GWOT Media Summary Mar 5

[RAMESES the Great]

U.S. Joint Forces Command
GWOT Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of March 5, 2008

 New Developments
 Military: Iran Supporting Iraq Militias. Military officials accused Iran on Tuesday of continuing to train and arm insurgents in Iraq, while U.S. lawmakers said they were disappointed that Baghdad opened up its doors to the Islamic Republic's top leader. "I think it's offensive," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two-day trip to Iraq this week. Iraq has "got every right to invite whomever they want. They're sovereign. But we have a right to express an opinion about it," added Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Levin's remarks come as the U.S. is struggling to combat Iran's growing influence in the region, and senior military commanders say it continues to provide powerful bombs to Shiite militias in Iraq. (Wichita Eagle/AP – see attached)
 Helicopter Crash Kills 7 Iraqis, 1 U.S. Service Member. An Iraqi military helicopter crashed in a sandstorm, killing the seven Iraqis and one American service member on board, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Tuesday. The crash was a blow to the Iraqi military's efforts to rebuild its air force, which was devastated during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and never recovered. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said two Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopters were ferrying troops from the northern city of Tall Afar to Baghdad on Monday when they encountered bad weather south of Bayji. One aircraft was able to avert the storm, but the other crashed, said Mohammed Askari, a ministry spokesman. (Los Angeles Times – see attached)
 U.S. Working On Two Agreements On Future Iraq Ties. The Bush administration is working on two agreements on future ties with Iraq -- one relating to U.S. military forces there and another setting out the framework for diplomatic relations with Baghdad, according to David Satterfield, the State Department's coordinator for Iraq, who appeared before Congress on Tuesday. Until now, the administration had spoken of one agreement to be reached with Baghdad before President George W. Bush leaves the White House next January. The plan for any document on future ties has stirred considerable concern among lawmakers and presidential candidates over whether it would lock in a long-term U.S. military presence. Satterfield said the administration planned a "status of forces" agreement with Iraq similar to those it had with many countries, providing the legal basis for U.S. troop presence. It also planned a "strategic framework" document on U.S.-Iraqi relations. (Reuters)
 Second Afghan Suicide Blast In Two Days Kills Policemen. A suicide car bomb exploded near a government compound in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, killing a policeman a day after two NATO troops and two civilians died in a similar blast in the area, officials said. The bombing -- claimed by the extremist Taliban -- was the fifth in a week in the eastern province of Khost, which borders Pakistan, and indicates an increase in militant unrest as the weather warms. The attacker had tried to ram an explosives-filled vehicle into the compound -- which houses the local government and security forces -- in the Tani district, officials said. The attack was similar to one in the nearby Sabari district on Monday, which killed two soldiers with NATO's International Security Assistance Force and wounded 15, according to an ISAF statement. (Google/AFP)

 Military Coverage
 China Plans Steep Increase In Military Spending. China announced a further sharp increase in military spending on Tuesday, a day after the United States renewed its warning that a lack of openness surrounding the rapid buildup of China’s armed forces posed a threat to stability in Asia. China’s military budget for 2008 will increase by 17.6 percent to 417.8 billion yuan, or about $58.8 billion, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, said at a news conference. This follows a 17.8 percent increase in 2007. Military experts in the United States and elsewhere say Beijing’s real military spending is at least double the announced figure. But even if it was double, China’s yearly military budget would still be only about one-fourth the size of the Pentagon’s. (New York Times – see attached)
 U.S. Military Chief Holds Talks With Pakistan Leaders. The chief of the U.S. military held talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the army top brass Tuesday on his second visit to the crucial "war on terror" ally in a month, officials said. Admiral Mike Mullen arrived late Monday in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which is battling a wave of Islamic militant attacks blamed on Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and the hardline Taliban movement. The visit by Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, coincided with a double suicide attack on a naval college in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday that killed at least five people. Mullen held talks with Musharraf at the president's former army office in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, and had two meetings with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, Colton said, without providing further details on their talks. (Google/AFP)

