Devastation At Iranian Missile Facility Worse Than Reported

Geoeye Via Google Earth / Institute for Science and International Security

Digitalglobe / DigitalGlobe/Institute for Science and International Security

Iranian Missile Facility Totaled in Mystery Blast -- Global Security Newswire

Experts said a detonation of uncertain origin significantly damaged an Iranian missile installation earlier this month, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Nov. 21; Jason Ukman, Washington Post, Nov. 28).

"Most of the buildings on the compound appear extensively damaged. Some buildings appear to have been completely destroyed," the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington said in an analysis, referring to pictures taken from space of the site before and after the Nov. 12 blast.

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More News On The Devastation At An Iranian Missile Facility

Satellite image shows devastation caused by Iran blast they said was an 'accident'... as ANOTHER explosion rocks country -- Daily Mail
Images Show Devastation at Iran Base After Blast -- New York Times
New satellite photos show recent destruction of Iranian missile site -- Examiner
Satellite Image Showing Damage from November 12, 2011 Blast at Military Base in Iran -- ISIS
Satellite images of Iran explosion -- CNN

No Easing of US Detainee Policy

Senate Rejects Easing Detainee Policy -- UPI

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Tuesday rejected a defense spending bill amendment that would have eased the policy on detainees captured as terror suspects on the battlefield.

The Senate voted 61-37 to reject the amendment, which would have removed a section of the defense spending bill that authorizes the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" and would have created a timeline for judicial hearings, The Hill reported.

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More News On The US Senate Rejecting The Easing Of Detainee Policy

Senate rejects effort to strip provisions on terror suspects from defense bill -- Washington Post/AP
US Senate defeats challenge to new detainee rules -- AFP
Despite veto threat, detainee provision advances in DOD bill -- The Hill
Senate keeps controversial detainee policy in defense bill -- CBS
Effort to ease detainee language faces harsh bipartisan opposition in Senate -- The Hill
Controversial detainee provision passes senate -- CNN
Senate Votes To Let Military Detain Americans Indefinitely, White House Threatens Veto -- Huffington post

Finding Alternative Routes To Supply NATO In Afghanistan

To Afghanistan, On The Slow Train -- CNN

(CNN) -- Call it the ultimate in military logistics. As land routes from Pakistan into Afghanistan are cut, sabotaged or otherwise interrupted, the U.S. military has developed alternative railroad routes that make the Orient Express look like a branch line.

They are called -- rather prosaically -- the Northern Distribution Network, or NDN. The main route begins at the port of Riga in Latvia, from where freight trains roll across Russia, and continues along the edge of the Caspian Sea. It crosses the deserts of Kazakhstan and into Uzbekistan. About 10 days after beginning their odyssey, the containers cross into Afghanistan, carrying everything from computers and socks to toilet paper and bottled water.

Other routes begin at the port of Ponti in Georgia on the Black Sea and at Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.

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Update #1: US may abandon Pakistan supply routes -- Asia Times
Update #2: Pakistan cuts supply lines, but US has options -- Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: Faster please .... much faster.

In An Age Of Peace Why Are War Clouds In The Horizon

Riots in Greece

Threat Of War Seems Unreal In An Age Of Peace -- Gideon Tachman, Business Day

Although the risk of a severe economic crisis is very real, I don’t believe that we are at risk of sliding back into war

COULD things go bad again? I mean really bad — Great Depression bad, world war bad? The kind of cataclysmic event my generation has learned to think belongs only in the history books. There is certainly a sense of foreboding in Europe at the moment. Speaking in Berlin last night, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski warned: "We are standing on the edge of a precipice." President Nicolas Sarkozy of France cautioned recently: "If the euro explodes, Europe would explode. It’s the guarantee of peace in a continent where there were terrible wars."

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My Comment: History has an annoying habit of repeating itself .... and Europe has a long history in which war and conflict was always the rule .... not the exception.

It's My Moral Duty To Resign

'It's My Moral Duty To Resign': Professor Serving In Afghanistan Quits College Job In Protest At Colleague's Attack On U.S. Troops -- Daily Mail

* Major Robert Roughsedge said comments from fellow professor Michael Avery amounted to a 'hate speech'
* Mr Avery called university drive to send gifts to soldiers overseas 'shameful'

A law professor serving in Afghanistan has left his job at a Massachusetts university after a colleague there said it was 'shameful' to send care packages to U.S. troops.

