U.S. disputes Iran claims about crashed drone
This photo released on Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, claims to show US RQ-170 Sentinel drone, as the chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, right, listens to an unidentified colonel, in an undisclosed location in Iran.
(Credit: AP Photo/Sepahnews)UPDATED 3:23 p.m. ET
(CBS News) A senior administration official disputes Iran's claims that they have extracted secret intelligence information from an American drone that crashed in December.
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who is chief of the aerospace division of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, was quoted Sunday by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying that Iran has reverse-engineered the RQ-170 Sentinel.
Continue »Obama tackles mass atrocities; spotlights Syria, Kony
(CBS News) President unveils new tools to prevent and respond to mass atrocities, calling it a national security interest and moral responsibility
President Obama Monday pledged that preventing and responding to mass atrocities across the globe would never be an "afterthought" in his administration, unveiling new tools to address the systemic violence plaguing places like Syria and Central Africa.
"Preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States of America," President Obama said at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in his first appearance there as president. "That does not mean that we intervene militarily every time there's an injustice in the world. We cannot and should not. It does mean we possess many tools, diplomatic and political and economic and financial and intelligence and law enforcement and our moral suasion."
Continue »Romney: Obama's "incompetence" propped NK
(CBS News) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the president "sought to appease" the North Koreans -- a move that failed to stop a missile launch.
"Its weapons program poses a clear and growing threat to the United States, one for which President Obama has no effective response," Romney said in a statement.
North Korea attempted to launch a long-range missile that failed 90 seconds after launch Thursday.
In response, the Obama administration called the act "not surprising" but "provocative."
"North Korea's provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments," the White House said in a statement. "While this action is not surprising given North Korea's pattern of aggressive behavior, any missile activity by North Korea is of concern to the international community."
Continue »White House says NK missile a "provocative" act
(CBS News) The White House responded to North Korea's launch of a long-range missile, calling it "not surprising" but "provocative" and a threat to national security.
"North Korea's provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments," the statement said. "While this action is not surprising given North Korea's pattern of aggressive behavior, any missile activity by North Korea is of concern to the international community."
CBS News has confirmed that the missile, which was launched at 7:39 a.m. in North Korea, broke up 90 seconds after launch. There are no reports of debris landing in populated areas.
The United Nations Security Council will meet to discuss the North Korea missile launch on Friday.
South Korea, which neighbors the isolated nation on the Korean peninsula, responded quickly and strongly.
Continue »Obama, Romney spat shows deep rift over Russia
(Credit:
CBS)
Three years after the Obama administration called for a "reset" of relations with Russia, White House hopeful Mitt Romney slammed the president for saying during a "hot mic" moment with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have "more flexibility" after the November elections to negotiate on a U.S. missile defense shield in Europe. Romney called the remarks "terribly wrong" and "alarming."
"This is without question our number one geopolitical foe, they fight every cause for the world's worst actors, the idea that he has some more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed," Romney said in an interview with CNN. "The idea that our president is planning on doing something with them that he's not willing to tell the American people before the election is something I find very, very alarming."
Continue »Romney, Gingrich blast Obama for hot mic comments
The two leaders, attending the two-day Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, held their last official meeting before Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin takes office in May. The conversation was picked up by the microphones as reporters were entering the room for remarks by Obama and Medvedev at the end of their meeting.
Republicans in Congress have accused Obama of seeking a deal with Russia that would not stand up to electoral scrutiny -- a view shared by the two presidential contenders.
Continue »Obama: U.S. can afford to have fewer nukes
President Obama speaks at Hankuk University in Seoul, South Korea, March, 26, 2012.
(Credit: AP)(CBS News) SEOUL - Setting the tone for a nuclear security summit, President Obama reiterated Monday his call for a world without nuclear weapons.
Mr. Obama told a university audience in South Korea that the U.S. possesses more nuclear arms than it needs, and can reduce that arsenal without damaging America's security.
The remark will keep the president at odds with Republicans who believe any major cuts in the number of nuclear warheads would weaken the efficacy of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.
Continue »Flash Points: An inside look into Osama bin Laden documents
CBS News senior national security analyst Juan Zarate sat down with CBS News national security correspondent Bob Orr on this week's episode of Flash Points to discuss his recent briefing on the documents taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
"What was clear from what I was briefed on throughout the documents was the fact that he is losing control of the movement," said Zarate, who served as a top national security aide to President George W. Bush.
"He is still trying to drive the strategy but he's meeting with the realities of the environment, not only are they beleaguered and battered by counter terrorism pressure over the past few years, but they are not able to function in the way they once did," Zarate said.
Zarate added that he received an intriguing look inside the strategic tension between Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and gave an example of a conversation that may have taken place between the two, where Bin Laden argues, "no brother let's stay focused on what matters, let's cut down the tree at the trunk and the trunk is America, keep attacking America."
Continue »Joseph Kony resolution introduced in House
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CBS News)
Two House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a resolution supporting efforts to counter the Lord's Resistance Army, hoping to build on the momentum created by a viral YouTube video spotlighting the atrocities of LRA leader Joseph Kony.
The resolution, introduced by Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. and Ed Royce, R-Calif., calls for, among other things, expanding the number of regional forces in Africa to protect civilians and placing restrictions on individuals or governments found to be supporting Kony.
Kony gained notoriety in the U.S. this month when a 30-minute video produced by the group Invisible Children went viral, picking up more than 50 million views in just four days. The video spotlighted how the Ugandan warlord has been accused of kidnapping up to 30,000 children in the past 26 years, using girls as sex slaves and boys as child soldiers.
Continue »Defense chief Leon Panetta says "war is hell"
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, arrives in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
(Credit: Scott Olson)(CBS News) ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT -- Flying across the Atlantic Ocean Monday evening, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta slowly walked into the press compartment of his reconfigured 747 - known as the "doomsday plane" - looking as though he were shouldering the weight of the world.
"War is hell," he grimly intoned. He was flying to meetings in Kyrgyzstan, but his thoughts were elsewhere, absorbed by the latest horror in Afghanistan - the shooting deaths of 16 innocent Afghan civilians, mostly children, allegedly by a rogue U.S. soldier.
Panetta said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the incident - the same words other officials have used. But coming from Panetta, a man who's known for wearing his emotions on the surface, they didn't sound like talking points -- they sounded like the heartfelt words of a man who takes this kind of unspeakable tragedy personally.
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