WAR 02-10-2018-to-02-16-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

[Housecarl]

(307) 01-20-2018-to-01-26-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-26-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(308) 01-27-2018-to-02-02-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-02-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(309) 02-03-2018-to-02-09-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-09-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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Two soldiers killed, nine injured as militants storm Indian army camp
Started by Millwright‎, Today 02:44 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...e-injured-as-militants-storm-Indian-army-camp

The Winds of War Blow in Israel The Road to War
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...s-of-War-Blow-in-Israel-The-Road-to-War/page3

Open WAR between Syria and Israel - Israeli jet shot down
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...-Syria-and-Israel-Israeli-jet-shot-down/page2

SYRIAN ARMY FIRES ON ADVANCING TURKISH MILITARY COLUMNS
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...S-ON-ADVANCING-TURKISH-MILITARY-COLUMNS/page7

Venezuelans rush to borders as Colombia and Brazil tighten controls
Started by mzkitty‎, Today 02:03 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...rders-as-Colombia-and-Brazil-tighten-controls


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Hummm.....And this after telling Lithuania to not worry about the nuclear capable systems the Russians just deployed to Kaliningrad...https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...issiles/ar-BBIMMl3?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...-stance/ar-BBIXuS9?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Putin ally warns of arms race as Russia considers response to U.S. nuclear stance

The Washington Post
Anton Troianovski
6 hrs ago

Sergey Chemezov, a top figure in Russia’s arms industry, said he didn’t believe that the New START accord limiting the number of nuclear weapons deployed by the two countries could be renewed in the current political environment.

“How can we talk about further negotiations about arms reductions when we don’t trust each other?” Chemezov said in the interview with The Washington Post.

Chemezov is one of the most prominent Russians to express skepticism in recent weeks about the prospect for new nuclear arms talks with the United States. With Russian hopes dashed that President Trump would improve relations with Moscow, the Russian elite increasingly appears unsettled by his more muscular approach.

For Russians, a new warning sign came earlier this month with the release of a U.S. Defense Department document recommending the development of new nuclear arms to counter Russia.

“It will lead to another arms race, because we will have to do the same as the Americans,” Chemezov said, referring to the Defense Department’s Nuclear Posture Review. “And then a mere spark will be sufficient. With the number of weapons in the world today, there will be no winners; the world will be destroyed.”

Chemezov heads Rostec, a state industrial giant that makes small arms, helicopters, radar systems and other weapons, and that controls Russian arms exports. He is also one of Putin’s key associates at the intersection of business and government and a longtime friend. The two served together in the KGB in Dresden, East Germany, in the 1980s and shared an entryway in a six-story apartment building.

Chemezov is under U.S. sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department. It referred to him as “a trusted ally of President Putin” when it announced sanctions against him and several other Russian officials in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Late last month, Treasury listed him as one of Russia’s “senior political leaders.”

“They think that people on the list will start getting upset and come to the Americans and say, ‘Yes, we are with you,’ and ‘Let’s overthrow Putin together,’* ” Chemezov said, referring to the sanctions list. “On the contrary — it had the exact opposite effect. All the people who are on the list support Putin.”

Echoing senior Russian politicians, Chemezov said he had been expecting a friendlier U.S. policy toward Russia after Trump took office. Loosened sanctions, Chemezov said, would have allowed his company to deepen its business ties with American companies such as Boeing, with which it already works to produce titanium airplane parts in Russia’s Ural Mountains.

Maybe he will gain the strength to create some opportunities that will allow him to change something regarding Russia,” Chemezov said of Trump. “We were expecting normal relations to be reestablished, as things were under George W. Bush.”

Instead, Russian officials see the Nuclear Posture Review as the latest sign that Trump is failing to deliver on his promise of improved relations. Writing for the Valdai Discussion Club, which is close to Russia’s foreign-policy establishment, international relations specialist Dmitry Suslov said the new nuclear policy could not only bring about a new arms race but also “a dramatic military crisis fraught with a direct military clash between the US and Russia.”

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said Russia will “take measures to enhance our security” on the heels of the U.S. nuclear plans.

Russia is already modernizing its nuclear arsenal, with upgrades to its bombers, missiles and submarines capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

As tensions with the United States rise, Russian politicians and media personalities have said Russia’s nuclear arsenal ensures that the country will be taken seriously.

“Under Obama, all these games by Russia around nuclear weapons were not seen with great pleasure, but also without much alarm,” Russian military analyst Alexander Golts said. “Now the situation has changed, and the endless Russian threats seem to be taken seriously.”

Russian officials are still working to digest the Nuclear Posture Review and to divine Trump’s interest in arms-control negotiations.

For Moscow, a key question is how Trump will proceed on the New START agreement, which expires in 2021. The treaty, which President Barack Obama negotiated with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads by each country to 1,550 and institutes an extensive verification regime.

The compliance deadline for the New START agreement was Monday, and both Moscow and Washington said they complied with required reductions. The treaty can be extended automatically for another five years if both presidents sign. The United States is concerned that Russia is violating other agreements, most notably the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and some U.S. officials doubt that Washington should sign an extension if other agreements aren’t holding.

“It’s in Russia’s interest to maintain and extend the New START treaty after it expires,” said Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military scholar and a member of the Defense Ministry’s public advisory council. “If Trump wants to exit New START, then this would mean a new reality.”

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.stripes.com/news/basic-...army-will-focus-on-discipline-morale-1.510957

Basic training overhaul coming for the Army will focus on discipline, morale

By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: February 9, 2018

WASHINGTON — The Army will soon overhaul its Basic Combat Training course in an effort to produce fitter, more disciplined and better motivated new soldiers, the general in charge of entrance training said Friday.

The Army will hold recruits to higher physical fitness standards, send them on more realistic combat training exercises and increase its efforts to teach basic skills such as first aid, arm signal communication and shooting rifles using only iron sights, said Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost, the commander of the Army’s Center for Initial Military Training.

“First unit assignment leaders want initial entry training to deliver disciplined, physically fit new soldiers who are willing to learn, who are mentally tough, professional and who are proud to serve in the United States Army,” Frost said. “The bottom line is that when you graduate Basic Combat Training, you are supposed to be ready for your first unit assignment [and] to be ready to step on a plane and go to combat.”

The changes are expected to go into effect before the fiscal year ends in October. They come as the Army looks to recruit some 15,000 new soldiers to increase its force during the coming year.

Through the past three years, the Army polled more than 27,000 of its noncommissioned officers, warrant officers and officers in the ranks of second lieutenant to colonel, asking them to identify deficiencies they have observed among the service’s newest soldiers.

What Frost found was leaders primarily concerned with a lack of discipline among those soldiers reporting to their first units. The general said the surveys indicated a trend in new soldiers reporting with less-than-stellar work ethics and bad habits such as arriving late for duty or wearing their uniforms sloppily. Other concerns included soldiers who have issues following orders and obeying and showing respect for their superiors, he said.

“There is too much a sense of entitlement,” Frost said. “This is about taking ownership and taking pride in the work.”

To incorporate better discipline, the Army will increase its focus in basic training on indoctrinating soldiers on Army values and evaluate them on their discipline.

Recruits will undergo bunk inspections, participate in drill and ceremony competitions and face tests on their knowledge of the Army’s history.

Frost said the focus on the Army’s long history is meant to build espirit de corps, teaching the service’s values through lessons on pivotal battles from the Revolutionary War to the capture of Baghdad from Saddam Hussein’s forces in the Army’s 2003 Thunder Runs across Iraq.

They will largely focus on individual acts of valor in past battles to instill in recruits “what it means to be a United States Army soldier” and connect them with the service’s heritage, he said.

The increased physical fitness standards will align with ones required of soldiers in the force. That means recruits must score 60 points — determined by a soldier’s age and gender — on each of the three aspects of the Army Physical Fitness Test, push-ups, sit-ups and two-mile runs. Previously recruits only needed to score 50 points on each test in basic training, Frost said.

To aid recruits in achieving the more stringent fitness requirements and to better prepare them for combat, the Army will increase the amount of time recruits spend in the field and boost combatants training from 22 hours to 33 hours during the 10-week course.

The final training exercise — called the Forge — will be among the changes that include combat-specific tasks. The 81-hour exercise will consist of a 40-mile road march with tasks along the way, including a medical evacuation exercise, a night infiltration, a mission to resupply troops, an obstacle course and patrols “very much like what they could see in combat,” Frost said.

The overhauled Basic Combat Training course has been tested for several months at Fort Jackson in South Carolina with “a lot of success,” the general said Friday.

“We are simply trying to instill some pride, a little bit of grit and resilience in basic combat training there,” Frost said. “It’s not that we’re going back to shining boots, and having drill and ceremony as a predominant aspect of basic training. We’re not. But what we are doing is we are creeping some of that back in — we’re trying to do things the right way.”

dickstein.corey@stripes.com
Twitter: @CDicksteinDC

 

[China Connection]

Too late to retrain. War meaning World War is not far off.