U.S. Army Reserve Major Robert Roughsedge resigned from Suffolk University in Boston after fellow law professor Michael Avery sent an email insulting soldiers fighting overseas.

Mr Avery attacked a University effort to donate items to soldiers in what Major Roughsedge called a 'hate speech', Fox News reported.

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Update: Law Professor’s Criticism of Military Care Package Drive has Unintended Effects -- Theresa Civantos, Weekly Standard

My Comment: Major Robert Roughsedge had no problem in resigning his position according to his principles and morality. Any bets that Mr Avery who called the university drive to send gifts to soldiers overseas 'shameful' is not going to resign on his principles and morality?

Exactly.

As The Euro Crisis Continues, China Is Looking To Buy Up Europe Cheap

Wang: 'The euro zone crisis has not entirely played out and asset prices are very volatile. They haven't found their floor' (Photo: Stefan)

China Looking To Snap Up EU Factories, Railways -- EU Observer

BRUSSELS - China is looking to buy EU factories and railways instead of wobbly government bonds as prices fall amid the eurozone crisis.

Minister of commerce Chen Deming articulated the strategy at a business congress in China on Monday (28 November).

"Next year, we will send a delegation for promoting trade and investment to the European countries ... Some European countries are facing a debt crisis and hope to convert their assets to cash and would like foreign capital to acquire their enterprises. We will be closely watching and pushing forward the process," he said.

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My Comment: If my previous post gives any indication .... I suspect that the Chinese are now positioning themselves to profit big time from the coming Euro collapse. What is my prediction .... when the Euro eventually unravels, those who have the gold will make the rules .... and it is China who has the gold (for now).

China Is Buying Up Africa While The West "Yawns"

China Builds Its African Empire While The 'Anti-Colonialist' Left Looks The Other Way -- Damian Thompson, The Telegraph

Imagine what would happen if America barged its way into a developing country, buttered up its homicidal dictator and agreed a back-of-the-envelope deal in which he signed over his nation’s mineral wealth in return for roads, railways and sports stadiums. Everyone would benefit, no?

No. The problem is that the infrastructure turns out to be worth a hell of a lot less than the minerals. Fortunately, Washington has had the foresight to top up the dictator’s Swiss bank account. Problem solved! As for the mining operation, the Americans really don’t want to be bothered by minimum wages or trade unions. They’re banned. And no complaints from the workforce, please, because no one wants a repeat of that “misunderstanding” in which an American mine supervisor opened fire on stroppy employees.

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My Comment: A decade or two from now many in Africa will be wondering what has happened to the wealth and richness of their continent .... and will probably be blaming the West for it. The sad truth is the contrary .... and will be more so as China's hunger for natural resources and Africa's dependency on Chinese money continues to grow.

A North Korean View Of South Korea And It's Allies

North Korea Trains Sights On Blue House -- Kim Myong Chol, Asia Times

"Kim Jong-eun is a great wizard in military operations from asymmetrical and long-range artillery to cyberwarfare." - Kim Jong-il

"Interception of our satellite launch rocket by Japan or the US could have prompted Comrade Kim Jong-eun to order the Korean People's Army to vaporize the country concerned." - Kim Jong-il

"If the Americans were to intercept our satellite-launch rocket, our armed forces shall lose neither time nor mercy in destroying the enemy forces and simultaneously go to the heart of the enemy." - Kim Jong-eun

The Korean People's Army Supreme Command issued a stern warning on November 24 that should a single South Korean artillery shell or bullet breach the inviolable territorial waters, sky and land of North Korea, then the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would mobilize front-line long-range artillery and missile units to instantly vaporize South Korea's Cheongwadae (Presidential Office), also known as the Blue House, and all other strongholds in an all-consuming sea of fire.

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My Comment: This writer's assessment is blunt, and he should be listened to .... because .... Kim Myong Chol is author of a number of books and papers in Korean, Japanese and English on North Korea, including Kim Jong-il's Strategy for Reunification. He has a PhD from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Academy of Social Sciences and is often called an "unofficial" spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea.

