Washington, D.C.: U.S. considers Israeli plan to neutralize Iraqi missiles

The Bush administration is considering an Israeli proposal to send U.S. Special Forces into Iraq’s western desert to knock out Iraqi missile sites in the event of war, a U.S. official said Friday.

In a joint operation, Israel would furnish the United States with intelligence about the sites and how to disarm them early in the conflict, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel’s aim is to sharply reduce the risk of an Iraqi missile attack.

California: Four missing in F-18 crashes

Two Navy fighter jets crashed Friday into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast during a training mission, military officials said. All four crew members were missing.

The F/A-18-F Super Hornets crashed 80 miles southwest of Monterey while engaged in aerial combat exercise with six other fighter jets, the Navy said. The two F-18s were not carrying any weapons.

There was no sign of survivors but the fishing boat, the White Dove, had found a debris field one mile in diameter, Coast Guard spokeswoman Veronica Bandrowsky said.

The crew was from the Black Aces squadron at the Lemoore Naval Air Station near Fresno.

Officials refused to release the identities of the missing pilots.

Boston: USS Constitution closing as Navy, Park Service battle

The USS Constitution, at 205 years old the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, will be closed to visitors indefinitely amid a standoff between the U.S. Navy and the National Park Service regarding security concerns and funding.

The Constitution will close to the public Monday, but will “hopefully” open again in the next two weeks, U.S. Navy spokesman Petty Officer Pete Robertson said in a statement Friday.

The Navy statement said the National Park Service has revoked funding for the ship, placing “the visiting general public at an unacceptable risk.”

A National Parks Service spokeswoman disputed the statement, which she called a surprise. She said the Park Service had not revoked any funding, but wanted to talk to the Navy about sharing the costs of extra security.

Iowa: Investigators try to identify immigrants found in boxcar

Investigators are sifting through scraps of paper found on 11 bodies in a rail car to try to identify them and find the smugglers they believe locked the suspected illegal immigrants inside the car.

The victims may have carried names and numbers of needed contacts, who could help identify them, said Xavier Rios, patrol supervisor of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Brownsville, Tex. Investigators will check the information against INS databases with phone numbers, nicknames and other information on known smugglers.

The four women and seven men, who ranged in age from 17 to 55, died of dehydration and hyperthermia, or overheating. Their bodies were found Monday in a rail car being prepared for loading at a grain elevator in Denison.