| January 22, 2014 |
THE EARLY BIRD BRIEF | Get the most comprehensive aggregation of defense news delivered by the world's largest independent newsroom covering military and defense.
| ADVERTISEMENT  | | ADVERTISEMENT  | TODAY'S TOP 5 1. US Trainers To Deploy To Ukraine
(Defense News) American soldiers will deploy to Ukraine this spring to begin training four companies of the Ukrainian National Guard, the head of US Army Europe Lt. Gen Ben Hodges said during his first visit to Kiev on Wednesday.
2. Terrorism threat prompts increased security at military installations in Europe
(Stars & Stripes) U.S. military installations across Europe are increasing security in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in Paris and disrupted plots in Belgium, Germany and France, U.S. European Command said on Wednesday.
3. Carter, Not Hagel, to Brief the Defense Budget on Capitol Hill
(Foreign Policy) One of Ashton Carter's first jobs as defense secretary? Head to Capitol Hill to present and defend the Pentagon's 2016 budget, a planning document he's had little opportunity to shape. Chuck Hagel, who is planning to stay on as SecDef until his successor is sworn in, was expected to handle the annual round of congressional budget hearings. But, according to defense and Hill sources, that task is now going to fall to Carter, who only stepped down as deputy defense secretary a year ago.
4. Enlisted women sought for sub duty in 2016
(Navy Times) Enlisted women will join the submarine force in 2016 and recruiting for the first integrated crews is now underway.
5. DoD: CENTCOM hack to have no effect on social media policy
(C4ISR & Networks) Despite the high-profile Jan. 12 hacking incident that resulted in the takeover of U.S. Central Command's official Twitter and YouTube accounts, Defense Department officials have no plans to reevaluate policy on the use of social media, according to a DoD spokesperson.
CONGRESS Senators Blast White House Over Iran Talks
(Defense News) Senior US senators are pressing the White House to let Congress vote on a potential deal over Iran's nuclear weapons program - and a key Democrat says the Obama administration is spewing lines "straight out of Tehran."
McCain Vents Against Obama's Foreign Policy Strategy
(DoDBuzz) Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, used his first hearing Wednesday as the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee to renew charges that President Obama's "wishful thinking" on the use of military power threatened to sacrifice America's leadership role in the world.
Boehner Invites Israeli Prime Minister To Address Congress Next Month
(National Journal) John Boehner isn't ready to sit out the battle over Iran's nuclear program, and on Wednesday, he invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress next month.
Republican Lawmakers Again Propose Slashing 115,000 Civilian Defense Jobs
(GovExec) A group of Republican lawmakers has once again proposed slashing the civilian workforce at the Defense Department by 15 percent, a move they estimate will save $82.5 billion over five years.
Boehner: Islamic State AUMF Vote by Spring
(Defense News) The US House will take up a measure that would provide a legal foundation for the fight against the Islamic State group by the spring, says Speaker John Boehner.
VA construction woes cost billions
(Military Times) Mistakes and mismanagement have led to more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns and years of delays in recent major Veterans Affairs construction projects, and veterans groups say that's only the start of the department's problems.
A drone crashes in the middle of a Capitol Hill hearing about drones
(Washington Post) The debate about where aerial drones should be allowed is wide-ranging, but on Wednesday it included an unexpected site: a small, remote-control aircraft flew around a congressional hearing.
Vet suicide prevention bill moves forward in Senate
(Stars & Stripes) A bill to overhaul veteran suicide prevention efforts took another step forward in Congress on Wednesday.
Sen. Baldwin responds to report she sat on troubling VA inspection results
(Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel) US Sen. Tammy Baldwin is defending herself against a report that her office took little action after a troubling inspection turned up evidence being overdrugged at a facility in Tomah.
Lawmakers wave pencils for Paris
(Reuters/Washington Post) Members of Congress waved pencils Tuesday during President Obama's State of the Union address to show support for free speech in light of the recent attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. (Reuters)
Tech giants get deeper into D.C. influence game
(Politico) For all their efforts, [Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook] failed to advance their political priorities in the previous Congress - but the fights are sure to return in 2015 under the Republican-majority Congress.
Party Lines Are Blurring in Congress Over Iran
(National Journal) Last year, members of the House voted with their party 93 percent of the time, and senators toed the party line an average of 91 percent of the time. But some are splitting from their parties on Iran: Top Democrats are turning on the president, while some Republicans are siding with the administration's warnings against new sanctions.
