US contractors allege Iraq abuse | WORLD | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz
Four security guards have claimed that their former employer, hired by the US government, has arbitrarily killed Iraqi civilians, an American news report said.
"These aren't insurgents that we're brutalising," retired US Army Ranger captain Bill Craun told NBC News.
"It was local civilians on their way to work. It's wrong."
Craun and three others said their former employer, Custer Battles, allowed heavily armed guards to roam Iraq brutalising civilians, while they were supposed to be guarding supply convoys from rebels.
Custer Battles was one subject of a congressional hearing on Tuesday into allegations of corruption in Iraq.
A lawyer representing former employees told the Democratic senators the firm had received millions of dollars for work not done because of the owners' connections with the Republican Party.
The four former employees told NBC that their convoys fired on Iraqi pedestrians and crushed children with a truck.
The US Army was looking into the allegations, NBC said.
The men claimed that on November 8, a Kurd guard travelling with them fired into a passenger car to move traffic out of the way.
He "sighted down his AK-47 and started firing," former army corporal Ernest Colling told NBC.
The bullet "went through the window. As far as I could see, it hit a passenger. And they didn't even know we were there."
Colling said that later that day, an Iraqi teenager walking on the roadside was shot.
"The rear gunner in my vehicle shot him," Colling told NBC.
"Unarmed, walking kids."
And a large Ford pickup truck crushed a smaller car with Iraqis inside.
"The front of the truck came down," Craun said.
"I could see two children sitting in the back seat of that car with their eyes looking up at the axle as it came down and pulverised the back."
Will Hough, a retired US Marine said it was unlikely that anyone survived.
"Probably not. Not from what I saw," Hough told NBC.
Colling and Craun told NBC that they quit immediately.
Retired sergeant Jim Errante said he quit after witnessing similar abuses on other occasions.
"I didn't want to be a witness to any of these, what could be classified as a war crime," Errante told NBC.
The network said company officials denied the allegations, calling the four men "disgruntled" former employees.
The company's manager in Iraq, Paul Christopher, who told NBC
"There has absolutely never been a case of anyone being hurt or killed to my knowledge, except for people who were actively engaged in shooting at us first".
2005-02-11
Hubble Spy Satellite Doomed
RedNova News - NASA Decides to Abandon, Not Repair, Deteriorating Hubble Telescope
NASA plans to bury the Hubble Space Telescope rather than fix it, the space agency revealed Monday.
Outgoing NASA chief Sean O'Keefe made the announcement as he unveiled the agency's $16.46 billion budget proposal for 2006.
Hubble, which was launched in 1990, is widely considered the crown jewel of U.S. space science. Astronomers, politicians and members of the public have been lobbying for a mission to extend its life.
But O'Keefe says NASA's priorities are to meet President Bush's call for exploration of the moon and Mars. He also said the space agency had to meet obligations to finish construction of the international space station and launch a space shuttle this year.
NASA will continue financing Hubble operations until its failure, which is expected sometime after 2007. O'Keefe plans to bring the telescope out of orbit and dispose of it in the atmosphere by 2013.
''It is my judgment call,'' O'Keefe says. He cited two reports:
* The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's safety requirements for shuttle flights rule out Hubble repairs by astronauts. The board was formed after seven astronauts were killed in the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
* A National Research Council panel maintained last year that a robot repair mission in 2007 was technologically too risky.
After a public outcry last year when O'Keefe disclosed plans to let Hubble die, the director backed off. He publicly supported a robotic repair mission, which will get a NASA review next month.
But by removing money from this budget for a robotic rescue, the window of opportunity to revive such an effort before Hubble's batteries or stabilizing gyroscopes fail becomes much narrower.
''The lack of money for a robotic Hubble mission is both an opening move in what the White House certainly knows will be a heated interaction with Congress and a 'logical' response to the NRC report,'' says John Logsdon of George Washington (D.C.) University.
The House Science Committee plans a hearing on NASA's budget and Hubble this month.
''Hubble's best days are ahead of it, not behind it,'' says Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. ''I will fight in the Senate this year to fund a servicing mission to Hubble by 2008.''
A second science mission, the 2015 Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, is not financed yet. NASA's Craig Steidle says the nuclear reactor needed for the mission was too advanced a technology to pull off by 2015.
