White House To Defense Contractors: Don’t Warn Employees Before Election They May Get Laid Off -- Washington Examiner
Obama’s Labor Department is trying to spare the president the embarrassment of having hundreds of thousands of layoff notices arrive in the mail just before Election Day, including in the crucial swing state of Virginia. It issued a guidance yesterday to defense contractors that just happened to advise them not to send federally-required warnings to their employees that they could get pink slipped because Washington can’t get the budget under control.
At issue is a regulation called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice Act, which requires federal contractors, especially ones with Pentagon contracts, to send notices to their workers 60 days before their contract is expected to terminate. The point is to give the workers a heads up and time to get new employment or seek training.
U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel Cave, commander of Carrier Air Wing 5, approaches the flight deck during his last arrested landing on the USS George Washington under way in the Philippine Sea, July 24, 2012. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Brian H. Abel
Source: Assad Could Fund 6 More Months Of War -- CBS News
(CBS News) LONDON - The U.S. government says President Bashar Assad's grip on power in Syria is coming loose, with rhetoric from the highest levels in Washington suggesting the dictator will soon fall thanks to his own poor decision-making and intransigence.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Sunday that Assad's continued use of heavy weapons and aggressive military tactics against opposition fighters - which often results in civilian deaths - "makes clear that his regime is coming to an end." But he did not give a time-frame.
My Comment: The same thing was said about Gaddafi during the height of the Libyan civil war. He had access to gold and wast amounts of money .... paid thousands of mercenaries .... but it was not enough to stop the rebellion from overthrowing him. Bottom line .... both Gaddafi and now Assad must pay their soldiers to fight .... the rebels are doing it for free .... who do you think is more motivated to win.
United Nations (UN) observers travel in an UN vehicle from the UN office in Damascus to Douma, where protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad have been taking place, 26 April 2012. (Photo: REUTERS - Khaled al- Hariri)
UN General Assembly To Meet On Syria -- Voice of America
BEIRUT/GENEVA — The United Nations General Assembly is to meet Thursday to discuss a Saudi resolution expressing grave concern with the violence in Syria and condemning the Security Council's lack of action.
The draft resolution also raises alarms about the Syrian government's threat to use chemical weapons against what the Syrians call foreign invaders. It calls on President Bashar al-Assad to step down in favor of a peaceful transition to a democratic government.
A church in Homs was damaged during fighting between security forces and rebels
Syrian Christians Fear Future As Violence Worsens -- BBC
The woman was clearly frightened. Over and over again she explained that the world should know about what was happening to Christians like her inside Syria.
But she would not appear on camera or even allow her voice to be recorded.
"My husband does not want to draw trouble on us by speaking out," she said.
The family had fled Syria for Lebanon because it was simply too frightening now for Christians, she insisted.
Although I met Christian refugees with widely differing political opinions, all were afraid of being targeted if they spoke publicly.
My Comment: Considering what has happened to the Christian community in Iraq .... and how Coptic Christians are being treated in Egypt today .... these fears are well founded.
CNN Inside Syria: Firefight For Control Of Army Base -- CNN
CNN's Ivan Watson has been traveling through northern Syria near Aleppo, where bloody battles have raged for more than a week for control of the country's largest city. Watson and the crew are some of the few international reporters in Syria, whose government has been restricting access on foreign journalists and refusing many of them entry. Check out more from CNN inside Syria.
What is the state of the rebel offensive and what are the rebels saying about their chances? Here's what Watson recently saw and heard from on the ground near Aleppo (edited for length and clarity):
With our eyewitness vantage point, we saw was a rebel offensive that started at sunset Friday night. The rebels attacked the last Syrian army checkpoint before the gates of Aleppo to the north of the city.
My Comment: These Syrian rebels were clearly outgunned .... but they still won. More importantly .... it shows the weakness of the Syrian military .... they could not send in reinforcements to save their comrades.
Syria Government's Aleppo Assault Stalls -- The Telegraph
The Syrian government's assault on Aleppo appeared to have stalled on Tuesday night as rebels claimed new victories against the increasingly demoralised troops of Bashar al-Assad.
Rebels now believe they can capture the country's biggest city within days despite being outgunned. On Tuesday they stormed a number of bases including police stations in Aleppo suburbs, killing as many as 40 members of the security forces, following their capture of a key checkpoint on the road to the Syrian border the day before.
State media meanwhile said troops were still "pursuing terrorists" in the suburb of Salaheddin, which on Monday it claimed to control, as well a list of other districts.