 

[almost ready]

Too late to retrain. War meaning World War is not far off.

True, but a training period might be useful for discipline problems as they arise. Back to boot camp instead of the brig for first offenders. Could see that working. Some might straighten up but more importantly, it would be useful from a PR viewpoint, and also serve as a deterrent to acting up. Especially if lots of push ups and long runs were involved. It's not a full solution, but we don't have the luxury of time.

Of course, if and when we get into a real world war situation, things will change considerably. As Dr. Fungkool mentions, WW means rationing and a great change in culture and what is permitted and possible. People here remember that during the war a great deal of farm machinery and other stuff was just taken, commandeered. Tractors, whatever. It was near impossible to get a good set of tires, also. Life changed in ways people prefer to forget. Far beyond ration cards for butter, etc.

In a real war situation, you won't hear much whining about privilege, cause the media will be under the government's control to a very high degree. 180 degree reversal from today.

We'll see. Still not convinced that anyone wants to do other than break some pottery, do some localized stuff, and sell and use up armaments. Regional wars of the past few decades have been as much about displaying "my stuff is better than your stuff" and making new customers, than accomplishing real geopolitical changes. Witness Russia and TUrkey getting cozy today. Bet the Turks will be buying up those anti-aircraft missiles now. Watching.

In many ways, your world war soon prognostications remind me of those who knew, for many logical reasons, that the federal reserve note was going to crash and burn. Yes, they were right given the factors involved, but they never suspected the complete subterfuge and lawlessness that would circumvent the laws, including the rules and regulations of the exchanges, etc.

If the countries involved are there to sell stuff and enjoying the fruits of their labors, power, control, riches, and fame, why would they overturn their apple carts?

 

[danielboon]

Breaking: Kurdish forces bombed by US coalition airpower in east Syria amid big battle with ISIS -...
almasdarnews.com
https://t.co/3R1axQLNv0?amp=1 oops

 

[danielboon]

IDF official: Response to future Iranian violations will be more forceful
jpost.com
https://t.co/bBE08wOr68?amp=1

 

[Housecarl]

Breaking: Kurdish forces bombed by US coalition airpower in east Syria amid big battle with ISIS -...
almasdarnews.com
https://t.co/3R1axQLNv0?amp=1 oops

Well unfortunately "Blue on Blue" happens....

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.longwarjournal.org/arch...ernational-facilitators-for-islamic-state.php

US terror designations expose 3 international facilitators for Islamic State

By Thomas Joscelyn | February 10, 2018 | tjoscelyn@gmail.com | @thomasjoscelyn

As the Islamic State attempted to hold onto the territory in its so-called caliphate, it deployed a fleet of small drones to harass its foes. The modified drones were deployed during the battle for Mosul, where they were used to perform surveillance and drop small explosives on approaching forces, as well as elsewhere throughout Iraq and Syria.

The US Treasury Department has now revealed new details about the jihadists’ procurement network for its tiny unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Yesterday, Treasury designated three Islamic State facilitators as terrorists and sanctioned three associated entities as well.

The move further exposed the jihadists’ support networks in the Philippines, Somalia, and Turkey.

And one of the newly-designated terrorists, Yunus Emre Sakarya, has allegedly played a “key” role in acquiring UAV “components” since “at least 2015.” Sakarya established a “Turkey-based company, Profesyoneller Elektronik,” that year and has operated it ever since. Profesyoneller Elektronik, which is located in the Kecioren district of Ankara, “serves as an ISIS front company involved in the procurement of UAV-related materials” and, during the first half of 2016, “was involved in transactions for UAV-related equipment that totaled over $500,000 for ISIS.”

Sakarya is a dual citizen of Germany and Turkey, according to the US government’s identifying information. In addition to Turkey, he has operated out of Mayadin, Syria — a city on the Euphrates River in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. Mayadin is a a known hub for the Islamic State’s leadership.

Indeed, the US-led coalition has waged a targeted air campaign against Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s loyalists in Mayadin since the first half of 2017. US military officials say that some of those killed were involved in the Islamic State’s drone program. In Sept. 2017, for instance, the US announced that three drone developers and builders had been killed in airstrikes near Mayadin. [See FDD’s Long War Journal report, US-led coalition kills 3 Islamic State ‘drone experts’ in eastern Syria.]

Treasury does not say whether Turkish officials have knowingly allowed Sakarya to operate his front company, but the Islamic State’s facilitation network has run through Turkey for years. The Islamic State has continued to operate in Turkey despite launching terrorist attacks targeting civilians. Some of the group’s personnel even fled to the country after they lost ground in Iraq and Syria. For example, Treasury announced last year that the Islamic State’s “finance emir for Mosul” had relocated to the NATO ally’s turf.

ISIS-linked “financial operative” in Somalia

The second newly-sanctioned Islamic State figure is Mohamed Mire Ali Yusuf (Mire Ali), “an ISIS-aligned financial operative” who has “provided funds” to Abdulqadir Mumin.

Mumin (pictured on the right) was a Shabaab commander in the Puntland region. But he defected to the Islamic State in 2015, proclaiming his allegiance Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The US designated Mumin as a terrorist in Aug. 2016.

Mire Ali has helped finance Mumin’s branch of the so-called caliphate, according to Treasury. Two of Mire Ali’s companies, Liibaan Trading and Al-Mutafaq Commercial Company, both of which are located in Bosaso (a city in Puntland), were added to the US government’s list of designated terrorist organizations as well.

Treasury says that Mire Ali “ran all of his business activities through” Liibaan Trading, in downtown Bosaso, as of mid-2016. Liibaan is a “livestock trading business” that has “served as a front for ISIS-aligned groups in the Bari region of Somalia.” His business has likely taken him to Dubai, too, as the government’s identifying information places him in the city.

An ISIS facilitator in the Philippines

The third ISIS facilitator designated as a terrorist is Abdulpatta Escalon Abubakar. Filipino authorities detained Abubakar “as he was traveling from the Gulf to the Philippines” in Sept. 2017, Treasury notes. The US has placed him in Jeddah and Daina, Saudi Arabia.

By the time of his capture, Abubakar had served the ISIS network in the Philippines for more than a year and a half.

Treasury has tracked a number of transactions that went through Abubakar, including a July 2016 transfer of about $20,000 that was “sent” by ISIS and “may have been used by ISIS elements in the Philippines to purchase arms.” This implies that the Islamic State directly funded at least some arms purchases for its upstart arm in Southeast Asia.

Abubakar facilitated a “transfer of approximately $50,000 to ISIS’s network in the Philippines” in Aug. 2016 and another $5,000 in July 2017. He also worked for a time with Isnilon Hapilon, the former leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group who defected to Baghdadi’s cause. According to the Filipino governent, Hapilon was killed in Marawi last year. In 2016, Hapilon had Abubakar “procure a large amount of ammunition and arms.” Abubakar also procured “improvised explosive device materials for Hapilon.”

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

 

[danielboon]

TURKISH WARSHIPS BLOCK CYPRIOT DRILLING RIG IN DISPUTE OVER MEDITERRANEAN GAS FIELD

Amid escalating tensions between Cyprus and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea, the two countries could be headed towards a resource war.

On Monday, the Cypriot government released a report according to which Turkish warships continue to heavily restrict one of its deepwater drilling rigs from reaching its intended site off the Cyprus coast, where Italian energy company Eni is planning to conduct a drilling operation.

Cyprus officials announced on Monday that Turkey is breaching “international law” by blocking the Italian ship from the drilling site, said the Russian Times. According to the Cyprus News Agency, Italy’s energy giant Eni S.p.A. said that its gas drilling ship was ordered to halt its travels by Turkish warships last Friday, citing “military activities in the destination area” as it sailed through Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

Cyprus Government Spokesperson Nicos Christodoulides told state broadcaster RIK that the rig remains moored about 30miles (50 kilometers) from the drill site located off the island’s southeastern coast. Christodoulides further noted that Turkey’s military maneuvers expire Feb. 22. Nevertheless, Cyprus strongly condemns the illegal actions by Turkish warships. According to Marine Traffic, the rig’s status remains in “restricted maneuverability” with two other support vessels.“We are keeping calm in order to avoid any crisis and taking all diplomatic steps necessary so that finally the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign rights can be respected,” President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters on Sunday adding that “we are handling the situation by trying to avoid anything that could worsen the situation without ignoring the fact that Turkey’s actions are in breach of international law.”RT explains the Cyprus–Turkey maritime zones dispute which has been ongoing for 45 years:

Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus, says that some areas of the so-called exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Cyprus are under Turkish jurisdiction. The island was split some 45 years ago between the internationally-recognized, Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey.