''My first reaction to the budget is quite positive,'' says Lennard Fisk, who heads the Research Council's Space Studies Board. He notes that the budget includes financing for a Mars orbiter, a Pluto mission and a infrared telescope for 2011.
NASA plans to bury the Hubble Space Telescope rather than fix it, the space agency revealed Monday.
Outgoing NASA chief Sean O'Keefe made the announcement as he unveiled the agency's $16.46 billion budget proposal for 2006.
Hubble, which was launched in 1990, is widely considered the crown jewel of U.S. space science. Astronomers, politicians and members of the public have been lobbying for a mission to extend its life.
But O'Keefe says NASA's priorities are to meet President Bush's call for exploration of the moon and Mars. He also said the space agency had to meet obligations to finish construction of the international space station and launch a space shuttle this year.
NASA will continue financing Hubble operations until its failure, which is expected sometime after 2007. O'Keefe plans to bring the telescope out of orbit and dispose of it in the atmosphere by 2013.
''It is my judgment call,'' O'Keefe says. He cited two reports:
* The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's safety requirements for shuttle flights rule out Hubble repairs by astronauts. The board was formed after seven astronauts were killed in the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
* A National Research Council panel maintained last year that a robot repair mission in 2007 was technologically too risky.
After a public outcry last year when O'Keefe disclosed plans to let Hubble die, the director backed off. He publicly supported a robotic repair mission, which will get a NASA review next month.
But by removing money from this budget for a robotic rescue, the window of opportunity to revive such an effort before Hubble's batteries or stabilizing gyroscopes fail becomes much narrower.
''The lack of money for a robotic Hubble mission is both an opening move in what the White House certainly knows will be a heated interaction with Congress and a 'logical' response to the NRC report,'' says John Logsdon of George Washington (D.C.) University.
The House Science Committee plans a hearing on NASA's budget and Hubble this month.
''Hubble's best days are ahead of it, not behind it,'' says Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. ''I will fight in the Senate this year to fund a servicing mission to Hubble by 2008.''
A second science mission, the 2015 Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, is not financed yet. NASA's Craig Steidle says the nuclear reactor needed for the mission was too advanced a technology to pull off by 2015.
''My first reaction to the budget is quite positive,'' says Lennard Fisk, who heads the Research Council's Space Studies Board. He notes that the budget includes financing for a Mars orbiter, a Pluto mission and a infrared telescope for 2011.
2005-02-09
Laser Weapons at Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Establishes Directed Energy Systems Unit
Northrop Grumman has established a new business area - Directed Energy Systems - to help transition high-energy laser systems from the laboratory to warfighters, the most advanced of which will be able to engage mortars, rockets, artillery and other threats to protect U.S. and allied military and civilian populations and assets.
Established at the company's Space Technology sector, DES positions the company to better take advantage of upcoming opportunities in directed energy applications.
In 2004, the Airborne Laser (ABL) program achieved 'first light' of the Northrop Grumman-built, megawatt-class laser, and the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) testbed proved its versatility by repeatedly shooting down mortars and large-caliber rockets in-flight.
"Because of the recent successes in proving the technology and engineering behind high-energy lasers, we believe the time has come to put these speed-of-light defensive capabilities into the hands of our warfighters," said Alexis Livanos, president of Northrop Grumman Space Technology.
"Northrop Grumman's high-energy laser and active protection expertise will help our nation create operational systems for both today and the future. We have world-class technology and an unparalleled team of experts in this field.
"By leveraging those assets with the breadth of Northrop Grumman's related capabilities in platforms, systems integration and other directed-energy technologies, we provide a tremendous asset to our government customers in addressing our nation's battlefield and area defense needs," Livanos added.
Art Stephenson, a 28-year company veteran and former director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, has been named vice president of the DES unit.
Stephenson, 62, is responsible for Northrop Grumman's work on chemical lasers, solid-state lasers and rocket-based engagement systems. Chemical laser programs include the ABL and the THEL testbed.
Solid-state lasers include the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser and the Strategic Illuminator Laser. Rocket-based engagement systems include the Active Protection System - a radar-commanded, point-and-shoot system that can detect, track, intercept and defeat threats at a distance sufficient enough to ensure combat vehicles' survival on the battlefield.
The new business area includes affiliates Cutting Edge Optronics in St. Charles, Mo., and SYNOPTICS in Charlotte, N.C., both of which produce laser materials and components.
