Photo: General Counsel for the Department of Defense Jeh C. Johnson
US Heading For Point When 'Military Pursuit Of al-Qaida Should End' -- The Guardian
Fight against terrorist group on course for Obama to stop using legal authority given by Congress to wage war, says lawyer
The US is heading for a "tipping point" beyond which it should no longer pursue al-Qaida terrorists by military means, one of the Obama administration's most senior lawyers has said.
Jeh Johnson suggested the group would become so degraded that a time would come when the legal authority given to the White House by Congress should no longer be used to justify waging the war that has been fought since 2001.
My Comment: I disagree .... while many of Al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in the past decade, the philosophy and ideology of Al Qaeda is still out there .... and still supported by millions of followers. This is a long war .... whether some want to believe it or not.
What The President Said About Benghazi -- Tom Bevan, Real Clear Politics
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice is under fire for going on several Sunday talk shows five days after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and providing apparently erroneous information to the public. But President Obama’s own public statements about Benghazi, made in three separate nationally televised interviews in the days after Rice’s appearances, were equally misleading and have received scarcely any attention.
In defending Rice from criticism from an array of Republicans, including Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, Obama said at a November 15 press conference, "If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.”
Read more .... My Comment: What I would like to know is where was President Obama during this time .... what did he know, when did he know it, and why did he/they decide to pursue the anti-Muslim video storyline on why the consulate was attacked when the CIA Director was saying otherwise.
Obama Orders CIA To Close Down Multi-Billion Dollar Unit -- Examiner
More than three years later, and after spending billions of taxpayer dollars, an Inside-the-Beltway watchdog group reported on Tuesday that President Barack Obama ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to quietly shutdown its example of government waste and duplication: the Center on Climate Change and National Security.
The scandal-plagued government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior U.S. policymakers, the military, homeland security officials and law enforcement operated an insignificant special unit that focused on global warming, according to a watchdog group that's proudly been a thorn in the side of the Obama White House.
CIA Headed In The Wrong General Direction -- Roy A. Harrell Jr.
Agency should not be paramilitary force.
More than 50 years ago, my resignation from the Central Intelligence Agency was effectuated. The Company, as it had always been known, had become a bit too militarized and was not what some of its founders such as Allan Dulles envisioned.
Intelligence was collected but rarely analyzed coherently so as to contribute to enlightened policies. Much of what was collected by the Company lay unused, some of us feeling it is too expensive to collect this data, not to mention the risk involved.
Moreover the trend was in the direction of militarization, a task that could be more expertly done by the Department of Defense.
Read more .... My Comment: I know that the U.S. military has the means to do the job that the CIA is doing right now (i..e having a paramilitary force that can quickly execute certain operations) .... but aside from certain legal reasons on why the CIA is doing this work, I believe that the Oval Office and those who run the CIA like the ability (and option) to use the CIA in executing covert military operations and/or drone strikes against targets like Al Qaeda leaders. Is this the proper job for the CIA .... I do not know .... but they are doing the job and their masters (the politicians) appear to be happy with their performance.
Combating Chemical Agents A U.S. Army private prepares for a chemical training drill wearing the service's current chemical protection suit, which is both hot and restrictive. United States Army
Military Uniforms Of The Future Will Automatically Turn Into Chemical Suits In The Presence Of Threats -- Popular Science
Next-gen combat fatigues could incorporate a new kind of breathable fabric that instantly turns into a protective shell in the presence of chemical or biological threats.
Soldiers on the battlefield may soon be getting a second skin. Researchers at UMass Amherst are developing a new nanotube-based fabric intended for use in military combat uniforms that protects grunts from chemical and biological agents. But unlike the cumbersome and (really, really) hot chemical suits the military currently issues to mitigate those kinds of threats, this material will automatically switch from a highly breathable state to a protective one, triggered by the presence of a chemical or biological threat. The uniform may well know the threat is present before the soldier does.
Army Wants To Stop Bombs Using Halo-Style Electric Pulses -- Danger Room
Electromagnetic pulse grenades are a favorite of sci-fi storytellers and videogame designers, a la Halo and Call of Duty. The Army evidently doesn’t want to be left out: It’s seeking a real-life version that can blast electromagnetic signals and fry insurgent bombs.
To be specific, the Army wants “High Power Microwave (HPM) grenades” to “generate an electromagnetic pulse that could be used to defeat the electronics used to activate [homemade bombs] or that could be used to attack blasting caps,” according to its latest round of research contracts with small businesses. In theory, the electrical components on improvised explosive devices, like radio transmitters, could be overwhelmed by surging electromagnetic radiation emitted by such a weapon. Read more ....
