ABOARD THE USS JOHN C. STENNIS — The United States wrapped up a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf Wednesday, putting on a show of strength for Iran even as the United Arab Emirates became the second Gulf nation to declare it would not take part in any attack on the Islamic Republic.

The U.S. has denied any intention to attack. But the public refusals of two allies to help could affect U.S. military options or require shifting of resources if tensions did seriously escalate.

Qatar — home to 6,500 U.S. troops and the enormous al-Udeid Air Base, headquarters of all American air operations in the Middle East — said this month it would not permit an attack on Iran from its soil.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a loose alliance of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Emirates, has called on all its members not to support any U.S. action against Iran.

The U.S. has close to 40,000 troops in the Gulf, including 25,000 in Kuwait, according to figures from the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

Gulf Arab nations are increasingly uneasy with the United States’ tough stance against Iran, fearing any outbreak of hostilities could bring Iranian retaliation. All lie within distance of Iranian missiles. Also, Iran has booming trade and tourism links and full diplomatic ties with the Emirates and most Gulf countries./AP

Sacramento

Lawmakers want California funds to divest from Iran

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers took the first step Wednesday to end state investment in companies that do business with Iran, targeting the portfolios of the nation’s two largest public pension funds.

A vote by the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee advanced legislation that would force the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund, and the state teacher retirement to sell all shares — about $24 billion worth — in companies that do business in Iran.

“Who’s funding terrorism? It sure ... shouldn’t be our public employees,” Anderson said in a statement. “When you’re looking at the war on terrorists, this is one of the best weapons we have — just defunding them.”

Similar legislation is pending in Congress./AP

Washington, D.C.

VA squandered millions on computer contract

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials wasted millions on a $100 million computer security contract that became a virtual “open checkbook” because of poor oversight and sloppy management, an internal review says.

The audit by the VA inspector general comes after the department faced blistering criticism for its loss last May of personal information about nearly 26.5 million veterans. It found that the VA put out multiple and inconsistent changes to the contract awarded in 2002 to VAST, a small business joint venture based in Texas, for computer service work aimed at fending off computer hackers.

According to the findings, the VA:

• Spent more than $35 million for equipment under the contract that it cannot account for.

• Hastily increased the scope of the contract several times, bringing the total value of from $102.8 million to $250 million.

• Made overpayments on the contract as high as $8.5 million.

In the report, the VA generally agreed with the findings. It said it has created contract review boards to help improve oversight and will seek to recoup lost or unaccounted for payments.

“VA is committed to being a good fiscal steward of taxpayer dollars in carrying out our important mission of serving veterans,” spokesman Matt Burns said./AP

Above the clouds

Flaming objects miss jet over New Zealand

SANTIAGO, Chile — Pilots of a Chilean commercial jetliner spotted flaming objects falling past their plane as it headed for a landing in New Zealand, airline officials said Wednesday.

U.S. experts suggested the objects were likely meteors burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere and questioned Australian media reports they were probably pieces of a falling Russian spacecraft.

LAN Chile airline said the pilot “made visual contact with incandescent fragments” several miles away on Monday. The Airbus 340 had just entered New Zealand airspace when the space debris was spotted.

Web sites of several Australian news media quoted officials as saying that pieces of a Russian satellite had narrowly missed the jet.

But Nicholas Johnson, orbital debris chief scientist for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said that was likely not the case. Russian space junk was expected to come back to Earth — but not until about 12 hours after the incident with the jet, Johnson said./AP