The Secret Stealth Helicopter Used In The Bin Laden Raid (Video)

WNU Editor: This video is a bit dated .... but still interesting to watch.

Relations Between The US And Pakistan Have Reached A Breaking Point

Pakistan Rebuffs US Demands To Increase Cooperation In War On Terror -- The Telegraph

Pakistan's political and military leadership closed ranks yesterday, shrugging off intense American pressure to do more to combat militant groups and accusing the United States of using the country as a scapegoat for Nato failures in Afghanistan.

The prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, held crisis talks with opposition leaders and military officers to formulate a response to American accusations that its security services were working hand in hand with the deadly Haqqani network.

Hours earlier, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, had ramped up the pressure by repeating her threat to declare the Haqqani network a terrorist organisation, a move that would almost certainly see economic sanctions imposed on Islamabad.

Yesterday Mr Gilani said he would not give in to threats and called for an end to the "blame game".

Read more ....

More News On U.S. - Pakistan Relations

America loses patience with Pakistan. Relations between the US and Pakistan have reached a breaking point. -- The Telegraph
Pakistan refuses US demands to do more on terror -- AFP
In show of unity, top Pakistanis meet and denounce U.S. charges -- L.A. Times
Pakistani Politicians Reject Mullen’s Charges -- New York Times
Partnership between Pakistan-US difficult to revive: Mullen -- DAWN
Mullen Stands by His Pakistan Comments -- ABC News
Pakistan intelligence chief warns on US ties -- Financial Times
Pakistan warns against U.S. attack on militants -- Reuters
The admiral, the terror network and a crisis in US-Pakistan relations -- Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich, Independent
Why the U.S. needs to make nice with Pakistan -- Vali Nasr, Washington Post
What’s behind the U.S.-Pakistan rift -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Chairman Of The U.S. Joint Chiefs Adm. Mullen To Retire Today

MEMORIAL WREATH
In his final full day as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen and his wife, Deborah, lay a memorial wreath at Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60, Sept. 29, 2011. Mullen will retire after serving more than 40 years in uniform, handing the reins to Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey during a ceremony on Fort Meyer, Va. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Mullen's Exit -- Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal

When Admiral Mike Mullen hands over the most senior military job Friday, the changing of the guard at the Pentagon will be complete.

When Admiral Mike Mullen hands over the most senior military job Friday, the changing of the guard at the Pentagon will be complete. Robert Gates left the defense secretary's post in July. General David Petraeus, who oversaw the surge of troops into Iraq and Afghanistan, hung up his military uniform in August to run the Central Intelligence Agency. Adm. Mullen, who has chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2007, was the last senior holdover on the security team from the Bush years. He was less visible than either Secretary Gates or Gen. Petraeus, yet he helped shape a critical era for the military.

Read more ....

More News And Commentary On Admiral Mullen's Retirement From The U.S. Military

Military Bids farewell To Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman Joint Chiefs Of Staff -- US Department of Defense
Admiral Michael Mullen: Farewell and thank you -- Micah Zenko, CNN
Mullen Highlights Troop Families Needs Before Retirement Friday -- Executive Gov.
‘Team Mullen’ Highlights Troops’ Service, Sacrifices -- US Department of Defense
Mullen's legacy as chairman defined by two bold moments -- Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes
Adm. Mike Mullen’s legacy -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Massive Drug Arrests At Boeing Military Aircraft Plant

US Nabs Boeing Workers On Drug Charges At Military Aircraft Plant -- Wall Street Journal

PHILADELPHIA (Dow Jones)--Federal prosecutors charged about three dozen current and former employees of a Boeing Co. (BA) military-aircraft plant with selling or buying prescription drugs that workers allegedly abused on the job.

Federal agents raided the Ridley Park, Pa., plant Thursday morning and arrested a majority of those charged. Prosecutors said 36 of the people were either current or former Boeing employees, while one person charged was neither.

