WAR 12-01-2018-to-12-07-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

[Housecarl]

Sorry guys, I've been a bit worn out lately, directly related to the stroke....HC

(344) 11-10-2018-to-11-16-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-16-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(345) 11-17-2018-to-11-23-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-23-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(346) 11-24-2018-to-11-30-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-30-2018___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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And this was in the Wa Post?!?!.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...8604ed88993_story.html?utm_term=.8659ead42927

Opinions

Why America needs low-yield nuclear warheads now

By Jon Kyl and
Michael Morell
November 29

Jon Kyl, a Republican, represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate. Michael Morell, a Post contributing columnist, is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The U.S. Constitution mandates that the government “provide for the common defence,” an obligation that has defined much of our professional careers. It has also motivated us to serve on the current National Defense Strategy Commission, whose just-released bipartisan report calls for major improvements to the nation’s defense. One of the report’s key recommendations is an endorsement of the nuclear modernization programs outlined in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. Notably, these proposals include the development of improved options for low-yield nuclear warheads.

As the government’s mind-set shifts from waging counterterrorism and counterinsurgency wars to a return of great power competition with Russia and China, nuclear weapons must continue to maintain their deterrent effect.

Both Russia and China have engaged in large-scale nuclear weapons modernization programs and have kept their respective nuclear workforces up to speed on skills required for building new nuclear warhead designs. They have also increased the role and prominence of nuclear weapons in their national security strategies. They have not followed America’s lead in diminishing the role and number of nuclear weapons.

Russia routinely practices nuclear attack scenarios in military exercises. It possesses a large and diverse tactical nuclear weapons arsenal and deploys intermediate-range ground-launched cruise missiles in material breach of its international commitments. Russia has coupled these capability developments with a nuclear doctrine that appears, from Russian statements and military exercises, to endorse the pre-emptive use of a nuclear weapon in a conventional conflict to signal Russian resolve and force the United States to back down. In other words, “escalate to de-escalate.”

In this way, Russia is intent on exploiting what it perceives as a U.S. nuclear capability gap on the lower levels of the escalatory ladder. That is because a high-yield, long-range U.S. response to Russia’s first, limited use of a low-yield nuclear weapon against a military target is not credible. The Russians believe we are not likely to risk a global thermonuclear war in response to a “tactical” nuclear attack by them.

We must change that calculation; we must close the credibility gap. To convince Moscow that there are no possible benefits to limited nuclear escalation, the United States needs to diversify its nuclear delivery system options on the lower levels of the escalatory ladder, including adding submarine-launched missiles and sea-launched cruise missiles with low-yield nuclear warheads. We must let the Russians know that there will be unacceptable consequences if they ever use such weapons.

The low-yield nuclear options proposed in the 2018 National Posture Review and endorsed by the National Defense Strategy Commission fill this gap in ways that are consistent with U.S. nuclear weapons policy and past practices — and in ways that are fully consistent with America’s treaty obligations.

These are not novel nuclear weapons. The short-term fix includes a relatively simple modification of an existing nuclear warhead for a submarine-launched ballistic missile. In the long run, the National Posture Review proposes developing and deploying a sea-launched cruise missile. The United States had such capability for decades but retired it at the beginning of this decade when the nation’s assumptions about international security were more optimistic — in hindsight too optimistic.

Some argue that such weapons would make nuclear war more likely, but the truth is just the opposite; Russia’s use of nuclear weapons is more likely if we don’t develop submarine- and sea-launched low-yield weapons. Others argue that the development of such U.S. weapons would lead to a nuclear weapons arms race. But the race is already in progress and America is playing from behind, hindered by self-imposed constraints. Yet another group of advocates argues that the weapons are too expensive, but nuclear weapons would account for only about 6 percent of the defense budget at a peak of nuclear modernization — a wise investment, given that they are the ultimate national security guarantee.

Successive defense secretaries from both Republican and Democratic administrations have identified nuclear deterrence as the department’s top priority. That’s because U.S. nuclear capabilities make essential contributions to the preventing both nuclear and nonnuclear aggression and to maintaining the confidence of America’s allies. These capabilities are essential to fulfilling the government’s constitutional obligations. As Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said, “America can afford survival.”

Read more:
Max Boot: On the INF Treaty, Trump finally gets something right
John McLaughlin: Why dropping the INF Treaty is a terrible idea
Marc A. Thiessen: Trump isn’t thinking about Russia. His mind is on North Korea.
The Post’s View: Trump is eyeing a dangerous repeat of the Cold War
Mikhail Gorbachev: My plea to the presidents of Russia and the United States

568 Comments

 

[Housecarl]

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-us-power-grid-attacks/

Author: Lily Hay Newman
Lily Hay Newman
security
11.28.18
02:10 pm

Russian Hackers Haven't Stopped Probing the US Power Grid

In recent years, hacks against the power grid have gone from a mostly theoretical risk to a real-world problem. Two large-scale blackouts in Ukraine caused by Russian cyberattacks in 2015 and 2016 showed just how feasible it is. But grid hacking comes in less dramatic forms as well—which makes Russia's continued probing of US critical infrastructure all the more alarming.

At the CyberwarCon forum in Washington, DC on Wednesday, researchers from threat intelligence firm FireEye noted that while the US grid is relatively well-defended, and difficult to hit with a full-scale cyberattack, Russian actors have nonetheless continued to benefit from their ongoing vetting campaign.

"There’s still a concentrated Russian cyber espionage campaign targeting the bulk of the US electrical grid," says FireEye analyst Alex Orleans says. "The grid is still getting hit."

FireEye calls the Russia-linked hacking group that has been targeting the US grid "TEMP.Isotope." It's also known as Dragonfly 2.0, or Energetic Bear. The group mostly uses generic hacking tools and techniques created by other actors—a strategy known as "living off the land"—to minimize development time and costs, while also making it harder to identify and track its movements. But TEMP.Isotope has also created at least one custom system backdoor, and often uses spearphishing and infected websites to compromise targets. And the group has brought these tools to bear against the US grid in a patient and methodical way.

US infrastructure does have some advantages here. In the wake of the massive 2003 Northeastern blackout, utilities implemented resilience and defense standards known as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection requirements, more digestibly referred to as NERC CIP. These created minimum baselines for defending against and dealing with natural disasters, but also promoted best practices for network defense, including two-factor authentication, network segmentation, data storage protections, and strict access controls for both network owners and third-parties.

All of these protections combined have hardened electricity generation and transmission systems against attack. But not all segments of the grid are held to those standards. Distribution entities, which often subcontract with larger organizations to deliver power locally, often lack adequate resources and defenses. And while hackers may have a harder time fully compromising more formidable targets, they can still achieve many of their goals through persistent probing.

In many ways, TEMP.Isotope's actions are in the interest not of triggering large-scale blackouts, but of traditional intelligence-gathering. The group seems to deliver information that can be used both to expand Russian energy capabilities and to vet US systems for weaknesses that could potentially be exploited in attacks. But the FireEye researchers point out that the canvassing also serves other more subtly aggressive counterintelligence goals as well.

"All of this threat activity you see from actors like Isotope requires defensive responses from incident responders, threat intelligence within a given organization, all the way up to potentially governments," Orleans says. "So you have this ripple upward and outward. And this counterintelligence is for the purpose of frustrating your adversary. Utilities are the adversary for active threat Isotope, so wearing them down through activity, creating anxiety, fulfills what is in counterintelligence terminology known as 'degradation.'"