More News On The Pentagon Wanting To Develop EMP Grenades
WNU Editor: From CNN .... Behind every Hellfire missile, there's an actual human being remotely pulling the trigger. But the Pentagon is preparing for the day when robots are capable of targeting and launching a strike on their own.
CNN's Chris Lawrence reports on the Pentagon's new rules on drones, effectively forbidding the development of lethal weapons with no human control.
Top Pentagon Lawyer Defends Drone Killings -- Foreign Policy
In a rare public interview, Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s top lawyer, argued that the U.S. is able to target terrorists “with great precision,” in a defense of drone strikes. “Now, are we perfect? No. There have been regrettable and unfortunate losses of life, but I believe we have a pretty good track record.” A clip of Johnson’s interview with BBC’s HARDtalk is posted online with the full interview to come later Thursday and Friday.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord
Cyberwar On The High Seas -- Washington Free Beacon
Navy prepares to wage cyber warfare at sea.
The U.S. Navy is preparing to wage cyber warfare attacks against enemies during conflicts and must avoid strategic surprise from a future cyber attack on its networks, according to a strategy report made public Wednesday night.
“The opening salvos of the next war will likely occur in cyberspace and the Navy must be ready,” the report said. “We must organize, train, and resource a credible workforce of cyber professionals and develop forward-leaning, interoperable, and resilient cyberspace capabilities to successfully counter and defeat a determined adversary in cyberspace.” Read more ....
WNU Editor: The “Navy Cyber Power 2020" report is here.
Senate Votes To Save The Navy’s ‘Great Green Fleet’ -- Danger Room
The Senate on Wednesday threw a life raft to the Navy’s beleaguered plan to power its ships and jets with biofuel.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus trumpeted the program as key to service’s long-term stability, pledging $170 million to kickstart the wobbly biofuel industry, promising to get half the Navy’s fuel from alternative sources by 2020, and making plans to dispatch an eco-friendly “Great Green Fleet” in 2016. Read more ....
More News On the U.S. Senate Approving The Pentagon's Plans For Bio-fuels
Today, 29 November 2012, between 1026 and 1029 (UTC), all traffic from Syria to the rest of the Internet stopped. At CloudFlare, we witnessed the drop off. We've spent the morning studying the situation to understand what happened. The following graph shows the last several days of traffic coming to CloudFlare's network from Syria.
Since the beginning of today's outage, we have received no requests from Syrian IP space. That is a more complete blackout than we've seen when other countries have been cut from the Internet (see, for example, Egypt where while most traffic was cut off some requests still trickled out).
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted 8th annual Indo-Singapore Joint Military Training at Indian Air Force Base, Kalaikunda in West Bengal.
Su-30 MKI and MiG-27 fighter jets of the Indian air force and F-16D Block 52+ Fighting Falcons of the Singapore Air Force took part in this joint exercise.
Why Is Egypt's Draft Constitution So Controversial? -- Kristen Chick, Christian Science Monitor
Protesters took to the streets in Cairo and other Egyptian cities today over a draft constitution written by Islamists. Here are the points many in Egypt are talking about.
Egypt's constituent assembly worked through the night to finish voting on Egypt's new constitution, finalizing its work early this morning and sent the contentious document to the president, who will call a national referendum on the constitution within two weeks.
President Mohamed Morsi's allies made the surprise move to finish the document this week after he issued a decree sidelining the judiciary and removing nearly all checks on his power. Read more ....
Syrian Rebel Films Himself Shooting 10 Prisoners -- Reuters
Nov 30 (Reuters) - New footage posted on the Internet appears to have been filmed by a Syrian rebel who points the camera along the barrel of his gun as he shoots 10 unarmed prisoners.
The video, posted on YouTube on Thursday, shows 10 men wearing t-shirts and camouflage trousers lying face down next to a building and a lookout tower. Even before the shooting, two of the men are not moving and one has blood coming from his torso.
"I swear to God that we are peaceful," begs one of the men to the camera, which is being held by the gunman. Cowering, the man gets up to plead with rebels. As he approaches a rebel off-screen, a shot is heard and he returns holding his bloodied arm.
Read more .... My Comment: Once in a while these videos come out of Syria, but I suspect that such incidences are now happening everyday.
