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.
Photo: Mustafa Abu al Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, in a propaganda video in May 2007. Photo from The Long War Journal
Al Qaeda's Third-in-Command Killed -- Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—Al Qaeda's third-in-command, who played a key role in a recently foiled terrorist plot against the U.S., is believed to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas recent weeks, dealing a significant blow to the terrorist network.
Sheik Sa'id al-Masri, al Qaeda's chief operating officer, was killed about a week ago, a U.S. official said, adding "This is the main person who everyone has been looking for."
USUALLY, there is a familiar cycle to Korea crises.
Like a street gang showing off its power to run amok in a well-heeled neighborhood, the North Koreans launch a missile over Japan or set off a nuclear test or stage an attack — as strong evidence indicates they did in March, when a South Korean warship was torpedoed. Expressions of outrage follow. So do vows that this time, the North Koreans will pay a steep price.
In time, though, the United States and North Korea’s neighbors — China, Japan, South Korea and Russia — remind one another that they have nothing to gain from a prolonged confrontation, much less a war. Gradually, sanctions get watered down. Negotiations reconvene. Soon the North hints it can be enticed or bribed into giving up a slice of its nuclear program. Eventually, the cycle repeats.
My Comment: From the list my biggest worry is the last one .... a nuclear provocation. North Korea needs money .... and exporting their nuclear tech is a surefire way of getting some.
Inside The Mind Of A Taliban Bomb Master -- Times Online
Squatting on a concrete floor with nails, wires and a plug socket scattered around his feet, Naimatullah goes carefully about his business.
“This is the detonator for the bomb,” he says in a soft voice, a small object in his hand. Then he scoops up some white powder, packing it into a plastic drinks bottle. “These are very tasty explosives, very strong,” he says.
My Comment: A revealing look at how the madrases in Pakistan are used in educating and making bomb makers, and how Pakistan itself provides the materials to make these lethal weapons.
UN Security Council Holds Emergency Session On Israeli Raid -- Voice of America
The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session Monday on how to respond after Israeli commandos intercepted a ship carrying humanitarian aid in international waters and killed at least nine pro-Palestinian activists.
The 15-member council convened an emergency session at the request of members Lebanon and Turkey.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who traveled from South America for the meeting, criticized Israel, calling the Israeli Defense Forces' actions "tantamount to banditry and piracy."
Seoul Weighs Shift in U.S. Military Ties -- Wall Street Journal
American and South Korean Leaders Plan New War Games and Strategy Sessions in Face of Rising Tensions With the North.
SEOUL—South Korea is reviewing its defense policy following North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean naval vessel, a process that could significantly change Seoul's military alliance with Washington, according to officials engaged in the process.
Over the past week, U.S. and South Korean leaders have outlined plans to conduct war games and strategy sessions to better equip the South for combating the type of submarine attack Pyongyang is accused by international investigators to have staged in March, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
My Comment: With China (and Japan) unwilling .... or unable ... to assist South Korea on the issue of North Korea, the South Koreans are turning to the only country that they can trust .... the U.S.
Some 100,000 people gathered in Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, capital of Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), on May 30 to protest the United States and South Korea over the sinking of a warship earlier this year. It is now feared that war may break out at any time between the two Koreas. People's Daily
China’s Stance On North Korea Could Lead To War -- Times Online
The world is anxious about the Kim regime but greater disasters lie ahead if its superpower neighbour fails to act
Try this quiz. You lead a rising economic superpower, with ambitions for global political power. You have pledged to pursue a “peaceful rise” and to work through the United Nations wherever possible to maintain international stability. Out of the blue, your unruly neighbour, an ally and quasi-dependant for the past 60 years, torpedoes a warship of its own neighbour, killing 46 sailors, and then, when accused of this crime, threatens all-out war. What do you do?
UN Security Councils Holds Emergency Session on Israeli Aid Convoy Raid -- Voice of America
The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session Monday to discuss the Israeli commando raid on a Turkish vessel in the Mediterranean Sea that left at least nine of those on board dead. Dozens more were wounded.
Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded.
The vessel was part of a flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of supplies to the Gaza Strip in defiance of a three-year-old Israeli blockade.
U.N. Report Says Iran Has Fuel For 2 Nuclear Weapons -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — In their last report before the United Nations Security Council votes on sanctions against Iran, international nuclear inspectors declared on Monday that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons.
