World News Briefs -- October 1, 2011

Justice Memo Authorized Killing Of Al-Awlaki -- CBS News

Anwar al Awlaki's rise from American-born cleric to key terror plotter had put him atop the U.S. terror "hit list." Under the code name Objective Troy, intelligence tracked Awlaki for months near his hideout in Yemen.

Early Friday, a CIA drone found its target.

The Washington Post reports that a secret Justice Department memo sanctioned the killing of Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who became an al Qaeda propagandist and operational leader.

Read more ....

MIDDLE EAST

Syria unrest: Heavy clashes erupt in Homs province. Syrian troops retake most of central rebel town.

Palestinians accuse US of 'collective punishment' after $200m in aid is cut off.

Hamas: 'Resistance' against Israel is only option left for Palestinians.

Iraq: A culture Of collapse.

ASIA

Pakistan's military and legislators plan peace talks with Taliban.

Afghan president says talks with Taliban useless.

Death sentence in slaying of Pakistani governor.

Afghanistan gives Pakistan evidence in Rabbani killing.

Typhoon Nalgae batters flood-hit Philippines.

18 dead in Indonesian plane crash.

Global Islamic group rising in Asia.

AFRICA

Libyan fighters seal off Qaddafi's hometown. Ruined Libya town shows danger of postwar vendetta.

Sudan pleads for help to avert economic collapse.

Zambia's president replaces anti-corruption chief.

Rwanda genocide court jails former ministers.

EUROPE

Sarkozy, Merkel to meet as Europe weighs Greece.

Bank loans go out of fashion amid France's mood of fear.

Army experts defuse bomb in center of Belfast.

Summit aims to renew push for democracy east of EU.

All Russian border crossings now equipped with radiation detection systems.

Media can't get enough of Knox trial in Italy.

AMERICAS

Super PACS channel flood of money into U.S. 2012 elections.

Occupy Wall Street protests grow amid Radiohead rumour.

U.S. incomes fall for first time in two years.

2 powerful cartels dominate in Mexico drug war.

9,000 Mexican migrants repatriated from Arizona.

TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR

Senior Haqqani figure is captured in Afghanistan.

American Samir Khan killed in U.S. attack in Yemen along with Awlaki.

AQAP bomb maker Asiri thought killed in Yemen Predator strike.

ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS

No rise in U.S. home prices until 2020: Bankers.

Global markets suffer big quarterly falls.

BlackBerry PlayBook sees Amazon Kindle Fire, drops in price $200.

Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- October 1, 2011

A Marine Corps AV-8A Harrier, foreground, and a Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk, background, two of the historic aircraft that will be on display during the MCAS Miramar Air Show. — Howard Lipin

Marine Flying Entering Period Of Turbulence -- Sign On San Diego

The Corps faces budgetary pressures, need to overhaul fleet.

As the Marines celebrate a century of shared aviation history with the Navy at the annual air show in San Diego beginning today, they are also looking to the future amid a high-stakes overhaul of their fleet.

The upgrades to decades-old platforms Marines still operate today and the development or fielding of revolutionary new types of flying machines touch on everything from helicopters to fighter jets, drones and the tilt-rotor Osprey.

Read more ....

MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE NEWS BRIEFS

F-35B JSF Sea Trials to Start Next Week -- Defense Tech

Strategy Paper Points Out Inconvenient Truths About UK Defence -- Defpro

Testing of Initial European Missile Shield Elements Successful, Pentagon Says -- Global Security Newswire

The Next Phase of Iranian Naval Expansion -- Information Dissemination

Typhoons Subs for Scrap, Kuznetsov To Sail -- Defense News

China Set to Launch Its Own Space Station; Mission: Unknown -- Danger Room

Taiwan air defense solid, general says -- UPI

Brazil fighter jet deal 'urgent': minister -- The Local

Fighter Wars -- Ares/Aviation Week

China, France pledge to deepen military ties -- Xinhuanet

British scientists invent new battlefield equipment using 'steel from tape' -- The Telegraph

Obama's Anti-Nuke Push Bogging Down: Experts -- Global Security Newswire

Missiles in a box -- ELP

JAGM In Jeopardy Amid Budget Talks -- Aviation Week

U.S. Navy explores longer submarine deployments -- Salt Lake Tribune

Special Forces to hold open house to mark completion of move -- NWF Daily News

Officials hope Air Force civilian job cuts won't hit area bases -- PNJ.com

Aulaqi is first hit for new drone base -- Washington Post

Pentagon seeks to improve transparency -- CNN

Gay weddings can be performed by military chaplains, Pentagon says -- Washington Post

