, but not in Okinawa.

    Officials stressed that the system would be aimed at protecting the region against the threat from North Korea and is not directed at China.

    The U.S. already has similar early warning radar systems on ships in the Asia-Pacific.

    This second Japan-based system will allow the U.S. vessels to spread out and cover other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

    Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China seas

    Panetta said the new installation would also be effective in protecting the U.S. homeland from a North Korea threat. He spoke during a press conference in Tokyo with the Japanese defense minister, Satoshi Morimoto.

    Morimoto said it would not be appropriate at this time to specify a location for the new radar, and said a date for its deployment has not yet been set.

    While officials insisted the radar system would not be aimed at China, the decision was sure to raise the ire of Beijing.

    More China coverage on our Behind the Wall blog

    The radar will "enhance our ability to defend Japan," Panetta said, adding that he would talk to Chinese leaders about the system to assure them that this about protecting the U.S. and the region from North Korea's missile threat.

    "We have made these concerns clear to the Chinese," he said. "For that reason ... we believe it is very important to move ahead" with the radar system.

    More North Korea coverage from NBCNews.com

    North Korea has long been trying to build a nuclear arsenal, has also been working on a ballistic missile which would be able to reach the U.S. mainland. However, its long-range rocket tests have to date all failed.

    Slideshow: Journey into North Korea

    David Guttenfelder / AP

    In this March 9, 2011 photo, a girl plays the piano inside the Changgwang Elementary School in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

    Launch slideshow

    Japan has worked closely with the U.S. for several years on missile defense, and has both land- and sea-based missile launchers.

    North Korea's ballistic missiles are considered a threat to security in the Asia-Pacific region because of the risk of conflict erupting on the divided and heavily militarized Korean peninsula, and because of the secretive North's nuclear weapons program.

    The long-range rockets it is developing have been test-fired over Japan and could potentially reach the U.S.

    The North conducted its latest long-range rocket launch in April, defying a U.N. ban. Pyongyang said the launch was intended to send an observation satellite into space but it drew international condemnation as the rocket technology is similar to that used for ballistic missiles.

    Slideshow: Daily life in North Korea

    Elizabeth Dalziel / AP

    From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.

    Launch slideshow

    The launch was a failure and the rocket disintegrated shortly after takeoff.

    Panetta is on his third trip to Asia in 11 months, reflecting the Pentagon's ongoing shift to put more military focus on the Asia-Pacific.

    Territorial disputes
    The defense chief is urging countries involved in territorial disputes in the region to find a way to peacefully resolve those problems before they spark provocations and violence.

    Panetta's visit to Japan also included discussions with Morimoto about the deployment of V-22 Ospreys to the southwestern island of Okinawa. Tens of thousands of people have protested the hybrid aircraft's planned use, saying they are unsafe.

    Slideshow: The life of Kim Jong ll

    Kcna / AFP - Getty Images

    A pictorial look at the North Korean leader through the years

    Launch slideshow

    The U.S. had hoped to have the aircraft in place as early as next month, but Morimoto said no specific date has been set on that matter, either.

    The Pentagon plans to deploy 12 of the aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter, but fly like a plane. U.S. officials have assured Japanese leaders the Ospreys are safe.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Pentagon: Skiff came within 150 yards of US Navy ship in Persian Gulf

    The small vessel disregarded warnings as it approached the U.S. ship near Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent

    WASHINGTON – U.S. officials told NBC News on Tuesday that a small civilian boat was within 150 yards of a U.S. Navy ship in the Persian Gulf when it was fired upon, killing one and wounding three others on board.

    The small skiff was heading straight for the USNS Rappahannock and ignored repeated warnings before the ship’s crew opened fire with a 50-caliber machine gun, officials said.



    The entire incident took place within a three-minute window about 10 miles offshore from Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Monday.

    US vessel fires on boat in Gulf, killing one and injuring three

    Pentagon officials on Tuesday released detailed timings of the incident, which began at 2:50 p.m. local time (5:50 a.m. ET). All times local.

    2:50pm
    The vessel, a motorized skiff, sighted at 5 miles, approaching Rappahannock from starboard (right) side at 20-25 knots.