Is Syria's Assad Running Short Of Helicopters And Cash? -- Christian Science Monitor
ProPublica reports that Syria asked Iraq to allow helicopter shipment overflights from Russia, just days after other documents revealed Russia sent Syrian currency to Damascus.
According to a new report, Syria sought permission from Iraq last month to ship attack helicopters being refurbished by Russia through Iraqi airspace. But while it is unclear whether the shipments ever occurred – unlike eight shipments of Syrian currency sent from Russia that was revealed earlier this week – the reports, taken together, indicate an increasing level of desperation on the part of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Cairo's Tahrir Square Fills With Anti-Morsi Protesters -- BBC
Tens of thousands of protesters opposed to Egypt's president and the sweeping new powers he assumed last week are in Cairo's Tahrir Square, hours after a new constitution was hastily approved.
The Islamist-dominated constituent assembly finished voting on the draft in the early hours on Friday.
The draft will now be sent to Mr Morsi, who is expected to call a referendum.
The Supreme Constitutional Court is due to rule on Sunday on whether the assembly should be dissolved.
Senior judges have been in a stand-off with the president since he granted himself sweeping new powers. Read more ....
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Battling Bone Metastasis, Report Says -- FOX News
Venezuela President Hugo Chávez is now battling bone metastasis from his pelvic cancer, according to a report by Spanish newspaper ABC. Citing an unnamed intelligence source, ABC's Washington correspondent Emil J. Blasco says there has been a recurrence and spread of the tumor, which was detected in a test performed on a trip to Havana just after the elections on October 7.
Blasco said the metastasis is causing Chavez “severe pain in the left femur and serious walking difficulties." He also says that Chavez passed out twice in August, losing consciousness briefly, and that doctors determined that his situation was deteriorating slowly but steadily.
My Comment: The culture of corruption is so interwoven in Afghanistan that I have zero expectation that it can be tackled in my lifetime. As for the billions that have been sent to Afghanistan .... we in the West must come to the realization that with the exception of educating millions of children (boys and girls) on how to read and write as well as some health/medical programs .... the rest of the money has been spent (on God knows what) or embezzled.
Members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Ghazni and Afghan national police walk up a hill after their vehicles became stuck in the mud in the Nawur District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 18, 2012. Members of the team visited the Nawur District to perform quality assurance quality control on a collapsed building and two comprehenisve health clinics. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Rebecca F. Corey
US Senate Votes For Faster Afghan Withdrawal -- Al Jazeera
Overwhelming majority of Senate in favour of accelerated withdrawal, while Pentagon stresses need for post-2014 mission.
The United States Senate has voted overwhelmingly for an accelerated withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting, reflecting the wishes of a war-weary nation.
Thursday's bipartisan vote of 62-33 sends a clear message to President Barack Obama and the military as they engage in high-stakes talks about the pace of drawing down the 66,000 US troops there.
While the senators talk about the withdrawal, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said the US needs to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 because al-Qaeda is still present in the country.
Egyptians Protest After Panel Backs Constitution -- Voice of America
CAIRO — Egyptians protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday for an eighth straight day of demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi, as an Islamist-dominated panel approved Egypt's new draft constitution that must now be voted on in a nationwide referendum.
The panel, boycotted by several Christian and liberal members, retained the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation. The group rushed through the approval of the 234 articles in a meeting that lasted from Thursday afternoon until early Friday.
Okinawa Move, Key To Pacific Pivot, Will Cost More Than $10.6B: GAO -- Aol Defense
WASHINGTON: Sloppy number-crunching at the Department of Defense means that the official price tag to move 9,000 Marines off Okinawa to Guam, Hawaii, and Australia – already estimated at a whopping $10.6 billion – is probably short of the real cost, according to a draft Government Accountability Office (GAO) report obtained by AOL Defense.
The U.S. plans to move 4,700 of 8,000 Marines to Guam and send the others elsewhere: 1,800 would go to Hawaii – far from the action in the Western Pacific – and the rest to Australia – where the US is building up a "rotational" presence of 2,500 Marines (not all of them relocated from Okinawa) rather than permanent bases. The Pentagon's cost estimate is $10.6 billion. Read more ....
Three major forces will loom behind the headlines in 2013, driving events in the new year: the crisis of the Western political order, rising sectarian strife in the Middle East, and worries about American withdrawal from the world.
The most immediate challenge is the crisis of the Western democratic model, caused by the inability of the United States and Europe to deal with their respective fiscal and financial issues. The problems are economic, but the weaknesses are fundamentally political. A continued failure to act will result in the weakening of the West's global stature in every dimension of national strength -- its ability to prosper, to summon and guide international action, and to advance core national interests.