McCain to push for expanded Middle East response
(Virginian-Pilot) In May 2013, Sen. John McCain caused a stir when he took the risky step of venturing briefly into war-torn Syria to meet with opposition leaders whom he and many other Western backers considered the best hope for toppling Syrian President Bashar Assad. Nearly two years later, 12 of the 15 Syrian commanders McCain met on the trip are dead, further proof in the senator's eyes of President Barack Obama's failed approach to the conflict spreading across the Middle East.
INDUSTRY Northrop Developing 6th Gen Fighter Plans
(Defense News) Northrop Grumman has stood up a team dedicated to developing a "sixth-generation" fighter, years before the US Navy or Air Force intends to issue requests for information on potential replacements for current aircraft.
10 Things To Watch in the 2016 Budget Request
(Aviation Week) A list of 10 programs Aviation Week plans on watching closely on budget day and beyond - as Congress reviews the request (which could take a while, considering Congress has not typically done so in a timely manner).
BAE shows off military-grade thermal weapon sight
(New Hampshire Union Leader) The company's Universal Thermal Clip-On is the first military-grade thermal weapon sight to include new micro-technology that greatly reduces lens size, total weight and battery use, while delivering improved image quality.
India, Russia Discuss FGFA, Helo Co-Production
(Defense News) A week before US President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held his first meeting with new Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday, which included discussions on the co-production of the Kamov 226 light utility helicopter and resolving disagreements over the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft [FGFA].
Pentagon testers: JLTV hinders marine amphibious assault operations
(IHS Jane's 360) Pentagon testers have found that Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) prototypes are slow to deploy from ship to shore and, therefore, leaves US Marine Corps (USMC) units "vulnerable to threats".
Aurora Claims Endurance Record For Orion UAS
(Aviation Week) It began life as a hydrogen-fueled, high-altitude unmanned aircraft but evolved into a diesel-powered platform designed to fly at medium altitude for five days and promising dramatically reduced operating costs compared with today's Predator-class UAVs. Now that Aurora Flight Sciences' Orion has shown its ultra-long-endurance potential, the company is filing for a world endurance record following an 80-hr. flight last month.
Radar needed for hypersonic planes
(C4ISR & Networks) Several nations are working on hypersonic aircraft, including the U.S. and China. However, most of the research and development work has been in aerodynamics, propulsion, and materials, while sensors have gone neglected.
US Navy buys five AN/SLQ-25 torpedo decoy systems from Boeing
(IHS Jane's 360) Boeing's Argon ST subsidiary has been awarded a contract to deliver five of its AN/SLQ-25C Nixie electro-acoustic torpedo decoy systems for surface ships to the US Navy (USN) by mid-2016.
The ADVENT of a Better Jet Engine?
(Defense Industry Daily) GE Aviation won up to $325 million external link in additional funds in January 2015 to work on an adaptive cycle engine under phase three of the Versatile affordable advanced turbine engines (VAATE) program that preceded ADVENT.
Sequestration hits US Army aviation RDA budget unduly hard
(IHS Jane's 360) Ongoing sequestration in the United States is having a disproportionately severe impact on the US Army's aviation research and development and acquisitions (RDA) budget, a senior government official said on 21 January.
US Navy's Got CASS: Electronic Consolidated Automated Support System Completes CDR
(Defense Industry Daily) Lockheed Martin reported delivering the first E-CASS automated test station to the U.S. Navy, which intends on installing such stations on each of its aircraft carriers.
Software enables secure, automated DoD data sharing
(Federal Times) Sharing sensitive data safely and responsibly can be a difficult task in the age of hackers and insider threats. The task becomes significantly more challenging when talking about information related to national security or military operations being conducted around the globe.
VETERANS National Geographic explores 'invisible' war wounds
(Military Times) National Geographic in its February cover story takes readers through a visually striking, two-part reflection series about veterans coping with their own war beyond the battlefields.
JPAC: 107 identifications of MIA remains made in 2014
(Stars & Stripes) The beleaguered command tasked with finding the remains of lost U.S. troops said it has more than doubled the number of identifications of MIA remains in 2014 over the year before. The 107 identifications for 2014 by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command came primarily from remains linked to the Korean War (42), World War II (36) and the site of a 1952 crash of an Air Force cargo plane into Mount Gannett in Alaska (17).
