Jüdische Soldaten in deutschen Armeen

Oberstleutnant i. G. Jörg Barandat wies uns auf folgende Studie hin:

DOKUMENTATION DER TAGUNG DER KONRAD-ADENAUER-STIFTUNG (KAS) IN ZUSAMMENARBEIT MIT DEM BUND JÜDISCHER SOLDATEN (RJF) UND DEM ZENTRALRAT DER JUDEN IN DEUTSCHLAND.

Zur Studie.

Vladimir Putin defends missiles at arms parade

Outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended plans to roll tanks and missiles through Moscow at the end of the week, declaring that the display is not intended to “threaten anyone.” It is the first time in many years Moscow’s Victory Day parade will include armaments.

Read full story.

The French Military Revolution

Newsweek International reports on France’s success in using small combat units to partner with different international military alliances.

“A year into his first term, in fact, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is using his warm relations with Washington and his military’s strong record fighting in Africa and the Balkans to help re-establish France publicly and formally as a leading player in NATO, more than four decades after President Charles de Gaulle pulled out of the alliance’s integrated command and kicked its offices out of Paris. At the same time, he’s working to put France at the fore of a separate European Union defense force and extend its influence eastward to the Persian Gulf and South Asia. And if France really wants to project itself on the world stage this way, well, it couldn’t happen at a better time. U.S. forces are stretched thin, and there are only a handful of other armies with the training, the bases, the organization and, most important, the political will to kill and die in far corners of the planet to keep local wars from emerging into global threats. The shortlist includes the Brits-and the French, and that’s about it.”

Read full story.

What the Petraeus Promotion Means

General David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, was tapped to head Centcom, the U.S. strategic command in the Middle East.

TIME takes a look at the promotion of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and the intersection with the presidential campaign. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have called for a major troop withdrawal from Iraq, will need to vote in the coming weeks on Petraeus’ promotion. His presence will also raise questions about the long-term prospects for the surge strategy in Iraq as well as counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan.

Read full story.

CDU-Fraktion Expertenanhörung Flughafen Tempelhof

EINLADUNG

Am 27. April 2008, entscheiden die Berlinerinnen und Berliner in einem - in der Verfassung verankerten - Volksentscheid darüber, ob der Flughafen Tempelhof weiter erhalten bleibt, oder als Wiese ohne Nutzungskonzept verödet.

Die CDU-Fraktion hat sich bereits während des Volksbegehrens mit aller Kraft für die Offenhaltung des Flughafens Tempelhof eingesetzt. Denn seit der Berlin-Blockade im Jahr 1948 ist er das Freiheitssymbol unserer Stadt, vor allem aber ist er ein Chancenflughafen für Investitionen und Arbeitsplätze.

Wenige Tage vor dem Volksentscheid haben wir hochrangige Experten zu einer Anhörung eingeladen. Sie werden herausarbeiten, wie Tempelhof als ideale Ergänzung zum Großflughafen BBI den Berliner Wirtschaftsstandort nachhaltig stärken kann. Auch das Konzept der Investoren Lauder und Langhammer soll intensiv erläutert werden.

Expertenanhörung zur Offenhaltung des Flughafens Tempelhof

Begrüßung:
- Dr. Friedbert Pflüger, MdA, Vorsitzender der CDU-Fraktion

Podium:
- Friedrich Merz, MdB, CDU-Wirtschaftsexperte
“Standortvorteil Tempelhof bei wachsendem Geschäftsflugverkehr nutzen”
- Prof. Dr. Elmar Giemulla, Luftverkehrsexperte der TU Berlin
“Weiterbetrieb von Tempelhof ist Null-Gefahr für BBI”
- Wolf-Dieter Siebert, Vorstand der Deutschen Bahn
“Die Deutsche Bahn als Betreiber von Tempelhof”
- Robert Salzl, Projektplaner der CED GmbH (Lauder)
“Das Lauder-Konzept - neue Arbeitsplätze für Berlin”

Moderation:
- Jochim Stoltenberg, Berliner Morgenpost

Schlusswort:
- Ingo Schmitt, MdB, Mitglied im Verkehrsausschuss, Landesvorsitzender der CDU Berlin

Dienstag, 22. April 2008, 18:00 Uhr im Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin, Preußischer Landtag, Raum 311 Niederkirchnerstraße 5, 10111 Berlin

Wir würden uns freuen, wenn wir Sie zu unserer Expertenanhörung begrüßen könnten. Um sich anzumelden, bitte hier klicken.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Gina Schmelter - Referentin für Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

CDU-Fraktion des Abgeordnetenhauses von Berlin
Preußischer Landtag
10111 Berlin
Telefon: (030) 23 25-21 20
Telefax: (030) 23 25-27 52
E-Mail: schmelter@cdu-fraktion.berlin.de
Internet: www.cdu-fraktion.berlin.de

Delta-Northwest Deal

The Wall Street Journal reports on the agreed merger between U.S. airlines Delta and Northwest, a deal which faces resistance from regulators and employees but would create the world’s largest airline by traffic.

Read full story.

Turkey as a U.S. Security Partner

A new report from the Rand Corporation looks at Turkey as a strategic ally of the United States of America in its security operations across the Middle East. It says a shifting focus in Turkish interests should command the attention of U.S. policymakers.