Syria's Rebels Add Explosives Expertise To Guerrilla Tactics -- The Guardian
Commanders use insurgency methods but rage at being compared to al-Qaida, saying if anyone is a terrorist it is Assad
Syria's opposition fighters are increasingly using Iraqi-style roadside bombs in their war against Bashar al-Assad, most recently blowing up tanks in a large convoy travelling to attack rebels inside Aleppo.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) commanders told the Guardian the use of improvised explosive devices has gone up in recent months, with fighters growing increasingly adept at bomb-making. Iraqi insurgents used roadside bombs extensively in their campaign against the US military. Read more ....
My Comment: The Syrian rebels are clearly beginning to learn and value the art and effectiveness of asymmetrical warfare.
On a side note .... in the past I would go to YouTube to look for Syrian videos of IEDs exploding .... and I would only find a few videos that are dated. Tonight .... when I did the same thing .... I was surprised to not only see a large number of videos available, but I also noticed that most of them have been uploaded recently.
For days the Syrian troops' weapons have given them the upper hand during key battles in Aleppo, but the rebels – now armed with powerful shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles -- are preparing for a different kind of fight. NBC’s Richard Engel reports. My Comment: If these are effective anti-aircraft missiles, it will change the dynamics of the war in Syria appreciably.
Prominent anti-corruption blogger and opposition figure Alexei Navalny leaves the Investigative Committee in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday. Reuters
Russia Charges Anti-Putin Protester Alexei Navalny In Latest Crackdown On Dissent -- NBC
MOSCOW -- Russian investigators charged street protest leader Alexei Navalny with theft Tuesday and banned him from leaving the country, threatening a heavy jail term in what supporters say is a growing crackdown on dissent by President Vladimir Putin.
Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who has organized demonstrations that have dented Putin's authority, dismissed the charge as absurd and other opposition leaders accused Putin of using KGB-style tactics to try to silence his critics.
Other moves which the opposition depict as a crackdown on dissent since Putin began a six-year term in May include a law increasing fines for protesters, closer controls of the Internet and tighter rules for foreign-funded campaign and lobby groups.
Eurozone Break-Up Would Trigger £1 Trillion Of QE, See Banks Nationalised And Deep Recession, Warns Fathom -- Philip Aldrick, The Telegraph
A Eurozone break-up would plunge the UK into an even deeper recession than the last one, force the Government to nationalise the banks, and trigger a £1 trillion bout of money printing, leading economic consultancy Fathom has warned.
According to Fathom Consulting, the economy would shrink by 5.2pc in 2013 if the euro collapsed – a projection that former Bank of England deputy governor Sir John Gieve, speaking at Fathom’s quarterly Monetary Policy Forum, described as “modest”. In 2009, the worst year of the recent recession, the economy shrank by just 4pc.
The warning came as Moody’s, the ratings agency, lowered its UK growth forecast to just 0.4pc this year and 1.8pc in 2013, in the wake of the shock 0.7pc contraction in GDP in the second three months of the year. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development separately said the economy would shrink this year as a whole.
Israel's Red Line Fate of Syrian Chemical Weapons May Trigger War -- Ronen Bergman, Juliane von Mittelstaedt, Matthias Schepp and Holger Stark/Spiegel Online
As the battle against Syrian rebels reaches a new stage, Israel is worried that President Assad might use his vast arsenal of chemical weapons against his own people or neighbors -- or perhaps even give some to Hezbollah. Though many experts view this as unlikely, Israel is still weighing whether to strike.
The small village of Buqata is located on the Israeli side of the border that extends across the Golan Heights. From here, it's possible to see deep into Syrian territory. Right at the foot of the hill lies Jubata al-Khashab, a town just 55 kilometers (34 miles) southwest of Damascus, Syria's capital.
Every day, hundreds of concerned Israelis have been gathering along the barbed wire at the border and using binoculars to gaze at their neighbors in Jubata al-Khashab, who have been subjected to artillery fire in recent days. Thick clouds of smoke have been billowing from concrete apartment complexes there.
Read more .... My Comment: Will these "red lines" be crossed? As the situation continues to deteriorate in Syria .... who knows what will be happening next. But I do know one thing .... when Gaddafi fell in Libya, his arms depots were opened wide for everyone to take what they wanted. If Assad should fall .... I am 100% sure that the same will happen, and Syria's WMDs will be there for the taking. The hope is that a new provisional government would send it's most loyal solders to guard these depots .... including using the Syrian soldiers who are guarding them now. But this will take days (if not weeks) to organize .... and I am not sure if they will be up to the job.