If you can sow discord, confusion, and fatigue, you can attack an adversary by frustrating them rather than by masterminding an all-out physical assault. And though grid hacking may not have yet reached a boiling point in the US, the FireEye researchers warn that consistent probing should be taken as seriously as dramatic attacks. This is particularly true given that the security community has seen hints over the years of potential US grid probing activity from other countries as well, including Iran and North Korea.

For now, though, the FireEye researchers say Russian state-sponsored hackers are the ones to watch in the US grid. "The most consistent people are likely the Russians," Orleans says. "And I also think we likely haven’t fully uncovered the extent to which they have gotten into the wires."

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...tm_term=Editorial - Army - Daily News Roundup

Islamic extremists are now using drones in Nigeria, leader says

By: Cara Anna, The Associated Press  
1 day ago

JOHANNESBURG — Islamic extremists in Nigeria have begun using drones, the country’s president says, opening a worrying new front in the region’s nearly decade-long fight against Boko Haram and an offshoot linked to the Islamic State.

President Muhammadu Buhari announced the development during a meeting on Thursday of countries that contribute troops to a multinational force combatting the extremists.

This appears to be the first confirmed use of drones by an extremist group in Africa, according to the World of Drones project run by the Washington-based New America think tank. Its section on non-state actors notes that Libyan rebels are reported to have used drones for surveillance in that chaotic North African nation.

Deadly attacks against Nigeria's military are on the rise, with 39 soldiers killed this month alone and another 43 wounded. The extremists' use of drones for surveillance in the country's northeast has proven to be a "critical factor" in the resurgence of attacks, the president said.

Nigeria's military has its own, armed drones, as the United States and others and others increasingly use them in West Africa's fight against groups linked to al-Qaida and IS.

DoD is stretched thin and plans to pull back in Africa
Chronically under-resourced, U.S. Africa Command will have fewer forces in country rather than more.
By: Tara Copp

Extremist organizations have been quickly adopting the use of drones. The Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq last year was found to have a formal drone unit, and Houthi rebels in Yemen have used a drone to strike a Saudi warship, according to the New America project.

The assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in August, when two drones loaded with explosives exploded during his speech, set off another round of global fears about the threat of drones in enemy hands.

“Unfortunately, greater commercial accessibility to (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology will make UAVs more attractive as a delivery method for terrorist attacks,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Bryan Card wrote this year.

 

[Housecarl]

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.apnews.com/be5e1f762d824cedafb70fc63b35c9cc

US: Iran violating UN arms export ban in Yemen, Afghanistan

By MATTHEW LEE and SUSANNAH GEORGE
November 29, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday accused Iran of stepping up violations of a U.N. ban on arms exports by sending rockets and other weaponry to rebels in Afghanistan and Yemen.

The new allegations come as the U.S. ramps up pressure on Iran to halt what it calls “malign activities” in the Middle East and elsewhere by reinstating sanctions that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal from which President Donald Trump withdrew in May. Iran has denied such accusations in the past.

In a presentation at a military base in Washington, the administration displayed weapons and fragments of weapons seized in Afghanistan, Bahrain and Yemen that it said are evidence Iran is a “grave and escalating threat” that must be stopped.

The material was added to a collection presented by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley last December when she laid out a case for pulling out of the nuclear agreement.

The weapons presented “irrefutable evidence” that Iran’s destabilizing activity in the region “is a problem that’s not getting better, it’s getting worse,” Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, told journalists in a briefing after the presentation. Hook added that he hoped the display would rally international support for re-imposed U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“It’s important for all nations to understand that this is a global threat that requires a global response,” Hook said, “it would be an act of negligence for us to be in possession of these arms and not to publicize it.”

The United States’ European allies continue to support the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and are opposed to the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions.

Hook did not specify when the arms on display had been seized. When asked for data that would support administration claims that Iran is increasing support for destabilizing activities in the region, Hook said Iran has spent over $16 billion since 2013 supporting militia forces in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, but did not specify if that spending has increased in recent years.

In Yemen, Iran supports rebel forces battling a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. Amid increased calls from lawmakers to limit U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, top administration officials have emphasized the conflict as key to containing Iranian regional influence.

At the presentation in Washington, Hook displayed rockets, missiles, small arms and debris from an Iranian drone that he says were intended for use by Houthi rebels in Yemen, Shiite militants in Bahrain and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He also repeated U.S. claims that Iran is boosting its supply of weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement for use in support of President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria as well as Shiite militia in Iraq.

“We need to get serious about going after this stuff,” Hook told reporters.

Hook said an Iranian-designed surface-to-air missile with markings in Farsi, the official language of Iran, had been intended for the Houthis in Yemen but was seized by Saudi Arabia. He said it showed the brazenness of Iran’s intentions.

“The conspicuous Farsi markings is Iran’s way of saying they don’t mind being caught violating U.N. arms restrictions,” he said.

The U.N. Security Council expanded an embargo on arms sales to Iran in 2007 to include arms exports from Iran. Even under the sanctions relief provided by the nuclear deal the export ban remains in place until 2021 for conventional weapons and until 2024 for missiles.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/pompeo-condemns-iran-missile-test-182425077.html

Pompeo condemns Iran missile test

By David Morgan, Reuters 6 hours ago

By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he described as Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads as a violation of the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program.

Amid tension between Washington and Tehran over ballistic missiles, Pompeo warned in a statement released on Twitter that Iran is increasing its "testing and proliferation" of missiles and called on the Islamic Republic to "cease these activities."

President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, criticizing the deal for not including curbs on Iran's development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.

Iran says its missile program is purely defensive but has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, if the United States tries to strangle Iranian oil exports. Last month, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the UAE and Qatar, and U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf were within range.

Pompeo's statement provided few details about the latest Iranian missile test.

"The Iranian regime has just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile that's capable of carrying multiple warheads," he wrote in the tweet.

"This test violates UNSCR 2231," he added, citing the United Nations Security Council's endorsement of the international nuclear agreement. "We condemn this act."

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, addressing a security forum in California, said the Iranian launch was significant and was a reminder that Tehran was unlikely to be deterred from pursuing missile technology or supporting militant proxies.

"It shows that our best efforts to try to talk them out of their aggressive support of terrorism is probably going to be as unsuccessful as the U.N's effort to stop them from launching missiles," Mattis said.

He added that while the strategic threat from Iran was less significant globally than the one from North Korea, he said it was regionally significant.

"And it could grow beyond that if it's not dealt with," Mattis said.

The Islamic Republic's government has ruled out negotiations with Washington over its military capabilities, particularly its missile program, which is run by the Revolutionary Guards.

On Tuesday, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran warned the European Union that Tehran's patience was running out on the bloc's pledge to keep up oil trading despite U.S. sanctions. He said Iran could resume enriching uranium to 20 percent purity if it fails to see economic benefits from the 2015 deal that curbed its nuclear program.

(Reporting by David Morgan in Washington; additional reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Matthew Lewis and Jonathan Oatis)
Comments (145)

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...guadalajara-mexico/ar-BBQlZW6?ocid=spartanntp

Explosives attack at US consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico

4 hrs ago

The US consulate in Mexico's second city, Guadalajara, was attacked with explosives hours before a visit to the country by Vice President Mike Pence and first daughter Ivanka Trump, authorities said Saturday.