Defense Companies Must Do More Than Lobby Against Cuts -- August Cole

The Pentagon's Cyberstrategy, One Year Later -- William J. Lynn III, Foreign Affairs

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A Top-Secret Secure Smartphone For The NSA

U.S. Army Smartphone U.S. Army

National Security Agency Is Building a Top-Secret Secure Smartphone -- Popular Science

For all the amazing technology developed by and for American defense and intelligence agencies, the government’s spooks are apparently lagging way behind in one key area: Smartphones. That means no mobile email or Angry Birds for our nation’s spy corps. One NSA agent is trying to change that.

At a security conference in Florida, Reuters got some details on a top-secret smartphone project at the National Security Agency. Project leader Troy Lange is developing special software that turns an everyday, commercially available smartphone into a tool with top secret access. And he wants every employee in the Defense Department and intelligence agencies to have one.

Read more ....

My Comment: LOL .... as if hackers are going to be intimidated by this "Top-Secret secure smartphone". If anything .... they now feel challenged.

Why Is Putin Popular In Russia

Russians Cling To Putin For Fear Of Alternative -- Seamus Martin, Irish Times

LYUBOV KOMAR is not all that happy with today’s Russia but she supports Vladimir Putin and she is not alone.

Lyubov’s son Dmitriy was posthumously and paradoxically awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union” 20 years ago for an act that helped bring the Soviet Union to an end. He defended the Russian White House against the hardliners who launched a coup d’etat against Mikhail Gorbachev and was killed while attempting to put a tank out of action in Moscow on August 20th 1991.

Lyubov may not like the new Russia but her misgivings are not political. They are simply typical of older people everywhere.

Read more ....

My Comment: This commentary nails it perfectly. My old aunt in Russia was never a fan of Putin when he was President ... until he upped her pension and had her (and her friends) moved to a brand new and fully equipped seniors home (rent free). Couple this with the stability that he brought .... she and her friends would now do anything for him. Medvedev knows this which is why he is stepping aside .... and more importantly .... so does Putin.

Gaddafi's Propagandist Caught Dressed As A Woman

This file photo taken on July 29, 2011 shows Moussa Ibrahim, spokesman of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, speaks during a press conference in Tripoli, Libya. Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested, a local Libyan television reported Thursday. (Xinhua/Hamza Turkia)

Libya: Gaddafi Mouthpiece Caught 'Fleeing Dressed As A Woman' -- The Telegraph

Moussa Ibrahim, the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime, was captured last night outside the birthplace of the former dictator, according to commanders of the National Transitional Council's forces.

There were also unconfirmed reports that Ibrahim was dressed as a woman as he attempted to flee Sirte, which has been the scene of heavy fighting for several days.

A commander for the NTC's Zintan brigade said: "Moussa Ibrahim was captured while driving outside Sirte by fighters from Misurata." Ibrahim became a fixture on news bulletins from the first week of the uprising, lecturing the foreign media from a conference room at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on the iniquities of Nato and the West.

Like Col Muammar Gaddafi, his whereabouts had been unknown until yesterday.

Read more ....

My Comment: LOL .... what a way to end a career.

Can We Still Win In Afghanistan?

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Gary Volesky, left, talks to troops as they take a short break while on patrol near Wanat Village in the Waygul Valley, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2011. Volesky is the Combined Joint Task Force-1 and Regional Command-East Deputy Commanding General Maneuver, and the soldiers are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Zackary Root

This War Can Still Be Won -- Fernando M. Lujan, New York Times

RETURNING home after 14 months in Afghanistan, I’ve sensed a growing gloom over the American war effort there. Many of the policy wonks, politicos and academics I encounter here seem resigned to failure.

While sipping their Starbucks, a few mutter the word “unwinnable.” They speak in grim sound bites: A gunfight on the United States Embassy’s doorstep. A helicopter shot out of the sky. But before people outside the Beltway accept this hardening conventional wisdom as fact, allow me to offer a different view.

Read more ....

My Comment: I do not share this "optimistic" point of view .... but it is still worth a read because it does give a slight glimmer of hope that not all is lost in Afghanistan.