My Comment: No arguments from me on any of these predictions. If I would add one, it would be Africa and the growing unrest from Islamic extremists in many of the Sahara nations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has replaced his defence chief Kim Jong-Gak (AFP/File, North Korean TV)
South Korea Suspects North Korea Dumped Another Military Chief -- Wall Street Journal
In what may be the second major shake-up at the top of North Korea’s military this year, dictator Kim Jong Eun is believed by South Korean officials to have replaced another defense chief.
Reports circulated in Seoul on Thursday that Vice Marshal Kim Jong Gak, who just in February was promoted to that highest-level post below the dictator himself, is now out. A spokeswoman at the South Korea presidential office said the report was “highly possible though not confirmed.”
Update:N. Korea's defence chief replaced by hawk: report -- AFP My Comment: After only 9 months on the job .... North Korea's military chief is replaced by another. This was either a falling out, or only a temporary/caretaker appointment before someone else was chosen.
Japan's missile defense assets deployed to Intercept the North Korean missile on its ascent trajectory (April 2012). Illustration: Daily Yomiuri
North Korean Missile Launch Set -- Washington Times
The Pentagon is preparing to activate global missile defenses for an expected test launch of another long-range missile by North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.
Intelligence agencies are closely watching a North Korean missile launch site amid signs a test-firing will take place in the next two months, U.S. officials said, echoing reports from South Korea and Japan.
One official said the indicators from the launch site appear to be “a replay of the April launch, hopefully with the same success.”
North Korea’s last Taeopodong-2 missile was test-fired April 13 in what defense officials said was a failure shortly after the first stage lifted off.
Post-US World Born In Phnom Penh -- Spengler, Asia Times
It is symptomatic of the national condition of the United States that the worst humiliation ever suffered by it as a nation, and by a US president personally, passed almost without comment last week. I refer to the November 20 announcement at a summit meeting in Phnom Penh that 15 Asian nations, comprising half the world's population, would form a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership excluding the United States.
President Barack Obama attended the summit to sell a US-based Trans-Pacific Partnership excluding China. He didn't. The American led-partnership became a party to which no-one came. Read more .... My Comment: I concur .... there was no U.S. coverage on this news story, instead .... the U.S. media's focus instead was on Asia's territorial disputes and America's "Asia-pivot".
A Fine Mess At Foggy Bottom -- Seth Mandel, Commentary
Lost in all the speculation about the next secretary of state is the degree to which Foggy Bottom will need someone who can put the pieces back together. While Hillary Clinton coasted for much of her term on the good press that comes with being a Clinton, until the last couple of months she was having a decidedly average run as secretary of state. But the Benghazi debacle–which was in large part the result of Clinton’s incompetence and lack of attention–followed by the expected defection of most of our European allies at the UN vote on the Palestinians today, reveals a State Department marked by ineptitude and surprising irrelevance.
My Comment: It's true .... I am old enough to remember when U.S. diplomacy and the power of the Oval Office were always successful in garnering international support on important international issues. But this decline in U.S. diplomacy has been going on for a long time ..... and in the past four years it has definitely accelerated. Will there be a change of direction in the next four years .... I doubt it .... but on a positive note .... all the past (and meaningless) rhetoric of "smart power" will cease to be a talking point for this administration and their media supporters.
'The Last Refuge': Yemen, Al-Qaida And The U.S. -- NPR
In December 2009, a would-be terrorist boarded a plane for Detroit with a bomb in his underwear. While the explosive failed to properly ignite and the man was arrested upon landing, the ensuing investigation revealed the bomb in question had been made by al-Qaida leaders in Yemen.
This attempted act of terrorism heralded both the small Arabian country's re-emergence into the international consciousness as a refuge for al-Qaida and the ascendance of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), developments that have grown only more pronounced since.
According to Gregory Johnsen, a journalist who has covered Yemen and Islamic insurgency in the Middle East extensively, al-Qaida's presence has tripled in size within Yemen over the past three years. Johnsen charts this growing influence on the country in his new book, The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia.
Investigators Said To Question How Detainee Died Of Overdose -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — A Yemeni detainee who was found dead in September at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, died from an overdose of psychiatric medication, according to several people briefed on a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry.
