Judge Refuses To Dismiss Charges Against WikiLeaks Suspect Bradley Manning -- Washington Post
A military judge refused Tuesday to toss out the case against WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning but ruled that any sentence the Army private receives should be reduced by 112 days because of his mistreatment in confinement.
Manning’s confinement at a military jail in Quantico, Va., was “more rigorous than necessary,” said Army Col. Denise Lind, the military judge presiding over the hearing at Fort Meade, Md. Maintaining him in suicide risk over mental health recommendations “became excessive in relation to legitimate government interests.”
Defence Of UK Has Diminished 'To A Perilous Degree', Warn Former Armed Forces Bosses As They Hit Out At Cuts In Spending And Lack Of Investment -- Daily Mail
* Damning report by former defence chiefs calls for investment to plug gaps * They warn national security is being 'severely compromised' by the cuts * Armed Forces are the 'Cinderella' and 'sacrificial lamb' of the public services'
The Armed Forces' ability to defend the country has diminished to a 'perilous degree' because of spending cuts, former defence chiefs have warned.
They argue in a damning report from the UK National Defence Association (UKDA) that investment is needed to plug gaps in the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force created by the funding squeeze.
The UKNDA's chief executive, Commander John Muxworthy, branded the Armed Forces a 'sacrificial lamb' and 'Cinderella of the public services', and said the nation's security is being 'severely compromised'.
UK Armed Forces At Risk Of 'Fatal' Cyber-Attack, MPs Warn -- The Guardian
Defence select committee says there are worrying gaps in MoD's cyber-strategy and calls for urgent ministerial intervention.
Britain's armed forces are at risk of being "fatally compromised" by a sustained cyber-attack because the military is dependent on technology that has no proven back-up, MPs have warned .
The potential vulnerability must be addressed urgently, according to the Commons defence select committee, as part of a broader effort across government to face up to the threats posed from cyberspace.
In a withering critique of the government's cyber-strategy, the committee concludes: "The government needs to put in place – as it has not yet done – mechanisms, people, education, skills, thinking and policies which take into account both the opportunities and the vulnerabilities that cyber presents. It is time the government approached this subject with vigour."
What Do UK's Military Scientists Do On The Frontline? -- BBC
It's a little known fact that the UK Ministry of Defence deploys scientists to the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what do military science advisers do?
To find out, Quentin Cooper from BBC Radio 4's Material World programme interviewed Nick Barrett, programme leader for support to operations at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
QC: Nick, a lot of us are used to the idea that alongside soldiers there are embedded journalists. But aside from medics and engineers, we don't really hear about scientists going to war.
NB: I guess it's not something which has received a lot of media attention in the past, but it's a growing capability. It's a growing initiative to send scientists on to the front line to assist and support our troops.
U.S. sailors run laps around the ship during physical training aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, Jan. 5, 2012. The sailors are assigned to the 1st Class Petty Officer Mess and the Chief’s Mess. The Mobile Bay is deployed with the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group to conduct maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Armando Gonzales
More people have been to space than have flown in a B-2 stealth bomber. PopMech gets an extremely rare ride, flying a B-2 training mission and going behind the scenes to meet the people (and dogs) who've kept the B-2 at the forefront of American power projection for 20 years.
I Am Spirit 544
I never expected to step inside the cockpit of a B-2 Spirit, the Pentagon's long-range stealth bomber. So you can imagine the shock of being at 27,000 feet and hearing an Air Force pilot tell me over the cockpit intercom, "Okay, you have the jet."
I place one suddenly damp left hand on the throttle and the right on the stick, taking nominal control of a $2 billion aircraft. There are only 20 B-2s in the Air Force arsenal, including a second B-2 flying formation with us, slicing through clouds a scant 4 miles ahead. It occurs to me that with some exceptionally bad luck, I could endanger one-tenth of the American B-2 fleet and cause a rebalance in global military power. Read more .....
Got your eye on a sweet used '59 U-2 spy plane you saw on Craigslist? Would you go ahead and take the plunge if you just, you know, knew how to fly it? Then boy, are you in luck.
That's because a couple days ago an entire flight manual for the U-2 from 1959 was declassified and released by the CIA. You can tell it's declassified because on each page where the word "secret" appears, someone has carefully drawn a line through it. We've got a copy here for you.
The U-2 is, of course, one of the most legendary and well-known aircraft of all time. It was one of the first true purpose-built spy planes, created at the height of the Cold War to fly over the Soviets and snap photos at high enough altitudes to prevent them from finding out or shooting it down. Of course, the U-2 may best be known for the time that both the finding out and shooting down part actually happened in 1960 over the Soviet Union.
Analysis: Study Shows Rise Of al Qaeda Affiliate In Syria -- CNN
A jihadist group with links to al Qaeda has become the most effective of the different factions fighting the regime, according to a new analysis, and now has some 5,000 fighters.
The group is Jabhat al-Nusra, which was designated an al Qaeda affiliate by the United States government last month. It is led by veterans of the Iraqi insurgency "and has shown itself to be the principal force against Assad and the Shabiha," according to the study.
CNN obtained an advance copy of the analysis, set to be released Tuesday by the Quilliam Foundation, a counterterrorism policy institute based in London. Read more ....
Hagel's Nomination Signals Intent To Accelerate Ops In 35 African Countries -- Business Insider
In the weeks leading up to Chuck Hagel's nomination, the Pentagon announced plans to put specialized Army troops in 35 countries in Africa.
Though the announcement came on Christmas Eve and didn't receive much attention, it still serves as a hint of what's to come under a Hagel-run Pentagon — that is, conservative deployment of U.S. troops.
The mission for these troops is loosely noncombat, and primarily to train organic security forces to quell Islamic insurgent activity, which somewhat parallels operations during the Banana Wars of about a century ago.
My Comment: The American public and Congress should demand a debate and discussion on this policy shift .... but considering that this news was released on Christmas Eve .... I guess everyone had other priorities.
Rwanda Opposes Use Of Drones By The U.N. In Eastern Congo -- Reuters
Rwanda on Tuesday opposed the use of surveillance drones in eastern Congo as proposed by the United Nations until there is a full assessment of their use, saying it did not want Africa to become a laboratory for foreign intelligence devices.
Envoys said U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the Security Council during a closed-door session that the U.N mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo plans to deploy three unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, in the country's conflict-torn eastern provinces.
My Comment: Rwanda supports rebel groups like M23in in eastern Congo .... they do not want the photographic evidence that would implicate them in this involvement. Hence ... the opposition to have these drones flying around without their input (or restrictions).
Chuck Hagel And John Brennan Nominations Set Up Showdown With GOP -- The Guardian
President's picks to lead Pentagon and CIA face opposition from lawmakers who disapprove of proposed national security team
President Barack Obama was finalising his second-term national security team on Monday with the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary and counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan as head of the CIA – and in the process opens a new front in his bitter fight with Republicans in Congress.
After losing a bruising battle to nominate Susan Rice as Hillary Clinton's replacement at the State Department, Obama will name Hagel – a decorated war hero – as head of the Pentagon, despite vows of resistance from Republicans who accuse the former Nebraska senator of opposing measures to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear capability and of offering less than rock-solid support for Israel.
Read more .... My Comment: The Democrat controlled U.S. Senate is not going to deny President Obama his national security team. but the confirmation process is going to be interesting .... and I predict very informative on where U.S. national security policies are heading.
My Comment: The graph on China is jaw-dropping. In 2 years they will be spending more money on their military than everyone in Asia combined. Their only competitor in Asia will be the U.S., and one must wonder on how long will it take for the Chinese to even surpass the U.S..
White House: No US Troops An Option For Afghanistan -- Voice of America
WHITE HOUSE — Three days before Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, meets with President Barack Obama in Washington, White House officials said Tuesday that the United States is considering all options, including potentially leaving no troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 when foreign combat forces are to leave.
The United States and Afghanistan are negotiating details of a bilateral security agreement, including the scope of a potential U.S. troop presence, after 2014.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since unrest began in the country nearly two years ago, according to the latest estimate from the United Nations.
And that might actually be an "underestimate," according to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who reported the statistics this year. She said Syria's raging civil war has made it "increasingly challenging" to collect accurate and reliable data.
But even if that number is on the low side, it does provide a way to put Syria's conflict in historical context.
Take a look at Syria's statistics below and see how they compare with statistics from another recent civil war (Libya), civil wars in countries of similar size (Yugoslavia in the 1990s and Spain in the 1930s) and even the Civil War in the United States.
.... The past century has seen more death, war, atrocity, and spilled blood than we can even wrap our heads around, but this new inforgraphic entitled “100 Years of World Cuisine” makes an excellent attempt at doing just that. By using various volumes of blood to match the proportion of deaths that occurred in each tragedy, it hits the message home of the massive scale of tragedy that we have inflicted on ourselves over the past century. Artists Clara Kayser-Bril, Nicolas Kayser-Bril and Marion Kotlarski, explicitly wanted to associate a “shocking, gory picture, like the reality of war” to these statistical numbers, a “context, like a scale on which we could visualize each conflict next to the others.” You can learn more at 100YearsOfWorldCuisine.com.
Libyan Revolution Casualties Lower Than Expected, Says New Government -- The Guardian
Deputy minister of martyrs says 4,700 rebel supporters died and 2,100 are missing, down from 2011's estimate of 25,000.
Libya's new government has drastically reduced its estimate of the number of people who were killed in the revolution against Muammar Gaddafi's regime, concluding that 4,700 rebel supporters died and 2,100 are missing, with unconfirmed similar casualty figures on the opposing side.
