Drones are becoming a big problem for armed forces worldwide. They’re small, difficult to detect, and operated by armies and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The drone threat isn’t just limited to the Middle East: in 2014, South Korean authorities found North Korean drones had overflown the Blue House—the official residence of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. This week at the Defence and Security Equipment Industry in London, German defense contractor Rheinmetall Defence Electronics showcased a new sea-based anti-drone laser system. The system, according to Chinese web site qq.com, features not one but four high energy lasers (HEL) mounted on turret, making it look like some kind of laser gatling gun. The principles behind the laser gatling aren’t exactly the same as a regular, bullet-spitting gatling gun. The four 20 kilowatt HELs are designed to be fired simultaneously, in a technique known as superimposition. All four fire at a target at once, and Rheinmetall’s technology combines them into a single powerful 80 kilowatt beam.
According to the company, using superimposition there’s not limit to the amount of energy that can be focused on a target—just add more lasers.
US Army Europe commander: “The Army is not big enough to do all the stuff it is required to do. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said America is down to 30,000 troops in Europe, about 10 percent of what was in place during the Cold War. Since Russia’s push into Ukraine, he and other leaders have tried to use that small force to demonstrate American resolve. “You have to make that 30,000 look like 300,000,” he said. That’s where Fort Carson comes in. The post’s 4th Infantry Division has had soldiers in Europe since February to run training exercises to bolster allies and demonstrate that the U.S. could respond quickly if there’s a crisis. The general said he has been impressed by Russian communications systems and radio jammers. “Their ability to intercept and jam communications is significant,” he said.
And Russia may be developing one key commodity that only Western nations have boasted in the past: smart sergeants. Hodges said intelligence gathered in Ukraine showed that Russian sergeants were using secure tactical radios, a sign that sergeants were leading troops in an Army where, in the past, enlisted leadership was virtually nonexistent. Growing Russian military prowess “makes it very tough for us to get into the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea,” he said. Countering Russia is difficult, though, as a cash-strapped Army continues to thin its ranks.
U.S. Fleet Cyber Command conducts ‘real world operations because they’re there, and we don’t have a choice’ while the Army’s Cyber Command is cautiously getting on its feet. For the Navy, often, there is no time for hacker simulations. “In a lot of cases, we’re doing real world operations because they’re there, and we don’t have a choice,” Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, told Nextgov in a brief interview after she spoke at the conference . That said, the Navy is developing various exercises too.
For example, cyber mission forces teams and other maritime commanders plan how they might fight off an attack directed at a specific numbered fleet commander, she said. The branch encountered a teachable moment a few years ago, when, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2013, Iran allegedly pierced the Navy Marine Corps Intranet. Insider threats have plagued military networks in recent years. There was, among other incidents, a Navy techie who went on a hacking spree at sea and a former Chinese military member, who downloaded Army files while working as a Pentagon contractor. According to the Justice Department, Nicholas Paul Knight was serving as a systems administrator in the nuclear reactor department aboard the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman when, in 2012 and 2013, he co-led a gang of hackers that breached the Navy’s Smart Web Move database. The registry held Social Security numbers, names, and dates of birth, for approximately 222,000 service members.
In 2013, Wei Chen, a one-time Chinese anti-aircraft unit member, allegedly plugged an unsanctioned personal thumb drive into Army computers connected to classified and unclassified networks. After downloading unauthorized material onto the flash drive, he tried to conceal his actions by deleting network logs on the server, according to U.S. authorities. At the time, Chen was serving as a system administrator for Camp Buehring, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait.
EUROZONE AND THE INVASION
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200933#.VgBIa5bJsdU.twitter
An ISIS terrorist recruiter posing as an “asylum seeker” has been arrested by German police in a “refugee” center in Stuttgart. So reports German RTL television. At the same time, a German finance ministry spokesman has acknowledged the seizure of “boxes” of fake Syrian passports, destined for sale and distribution to the new refugees from Syria and elsewhere. Bulgarian police confiscated 10,000 fake Syrian passports on their way to Germany. Just a few days ago, Arutz Sheva quoted Matthew Henman of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center as saying that terrorists sneaking into Europe disguised as refugees “is one of the most pressing security concerns facing security officials across Western Europe currently.” Possession of legal passports, and especially from Syria, is a vital part of claiming asylum as “war refugees.” Fake Syrian passports are being sold for about $1,500 each, the Clarion Project reports, and there seems to be no shortage of demand among the “refugees.”
A TOP Imam has called on muslim migrants to use the refugee crisis to breed with European citizens to ‘conquer their countries’. Sheikh Muhammad Ayed gave the speech at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
He claimed Europe was only welcoming refugees as they were a new source of labour. He claimed that Europe was facing democratic disaster and urged Muslims to have children with westerners in order to ‘trample them underfoot, Allah willing.” So what will the refugee single women do? Submit to polygamy? Latest figures, released by the EU’s official statistics body, Eurostat, show that by 2080, the number of people living in Germany will have slumped by 15 million. In Germany, the number of people in the 20-64 year old age bracket is predicted to fall by around 30 per cent by 2060.
