Military Reform in Russia Plows Ahead Jamestown Foundation, DC The GRU gathers and analyzes intelligence information to present reports to Russia's political and military leaders. The Chief of the General Staff approves these reports. The GRU, and through it the General Staff, have their own considerable ...

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BBC News

The Sad Two-Stater Foreign Policy - Evan R. Goldstein "Israel is under existential threat, and that is how Israel's military and political leaders must see the situation." In a 2007 essay, Morris, a professor of history at Ben-Gurion University, imagined a "second holocaust": nuclear-tipped Iranian ... UN demands Israel to freeze pending demolishing orders of East ... International Middle East Media Center IDF to punish permit-breaching workers Jerusalem Post End Palestinian demolitions in Jerusalem, UN tells Israel guardian.co.uk OpEdNews  - Inter Press Service all 245 news articles

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Voice of America

Gates: Iran war will be ineffective PRESS TV, Iran US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has termed a military attack on Iran as 'ineffective' saying that it will fail to halt Tehran's nuclear program. Any military option against Iran will only yield temporary results and will be ineffective, the Jerusalem ... WASHINGTON AND THE IRANIAN BOMB The West's Preventative Capitulation Spiegel Online To Bomb, Or Not to Bomb, Iran Khaleej Times My Encounter with Iran OpEdNews CNN Political Ticker all 432 news articles

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Voice of America

Report: Al Qaeda, extremist supporters moving across Afghan border ... CNN - Elise Labott "Streams of Taliban financing from across the border in Pakistan, along with funds gained from narcotics trafficking, have allowed the insurgency to strengthen its military and technical capabilities." Iran is also a source of training to the Taliban ... Video: Congress Pressed for More War Money The Associated Press Af-Pak strategy: Logistic nightmare Hindu Business Line How Safe Is Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal? U.S. News & World Report Council on Foreign Relations  - Stars and Stripes all 637 news articles

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* Beware the exploding donkeys

* Helicopters for Iraq (and they’re not Russian)

* See the Stealth Bike

* UK out of Iraq

* QDR time, again

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Voice of America

Gates: Persuasion better tack against Iran's nuclear pursuits CNN International WASHINGTON (CNN) -- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that a military strike on Iran's nuclear program would not stop that country from pursuing the development of a nuclear weapon. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of ... WASHINGTON AND THE IRANIAN BOMB The West's Preventative Capitulation Spiegel Online Israel's Peres sees containment for a nuclear Iran Washington Post Gates: Iran war will be ineffective PRESS TV Global Security Newswire  - Hot Air all 432 news articles

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Daily Nation

Russia blasts the West over two issues Los Angeles Times, CA - Megan K. Stack "Now if there are any incidents on the cease-fire lines, it will be a direct confrontation between Russia and Georgia," Russian military analyst Pavel Felgengauer said. "Which, of course, would be a good pretext for resuming the war." Video: Russian guards to keep borders of Abkhazia, S. Ossetia RT Russia guarding Georgian separatist zones AFP Russia takes control of rebel borders with Georgia Reuters Philadelphia Inquirer  - New York Times all 886 news articles

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Voice of America

Officials say Iran sanctions make more sense The Associated Press Iran has thus far ignored the offer and continues to amass enriched uranium, sparking grave fears in Israel, which has not ruled out military strikes to deal with the threat, the broader Middle East and elsewhere. To Bomb, Or Not to Bomb, Iran Khaleej Times Gates: Persuasion better tack against Iran's nuclear pursuits CNN International Israel's Peres sees containment for a nuclear Iran Washington Post Global Security Newswire  - PRESS TV all 432 news articles

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After test firing a long range missile, quitting disarmament talks and calling Barack Obama a “brigand,” what does a North Korean dictatorship need to do to get some attention around here?

Try testing a few nuclear weapons, for starters.