However, Turkey’s foreign ministry in Ankara criticized Cyprus over the “unilateral hydrocarbon-related activities” by the European Union’s most easterly member. “It does so in disregard of the inalienable rights on natural resources of the Turkish Cypriot people, who are the co-owners of the island,” a statement said.

The dispute over resources in the Mediterranean Sea is nothing new between the Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This has been an ongoing argument for over four decades. Meanwhile the sea grab for resources has recently included three other regional rivals, Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah, who are similarly fighting over resources not too far away.https://southfront.org/turkish-wars...-field/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/arti...&utm_term=0_b02a5f1344-c3a6367850-122460921&m

Russia by Cyber, North Korea by Nuke: A New Batch of Grim Warnings from US Intel

FEBRUARY 14, 2018 | THE CIPHER BRIEF STAFF

Questioning on Russian election interference and how the Trump White House handles staff clearances dominated the worldwide threat hearing Tuesday, as the Senate intelligence committee grilled leaders of the FBI, CIA, NSA, DNI, DIA and NGA over the contents of the 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Cipher Brief experts who used to contribute to, compile or testify on the annual threat assessment weigh in below.

DNI Dan Coats warned the U.S. is under cyberattack, by hacking campaigns backed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as terrorists and transnational criminals. He listed North Korea as presenting the most volatile and confrontational weapons of mass destruction threat. He said terrorists like ISIS, al Qaeda and Hezbollah would continue to be dangerous. And he warned that Russia, China and Iran are all trying to find ways to expand their reach, from land to sea to space.
Coats also mentioned a key warning from the Worldwide Threat Assessment: “The risk of interstate conflict, including among great powers, is higher than at any time since the end of the Cold War. The most immediate threats of regional interstate conflict in the next year come from North Korea and from Saudi-Iranian use of proxies in their rivalry.”
Steve Hall, former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service



“During the Cold War, it struck me that violence as a result of geopolitical issues between the Soviet Union and the West were carefully weighed. That sort of precision seems less apparent these days.”

Looking ahead on actions North Korea may take: “In the wake of accelerated missile testing since 2016, North Korea is likely to press ahead with more tests in 2018, and its Foreign Minister said that Kim may be considering conducting an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean,” reads the Worldwide Threat Assessment.
Amb. Joseph DeTrani, former Director for East Asia Operations, CIA



“I think Director Pompeo’s assessment is right on the mark. All indications are that North Korea will retain and enhance its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Thus the prospects in 2018, assuming the proposed summit with South Korean President Moon Je-in or direct talks with the U.S. don’t get North Korea to halt its missile launches and nuclear tests, is that Kim Jung Un will resume nuclear tests and missile launches. An atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean would be even more provocative and threatening than previous tests. Director Pompeo also assessed that Kim Jung Un may not be receiving the best information and counsel from his advisers. If true, that’s very disconcerting. That means that Kim Jung Un may be making decisions that affect the security in the region based on faulty information.”

Todd Rosenblum, former senior Pentagon and Homeland Security official in the Obama administration



“An atmospheric test would be a dangerous, destabilizing gambit by the North. Detonating a nuclear device in the atmosphere over a land mass would generate an electronic magnetic pulse shock wave that would destroy most of a nation’s electronic lifeblood, and catastrophic environmental damage, but not mass casualties on the ground. It would devastate a nation without killing people. A North Korean decision to demonstrate the will and capacity to conduct an atmospheric test over the Pacific would be a grave escalation to stability and heightened threat to the United States. North Korea has threatened such a test in the past, and may have the technical ability to do so now or in the near future. Such an act would upend political dynamics in the region, likely moving China to cut off even more lifeblood from the regime. We and our allies almost certainly will focus on rapidly increasing our ballistic missile defense capabilities in theater and at home.”

On Russian electoral interference and the current administration: “Persistent and disruptive cyber operations will continue against the United States and our European allies, using elections as opportunities to undermine democracy, sow discord and undermine our values,” said DNI Coats. All of the national security chiefs backed the 2017 assessment that Russia had tried to interfere with the 2016 election, and would likely try again, but Coats and the other chiefs also admitted under questioning that none of them had been specifically ordered by the president to focus on Russian interference.
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Jim Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence



“I thought his comments were significant: the acknowledgment that no one is in charge in the government for thwarting Russian interference in our election processes. Good on him.”

Steve Hall, former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service



“There seems to still be fatigued tension between all parts of the intelligence community and this administration, which continues to poo-poo the conclusion that undermines everything: Russia is interested in being disrupted to all Western democracies and specifically the United States. All of the Trump-appointed leaders of the IC seem to be saying the right thing, so in a sense I feel reassured because there doesn’t seem to be much equivocation. At least publicly, they seem to be hewing to what the previous leadership of the intelligence community has said on this topic.”

John Sipher, former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service



“I am confident that the Intelligence Directors support the previous Administration’s findings and understand the nature of the threat. They likely see intelligence every day that underscores the aggressive actions of the Kremlin. I also believe that they will continue to monitor the situation and seek to uncover continued Kremlin meddling. However, a true defense and effort to deter Putin will take more than just the intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The President and White House have to acknowledge the threat and mobilize and all of government approach. Also, the public sector needs to educate and prod the private sector to take the threat seriously. It will require the participation of the social media and cyber community to deal with this threat moving forward. However, if the President does not take on this challenge, it will be a continuing threat to our country and damage the public’s faith in our institutions and elections.”

On Iran’s cyber ambitions: “We assess that Iran will continue working to penetrate US and Allied networks for espionage and to position itself for potential future cyberattacks, although its intelligence services primarily focus on Middle Eastern adversaries—especially Saudi Arabia and Israel,” according to the Threat Assessment.
Leslie Ireland, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis



“If you look at Iran’s history on support for terrorist organizations and proxy groups, the level of deniability is very important in their approach for an asymmetric option in any kind of conflict. Cyber security is going to be one of their more important, if potentially not most important asymmetric capability in the coming months and years. This would particularly be the case as the JCPOA – and as long as Iran adheres to it – has their nuclear program in a box.”

Todd Rosenblum, former senior Pentagon and Homeland Security official in the Obama administration



“Iran is a state sponsor of digital intelligence collection and operations inside the U.S. homeland. New efforts by Iran will not be its first. Iran earlier attempted to disrupt operations on Wall Street between 2011 – 2013 by inundating financial sector servers with denial of service (DDOS) attacks that were not particularly effective. Iran is far from the only state sponsor of digital collection and operations inside the homeland, but there are unique challenges associated with Tehran’s activities. Iran is in a semi-hot war with the United States via a host of proxies and even direct attacks against us and our allies across the Middle East and South Asia. New strike methods via the cyber domain allow Iran to somewhat level the playing field as far as reach and potential for domestic disruption. We will continue to rely on intelligence and law enforcement supporting, or in support of, the private sector and state and local governments in the identification and mitigation of Iranian and other digital incursions.”

Norm Roule, former National Intelligence Manager for Iran, ODNI



“The Threat Assessment comments on Iran are consistent with previous assessments and do a strong job of capturing the Iran threat. Well written, cogent, and showing strong analytic tradecraft, the Iran portions also show that Tehran has yet to face any setbacks beyond the JCPOA which restricted its nuclear enterprise while simultaneously placing this program under an unprecedented level of international oversight. The report makes it clear that Iran’s regional, cyber, missile, terrorist and other malign activities continue at a strong pace, itself quite a statement given the broad geography and complexity of the issues. This was a sobering and important report in part because it implicitly warns that Iran will place American lives, allies, and interests at risk, to include mortal risk, in the coming year.”

Leslie Ireland, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis



“In terms of the specific comments about espionage and networks, sure, Iran would want to understand America’s military intentions, capabilities, intelligence collection priorities, policy direction, etc. But they also want to be prepared in the event of a conflict when they need asymmetric opportunities. So, when we talk about networks, I wouldn’t be surprised if that would include critical infrastructure. For example, the Iranian DDoS attacks against U.S. banks from 2011-2013 indicated the willingness to go beyond government to government targets on Tehran’s part.”

On former White House staffer Rob Porter, and issues with security clearances inside the White House: FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicted the White House’s timeline of events. White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah had told reporters Porter’s background investigation was ongoing. Then Wray told the Senate intelligence committee the FBI had completed a background investigation, “in late July… Soon thereafter, we received requests for follow up inquiry and we did the follow up and provided that information in November and then we administratively closed the file in January.”
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Jim Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence



“As DNI Coats put it: ‘Sometimes it is necessary to have some type of preliminary clearance in order to fill a slot, but…access has to be limited in terms of the kinds of information they can be in a position to receive or not receive.’ If this were GS-12 Porter in Agency X, there would be no question about access to classified information. This crowd has a different standard.”

DNI Coats’ last warning was local. He called the U.S. “failure to address our long-term fiscal situation,” which has increased the national debt to “over $20 trillion and growing… unsustainable.”