 Homeland Security
 DHS Tests Of Radiation Detectors Were Inconclusive, Report Says. Department of Homeland Security tests of new radiation detection machines last year did not show whether the costly devices performed well enough to be used as planned at ports and borders to protect the country against nuclear attacks or dirty bombs, according to a new report about the process. The performance tests were organized by the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, which has been trying to deploy the machines along the borders and at ports in a $1.2 billion project, despite allegations from government auditors that the office misled Congress about their effectiveness and later conducted flawed tests to show they worked well. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had said the development and purchase of the machines was a "vital priority" for the department. (Washington Post – see attached)
 Terror Trial Begins In Ohio. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of three men charged with plotting to recruit and train terrorists to attack U.S. and allied troops overseas. Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi and Wassim I. Mazloum are accused of conspiring to kill or maim people outside the United States, including military personnel in Iraq. They have all pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors say the men, who live in Ohio, attended a Muslim convention in Cleveland during the summer of 2004 where they talked about training in explosives, guns and sniper tactics. The men were there with a former U.S. military man who worked undercover and helped foil the plot, said Gregg Sofer, a justice department attorney. At the convention, the men discussed a five-year plan to carry out their mission, Sofer said during a bond hearing last April. (CBS News/AP)

 World Developments
 Blasts At Pakistan Navy College Kill At Least 4. Two powerful suicide bombings at Pakistan's Navy War College killed at least four people and injured 16 Tuesday on the fifth consecutive day of major attacks by pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan. The early afternoon assault in the heart of the country's cultural capital was the second in a week against a prominent military target in Pakistan and marked a significant setback for the beleaguered government of President Pervez Musharraf, which had pledged to improve security. The attack sparked panic across Lahore, which until recently has remained relatively insulated from the violence roiling the rest of the country. (Washington Post – see attached)
 Abbas Rejects U.S. Call To Reopen Peace Talks. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Tuesday rebuffed a U.S. plea to reopen peace talks with Israel, casting further doubt over the future of one of President George W. Bush’s diplomatic initiatives in the face of spiraling violence in the region. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, had urged the reopening of negotiations with Israel in a meeting with Mr. Abbas in Ramallah, saying the two sides could still reach an agreement by the end of the year. But the Palestinian leader, who suspended the talks over the weekend in protest at the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 100 Palestinians, refused to say when, or if, he would restart the talks. (London Financial Times – see attached)
 Colombia Gets U.S. Backing In Worsening Regional Crisis. Colombia and Ecuador sought diplomatic help Tuesday to resolve a militarized dispute between them that has already drawn in Venezuela and a pledge of support from the United States for Bogota, its main ally in South America. As Venezuela and Ecuador reportedly reinforced troops on their borders with Colombia, U.S. President George W. Bush said he stood fully behind his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, and slammed Caracas for raising tensions. "We firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region," Bush said in Washington, singling out "the provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela." Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, on a visit to Brazil to drum up regional support, said Bush's words in favor of Colombia were an unsurprising plug for an "unconditional puppet." (Agence France Presse)
 Iran Calls New UN Sanctions 'Worthless'. Iran vowed to push ahead with uranium enrichment Tuesday, a day after the U.N. Security Council passed a third round of sanctions that Tehran called "worthless" and politically biased. The council approved the measures in a 14-0 vote, but unity among the major powers faltered Tuesday when Russia and China blocked an attempt by Western nations to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The dispute reflected the often contentious relations between the West and Russia and China about how to deal with Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment and meet other Security Council demands aimed at ensuring its nuclear program isn't trying to produce atomic weapons. (Orlando Sentinel/AP)
 Interpol Satisfied With Olympics Security Preparations. The head of Interpol said on Tuesday that China's security preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August were of the highest standard, though reiterated the Games remained a possible terrorist target. "Interpol is very satisfied with the level of security preparations being put in place for the Beijing Olympics," Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said in Hong Kong. "Progress is significant and the preparations are of the highest possible standard." Noble reiterated, however, that Chinese and regional law enforcement authorities needed to be on guard against terrorist threats during the Games, which kick off on August 8. Interpol has said that the Beijing Games are a "prime theoretical target" for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. (Reuters)