In a statement released yesterday by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s foreign ministry said it would “take additional self-defensive measures in order to defend its supreme interests” — including nuclear weapons testing and additional intercontinental ballistic missile shots. These latest threats come in response to the UN Security Council’s condemnation of North Korea’s recent long-range missile test, and Pyongyang wants a retraction. “The hostile forces are foolishly scheming to suffocate the DPRK’s defence industry by physical methods as they failed to attain their aims for disarming the DPRK through the six-way talks,” the statement read.

So how to respond? As the New York Times notes, North Korea’s nuclear program is “its main, and perhaps only, attention-gathering tool and bargaining chip”; carrying out another nuclear test is one way Pyongyang can extract aid and concessions.

But as our own Kris Alexander discovered on a recent visit to the DMZ, North Korea’s threats of all-out war appear increasingly hollow. “And that’s what Pyongyang’s nukes are all about,” he observed. “A tool to hold onto power, the world’s biggest bargaining chip. The North can’t ever attack the South because once its army is smashed to bits in the FEBAs north of Seoul, there is nothing left but the eventual end of the regime.”

It’s worth remembering here that North Korea’s 2006 nuclear test was something of a fizzle. And the North Koreans probably have yet to figure out how to build a nuke that’s small enough to package on a missile. I’m reminded of the old joke: Q. What would you do if the North Koreans tested a nuclear weapon? A. Tell them to test the other one.

As Jeffrey Lewis has pointed out, that joke isn’t so funny anymore. But as some North Korea watchers have argued, sometimes the best response to North Korea’s threats is to ignore them.

[PHOTO: Wikimedia]

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Ars Technica

Time for US to adopt formal, explicit cyberwarfare policy? Ars Technica, MA The authors make an explicit comparison to the status of nuclear weapons in the 1950s, when planners assumed that the next war would be nuclear, but there was no national dialog about what that would involve—an era that Omar Bradley derided as "a world ... Report: US needs 'transparent' policies for carrying out cyberattacks Computerworld all 52 news articles

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guardian.co.uk

Obama 'profoundly impressed' with US servicemembers Stars and Stripes, DC Obama addressed a number of military concerns including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the torture of suspected terrorists or insurgents while held in US custody. But when asked, tongue-in-cheek, to list what he was “enchanted” by after first 100 days ... Video: At 100 Days, Obama Confident, but Not Content The Associated Press Obama injects message of hope into 100-day speech Los Angeles Times A hundred points of light Hindustan Times Vancouver Sun  - DemocracyArsenal.org all 6,390 news articles

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Los Angeles Times

Pakistan's Zardari Goes to Washington Washington Post, United States Its citizens can rise up en masse on one day to depose a military dictator and reinstate honest judges, but the next day seem helpless to stop politicians from ceding strategic territory to enemies who publicly flog a 17-year old woman as a show of ... Video: Taliban On The Defense CBS Will the Taliban's whip rule Pakistan? New Straits Times At last Pakistan gets it act together Telegraph.co.uk Los Angeles Times  - DAWN.com all 3,352 news articles

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Voice of America

Clinton Concerned About Health of Journalist Jailed by Iran Voice of America "Even a military attack will only buy us time and send the program deeper and more covert. How do we get them to decide it is not in their interest to pursue nuclear weapons? It seems partly it is economic pressures, partly it is diplomatic isolation, ... Video: Jailed Journalist Goes on Hunger Strike The Associated Press Hostage Diplomacy: Roxana Saberi and the Three Jailed Iranian ... Huffington Post World Links: Pakistani Military in Buner, 7/7 Suspects Cleared in ... PBS Democracy Now  - Payvand all 855 news articles

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PLA's “Absolute Loyalty” to the Party in Doubt Jamestown Foundation, DC China's military forces crossed a watershed when the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) celebrated its 60th birthday by holding a parade of state-of-the-art hardware such as indigenously developed nuclear submarines. That the 2.4-million strong ...

