Military Increases Reliance on Special Ops -- MSNBC
The Department of Defense adjusts to doing more with less
As the military prepares to adjust to budget cuts across the board, they'll have to do what’s become routine in the corporate world: Doing more with less.
Even as the military begins to draw down forces in Afghanistan, threats around the world still demand attention. That means an increased reliance on Special Operations Forces, such as Navy SEALs, headquartered on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego.
The moon rises over aircraft on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea, Feb. 8, 2012. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman George M. Bell
Fears Grow Of Israel-Iran Missile Shootout -- MSNBC
With tensions between Israel and Iran running sky high over the latter's nuclear program, U.S. officials and military analysts are growing increasingly concerned that Israel will launch a multi-phase air and missile attack that could trigger waves of retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran.
Such a shootout could quickly spiral into a regional conflict that would potentially force the U.S. to intervene to protect its interests. Read more ....
My Comment: If this becomes a shooting war .... I will expect missile strikes against civilian targets ... and it will be done deliberately.
Iran Nuclear Issue To Dominate Obama Netanyahu Talks -- Voice Of America
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to meet in Washington next week, amid global concerns about Iran's nuclear program and possible pre-emptive action by Israel.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have increased steadily in recent months, as has speculation about a possible Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear sites. An Iranian general warned that Iran might strike first if threatened with an attack.
Potential war between a key U.S. ally and Iran, and its regional and global repercussions, is a major concern for U.S. President Barack Obama. Read more ....
All The Scary Ladies -- Gershom Gorenberg, American Prospect
An effort to silence women in the military is meant to empower the radically conservative clergy in Israel.
The Israeli military has to face a lot of threats. Iran. Hezbollah. Rockets from Gaza. Women soldiers singing.
If that last item seems out of place, it's because you're reading this in America (where, it's true, presidential candidates can portray contraception as a danger to civilization) instead of reading it in Israel. Here in Israel, the threat posed by female vocalists to religious liberty has been a regular topic in debate of military policy in recent months. Read more ....
My Comment: Different cultures always fascinate me .... especially those with "old-fashion" views toward women.
Hank Haney and Tiger Woods prepare for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008. (Los Angeles Times)
Former Coach: Tiger Woods Considered Leaving Golf For Military -- L.A. Times
Tiger Woods felt tremendous pressure to break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major tournament victories and once seriously considered leaving his life as the world's No. 1 golfer to become a Navy SEAL.
These are some of the revelations that appear in "The Big Miss," a forthcoming book by Woods' former swing coach Hank Haney. Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, has dismissed the book as "ridiculous," calling it "armchair psychology" and "self-promotion" by Haney.
Louboutin-loving... London-raised Asma al-Assad, pictured with husband and Syrian leader Bashar, has been called 'the eastern Diana'.
Dictators' Wives: How The West Is Wooed By The Pretty Faces Of Tyranny -- Sydney Morning Herald
Their glamourous lives earn them fawning spreads in western fashion magazines like Vogue. But at home they inspire dread, with tales of confiscating people's homes and punishing servants with boiling water.
In December 2010, the French first lady Carla Bruni sat down to lunch under the gold chandeliers of the Elysee palace with Asma al-Assad, wife of the Syrian leader Bashar. As they sat demurely with their husbands around a butterfly-print tablecloth dominated by a pastel flower-arrangement, a photographer was ushered in to grab a picture for French celebrity magazines. After all, this was a communion of fashion’s high priestesses: a former Italian supermodel turned folk-singer entertaining a Chanel-loving, London-raised, former banker and conveniently westernised Middle Eastern first lady.
My Comment: From my experience, most (if not all) marriages operate as a team.When I look at these dictators .... their wives may be quiet and photogenic but I suspect that when the doors are closed and everyone is ushered out .... these wives are anything but quiet.
(OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea) — As a sleek black U-2 roared back from a mission, Pontiac muscle cars zoomed along the runway to help it touch down using a low-tech method dating back more than half a century to when this Cold War-era aircraft was cutting-edge.
"It's notorious for being hard to land," the pilot said after climbing out of the cockpit.
But the legendary U-2 "Dragon Lady" remains one of Washington's most prized possessions on the Cold War's last hot front. Pumped up by a $1 billion overhaul, a trio of these piloted aircraft are proving they can still compete with the most futuristic drones on a crucial mission: spying on North Korea.