New legislation, passed with a two-thirds majority, allows the army to take part in border controls, to restrict personal liberties and to use “coercive weapons designed to cause bodily harm, although in a non-lethal way, unless it cannot be avoided.”
“Similar to the police, the use of non-lethal firearms, rubber bullets, pyrotechnics, tear gas grenades, and net guns can be used,” it stipulates. Hungary’s parliament gave Monday the army and police sweeping new powers to keep migrants out as populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that Europe was being “overrun”. “They are overrunning us. They’re not just banging on the door, they’re breaking the door down on top of us,” the right-wing Orban told lawmakers. “Our borders are in danger, our way of life built on respect for the law, Hungary and the whole of Europe is in danger,” the 52-year-old said in Budapest. “Europe hasn’t just left its doors open but has sent open invitation… Europe is rich but weak, this is the worst combination, Europe needs to be stronger to defend its borders.”
Give them benefits and they will come. Obama administration is preparing to announce a plan to admit more refugees over the next two years, but at this point the numbers being proposed are too small to relieve the crisis streaming out of Syria. Wednesday at the White House, the most senior national security officials will discuss raising the limit on the number of refugees from around the world allowed to enter the United States — from 70,000 this year to 85,000 next year and 100,000 in fiscal 2017, three administration officials told me. If members of the National Security Council Principals Committee agree on the plan, it will be sent to President Obama’s desk, and administration sources say he is likely to quickly approve it.
IRAN
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/09/16/whats-next-on-iran/
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a second Republican attempt to pass a resolution disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is hardly giving up the fight, moving to schedule a Thursday vote on rolling back sanctions on Iran until the Islamic Republic recognizes Israel’s right to exist and releases American prisoners being held in the country. That set includes The Washington Post’s Iran correspondent, Jason Rezaian. It’s a tactic aimed at forcing an up-or-down vote on the nuclear pact and getting Democrats directly on the record supporting what Republicans hope will be politically unpopular. The deadline for congressional action on the deal is Thursday — Sept. 17.
Some suggest the “nuclear option” — i.e. doing away with the filibuster — but even if advisable it would not get the Senate to 67 votes to override. And remember the House decided not to vote under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (instead taking a vote outside the Cardin-Corker legislative scheme) so there would be little point.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/boosted-by-nuke-deal-iran-ups-funding-to-hezbollah-hamas/
Operating on assumption sanctions will be lifted, Tehran increases support to proxies, while freezing out Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. Since the deal was signed, Iran has significantly increased its financial support for two of the largest terror groups in the region that have become political players, Hamas and Hezbollah. In the years before the deal was signed, the crippling sanctions limited this support, which had significantly diminished along with Iran’s economy. But Tehran’s belief that tens, or hundreds, of billions of dollars will flow into the country in the coming years as a result of sanctions relief has led to a decision to boost the cash flow to these terror organizations. This support, for example, has enabled Hezbollah to obtain highly developed new armaments, including advanced technologies that many militaries around the world would envy. Al-Rai, a Kuwaiti newspaper, reported Saturday that Hezbollah has received all the advanced weaponry that Syria has obtained from the Russians. The report cited a security source involved in the fighting in Zabadani, on the Syria-Lebanon border, where Hezbollah is fighting the al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State, and other groups. It is evidently the growing Iranian financial support that is enabling the Lebanese Shiite militia to purchase advanced weapons, including ones that were hitherto outside of its reach. The increased Iranian financial support for Hezbollah in the wake of the deal is not unrelated to other political developments in the region. The growing sense of security in Iran with regard to its political status has also been bolstered by a Russian decision to increase its involvement in Syria, and may be what drove Iran to send hundreds of members of its Revolutionary Guard Corps to play an active role in the Syria fighting. Iran, along with Hezbollah and Moscow, has decided to dispatch sizable forces to the Syrian front in the past few weeks to prevent the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime. The Shiite-Russia axis has been anxiously watching the Islamic State creep toward Damascus in recent months, and saw the territory controlled by Assad, an important ally, diminished to the coastal region of Latakia south of the capital. The Iranians and Russians grasped that not only was Damascus endangered, but also access to the Alawite regions, from Homs to Damascus — thus the urgency for intervention, including with troops on the ground.
IRAQ
http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/20/iraq-militia-abuses-mar-fight-against-isis
Iraqi government-backed militias carried out widespread destruction of homes and shops around the city of Tikrit in March and April 2015 in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Militiamen deliberately destroyed several hundred civilian buildings with no apparent military reason after the withdrawal of the extremist armed group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, from the area. The 60-page report, “Ruinous Aftermath: Militia Abuses Following Iraq’s Recapture of Tikrit,” uses satellite imagery to corroborate accounts of witnesses that the damage to homes and shops in Tikrit, and the towns of al-Bu ‘Ajil, al-Alam, and al-Dur covered entire neighborhoods. After ISIS fled, Hizbollah Battalions and League of Righteous forces, two of the largely Shia pro-government militias, abducted more than 200 Sunni residents, including children, near al-Dur, south of Tikrit. At least 160 of those abducted remain unaccounted for. Sometimes you just can’t take the rape and pillage out of a culture where it’s a several thousand year tradition to rape and pillage. Shia militia ( controlled by Iran) are engaging in their purge of the Sunnis and reinforcing the hate between the sects.