 Public Opinion
 Americans Want Relations With Cuba. Most people in the United States believe their government should re-establish ties with Cuba, according to a poll by Gallup published in USA Today. 61% of respondents support restoring diplomatic relations with the communist country, down six points since December. On Feb. 19, Fidel Castro announced he would not accept a nomination to seek a new term as head of state. 37% of respondents think life under Raúl Castro will be better for Cubans, while 51% think it will be no different than under Fidel. (Angus Reid Global Monitor)

* AP = Associated Press UPI = United Press International KR = Knight Ridder

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Military: Iran Supporting Iraq Militias
Wichita Eagle/AP
March 4, 2008

Military officials accused Iran on Tuesday of continuing to train and arm insurgents in Iraq, while U.S. lawmakers said they were disappointed that Baghdad opened up its doors to the Islamic Republic's top leader. "I think it's offensive," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two-day trip to Iraq this week. Iraq has "got every right to invite whomever they want. They're sovereign. But we have a right to express an opinion about it," added Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Levin's remarks come as the U.S. is struggling to combat Iran's growing influence in the region, and senior military commanders say it continues to provide powerful bombs to Shiite militias in Iraq.

"We have no doubt they are still supporting insurgents," said Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the former No. 2 military commander in Iraq, at a Pentagon press conference. Asked if that was the greatest threat to stability in Iraq, he said, "If you ask me what I worry about most, I do worry about that as a long-term threat. And I think we have to, you know, constantly watch it." Odierno, who has been nominated for a fourth star and assignment as vice chief of staff of the Army, said it was not surprising that there were fewer attacks during Ahmadinejad's visit to Baghdad, since it is mainly Iranian-backed Shiite military members who have been conducting rocket and other attacks in the capital.

Adm. William Fallon, the top commander of troops in the Middle East, echoed these remarks in a Senate hearing at which he said Iran was fanning the flames of global terrorism. While Ahmadinejad has denied charges of harmful meddling in Iraq, "the facts prove otherwise," Fallon told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq marked the first by an Iranian leader since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. During his trip, he insisted U.S. power is crippling the region and portrayed himself as the enduring partner of Baghdad's Shiite-led government.

The U.S. has no diplomatic ties with Iran because it regards the country as a state sponsor of terror. But recognizing its influence on Iraq stability, officials last year opened limited discussions with Iranian officials by demanding the country stop arming Shiite militias. Fallon called Ahmadinejad's visit a "mixed bag" because it presented an opportunity for Baghdad to push Ahmadinejad directly to stop the flow of weapons and start working with coalition forces. "From our perspective, we are not going to help resolve the problems inside that country without assistance from outside," he said. But several lawmakers on the panel said they saw Baghdad's invitation as a grave mistake and said Iran deserves only to be isolated. "I would hope that others in the administration would express their indignation about this visit and the comments made by that president because they go to the very heart of the enormity of the sacrifices of life and limb that we have suffered in trying to provide Iraq the ability to become a strong and sovereign nation," said Sen. John Warner, the committee's No. 2 Republican.

More broadly on Iraq, Odierno and Fallon said they were encouraged at prospects for further progress even as the United States reduces its troop levels over the next few months. "I think there should be little doubt that our desire is to continue to bring our force levels down, as the Iraqis demonstrate their ability to stand up and take responsibility for security in the country," Fallon said. "Those trends are certainly encouraging and moving in the right direction. But it's critical that we don't lose the ground that's been so hard fought." Fallon said officials will probably need some time this summer to reassess the situation before drawing down more troops. By July, the Pentagon is on track to complete its reduction from 20 to 15 active-duty brigades deployed to Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, was expected to ask President Bush to wait until as late as September to decide whether to bring home more troops. Fallon cautioned that any specific timeline is purely speculation at this point. "Nothing is written in stone," he said.

