A News Aggregator That Covers The World's Major Wars And Conflicts. Military, Political, And Intelligence News Are Also Covered. Occasionally We Will Have Our Own Opinions Or Observations To Make.
My Comment: If you want to listen to and/or watch the hearing .... the above video has it all (i.e. 6 hours worth). I must confess that I did listen to most of it .... actually more as back ground noise while I did other stuff.
What's my impression of the hearing .... in short .... Sen. Chuck Hagel was not prepared .... and for me that was a surprised. He knows that he has a long history of making public remarks that most Americans will disagree with .... and he should have known that they would be brought up in these hearings. But he was not ready, and Senator's McCain and Graham were very successful in putting him on the spot. My guess is that being a former senator .... he probably thought that he would have the same pass that was afforded to Sen Kerry when he had his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State a few days ago. LOL .... that certainly did not happen today.
Are there enough votes to derail this confirmation .... definitely not. The Democrats are going to vote as one, and Chuck Hagel will be the next Secretary of Defense. But Chuck Hagel did lose some political capital, and he must now be ready to expect even more harsher questions when defense budget cutbacks are proposed and submitted to Congress in the near future.
But the real target for today's hearings was not Chuck Hagel .... it was President Obama. And while his name was only mentioned a few times .... he was the 800lb gorilla in the room that everyone was conscious of. He may now has his nominee .... but if today's hearings are any indication .... the real battle is about to begin.
Approximate path of alleged Israeli strike on Syria's border with Lebanon, Jan. 30, 2013, according to foreign reports. Haaretz
Israel Strikes A Syrian Target And Lays Down A Marker -- David Ignatius, Washington Post
As Syria descends into war and chaos, Israel has entered the fray, reportedly striking a target in the surburbs northwest of Damascus where the Syrians apparently had placed a new SA-17 antiaircraft missile battery.
The Israeli attack on the SA-17 missiles was first reported Wednesday by the Associated Press. What’s intriguing is that the same area that was hit — the Jamraya research center in the suburb known as Dummar, northwest of Damascus — is also a center for chemical weapons research. This led some Syrian opposition sources to believe that the Israelis’ real target was the chemical weapons center.
Syria Warns Israel Of 'Surprise' Retaliation -- Al Jazeera
Diplomat's threat comes as Syrian ally Iran says air raid near Damascus will have significant implications for Israel.
Syria has threatened to retaliate for an Israeli air attack while its ally Iran says there will be repercussions for Israel over the attack.
Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, said in Damascus on Thursday that Syria "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation".
Armenian Presidential Candidate Injured In Assassination Attempt -- RT
An Armenian presidential candidate has been shot in the center of Yerevan, the country's capital, late Thursday. The 64-year-old Paruyr Hayrikyan of the Union for National Self-Determination party, was taken to hospital following the incident.
Hayrikyan was taken to the Saint Gregory the Illuminator medical center with two gunshot wounds, in the shoulder and in the chest. The chest wound is considered serious, but not immediately life-threatening, medics said.
Read more ....
More News On Armenian Presidential Candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan Injured In An Assassination Attempt
A Cyberattack From China: TimesCast: Chinese hackers infiltrated The New York Times’s computer systems, getting passwords for its reporters and others.
Hackers in China Attacked The Times for Last 4 Months -- New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees.
After surreptitiously tracking the intruders to study their movements and help erect better defenses to block them, The Times and computer security experts have expelled the attackers and kept them from breaking back in.
The timing of the attacks coincided with the reporting for a Times investigation, published online on Oct. 25, that found that the relatives of Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, had accumulated a fortune worth several billion dollars through business dealings.
My Comment: The New York Times (and other media outlets) better get use to such attacks .... the web is an important source of revenues for these media outlets, and those who may not appreciate the coverage that they receive (i.e. North Korea, China, Iran, etc.) may as retribution start targeting these web properties and services.
Egypt Opposition Forces Gear Up For More Anti-Govt Rallies On Friday -- Ahram Online
Opposition parties, 'revolutionary' movements call for yet another round of Friday demonstrations against President Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's newly-approved constitution.