Shia militias backed by the Iraqi government deliberately destroyed hundreds of homes and shops in Tikrit after retaking the city from Islamic State (IS) militants in March and April of 2015, according to a report released Sunday by Human Rights Watch.
The 60-page report uses satellite imagery to document the damage done to Tikrit and several nearby towns. The destruction was carried out with no apparent military reason after IS withdrew from the area, Human Rights Watch said.
IS seized Tikrit, which lies between Baghdad and Mosul and is famous for being Saddam Hussein’s hometown, in June 2014. Some residents told Human Rights Watch that they initially welcomed the militants after years of alienation by the government of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. But IS committed numerous human rights abuses during its occupation, forcing many people to flee the city and its surrounding areas.
ME – SYRIA, ETC
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/europe/russia/putins-syrian-coup/
By blundering into the middle of the Syrian civil war, Putin has once again put himself at the center of global politics — just as he previously did in 2013 when he engineered the deal to remove Syrian chemical weapons that gave President Obama a way to climb down from his “red line” ultimatum.
Now, with Russian aircraft threatening to interfere with ongoing military operations by both the U.S. and Israel, Putin is further breaking down the West’s attempts to isolate him in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter called his Russian counterpart and military-to-military links between the U.S. and Russia, which had been in deep freeze, have resumed. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Moscow for talks with Putin about what Russia’s military role means for Israel.
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/27256203.html
Reluctant Russian Soldiers Oppose ‘Secret’ Syria Mission-Several Russian soldiers are seeking help from human rights advocates to oppose what they say are secret orders to send them to Syria, according to media reports that add to evidence of a Russian military buildup in the war-torn Middle East country. The Gazeta.ru news site on September 18 published a report containing interviews with four unnamed contract soldiers in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk who said a group of 20 of them had been specially recruited for deployment to Latakia, a Mediterranean coastal province held by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. “We don’t want to go to Syria, we don’t want to die there,” the report quoted a soldier identified only as Aleksei N. as saying. He and the others cited in the report are paid soldiers who serve under contracts, not conscripts. Would you rather be in pow exchange or the subject of a youtube video?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/22/us-mideast-crisis-russia-bases-idUSKCN0RM21520150922
Russian forces developing two additional military facilities near Syria’s Mediterranean coast-taking place at a weapons storage facility and a military base north of Latakia, suggesting Russia is preparing to place troops at both locations. One of the facilities is adjacent to a surface-to-air missile site-(where Russian advisors have been)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/21/russia-to-start-bombing-in-syria-asap.html
Russian combat operations on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are likely to begin “soon,” three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast. And Russian drone flights to spot targets for potential airstrikes are already underway. That concession by U.S. officials of growing Russian influence marks a shift from previous statements by officials who said they weren’t sure whether Russia intended to use force in Syria and enter into the country’s long and brutal civil war. There already are early signs that Russia plans to target moderate forces that threaten the Assad regime, not the self-proclaimed Islamic State, which has been the focus of a year-long U.S.-led air campaign.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/article5156824.ece
A mortar shell on Sunday landed in the grounds of the Russian Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus, causing no casualties, Syrian state media reported. Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted an embassy source as saying that the shell fell in the embassy compound and that work was continuing as normal. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack, saying there were no immediate reports about casualties. The Britain-based Observatory said the area in central Damascus where the embassy is located has repeatedly been attacked in the past. Sunday however was the first time the Russian Embassy was hit. Russia, a major ally and arms supplier to Damascus, played a key role in a deal struck last week by Moscow and Washington on Syria’s chemical weapons.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-to-allow-israeli-strikes-on-syrian-arms-transfers-pm-says/
This is surprising since Israel will be blowing up weapons provided to Hezbollah by Iran. Russia to allow Israeli strikes on Syrian arms transfers, PM says After Kremlin meet, Netanyahu says ‘mechanism’ reached with Russian leader to prevent misunderstandings in Syrian fighting. srael and Russia agreed on a mechanism to avoid military confrontations between the two countries in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. My goal was to prevent misunderstandings between IDF forces and Russian forces. We have established a mechanism to prevent such misunderstandings. This is very important for Israel’s security,” Netanyahu told Israeli reporters during a telephone briefing from the Russian capital.
US-trained Division 30 rebels ‘betrayed US and hand weapons over to al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria’ Pentagon-trained rebels are reported to have betrayed US and handed weapons over to Jabhat al-Nusra immediately after entering Syria. Division 30 was the first faction whose fighters graduated from a US-led training programme in Turkey which aims to forge a force on the ground in Syria to fight against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil)- he new group from Division 30 that entered yesterday hands over all of its weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra after being granted safe passage. “They handed over a very large amount of ammunition and medium weaponry and a number of pick-ups.” You might think that Putin would hesitate to take such steps which strengthen the hands of radical Islamists, considering that Russia faces a serious threat of its own from jihadist groups. But obviously that is not much a concern to Putin, who is putting the imperative to preserve Assad — and the sheer joy of needling the United States and its allies — at the top of his foreign policy agenda. As long as Putin gets away with his mischief-making, we can expect more of the same in the future.