The explosion late Friday night damaged a wall but caused no injuries, they said.

"The investigation has been handed over to federal authorities, who will give information on developments in due time," the prosecutor's office for the western state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located, said on Twitter.

The attack ocurred just before Pence and President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka flew into Mexico City on Saturday morning at the head of a high-level US delegation attending the inauguration of Mexico's new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Prosecution sources said a person threw an explosive device at the building and ran away. The suspect was caught on film by security cameras but evaded authorities, despite the heavy security presence at the building.

Grenade fragments were found at the scene, according to investigation sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The blast left a 40-centimeter (16-inch) hole in an exterior wall.

In a video posted online in recent days, purportedly by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the powerful drug trafficking organization had threatened to attack the consulate.

The cartel, one of the largest and most violent in Mexico, is a top target for US anti-drug operations.

 

[Zagdid]

Pakistan, Russian navies hold joint drills in Arabian Sea

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1858222/1-pakistan-russian-navy-hold-joint-drills-arabian-sea/ (fair use)
By News Desk Published: December 1, 2018

Pakistan and Russia on Saturday held joint naval drills in the North Arabian Sea to promote their joint operation capacity, reported Radio Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan and Russian Navy ships carried out mock drills during the exercises.

During their visit to Karachi Port, Russian Navy officers held meetings with a field commander of Pakistan Navy and laid a wreath at Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum.

Islamabad and Moscow agreed on Thursday to upgrade bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership during a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Russian Ambassador Alexey Dedov.

The two sides agreed to improve cooperation in the field of defense production. Relations between Pakistan and Russia have increased significantly during the last few years with a focus on bilateral defense ties.

Discussions were also held to improvement in bilateral trade, energy and investment said the Foreign Office (FO).

Qureshi also praised Russian efforts to bring peace to war-torn Afghanistan. Russian has recently launched a peace initiative to bring the warring sides of Pakistan’s western neighbor to the negotiating table as instability in the country is a cause for concern for Russia as the country lies north of the Amu river in Afghanistan.

The Russian envoy assured the foreign minister of Russia’s cooperation in various sectors.

Earlier in October, the Pakistan Army and the Russian military held joint military drills in the mountains of Pakistan from October 21 to November 4.

Russia and Pakistan have been holding the ‘Friendship’ drills since 2016. In 2017, over 200 servicemen took part in the drills, which were held in the North Caucasus at an altitude of 2,300 meters above sea level.

In August, Pakistan and Russia reached a historic agreement allowing officers from the country’s armed forces to train in Russia.

The deal was concluded at the end of the inaugural meeting of Russia-Pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan and Russia have stepped up cooperation in the defense sector since 2014 when the two nations signed an agreement for boosting bilateral ties.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46418776

Key Afghanistan Taliban commander killed in US air strike

9 hours ago

One of the Taliban's most senior commanders has been killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan.

Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund was the Taliban's "governor" and military chief for the southern Helmand province.

He was killed in the Nawzad district of Helmand on Saturday night, provincial officials said.

The Taliban said his death was a "major loss" but it would not deter them in their efforts to take back control of Afghanistan.

But Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told the AFP news agency his death was a major blow to the Taliban and would "lower the moral" of its fighters in southern Afghanistan.

What's life like under the Taliban?
Militants 'threaten 70% of Afghanistan'
Who are the Taliban?

Helmand is where British troops were based for eight years before ground troops were withdrawn in 2014. Large parts of the province are now back under Taliban control.

BBC research earlier this year showed Taliban insurgents control more territory in the country than at any time since 2014.

It is estimated that about 15 million people - half the population - are living in areas that are either controlled by the Taliban or where its fighters are openly present and regularly mount attacks.

However, there have been intense efforts to persuade the Taliban to begin peace talks to end the fighting. It sent delegates to a meeting in Russia last month to discuss the issue, but has refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government.

Who are the Taliban?

A hardline Islamic movement which swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996 after the civil war which followed the Soviet-Afghan war

They ruled Afghanistan until they were ousted by the US-led invasion five years later
In power, they imposed a brutal version of Sharia law, such as public executions and amputations, and banned women from public life

Men had to grow beards and women to wear the all-covering burka; television, music and cinema were banned

They sheltered al-Qaeda leaders, including 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden

Related Topics
Afghanistan
Taliban

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46400647

What are private security companies doing in Afghanistan?

By Reality Check team
BBC News
2 December 2018

The Taliban has said it carried out an attack in Afghanistan on the base of the British security firm G4S.

A British man was among five employees killed when gunmen stormed their compound.

G4S, one of the world's largest security groups, helps guard the area around the British embassy in Kabul.

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 contributed to a boom in the private security business.

In recent years, the presence of contractors has decreased, mirroring the withdrawal of foreign troops. However, insecurity in Afghanistan remains widespread, there are still thousands of Nato troops and the demand for armed security at foreign embassies, military bases, and for NGOs is still high.

So how many private security firms are operating in Afghanistan?

The Afghan interior ministry says the government-run Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) carries out most of the security tasks in Afghanistan today. Responsibilities include escorts for foreign troops and other security services for NGO, diplomatic or business clients.

The body was created by a presidential decree in 2010 that banned all private security companies after a series of scandals.

Up to that point a large number of foreign private security contractors had overseen most of the security jobs.

Who are the Taliban?

Why Afghanistan is more dangerous than ever

What does a private security company do?

According to a UN working group, a private security company does the following work:

Armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations, property and people
Knowledge transfer with security and policing applications
Development and implementation of security measures

However, the international community in Afghanistan pushed back on the ban and raised concerns about the fitness of the new government security plan. Foreign diplomatic sites, international organisations with diplomatic status and military bases were able to retain their own firms. The exemption also applied to companies involved in police training missions.

Foreign security firms were also allowed to re-register as a risk management company.

This allowed many companies to keep a footing in the security business, wrote Fabrizio Foschini in 2014 for the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

A private security company could be hired to vet, train and manage the guards employed by the Afghan government.

So there is still a presence of foreign security companies working in Afghanistan today.

G4S, for example, says they have about 1,200 members of staff in Afghanistan and have been in the country since 2003.

Half of the workforce is Afghan and the other half is made up of foreign nationals, including Brits.

Aside from providing security at the British embassy, the company has other private security contracts for NGO and corporate clients. The company trains and employs security guards and is involved in the training and mentoring of Afghan national forces.

Taliban 'threaten 70% of Afghanistan'
Afghan Taliban attend landmark talks

Non-disclosure
It's very difficult to get exact numbers for the private security industry operating in Afghanistan, says Sorcha MacLeod from the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, which also looks at private security companies.

Information is difficult to access because client governments can withhold it on national security grounds. It's also because of the complex nature of the industry - there are parent companies, sub-contractors and joint ventures working there.

There have been calls for a bigger role for private companies in the Afghan war.

Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a private security firm, believes contractors are key to ending the long-running war. He wants to pay "proven veterans" who have served in Afghanistan and use them in combat.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai called the proposal a "blatant violation of Afghanistan's national sovereignty".

The numbers have certainly decreased since the significant withdrawal of US and Nato troops in 2014.

In 2012, for example, there were more than 100,000 contractors - armed and unarmed - employed by the US Department of Defense. That included more than 20,000 private security contractors.