Odierno spoke hopefully of an apparent change of direction by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army, which has posed some of the biggest challenges to U.S. efforts to stabilize the country. "I think he's trying to move them away from a militia-based organization to one that is more - as it started out to be - helping the poor Shiite community have a role and a vote in what goes on in the government of Iraq," Odierno said. "I think I see him trying to move toward that." He said this is encouraging in the sense that the majority of the Mahdi Army is "becoming more reconcilable" with the central government and its efforts to develop a Sunni-Shiite power sharing arrangement. Rogue elements of the Mahdi Army are being supported by Iran and are now splitting off from al-Sadr's main movement, the general said. "That's actually helpful for us because we now understand who's doing what."

Helicopter Crash Kills 7 Iraqis, 1 U.S. Service Member
Los Angeles Times
March 4, 2008

An Iraqi military helicopter crashed in a sandstorm, killing the seven Iraqis and one American service member on board, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Tuesday. The crash was a blow to the Iraqi military's efforts to rebuild its air force, which was devastated during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and never recovered. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said two Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopters were ferrying troops from the northern city of Tall Afar to Baghdad on Monday when they encountered bad weather south of Bayji. One aircraft was able to avert the storm, but the other crashed, said Mohammed Askari, a ministry spokesman. The last reported contact with the aircraft was at 2.40 p.m. Monday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

American search and rescue teams located the wreckage just before noon Tuesday in the largely desert region between Bayji and Lake Tharthar. "Recovery operations have been completed and there were no survivors," the statement said. Askari said the helicopter was crewed by an Iraqi and a foreigner, but did not specify the latter's nationality. The U.S. military later confirmed the latter was an American. All six passengers were Iraqis, Askari said. He blamed the weather for the crash, but the U.S. statement said the cause remained under investigation. Names of the victims were withheld pending notification of their families. It was the worst helicopter crash since a U.S. Black Hawk went down during night maneuvers in northern Iraq on Aug. 22, killing all 14 troops on board.

At least 3,974 U.S. personnel have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Iraq's air force was once one of the largest in the Middle East and a source of national pride during a bitter 1980-88 war with Iran. But most of it was destroyed during the 1991 war. The United States is now helping Iraq rebuild the air force to support counterinsurgency operations. So far, the tiny fleet of planes and helicopters is used primarily for surveillance and to transport troops and supplies. Last month, Iraqi Huey II helicopters were used to help secure the routes used by Shiite Muslim pilgrims walking to Karbala for a major religious festival and received waves from the people below.

China Plans Steep Increase In Military Spending
New York Times
March 5, 2008

China announced a further sharp increase in military spending on Tuesday, a day after the United States renewed its warning that a lack of openness surrounding the rapid buildup of China’s armed forces posed a threat to stability in Asia. China’s military budget for 2008 will increase by 17.6 percent to 417.8 billion yuan, or about $58.8 billion, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, said at a news conference. This follows a 17.8 percent increase in 2007. Military experts in the United States and elsewhere say Beijing’s real military spending is at least double the announced figure. But even if it was double, China’s yearly military budget would still be only about one-fourth the size of the Pentagon’s.

Before the annual legislative session, which begins Wednesday, Mr. Jiang also said the situation in the Taiwan Strait was “grim and complex,” and called on the Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-bian, to halt what Beijing described as unacceptable moves toward independence. China considers the island of Taiwan a breakaway province. China has increased annual defense outlays by double-digit percentages most years in the past two decades to pay for an array of modern weapons and better training and conditions for the 2.3 million people in its military, the world’s biggest standing force. Foreign security experts say those sustained increases have put China on track to become a major military power and the country most capable of challenging American dominance in East Asia. They also say China’s main objective is to develop the firepower to overwhelm Taiwan in the event of a conflict while deterring or delaying any American forces sent to help defend the island. Senior Chinese officials dismiss those assessments.

Mr. Jiang said the increase in spending this year was purely defensive and would allow for the upgrading of equipment, along with better pay and benefits for service people. As a proportion of government outlays, the amount is less than what the United States, Russia, India and France spend on their militaries, he said. “China’s limited armed forces are totally for the purpose of safeguarding independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mr. Jiang said. “China will not pose a threat to any country.” In its annual report to Congress on the Chinese military, released Monday, the Pentagon said the outside world had limited knowledge of the motivation behind China’s accelerating buildup and the abilities it was developing. China has yet to give detailed reasons for its modernization or to publish complete figures on military spending, the report said. “The lack of transparency in China’s military and security affairs poses risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation,” it said. In Beijing, the Chinese government criticized the Pentagon report, saying it distorted the facts.

