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An independent panel investigating the 9/11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi released a report finding that the State Department failed at securing the compound on multiple fronts.

An independent panel investigating the 9/11 attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi concluded that the State Department suffered “systemic failures” in providing adequate security.

The failures listed in a report released last night include relying too heavily on poorly trained local militias for security; “leadership and management” deficiencies in coordination of two important State Department bureaus; and an “under resourced” embassy lacking adequate security equipment, such as security cameras and outer perimeter walls high enough to protect the compound.

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Syrian troops battle rebels in Damascus suburbs.

U.N. seeks $1.5 billion to address Syria crisis.

Abbas urges UN to help Palestinian refugees in Syria.

Kurdistan Peshmerga troops fire on Iraqi army helicopter in dispute areas.

Iraq President Jalal Talabani's health 'improving'.

Iraqi president stroke fuels succession talk.

West Bank workers strike over unpaid salaries.

Arab Spring energizes Gulf's stateless.


Britain to cut Afghanistan troop numbers in 2013.

South Korean president congratulates Park on win. South Korea's Park seen winning presidential race.

Amid China tensions, Southeast Asia looks to India.

More attacks on polio workers in Pakistan. Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan; eight dead in 48 hours.

China's multimillionaires emigrating in droves.


Egyptian Islamists plan mass protest ahead of constitution vote.

Chad deploys troops to help fight CAR rebels.

All signs point to an epic catastrophe in Mali.

Sudan, South Sudan to discuss rebel support next month.


Greece hit by public sector strike.

Russian parliament moves to ban U.S. adoptions.

UN security council's EU members to condemn Israeli settlements expansion.

Ireland to clarify law on abortion when mother's life is at risk.

Court upholds Strauss-Kahn sex inquiry in France.


Benghazi attack report blames State Department for security failures, makes no mention of anti-Islam video.

Inmate and guards killed in Mexico jailbreak attempt.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 'stable after infection'.

Obama tasks Biden with US gun law review.

Victory for Chilean students as minister resigns over corruption scandal.


Yemeni’s death in Guantánamo still under investigation.

US: Al-Qaeda's core seriously degraded in South Asia.

Ansar al Sharia in Mali.


Google strikes back against big thumbs.

UBS fined $1.5bn for Libor rigging.

Coal may pass oil as world's No. 1 energy source by 2017, study says.

New-wave economies going for growth.

The stealth technology of America's fifth-generation jet fighters, the F-22 and the F-35, could be obsolete after a new discovery from the University of Rochester in New York.

One main goal of fifth-generation aircrafts is to slip through skies over enemy lines without being targeted. It's not invisible, but elusive, and digitally feisty.

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Almost Everything You’ve Heard About the North Korean Space Launch Is Wrong -- Danger Room

UK to withdraw 3,800 troops from Afghanistan during 2013 -- BBC

Strategic Weapons: China Stumbles Forward -- Strategy Page

China has ability to build high-power aircraft carrier -- People's Daily

Brazil invests in rocket technology -- UPI

Russia to Put 100 Strategic Missiles on Service by Yearend -- CRI English

Russia to roll out new hypersonic missiles -- Russia & India Report

Kyrgyzstan Okays ‘Integrated’ Russian Military Base -- RIA Novosti

Russian Military to Get 30 More Su-30SM Fighter Jets -- RIA Novosti

Russia to Float Out New Borey Class Sub on Dec. 30 -- RIA Novosti

Russia to Start Testing New Helicopter Gunship Engine -- RIA Novosti

Media: India, Algeria, Vietnam still biggest buyers of Russian arms -- Kyiv Post

U.K. Plans Review of Future Sub-Hunting Aircraft Needs Next Year -- Bloomberg

Europe Ain't Getting Better: Defense Budgets, Personnel, R&D All Down, Says CSIS -- Aol Defense

US drastically expanding military presence in the Philippines -- RT

U.S. Hopes for Progress on Japan Base Issue -- Defense News

US, Turkey Have 'Never Been So Close'; Amb. Tan Lauds Patriot, F-35 -- Aol Defense

AFRICOM announces it will have rapid reaction force -- Stars and Stripes

Panetta says first F-35 overseas deployment planned for Iwakuni -- Stars and Stripes

For Lockheed F-16, Buyers Still Remain -- Aviation Week/Reuters

A-10s, F-16s targeted in latest budget talks -- Air Force Times

Announcement delayed on base tanker finalists -- Air Force Times

Artillery: Cheaper GPS Shells -- Strategy Page

Lockheed Martin's New Killer Laser Puts Israel's Iron Dome To Shame [Video] -- Business Insider