The number of private security contractors went below 1,000 at the end of 2016, but has slightly increased since then.

In October 2018 there were almost 2,500 armed private security contractors in Afghanistan, according to the US Department of Defense. Most are third country nationals - that is neither American nor Afghans.

However, armed contractors are always only a small subset of contractors in Afghanistan, says Ulrich Petersohn, associate professor in international politics at the University of Liverpool. The bulk of the contractors are unarmed and provide maintenance or logistics.

All contracting companies had to make their own security arrangements, which, in turn, at the height of the military presence increased the overall number of security firms.

Out of the 25,000 total US defence contractors in Afghanistan now, about 10,000 are American citizens.

Aside from security services, which account for 16% of the contracting jobs, roles include logistics, translation, base support, construction and transportation.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...ile-launch-pushes-europe-to-impose-sanctions/

US condemns Iranian missile launch, pushes Europe to impose sanctions

By: Matthew Lee, The Associated Press  
5 hours ago

ABOARD A US MILITARY PLANE — The Trump administration is urging Europe to impose tough new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program.

The call comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet European officials in Brussels this week and after the U.S. and others condemned an Iranian missile launch over the weekend.

Iran is expected to be a major topic of conversation when Pompeo meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday night.

Pompeo also plans to talk about Iran when he meets his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday while he is in Belgium for a meeting of NATO counterparts.

U.S. special envoy for Iran Brian Hook rejected Iran's insistence that its missile program is defensive. He told reporters traveling to Brussels with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Iran's missile development and testing is a threat and in defiance of U.N. Security Council demands.

Officials showcase more weapons they say link Iran to terror across the region
From grenades to short-range ballistic missiles, items recovered across the Middle East are on display in Washington.
By: Todd South

Hook said U.S. discussions with the Europeans about missile sanctions are gaining traction. Those talks center on slapping penalties on companies and people involved in Iran's program.

“It is a grave and escalating threat, and nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran’s missile program,” Hook said.

Hook’s comments Monday were the latest salvo in an escalating U.S. campaign against Iran since President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.

“Iran is on the wrong track, and our campaign of maximum economic pressure is designed to starve the regime of revenue it needs,” he said.

On Thursday, Hook accused Iran of violating U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports by sending weapons to its proxies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

On Saturday, Pompeo denounced Iran for test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads that could reach parts of Europe.

“We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence,” Pompeo said.

 

[Housecarl]

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-state-ravaged-by-gang-violence-idUSKBN1O305V

World News December 3, 2018 / 6:17 PM / Updated 21 minutes ago

Six police killed in Mexican state ravaged by gang violence

2 Min Read

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Six Mexican police were shot dead on Monday in the western state of Jalisco, authorities said, in one of the bloodiest attacks on security forces in recent months on the first weekday of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s new administration.

Jalisco state prosecutors said on Twitter that six state police were killed and one was injured in a shootout in the municipality of La Huerta on the Pacific coast, just days after an attack on a U.S. consulate in the local capital Guadalajara.

A spokeswoman for state prosecutors said it was not clear who was responsible for the killings, but that the area was known to be the territory of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful drug gangs in Mexico.

La Huerta borders with the municipality of Villa Purificacion, where in May 2015 CJNG members shot down an army helicopter during a failed attempt to capture the gang’s leader Nemesio Oseguera, a former policeman known as “El Mencho”.

On Saturday, officials said they were investigating an apparent grenade attack on the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara. No one was injured in the attack, which occurred days before the new Jalisco governor, Enrique Alfaro, takes office.

Lopez Obrador, who took power on Saturday, has given top priority to quelling gang violence, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives during the past two administrations.

Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

 

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https://www.scmp.com/news/china/mil...con&utm_term=0_694f73a8dc-866ef6d6bb-81835773

Beijing ‘steps up naval patrols’ in Taiwan Strait in pushback at US warships

PLA vessels shift patrol patterns to take them closer to island
Beijing says reaction to US is to secure territorial sovereignty

PUBLISHED : Monday, 03 December, 2018, 3:53pm
UPDATED : Monday, 03 December, 2018, 10:19pm
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Lawrence Chung

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Taiwan’s defence ministry confirmed on Monday that naval vessels from the mainland have stepped up patrols in the western part of the Taiwan Strait this year in what analysts say is a reaction to the increased number of US warships sent into the waters to test Beijing.

The ministry was responding to reports in the Taipei-based China Times on Sunday that “irregular” patrols by People’s Liberation Army Navy warships in the western side of the strait this year had become “routine”.

The ministry said the island’s forces had “effectively monitored the situations and movements around the Taiwan Strait by means of its air and naval mechanisms to ensure national security and regional stability”.

Beijing on ‘heightened alert’ as US Navy sails Taiwan Strait

Beijing, which considers Taiwan a wayward province awaiting reunification by force if necessary, has suspended official exchanges with Taipei since President Tsai Ing-wen took office on the island in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle, which Beijing insists as a political foundation for cross-strait relations.

To try to force Tsai to accept the principle, Beijing has stepped up its military posturing against Taipei with a series of exercises around the island, in addition to poaching five of its allies.

A Taiwanese military source told the South China Morning Post that the PLA used to hold its patrols in waters close to the mainland side, but in recent years had moved closer to the midline of the strait.

“Each time the US sent warships through the Taiwan Strait, the PLA has also dispatched its fleets to track the US’ movements,” the source said, adding that the Taiwanese military also shadowed the mainland vessels.

Since July 7, the US has sent three batches of warships past Taiwan in “freedom of navigation” exercises in the strait and the South China Sea, where Beijing is building on disputed islands.

The first, on July 7, included two destroyers; the second, on October 22, involved a frigate and destroyer. On Wednesday, soon after the island’s local elections, the US sent a guided missile destroyer and an oiler through the strait ahead of the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Argentina.

Beijing says US ‘playing Taiwan card’ after warships sail through strait
Beijing reacted strongly each time. After last week’s action, both the mainland defence and foreign ministries expressed concerns and repeated Beijing’s stand on “protecting China’s sovereignty” in relation to Taiwan.



This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA ‘b oosts T a i wan S trait P a t rols’

 

[danielboon]

AFP news agency
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#BREAKING NATO says "up to Russia" to save Cold War arms treaty

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
‏

@EndGameWW3
3m3 minutes ago
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POMPEO SAYS RUSSIA HAS 60 DAYS TO COME BACK INTO COMPLIANCE WITH INF, DURING THAT TIME U.S. WILL NOT TEST OR DEPLOY ANY SYSTEMS: RTRSEndGameWW3
‏

@EndGameWW3
3m3 minutes ago
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BREAKING: Secretary of State Pompeo says the U.S. is suspending its obligations under nuclear treaty over Russian violations - AP

 

[danielboon]

"War Pigs"

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgement day comes
Yeah!

Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs at the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pig's crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
oh lord yeah! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQUXuQ6Zd9w

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
‏

@EndGameWW3
18m18 minutes ago
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Nuclear warheads, 2018.