U.S. began its air campaign in Syria meant to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State group late Monday, but the Sunni extremist group is not the only U.S. enemy on the ground. Jabhat al-Nusra, one of al Qaeda’s branches in Syria, is also reportedly being hit by airstrikes from the U.S. and its allies in the region. At least 50 fighters for the group, also known as Nusra Front, were killed overnight, according to Reuters. Jabhat al-Nusra has played many roles in the more than three-year civil war that has rocked Syria. Originally, many of the fighters in the group were lumped in on the rebel side of the war with others fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. As the situation on the ground became increasingly fractionalized, Jabhat al-Nusra began warring with the more “moderate rebels,” the Free Syrian Army. If that weren’t complicated enough, it then split from longtime partner and former al Qaeda affiliate, the militant group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Nusra Front has 10,000 fewer fighters than Islamic State. ISIS and the Nusra Front share family ties. Both groups descend from al Qaeda in Iraq, which sent militants to Syria to create Nusra Front in January 2012. The group quickly made gains across Syria and Lebanon working alongside ISIS. By the end of that year, the U.S. and several other Western countries had declared it a terrorist organization. In March 2013, al Qaeda released a statement stating it was no longer affiliated with ISIS, and that Jabhat al-Nusra would now be its official branch in Syria. By that point, clashes between the two groups had already resulted in the death of 3,000 people. The group ultimately split after a suggestion from the head of one of Syria’s most secretive militant groups, Khrorasan. But ISIS and the Nusra Front might have had a recent reconciliation. This summer, the Lebanese military reportedly arrested a Jabhat al-Nusra leader, Emad Jumaa, who said the militant groups were coordinating on attacks on the Lebanese border.
chief of staff of the US-trained Syrian rebel group Division 30 resigned from his position on social media on Saturday, days after a top military general told Congress that the US had successfully trained just “four or five” opposition soldiers.
Citing problems such as “slowness in the implementation of the training program of the 30th brigade,” “the lack of sufficient numbers of trainees,” and “the lack of seriousness in the implementation of the project to establish the 30th brigade,” Colonel Mohammad al-Daher announced his withdrawal from the program.
As it turns out, there’s still more evidence available to support the notion that Syria’s civil war was engineered by the Pentagon ( at behest of State Dept ). In his new book, Julian Assange highlights a cable from acting Deputy Chief of Mission in Syria William Roebuck who was stationed in Damascus from 2004-2006. It’s available in full from Wikileaks and below are what we believe to be the most notable excerpts, presented without further comment. PLAY ON SUNNI FEARS OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE: There are fears in Syria that the Iranians are active in both Shia proselytizing and conversion of, mostly poor, Sunnis. Though often exaggerated, such fears reflect an element of the Sunni community in Syria that is increasingly upset by and focused on the spread of Iranian influence in their country through activities ranging from mosque construction to business. Both the local Egyptian and Saudi missions here, (as well as prominent Syrian Sunni religious leaders), are giving increasing attention to the matter and we should coordinate more closely with their governments on ways to better publicize and focus regional attention on the issue.
— Vulnerability:
— THE INNER CIRCLE: At the end of the day, the regime is dominated by the Asad family and to a lesser degree by Bashar Asad,s maternal family, the Makhlufs, with many family members believe to be increasingly corrupt. The family, and hangers on, as well as the larger Alawite sect, are not immune to feuds and anti-regime conspiracies, as was evident last year when intimates of various regime pillars (including the Makhloufs) approached us about post-Bashar possibilities. Corruption is a great divider and Bashar’s inner circle is subject to the usual feuds and squabbles related to graft and corruption. For example, it is generally known that Maher Asad is particularly corrupt and incorrigible. He has no scruples in his feuds with family members or others. There is also tremendous fear in the Alawite community about retribution if the Sunni majority ever regains power.
— Possible Action:
— ADDITIONAL DESIGNATIONS: Targeted sanctions against regime members and their intimates are generally welcomed by most elements of Syrian society. But the way designations are applied must exploit fissures and render the inner circle weaker rather than drive its members closer together. The designation of Shawkat caused him some personal irritation and was the subject of considerable discussion in the business community here. While the public reaction to corruption tends to be muted, continued reminders of corruption in the inner circle have resonance. We should look for ways to remind the public of our previous designations.
— Vulnerability:
— THE KURDS: The most organized and daring political opposition and civil society groups are among the ethnic minority Kurds, concentrated in Syria,s northeast, as well as in communities in Damascus and Aleppo. This group has been willing to protest violently in its home territory when others would dare not. There are few threats that loom larger in Bashar,s mind than unrest with the Kurds. In what is a rare occurrence, our DATT was convoked by Syrian Military Intelligence in May of 2006 to protest what the Syrians believed were US efforts to provide military training and equipment to the Kurds in Syria.
* * *
CHINA
http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/73548/what-president-xi-wants
Chinese president’s Wednesday visit with tech executives in Seattle sets the tone for his trip to Washington later this week. White House has publicly criticized China in recent months for manipulating its currency, engaging in corporate espionage, proposing restrictions for U.S. tech firms that want to do business in the country, and being involved in a spate of cyberattacks that targeted American companies and government agencies. Despite this tension, however, President Obama will greet Chinese President Xi Jinping with a 21-gun salute and a formal state dinner when he visits Washington this week. And while Obama has a long list of grievances he will likely want to take up with Xi, the Chinese president is coming with his own agenda. Technology and cybernorms will be a focus of Xi’s state visit, which begins Tuesday in Seattle. There, Xi will commune with tech leaders—including the chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Facebook—becoming the fourth consecutive Chinese leader to travel to the Pacific Northwest tech hub. Calling the U.S.–China relationship “the most consequential in the world today,” National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Monday that ongoing engagement and negotiations are the only option. “I know that some people question why we host China at all. That is a dangerous and shortsighted view,” she said at an appearance at George Washington University. “If we sought to punish China by cancelling meetings or refusing to engage them, we would only be punishing ourselves.” She added, “If America chose to remove itself from China, we would only ensure that the Chinese are not challenged on the issues where we differ and are not encouraged to peacefully rise within the international system that we have done so much to build.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/22/us-usa-china-idUSKCN0RM17G20150922
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle on Tuesday to kick off a week-long U.S. visit that will include meetings with U.S. business leaders, a black-tie state dinner at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama and an address at the United Nations. The Chinese President is due to tour Boeing’s widebody plant and nearby Microsoft Corp on Wednesday, and will later meet Warren Buffett, Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook and Amazon.com head Jeff Bezos, among 30 U.S. and Chinese business leaders at a roundtable discussion.
U.S. tech companies are seeking to expand access to the Chinese consumer market. Even if no formal agreements are reached, the presidential blessing “sends an important message to Chinese leadership” to help them, said Ed Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates chair of computer science at the University of Washington. No policy breakthroughs are likely during Xi’s U.S. trip, which ends with a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 28. End of the day a lot of US Corporations still see China as the golden land of massive profit and increase in stock holder value.
China’s economy isn’t as weak as it may look, according to a private survey from a New York-based research group that says it’s a myth the nation’s slowdown is intensifying. “No collapse is nigh” in the aftermath of the stock market plunge and currency devaluation, according to the third-quarter China Beige Book, published by CBB International and modeled on the survey compiled by the Federal Reserve on the U.S. economy. Capital expenditure rebounded slightly in the period and the services sector showed strength, the report said. “Perceptions of China may be more thoroughly divorced from facts on the ground than at any time in our nearly five years of surveying the economy,” CBB President Leland Miller wrote in the report. “Global sentiment on China has veered sharply bearish–too bearish. While we have long cautioned clients against relying on rosy official views of the Chinese economy, we believe sentiment has swung substantially too far in the opposite direction.” The report describes a mixed, rather than disastrous, picture of the world’s second-largest economy. Weakening exports, deepening factory-gate deflation and a manufacturing slowdown have highlighted the risk of this year’s expansion undershooting Premier Li Keqiang’s target for growth of about 7 percent. best situation for most economies is stable and low inflation-China appears to be enjoying exactly that, notwithstanding widespread fear of deflation.” The report also found that job growth inched up, company profits improved, and wage growth moderated mildly. Capital expenditure picked up for a second quarter following four quarters of broad decline, the authors wrote.
Britain to be China’s ‘bridge’ into western markets, says George Osborne. People’s Bank of China to begin issuing short-term renminbi denominated debt in London ‘in the near future’. Is Britain still selling US Treasuries? One of 53 agreements announced at the end of the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue which was being held in the Chinese capital, where Mr Osborne’s passion for China has been strongly evident. “I have strongly supported China’s efforts to increase the international use of the reminbi,” said Mr Osborne. “And make no doubt about it, I want the UK to be the natural Western hub for renminbi trading.” China still on track to make yuan a reserve currency regardless what IMF says.
http://en.people.cn/n/2015/0921/c90000-8952808.html
High-speed rail in NE China linking borders of North Korea and Russia starts operation ( China now the contender to be the leader for high speed rail – Japan is the leader) The high-speed railway from Changchun to Hunchun, eastern most city of China, officially opened to traffic on Sept. 20. It connects the borders of China, North Korea and Russia, Xinhua reports on Monday, quoting resources of China’s National Radio. The railway starts from Changchun, capital city of northeastern China’s Jilin province, and runs all the way to Hunchun in only three hours and five minutes. It is a major part of the rapid transportation network in northeastern region of China. It is also China’s gateway to North Korea and Russia in Northeast Asia and an important channel to the Sea of Japan.
