GlobalSecurity.org In the News

July 2002 News

1. US plans to overthrow Saddam Hussein NBC Nightly News (6:30 PM ET) July 31, 2002 -- Mr. JOHN PIKE (Globalsecrity.org): The United States could airlift in troops on very short notice and basically start the war within a few weeks after the decision to do so.
2. US planners see a weaker Iraqi leader By Robert Schlesinger Boston Globe July 31, 2002 -- ''What keeps Saddam Hussein in power today is the idea that he will be in power tomorrow,'' said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org. ''When the 18th Airborne Corps shows up in Baghdad, that will [wipe out] that presumption.''
3. Man Hijacks al-Qaida Web Site By D. IAN HOPPER Associated Press July 30, 2002 - Rather than a traditional sting operation - a routine task for the FBI - Messner's decoy site would be available to everyone on the Internet, said John Pike of Globalsecurity.org. That means the FBI might have inadvertently helped terrorists communicate.
4. Il Pentagono studia un attacco per bloccare l'atomica iraniana di ARTURO ZAMPAGLIONE La Repubblica (30 luglio 2002) "Anche adesso ci troviamo di fronte a un problema simile", ha spiegato ieri al Washington Post John Pike, direttore del centro di ricerca GolobalSecurity.org: "Se gli Stati Uniti o Israele non attaccheranno entro un anno gli impianti iraniani, dovranno rassegnarsi alla bomba atomica di Teheran".
5. Pentagon prüft schnelle Zerschlagung der irakischen Führung Von Hubert Wetzel Financial Times Deutschland July 30, 2002 - Bisher tauchten in der Öffentlichkeit vor allem zwei Szenarien auf, die der US-Militärexperte John Pike salopp als "Papa Bär" und "Baby Bär" bezeichnet. Papa Bär bezieht sich dabei auf den Standardplan der USA für einen zweiten Golfkrieg - den so genannten OPLAN 1003.
6. Swift Baghdad strike aimed at isolating or killing Saddam By Julian Borger The Guardian (London) July 30, 2002 -- Mr Pike said. "If I wanted 50,000 men to march on Baghdad, I would certainly do everything in my power to give the impression that I was going to wait months while I put together a force of a quarter million."
7. Iran's Emerging Nuclear Plant Poses Test For U.S. By Dana Priest Washington Post July 29, 2002 - "Within the next year, either the U.S. or Israel is going to either attack Iran's [nuclear sites] or acquiesce to Iran being a nuclear state," said John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a nonpartisan military and intelligence research center.
8. Amerikaner denken über Bombardierung nach T-Online July 29, 2002 -- Wie auch immer: "Innerhalb des nächsten Jahres werden die USA oder Israel die Atomkraftwerke des Irans bombardieren oder hinnehmen, dass der Iran eine Atommacht ist," so John E. Pike, Direktor von GlobalSecurity.org in der "Washington Post".
9. U.S. Fears "Basra Breakout" By Tony Allen-Mills The Times (London) July 28, 2002 - "Can those convoys get to Kuwait before the U.S. air force can shoot them up? I'd bet on the U.S. air force," said John Pike, a military analyst with GlobalSecurity.org .
10. Arms race is Mideast Powderkeg By Michael Cabbage Orlando Sentinel July 28, 2002 -- "As long as Israel has well-founded fears of being pushed into the sea, they're going to have the Bomb," said John Pike, director of the policy-research organization GlobalSecurity.org. "And as long as Israel has the Bomb, their Arab neighbors are going to pursue ballistic missiles with chemical and biological warheads as well as the nuclear option."
11. Friendly-fire a common widowmaker By Jim Hume Times Colonist (Victoria) July 28, 2002 -- As the bombs and shells get "smarter" the "friendly" casualties increase, a fact which leads to wonderful reasoning from one John Pike of the U.S. defence think-tank Global Security. He says: "Our forces are getting so good in combat that the bad guys are just not able to kill many of them. It's not so much that the rate of fratricide is going up as it is that the rate of deaths from hostile fire is going down."
12. Let Alpha map path to Mars By John Kelly Florida Today July 25, 2002 - "They are going to walk a fine line between humming a few bars about long-duration flight without bursting into a chorus about Mars," Pike said.