    2:51pm
    The skiff now at 1200 yards when it turned inbound, headed directly for the Rappahannock

    2:51pm
    Rappahannock begins first phase of non-lethal warnings, radio, flashing lights. At 900 yards, the crew on the skiff ignores warnings and continues course directly at Rappahannock.

    2:52pm
    Now at 150 yards, skiff continues to ignore non-lethal warnings and continues course at Rappahannock.

    2:52pm
    As the skiff approaches 100 yards, the Rappahannock security team opens fire with a 50-caliber machine gun, killing one and wounding three others on board. The skiff slows for the first time, turns and circles around the stern and moves slowly up the port (left) side.

    2:53pm
    About 90 yards off the Rappahannock, the skiff comes to a stop.  Rappahannock goes to full speed to put distance between the two vessels.  The skiff is then seen departing the area.

    It is unclear whether the dead and injured are from the United Arab Emirates or India, but U.S officials stress there is no indication that Iran or Iranians were in anyway involved.

    The Pentagon also announced Monday that it is sending the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis to the Persian Gulf region – four months earlier than previously scheduled. The Stennis strike group, which also includes the Aegis guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and some 5,500 sailors, will also be on an eight month deployment – twice as long as the group was originally scheduled to be deployed.

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  • US official: Russia sends troops to Syria as peace hopes fade

    NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports that a Russian military ship carrying troops is on its way to Syria to protect a Russian deep water port.

    By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News, and msnbc.com news services

    Russia is sending armed troops to Syria amid escalating violence there, United States military officials told NBC News Friday, in a move certain to frustrate Western efforts to put pressure on the regime of President Bashir Assad.

    Moscow has sent a ship carrying a small contingent of combat forces to guard Russia’s deep-water port and military base at the Syrian city of Tartus, the US officials said.

    The U.S. officials also said Russia has not sent additional attack helicopters to the Syrian government, but replacement parts for the Russian helicopters the Syrians are already flying.

    Days before President Barack Obama's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been a war of words between the U.S. and Syria's longtime military supplier. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    It comes after the conflict was declared by France on Wednesday to be a full-blown civil war.

    The head of the U.N. observers in Syria said Friday a recent spike in bloodshed is derailing the mission to monitor and defuse more than a year of violence and could prompt the unarmed force to pull out. 


    "Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus. "The escalating violence is now limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects." 

    Tartus is one of Russia’s most strategically-important assets, giving it military access to the Mediterranean Sea.

    Russia and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with veto power, frustrated attempts by key Western figures, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to enforce a United Nations peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan.

    Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday repeated Moscow's strong opposition to external interference in Syria, said it was not discussing plans for a Syrian political transformation following the exit of Assad.

    PhotoBlog: Inside Syria

    At a news conference after talks with his Iraqi counterpart, Lavrov said he had seen reports saying U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland had suggested Washington and Moscow were discussing a post-Assad strategy in Syria. 

    "If that was really said then it's not true," Lavrov said. "Such discussions are not being held and cannot be held, because to decide for the Syrian people contradicts our position completely. 

    "We do not get involved in overthrowing regimes - neither through approval of unilateral actions by the U.N. Security Council nor by participation in any political plots." 

    Nuland was asked at a news conference on Thursday whether the United States and Russia were discussing a transition of power similar to that seen in Yemen last year, in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh was replaced by a deputy. 

    "We are continuing to talk about a post-Assad transition strategy in that context," she said.

    Government forces in Syria have driven rebel fighters out of the town of Haffa near the Turkish border and are now allowing UN monitors to enter the area. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

    Lavrov said any broad international talks on Syria must include Iran and must only address ways to create conditions for a political dialogue in Syria - not the content of that dialogue or preconditions such as Assad's exit. 

    Russia, which has come under increasing criticism from the West for arms deliveries to Syria, responded to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's allegations that attack helicopters were on the way from Russia to Syria. 

    In a statement on the Foreign Ministry website, Russia said it had made no new deliveries of military helicopters to Syria but under old contracts it had repaired helicopters sent to Syria "many years ago". 

    "There are no new deliveries of Russian military helicopters to Syria. All arms industry cooperation with Syria is limited to a transfer of defensive arms," the ministry said on its website. 

