WAR 12-09-2017-to-12-15-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
(298) 11-18-2017-to-11-24-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...1-24-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(299) 11-25-2017-to-12-01-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-01-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

(300) 12-02-2017-to-12-08-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...2-08-2017___****THE****WINDS****of****WAR****

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Sorry for the delay folks, I've been bouncing about a bit today....

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Iran's Revolutionary Guard Sends Formal Message To US Military: Leave Syria Or Else
Started by Shacknasty Shagrat‎, Today 03:54 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...al-Message-To-US-Military-Leave-Syria-Or-Else

Rand Report says US could potentially lose next war with Russia or China.
Started by TerryK‎, Today 04:18 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...otentially-lose-next-war-with-Russia-or-China.

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PALESTINIANS: THREE DAYS OF RAGE OVER TRUMP'S DECISION ON JERUSALEM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...RAGE-OVER-TRUMP-S-DECISION-ON-JERUSALEM/page4

Hummm.....

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkeys-erdogan-seeks-lead-muslim-response-jerusalem-012031285.html

Turkey's Erdogan seeks to lead Muslim response on Jerusalem

Stuart WILLIAMS, AFP • December 8, 2017

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey's leader is seeking to spearhead Islamic reaction to the US declaration on Jerusalem, but it is uncertain if he can coordinate a meaningful response among often disunited Muslim nations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, had fulminated against President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital even before it was officially announced this week.

Erdogan described the status of the city, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a "red line" for Muslims.

With Trump disregarding such warnings, the Turkish president used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group.

"He is seeking to garner an international response," said Ziya Meral, resident fellow at the British Army's Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, noting Erdogan had spoken to Muslim allies and non-Islamic leaders.

"What Turkey can do tangibly next is far from clear and responses have risks for Erdogan and Turkey," he told AFP.

- 'Exacerbate the malaise' -

Turkey in 2016 agreed to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel after the crisis triggered by the deadly storming by Israel of a Turkish ship seeking to break the Gaza blockade in 2010.

Cooperation has resumed, most significantly in energy. But Erdogan has rarely mustered much public enthusiasm for ties with Israel and retains warm relations with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza.

Erdogan's supporters proudly recall how he famously walked out of a January 2009 debate in Davos with then Israeli president Shimon Peres, complaining he was not given enough time to respond and repeatedly saying "one minute!".

The Turkish leader has left diplomatic niceties aside in warning his US counterpart of the dangers of the move, using the backyard-style rhetoric he usually keeps for bitter enemies.

"Hey Trump! What do you want to do?" Erdogan said Thursday. "What kind of approach is this? Political leaders do not stir things up, they seek to make peace!"

Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was unclear if Erdogan's strong reaction would have any impact on Trump.

"What is clear is that the Jerusalem issue will inevitably exacerbate the malaise in the US-Turkish relationship, which was already under considerable strain."

Trump's arrival as US leader was welcomed by Ankara but relations have hit new trouble due to rows over the Syria conflict, an explosive legal case in New York and even a mutual visa suspension.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Erdogan's Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) shares an "ideological affinity" with Hamas.

This suggests "Erdogan can never be an honest broker on the Israeli-Palestinian issue," he said.

- 'Flag bearer for Muslim alliances' -

The Istanbul summit of the OIC -- an organisation founded in 1969 after an arson attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem -- will offer Erdogan the chance to showcase his status as a global Muslim leader.

But it remains unclear if he will be able to come close to shifting the 57 members -- including arch foes like Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia --- into anything resembling a coordinated position.

"Turkey... will seek a prominent role in coordinating Muslim reactions to the US move," wrote analysts Ofer Zalzberg and Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group (ICG).

But they added most leaders in the Gulf, Egypt and elsewhere are "likely to make do with rhetorical expressions of opposition" and were unlikely to risk sacrificing good relations with the US.

Crucially watched will be attendance from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's Egypt -- a bete noire of Erdogan -- and Gulf kingpin Saudi Arabia which is under the sway of powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Under Erdogan's rule, Turkey has sought an enhanced role for the OIC. Thanks to his backing Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu -- who later stood against Erdogan in presidential elections -- was secretary general of the Jeddah-based group from 2004-2014.

"Turkey has attempted to be a flag bearer for Muslim alliances for the last 12 years to very limited outcomes," said Meral of the British Army's Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research.

"OIC is a weak entity with very little shared agenda and commitment to shared causes," he said, adding a better option to help the Palestinians would be to work more closely with EU and Western nations who have criticised the move.

61 reactions
 
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Housecarl

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-n-says-missiles-fired-saudi-arabia-common-203449810.html

U.N. says missiles fired at Saudi Arabia have 'common origin'

By Michelle Nichols, Reuters • December 9, 2017

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations officials have found that missiles fired at Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthi rebels appear to have a "common origin," but they are still investigating U.S. and Saudi claims that Iran supplied them, according to a confidential report.

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The officials traveled to Saudi Arabia to examine the debris of missiles fired on July 22 and Nov. 4, wrote U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the fourth biannual report on the implementation of U.N. sanctions and restrictions on Iran.

They found "that the missiles had similar structural and manufacturing features which suggest a common origin," said Guterres in the Friday report to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The report comes amid calls by the United States for Iran to be held accountable for violating U.N. Security Council resolutions on Yemen and Iran by supplying weapons to the Houthis.

Saudi-led forces, which back the Yemeni government, have fought the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen's more than two-year-long civil war. Saudi Arabia's crown prince has described Iran's supply of rockets to the Houthis as "direct military aggression" that could be an act of war.

Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with weapons, saying the U.S. and Saudi allegations are "baseless and unfounded."

Guterre's report said the U.N. officials saw three components, which Saudi authorities said came from the missile fired on Nov. 4. The components "bore the castings of a logo similar to that of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group" - a U.N.-blacklisted company.

The officials are "still analyzing the information collected and will report back to the Security Council," wrote Guterres.

NUCLEAR DEAL

The Saudi-led coalition used the Nov. 4 missile attack to justify a blockade of Yemen for several weeks, saying it was needed to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran.

Although the blockade later eased, Yemen’s situation has remained dire. About 8 million people are on the brink of famine, with outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.

A separate report to the Security Council last month by a panel of independent experts monitoring sanctions imposed in Yemen found that four missiles fired this year into Saudi Arabia appear to have been designed and manufactured by Iran.

However, the panel said it "as yet has no evidence as to the identity of the broker or supplier" of the missiles, which were likely shipped to the Houthis in violation of a targeted U.N. arms embargo imposed on Houthi leaders in April 2015.

Most U.N. sanctions on Iran were lifted in January last year when the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran fulfilled commitments under a nuclear deal with Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. But Iran is still subject to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions.

U.S. President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the nuclear deal in October by refusing to certify that Tehran was complying with the accord and warning that he might ultimately terminate it. International inspectors have said Iran is in compliance.

"I encourage the United States to maintain its commitments to the plan and to consider the broader implications for the region and beyond before taking any further steps," Guterres wrote.

"Similarly, I encourage the Islamic Republic of Iran to carefully consider the concerns raised by other participants in the plan," he said.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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Housecarl

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https://www.realcleardefense.com/ar...lus_and_learning_from_our_enemies_112754.html
https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2017/12/8/changing-calculus-and-learning-from-our-enemies

Changing Calculus and Learning from our Enemies

By Vera Mironova & Craig Whiteside
December 08, 2017

In Jake Tapper’s book The Outpost, a story about the occupation and eventual destruction of a military base in an obscure valley in Afghanistan, the author assures the reader he is not trying to convey any lessons learned. Instead, he wants to convey the experience of U.S. military members in Afghanistan fighting a war they—and, by the end of the book, the reader—can barely comprehend. He is being a bit modest here. No one writes a story like this, about the haunting events related to Combat Outpost Keating, without a desire for the reader to learn something from the heart-wrenching descriptions of valor, suffering, and duty. Tapper’s core questions are these: How do officers translate policy into strategy, and what can one say about the resulting operations and tactics? What do the events of Keating say about the links to strategy and policy, if anything? Was there ever any linkage at all?

Tapper’s only attempt at an explanation suggests the operational risk from the indefensibility of the outpost, a fact commented on by almost every experienced military person who stepped on or flew over the outpost, was overcome by “the deep-rooted inertia of military thinking.” Once these outposts were chosen, military decision-makers found themselves overcome by the physics of reversing this kind of decision, and later plans to abandon the outposts were often overcome by events with more priority, until it was too late. There were times when Command Outpost Keating worked just fine as part of the larger strategy…until it didn’t.


The need to evaluate the ever-changing strategic environment is not lost on many, although, as Tapper’s story relates, it is harder than one might think in complex environments. One example of this is the tactic of suicide bombing. It has been the subject of scholarly works and studies in multiple campaigns. For the U.S. military, suicide tactics have been an integral part of the threat environment for well over a decade. Familiarity with the concept generates a bit of complacency, but this is a false familiarity obscuring the reality that suicide bombing has changed in the last decade.

To spur a reevaluation of this tactic, and its operational and strategic implications, we published an article in the November/December issue of Military Review titled “Adaptation and Innovation with an Urban Twist: Changes to Suicide Tactics in the Battle of Mosul.” The article traces the historical evolution of the Islamic State’s use of suicide bombings (including operations under its previous guises), and how the organization has fused human resources, logistics, technological improvements, and tactics to execute a campaign that conducted over 1000 suicide operations in a recent 12-month period.

The Islamic State’s suicide bombing campaigns have changed in character in several ways over the last decade. Whereas the majority of perpetrators in this theater were once foreign immigrants to Iraq, today local Iraqis and Syrians conduct the majority of attacks. A decade ago, the Islamic State movement largely hit lightly defended civilian targets for maximum psychological and sectarian effects; today, they target conventional Iraqi military and police tactical units on the forward line of troops. Finally, Islamic State suicide bombing in the past was primarily a tool used to achieve strategic effects at the national, regional, and international level. In the recent caliphate period, with the Islamic State controlling and defending territory, suicide bombing has been marshaled for use in the operational realm, taking the form of coordinated counterattack waves against attacking forces.

The key driver for the Islamic State’s dramatic increase of suicide bombing capacity was their ability to control territory. The ability to influence populations, recruit locals for their campaign, and experiment with human resource policies to feed their suicide bombing machine was a game changer that produced the largest suicide campaign in history. This period of process innovation is worthy of study, even if the tactic fades from the news due to the drastic shift in the strategic environment for the Islamic State. The loss of contiguous physical territory, or the caliphate as the Islamic State describes it, will stress and frustrate its capacity to conduct large scale suicide bombing campaigns in the future—something already seen in the anti-climatic battle for Raqqa and al-Qaim.

Just like the the Taliban’s successful adaptation to the early success of counterinsurgent forces at Keating, the Islamic State developed ways to counter their opponents’ advantages in technology through the use of their own suicide smart bombs. The urban environment’s unique challenges forced the Islamic State to transition from large devices traveling far from remote rural locations to small, mobile platforms with good camouflage and short drives to defeat the abundance of enemy observation, human and otherwise. Finally, the Islamic State’s overt experimentation in unmanned vehicles and drones documents the recognition that their access to human capital will be scarce again, and the group will be hard-pressed to waste precious experienced fighters in this manner. This highlights the different use of similar technologies by opponents; while the Islamic State develops unmanned platforms to keep fighters for use on the front line, advanced militaries in the West often use them to keep fighters from the fight.

How long will it be before the suicide campaign, long thought to be a tactic embedded with virtue signalling, becomes too much a luxury for insurgents who need every available body to fight against their powerful opponents, especially when technology provides an acceptable alternative? How long will it take before the Islamic State adapts its remotely piloted vehicles—which at present are prioritized for surveillance and dropping small-caliber ordnance on fixed positions—and begins using them as suicide devices capable of assassinating key leaders or destroying key command or logistics sites.?

Again, it is helpful for to compare these worrying advances with the successful attack on Keating in 2009. Despite the technological superiority of their opponent, the Taliban used basic weapons, tactics, and technologies that had not changed substantially from similar attacks on Soviet forces in the same region decades earlier—probably because their dominance in force ratio, intelligence, and advantages of terrain made innovation unnecessary. In contrast, during the desperate fight for Mosul this past year, Islamic State drone operators reconnoitered the urban defenses of elite Iraqi government forces, identified and communicated weak points for its suicide attacker, and then recorded the mission (in conjunction with covert media teams on the ground providing multiple viewpoints) for future propaganda release.

From this comparison, it is clear that what spurs adversary innovation in one theater may not be necessary in the other, and as a result changes in the character of the combat in one is happening at greater speeds than its counterpart. The reasons behind these differences, while difficult to discern, are worth further investigation. Strategic and operational decision makers need to pay close attention to the ever-changing character of war against different enemies—conventional or irregular—in distinctly different environments. This often means learning from our enemies.

Vera Mironova is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland who has successfully defended her dissertation on the labor markets of insurgent groups in Syria. She is currently a researcher at Harvard’s Belfer Center.

Craig Whiteside is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College Monterey, and an associate fellow at the International Centre for Counterterrorism – The Hague (ICCT). The views expressed in this article are the authors' and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Navy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

This article appeared originally at Strategy Bridge.

NOTES:
[1] Jake Tapper, The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor (Back Bay Books, 2013).

[2] Tapper, p. 613.

[3] Mohammad Hafez, Suicide Bombers in Iraq (USIP, 2007); Mia Bloom, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Bombing (Columbia, 2007); Robert Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House, 2005).

[4] Craig Whiteside and Vera Mironova, “Adaptation and Innovation with an Urban Twist: Changes to Suicide Tactics in the Battle of Mosul,” Military Review (Fort Leavenworth: Nov-Dec 2017), pp. 2-9. Unless otherwise noted, the material cited in this article is documented in greater detail in Military Review.

[5] The period was late 2015 to late 2016.

[6] Robin Wright, “The Ignominious End of the ISIS Caliphate,” The New Yorker, Oct 17, 2017.

[7] While there are many possible reasons for the absence of innovation in this case, clear enemy advantages in this and many other cases reflect poorly on U.S. tactical and operational decision making. These bases were stationary examples of the much-maligned “presence patrols” that were eliminated in the Iraq theater after 2005, for similar reasons.
 
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Housecarl

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...d-hamas-attack-tunnel-from-gaza-idUSKBN1E40BR

December 10, 2017 / 2:46 AM / Updated 24 minutes ago

Israel says it has destroyed Hamas attack tunnel from Gaza

Reuters Staff
2 Min Read

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces on Sunday destroyed a “significant” cross-border attack tunnel from the Gaza Strip, which the military said was being dug by the enclave’s dominant Islamist group, Hamas.

The announcement, cleared by Israeli censors who had previously barred reports of detection work around the central Gaza frontier, followed a surge of Palestinian unrest in response to last week’s U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

It also came as Palestinian factions tried to meet Sunday’s deadline for an Egyptian-mediated handover of Gaza by Hamas to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas after a decade’s schism.

A network of Gaza tunnels allowed Hamas gunmen to blindside Israel’s superior forces during the 2014 war and the Israelis, with U.S. help, have since stepped up work on counter-measures.

The tunnel destroyed on Sunday ran hundreds of meters into Israeli territory and, though unfinished, was a new project that showed “a significant effort by Hamas”, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters.

He did not elaborate on how Israel knew Hamas was responsible for the tunnel, which he said reached to within 1km (0.6 miles) of the nearest Israeli civilian community.

Hamas did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The previous such announcement was on Oct. 30, when Israel blew up a tunnel dug by Islamic Jihad. In the process of that demolition, 10 gunmen from the group and another two from Hamas were killed - deaths that Israeli sources described as an unintended result of the passage’s collapse within Gazan turf.

Conricus said that “to the best of our knowledge” there were no such casualties on Sunday, though he added that the tunnels could be “death traps” for Gaza gunmen.

“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will continue to discover, expose and demolish these terror tunnels,” he said.

Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and David Goodman
 

Housecarl

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https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/12/syria-next-war-kurdish-israel-us-policy.html

The next battle in Syria

Mona Alami
December 8, 2017

Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed Nov. 22 on fighting terrorist groups in Syria at a tripartite presidential meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. Nearly concomitantly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to a possible action in Syria against Iran and its proxies, against the backdrop of a US escalation on Iran. As the war on the Islamic State (IS) in Syria winds down, will the next regional “terror” focus be on Kurdish and Shiite militias?

The fall of much of IS territory in November to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or to forces aligned with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad heralds a new tug of war between international and regional powers in Syria.

At the meeting in Sochi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Turkey would not accept the existence of “terrorist groups in Syria,” referring to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Around the same date, Israeli media reported increasing threats voiced by Israeli security figures of a possible major strike on Iranian presence in southern Syria, while the United States has been much more vocal about rolling back Iran.

On Nov. 26, the Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu warned Assad that Israel will intervene militarily in the Syrian civil war if the Syrian president gives formal permission to Iran to establish a military presence in Syria.

For Turkey and Israel, the war on terror has not ended with the war on IS, which they view as a secondary danger to their national security.

Turkey considers the YPG and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as directly affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is fighting against the Turkish state and which the United States has designated a terrorist group. The YPG is a main faction in the SDF, an alliance comprised of Kurdish and Arab militias, which led the ground campaign against IS in northern Syria and was directly supported by the US-led coalition. Turkey sees the expansion of Kurdish control over the area running along its border with Syria as a direct threat to its national security. According to a recent article by Al-Monitor columnist Amberin Zaman, the YPG controls nearly one-fifth of Syria and more than half of Turkey’s 800-kilometer (497-mile) border with Syria.

On Dec. 3, the Military Times reported that the US military appears to be shifting its stance in Syria, with the program to arm the Kurdish opposition coming to a close and being replaced by support to local police and security forces. These reports follow White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ announcement Nov. 28 that the United States would stop actively providing arms to Syrian Kurds, as well as a statement by Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu who said the United States would stop providing weapons to the YPG.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg, a journalist focusing on Kurdish issues who covered the Raqqa battle from Syria, told Al-Monitor he believes that the shift in support to the Kurds is normal and driven by military operation needs. “I do not believe that support to the Kurds will change. However, it is true that there is no clear and coherent US policy on Syria. When it comes to the tripartite [Russian, Turkish and Iranian] vow to fight terror, it mostly aims at the [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] Idlib and [Kurdish] Afrin area. It would be difficult for Turkey to attack Afrin since the Kurds are very well dug in there and will fight back. It is a complicated situation and I doubt Russia will allow Turkey to attack the Kurds, despite the improving relations between Turkey and Russia since 2016,” van Wilgenburg told Al-Monitor.

This is an opinion also shared by SDF spokesman Mostafa Bali, who told Al-Monitor that it was mostly the Turks who had circulated the rumor that the United States would stop providing Kurdish forces with weapons. “It is true — in the absence of ongoing battles such as the Raqqa offensive, Kurdish forces are currently not in need of sophisticated weapons. The Pentagon has declared it will continue to support us and we know that Washington considers us as true partners in the anti-terror coalition,” he said.

The Kurdish position in Syria would nonetheless be weakened by a possible US withdrawal from Syria, according to Zaman, who was told this could happen before the end of 2019, although confusion surrounds the issue with the Pentagon declaring Dec. 5 that the United States would remain in Syria as long as needed.

In such a context, Turkey and the Assad regime would likely join forces against the Kurds. But the regime has implied it could be open to Kurdish autonomy, with experts telling Al-Monitor such a deal would be against a YPG withdrawal from majority Arab areas. Yet the regime is known for going back on its word, and an autonomous federal area in northern Syria would likely threaten Assad’s hold on the country.

While Syria and Turkey could unite to counter the Kurds, the regime appears to be in a tricky position on its southern front with Israel and the United States over Iranian presence there. Besides its massive deployment in Syria, alongside those of its proxies such as Hezbollah and Iraqi militias, Iran has provided financial and logistical support and training to the Assad regime. In October, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Iraqi militias to “go home.”

“The pushback on Iran is clearly on the US agenda, but it remains a mystery how they are going to go about it. President Donald Trump also supports any Russian initiative on Syria, but we need to see what the Russians will come up with,” Middle East Institute Iran expert Alex Vatanka told Al-Monitor.

Israel is increasingly wary of Iranian expansion in Syria, despite a Nov. 12 cease-fire deal that would include the expulsion of Iranian-backed militias from the border with Israel in the Golan Heights. Avi Melamed, fellow at the Eisenhower Institute, told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu’s threats are very serious and should not be taken lightly. Israel has been upping the ante in south Syria with two strikes targeting Syria on Dec. 2 and Dec. 4.

“Clearly, Iran and Russia are not on the same page over south Syria, yet the US is not doing much in the absence of clear thinking over the Syrian dossier. Another question is if Assad is powerful enough to stop Iran from meddling on its southern border,” Vatanka said.