But while a military medical examiner labeled the man’s death a suicide, how the prisoner obtained excess drugs remains under investigation, according to American and Yemeni officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The White House’s Benghazi Bungling Is Proving A Disaster -- Nile Gardiner, The Telegraph
President Obama hasn’t even begun his second term yet, but his administration is already struggling with a huge credibility problem on the Benghazi front. Watch this video posted today at The Weekly Standard, which shows White House Press Secretary Jay Carney telling National Journal correspondent Major Garrett that Obama “is not particularly concerned” whether Susan Rice misled the American people in a series of talk show interviews following the killing of US Ambassador Christopher Stephens and three other US personnel in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11. Carney told the assembled White House press corps:
What the president is worried about, Major, is what happened and why in Benghazi. He is not particularly concerned about whether the ambassador or I went out and talked about the fact that we believed extremists might have been responsible. And whether we named them as al Qaeda or not does not–no, it certainly doesn't have any bearing on what happened and who was responsible as that investigation was continuing on Benghazi. Read more .... My Comment: Nile Gardiner is right that the administration should come clean on how they handled the Benghazi affair before, during and after the attack .... especially on role that State, the intelligence community, and (most important of them all) President Obama played. To not only give closure to the families, but to also make sure that this does not happen again. But .... I cannot help but feel that they do not care, and with a compliant media .... will probably succeed in burying this in the new year as other crisis start to come along as they inevitably do.
Susan Rice’s Enrichment Program -- Washington Free Beacon
U.N. ambassador has investments in companies doing business with Iran, disclosure forms show.
The portfolio of embattled United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice includes investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in several energy companies known for doing business with Iran, according to financial disclosure forms.
Rice, a possible nominee to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she steps down, has come under criticism for promulgating erroneous information about the September 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.
My Comment: From her personal wealth to her investments .... to her role on how the U.S. should handle the Rwandan genocide, to a 1986 book in which she called for White students to be forced to read Black history .... a very unflattering portrayal of Susan Rice is starting to become available. Throw in even harsher commentary .... and one cannot help but believe that there is now a concerted effort to derail Susan Rice's prospects of being the next U.S. Secretary of State.
David Petraeus Says He 'Screwed Up Royally' In Letter To Old Army Buddy -- New York Post
Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus took the blame for the extramarital affair that torpedoed his career, but his forgiving wife, Holly, is sticking by him, according to a newly revealed private letter.
“I screwed up royally,” Petraeus told his longtime Army pal, retired Brig. Gen. James Shelton in the hand-written missive.
“I paid the price (appropriately) and I sought to do the right thing at the end of the day,” he wrote in the Nov. 20 message.
Petraeus stepped down on Nov. 9 as news of his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell went public.
Read more .... My Comment: Ignoring the fact that his "Army buddy" should not have publicized this personal letter .... but yeah .... the former General and CIA Director screwed up royally.
A chart prepared by CloudFlare documenting the huge spike in DDOS attacks on Israeli and Palestinian websites after last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Despite Ceasefire, Israel-Gaza War Continues Online -- Danger Room
It’s been a week since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire pausing their war in Gaza. But on the internet, a different kind of fighting never stopped — and has actually intensified since the rockets stopped falling and the warplanes returned to their bases.
About two hours before last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, supporters of both sides intensified their barrage of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks against each other, according to CloudFlare, a U.S. company that provides DDOS protection services to websites that come under attack. The volume of attacks continuing after the ceasefire has outpaced those occurring during the offline hostilities. Read more .... My Comment: I expect these denial of service attacks will diminish with time .... and instead be replaced by a media and information campaign promoting one's side against the other. Some already believe that Hamas has won this type of information warfare.
Indian aircraft manafacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has rolled out Jaguar attack aircraft upgraded to the Darin III level.
The upgraded Indian Jaguar has been outfitted with new Mission Computer (MC), Flight Instrument System (EFIS), Solid State Digital Video Recording System (SSDVRS) and Solid State Flight Data Recorder (SSFDR) as well as two multifunction display and head-up display. The Darin III upgrade will also include new F-125IN turbofan engines.
UN General Assembly Approves Palestinian Status Upgrade -- Voice of America
The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to recognize a Palestinian state with non-member observer status.
There was jubilation on the floor of the assembly after the resolution was approved Thursday by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 nations abstaining. Palestinians in Ramallah, on the West Bank, erupted in wild cheers, hugging each other and honking horns after the vote.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the vote underscores the urgency for a resumption of meaningful negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He urged both sides to renew their commitment to a negotiated peace.
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