    "As regards helicopters, planned repairs of (helicopters) delivered to Syria many years ago were conducted earlier," it said. It did not say when they had been repaired or, if they were repaired in Russia, when they were returned to Syria. 

    Inside Syria: War-torn city of Homs scarred by violence, riddled with fear

    Syria's ambassador to Russia said on Thursday Russia had not sent new attack helicopters to Syria. 

    Russia says it is fulfilling existing contracts for air defense systems against external attacks. President Vladimir Putin, due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama next week, said the weapons Russia sends could not be used in civil conflicts. 

    A source close to Russia's arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport said Clinton's comments may have referred to helicopters sent to Russia in 2009 for repairs and which may be on the way back to Syria. 

    The source said on Wednesday at least nine Mi-25 helicopters were sent to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to be repaired by Oboronservis, owned by the Defense Ministry. 

    Russia delivered three different missile systems including Bastion anti-ship missile units and another anti-aircraft system to Syria last year. 

    At least two ships carrying Russian weapons have reportedly travelled to Syria since the beginning of the year, though possibly not on behalf of state arms exporter Rosoboronexport. 

    Reuters contributed to this report. Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News. 

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  • 'Covert' US drone operation is mapped on Twitter

    By Chris Woods and Jack Serle, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

    Though the hour was late, Yemen’s social media was still very much awake.

    A U.S. drone's missiles had just slammed into a convoy of vehicles in a remote part of Yemen, killing three alleged militants.

    The attack – like all other U.S. drone strikes outside warzones – was supposed to be clandestine. Yet within minutes Sanaa-based lawyer Haykal Bafana was reporting the strike in almost-realtime. Just after 1am on May 17 he posted the following on Twitter:

    "#Yemen NOW | Missile strike on car in Wadi Hadhramaut. Near city of Shibam. Suspected US drone attack."

    As Bafana later explained to the Bureau, his relatives live in Shibam, a town of 30,000. "When the drone struck, the town – which was then experiencing a power cut – had completely lit up. My relatives got straight on the phone to tell me about the attack."

    The day prior to the strike Bafana had already tweeted that drones were behaving suspiciously in the area. Hadhramaut province, a sparsely-populated former sultanate, is far from Yemen’s troubled south, where most of the fighting and U.S. drone strikes are currently taking place.

    More stories from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

    There has been militant activity there for some years, report locals, and surveillance drones have been active at night since 2010. But until now there had never been a drone strike. "But suddenly four or five days ago, my relatives were reporting drones over them in daylight, all the time, which was rare. Militants were also being seen moving about in the area, maybe preparing the way for an evacuation from the fighting in the south. Everyone was expecting something to happen," Bafana recalls. He tweeted the news to his followers.

    "#Yemen | Hearing multiple claims of drone sightings in Hadhramaut, especially in Shibam/Qatn directorates (KSA route). No attacks so far."

    When the deadly attack finally came in the early hours of Thursday morning, the target itself was hardly a secret.

    Earlier, Arabic-language online media in the provincial capital of al-Mukalla had reported that a convoy of alleged al Qaeda rebels was heading north. That news was also swiftly tweeted.

    Precision strike
    Others were clearly also charting the convoy’s progress. As the vehicles approached Shibam at around 1am local time, at least one car, a Toyota Hilax, was destroyed by missiles from above. Yemen’s own air force has neither the know-how nor the equipment to launch a precision strike on moving vehicles in the dark.


    News agencies would later report the attack as a drone strike, naming two of the dead as Zeid bin Taleb and Mutii Bilalafi, both described as local al Qaeda leaders. Like the dozens of U.S. drone strikes in Yemen that preceded it, Thursday’s attack was supposed to be secret. Yet Twitter and other social media were tracking in near-real time the events surrounding the operation.

    US official acknowledges drone strikes, civilian deaths

    "It is incredible how the same type of technology used by the CIA to kill people with drones in the Yemen, is empowering the Yemenis to tweet the attacks as they are happening," Noel Sharkey, professor of robotics at the University of Sheffield told the Bureau.

    "They can send us all pictures and bring us closer to the horror they are experiencing. Technology in the small may eventually bring down the over-use of military technology in the large."

