Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari To Nawaz Sharif ‘Let’s Be Friends Once Again’

Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari To Nawaz Sharif ‘Let’s Be Friends Once Again’

*President Asif Ali Zardari has out-smarted even former Gen. Pervez Musharraf to maintain his status as Pakistan's president by offering an olive branch to his rival Nawaz Sharif. Of course, the main pressure for this aspect came from none other than the WHITE HOUSE in Washington, USA. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

*Pakistan 'Democracy' Vs 'Army', 'Allah' & America?....DTN Defense-Technology News March 22, 2009

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - March 29, 2009: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday all but lifted governor’s rule in Punjab in an apparent peace deal with an estranged Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) whom he offered to be ‘friends again’ after a month of bruising confrontation and conceded its right to rule the province. In an address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate marking the start of a new parliamentary year amid a blooming spring, he called for ‘no further delay’ in finalising constitutional amendments to empower parliament by curtailing powers he inherited from former president Gen Pervez Musharaf. ‘We will support PML-N’s candidate for the position of Punjab CM,’ President Zardari told the parliament. The announcement of the decision to lift governor’s rule imposed on Feb 25 came in the president’s extempore remarks at the fag-end of a 30-minute speech whose beginning was marked by a protest walkout by PML-N’s rival Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) against alleged horse-trading in Punjab by the other to buy loyalties of provincial assembly members. ‘As we move towards a better future, I wish to announce that we shall recommend the lifting of governor’s rule in Punjab,’ the president said as he struggled to find the right words for his unwritten remarks, which actually seemed to mean that he was asking Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to recommend to him to end the 32-day-old direct federal rule in Punjab through Governor Salman Taseer. The Feb 25 presidential order, which meant the dissolution of a year-old provincial coalition government of the PML-N and PPP, came after a Supreme Court ruling the same day disqualified PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother and provincial chief minister Shahbaz Sharif from holding any elective public office. While both the Sharif bothers have gone to the Supreme Court for a review – one seeking restoration of his Punjab administration and the other his right to seek election to a National Assembly seat – President Zardari said the PPP, which he leads as its co-chairman, would support a PML-N candidate for chief minister ‘whoever he might be’ though it will no longer be part of a ruling coalition. But PML-N chairman Raja Zafar Haq told Dawn his party, which emerged as the largest single party in the Punjab assembly and second largest in the National Assembly in last year’s general election, would prefer a restoration of its provincial government rather than form a new one. That is a course that could protect Mr Shahbaz Sharif from the mischief of a controversial Musharraf-era decree that bars two-time prime ministers and chief ministers from seeking a third term. But President Zadari made it clear the PPP would not join even a restored provincial government in a tit-for-tat to the PML-N’s departure from the PPP-led federal government after a brief association last year. ‘We shall sit in the opposition, but we shall participate on all bills and will not let down the government of Punjab and will close the door to horse-trading forever,’ he said, practically giving up PPP’s efforts to lead a new coalition in the province with the possible support of the PML-Q rather than play second fiddle to the PML-N. ’There will be no need for a forward bloc,’ he said, apparently referring to a strong ‘forward bloc’ of PML-Q members in the Punjab assembly who are supporting PML-N without joining the cabinet, sparking charges of horse-trading from PML-Q leadership. The PPP leadership could have been happy with the PML-N embarrassment caused by the walkout by slogan-chanting PML-Q law-makers that was led by party president and newly elected senator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and ended soon when some members of the treasury benches brought the protesters back to the house. Mr Zardari’s off-the-cuff remarks also seemed to be scratching old wounds when he said ‘there will be no need to have another Changa Manga’, in a reference to a forest resort in Punjab where PML-N had allegedly lodged parliamentarians in a confrontation with the PPP in the 1990s to prevent the other side approaching them. DON'T CHALLENGE DEMOCRACY