Found in:
Syria war spillover, Kurdistan state efforts

Mona Alami is a French-Lebanese journalist and a non-resident fellow at the Rafic Hariri Middle East center at the Atlantic Council. She writes about political and economic issues in the Arab world, namely, in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan and the UAE.
 

Housecarl

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Hummm....

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Posted for fair use.....
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11522/iran-military-meetings

The Mullahs Overplay the Military Card

by Amir Taheri
December 10, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11522/iran-military-meetings

Faced with mounting domestic problems and diplomatic isolation to prolong its hold on power the leadership in Tehran is increasingly depending on the military establishment. Highlighting this growing dependence is the "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has held conclaves with the military chiefs on three occasions in less than a month during which signs of the military's ascendancy within the regime's power structures have multiplied.

One sign was Khamenei's decision to ask the newly appointed Chief of Staff General Muhammad Hussein Baqeri to take over the key issues of cooperation with Russia and Turkey over Syria to the exclusion of President Hassan Rouhani and his administration. Baqeri has also launched an ambitious project for the creation of a de facto military alliance with Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan, with Russia as an outsider-supporter, in direct contradiction to Rouhani's repeatedly asserted hope of accommodation with Western powers.

Another sign was Khamenei's decision to write a personal letter to General Qassem Soleimani, the man in charge of "exporting the revolution" through his Quds (Jerusalem) Force and the various branches of "Hezbollah" under his command in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

In his letter, Khamenei credits Soleimani with having "destroyed" the alleged Caliphate (Da'esh in Arabic), and gives him the mission to pursue an even more aggressive strategy to extend the "recent victories" to the rest of the region. Once again, Khamenei's instructions make nonsense of Rouhani's repeated claims that Iran is seeking an end to tensions with neighboring nations.

As of humiliating the official government on issues of foreign policy were not enough, Khamenei has asked the military to take-over the task of providing relief and, later, reconstruction in the recent deadly earthquake that shattered parts of five provinces.

The implicit message, hammered in by Revolutionary Guards' Commander General Muhammad-Ali Aziz-Jaafari, is that when it comes to dealing with a major emergency, the civilian authorities are worse than useless.

To emphasize the rising profile of the military in Tehran's power structures, Khamenei has ordered a whopping 14 per cent increase in defense and security budgets with a substantial rise in expenditure on the development of a new generation of missiles with help from North Korea. Here, too, the "Supreme Guide" rides roughshod over the official government's policy of trying to persuade the European Union and, hopefully even the United States, that Iran has slowed down in its missile projects as a goodwill gesture towards the P5+1 group which drafted the so-called nuclear deal.

Meeting 52 top military commanders, including General Baqeri in Tehran last Sunday, Khamenei declared the armed forces to be" in the forefront" of what he termed " the victories of the revolution on all fronts." He also decreed that the military should have the first right of refusal in recruiting "personnel of the highest quality."

Khamenei's growing reliance on the military may be tactically astute.

The Khomeinist regime has lost much of its popular base and, judging by rising social and economic tension across the nation, is often on the defensive on domestic issues. The old narrative of the revolution as a Robin Hood exercise to rob the rich and give to the poor is exposed as sham.

Official data clearly show that under the mullahs the rich have become richer and the poor poorer. Rampant corruption often highlighted by state-controlled media adds to the popular sentiment that a new nomenclature, firmly in place, is intent on robbing the nation on a massive scale. In the past few weeks alone at least 12 senior officials accused of embezzlement on an astronomical scale have fled to Austria and Canada.

Growing unemployment, rising inflation and the plummeting value of the national currency punch further holes in any narrative of revolutionary success in areas that matter to the ordinary citizen.

Thus the regime is developing a new narrative based on the claim that the terrorism that is rampant in so many parts of the world l most notably in the Middle East, is also threatening Iran and that only the military-security elite could protect the nation against it.

"We are fighting away from our borders so that we don't have to fight in our cities," said General Hossein Salami, number-two to Gen. Aziz-Jaafari.

However, at least in medium- and long-terms such a narrative is unlikely to produce the desired effects. In any properly organized and governed country the armed forces are not in the "front line" of the nation's fight for security, let alone survival.

The "front lines" always consist of a nation's diplomacy, economic power, social cohesion and cultural appeal. In other words, a nation's military forces do not operate in a vacuum but in a broader context of socio-political reality. In that context, Iran today is more vulnerable than at any time since the 1940s. Khamenei expects the military to fill all the gaps created by decades of political and economic failure; and that is simply too much to ask.

The "Supreme Guide" may also be wrong on another score. In any country the various institutions of state evolve at roughly the same level. You cannot have an excellent military and a third-rate civil service, judiciary and economy. Systems that solely focus on military excellence never achieve anything beyond transient success.

One example is Sparta, which had the ancient world's highest-rated military, but disappeared from history whereas Athens, with its ramshackle citizen-armies, survived the Persian, Macedonian, Roman and Byzantine Empires. Another example was Napoleon Bonaparte, whose military machine set the whole of Europe ablaze while he ended in humiliation and death in exile.

And who could fail to be impressed by the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union in 1941? And yet the end result was Berlin, the Nazi capital, as the biggest heap of ruins in history.

In Iran's case, Khamenei is playing -- even overplaying -- the military card for narrow political reasons, at a time that Iran does not face any serious military threat to its national security and integrity. Beating the drums of war may sound exciting for a while; but, in time, its hollowness is bound to become clear.

Amir Taheri, formerly editor of Iran's premier newspaper, Kayhan, before the Iranian revolution of 1979, is a prominent author based on Europe. He is the Chairman of Gatestone Europe.

This article first appeared in Asharq Al Awsat and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author.
 

Housecarl

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https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/philippines-duterte-seeks-martial-law-extension-south-doc-v22ni4

Philippines' Duterte seeks martial law extension for south

11 DEC 2017
AFP/File / MANMAN DEJETO, MANMAN DEJETO

Rodrigo Duterte said extending martial law was necessary to contain an ongoing rebellion by IS supporters as well as a rising threat from communist guerrillas
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte asked Congress on Monday to extend martial law across the southern third of the country until the end of next year to combat Islamist militants and communists.

In a letter to lawmakers released by his office, Duterte said extending martial law was necessary in the southern region of Mindanao to contain an ongoing rebellion by Islamic State group supporters as well as a rising threat from communist guerrillas.

"I ask the Congress of the Philippines to further extend the proclamation of Martial Law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the whole of Mindanao for a period of one year from 01 January 2018," the letter said.

Duterte initially imposed military rule across Mindanao, which covers the southern third of the country and is home to about 20 million people, in May to quell an uprising by IS supporters in Marawi city.

Hundreds of gunmen rampaged through Marawi, the mainly Catholic Philippines' Islamic capital, in what authorities said was part of a campaign to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate for IS.

A US and Chinese-backed military campaign took five months to defeat the militants, with the conflict claiming more than 1,100 lives and leaving large parts of Marawi in ruins.

Although Duterte declared in October that Marawi had been "liberated" and military chiefs said most militant leaders had been killed, authorities have continued to warn that others who escaped are regrouping and recruiting in Mindanao.

The initial period of martial law was limited by the constitution to 60 days. But lawmakers in July endorsed an extension until the end of this year.

Martial law is an extremely sensitive issue in the Philippines, after dictator Ferdinand Marcos used military rule as a key weapon in holding onto power a generation ago.

Duterte, who has praised Marcos, has repeatedly said he may impose martial law across the entire nation.

Rights groups and other critics warn Duterte is destroying democracy in the Philippines with strongman rule and a war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives.

But many Filipinos continue to support Duterte, believing tough tactics are needed to solve deep-rooted problems such as the decades-long conflicts with Islamist militants and communists.

Duterte enjoys overwhelming support in both houses of Congress.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on Duterte's martial law extension request this week, lower house majority leader Rodolfo Farinas told AFP.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.afp.com/en/news/23/6000-jihadists-could-return-africa-au-warns-doc-v22bq2

6,000 IS jihadists could return to Africa, AU warns

11 DEC 2017
AFP / ARIS MESSINIS

The Islamic State group has lost vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria
Up to 6,000 Africans who fought for the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Iraq and Syria could return home, the African Union's top security official warned Sunday, calling on countries to prepare for the threat.

Smail Chergui, the AU's commissioner for peace and security, said African nations would need to work closely with each other and share intelligence to counter returning militants.

"There are reports of 6,000 African fighters among the 30,000 foreign elements who joined this terrorist group in the Middle East," Chergui told a meeting in Algiers, according to the Algeria Press Service news agency.

"The return of these elements to Africa poses a serious threat to our national security and stability and requires specific treatment and intense cooperation between African countries," he said.

Tens of thousands of foreign fighters joined the Sunni extremist group after it seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in 2014.

But the group has suffered a host of losses to both its territory and military capabilities in the last year.

Backed by a US-led coalition, Iraqi forces gradually retook control of all territory lost to the jihadists, declaring on Saturday that the country was now liberated from its control.

In Syria, the group faces western-backed Syrian rebels, jihadist rivals and government forces that are supported by Russia and Iran.

But the losses have sparked fears that IS's remaining foreign fighters may now relocate, bringing their extremist ideology and violence with them.
 

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Nasrallah calls for third intifada in Palestine

subscriber only article found following a twitter link

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Le...-calls-for-a-third-intifada-in-palestine.ashx

A little more detail from twitter:

Elijah J. Magnier‏ @ejmalrai

Elijah J. Magnier Retweeted Elijah J. Magnier

Expected: #Nasrallah: I am calling for the unification all the factions who believe in the armed Resistance to put differences on the side & plan for the next move (guns directed towards Israel)

#Hezbollah will wonder: is it the right time for all Jihadists fighting uselessly in #Syria and #Iraq to direct their weapons in favour of #Jerusalem? Let's see what Nasrallah will say tomorrow at 1800 local time

After fighting and defeating Takfiri in #Syria and #Iraq, #Hezbollah will dedicate all its capabilities to fight #Israel & support all #Palestinian groups willing to embark in this path

https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/940224921040490497
 

almost ready

Inactive
More on Nasrallah

Hezbollah Watch‏ @HezbollahWatch
1h1 hour ago

#Hezbollah's #Nasrallah calls on the Palestinians to reject the Arabs/Muslims who seek normalization w/ #Israel, & asks the Palestinians to throw shoes & rocks on Arab delegations visiting the occupied Arab territories to normalize relations w/ #Israel. #Palestine

https://twitter.com/HezbollahWatch/status/940223852428365831

(nothing really new here except his attempt to get all resistance to put down their differences. Highly doubtful this would work, but something to watch)
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-retaliates-rocket-fire-gaza-airstrike-51723036

Israel intercepts Gaza rocket, retaliates with tank fire

By Ilan Ben Zion, Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Dec 11, 2017, 5:31 PM ET

The Israeli military said it intercepted a rocket launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip late Monday, a few hours after Israel bombed Hamas military positions in retaliation for rocket fire earlier in the evening.

The military said in a statement that the Iron Dome missile defense system shot down a rocket fired at Israel from the Palestinian territory. No injuries or damage were reported in Israel.

Shortly afterward, an Israeli tank responded by bombarding a Hamas military position in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said. No injuries were reported.

Earlier, Israeli planes and tanks shelled the coastal territory after militants fired a rocket toward southern Israel, in what was the latest in a series of cross-border exchanges that have left at least four Palestinians dead since Friday.

Monday's strikes came a day after Israel said it destroyed a tunnel built by Hamas that ran several hundred meters (yards) into Israeli territory. Hamas threatened Israel with a "heavy price" for demolishing the tunnel.

Palestinians and Israeli forces have clashed across the West Bank and along the Gaza border following President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Palestinians were infuriated by the president's declaration last week, because they seek east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Well this is about to go real stupid...

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...ducts-island-encirclement-patrols-near-taiwan

China Conducts 'Island Encirclement' Patrols Near Taiwan

Dec. 11, 2017, at 11:18 p.m.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's air force has conducted more "island encirclement patrols" near Taiwan, its military said on Tuesday, after a senior Chinese diplomat threatened that China would invade the self-ruled island if any U.S. warships made port visits there.

China considers Taiwan to be a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

Numerous Chinese fighter jets, bombers and surveillance aircraft conducted "routine" and "planned" distant sea patrols on Monday to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke said on the military branch's microblog.

H-6K bombers, Su-30 and J-11 fighter jets, and surveillance, alert and refueling aircraft flew over the Miyako Strait in Japan's south and the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines to "test real combat capabilities", Shen said.

Taiwan Defence Minister Feng Shih-kuan said in a statement they had dispatched aircraft and ships to monitor the activity of the Chinese military and that the drills were not unusual and people should not be alarmed.

China has conducted numerous similar patrols near Taiwan this year, saying such practices have been normalized as it presses ahead with a military modernization program that includes building aircraft carriers and stealth fighters to give it the ability to project power far from its shores.

Beijing regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the United States. Taiwan is well armed, mostly with U.S. weaponry, but has been pressing Washington to sell it more high-tech equipment to better deter China.

In September, the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2018 fiscal year, which authorizes mutual visits by navy vessels between Taiwan and the United States.

That prompted a senior U.S.-based Chinese diplomat to say last week that China would invade Taiwan the instant any U.S. navy vessel visited Taiwan.

China suspects Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who leads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, wants to declare the island's formal independence. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan's security.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Fabian Hamacher in TAIPEI; Editing by Michael Perry)
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Well then if the US does it, they'll have to put up or shut up....Considering the number of ships the US has transferred to Taiwan, I'd say that's already happened....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/12/11/china-threatens-taiwan-invasion/

Chinese Diplomat Threatens ‘Military Force’ if U.S. Navy Vessel Visits Taiwan

by Frances Martel
11 Dec 2017
Comments 8

Chinese embassy minister Li Kexin warned Taiwanese officials on Friday that Beijing would use “military force” if the island nation welcomed U.S. Navy ships to its ports, claiming any U.S. presence in Taiwan would violate China’s Anti-Secession Law.

China views Taiwan, or the Republic of China, as a breakaway province, not a sovereign nation. The United States operates under Beijing’s “One China” policy, in which it enjoys separate diplomatic relations with Taiwan but does not recognize its sovereignty.

Li issued the threat during remarks at the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, during a conversation about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) Congress held in October. He referred to text in Congress’s 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that calls for “mutual visits by navy vessels between Taiwan and the United States,” according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump has yet to sign the NDAA, but it has passed both houses of Congress. The Taiwanese government responded favorably to the news of the NDAA calling for furthering bilateral cooperation with the United States.

China’s state-run propaganda outlet Global Times quotes Li as warning Washington that, if “you send military vessels over there, [you] will activate the Anti-Secession Law [of China].”

“The day that a US Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unifies Taiwan with military force,” he stated, referring to a port city in southwestern Taiwan.

The Taipei Times phrases Li’s comment as couched in the quip that he “may have to thank you American friends” for triggering the violent reunification of Taiwan.

Asked about the remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters on Monday that China “always opposes official exchanges and military contact of any form between the United States and Taiwan.”

“We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and three China-US joint communiqués and the US must prudentially and properly handle Taiwan-related issues,” he added.

Lu also asserted that China was committed to “peaceful development of cross-straits relations” and preventing “the recurrence of the historical tragedy of national division.”

The Global Times confirmed in a report on Li had not made a rogue remark at odds with Beijing, but that his threat “is expected to be an official warning from the mainland,” citing “experts.” The publication also posted a belligerent piece calling Taipei “obviously frightened” and calling officials on the island’s government under the anti-Beijing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “deficient of both direction and sense of security.”

“The Chinese mainland has never given up the option of Taiwan reunification by force, which is clear to people across the Taiwan Straits,” the Times warned. “But Taiwan is not sure what will prompt the PLA’s actions while the DPP has been deceiving Taiwanese that the island will stay safe whatever it does.”

“Li’s words are like warning bells on Taiwan authorities considering independence by a salami-slicing strategy,” it continued. “Taiwan is facing what Peking faced in 1949 – being encircled by mainland forces. Any move that oversteps the boundary will be in vain.”

Taiwan’s current President Tsai Ing-wen ran a campaign promising to assert the island’s sovereignty, against a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) accused of becoming too complacent in keeping Beijing’s communist influence at arm’s length. Tsai has promised to boost defense spending and build stronger ties to allies like the United States. High on the list of defense requests Taipei has is more modern aircraft to help with surveillance, particularly as China illegally expands its military footprint in the South China Sea.

Taiwanese officials have responded to Li’s threats by asserting that they have peaceful intentions and that the island “has long been pursuing the stable and peaceful development of cross-strait relations and will not go the route of resistance but neither will it cave under pressure.”

The Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) also issued a statement Saturday stating that “the threat of military action only reflects negatively on China in the eyes of the world.”

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
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https://intpolicydigest.org/2017/12/12/china-leverages-belt-and-road-investment-to-shape-pakistan/

World News /12 Dec 2017
James Dorsey

China Leverages Belt and Road Investment to Shape Pakistan

A Chinese decision to redevelop criteria for the funding of infrastructure projects that are part of the $50 billion plus China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key pillar of the People’s Republic’s Belt and Road Initiative, seemingly amounts to an effort to enhance the Pakistani military’s stake in the country’s economy at a time that the armed forces are flexing their political muscle.

The Chinese decision that has reportedly led to the suspension of funding for three major road projects valued at a total of $850 million – the upgrading of the Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob motorway and the Karakorum highway as well as construction of a 110-kilometre road linking Khuzdar and Basima – suggests that Beijing is not averse to exploiting its massive investment in the Belt and Road, an effort to link Eurasian infrastructure to China, to shape the political environment in key countries in its authoritarian mold.

Pakistan’s use of militants in its dispute with India over Kashmir serves Chinese interest in keeping Asia’s other giant, India, off balance. Chinese personnel and assets have nonetheless been targets of a low-level insurgency in Balochistan.

The suspension of funding coincided with apparent efforts by the military to increase its political sway by supporting militant and hardline Sunni Muslim groups opposed to the ruling of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) headed by disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Former Pakistani strongman, General Pervez Musharraf, in the latest manifestation of links between the circles close to the military and hardliners, announced earlier this month that he was discussing an alliance with Milli Muslim League (MML).

MML was recently established by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who was designated a terrorist by the United Nations and the US Justice Department that put a $10 million bounty on his head. He stands accused of having masterminded the 2008 attacks in Mumbai in which 164 people were killed.

Mr. Saeed, the leader of Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD), widely seen as a front for Lashkar-e-Taibe (LeT), one of the largest and most violent groups in South Asia, was last month freed by a court in Lahore from ten months of house arrest.

Speaking on Pakistani television, Mr. Musharraf pronounced himself “the greatest supporter of LeT.” Acknowledging that he had met with Mr. Saeed, Mr. Musharraf appeared to confirm long-standing suspicions that the military supported LeT as a proxy in Pakistan’s dispute with India over Kashmir.

“Because I have always been in favour of action in Kashmir and I have always been in favour of pressuring the Indian army in Kashmir. This is the biggest force and they have been declared terrorists by India and the US jointly,” Mr. Musharraf said.

Parallel to Mr. Musharraf’s endorsement of LeT, the military displayed its political influence by mediating an end to a week’s-long blockade of a main artery leading into Islamabad to protest a perceived softening of the government’s adherence to Islam in a proposed piece of legislation.

Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TPL), the organizer of the protest, is a political front for Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLR), which glorifies Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed for killing Punjab governor Salman Taseer because of his opposition to Pakistan’s draconic blasphemy law,

The TPL is a political expression of the Barelvi strand of Sunni Islam that throughout the decades was long viewed as more moderate than the other dominant strand in Pakistan, the Saudi-supported Deobandis, whose militancy dates to the US-Saudi-backed Islamist insurgency in the 1980s that forced Soviet troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Suggestions that the protesters were supported by the military were reinforced by video circulating on social media and the negotiation of an end to the blockade that involved the forced resignation of law minister Zahid Hamid and the dropping of all charges against protesters.

Chinese support for the military’s role has long been evident with its repeated veto in the UN Security Council of US, European and Indian efforts to get Masood Azhar, a prominent Pakistani militant designated as a global terrorist. Mr. Azhar is believed to have close ties to Pakistani intelligence and the military. Prior to the Mumbai attacks, China also blocked Mr. Saeed’s designation.

Mr. Azhar, a fighter in the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan and an Islamic scholar who graduated from a Deobandi madrassah, Darul Uloom Islamia Binori Town in Karachi, the alma mater of numerous Pakistani militants, is believed to have been responsible for an attack last year on India’s Pathankot Air Force Station. The militants, dressed in Indian military uniforms fought a 14-hour battle against Indian security forces that only ended when the last attacker was killed. Mr. Azhar was briefly detained after the attack and has since gone underground.