Actor Joe Mantegna Is Pushing Hard For Veterans' Issues On 'Criminal Minds'
(We Are The Mighty) If not for a high draft number, Joe Mantegna might have chosen a career in the military instead of a forty-year career in entertainment. On Criminal Minds, Mantegna portrays David Rossi, an ex-FBI agent who was also once a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War. This aspect of his character is especially important to Mantegna, who comes from a military family and is very passionate about military and veterans' issues.
Medical marijuana vapour room set to serve veterans with PTSD in Canada
(CBC News) New Brunswick's first medical marijuana vapour room has opened in Oromocto. The vapour room will allow those who pay a $5 annual membership fee to try out different machines to vaporize their prescribed marijuana.
Arkansas bill would remove Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from MLK Day
(Associated Press) Two Arkansas legislators said Wednesday it is inappropriate to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the leader of the Confederate Army on the same day and proposed ending the state's decades-old tradition of honoring Robert E. Lee.
VA leaders in charge of failed hospital projects take home bonuses
(Fox 31 Denver) Veterans Affairs executives in charge of four hospital projects currently over budget and years behind schedule were given bonuses, despite the administration admitting failures in their jobs.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT Transcom to unveil new isolation system for patients with contagious diseases
(Belleville News-Democrat) Gen. Paul Selva, the U.S. Transportation Command commander, is set to introduce the military's new Transport Isolation System, a module-based system designed to move people with highly contagious diseases and protect caregivers from infection.
Pentagon Bids Adieu to Air-Sea Battle Name
(DoDBuzz) The Pentagon has chosen to close the Air-Sea Battle Office and fold their work into a new section of the Joint Staff, according to a memorandum issued on Jan. 8 that was published by the U.S. Naval Institute.
What the Cyber Language in the State of the Union Means to You
(DefenseOne) According to many security experts, "security" and the specific cyber-security proposal the president unveiled last week could be a pretext for expanded, unchecked surveillance that may not actually make the nation safer.
6 Threats, 6 Changes, and A Brave New World: Intel Chief Vickers
(Breaking Defense) There's no one thing that keeps the Pentagon's chief of intelligence up at night. There's half-a-dozen things - terrorism, cybersecurity, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China - but Mike Vickers has a six-point plan to counter them.
Military, agencies to train in Guam against attack
(Pacific Daily News) The exercise will simulate real-world scenarios such as terrorist threats.
DISA losing top cybersecurity exec
(C4ISR & Networks) Mark Orndorff, currently the Defense Information Systems Agency's risk management executive, is set to retire from the government after more than 30 years, DISA officials confirm.
ARMY U.S. loses patent suit, owes ammo maker $15M
(Army Times) The U.S. government will pay a Florida ammunition-maker more than $15.6 million after losing a patent-infringement lawsuit regarding the design of M855A1 and M80A1 rounds.
Turbulence ahead for 2015 military compensation
(Army Times) The 2015 Military Times Pay Book is your guide to the complex world of military compensation.
Real estate groups pitch in $23,000 to help prevent Fort Drum troop cuts
(Watertown Daily Times) Concerned about the fate of the installation, real estate organizations have decided to pitch in a combined $23,000 toward efforts led by the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization to convince senior Army leaders that troops shouldn't be cut.
No hazardous chemicals found in Ottawa hotel
(Radio NewsTalk 1010) Royal Canadian Mounted Police says incident is linked to hazardous and volatile chemicals found in two Nova Scotia neighbourhoods. A 42-year-old former US Army biochemist has been arrested.
Vet leads charge for Desert Storm memorial
(Army Times) A memorial dedicated to those who served in the Persian Gulf War is inching closer to becoming a reality.
Fort Bragg soldiers to leave controlled Ebola monitoring, return home Thursday
(Fayetteville Observer) One of the first groups of Fort Bragg soldiers to deploy to Africa to help stop the spread of Ebola will be home later this week.
Black Hawk crash injures 2 Guardsmen
(Army Times) A pilot and copilot sustained minor injuries Tuesday after a hard landing caused their helicopter to flip on its side.
