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Iraqi Shiite Militias Contine to Pose a Threat as U.S. Forces Leave
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 28/May/2011 00:18
“The attacks on the Americans in Maysan Province, near the Iranian border, and elsewhere in southern Iraq provide one of the starkest examples of what officials call a reinvigorated threat posed by Shiite militants and followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr during the American military’s waning days here.
These Shiite militias have emerged as perhaps the greatest threat to the 46,000 United States troops still in Iraq, military officials say. And a barrage of recent attacks — some of them deadly — has raised questions about the safety of Americans as the military withdraws troops and equipment in the months ahead.
“There are plenty of groups who will be paid to kill the last Americans on their way out,†said Col. Douglas Crissman, the military commander who oversees Maysan and three other southern provinces.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/middleeast/27shiite.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
U.S. Tells Its Afghan Workers: No Torture, Corpse Mutilation
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Law, News, Threat Watch on 27/May/2011 19:46
“It’s never a good sign when you have to tell the men guarding your base not to murder civilians, torture detainees or desecrate corpses. But U.S. special-operations forces in Afghanistan are leaving nothing to chance.
… there are uniform expectations for would-be guards. Some of them read more like baseline conditions for membership in civilized humanity.
So-called “Afghan Security Guards†are instructed, “Do not kill or torture detained personnel.†For good measure, if someone’s taken captive, “immediately turn over to U.S., Coalition or [Afghan forces].†Should they kill someone who poses a threat, there is to be “no booby-trapping, burning [or] mutilation†of their corpses.
Afghans guarding U.S. bases don’t exactly have the best track record.”
Rally in Tucson Over Death of Young Marine Veteran Jose Guerena
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 27/May/2011 18:48
“As you may know, on May 5, 2011, a young 26 year old Marine veteran who had survived two tours in Iraq, and father of two, Jose Guereña, was killed in a SWAT raid in Tucson, Arizona (see below news articles for details). At approximately 9:30 am, two hours after he hit the rack after working a twelve hour graveyard shift at an Arizona mine, his wife woke him by yelling that there were men with guns outside (she had seen a man outside the window pointing a gun at her). He told her to take their four year old son and hide in a closet, grabbed his AR-15, and stepped out into the hallway of his home just as his front door was battered in.
He died with his safety still on. He didn’t fire a shot. The Pima County, Arizona (Sheriff Dupnik’s department), SWAT Team fired 71 rounds at him, hitting him with approximately 60 rounds. He had no criminal record. The only justification given by the Sheriff’s spokesman for using SWAT to serve the warrant was that it was a search warrant in a narcotics conspiracy investigation (with three other homes searched in the same neighborhood), and that this is their policy when the home-owner may be armed
This policy of using SWAT to serve mere search warrants on people with no violent criminal history will lead to more deaths of veterans and other trained American gun owners because a trained man will react precisely the same way this young Marine did.
We must take a stand on this use of SWAT against gun owners and veterans who have no violent crime history, and that stand needs to be a firm one.”
Iran Attempting to Acquire Helicopters With Nuke Capability
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 27/May/2011 18:24
By William Chedsey
Noor Missile (AP)
“The arrest on Thursday of five Spanish businessmen and three Iranians allegedly planning to smuggle into Iran military helicopters formerly owned by Israel sparks concerns over the possible use of nuclear-armed cruise missiles by Tehran’s Islamist regime.
Five years ago, Iran successfully test-fired in the Persian Gulf its “Noor” long-range cruise missile, based on China’s C-802 anti-ship cruise design. The launch platform utilized in the April 2006 test was believed to be a Russian Mil-17 helicopter.
The Noor has a range of 200 kilometers, reportedly with no need of an over-the-horizon targeting system. Its velocity is twice the speed of sound, it travels just a few yards above water, and it is close to undetectable by radar. The Noor’s single-shot kill probability has been estimated at nearly 98 percent.”