 

[Doomer Doug]

MAYBE A THREAD TITLE CHANG IS IN ORDER!

You know guys, maybe we should rename this thread THE HURRICANES OF WAR! The winds of war seem to be turning into a gale force. Cyclones of war also has a nice ring to it! The typhoons of war, or maybe the howling hurricanes of war, well you get the idea.

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm, I just found this and if it's been posted before well "oops"...HC

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/0..._term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief

MIDDLE EAST 6 days ago

Syria chemical attack rockets ‘Made in Germany,’ report says

By Benjamin Weinthal | Fox News

The rockets used in the recent chemical attacks in Syria that poisoned dozens of civilians, including children, were “Made in Germany,” Bild reports.

Following the attacks in East Ghouta, a suburb outside Damascus with a population of 400,000, the remains of Iranian 107-millimeter rockets with the company logo of Krempel and the product signature “Made in Germany” were found at the sites, Bild reported Monday.

The chlorine attacks, which happened January 22 and February 1 and rescue workers say were launched by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, came after the German government’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) green-lighted a deal for the company Krempel, located near the southern city of Stuttgart, to sell military applicable technology to two Iranian firms in Tehran, the paper reported.

“As Iran’s largest European trading partner, Germany must use its economic leverage to pressure Tehran, not enable it to destabilize the Middle East. By chanting the slogan ‘Let Syria Be, Do Something for Me’ Iranian protesters have made it clear that they don’t support the mullahs’ meddling in Syria. Berlin now has a historic opportunity to side with ordinary Iranians, who desire normal and stable relations with the world,” Peter Kohanloo, the president of the U.S.-based Iranian American Majority organization, told Fox News.

Video
Firas Abdullah
@firasabdullah_
And after more than 15 ground-to-ground missiles, 10 airstrikes and tens of tens of mortars by #Assad regime army on the west neighborhoods of #Douma_city against the civilians there.
2 night airstrikes by Assad warplanes now on the same area.
This's the 2nd one I recorded.

8:30 AM - Feb 2, 2018
21
55 people are talking about this

Rainer Westermann, a consultant for Krempel, confirmed to Fox News the sale of the technology “Pressspan PSP-3040,” an insulating material with a cellulose base, to the Iranian companies. The “Made in Germany” technology was discovered by the Syrian photographer Firas Abdullah at the site of the chemical attack.

The two Krempel business partners in Iran are Reza Moghaddam Panah and Mahmood Hasan Darvish Commerce. Krempel engaged in a yearly business of $184,000 with the Iranian companies.

It is unclear if the Iranian companies are owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The U.S. government classified the IRGC as a terrorist entity in October.

Bild worked with the research of the human rights group, Syrians for Truth and Justice, and the online investigative journalist website Bellingcat to expose the shocking evidence of “Made in Germany” technology used in alleged Syrian and Iranian regime war crimes. Eliot Higgins, from Bellingcat, told Bild both gas attacks showed that “the rockets were produced in 2016 and delivered from Iran.”

Westermann said Krempel obtained a letter from the German export control agency (BAFA) in January 2015 stating there was no restriction for delivering the material to Iran.

Krempel, which has a U.S. distribution center, said the company has “frozen” business with the two Iranian companies until BAFA clarifies the situation. Westermann said the company is “shocked” that its material was used in chemical warfare. He said, however, that if Krempel cuts ties with its Iranian companies other businesses will deliver goods to Iran.

Chemical weapons are widely considered potent weapons for terrorists and state-sponsors of terrorism, like the Islamic Republic of Iran, because they are inexpensive and cause widespread destruction and fear.

The documentary filmmaker Potkin Azarmehr, who made the film “Breathing Death—Chemical Weapon,” told Fox News that “It seems Germans never learn from the past. This will be another dark chapter in their history, starting with the Nazi extermination camps, selling chemical weapons to [Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] and now playing a role in the atrocities against innocent civilians in Syria.”

Germany’s BAFA office sent a statement to Fox News flatly denying the Bild report that BAFA approved Pressspan PSP-3040 as a dual-use technology, which can be used for military and civilian purposes. BAFA wrote that the delivery of the Krempel goods deals with a “standard material that can be inserted, among other things, in electric machines.”

Julian Röpcke, the political editor and Syria expert who authored the story for Bild, told Fox News that BAFA’s statement has “major shortcomings.”

He said, “While the statement claims that there are no indications the materials -- allowed by BAFA to be exported to Iran -- could be used in the construction of rockets or be further exported to be used ‘in connection with chemical weapons,’ reality on the ground proved quite the opposite."

Röpcke added, “Instead of acknowledging that the German-built parts were used in Iranian rockets to gas children in Syria, BAFA stuck to its standard manual, alleging that the exported product was ‘neither in military good nor a dual-use good’ -- just as if there were no new developments which entirely contradict that claim.”

Fox News reported in October that a German intelligence report lists Iran as a nation that engages in proliferation, which is defined as “spreading atomic, biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction.”

Iran made nearly 40 attempts in 2016 to obtain nuclear and missile technology in Germany, according to domestic intelligence reports in Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration referred a Fox News press inquiry to BAFA’s statement.

Marjan Keypour, the founder of Alliance for Rights of All Minorities (ARAM-Iran), which promotes equal rights for Iran's women, LGBT, religious and ethnic minorities, told Fox News Iran’s support of Assad’s war shows that “This is yet another treasonous operation that crystallizes how the government puts its genocidal ambitions ahead of the wellbeing of its own people.”

Keypour said that “In their ongoing protests in the past six weeks, they have been expressing their frustrations with growing economic pressures. When they chant ‘not Syria, not Lebanon, I would give my life for Iran,’ they are begging their government to fight for them as vigorously as they fight against the innocent people of Syria.”

She added that dire economic straits in Iran mean that “families that must make unimaginable choices between sale of their organs or offering their prepubescent children to prostitution or marriage for short-term survival. Ultimately, one day their government will have to own up to their actions and answer the people.”

Julie Lenarz
✔
@MsJulieLenarz
The price of doing business with the bloodthirsty theocracy of Iran.

German technology was used in a chemical attack on Syrian civilians that injured dozens, incl many children.
http://m.jpost.com/International/Ge...ran-for-use-in-Syrian-chemical-attacks-540760 …

4:48 AM - Feb 6, 2018

Germany sold technology to Iran for use in Syrian chemical attacks
A German firm's chemical and biological technology was purchased by Iran and allegedly used against Syrian civilians.

jpost.com
63
71 people are talking about this

The German-based NGO Stop the Bomb on Wednesday called on Chancellor Merkel to confront the Islamic Republic’s jingoism. “The Iranian regime must face consequences for its policy of terror abroad,” wrote Stop the Bomb. The human rights group urged Merkel to expel Iran’s ambassador to Germany and slash all funds for Iran’s regime.

Germany finances the Islamic Community of Shiite Communities since 2016 with more than nearly $503,000 from EU and federal funds, said Stop the Bomb, adding that the German government “supports the association despite the fact that they know that the chairman of the organization belongs to the political-religious establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Benjamin Weinthal reports on human rights in the Middle East and is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @BenWeinthal

-------------------------------

Ok, so perhaps Assad's direct chain of command forces didn't conduct a chemical attack but the Iranians and or Hezbollah did...In the long run I don't think that's a "better" situation...

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-threat-to-america-fbi-director-warns-2018-2

The director of the FBI says the whole of Chinese society is a threat to the US — and that Americans must step up to defend themselves

Michal Kranz
Feb. 13, 2018, 4:00 PM 236,474

FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a dire warning about China's growing influence during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.
He said there were a variety of ways China was implementing a plan to replace the US as the foremost global power, including by infiltrating academia.
Recent reports have suggested that while China's Confucius Institutes are ostensibly language-learning centers, they often serve as vehicles for Chinese propaganda at universities around the world, including the US.
Intelligence experts have also cited Chinese cybersecurity threats as a major concern in 2018.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday reiterated a commonly held view among US intelligence officials that China is seeking to become a global superpower through unconventional means — but he framed it as both a governmental and a societal threat to the US.

Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee alongside the heads of other US intelligence agencies, Wray said that to undermine the US's military, economic, cultural, and informational power across the globe, China was using methods relying on more than just its state institutions.

"One of the things we're trying to do is view the China threat as not just a whole-of-government threat, but a whole-of-society threat on their end," Wray said. "And I think it's going to take a whole-of-society response by us."

In response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio about whether China was planning to overtake the US as the world's most dominant power, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, echoed Wray.

"There is no question that what you have just articulated is what's happening with China," Coats said. "They're doing it in a very smart way. They're doing it in a very effective way. They are looking beyond their own region."

Coats said multiple agencies were conducting "intensive studies" to understand the ways China is looking to carry out its global agenda.

The double-edged sword of open academics
Wray pointed to China's use of unconventional intelligence sources as an example of its reach.