Criteria for the funding of the road projects, once redrafted, are expected to benefit the military’s engineering and construction company, Frontier Works Organization.
The suspension was projected as an effort to avoid corruption in CPEC in the wake of Mr. Sharif’s ousting as prime minister after documents leaked from a Panama law firm linked his children to offshore companies and assets. Long viewed as a nemesis of the military, Mr. Sharif’s demise served the interests of the armed forces.

The suggestion failed to stand up to scrutiny given that some Chinese companies have been granted CPEC contracts despite allegations of corruption. In one instance, the China Gezhouba Corporation (CGGC), was awarded the development of Pakistan’s $4.5 billion, 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, despite having been blacklisted by the World Bank.

Chinese backing for a more prominent role of the military in economic and political life comes amidst increased Pakistani scrutiny of CPEC.

In a rare challenge to Chinese commercial terms, Pakistan recently withdrew from a Chinese-funded dam-building project.

Pakistani Water and Power Development Authority chairman, Muzammil Hussain, charged that “Chinese conditions for financing the Diamer-Bhasha Dam were not doable and against our interests.” China and Pakistan were also at odds over ownership of the $14 billion, 4,500 megawatts (MW)-hydropower project on the Indus River in the country’s problematic region of Gilgit-Baltistan near disputed Kashmir.

Earlier, a State Bank of Pakistan study concluded that exports of marble to China, Pakistan’s foremost rough-hewn, freshly-excavated marble export market, and the re-export to Pakistan of Pakistani semi-processed marble was “hurting Pakistan’s marble industry to a significant extent.”

A report by the Pakistani Senate, that has repeatedly criticized CPEC’s lack of transparency and Chinese commercial policies, concluded that China would for the next four decades get 91 percent of the revenues generated by the port of Gwadar.

Greater military involvement in CPEC would weaken China’s critics and enhance Chinese confidence in Pakistan’s ability to tackle security concerns. The Chinese embassy in Islamabad warned last week that militants were targeting the embassy and Chinese nationals.

“Beijing is keen to give the Pakistani Army the lead role in the CPEC projects as Pakistani ministries charged with carrying out the projects have incurred delays because of infighting. Concerns that the project bypasses Pakistan’s poorer regions and will mainly benefit the financially-strong province of Punjab has made politicians argue with regards to the benefits of CPEC…The Chinese are not used to such harsh disagreements,” the European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) said in a commentary.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://nypost.com/2017/12/10/why-the-arab-street-didnt-just-explode/

Opinion

Why the ‘Arab street’ didn’t just explode

By Ralph Peters
December 10, 2017 | 8:40pm | Updated December 11, 2017 | 10:47 AM

In the wake of President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last week, the “experts” crowding the media predicted strategic calamity: Vast, violent protests and a wave of terror would sweep the Muslim world in the coming days.

Instead, the largest demonstration anywhere this weekend was the funeral procession for Johnny Hallyday, the “French Elvis.” Nothing in the Middle East came close.

We have witnessed, yet again, the carefully phrased anti-Semitism of the pristinely educated; the global left’s fanatical pro-Palestinian bias; and the media’s yearning for career-making disasters.

Rather than waves of protest, the waiting world got tepid statements of disapproval from otherwise-occupied Arab governments; demonstrations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that, combined, barely put a thousand activists in the streets; and yes, four deaths: two demonstrators and two Hamas terrorists hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Sunday did see a smallish protest outside the US Embassy in Lebanon, but it was hardly Benghazi under Barack Obama. Predictably, Turkish President and self-appointed sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan (officially our NATO ally) didn’t miss the chance to spew venom toward Israel, the US and Europe. But even in Turkey, things were all quiet on the Bosporus front.

An act of justice for Israel did not ignite Armageddon.

A generation ago, a US president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would, indeed, have led to mass demonstrations and widespread violence. But now? While the endlessly recycled experts snoozed, the Middle East changed profoundly.

Once upon a time, the Palestinians were the only game at the propaganda casino, a marvelous tool for Arab leaders to divert attention from domestic failures. Then came al Qaeda. And Iraq. Iranian empire-building. The Arab Spring. The oil price collapse and the rise of ISIS, with its butcher-shop caliphate. The civil war in Syria, with half a million dead. And, not least, the region-wide confrontation between decaying Sunni power and rising Shia might.

Nor did it help the Palestinians that many of them sided with the Assad regime, alienating former partners from Amman to Beirut.

see also

Trump: Recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital is best move towards peace

But by far the most significant factor is that Israel has become an indispensable, if quiet, ally of Sunni states against Iran. Although well-armed, Saudi Arabia remains inept on the battlefield, bogged down in Yemen and terrified of Iranian gains in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Israel doesn’t need Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia definitely needs Israel.

Nor does the United States automatically do Riyadh’s bidding these days.

As for Iran, the regional ambitions of Israel’s top enemy have ironically made it Israel’s unintentional benefactor. To the Arabs, yesteryear’s Israeli boogeyman now looks more like Caspar the Friendly Ghost. “Palestine” is so over . . .

And blame the Palestinians, not Israel, for their lack of statehood. Since the failed 1948 Arab assault on newly reborn Israel, the Palestinians have had literally dozens of opportunities for an advantageous peace. Yet even Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton — no friends to the blue-and-white flag — ended up frustrated as Palestinian leaders, on the cusp of peace time and again, decided that three-quarters of the pie was insufficient.

Inevitably, the pie got smaller over time — but the Palestinian leadership continued to profit from “occupied” status. Now it’s too late for anything that looks like a viable Palestinian state. It’s time we all faced that reality.

More On:
jerusalem
Netanyahu urges Europe to follow Trump on Jerusalem

Nikki Haley defends Trump's 'courageous' Jerusalem decision

Palestinian stabs Israeli security guard in Jerusalem terror attack

Turkish president calls Israel a 'terror state'

In Paris this weekend for talks with the French president, Israel’s plainspoken prime minister stated that Jerusalem always has been and always will be Israel’s capital, and that the city has never been the capital of any state but the Jewish state.

Trump simply recognized that moral, practical and historical truth.

And lest any reader mistake this as a partisan paean to our president, let it be noted that I am not and never have been among the president’s fans. But Trump got this one right. The reflexive condemnation of his action by the usual suspects was indecent.

As for the long-term strategic effects: We don’t know. But we do know that the cherished “peace process” doesn’t even have zombie status.

Will there be more terrorism? Sure. As there would have been more terrorism, anyway. Terrorism isn’t about us, it’s about them.

If Arab leaders refuse to let the “Palestinian question” shape their policies, why should we allow it to deform ours?

A Central Asian proverb runs that “The dog may bark, but the caravan moves on.” The hounds of appeasement have barked for generations, but the Israeli caravan kept going, arriving at the only admirable (or even livable) state in the Middle East, an island of civilization amid vast deserts of barbarism.

Last week, President Trump did some small justice to that achievement.

Ralph Peters is Fox News’ strategic analyst.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
Private War: Erik Prince Has His Eye On Afghanistan's Rare Metals
Started by medic38572ý, 12-10-2017 07:44 PM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...ince-Has-His-Eye-On-Afghanistan-s-Rare-Metals

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.realcleardefense.com/ar..._must_address_endemic_kleptocracy_112757.html

Afghanistan Strategy Must Address Endemic Kleptocracy

By James Durso
December 11, 2017
U.S. Air Force photo by SSgt Dallas Edwards
Comments 10

American bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, allegedly replied, "Because that's where the money is." Afghanistan’s predatory Ministry of Finance looks at foreign contractors the same way, which is why it improperly levied over a billion dollars in taxes on contractors supporting U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

Since 2001, the U.S. has spent $841 billion in Afghanistan, of which $120.8 billion was for “relief and reconstruction,” but really was for building - not rebuilding - the infrastructure and institutions of the country. And it’s not just the money: almost 2400 U.S. soldiers and civil servants have died, and over 20,000 have been wounded. On the contractor side, over 1700 died and over 37,000 were injured.

Afghanistan is effectively bankrupt as the international community funds over 70% of its budget, and the country lingers at the bottom of the corruption league tables, in 2016 being ranked 169 of 176 countries by Transparency International, a slight improvement over 2015.

This dismal condition is not something Afghanistan’s leadership can blame on the Taliban or “rogue midlevel officials” when most cabinet officials routinely ignore declaring their financial assets as required by law.

Into this toxic environment comes reconstruction contractors that appear cash-flush to Afghan officials anxious to supplement the state’s coffers, line their pockets, or divert funds to political allies, likely including warlords or the Taliban, who have been implicated in the narcotics trade.

How did this happen?

  • The governments of Afghanistan and the United States entered into several agreements, such as the “Bilateral Security Agreement,” that specifically exempted contractors supporting the U.S. effort from local taxation: “United States contractors shall not be liable to pay any tax or similar or related charges assessed by the Government of Afghanistan [GoA] within the territory of Afghanistan on their activities, and associated income, relating to or on behalf of United States forces under a contract or subcontract with or in support of United States forces.”
  • Kleptocratic GoA officials promptly ignored the agreements and extorted tax payments from prime contractors and declared that the agreement did not apply to sub-contractors. Contractors that didn’t comply were imprisoned or threatened with prison.
  • The U.S. government let the Afghans get away with it.

Why doesn’t the U.S. government support the contractors it needs to build Afghanistan?

  • The multiplicity of Defense Department contracting offices, most located in the U.S., lack the understanding of local taxation and are generally unwilling or unable to assist contractors regarding matters regarding host nation taxation. Contracting officers in Afghanistan are transferred every year and are only starting to understand their jobs when they depart.
  • U.S. officials entertain a false notion of Afghanistan’s “sovereignty.” Afghanistan is not so much a country as a protectorate of the international community, specifically the U.S. military. That senior-subordinate relationship has not yet been impressed on Afghan officialdom.
  • The absence of condition-based aid. Although the GoA is almost entirely dependent on international donor funds, most of them courtesy of American taxpayers (including payment of GoA salaries), no significant funding, out of the hundreds of billions spent for Afghanistan, has ever been withheld until corrupt behaviors were stopped. The Afghans do not bear any risk when they ignore U.S. concerns about their corruption.
  • Illusions of a “grand strategy.” The tax problems of U.S. contractors are of little concern to some U.S. officials who think the U.S. has vastly larger concerns in the world and South Asia. What these self-regarding bureaucrats forget is that America’s reluctance to bring its Afghan client to heel is noticed by regional competitors Russian and Iran. And by the Taliban

What is to be done?
  • The executive branch is unable or unwilling to assist the contractors that are critical to mission success, so Congress needs to step up and impose some pain on all parties until they solve the problem to America’s satisfaction.

To start, Congress can:
  • Require the State and Defense departments to prepare an unclassified report to Congress of the true state of the problem, and name the GoA officials who are complicit in the improper levies.
  • Mandate the State Department deny visas to any Afghan officials involved in the improper levies, up to and including the Minister of Finance. The same officials can also be referred to the Office of Foreign Asset Controls for consideration as Specially Designated Nationals if there is evidence they are cooperating with the Taliban or narcotics traffickers, and to the Internal Revenue Service if they or their families hold assets in the U.S. or are U.S. persons.
  • Remind the U.S. officials tasked with solving the problem that they will not be considered for any Senate-confirmed positions until they report verifiable success.
  • Decrement future grants to the GoA by the amount of tax improperly levied.

Afghanistan has vast potential, but first, it must shed its kleptocratic culture – that starts at the top – if it is ever to succeed. Congress should take the opportunity to help put Afghanistan on the straight path.

James Durso (@james_durso) is the Managing Director of Corsair LLC. He was a professional staff member at the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission and the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Durso served as a U.S. Navy officer for 20 years and specialized in logistics and security assistance. His overseas military postings were in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and he served in Iraq as a civilian transport advisor with the Coalition Provisional Authority. He served afloat as Supply Officer of the submarine USS SKATE (SSN 578).
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/arti...il&utm_term=0_b02a5f1344-b0939483b4-122460921

Two Years Likely Too Fast to 'Win' in Afghanistan

December 12, 2017 | Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio

America’s plan of attack in Afghanistan has evolved significantly, since President Donald Trump announced his new strategy for confronting the Taliban-led insurgency and the Islamic State’s inroads in Afghanistan – but the poor state of the Afghan troops, and the inability of the Afghan government to care for all its people are just two of the red flags warning of a long fight to come.

The U.S. defines victory in Afghanistan as a state in which the government in Kabul firmly controls most of the country, and is able to fend off challenges to its authority mostly on its own. Despite some progress, we are a long way from that day, and the U.S. will have to confront some hard truths in its latest iteration of America’s longest war.

Trump said his strategy would no longer be “a time-based approach,” but instead “one based on conditions,” in his Aug. 21 address at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia. This is a shift from President Barack Obama’s short-lived surge of American forces in 2009. Those same forces were withdrawn based on a predetermined timetable that wasn’t tied to real progress on the battlefield. The jihadists clearly waited out the Americans, and bounced back as soon as Afghan forces were left to shoulder most of the burden themselves. So Trump’s shift is a welcome one.

In our research for the Long War Journal, we estimate that the Taliban controls about 45 districts, while contesting another 115, for a total of 160 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts – that is, nearly 40 percent of the country. Our analysis is based on territory. The U.S. military, using a different, population-centric metric, assesses that the Taliban contests or controls about one-third of Afghanistan.

General John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support mission and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, thinks it will take about two years to drive back the Taliban. During a recent press briefing, Nicholson said the goal is to achieve a “critical mass,” in which the Afghan government controls 80 percent of the population, with the Taliban “driven to less than 10 percent of the population” and “maybe the rest is contested.” At that point, the Taliban will have been beaten into “irrelevance, meaning they’re living in these remote, outlying areas, or they reconcile, or they die.”

That is a reasonable goal. But the obstacles en route are formidable.

First, Afghan forces are not close to being self-sufficient. The U.S. has increased its footprint by only several thousand troops, and they are principally tasked with training and advising Afghan security forces. This means the Afghan government will continue to carry most of the load, especially when it comes to providing security for the population.

But the U.S. effort to build this Afghan capacity has been fraught with problems. Afghanistan’s special forces do operate reasonably well, but the rest of the security establishment is riddled with problems. In September, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which reports to Congress, issued a scathing report on America’s effort to strengthen the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF). Despite spending “more than $70 billion in security sector assistance” since 2002, the Afghans are still incapable of “securing their own nation.”

According to SIGAR, the ANDSF’s development has been plagued by a variety of issues, ranging from “corruption” and “illiteracy” to “high levels” of attrition. Rates of attrition within the Afghan National Army (ANA) are so high – “about one-third of the force was lost annually” between 2013 and 2016 – that the military has increasingly relied on soldiers “with little to no training.”

This dismal state of affairs has many authors, dating back to the Bush administration. It is doubtful that just several thousand more American troops will be the decisive factor. Yet the ANDSF will have to play a crucial role in the years to come if the Taliban is going to be consigned to irrelevance.

A second hard truth to be confronted is that the Taliban can’t be defeated without clearing the insurgents from their key rural strongholds. With his announcement in August, Trump said he would “expand authority for American armed forces to target the terrorist and criminal networks that sow violence and chaos throughout Afghanistan.” Trump said he had “already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our warfighters that prevented” them “from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy.”

During the November briefing, Gen. Nicholson credited the “new U.S. South Asia policy with giving the military crucially important “authorities and additional capabilities,” including the permission to strike the Taliban’s revenue-producing facilities. On Nov. 19 and 20, the U.S. led bombing raids on drug labs in Helmand province – the first such bombings of their kind. This is indeed a positive development. According to NATO, the Taliban is “responsible for up to 85 percent of the world’s opium production” with $200 million from these illegal sales flowing into the group’s coffers. That goes a long way to funding the insurgency. And it says much about America’s inconsistent approach to the war that these facilities were previously untouched.

There is no question that the U.S. military, as well as its Afghan and Western allies, now have more tools at their disposal to fight the insurgents. But how those capabilities are deployed is just as important. The U.S. needs to develop a strategy for clearing and holding the Taliban’s most important rural safe havens. Gen. Nicholson is understandably focused on securing as much of the population as possible. This is a cornerstone of counterinsurgency doctrine. However, the Taliban is using its rural terrain to threaten urban areas. Due to high attrition and other factors, Afghan forces have rarely pursued the enemy into this remote terrain, preferring to stay in more heavily populated regions. As a result, the Taliban, ISIS-Khorasan, and other jihadists regularly attack Afghanistan’s cities, including Kabul. Indeed, the first six months of 2017 were among the bloodiest for Afghanistan’s capital since the war began in 2001.

Another major hurdle for the U.S. and its allies is that Pakistan harbors the Taliban’s senior leaders, including the Haqqanis. Trump’s speech was tougher on Pakistan than any presidential address since Sept. 11, 2001. But it is not clear how his rhetoric will translate into action. Trump lamented Pakistani duplicity, noting that while the country “has been a valued partner” in some respects and received billions of dollars in aid, it “has also sheltered the same organizations that try every single day to kill our people.” That is, while Pakistan has helped the U.S. hunt down some al-Qaida leaders (though not Osama bin Laden), other jihadists have been given free rein. In particular, the Taliban’s leaders, including members of the Haqqani network, have been able to operate with relative impunity.

In October, the Pakistani government trumpeted an operation that freed a Western couple, Caitlan Coleman Boyle and Joshua Boyle, as well as their children. The move was timed to coincide with an American delegation’s visit and demonstrate Pakistan’s willingness to provide more assistance. The couple had been held for five years, but Pakistani officials claimed their captors had only recently moved them across the border. Coleman subsequently disputed Pakistan’s version of events in an interview with the Toronto Star, saying she and her family had been held inside Pakistan for more than a year before being freed.

This raises uncomfortable questions. Why did it take so long for the Pakistanis to intercede on the family’s behalf? Did Pakistani officials know where they were all along? More importantly, will the Pakistanis provide meaningful assistance to thwart the couple’s captors – the Haqqanis? To date, there is little reason to think so.

The U.S. has long known that much of the Taliban’s leadership is safely ensconced inside Pakistan and is known as the Quetta Shura, after the city where they are based. Yet, that command-and-control structure is rarely targeted. The U.S. and its allies can turn back the Taliban’s forces in Afghanistan, but as long as their leadership remains intact, the Taliban can fight on indefinitely. As the U.S. has learned in several theaters since 9/11, high-value targeting is not sufficient to defeat jihadist insurgencies, but it is a necessary component of any successful strategy.

But if the Pakistani government will not disrupt the Afghan insurgency’s command structure, will the Trump administration? If so, how? Pakistan acquiesced to the American drone campaign in remote regions of northwest Pakistan, with hundreds of airstrikes targeting al-Qaida and associated groups. While the Taliban has commanders in those same areas, its most senior figures operate throughout the country, including in more urban settings. This makes a campaign against high-value targets more difficult, if not politically impossible.

The U.S. Congress is attempting to pressure Pakistan by making foreign aid, included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, conditional on the willingness of officials in Islamabad – and the nearby military headquarters in Rawalpindi – to “significantly” disrupt “the safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network in Pakistan.” That’s fine – as far it goes.

The problem is that the Haqqani network is not a separate entity; it is a wholly integrated subunit of the Taliban. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads the network named after his family, is also the Taliban’s second-in-command. Therefore, the aid package should be contingent on Pakistan’s willingness to disrupt the Taliban as a whole. By narrowly focusing on the Haqqanis, the U.S. is pretending that there is some firm dividing line between the two. In reality, no such hard distinction exists. Moreover, Pakistan has sheltered many Taliban leaders, whether their name has Haqqani in it or not.

In addition, Congress reportedly dropped language requiring Pakistan to take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), another jihadist group that is allied with both al-Qaida and the Taliban and is believed to be responsible for the notorious November 2008 attack on India’s financial capital Mumbai. But the LeT, which is primarily focused on Kashmir, also operates in Afghanistan. By dropping this provision, Congress is essentially turning a blind eye to Pakistan’s decades-long support for an alphabet soup of jihadist groups.

Pakistani safe havens have been crucial for the Taliban. After being run out of Afghanistan in late 2001 and 2002, the Taliban regrouped in Pakistan, launching a new insurgency in 2004. The U.S. Defense and State Departments regularly note the importance of these Pakistani safe havens to this day. “Attacks in Afghanistan attributed to Pakistan-based militant networks continue to erode the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship,” the Pentagon noted in June. “Militant groups, including the Taliban and Haqqani Network, continued to utilize sanctuaries inside Pakistan.”

The Taliban won’t be put on its back foot until these Pakistani safe havens are eliminated.