At a Thursday press conference held at Egyptian Popular Current headquarters, 16 political parties and movements announced plans to take part in nationwide protests on Friday.
Calls for the demonstrations were originally issued by the National Salvation Front (NSF), Egypt's largest opposition bloc.
The NSF announced that "peaceful marches" would set out for the Presidential Palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district to reiterate "demands of the revolution." Among these are the dismissal of the current government, amendment of the recently-approved constitution and the appointment of a new prosecutor-general.
Reduction talks: A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile is being moved at a strategic forces base near the central Russian city of Yoshkar-Ola
Vice President Joe Biden Will Meet Russia's Foreign Minister For New Talks Over Reducing Nuclear Weapons -- Daily Mail
* Meeting between statesmen will take place in Munich, Germany
* It is first talks since New START arms reduction programme was agreed
Vice President Joe Biden will meet Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov this weekend to try to spark new U.S.-Russia talks over reducing their countries' nuclear arsenals.
The meeting will take place in Munich, Germany, before National Security Advisor Tom Donilon travels to Moscow for a second round of talks next month.
It comes after years of tension between the U.S. and Russia that has included President Vladimir Putin accusing the U.S. of meddling in his country's politics.
The U.S. said the target was a truck convoy carrying weapons bound for Hezbollah (Baz Ratner/REUTERS)
Israel’s Strike On Syria As A Dress Rehearsal For Conflict With Iran -- Washington Post
The Israel-Iran standoff, in which Israel has long signaled its willingness to strike suspected Iranian nuclear sites if they come too close to producing a weapon, got a sort of very-small-scale dress rehearsal on Wednesday. The Israeli air force attacked a target inside Syria, Tehran’s closest ally, which set off the expected condemnations (from Syria, Iran, Russia and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah) and fears of reprisal.
Both Israel and Iran will likely be observing the fallout from the attack closely, trying to determine what it might say about how an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would play out in the region. It’s too early to say what, if anything, they could learn. But the possibility that they might extrapolate lessons about a potential Israel-Iran conflict gives added significance – and added risk – to every action and reaction in the coming hours and days.
My Comment: I would have to say that this was not a dress rehearsal for a military strike against Iran. Launching a military strike against Iran would involve enormous resources .... resources that the Israelis just do not have. But if they were to launch a strike, it would be to drag in the international community on a political level and to use them as a lever to stop Iran's nuclear program. I call this the "Hail Mary's pass" .... if all fails just ratch-up the pressure and let the outside powers come in and sort out the mess. Is this feasible .... I personally think not .... but who knows what they are thinking (or what they are intending to do) in Jerusalem .... and maybe that was one of the points on why yesterday's Israeli action was approved.
Syria’s Allies Denounce Israeli Strike -- Washington Post
JERUSALEM — Syria’s allies on Thursday strongly condemned Israel’s airstrike on a Syrian target, calling the move “open aggression” that challenged the legitimacy of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Angry statements from Russia, Iran and the militantly anti-Israel group Hezbollah underscored the risk that Israel’s action — which analysts and Western officials described as an attempt to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah outposts in Lebanon — could hasten the spillover of the civil war in Syria into a wider conflict.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. (Reuters)
Iran Is Said to Be Set to Accelerate Uranium Enrichment -- New York Times
LONDON — Iran has told the United Nations nuclear supervisory body that it plans to install more sophisticated equipment at its principal nuclear enrichment plant, a diplomat said on Thursday, enabling it to greatly accelerate its processing of uranium in a move likely to alarm the United States, Israel and the West.
The diplomat, based in Vienna which is the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, cited a letter from Iranian officials to the I.A.E.A. saying it wants to upgrade its main enrichment plant at Natanz. The upgrade could speed up enrichment by as much as two or three times, the diplomat said, requesting anonymity in light of the confidential nature of the Iranian note.
My Comment: The Russian response to this uranium enrichment acceleration illustrates how much they are in denial on what is happening .... and totally uninterested in Western concerns. Their response is here.
Mali Militants 'In Disarray' After French Air Strikes -- BBC
Three weeks of French targeted air strikes in northern Mali have left Islamist militants "in disarray", France's defence minister has said.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said the jihadists had now scattered, marking a "turning-point" in France's intervention.
