Senators begin sixth day of START debate
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate engaged in heated debate on a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty Monday, with one senator urging colleagues to "stop the politics."
"I hope that the facts will control this debate," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on the floor.
"The American people voted for us to stop the politics; they voted for us to act like adults and do the business of this country. Voting on this treaty gives us the opportunity to live up to the hopes of the American people."
Debate on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty entered its sixth day, with the Senate in recess so members could receive classified information about verification and other things in a closed-door session.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged the Senate in a letter Monday to ratify the treaty, saying the matter is "vital to national security," The Washington Post reported.
"The sooner it is ratified, the better," Mullen wrote, noting he participated in negotiating the deal and assuring senators "military perspectives were thoroughly considered."
Russia warned senators not to rewrite the treaty, The New York Times reported.
"I can only underscore that the strategic nuclear arms treaty, worked out on the strict basis of parity, in our view fully answers to the national interests of Russia and the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Interfax news agency. "It cannot be opened up and become the subject of new negotiations."
Kerry expressed frustration at Republicans' comments about the treaty being pushed in the waning days of the lame-duck session when he said: "Just because you say something, doesn't make it true. ... This treaty is not being rushed. ... This treaty is being delayed at the request of Republicans. Is there no shame ever with respect to the arguments made on the floor of the United States Senate?"
Kerry said consideration of the treaty was delayed 13 times at the request of Republicans.
Moments before, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explained why he would vote against the START document.
"First and foremost, a decision (on START) should not be decided under the pressure of a deadline," McConnell said.
He also said he was concerned about "this administration's rushing into a policy judgment, then having to study the problem the policy judgment was meant to address."
Among instances the Kentucky Republican cited was President Obama's wanting to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without considering where suspected terrorist detainees would be relocated.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the treaty "represents our national interests" and that concerns about issues such as verification and tactical weapons have been "responded to easily in my judgment."
"The responsibility for stopping the arms race falls on our shoulders," he said.
The bottom line, said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is for senators to remember there is no capability to verify Russian activities.
"I appreciate that we have had vigorous debate," said Lugar, considered a Senate expert in arms matters. "In my judgment, it is very important. ... I believe it is imperative for our national defense and national security."
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said any amendments the Senate approves would not kill the treaty.
"The Senate cannot kill New START in the way some are suggesting," Thune said. "The amendment would require Russian consent."
Rains force Calif. evacuations
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Record rains forced about 2,000 people from their homes in McFarland, Calif., Monday while up to 12 feet of snow piled up at Mammoth Mountain, forecasters said.
The Los Angeles Times reported the residents of McFarland, located in the San Joaquin Valley, were ordered to leave their homes about 11:30 a.m. PST.
"About 400 to 500 houses are in danger of flooding around there," said Sean Collins, a spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department. "What we have there is quite a lot of farmland with ditches and drainages and canals. Without knowing 100 percent, it is quite possible one of the ditches either ran over or one of the banks broke."
The National Weather Service warned an "extended period of very wet conditions" means the threat of flooding will stay through the week.
Accuweather.com forecaster Ken Clark said the more than 12 feet of snow that has buried Mammoth Mountain in the Sierra Nevada puts the ski area on pace for its snowiest December ever.
The storm will churn eastward through the week toward Christmas, leaving a trail of deep, heavy snow behind, including portions of the central Plains, Midwest and mid-Atlantic. It is too early to tell whether it will veer northward up the East Coast, Accuweather.com said. Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Wilmington, Del.; Baltimore and New York may be on the "bubble" for this snowstorm, the weather service said.
"Yes Virginia, it could snow on Christmas," Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams said.
During the past four days, downtown Los Angeles has recorded 3.75 inches of rain -- a quarter of its normal rainfall for whole year, the Los Angeles Times reported. Several major roads were closed by flooding and mudslides, including the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and the 710 Freeway in Long Beach.
On Sunday, downtown LA had 2.3 inches of rain, breaking a record set in 1921. More than 3 inches fell in Pasadena and San Gabriel.
In the Sierras, a winter storm warning remained in effect through Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service is predicting 5 to 10 more feet of snow above 7,000 feet. Mammoth Lakes, Calif., saw almost 9 feet of snow in less than 24 hours, CNN reported.
In Seattle, winds knocked down trees and power lines Sunday, cutting power to about 100,000 people.
'Grim Sleeper' women's photos identified
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Los Angeles police Monday said releasing photos seized from the alleged killer known as "Grim Sleeper" let them identify some of the women photographed.