The report, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a branch of the United Nations, appears likely to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran and further diminish its interest in a deal, recently revived by Turkey and Brazil, in which Iran would send a portion of its nuclear stockpile out of the country.
Top Colombian Presidential Candidates Head For Runoff Election -- CNN
(CNN) -- The two leading candidates in Colombia's presidential race will compete in a runoff June 20, since neither garnered more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's election.
With 99 percent of polling stations reporting, Colombia's National Civil Registry said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had 46.6 percent of votes while former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus received 21.5 percent of votes.
Terror Link Alleged As Saudi Millions Flow Into Afghanistan War Zone -- Times Online
Millions of dollars of Saudi Arabian money have flowed into Afghanistan over the past four years, the country’s intelligence officials say, with the sponsorship of terrorism its most likely use.
According to members of the Afghan financial intelligence unit, FinTraca, the funds, totalling more than £920 million, enter from Pakistan, where they are converted into rupees or dollars, the favoured currency for terrorist operations.
“We can trace it back as far as an entry point in Waziristan,” said Mohammed Mustafa Massoudi, the director-general of FinTraca in Kabul. “Why would anyone want to put such money into Waziristan? Only one reason — terrorism.”
Read more .... My Comment: Once again Saudi money is implicated in funding and financing Islamic radicalism and war. I would like to believe that one day we will wake up to this duplicity .... but the problem is that we are addicted to their oil .... and worse .... we are willing to turn a blind eye to what happens to our money when we buy it.
Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard, fired as head of the Forces in Afghanistan because of alleged sexual misconduct, is married to Major Julie Fortin, who commands a logistics company at CFB Valcartier. They have two children. Photograph by: BLAIR GABLE, REUTERS, Canwest News Service
General In Sex Scandal Fired -- National Post
Menard headed Canadian troops in Afghanistan
Brigadier-General Daniel Menard--who was fired late on Saturday as head of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan because of alleged sexual misconduct -- is the first Canadian general officer to be dismissed on the battlefield since the Second World War.
Brig.-Gen. Menard had been named to lead a critical NATO campaign against the Taliban in Kandahar -- a task that will now fall to his stopgap replacement, Brigadier-General Jon Vance. Brig.-Gen. Vance was in charge of the 2,800 Canadian troops in Afghanistan until six months ago, and will take over again until another general arrives at the end of September.
Photo: A U.S. Marine sniper trains for battle at a Korean base. Photo from Reuters
How To Shoot Someone From A Mile Away -- New York Post
Snipers have become one of America's most effective weapons in the desolation of Afghanistan
If the Taliban fighters had bothered to look up, they would have seen small white nicks on the face of the boulder behind them. Nicholas Ranstad had been using it for target practice.
But they didn't notice. Ranstad could take his time.
It was January of 2008. For months, Ranstad, a 28-year-old Army specialist from Florida, had lived in a small hut 1.28 miles away from the rock with a group of snipers. Part of their mission was to keep an eye on a road crew working in this corner of Kunar province, in northeastern Afghanistan. The Taliban was executing the laborers to discourage any Afghan from cooperating with American-supported construction.
A US marine runs to safety moments after an IED blast in Garmsir district of Helmand province. Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty
Buffaloes, Desert Hawks And Reapers Lead Fight Against The Roadside Killers -- Times Online
BRITISH military commanders decided two years ago that the only way to defend against the Taliban bombing campaign was to go on the offensive.
So they persuaded ministers that improving protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was vital — prompting them to approve new vehicles and equipment costing £700m in October 2008.
Some of that package has yet to arrive, most notably the Warthog armoured vehicles intended to replace the existing Viking tracked vehicles. The equipment that has arrived ranges from Osprey body armour, which is issued to every soldier serving on the front line, to the giant Buffalo mine-protected clearance vehicle.
On Memorial Day, Three Stories Of Loss, Redemption, And Healing -- Christian Science Monitor
Three people who lost loved ones to war honor those who serve and tangibly help others.
The increasing number of homes with gold stars in the window, the sign that a military son or daughter has been lost, is a sad measure of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868
I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.
If our eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.
II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.
III. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.
U.S. General Accuses Iran Of Helping Taliban In Afghanistan -- Voice of America
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says there is "clear evidence" that Iran is providing weapons and training to Taliban fighters in the war-torn country.