How Latin America Is Reinventing The War On Drugs -- Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science
Frustrated with US dictates, countries across the region are floating new ideas to curb drug trafficking, from 'soft' enforcement to legalization.
Like thousands of other Bolivians, Marcela Lopez Vasquez's parents migrated to the Chapare region, in the Andean tropics, desperate to make a living after waves of economic and environmental upheaval hit farming and mining communities in the 1970s and '80s.
The new migrants, who spread across the undulating green hills here, planted bananas. They planted yucca and orange trees. But it was in the coca leaf that thrives in this climate that they found the salvation of a steady cash crop – and themselves at the nexus of the American "war on drugs."
My Comment: What's my take .... in the end these drugs are going to be legalized and managed by government. It will be done to lessen the power of the drug cartels, and to put a handle on the violence that it brings. Unfortunately .... it is going to bring about other problems .... the number one problem being medical/social problems associated with drug addition. We see it in Afghanistan .... where a sizable portion of the population are already addicted to opium/heroin .... bringing enormous social and medical problems that are crippling what is already a crippled medical system. We may not like the war against drugs because of it's human toll .... but maybe it is the lesser of two evils.
India's Power Outage: Why Coal Hasn't Been A Savior -- Rebecca Byerly, Christian Science Monitor
Some 600 million people lost power across India this week. The country relies on coal, which is neither helpful with peak power shortages, nor is regulated enough.
Gulam’s youthful brown eyes gaze at the coal mines just a few yards from the tiny thatched hut she shares with her family.
The scene before her, in the Jaintia Hills of northeast India, looks like something out of an apocalyptic movie: mountains of tar-black coal, polluted orange rivers, and seemingly bottomless holes plunge more than a 100 feet beneath the earth’s surface.
2nd Day Of Power Failures Cripples Wide Swath Of India -- New York Times
NEW DELHI — The world’s largest blackout ever crippled roughly half of India for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, sending officials scrambling for an explanation.
The power failure spread across 22 of the country’s 28 states, an area whose population is nearly 700 million, almost 10 percent of the world’s population. Hundreds of trains stopped across the region and, in Delhi, the subway system stalled, and massive traffic jams collected as traffic lights stopped functioning.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime "World Drug Report 2011". The Washington Post. Published on April 10, 2012, 11:42 a.m.
US: Peru Overtakes Colombia As Top Cocaine Producer -- NBC
Peru has again become the top producer of pure cocaine in the world, outpacing Colombia, where output fell by an estimated 25 percent in a year, according to a White House report issued Monday.
Drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Monday that potential cocaine production in Colombia was down by 72 percent since 2001. Colombia now ranks third, behind Bolivia in addition to Peru.
"Potential production of pure cocaine in Colombia is down to 195 metric tons (in 2011) from 700 metric tons in 2001, the lowest production potential level since 1994 and the first time since 1995 that Colombia is producing less cocaine than either Peru or Bolivia," Kerlikowske said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read more ....
More News On The Decline Of Cocaine Production In Colombia, And Increasing In Peru
Panetta, In Cairo, Voices Confidence That Morsi Is ‘President Of All’ Egyptians -- Washington Post
CAIRO — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta played down concerns Tuesday about a rift between Egypt’s newly elected president and its military chief following a brief stopover in Cairo aimed at giving senior U.S. officials a better sense of how the country’s first Islamist administration will govern.
The recent election of President Mohamed Morsi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has provoked unease among secular Egyptians, the military and Egyptian Christians, who worry that the country’s Islamists will upend a long tradition of secular rule. Read more ....
More News On Pentagon Chief Panetta Meeting With Egypt's New President
Russian Navy To Evacuate Syrian Base In Emergency -- RT
If the lives of the personnel at the Russian naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus are put at serious risk, they may be evacuated, Russia’s Navy chief says. This comes as Russia holds a major naval drill not far from the Syrian coast.
“If an emergency happens, we will remove the base’s personnel,” Vice-Adm. Viktor Chirkov told Echo Moscow radio Saturday, when asked what the Russian military would do if the base at the Syrian port Tartus came under attack.
He added that it would be up to the Russian president to order such a move. Read more .... My Comment: There are only 50 Russian navy personnel at the Tartus naval port .... but there are also an unknown number of Russian military personnel throughout Syria .... as well as diplomats, dependents, and common Russian citizens. This will be a big evacuation .... if it comes to that. But by having the Russian Navy chief come out publicly to state that this may happen .... Russia is tipping its hand that it does not have confidence in the long term future of the Assad regime in Damascus.