13. Naval Noise: Whale of a Problem By Noah Shachtman Wired News July 25, 2002 -- "The Navy has a much bigger environmental problem than the Army or the Air Force. If you take a look at the U.S. military facilities with the highest environmental impact questions, it's largely Navy," John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said.
14. Pakistan's Stock Rise Tied to International Aid, Analysts Say Bloomberg July 24, 2002 - After conducting nuclear tests in 1998, Pakistan was ``isolated and was having difficulties dealing with international financial institutions,'' said John Pike, director of globalsecurity.org, a defense policy organization. ``Now all that has changed.''
15. Boeing inks pacts with 3 in Europe By Tim Lemke The Washington Times July 24, 2002 -- "For the last two decades, European nations haven't been interested in anything to do with missile defense," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org and an outspoken critic of missile-defense systems. "It's not even on their list."
16. Boeing, EADS to Work Together on Missile Defense By Andrea Rothman and Peter Robison Bloomberg July 23, 2002 - ``The United States has been trying to get greater European involvement in missile defense for nearly two decades now, and it's pursued both a political track and a contractor track,'' said John Pike, an analyst with the defense research group Globalsecurity.org. ``Neither one of them has provoked much interest when it came down to writing checks.''
17. BOEING GEARS UP TO DOUBLE BOMB-KIT WORK By Christopher Carey St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 23, 2002 - "I think (the Joint Direct Attack Munition) is going to be critical to any operation against Iraq," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a research group in Alexandria, Va.
18. Bush homeland strategy draws applause, questions By David Jones Inside Energy July 22, 2002 -- ''I'm the designated skeptic about cyber attacks,'' Pike said, noting that every day businesses across the country put up with power interruptions and related system problems. ''The question is, what could terrorists do [through a cyber attack] that would rise above a normal industrial accident?'' he said.
19. Cyberterrorism drill set - Operation Dark Screen to help government, industry prepare for attacks BY Dan Caterinicchia Federal Computer Week July 22, 2002 - John Pike, director of the nonprofit organization GlobalSecurity. org, said the exercise was a welcome break from tradition. The usual all-talk-and-no-action stance on cyberattacks is "rather strange, given the number of emergency response exercises that are conducted to anticipate other problems, such as hazardous materials spills or nuclear accidents," he said.
20. Operation Dark Screen - Working together BY Dan Caterinicchia Federal Computer Week July 22, 2002 - John Pike, a former defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists and now director of the nonprofit GlobalSecurity. org, said planning is crucial to the success of Dark Screen. It will be especially challenging to come up with tabletop and live scenarios that are realistic but don't actually do harm.
21. U.S. forces have yet to field systems to prevent 'friendly fire' By STEPHEN J. HEDGES Chicago Tribune July 21, 2002 - "What they came up with is a series of different things that can be used," said John Pike, a defense analyst who runs GlobalSecurity.org. "But they never came up with a universal system that would always be used, because under most circumstances, you don't need it."
22. Lockheed on the line with new rocket By Jennifer Beauprez Denver Post July 21, 2002 - "Lockheed has gone from having three-fourths of government business to a quarter of the business," said John Pike, an analyst with GlobalSecurity.org. "It has been a compete reversal of fortune."
23. Northrop Grumman's unmanned helicopter Fire Scout Weekend All Things Considered- NPR (8:00 PM ET) July 20, 2002 -- Mr. JOHN PIKE (GlobalSecurity.org): I think that the frustration of the developers reflects the unavoidable gap between what might be physically possible and what the military is prepared to bet their lives on.
24. Al-Qaida Today By Ed Warner VOA July 19, 2002 -- "Mr. Pike admits it is hard to know just how much of a threat al-Qaida poses. Estimates of its membership range from hundreds of thousands to a few hundred. He says it is important to distinguish sympathizers from operatives who do the damage. We will have a better idea, unfortunately, when the next attack occurs"
25. Boeing's U.S. Spy Satellites Face Launch Delays, Panel Says By Tony Capaccio Bloomberg.com July 19, 2002 -- "This is exactly the point in a program when you would see these problems as it starts to move from preliminary design to bending aluminum," said John Pike, a military space analyst with Globalsecurity.org, a defense research group.
