New York Times – Robert D. Kaplan on why Afghanistan is more than a manhunt, and how it does matter, for reasons that have not been fully fleshed out by policy makers or the military.
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US Navy – Fire on carrier GW was 'entirely preventable'
Virginian Pilot – The May fire aboard the carrier George Washington that injured 37 sailors, caused $70 million in damage and delayed the shipís forward deployment to Japan was ìentirely preventable,î according to the Pacific Fleet commander in a final report made public Friday.
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Piracy – Somali pirates stare down global superpowers
Associated Press – With a Russian frigate closing in and a half-dozen U.S. warships within shouting distance, the pirates holding a tanker off Somalia’s coast might appear to have no other choice than to wave the white flag. But that’s not how it works in Somalia, a failed state where a quarter of all children die before they turn five, where anybody with a gun controls the streets and where every public institution has crumbled???
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Russian Navy – Russia's warships head for exercise with Venezuelan navy
The Times – Russia displayed its military strength in the Mediterranean yesterday after warships heading to Venezuela passed through the Strait of Gibraltar in the second deployment of Russian naval vessels in the waterway since the Cold War.
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US Marines – Marines reassess equipment needs for Afghanista
Associated Press – High altitudes, dispersed battalions and restricted travel zones are among the serious challenges facing the Marines as it weighs the resources needed to perform its missions in Afghanistan where violence has escalated.
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Royal Navy – Cash strapped Navy cuts destroyer fleet
Daily Telegraph – The Royal Navy has mothballed almost half of its remaining fleet of destroyers as it desperately attempts to save money in the face of a plunging budget.
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Russian Navy – Russia to build eight nuclear submarines
Daily Telegraph – Russia is to build eight nuclear submarines by 2015 as part of an ambitious plan to overhaul the country’s ailing navy.
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US Marines – Digital Bullets for the Marines
Defense Technology International – The heart of future joint aviation plans pivots on where the services go with electronic attack and other network centric attack. A relatively small $125 million contract to Northrop Grumman may signal the direction of the shake out. It has landed a contract to build Lot 4 of its ICAP III airborne electronic attack systems for the U.S. Marine Corpsí growing fleet of EA-6B Prowlers.
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Port Security – To make sea traffic transparent
Scripps Howard – Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that one of the main problems in counterterrorism today is that there are so many people and vehicles, and so much data and material, moving through globalization’s myriad networks that it seems virtually impossible to track it all effectively. Nowhere has this problem been more acute than on the high seas.
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US Navy – US surrounds hijacked tank ship
BBC – The US navy says it has deployed further vessels to surround a cargo ship loaded with 33 tanks and hijacked by pirates off Somalia last week.
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US Navy – US destroyer nears Somali pirates
BBC – A US Navy destroyer has made visual contact with a Ukrainian ship which was seized by pirates last week and is now moored off the Somali coast.
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Royal Navy – Just How Many Admirals Does It Take?????????..
Defense Technology International – Contractor sea trials of the first of the British Royal Navyís Type 45 air defense destroyers ñ HMS Daring – have now been concluded, with the type to be accepted by the service in December for further tests.
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US Navy – Patroling the deep
Armed Forces Journal – Critical US Navy anti-submarine warfare skills that have been allowed to atrophy must be restored
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Ground Warfare – The Last Tour
New Yorker – A decorated marineís war within. Another look at post traumatic stress disorder.
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Afghanistan – Counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan: An Interview with John Nagl
World Politics Review – Urs Gehriger of the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche recently spoke with Nagl about the success of Gen. David Petraeus’ counterinsurgency tactics in Iraq, and what needs to be done to successfully implement them in Afghanistan.
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US Navy – U.S. ship fires shots toward boats off Somalia
CNN – Security forces aboard the oiler USNS John Lenthall fired warning shots toward two approaching small boats off the Somali coast Tuesday.
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Afghanistan – Petraeus team to review CentCom
Army Times – The incoming head of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. David Petraeus, plans to form a team of under 100 experts to conduct a top-to-bottom strategic assessment of CentComís area of responsibility. Petraeus tapped Col. (P) H.R. McMaster to lead the Joint Strategic Assessment Team, or JSAT.
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US Navy – Hundreds protest US carrier arrival in Japan
Associated Press – The nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived Thursday at its new home port just south of Tokyo, welcomed by a mix of cheering crowds and protesters.
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Piracy – US Navy: Shipping companies must tackle piracy
Associated Press – The international shipping industry must take on more responsibility to protect vessels against pirate attacks and kidnappings in the dangerous waters of Somalia rather than rely on the U.S. Navy says the commander of the 5th Fleet.
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Operations Other Than War – Amid the debris, Nassau's sailors offer a wave of relief
Virginian Pilot – The USS Nassau helps clean up Galveston, Texas after Hurricane Ike.
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Iraq – The Petraeus Doctrine
The Atlantic – Iraq-style counterinsurgency is fast becoming the U.S. Armyís organizing principle. Is our military preparing to fight the next war, or the last one?
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Russian Navy – Russia deploys warships to the Caribbean
Daily Telegraph – Russian warships are sailing towards the Caribbean for the first time since the Cold War to take part in a joint naval exercise with Venezuela.
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German Navy – Littoral Stealthy Corvette
Defense Technology International – Today the German navy corvette Magdeburg will enter service in Warnemuende, base of the First Corvette Squadron. It will be the second corvette of five of the Braunschweig K130 class, the most modern ships in service with the German navy.
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Afghanistan – Return to the Valley of Death
Vanity Fair – With the Pentagon requesting $20 billion more for Afghanistan, and American casualties mounting there, Sebastian Junger rejoins the men of Battle Company at their Korengal Valley outpost. The war has changed them; have they changed the war?
Junger’s previous article from January 2008 is: Into The Valley of Death.
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Editorial Note – NOSI on break until Monday September 22
NOSI is taking a short break and will next update on Monday September 22.
During this time, please consider visiting our related site and downloading the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.
Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.
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