Finally, there is no reason to believe a grand bargain with the Taliban is possible. The Taliban remains allied with al-Qaida. Trump is not sanguine about the prospects for a peace deal. “Someday, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” he said in his August announcement. “But nobody knows if or when that will ever happen.” Nevertheless, Trump said a “political process to achieve a lasting peace” is necessary.

Others in Washington are committed to the idea that a grand bargain is possible. History does not justify their optimism. The Taliban has consistently said that all foreign forces must leave for peace to be achieved. But that would only clear the way for the insurgents to make even further gains.

The Obama administration spent many months attempting to engage in meaningful talks. At first, only impostors stepped forward. Eventually, the State Department established a channel with Tayyab Agha, a man thought to be a key emissary for Taliban Founder Mullah Omar. Agha didn’t deliver a peace deal. Instead, after the U.S. made various concessions, the talks merely paved the way for a prisoner swap. The Taliban agreed to exchange U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five senior jihadists held at Guantanamo. Two of the “Gitmo Five” are suspected of committing war crimes in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. All five, according to leaked intelligence files, had significant ties to al-Qaida.

One of the chief goals of the peace talks is to sever the Taliban from al-Qaida. Some assume that the two are already mutually exclusive. But that isn’t true. Al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is openly loyal to the Taliban’s emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada. It is worth noting that Akhundzada, a well-known ideologue, is no moderate. His son committed a suicide bombing this past summer. Zawahiri also swore allegiance to Akhundzada’s predecessor, Mullah Mansour, in 2015. Mansour publicly accepted Zawahiri’s fealty.

The Taliban has refused to break with al-Qaida in the years since. In December 2016, the Taliban celebrated its historical alliance with al-Qaida in a lengthy end-of-year video posted online. And while Akhundzada didn’t publicly recognize Zawahiri’s fealty, he privately told his commanders to continue working with al-Qaida and its newest branch, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the aforementioned Taliban #2, is a longtime al-Qaida ally. Al-Qaida also remains embedded within the Taliban insurgency. AQIS was built to help resurrect the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and export jihad elsewhere in the region. In Oct. 2015, U.S. and Afghan forces raided two large AQIS training camps in the southern Shorabak district of Kandahar province. That same district was overrun by the Taliban earlier this year. One of the camps, covering about 30 square miles, appears to have been the largest al-Qaida training facility discovered since the beginning of the war. Just this month, Afghan and U.S. forces announced raids on AQIS operatives in at least three provinces. Those same al-Qaida jihadists were supporting the Taliban’s insurgency.

So any assumption that the Taliban is truly willing to break from al-Qaida is doubtful. While some individual commanders likely are willing to reconcile, the Taliban’s senior leadership remains closely allied with al-Qaida.

Meanwhile, the U.S. also has had to contend with a resilient ISIS presence. Although it is much smaller than the Taliban’s network, the so-called caliphate’s arm still poses problems, carrying out attacks in Kabul and elsewhere.

In the near-term, the Trump administration has avoided the worst-case scenario for Afghanistan: a withdrawal of U.S. forces that would have risked a replay of a similar pullout from Iraq in 2011 that paved the way for the rise of ISIS. Al-Qaida’s global network would have celebrated a withdrawal as a victory.

When Trump announced his strategy for Afghanistan in August, he said his “original instinct was to pull out – and, historically, I like following my instincts.” Instead, he decided to pursue “a plan for victory.” Considering the obstacles that have bedeviled successive U.S. administrations trying to win that war, victory most likely will remain elusive.

Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Fellows Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio are editors of FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow them @LongWarJournal.

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Next-Gen Drones: Making War Easier for Dictators & Terrorists?

December 12, 2017 | Levi Maxey

The introduction of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) permanently altered the modern battlefield. New technological advances in drone technology could do it again: from advanced materials that allow drones to fly, roll, run or swim in less forgiving environments, to thinking software than makes them more independent, to stealth technology that renders them even less visible. On the positive side, the intelligence that drones provide helps focus lethality on the intended target and limit the risk of civilian casualties and friendly fire incidents. But drone advances also will get cheaper to copy, so non-state actors will be able to employ them as well, giving insurgents or terrorists an outsized advantage.

The U.S. use of drones for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and kinetic strikes surged in the global fight against terrorism. Under the Obama administration, estimates show, a total of 563 drone strikes targeted militants in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen alone – compared with the 57 strikes that took place under the George W. Bush administration. This does not include drone strikes in Southeast Asia, Libya, Iraq or Syria. From 2002 to 2014, armed drones conducted 98 percent of the non-battlefield targeted killings. The remaining 2 percent were a result of raids, manned aircraft or cruise missiles. Under the Trump administration, drone strikes continue unabated, with new plans to expand the use of armed drones to the Sahel based out of Niger.

While a number of technological limitations have restricted drones largely to use in asymmetric warfare such as the U.S.-led global war on terror, a parallel trend of technical advances to make them smaller and easier to operate has made UAVs more accessible, including to democratic and authoritarian state and non-state actors. Currently, some 90 state and non-state actors possess drones for surveillance purposes, and more than 30 countries have or are developing armed drones, with at least eight countries known to have used them in combat, including the U.S., Israel, U.K., Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Israel is the largest exporter of drone technology, responsible for 60 percent of the market share, with estimated exports delivered between 2010 and 2014 reaching 165 drones, and a total of $525 million worth of drones in 2016.

During the same time period from 2010 to 2014, estimates show the U.K. was the largest importer of drones, purchasing 55 UAVs from Israel and an additional six armed variations from the U.S.

After Israel, the U.S. is the second-biggest exporter of drone technology, but it has imposed tighter restrictions than others on its sales of armed variations. Beginning in 2015, the U.S. began the sale of armed drones such as the Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk to foreign countries, delivering them to the U.K., Italy and Spain.

France made the decision in September to begin arming its U.S.-purchased drones stationed in Africa and the Middle East. France, alongside Germany and Italy, is seeking to develop its own medium-altitude, long-endurance drones to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology.

China has quickly risen to a prominent developer and exporter of drone technology, including selling armed drones to Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Weapons-capable Chinese drones are seen as a popular choice among countries looking for unrestricted delivery and cheap prices.

Michael Horowitz, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

“Armed drone exports have accelerated over the last few years as it has become increasingly clear that widespread drone proliferation is inevitable. More than 15 countries now have armed drones, and most of them acquired those armed drones from China. Armed U.S. drone exports have been very constrained, creating opportunities for China to build military ties with U.S. partners such as Jordan.”
Iran – which reportedly has flown drones such as the Shahed-129 over Iraq and Syria – also has been known to export its drone technology, albeit to non-state proxy actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and perhaps even a maritime and aerial drones to the Houthis in Yemen.

Other non-state actors, such as ISIS, have turned to small commercial drones for ISR and even explosives delivery – flying IEDs that all but halted the advance of Iraqi troops into the city of Mosul, presenting a novel challenge for counterinsurgency forces.

Michael Horowitz, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

“Non-state actors are already getting their hands on drone technology they can use to generate destruction. Militant groups can modify commercially available drone technology to develop less sophisticated, but still deadly, drones. Iran also has exported drones to militant groups. The use of armed drones by ISIS and other actors suggests that drone proliferation is not just inevitable for governments, but for militant groups as well.”

Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force

“While small drones can be a hazard domestically, their threat to the warfighter is growing as well. Footage of weaponized drones being used by ISIS provides a disturbing glimpse into the group’s tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), and the future of asymmetric warfare. We have seen ISIS-controlled drones drop precision bombs on compounds, destroy armor and kill soldiers. And as dangerous as they are now, the lethality of drones will only increase as other nations and non-state actors refine their technology and TTPs.”

The global proliferation of drone technology will have potentially serious implications for international stability, including in counterterrorism operations, authoritarian regime survival and territorial control.

Drones lower the costs of using force by removing the risk of military casualties, meaning some states will be more likely to engage in kinetic action – particularly democracies that require popular support for use of force. Democratic constraints against war occur when the citizens bear the burdens of war – commonly through casualties – in that they pressure their leaders to be more selective about the wars they engage in. The Pentagon’s reported decision to deploy armed drones not long after the domestic backlash following the death of four U.S. troops in Niger is indicative of this characteristic.

Advanced military drones have the ability to remotely deploy over distance. This is a key tool in the U.S. arsenal, enabled by numerous forward operating bases that allow them to reach remote locations using over-the-horizon satellite-based remote control. These drones enable their controllers to loiter above targets for an extended period, allowing pilots to verify identities through patterns of life and biometric analysis, and strike with relative precision as compared with conventional military weapons. They are also able to loiter to assess the impact of the strike. These attributes make drones especially effective in targeting militants seeking refuge in expansive regions of largely inaccessible and ungoverned territory.

But current drones face a number of limitations as well. They fly significantly slower than manned aircraft. The F-16 cruises at a speed of about six times that of a Reaper – making drones susceptible to the air defenses of many states and even some non-state actors. They also currently do not possess air-to-air capabilities or countermeasures if engaged by manned aircraft in contested airspace.

Furthermore, remotely controlled aerial systems rely on a data link connecting the pilot on the ground to the system in the air, which introduces the risk of jamming, hacking and spoofing. For example, in 2009, Iraqi insurgents intercepted the video feeds of U.S. drones, and used that data to maneuver forces on the ground out of harm’s way. Russian-backed separatists consistently jam radio frequency and GPS signals of Ukrainian drones as well.

Michael Horowitz, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

“Drone capabilities are evolving in a way that is giving governments access to more sophisticated sensors with more autonomy, though the sophistication of drone platforms still trails inhabited aircraft when it comes to speed, survivability and armaments.”

For these reasons, current-generation drones are largely ineffective in conventional conflict – for example, were the U.S. to engage directly with China in the South China Sea or Russia in Eastern Europe. Unarmed drones are, however, possibly a point of stability in border disputes – such as those taking place in the South China Sea and East China Sea – in that their real-time surveillance might alleviate uncertainty or the element of surprise. The downing of unmanned systems also has not had the same escalatory effect as the downing of a manned aircraft – a case in point is Iran’s shootdown of a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone in 2011. That makes the systems most appropriate for gray-zone conflicts that do not clearly amount to full-scale war.

Sarah Kreps, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University

“One of the reasons why drones are not a game changer in interstate war, let’s say in Asia, is because they fly low and slow, so they are easy targets for countries with sophisticated air defenses. But if you can make them go faster with speed and stealth, then you can overcome those current operational impediments. So I think that is a key direction the U.S. will be going in terms of its development.”

Where drones are most useful currently is in asymmetric conflicts, such as counterterrorism operations, or even in the violent repression of opposition by authoritarian regimes. On the one hand, the proliferation of drones could allow states to better combat terrorism within their own borders without direct U.S. military support. But drones can also act as a tool of authoritarian maintenance. Centralized regimes often fear an outsized military as it could create the potential for a coup. By relying on remotely controlled drones deployed from centrally controlled capitals, authoritarian leaders could still reach into the peripheral regions to target opposition forces without risking a check to their power.

Chris Inglis, former Deputy Director, National Security Agency

“If the government is making use of these things, and its intent is to weaponize them, then there is a degree of abstraction between this human being that’s affecting this activity and the thing that actually delivers the payload that we ought to be very careful about. There is a lot of study on what the degree of disambiguation is on the part of somebody that launches a weapon from a drone, if that has the same visceral effect. Does it perhaps encourage the application of force in a way that is not helpful to societal values? How do you retain your hand on the button such that you think about this in the same way that somebody is physically engaging a threat?”

The world is becoming saturated with drones, and the technology that underpins these systems is only expected to become more sophisticated. Next-generation drone technology now in development includes: additive manufacturing for bulk production; advanced materials for enhanced stealth and smaller size; energy storage, solar powered systems and satellite-based communications for long-distance flight endurance; and automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning for ease and speed of navigation and targeting.

Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force

“Among the most worrisome factors is the speed of their technological development, especially in the case of small drones. This includes: the ability to move from Line of Sight (LOS) operations to Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) operations; construction techniques and materials that can impact size, power and weight advances that lead to increased endurance and payload capacity; and the ability to do autonomous operations. These capabilities will allow increased coverage with fewer ‘sorties,’ resulting in reduced costs for the operator and perhaps increased lethality for the extremist.”

Boeing, for example, has filed a patent for a solar-powered, high-altitude, long-endurance drone that is expected to be able to remain in the air for long periods of time, possibly even years. And China has a solar-powered high-altitude, long-endurance drone called Caihong-T4 (Ch-T44) under development, according to Popular Science. Both potentially could replace expensive satellite communications hubs and imagery gathering.

Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning could lead to small drones that communicate with each other as a cognitive hive mind with the capability to swarm targets, leaving kinetic air defenses with too many targets to engage.
Michael Horowitz, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

“Increasingly, many militaries are conducting basic research on smaller, cheaper drones that could potentially be deployed in swarms. Whether these investments translate into new capabilities is still unknown. Smaller, more disposable drones, particularly deployed in swarms, could have implications for everything from tactical support for ground units to new concepts of operation for conducting strikes against air, ground and naval targets.”

Both software and hardware are at the core of next-generation drones. The physical limitations of drone proliferation inherent in hardware do not apply to software, which is more diffuse and rapidly adaptable. Programming drones to remain on a “leash,” following warfighters wherever they go, or with the ability to loiter over a designated area and automatically find, fix and engage threats on their own, has tactical implications for war, particularly in the urban battlefield of the future replete with infrastructure that provides concealment for enemy forces.

At the same time, advances in nanotechnology could lead to drones that mimic birds or insects, such as the Black Hornet, which could be capable of stealthy, close-quarter audio, video and possibly even DNA-sample intelligence collection. More disruptively, these nano-drones could engage in highly targeted killings through the injection of poison or self-destruction.

However, while the proliferation of next-generation military drone technology has significant security implications, they are primarily tactical, not strategic, in nature.
Sarah Kreps, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University

“Some of these subtleties actually matter for drone proliferation, in terms of when and whether it is software versus hardware, whether it is the U.S. versus other countries, whether it is counterterrorism versus interstate war, and what time horizon we are talking about – are you talking about today or 10 years from now? I think those calculations will change over time and depending on the particular battlefield context in question.”

Levi Maxey is a cyber and technology analyst at The Cipher Brief. Follow him on Twitter @lemax13.

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Putin Orders Withdrawal Of Russian Troops During Surprise Syria Visit
Started by Jonas Parkerý, Yesterday 07:31 AM
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December 12, 2017 / 2:05 AM / Updated 2 hours ago

Russia will keep bases in Syria to strike at 'terrorists': Kremlin

Reuters Staff
2 Min Read

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will keep a naval and an air base in Syria capable of carrying out strikes against “terrorists” if required after a partial military pull-out announced by President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Putin on Monday ordered “a significant part” of Moscow’s military contingent to start pulling out of Syria, declaring their work largely done.

Putin, who polls show will be re-elected comfortably in March, made the announcement during a surprise visit to the Russian Hmeymim air base, where he met President Bashar al-Assad and addressed Russian forces.

“Thanks to the fact that the operation to save Syria and the liberation of Syrian land from terrorists have been completed, there is no longer a need for broad-scale combat strength,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

But he added that Russia will keep the Hmeymim air base in Syria’s Latakia Province and its naval facility in the port of Tartous.

“The President stressed that the terrorists might try to ‘walk tall’ again in Syria. If that happens, crushing blows will be carried out,” Peskov said.

Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Jack Stubbs and Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Richard Balmforth
 

Doomer Doug

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Merry Christmas Housecarl

:shkr:
Housecarl, in the spirit of Christmas here is a link to a story that should make you all warm and fuzzy!

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-ne...y-at-north-korean-nuclear-test-sites_12122017

WAR: Chilling Satellite Images Show Alarming Activity At North Korean Nuclear Test Sites
Mac Slavo
December 12th, 2017
SHTFplan.com

hilling satellite images are showing fresh new activity at North Korea’s nuclear test facility. The activity is likely to further increase tensions with Washington and spark fears of an inevitable third world war.

Watchdog 38 North reports that there has been a “consistently high” level of activity at the West portal of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. The images show nothing new has been added to the site, but the presence and movement of the equipment at the site has significantly increased. Mining carts, vehicles, and personnel have been seen at the site suggesting a tunnel excavation is underway, as Pyongyang readies the tunnel for further nuclear testing.

North Korean intelligence recently reported “construction had resumed at a fourth tunnel (West Portal), making it unable to be used ‘for a considerable amount of time.’” So far, the West Portal tunnel complex has not been used. Five of the past six nuclear tests were conducted at the North Portal, but no vehicles or equipment have been seen there since September.



Some are guessing that the recent tremors near the site have damaged the nuclear test facility, but satellite imagery cannot confirm this. It wouldn’t be the first time that North Korea inflicted damage upon itself either. The images have surfaced at the same time as CNN reported on the rogue regime’s development of bioweapons.

Kim Jong-un could be developing bioweapons amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, sparking more fears that he’s shifting gears, and plowing into an even more disturbing territory. Kim is said to have sent experts around the world to get degrees in microbiology and is making moves that suggest he will build more factories and laboratories to manufacture biological weaponry.
 

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Housecarl

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:shkr:
Housecarl, in the spirit of Christmas here is a link to a story that should make you all warm and fuzzy!

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-ne...y-at-north-korean-nuclear-test-sites_12122017

WAR: Chilling Satellite Images Show Alarming Activity At North Korean Nuclear Test Sites
Mac Slavo
December 12th, 2017
SHTFplan.com

hilling satellite images are showing fresh new activity at North Korea’s nuclear test facility. The activity is likely to further increase tensions with Washington and spark fears of an inevitable third world war.

Watchdog 38 North reports that there has been a “consistently high” level of activity at the West portal of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. The images show nothing new has been added to the site, but the presence and movement of the equipment at the site has significantly increased. Mining carts, vehicles, and personnel have been seen at the site suggesting a tunnel excavation is underway, as Pyongyang readies the tunnel for further nuclear testing.

North Korean intelligence recently reported “construction had resumed at a fourth tunnel (West Portal), making it unable to be used ‘for a considerable amount of time.’” So far, the West Portal tunnel complex has not been used. Five of the past six nuclear tests were conducted at the North Portal, but no vehicles or equipment have been seen there since September.



Some are guessing that the recent tremors near the site have damaged the nuclear test facility, but satellite imagery cannot confirm this. It wouldn’t be the first time that North Korea inflicted damage upon itself either. The images have surfaced at the same time as CNN reported on the rogue regime’s development of bioweapons.

Kim Jong-un could be developing bioweapons amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, sparking more fears that he’s shifting gears, and plowing into an even more disturbing territory. Kim is said to have sent experts around the world to get degrees in microbiology and is making moves that suggest he will build more factories and laboratories to manufacture biological weaponry.

Yeah, I'm guessing that if Kim is going to do another underground test, it's going to have a yield so big that any question about the type of weapon will be moot.

If that's the case a venting from the test is likely to happen.
 

Housecarl

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http://freebeacon.com/national-secu...ear-arsenal-upgrading-underground-facilities/

Russia Sharply Expanding Nuclear Arsenal, Upgrading Underground Facilities

Pentagon to boost U.S. weapons under nuclear posture review

BY: Bill Gertz
December 13, 2017 5:00 am

Russia is aggressively building up its nuclear forces and is expected to deploy a total force of 8,000 warheads by 2026 along with modernizing deep underground bunkers, according to Pentagon officials.

The 8,000 warheads will include both large strategic warheads and thousands of new low-yield and very low-yield warheads to circumvent arms treaty limits and support Moscow's new doctrine of using nuclear arms early in any conflict.
In addition to expanding its warheads, Russia also is fortifying underground facilities for command and control during a nuclear conflict.

One official said the alarming expansion indicates Russia is preparing to break out of current nuclear forces constraints under arms treaties, including the 2010 New START and 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaties. Russia violated the INF accord by testing an illegal ground-launched cruise missile.

The new assessment also suggests Russia is planning to blend its conventional forces with nuclear forces in future conflicts, further complicating the use of American nuclear arms as a deterrent to warfare.

The new disclosure on Russia's arms buildup is among some of the details being studied by the Pentagon as part of a major review of U.S. nuclear forces called the Nuclear Posture Review.

The conclusions of the review are expected to be disclosed around the time President Trump delivers his state of union address to a joint session of Congress next month.

Trump last summer called for sharply increasing the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a meeting of national security officials July 20.

"I want modernization and rehabilitation… It's got to be in tip top shape," Trump said of the ageing U.S. arsenal and nuclear forces.

The current posture of U.S. nuclear forces was set by then-President Barack Obama in a 2010 review that called for reducing the role of nuclear weapons and the size of the arsenal.