He said "collectors" — what the intelligence community calls people who collect intelligence on behalf of agencies or governments — had infiltrated US universities.

"I think in this setting, I would just say that the use of nontraditional collectors — especially in the academic setting, whether it's professors, scientists, students — we see in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country," Wray said.

"They're exploiting the very open research-and-development environment that we have, which we all revere, but they're taking advantage of it," Wray said, adding that there was a "naiveté" among academics about the risks posed by foreign nationals at US universities.

The Institute of International Education found that US universities admitted more than 1 million international students in the 2015-16 school year, nearly 329,000 of which were Chinese students.

While there is no evidence that a large number of Chinese students or academics at US universities poses a threat to US interests, the Chinese government uses several education efforts as vehicles for soft power.

One is the Confucius Institutes, which Rubio alluded to during the Senate hearing.

These institutes mirror many other foreign-language-education entities that countries fund around the world, but with a couple of caveats. Rather than existing as standalone bodies, they are inserted into universities in the US and elsewhere. And Foreign Policy reported last year that though their mission is to promote cultural diplomacy, they disseminate Chinese propaganda and restrict what professors.

In response to the perceived danger to open expression posed by these institutes, the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University closed the Confucius Institutes on their campuses in 2014. Other global universities have followed suit.

Confucius Institutes also have a presence in Africa, where China is growing its economic and political power.

Quartz reported in November that people in countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe were encouraged to view China as a positive economic force and a source of progress and opportunity as part of the "Look East" policy many African countries have implemented.

As a result of this push, the number of African students in China has skyrocketed over the past 10 or so years, the Quartz report says.

Chinese cybersecurity threats
During Tuesday's Senate hearing, the top US intel chiefs drew attention to Chinese cybersecurity strategies.

"Frankly, the United States is under attack by entities that are using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that takes place" within the US, Coats said.

The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, also released Tuesday, outlines China's cyber capabilities.

"China will continue to use cyber espionage and bolster cyber attack capabilities to support national security priorities," the report says, adding that while China's cyber activity is at much lower levels than it was before September 2015, it is still threatening.

It continues: "Most detected Chinese cyber operations against US private industry are focused on cleared defense contractors or IT and communications firms whose products and services support government and private sector networks worldwide."

Pointing to the findings, several intelligence heads reaffirmed the need to beef up US counterintelligence efforts in cyber. Many identified it as one of the top priorities for the intelligence community in the coming year.

Wray said that with so many facets of American society under threat, it would take a lot more than just intelligence agencies to combat China.

"It's not just the intelligence community," he said, "but it's raising awareness within our academic sector, within our private sector, as part of the defense."

SEE ALSO: Top intelligence chiefs issue a dire warning about ongoing Russian influence operations
DON'T MISS: The chief of US intelligence just warned the US is under threat of a space attack
NOW WATCH: It’s impossible for the UK to win Brexit negotiations — so this is what Theresa May should do, according to Yanis Varoufakis

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.france24.com/en/20180214-moroccan-arrested-paris-over-2015-train-attack

14 February 2018 - 20H06

Moroccan arrested in Paris over 2015 train attack

PARIS (AFP) - A Moroccan man was arrested in Paris Wednesday on suspicion of helping a jihadist who tried to massacre passengers on a Paris-bound train from Amsterdam in 2015, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.

The source said the 36-year-old is suspected of providing "logistical help" to Ayoub El Khazzani, who opened fire with a Kalashnikov on the Thalys train just after it entered France, wounding two people.

Three Americans holidaying in Europe -- two of them off-duty servicemen -- overpowered him, saving passengers from what could have been a bloodbath.

The attack was recently turned into a film by Clint Eastwood, "The 15:17 to Paris", starring the Americans as themselves.

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.yahoo.com/news/france-says-irans-missile-program-must-put-under-144712804.html

France says Iran's missile program must be put 'under surveillance'

By Michel Rose and John Irish, Reuters • February 14, 2018

PARIS (Reuters) - Iran's ballistic missile program must be placed under international surveillance, French President Emmanuel Macron said, in an bid to get tougher on Tehran while preserving the nuclear deal that Donald Trump has threatened to scrap.

With the 2015 deal, aimed at stopping Iran developing nuclear weapons, put in jeopardy by the U.S. president, Britain, France and Germany are working on a plan to satisfy him by a May 12 deadline to address Iran's ballistic missile tests and its regional influence.

Macron said France, one of the signatories to the nuclear deal, wanted to preserve it as nothing better had been offered.

However, he said the use of Iranian-linked missiles in Yemen and Syria needed to be addressed because they were a security problem for French allies.

"I want a new cycle of negotiations with regional parties and the permanent members of the Security Council, like we did for the nuclear deal, but widening it to regional countries so that we can reduce and eradicate this insecurity," Macron told reporters late on Tuesday.

"And (we need) to put Iran under surveillance over its ballistic missiles. It's indispensable for the security of the region and so we need a mechanism of sanctions and control adapted to that."

While Iran accepted curbs on its nuclear work - which it says is for purely peaceful purposes - it has repeatedly refused to discuss its missile program, something the United States and the Europeans have called for.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Feb. 8 that the West must ensure the nuclear deal succeeds before trying to negotiate other issues.

Citing Iranian influence in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, Macron said Tehran's foreign policy "can sometimes be a factor of destabilisation and we need to have a dialogue with the Iranian regime."

He added: "I think all forms of military solution to this situation are an error. We've lost too much time on the ballistics and on regional activities."

Macron's comments come days after anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria.

Macron, whose foreign minister travels to Tehran on March 4, said he wanted to wanted to organize a meeting of the main players in the Syrian crisis.

"I want that we have in the coming weeks a meeting on Syria that eradicates the ballistic activities in Syria that puts in danger all the regional powers," he said, without elaborating.

(Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

 

[danielboon]

SAUDI-BACKED FORCES ADVANCE IN NORTHWESTERN YEMEN, WARPLANES POUND HOUTHIS’ HEARTLAND (VIDEOS)

On February 14, forces loyal to Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi recaptured several positions in the district of Midi in northwestern Hajjah from the Houthis, according to the UAE based al-Arabiya TV. Pro-Hadi fighters reportedly destroyed several vehicles and battle tanks of the Houthis.Moreover, al-Arabiya reported that warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition had supported pro-Hadi forces attack the Midi district and conducted a series of airstrikes on positions and gatherings of the Houthi fighters. At least 40 fighters of the Houthis were killed in the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, according to the sources. Saudi-led coalition warplanes reportedly destroyed 25 targets in the Houthis’ heartland, Saada province, in northern Yemen. According to al-Arabiya, the targets included operations rooms, artillery pieces and vehicles of the Houthis.

Saudi sources revealed on February 12 that pro-Hadi forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition were preparing to launch a new military operation against the Houthis in Saada province. The recent airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition on Saada could be the first stage of the expected operation. https://southfront.org/saudi-backed...videos/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[danielboon]

Map: Afrin front status

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/map-afrin-front-status/

 

[danielboon]

Tillerson in Lebanon: this is what happens when you dont call first

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWEZAIjWkAAaMqF.jpg:large

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
spacenews.com/u-s-intelligence-russia-and-china-will-have-operational-anti-satellite-weapons-in-a-few-years/

U.S. intelligence: Russia and China will have ‘operational’ anti-satellite weapons in a few years

New report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: China and Russia "would justify attacks against U.S. and allied satellites."

by Sandra Erwin — February 14, 2018

WASHINGTON — Experts have warned for some time that wars in space are not just Hollywood fiction. And the scenario appears increasingly more likely, according to the latest analysis by the U.S. intelligence community.

“We assess that, if a future conflict were to occur involving Russia or China, either country would justify attacks against U.S. and allied satellites as necessary to offset any perceived U.S. military advantage derived from military, civil or commercial space systems,” warns the 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, released this week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The United States has benefitted from a tidal wave of innovation in the space industry, but so have many other nations. “Foreign countries — particularly China and Russia — will continue to expand their space-based reconnaissance, communications, and navigation systems in terms of the numbers of satellites, the breadth of their capability, and the applications for use,” said the report.

Both Russia and China continue to pursue anti-satellite weapons knowing that, if successfully employed, could undermine U.S. military capabilities, analysts noted. “Russia and China aim to have nondestructive and destructive counter-space weapons available for use during a potential future conflict.”

U.S. intelligence predicts that “destructive” Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons probably will reach “initial operational capability in the next few years.” China’s military is setting up specialized units and has begun “initial operational training with counter-space capabilities that it has been developing, such as ground-launched anti-satellite missiles.”

The intelligence community believes Russia probably has a similar class of weapons in development. Both countries also are advancing directed-energy weapons that could make satellites useless by blinding sensitive optical sensors such as those used for remote sensing or missile defense.