Gear Scout at Shot Show
(GearScout, Military Times) Coverage from the world's largest weapons expo
NAVY Amphibious ships positioned closer to Yemen
(Navy Times) Two amphibious ships moved into the Red Sea on Wednesday to be ready should U.S. officials order an evacuation in Yemen, a Navy official confirmed to Navy Times, as clashes intensify in the capital.
Guantanamo base CO fired amid NCIS probe
(Navy Times) The head of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay was unceremoniously removed from his base command post for unspecified "misconduct" Wednesday amid a Naval Criminal Investigative Service Investigation.
US Navy to Decommission USS Peleliu
(Military.com) The US Navy is set to decommission its last general-purpose Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5), at Naval Base San Diego, US, on 31 March.
AIR FORCE Michael Bay apologizes, will cut B-52 crash from film
(Air Force Times) Film producer Michael Bay on Wednesday apologized for the inclusion of footage of a B-52 crash in a new movie, and said he has asked Paramount Pictures to remove the shot.
IG: AF risks spending $8.8B on excess drones
(Air Force Times) A 2013 Air Force plan to expand its drone fleet is flawed and risks overspending $8.8 billion on unneeded aircraft, the Defense Department Inspector General says in a September report obtained by Air Force Times this week.
AFN murder trial: Pathologists agree that sailor Chepusov died of strangulation
(Stars & Stripes) American and German autopsies came to the same conclusion about the death of Dmitry Chepusov, the American sailor whose body was found in an automobile during a traffic stop in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in December 2013: He was strangled.
Vet shares a lesson after being dissed in parking lot
(Air Force Times) When an American thinks of a veteran, what does that veteran look like?
Robins test flight squadron about to get a new home
(Macon Telegraph) A historic building at one end of the base runway is getting a new life.
Video: US Navy MUOS Satellite Launch
(Intercepts, Defense News) A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully launched the U.S. Navy's MUOS 3 mission.
Boulder arrest affidavit details alleged sex assault by Air Force cadet
(Colorado Springs Gazette) Boulder police claim DNA tests link Air Force Academy cadet Daniel Ryerson to the Nov. 1 rape of an academy classmate, court papers say.
Force Times) A Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, airman who faces the death penalty if convicted at court-martial later this year has asked the trial judge to recuse himself.
MARINE CORPS Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green on being top enlisted Marine
(Marine Corps Times) On Feb. 20, Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green will become the 18th sergeant major of the Marine Corps - the top enlisted Marine in the Corps and Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford's senior enlisted adviser.
Marines conclude embassy mission in Africa
(Marine Corps Times) A contingent of East Coast Marines recently completed their mission to bolster security at the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in the Central African Republic's capital.
Marine general defends Afghan pullout while violence boils
(San Diego Union-Tribune) The U.S. military commander who oversaw the withdrawal of coalition forces in Afghanistan's deadliest province last fall said he still believes it was the right time to leave Helmand, despite unrelenting insurgent attacks and heavy casualties in the region.
Corps to base F-35s in Asia-Pacific region
(Marine Corps Times) As the Air Force prepares to permanently move F-35A Lightning II squadrons to Europe, the Marine Corps is continuing its plan to base its fleet of F-35B's in Japan and the U.S.
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN Taliban Fissures in Afghanistan Are Seen as an Opening for ISIS
(New York Times) Across a violent swath of southern Afghanistan, rumors are swirling about a band of former Taliban fighters who have claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and are said to be fighting their former comrades for dominance.
Pakistan bans Haqqani terrorist network
(Khaama Press) The government of Pakistan has included the Haqqani terrorist network in the list of proscribed organizations following mounting pressures by Washington.
Afghan Lawmakers Refuse To Confirm Seven Cabinet Nominees
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Afghanistan's parliament has said it will leave seven cabinet nominees out of a mandatory parliamentary confirmation because they hold dual citizenship.
Rights report details threats to journalists in Afghanistan
(Los Angeles Times) Afraid of losing his radio show, Aqel Mohammad Waqar refused to tell anyone about the threatening calls and messages he received for his unvarnished reports on the conflict in Afghanistan.
MIDDLE EAST Shiite rebels remain outside Yemen President house
(Associated Press) Heavily armed Shiite rebels remain stationed outside the Yemeni president's house and the palace in Sanaa, despite a deal calling for their immediate withdrawal to end a violent standoff.