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Completes First At-Sea Tests -- Navy.mil

Disparate defense think tanks reach common ground on defense cuts -- The Hill

DOJ Plans to Indict State-Sponsored Cyber Attackers -- Defense News

AF tests 24/7 fitness centers -- US Air Force

Cuts in military ranks for all-volunteer force likely to be painful, but it’s happened before -- Washington Post/AP

Army investigating day care centers worldwide -- AP

Army general to face court-martial, possible life sentence, over sexual misconduct charges -- Washington Post/AP

Judge: Hasan beard OK for Hood shooting trial -- Army Times/AP

Pentagon backs official who spoke to 'Zero Dark Thirty' filmmakers -- L.A. Times

Could Disclosure of Classified Info DQ Pentagon Intel Chief in CIA Director Race? -- Defense News

Petraeus’ Mistress Won’t Face Cyberstalking Charges -- Danger Room

Interview: Brett Lambert, U.S. Defense Department’s Industrial Policy -- Defense News

Google Accidentally Photographs Military Drone Landing -- Gizmodo

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon quietly notified Congress this month that it would reimburse Pakistan nearly $700 million for the cost of stationing 140,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan, an effort to normalize support for the Pakistani military after nearly two years of crises and mutual retaliation.

The biggest proponent of putting foreign aid and military reimbursements to Pakistan on a steady footing is the man President Barack Obama is leaning toward naming as secretary of state: Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts. Mr. Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has frequently served as an envoy to Pakistan, including after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and was a co-author of a law that authorized five years and about $7.5 billion of nonmilitary assistance to Pakistan.

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My Comment: Where is the outcry? So much for the U.S. commitment to free this hero.

The Marines had the idea of enlisting journalists, making their story far more compelling to the civilians back home.


The Marines are the most celebrated but least understood of our four military services. They have done a brilliant job of burnishing their martial image, from the days of the 1949 John Wayne movie "The Sands of Iwo Jima" to today's "The Few, the Proud, the Marines" commercials. With nearly 200,000 personnel and their own aircraft, tanks and artillery, they comprise one of the most capable military forces in the world. But so adept have the Marines become at telling their story—somehow the even less-than-heroic portrayals in "Gomer Pyle, USMC" and "Heavy Metal Jacket" have enhanced their reputation—that it isn't always easy to separate myth from reality.

That is a task that Aaron B. O'Connell, a history professor at the Naval Academy and himself a Marine reservist, tackles with brio in his absorbing account of the Marines between 1941 and 1965, "Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps." Prior to World War II, Mr. O'Connell notes, the Corps "was tiny, unpopular and institutionally disadvantaged"—it had just 50,000 men, and it was seen as an adjunct of the Navy. Its commandant was a two-star general who didn't even merit a seat on the newly created Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1942.

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My Comment: Oohrah!

(Reuters) - Afghan father-of-four Mohammad Nasir has a secret he's been keeping from his family.

The aid worker pulls a television bench out from the living-room wall of his Kabul home. Behind it is a carved out shelf, hiding what he hopes will keep loved ones safe when Western troops withdraw by the end of 2014 -- an AK-47 assault rifle.

Arms purchases are soaring in Afghanistan, along with the price of weapons, a sign that many Afghans fear a return of the Taliban, civil war or rising lawlessness.

An assault rifle cost $400 a year ago. Today, some arms dealers are selling them for triple the price.

And it's not just ordinary Afghans who are buying. Warlords who control militias, and former anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters are also boosting the trade.

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My Comment: Not exactly a vote of confidence in the future.

Vladimir Putin wants to build a big friggin’ army. But to pay for it, the Russian president has expanded the amount of Russian weapons sold around the globe, and he isn’t being all that discriminating about who he sells them to.

“Let’s talk about our results — they are positive,” Putin said on Monday while meeting with officials. “We are reaching a record level of weapons exports. Their total volume was above $14 billion.” That would be the highest ever for Moscow.

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Russian Arms Sales at $14 Bln in 2012 -- RIA Novosti
Russia military exports reached record $14bn in 2012 -- RT
Putin touts record Russian arms sales of $14 billion in 2012 -- Reuters
Russian arms sales hit $14B -- UPI
Russia Exports $14B in 2012 Arms Sales -- Ares/Aviation Week