    They may not have Q in their corners, but real spies do have gadgets that would fit right into a James Bond movie. Msnbc.com's Rosa Golijan tours an exhibition of spy tools.


    Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter – which played an important role in Yemen’s Arab Spring uprising – are now being used by activists to draw attention to a large increase in U.S. drone strikes in recent weeks.

    'Twitter is increasingly important'
    As Haykal Bafana notes, within minutes of his tweeting Monday’s attack the news was also posted on Facebook and on local Arabic micro-news sites. "Web use is as low as 2 percent here in Yemen. But it still makes a big difference. Many people get their news from the small local media sites rather than from foreign or state agencies. And Twitter is increasingly important."

    When President Obama’s chief counter terrorism adviser John Brennan visited Sanaa on Sunday,  Twitter witnessed an online protest with the hashtag NoDrones.

    "Brennan do you hear us?!!! We say #NoDrones #NoDrones #NoDrones. You are killing innocent people and creating more enemies in #Yemen."

    'Stooge': Al-Qaida chief al-Zawahiri issues message on Yemen

    Yemen-based youth activist Sadam al-Adwar (@sadamtweety), for example, said: "I’m against #terrorism & #extremism, i’m also against #drones. It’s counter-productive & fuels more extremism."

    And @WomanFromYemen, otherwise known as NGO consultant Atiaf al-Wazir, told her more than 8,000 followers: "For every headline you read regarding 'militants' killed by drones in #Yemen, think of the civilians killed that are not reported. #NoDrones."

    Yesterday’s Yemen drone strike appears to be the first in which events were reported on in real time.

    "I’ve never heard of an example of people tweeting while drones were actually in the area," said Dr Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Policy, an expert on Yemen security issues.

    "It really gets to the myth that you can keep these strikes covert, and if you do not have an information campaign that supports their use, you leave yourself flat-footed by people reporting what is being done in real time."

    Army working on hovering, non-lethal drone-bazooka

    There is a precedent. Last year a Pakistani man unknowingly tweeted the presence of U.S. Special Forces attack helicopters on the way to kill Osama bin Laden. On May 1 last year Pakistani IT consultant Sohaib Athar tweeted the following.

    "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)."

    Stephanie Gosk spoke to Sohaib Athar, the man who told the world about the Osama bin Laden attack as it was in progress,  before he knew what it was he was witnessing.

    After a "huge window shaking bang" he debated the significance of the night’s events on Twitter, even as U.S. Special Forces carried out their controversial raid. He quipped to a follower that "moving to Abbottabad was part of the 'being safe' strategy."

    But as the news of bin Laden’s death broke Athar lamented: "Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it."

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  • Leon Panetta seeks another $70M for Israel's 'Iron Dome' rocket shield

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon will seek to provide Israel with an additional $70 million in the coming months for its short-range rocket shield, known as the "Iron Dome," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said after a meeting with his Israeli counterpart on Thursday.

    So far, the United States has provided $205 million to support the Iron Dome, manufactured by Israel's state-owned Raphael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. The system uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up in midair Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of 3 miles to 45 miles, as well as mortar bombs.

    But top Republicans have criticized President Barack Obama for what they described as inadequate funding of U.S.-Israeli missile defense cooperation in his 2013 budget request released in February amid deficit-reduction requirements.

    Legislation moving through the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives would give Israel additional $680 million for the Iron Dome system through 2015, and some House lawmakers are seeking a deal with Israel to share production of the Iron Dome system with U.S. weapons manufacturers.


    Obama's fiscal 2013 budget request calls for $3.1 billion in security assistance to Israel, part of a 10-year, $30 billion U.S. commitment, none of which was scheduled to fund Iron Dome.

    A message to Assad? 19 countries stage war games in Jordan

    On Thursday, Panetta said the Pentagon would seek additional funding for the Iron Dome program over the next three years "based on an annual assessment of Israeli security requirements."

    "My goal is to ensure Israel has the funding it needs each year to produce these batteries that can protect its citizens," Panetta said.

    'US Navy lit up the sky': Interceptor for Europe anti-missile shield tested

    He said the $70 million would be provided this fiscal year, which ends in September.

