Defiant to the end
Yet another UN investigation of the North Korean government concluded that North Korea continues to export weapons, despite sanctions and efforts by many countries to interfere with this illegal activity. This includes selling technology for nuclear and chemical weapons, which, it turns out, is the most valuable and easiest to transport, weapons export the North Koreans have.
UN pulls staff
Because of an increase in Taliban violence, the UN is pulling some of its staff out of Afghanistan. Of particular concern to UN officials is the 45% increase in murdered Afghan government officials. The Taliban believe the use of death squads can effectively intimidate these officials.
Civilian casualties reduced
After a year of concentrated effort, NATO forces in Afghanistan have reduced civilian casualties caused by foreign troops by 44.4 %. There were 7.8% fewer battles involving civilians and 52% fewer civilians injured by foreign soldiers. All of this was calculated comparing the last three months with the same period last year. This is noteworthy, due to the fact that there are more foreign troops in action this year compared to last year. Meanwhile, civilian losses from Taliban action are up 36% over last year.
All a set-up
Within a week, it became clear that the 30 May battle between Islamic terrorists and Israeli commandos on a Turkish ship attempting to reach Gaza was a total set-up. IHH, the Islamic charity that organized the six-ship flotilla, has been frequently been identified over the past two decades as a supporter of terrorist operations. Messages broadcast by IHH terrorists on the ships before 30 May indicated that the objective was to trigger a lethal battle with the Israelis and claim an unprovoked Israeli attack on supposed peaceful demonstrators. Apparently their plan backfired.
Assassinating exiles
The Iranian leadership is becoming more aggressive overseas with its agents assigned to observe, and sometimes kill, exiled Iranians who oppose the religious dictatorship back home. These agents mainly collect information seeking to identify the exiles causing the most trouble. The government then seeks to quiet the exiles by threatening family members still in Iran; if that doesn’t work the exiles are sometimes assassinated.
NGO corruption
To demonstrate its efforts to help curb corruption, the Afghan government announced that it dissolved 172 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that were pretending to be charities but were actually scams. All but 20 of them were locally run by Afghans. There were over 1,000 NGOs operating in Afghanistan; the government has been fighting NGO corruption for years.
Lunatic Chavez
The erratic and bizarre rule of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez continues to run the economy into the ground. This is causing more popular discontent and Chavez is responding more and more as the dictator of a police state government.
Condemning N. Korea
After considerable South Korean diplomatic efforts, 58 countries have condemned the North Korean government for the unprovoked torpedo attack and sinking of a South Korean warship in March of this year. Russia and China have been conspicuously silent on the issue. The Soviet Union was responsible for the creation of North Korea in 1945 and subsequently ordered the 1950 invasion of South Korea. The Chinese communists were responsible for saving North Korea from destruction during that war.
The Green Zone
Iraqi security personnel have officially taken over all security for the Green Zone. This four-square-mile sanctuary in downtown Baghdad was long a safe zone for American and senior Iraqi officials. Most Baghdad residents want the Green Zone eliminated because it disrupts major traffic patterns, but rich and powerful Iraqis want to live in the Green Zone as it offers protection from criminals and terrorists, both of whom murder, kidnap and rob the rich. So, for the moment, the Green Zone lives on under Iraqi management.
Ignorance rules
North Korean military officials are enthusiastic about war after having absorbed much of their own propaganda. They ignorantly believe that the South Korean and American military are ineffective and that a war would bring the North a quick victory. Government officials, especially those running the economy, see war as disastrous and would likely end the communist rule in the North.
Defense against whom?
The Chinese government insists that its growing military power is for defensive purposes and they are spending a lot of money on their naval forces to protect the imports and exports that are driving China’s economic growth. The Chinese try to explain away their military buildup opposite Taiwan as political theater and, while this may be true, a failed attempt to take Taiwan by force would not only disrupt the economy it would be a major failure by the government. Dictatorships cannot survive too many such failures, or too many angry citizens, so it makes sense that the Chinese military growth is largely for defense. However, those large defensive forces can also be used to bully or intimidate neighbors, and that’s what the neighbors are worried about.