His comments come as the French troops continue to secure Kidal, the last town occupied by militants.
The latest strikes have been on command centres, training camps and depots north of Kidal, a spokesman has said.
Col Thierry Burkhard said the "fairly significant" targets had been hit in the Aguelhok mountains near the Algerian border, reports the AFP news agency.
'Incalculable Waste' In U.S.-Paid $100 Billion Afghan Fund -- Washington Examiner
The unprecedented $100 billion program slated to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan has been ravaged by theft, cost overruns, bribes, unused facilities and "incalculable waste," and now the federal auditor of the reconstruction effort is urging Congress to make sure taxpayers are getting their money's worth before spending more.
But, warned an urgently written quarterly report to Congress from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, even if Congress gives the OK, auditing how Afghanistan spends the largest rebuilding fund in U.S. history will be difficult after American troops leave in October 2013.
My Comment: I have commented before that even if a trillion dollar Afghan aid fund was set up .... within a decade the money will be gone and there will be very little if anything to show for it. The culture of corruption, tribalism, sectarianism, and a long history of conflict are the root problems for Afghanistan. And while I do expect Afghanistan to one day rise from this mess .... it will do so on it's own terms and over a long period of time .... and $100 billion government aid packages will not expedite this process.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's website is here.
U.S. Officials Failed To Verify That Fuel For Afghan Forces Did Not Come From Iran, Report Says -- Washington Post
American officials in Afghanistan have failed to verify that fuel purchased for Afghan security forces in recent years did not come from Iran, which would constitute a violation of U.S. sanctions, according to an inspector general report issued Wednesday.
The report warned that “it will become more difficult” to make sure assistance to Afghanistan complies with sanctions on Iran as the U.S. military footprint in the country continues to shrink over the next two years. The United States intends to start giving a fuel stipend for Afghan forces to the Afghan Ministry of Defense in March, rather than directly supplying units in the field.
My Comment: I suspect that the reason why this oil was purchased was because it was the lowest bid (if no bribes were paid off that is). With not much money in the bank, it will not surprise me if Afghanistan starts to purchase Iranian oil (if the price is right) once NATO and U.S. forces leave. As for the Iranians, I am sure that they must be sensitive to the leverage that they have over the Afghan government on this issue, and will probably be positioning themselves to take advantage of this "leverage" once U.S./NATO officials have left.
U.S. soldiers and Afghan border police depart Observation Point 12 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and head to the landing zone for an awaiting UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 21, 2013. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Jon Heinrich
Congressional Watchdog Questions Size Of Afghan Forces -- Defense News
If the $10 billion in fiscal 2013 funds earmarked for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan is ever unlocked from congressional budget battles, the total bill for American reconstruction efforts in that country will hit $98 billion, according to a new government watchdog report released Jan. 30.
Roughly $55 billion of that total will have gone toward recruiting, training, equipping and fielding the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) alone, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in its latest quarterly report to Congress.
Syria, Iran Threaten Retaliation Against Israel -- YNet News
Deputy Iranian foreign minister says alleged Israeli strike will have 'serious implications' for Tel Aviv while Syrian envoy threatens to launch 'surprise attack'
Syria and Iran have threatened to retaliate for an alleged Israeli air raid near the capital Damascus.
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali says Damascus has "the option and the surprise to retaliate." He said he cannot predict when the retaliation will be, saying it is up to relevant authorities to prepare for it.
The Pentagon. DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway, U.S. Air Force
U.S. Defense Spending Fell At The Fastest Rate In 40 Years -- Business Insider
We've mentioned a few times today that GDP went negative primarily because of the big drop in defense spending.
But we didn't realize just how historic the drop was.
JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli put it in context. The defense spending drop happened at the fastest pace in 40 years. As you can see in the chart below, the last time we had a faster drop was in 1972.
As Sequestration Looms, Contractors Don’t Fret -- Washington Post
The next few months could look even scarier than the last few for defense contractors already battered by federal budget cuts, thanks to the threat of automatic reductions looming in March. But industry executives had a surprising message for shareholders this week: Don’t worry about it.
