Such coverage as the new defense thinking did receive was devoted mostly to money. There will be less of it for the Pentagon. Though, as usual in Washington, what is being called a “cut,” is actually a spending increase that is smaller than had been planned. Still, while we will spend more money, we will be reducing our forces. Quite severely, in the case of the Marines and Army which will see personnel shrink by some 80,000.
The Navy and Air Force will, then, be expected to do the heavy lifting under the new strategic outlook which sees less nation-building (no more Iraqs or Afghanistans) in our future and more tensions in the Pacific which can only mean with China.
Former inspector: Iran 'one year from' bomb material
Having switched production of higher-grade enriched uranium to a new, underground site, Iran is now just a year or so away from having enough such material for a nuclear bomb, a former head of UN nuclear inspections said.
Iran called on to retaliate against Israel over killing of nuclear expert
Provocative hints from Israel reinforced the perception that the killing was part of an organised and clandestine campaign to set back Iran's nuclear ambitions, which the US and its allies suspect are aimed at producing weapons. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes only.
A column in the Kayhan newspaper by chief editor Hossein Shariatmadari asked why Iran did not retaliate. "Assassinations of Israeli military and officials are easily possible," he wrote.
Adversaries of Iran said to be stepping up covert actions
The campaign, which experts believe is being carried out mainly by Israel, apparently claimed its latest victim on Wednesday when a bomb killed a 32-year-old nuclear scientist in Tehran’s morning rush hour.
. . . The assassination drew an unusually strong condemnation from the White House and the State Department, which disavowed any American complicity. The statements by the United States appeared to reflect serious concern about the growing number of lethal attacks, which some experts believe could backfire by undercutting future negotiations and prompting Iran to redouble what the West suspects is a quest for a nuclear capacity.
Assassins of nuclear scientists are sending a double message to Iran
A nuclear weapon requires a sufficient quantity and quality of uranium or plutonium. It also requires enrichment facilities for the material and the means to deliver it to its target (bombs and aircraft, warheads and missiles, and on a tactical level, shells and landmines.) It also needs scientists, engineers and operators. It needs people to push the button, and it needs people to build whatever goes flying when that button, or switch, is triggered.
A covert campaign is the only way to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions
Covert action creates the time and space for pressure to build, while reducing the need for military action. Ultimately, covert action should be aimed at bringing enough pressure to bear on Iran's leaders so that they understand they will never reach their goal of being a nuclear power. It is only at that point diplomacy can have any hope of success.
Like the three scientists before him, the assassination of nuclear specialist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan on Wednesday in Tehran represented just another day in the ongoing shadow war between Iran and the Western world.
Analysis: Israel uses risky "hits" in deadly shadow war
If Mossad assassins were behind the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist Wednesday, it would be the latest chapter in a long history of Israeli covert action against foes best not confronted with full force.
Victor Davis Hanson: Will Iran really start a war?
Turkey: Not bound by US sanctions against IranFor much of last December, Iran seemed schizophrenic. As the European Union and the United States finally seemed to agree on implementing tough new sanctions against the theocracy, Tehran threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz and thereby choke off 40 percent of the world’s petroleum leaving the Persian Gulf. At times, the mullahs bragged of new centrifuges coming on line; at other moments, they issued warnings to the American navy to pull one of its huge aircraft carriers out of the region—or face the consequences.
Turkey, which imports oil and gas from Iran, says it is only bound by U.N. sanctions against its eastern neighbor, despite the U.S. campaign to sanction Iran further over its nuclear program.
Syria: Nato 'plans military intervention', Russia claims
"We are getting information that Nato members and some Persian Gulf States, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention," Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Kremlin security body said in an interview published in Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Thursday.
Head of Arab mission to Syria denies disarray
The head of Arab League monitors in Syria dismissed as untrue on Thursday the comments of an Algerian observer who quit in disgust over continued violence in the country and slammed the mission as a "farce".
Smiling Assad vilifies ‘conspirators’
Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed Wednesday to vanquish “foreign conspirators” plotting to end his rule, and a Frenchman became the first foreign journalist to be killed in the 10 months of unrest that has cost thousands of lives in Syria.
Delusional or supremely manipulative? Take you pick. Few of the sentiments in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s 15,000-word speech delivered on Tuesday to his supporters at the Damascus University, capture so perfectly the nonsense of Assad’s rambling reasons for why his regime has chosen the path of genocide rather than wholesale political reform.
The Muslim Brotherhood's radical plan for Egypt
When the third and final round of Egypt's parliamentary elections concludes tomorrow, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is widely expected to cement its dominance of the next legislature. Although the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces still holds executive power, the FJP's political victory promises radical changes for Egypt, including a theocratic domestic program and a confrontational foreign policy. The United States should have no illusions about the party's aims or ability to moderate. As long as the FJP is in power, Washington should condition future bilateral relations on its behavior regarding key U.S. interests, including the treatment of religious minorities, Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, and counterterrorism.
Egypt’s new rulers sacrifice revenue on the altar of their Anti-Israel vendetta
Scarcely a day goes by without some pundit or diplomat proclaiming that we shouldn’t worry about Islamists’ electoral victories in places like Egypt and Tunisia, because they will soon be moderated by the demands of governance – primarily, the need for economic development to improve their voters’ lives. Unfortunately, Egypt’s new rulers don’t seem to have gotten the message: This week, they canceled an annual trip by Israeli pilgrims to the grave of a Jewish sage.
Hamas leader to visit Iran, in second foreign trip since 2007
Yusef Rizka says the militant group's Ismail Haniyeh will embark on his second international trip outside the Gaza Strip. He returned this week from a tour of Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia.
EU report: Israel policy in West Bank endangers two-state solution
The European Union will direct its activities towards supporting the West Bank’s Palestinian population, a report by the European Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah said on Thursday, over what the survey said was Israeli efforts to muscle out Palestinians from Area C.
Europe to pursue Area C projects
The European Union has decided to pursue a series of steps which may undermine Israel's control of Area C in the West Bank, an official EU document obtained by Ynet on Thursday suggests.
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