Russia Upgrades Radar Station In Syria To Aid Iran -- Washington Times
ERUSALEM — Russia has upgraded a surveillance station it maintains in Syrian territory in order to provide Iran early warning of an Israeli attack, according to the Israeli security-related blog Debkafile.
The surveillance station, located south of Damascus, had been able to monitor air traffic in Israel as far south as Tel Aviv, as well as northern Jordan and western Iraq.
Since the upgrade, its range reportedly extends to all parts of Israel and Jordan and as far south as the northern part of Saudi Arabia. Read more ....
My Comment: Will Russia give Iran a heads-up on an Israeli strike if their radar installation detects a massive Israeli attack? I would have to presume that the reason why Russia is doing this modernization in the middle of a Syrian civil war is to do just that .... to inform Iran of an Israeli attack. Hell .... even the Russian media is reporting that this is the prime purpose of this radar base.
The Debka story on this Russian radar post is here.
Marine Corps Cpl. William Aider releases a batch of leaflets April 3 while aboard an aircraft flying over Afghanistan. Sgt. Joshua T. Greenfield, Marine Corps
U.S. 'Info Ops' Programs Dubious, Costly -- USA Today
WASHINGTON – As the Pentagon has sought to sell wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to often-hostile populations there, it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on poorly tracked marketing and propaganda campaigns that military leaders like to call "information operations," the modern equivalent of psychological warfare.
From 2005 to 2009, such spending rose from $9 million to $580 million a year mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon and congressional records show. Last year, spending dropped to $202 million as the Iraq War wrapped up. A USA TODAY investigation, based on dozens of interviews and a series of internal military reports, shows that Pentagon officials have little proof the programs work and they won't make public where the money goes. In Iraq alone, more than $173 million was paid to what were identified only as "miscellaneous foreign contractors."
My Comment: The enemy spends almost nothing for their media/info campaigns .... but are infinitely more successful with their message. So .... is the fault on our side the message or the messenger? My guess is that the answer is a combination of both.
Iraq War Veterans Honored At White House Dinner -- UPI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- President Obama dined with Iraq War veterans at the White House, praising them and their comrades for their valor on behalf of a grateful nation.
At the conclusion of his 10-minute speech at the formal gathering, called "A Nation's Gratitude: Honoring those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn," the commander in chief raised a glass of what appeared to be water and offered a toast: Read more ....
More News On White House Dinner For Iraq War Veterans
President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Bob Woodruff in the Cross Hall and the East Room of the White House, Feb. 29, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama: Koran Apology 'Calmed Things Down' -- ABC News
President Obama said his formal apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the burning of Korans by U.S. troops last week has "calmed things down" after the incident sparked an outbreak of violence across the country.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Obama said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Bob Woodruff at the White House. "But my criteria in any decision I make, getting recommendations from folks who are actually on the ground, is what is going to best protect our folks and make sure that they can accomplish their mission."
Read more .... My Comment: Huh ?!?!?!?! I am clearly on a different planet from the President. But he is the President, and because he has access to information that I do not have, I will give him the benefit of my doubts. However .... after 10 years of fighting this war .... the last three under his watch being the worse .... these doubts are starting to increase.
North Korea: The Denuclearisation Dance Resumes -- Aidan Foster-Carter, BBC
North Korea loves to spring surprises. More unusual is for its US foe to play along.
Just a few days ago, both sides were blandly non-committal about the outcome of bilateral talks - their third in recent months - held in Beijing on 23-24 February.
This calculated coyness, it now seems, concealed quite a breakthrough. Presumably both sides needed a few more days to fine-tune the small print.
So Wednesday's simultaneous announcement from Washington and Pyongyang was both unexpected, and glad tidings.
The North Korean nuclear issue, stalemated for the past three years, is now back in play again - not before time. Read more ....
North Korea To Suspend Nuclear Programme -- Al Jazeera
Uranium enrichment, weapons testing and long-range missile launches to be stopped in return for US food as part of deal.
North Korea has agreed to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches and to allow nuclear inspectors to visit its Yongbyon nuclear complex to verify the moratorium has been enforced.
The announcement, made simultaneously by the US state department and North Korea's official news agency on Wednesday, paves the way for the possible resumption of six-party disarmament negotiations with the Communist state, and follows talks between US and North Korean diplomats in Beijing last week.