The curtailment of nuclear forces by Obama was based on assessments—now considered false by many officials—that nuclear threats posed by Russia and other states had been lowered significantly, and that Moscow and Washington were no longer considered enemies.

Thus the Obama administration based its strategic nuclear deterrence and warfare policies on the outdated assumption that the prospect of a U.S.-Russia military confrontation had been reduced sharply.

Since 2010, however, Russia, China, and North Korea have been engaged in steadily building up their forces with new nuclear arms and delivery systems, while Iran remains an outlier that many experts believe will eventually decide to build a nuclear arsenal in the next decade or sooner when restrictions outlined in the international nuclear deal expire.

The Pentagon's new posture review is based in part on a reversal of the outdated Obama-era assessment.

Russia's nuclear forces—new warheads, missiles, bombers, and submarines—are increasing sharply.

The nuclear modernization is regarded as more ominous because it is coupled to Moscow's new strategic doctrine that calls for quickly resorting to nuclear weapons during any conventional conflict.

The 8,000 nuclear warheads will include both large warheads currently deployed on long-range mobile missiles and missile-firing submarines.

What is new are Russia's large and increasing force of smaller nuclear warheads that will be deployed on its new short- and medium-range missiles, including the ground based SSC-8 cruise missile and the SS-N-27 Kalibr anti-ship and land-attack missile.

Additionally, Russia is developing new and innovative nuclear arms that include very low yield nuclear weapons—less than 1 kiloton or the equivalent of 1,000 tons of TNT-that will be delivered atop precision guided missiles.

Russian weapons researchers have been studying these advanced nuclear arms since the late 1990s. They include precision strike nuclear weapons; clean weapons that produce little radiation fallout; pure fusion weapons that do not require a nuclear blast to trigger them; and tailored effects weapons. Special effects arms include neutron bombs that kill with radiation instead of a large blast, electronics-destroying electromagnetic pulse blasts, and X-ray and Gamma ray weapons.
The weapons will range in blast size from yields of 10 tons of TNT, to 1 kiloton.

The small nuclear arms also will be outfitted with satellite guidance so their accuracy is within a few feet and also will be capable of penetrating into the earth before detonating.

China and India also are said to be developing similar low-yield nuclear arms.

The New START treaty, signed by Russia and the United States limits both countries to 1,550 deployed weapons. However, the treaty has no limits on tactical nuclear weapons and thus has spurred Russian development of the smaller weapons.

Russia's tactical nuclear arms stockpile has been estimated to include between 3,300 and 5,700 weapons with estimates as high as 10,000.

The State Department reported in October that the United States has 1,393 deployed strategic warheads, and Russia has deployed 1,561 warheads. The Congressional Research Service reported that the U.S. non-strategic nuclear stockpile includes around 760 weapons, including around 200 deployed in Europe.

James R. Howe, a nuclear weapons expert, said he also estimates Russia will have at least 8,000 warheads in the next six years depending on how many are loaded on missiles.

For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in 2012 that Russia would build 400 new intercontinental range missiles by 2022 that would all be outfitted with between six and 10 warheads.

Howe believes Russia in the years ahead will likely deploy a mix of high-yield, medium-yield, and low-yield warheads integrated with cyber, space, defense, and non-nuclear forces capable of evading U.S. defenses and covering all strategic targeting options.

The warheads will be delivered on current missiles and bombers along with four new ICBMs, two new submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and two new bombers, he said.

The buildup of Russian active and passive defenses and space weapons "indicates the Russians have a very different view of the role of nuclear forces; [and] have applied nuclear warhead technology developments so they have weapons which have political and military utility which can be applied consistently with conflict objectives," Howe said.

The developments also signal that Russia is preparing to conduct nuclear war to achieve strategic war aims.

Rather than numbers of warheads, the threat posed by accurate, low-yield warheads indicates Moscow is contemplating a far different nuclear conflict than those Washington is considering and raises questions about U.S. deterrent capabilities, Howe said.

The Pentagon's Defense Science Board, in a report for the new Trump administration made public in January, said the United States should consider building its own force of low-yield nuclear arms. The development would require lifting a congressional ban on new nuclear arms.

The board questioned the Obama administration's assumption that downgrading the role of U.S. nuclear weapons would lead other nations to follow.

"[Defense Department] leadership is renewing its commitment to the nation’s nuclear deterrent, given the relatively recent recognition of the pervasive threat of adversaries’ nuclear capabilities and doctrines," the report said.

"In short, ‘nuclear' still matters, nuclear is in a class of its own, and nuclear cannot be wished away," the report added.

The Russian plan to use low yield nuclear weapons against NATO's better armed conventional forces as part of a doctrine known as "escalate to de-escalate," the report said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva, said in a speech last August that the military needs small nuclear arms that do not cause massive casualties.

"If all you have is high-yield weapons to answer a low-yield attack, it’s still a nuclear attack," Selva said. "Answering that with a conventional weapon is likely not going to have the kind of deterrent value as saying, ‘Even if you use a low-yield weapon, we have options to respond,'" he added.

If a president's only options are using high-yield weapons that cause unwanted indiscriminate killing "then we haven’t presented him with an option to respond to a nuclear attack in kind," the Air Force four-star said.

Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon nuclear weapons policymaker, said Russia has had major programs for precision low yield nuclear weapons for years, with Russian press reports asserting that between 50 and 200 low-yield weapons already are deployed on strategic systems, in addition to traditional high-yield warheads.

"My estimate is that Russia will increase its strategic nuclear forces to over three thousand warheads by 2030. By my count they have announced 22 strategic nuclear modernization programs and they say that the new missiles are heavily MIRVed," Schneider said referring to multiple, independently targetable reentry vehicles.

Tactical nuclear warhead levels have been reduced from Cold War levels but still include around 5,000 to 6,000 arms, he said.

For example, Russia's new long-range precision strike cruise missiles all can be outfitted with nuclear warhead and have significant potential to substitute for strategic nuclear forces.

"If you add my two estimates, the total inventory is nearing 8,000 to 9,000 nuclear weapons and it could further increase," Schneider said.

Russia's military has boasted that its current nuclear forces significantly exceed U.S. forces and that could tempt the Russians to launch an aggressive operation against NATO and use their nuclear forces to dissuade the alliance from responding.

A declassified CIA Intelligence Memorandum from August 2000 said Moscow was planning for very-low yield weapons, including arms with tailored radiation outputs.

On the underground complexes, Pentagon officials said two major Russian command-and-control centers, along with several smaller facilities, also are being modernized, including the secret complex known as Kosvinsky Mountain, located in the Ural Mountains about 850 miles east of Moscow.

Kosvinsky is Russia's main, nuclear-survivable command post that includes underground rail system that will be used to transport Russian leaders from Moscow.
Another command post, also about 850 miles from Moscow, is located at Yamantau Mountain in the Urals near Belorets.

Other underground leadership bunkers have been identified by U.S. intelligence at Voronovo, about 46 miles south of Moscow, and at Sharapovo, some 34 miles from Moscow. Both are equipped with underground rail links.

The upgrading of nuclear command and control was announced by Russia's Defense Ministry last year as expected to be deployed by the end of 2016.

The system is known by its Russian acronym IASBU and uses digital signals to send combat orders and to control strategic forces.

Another major worry for Pentagon nuclear policymakers is Russia's development of a high-speed drone submarine to be armed with a large warhead capable of destroying American ports. The drone sub, known as Kanyon by the Pentagon, was first disclosed in a report by the Washington Free Beacon two years ago.

Howe, the nuclear expert, estimates Russia could deploy several 100-megaton armed Kanyons for nuclear "escalation dominance" during a future war.

A Pentagon spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Russia. Bookmark the permalink.

Bill Gertz Email Bill | Full Bio | RSS
Bill Gertz is the senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon.
 

Housecarl

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https://www.hoover.org/research/countering-iran-while-retreating

Countering Iran while Retreating

by Reuel Marc Gerecht
Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Time has almost run out for the United States to deny the Islamic Republic hegemony in the northern Middle East. The clerical regime has the high ground and the Americans are, at best, slowing Iranian advances. The approximately two thousand troops Washington has reportedly deployed to Syria, mostly in the north and the southeast, have prevented the Tehran–Moscow–Damascus axis from dominating all of the strategic locations in the country. But if President Trump really did tell Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will cut military aid to the Syrian Kurds, the most reliable of America’s disparate anti-Islamic State “partners on the ground,” and he meant it, it’s a decent guess America’s military presence will diminish. The Syrian Kurds, not an especially powerful or reliable ally against Iran and its allies, are the only competent local military force that Washington can conceivably use to put pressure on the victorious axis.

In the Persian Gulf, anti-Iranian forces are in better shape. But the status quo is in play, owing to the war in Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s energetic crown prince. Tehran has to lie in wait, avoiding the might of the US Navy while hoping the Sunni side does something sufficiently stupid to allow the mullahs to exploit convulsively local Arab Shiite grievances. The Achilles’ heel of Gulf stability is composed of the badly oppressed Shia of Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province, which is majority Shiite, and Bahrain, which, despite an energetic effort by the ruling Khalifa family to import Arab and non-Arab Sunnis, remains heavily Shiite. If the Shiites went into a sustained armed rebellion, the economic consequences for the region would be massive. Saudi Arabia’s brutal (but, so far, ineffective) war against the Zaydi Shiites in Yemen—the Houthis—may well prove to be the Islamic Republic’s breakthrough among the Shia of the peninsula. If Tehran can successfully enlist the Houthis for a larger cause (getting even with the Saudis within Saudi Arabia), then it will have a permanent base of operations near enough to cause real trouble.

What Washington needs to do to roll back Iranian gains runs smack into what the Trump administration is prepared to do, which so far hasn’t been much. The president’s rhetoric against Iranian militancy has been tougher than Ronald Reagan’s or George W. Bush’s hardest orations. But Trump’s accomplishments on the ground have been few. The administration really has two options: to punish Iran economically or to roll back the mullahs militarily through the use of US forces. Strengthening the Gulf Arab states militarily, though highlighted by the White House, won’t change the fate of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, or Yemen, and it won’t protect Saudi Arabia and Bahrain from internal sectarian trouble.

To punish Iran economically, the White House could withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and reinstate all of the sanctions waived by the nuclear deal. Or it could keep the accord, as it is doing, but launch a tsunami of executive-branch sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, effectively shutting off most of the trade and finance allowed by the JCPOA. Such actions would end the illogic of trying to push back against the Islamic Republic while fueling its economy. So far, the administration is doing neither.

I was recently in Brussels and Paris. What was most striking was the relative equanimity that European officials had about Trump’s intentions toward Tehran. The general view was perhaps best put by a French official who bluntly summarized his analysis of America's Iran policy since January 2017:

“If he [Trump] were serious, he’d roll back the Iranians in Syria. If he were serious, he’d stop the Airbus sale.”

The Boeing and Airbus deals, worth together nearly $30 billion, are the commercial hinge of the nuclear accord: they are Iranian bait to create significant pro-Tehran commercial lobbies in Europe and the United States. They are also a means for the clerical regime to enhance its airlift capacity. The new planes, or older ones released from other services, will be at the disposal of the Revolutionary Guards and the tens of thousands of Shiite militiamen who have become an expeditionary force for Tehran. Philosophically, if not economically, these transactions will make or break Trump’s Iran policy. And yet the president remains—even after his team finally completed the much-awaited Iran policy review—unclear. It actually appears he is inclined to allow the Airbus sale, which he could cancel by withdrawing the export licenses for the American parts that go into every Airbus plane. In a recent interview with Fox, the president said:

Honestly, I told them—they are friends of mine. They really are. I get along with all of them. Whether it's Emmanuel [Macron] or Angela [Merkel]. I told them just keep making money. Don't worry. You just keep making money. When Iran buys things from Germany, France, by billions of dollars, even us, they were going to buy Boeings—Boeings. I don't know what's going to happen with that deal. When they buy those things, it is a little harder. I told them just keep making money. Don't worry. We don't need you on this one.

Trump certainly appears to be in severe tension with the articulated policy of his national security adviser, General H. R. McMaster, who has publicly discouraged European investment in Iran where the Revolutionary Guards would profit—in other words, in the industrial and energy sectors that most attract Europeans. The president doesn’t seem to understand that an American economic pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic where the Europeans are free to trade is stillborn.

The ugly truth about the JCPOA, which Trump has decertified but maintained, is that it limits the responses Washington can use against the Islamic Republic. It elevates the nuclear question above all other concerns—regional aggression, the creation of Hezbollah-like Shiite militias throughout the greater Middle East, the massive slaughter of Syrian Sunnis, the generation of jihadism, Iranian human rights, democracy, and even terrorism (so long as Tehran doesn’t target Americans). As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani often reminds his countrymen, the nuclear deal also creates Western pressure groups that will make it more difficult for Western governments to again mount crippling sanctions against Tehran. (Former Obama administration officials have actually become what Rouhani has been hoping for: an Iran lobby.)

If the White House now decides to up the ante on the mullahs’ regional ambitions through sanctions, the president could kill the deal. There is a red line. The point where sanctions might possibly become effective in hurting the Islamic Republic’s imperialist ambitions is probably the point where the Iranians abandon the JCPOA. Always more concerned about an Iranian–American collision than Iranian machinations, the Europeans will suss out where that line is and ardently encourage Washington to show its displeasure through measured sanctions that deliver bearable pain. Trump appears already there: the White House annoys Tehran with minor sanctions, sells more weaponry to Gulf Arabs, occasionally has a second-tier official—the secretary of state—give a speech on Iranian oppression, leaves some troops in Syria and Iraq, and calls it progress.

But the president is mercurial. If he walks from his predecessor’s atomic accord, however, the administration would have to be prepared for the clerical regime to test Washington’s resolve by openly reanimating parts of the nuclear program that had been slowed or dismantled. That means preventive military strikes, which the White House has so far shown no willingness to entertain. The same logic holds if Trump were to decide to deploy US forces directly against Iran and its many Shiite militias in Syria: the nuclear deal most certainly will die when more than a handful of American soldiers perish.

Politically, it is nearly impossible to imagine President Trump doing anything provocative given his domestic fragility. A sizable slice of the congressional Republican Party can’t abide the president. Needless to say, the Democratic Party loathes him. Forceful American foreign policy is hard to wage when the opposition party is adamantly hostile; when a big slice of the president’s own party doesn’t trust the commander-in-chief, bold actions, especially those that could conceivably lead to conflict, become politically precarious if not impossible. Until the last fifteen years of the Cold War, when the Democratic Party started going seriously south, American containment of the Soviet Union, which always carried the risk of military confrontation, was bipartisan. The Korean, Vietnam, and first and second Gulf wars were all sufficiently bipartisan to fortify presidential will, at least initially. Bill Clinton’s Yugoslav air campaign is a more interesting, atypical case, and might more closely resemble politically and militarily an American pushback in Syria against Iran and its Shiite militias. But even in the fight to stop Slobodan Milosevic, Clinton gathered significant Republican support, enough to split the Republican opposition. It would be a very good day for Trump, assuming he had the volition to fight in Syria, if he could get, among Democrats, Clinton’s level of Republican support.

If Trump doesn’t leave the JCPOA in the coming months, he’s probably locked in where Barack Obama left him. One has to imagine that Obama, who had a vision and implemented it, will smile as his successor again fails to undo his legacy.
 

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http://www.newsweek.com/china-gathe...sive-database-millions-muslim-province-746529

China Gathering Blood, DNA and Iris Scans for Massive Database of Millions in Muslim Province

By Christina Zhao On 12/13/17 at 7:26 AM

Chinese police have started gathering blood types, DNA samples, fingerprints and iris scans from millions of people in its Muslim-majority Xinjiang province to build a massive citizen database, according to report by activist group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The report, published Wednesday, said that officials are collecting the data from citizens between 12 and 65 years old using a variety of methods. Authorities are gathering DNA and blood types through free medical check-ups, and HRW said it is was unclear if patients were aware that their biometric data was being collected for the police during these physical exams.

According to the report, citizens authorities have flagged as a potential threat to the regime, and their families, named “focus personnel,” are forced to hand over their DNA regardless of age.

So far 18.8 million citizens have participated in the medical check-ups, called "Physicals for all" by the government, according to an article by a state news agency in Xinhua from November 1.

“Xinjiang authorities should rename their physical exams project ‘Privacy Violations for All,’ as informed consent and real choice does not seem to be part of these programs,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW.

“The mandatory databanking of a whole population’s biodata, including DNA, is a gross violation of international human rights norms, and it’s even more disturbing if it is done surreptitiously, under the guise of a free health care program,” she added.

The rights group is concerned about the data collection as iris scans, DNA and blood type could be used for “surveillance of persons because of ethnicity, religion, opinion or other protected exercise of rights like free speech,” further adding to controls in a region some analysts have dubbed an “open air prison.”

Xinjiang, a territory in northwest China, is a colossal region of deserts and mountains and is known for being home to many ethnic minority groups, including over 11 million Muslim-Turkic Uyghur people. Because of this, Xinjiang has long been subject to tight control and intense levels of surveillance not experienced elsewhere in China.

In April, police banned its citizens from wearing long beards or veils in public, a move that activist groups saw as a means of targeting the Muslim population in particular. Authorities also banned home schooling and use of the Uyghur language in schools, as well as introducing new restrictions on downloading what it considered to be extremist materials.

The biometric collection scheme is detailed in an official document that was posed in Xinjiang’s government website, with HRW making an unofficial translation is available.

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Housecarl

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-military-send-cyber-soldiers-battlefield-000640927.html

US military to send cyber soldiers to the battlefield

AFP • December 13, 2017

Washington (AFP) - The US Army will soon send teams of cyber warriors to the battlefield, officials said Wednesday, as the military increasingly looks to take the offensive against enemy computer networks.

While the Army's mission is generally to "attack and destroy," the cyber troops have a slightly different goal, said Colonel Robert Ryan, who commands a Hawaii-based combat team.

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"Not everything is destroy. How can I influence by non-kinetic means? How can I reach up and create confusion and gain control?" he told reporters.

The cyber soldiers have been integrated for six months in infantry units, and will tailor operations according to commanders' needs, said Colonel William Hartman of the Army's Cyber Command.

The Army has for the past three years conducted training for such operations at a huge center in southern California.

Hartman didn't give details on what the cyber troops can achieve, except to say that they would be scooping up information or intercepting planned attacks.

According to the New York Times, CYBERCOM has previously placed "implants" in Islamic State group networks that let experts monitor the group's behavior and ultimately imitate or alter commanders' messages so they unwittingly direct fighters to areas likely to be hit by drone or plane strikes.

Another technique likely being employed is a common type of cyber attack known as a denial of service.

Cyber Command had previously been a subordinate part of the US Strategic Command, but President Donald Trump in August ordered the Pentagon to elevate it to its own command, in a sign of its growing importance.

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Housecarl

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http://www.businessinsider.com/army...k-as-much-firepower-as-an-abrams-tank-2017-12

The Army says remote combat vehicles can pack as much firepower as an Abrams tank

David Vergun, Army News Service
8h
2,496

LIVONIA, Mich. — Within five years, the Army would like to start testing remote combat vehicle prototypes, known as RCVs, which are unmanned, as light and as fast as a Stryker, but provide the same level of firepower as an M-1 Abrams tank, said Maj. Alan L. Stephens.

Stephens, an Acquisition Corps officer at the Mounted Requirements Division of the US Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, spoke at the Future Ground Combat Vehicles Summit here, Nov. 30.

While the holy grail is the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, he said the Army thinks it can more quickly field a limited number of RCVs, and importantly, the results of that testing could help inform the requirements for the NGCV, which is slated for fielding in 2035.

Instead of a traditional program of record, Stephens said the plan is to buy a limited quantity of RCVs or components that could be used for RCVs, then let Soldiers put them through their grueling paces at the combat training centers and various test sites and proving grounds.

The analysis that result from that and Soldier feedback would then be used to inform requirements for the RCV and later on for the NGCV, he said.

A capability development document for the RCV could be written as soon as 2022, he added.

RCV Advantages

RCVs will have a number of advantages over the Abrams, said Stephens, who has a background as a systems engineer.

For one, the RCV will be unmanned. That means in a manned-unmanned configuration, the unmanned variants could go ahead of the manned to scout out the area, navigate through the most dangerous sectors of the battlefield and engage the enemy, while the manned vehicle would follow, he said.

The current thinking for test configuration, he said, is two unmanned for every manned RCV, with the manned variant controlling the other two. But that ratio of 1:2 could change once testing commences and bugs are worked out. Eventually, he said, a 1:4 ratio could be likely.

Additionally, he said, the term "unmanned" implies varying levels of autonomy. At the lowest level, for instance, a vehicle might have no personnel inside, but would be controlled by Soldiers through a tethered radio link. At the highest level, a vehicle might be fully autonomous, requiring artificial intelligence and neural networking — something not yet achievable, but clearly on the horizon.