The Ridley Park plant, which employs about 6,000 workers, produces the CH-47 Chinook helicopter and V-22 Osprey aircraft, a hybrid of a helicopter and airplane. Both products are used by the U.S. military. Most of the people arrested Thursday worked in the production area of the plant.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Drug Arrests At A Boeing Military Aircraft Plant

Boeing military aircraft workers face drug charges -- AFP
Dozens arrested in drug raid at Boeing plant -- CBS News
Feds Arrest Dozens in Drug Bust at Boeing Plant -- FOX News/AP
Dozens of Boeing workers charged in drug bust -- CNN
Boeing workers busted in drug sweep at plant -- Reuters
About 3 dozen arrested in prescription drug raid at Boeing military helicopter plant in Pa. -- Washington Post
FBI Arrests Boeing Plant Workers in Prescription Drug Sting -- ABC News

Can China And Japan Peacefully Co-Exist?

The Bleak Future of Sino-Japanese Relations -- Michael Auslin, National Interest

For all the attention paid to America’s complex relationship with China, stability and economic growth in Asia depends just as much, if not more, on the fraught relationship between China and Japan. Not only are these countries the world’s second- and third- largest economies, they also are major military powers that represent two very different political and social systems. Although increasingly interdependent economically, they oscillate between political engagement and outright competition over influence in Asia, territorial issues and military capabilities. The inability of these two countries to find a balance in their ties shapes Asian politics and economics and also complicates Washington’s efforts to find a stable Asian policy. Japan’s new government—its sixth in five years—has indicated that it now wants to improve relations with Beijing.

Read more ....

My Comment: The history of Japanese - Chinese relations has been one of open hostility, invasion and war, occupation, and downright hostility. Like Europe's English - French history of hostility and conflict, Japan and China will probably have to go through a similar period of time (i.e. a century or two) before this deep cultural and societal hostility dissipates.

China's New Leader Will Challenge The U.S.

Xi Jinping

Meet the New Mao -- Bruce Gilley, National Interest

It may be time to concede that China’s leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, is not the moderate that many have assumed. Indeed, evidence from his past suggests that Xi is going to steer China in a more aggressive direction, both domestically and internationally. As his time in office nears, Xi is evincing signs of being a narrow nationalist on foreign policy and of having a penchant for police actions in dealing with domestic frictions. Hence, his rise could signify that the long struggle between Maoists and reformers that characterized China’s “reform era” is now ending. That era’s replacement could be something more like the struggle that characterized the early years of the People’s Republic, when social progressives who believed in Marxist theories of social emancipation struggled against anti-Japanese (and anti-American) nationalists who were more taken with Lenin’s theories of political control. Xi is clearly in the latter camp, siding with order and power over social progress, and he may lead China in a very unpleasant direction.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is not only the U.S. that China will challenge, but I predict that it will also be China's neighbors that will be challenged by this new leader and his form of Chinese nationalism and internationalism.

Nato Report: Afghan Insurgent Attacks Decreasing. UN Disagrees

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Joel Beaulieu watches as a CH-47 Chinook helicopter arrives with members of the provincial government and the provincial reconstruction team to attend a shura with local elders in the Purchaman district of Afghanistan's Farah province, Sept. 26, 2011. Beaulieu is assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airmen Alexandra Hoachlander

US-Led Coalition: Afghan Insurgent Attacks Falling -- CBS News/AP

(AP) KABUL, Afghanistan — International forces in Afghanistan released new data Thursday showing violence trending downward in their favor, only a day after the U.N. reported considerably more clashes and other attacks per month than last year.

The quick scheduling of the news conference to unveil the statistics underscored NATO's sensitivity about how the war is perceived back home as the U.S. and other nations start to withdraw some forces with an eye toward pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014.

The new statistics show that insurgent attacks in the first eight months of the year were down 2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Read more ....

My Comment: This NATO report contradicts this UN report that reveals a 39% jump in violence in 2011. What is my take .... this year I have found myself reading more and more reports like this one.