The president said the two sides could ‘still meet as friends and fellow democrats’ to take Pakistan to ‘new heights’ after the PML-N has a chief minister to its satisfaction and after all irritants between them were settled in parliament and courts of law. ‘Pakistan has many challenges. What it does not need is a challenge from within to its democracy.’ In a reference to the PML-N agitation and its crucial role in a lawyer-led ‘long march’ that led to the restoration of the remaining 11 superior court judges out of about 60 sacked by General Musharraf under a controversial Nov 3, 2007, emergency proclamation, he said: ‘Let not democracy challenge itself on the ground of one reason or the other, whether on the streets of Lahore or on the streets of Islamabad. Let’s put an end to challenging each other. We have challenges enough from around the world and from our enemies within. Let’s be friends again and forever.’ PML-N cold-shoulder But despite earning concessions as a reward for its public agitation for about a month, the PML-N did not join desk-thumping by the treasury benches to greet Mr Zardari’s second address to a joint sitting of parliament in a little more than six months after he was elected president by a parliamentary electoral college. As if it was still nursing its grievance about the imposition of governor’s rule and the Supreme Court ruling disqualifying the Sharif brothers, a source in parliament said the PML-N law-makers also did not turn up at a tea party hosted by National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza after the presidential address. The president spoke only briefly in the beginning of his speech about what is going to be next focus of the political forces: empowerment of parliament as envisaged by the famous Charter of Democracy signed in 2006 by assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif. Mr Zardari had only vaguely offered to have his authority curtailed by proposing in his Sept 20, 2008, speech to a joint sitting that a parliamentary committee ‘revisit’ the constitution’s Musharraf-era controversial 17th Amendment and article 58 (2) (b) that gave the presidency powers that should be exercised by the prime minister in a genuine parliamentary system of government, but no move made even to form that body. After a lot of criticism for allegedly having second thoughts about clipping his powers as he did about his promise to restore the deposed judges before their reinstatement order on March 16, the president urged the National Assembly speaker to constitute this ‘committee of all political parties’ to propose amendments to the constitution ‘in light of the Charter of Democracy’ and said: ‘The amendments should be finalised without any further delay.’ PROGRESS CLAIMED

In the rest of his speech, the president cited an ailing economy, growing extremism and militancy and the judicial crisis among the many problems he said the present government had inherited on taking office by the end of March last year and said significant progress had been achieved in different areas during the last one year. ‘But much more needs to be done,’ he said, adding that a ‘heavy national agenda awaits you’ to protect democracy, fight militancy, heal the ‘wounds’ of the past, and build infrastructure. While talking of a ‘situation of near economic meltdown due to the inherited problems and a global recession in the face of a massive shortfall in energy, dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation, he said difficult decisions and a home-grown economic reforms programme had started showing results.’ He said inflation had declined from over 25 per cent in Aug 2008 to 21 per cent and that it would be brought down to a single digit by the next year. Since the second quarter, there had been no net borrowing from the State Bank and the rupee had recovered some of the value it lost in Oct 2008. In the first eight months of the fiscal 2008-09, he said, remittances had grown and foreign exchange reserves stood at $6.4 billion in November last and were over $10 billion a week ago. Citing reconciliation as a vision of the late Ms Bhutto, he said this was ‘the only way forward’ and added: ‘We must not remain hostage to the bitterness of the past. We need to bring together the federating units in a spirit of mutual accommodation.’ BALOCHISTAN AMNESTY POSSIBLE

Referring to the problems of Balochistan, he said ‘ways and means may be explored for the voluntary return of exiles and grant of general amnesty to the political prisoners’. He said these issues needed to be discussed in parliament, to which he urged to frame a ‘Balochistan policy which is sustainable and acceptable to the people of the province. Give them the autonomy they have been demanding for 60 years’. Among the guest to watch the joint sitting, which was prorogued after the president’s speech, were provincial governors and chief ministers, armed forces’ chiefs and foreign diplomats. The president’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is the designated PPP chairman while still studying in Britain, was present in the President’s Gallery along with some friends from Oxford.