DHS Tests Of Radiation Detectors Were Inconclusive, Report Says
Washington Post
March 5, 2008

Department of Homeland Security tests of new radiation detection machines last year did not show whether the costly devices performed well enough to be used as planned at ports and borders to protect the country against nuclear attacks or dirty bombs, according to a new report about the process. The performance tests were organized by the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, which has been trying to deploy the machines along the borders and at ports in a $1.2 billion project, despite allegations from government auditors that the office misled Congress about their effectiveness and later conducted flawed tests to show they worked well. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had said the development and purchase of the machines was a "vital priority" for the department. Officials from the nuclear detection office had asserted the tests -- mandated by Congress before the project was allowed to move forward -- showed they worked well.

But Chertoff called for an independent team to review the program last summer after a Washington Post article spelled out questions about the project. Last fall, Chertoff put the project on hold, conceding that the machines were not ready for wide use. In the new report, the review team concluded that the testing last year was not able to show whether the machines, known as advanced spectroscopic portal radiation monitors, or ASPs, could "detect and identify actual objects that might be smuggled" into the country, according to portions of the report released by Congress. "Even after collecting all available test results, it was difficult to form conclusions about operational effectiveness," the report said. The House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing today about the report and other testing by the nuclear detection office. Among those scheduled to testify is Vayl S. Oxford, director of the office.

"While I applaud the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office for its aggressive pursuit of new detection technologies, I still remain deeply concerned that the systems have not been properly tested and evaluated," said Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's subcommittee on emerging threats, cyber-security and science and technology. At the same time, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce issued a news release calling on the department to transfer testing responsibilities from the nuclear detection office to an independent group. "We should not spend a single penny to install these machines at our ports and borders until valid testing is done to demonstrate that these costly new machines work significantly better than the existing radiation detectors," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), the committee chairman.

The project to buy as many as 1,400 ASPs, which cost about $377,000 each, was announced in July 2006. A month later, Government Accountability Office auditors said the nuclear detection office greatly exaggerated the machine's capabilities in a report that spurred congressional approval of the project. In response to those allegations, Congress mandated that Chertoff take the unusual step of personally certifying that the detectors represent a significant advance over existing detection equipment. With that certification in mind, the nuclear detection office conducted tests in Nevada early last year. Those tests were called into question when GAO auditors found that department officials had allowed contractors to conduct "dress rehearsals" and calibrate their machines in anticipation of the tests. The review team's report discounted the auditor's findings that the tests were biased. The team also said it found no evidence the test data were manipulated.

Blasts At Pakistan Navy College Kill At Least 4
Washington Post
March 5, 2008

Two powerful suicide bombings at Pakistan's Navy War College killed at least four people and injured 16 Tuesday on the fifth consecutive day of major attacks by pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan. The early afternoon assault in the heart of the country's cultural capital was the second in a week against a prominent military target in Pakistan and marked a significant setback for the beleaguered government of President Pervez Musharraf, which had pledged to improve security. The attack sparked panic across Lahore, which until recently has remained relatively insulated from the violence roiling the rest of the country. The first blast occurred when a man wearing a vest packed with explosives walked up to the main gate of the navy college. "Our security men saw the bomber, but he blew himself up as soon as he was stopped at the gate," said Capt. Akbar Naqi, a spokesman for the Pakistani navy. A second man approached the gate on a motorcycle moments later and detonated his bomb in the parking lot. The impact of that blast set off a chain reaction of explosions as several vehicles fueled by natural gas went up in a wall of flames.

