CIA To Station More Analysts Overseas As Part Of Its Strategy -- Washington Post
The CIA's overseas expansion since Sept. 11, 2001, has mainly been evident on the operations side, with more case officers, more drone strikes and the distribution of a lot more cash. But the agency also has been sending abroad more employees from its less-flashy directorate, in what officials described as a major shift in how the agency trains and deploys its analysts.
One U.S. intelligence official said "hundreds" of analysts are already in overseas assignments, a number that is expected to grow under a plan unveiled this week by CIA Director Leon Panetta.
My Comment: Is there a covert war happening out there .... when one considers the resources that the CIA is receiving now, it is clear (from this blogger's point of view) that the U.S. has made the decision that it will prioritize the use of it's intelligence services to fight Al Qaeda and their extremist allies instead of using the U.S. military. Stationing CIA analysts overseas is one of the many steps that will make this possible.
A violent struggle over resource-rich land is pitting billionaires against Maoists. Thousands of villagers have been killed and displaced.
Early one morning last October police forces surrounded the residents of Gompad, a remote village in the state of Chhattisgarh in eastern India, and attacked. Sixteen people were killed, including an older couple and their 25-year-old daughter, who was stabbed in the head with a knife and had her breasts sliced off. Her 2-year-old son survived, but three of his fingers were chopped off. A neighbor who witnessed the massacre was shot in the leg as she tried to escape. What prompted the rampage? The cops suspected the villagers of sympathizing with Maoist insurgents, believing that some were informants. A criminal case has been filed by the survivors against the state.
Read more .... My Comment: Roots to civil wars like India's always starts on a local/rural level .... a massacre here, police brutality there .... in the end people feel victimized and with no recourse to justice resort to waging war against the authorities. India war against the Naxalites fits into this category to a tee.
BOARDING - U.S. Airman 1st Class Claudia Segovia boards a Boeing 737 bound for Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, April 29, 2010, Segovia is assigned to the 492nd Fighter Squadron at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Eboni Knox
The Enemy Within: Why Coalition Forces Fear Attack By Afghan Comrades -- Times Online
The battle was brief — a sudden stab of tracer fire into the remote police post from the surrounding mountains that left a US staff sergeant bleeding from his face, hit by a ricochet or fragment of flying rock. “It’s like shooting at ghosts,” the soldier beside him complained, staring into the silent darkness after the shooting had stopped.
At least the two soldiers knew which way to face — outwards from their gun position on the roof of Police SubStation 7, on the western outskirts of Kandahar. In the sleeping quarters below, a pair of Canadian police officers, sent there to help to mentor the Afghan National Police (ANP), had trained their guns inwards, on the door of their own accommodation.
BP Is Criticized Over Oil Spill, But U.S. Missed Chances To Act -- New York Times
NEW ORLEANS — As oil edged toward the Louisiana coast and fears continued to grow that the leak from a seabed oil well could spiral out of control, officials in the Obama administration publicly chastised BP America for its handling of the spreading oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.
Yet a review of the response suggests it may be too simplistic to place all the blame for the unfolding environmental catastrophe on the oil company. The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP.
Video: Military’s Robotic Pack Mule Battles the Mud
The military’s creepily life-like robotic pack mule can now trot along at five miles per hour — and trudge through mud as it goes uphill.
Earlier footage of BigDog, the mechanical quadruped built by Boston Dynamics and funded by Darpa, showed the mecha-creature climbing over hills, stomping through snow, surviving swift kicks to the chops, and hiking alongside troops at Ft. Benning. Boston Dynamics’ latest BigDog video is mostly a compilation of those earlier accomplishments, plus some new footage from a quick run and from a muddy march at Quantico.
Crisis: Protesters campaign against budget cuts in Greece. Photo from The Daily Mail
Greece Vows Deeper Defense Cuts -- AP
ATHENS, Greece — Greece's defense minister on Thursday promised "colossal" cuts in military operating costs to help the debt-ridden country emerge from its financial crisis and speed up plans to modernize the armed forces.
Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos Greece is aiming to slash operating costs by up to 25 percent in 2010 from 2009, instead of the planned reduction of 12.6 percent listed in this year's budget.
My Comment: A 25% cut in the Greek military budget for this year alone .... this should give everyone a head's up on what happens when governments become fiscally irresponsible .... national security is the first to be cut.
Hint .... if the U.S. does not stop it's runaway spending and growth of government ....it's own military and national security priorities will also be compromised .... and cut.
As part of a training exercise, the members of a sniper team man a 7.62mm Springfield Armory M21 Sniping rifle (left) and sights through the scope of a 7.62mm M24 Sniper rifle (right). Photo courtesy Department of Defense Defense Visual Information Center
The U.S. Sniper's More Accurate, Quieter Rifle -- Popular Mechanics
Army Snipers in Afghanistan will receive an improved rifle this fall.
For snipers, every war is different. Recognizing the differences between conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is now selecting a contractor to upgrade the 22-year-old Remington bolt-action rifle to become a more effective killing machine. The Army will pour about $5.6 million into upgrades to the M24, with the new gear expected to be delivered to troops by this fall. The M24's barrel is being modified to shoot heavier .300 Winchester Magnum rounds, instead of the 7.62mm NATO ammunition, which should extend the rifle's maximum effective range by hundreds of yards to a maximum of about 1400 yards. The suppressor will reduce the noise and flash of the gun so snipers can stay in their hiding positions much longer after they fire.
CIA To Station More Analysts Overseas As Part Of Its Strategy -- Washington Post