In call after call with investors, officials at some of the area’s largest contracting firms refused to guess how much it would cost them if Congress allows the “sequester” to kick in on March 1. Even as their lobbyists keep warning how much the cuts would hurt the industry, the executives are projecting confidence that the sequester will not happen.
Photo: Army commanders are trying to work out what resources their budget should be spent on
British Army Stages Record-Breaking Virtual Battle -- BBC
The British army has conducted its largest virtual battle simulation, involving 220 soldiers.
The experiment was carried out at the Army's Land Warfare Centre in Warminster, Wiltshire.
The two-hour scenario saw soldiers on computers completing virtual missions in a fictional French town.
The Army says the simulation will help it to find out which resources it needs to invest in, once it takes control of its own budget in April 2013.
"The aim is to understand how various changes have an impact on the speed at which command can respond," said Col Tim Law, assistant head of army force development.
"We're trying to determine exactly what we need to fight and win the wars of tomorrow."
Read more ....
My Comment: Not exactly the real world .... and they do still have a long way to go with the tech .... but it is a start.
IAF plane takes part in maneuvers [file] Photo: IDF spokesperson
Officials: Israel Struck Syria Arms Shipment, Notified US -- Jerusalem Post
'Wall Street Journal' cites Western official as saying strike targeted convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah; American officials tell 'New York Times' Israel notified US about attack.
US officials said Wednesday overnight that Israel had bombed a suspected shipment of anti-aircraft missiles in Syria on Tuesday night, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.
The Wall Street Journal report cited a Western official as saying that the strike targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah, in a border area west of Damascus .
American officials told the Times that Israel notified the US about the attack. The reports follows varying accounts of the alleged strike.
My Comment: If this story is true, it tells me that Israel hasan extensive intelligence operation underway in Syria right now. It also tells me that the Syrian government is more focused in it's life and death struggle against Syrian rebels .... and that tracking and finding Israeli spies are probably low on their priority list. But after today's strike .... that may change.
Shock Endorsement: 'Zero Dark Thirty' Wins Raves From Top Spies -- Washington Examiner
In a surprising endorsement, three top former CIA officials Tuesday praised the controversial anti-terror film "Zero Dark Thirty," claiming that it properly showed that brutal interrogation worked in the early war against al Qaeda, despite administration claims.
What's more, the three, including a former CIA director and his top spy, said that without so-called "enhanced interrogation," which President Obama killed in his third day in office, the nation's security is at risk.
"I fear for the safety of our national security because of that," said Jose Rodriguez, a 31-year CIA veteran who headed the National Clandestine Service from 2004-2008.
Read more .... My Comment: Conventional wisdom has been saying the opposite .... but I will wager that years from now .... when the politics has changed ..... a re-evaluation on the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques will be done. And when that report is completed, it would not surprise me that a different conclusion and consensus will be reached.
In this Oct. 14, 2012 file photo, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer Kurama leads other vessels during a fleet review in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo. Japan's Cabinet endorsed Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013 a record-high 92.6 trillion yen (US$1.02 trillion) general budget for the coming fiscal year aimed at buoying growth through more public works spending while raising defense outlays to counter tensions with China. The 4.75 trillion yen (US$52.5 billion) in proposed defense spending, up 0.8 percent from last year, is the first such increase in 11 years and is partly aimed at beefing up Japan's coastal and marine surveillance around islands also claimed by China and Taiwan. Photo: Itsuo Inouye
It's Time To End Japan's Defense Dependence On The United States -- Doug Bandow, Forbes
America’s war in Afghanistan is winding down, but the U.S. must worry about conflict elsewhere. Once viewed as inconceivable, war between China and Japan now looks possible, though thankfully still unlikely. Tokyo should get serious about its own defense.
The U.S. used its power as occupier after World War II to impose a constitution on Japan which forbade possession of a military. But America lost its enthusiasm for that arrangement early during the Cold War. When Washington subsequently pushed Tokyo to rearm, the latter hid behind its constitution.