    "This is assistance that, provided Congress concurs, we can move quickly, to ensure no shortage in this important system," Panetta said in a statement after meeting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Pentagon.

    'Unbreakable bonds'
    The Jerusalem Post quoted Barak as saying that Israeli-U.S. defense ties had never been as strong as they were today under the Obama administration.

    "The U.S. decision to support further enhancing Israel's security is an important demonstration of the unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel," Barak added. 

    The pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC welcomed Panetta's decision, saying it would help Israel better protect its citizens against some 60,000 missiles and rockets amassed at its borders by Hamas and Hezbollah Islamist militants.

    As of April, Israel had deployed three operating units of the system, which helped thwart Palestinian rocket salvos during a flare-up in fighting around the Gaza Strip in March. It has spoken of needing a total of 13 or 14 units to protect various fronts.

    The system intercepted more than 80 percent of the targets it engaged in March when nearly 300 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel, saving many lives, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman said on March 27.

    Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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  • 'US Navy lit up the sky': Interceptor for Europe anti-missile shield tested off Hawaii

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    WASHINGTON -- The United States destroyed a target missile near Hawaii in the first successful test of a new Raytheon Co interceptor designed for an anti-missile shield in Europe, the company and a witness said.

    In a statement, Raytheon said the SM-3 Block IB's "kinetic warhead acquired the target with its two-color infrared seeker and tracked it through intercept."

    The firm said the target was launched from a missile range facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai late on Wednesday. The test also involved the USS Lake Erie.

    Russia threatens preemptive strike over planned US missile shield

    "The U.S. Navy lit up the sky, knocking out the target missile," said Riki Ellison, a prominent missile-defense advocate who observed the test.


    "This next-generation variant of the SM-3 is critical to the ballistic missile defense of the U.S. and our allies, because it can defeat the more sophisticated threats emerging around the world today," Dr. Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president, said in a statement.

    Richard Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, told Reuters he could not yet confirm a successful test.

    Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

  • Five men charged in 9/11 attacks could face death penalty

    AFP - Getty Images

    This photo obtained in 2003 shows alleged plotter of the September 11, 2001 attack Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The United States issued charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with four other alleged plotters, setting the stage for a much-awaited military trial.

    By Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News

    WASHINGTON -- Charges against five alleged co-conspirators in the 9/11 attacks were referred to trial by the Pentagon on Wednesday, and the men could face the death penalty.

    Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi are (once again) charged with planning and executing the attacks on Sept 11, 2001, leading to the deaths of 2,976 people.

    The convening authority of the Office of Military Commissions referred the case to a capital military commission, so these men are eligible for the death penalty.

    The five men have been charged before, but charges were dropped against them in 2009 when President Barack Obama ordered a review of the Military Commissions process, hoping to move the process to a civilian court.

    In May 2011, military prosecutors filed charges against all five again. Wednesday's announcement means that the convening authority has agreed they should stand trial.

    The next step is for the chief judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary to assign a military judge to the case and for a date to be set for their arraignment. According to the rules, they are supposed to be arraigned within 30 days of being served the charges. 

    They will be tried at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News and Courtney Kube is the Pentagon producer. 

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  • US: North Korea using hackers; food aid suspended over rocket

    By msnbc.com news services

    WASHINGTON -- North Korea has added sophisticated cyber attack capabilities to its arsenal of threatening weapons and this year is rife with opportunities for military provocations from Pyongyang, senior U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday.

    The officials told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee that North Korea's large conventional military, nuclear weapons programs, ballistic missiles and newer capabilities in cyber warfare were all threats to the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Army Gen. James Thurman, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, told the panel that a skilled team of hackers was the newest addition to North Korea's arsenal of weapons that also includes chemical and biological weapons.

    "Such attacks are ideal for North Korea, providing the regime a means to attack South Korean and U.S. interests without attribution, and have been increasingly employed against a variety of targets including military, governmental, educational and commercial institutions," he said in prepared comments.

    Thurman, who leads the 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, told the panel that the power transfer following the death in December of leader Kim Jong Il "appears to be proceeding without discernible internal challenges and with significant Chinese political and economic support."