U.S. General Stanley McChrystal told reporters in the Afghan capital he understands that as a neighbor, Iran has a natural interest in Afghanistan.
Bomb Disposal Expert Killed After Defusing 13 Bombs In 36 Hours -- Times Online
An inquest into the death of a bomb disposal expert decorated for his bravery in Afghanistan has heard that he defused 13 bombs under sporadic enemy fire during the 36 hours leading to his death.
Captain Daniel Shepherd’s inquest follows the broadcast of a BBC One Panorama documentary on Monday in which the Army’s senior bomb disposal officer questioned the numbers of personnel available for Afghanistan and the pressures they faced. Captain Shepherd, 28, from Lincoln, was awarded the George Medal posthumously. He died while defusing a bomb on July 20 last year. The “unbelievably courageous” soldier, from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, the Royal Logistic Corps, was killed as he tried to defuse a pressure-plated device, the inquest at the Cathedral Centre in Lincoln heard.
My Comment: This story was emailed to me by one of my readers this weekend. Defusing a bomb every few hours .... what was he and his superiors thinking .... or was he just too tired? They will conduct an inquest, but I suspect that the truth will never be known because the man who really knows is now dead.
Ten Dead After Israel Boards Gaza-Bound Ships: Military -- Yahoo News/Reuters
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli commandos intercepted Gaza-bound aid ships Monday and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board were killed in bloodshed that plunged Israel into a diplomatic crisis.
Israel's military said its troops came under gunfire and knife attack during the takeover.
"Our initial findings show that at least 10 convoy participants were killed," an Israeli military spokesman said, adding that at least four soldiers were wounded.
A drone lands at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Defense analysts have criticized drone operations because drone crews have little experience on the ground in Afghanistan (Rick Loomis, Los Angeles Times / June 14, 2009)
U.S. Report Faults Air Force Drone Crew, Ground Commanders In Afghan Civilian Deaths -- L.A. Times
The investigation into an operation three months ago in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province that left up to 23 civilians dead prompts Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal to punish six officers.
Reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan — A U.S. military investigation has harshly criticized a Nevada-based Air Force drone crew and American ground commanders in Afghanistan for misidentifying civilians as insurgents during a U.S. Army Special Forces operation in Oruzgan province in February, resulting in the deaths of as many as 23 civilians.
Photo: Israeli submarine "Dolphin" sails along the Mediterranean Sea near the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
Israel Stations Nuclear Missile Subs Off Iran -- Times Online
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.
Israeli Troops Attack Ship Carrying Aid To Gaza Killing 16 -- The Telegraph
Israeli commandoes have stormed a flotilla of ships carrying activists and aid supplies to the blockaded Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing as many as 16 of those on board.
Fighting broke out between the activists and the masked Israeli troops, who rappelled on to deck from helicopters before dawn.
A spokeswoman for the flotilla, Greta Berlin, said she had been told ten people had been killed and dozens wounded, accusing Israeli troops of indiscriminately shooting at "unarmed civilians". But an Israeli radio station said that between 14 and 16 were dead in a continuing operation. Read more....
More News On Israeli Soldiers Storming The Aid Flotilla To Gaza
Regular readers of this blog know that for the past month I have been working on a project that has taken me away from regularly posting on this blog. Fortunately .... this is all coming to an end tomorrow. As I am now in the home stretch to finish this project, postings will be light today and tomorrow, but my regular (hourly) postings will return by tomorrow night.
Blood Diamonds: The Illicit Trade Propping Up The Mugabe Regime -- Times Online
Bayo, a burly Guinean also known as Mr Big, threw the contents of the small plastic bag on to the bare wooden table. A handful of rough diamonds twinkled in the half-light of the shabby office.
“Put the light on,” shouted Demba, one of several “associates” squeezed into the back room of a residential home. Someone flicked the switch on a desk lamp and he pointed at the gems. “Look at this quality — very good, boss, very good. Tell me which type you want and I’ll bring them over.”
Read more .... My Comment: It is unfortunate to see that Zimbabwe is now continuing Africa's long and bloody history when it comes to blood diamonds.
US appoints first cyber warfare general: Pentagon creates specialist online unit to counter cyber attack amid growing fears of militarisation of the internet.