"Our work on chemical lasers as part of the THEL program has produced derivatives that are ready for deployment," Stephenson said.
"These lasers are the pathfinders to the military's use of directed energy to defend against the variety of attacks we're seeing today. While chemical lasers offer a starting point for incorporating directed energy weapons into security and combat operations, our solid-state lasers, though less powerful than chemical lasers today, offer our customers the promise of more flexible, ubiquitous and mobile defense systems for future years," Stephenson added.
He further noted the company continues to make significant strides in its development of solid-state lasers.
"Northrop Grumman is a leading supplier of the solid-state lasers used daily by our military to perform designation and range finding. Higher-power Northrop Grumman solid-state illuminator lasers, such as the Beacon Illuminator Laser for ABL, are being used now. The Strategic Illuminator Laser is only a few years away. As we look forward to weapons systems, those using very high-power lasers could be deployed in six to nine years," Stephenson explained.
Northrop Grumman is developing high-energy laser systems for ground, sea, air and space applications, including the U.S. Army's THEL, which has shot down more than four dozen targets, ranging from Katyusha rockets to artillery shells, large-caliber rockets and mortar threats, as well as the laser for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser program.
Northrop Grumman has established a new business area - Directed Energy Systems - to help transition high-energy laser systems from the laboratory to warfighters, the most advanced of which will be able to engage mortars, rockets, artillery and other threats to protect U.S. and allied military and civilian populations and assets.
Established at the company's Space Technology sector, DES positions the company to better take advantage of upcoming opportunities in directed energy applications.
In 2004, the Airborne Laser (ABL) program achieved 'first light' of the Northrop Grumman-built, megawatt-class laser, and the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) testbed proved its versatility by repeatedly shooting down mortars and large-caliber rockets in-flight.
"Because of the recent successes in proving the technology and engineering behind high-energy lasers, we believe the time has come to put these speed-of-light defensive capabilities into the hands of our warfighters," said Alexis Livanos, president of Northrop Grumman Space Technology.
"Northrop Grumman's high-energy laser and active protection expertise will help our nation create operational systems for both today and the future. We have world-class technology and an unparalleled team of experts in this field.
"By leveraging those assets with the breadth of Northrop Grumman's related capabilities in platforms, systems integration and other directed-energy technologies, we provide a tremendous asset to our government customers in addressing our nation's battlefield and area defense needs," Livanos added.
Art Stephenson, a 28-year company veteran and former director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, has been named vice president of the DES unit.
Stephenson, 62, is responsible for Northrop Grumman's work on chemical lasers, solid-state lasers and rocket-based engagement systems. Chemical laser programs include the ABL and the THEL testbed.
Solid-state lasers include the Joint High Power Solid-State Laser and the Strategic Illuminator Laser. Rocket-based engagement systems include the Active Protection System - a radar-commanded, point-and-shoot system that can detect, track, intercept and defeat threats at a distance sufficient enough to ensure combat vehicles' survival on the battlefield.
The new business area includes affiliates Cutting Edge Optronics in St. Charles, Mo., and SYNOPTICS in Charlotte, N.C., both of which produce laser materials and components.
"Our work on chemical lasers as part of the THEL program has produced derivatives that are ready for deployment," Stephenson said.
"These lasers are the pathfinders to the military's use of directed energy to defend against the variety of attacks we're seeing today. While chemical lasers offer a starting point for incorporating directed energy weapons into security and combat operations, our solid-state lasers, though less powerful than chemical lasers today, offer our customers the promise of more flexible, ubiquitous and mobile defense systems for future years," Stephenson added.
He further noted the company continues to make significant strides in its development of solid-state lasers.
"Northrop Grumman is a leading supplier of the solid-state lasers used daily by our military to perform designation and range finding. Higher-power Northrop Grumman solid-state illuminator lasers, such as the Beacon Illuminator Laser for ABL, are being used now. The Strategic Illuminator Laser is only a few years away. As we look forward to weapons systems, those using very high-power lasers could be deployed in six to nine years," Stephenson explained.
Northrop Grumman is developing high-energy laser systems for ground, sea, air and space applications, including the U.S. Army's THEL, which has shot down more than four dozen targets, ranging from Katyusha rockets to artillery shells, large-caliber rockets and mortar threats, as well as the laser for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser program.
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