26. U.S. Response: WMD Threat Frustrates Iraq Invasion Plans By Bryan Bender Global Security Newswire Thursday, July 18, 2002 -- "The military operation has to be rapid and decisive so that the period of risk is minimized," said Pike. He believes that three Army divisions, relying on prepositioned equipment in the region, could be deployed to Kuwait virtually undetected.
27. Report faults decisions by intelligence agencies By Tom Bowman The Baltimore Sun July 18, 2002 -- Pike said he was intrigued that the committee is calling for NSA to become a hunter rather than a passive listener. He said that might mean the agency will be encouraged to start "placing more bugs" around the world through its Special Collection Service, a joint program it runs with CIA that operates out of a secret office building in Beltsville.
28. Project cancellation draws speculation By Keith Rogers Las Vegas Review-Journal July 17, 2002 -- John Pike, director of globalsecurity.org, a defense and intelligence policy organization based near Washington, D.C., agreed that interference with sound tracking tests is one possible reason the Air Force opposed the wind-power project atop Shoshone Mountain, 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
29. War, the Mother of Inventions By Mark Fineman Los Angeles Times July 17, 2002 When Congress throws billions of dollars at a new effort like homeland security, the response from America's revenue-seeking marketplace is predictable, said John Pike of globalsecurity.org, an independent defense policy group in Washington. "No leap of the imagination is required to guess the result," he said. "For Congress, that's like hanging out a sign that says, 'Free money.' "
30. Northrop CEO Has to Prove TRW Purchase Is Worthwhile Bloomberg July 17, 2002 - Getting the TRW satellite program in shape will be even more difficult, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.Org, a defense-research organization.
31. U.S. Plans Sale of Military Equipment to India, Advancing Ties Bloomberg July 17, 2002 - ``I guess it's payback time,'' John Pike, a defense analyst with Globalsecurity.org, a private research group, said of the timing of the administration's announcement.
32. U.S. is boosting stocks of precision weapons which could be used against Iraq By Matt Kelley The Associated Press July 15, 2002 - "It's only when you start thinking about that quantum leap in air power lethality that it starts to become plausible that you could take military action against Iraq without having a massive, multi-month (troop) buildup like they had a decade ago," Pike said.
33. A Look at Terrorist Tracking Technology Cable News Network - 13:00 ET July 13, 2002 -- JOHN PIKE, DIR., GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: With hyper-spectral imagery, you are looking at literally hundreds of different colors, and minute differences in those colors can tell you the difference between leaves and a camouflaged command post.
34. Developing missile system test flight over Wichita By Scott Canon The Kansas City Star July 12, 2002 - "It would be a real-world weapon, not a movie weapon where everything works right all the time," Pike said. "It's not obviously physically impossible, but it's hard."
35. Marine Corps high-tech recruit sees through the fog of war By Jeanette Steele Copley News Service July 12, 2002 -- It's become a hot term around the Pentagon, said John Pike, defense analyst and director of Globalsecurity.org. "They really got focused on this during Desert Storm because they got really annoyed with all of the vans and trailers they had to haul over there for (support staff)," he said.
36. Amerika atesle oynuyor Milli Gazete 12 Temmuz 2002 - Habere göre, gizli operasyonlarin basarili olmamasi durumunda Baskan Bush askeri operasyon seçenegine basvuracak ve sürpriz baskin senaryosu bu asamada gündeme gelecek. Amerikali savunma uzmanlarindan John Pike, "Bir bakarsiniz birlikler bir cuma Kuveyt'te, ondan sonraki persembe Bagdat'talar" diye konustu.
37. U.S. Says It Won't Oppose Expansion of Afghan Security Force Bloomberg July 11, 2002 - Last week's assassination of Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir and concern about law and order may have led the U.S. government to rethink its stance, said John Pike, director of globalsecurity.org, a defense research organization.