The strategic threat of EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) – Newt Gingrich
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 27/May/2011 17:50
“Select excerpts from exclusive video address by Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich regarding EMPACT America’s EMP conference in Niagara Falls, NY on September 8th – 10th, 2009, including – I’ve believed for a long time that EMP (or Electromagnetic Pulse) may be the greatest strategic threat we face because, without adequate preparation, its impact would be so horrifying that we would in fact loose our civilization in a matter of seconds.
It’s very important to get people to understand now, before there’s a disaster, how truly grave the threat is – and with EMPACT America’s help, we can provide the leadership, the communications, and the information that can help the American people protect themselves from a truly disastrous threat.
A man-made Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is caused by a nuclear weapon detonated in the atmosphere. This threat is a realistic possibility in this day and age. In fact, two Congressional Commissions have recently warned that America could suffer catastrophic consequences from a nuclear EMP attack by terrorists or rogue states. Their reports also point out that the U.S. can be protected if we act quickly.
A House Homeland Security subcommittee is considering legislation, but very little has been done so far. According to the Abstract of the original Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, U.S. Congress, 2004: Several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. An EMP attack can cripple our infrastructure causing all of our electronic equipment and infrastructure to fail.
That means even basic modes of emergency response, like cars, planes, and other emergency vehicles, may not even start. Current emergency planning is primarily based upon short-term disasters, and is heavily dependent upon assistance from peripheral communities; unfortunately, an EMP could have long-lasting and wide-spread effects that are not adequately addressed by current planning. Moreover, availability of fundamental resources such as our food, water, and medical supplies would almost certainly break down.
Don’t think it can happen? Increasing nuclear terrorist threats like those of North Korea and Iran can disable the entire power grid in North America are a clear and present danger. Terrorists and rouge nations don’t even need accurate or long range ballistic missiles. An EMP attack can potentially be carried out by launching readily available Scud missiles from a barge off of our coast(s).”
A veteran is someone who …
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Warriors on 27/May/2011 10:54
“A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for an amount up to and including their life.”
SCOTUS upholds Arizona immigrant hiring law
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Law, News on 26/May/2011 17:45
“
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday to uphold Arizona’s law that penalizes companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
In a 5-3 vote, the court concluded that federal immigration law doesn’t prevent the state from revoking the business licenses of companies that violate state law.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that the court had come to its decision because “the state’s licensing provisions fall squarely within the federal statute’s savings clause and that the Arizona regulation does not otherwise conflict with federal law.â€
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55763.html#ixzz1NV8RceHI
Anti-Nightvision camouflage
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Warrior Tools on 26/May/2011 17:39
“A demonstration video of the “Ghost” camouflage technology by german company Texplorer GmbH (Now Blücher Systems GmbH)
Developed in cooperation with the German army , this material reduces the thermal signature of soldiers and vehicles and is additionaly hard to spot on rest-light intensifiers aswell as rest-light multiplicators.
It is also available as sheets to cover thermal hotspots of vehicles like tanks.
In combination with conventional camouflage measures (camo nets) it is possible to successfully conceal vehicles such as tanks, trucks, planes and helicopters on ground or airborne FLIR imagery and other night vision optoelectronic devices.”
The Bin Laden Operation: Tapping Human Intelligence
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 26/May/2011 17:29
The Bin Laden Operation: Tapping Human Intelligence is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
By Fred Burton
Since May 2, when U.S. special operations forces crossed the Afghan-Pakistani border and killed Osama bin Laden, international media have covered the raid from virtually every angle. The United States and Pakistan have also squared off over the U.S. violation of Pakistan’s sovereign territory and 
Pakistan’s possible complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader. All this surface-level discussion, however, largely ignores almost 10 years of intelligence development in the hunt for bin Laden.
While the cross-border nighttime raid deep into Pakistan was a daring and daunting operation, the work to find the target — one person out of 180 million in a country full of insurgent groups and a population hostile to American activities on its soil — was a far greater challenge. For the other side, the challenge of hiding the world’s most wanted man from the world’s most funded intelligence apparatus created a clandestine shell game that probably involved current or former Pakistani intelligence officers as well as competing intelligence services. The details of this struggle will likely remain classified for decades.