Kurds say they have ejected Islamic State militants from large area in northern Iraq
(Washington Post) Kurdish forces claimed to have pushed back Islamic State militants from a 300-square-mile area of northern Iraq on Wednesday and said they cut one of the extremist group's key supply lines to the occupied city of Mosul.
Palestinian arrested in stabbing attack on Tel Aviv bus; 13 hurt
(Los Angeles Times) A Palestinian man went on a stabbing rampage on a crowded bus at rush hour in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, injuring at least 13 Israelis, some seriously, authorities said.
180 Australians backing Islamic State, foreign minister says
(Associated Press) Australia called Wednesday for a broader international coalition, led by the U.S., to combat the "terrifying challenge" of jihadist groups that are challenging governments and aiming to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East.
How Saudi Arabia's harsh legal punishments compare to the Islamic State's
(Washington Post) While Saudi Arabia isn't particularly forthcoming about its use of capital punishment (and Middle East Eye doesn't cite its source) and accurate information from within the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate is hard to ascertain, information from news sources and human rights organizations suggest the chart is at least broadly accurate.
Syrians find safety, hospitality in São Paulo
(Al Jazeera America) Still just a fraction of the total population displaced by the war, up to 3,000 Syrian refugees have resettled in Brazil.
AP Interview: Iraq Premier Says Ground Troops Need More Aid
(Associated Press) Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday appealed for more aid for the country's beleaguered ground forces, which have yet to score a decisive victory against the Islamic State group despite five months of U.S.-led coalition air raids.
Meet the Americans on the Front Lines in the Fight Against ISIS
(Time) The U.S. has said it won't be sending soldiers to fight ISIS but some Americans have found their own way there.
Rights groups alarmed over increase in inmate deaths in Egypt
(Al Jazeera America) When Egyptian authorities arrested 51-year-old government employee Mahmoud Abd al-Rahman a year ago and accused him of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, he was supposed to be detained for 15 days. But his detention order was renewed again and again - until he died 10 months later in an overcrowded Suez jail cell, after what Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Wednesday were "apparent heart attacks."
AP sources: US not sending Gitmo detainees to Yemen
(Associated Press) In another challenge to President Barack Obama's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, a ban on transferring detainees to Yemen has been effectively pushed back into place because of security concerns in the volatile Middle Eastern nation, administration officials say.
EUROPE Islamic State conflict: London hosts coalition talks
(BBC) Foreign ministers from 22 countries are meeting in London to discuss ways to co-ordinate their efforts to combat the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
France Reduces Planned Military Job Cuts By 7K
(Defense News) France will reduce by 7,500 a planned 34,000-strong cut in military personnel set out in the multiyear budget law, President Francois Hollande's office said on Wednesday.
Brzezinski: US Should Deploy Troops to Baltics
(Agence France-Presse) The United States and its allies should deploy troops to Baltic states to deter Russia from staging a possible incursion in those countries, former presidential national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, told lawmakers Wednesday.
France to beef up resources in terror fight
(Associated Press) France announced sweeping new measures to counter homegrown terrorism Wednesday, including giving security forces better weapons and protection, going on an intelligence agent hiring spree and creating a better database of anyone suspected of extremist links.
German anti-Islam leader resigns after Hitler pose
(Al Jazeera America) The leader and co-founder of the fast-growing German anti-Islam movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) resigned on Wednesday after a photo of him posing as Hitler - and reports that he called refugees "scumbags" - prompted prosecutors to investigate him for inciting hatred.
Ex-British DM: MoD May Cut Army to 60K Troops
(Defense News) A former British defense minister has claimed the Ministry of Defence is looking at options to reduce the British Army to 60,000 regular troops to meet possible heavy cuts to military spending as part of continuing austerity efforts after the upcoming general election.
Progress Made At Ukraine Crisis Talks
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Germany's foreign minister says Ukraine crisis talks in Berlin have ended with agreement on pulling back heavy weapons in the east of the country.
German police: Random traffic stops not targeting Americans with expired licenses
(Stars & Stripes) Despite the timing of random traffic checkpoints set up Wednesday around the Kaiserslautern and Baumholder military communities, German police officials said they were not targeting American drivers with expired stateside licenses.
Poroshenko Demands Russian Troops Leave Ukraine
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, Poroshenko demanded that Russia immediately implement all of its obligations under the Minsk peace plan, close Russia's border with Ukraine, "and withdraw all the foreign troops from my territory."
Snowden: French spying didn't stop terror attacks
(The Hill) Edward Snowden is pointing to the recent terror attacks in Paris as proof that government surveillance can't stop terrorism.
Putin Endorses Proposal On Merging Major Space Institutions
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed a proposal to merge the Federal Space Agency -- Roskosmos, and the United Rocket and Space Corporation.
Belgium Offers Partial IDs of 2 Killed in Police Raid
(New York Times) The Belgian authorities on Wednesday partly identified two men believed to be Islamic militants who died last week in a police raid, releasing the first names and nationalities - one Belgian, one Belgian-Moroccan - of the pair, who were suspected of belonging to a terrorist network and plotting an imminent attack.
Ukrainian Forces Abandon Donetsk Airport Terminals, Battle Continues`
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) A Ukrainian military spokesman says government forces have withdrawn from terminal buildings at Donetsk airport, positions that they fiercely defended for months against pro-Russian separatists.
ASIA-PACIFIC Japan says looking at all possible ways to free hostages
(Associated Press) Japan said Thursday it was considering all possible ways to gain the release of two hostages held by the Islamic State group, as two people with contacts there offered to try to negotiate.
Japan Says Efforts to Contact Islamic State About Hostages Have Failed
(New York Times) Officials in Tokyo said Thursday that they were trying every possible avenue to reach the Islamic State militants who have threatened to kill two Japanese hostages but had so far failed to make contact, with time running out on a deadline to pay for the men's lives.
SKorea upholds jail term for ex-lawmaker over pro-NK charges
(Associated Press) South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a prison sentence for a former lawmaker accused of encouraging an armed rebellion in the South should war with North Korea break out.
Japanese hostage crisis 37 years ago may sway Abe on ransom demands
(Bloomberg) A Japanese hostage crisis 37 years ago may sway Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reaction to demands from Islamic State.
China harassing and imprisoning Chinese working for foreign news outlets
(Washington Post) Zhang Miao has now been in prison for almost four months. She is a Chinese researcher for a German newspaper in China, and her arrest has sparked fear, outrage and some soul-searching among foreign news organizations in China about the role of their Chinese assistants.
Strikes, attacks bring turbulent politics back to Bangladesh
(Associated Press) A 2½-year-old victim of a homemade bomb lies in an intensive care unit with burns to his face, head and other body parts. In another hospital, 17 people, including students and a teacher, are being treated for similar injuries. Another victim, a schoolboy, lost both his eyes.
AFRICA Leader of Boko Haram says God told him to carry out massacre
(Los Angeles Times) Six years ago, Nigerian forces captured the leader of the extremist group Boko Haram and killed him in custody - a move that was to have far-reaching consequences.
International court urged for Central African Republic
(Associated Press) Members of the U.N. commission that accused both sides in the conflict in Central African Republic of crimes against humanity urged the United Nations on Wednesday to establish an international court to prosecute perpetrators.
Nigerian refugees flee Boko Haram violence
(Reuters/Washington Post) Some 20,000 Nigerians have fled into neighboring countries in recent weeks, putting added strain on some of the poorest nations in Africa. (Reuters)
Africa's Economy Is Rising. Now What Happens to Its Food?
(New York Times) For decades, the economies of Africa were the world's economic laggards. They aren't anymore. Over the last decade, Africa's per capita income has grown at a rate nearly identical to that of the rest of the world.
DR Congo unrest: Catholic Church backs protests
(BBC) The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has thrown its weight behind protests against President Joseph Kabila extending his rule.
THE AMERICAS US, Cuba address obstacles to resuming diplomatic ties
(Associated Press) The United States and Cuba are trying to eliminate obstacles to normalized ties as the highest-level U.S. delegation to the communist island in more than three decades holds a second day of talks with Cuban officials.
Obama to Congress: Guantanamo prison makes no sense
(Miami Herald) Declaring "it's not who we are," President Barack Obama on Tuesday night appealed to Congress once again to let him close the prison camps at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Drone loaded with meth crashes near US-Mexico border crossing
(Associated Press) Police in a Mexican border city said Wednesday that a drone overloaded with illicit methamphetamine crashed into a supermarket parking lot.