Another concern is Russia and China launching “experimental” satellites for on-orbit activities that are not necessarily hostile but could help them advance their counter-space capabilities, the report said. “Some technologies with peaceful applications — such as satellite inspection, refueling and repair — can also be used against adversary spacecraft.”

The report criticized both Russia and China for “continuing their pursuit of space warfare capabilities while publicly maintaining that space must be a peaceful domain.”

Independent analysts historically have been a bit more skeptical of these intelligence reports, but the latest DNI assessment appears to provide stronger evidence that threats to U.S. satellites are real.

Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, has been researching China’s space weapons for years. Its arsenal includes ground-based direct ascent missiles that can physically destroy a satellite, jammers that can interfere, and lasers that can be used to dazzle or perhaps even blind imaging satellites, he told SpaceNews.

China has conducted a series of tests of on-orbit proximity and rendezvous operations, Weeden said, although the publicly available evidence “does not indicate they are explicitly aimed at offensive capabilities.”

Russia had several operational anti-satellite systems right up until the end of the Cold War, he noted, and there is “strong evidence to suggest they too are active again.” There are indications that Russia is developing its own ground-based direct ascent system known as Nudol, and also resurrected an airborne laser dazzler system known as the A-60, he said. There are multiple reports of Russia using GPS jammers in Eastern Ukraine, and Russia has also done a series of its own on-orbit proximity and rendezvous operations demonstrations, both in low-Earth and geosynchronous orbits.

“What’s driving this is the desire to blunt the ability of the United States to use space in a future conflict,” said Weeden. If a war broke out in the Baltic region or in East Asia, the United States would be heavily reliant on its space capabilities. “They think that by developing these systems they can deter the U.S., and if that doesn’t work then they hope to take out enough U.S. space capabilities to win the war.”

The United States also bears some responsibility for turning space into a battlefront, said Weeden. “While the U.S. only has one publicly acknowledged anti-satellite system, the counter communications satellite system, it has a lot of latent capabilities, particularly through its ground-based missile defense interceptors.” The United States is probably the world leader in on-orbit proximity and rendezvous operations, he said, and there have been a lot of rumors about the U.S. considering developing more offensive capabilities to “defend” its satellites or take out Russian and Chinese satellites.

What is worrisome, said Weeden, is that all parties have strong incentives to go after the other side’s space capabilities early in a conflict. “That could lead to some very unstable crisis dynamics and an outcome — armed conflict — that everyone says they want to avoid.”

Comments 19

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...llenges-after-turkish-collision-idUSKCN1FZ18B

World News February 15, 2018 / 3:09 AM / Updated 2 hours ago

Greece says won't tolerate border challenges after Turkish collision

George Georgiopoulos, Renee Maltezou
3 Min Read

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will not tolerate any challenges to its territorial integrity, its prime minister said on Thursday, days after Turkish and Greek coastguard vessels collided close to disputed islets in the Aegean Sea.

Each side blamed the other for Monday’s collision off an islet known as Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish. They came to the brink of war in 1996 in a sovereignty dispute over the islets.

Seeking international support, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras underlined that Greece’s border was also that of the 28-nation European Union, and his foreign minister briefed the head of NATO and the U.S. military chief on Turkey’s “provocative behavior”.

“Our message, now, tomorrow and always, is clear ... Greece will not allow, accept or tolerate any challenge to its territorial integrity and its sovereign rights,” Tsipras told an audience at the shipping ministry.

“Greece is not a country which plays games.”

Tsipras told coastguard officers: “Challenges and aggressive rhetoric against the sovereign rights of an EU member state are against the EU in its entirety.”

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry denied the Turkish vessel was at fault. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Tsipras in a phone call on Tuesday that Greece needed to take necessary measures to decrease the tension in the Aegean Sea, a source from Yildirim’s office said.

Turkey and Greece, NATO allies, have long been at odds over issues from ethnically split Cyprus to airspace and overflight rights [L8N1Q33Y6] and relations have worsened since Greece blocked the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers that Ankara accuses of involvement in 2016’s failed coup.

In Brussels, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said he had briefed U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

“I had the opportunity to show them material of proof that dismisses Turkish claims that (the incident at Imia) was an accident,” Kammenos said in a statement.

“Turkey is provoking and violating Greek and EU waters, it proceeds with acts that violate any notion of maritime law and is coming close to (causing) an ‘accident’ in the Aegean. It has full responsibility.”

Reporting by Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Robin Pomeroy

 

[danielboon]

Hamas condemns US bill sanctioning it over ‘human shields’

Published time: 15 Feb, 2018 15:27
Edited time: 15 Feb, 2018 16:39 Hamas has condemned a US bill that sanctions the Islamic militant group for using civilians in Gaza as “human shields.” The House unanimously passed the Hamas Human Shields Prevention Act on Wednesday. The movement’s spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said Thursday that the bill sides with “the Israeli narrative.” The bill steps up US pressure against Hamas, which Washington and much of the West already considers a terrorist organization, AP said. However, as such the legislation would not add any additional sanctions on the group. Echoing Israeli complaints, the bill says Hamas routinely instructs Palestinians not to flee from Israeli airstrikes. The group wrested control of Gaza from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007. Last month, the US designated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “global terrorist.” https://www.rt.com/newsline/418926-hamas-us-human-shields/

 

[Housecarl]

Considering how many current "issues" this covers I figured I'd put it in this thread...HC

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://freebeacon.com/national-secu...ria-were-part-of-russian-backed-hybrid-force/

Mercenaries Killed in Syria Were Part of Russian-Backed Hybrid Force

Wagner private army funded and armed by Russian intelligence, Ukraine says

BY: Bill Gertz
February 15, 2018 5:00 am

Dozens of Russian mercenaries killed in a U.S. airstrike in Syria last week were part of a secret Kremlin-backed private military company, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

The dead fighters worked for the Wagner company, part of Moscow's use of hybrid warfare—covert military and influence operations that include use of so-called "little green men"—unconventional forces operating without official insignia. The forces were first seen in 2014 during the military takeover of Ukraine's Crimea by Russia.

"They are a private army," said Vasyl Hrytsak, head of Security Service of Ukraine, known as SBU, in a recent interview.

Ukraine believes the Wagner company was formed, equipped, and financed by Russian intelligence services for military, terrorist, and other criminal activities in support of Russian geopolitical interests.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters enroute to Europe Tuesday the U.S. airstrike was carried out on pro-Syrian regime forces near the Euphrates River in Syria.

Mattis said the Central Command was told there were no Russians in the force targeted in the attack.

"There is now reporting in the press—I don't have any reporting—that some Russians—not Russian federation soldiers, but Russian contractors—were among the casualties," he said without elaborating.

The unacknowledged nature of the covert Russian paramilitary group prompted Moscow to deny that any Russian troops were among the forces targeted in the bombing strike. The Central Command communicates with the Russians prior to such airstrikes to avoid unintended casualties.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday five Russians were killed in the Feb. 7 airstrike. Other sources said between 80 and 300 Russians working for Wagner were killed, Reuters reported.

The BBC reported that associates of two Russian fighters killed in the strike confirmed their deaths and said they were employed by the Wagner company. They were identified as Vladimir Loginov, an ethnic Cossack from Russia's western Kaliningrad region, and Kirill Ananyev, a radical nationalist from Moscow.

Reports from the region say as many as 200 fighters were killed in the attack carried out in response to strikes by pro-Syrian fighters aligned with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The pro-Syrian forces had attacked positions of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces near the town of Khursham in eastern Syria.

Hrytsak, the SBU chief, said the SBU has been tracking the Wagner Group since June 2014 when the fighters were first detected operating in Ukraine.

"When we started identifying members of this private army, these so-called little green men, we made an announcement in October 2017 that we can identify by name about 1,500 members of this military company."

The group has also been conducting military operations in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region.

The military contractors are well-armed and have been equipped with armored vehicles, tanks, and rocket artillery. The mercenaries also conduct intelligence operations.

The company recruits both former military personnel, including snipers and Spetsnaz special operations forces, as well as those with criminal backgrounds.

According to an SBU briefing paper on the Wagner army, the group is headed by a Ukrainian-born Russian named Dmitriy Valerievich Utkin, known by the nom de guerre as Wagner. Utkin is a former Russian GRU military intelligence operative.

The briefing lists two casualties of Wagner mercenaries last year at the same location, Deir al-Zour, in an airstrike that killed at least 100 people in Syria.

Central Command spokesman Col. John Thomas declined to comment on the strike but described the operation as a "tactical engagement" that sent a message.

"There was a hostile action which required a self-defense reaction," Thomas said. "We notified the Russians over the de-confliction telephone line. Who the hostiles were is sort of academic to the incident. We expect others will not make that same choice again."

The three-hour U.S. attack was carried out with B-52 bombers, AC-130 gunships, F-15E attack planes, Apache attack helicopters and Reaper drones.

The SBU, to expose the group's links to the Russian government, has posted intercepted phone conversations on its website between Utkin and senior Russian government and military officials.