Watching Chinese Navy
The U.S. and Japanese militaries have agreed to cooperate in monitoring the Chinese Navy. The Chinese were not happy about it and have been very public in its protests.
Returns to terrorism
Al Qaeda named Othman Ahmed al Ghamdi, a 31-year-old Saudi, as one of the senior leaders of the terrorist group in Saudi Arabia. Two years ago, al Ghamdi was placed on Saudi Arabia’s most wanted list. In 2002, he was captured in Afghanistan by U.S. troops and sent to Guantanamo. He was released in 2006 and sent back to Saudi Arabia to undergo rehabilitation before being released back into the public. Once released he promptly returned to Islamic terrorism.
Eyes are everywhere
The Taliban in Afghanistan are well aware of the NATO Rules of Engagement and take advantage of them. The Taliban try to live among the civilians as much as possible, but the Taliban and al Qaeda do have to move around. The ability of NATO and U.S. ground forces along with aircraft and UAVs to keep eyes on a Taliban leader for weeks at a time has led to the deaths of many smug guys who thought they had beat the system.
More pirates, fewer attacks
Despite the setbacks imposed by the international piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden, it is estimated that there are three times as many pirates in action than last year, even though the pirates are making a lot less money this year.
Pirates released
The U.S. Navy released 10 pirates held on an American destroyer for six weeks because no country would prosecute them. The pirates were captured in the act of attacking a merchant ship.
Arming for war?
The Venezuelan government is buying more K-8 jet trainers from China after having ordered 18 two years ago. Apparently pleased with the first ones to arrive, Venezuela is now building a fleet of 40 K-8s aircraft with plans to use them more for reconnaissance and combat, than for training.
Taking aim at Taiwan
Failing to manipulate the Taiwanese parliament into stopping all new American arms sales to Taiwan, Chinese diplomats are now trying to play the U.S. Department of Defense and Congress to get the sale stopped. China has successfully used diplomacy for the last few decades — along with propaganda, threats, cash and business opportunities — to persuade other nations to shun Taiwan. For example, China recently persuaded France to reduce its cooperation in providing upgrades and spares for French warships and jet fighters used by Taiwanese military forces. China continually hurts American defense firms, offering much cheaper weapons and poor grade equipment, or additional diplomatic and economic incentives. The main target of this campaign is the U.S., as America has long been Taiwan’s primary ally, and is now more important than ever.
Moving day
After five years of planning, the U.S. Army is moving its armored warfare center and school from Fort Knox, Kentucky, to Fort Benning, Georgia. This is all part of a major reorganization, which will move an infantry brigade and the Army human resources operations to Fort Knox. The armor center and school is moving nearly 200 M-1 tanks and 1,000 other armored vehicles to Fort Benning. Fort Knox will still contain an Army basic training center, along with the Patton Armor Museum and the U.S. Gold Bullion Depository.
Sanctions useless
The UN has admitted that most of the world’s nations do not enforce the UN sanctions on North Korea, or on any other nations for that matter. If the sanctioned country can be discrete and willing to bribe the right people, sanctions can be circumvented. Energetic efforts by Western countries that do enforce the sanctions tend to create unpleasant diplomatic situations when sanction evasion is uncovered.
Obama & democrats
“Concentrated power has always been an enemy of liberty.” — Ronald Reagan
Striking for wages
The Chinese government suffered a major defeat when workers at several large automotive part manufacturing plants managed to organize and sustain a strike for higher wages. China has labor unions, but they are government controlled and are intended to keep workers in line and prevent strikes. The workers used cell phones and the Internet in creative ways — getting around electronic government surveillance — to keep the workers informed and maintain morale along with the strike. There will be repercussions, and strike leaders will be sought out and punished, along with efforts to block cell phone use and the Internet to support such forbidden activities.
