Virginian Pilot – The elite commando force is fighting a two-front war, battling to retain experienced warriors in the face of grueling demands and to find new recruits able to meet its rigorous standards.
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US Marines – Navy argues against Marine variant of JSF
Marine Corps Times – Despite public support by Pentagon and Navy leaders for the short-take-off/vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, debates about the planned acquisition and operation of the F-35B continue behind the scenes – worrying Marine Corps officials and potential foreign customers who are counting on the versatile aircraft.
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Iraq – Troops at Odds With Ethics Standards
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes that more than one-third of U.S. soldiers in Iraq surveyed by the Army said they believe torture should be allowed if it helps gather important information about insurgents. Four in 10 said they approve of such illegal abuse if it would save the life of a fellow soldier.
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US Navy – Carrier Eisenhower heads for home after 7 months in Mideast
Virginian Pilot – The USS Eisenhower heads for home, leaving the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz in the Gulf.
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Geopolitics / Hunger – How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor
Foreign Affairs – Thanks to high oil prices and hefty subsidies, corn-based ethanol is now all the rage in the United States. But it takes so much supply to keep ethanol production going that the price of corn — and those of other food staples — is shooting up around the world. To stop this trend, and prevent even more people from going hungry, Washington must conserve more and diversify ethanol’s production inputs.
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Geopolitics – The State of the World
Esquire – A special, in-depth examination of a post-Bush world by Thomas P.M. Barnett, covering the good, the bad, and the unknown.
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Iraq – Good News in Al Anbar
Marine Corps Gazette – The author reports on the progress Marines are making in the troubled Al Anbar Province in Iraq. Despite the violence, progress is being made in training Iraqis and restoring security. Unfortunately, these events are underreported by the mainstream media. (PDF format)
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US Navy – Own the blue water
Armed Forces Journal – “Partner in the brown water; secure the green water; own the blue water,” is a colorful new US Navy mantra. It refers to the need to work closely with other nations to operate in the riverine and sea-land interface environment, to ensure access in the littoral and to maintain dominance in the open ocean ó or blue water ó environment. Although the Navy will operate closer to shore, it will not cede supremacy of the high seas. And although potential adversaries are not vying for open ocean superiority today, one cannot assume that will be the case in the future.
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Iraq – War Called Riskier Than Vietnam
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes that as fighting in Iraq enters its fifth year, an increasing number of experts in foreign policy and national strategy are arguing that the biggest difference between the Vietnam and Iraq wars may be that the Iraq war will inflict greater damage to U.S. interests than Vietnam did.
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Geopolitics / Japan – Japan Is Back:Why Tokyo's New Assertiveness Is Good for Washington
Foreign Affairs – Kenneth Pyle’s new book argues that a resurgence of Japan’s power and purpose has Tokyo poised to play a bigger role on the international stage. Pyle is right, and it is a good thing for Washington and Asian security.
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Iraq – Army Officer Accuses Generals of 'Intellectual and Moral Failures'
Washington Post – An active-duty Army officer is publishing a blistering attack on U.S. generals, saying they have botched the war in Iraq and misled Congress about the situation there.
“America’s generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq,” charges Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran who is deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. “The intellectual and moral failures . . . constitute a crisis in American generals.”
Read the article: Armed Forces Journal – A failure in generalship.
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Fourth Generation Warfare – Van Creveld's Latest
Defense and the National Interest – William Linds looks at the British Army’s success in Northern Ireland, one of the few cases where the state’s armed forces have prevailed over non-state forces.
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US Navy – Searching for a strategy
Armed Forces Journal – The very core of the Navy’s transformation is Sea Power 21. The Navy is making a major effort to create a new maritime strategy, to be formally completed in June. Perhaps it is also necessary to refocus, modify and refine its Sea Power 21 concept???
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Piracy – Google Map Tracks Modern Day Pirate Attacks
Wired – The International Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Crime Services now provides a Google Maps mashup showing all documented pirate attacks for each of the last three years.
View the Piracy Attacks Map.
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Fourth Generation Warfare – A Tactics Primer
Defense and the National Interest – William Lind on why the US remains mired in Second Generation Warfare.
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US Navy – Blue Beret
Armed Forces Journal – British maritime authority Martin Murphy says the Navy can no longer afford to sit out at sea; it must take the irregular fight to where the irregular enemy crouches, close to shore and along the maritime fingers that stretch into urban centers. To take on that specialized task, the Navy needs a special force. He proposes the creation of a “blue berets” unit.
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Russian Navy – In search of the Caspian Sea Monster
The Register – A fun look at the status of some “wing in ground effect” programs.
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US Marines – Report On Haditha Condemns Marines
Washington Post – The Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq ignored “obvious” signs of “serious misconduct” in the 2005 slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, and commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that their deaths were considered an insignificant part of the war, according to an Army general’s investigation.
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US Navy – Navy's newest fast-attack sub, North Carolina, is christened
Virginian Pilot – Under a cloudless Carolina-blue sky, shipbuilders and the Navy on Saturday celebrated the christening of the North Carolina, the nation’s newest fast-attack submarine.
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Transformation – Robot wars
The Economist – An attempt to build an ethical robotic soldier.
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Geopolitics / China – Chinese Lessons:Nixon, Mao, and the Course of U.S.-Chinese Relations
Foreign Affairs – Margaret MacMillan’s engaging narrative history shows how Nixon’s trip to visit Mao helped end the Cold War. But neither leader anticipated how fast China would rise or how that rise would force the U.S.-Chinese relationship to evolve.
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Geopolitics / Environment – US generals urge climate action
BBC – The U.S. military is increasingly focused on a potential national security threat: climate change.
Washington Post – Military Sharpens Focus on Climate Change.
Read the full report: Center for Naval Analyses – National Security and the Threat of Climate Change.
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Iraq – Meet the Press Transcript for April 15, 2007
Meet the Press – General Zinni comments on the current situation in Iraq and the Central Command area of responsibility.
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Editorial Note – NOSI will be on break until Saturday April 21
NOSI will be taking a short break and will be back on Saturday April 21. See you then!
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Geopolitics / Environment – The Power of Green
New York Times Magazine – Thomas Friedman describes what America needs to regain its global stature – Environmental leadership. A fascinating, thoughtful peace on a possible strategy for winning The Long War.
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