Approximately 160 photos dating back to the 1980s were taken from Lonnie David Franklin Jr.'s South Los Angeles trailer and garage and led to the identification of at 15 women, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police said they received hundreds of e-mails, phone calls and other tips from relatives and friends of women whose photos were released Thursday, saying the women are alive and unharmed.
Detectives said they received 75 tips that may provide leads in the case.
Franklin is charged with the sexual assault and slaying of 10 African-American women. During his arrest in July, police said they discovered approximately 1,000 photographs and hundreds of hours of videotape of women, much of the material showing the women partly undressed and in sexual poses, the Times reported.
More than a dozen of the photos showed women who are relatives or friends of Franklin, said his lawyer, Louisa Pensanti, who criticized the photos' release.
LAPD said it released closely cropped versions of the photos to show only the women's faces.
Detectives invited family members of the women Franklin is suspected of having killed to view the pictures before release, the newspaper said.
Chavez rejects U.S. ambassador appointment
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the U.S. government he rejects the recent appointment of Larry Palmer as U.S. ambassador to Caracas.
The Venezuelan Ministry of People's Power for Foreign Affairs said it delivered a note of protest to Darnall Steuart of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Voice of America, the broadcaster for the U.S. government, reported Sunday Palmer told a U.S. senator about low morale in the Venezuelan military, and that Palmer said he was worried Colombian rebels would find refuge in Venezuela.
Both remarks upset Chavez, the VOA reported.
The Venezuelans' note said the U.S. Senate "is just a step from confirming the appointment of Larry Palmer as the U.S. ambassador to Caracas, despite Palmer's unacceptable remarks that caused the withdrawal of the agreement granted by the [Venezuelan] government in good faith."
The Venezuelan Embassy said the U.S. appointment of Palmer reflects historical intervention and aggression against Venezuela.
"The U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, published on his Web site that they had approved his appointment and that he would travel to Venezuela. If he comes here, grab him, (Minister) Nicolas (Maduro), grab him," Chavez said.
"Give Mr. Palmer a coffee from me, and then he has to return to his country. Bye-bye," said Chavez.
Economy squeezes armies worldwide: Jane's
LONDON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The economic situation is forcing militaries around the world to cut back, Jane's Defence Weekly reports in its annual year-end survey.
Ambitious procurement projects are being scrapped and modernization programs postponed. Many countries will be unable even to maintain current weaponry levels, the report said.
In Britain, drastic cuts recommended in the Strategic Defense and Security Review will spell "nothing less than a substantial degrading of the nation's ability to act upon the world stage," Jane's said. The Royal Navy is mothballing or selling one of two carriers it ordered, and maritime reconnaissance aircraft will be canceled before they can even enter service.
Not all nations are reducing arms spending, however. In Asia, North Korea's aggressive moves and China's expansion are leading neighbors to boost their forces.
With the United States officially ending Iraq combat operations, the Afghan war was the world's largest active armed conflict in 2010.
The Pentagon is undergoing a major budget overhaul after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced an initiative to streamline spending and transfer funding from overhead to war-fighting. Gates is looking for $100 billion in savings over the next five years.
Whole units like the Joint Forces Command, which is charged with developing operating concepts, have been recommended for abolition.
Meanwhile, financial pressures forced the U.S. Navy to largely scale back its goal of a 313-ship fleet.
In the fiscal year 2011 budget, it is recommending a 30-year shipbuilding plan averaging $15.9 billion a year. The fleet would meet the 313-ship target between 2020 and 2026 but then fall to 288 vessels in 2032.
In Europe, Germany, Spain, Norway and the Czech Republic are joining Britain in various cutbacks, and NATO's Lisbon summit focused on cost savings.
NATO is reducing the number of headquarters in its command structure from 11 to seven, and personnel from more than 13,000 to 8,950. Russia is boosting cooperation with the alliance on both missile defense and Afghanistan.
With conflict zones from Israel-Palestine to Korea, Jane's termed Asia "the world's most eventful region."
India improved its ties with the United States in 2010 but saw relations with Pakistan and China deteriorate. And it faces persistent internal security crises from a widespread Maoist insurgency and a renewed campaign of resistance in Kashmir.
As for China, "a territorial row with Japan, obstruction over North Korea and saber-rattling over its 'sovereignty' of the East China and South China seas saw the Communist Party's carefully choreographed narrative of 'peaceful rise' take a series of hits to its credibility," Jane's said.