Russia: 6800
US: 6600
France: 300
China: 270
UK: 215
Pakistan: 140
India: 130
Israel: 80
North Korea: 20

(Federation of American Scientists)

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

☆MoD OSINT☆ ??
‏

@MoD_OSINT
9m9 minutes ago
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Armored boats of Navy of Ukraine "Berdyansk and Nikopol" remain in the port of Kerch https://liveuamap.com/en/2018/4-december-armored-boats-of-navy-of-ukraine-berdyansk-and …

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted
Behold Israel
Behold Israel
@BeholdIsrael
Hours after #HassanRouhani threatened to block any oil ships from passing through the straights of #Hormuz in response to #US sanction on Iran’s oil industry , #Iran sends 58 naval task forces to the north of the Indian Ocean and the Aden bay. US navy ships arrived the region.
4:39 PM · Dec 4, 2018 · Twitter for iPhone

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
US and India airforces begin exercise Cope India 2019

US and India airforces begin exercise Cope India 2019
airforce-technology.com
4:39 PM · Dec 4, 2018 ·
https://t.co/VdU7Efdo7D?amp=1

 

[Housecarl]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted
Behold Israel
Behold Israel
@BeholdIsrael
Hours after #HassanRouhani threatened to block any oil ships from passing through the straights of #Hormuz in response to #US sanction on Iran’s oil industry , #Iran sends 58 naval task forces to the north of the Indian Ocean and the Aden bay. US navy ships arrived the region.
4:39 PM · Dec 4, 2018 · Twitter for iPhone

Well I guess he wants a frontrow seat to the JDAM demonstration....

 

[danielboon]

DEFCON1-WarWatch Retweeted
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
#UPDATE: US officials to WSJ: US aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis strike group will be arriving “within days” to the Persian Gulf “as a show of force” after Iran has test-fired an advanced medium range ballistic missile
U.S. Sends Aircraft Carrier to Persian Gulf in Show of Force Against Iran
U.S. Sends Aircraft Carrier to Persian Gulf in Show of Force Against Iran
wsj.com
7:56 PM · Dec 3, 2018 ·
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Retweets
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Likes
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
21h
Replying to
@ELINTNews
#UPDATE: This deployment will bring a close to what's been described as the longest period in two decades that a carrier group was absent from the region
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
21h
#UPDATE: Other reports from when the strike group docked in Singapore on Nov.26 state that some vessels in the strike group include: The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Mobile Bay & the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Spruance, along with other support ships & possibly submarines
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
21h

USS John C. Stennis carrier strike group docks in Singapore
upi.com
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
21h
Replying to
@ELINTNews
@IntelCrab

@StratSentinel

@TheWarMonitor
Nav1.7
Nav1.7
@voltexinc
·
21h
Replying to
@ELINTNews
How many times have the US sent aircraft carrier to the gulf as show of strength before? Did it work?

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm…..

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.defenseone.com/politics...al-operations-great-power-competition/153274/

Lawmakers Probe Role of Special Operations in Great Power Competition

By Katie Bo Williams
Senior National Security Correspondent
Read bio
December 4, 2018

The two four-stars up to lead CENTCOM and SOCOM faced questions about how their commands will change under the National Defense Strategy.

As the Pentagon shifts its focus from fighting terrorism to countering China and Russia, the two generals tapped to lead the forces most closely associated with counterterror efforts faced questions about how their commands fit into that new strategy.

Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, tapped to lead U.S. Central Command, and Lt. Gen. Rich Clarke, up to head U.S. Special Operations, acknowledged on Tuesday that they may receive fewer resources to perform their missions.

“I recognize in my AOR in particular that there would be increased risk,” McKenzie told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee weighing his nomination. CENTCOM handles missions in the 20 countries that make up the Middle East, where the U.S. is embroiled in fights against ISIS, al Qaeda, and other violent extremist groups.

Clarke argued that SOCOM is positioned to be an important player in great power competition. Working with allies and partners that Russia and China do not have, he said, “we can counter some of their malign activities.” He offered no specifics, and lawmakers did not press him.

Yet the repeated questions, from Republicans and Democrats, highlighted a hazy future for the two commands.

In the 17 years since the Sept. 11 attack, special operations forces have been at the forefront of what the Pentagon once called the Global War on Terror. Personnel numbers have increased by roughly half, to 70,000, and elite forces have deployed to more than 80 countries around the globe. In the Middle East, they have killed or captured scores of terrorists, including 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden. But critics began to complain that the military was wearing out its special forces. Last last year, for example, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said that he worried about “overuse of SOF.”

Clarke, asked about operational tempo, told lawmakers that the National Defense Strategy had helped relieve stress on the command by “relooking at all of our deployments” to ensure that they are “specific to special operations forces.”

I’m not advocating for additional resources but [rather] looking to make sure people are prioritized in the right places,” he said.

But the new focus on China and Russia and a series of public setbacks and scandals—such as the death of four American commandos last year in Niger and the investigation of Green Berets related to the death of an Afghan commando last month—has led to increased scrutiny of how the military uses its elite operators. The incoming Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, D-Wash., has said that he intends to conduct more oversight of special operations across the globe. And as the Defense Department has shifted its strategy, it has announced cuts to counterterror forces operating in Africa. (The 10-percent cut to forces operating most in West Africa raised some eyebrows; policy experts pointed out that both China and Russia are operating within Africa and see it as a strategic launching point for their own global ambitions.) Under current SOCOM head, Army Gen. Tony Thomas, the command has begun to subtly reshape itself into a more traditional service secretariat that trains, arms, and deploys units to regional combatant commands.

Lawmakers expressed concerns that the new emphasis on great power competition will divert attention from counter-terror campaigns in the Middle East, including the U.S. war in Afghanistan, where four service members died in a roadside bomb blast last week.

“In order to do [what is dictated in the new strategy] with the capability we have, we understand there are risks that will have to be taken,” said Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz. “Where are those risks? They fall right into your lap because they deal with the threats you have to deal with all the time.”

In Afghanistan, Mattis and other DOD senior leaders have insisted that the Taliban appears open to a negotiated peace; they insist that the strategy there is “working.” But a spate of recent high-profile insider attacks and a bloody siege on the city of Ghazni over the summer have hollowed out those assertions, putting a fresh spotlight on a conflict that is now older than the youngest U.S. recruits who could be sent there.

“We are still spending $45 billion a year in Afghanistan,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. “How will you adjust requested requirements for Afghanistan given the focus on great power competition?”

McKenzie gave a grim picture of the current state of affairs in Afghanistan, describing the conflict as “stalemated” and estimating the number of Taliban fighters at 60,000. Afghan security forces would not survive if the U.S. and coalition forces pull out now, he said. Under skeptical questioning from Peters, he insisted that direct U.S. engagement with the Taliban, led by Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad, could herald a positive turn in the war.

“Senator, I believe this is a new thing,” he said.

The hearing ran just an hour and forty minutes, with lawmakers raising few concerns specific to the two nominees themselves. Republicans also pressed both men on Iranian threats and DOD’s budget; Inhofe, faced with Trump’s maybe-order to cut defense spending by 5 percent, has begun talking about the planned $733 billion budget for 2020 as a “floor.” Democrats worked through a number of regional concerns, including the military mission of troops in Syria and American support for Saudi Arabia’s controversial involvement in the war in Yemen.

McKenzie told lawmakers that he supported ongoing U.S. support for the Saudi coalition, despite the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I believe the best solution in Yemen would be a negotiated solution,” McKenzie said, referring to the ongoing political process led by UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. “I believe our ability to participate and drive those discussions require we remain in contact with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.”

