United States Security

U.S. troops fighting to eradicate a pocket of Taliban and Al Qaeda resistance in eastern Afghanistan pushed forward aggressively Wednesday, seizing caves and ground from the holdouts, who have seen hundreds of their fighters killed, American and Afghan commanders said. About half of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters have been killed since the offensive in the mountainous Shahi Kot district started Saturday, Maj. Gen. Frank L.

Sparked by heightened security concerns since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Defense Department has begun laying the groundwork to ban non-U.S. citizens from a wide range of computer projects.

In a scene reminiscent of Adlai Stevenson displaying aerial images of Soviet bases during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, U.S. officials Wednesday gave diplomats here a high-tech slide show of satellite photos that the U.S. says prove Iraq has illegally converted recently imported trucks to weapons carriers. The unusual U.S. intelligence presentation was staged on the eve of the first high-level talks between Iraqi and U.N. officials in almost two years.

Security operations at the Winter Olympics proved so successful in avoiding major disruptions or violence that law enforcement officials have already begun using the Salt Lake City model as a blueprint for major events. In the face of post-Sept. 11 fears about the safety of the 1.

Alarmed by growing hints of Al Qaeda's progress toward obtaining a nuclear or radiological weapon, the Bush administration has deployed hundreds of sophisticated sensors since November to U.S. borders, overseas facilities and choke points around Washington. Officials have placed the Delta Force, the nation's elite commando unit, on a new standby alert to seize control of nuclear materials that the sensors may detect.

For the second time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, no new names were added to the list of confirmed dead published each Sunday in The Times. Associated Press reported Friday that 158 people are still listed as missing since the attacks.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said he opposes pilots' demands for firearms to defend the cockpit against hijackers but would support stun guns that use an electric current to temporarily incapacitate an attacker. When the user is properly trained, "I think that stun guns are the way to go," Mineta said in an interview with The Times, the first time he has taken a position on the emotionally charged issue.

The Bush administration has activated Cold War-era plans for a "shadow government" consisting of 75 or more senior officials who live and work secretly outside Washington in case the capital is crippled by terrorist attack, a senior government official said Thursday night. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation has been in effect since the first hours after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but has evolved over time.

After months of studied solidarity behind the war on terrorism, congressional Democrats are posing increasingly skeptical questions about the campaign's goals and direction, as well as President Bush's proposed military buildup.

The war in Afghanistan and the Pentagon's efforts to bolster security at home will cost a projected $30 billion this year, far more than Congress has provided, according to Defense Department documents obtained by Associated Press. President Bush and Congress have given the Pentagon $17.4 billion for the war and the domestic fight against terrorism this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Other federal agencies have received billions more.