Pakistan Not Happy With President Barack Obama Strategy

Pakistan Not Happy With President Barack Obama Strategy

*It seems Pakistan is not pleased with US economy aid of $1.5 Billion yearly for coming seven years and considers small reward for their efforts in containing militants at Afghan-Pak border. Also Pakistani army intelligence wing ISI are hesitant to withdraw their support from Taliban. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - March 29, 2009: Pakistan has decided to convey its concerns through diplomatic channels over certain aspects of the new policy for the region announced by President Barack Obama on Friday. President Obama announces a new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan in the White House. ’We will speak to them (the United States) on issues of concern in subsequent diplomatic negotiations,’ the President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn on Saturday. A similar impression was given by senior officials of the foreign office, who said the concerns would not go unnoticed and would be taken up at an ‘appropriate level’. President Obama had announced several incentives, including an increase in aid to Pakistan, passage of a legislation on the reconstruction opportunity zones and commitment to democracy in the country, but at the same time he was quite ominous in his tone when he categorically said that there would be no ‘blank cheques’ for Pakistan. Mr Babar said misgivings about Islamabad always existed in Washington’s approach, but the positive elements were new and it was decided that they needed to be hailed. He denied that the presidency’s position contradicted the thinking in the foreign office, saying the FO was consulted while devising the response. But sources in the foreign office insisted that the FO’s reaction was mixed, guarded and not effusive. ‘There are pretty big problems in the policy about which our leadership is not speaking, a senior FO official said. Another senior official said there were no consultations with the FO.

India Successfully Test Fires BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile

India Successfully Test Fires BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - March 29, 2009: India has successfully tested the latest land attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at a firing range in Pokhran, a spokesman for Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Limited said Sunday. BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The acronym BrahMos is perceived as the confluence of the two nations represented by two great rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. At speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, it is the world's fastest cruise missile and is about three and a half times faster than the U.S.A's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development (Lab Tested with 5.26 Mach Speed). Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian Yakhont missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Corp. The spokesman said that the missile had successfully hit its designated target. The BrahMos missile has a range of 290 km (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg (660 lbs). It can effectively engage ground targets from an altitude as low as 10 meters (30 feet) and has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is about three times faster than the U.S.-made subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. Analysts estimate that India could purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its armed forces in the next decade, and export 2,000 to other countries during the same period. During a recent visit by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to India, the two sides agreed to develop a hypersonic version of the missile to be known as BrahMos-2.

US Pakistan-Afghanistan Envoy In India Next Week

US Pakistan-Afghanistan Envoy In India Next Week

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - March 29, 2009: Top US diplomat Richard Holbrooke will visit India next week to discuss Washington's new strategy to defeat a resurgent Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan that puts Pakistan at the heart of the fight. Top US diplomat Richard Holbrooke will visit India next week to discuss Washington's new strategy to defeat a resurgent Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan that puts Pakistan at the heart of the fight. An Indian government official told AFP that Holbrooke, who last visited the three South Asian nations in February, would be in New Delhi on April 7-8. Holbrooke was appointed to implement the new US strategy under President Barack Obama, who on Friday vowed to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" Osama bin Laden's group. As part of the policy revamp, Obama also promised to press an additional 4,000 US troops into the "increasingly perilous" war in Afghanistan on top of the 17,000 already committed, and triple US aid to Pakistan's government. According to India, Pakistan has become the "epicentre of terrorism" in the region by sheltering Islamist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is widely blamed for November's attacks on Mumbai that killed 165 people. Pakistan has been a vital US ally since former president George W. Bush invaded neighbouring Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Says No Plans To Scrap Trade Embargo On Cuba

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Says No Plans To Scrap Trade Embargo On Cuba