F-35 test aircraft are seen at Naval Air Station Patuxent Aircraft, Md. Lockheed Martin
Solving The Navy’s Carrier Shortage -- Adm. James A. Lyons, Washington Times
F-35 fifth-generation aircraft could provide needed support.
The U.S. Navy, operating with too few carriers, now has a forward-deployment dilemma. Keeping two carriers deployed to the Middle East with only nine deployable strike carriers is not sustainable, even with their deployment time increasing by 50 percent. This is having debilitating consequences for fleet readiness. An immediate relaxation from the two-carrier commitment would provide much-needed forward deployment flexibility. This can be accomplished by utilizing operational alternatives, including modified U.S. Air Force Air Expeditionary Forces, along with U.S. Marine Corps Air Wing, to provide the required close air support mission in Afghanistan.
With the four-year overhaul of the USS Abraham Lincoln, combined with the delay of the USS Gerald Ford, the Navy will still require additional deployment flexibility. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F-35 fifth-generation aircraft could possibly provide such flexibility.
Read more ....
A search and rescue team aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman launches a rigid hull inflatable boat during a man-overboard drill in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 29, 2013. The Truman is conducting a composite training unit exercise to prepare for its upcoming deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Aylward
Soldier To Get Medal Of Honor For Fighting Off Hundreds Of Taliban While Injured -- Business Insider
There were 53 US troops at Combat Outpost Keating, Afghanistan on the morning of Oct. 3, 2009. While they had been attacked many times before, on that morning at 6 AM everything went to hell.
The quiet mountain dawn broke to an overwhelming onslaught of more than 300 Taliban fighters attacking almost instantaneously.
The attackers had one goal, as detailed in "The Outpost", a riveting account of the battle written by journalist Jake Tapper: overrun and capture the base.
Africa Is Becoming More Peaceful, Despite The War In Mali -- The Guardian
The continent is stereotyped as being violent and increasingly unstable, but a closer look suggests that conflict is declining
Recent events in Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan seem to confirm one of the most durable stereotypes of Africa, namely that the continent is unstable and uniquely prone to nasty political violence.
Writing in Foreign Policy two years ago, New York Times east Africa correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Gettleman espoused this view. He painted a dismal picture of pointless wars waged by brutes and criminals "spreading across Africa like a viral pandemic."
Gettleman is right that warfare and political violence are changing on the continent, but he is wrong to portray that change as one of brutal violence increasing out of control.
Read more .... My Comment: I am not that optimistic. Tribalism and ethnic animosities has been Africa's curse since the beginning .... and it does not take much for it to escalate into major regional conflicts. There may be peace in many parts of Africa today .... but history has taught us that such conditions are usually temporary.
Biden And Donilon Preparing For New Nuclear Discussions With Russia -- Josh Rogin, The Cable/Foreign Policy
Vice President Joe Biden will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this weekend in Munich and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon will travel to Moscow next month to try to kick-start a new round of U.S.-Russia nuclear reduction negotiations, The Cable has learned.
It was four years ago at the Munich Security Conference that Biden first spoke about the Obama administration's desire to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations after years of deterioration during the George W. Bush administration. Now, at the beginning of Obama's second term, Biden and Donilon are leading the charge to reinvigorate that reset, following a series of setbacks in the U.S.-Russia relationship that has included President Vladimir Putin accusing the United States of meddling in Russian politics, anger over a new U.S. law to sanction Russian human rights violators, and a new Russian ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans.
Read more ....
My Comment: Russia is right now spending the money to modernize their nuclear forces .... I do not see them changing this policy to accommodate U.S. wishes. As for the U.S. .... U.S. nuclear forces need to be modernize, but with trillion dollar deficits I do not see that happening .... and more to the point .... I see an administration that does not want to spend that king of money and are now looking for a convenient way out. My prediction .... this White House will make an announcement this year that the U.S. will unilaterally cut back some of it's nuclear forces as well as limiting missile defense to entice the Russians to come back to the table. The Russians .... I predict .... will show up but offer nothing.
I have been involved in numerous computer science projects since the 1980s, as well as developing numerous web projects since 1996.
These blogs are a summation of all the information that I read and catalog pertaining to the subjects that interest me.