The service also obtained photos of Wagner company officials, including Utkin, being awarded medals by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the Ukrainians, beginning in August 2015 the Wagner company dispatched 1,350 fighters to Syria. They were joined by 2,000 pro-Syrian regime fighters. The combined forces are deployed near Latakia and Homs and Wagner fighters were key elements of the pro-Syrian forces that invaded Palmyra in the spring of 2016.

Wagner mercenaries are guarding regime energy facilities also. By early 2017, the number of Wagner personnel deployed to Syria was around 5,000 mercenaries.

By January, the SBU counted 88 Wagner employees killed in Syrian fighting.

Ukraine regards the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization and stepped up targeting its fighters after the group shot down a Ukrainian military transport in June 2014 near Luhansk, killing 49 Ukrainian troops.

About 60 percent of the mercenaries are non-Slavs, including some 200 Serbians. Others include people from North Caucasus, Buryatia, Udmurtia, and Russians from Central Asia. The use of non-Slavs is aimed at making identification of the mercenaries as Russian paramilitaries difficult.

As a result of casualties and exposure by the SBU, Russia's government has been under pressure to legalize mercenary groups like the Wagner company. Government action authorizing the groups could be taken as early as the end of February.

Ukraine has notified allied intelligence and security services about the mercenaries, who could be used for military operations in Europe and the United States.

"We're convinced that if there are going to be provocative actions in third countries somewhere in Europe or in other places, if this is going to be an undeclared war, you're going to have these green men," Hrytsak said.

"They could come to any country, even the United States, and do something, so we're convinced this information needs to be shared."

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/army-launches-coordinated-fire-assaults-loc-hits-pak-posts/

Army launches coordinated fire assaults on LoC, hits Pak posts

Field Comdrs given full freedom

Posted on 16/02/2018 by Dailyexcelsior
Pakistan army forced to issue 35 red-alerts
Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Feb 15: With no let up in tension on the Line of Control (LoC) in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, Army today gave free hand to its Field Commanders on the LoC to take any steps including ‘punitive fires’ and ‘pre-emptive actions’ to tackle infiltration attempts and other kind of misadventures by Pakistani troops and militants under the cover of ceasefire violations.

Sources told the Excelsior that Indian army was reported to have launched major fire assaults on the Pakistani troops along LoC especially the areas, where “unusual activity” was observed to ensure that any attempt by Pakistan to push militants into the Indian side or indulge in “other kind of mischief” was effectively thwarted.

Indian Army has used its posts at Balnoi, Sarla, Mendhar, Laleali, Doda, Banwat, Kalal and Keran among others in Rajouri and Poonch districts to launch coordinated fire assaults in which several Pakistani army posts have been destroyed.

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India has used Light Field Guns, heavy 120mm mortars and anti-tank guided missiles to target Pakistan posts where militants were reportedly given shelter for infiltration into the Indian territory.

The massive action by India has forced Pakistan army to issue 35 red-alerts to its forces. Pakistan, according to sources, has now pressed panic buttons all along the LoC.

“The Indian Army, with all its Commanding Officer along the LoC being given adequate freedom of action, is hammering and bleeding the Pakistan army to deny it any tactical advantage of moral ascendancy along the LoC,” sources said.

If India lost 32 soldiers in ceasefire violations, infiltration and other incidents along the LoC in 2017 (another 30 laid down their lives in counter-terrorism operations in the hinterland), sources said nearly 130-140 Pakistani troopers were killed in the same year. The assessment is there are over 300 terrorists (the number could be even around 400) in and around launching pads along the LoC on Pakistan side looking for an opportunity to enter into the Indian territory.

“In view of massive presence of militants along LoC, Indian troops are bracing up for “hot summer” both on LoC and hinterland and even possibility of tension defusing on the LoC also seems to be remote.

“Full freedom has been given to commanders of Army posts along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir to effectively respond to any act of violence by Pakistani troops,” sources said.

The Field Commanders, according to sources, have been asked to take “punitive action” against Pakistan army wherever they deem it fit to check infiltration attempts or “any other kind of misadventure” being perpetrated from across the LoC.

Sources said the Indian Army has been inflicting heavy casualties on Pakistani troops while replying to Pakistani shelling along the LoC in the last few weeks.

Following the attack on the Sunjuwan military station in Jammu, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warning Pakistan had said the neighbouring country “will pay for its misadventure”.

Meanwhile, on his return from a three-day trip to Nepal, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat was today given a detailed briefing about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army sources claimed that a total of 20 Pakistani army personnel were killed this year while the number was 138 in 2017.

The sources said senior commanders of Pakistan army have been frequently visiting Pakistani posts in the last few weeks in the wake of aggressive response by India to Pakistani actions.

Sources said Indian troops have used anti-tank laser guided missiles to hit Pakistani militants and other targets across LoC in response to US TOW-2 anti-tank guided missiles used by Pakistani troops in which four Army soldiers including a Captain were recently martyred.

The United States of America had given US TOW-2 missiles to Pakistani for use against Taliban within Pakistan. However, instead of targeting Taliban, Pakistan has started use of US TOW-2 missiles against the Indian Army, leading to some casualties.

India has taken up the issue of use of US TOW-2 missiles by Pakistan against India with the United States at the highest level, sources said.

They said the Army was reported to have foiled an infiltration attempt in Padri Gali area of Mendhar sector in Poonch district this morning, which was the result of “pro-active approach” adopted by the Army on the LoC.

“The militants were engaged on the LoC, resulting into an encounter. The infiltration attempt was successfully foiled,” they said. However, number of casualties on the militants’ side was not known.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.longwarjournal.org/arch...-captured-in-french-raid-in-northern-mali.php

20 jihadists killed or captured in French raids in northern Mali

BY CALEB WEISS | February 15th, 2018 | weiss.caleb2@gmail.com | @Weissenberg7

The French military announced that its forces killed or captured at least 20 jihadists in near simultaneous raids in northern Mali yesterday as part of the ongoing Operation Barkhane. The raids occurred near the border of Mali and Algeria, close to the Algerian town of Tinzaouatene. The raids reportedly targeted senior commanders of al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

“During the night of February 13 and 14, 2018, French forces engaged in the Sahel carried out an operation on three objectives of armed terrorist groups in the northeast of Mali, between Boughessa and Tinzaouatene.

The operation began with simultaneous airstrikes on the objectives followed by helicopter assaults supported by Tiger helicopters and concluded with engagements on the ground. The balance sheet, provisional at this stage, is about 20 terrorists killed or captured, three vehicles destroyed, several weapons captured, and a large number of documents seized.”

A different military source told AFP that the raids were on a “base of the head of the network, Iyad Ag Ghaly, at Tinzaouatene, which was the main target of the operation.” Tinzaouatene has long been used as a rear base for Iyad Ag Ghaly’s Ansar Dine, which is now part of JNIM. AFP also confirmed that the French military had been conducting operations in that part of Mali for the past several days.

French troops from Operation Barkhane, along with troops from Mauritania, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso (collectively known as the G5 Sahel force), have conducted numerous military operations across Mali since last year. Many of these have been focused near the borders of Burkina Faso, where violence emanating from another al Qaeda-linked organization, Ansaroul Islam, is common. French forces have been conducting raids and airstrikes in northern Mali since intervening in the country in 2013.

However, despite the French operation, the G5 Sahel personnel, and a UN peacekeeping operation in Mali, al Qaeda’s forces have persisted in maintaining its insurgency which has expanded in recent years. Al Qaeda still retains the ability to operate openly in Mali and strike in various locations across West Africa. Its violence is also spreading further south in Mali and into neighboring Burkina Faso.

Caleb Weiss is an intern at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a contributor to The Long War Journal.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-looks-counter-rivals-hypersonic-missiles-201258607.html

Pentagon looks to counter rivals' hypersonic missiles

Thomas WATKINS, AFP • February 15, 2018

Washington (AFP) - Even as the Pentagon hustles to ensure that its defenses keep pace with North Korea's fast-growing rocket program, US officials increasingly are turning attention to a new generation of missile threat.

These weapons under development by China and Russia -- as well as by the United States -- can fly at many times the speed of sound and are designed to beat regular anti-missile defense systems.

The hypersonic missiles could change the face of future warfare, as they can switch direction in flight and do not follow a predictable arc like conventional missiles, making them much harder to track and intercept.

"China's hypersonic weapons development outpaces ours... we're falling behind," Admiral Harry Harris, who heads the military's Pacific Command, warned lawmakers on Wednesday.

"We need to continue to pursue that and in a most aggressive way in order to ensure that we have the capabilities to both defend against China's hypersonic weapons and to develop our own offensive hypersonic weapons," he added.

In its proposed $9.9 billion requested budget for 2019, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is asking for $120 million to develop hypersonic missile defenses, a big increase from the $75 million in fiscal 2018.