Another advantage with RCV over Abrams is that it will be lighter and more maneuverable. That means, Stephens said, that it will be faster and could be airlifted, giving the brigade combat team commander and the combatant commander greater options in the battlespace.

Since RCVs will be unmanned, that frees up a lot of space for direct and indirect fires capability, he said, along with a full suite of sensors and counter-unmanned aerial vehicle packages. An example of an indirect fire system, he said, is the 81 mm mortar. Direct fire would be what an Abrams' main gun can deliver.

Stephens said there's even discussions of teaming UAVs with the RCVs to provide over-the-horizon surveillance and reconnaissance.

The modular, open-systems architecture design would by necessity include cyber protection and anti-jamming equipment, Stephens said.

Daniel McCormick, deputy joint program executive officer for Chemical and Biological Defense, said he's excited about RCVs and other robotics vehicles, given the chemical, biological and radiological threats that are proliferating around the world, particularly on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East.

Existing sensors, like infrared ones, could double-down to not just detect the enemy's signature and dust but also the signature from biological and chemical weapons, he said.

Unmanned vehicles would also afford force protection and increased standoff distance, he said, meaning staying out of reach of enemy fire.

"We are near reaching parity with near-peer competitors on the battlefield," Stephens concluded, "so there's goodness in the RCV program."

However, he added, a lot of developmental work still remains to be done to make lethality the same as the Abrams while lightening the platform so it's more maneuverable.

"We're going to push the limit to get to initial requirement, but we don't want over-requirements," he added.

Stephens noted that there are three Army commands involved with the RCV program, including the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center; the Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center; and the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center.

He called on industry to help make the RCV a reality, and also suggested that testing could be conducted on surrogate vehicles, like the M-113 armored personnel carrier, that the Army would provide.

Read the original article on Army News Service. Copyright 2017. Follow Army News Service on Twitter.
 

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http://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/1...-ground-assault-on-southern-california-bases/

Marines practicing full-scale air, sea and ground assault on Southern California bases

By Erika I. Ritchie | eritchie@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: December 13, 2017 at 1:19 pm | UPDATED: December 13, 2017 at 11:28 pm
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CAMP PENDLETON — A war game exercise that deploys a battalion-size air, sea and ground assault is playing out across Marine Corps bases in Southern California this week.

The exercise, which includes more than 1,000 Marines from the 1st Marine Division and more than 600 Marine aviators and their crews, is taking place at San Clemente Island, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Camp Pendleton and at the Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.

It combines the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s “Winter Fury” exercise with the 1st Marine Division’s “Steel Knight” training. Both are held annually to prepare Marines for worldwide threats and to sharpen their skills for upcoming deployments. But the combined exercise is the first in more than a decade, military officials say.

“We are setting up a full command structure within the wing that will command and control all our assets flying in the air space that is real and virtual,” said Col. Michael Borgschulte, assistant Wing Commander for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which has units at Camp Pendleton, Miramar and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona. “We are doing command and control integration with the 1st Marine Division.”

The exercise at Twentynine Palms, re-creating a battalion air assault to establish an air field and refueling center behind enemy lines, trains Marines and sailors in planning, deployment and command and control against an enemy force with similar capabilities. The 1st Marine Division is a 22,000-strong force.

The size and scope of the training makes it unique, Borgschulte said.

“We’ll move a full battalion via aviation into Twentynine Palms and establish an airfield there using upwards of 40 aircraft,” said Borgschulte, who at 48 has been in the Marine Corps for 27 years and is a trained Cobra pilot.

The exercise includes F/A-18 Hornets, KC-130J Super Hercules, AV-8B Harriers, MV-22 Ospreys, AH-1Z Vipers, UH-1Y Venoms, CH-53E Super Stallions, MQ-9 Reapers, MQ-21 Blackjacks and drones.

While Marines, sailors and aviators operate in the air and on the ground, commanders are running their command and control center from tents in the desert. Communication between aviation and ground forces and the center is critical, Borgschulte said.

“We will be fighting as a Marine Air Ground Task Force where we integrate and combine arms” using all resources, Borgschulte said.

In the wake of a recent spike in non-combat training mishaps, Borgschulte and other commanders are putting the safety of their Marines at a premium, he said.

The number of on-duty Marine ground and aviation training mishaps per 100,000 Marines this year is 10.49, up about 60 percent from 2014, according to data from the Naval Safety Center.

“Whenever we have a large-scale exercise, we have a lot more hours that go into the preparation of the aircraft,” Borgschulte said. “The more flying we do, the more proficient our crews are. Our most valuable asset is the individual Marine. Everything we do supports that.

“Anytime we have an incident it’s tragic,” he said. “In the investigation, we go back and see the causal factors and what need to be corrected.”
The exercises end Friday.
 

Housecarl

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http://www.nipp.org/2017/12/13/payne-keith-b-nuclear-deterrence-in-a-new-age/

Information Series
Issue No. 426
December 13, 2017

Nuclear Deterrence In a New Age

Dr. Keith B. Payne
Dr. Keith B. Payne is a co-founder of the National Institute for Public Policy, the director of the Graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Introduction: On Deterrence
Carl von Clausewitz writes that the nature of war has enduring continuities, but its characteristics change with different circumstances.[1] Similarly, the fundamental nature of deterrence has endured for millennia: a threatened response to an adversary’s prospective provocation causes that adversary to decide against the provocation i.e., the adversary is deterred from attack because it decides that the prospective costs outweigh the gains. The character of deterrence, however, must adapt to different circumstances. In one case, the necessary deterrent threat may be to punish the adversary; in another, to deny the adversary its objectives; in yet another, a combination of punishment and denial threats may be necessary to deter. Such specific characteristics of deterrence—its goals, means and application—change, but the fundamental threat-based mechanism of deterrence endures.

The introduction of nuclear weapons in 1945 dramatically expanded both potential threats and the corresponding means of deterrence, as was recognized almost immediately by some at the time. The contemporary emergence of new types of threats, such as cyber and modern biological weapons, will again affect the character of deterrence. But its nature endures, and the fundamental questions about deterrence remain as elaborated by Raymond Aron and Herman Kahn during the Cold War: who deters whom, from what action, by threatening what response, in what circumstances, in the face of what counterthreats?[2]

Despite the continuity in the basic nature of deterrence, significant geopolitical, doctrinal and technological developments now demand that we again adapt our deterrence goals, means and applications to a new strategic landscape. During the Cold War, US nuclear deterrence strategies had to adapt to the relatively slow changes and enduring continuities of a bipolar strategic environment, and thereafter to the dramatic systemic transformation brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. A basic task now is to understand how a third and dramatically different new strategic environment must again reshape the character of our deterrence strategy—its necessary means and application, particularly including the role of nuclear weapons.

Effective deterrence and extended deterrence for US allies requires that US deterrence capabilities be sufficiently credible, as perceived by diverse adversaries, to cause them to decide against the provocations we have identified as unacceptable, now and in the future. Doing so now demands that we be capable of adapting our deterrence strategies and capabilities to shifting circumstances, including future adversaries and contexts that are not now obvious. This is a task of uncertain dimensions and unpredictable demands.

The rapid pace of technological innovation and proliferation has magnified the scope of change and uncertainty in the emerging threat environment. Adversaries and potential adversaries are improving familiar capabilities and acquiring new and unprecedented instruments of coercion and warfare. Some appear willing to employ or abide by the employment of weapons that have, until recently, been deemed outside supposedly global norms, such as chemical weapons. Improvements in ballistic and cruise missiles, missile defenses, anti-access and area denial measures, hypersonic, cyber and space weapons have or will open new domains for threat and warfare, and, correspondingly, pose new challenges for US deterrence strategies.

This new strategic environment is very different from that of the Cold War or the immediate post-Cold War period. As we consider how to adapt deterrence to the realities of this period we first need to understand the necessary deterrence roles for our nuclear weapons given the emerging spectrum of adversaries and potential adversaries who are pursuing external goals that threaten us, our allies and the existing post-Cold War order in general. Effective nuclear deterrence is increasingly important in this new strategic environment characterized by severe, coercive nuclear threats against us and our allies, and the increasing prospect for adversary employment of nuclear weapons, and possibly other WMD.

Deterring Adversaries and Potential Adversaries in the New Post-Cold War Era
During the Cold War, our deterrence focus was primarily on the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent on the People’s Republic of China. With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a striking reduction in the generally perceived level of nuclear threat from Russia and China, and a corresponding reduction in the generally perceived value of US nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence. Following 9/11, the United States moved further away from interest in nuclear weapons, focusing heavily on defeating terrorism for almost two decades. Washington paid limited attention to nuclear weapons, save for consideration of how to reduce their salience and pursue their numeric reduction; the Obama administration in particular highlighted nonproliferation and the elimination of nuclear weapons as the priority goals of US nuclear policy.[3]

Yet, over the past decade, US adversaries and potential adversaries have moved in a wholly different direction, emphasizing the roles of nuclear weapons and expanding their arsenals. For example, Moscow clearly feels that it must correct an unacceptable loss of position supposedly imposed on it by the West following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unsurprisingly, Moscow is pursuing Great Power competition aggressively, with a revanchist agenda backed by coercive nuclear threats. Its explicit nuclear threats to the West surpass even those of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and its nuclear programs, according to Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, already have resulted in the modernization of three-fourths of Russia’s “ground, air and sea strategic nuclear forces.”[4]

In addition, during the Cold War and the decades immediately thereafter, the United States devoted immense time and treasure into the negotiation of, and compliance with arms control treaties and agreements. Now, however, Russia engages in continuing, willful noncompliance with many, perhaps most of its arms control commitments, most notably the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF),[5] and China avoids transparency and arms control in favor of strategic ambiguity.

Chinese leaders feel that they must overturn a “century of humiliation,” and, in doing so are provoking US allies severely as Beijing seeks to overturn the existing order in Asia. Its illegal expansionism and rapidly growing military capabilities, nuclear and non-nuclear, pose a direct threat to US allies and interests.

These Russian and Chinese goals and worldviews are important to US considerations of deterrence strategies because cognitive studies that were not available in the 1960s or 1970s indicate that decision makers typically are willing to accept greater risks to recover that which they perceive to be rightfully theirs, but are denied.[6] Western deterrence goals to preserve an international order which these Great Powers now seek to overturn will be particularly challenging as they seek to recover what they believe to be rightfully theirs, but now is denied them by Western opposition. Russia’s illegitimate occupation of Crimea and China’s illegal expansion into the East and South China Seas certainly appear to reflect this dynamic.

North Korea’s extreme nuclear threats and long-range means of delivery now pose a clear and present danger to the United States and allies. At this point, North Korea may be merely months away from the capability to launch nuclear armed missiles at US cities.[7] It is imperative that the United States effectively deter this eccentric rogue power.

Iran seeks hegemony in the Middle East and threatens US allies and friends in the process. Iranian leaders correspondingly express extreme hostility toward us and our allies—most recently labeling the United States Iran’s “number one” enemy.[8] Despite the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), apparently, Iran could acquire nuclear capabilities quickly if it decides to do so, and it continues to pursue robust missile programs, including the development of long-range missiles. Protecting US allies and interests in the region may become an increasingly challenging goal given Iran’s goals and potential capabilities.

While terrorist organizations continue to threaten us and our allies, we must now recognize the reality of both Great Power and Rogue aggressive nuclear threats and possible employment. This reality is a far cry from the hope and even expectation of the past two decades that such concerns belonged to the past, never to return.[9] Over the past two decades, this belief—that with the passing of the Cold War, interstate nuclear threats were largely gone and US nuclear requirements greatly eased—has been at the heart of virtually every argument against US efforts to modernize aging, “legacy” US nuclear forces and the aged US nuclear scientific and industrial infrastructure. To realists, this belief was an obvious illusion. But it was peddled by a professional anti-nuclear lobby and embraced by those captured by the hubris and feel-good emotion of it all.

Despite the now manifest fact that significant interstate nuclear threats are again a prominent characteristic of the international environment, the claim continues to be repeated that because the Cold War is over, US nuclear deterrence requirements are minimal. For example:

Thankfully those days are over. The Soviet Union disappeared 25 years ago. Current Russian belligerence, although worrisome, does not constitute a renewed Cold War…Our submarines alone give us an assured deterrence…The United States does not need to arm its bombers with a new generation of nuclear-armed cruise missiles…Similarly, the United States should cancel plans to replace its ground-launched ICBMs….[10]

The 20th Century Cold War is over; that is self-evident. But the claim that US nuclear requirements thus are minimal, and correspondingly that, “our submarines alone give us an assured deterrence,” is a highly-speculative non sequitur presented as if a known, self-evident fact. It is, instead, an outdated, imprudent basis for US nuclear policy—a subject area that demands the greatest prudence.

Indeed, the contemporary nuclear threat environment poses more diverse and severe challenge to US deterrence strategy than were operative during the Cold War, with greater uncertainties about the future. No one, regardless of their position or experience, can claim with any credibility to know that some relatively modest set of US nuclear capabilities provides “an assured deterrence” vis-à-vis a broad spectrum of known and now-unknown opponents and contingencies, particularly for the many future decades in which US nuclear deterrence capabilities are expected to function.

The number and character of states and terrorist organizations that may join the array of adversaries and potential adversaries is uncertain. But new adversaries and nuclear threats undoubtedly will emerge over the multi-decade lifetimes of the fledgling US nuclear programs initiated by the Obama Administration to replace the aging US nuclear triad of strategic bombers, sea-based and land-based missiles. Deterring a diverse array of recognized adversaries and potential adversaries is complicated by their widely divergent worldviews, values, goals, priorities, risk tolerances, determination, and perceptions of US credibility. Deterring future adversaries not yet recognized is, by definition, a challenge for which we must prepare without knowing the precise dimensions of the threats they will pose or the requirements for deterrence.

During the Cold War, the number of deterrence variables was much more limited, and during the immediate post-Cold War era the need for nuclear deterrence supposedly was coming to an end. Now, however, the spectrum of potential opponents and conflict scenarios ranges from the relatively familiar to the largely unfamiliar; the stakes at risk now differ widely; our ability to communicate credible deterrence threats now is less certain; and, our ability to predict when and how deterrence will function increasingly is stretched.

These realities drive the US need to be able to tailor deterrence strategies across an expanding spectrum of opponents and threat contexts, nuclear and non-nuclear. Russia, for example, now emphasizes the role of nuclear coercion and the value of limited nuclear first-use as a tool of statecraft, and to backstop its non-nuclear military expansion. Its notions of “escalate-to-de-escalate” essentially envision nuclear weapons as instruments of coercion to defeat the West’s will and capability to respond in strength to Russian expansionism. Moscow appears to expect that its nuclear threats, or limited first-use if necessary, will compel Western capitulation in crises or conflict.[11] Effective deterrence now requires that the West dispel such destabilizing Russian expectations.

In addition, with the ultimate goal of unifying the Korean Peninsula under its rule, North Korea is expanding its nuclear capabilities and often issues coercive nuclear threats. From the 1990s to the mid-2000s, North Korea used its nuclear program to extort diplomatic concessions, economic assistance, and food aid from us and our allies. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has stated that North Korea now has the capability to strike, “everywhere in the world, basically.”[12] With an emerging capability to threaten the United States with nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the prospect is for even greater demands and coercive nuclear threats by the “shakedown state.”[13]

Effective deterrence now demands much greater attention to the deterrence requirements posed by diverse adversaries and contexts, and the force flexibility needed to adapt our deterrence strategies and capabilities accordingly. In particular, we must understand how to deter Great Powers and nuclear-armed Rogues from exploiting limited nuclear threats and/or escalation for coercive purposes in support of their respective goals to change established orders and boarders in Europe, Asia, and prospectively the Middle East. To do so, we must first understand and address the reasons why some now perceive the freedom to engage in repeated nuclear threats against us, our allies and friends.

Why, for example, might Moscow perceive potential success in a nuclear strategy that includes its escalation to limited nuclear first use. What “gaps” does Moscow perceive in Western deterrence strategies, and how can those perceptions be corrected?[14] The same questions must be answered for all adversaries that follow a similar script, now and in the future.

In this new environment, the range of possibilities and uncertainties has expanded regarding plausible answers to the enduring deterrence questions posed by Aaron and Kahn: whom must we deter, from what action, by threatening what response, in what circumstances, in the face of what counterthreats?

Implications for US Deterrence Strategies and Capabilities
The basic nature of deterrence endures. We do not require a new theory of deterrence, but rather we must pursue the hard work of understanding how to apply deterrence effectively in dramatically new and different circumstances. To wit, we must understand how to deter a more diverse set of adversaries and potential adversaries, from a wider array of specific actions, in a similarly wider array of plausible circumstances, while also hedging against the unknown and unexpected.

Several points may be made now in this regard. First, the set of adversaries and potential adversaries, their goals and capabilities, are far from fixed or familiar, and they will shift over time. So too, the range of US deterrence goals and the nuclear requirements needed to support those goals, now and into the future, can never be considered fixed. Instead, we can be certain our deterrence goals and requirements too will shift over time with the changing threat environment.

Consequently, the existing US policy of “no new” nuclear capabilities, which might have been compatible with an era in which nuclear deterrence requirements were expected to continue fading, is ill-suited to contemporary realities. The United States must be able to adapt its nuclear deterrence strategies and related capabilities to shifting threats; “new” nuclear capabilities may very well be needed and the United States must be able to field those capabilities as necessary to deter.

Second, Clausewitz’ emphasis on the extreme value of “prudence” in defensive war applies equally to deterrence in this new strategic environment.[15] It simply is prudent to recognize the need for the US capacity to adapt and tailor US deterrence strategies and capabilities as rapidly as possible across a wide spectrum of plausible threat and conflict conditions—some that are now recognized, others that are not now apparent, but surely will emerge. Prudence calls for highly-flexible and resilient US deterrence strategies and capabilities, nuclear and non-nuclear, to deter the much broader spectrum of known and plausible threats and contingencies of this new post-Cold War era. The resilience and flexibility of our deterrence strategies and forces, including nuclear, is essential to our capacity to tailor US deterrence strategies and capabilities to diverse and shifting adversaries, threats, and contexts.

To be sure, since the early years of the Cold War, successive presidents have demanded more flexible deterrence strategies and nuclear forces. The sense behind that demand is ever more apparent with the need for deterrence strategies and forces that must be tailored to an expanding number of potential adversaries and threat scenarios—and prospectively to threats now unknown.

Third, the great value of the US nuclear triad is the resilience and flexibility inherent in the diversity of the triad’s platforms and weapons. That value is not fading, as was claimed often during the immediate post-Cold War years. It is increasing, as has the urgency of the fledgling programs underway to replace all three legs of the US triad reaching the ends of their already-extended service lives.[16] The nuclear infrastructure enabling US nuclear capabilities has suffered decades of very limited investment, and its recapitalization now demands comparable urgency.

Fourth, effective US deterrence now requires that the United States work to deny Moscow’s apparent confidence that it can defeat US and NATO deterrence strategy via threats of nuclear escalation, or actual nuclear first-use in crisis or conflict.

To address the “gap” in the US deterrence strategy as perceived by Moscow presupposes that we can identify the reasons why Moscow believes it has the freedom to threaten nuclear escalation or actually engage in limited nuclear escalation. This is a difficult intelligence challenge because it requires getting inside the minds of senior Russian civilian and military leaders to understand what they think and why, not simply their forces and operations. Nevertheless, on the basis of open Russian writings, it is reasonable to suggest that the reasons underlying Russia’s perceptions of nuclear license include Moscow’s perceptions of advantages in both will and theater nuclear force numbers and options.

Consequently, NATO must work to close Moscow’s disdain for NATO’s will and cohesion. Efforts to do so may be seen in the recent public statement by NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg: “We are sending a very clear message: NATO is here, NATO is strong and NATO is united.”[17] NATO activities that reinforce that message by demonstrating alliance cohesion and military capability are likely to be critical.

If the “gap” includes Moscow’s perception of advantage stemming from Russia’s much greater theater nuclear capabilities and options, then the United States must determine the most efficient way to close that perceived “gap.” The easy response that undoubtedly will be preferred by many in Washington is to assert condescendingly that Moscow simply should not be so primitive in its thinking as to believe that greater theater nuclear numbers and options bestow an exploitable advantage. That easy, scolding response, however, may well not convince Moscow leaders of the error in their thinking.

Closing that possible gap almost certainly will not necessitate mimicking the extraordinary Russian theater nuclear arsenal, but it will likely demand an expansion of Western nuclear options with a focus on their credibility in Russian perception. Getting this right will be one of the most important deterrence challenges of the coming decade for the United States and NATO. Parallel efforts in Asia in support of Asian allies also will likely be critical.

Fifth, for decades the US has been devoted to the process of nuclear arms control. Most discussions of deterrence and nuclear forces must pay homage to the goal of negotiated nuclear reductions lest they seem unsophisticated. Unsurprisingly, there are calls now for further arms control efforts to solve the deterrence challenges that have been created intentionally, indeed eagerly, by foes, including the mounting North Korean nuclear threat and the great theater nuclear force asymmetry in Russia’s favor.[18]

Arms control can, in principle, contribute to US security by establishing mutual restraints on forces and threatening behavior. However, to be helpful, arms control agreements must be prudent, implemented mutually, and enforced if there is non-compliance. Agreements with negotiating partners who are very likely to violate those agreements, such as Russia and North Korea, carry the serious potential to harm US and allied security rather then help. Unenforced, even well-negotiated agreements are likely to offer only a feel-good illusion of security.

In short, expecting arms control with foes and potential foes to solve the US security problems they have purposefully created is naïve in the absence of: 1) serious US enforcement efforts and mechanisms; and, 2) the types of incentive that make agreements and compliance the opponent’s preferred choice, i.e., to gain relief from feared US capabilities. We learned this lesson with the INF Treaty. As then-Secretary of State George Schultz has stated: “If the West did not deploy Pershing II and cruise missiles, there would be no incentive for the Soviets to negotiate seriously for nuclear reductions,” and, “strength was recognized as crucial to diplomacy.”[19]

For over a decade now, however, the United States has often expected nuclear arms control returns without the necessary investment to warrant Russian interest. The reality that “strength” is necessary for diplomacy was replaced by the idealistic expectation that US restraint would be mimicked by others because that is what others should do. The result of this US lapse into idealism is contemporary Russian disdain for US arms control enthusiasm, as reflected in the statement by then-Russian Presidential Chief of Staff, Sergei Ivanov: “When I hear our American partners say: ‘Let’s reduce something else,’ I would like to say to them: ‘Excuse me, but what we have is relatively new.’ They [the U.S.] have not conducted any upgrades for a long time. They still use Trident [missiles.]”[20] The lessons of the past should once again inform US arms control expectations and actions in this new era of intense Great Power competition.

Finally, the roles for US ballistic missile defense (BMD) will take on considerably greater importance in this new era. Given the proliferation of nuclear weapons and means of long-range delivery to countries such as North Korea and potentially Iran, the value of US defensive forces capable of defeating the missile attacks of rogue states, now and in the future, is of paramount importance. US defenses may also be extremely valuable to protect against any accidental or unauthorized missile launches. This is a capability that is growing in importance as missile proliferation continues and if, as has been reported, some established nuclear powers consider a policy of launching their nuclear forces “immediately upon detecting an incoming attack.”[21] US defensive capabilities may also be valuable to promote deterrence stability by degrading the confidence any potential adversary might have in the coercive or strategic value of limited nuclear first use.

Conclusion
The international threat environment is in the midst of a significant transition from the immediate post-Cold War period to an era that is much more challenging. During the initial decades following the Cold War, many Western leaders anticipated a “new world order” in which nuclear weapons would play an ever-declining role because nuclear threats had, supposedly, become a thing of the past. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US security focus was on regional conflicts and countering terrorism, missions for which nuclear weapons seemed to have little or no role. Correspondingly, the question of nuclear deterrence and the US forces and infrastructure required for nuclear deterrence was not a high priority; indeed, to the extent that US policy focused nuclear weapons, it was largely on reducing their salience and numbers as milestones toward their elimination.

However, the expected “new world order” never arrived, and potential foes never embraced the US goal of reducing the salience and number of nuclear weapons as milestones toward nuclear disarmament. Indeed, over the past decade and more, they have instead moved in wholly contrary directions in support of their efforts to change established orders in Europe, Asia, and prospectively the Middle East. Consequently, the new security environment of the 21st Century is characterized by: intensified Great Power competition; the renewed prominence of nuclear threats against the West by Great Powers and rogues; and, profound uncertainties about the future. There is little or no apparent evidence of movement in fundamentally more benign directions.

Given these harsh realities, the basic nature of deterrence endures, but the character of US deterrence strategies must adapt to a new era. This demands a departure from many of the nuclear policy directions that emerged, on a bipartisan basis, over the past two decades in the expectation of an increasingly benign future. In short, despite serious efforts to leave nuclear deterrence, forces and thinking in the dustbin of history, the United States must once again confront the world as it is and invest in the thinking, nuclear capabilities and infrastructure critical to the deterrence or defeat of strategic attacks, nuclear and non-nuclear.

[1]. This is a theme of the first chapter of the first book in Vom Keiege (On War). See, Carl Von Clausewitz, Vom Kriege (Hamburg, Germany: Nikol Verlag, 2008), p.49.
[2]. Herman Kahn, Thinking the Unthinkable in the 1980s (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985), p. 120. Raymond Aron, The Great Debate: Theories of Nuclear Strategy (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1965), p. 163.
[3]. See the U.S. Department of Defense, Nuclear Posture Review Report (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, April 2010), p. vi.
[4]. “Russia’s Nuclear Forces Can Inflict ‘Unacceptable Damage’ on Any Aggressor—MOD,” Sputnik News, November 7, 2017, at, https://sputniknews.com/military/201711071058879855-russia-nuclear-forces-damage-aggressor/.
[5]. See the discussion in, Franklin C. Miller and Keith B. Payne, “No More US-Russian Arms Treaties Until Moscow Stops Violating Existing Treaties and Agreements.” Information Series, National Institute For Public Policy, No. 418, March 9, 2017.
[6]. Thomas Scheber, “Evolutionary Psychology, Cognitive Function, and Deterrence,” in Keith B. Payne, ed., Understanding Deterrence (New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 65-92.
[7]. As reportedly stated by the Director of Central Intelligence Mike Pompeo. See, Associated Press, “CIA head: NKorea months from perfecting nuclear capabilities,” CNBC.com, October 20, 2017, available at https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/20/cia-head-nkorea-months-from-perfecting-nuclear-capabilities.html.
[8]. Parisa Hafezi, “Supreme Leader Khamenei says U.S. is Iran’s ‘number one enemy,’” Reuters, November 2, 2017, at, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-u-s-is-irans-number-one-enemy-idUSKBN1D211H.
[9]. “The risk of nuclear confrontation between the United States and either Russia or China belongs to the past, not the future…”James Cartwright, Chair, Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission, Modernizing U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Force Structure and Posture (Washington, D.C.: Global Zero, May 2012), p. 6, available at http://www.globalzero.org/files/gz_us_nuclear_policy_commission_report.pdf. Renewed hostility with Russia is described as, “hardly more likely to be revived than the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries between Catholics and Protestants in Europe.” Carl Kaysen, Robert S. McNamara, and George W. Rathjens, “Nuclear Weapons After the Cold War,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Fall 1991), p. 96.
[10]. William J. Perry and James E. Cartwright, “Spending Less On Nuclear Weapons Could Actually Make Us Safer,” Washington Post, November 16, 2017, at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion/spending-less-on-nuclear-weapons-could-actually-make-us safer/2017/11/16/396ef0c6-ca56-11e7-aa96-54417592cf72_story.html?utm_term=.2fe3b14ea6c7.
[11]. See the discussion in Colin S. Gray, “Strategic Sense and Nuclear Weapons Today,” Information Series, National Institute For Public Policy, No. 425, December 11, 2017, p. 4; see also Keith B. Payne and John S. Foster, Russian Strategy: Expansion, Crisis and Conflict (Fairfax, VA: National Institute Press, 2016).
[12]. Quoted in, Zachary Cohen, et al., “New Missile Test Shows North Korea Capable of Hitting All of US Mainland,” CNN, November 29, 2017, at http://www.conn.com/2017/11/28/politics/north-korea-missile-launch/index.html.
[13]. Nicholas Eberstadt, “The Shakedown State,” American Enterprise Institute, October 31, 2003, available at www.aei.org.
[14]. Questions emphasized by Gen. Philip Breedlove, former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in, “Memo to Washington: Reforming National Defense to Meet Emerging Global Challenges,” Mitchell Institute Policy Papers, Vol. 5 (March 2017), p. 8.
[15]. Clausewitz, Vom Kreige, op. cit., p. 655.
[16]. As discussed at length in, Keith B. Payne and John S. Foster, et. al., A New Nuclear Review For a New Age (Fairfax, VA: National Institute Press, 2017), pp. 79-140.
[17]. Quoted in, Matt Drake, “NATO Launches New Force in Response to ‘Russian aggression’ in ‘New Cold War’ Escalation,” Express, October 10, 2017, at https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...sia-nato-putin-soldiers-crimea-poland-romania.
[18]. The New York Times Editorial Board, “Is North Korea’s Nuclear Test a Sign of Hope?,” The New York Times, November 29, 2017, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/opinion/is-north-koreas-nuclear-test-a-sign-of-hope.html. Joe Cirincione, “North Korea Just Got a Little Scarier,” The Huffington Post, April 6, 2016, available at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/north-korea-just-got-a-li_b_9628268.html. Christopher Woolf, “The case for Trump negotiating with North Korea,” PRI.org, July 5, 2017, available at https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-07-05/case-trump-negotiating-north-korea. See also, Strobe Talbott, “U.S.-Russia arms control was possible once—is it possible still?,” Brookings.edu, December 12, 2017, available at https://www.brookings.edu/blog/orde...ntrol-was-possible-once-is-it-possible-still/.
[19]. George P. Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993), pp. 351, 375.
[20]. Russia Beyond the Headlines and Interfax, “Russia not interested in U.S.-proposed arms reduction – Russian presidential chief-of-staff,” RBTH.com, March 5, 2013, available at https://www.rbth.com/news/2013/03/0...rms_reduction_-_russian_presidenti_23504.html.
[21]. George Kulacki, “China’s Military Wants to Put Its Nukes on a Hair Trigger,” Defense One, March 31, 2016, available at http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/03/china-military-nuclear-obama-ICBM/127139/.


The views in this Information Series are those of the authors and should not be construed as official U.S. Government policy, the official policy of the National Institute for Public Policy or any of its sponsors. For additional information about this publication or other publications by the National Institute Press, contact: Editor, National Institute Press, 9302 Lee Highway, Suite 750 |Fairfax, VA 22031 | (703) 293-9181 |www.nipp.org. For access to previous issues of the National Institute Press Information Series, please visit http://www.nipp.org/national-institute-press/information-series/.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
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War and Peace

The History of Tomorrow’s Wars

Michael Fitzsimmons

Predictions about the next big war have historically missed their marks—often by miles. But that doesn’t mean such forecasts are futile.

The Future of War: A History
by Lawrence Freedman
PublicAffairs, 2017, 400 pp., $30
I
n 1892, a British journal called Black and White published a fictional account of a future pan-European war. Remarkably, the spark the authors invented to ignite the conflict was an assassination attempt in the Balkans of a man named Prince Ferdinand. In the ensuing war, however, they pitted an Anglo-German alliance against France and Russia.

Such intermingling of predictive success and failure exemplifies the story Sir Lawrence Freedman tells in his latest work of wide-lens historical synthesis: The Future of War: A History. Freedman, an emeritus professor of history at King’s College, London, is one of the most renowned academic writers on military strategy, widely respected by scholars and practitioners alike. His previous book, Strategy: A History, took on a similar task: to make sense for the layman of a subject of unwieldy scope and complexity.

The Future of War is more modest by comparison, at around half the length and reaching back in time only as far as Bismarck instead of the Old Testament. While its brevity demands compromises in depth, the book largely succeeds in offering a thoughtful synthesis of a diverse body of literature in clear and simple prose.
If there is a single key theme in Freedman’s story, it is the persistence of undue optimism about future war, albeit of two distinct sorts.

The first is the elusive promise of “decisive battle,” a quick and devastating blow that settles the political issues of the war in a single stroke. Freedman documents resilient nostalgia for “classical warfare” where generals maneuver in search of a large, climactic clash between regular forces. The book begins with such a set-piece collision of armies, the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. But the decisive battle concept extends into more modern and complex territory as well. Early Cold War strategists contemplated the potential for preemptive nuclear strikes. In a similar vein, the dawn of the information age and development of precision weaponry promised a “revolution in military affairs,” which Freedman characterizes as “an idealized version of classical warfare.” And today’s often-invoked potential for a massive politically motivated cyber attack is another entry in the genre. A related theme is the fear of surprise attack. Pearl Harbor in particular reappears throughout the book, casting a long shadow across American strategic thinking from 1941 to the present day.

Freedman’s view, however, is that history justifies neither the fear nor the promise of such surprise or war-winning single attacks. The Battle of Sedan turned out to be less decisive than it first appeared. More recently, American forces pioneered cutting-edge information-enabled precision strike only to find themselves bogged down for years in Iraqi and Afghan insurgencies. Even Pearl Harbor, after all, was only a tactical success for Japan, and ultimately precipitated its catastrophic defeat.

The second flavor of unwarranted optimism Freedman finds is the promise of an end to war altogether. He describes the earnest efforts of multiple generations of diplomats, scholars, and activists to impress upon the world’s leaders the inherent illogic of warfare. In the wake of the recent Nobel Prize for Peace award to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, it is interesting to be reminded of much earlier Nobel award recipients with similarly ambitious (and improbable) projects. The 1933 winner was Norman Angell, now remembered mostly for his book The Great Illusion, which had the misfortune to advance the notion that major wars were an anachronism only a few years before the outbreak of World War I.

In these sections of the book, Freedman taps into questions extending beyond war and peace, and into the plausibility of a progressive view of history and the perfectibility of mankind. As students of philosophy know, there is evidence on both sides of this debate, and Freedman’s story includes some of each. On the one hand, war has by some measures become less frequent, pervasive, and violent. Democracy has expanded with some—albeit complicated—beneficial impact on the incidence of conflict. On the other hand, expectations of major progress in limiting war have been repeatedly dashed, and seemingly compelling arguments that the next innovation in deadly technologies will make war less attractive (the machine gun, strategic bombing, nuclear weapons, and so on) have been successively disproved.

Freedman’s comments on United Nations peacekeeping operations could serve as a good summary of the larger peacemaking projects throughout history:

Here was the core problem with peacemaking at any level. Peace required a political settlement, but was that to be based on a calculation of the balance of power at the time, or a sense of the rights and wrongs of the conflict, which might address the underlying, and probably still simmering, grievances that had led to the conflict?

The Future of War: A History is divided into three main sections, each quite different from the others. Part I covers the ways in which modern wars between 1870 and 1991 were—and, more often, were not—anticipated. Part II, nominally focused on the post-Cold War era, is really more of an academic literature review on the causes of conflict, from international relations theory to scholarship on civil wars and terrorism. Part III then addresses a set of issues that preoccupy today’s military futurists, such as “hybrid war,” cyber war, robotics, and artificial intelligence. This is a very wide swath of territory to cover, and significant portions of the book are devoted to high-level sketches of the history of international relations and conflict over the past 150 years. While these sections are compact and easily digested, readers with professional interests in the field may find themselves wishing for a more selective but incisive treatment of these topics.

A more novel and compelling feature of the book is its interweaving of future wars as depicted in fiction and film. Often, of course, writers and filmmakers got it wrong. But occasionally, they were quite prescient, and Freedman uncovers a few instances in which fiction actually influenced the course of war preparations, such as H.G. Wells’s early vision of atomic weapons and the interest Ronald Reagan took in the movie War Games and Tom Clancy’s novel Red Storm Rising.

This is not a highly conceptual book. Freedman describes but does not really analyze the conceptual problems that his story surfaces, for the most part seeming content to leave open fundamental questions about the validity of forecasting, the design of military doctrine and plans, the interaction of technology and operations, and the like. He does, however, construct an extended critique of academic analysis of warfare. In general he finds unfolding history to have consistently wrong-footed political scientists. The end of the Cold War in particular confronted international relations theorists with a major problem, and Freedman opines:

One response to this might have been to go easy on the theory, concentrating on observing carefully what was going on in the world, and only offering propositions on causal relationships as and when they seemed appropriate and always with regard for context. Yet the dominant trend in the field was not to abandon theory but to make it even stronger. Only then could it become more predictive.

He also catalogs the challenges analysts have faced in building and employing large analytic databases on interstate conflict, such as the Correlates of War and Militarized Interstate Disputes (hosted by Penn State University). On this point he notes, “Historians, whose observations had been dismissed as being too intuitive or speculative, could retort that the yield from the effort that went into refining the methodologies and interrogating the data turned out to be meagre.”

Freedman titles his main chapter on this subject “A Science of War,” making clear his skepticism that such a science is possible. Many of his points rehearse long-standing complaints from historians about political science. Some of the arguments are more than fair, and Freedman marshals them well. Nevertheless, as the book also makes clear, one need only scratch the surface of any discussion of the future of war to reveal a set of assumptions—perhaps explicit, perhaps inchoate—about the causes of past wars. Indeed, this principle applies to any predictive enterprise. And discerning the causes of past and future wars remains a necessary task, whatever its required mix of artistry and scientific measurement. So despite all the difficulties of data and logical inference in this field, it seems odd to imply, as Freedman does, that remedies are to be found in a less systematic approach to studying the causes of war.

In his introduction, Freedman writes, “We ask questions about the future to inform choices, not to succumb to fatalism.” His analysis steers clear of fatalism, but what is his final message for those burdened with choices about the future of war? Ultimately, he warns against expecting either too much or too little continuity between the present and the future, and concludes that many forecasts of war “will deserve to be taken seriously. They should all, however, be treated sceptically.”

For today’s leaders, then, his story sheds a little more light on the path ahead. But that path, along with the debates about the best ways to peer ahead, remains as wide open as ever.

Published on: December 8, 2017

Michael Fitzsimmons is Visiting Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
 

Housecarl

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ns-linked-to-islamist-militants-idUSKBN1E81X3

December 14, 2017 / 5:43 AM / Updated an hour ago

German police raid locations linked to Islamist militants

Reuters Staff
2 Min Read

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police investigating four people suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated attack raided nine locations in Berlin and the eastern state of Saxony Anhalt on Thursday, prosecutors said.

The four suspects, aged between 18 and 21, are accused of being members of the Islamic State group, prosecutors and police said in a statement.

Three are believed to be in Syria: two traveled from Berlin via Istanbul to Islamic State-held territory in Syria in November 2016 and a third is accused of receiving military training in Syria. The fourth is believed to have helped the other three travel there.

Prosecutors did not say if any arrests were made in the raids, mounted by some 130 officers, including special forces, who confiscated electronic devices.

“The General Prosecutor’s Office in Berlin is investigating four suspects aged between 18 and 21 who are suspected of membership in a terrorist organization (IS) as well as of preparing a serious crime against the state,” the statement said.

Bild newspaper said police had arrested a number of people suspected of having links to a failed asylum seeker who killed 12 people by driving a truck into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market last year.

Tunisian Anis Amri escaped after launching the Dec. 19 attack and was shot by Italian police in Milan less than a week later. The affair exposed failings by intelligence agencies who had stopped surveillance of Amri after concluding he posed no danger.

Security at Christmas markets has been beefed up this year with guards and concrete blocks.

Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Peter Graff
 

Housecarl

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http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/u...deconfliction-zone-over-syria/article/2643497

US F-22 Raptors fire flares, chase Russian fighters out of deconfliction zone over Syria

by Jamie McIntyre | Dec 14, 2017, 11:46 AM

A pair of U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters fired flares to chase two Russian Su-25 fighter jets out of restricted airspace over Syria on Wednesday, a Pentagon official confirmed Thursday.

The aerial encounter occurred when the Russian jets strayed into airspace east of the Euphrates River, putting them on the wrong side of a "deconfliction zone" established between Moscow and Washington to avoid confrontation in the skies over Syria.

The Russian jets immediately left the area after the intercept and warning flares from the F-22s, an official confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

The Pentagon could not provide an account of how many or how often Russian violations of the deconfliction zone occur.
 

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https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/political-islam-intolerance-and-threat-indonesia

INDONESIA

Political Islam, intolerance, and the IS threat in Indonesia

BY: Bobby Anderson
13 December 2017
06:10 AEDT

According to the pollster Alvara, one in five Indonesian students favour the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate; one in three don't approve of non-Muslims leading Muslims. Research undertaken by the Setara Institute indicates that Jakarta is now the least religiously tolerant city in the country.

This intolerance is often attributed to the race-baiting and religious tension that characterised the election for governor in Jakarta in April, which saw the Chinese Christian incumbent Ahok lose to Anies Baswedan. Baswedan's supporters targeted Ahok's Christianity, asserting that the Koran forbids Muslims from being ruled by non-Muslims. A blasphemy charge was fabricated against Ahok, which later lead to his jailing. Baswedan, who offered little policy pronouncements of note other than that he was a Sunni Muslim, won over 60% of the vote. The election was closely followed by Islamic State-inspired suicide bombings on 25 May that killed three police officers.