Miftah Duwadi, the deputy minister of martyrs and missing persons, told the Libya Herald newspaper that the numbers for revolutionary losses were still being checked but officials did not expect any major changes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivering a New Year's Day address in Pyongyang last week. Photo: KNS
The Missing Brothers Of Kim Jong-un -- Sydney Morning Herald
Kim Jong-un is portrayed in North Korea's official state media as a leader without comparison, blessed with a supreme bloodline, flanked by a supportive wife and endowed with the "brilliant" ability to revamp the economy, command an army and guide the space program.
But one thing is notably absent from these descriptions: any mention of his two brothers, both of whom were once rumoured to be heirs to the family-run empire.
As Kim prepares for his nationally celebrated birthday on Tuesday, thought to be his 30th, his brothers are far away from the state-sanctioned spotlight, one living in secrecy in North Korea, the other apparently moving between China and Singapore.
Karzai Meets Obama: How Will They Shape A Post-2014 Afghanistan? -- Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor
Few appear to believe the Taliban can regain power after 2014, when the US withdraws most of its troops. What's key, some say, is developing a US-Afghan partnership that will survive.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Washington this week will shape the future of Afghanistan, as he and Obama determine the number and role – if any – of US forces in Afghanistan post-2014.
After more than a decade of war and costly efforts to build infrastructure and train Afghan security forces that now number 350,000, the view from Kabul is still mixed. Many are concerned about what will happen when the bulk of the 66,000 remaining US troops will be withdrawn by the end of 2014. Others believe that Afghanistan is ready to stand on its own.
Ailing Chávez To Miss Presidential Inauguration -- Wall Street Journal
CARACAS—President Hugo Chávez recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, will miss his scheduled inauguration for a new six-year term on Thursday and has requested to be sworn in at a later date, setting off accusations by the opposition that the delay violates the Constitution.
The announcement, read to legislators on Tuesday by National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello, comes as uncertainty builds up over the state of Mr. Chávez's health and the future of his socialist revolution. The letter from Vice President Nicolás Maduro sought to postpone the swearing in ceremony, scheduled to occur before the National Assembly on Thursday, to a later date in front of the nation's Supreme Court. He didn't specify a new date.
US Officials: Syria 'Has Chemical Weapons That Could Be Used Within Two Hours' -- Business Insider/The Telegraph
Syria has armed dozens of bombs with sarin gas and other chemical weapons that could be used to target opposition less than two hours after President Bashar al-Assad issues orders, US officials have claimed.
Only concerted diplomatic pressure from the US, Russia, China and other countries has stopped the regime from loading the bombs on to its aircraft.
Satellite imagery gathered by Israel and other states in late November showed regime soldiers preparing the 500lb bombs in late November.
UN: 1 Million Syrians Need Emergency Food Aid -- Voice of America
The United Nations says about one million Syrians are living without adequate food and serious fuel shortages and rising violence are disrupting aid distribution across the war-torn country.
U.N. World Food Program spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said the WFP is distributing rations to about 1.5 million people in Syria every month, the vast majority internally displaced. But she says well below the 2.5 million people in need of assistance.
She said the lack of fuel and security in Syria has significantly curtailed the ability of the WFP's main local partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, from distributing aid.
India Says 2 Soldiers Killed In Clash With Pakistani Troops In Kashmir -- CNN
(CNN) -- Two Indian soldiers died in a firefight with Pakistani army troops in the disputed Kashmir region, the Indian army said Tuesday, amid heightened tensions in the region following a deadly clash two days ago.
India said a group of Pakistani troops had crossed the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan in the region, and entered the Indian-controlled side of the Himalayan territory. Read more ....
More News On The Latest Border Skirmishes Between Indian - Pakistani Troops
A demonstrator holds a flag with a portrait of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Strasbourg, Feb. 18, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Vincent Kessler)
Turkey, Ocalan Map Out Steps To End Kurdish Conflict -- Reuters
The Turkish government and the jailed leader of a Kurdish insurgency have agreed on the framework for a plan to end a war that has killed 40,000 people since 1984, envisaging rebel disarmament in exchange for increased minority rights, a newspaper said on Tuesday.
The Radikal daily said senior intelligence officials had held meetings with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) chief Abdullah Ocalan in his island jail near Istanbul, yielding a four-stage plan to halt the conflict.
Previous negotiations with the PKK were highly secretive and appeared to have run aground. The open acknowledgment of the latest contact has raised hopes for a renewed peace effort, including from the main pro-Kurdish party in parliament.
Japan Increases Surveillance of East China Sea Islands -- Voice of America
Japan has increased surveillance around disputed East China Sea islands, after Chinese ships made a rare prolonged visit to the waters around them.