SOUTH CHINA SEA
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/09/china-strategy-designed-to-eject-united-states-from-asia/
As military manoeuvres between the United States and China continue, it seems that the East Asian powerhouse is beating the United States in the so-called ‘gray zone’. This may be an obtuse concept to many people, but the term gray zone refers to the attempts of a nation to make military gains at the expense of a strategic competitor via somewhat covert tactics. Although these tactics may be aggressive, they are still ultimately intended to remain below the level that usually constitutes conventional military retaliation. China has utilized cost-exchange ratio as a weapon against the United States. China has implemented a fleet of fishing boats, which have been internationally manoeuvring in order to create the risk of a collision. This previously drove a US surveillance ship by the name of Impeccable out of the region in 2009. China repeated his tactic in 2013, compelling the US cruiser worship Cowpens to abandon its observation of a Chinese naval exercise. Additionally, the attempts of China to engage in gray zone activities should not be considered limited to the South China Sea. Cyber attacks can certainly be considered part of this effort, and the Chinese state has sponsored numerous such efforts since the concept of state-sponsored cyber warfare became a mainstream media focus point. Gray zone response evolving – It is certainly the case that cyber attacks could ultimately result in death and destruction, but although the scale of the cyber warfare can be considered comparable to traditional war, the reality is that governments are still developing responses and expectations to such stratagems. China has taken full advantage of this uncertainty and gray area, with the United States still developing its policy in this arena.
Over the last year, the world has watched as China has gone from one airfield in the South China Sea to potentially four. Facilities on Woody Island in the Paracels already gave China the ability to monitor the northern South China Sea. Earlier this year, the addition of an airfield on Fiery Cross Reef provided a more southerly runway capable of handling most if not all Chinese military aircraft. And in June, satellite photos indicated that China was preparing to lay down another runway at Subi Reef. New photos taken on September 3 show grading work at Subi, providing further evidence that runway construction there is planned. Meanwhile work at the Fiery Cross airfield is well advanced, with China recently laying down paint. Satellite photos taken on September 8 contain an unanticipated development, indicating that China may be preparing to construct another airstrip at Mischief Reef. These images show that a retaining wall has been built along the northwest side of the reef, creating a roughly 3,000-meter rectangular area. This is the only part of the feature where China has chosen to use a retaining wall to straighten what would otherwise be an irregular landmass; on the rest of Mischief its reclamation work has followed the natural geography of the underlying reef. A cement plant has been set up in that area, indicating that significant construction is planned. This all echoes preparatory work seen earlier at Fiery Cross and Subi, suggesting another runway could be in the works. An airstrip at Mischief would be of particular concern to the Philippines. The potential runway would be just 21 nautical miles from the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era tank landing ship deliberately grounded by the Philippines in 1999 that is home to a contingent of Philippine marines at Second Thomas Shoal. China has maintained a constant coast guard presence around Second Thomas since 2013 and attempted to prevent resupply of the Sierra Madre in March 2014. The potential airfield at Mischief Reef would also be just 60 nautical miles from Reed Bank, where the Philippines hopes to drill for natural case deposits over China’s objections. Fiery Cross sits in the western half of the Spratlys and the airstrip there most directly presents a hurdle to operations by Vietnam, which occupies most of that part of the chain. Subi is at the northern end of the Spratlys, just 15 nautical miles from the Philippine airstrip at Thitu Island and less than 40 from Taiwan’s only holding on Itu Aba. A third airstrip on Mischief Reef, 100 nautical miles southeast of Subi, would complete the triangle, significantly boosting China’s air patrol and interdiction capabilities over the contested waters and features of the Spratlys,
RUSSIA
http://20committee.com/2014/03/29/understanding-provocation/
One of the most powerful tools the Kremlin has in its secret arsenal of Special War is provocation, what they call provokatsiya. While Moscow cannot claim to have invented this technique, which has existed as long as there have been secret services, there’s no doubt that Russians have perfected the art and taken it to a whole new level of sophistication and deviousness. At times, it can become a strategy all on its own (not always, mind you, with edifying results). Provokatsiya simply means taking control of your enemies in secret and encouraging them to do things that discredit them and help you. You plant your own agents provocateurs and flip legitimate activists, turning them to your side. When you’re dealing with extremists to start with, getting them to do crazy, self-defeating things isn’t often difficult. In some cases, you simply create extremists and terrorists where they don’t exist. This is causing problems in order to solve them, and since the Tsarist period, Russian intelligence has been known to do just that. Provocation combined with propaganda can be powerfully effective in transmitting Big Lies about people, places, and even whole countries, especially in times of crisis. The Kremlin has been honing this unpleasant skill for more than a century. The next time you hear about violence in Ukraine – and, sadly, you certainly will – it’s good to remember that provokatsiya is real.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/606505/Armageddon-Russian-bombers-arm-nuclear-bomb-UK-airspace
PILOTS in one of the two Russian supersonic bombers intercepted near UK skies last week had started the countdown to arm a nuclear bomb, sources revealed last night. The discovery was made after RAF specialists analyzed a four-second signal transmitted from one of the Tupolev Tu-160 bombers, known by Nato as “Blackjacks”, in the days following Thursday’s incursion. Analysts at RAF Boulmer, Britain’s Control and Reporting Centre, confirmed that the Russian bombers had begun the sequence to arm nuclear weapons while carrying out the incursion. It is not the first time they have done this and comparison with a similar signal transmitted by a TU-95 “Bear” bomber revealed Russian air crew had begun the countdown during an incursion last year, as well. The Sunday Express revealed that the bomber involved in the February 2014 incident had been carrying a submarine-busting nuclear depth charge designed to attack Britain’s Trident-carrying Vanguard submarines. “All I can say is that we now know it related to the first stage of arming a nuclear device,”
3 special-purpose Russian trains -first appearing in World War I, Russian military train technology protected the country throughout the entire 20th century. Armored trains, large-caliber artillery installations and rail-based missile systems continue to serve Russia also in the 21st century. RBTH looks at three of the most unusual special-purpose trains
1. The logistics train
Due to the absence of armor on the wagons, this train is not used in combat and operates only in the rear. The train’s facilities help satisfy the troops’ everyday sanitary needs: from washing uniforms to disinfecting soldiers. The logistics train is also equipped with all the modern communication devices that help staff officers carry out their functions: radio, telephone, telegraph, satellite and video conferencing technology. The presence of a 2MW electric power generator (the power capacity of a small factory) makes the train independent in terms of energy consumption. The logistics train was included in all the Center 2015 large-scale exercises that took place in September in the Central Military District.