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Maritime Confrontation Highlights Troubled State of China-US ... Jamestown Foundation, DC - Richard Weitz Clashes between US and Chinese military units operating in the sea and air near China have become a recurring disruption in the bilateral relations. They will burden the Obama administration as it seeks to develop Sino-American security relations in ... Impeccable Affair and Renewed Rivalry in the South China Sea Jamestown Foundation all 12 news articles

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PRESS TV

Venezuela, Iran Agree to Strengthen Military Ties FOXNews The government said Najjar and Vice President Ramon Carrizalez signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen military cooperation, though it did not say what that would entail. Chavez has built a close relationship with Iran, which has stepped up its ... Iran, Venezuela enter into military alliance PRESS TV Iran, Venezuela Ink MoU on Military Cooperation Fars News Agency Iran Stresses Aid to Venezuelan Army Fars News Agency all 13 news articles

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Walking into the brand-new dining facility on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a handwritten sign with elaborately scrawled writing announces the day’s meetings like the greeting board at a hotel. Today’s function: HOSTAGE WORKING GROUP.

Opened in January of this year, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad stands as an ambiguous monument to American presence in Iraq. Two years ago, I wrote on Danger Room about plans for the budding U.S. fortress in Baghdad at a time when violence was near an all-time high and many were questioning why the United States was planning the world’s largest and most expensive embassy.

Now, that shaky logic has blossomed into full-scale absurdity, and in February, shortly after the control of the International Zone was handed over to Iraq, I had a chance to walk around the new embassy grounds.

But let’s make no excuses. I had come to the embassy for one purpose: Food.

The shiny new dining facility, or DFAC, at the embassy features gleaming refrigerators filled with a seemingly endless supply of Gatorade, cola, and even near beer. There are over half a dozen separate food stations, including one where fresh Caesar salads are assembled on the spot. The cafeteria is run by KBR, which hires third country nationals — mostly Indians and Sri Lankans dressed in formal attire — to serve the food.

The food is not only all-you-can-eat, it’s also all-you-can-take: Employees can prepare to-go meals and are allowed to take unlimited amounts of soda and drinks back to their rooms. “The carrot cake, you’ve got to try the carrot cake,” one of my lunch companions insisted. (There’s an entire station for baked desserts, featuring several different types of freshly baked cakes and cookies; there’s a separate station for ice cream, both regular and soft serve.)

What is interesting about the dining facility — and what makes it unlike other embassies in the world — is that, at least for the Americans, it’s a social equalizer. Everyone from construction workers to diplomats eat in the DFAC. The only incongruous element is seeing the occasional office worker with pressed khakis and crisp-blue shirt sporting a holstered weapon at their side.

After lunch, I headed to the PX, passing by a large glass window with two dozen butts raised in the air: Yoga class. Next door was the American Club, where a glittery disco ball with lights was being tested out for a party. Outside one of the main buildings, barbeque grills were set up next to picnic tables. And inside, a Subway franchise was open, as was Green Beans Coffee.

Not that the embassy is really the lap of luxury. With no landscaping, harsh fluorescent lighting and monotonous adobe-colored buildings: the complex looks like a prison, down to the guard tower at the gate. The only decoration in sight was a mock street sign placed near the entrance with names that read: “Pennsylvania” and “Hollywood.”

Some would like to see the U.S. Embassy as a symbol of empire, evidence that the U.S. government had plans to dominate in Iraq for many years to come. If only it were so well thought out. In fact, as I walked among the buildings, the only impression I was left with is short-sightedness. The compound has a tennis court, basketball court, and indoor swimming pool, but apparently, not enough housing for all the staff.

And ironically, just as the massive embassy was opening in January, the rest of the International Zone was emptying out. The two main restaurants serving expatriates — Freedom Restaurant, which serves Iraqi food, and its uncreatively named neighbor, Chinese Freedom Restaurant, which serves dishes like “Cube + Milk + Nugget” — were all but vacant. Even Foreign Service officers are questioning the size of the staff in Baghdad, noting that it’s taking away resources from other embassies.

The real problem with the sprawling embassy is that the seemingly absurd parts are all purely logical: the elaborate dining facility is needed because there’s nowhere else to eat; the entertainment facilities are required because there’s nowhere else to go; and the overwrought security is needed because it’s still not safe for embassy staff to go anywhere. Those things all make sense.