Syria’s Sectarian Fears Keep Region On Edge -- New York Times
NAJAF, Iraq — Abu Ali fled his life as a Shiite cleric and student in Homs, the besieged Syrian city at the center of an increasingly bloody uprising, but it was not the government he feared.
It was the rebels, who he said killed three of his cousins in December and dumped a body in the family garbage bin.
“I can’t be in Homs because I will get killed there,” he said from this religious city in Iraq where he has taken refuge. “Not just me, but all Shiites.”
My Comment: For the moment, Syria's civil war has not spread to it's neighbors. But as the conflict escalates .... and the refugee crisis increases .... anything will become possible. What is my prediction .... if the war continues for the remainder of 2012, a breaking point will be reached in which much of the Syrian military will probably fracture. Once fractured, this civil war will then become a truly sectarian/religious civil war, with Sunnis on one side, and Shiites (with their allies) on the other. Within the greater Middle East itself .... my bet is that we will then have Iran/Hezbollah overtly supporting one side, and the rest of the Arab world supporting the other side.
Author Matthew Bracken is going to make copies of his novel “Enemies Foreign and Domestic” available starting tomorrow for free Kindle download. It’s part of a larger project that includes use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to help spread the word about not just his book, but as an actual tool to put federal officials and the “mainstream media” on notice that their actions will be remembered, particularly the corruption of and complicity with Fast and Furious “gunwalking,” and that there stands a reserve of patriotic Americans committed to guarding against growing corruption and tyranny, and to spreading the truth. [More]
I'm doing what I can to help Matt's project go viral. We could use a hand.
Activists: Syrian Security Forces Launch Ground Assault In Homs -- Voice of America
Syrian security forces have launched a ground assault on the besieged city of Homs, in an attempt to overrun rebel-held districts that have endured nearly a month of bombardment that killed hundreds and left residents in desperate peril.
Activists said Wednesday that government troops were trying to enter the opposition Baba Amr and al-Inshaat neighborhoods, where fierce confrontations with the rebel Free Syrian Army were taking place. A Syrian official vowed Baba Amr would be "cleansed" within hours.
And while most of us don’t expect violence to happen to us, especially in the often-illusory sanctuary of our homes, we can’t lose sight of the fact that it may, at any time and place, that there is no safe place, and that it serves us best to maintain awareness of that sad, outrageous reality, and to conduct ourselves accordingly. [More]
Today's Gun Rights Examiner report says it can happen here.
My Comment: A very strange story (if true). Why the Bibles, and why were they hidden in his own home. A mystery we will (unfortunately) probably never know the answer to.
I'll be reporting on this tomorrow on Gun Rights Examiner, with exclusive commentary from Matthew Bracken. And I'll be asking you to help spread the word.
In trying to comprehend how their loved one ended up dead in a police altercation, Weglier recalled a conversation Pat had with her mother years ago involving a criminal in Illinois who was impersonating an officer, would pull women over and then rape them.
Trillion-Dollar Stealth Fighter Cleared for Flight Training -- Danger Room
The Air Force’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighter is finally cleared to begin introductory flights at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida — four months late.
The belated “Military Flight Release” is a big step forward for the stealthy JSF, which is slated to replace almost all of the Pentagon’s tactical jets over the next 30 years but has been plagued by design problems, safety concerns, delays and cost increases. Read more ....
More News On The Start Of Flight Training For The F-35A
**Four New York City Police officers pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to transport guns and/or stolen goods across state lines, federal prosecutors said.
Air Force Base Quietly Pauses F-22 Fighter Missions After More Air Problems - ABC News
American pilots at an Alaskan military base have reported a sudden spike of incidents in which they experienced an apparent lack of oxygen while flying the nation's most sophisticated fighter jets -- a mysterious, recurring problem that already caused the $77.4 billion fighter jet fleet to sit idle on the tarmac for months last year.
In at least three incidents in the last two weeks, pilots of the $143 million-a-pop stealth F-22 Raptors at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson reported the "hypoxia-like" symptoms, leading the base to ground their F-22s for a day for "review," Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Regina Winchester told ABC News.
The Ultimate Bullet Train: Watch The Amazing Video Of The Railgun That Can Hit Targets 100 Miles Away At Seven Times The Speed Of Sound -- Daily Mail
* Futuristic weapon is another step closer to being deployed * Navy reveals industry-built prototype is now being tested * Uses magnetic field and electric current to generate energy
A futuristic supersonic weapon which fires ammunition up to 100 miles is another step closer to being deployed by the U.S. Navy.