2. The combat rail missile system
Combat rail missile systems are needed to respond to a nuclear strike in the event of an attack. The USSR had 12 specialized trains with 15P961 Molodets missile systems installed. Each train contained three strategic missiles with 10 Stilet warheads.
Combat rail missile systems were on combat duty from 1987 to 1994, after which, under the terms of the START II treaty, Russia pledged to liquidate all the RT-23 Molodets missiles. In 2013 the Russian government decided to revive the combat rail missile systems.
usual special-purpose trains.
3. Armored train
During the antiterrorist operation in the North Caucasus between 2002 and 2009 the military created an entire group of armored trains. Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov ordered the special trains to be removed for conservation, but current Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu decided to return the trains to service. The main objectives of the modern special armored trains are to protect civilian and military trains, as well as to prevent terrorist acts intended to sabotage railroad tracks, as the armored trains are transporting personnel. Currently, Russia has four armored trains – the Baikal, Terek, Amur and Don. They served in the late 1980s on the Soviet-Chinese border.
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/27257584.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed the establishment of an air base in Belarus, the latest in a series of moves by Moscow to project Russian military power abroad. Putin said in a September 19 statement that he had agreed to a government proposal to sign a deal for the military air base and had ordered defense and Foreign Ministry officials to start talks on the issue with Belarus. The plan is not expected to face major obstacles. Russian defense officials have said the base would station Su-27 fighter jets.
UKRAINE
Russia has been using an advanced form of hybrid warfare in Ukraine since early 2014 that relies heavily on an element of information warfare that the Russians call “reflexive control.” Reflexive control causes a stronger adversary voluntarily to choose the actions most advantageous to Russian objectives by shaping the adversary’s perceptions of the situation decisively. Moscow has used this technique skillfully to persuade the U.S. and its European allies to remain largely passive in the face of Russia’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle Ukraine through military and non-military means. The West must become alert to the use of reflexive control techniques and find ways to counter them if it is to succeed in an era of hybrid war. Reflexive control, and the Kremlin’s information warfare generally, is not the result of any theoretical innovation. All of the underlying concepts and most of the techniques were developed by the Soviet Union decades ago. Russian strategic theory today remains relatively unimaginative and highly dependent on the body of Soviet work with which Russia’s leaders are familiar. Russian information operations in Ukraine do not herald a new era of theoretical or doctrinal advances, although they aim, in part, to create precisely this impression. Russia’s information warfare is thus a significant challenge to the West, but not a particularly novel or insuperable one.
It relies, above all, on Russia’s ability to take advantage of pre-existing dispositions among its enemies to choose its preferred courses of action. The primary objective of the reflexive control techniques Moscow has employed in the Ukraine situation has been to persuade the West to do something its leaders mostly wanted to do in the first place, namely, remain on the sidelines as Russia dismantled Ukraine. These techniques would not have succeeded in the face of Western leaders determined to stop Russian aggression and punish or reverse Russian violations of international law.
The key elements of Russia’s reflexive control techniques in Ukraine have been:
• Denial and deception operations to conceal or obfuscate the presence of Russian forces in Ukraine, including sending in “little green men” in uniforms without insignia;
• Concealing Moscow’s goals and objectives in the conflict, which sows fear in some and allows others to persuade themselves that the Kremlin’s aims are limited and ultimately acceptable;
• Retaining superficially plausible legality for Russia’s actions by denying Moscow’s involvement in the conflict, requiring the international community to recognize Russia as an interested power rather than a party to the conflict, and pointing to supposedly-equivalent Western actions such as the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo in the 1990s and the invasion of Iraq in 2003;
• Simultaneously threatening the West with military power in the form of overflights of NATO and non-NATO countries’ airspace, threats of using Russia’s nuclear weapons, and exaggerated claims of Russia’s military prowess and success;
• The deployment of a vast and complex global effort to shape the narrative about the Ukraine conflict through formal and social media.