Onslaught: Smoke rises between buildings after shelling by forces loyal to Assad in the busy Salaheddin district
Chilling Shots From A City Under Siege: Frontline Pictures Reveal Terror On The Streets Of Aleppo As Rebels Fight For Control -- Daily Mail
* Thousands have fled the violence and others are running low on supplies * Rebels say they will turn the city into the 'grave' of the Assad government * They are advancing on Aleppo's centre and have taken army tanks * But government have more weapons at their disposal * More than 100 people were killed in Syria yesterday
These are the heartrending images captured on the streets of Aleppo as rebels and the Syrian government battle for power.
Rebel fighters have claimed President Bashar al-Assad's army has been forced into retreat, but on the frontline of the clashes, a grim picture of the bitter fighting can be seen.
Rebels say they will turn Aleppo into the 'grave' of the Assad government, and thousands have now fled, with those left running short of food and fuel and afraid for their lives.
My Comment: In the battle of Aleppo .... this is becoming a fight to the finish. If the rebels lose .... they will leave and regroup to attack again. If the Assad regime and the military lose .... this is one step to their eventual defeat . With no hope for reconciliation or restraint .... I predict that a sizable section of Aleppo will probably be destroyed .... and the ancient quarter of the city .... which is also a UN World Heritage site .... will probably be severely damaged in the fighting.
Syrian Rebels Seize Rural Territory While Assad Forces Focus On Major Cities -- Washington Post
AL-BAB, Syria — War came late to this little farming town set amid rolling hills in the Syrian countryside east of Aleppo, where the absence of upheaval was long construed as an implicit signal of support for the government led by President Bashar al-Assad.
But once the battle started in May, it unfolded at lightning speed, at least by the standards of a revolt that is dragging into its 17th month. Residents are celebrating their near-complete victory over regime loyalists after the town’s last army garrison fled Sunday, its food supplies gone and its morale shredded. Read more ....
My Comment: The rebels are holding territory outside the cities .... but have yet to control a major entire city itself. This is why the battle for Aleppo is so important .... if Assad loses control of this city, it will only be a matter of time before Damascus is threatened .... and after that it will be a retreat to the Alawite communities in the northwest of the country for a last stand.
World's Biggest Blackout: 620 Million People Without Power In India -- Christian Science Monitor
World's biggest blackout: More than half of India's population was without electricity Tuesday. The blackout hit 20 of India's 28 states as the power failure cascaded across the grids.
India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest-ever blackout.
India's Power Grid Collapses Again -- Wall Street Journal
NEW DELHI--Much of India's electricity supply network collapsed Tuesday in the country's second major outage in two days, affecting more than 680 million people—double the population of the U.S.—and causing business losses estimated to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Thousands of offices and factories had to switch to generators or shut shop, more than 200 trains were brought to a standstill while hospitals had to ask nurses to manually work critical equipment such as ventilators as 21 provinces experienced a near-total blackout that raised questions about the infrastructure in Asia's third-largest economy.
My Comment: When I was living in China in 1988 .... power failures were a nuisance that everyone knew had to be solved in order for China to become a major economic world player. The same can be said about India today ..... but this blackout should not surprise those who are familiar with India. India .... like China .... is heavily dependent on coal fired plants to provide electricity. But unlike China .... India has closed coal mines and is trying to divert to alternative energy sources. They obviously did not realize (or calculate) that shutting down these coal-fired generators may have some consequences .... which we are now seeing today. I do expect India to solve this problem .... and they will do it by opening more coal mines and coal powered plants. If CO2 release and global warming is your thing .... this should concern you.
Strait Of Hormuz Will Stay Open Unless Iran’s Interests Are Harmed: Military Commander -- National Post/Reuters
DUBAI — Iran will keep the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane open as long as the waterway served its interests, a military commander was on Monday quoted as saying.
Iranian politicians and officials have often said that Iran could block the strait — the neck of the Gulf through which 40% of the world’s seaborne oil exports passes — in response to sanctions or military action. Read more .... My Comment: The Iranians are sending a message to Panetta who is in the region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta gives an in-flight press briefing while flying to Tunis, Tunisia, July 29, 2012. Panetta is on a five-day trip to the region, including stops in Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Panetta Denies Iran 'Attack Plans' in Works With Israel -- Wall Street Journal
CAIRO—Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that the U.S. has been working on contingency plans for a possible conflict with Iran and is discussing them with Israel but brushed aside suggestions he would share "attack plans" during a visit that begins Tuesday.