*Analysis: Except for Israel, Vuanatu and the Marshall Islands, the whole World condemns the unilateral US embargo against Cuba, and if President Obama is too blind to understand that this is a major thorn in US-Latin America relations, we'll just have to wait until he sees the light.Just like for a breakthrough in Israel-Palestine relations, don't hold your breath for that to happen soon under an Obama administration. It won't happen. Obama is just an illusion of change....said by A Taxpayer (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) VINA DEL MAR, Chile – March 29, 2009: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday that the United States is not planning to lift its trade embargo on Cuba. Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, right, Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, left, and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden pose for the official photo of the Progressive Governance Leaders Summit in Vina del Mar, Chile, Saturday, March 28, 2009. Biden, who was in the Chilean resort city of Vina del Mar for a summit of center-left leaders from Latin America and Europe, replied "no" when asked by reporters if Washington plans to scrap the decades-old embargo. He and President Barack Obama "think that Cuban people should determine their own fate and they should be able to live in freedom," Biden said after taking part in the Progressive Governance Summit. The vice president said a "transition" is needed in the Washington policy toward the communist-ruled island, but that he was in Chile "to talk about the economy, not Cuba." Several of the leftist governments in Latin America have urged Washington to lift the embargo of Cuba, saying such a step would improve Washington's relations across the region. But without signs of budging on the embargo, Biden still drove home the idea that the White House is committed to region. He called his state visit to Chile "just the beginning of the renewal of a partnership with the Americans." "President Obama and I are absolutely committed to working closely with our neighbors in the hemisphere," he told reporters at Chile's La Moneda presidential palace after meeting with President Michelle Bachelet. Leftist or left-of-center governments have been elected in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Honduras and Uruguay in recent years, and at least five Latin American leaders have visited Cuba this year. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet — who met with Fidel Castro on a trip to Cuba in February — held a dinner for Biden under candlelight, as lights were turned off in coordination with an international action highlighting climate change.

China-Based Network Infiltrates Computers / Canadian Researchers Uncover Vast Cyber Spy Network

China-Based Network Infiltrates Computers / Canadian Researchers Uncover Vast Cyber Spy Network

(NSI News Source Info) OTTAWA - March 29, 2009: An electronic spying operation based primarily in China has infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, according to a report released Sunday. According to a report an electronic spying operation based primarily in China has infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama. The report, compiled by specialists based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, said the spying was being done from computers based almost exclusively in China. "Up to 30 percent of the infected hosts are considered high-value targets and include computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media and NGOs (non-governmental organizations)," the report said. However, the researchers said they could not argue conclusively that the Chinese government was involved. They insisted that attributing all these operations to intelligence gathering by the Chinese state "is wrong and misleading." "Numbers can tell a different story," the report said. "China is presently the world's largest Internet population. The sheer number of young digital natives online can more than account for the increase in Chinese malware." The investigation started when the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, asked them to examine its computers for signs of malicious software. Their work led them to a broader operation that had infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in in less than two years. Some of these computers belonged to the Dalai Lama?s Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York. "This report serves as a wake up call," the authors pointed out. "At the very least a large percentage of high-value targets compromised by this network demonstrate the relative ease with which a technically unsophisticated approach can quickly be harnessed to to create a very effective spynet." The researchers said they believed that in addition to the spying on the Dalai Lama, the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. The newly reported spying operation is by far the largest to come to light in terms of countries affected. The operation continues to invade and monitor more than a dozen new computers a week, according to the report. However, the researchers found no evidence that US government offices had been infiltrated, although a NATO computer was monitored by the spies for half a day and computers of the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated.