Mohammed Safder, 23, a driver for a Pakistani air force officer, said he had just stopped for a bite at the college cafeteria and was waiting for his boss when he heard the first blast. When he went outside, he saw dozens of people scattered in the parking lot crying for help. Seconds later, the other bomb went off. "I've never been so scared in my life. People were running and screaming and there were body parts everywhere," Safder said. Pakistani officials gave conflicting accounts of the number of casualties, but military officials said that at least four people were killed and 16 injured. Ambulances rushed the wounded and the bodies of the dead to two local military hospitals. Within hours of the blasts, a state of emergency was briefly declared at four hospitals as medical workers braced for the possibility of more casualties. Local authorities immediately ordered the closure of educational institutions across the city. Army, navy and police personnel cordoned off the area around the block-long campus of the military college, where hundreds of Pakistani navy officers and officers from several other countries, including China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are trained.

The college is less than a mile from the U.S. Consulate in Lahore and close to several other elite educational institutions. The area surrounding the college is home to several residences for high-ranking military and political officials. Sidra Mahmood, a student at a nearby college, said she and two friends were in class when they heard the first explosion. When she heard the second explosion, she fled the classroom. "It shook the entire building, so that's when we ran out," said Mahmood, 23. "Girls were panicked and calling home, checking to see if everything was okay." Attacks by pro-Taliban extremists have been on the rise since January, with the violence intensifying sharply as voters went to the polls in national parliamentary elections Feb. 18. More than 180 people have been killed and scores injured in eight bombings and other attacks within the past month. In January, a suicide bomber killed at least 19 people during an anti-government protest by lawyers outside the Lahore High Court, a few blocks from the college. And last week, Pakistan's army surgeon general and seven other people were killed in a suicide bombing in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Abbas Rejects U.S. Call To Reopen Peace Talks
London Financial Times
March 4, 2008

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Tuesday rebuffed a U.S. plea to reopen peace talks with Israel, casting further doubt over the future of one of President George W. Bush’s diplomatic initiatives in the face of spiraling violence in the region. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, had urged the reopening of negotiations with Israel in a meeting with Mr. Abbas in Ramallah, saying the two sides could still reach an agreement by the end of the year. But the Palestinian leader, who suspended the talks over the weekend in protest at the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 100 Palestinians, refused to say when, or if, he would restart the talks. “I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression so the necessary environment can be created to make negotiations succeed,” he said.

Ms. Rice, speaking before her arrival in the region, said: “I understand that the situation has been complicated. But the longer the negotiations are not ongoing or the longer that they are suspended, if that’s what one wants to call it, the more it is a victory for those who don’t want to see a two-state solution.” Yet with fighting continuing between Israeli forces and the Islamist Hamas group in the Gaza Strip, and with violence and protests spreading to the West Bank, Ms. Rice found it hard to dispel perceptions that the peace process is in a severe crisis. Barely three months after Mr. Bush hosted a peace conference in Annapolis to launch the talks, there is mounting criticism that U.S. efforts to prevent the violence from escalating have been half-hearted and that its approach is flawed because it neglects Gaza.

Ms. Rice On Tuesday put the blame for the recent escalation on Hamas and the group’s daily rocket attacks on Israeli cities close to the Gaza Strip. She stressed that Israel had the right to defend itself against the barrage, but cautioned that the government should be aware of the impact of its actions on “innocent people”. Ms. Rice has been careful not to make public comments that could be construed as censuring Israel for any excessive use of force. U.S. officials say that privately Ms. Rice tells Israeli leaders that further large-scale violence in Gaza could spell the end of the Annapolis process but that she is constrained from making public declarations because of fear of undermining the already weak government of Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister.

“This administration will not have unpleasant discussions with the Israelis, they simply won’t,” said Flynt Leverett, a former senior director for Middle Eastern affairs at the National Security Council. He said the administration was reluctant to take the Israelis to task for their obligations and unwilling to do the groundwork for negotiations. “The real problem in the Annapolis process is that all this was built on the assumption that you could leave Gaza aside and just negotiate with [Mr. Abbas’s] Fatah alone, and whatever happened in Gaza would not jeopardize the Annapolis process” said Pierre Vimont, France’s ambassador to the US, in comments in Washington this week. “What we are seeing at the moment is that this assumption is more difficult [to maintain].”