GAO: Weapons cost overruns rising
WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- Cost overruns for the U.S. Department of Defense's major weapons projects continued to soar last year, U.S. Government Accountability Office says.
In a report released Monday, the congressional watchdog said that in 2008, cost overruns on the projects were 42 percent higher than initial estimates, compared with 27 percent over estimates in 2000, The Washington Post reported.
The overruns totaled nearly $300 billion, while the average delay for programs such as new fighter jets lengthened from 21 to 22 months, Gene Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the GAO, said in the report.
The GAO contended a major reason for the cost overruns is that weapons development frequently begins before the technologies used in them are mature and before designs can meet requirements for costs and schedules.
"Pentagon planners don't do a good enough job of analyzing those requirements to understand whether they have the technologies and designs to build to them," GAO analyst Michael Sullivan told the Post. "So they begin with an unrealistic baseline."
John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in the report the Pentagon in December changed its acquisition policies in an effort to carry out some of GAO's recommendations.
Iran: U.S. must change if it seeks change
TEHRAN, March 31 (UPI) -- An Iranian official, responding to U.S. President Barack Obama's call for better relations, said the offer is promising, but old wounds must be treated, too.
"Mr. Obama has talked about his commitment to creating constructive diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Iran," wrote Ali Akbar Javanfekr, presidential press adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a commentary published in the Los Angeles Times. "He must first begin dressing the deep and old wounds inflicted on the Iranian nation and start to correct the misunderstandings created by the misconduct of previous U.S. administrations in their actions against Iran."
In his message marking Nowruz, the Persian new year, Obama offered an appreciation of Iran's culture, arts and civilization yet accused the republic of terror and pursuing weapons of mass destruction, Javanfekr wrote.
"These two antagonistic approaches are mutually exclusive," he said. "Mr. Obama needs to break with the wrongheaded approach of previous administrations and promote peaceful policies toward Iran.
Obama's claims of responsibility and honesty "must ultimately be put to the test," Javanfekr said. "We are, however, pleased to observe that Mr. Obama seems to be attempting to rehabilitate the tainted image of the United States."
Obama said his presidency would be driven by a policy of change, the adviser said, "and the American people have embraced it. But to remedy its image in the world, the U.S. needs to truly change its past methods."
"Change is mandatory for the U.S. administration," Javanfekr concluded. "For as history demonstrates, either you change, or you are forced to change."
Attacks show Pakistani terror spreading
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 31 (UPI) -- Islamist terrorism in Pakistan, once found only in the country's remote tribal areas, has spread, threatening political stability nationwide, analysts say.
The situation was illustrated by this week's attack and occupation of a police academy in Lahore by a cadre of young extremists, leaving at least 12 people dead, which followed a deadly attack that saw gunmen open fire on a Sri Lankan cricket team, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Analysts told the newspaper the police academy incident raises questions about Pakistan's vulnerability, with its nuclear-armed military and weak civilian government. Lahore, the scene of the attacks, is considered the cultural heart of the country.
"The realization that this problem is now no longer confined to a buffer zone with Afghanistan must dawn on everyone in Pakistan," Pakistani-American military expert Shuja Nawaz told the Post. "Pakistan has the wherewithal to deal with the problem but does its leadership have the will to do so?"
Experts told the Post that Pakistani extremist groups along the Afghanistan, which had been focused on external conflicts, have turned inward to spread violence and religious fanaticism to ethnic Pashtun peoples in the northwest.
Red Cross hostage deadline extended
MANILA, Philippines, March 31 (UPI) -- Islamic militants holding three Red Cross workers hostage in the Philippines have extended a deadline they set to behead one of them, sources say.
Militants belonging to the Abu Sayyaf group Tuesday lengthened the deadline by three hours for Philippine military authorities to remove troops from several villages in the southern island-province of Sulu, an unnamed government source told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The source said the extension was issued after Sulu Vice Governor Nur Anna Sahidulla and Sulu Representative Yusop Jikiri met with Abu Sayyaf leader Doctor Abu, the newspaper said.
Abu Sayyaf has also kept communications open with Philippines Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the country's Red Cross, through text messages, GMA-TV reported Gordon telling a local radio interviewer Tuesday.
"I got a text right now from the person I have been in contact with," he reportedly said. "I am still not opening it and I cannot tell you the content."
Poll: Obama respected by foreign leaders
WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- More than 8-in-10 Americans said they think Barack Obama will represent the country well in his first overseas trip as president, a CNN poll indicated.
The CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday also indicated 7-in-10 respondents said they thought leaders of other countries respect Obama, a difference from survey results concerning former President George W. Bush's standing in the world, when 49 percent said they believed foreign leaders respected Bush.
"Except for the period following the (Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist) attacks, that number never got any better for Bush," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Even among Republicans, a majority believes that other world leaders respect Obama."
Obama left Tuesday for a multi-nation visit to Europe, including a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 industrialized countries Thursday in London.
The CNN-Opinion Research Corp. telephone poll was conducted March 12-15 with 1,019 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
Poll: Michelle Obama's a hit
WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- U.S. residents' favorable view of first lady Michelle Obama was at 76 percent, a 28-point upsurge since the summer, poll results released Tuesday indicate.
A Washington Post-ABC News survey said the number of people who view Mrs. Obama negatively plummeted, with the biggest turnaround coming from Republicans who viewed her negatively last year, in part because of comments she made about feeling proud of her country for the first time.
Just before the inauguration, 47 percent of respondents identified as Republicans had a positive view of Michelle Obama. In the recent poll that number increased to 59 percent.
Since the inauguration, the first lady's overall favorable rating has risen 4 points to 76 percent.
Obama's favorable mark nears former first lady Barbara Bush's high mark of 85 percent in Gallup polling conducted near the end of her husband's term, and is close to Laura Bush's top Gallup Poll rating of 80 percent favorable, which she achieved when her husband was inaugurated for a second term.
The Washington Post-ABC News nationwide telephone poll was conducted by TNS of Horsham, Pa., Thursday through Sunday among 1,000 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