Examining the hunt for bin Laden is also difficult, mainly because of the sensitivity of the mission and the possibility that some of the public information now available could be disinformation intended to disguise intelligence sources and methods. Successful operations can often compromise human sources and new intelligence technologies that have taken years to develop. Because of this, it is not uncommon for intelligence services to try to create a wilderness of mirrors to protect sources and methods. But using open-source reporting and human intelligence from STRATFOR’s own sources, we can assemble enough information to draw some conclusions about this complex intelligence effort and raise some key questions. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama and the Arab Spring
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 25/May/2011 14:23
Obama and the Arab Spring is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
By George Friedman
U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech last week on the Middle East. Presidents make many speeches. Some are meant to be taken casually, others are made to address an immediate crisis, and still others are intended to be a statement of broad American policy. As in any country, U.S. presidents follow rituals indicating which category their speeches fall into. Obama clearly intended his recent Middle East speech to fall into the last category, as reflecting a shift in strategy if not the declaration of a new doctrine.
While events in the region drove Obama’s speech, politics also played a strong part, as with any presidential speech. Devising and implementing policy are the president’s job. To do so, presidents must be able to lead — and leading requires having public support. After the 2010 election, I said that presidents who lose control of one house of Congress in midterm elections turn to foreign policy because it is a place in which they retain the power to act. The U.S. presidential campaign season has begun, and the United States is engaged in wars that are not going well. Within this framework, Obama thus sought to make both a strategic and a political speech. Read the rest of this entry »
Crossbreed Holsters and Concealed Carry
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Gear, Holsters, News, Warrior Tools on 24/May/2011 23:43
US Navy produces smart, cheap 6kg fire-and-forget missile
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 24/May/2011 23:28
US military boffins have added cheap “fire and forget” autonomous seeker heads to basic, lightweight dumb rockets of a type which can be fired in large numbers. By seriously reducing the size and cost of smart weapons, this development is yet another big step towards changing the way wars are fought.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/12/navy_spits_out_6kg_fire_and_forget_missile/
EFF Demands Answers About Secret Surveillance Law Memo
From: EFF
EFF Demands Answers About Secret Surveillance Law Memo
EFF has filed a Freedom of Information Act suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ), demanding the release of a secret legal memo used to justify FBI access to Americans’ telephone records without any legal process or oversight. This suit stems from a report released last year by the DOJ’s own Inspector General that revealed how the FBI had come up with a new legal argument to justify secret, unchecked access to private telephone records. According to the report, the DOJ’s Office of the Legal Counsel had issued a legal opinion agreeing with the FBI’s theory. EFF’s lawsuit is seeking that legal opinion, which is a crucial piece of the puzzle in understanding the government’s efforts to expand and overreach their surveillance powers.
Afghan Insurgents wearing police uniforms storm police compound
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 23/May/2011 02:08
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents wearing police uniforms and vests laced with explosives stormed a police compound in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday morning, engaging in a firefight that lasted several hours before Afghan and NATO forces regained control of the complex, government officials said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/world/asia/23afghan.html?_r=1
Stolen Valor is not just lying: it is stealing an identity of a combat hero
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 21/May/2011 23:00
Carol Lawrence/The Colorado Springs Gazette, via Associated Press Richard G. Strandlof, right, in 2008 at a 9/11 memorial service in Colorado Springs, where he posed as a veteran.
“Stolen Valor is not just lying: it is stealing an identity of a combat hero or a wounded soldier,†said Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran who helped draft the law’s language and who has spent years tracking down those who falsely claim to be war heroes. “Why should the Army give out a Silver Star to someone who performs heroically if anybody who wants one can buy a medal, print a citation and claim it with impunity?â€
Since Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act, the Justice Department has prosecuted more than 60 people for violating it — penalties can range from up to a year in prison to fines and community service. Mr. Sterner says thousands of cases are reported each year.
But the recent challenges have left the law’s future uncertain.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/us/21valor.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss