New York Times Magazine – If Iran gets the bomb, what will it do with it? Does Islamic law justify the use of weapons of mass destruction? Is there a Shiite urge for apocalypse? Is atomic warfare suicide bombing writ large?
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Monthly Archives: October 2006
Royal Navy – Gulf ships on alert over al-Qaeda threat
The Scotsman – The Royal Navy has warned merchant ships in the Gulf to be on their guard after an al-Qaeda threat to target oil terminals in the area.
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Afghanistan – Taking the Fight to the Taliban
New York Times Magazine – The experience of American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan shows what a counterinsurgency can, and cannot, do.
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Royal Marines – Marines to 'seek and destroy' Taliban insurgents
Daily Telegraph – A look at the activities of 42 Commando in Afghanistan. Hundreds of British soldiers in southern Afghanistan are unable to venture outside their fortified bases because of a “critical” threat from suicide bombers.
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Iraq – Tipping Point for War's Supporters?
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes that this October may be remembered as tipping point for U.S. policy in Iraq, militarily and politically.
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Fourth Generation Warfare – Army is training advisors for Iraq
Los Angeles Times – Within the Army’s tightly knit community of counterinsurgency experts, Lt. Col. John Nagl is something of a star.
When the Army and Marine Corps decided to rewrite their field manual on how to fight insurgents last year, Nagl was chosen as one of its authors. His doctoral thesis on guerrilla wars was just republished in paperback with an approving foreword by the Army’s chief of staff.
But when Nagl’s two-year stint in the Pentagon ended this month, he did not, like most accomplished soldiers of his rank, take command of an armored battalion headed back to Iraq. Instead, he shipped out to this sprawling base in rural Kansas where the Army is attempting what some consider its most ambitious structural change since the Vietnam War.
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Terrorism – Is There Still a Terrorist Threat?
Foreign Affairs – Despite all the ominous warnings of wily terrorists and imminent attacks, there has been neither a successful strike nor a close call in the United States since 9/11. The reasonable — but rarely heard — explanation is that there are no terrorists within the United States, and few have the means or the inclination to strike from abroad.
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US Navy – Iran will notice Persian Gulf naval exercise next week, U.S. says
Associated Press – Ships from the United States and five other countries will interdict a British vessel in the Persian Gulf on Monday in a mock interception of dangerous weapons technology, an exercise the U.S. expects nearby Iran to notice.
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Indian Navy – Indian, U.S. navies conduct joint ship exercises in Arabian Sea
Associated Press – Indian and U.S. destroyers, frigates and submarines conducted joint naval exercises off India’s western coast.
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Iraq – Iraqi Realities Undermine the Pentagon's Predictions
New York Times – Michael Gordon reports that the U.S. goal to have the Iraqi military take over primary responsibility for security seems far removed from the violence-plagued streets of Baghdad.
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Iraq – To Stand or Fall in Baghdad: Capital Is Key to Mission
New York Times – Michael Gordon reports that the Iraqi capital, American generals like to say, is the center of gravity for the larger U.S. mission in Iraq.
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Iraq – On Baghdad Streets, a Police Partnership Falters
New York Times – Michael Gordon reports that throughout much of Baghdad many Iraqis do not trust their own police forces.
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Iraq – Bush's Proposal of 'Benchmarks' for Iraq Sounds Familiar
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks analyses the latest US strategy on Iraq.
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US Navy – The New NOC
Sea Power – The Navy and Marine Corps have established a new operations concept that ìdescribes how the Navy-Marine Corps team will contribute to the defense of our nation.î The 36-page document calls for ìmore widely distributed forcesî and ìincreased forward presenceî as the guiding principles of how the services will operate in an ever-changing national security environment.
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Afghanistan – In the Land of the Taliban
New York Times Magazine – A journey through the tribal borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where drug smuggling, anger at warlords and age-old resentments could be preparing the way for a restoration of the radicals.
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US Navy – Navy on front line of missile defense
Virginian Pilot – By year’s end, the US Navy will have at least six ships able to track down and destroy ballistic missiles in space. The effort comes amid increasing worry over North Korea and Iran.
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US Navy – As part of military's ground force, Navy firms up support services
Virginian Pilot – Once considered a short-term program, the Navy and defense experts acknowledge individual augmentees are now a permanent part of today’s ground force.
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Sri Lankan Navy – Sri Lankan Navy Destroys Tiger Boats
Reuters – The Sri Lankan navy destroyed two Tamil Tiger boats on Saturday off an island in the country’s restive north, killing six rebels, the second military engagement at sea in less than 24 hours.
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Iraq – Bush is wrong: Iraq is not Vietnam
Daily Telegraph – John Keegan says Iraq is not like Vietnam.
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Nuclear Warfare – Nuclear Exchange: Does Washington Really Have (or Want) Nuclear Primacy?
Foreign Affairs – Could the U.S. government really destroy all of an adversary’s nuclear weapons in a nuclear first strike? Does Washington want that ability? And what–if anything–should be done about it?
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Iraq – Problems Afflict U.S. Army Program to Advise Iraqis
Wall Street Journal – Greg Jaffe shows ways in which the US Army does not appear to be committed to winning in Iraq.
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Sri Lankan Navy – Sri Lankan Navy Destroys 2 Rebel Boats
Associated Press – Sri Lanka’s navy destroyed two Tamil rebel boats Friday, killing at least 20 insurgents, after the guerrillas launched an attack that triggered a fierce gunbattle in the volatile north.
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History – Grant, Vicksburg, and Modern War
Marine Corps Gazette – Hints of maneuver warfare in the 19th century U.S. Civil War.
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Editorial Note – NOSI taking a short break
NOSI will next update on Saturday October 21. See you then!
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Military Space – Bush Sets Defense As Space Priority
Washington Post – President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone “hostile to U.S. interests.”
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