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.omaha.com/news/military...cle_acbed90e-f083-5122-9e12-e09d87f8f299.html

Gen. Hyten defends updating U.S. nuclear arsenal, aims to 'strike fear' in potential enemies

By Steve Liewer / World-Herald staff writer Dec 2, 2018
Comments 3

Gen. John Hyten badly wants to rebuild the aging nuclear force he commands, which carries a price tag estimated at more than $400 billion over the next 10 years.

Lately, though, there are political threats to the wide consensus that supported his plans to replace the 50-year-old gravity bombs, 30-year-old ballistic-missile submarines and bombers and 50-year-old ICBMs.

The U.S. Strategic Command chief commands the nuclear force from Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha.

Hyten gave a full-throated defense of nuclear modernization in a recent interview with The World-Herald.

He said the U.S. relies on those defenses to deter attacks by nuclear-armed adversaries such as Russia, China and North Korea.

Hyten said that U.S. adversaries are updating their nuclear arsenals at a rapid clip. The U.S. can’t stop improving its nuclear arsenal unless those countries do, too.

“The world demands that we be able to respond to the threats we’re facing,” he said.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., in line to become the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said nuclear spending must be reined in. He wants a new Nuclear Posture Review, which is a full-scale assessment of nuclear needs, even though the last one was published less than a year ago. And he wants to scrap Hyten’s plans for new “low-yield” nuclear weapons launched from submarines, which are being developed to match new Russian capabilities.

Smith also has questioned the need for the nuclear triad of air, land and sea-based nuclear weapons that has formed the bedrock of U.S. nuclear capability since the 1960s.

“We need to fundamentally rebuild our nuclear strategy, and to use it as a deterrent, not as this overwhelming force,” Smith told a conference of the Ploughshares Fund, a group that opposes nuclear weapons, on Nov. 14. “At the end of the day, the reason we have as many weapons as we have is based on plans that were contemplating how to win a nuclear war. But you can’t win a nuclear war.”

Critics have long said the triad is no longer necessary, and have advocated scrapping land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles because they are immobile and most vulnerable to a first strike.

But Hyten said the triad is still needed. He said the Air Force’s roughly 400 ICBMs, spread out over five states (including Nebraska) in the upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions, can be instantly ready and are a massive set of targets for an adversary to overcome.

The submarines are highly survivable because their exact location at any moment is unknown — even to Hyten. The chances are small that an adversary’s first strike could destroy them.

And air-launched weapons are needed for their flexibility, because they are the only nuclear bombs that can be recalled even after the planes take off.

Hyten said he has no problem with a U.S.-Russia deal that lowers the number of nuclear weapons. Currently, each side has about 1,400 deployed warheads. But he doesn’t approve of any plans that include the United States unilaterally giving up one part of its arsenal.

“I can’t imagine how we could respond without all three legs,” Hyten said. “They have to strike fear into the hearts of our potential adversaries.”

Hyten’s job has grown a lot bigger in recent weeks. On Oct. 3, Defense Secretary James Mattis signed off on a plan developed by StratCom to centralize the nation’s antiquated nuclear command, control and communication structure — which the Pentagon refers to as “NC3” — under Hyten’s control.

NC3 oversees daily readiness and security of the command and control system, not the highly classified launch orders that would be used in a crisis.

Until now, responsibility for nuclear command and control had been spread out among several military commands and managed by a committee-like structure at the Pentagon.

Hyten said he and Mattis spent a lot of time talking about NC3 when the defense secretary visited Offutt in September 2017.

“He said, ‘A committee can’t be in charge of anything. I need a commander in charge,’ ” Hyten recalled.

The Nuclear Posture Review, released in February, noted problems with aging components in NC3 warning satellites and radars, communications satellites, aircraft, ground stations and nuclear control centers. Some of these systems haven’t been updated for several decades, the report noted.

Hyten said much of his time now is consumed with setting up a new “enterprise center,” based at Offutt, to carry out nuclear command and control. Eventually it will bring several hundred new civilian and military jobs to the base, though he said a more precise number hasn’t been determined yet. Many of them will be engineers.

“We’re going through the process of hiring the leadership,” Hyten said. “There’s a lot of work that’s going to be happening in the next year.”

Last week, StratCom posted a “request for information” on the federal website FedBizOps.gov, seeking ideas from industry and the academic world on how nuclear command and communications might be improved over the long term, during the years 2030-2080. The notice said the ideas “will help inform how we effect the transition into the next generation NC3 enterprise architecture.”

StratCom’s employees soon will be moving into a new headquarters building, recently constructed near the Capehart Road entrance to Offutt. The Army Corps of Engineers turned over the completed building to the Air Force on Oct. 31. Now StratCom will install a sophisticated communications and electronic security suite, estimated to cost $679 million. That’s more than the cost of the building itself, which totaled $617 million.

Hyten said the new building will be far more efficient than the current headquarters, which was built in 1957, at the dawn of the computer age. It consists of five buildings and was poorly designed for nuclear command and control.

“In the new building, I can get anywhere in 30 seconds,” he said. “It’s going to be awesome.”

He expects the building to be ready for occupancy in a year or so for the command’s nearly 4,000 employees.

“If everything goes perfect,” Hyten said, “we’ll be in by next Christmas.”

 

[Housecarl]

Hummm…...And how many are only on the rolls?.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...con&utm_term=0_694f73a8dc-6c825400a8-81835773

World News December 4, 2018 / 10:16 AM / Updated 19 hours ago

Afghan security forces' deaths unsustainable: U.S. military official

Idrees Ali
4 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon’s pick for the next commander of U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday the high casualty rate of Afghan security forces would not be sustainable even with the stalemate in the fight against Taliban militants.

“Their losses have been very high. They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going to be sustainable unless we correct this problem,” Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The assessment comes as both Western-backed security forces and the Taliban have pushed to gain momentum as the United States has stepped up efforts to find a peaceful settlement to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last month that since 2015 more than 28,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed.

McKenzie said the United States would have to work with Afghan forces to improve how they recruit, train and carry out missions.

He added that Afghan forces were not capable of securing the mountainous South Asian country without help from the nearly 14,000 U.S. troops deployed there.

“If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country,” McKenzie said.

He said he did not know how long it would take for Afghan forces to be self-sufficient and that Taliban fighters were estimated at 60,000.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who are fighting to drive out international forces and reestablish their version of strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

McKenzie said he was unaware of any plans to significantly change the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan.

Recent attacks underscore the pressure on Afghanistan’s overstretched security forces, suffering from their highest-ever level of casualties, estimates from the NATO-led “Resolute Support” mission show.

The Kabul government no longer releases exact casualty figures, but officials say at least 500 men are being killed each month and hundreds more wounded, a tally many consider low.

In November dozens of elite commandos were among the casualties suffered by Afghan security forces as the Taliban claimed to have taken a district in Ghazni province.

U.S. commanders have said they expect the Taliban to step up military efforts to better their position while they maintain contacts with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at opening peace negotiations.

PAKISTAN
Trump recently asked for Pakistan’s help with faltering Afghan peace talks in a letter to new Prime Minister Imran Khan, making clear that Islamabad’s assistance was “fundamental” to the health of the two countries’ strained relationship.

McKenzie said Pakistan was needed for long-term stability in Afghanistan and could play a key role in facilitating talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

“At this time, however, Pakistan does not appear to be using the full extent of its influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the table,” McKenzie said in written responses to questions from lawmakers.

“We continue to see the Taliban being utilized as a hedge against India rather than as part of a stable, reconciled Afghanistan,” he added.

Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by G Crosse and Richard Chang

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...estroy-Hezbollah-tunnels/8901543904030/?nll=1

World News Updated Dec. 4, 2018 at 3:51 AM

Israel launches operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels

By Allen Cone

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Israel has launched an operation to destroy tunnels built by Hezbollah across the border from southern Lebanon, the military announced early Tuesday.

Operation Northern Shield will "expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon to Israel," Israel Defense Forces said in a post on Twitter.

"This is a defensive operation meant at destroying attack tunnels, crossing into Israeli territory, built by Hezbollah," Yuval Rotem, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on Twitter. "Hezbollah is a dangerous terror organization, at the service of the ayatollahs in Teheran. Israel is committed to protect its citizens and its territory.

The operation in the Meluta area will target an unspecified number of tunnels that were not ready to be used, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the IDF, according to The Jerusalem Post. The area is a closed military zone with no civilians told to evauate.

RELATED Pope, Palestinian leader meet, seek two-state solution

Israel has been constructing fences, clearing vegetation and creating steep cliffs to deter invading forces along a roughly 7-mile stretch of its border with Lebanon since 2015.

"The digging of tunnels constitutes a blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty," IDF Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said in a report by The New York Times.

Hezbollah is supported by the majority of the Shiite population in Lebanon. Manelis said the Lebanese Armed Forces is not capable of controlling what occurs in southern Lebanon.

RELATED Syria walks back claim of downed Israeli fighter jet

"This is also more proof of the grave violations by Hezbollah, which blatantly ignores UN resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, and operates from villages in southern Lebanon, while harming the state of Lebanon and its citizens," Manelis said. "The Hezbollah terrorist organization, which is behind the digging of the tunnels, continues to operate with the support and funding of Iran in order to carry out terror activity against Israeli citizens."

RELATED Ancient pot of gold found in Israel

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...con&utm_term=0_694f73a8dc-6c825400a8-81835773

U.S. Issues Nuclear Ultimatum to Russia

The Trump administration and NATO appear to agree on a new strategy to contain Moscow’s new nuclear ambitions.

By Paul D. Shinkman, Senior National Security Writer Dec. 4, 2018, at 4:09 p.m.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that Russia has 60 days to become compliant with a key international agreement governing the development of nuclear weapons or the U.S. would also cease obeying it, offering an ultimatum that restores some of the Trump administration's diplomatic leverage over Moscow but also risks the beginning of a new nuclear arms race.

Pompeo issued the threat in Brussels shortly after NATO foreign ministers released a statement confirming Russia's violations of the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, specifically its development of a ground-launched cruise missile Moscow calls the 9M729.

"The United States is declaring that Russia's ongoing violation of the INF Treaty constitutes a material breach of the treaty. As a consequence of Russia's material breach, the United States will suspend its obligations under the treaty effective in 60 days from Dec. 4 unless Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance," according to a State Department statement. "Russia must return to full and verifiable compliance; Russia's failure to do so will result in the demise of the INF Treaty. We should be clear that Russia has not shown any indications that it seeks to return to compliance."

RELATED CONTENT

China’s New Military Sparks War Fears

Russia has repeatedly rejected that it has disobeyed the terms of the treaty, first by denying the existence of such missiles and later saying its range was compliant with the agreement. It has also criticized the U.S. for what it considers provocative behavior in Europe.

The NATO statement on Tuesday said the U.S. has remained in compliance and urged both sides to continue to honor the treaty.

"It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote in a tweet.

President Donald Trump indicated in October he would withdraw from the 1987 agreement and begin rebuilding the U.S. nuclear arsenal following reports that Russia had developed new weapons in defiance of the treaty's terms. Trump also expressed displeasure that China was not included in the agreement.

Critics of the announcement at the time feared Trump was handing a rhetorical victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who could claim with some legitimacy that the U.S. was first to officially part from the agreement.

Other world leaders, principally German Chancellor Angela Merkel, petitioned the president strongly to stay with the agreement, despite National Security Adviser John Bolton's strong and long-standing opposition to it.

White House policies toward Moscow are under heightened scrutiny amid ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian agents.

Pompeo criticized Russia earlier on Tuesday in a speech to the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, citing its military campaigns in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine beginning in 2014, and its reported deployment of nerve gas to try to kill a Russian defector in England.

"Russia hasn't embraced Western values of freedom and international cooperation," Pompeo said.

While most officials and experts agreed that the U.S. needs to take a harder line against Russia, some expressed concern following Pompeo's announcement at the risks the White House appears willing to take.

RELATED CONTENT

Ukraine’s War With Russia Heats Up

"The 60-day delay of the notification of the formal U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty provides little time and will be of little value unless NATO governments, along with Russia and the United States actually try to negotiate a solution" that addresses Russia's non-compliance, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the disarmament advocacy group the Arms Control Association. "Failure to do so risks the start of a new missile race in Europe that will undermine European security and make the extension of the 2010 New START agreement between Washington and Moscow all the more vital."

Kimball cited both Western concerns about Russia as well as Moscow's furor over the U.S. deployment of a missile shield to Romania that could be used for offensive missile launches.

"It's clear that Russia is guilty of recurrent and egregious violations of the INF Treaty," Rep. Eliot Engel said in a statement. The New York Democrat is ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. "However, our immediate task should be to work with our European allies to bring Russia back into compliance, not to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty. We must act responsibly and do everything we can to minimize the risk of rekindling an arms race."

Officials from countries allied with the U.S. and closer to Russia have a different perspective. Speaking on the sidelines of a security conference in Halifax last month, Raimundas Karoblis, the minister of defense for Lithuania, a NATO ally, confirmed to U.S. News the presence of Russian nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, the detached Russian province that also borders the Baltic Sea.

"We very much understand the U.S. position," Karoblis said of Trump's consideration for withdrawing from the INF Treaty. "The only way to speak with Russia is also to demonstrate force."

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

DEFCONWarningSystem Staff
‏

@Drumboy44DWS
7h7 hours ago
More
Russian nuclear submarine "Severodvinsk" completes launch of "Caliber" cruise missile during combat exercise.

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3 Retweeted

USS Harry S. Truman
‏

@USSHARRYSTRUMAN
7h7 hours ago
More
#TruFans! #Truman made it's way back through the #StraitOfGibraltar once again after nearly two weeks operating in the #MediterraneanSea! Check out our Eyes on Truman below! #WeStandTheWatch https://www.dvidshub.net/video/645631/strait-gibraltar#.XAd7WB3LOOQ.facebook

 

[danielboon]

Russian government voices veiled threat against Cyprus Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow “will have to take response measures in case of a military build-up by the US in Cyprus.’’

Zakharova said that “the information is coming from different sources about Washington’s active actions to ensure the possibility of building up its military presence in Cyprus for countering the growing Russian influence in the region in light of the successful implementation of the operation of the Russian Aerospace Force in Syria.”

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades speaking at an Energy Symposium in Nicosia on Tuesday announced that he was expecting the US to express interest in taking part in the trilateral energy cooperation between Cyprus, Greece and Israel.

“I attribute particular importance in the interest shown on the part of the US to take part in the trilateral cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel,” he said.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Zakharova also said that “the further militarization of the island and its involvement in the implementation of American and NATO plans will inevitably lead to dangerous and destabilizing consequences for Cyprus itself.”

“Moscow cannot but take into consideration the anti-Russian background of these schemes.” [Kathimerini Cyprus] http://www.ekathimerini.com/235366/...overnment-voices-veiled-threat-against-cyprus

 

[danielboon]

EndGameWW3
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[danielboon]

Ryan Browne
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US. forces conducted "a self-defense airstrike" killing 4 al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Somalia Tuesday according to @USAfricaCommand. AFRICOM: "The US airstrike was conducted against militants after US and partner forces came under attack"

 

[Zagdid]

US destroyer sails near Russia-claimed waters in Sea of Japan

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/...ls-near-russia-claimed-waters-in-sea-of-japan (fair use)
BY REBECCA KHEEL - 12/05/18 01:52 PM EST

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailed near waters claimed by Russia in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, a move bound to rankle Moscow.

"On Dec. 5 (local time), guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) conducted a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the Sea of Japan,” Pacific Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rachel McMarr said in a statement.

“McCampbell sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay to challenge Russia's excessive maritime claims and uphold the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea enjoyed by the United States and other Nations.”

CNN first reported the operation.

Peter the Great Gulf — the largest in the Sea of Japan — is home to the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet. The United States considers Russia’s claim to the waters excessive because it extends more than the 12 nautical miles from the land allowed by international law.

“U.S. Forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis,” McMarr said. “These operations demonstrate the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. That is true in the Sea of Japan, as in other places around the globe.”

In her statement, McMarr stressed that freedom of navigation operations “are not about any one country, nor are they about current events.”

But Wednesday’s operation comes amid several recent developments that have ratcheted up U.S.-Russia tensions.

Late last month, Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy ships in the Kerch Strait. The incident prompted President Trump to cancel his planned formal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during this past weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Argentina.

And on Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave Russia 60 days to come back into compliance with a landmark arms control treaty, warning the United States would follow through with abandoning the treaty if it doesn't. NATO’s foreign ministers also released a statement formally concluding Russia to be in material breach of the treaty.

Russia denies it has violated the accord, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. On Wednesday, Putin responded to Pompeo by saying his country will build treaty-banned missiles if the United States does.

The U.S. military conducts freedom of navigation operations throughout the world, typically drawing the most headlines when the operations challenge China’s maritime claims. Last week, another U.S. guided-missile destroyer, the USS Chancellorsville, sailed near contested islands in the South China Sea, drawing a formal diplomatic protest from Beijing.

 

[danielboon]

ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
#BREAKING: Initial reports a USAF F-18 & C-130 have crashed during aerial refueling off Iwakuni, Japan. Both aircraft have crashed into the water. There were five onboard the C-130 & two on the F-18, there conditions are unknown. Search and rescue is now underway -
@CBSWalsh
4:27 PM · Dec 5, 2018 ·
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ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
1h
Replying to
@ELINTNews
USMC F-18 not USAF****
Scott Morgan
Scott Morgan
@confusedeagledc
·
1h
Replying to
@ELINTNews
and
@CBSWalsh
Iwakuni was USMC when I was on active duty... Navy and the Corps fly the 18s USAF doesn't to my knowledge
ELINT News
ELINT News
@ELINTNews
·
1h
I meant USMC apologies!
ra*’id jasim
ra*’id jasim
@raid_jasim
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Replying to
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الراضعه والمرضعه !
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Steve Herman
Steve Herman
@W7VOA
·
1h
Search underway for an aircraft that took off from
@MCASIwakuni
. (link: https://twitter.com/USMC/status/1070435706730962944) twitter.com/USMC/status/10…
This Tweet is unavailable.
Steve Herman
Steve Herman
@W7VOA
·
1h
The incident reportedly involves a KC-130 and a F/A-18. No official info yet from
@USMC
.
Steve Herman
Steve Herman
@W7VOA
·
59m
“Search and rescue operations continue for U.S. Marine aircraft that were involved in a mishap off the coast of Japan around 2:00 a.m. Dec. 6.,” according to
@USMC
.
Steve Herman
Steve Herman
@W7VOA
·
59m
“The aircraft involved in the mishap had launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and were conducting regularly scheduled training when the mishap occurred. Japanese search and rescue aircraft immediately responded to aid in recovery," adds
@USMC
in statement.
ELINT News Retweeted
Steve Herman
Steve Herman
@W7VOA
Total of 7 personnel missing: 5 Marines aboard the KC-130 and 2 flying the F/A-18 which was being refueled.
5:19 PM · Dec 5, 2018 from Washington, DC ·

 

[danielboon]

Russia Claims It Chased U.S. Destroyer Out Of Its Territorial Waters Moscow is seeking to downplay yesterday's incident in the Sea of Japan, which saw an American destroyer sail through waters claimed by Russia for the first time since the Soviet era in 1987, and has released new details of the incident. Russia has further framed the incident as one in which the American ship was essentially chased out of the area. The U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed that the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell sailed “in the vicinity of” Peter the Great Bay on Wednesday — a body of water off the Russian port city of Vladivostok — in order to “challenge Russia's excessive maritime claims and uphold the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea enjoyed by the United States and other nations,” according to a Navy official statement. The United States does not recognize Russia's claim to the waters in question.

In a statement reported by Bloomberg the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) said its own warship and aircraft had escorted the American destroyer as it sailed near the contested waters. The MoD emphasized the USS McCampbell didn’t enter to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) to Russian territorial waters.

But most interesting is that Russia is framing the US destroyer's reaction as one of attempting "to escape at full speed" from the Russian escort vessels:

“If the American destroyer’s crew demonstrated anything, it was its unsuccessful attempt to escape at full speed from Pacific Fleet forces escorting it,” the statement said.

The incident occurred in the general vicinity of where the Russian Pacific Fleet is based. Peter the Great Bay, the largest in the Sea of Japan, and its port city of Vladivostok has been home to Russia's major Far East region/Pacific naval base since the 18th century, when it was a key forward outpost of the Imperial Russian Navy.

Meanwhile the US Navy statement further sought to separate the incident from current tensions with Russia elsewhere, such as in the Black Sea by emphasizing the "routine" nature of its "freedom of navigation" operations. “U.S. Forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. These operations demonstrate the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. That is true in the Sea of Japan, as in other places around the globe,” the spokesperson for the U.S. Pacific Fleet said.

“We conduct routine and regular freedom of navigation operations, as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future. FONOPs are not about any one country, nor are they about current events. All freedom of navigation assertions are grounded in principle and the rule of law,” the spokesperson added.

However, this is not likely to convince anyone, especially when it was the first time in 30 years that the US bothered to send any ships on "routine" operations near this particular location. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...hased-us-destroyer-out-its-territorial-waters

 

[danielboon]

Amichai Stein
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6h6 hours ago
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BREAKING: Car bomb explodes near police HQ in southeast #Iran: At least 3 people have been killed & several injured

 

[Housecarl]

Amichai Stein
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@AmichaiStein1
6h6 hours ago
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BREAKING: Car bomb explodes near police HQ in southeast #Iran: At least 3 people have been killed & several injured

Well that ups the ante....