Officials have revealed an industry-built prototype of the electromagnetic railgun is now being tested at its Naval Surface Warfare Centre Dahlgren Division in northern Virginia.
The weapon, which it is hoped will be fitted on ships from 2017, uses a magnetic field and electric current, instead of chemicals, to generate energy to fire the rounds.
Special Operations To Do More With Less -- Washington Times
Effect on units raises concerns.
The Obama administration’s increasing reliance on special operations forces with a stagnant budget has sparked concern among the elite units that they will be asked to do too much with too little.
The forces will be conducting missions in 120 countries by year’s end, up from about 75 currently. This activity is increasing as the U.S. Special Operations Command’s budget is set to remain flat.
The command’s fiscal 2013 budget request is $10.4 billion - essentially the same as its current budget. In 2011, its budget was $12.1 billion. Read more ....
My Comment: Operations increased from 75 countries to 120 .... in one year. A budget of $10.4 billion for 2013 .... down from $12.1 billion for 2011. Multiple deployments for many of these troops ... and more to come.
Someone in the White House and in the Pentagon may believe that Special Forces can do more for less .... I have my doubts.
Reports: Netanyahu Will Push Obama Hard On Iran -- Christian Science Monitor
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly ratchet up the pressure when he meets with President Obama in Washington next week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to take a harder line on Iran in next week’s meeting with President Obama in hopes of pressuring the United States into making more decisive pronouncements on its potential responses to Iran’s nuclear development.
Haaretz reports that, according to an unnamed Israeli official, Mr. Netanyahu wants more than the "vague assertion that 'all options are on the table.' " He wants Mr. Obama to publicly state that the US is prepared for a military operation against Iran should the country “cross certain ‘red lines.’ ”
25 Suspected Anonymous Hackers Arrested In International Sweep -- L.A. Times
Twenty-five alleged hackers from the freewheeling, decentralized Anonymous protest movement have been arrested across Europe and South America in a massive sweep coordinated by Interpol, an agency based in France that links police around the world.
Suspects arrested in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were believed to have carried out coordinated digital attacks against the Colombian Ministry of Defense, a Chilean electrical company and other targets, the Associated Press reported. Read more ....
More News On Interpol Targeting For Arrest Anonymous Hackers
Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it. [More]
Some are dismissing this as an inaccurate representation of the bill, and point to RT being a Russian source with an agenda.
I've dealt with RTAmerica before, and again, and they're certainly more willing to address our issue and give us our say than most of our domestic "Authorized Journalists."
“We have opened an assembly at Camp. From this apparent ease, I suppose it is though we must be in happy circumstances. I wish it were so, but, alas, it is not. Our provisions are in a manner, gone. We have not a ton of hay at command, nor magazine (storehouse) to draw from. Money is extremely scarce, and worth little when we get it. We have been so poor in camp for a fortnight, (two weeks) that we could not forward the public dispatches, for want of cash to support the expresses.” General Nathanael Greene to Joseph Reed[More]
North Korea Agrees To Curb Nuclear Work; U.S. Offers Aid -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — North Korea agreed to suspend nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and to allow international inspectors to verify and monitor activities at its main reactor, the State Department and the North’s official news agency announced on Wednesday, as part of a deal that included an American pledge to ship food aid to the isolated, impoverished nation.
Although the Obama administration called the steps “important, if limited,” they signaled a potential breakthrough in the impasse over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program following the death late last year of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il. He has since been replaced by a son, Kim Jong-un, and administration officials have been watching closely to see if his rise to power would alter the country’s behavior. North Korea also agreed on a moratorium on launches of long-range missiles, which have in the past raised military tensions in South Korea and Japan.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Guillermo Floresmartines wades through a canal during a patrol around the villages of Sre Kala and Paygel in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 16, 2012. Floresmartines is an assistant squad leader assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. U.S. Marines and sailors conducted clearing and disrupting operations around the villages during Operation Highland Thunder. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alfred V. Lopez
Koran Burning In Afghanistan Prompts 3 Parallel Inquiries -- New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — Three major investigations were under way on Wednesday into the Koran burning at Bagram Air Base by the American military last week, the event that plunged Afghanistan into days of deadly protests claiming as many as 30 Afghan lives and coinciding with the shooting deaths of four American soldiers. Read more ....