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- November 29, 2011

Why Did Iranian Protesters Storm The UK Embassy? -- CNN

As CNN reports, "Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, breaking down the door, throwing around papers and replacing the British flag with an Iranian one." This act comes just over a week after the U.S. and UK imposed tougher sanctions on Iran.

To get perspective on both the sanctions and the storming of the embassy, I reached out to Dr. Geoffrey Kemp, who served in the White House during the first Reagan administration as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the National Security Council Staff. In this role, he dealt extensively with Iran.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Europe: Apocalypse now? -- Donald Sensing, Sense of Events

Bordering on defeat: Pakistan plays both sides in the Afghanistan War -- Washington Times editorial

Pakistan and America's fragile alliance will survive its latest test -- Rob Crilly, The Telegraph

Pakistan: The Trust Deficit -- Elise Jordan, NRO

Iran has no interest in resolving the nuclear crisis by jaw jaw -- Con Coughlin, The Telegraph

On pins and needles and missiles in Tehran: Blast signals approaching nuclear danger -- Reza Kahlili, The Washington Times

In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, residents see experiment with autonomy as 'illusion' -- Issam Ahmed, Christian Science Monitor

In Egypt, Will Democratic Legitimacy Trump Military Legitimacy? -- Ayman Mohyeldin, Time

In Bleak Cairo, a Call for Optimism -- Wael Ghonim, New York Times

Yemen: President Saleh may be stepping down, but the threat of civil war is growing. -- Tom Finn, Atiaf Al-Wazir, Foreign Policy

Syrians die while the world dithers -- Irwin Cotler, The Ottawa Citizen

China in Africa: one for the future? -- Pan Kwan Yuk, Financial Times

Obama Abandons the Working Class -- William McGurn, Wall Street Journal

World News Briefs -- November 29, 2011 (Evening Edition)

Iranian Students Storm British Embassy In Tehran -- USA Today/AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Hard-line Iranian students stormed British diplomatic sites in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag, burning an embassy vehicle and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the seizing of the U.S. Embassy compound in 1979.

The act drew a sharp rebuke from London. British Prime Minister David Cameron called it "outrageous and indefensible" and warned the Iranian government will face "serious consequences" for "its unacceptable failure" to protect diplomats in line with international law. He said those measures would be considered in coming days.

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MIDDLE EAST

Biden in Iraq as U.S. withdrawal gathers pace.

Bahrain security chief replaced after inquiry.

Syria: Turkey raises prospect of buffer zone for first time.

Turkey raises Syria military option, Russia urges caution.

Iranian protesters enter UK compound in Tehran. Iran protesters storm UK embassy in Tehran.

Military: 3 rockets from Lebanon strike Israel.

Israeli leader visits Jordan to discuss Palestinian issue.

ASIA

300 trucks carry supplies to Nato from Karachi.

India postpones border talks with China.

When NATO is the enemy: Pakistan seethes after the attack.

Outgoing Kyrgyz leader: fate of US base uncertain.

Tokyo retains title as world's food capital.

AFRICA

Egypt: election turnout 'massive and unexpected'.

Violence and disarray mar voting in Congo.

Somalia's al-Shabab militants close UN aid offices.

Morocco's king names head of Islamist party new PM.

EUROPE

Greece's statistics chief faces criminal investigation.

Eurozone ministers meet amid fears of euro breakup.

Germany as isolated on Euro as US was on Iraq.

Serbia impounds $500 million in crime property.

Psychiatric evaluation finds Norway killer insane.

AMERICAS

Kansas City seen as a hub for drug traffickers on Interstate 35.

U.S. states face bleak economic forecast, report says.

Former FARC captive recalls Colombia jungle horror.

Venezuela arrests Colombian 'drug lord' Valenciano.

U.S. blacklisting seems to have little consequence in Mexico.

TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR

Lieberman to Google: Ban terrorist content.

FBI Director criticizes bill requiring suspected terrorists to be held by military.

Bail denied for Massachusetts terror plot suspect.

Terror: Al-Qaeda 'planning N. Africa kidnapping wave of Westerners'.

ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS

World's best and worst cities.

Facebook settles with US over deception charges.

American Airlines files for Ch. 11 protection.

Fitch keeps U.S. credit rating at ‘AAA’, cuts outlook to negative.

Exploding iPhone investigated.