Al Qaeda – Is Al Qaeda acquiring a navy to use for terrorist attacks against England?

• Jerusalem Post: Al Qaida boats to attack British targets

US Navy – U.S. Navy sailors may board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world’s No. 2 shipping registry.

• Associated Press: Pact With Liberia Lets U.S. Search Ships

US Marines – Current commander of the 1st Marine Division, Major General Mattis, on the importance of professional reading for the warrior.

• Marine Corps Gazette: The Professional Edge

Background – Fourth Generation Warfare – More ideas from William Lind on how to confront 4GW in Iraq.

• Defense in the National Interest: The January Seminar

NOSI is taking a break for a few days and will next be updated Wednesday February 18th. Until then, here is your weekend reading:

Background – History – How the Royal Navy helped the US Navy improve its gunnery at the turn of the century.

• Sea Power: The Royal Navy’s Tutorial on the Fine Points of Firing

US Navy – The abrupt collapse of the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework has triggered mounting international concern over the longer-term consequences for the global nonproliferation regime.
It has also exacerbated the most serious tensions in the fifty-year history of the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance, quite possibly laying the groundwork for a major regional crisis unparalleled since the Korean War. How and why did this major policy breakdown occur?

• US Naval War College Review: The United States, North Korea, and the End of the Agreed Framework