38. If Bush decides to attack Iraq, the strike could be sudden By SALLY BUZBEE The Associated Press July 10, 2002 - "We could have a situation where on Monday, it first looks like there will be a war, on Friday troops are in Kuwait, and by (the next) Thursday they're in Baghdad," said John Pike, a defense analyst in Washington.
39. Rebel groups reject CIA overtures down on the farm Julian Borger The Guardian July 10, 2002 - "My theory is that the US government is going to want to do this on its own, on the basis that if you work with the Kurds and the Shi'ites you're going to end up with three Iraqs rather than one," said John Pike, who runs a Washington security thinktank, GlobalSecurity.org.
40. Iran: Usa studiano attacco preventivo centrale atomica Impianto nucleare quasi pronto. Aumenta pressione su Russia By MC SDA - Servizio di base in Italiano July 29, 2002 -- "Entro il prossimo anno - ha detto John Pike, direttore di GlobalSecurity.org, un centro di ricerca militare indipendente - avremo un attacco americano o israeliano contro la centrale, oppure avremo acconsentito a che l'Iran diventi una potenza nucleare".
41. Merger gives Offutt role on information battlefield by Jake Thompson Omaha World-Herald July 7, 2002-- "In the real world, what that has actually consisted of is unclear," said John Pike, a defense expert at GlobalSecurity.org. "I'm sure they've got a roomful of guys out there who think they're in charge of something, but what it is isn't well-known."
42. HONEYWELL GETS $30 MILLION TO STABILIZE RAD-HARD ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY Inside the Air Force July 5, 2002 -- "There are still nuclear weapons in the world and there is a continuing need for radiation-resistant electronics basically to avoid creating a situation where one nuclear weapon detonation could substantially degrade American military capabilities," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a DC-based group focused on foreign affairs and defense issues.
43. High-tech front in the war on terror by David Ensor CNN July 5, 2002 -- "With hyperspectral imaging you're looking at literally hundreds of different colors, and minute differences in those colors can tell you the difference between leaves and a camouflaged command post," says John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, an Alexandria, Virginia-based group that analyzes security risks and weapons improvement.
44. Northrop rachete TRW et devient le deuxieme fournisseur du Pentagone By Eric Leser Le Monde July 3, 2002 -- Northrop n'etait pas tres present dans le spatial; or, justement, TRW est le numero un dans ce domaine, explique John Pike, le directeur de GlobalSecurity.org, un organisme de recherche sur la defense.
45. Commercial Satellites to Enhance WMD Detection by Bryan Bender Global Security Newswire July 3, 2002-- "Our hope is there will be more imagery in the archive and that will enable them to sell imagery at a lower cost," said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org, an arms control group frequently uses commercial space imagery to conduct independent analysis of suspected nuclear and missile facilities.
46. Snooping Around on Capitol Hill Is FBI Inquiry a Full-Blown Leak Investigation or Just for Show? by James Gordon Meek LA Daily Journal July 3, 2002-- "The message is [that] loose lips sink ships," Pike said, invoking a famous World War II-era secrecy mantra. "If there's any inquiry, I think it will be entirely pro forma."
47. Experts Downplay Potential Impact Of Cyber Attack Technology Daily July 1, 2002-- John Pike, a weapons-systems analyst and director of Globalsecurity.org, a defense policy organization in Washington, stressed that terrorists use simple, direct methods for operations because they are less likely to fail.
48. Boeing gets the call for DOD radio by Dan Caterinicchia Federal Computer Week July 1, 2002-- John Pike, a former defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists and now director of the nonprofit GlobalSecurity.org, said that when JTRS is fielded, "it's going to represent a major improvement in battlefield communications."
49. Computer & Cyberspace "Gott verbrennt ihre Haeuser und Graeber" By Dafna Linzer Associated Press Worldstream - German July 1, 2002 -- Das Internet sei ein globales Kommunikationsmittel, und El Kaida als global agierende Terrororganisation nutze es, sagt John Pike von der Gruppe GlobalSecurity.org, die sich mit Sicherheitsfragen beschaeftigt. "Vor eineinhalb Jahren gab es noch viele solcher Web-Sites, die fuer Propaganda genutzt wurden", sagt Pike. Aber diese scheine auch zu Steuerungszwecken eingesetzt zu werden.