The results of these efforts have been mixed. Russia has kept the West from intervening materially in Ukraine, allowing itself the time to build and expand its own military involvement in the conflict. It has sowed discord within the NATO alliance and created tensions between potential adversaries about how to respond. It has not, however, fundamentally changed popular or elite attitudes about Russia’s actions in Ukraine, nor has it created an information environment favorable to Moscow.
UKRAINE/ NATO
http://www.rt.com/news/316003-german-jets-baltic-ammunition/#.Vf90hJfpZkQ.twitter
German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets have started patrolling the airspace of the three Baltic States with full ammunition loads. The move is designed to “motivate” German pilots, the military say. German fighter jets are flying the Baltic skies fully armed “for the first time since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis,” the DPA news agency reports citing the German Air Force’s Inspector General Karl Müllner. He explained the move was not about “escalation,” but it is needed to ensure parity when encountering a potential enemy. The German military official did not elaborate on which Air Force might become the enemy. Müllner added that ammunition on board Eurofighters is also necessary to “motivate pilots” on missions in the Baltic skies. In September-December 2014, German fighters patrolled Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian airspace with empty magazines. Müllner said that was a political decision aimed at de-escalating tensions.
SAUDI ARABIA
Fury after Saudi Arabia ‘chosen to head key UN human rights panel’ UN has been criticised for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role – despite the country having “arguably the worst record in the world” on freedoms for women, minorities and dissidents.
Critics labelled the appointment of Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, “scandalous”, saying it meant “oil trumps human rights”. UN Watch, an independent campaigning NGO, revealed Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was elected as chair of a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council. As head of a five-strong group of diplomats, the influential role would give Mr Trad the power to select applicants from around the world for scores of expert roles in countries where the UN has a mandate on human rights.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/767116#.VgBHk_lFn1c.twitter
There would be no rights granted to gay people in the Kingdom, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
In a post on its Twitter account, the ministry stated that it supports human rights principles proposed by international bodies as long as they are in line with Islamic law. It also slammed those questioning the Kingdom’s rights record.
It said that freedom of expression does not mean demeaning the beliefs of Muslims; and condemned those who continue to ridicule the Prophet, peace be upon him.
The ministry said it rejected terrorism and urged united international action to tackle all forms of extremism because these ideas violate the teachings of the world’s religions.
YEMEN
AQAP ( al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula formed in January 2009 through a union of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaeda. Jihadist antecedents in the region date to the early 1990s, when thousands of mujahadeen returned to Yemen after fighting the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan.) AQAP forces have appeared on the streets as Resistance militias demand back pay from Saudi-led coalition and Hadi removes governor. After the war between the Resistance and the Houthis rebels ended in Aden, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters appeared in the Al-Tawahi district of the city. AQAP fighters were part of the Resistance during the war, and once the Houthis left they spread freely in the city with their slogans and weapons, sometimes setting up checkpoints, and facing no opposition from other Resistance groups.
Yasser Ameen, 33, a resident in Al-Tawahi district, said that the AQAP members appeared suddenly in the district after the Houthis left the city. “This is the first time that I see AQAP members walking in our city with their weapons,” he said to MEE, stating that no one in his neighbourhood knows where these fighters are from.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/961508/yemeni-president-returns-to-aden-after-6-month-exile/
Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi landed in Aden on Tuesday, airport sources said, returning to the southern port city for the first time since he escaped to Saudi Arabia as Houthi fighters closed in six months ago. A government source said Hadi would spend the Eidul Azha holiday in Aden and then fly to New York to deliver a speech at the United Nations. Last week, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and seven ministers returned to Aden to take up residence in the city. An alliance of Arab states — mostly Yemen’s wealthy Arabian Peninsula neighbours — intervened in the impoverished country’s civil war in March with the aim of restoring Hadi, and have helped drive the Iranian-allied Houthi forces back from Aden. Don’t get too cozy HADI
http://irantruth.org/iranian-minister-shades-irans-activities-in-yemen/
Reports indicate that Iran has dispatched a large number of paramilitary forces to assist the Houthis in their war, which has successfully displaced the existing government in Yemen. These include both Quds Force members and members of Lebanese Hezbollah according to these same reports. In March the BBC reported that Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani was being dispatched to Yemen citing sources close to Suleimani, although the network later retracted the report following Iran’s release of what it claimed were photographs of Suleimani attending worship services with the Supreme Leader that day. Iran’s involvement with Yemen’s war was confirmed by the Quds Force deputy commander, Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani, although his remarks could indicate that the aid was being provided outside of Yemeni territory. “Those defending Yemen,” he said in reference to the Houthis, “have been trained under the flag of the Islamic Republic.” That could mean that they were trained within Iran itself, rather than at camps in Yemen.
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