"It is the wrong characterization to say we're going to be discussing potential attack plans," Mr. Panetta told reporters in Cairo before flying to Israel for talks on Iran. "What we are discussing are various contingencies and how we could respond." Mr. Panetta was responding to Israeli news reports this weekend that American officials have detailed plans for attacking Iran.
My Comment: So what are these "contingency plans" .... and is Israel sharing it's plans with the U.S.? I would love to be a fly in that room when that meeting happens.
Paramilitary soldiers escort a convoy of trucks carrying supplies for NATO troops before crossing into Afghanistan from the Pakistan border town of Chaman on July 16, 2012. Pakistan and the U.S. reached a deal to reopen land routes that NATO uses to supply troops in Afghanistan. Stringer/Pakistan/REUTERS
U.S., Pakistan Sign Deal To Allow Supply Routes Through 2015 -- Washington Post
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan will allow NATO supply convoys to cross its territory into Afghanistan until the end of 2015, one year beyond the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. combat forces there, under an agreement signed on Tuesday by U.S. and Pakistani officials.
The pact seems to close, for now, one of the most contentious chapters in the long-turbulent relationship between Washington and Islamabad, cementing cooperation by Pakistan in winding down the war in Afghanistan at least in terms of logistical assistance. Washington also has urged Islamabad to step up its participation in the peace process by bringing to the negotiating table militant groups that shelter in Pakistani’s tribal belt and regularly cross the border to attack NATO troops.
A linguist, left, shares a smartphone device with a Afghan Army command sergeant major during a security meeting at the Qara Bagh district's center in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, July 16, 2012. Smartphone devices are increasing in use on the battlefield in Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
Afghanistan War: When 'Friends' Attack, Who Can You Trust? -- Tom Engelhardt, L.A. Times
In Afghanistan, our soldiers are being attacked by the men they're training to take over for them. That's a mission failure.
It has a name: green-on-blue violence. But the label doesn't begin to suggest the seriousness of the increasingly common phenomenon of Afghan soldiers, policemen and security guards attacking their NATO or U.S. mentors, the people who are funding, supporting and teaching them. Think of it as death-by-ally.
Such incidents have occurred at least 21 times so far this year, resulting in 30 American and European deaths. That's the same number of green-on-blue attacks reported in all of 2011. And, according to the Associated Press, the U.S. and NATO don't always release news of the assaults unless they result in deaths, so the number could be higher.
My Comment: Trusting your fellow soldier is crucial in any war zone .... break that trust and the mission will fail. In Afghanistan .... green on blue incidents are poisoning this trust .... and yes .... it makes you question the mission and it's chances of success.
U.S. Army paratroopers scan for the insurgent triggerman who initiated an improvised explosive device, striking a route-clearance vehicle along Highway 1 in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, July 23, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Thomas Cieslak
In Afghanistan, Targeted Attacks On Leaders An Ominous Trend -- L.A. Times
The attacks on Afghan leaders come as the NATO force hands over more security duties to the Afghan police and army and begins its troop drawdown in earnest.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Tamim Nuristani used to own a pizza chain in California. Now he's a marked man in Afghanistan.
This month, insurgents ambushed the provincial governor's convoy in northeastern Afghanistan, sparking a fierce battle that pinned down his entourage for the night. When the motorcade tried to move in the morning, the assailants struck again. Miraculously, all those in the convoy survived.
It was not the first attempt on Nuristani's life; he did not expect it to be the last. Not long ago, security forces discovered and defused a remote-controlled explosive device apparently meant for him, and a defecting Taliban fighter told officials that he had been personally tasked with assassinating the Nuristan governor.
Killer-Drone Showdown Set As Lockheed Unveils Jet-Powered ‘Bot -- Danger Room
Sometime in the next few years the world’s most sophisticated drone prototypes will likely face off in what could be a multi-billion-dollar competition to shape the future of air warfare. And now we finally know what all four contestants look like.
On Friday, number-one defense contractor Lockheed Martin released the first official teaser image of its Sea Ghost jet-powered killer drone. Along with previously disclosed unmanned aerial vehicle designs from rivals Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, the Sea Ghost will go head-to-head for a Navy contract to put fast, stealthy, missile- and bomb-armed drones on the decks of aircraft carriers by 2018.
White House To Defense Contractors: Don’t Warn Employees Before Election They May Get Laid Off -- Washington Examiner
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