Picture Of The Day
Night Contact - U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Drew Parks communicates with a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet crew during Operation Spartan Shield in Southwest Asia, Sept. 11, 2012. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder
Death Of The Desert Fox
Erwin Rommel, also known as Desert Fox, was regarded as one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in World War Two
Death Of The Desert Fox: Rommel's Son's Account Of His Father's Last Moments After Hitler Ordered Him To Take A Cyanide Pill Or Be Arrested -- Daily Mail
* German general Erwin Rommel told his teenage son he had been ordered to kill himself by Adolf Hitler
* In a newly discovered letter, Manfred Rommel describes watching his father being led into a car moments later
* Rommel, known as Desert Fox, was accused of plotting to kill Hitler
A poignant account of the German general Erwin Rommel being led away to his death told by his teenage son has been discovered.
In a revealing letter written by Manfred Rommel, he tells of his father's last moments after he was ordered to commit suicide by Adolf Hitler.
His father explained to him he had to poison himself after being implicated in a plot to assassinate the Nazi dictator.
Read more ....
My Comment: I am not shedding any tears for the death of Rommel. My background is Russian, and I know too well what the German Nazis and their Generals did in the former Soviet Union during the Second World War .... as far as I am concerned, Rommel got off easy.
Top Officials In The Kabul Government Vow To Kill Americans
Afghan Allies -- New York Post
Now even top officials in the Kabul government vow to kill Americans.
“The fate of the Americans in Afghanistan will be worse than that of the Russians,” Mohammed Ismail Khan warned in 2009. The same Afghan is now vowing to drive all “foreigners” out of Afghanistan.
More bluster from a Taliban leader? Hardly. Khan serves as Afghanistan’s energy minister, and is a key member of American ally Hamid Karzai’s cabinet.
In a videotaped meeting last month with jihadists in Herat Province, Khan slammed the US for bringing “American girls, white-skinned Western soldiers and black-skinned American soldiers” into Afghanistan. He called on the “mujahideen” to take up arms and attack them like they did the Soviet “invaders” in the 1980s.
Read more ....
My Comment: With allies like this, who needs enemies.
As U.S. Forces Leave Afghanistan, Locals Demand Rent Money
Afghans Angry At US soldiers Who Drove Away In The Night Leaving Rent Unpaid -- The Guardian
Only sign of huge US base is pile of rubbish and broken vehicles – and a festering land dispute in a volatile province
US forces left behind piles of equipment, an unpaid rent bill and a festering land dispute that threatens to undermine the Afghan government when they moved out of a volatile corner of eastern Kunar province this year, local officials and their former landlords say.
The only clue that a base that dominated Pashengar village for years had been abandoned for good was the midnight rumble of a convoy of trucks. In the morning, locals found guards gone, buildings blown up and, scattered around what had been a forbidding military encampment, piles of detritus from years of western living in a remote, mountainous valley.
Read more ....
My Comment: More evidence that the U.S. and NATO are leaving, and everyone scrambling to grab as much money as possible.
Over 1,000 Afghan Soldiers Killed In 2012 (Plus 394 ISAF Soldiers)
Sharing Lunch - U.S. paratroopers join Afghan soldiers in a traditional Afghan lunch following a combined clearing operation in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, April 29, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
Afghan Troop Deaths Rise As Army Expands Its Role -- New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government has hit a grim record in its quest to take over the country’s security from coalition forces: more than 1,000 soldiers died in 2012, a roughly 20 percent increase from 2011.
Though the Afghan Army’s death rates have outstripped those for international forces in recent years, the new figures show the widest margin yet, as more and more Afghan units have taken the field. International forces were reported to have lost about 400 soldiers in 2012, the lowest number since 2008.
Read more ....
More News On Afghan - ISAF Fatalities For 2012
Violence in Afghanistan falls in 2012, but more Afghan troops dying and insider attacks rise -- Washington Post/AP
1056 Afghan soldiers killed in 2012: Defense officials -- Khaama Press
Afghan soldier deaths reach record level in 2012 -- Global Post
Record number of Afghan soldiers killed in 2012 -- International News
Record Number of Afghan Soldiers Killed in 2012 -- Defense News/AFP
My Comment: The Afghan military is stepping up .... but they are suffering heavy casualties.
Russia's New 'Noiseless' Nuclear Submarines Are Raising Concerns
Yury Dolgoruky nuclear submarine. © Photo cortesy of the Sevmash shipyard’s press service
Silent Sub: Russian Noiseless Borei Class Nuclear Submarine Immersed -- RT
Super-modern, powerful and almost noiseless Russian nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has been put in water to become the third ship of the Borei project. The cruiser is about to begin sea trials and mooring to become fully operational in 2013.
Vladimir Monomakh was laid down at Russia’s largest shipbuilding complex Sevmash, located on the shores of the White Sea in the town of Severodvinsk in northern Russia on March 19, 2006 – the 100th anniversary of the Russian submarine fleet.
Read more ....
Update #1: First Borey Class Nuclear Sub to Join Russian Navy on Sunday -- RIA Novosti
Update #2: Cutting-edge sub as New Year’s present -- Voice of Russia
My Comment: While Russia continues with their nuclear submarine expansion .... U.S. anti-submarine capability is eroding.
It's Been A Good Year For OPEC
OPEC Cartel To Reap Record $1 Trillion -- CNN/Financial Times
(Financial Times) -- The Opec oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, will pocket a record of more than US$1tn in net oil revenues in 2012 as the annual average price for Brent, the benchmark, heads to an all-time high in spite of weak economic growth.
The windfall will provide fresh capital to some of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the most influential members of the cartel, are home to three of the world's 10 largest SWFs by assets under management, according to estimates by the SWF Institute.
With one trading day left before the year-end, Brent oil prices are on the point of seeing an average for the year of about $111.5 a barrel, higher than the previous all-time high set in 2011 of $110.9.
The benchmark closed at or above $100 every trading day in 2012, bar 24 in June and early July.
Read more ....
Update: OPEC will earn a record $1.05 trillion in 2012 in oil revenues -- L.A. Times
My Comment: A good year .... yes. But the days of OPEC dictating price may be coming to an end because of this.