Libyan Leader Moamer Kadhafi Slams ICC As 'New Form Of World Terrorism'

Libyan Leader Moamer Kadhafi Slams ICC As 'New Form Of World Terrorism'

(NSI News Source Info) ADDIS ABABA - March 29, 2009: Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi lambasted the International Criminal Court on Sunday as representing a "new form of world terrorism" that wanted to recolonise developing countries. Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, seen here on March 11, recently elected chairman of the 53-nation African Union, said Sunday that the International Criminal Court represented a "new form of world terrorism". "It is a known fact that all Third World countries are opposing the so-called ICC," the recently elected chairman of the 53-nation African Union told a press conference at the AU headquarters here. "This is the case right now. This court is against the countries colonised in the past and they want to recolonise now. It is a practice of a new world terrorism that is not below the standard of the other terrorism." Kadhafi's condemnation followed a call by Arab foreign ministers on Saturday on the Hague-based ICC to annul its arrest warrant against Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir. "It is not fair that a head of state should be arrested," he said. "If we allow such a thing... we should also try those who killed hundreds and millions of children in Iraq and in Gaza." The ICC issued a warrant for Beshir arrest earlier this month, accusing him of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Many African and Arab states along with key ally China have condemned the ICC move and called for the warrant to be suspended. Beshir faces five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes. He is the first sitting president to be issued with a warrant by the ICC. The AU has argued that the prosecution jeopardised peace efforts in Sudan and on March 18 chided the UN Security Council for ignoring its requests to defer the warrant. The bloc's Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said they were awaiting a decision on the issue by Arab leaders due to their start their annual summit Sunday to make a united move. "We are about to set up a high-level delegation to go to New York to lobby the UN Security Council," Lamamra said. Beshir himself has made foreign trips to Eritrea, Egypt and Libya since the March 4 ICC arrest warrant. The ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, does not have a police force and calls on signatory states to implement warrants. None of the three countries Beshir visited are parties to the court's statute. Kadhafi is to leave Addis Ababa later Sunday for the Arab summit in Doha. It is still unclear whether Beshir will attend the two-day meeting. Beshir is the first sitting president to be issued with a warrant by the ICC. The United Nations says 300,000 people have died in the six-year-long conflict between Darfur's ethnic minority rebels and the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which puts the figure at only 10,000. An estimated 2.7 million people more have fled their homes.

Iranian Missile Experts In North Korea

Iranian Missile Experts In North Korea

(NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - March 29, 2009: A group of Iranian missile experts is in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday. Kim Il-Sung square in central Pyongyang. A group of Iranian missile experts is in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday. North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite over northern Japan between April 4 and 8, and the report said the 15-strong Iranian delegation had been in the country since the beginning of this month. It includes senior officials with Iranian rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the daily said, quoting unnamed sources. The Iranians brought a letter from their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il stressing the importance of cooperating on space technology, it added. The United States and its Asian allies suspect North Korea is using the launch as a cover for a long-range missile test. North Korea and Iran have both come under international pressure over their nuclear activities and are reported to maintain close ties on missile technology.