MDA Director of Operations Gary Pennett told Pentagon reporters this week that the potential deployment by America's rivals of hypersonic weapons -- which could be launched from planes, ships or submarines and carry either nuclear or conventional payloads -- would create a "significant" gap in US sensor and missile interceptor capabilities.

"The key challenge to US national security and the security of US friends and allies is the emergence of new threats designed to defeat the existing" ballistic missile defense system, Pennett said.

So, why the sudden alarm?

According to reports in the Japan-based Diplomat magazine, China has developed -- and last year tested -- a new type of hypersonic missile called the DF-17. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week stated China "has tested a hypersonic glide vehicle."

Russia too is believed to be developing its own hypersonic weapon called the Zircon. According to Russian news agency Tass, it is to go into serial production this year.

- A mile a second -

Though the Pentagon is warning about hypersonics, the United States has been developing the technology for years.

The Air Force says its X-51A Waverider cruise missile, tested in 2012, could travel at speeds faster than Mach 6 (3,600 miles per hour, 5,800 kilometers per hour).

That's more than one mile a second, and future iterations are expected to go much faster.

Part of the reason China has been able to advance its hypersonic missile programs is that it is not subject to anti-missile treaties signed between the United States and Russia.

The 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty banned short- and intermediate-range ground-launched missiles.

"Over 90 percent of China's ground-based missiles would be excluded by INF if they were now in it," Harris said.

Still, by far the lion's share of the MDA's budget continues to go towards improving existing missile-defense systems.

Various sensors and radars can track an incoming missile hurtling towards a target, then blast interceptor rockets toward it to pulverize it with kinetic energy.

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[Housecarl]

Hummm.....

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https://www.realcleardefense.com/ar...mon_european_security_and_defence_113064.html

The Long Road to Common European Security and Defence

By Adomas Abromaitis
February 16, 2018

On 14-15 February 2018 NATO Defence Ministers again met in Brussels to discuss the main threats the world now faces. NATO consists of 29 member states, but 22 of them are simultaneously EU member states. Speaking in general, the decisions taken by NATO are binding on the EU. On one hand, NATO and the U.S., its main financial donor, and the EU very often have different goals. Their interests and even views on the ways to achieve security often differ, with the majority of differences existing inside the EU.

Ambitions of a European military has grown significantly in recent years. The decision to establish a European Union defense pact, known as a Permanent Structured Cooperation on security and defense (PESCO) at the end of the previous year became a clear indicator of this trend. It is the first real attempt to form the EU independent defense without reliance on NATO.

Though the EU member states actively support the idea of closer European cooperation in security and defense, they do not always agree on the EU’s work in this area. In reality, not all states are ready to spend more on defense even in the framework of NATO, which sets a spending goal of at least 2 percent of their GDP. Thus, according to NATO’s figures, only the U.S. (not an EU member state), Great Britain (leaving the EU), Greece, Estonia, Poland and Romania in 2017 met the requirement. Other countries would like to strengthen their defenses but are either incapable or unwilling to pay for a new EU military project. It should be noted that only those countries that have a great dependence on NATO support and have self-defense capabilities, spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense or show readiness to increase spending (Latvia, Lithuania).

EU member states, such as France and Germany, are ready to "lead the process" without increasing contributions. They have a higher level of strategic independence than the Baltic States or other countries of Eastern Europe.

For example, the French military-industrial complex is capable of producing all kinds of modern weapons - from advanced infantry weapons to ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers and supersonic aircraft.

Moreover, Paris maintains stable diplomatic relations with the Middle East and African States. France also has been a long-standing partner of Russia and is able to find a common language with Moscow in crisis situations. France astutely engages in national interests well beyond its boundaries.

It is also important to note that Paris recently presented the most elaborate plan of creating, by 2020, the integrated pan-European rapid reaction forces primarily for expeditionary operations to enforce peace in Africa. The military initiative of French President Macron contains 17 points aimed at improving the training of troops of European countries, as well as increasing the degree of combat readiness of France's armed forces. The French project will not become a part of existing institutions. but instead implemented in parallel with NATO projects. France intends to vociferously "promote" the project among the other EU allies.

Other EU member states’ interests are not so global. They form their politics on security and defense to strengthen the EU capabilities to protect themselves and attract attention to their own shortcomings. They can offer nothing but few troops. Their interests do not extend beyond their borders, and they are not interested in dispersing efforts for example through Africa.

The EU leadership and member states have not yet reached an agreement on the concept of military integration, the start of which was given since the adoption the decision to establish PESCO.

In particular, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, proposes a long-term approach to stimulating closer integration of European military planning, procurement and deployment, as well as the integration of diplomatic and defense functions. Such slow progress is more amenable to NATO officials, who are alarmed by the revolutionary French project.

That is why Secretary General Stoltenberg warned his French counterparts against rash steps toward European military integration, which could lead to, in his mind, unnecessary duplication of the alliance's capabilities and, most dangerous, generate competition between the leading weapon manufacturers (France, Germany, Italy and some other European countries) while reequipping the European army with modern models to bring them to the same standard.

Thus, while supporting the idea of closer cooperation in the military sphere, the EU member states have no common strategy. It will take a long time to come to the compromise and to the balance in creating strong EU defense system, which will complement the existing NATO structure and will not collide with it. A long way to common views means for Europe a long way to own European defense.

Adomas Abromaitis is a Lithuanian-born political scientist living in the United Kingdom. A former teacher, he mostly writes about his home country in specialized publications like the Baltic Review, the Geopolitical monitor or EuReporter.

 

[Housecarl]

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Rio de Janeiro violence: Brazil army to take control of security

5 hours ago

The Brazilian government has appointed an army general to oversee security in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in response to growing gang violence.

President Michel Temer compared the violence to "a cancer" and said organised criminals had all but seized control of the state.

Rio's governor issued an appeal for help after the annual carnival celebrations were marred by violence.

The army will oversee police and other security services.

Overseeing the operation will be Gen Walter Souza Braga Netto, head of the Eastern Military Command. He was widely praised for his part in co-ordinating security for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

What led to the situation?
Signing the decree, Mr Termer said he was taking "extreme measures" because circumstances demanded it.

"The government will give tough and firm answers, taking all necessary measures to eradicate organised crime," he said.

There were chaotic scenes during the famous Rio carnival, with gun fights and looting. Three police officers died in violent clashes.

Is Rio de Janeiro a city at war?
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An education disrupted by violence
National TV news bulletins also broadcast footage of gangs surrounding and robbing tourists.

With the security situation apparently spiralling out of control, state governor Luiz Fernando Pezao made a plea to the national government saying military intervention was the only way to tackle the heavily armed gangs.

He apologised to those revellers affected, saying: "We were not ready. There were mistakes in the first days and we reinforced the patrols."

Why has the violence worsened?
Rio's police budget has been slashed in recent years because of a financial crisis. There have been criticisms that police do not even have the money to pay for the petrol in their patrol cars.

Finances in Rio state have been badly hit by a national recession and a slump in oil prices, as well as high levels of corruption.

The financial problems have only emboldened criminal gangs.

Figures from the Rio state government show an 8% increase in killings last year over 2016 and a 26% jump since 2015.

Samba school wins with anti-corruption message
'There's no escaping reality'
Julia Carneiro, BBC News, Rio de Janeiro

Stunned, numb, in shock or in denial. Living in Rio brings such mixed feelings today. Life continues as usual in the city and residents go about trying to lead their lives normally.

There's "nothing happening" - until something does. And more and more violence has been getting in the way, with stray bullets killing children in favelas, shoot-outs closing down major highways and mass robberies ruining the fun for several residents and tourists in the middle of the Carnival celebrations.

The saying goes in Brazil that the year starts once Carnival ends, and the intervention announced by the federal government reinforces the feeling that there's no escaping reality.

If Rio already felt misgoverned, the fact that the state governor willingly gave up his power for the president to call the shots in the security arena adds to the feeling of helplessness in the hands of unpopular politicians.

For now, there will be hope that at least something is being done. But Brazilians are weary of big political gestures - especially in the months leading up to a presidential election.

What happens now?
The army regularly patrols some of the most dangerous areas of Rio de Janeiro where drugs gangs hold sway, but now the military presence could be felt all over the city's metropolitan area of 12 million people and the wider state.

Correspondents say it will be the first time the army has had such a high profile since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, which followed 21 years of military rule.

The move still needs to be approved by Brazil's National Congress.

"Organised crime has almost taken over the state of Rio de Janeiro, it is a cancer that spreads throughout the country and threatens the tranquillity of our people, so we have now enacted the federal intervention of the public security area of ​​Rio de Janeiro," Mr Temer said.

Brazilian media, citing government sources, said the current head of public security, Roberto Sá, would be removed from office.

It is understood Gen Netto will be in charge of Rio state security at least until the end of the year.