Virginian Pilot – The hospital ship USNS Comfort will deploy Friday on the ship’s first-ever foreign humanitarian mission. The Baltimore-based Comfort, docked in Norfolk since May 31 for final preparations, is expected to provide medical care to an estimated 85,000 patients in 12 nations throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The mission is part of Partnership of the Americas 2007, an effort to improve relations with Latin American countries and the Navy’s readiness in the region
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US Marines – A Perspective on Anbar
Defense and the National Interest – William Lind analyzes the happenings in Anbar province in Iraq.
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Iraq – Military Envisions Longer Stay in Iraq
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes that U.S. military officials are increasingly envisioning a “post-occupation” troop presence in Iraq that neither maintains current levels nor leads to a complete pullout, but aims for a smaller, longer-term force that would remain in the country for years.
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Geopolitics / Diplomacy – Defying Orders, Saving Lives: Heroic Diplomats of the Holocaust
Foreign Affairs – Little-known heroes of the Holocaust were the rare diplomats who defied their superiors’ orders and issued visas to save lives. With Iraqis now scrambling to leave their own country, those examples are as relevant today as ever.
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Iraq – Joint Chiefs Chair Will Bow Out
Washington Post – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced yesterday that Marine Gen. Peter Pace will step down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September, a move that Gates said will avert the contentious congressional hearings that would be needed to reconfirm the nation’s top military officer. Pace will leave after just two years in the post, the shortest stint as chairman in more than four decades. The surprise announcement yesterday at the Pentagon amounts to Pace being fired before a customary second two-year term.
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US Navy – Norfolk-based ship fires on pirates off Somalia
Virginian Pilot – The Norfolk-based amphibious ship Carter Hall fired on pirates off the coast of Somalia as they overtook a Danish cargo ship. The Carter Hall fired several warning shots over the Danish vessel Danica White on Saturday and then destroyed three skiffs used by the pirates.
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Information Warfare – Could US repel a cyberattack?
Christian Science Monitor – Evidence is mounting that cyberwarfare tactics are part of the 21st-century arsenals of powers like Russia and China, yet the United States has not made Internet defenses a major priority.
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US Navy – The maritime strategy we need
Armed Forces Journal – A proposed maritime strategy for the US.
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US Navy – A question of cost
Armed Forces Journal – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen has outlined the Navy’s plan for constructing the next-generation fleet in the 30-year shipbuilding plan, which details the road to a 313-ship force structure required to support the National Security Strategy. The goal is a future fleet that balances capability with affordability.
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Geopolitics / Terrorism – Al Qaeda Strikes Back
Foreign Affairs – By rushing into Iraq instead of finishing off the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Washington has unwittingly helped its enemies: al Qaeda has more bases, more partners, and more followers today than it did on the eve of 9/11. Now the group is working to set up networks in the Middle East and Africa — and may even try to lure the United States into a war with Iran. Washington must focus on attacking al Qaeda’s leaders and ideas and altering the local conditions in which they thrive.
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US Navy – U.S. fires at al Qaeda target in Somalia
CNN – U.S. Navy destroyer off the coast of northern Somalia Friday fired on a suspected al Qaeda operative believed to have been involved in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. There was no immediate word on the results of the attack, which was carried out using one of the destroyer’s 5-inch guns.
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Ground Warfare – How I Spent the War
New Yorker – Nobel laureate Gunter Grass reflects on how he spent World War II – with the Waffen SS.
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US Marines – Marines Battle Bureaucrats and Plead for High-Tech Gear
Wired – A look at how difficult it is for Marines to field new weapons???
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Chinese Navy – Chinese build five nuclear subs
Financial Times – China has surprised the Pentagon with the pace of development of a new class of submarine that threatens the nuclear balance by providing Beijing with a more robust nuclear deterrent. The Chinese navy is developing a fleet of five nuclear ballistic missile submarines. The Jin class submarines would provide a much stronger nuclear deterrent because they would be armed with the new long-range JL-2 missile.
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Chinese Navy – China's Military Buildup
US Navy – How the Navy Bought a Lemon from Northrop Grumman
Aviation Week – The General Accountability Office explains in a new report how the Navy’s Advanced SEAL Delivery System program got so messed up that the service had to cancel its orders last year in favor of an ASDS improvement program. GAO says the Navy paid $885 million over 13 years for the first and only ASDS which is so flawed that it’s only available for limited operational use, prompting Congress to ask for a detailed investigation.
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Iraq – Iraqi tribes shift from hurdle to help
Navy Times – Sean Naylor reports that tribes that once resisted the coalition are now volunteering to become police???a potentially extremely positive development???a very interesting analysis of the current situation on ground in Iraq.
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Chinese Navy – China intent on aircraft carrier
Washington Times – The new commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific and Asia says he found Chinese military leaders intensely interested in acquiring aircraft carriers during a recent visit to that country.
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Geopolitics – U.S. Africa Command Brings New Concerns
Washington Post – The creation of the Defense Department Africa Command, with responsibilities to promote security and government stability in the region, has heightened concerns among African countries and in the U.S. government over the militarization of U.S. foreign policy.
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Information Warfare – War Fears Turn to Cyberspace in Estonia
New York Times – Another look at the cyberwar between Estonia and Russia.
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Geopolitics / Russia – Reviving the evil empire
Los Angeles Times – Niall Ferguson documents how the Soviet Union is being recreated.
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Editorial Note – NOSI will be on break until Tuesday May 29
NOSI is taking a short break and will next update on Tuesday May 29. See you then!
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Information Warfare – Newly nasty
Economist – Defences against cyberwarfare are still rudimentary. That’s scary.
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Information Warfare – Cyber War! – An Interview With John Arquilla
PBS Frontline – A fascinating interview from 2003 to read with the man who coined the term cyber war, especially in light of this month’s events in Estonia.
I also recommend the fictional account he wrote in 1998 of the first cyber war???very insightful fiction:
Wired – The Great Cyberwar of 2002.
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Royal Navy – Chagos Island exiles win right to return home
Daily Telegraph – Families expelled from the Chagos Islands by Britain to make way for an American airbase won their legal battle to return home yesterday. The only island that they will not be able to resettle under original High Court orders allowing their return will be Diego Garcia, where the airbase is situated.
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