Mahmood is shown being welcomed by the Taliban after he opened fire on American trainers in Kunar Province. Video Image via Site Monitoring Service
Insider Attacks In Afghanistan Shape The Late Stages Of A War -- New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — It was only after the young Afghan soldier’s hatred of Americans had grown murderous that he reached out to the Taliban.
The soldier, named simply Mahmood, 22, said that in May he told the insurgents of his plan to shoot Americans the next time they visited the outpost where he was based in northeastern Afghanistan. He asked the Taliban to take him in if he escaped.
The Taliban veterans he contacted were skeptical. Despite their public insistence that they employ vast ranks of infiltrators within the Afghan Army and the police, they acknowledged that many of the insider attacks they take credit for start as offers by angry young men like Mahmood. They had seen many fail, or lose their nerve before even starting, and they figured that Mahmood, too, would prove more talk than action or would die in the attempt.
U.S. Army Spc. Joseph Gonzalez, left, provides security as fellow team members walk down a dirt road in Bala Boluk, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2013. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Matthew Stroup
Afghan War Effort A Key Obama Foreign Policy Issue -- Voice of America
One of the major foreign policy issues facing President Barack Obama during his second term in office will be winding down the conflict in Afghanistan, America’s longest war.
American military forces have been in that country for more than 11 years, longer than the Soviet presence in the 1980s [more than nine years].
There are roughly 68,000 U.S. troops in the country. The plan is to withdraw all American and international coalition combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, ultimately handing over all military and security responsibilities to the Afghans.
With Chavez Ill And Inauguration Near, Uncertainty Reigns iI Venezuela -- CNN
(CNN) -- Lawmakers erupted in applause at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inauguration six years ago. An orchestra played. Chavez beamed.
It's a different scene this year.
Chavez is scheduled to take the oath of office for a new six-year term in just a few days, but it's unclear whether he'll even be in the country. Chavez has been recovering from surgery in Cuba, where he is undergoing cancer treatment. Top aides describe the president's condition as "complicated" and "delicate."
People walk along the Admiralteyskaya Embankment in front of a Russian naval ship in the center of St. Petersburg in July. Russia is planning a massive naval exercise – its largest war games since the Soviet era – for later this month. Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters
Putin Preps Russian Navy For Biggest Exercise Since The Soviet Union -- Danger Room
The Russian navy is about to stage its largest war exercise in a long time — possibly the largest since before the breakup of the Soviet Union. It’s a chance for President Vladimir Putin to show off his military might, of course. But the exercise may also be a subtle warning to the United States: Stay clear of waters that traditionally lie in Russia’s sphere of influence.
Pentagon Undeterred By Sex Scandals; Policy On Women Proceeds -- Washington Times
The Pentagon is pushing ahead with its campaign to move women closer to the battlefield, despite a series of sex scandals involving senior officers and a report showing an increase in sexual assaults among the troops.
At the dawn of the all-volunteer military force in 1973, women accounted for less than 3 percent of active-duty and reserve members. Today, 310,000 women make up about 15 percent of the force. In and around the Afghanistan War are nearly 17,000 women in uniform.
With the influx has come increasingly close contact between men and women — and a sharp rise in sexual misconduct. Militarywide, sexual assaults are up 22 percent since 2007, according to a Pentagon report.
My Comment: With recent studies that are now showing that almost a quarter of U.S. female troops become victims of sex assaults in combat zones you would think that the Pentagon would maybe stop and reconsider .... but it appears that they are not. There are some who are hoping that the culture can change .... I wish them luck.
Israeli Special Forces Under Cover Inside Syria -- WND
Trackers searching for chemical, biological weapons.
Israeli special forces continue to operate inside Syria to track the country’s nonconventional weapons as well as any such weapons that may be in possession of the rebels, according to informed Middle Eastern intelligence sources.
The sources confirmed a London Sunday Times report from last month that also noted Israeli special forces were on the ground in Syria working as spotters to track the regime’s stocks of chemical and biological weapons.
My Comment: We should not be surprised that there are Israeli special forces/Mossad/etc. in the chaos that is gripping Syria .... I am also sure that there are CIA/MI6/as well as agents from the intelligence services of France/German/Gulf Arabs/etc.in the country. The question that should be asked is how many are there .... and who is coordinating with who in the monitoring of Syria's WMDs (I would also add Russian intelligence in this mix). But of course .... do not expect an answer until well after the Syrian civil war is over (and if then).
The Next Chernobyl? -- Khosrow B. Semnani and Gary M. Sandquist, New York Times
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — The showdown over Iran’s nuclear program is likely to accelerate in 2013 as sanctions tighten, Israel threatens military strikes, and the centrifuges keep spinning. While most attention will be focused on the two most oft-discussed sites of uranium enrichment — Natanz and Fordow — a third site on the gulf could prove to be this year’s most dangerous nuclear wild card.
Tucked between two sleepy coastal fishing villages, the Bushehr nuclear power plant has long been seen as the “acceptable” face of Iran’s nuclear program. Built by Russian engineers and monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is already producing electricity, and most nuclear experts agree that it does not merit the same level of concern over weaponization as Iran’s other nuclear sites.
Read more .... My Comment: I was born in Russia, so when Chernobyl occurred it impacted me directly. Fortunately ... I was working in China, and I made sure that I stayed away .... actually .... I ended applying for (and being accepted) as an immigrant to Canada .... becoming a citizen a few years later and bringing my family a few years after that. Unfortunately .... many did not have that opportunity, and had to suffer the consequences .... the biggest one being the impact that the nuclear accident had on the health of the unborn and young children. In my own family all of my cousin's children had health problems .... from St. Petersburg, to Moscow, to southern Ukraine .... and I ended up becoming their main source in sending vitamins, medicines, etc., for their kids. That was not a good time, and I shudder to this day when I think about it.
Now I am reading about the possibility of a Chernobyl on the Persian Gulf. Sighhh .... I can tell you from personal experience that it will impact everything. The price of oil, a massive health crisis that will strain the regions health services, a mass migration of people away from the affected zone .... in short .... a disaster that will take decades (if not centuries) to resolve. The last paragraph of this New York Times commentary sums it up perfectly ....
.... The I.A.E.A. should focus on the safety of the Bushehr plant with the same eye for detail that it uses to detect any weaponization program. Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it, as do world oil markets, the global economy, and the world’s collective security.