Many observers of Indonesian affairs see these events as linked. The increasing persecution of minorities and rise in terrorist attacks is characterised as reflective of an increasing radicalism; Indonesia, once lauded as a beacon of 'tolerant' Islam, may go the way of the caliphate. The Islamic State uprising in Marawi is seen as a portent of things to come in Indonesia.

The reality is more complex. In a trend that began under then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first term, intolerant strains of Sunni Islam have increasingly been used as electoral tools. Politicians across the Sunni Muslim-majority areas of the archipelago have campaign on Islamic piety, and numerous sharia-inspired local regulations and bylaws passed, most of them contradicting Indonesia's constitution and secular identity.

This radicalisation has been accompanied by demands that Indonesia 'return' to the originally proposed 1945 constitution, which would apply Sharia to Muslims. Through Yudhoyono's second term, churches in Muslim areas of Jakarta were shuttered, and in the national curriculum, science ceded ground to religion. The Islamic Defenders Front, a gang of extortionists with an Islamic flavour, increased raids on food-sellers during Ramadan and closed bars (but not the bars that 'donated' to them). Shia Muslims and Ahmadiyah were persecuted and driven from their homes.

These local trends deepened alongside even more worrying ones: twin bombings in Jakarta hotels in 2009 killed nine and injured 50. An al-Qaeda inspired camp was uncovered in Aceh in 2010 after several failed attacks on foreigners. Bombing plots were uncovered in Sumbawa; an Islamist insurgency simmered in central Sulawesi, and across Java, cells of young radicals targeted police in actions more akin to gang skirmishes than jihad. Indonesians joined Islamic State in Syria, with some returning to carry out attacks in Jakarta in January 2016, killing two civilians.

But while aspects of Sunni Islam are increasingly persecutorial in Indonesia, the link between this intolerance and the Islamic State's brutal millenarian nihilism is, for now, tenuous. While many young radicals who began persecuting Ahmadiyah have gone on to kill police or travel to Syria, nearly all do not.

This intolerance decoupled from millenarianism is reflective of how Islam is used in Indonesian politics; the Yaumul Qiyamah, or end of days, is not discussed by politicians or their imam allies. They denounce rival politicians, steer votes, and ensure the obedience of local communities by preaching vigilance against immorality and the fictitious encroachment of other religions. Such an approach is geared toward electing politicians based on their ability to recite Koranic passages rather than their non-religious policy platforms. Islam is the answer to everything, especially if one has no other answer. Threats to business and investment are predatory, not extremist – and a recent constitutional court ruling that the Ministry of Home Affairs does not have the right to rescind new local regulations unilaterally will surely increase rent-seeking by local politicians. This will increase instability far more than recent attacks.

The future of Islam in Sunni-majority areas of Indonesia is not Islamic State. Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, is a more likely scenario. It is the only province where many (but not all) aspects of Sharia are law, and are applied to both Muslims and non-Muslims. The Sharia enforcement agency, the Wilayatul Hizbah, raids homes and restaurants, searching for alcohol, unmarried men and women in suspicious proximity to each other, and so on. That force generally specialises in the harassment of women and the poor, and its members have committed multiple rapes. The stifling atmosphere of prescribed piety in Aceh encourages vigilantism; mobs police their own neighbourhoods, beating offenders and handing them over to religious courts for caning as local newspapers glorify the entire process.

All this serves to integrate ordinary citizens into what are essentially religious surveillance networks. It is this atmosphere that many local politicians outside of Aceh seek to emulate. As this oppression is labelled Islamic, many a Sunni Muslim is afraid to vote otherwise.

While Aceh is more likely a future than Raqqa, the latter is a possibility that should not be discounted in some parts of the archipelago. The political weaponisation of Sunni Islam leads to an ecclesiastical arms race amongst adversaries, opening the door wider to conspiracy, persecution and the millenarian path toward paradise. In the medium term, religious minorities and secularists may suffer, as could a wider Sunni electorate that feels compelled to vote for Islamic piety and an opaque culture of corruption over good governance.

Radicals will continue their bizarre 'gang war' against the police; attacks, especially suicide bombings, will likely increase. A few jihadis will survive the Islamic State collapse and return home with the experience and ability to execute complex, large-scale attacks. The anti-terrorist police unit Densus 88 will likely kill most sooner or later, just as they did to Noordin Top and the previous Jemaah Islamiyah generation that committed the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings.

But these terrorists are generally separate from a prevailing fundamentalism, whose practitioners draw a line between themselves and suicide bombings. The Indonesian purveyors of this contradiction inherited it from Wahhabi Islam, which was proclaimed across the Sunni Indonesian political spectrum as a model of 'tolerance' during Saudi Arabia's King Salman's visit to the country in May this year. The 20% of students who support a caliphate is a concern, especially those who support jihad to achieve it. Those surveys were conducted in elite schools; one can't help but compare these attitudes to the beliefs that drove elite young men from rich families in Bangladesh to carry out the July 2016 attack on a restaurant in Dhaka, killing 22 hostages and two police.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia's Christian east, Christians wonder what place they have in a country that looks increasingly 'Islamic'. The turn against secularism in the nation's west may serve to strengthen weak separatist movements in the east, and may lead to more violent sectarian conflicts along the Muslim-Christian fault lines in Central Sulawesi, Maluku and Maluku Utara, where communal violence flourished for years after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship. Papua is prone to such conflict as well; the 2015 burning of a mosque in Tolikara led to calls in Jakarta for Muslims to travel to the area to 'defend' their co-religionists there. In these places, extremist militias, both Muslim and Christian, can grow quickly in soil fertilised first by rhetoric, and later with blood.
 

Housecarl

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...th-china-sea-buildup-think-tank-idUSKBN1E834O

DECEMBER 14, 2017 / 1:56 PM / UPDATED 18 MINUTES AGO

While focus is on North Korea, China continues South China Sea buildup: think tank

David Brunnstrom
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While attention in Asia has been distracted by the North Korean nuclear crisis in the past year, China has continued to install high-frequency radar and other facilities that can be used for military purposes on its man-made islands in the South China Sea, a U.S. think tank said on Thursday.

Chinese activity has involved work on facilities covering 72 acres (29 hectares) of the Spratly and Paracel islands, territory contested with several other Asian nations, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. The report cited satellite images.

The United States and its allies oppose China’s building of artificial islands in the South China Sea and their militarization, given concerns Beijing plans to use them to deny access to strategic routes.

The report said that in the last several months China had constructed what appeared to be a new high-frequency radar array at the northern end of Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratlys.

Subi Reef had seen tunnels completed that were likely for ammunition storage and another radar antenna array and radar domes, the report said.

Construction on Mischief Reef included underground storage for ammunition and hangars, missile shelters and radar arrays.

Smaller-scale work had continued in the Paracel Islands, including a new helipad and wind turbines on Tree Island and two large radar towers on Triton Island.

It said the latter were especially important as waters around Triton had been the scene of recent incidents between China and Vietnam and multiple U.S. freedom-of-navigation operations, which the U.S. navy has used to assert what it sees as its right to free passage in international waters.

Woody Island, China’s military and administrative headquarters in the South China Sea, saw two first-time air deployments “that hint at things to come at the three Spratly Island air bases farther south,” the report said.

At the end of October, the Chinese military released images showing J-11B fighters at Woody Island for exercises, while on Nov. 15, AMTI spotted what appeared to be Y-8 transport planes, a type that can be configured for electronic surveillance.

RELATED COVERAGE
China tells Australia off over South China Sea stance

The Pentagon has conducted several patrols near Chinese-held South China Sea territory this year, even as it has sought China’s help in northeast Asia to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterated a call for a “freeze” in China’s island building and said it was unacceptable to continue their militarization.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by James Dalgleish
 

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https://www.newsmax.com/stevenmosher/china-north-korea-terrorist-state-trump/2017/12/14/id/831768/

What Do We Call China If North Korea Is a Terrorist State?

By Steven Mosher
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017 10:27 AM

In announcing that North Korea's "murderous regime" was being re-designated a terrorist regime on November 20, Trump has corrected yet another foreign policy blunder of previous administrations.
North Korea was on the terrorist blacklist until 2008, when the Bush administration dropped it from the list in a failed bid to entice Pyongyang to end is nuclear weapons program. Predictably, the ploy didn’t work.

Trump said the re-listing of North Korea as a terrorist state was long overdue, and indeed it was.

Obama averted his eyes for eight long years while the Kim dynasty assassinated dissidents and defectors, sold arms to Hamas and other Islamic terrorists, and maintained close ties to Iran and Syria, which are also blacklisted nations.

All the while — with the help of Chinese technology — North Korea feverishly built nukes and missiles to carry them.

It is unclear what new sanctions could be imposed on North Korea, which is already the subject of one of the toughest sanctions regimes in the world. Tough U.S. and U.N. sanctions call for other nations to restrict trade, foreign assistance, defense sales, and exports of sensitive technology to the rogue regime.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson admitted that the designation was a "very symbolic move" with limited practical effects. He mentioned, without offering any specifics, that the designation might enable the U.S. to close a “few loopholes.”

The biggest such “loophole” is the China-North Korean border, which remains a bustling scene of cross-border trade. If Trump is serious about carrying out what he called a "maximum pressure campaign" on North Korea, then China has to be the focus.

After all, the only reason that North Korea has been able to develop nuclear weapons that could soon pose a direct threat to the U.S. mainland is because of the continued assistance it has received from China.

Despite promising to put pressure on Pyongyang, China has privately continued to aid the rogue regime in various ways. This is the primary reason why the six rounds of sanctions imposed by the UN against North Korea have been ineffective. In fact, a recent analysis by John Park of Harvard University and Jim Walsh of MIT concluded that, with China’s help, North Korea has actually improved its military procurement capability in recent years.

Moreover, as other countries stop trading with the rogue regime, China is picking up the slack. As Tillerson highlighted before the U.N. Security Council in April, fully nine-tenths of North Korea’s foreign trade is now with China, which has become Pyongyang’s chief lifeline to the wider world.

There is no doubt that Beijing could quickly cripple the North Korean economy by, for instance, closing the border. But China thus far has refused to use its ancient stratagem of “removing the firewood from under the pot” (Fu di chou xin), even though it knows it has the ability to eviscerate Kim Jong Un’s ability to wage war — or build advanced weaponry.

At the same time that some mouthpiece in Beijing is issuing a mild condemnation of Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, a steady stream of trucks and trains continue to rumble across the Dandong crossing into North Korea. These carry all manner of Chinese-made goods including, we now know, the transporter-erector-launcher trucks used to carry and launch Kim Jong Un’s long-range mobile missiles.

Some analysts believe that China may even have supplied North Korea with its JL-1 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), along with access to the military version of its GPS system, Beidou, to help improve the accuracy of this and other missiles.

Aside from openly trading with — and perhaps covertly aiding — its North Korean ally, China also helps it to buy time. Each time North Korea conducts a nuclear test or fires off a missile, Beijing counsels the U.S. that the only way to resolve the tension on the Korean Peninsula is to exercise strategic patience, enter into negotiations, and gradually build trust.

From the American point of view past negotiations with North Korea have accomplished nothing. From the Chinese point of view, however, they have accomplished precisely what they were intended to. They have bought North Korea the time — and over a billion dollars in American aid from the Clinton and Bush administrations — that it needed to build more missiles and more nukes, and to start learning how to pair them together.

The good news is that Washington finally seems to be getting it. After twenty years of trying to buy off the Pyongyang regime — which only whets the appetite of its rulers for the next round of extortion — we are at last putting pressure directly on its principal international backer: China.

The Trump administration seems to understand that the only way to effectively deal with North Korea’s serial deceit is to put pressure on China to reign in its unhinged client state.

Possible new sanctions steps could be to impose restrictions on Chinese banks that serve as North Korea's conduit to the international system. That would isolate Kim’s hermit kingdom economically in a way that nothing else would.

We are told that such a move would be counterproductive, because it would anger Beijing, whose help we need in order to put an economic squeeze on Pyongyang.

But this makes no sense. If Beijing were actually interested in squeezing Pyongyang, it would already have responded to U.S. concerns by ordering its state-owned banks not to do business with North Korea.

We hear a lot about not offending Beijing, but how about asking Beijing not to offend us?

Steven W. Mosher is one of America's leading experts on China. In 1979 he became the first American social scientist allowed to do research in the PRC, where he documented the massive human rights abuses of the Mao years, and personally witnessed the forcible abortion and sterilization of women under the newly announced "one-child policy." In the years since, he has written or edited a dozen books on China, including best sellers "A Mother's Ordeal" and "China Attacks" (with Chuck Devore). He helped to set up Radio Free China, and has testified before Congress on U.S.-China policy on numerous occasions. His latest book is called the "Bully of Asia: Why China's Dream is the New Threat to World Order." In a world bristling with dangers, only one enemy poses a truly mortal challenge to the United States and the peaceful and prosperous world that America guarantees. That enemy is China.

To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.

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Little Rocket Man and His 'Made in China' Missiles
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Housecarl

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/saudi-backed-military-alliance-help-g5-sahel-fight-115458366.html

Saudi-backed military alliance to help G5 Sahel fight: minister

By John Irish, Reuters • December 14, 2017

PARIS (Reuters) - A Saudi-backed Islamic military coalition will provide logistical, intelligence and training to a new West African counter-terrorism force that is struggling to get off the ground, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said.

The announcement by Adel al-Jubeir signals the involvement in the Sahel of a Muslim military alliance widely seen as a vehicle for countering the growing influence of Riyadh's rival Iran.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday agreed to provide about $150 million to the G5 Sahel force, which is composed of the armies of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, a sign that Gulf Arab states are upping their influence in the region.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom is seeking to check the ambitions of Shi'ite power Iran to expand its clout in West Africa and across the Muslim world.

Speaking in an interview with France 24 television, Adel al-Jubeir said his country's contribution would go much further by using the platform of the recently-established Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition to support the G5 Sahel.

"Because of our commitment to fighting terrorism and extremism we made the commitment to provide 100 million euros to these forces and we made this commitment also to provide logistics, training, intelligence and air support through the Islamic military coalition to this effort," Jubeir said.

Some 40 Muslim-majority nations met in Riyadh at the end of November to begin fleshing it out details of the alliance first conceived two years by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but that until now has yet to take any decisive international action in its mandate to fight terrorism.

The crown prince has said he would encourage a more moderate and tolerant version of Islam in the ultra-conservative kingdom and wants the coalition, which will have a permanent base in Riyadh, to help combat terrorist financing and ideology.

GROWING UNREST
"We will be hosting a meeting of this new group to coordinate this military support to those (G5) countries," Jubeir said, referring to a meeting the Islamic Alliance, adding that Riyadh would also provide humanitarian assistance.

The G5 Sahel launched a symbolic military operation to mark its creation in October amid growing unrest in the Sahel, whose porous borders are regularly crossed by jihadists, including affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State.

However, France, which has 4,500 troops in the region, has been dismayed to see the militants score military and symbolic victories in West Africa while the G5 force has struggled to win financing and become operational.

After a meeting in Paris on Wednesday, the French and Malian leaders said they hoped the G5 would secure its first victories by the middle of 2018 to prove its worth and ensure more concrete support from the United Nations.

In Rome, a defense ministry official said Italy will send several hundred troops to Niger, a member of the G5 Sahel, next year to help train local forces battling jihadi militants.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni signaled the initiative on Wednesday, telling the G5 meeting in France that Italy would divert some of its forces in Iraq to Niger, a country that straddles an expanse of the Sahara desert.

"Niger has requested help with training men involved in border controls and we will certainly be setting up a mission there," the defense ministry official said, declining to be named.

The official declined to confirm a report in la Repubblica newspaper that some 470 men would be sent to Niger to help with both training and surveillance, saying full details of the operation had not yet been finalised.

Despite agreement on principles, members of the Saudi-backed alliance have voiced different priorities slowing its implementation.

Critics say the coalition could become a means for Saudi Arabia to implement an even more assertive foreign policy by winning the backing of poorer African and Asian nations with offers of financial and military aid.

(Reporting by John Irish and Crispian Balmer, Editing by William Maclean)
 

Housecarl

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Hummm.....

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https://www.defensenews.com/opinion...-missile-defense-for-the-homeland-commentary/

Commentary

Comprehensive missile defense for the homeland [Commentary]

By: Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf (ret.)  
2 days ago

The recent wail of a nuclear attack warning test throughout Hawaii and the latest North Korean missile test should be enough to disabuse the U.S. security community of any sense of immunity to attack at home. With the new capabilities the launch demonstrated, countering North Korean ballistic missiles is an urgent strategic and operational priority — but that is only one aspect of the broader threat of missiles against the U.S. military forces and, just as important, the homeland.

Despite significant investment in ballistic missile defenses, much of the U.S. remains at risk — not just to North Korea but to Russian, Chinese and Iranian missiles. The same countries are developing advanced cruise missile capabilities, and the Russians and others look to sell their missiles on the international market. According to a report prepared by the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, ballistic and cruise missiles, “with their relatively low operating costs, their potential to penetrate defense systems … will continue to be the offensive weapons of choice for many nations.”

The military services have the responsibility to organize, train and equip their forces for missile defense, and the combatant commanders to execute defense operations. But what about the homeland? The threat is not just against U.S. military forces, and the country needs a comprehensive homeland missile defense plan, or CHMD, with associated policy and programs that will implement the plan and address threats that will certainly advance, proliferate and expand the risk to the United States.

A thoughtful adversary may not choose to take the military head-on. When President Donald Trump’s first National Security Strategy and Ballistic Missile Defense Review are released later this year, those documents must serve as a starting point for a concerted, strategic and sustained effort to improve overall missile defense for the homeland. A comprehensive program to improve the protection of the United States from ballistic and cruise missile attack is imperative. This program must extend beyond the current immediacy of efforts to counter North Korean developments. This effort needs to be truly strategic and sustained for years to come. For two centuries, the U.S. homeland provided relative sanctuary from outside threats. Sept. 11, 2001, subsequent terror attacks and North Korean developments have pushed that notion aside, and the full range of missile threats must be addressed.

The U.S. has made significant improvements in ballistic missile defense, fielding more ground-based interceptors and continuing investment in key systems like Aegis, SM-3 and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense but focused the last three on defense of fielded forces, not the United States.

Investment must continue with greater emphasis on comprehensive defense of the homeland. Furthermore, a new approach to development and acquisition of missile defense ¯ long hamstrung by starts and stops based on year-to-year acquisition ¯ must be modified to allow multiyear procurement enabling real, sustained progress. Robust test and evaluation without the pursuit of perfection: The cabal of missile defense critics like Philip Coyle of The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation advocate fly-before-you-buy testing. In theory, this approach is more frugal and guarantees real capability. In reality, however, it will ensure that the U.S. continues to lag behind developing capabilities.

US installs final ground-based missile interceptor to counter ICBM threat
The 44th and final ground-based interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system is now in place at Fort Greely, Alaska.
By: Jen Judson

Regarding the cruise missile threat, the only area in the homeland currently protected is Washington, D.C. A program of record dedicated to cruise missile defense is needed to focus the effort. As a start to expanding CMDH, a top priority must be the defense of key U.S. ports. The Russians have marketed cruise missiles in shipping containers; the effect of a strike against a major port would be devastating. The port at Los Angeles, for example, handled 4.4 million container equivalents in 2015, ample opportunity for a determined enemy to infiltrate one or many more cruise missiles within range.

Having the strategy is not enough. The government must have supporting policies including assigning operational responsibility and clearly defining engagement authority. Ballistic and cruise missile defense are two different challenges technically and tactically. The authorities for missile defense are divided piecemeal between multiple commands and agencies. If there was ever a situation where unity of command matters, this is it. In the event of a missile attack, there will not be time to decide who is going to decide.

North Korea and terrorism are clear and immediate dangers, but the missile threat to the homeland must be a long-term concern countered with a comprehensive homeland missile defense plan from the Department of Defense and supported by the administration and lawmakers. This CMHD should be a key element of the follow-up to the new National Defense Strategy.


Lawmakers ask US vice president to back space-based missile defense
Other lawmakers have in recent days added pressure to develop future defense architecture in space as the missile threat from North Korea has reached new levels.
By: Joe Gould

Retired Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf served in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot. He last served on active duty as deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command and was vice commander of Air Force Space Command. He later returned to public service as the director of the Defense Department’s Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. He is currently the managing director of Phase Minus 1, a conflict resolution and security consulting company.
 
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