Argentine Phone Calls Detail Efforts to Shield Iran
(New York Times) Intercepted conversations between representatives of the Iranian and Argentine governments point to a long pattern of secret negotiations to reach a deal in which Argentina would receive oil in exchange for shielding Iranian officials from charges that they orchestrated the bombing of a Jewish community center in 1994.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS A Former U.S. Army Interrogator on Why Torture Doesn't Work
(William Quinn in Cicero Magazine) The partisan carnival surrounding the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of CIA detention and interrogation is frustrating. That advocates for the use of torture appear to have convinced much of the public that torture is sometimes necessary and justified is even more troubling. The arguments we hear are as old as the Republic: The Constitution is not a suicide pact; ensuring the safety of the American public sometimes requires nasty business; the men and women who participated in CIA's detention program are patriots who did their very best under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. None of those arguments are necessarily wrong, but they are not relevant to the issue.
How Clint Eastwood's 'American Sniper' stoked the American culture wars
(Washington Post) [The exchanges over the film] hint at another gulf in American politics: the plummeting number of Americans who serve in the armed services, which has given rise to what experts call a widening cultural divide between civilians and combat veterans. During World War II, more than 12 percent of Americans served in the military. Today fewer than .5 percent do.
Analysis: Freed former al Qaeda operative was part of intelligence dispute
(Long War Journal) Last month, Senator Dianne Feinstein and other Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the executive summary of their final report investigating the CIA's controversial detention and interrogation program. As part of their study, the Democrats compiled twenty case studies, which were intended to address claims made by the CIA regarding the efficacy of its interrogations.
Missing Political Front in Afghanistan
(Clark Johnson in Small Wars Journal) President Barack Obama's decision to authorize military action on the part of US forces in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 reopens strategic questions often thought to have been closed. Despite the peaceful transition of power to Ashraf Ghani, who is perceived as a moderate reformer and internationally-minded, as President, the war is not going well.
When a Coup is Not a Coup
(David Francis in Foreign Policy) The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act is pretty explicit about what the government must do in the event of a coup. Section 508 of the law states that the United States must cut off aid to any country "whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree."
Future WAr's First Shots Fired In Space
(Saku in The Art of Future Warfare) The "shot heard 'round the world," which triggered the Pacific war, destroyed its target in total silence two mornings ago 23,000 miles above the Pacific Ocean in the vacuum of space. A single point of light reached up into the heavens from central China and rendezvoused with a celestial object - an American communication satellite, snuffing it out in a spray of metallic debris over the Pacific and signaling a new period of global darkness.
Reconsidering Religion, Reconsidering Terrorism
(Aleks Thompson in Small Wars Journal) In 2008 while deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, I found that Imams were frequently described as the primary fuel for violence in al-Anbar province. Accordingly, military and diplomatic leaders tended to avoid and isolate religious leaders from important discussions about rebuilding stable Iraqi communities. Religious leaders were understood to be forces of discontent who needed to be marginalized if Iraqis were to ever realize a thriving society.
Besting Boko Haram
(Alice Hunt Friend in War On The Rocks) Will anything stop Boko Haram? As Western media became consumed with the wave of terrorism in Paris, the Nigerian terrorist group slaughtered hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people in the northeastern city of Baga. On the heels of this atrocity, Boko Haram's deadliest yet, the group executed another ruthless attack: forcing little girls to detonate suicide vests in a crowded market.
Playing a Double Game in the Fight Against AQAP
(Evan Hill and Laura Kasinof in Foreign Policy) In Yemen, the world's most dangerous jihadi group is both the government's enemy and its ally of convenience.
Ignored in Asia: The ISIL Threat
(David L. Edwards in Small Wars Journal) The most immediate reality of Asian support for ISIL is the traveling of its citizenry to the Middle East. These individuals are providing sizeable contributions to the organization's activities. As this activity crosses various geographic combatant commands, the formulation of a combatant command coordinating council is necessary to properly address and combat this issue.
Europe's Three-Way Game of Chicken
(Nicholas Spiro in Foreign Policy) Syriza wants debt relief. Germany wants austerity. Can anything the European Central Bank does keep the most important players in the eurozone happy?
A Brief Glimpse At The Use Of Robotics In Warfare
(Task & Purpose) Every year it seems like more and more of what we once considered science fiction is giving way to reality. The Navy is developing rail guns, and nobody bats an eye at unmanned aerial vehicles. Governments even use robots for rescue operations. As we near a time when robotics may become commonplace in the military and civil services, let's take a look at some of the technologies.
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