What doesn’t make sense is what everyone is doing there and what they’re supposed to accomplish. Some 1,200 people live and work in this embassy. What exactly are they doing? U.S. embassies are supposed to represent U.S. interest abroad, or as the Foreign Service website puts it: “formulate, represent and implement foreign policy.”

These days, however, most of the employees don’t leave the embassy grounds, let alone the confines of the International Zone. So, it’s difficult to understand just what work they’re doing in Baghdad that couldn’t be done from Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, with its endless supply of soft-serve treats and sugary drinks, has become the ultimate self-licking ice cream cone. Without a clear mission, it exists only to serve itself.

[Image: Sharon Weinberger]

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Esquire

China at the Wheel of the World: Sissy or Superpower? Esquire - Thomas P.M. Barnett, Thomas P.M. Barnett Yet China's military build-up remains based primarily around this scenario, leaving the force rather useless for actual global policing. Imagine an American political system obsessed with reunification with Cuba, or a US military designed primarily for ...

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Staving off a 'second Holocaust' Ha'aretz, Israel In Netanyahu's opinion Obama has tremendous political clout - something his predecessor George W. Bush lacked - to launch an operation against Iran. He has at his disposal all the diplomatic, economic and military capabilities of the American ... The Gathering Storm Arutz Sheva all 4 news articles

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First in war, last in peace Ha'aretz, Israel By Amir Oren On the eve of Independence Day, Ehud Barak was asked for his thoughts on the disparity between Israel's military strength and its political strength; how time and again Israel failed to capitalize on military successes. ...

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guardian.co.uk

Russia Insists No Plans to Militarize Arctic NewsMax.com, FL Lavrov's statement, however, flies in the face of a document disclosed in March that a new national security strategy featured plans to create army units in Russia's Arctic region to “guarantee military security in different military-political ... Video: Petroleum pushes bears aside at climate summit RT Russia: Transcript of Remarks and Response to Media Questions by ... ISRIA (subscription) NATO seeking Arctic stability Barents Observer United Press International (subscription)  - Reuters all 183 news articles

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Liberia: China Again! -Turns Over US$5.5M Barracks AllAfrica.com, Washington The memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Liberian Government and the government of the People's Republic of China through the People's Liberation Army on July 21, 2007 and provided for the framework of renovation of Camp Tubman Military ...

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PRESS TV

Prosecutor nixes Israeli war crime probe United Press International The Jerusalem Post said Mazlum-Der has sought prosecution efforts against top Israeli officials, including President Shimon Peres, in relation to Israel's military activities in the Gaza Strip. Report: Turkey ends war crimes probe of Israel over Gaza op Ha'aretz JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Turkish prosecutors dropped a war crimes ... Jewish Telegraphic Agency Turkish army chief rejects Israeli criticism AFP Southeast European Times  - PanARMENIAN.Net all 42 news articles

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guardian.co.uk

Leaning Left Union Sentinel, GA While Newt Gingrich was screeching about Obama's inability to deal effectively with the Somali pirates holding an American ship's Captain, Obama was quietly, in the background, giving American military officers authority to use deadly force to protect ... Video: At 100 Days, Obama Confident, but Not Content The Associated Press A hundred points of light Hindustan Times Obama's report card after 100 days in office Examiner.com New Statesman  - Metroblogging.com all 6,390 news articles

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Mythical red mercury, the supposed fuel for mini-nukes, is still alive and gearing up for a comeback. For the past two decades, people have reportedly peddled the fictional material to would-be bomb makers too dumb to know what they’re buying. The latest scam, reported this month in the Saudi Gazette, involves people buying old Singer sewing machines.

As the Saudi Gazette reported:

The rumors, which first started circulating a few days ago via the Internet and then the word of mouth, led to a rush for sewing machines that could previously have been bought for as little as SR200. … Believers of the rumors say that the presence of a drop of red mercury in the machine’s needle can be verified with a mobile telephone. If the line cuts off when the telephone is placed close to the needle, they say, that proves the existence of the substance.