Tokyo controls the islands and refers to them as Senkaku, while Beijing considers them to be Chinese territory and calls them Diaoyu.
Japan said four Chinese surveillance ships entered the waters around the disputed islands on Monday and remained for 13 hours, ignoring calls by the Japanese coast guard to leave. Japanese chief Cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga called the prolonged Chinese patrol “extremely unusual” and “regrettable.”
6 Strikes, 8 Days, 35 Dead: The U.S. Drone War In Pakistan Is Back -- Danger Room
The sixth U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2013 has killed at least eight people, as if to announce the impending arrival at the CIA of the drone campaign’s chief advocate.
About 19 miles east of Mirin Shah, the main city in the tribal province of North Waziristan, at least one missile fired by a U.S. Predator or Reaper hit a compound Monday night, killing an alleged, unnamed “foreign tactical trainer” for al-Qaida, according to Pakistani intelligence sources talking to Reuters. Another strike hit the nearby village of Eissu Khel, the Long War Journal reports. In addition to the alleged al-Qaida member, at least seven others were killed and three more were injured.
My Comment: Again ... no Congressional debate .... no anti-war protests in America .... lmited news coverage .... no outrage from from the media/pundits/academia .... just fighting a war and hoping that the blow-back (and there will be blow-back one day) will not be that severe.
Lone Suspect Held In Benghazi Attack Is Freed In Tunisia -- New York Times
CAIRO — The only known suspect jailed in connection with the deadly attack on the United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, was freed on Tuesday by the Tunisian authorities who had held him. His lawyer said he was released for lack of evidence.
The release dramatized the negligible progress in any investigation into the attack, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11 last year. The feebleness of Libya’s transitional government since the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has stymied any progress despite what Benghazi residents describe as an abundance of leads.
A German police officer guards an Afghan National Police trainee as she fires her weapon at a training center in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, December 18, 2012.
ISAF: Security Transfer To Afghan Forces On Track -- Voice of America
ISLAMABAD — NATO civilian and military officials said that by the middle of 2013, Afghanistan’s national security forces will be leading security operations throughout the country. They also have dismissed suggestions that so-called “green-on-blue” attacks could undermine the 2014 drawdown plan.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance force, or ISAF, began the gradual transfer of security responsibility to Afghan national forces nearly two years ago, and it plans to complete the process by the end of 2014, when all foreign combat troops will have withdrawn from Afghanistan.
What's my prediction .... only a few thousand U.S. soldiers will be left behind, and their mission objectives will be undefined and uncertain. If anything .... such a deployment will act more as a presence .... that in the event of everything in Afghanistan collaping, thousands of U.S. and NATO forces could rush in to maintain some form of order while evacuating foreign nationals. After that .... well .... no one wants to think about that option.
U.S. soldiers and sailors assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah come together before leaving for a mission in Farah City, Afghanistan, Jan. 6, 2013. The meeting, with the provincial director of commerce and industry, enabled team members to discuss ongoing initiatives in the province to spur economic growth and development. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup
British Soldier Shot Dead In 'Insider Attack By Rogue Member Of Afghan Army' -- Daily Mail
* Dead man was from the 28 Engineer Regiment and shot in Helmand * Six other Britons also wounded in the incident yesterday * 439 UK service people killed in country since 2001 * Last six deaths have all been in 'green on blue' attacks * 54 international troops have been murdered by Afghan police or army
A British soldier has been killed in yet another 'insider attack' in the war-torn country.
The killer, a suspected rogue member of the Afghan National Army, first opened fire on his colleagues, before turning his weapon on UK soldiers in the small Patrol Base Hazrat in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand Province yesterday.
Return fire then killed the gunman at the scene, the Ministry of Defence said.
Hints of Syrian Chemical Push Set Off Global Effort to Stop It -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — In the last days of November, Israel’s top military commanders called the Pentagon to discuss troubling intelligence that was showing up on satellite imagery: Syrian troops appeared to be mixing chemicals at two storage sites, probably the deadly nerve gas sarin, and filling dozens of 500-pounds bombs that could be loaded on airplanes.
China Could Be Spending More On Its Military Than The US By 2035 -- Business Insider
China's military budget has been exploding and could soon pass the US military budget in just over two decades.
From a recent research note published by Societe Generale:
Growing dispute with China and its neighbours... China’s military spending is expected to have increased from around $20 billion in 2002 to at least $120bn in 2011. According to the research institute SIPRI, the country could surpass the US in total military spending by 2035, raising concerns in the US and southeast Asian countries. Last year, conflict over disputed islands caused Japan’s exports to China to fall sharply (-14.5% in November), increasing Japan’s trade deficit. The election of a new government with a more nationalist position in Japan could put the Sino- Japanese relationship under further strain. With the US Pivot preventing any large military actions in the region, the conflicts could take the form of trade wars that would damage Japan’s weak economy.