On Friday, newly-created U.S. Cyber Command—that's USCYBERCOM to those in the know—got itself a general. One small problem: It's not clear that anyone, even four-star general and National Security Agency head Keith Alexander, knows what U.S. Cyber Command is supposed to do now that it exists. The commerical Internet has been around since about 1995, but in recent years folks at the Pentagon and White House seem to have been struck with a similar thought: "Hey, we should do something about those Internets, huh?" The longing for a cyber command of some kind dates back at least to President George W. Bush, and the project continued merrily along under President Barack Obama with the inexorable force of a government program that nobody really wants, but no one wants to be the one to kill.
Cpl Deepak Gurung, 28, of 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles, is a popstar in his native Nepal, but is this year deployed to Helmand province fighting the Taliban Photo: Ben Farmer
How The Gurkhas Are Fighting The Taliban With A Smile -- The Telegraph
The Gurkhas are making a big impression on the people of Helmand province, but will that be enough? Ben Farmer reports from Afghanistan.
The Gurkhas have become the latest weapon in the battle for hearts and minds in Afghanistan. Recently, a gaggle of dusty boys and girls warily approached the unfamiliar figures resting in a ditch shaded by fig trees. Five minutes later they were giggling in the late afternoon sun, joking with the legendary Nepalese soldiers.
Southern Nahr-e-Seraj, in the notorious Helmand province administered by the British, was last summer the battleground of the bloody Panther’s Claw offensive. Eleven British soldiers died in fighting to secure a corridor from Helmand’s capital, Lashkar Gah, to Gereshk, its economic hub. The offensive tried to extend the writ of Hamid Karzai’s ineffective national government so it could bring health, education and justice to Helmand’s residents.
President Obama at Arlington Cemetery Monday with, from left, Adm. Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs; Col. Thomas M. Durham, Army chaplain; Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe Jr. of Joint Force Headquarters; and John C. Metzger Jr., cemetery superintendent. Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
From Washington Post:
President Obama is skipping the traditional Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery, a move that has dismayed some veterans -- and comes at a sensitive moment in the administration's relationship with the military.
Instead of speaking at Arlington, as he did last year and as most presidents have done, Obama will appear at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery outside Chicago, the White House said. Vice President Biden will take his place at Arlington, the most prestigious military cemetery in the country and home to Section 60, a large burial ground for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more .... My Comment: It is to bad that he will be skipping the ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, I am sure that many veterans were looking forward to see him.
The border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan Image from www.25idl.army.mil
Options Studied For a Possible Pakistan Strike -- Washington Post
The U.S. military is reviewing options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan in the event that a successful attack on American soil is traced to the country's tribal areas, according to senior military officials.
Ties between the alleged Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, and elements of the Pakistani Taliban have sharpened the Obama administration's need for retaliatory options, the officials said. They stressed that a U.S. reprisal would be contemplated only under extreme circumstances, such as a catastrophic attack that leaves President Obama convinced that the ongoing campaign of CIA drone strikes is insufficient.
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The death toll from attacks on a religious minority in eastern Pakistan has risen to 98, officials said Saturday.
About 110 more people were wounded in the attacks, said Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official.
They took place Friday in two mosques in Lahore when attackers with bombs and firearms targeted houses of worship belonging to the Ahmadi sect, a persecuted religious group.
Shoot to kill: "If it's a target I want to prosecute, I can do it. If it's a target I want to kill, I can do it. It is the sexiest programme in the army," says one soldier of US drone operations. Photograph: Rob Jensen/USAF via Getty Images
Predators, Warriors And Ravens: The CIA Drones Wage War -- Irish Times
THE COURTYARD of the Pentagon feels like a cross between an arms fair and a used-car lot on a fine May morning. “Congratulations 1,000,000 Army Unmanned Aircraft System Flight Hours,” says a banner.
With 5,456 US servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Afghan war going badly, the US military celebrates what it can. Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles but referred to as drones, are the military’s most important technological asset. Last year the CIA’s director, Leon Panetta, called the Predator drone programme “the only game in town”.
My Comment: This article posts a number of stats that I have not seen .... i.e. total number of drone strikes in Pakistan, total number of UAVs, etc. .... overall, this article gives a headsup on what to expect in the "Drone Wars".
Photo: Mustafa Abu al Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, in a propaganda video in May 2007. Photo from The Long War Journal