It’s unclear what the people were planning to do with the Red Mercury once they got it. Maybe sell it to some other sucker.

Media reports of Red Mercury started in the 1980s when it was said to have been developed in the Russian nuclear program and used to make miniature nuclear weapons. Since then there have been any number of scams based on the myth, and the substance is now said to be able to do everything from locating treasure to curing impotence. The mystery material last reared its mythical head in 2006, when three men in the United Kingdom were acquitted of terror-related charges, after trying to buy Red Mercury from an undercover tabloid reporter.

Danger Room has closely followed developments related to miniature nuclear weapon, such as the “isomer bomb,” a notional weapon based on some rather controversial physics of accelerating the decay of nuclear isomers. Like Red Mercury, nuclear isomers never grows old.

In January, the first ever isomer bomb was detonated in front of millions of viewers. Of course the bomb in question was fictional, a handy plot device in the new Knight Rider series. It was set to go off if the car dropped to below 100 mph; how original is that as a plot device?

It’s good to see that the entertainment industry is updating is fictional weapons — the traditional “suitcase nukes” once popular with Hollywood terrorists were getting old. At around hundred and twenty pounds, suitcase nukes are also a bit cumbersome for most stars.

ALSO:

• Russia’s Isomer Bomb, Funded by Your Taxes
• Controversial Nuke Research Quietly Returns…
• …As Crucial Test Remains Under Wraps
• Livermore Claims Isomer Advance (But No Bomb)
• Is the Pentagon Funding Isomer Bombs Again?
• Nuke Pistols, Impotence Cures, and ‘Red Mercury’
• Pentagon Agency Looks to Fund Cold Fusion, Isomers, Antimatter …
• Hafnium + X-Rays = Electric Generator?

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Los Angeles Times

Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival FOXNews The goal of PCCF is to provide funding for the immediate training and equipping of the Pakistani army to fight a counterinsurgency war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani army, US officials say, has historically been modeled to fight a ... Video: Taliban On The Defense CBS Obama reveals his fears for Pakistan The Australian Obama: Pakistan threat 'internal' Aljazeera.net Telegraph.co.uk  - Harvard Crimson all 3,352 news articles

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Telegraph.co.uk

N.Korea threatens new nuke, rocket tests United Press International North Korea said further, "We already declared in the 1990s that we will consider it a declaration of a war if the UN, the legitimate signatory to the armistice treaty, imposes sanctions against us. Such sanctions will never work on a nation that has ... Survival Tactic TIME BC-NA--Editorial Roundup, NA MLive.com North Korea Starting Second Nuclear Project ConnieTalk Daily NK  - Opinion Editorials all 874 news articles

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China's Leaders Take Visible Approach to Swine Flu New York Times, United States ... even concealing patients at closed military hospitals, before the disease spread to Hong Kong and then around the world. The novel form of flu now moving around the globe is politically more palatable for China because it made its first appearance ...

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Irish Times

Gates urges Congress to approve war money fast Reuters - Jeremy Pelofsky, David Storey President Barack Obama earlier this month requested $83.4 billion to fund war operations and other projects through the end of fiscal 2009 on September 30, about $76 billion of which is for the military. About $38 billion of the money is for ... Video: Congress Pressed for More War Money The Associated Press Gates urges approval of US war funds, Pakistan aid AFP Gates Asks Lawmakers to Back Money for Wars, Pakistan Bloomberg The Associated Press  - WashingtonTV all 400 news articles

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BBC News

Russia takes control of rebel borders with Georgia Reuters By Oleg Shchedrov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia took formal control over the de-facto borders of Georgia's rebel regions on Thursday a week before NATO military exercises in Georgia that President Dmitry Medvedev said amounted to a challenge from the West. ... Video: Russian guards to keep borders of Abkhazia, S. Ossetia RT NATO Expels Two Russians Accused of Spying New York Times Russia signs border deal with Abkhazia, S. Ossetia The Associated Press RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty  - Aljazeera.net all 746 news articles

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