Blockading Somalia
The shipping industry is calling for a blockade of the Somalia coast to deal with the piracy problem. For over a year, the UN has been under pressure to authorize a naval blockade of Somalia but that hasn’t happened and likely never will. A blockade would be difficult and expensive to carry out given the vast coastline and the number of determined pirates. The blockade would have to be maintained indefinitely or until someone went in and imposed peace on the country. NATO has flat out refused to consider helping out with the blockade. Everyone wants something done about the pirates, but too many countries are holding back because of the embarrassing consequences.
Ever-shrinking Navy
In the last decade, the U.S. Navy has shrunk by 20% to a force of 280 ships. The main reason for this shrinkage is the high cost of new ships to replace those that are wearing out and being retired. In the next decade, the fleet is expected to shrink by another 20%, because Congress refuses to provide enough money to replace older ships. New ships cost on average $2.5 billion each.
Russia shuts China out
After years of having their military technology blatantly stolen by China, the Russians are no longer selling them much of anything. In addition, the state-controlled Russian media is now featuring lots of pundits deploring the low performance of the Chinese arms industry and how poorly they have copied Russian military technology. A flurry of reports disparaged China’s attempt to copy the Russian Su-33 fighter aircraft. Most of these accusations ring hollow when you consider how the Chinese have already caught up with a lot of Russian military manufacturers and are driving them out of business in some areas.
Toxic waste dump
In April a construction project outside Washington, D.C., was halted when a 90-year-old chemical weapons dump was discovered. Among the items removed from the site were glass containers of toxic chemicals, still dangerous after nearly a century of being buried in the ground. Over a ton of noxious chemicals, such as mustard gas in liquid form, along with the contaminated soil were removed and destroyed. What was unusual about this discovery was it was unknown; there were three known sites in the Washington area where chemical weapons from research organizations were disposed of via burial after WWI, and those have been subsequently cleaned up. This fourth location is material believed to be from nearby American University, and the location was never recorded.
More time at home
With U.S. troop levels in Iraq rapidly declining, to 50,000 by August, and lower levels of troops needed in Afghanistan, the Army is planning on keeping no more than 10 combat brigades in combat at any given time for the next several years. This means that units can expect to be at home for two years before being deployed overseas again. Reserve brigades will get up to four years between deployments. Currently 25 of the 70 active duty and reserve combat brigades are overseas, but not all are in combat zones.
WWII ordnance found
Construction workers on the Pacific island of Guam found an unexploded WWII-era 1,000-pound bomb when their backhoe hit it. Fortunately, the bomb didn’t detonate and bomb disposal technicians were able to safely dispose of it.
Iron Cross for U.S.
The German Army has awarded 14 U.S. soldiers the revived Iron Cross medal for risking their lives to save 11 German soldiers who had come under heavy fire on 2 April 2010 while searching for roadside bombs. Eleven of the German troops were wounded, and three were killed in action; none of the U.S. soldiers were wounded.
Honor
“A veteran, whether active duty, national guard or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount of up to and including his life. That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.” — Author unknown
Thuggish hypocrites
Even though the Taliban claims to be the enemy of corruption and violence, they cannot exist without it either. Most Afghans recognize this, which is why the Taliban are so unpopular and really only a threat in one small part of Afghanistan. The Taliban bribes who they can and terrorizes the rest; classic Afghan tactics and everyone, from warlords to bandits, uses them. What makes the Taliban unique is the religious angle and the use of a drug gang alliance to raise needed cash. The Taliban uses religion as another form of terror, threatening people for not being Islamic enough; something that is easy to do in Afghanistan where religion has always been worn lightly, but not totally ignored. The Taliban is generally perceived as thuggish hypocrites, as they turn teenagers into suicide bombers and protect the drug trade, which has turned millions of Afghans, as well as even more Pakistanis and Iranians, into opium or heroin addicts.
Dictator Obama
“The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.” — Ayn Rand, from the novel “The Fountainhead”