    Kim's untested son, Kim Jong Un, estimated to be 28 years old, has eased into power surrounded by allies of his father with so far "no indications the regime will depart significantly from Kim Jong Il's policies," said Thurman.

    Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific Security Affairs, told the panel the potential for provocations from North Korea in 2012 was a "major concern" of the Pentagon.

    From the U.S. perspective, the first provocation will be a North Korean ballistic missile launch slated for between April 12-16. But South Korean elections in April and December might also tempt Pyongyang to take actions to influence Seoul's domestic politics, he said.

    Pyongyang says the rocket to be launched to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of deceased state founder Kim Il Sung will carry a weather satellite into orbit. But most outsiders say it is a disguised test of a long-range missile that violates key U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any such launches.

    Food aid suspended
    "This planned launch is highly provocative because it manifests North Korea's desire to test and expand its long-range missile capability," said Lavoy. He said the announcement of the launch also broke a missile moratorium North Korea agreed to on Feb. 29 with Washington in exchange for food aid.

    According to the BBC, Lavoy said next month's planned rocket launch "reflects [North Korea's] lack of desire to follow through on their international commitments and so we've been forced to suspend our activities to provide nutritional assistance."

    The US has not delivered food aid to North Korea since 2009, BBC reported, but it sent officials to the country's ally China earlier this month to finalize plans for renewed food deliveries totaling 240,000 tons.

    North Korea relies on foreign aid to feed its people, BBC reported. The country has been struggling with food shortages since a famine in the 1990s.

    Many of North Korea's neighbors are concerned about next month's launch of a rocket, which North Korea has said would travel southward toward the Philippines or Indonesia, said Lavoy.

    "I don't know if we have any confidence on the stability of the missile or what the impact will be," he said.

    The missile launch next month has put on hold diplomatic efforts to coax North Korea back into talks over its nuclear weapons programs that have been frozen for three years.

    Pyongyang often shifts tactics between diplomacy and confrontation, said Thurman.

    "History tells us that Pyongyang will shift from diplomatic to provocative behavior when conventional diplomacy has run its course and the North Korean leadership perceives coercive diplomacy offers a better chance to realize its objectives," he said.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • US suspends efforts to hunt for remains of fallen soldiers in North Korea

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    The United States says it's suspending efforts to recover remains of thousands of fallen service members in North Korea.

    The United States was in the process of resuming operations, suspended in 2005, to trace remains missing from the 1950-53 Korean War. That had been seen as a sign of easing tensions between adversaries.

    But last week North Korea announced plans to launch a rocket to fire a satellite into space, which the U.S. says would violate a U.N. ban.

    Pentagon press secretary George Little says North Korea hasn't acted appropriately in recent days and weeks and "it's important for them to return to the standards of behavior that the international community has called for."

    He said that at some point, the U.S. hopes to restart the recovery effort.

    "But when there are suggestions that they might launch ballistic missiles, when they make bellicose statements about South Korea and engage in actions that could be construed as provocative, we think that it's not the right time to undertake this effort," Little said. 

    A decade of search operations that led to the recovery and identification of 92 troops was suspended seven years ago, with the U.S. citing worries about the security of its personnel, The Associated Press reported. That ended the only cooperation between the militaries of the two nations, which formally remain at war because the conflict ended with a cease-fire and armistice, not a formal peace treaty.

    The two sides agreed in October to a resumption of searches, which Washington said was a purely humanitarian endeavor. Under the agreement, North Korea would receive $5.7 million in compensation for search services including labor, fuel, food, transportation and security, AP reported.

    A U.S. ship transported equipment for the searches to North Korea. Searches by two teams of 30 members each were expected to begin in April.

    About 5,300 service members are classified as missing-in-action in North Korea, and past search efforts have offered hope for family members. Most Korean War veterans are now in their 80s and 90s.

    For example,  Jerome Louviere told the Houma (La.) Courier newspaper that he hoped the searches would turn up news about his older brother, Ray, reported missing in action while serving in the Korean War.

    “I was 7 years old,” Jerome told the newspaper, when a letter arrived. “My mom was reading it out loud. She was very upset.” Ray, one of five sons and two daughters, would be 79 now, he said. He joined the Army with a friend.

    “His buddy came back, and he didn’t,” Jerome said.

    This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.

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