U.S. President Barack Obama To Seek NATO Support For Afghan Plan

U.S. President Barack Obama To Seek NATO Support For Afghan Plan

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 29, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama will urge European allies to support his new strategy for Afghanistan, telling NATO partners this week their security could be at risk if the country falls into chaos. Making his first major foreign trip since taking office on January 20, Obama will discuss the economic crisis at the London Group of 20 summit of major economic powers on Thursday. He will then attend the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, on Friday and Saturday, marking the alliance's 60th anniversary. Just ahead of the NATO summit, Obama has unveiled a plan for Afghanistan, where violence is at its highest level since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001 and where the NATO mission has been criticized for disorganization. Obama's strategy broadens the U.S. focus to include Pakistan and puts as the highest priority the defeat of al Qaeda militants who he said were plotting new attacks on the United States. He will send 4,000 more U.S. troops to help train the Afghan army and will add more civilian personnel to help tackle problems such as a booming narcotics trade and government corruption. But Obama emphasized that international cooperation was crucial to the plan's success and promised to take that message to Europe, where the public has grown increasingly impatient with the Afghanistan effort. "The world cannot afford the price that will come due if Afghanistan slides back into chaos or al Qaeda operates unchecked," Obama said in a speech in Washington on Friday. "What's at stake now is not just our own security -- it is the very idea that free nations can come together on behalf of our common security. That was the founding cause of NATO six decades ago. That must be our common purpose today," he added. In a shift that has been welcomed in Europe, Obama, a Democrat, has promised a more consultative foreign policy than that of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. His administration hopes Obama's popularity abroad will raise the profile of his push for greater support for Afghanistan. In preparing the new Afghanistan strategy, Obama launched a 60-day review that included input from European allies as well as other countries with a stake in the region. A TOUGH SELL? Obama said that from NATO allies, he hoped for "not simply troops, but rather clearly defined capabilities," including support for the Afghan elections, training of security forces and increased civilian support. Analysts said that might be a tough sell. "It's going to be challenging but I think this is where the administration and President Obama need to take full advantage of the goodwill that they have created with their new approach and emphasis on diplomacy," said Juan Zarate, a former counterterrorism adviser to Bush. "The real challenge is national interests have not changed," said Zarate, who praised the Obama plan as comprehensive and well thought out. But he added, "There is not a lot of popularity in Europe and Brussels for sending more troops and certainly not a lot of appetite for sending civilians into what is a security-challenged environment."

White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough said that while Obama had secured some new commitments of resources for Afghanistan before the NATO summit, it would be an "ongoing process" to solicit support. Obama's schedule at the Strasbourg summit will include bilateral meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He will have a lengthy bilateral session in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. On the sidelines of the NATO summit, he will also set aside time to interact with the public during a speech and question-and-answer session with students from various parts of Europe. After the NATO summit, Obama will attend a gathering of 27 European Union heads of state in Prague, where he also plans to deliver what his aides are billing as a major speech on nuclear proliferation. Looming over the Prague meeting will be the issue of missile defense. A U.S. plan to place a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic has angered Moscow. Obama has suggested the United States would have no need to deploy proposed missile defenses in Eastern Europe if Moscow could help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons.

Israeli D9 Armored Caterpillar Bulldozers Have Matured

Israeli D9 Armored Caterpillar Bulldozers Have Matured

(NSI News Source Info) March 29, 2009: Israel has been using the D9 bulldozer for combat operations since the 1960s. But there has always been a problem with getting repairs made close to the fighting itself. There were never enough D9s in service to justify training soldiers to do complex repairs. Instead, civilian technicians, sometimes employees of the manufacturer (Caterpillar) were brought in. Israel recently solved the problem, by making those D9 tech who are Israeli civilians, members of the army reserve. This solved a lot of legal and administrative matters (like who pays if the technicians are hurt while making battlefield repairs), and got the techs some extra money for the additional risk of getting shot at while patching up the D9s. The 62 ton D-9 armored (via an Israeli armor kit) bulldozer has been an important tool for urban warfare. The Israelis, like the Americans, pioneered the use of special explosives to blast entry holes through walls, so troops can quickly get to their objectives. But the D-9 lets you bash through buildings, or even shake the enemy out of some buildings. Thus the D9 proved very effective in urban combat. The Israelis often mount a machine-gun on the D9s, to provide additional protection. The D9s often survive large (several hundred pound) roadside bombs and RPG hits. In early 2003, the U.S. bought nine 62 ton D9 armored Caterpillar bulldozers into Kuwait for the Iraq campaign. The D9s, and their Israeli made armor kit, were purchased because of the Israeli success with the dozer in urban warfare against Palestinian terrorists. America had used the D9 during the 1960s in Vietnam, but after that only used the smaller (35 ton, with armor kit) D7. The D9 was not needed for urban fighting in Iraq during 2003, but was found very useful (much more so than the smaller D7) for combat engineering tasks. The D9 quickly cleared highways of debris and built temporary roads for combat vehicles. D9s was eventually used in Iraq for combat operations in places like Fallujah.