“Turkey has long been an important U.S. ally, but especially with the end of the Cold War, the relationship has been changing. Divergences between U.S. and Turkish interests have grown, in part because of Turkey’s relationships with its neighbors and the tension between its Western identity and its Middle Eastern orientation. Further, relations with the European Union have also deteriorated of late. As a result, Ankara has come to feel that it can no longer rely on its traditional allies, and Turkey is likely to be a more difficult and less predictable partner in the future. While Turkey will continue to want good ties to the United States, it is likely to be drawn more heavily into the Middle East by the Kurdish issue and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Consequently, the tension between Turkey’s Western identity and Middle Eastern orientation is likely to grow even more.”

Read full story.

France returns to NATO’s military command

On the second day of the NATO summit in Bucharest, French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated he intends to have France rejoin NATO’s military command, which it quit in 1966 under Général De Gaulle, and said he will make a formal decision by the end of the year. Nicolas Sarkozy also said France was prepared to deploy some 800 troops to eastern Afghanistan.

Read full story.

Littoral Combat Ship, a new generation of U.S. Navy ships

A briefing from the Rand Corporation examines the U.S. Navy’s first modular warship, the Littoral Combat Ship, and offers suggestions for how to use the vessel strategically.

Read full story.

Suez Canal incident

The Christian Science Monitor reports on an incident involving a U.S. cargo ship and a small boat in the Suez Canal. U.S. and Egyptian officials have released starkly different accounts of the event.

Read full story.

United States presidential election, 2008: Rethinking President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative

In an op-ed in The Boston Globe, Democratic Representative of Massachusetts John Tierney, and military expert and author of The Edge of Disaster Stephen Flynn write that the best way to mark the anniversary of President Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ speech would be a debate about its relevance post-September 11.

“The silver anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ speech came and went quietly this week. However, the research program to develop ballistic missile defense still remains a big-ticket item a quarter-century later.

For 2009, the White House is requesting $12.3 billion to develop ballistic missile defense. This is on top of the more than $120 billion taxpayers have already spent since 1985 to develop a system that still has yet to be realistically tested and may never be operationally effective.

Over the past decade, security experts have warned that the most likely way a nuclear weapon will find its way into the United States is hidden in the cargo of a ship or smuggled across US borders.”

Read full story.

***

Address to the Nation on National Security by President Ronald Reagan, March 23, 1983

My fellow Americans, 

The calls for cutting back the defense budget come in nice, simple arithmetic. They’re the same kind of talk that led the democracies to neglect their defenses in the 1930’s and invited the tragedy of World War II. We must not let that grim chapter of history repeat itself through apathy or neglect.

This is why I’m speaking to you tonight - to urge you to tell your Senators and Congressmen that you know we must continue to restore our military strength. If we stop in midstream, we will send a signal of decline, of lessened will, to friends and adversaries alike.

Free people must voluntarily, through open debate and democratic means, meet the challenge that totalitarians pose by compulsion. It’s up to us, in our time, to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day.

The solution is well within our grasp. But to reach it, there is simply no alternative but to continue this year, in this budget, to provide the resources we need to preserve the peace and guarantee our freedom.

Now, thus far tonight I’ve shared with you my thoughts on the problems of national security we must face together. My predecessors in the Oval Office have appeared before you on other occasions to describe the threat posed by Soviet power and have proposed steps to address that threat. But since the advent of nuclear weapons, those steps have been increasingly directed toward deterrence of aggression through the promise of retaliation.

This approach to stability through offensive threat has worked. We and our allies have succeeded in preventing nuclear war for more than three decades. in recent months, however, my advisers, including in particular the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have underscored the necessity to break out of a future that relies solely on offensive retaliation for our security.

Over the course of these discussions, I’ve become more and more deeply convinced that the human spirit must be capable of rising above dealing with other nations and human beings by threatening their existence. Feeling this way, I believe we must thoroughly examine every opportunity for reducing tensions and for introducing greater stability into the strategic calculus on both sides.

One of the most important contributions we can make is, of course, to lower the level of all arms, and particularly nuclear arms. We’re engaged right now in several negotiations with the Soviet Union to bring about a mutual reduction of weapons. I will report to you a week from tomorrow my thoughts on that score. But let me just say, I’m totally committed to this course.

If the Soviet Union will join with us in our effort to achieve major arms reduction, we will have succeeded in stabilizing the nuclear balance. Nevertheless, it will still be necessary to rely on the specter of retaliation, on mutual threat. And that’s a sad commentary on the human condition. Wouldn’t it be better to save lives than to avenge them? Are we not capable of demonstrating our peaceful intentions by applying all our abilities and our ingenuity to achieving a truly lasting stability? I think we are. Indeed, we must.

After careful consultation with my advisers, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I believe there is a way. Let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope. It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Let us turn to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great industrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy today.

What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?

I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may not be accomplished before the end of this century.

Yet, current technology has attained a level of sophistication where it’s reasonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, probably decades of effort on many fronts. There will be failures and setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs. And as we proceed, we must remain constant in preserving the nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexible response. But isn’t it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is.

In the meantime, we will continue to pursue real reductions in nuclear arms, negotiating from a position of strength that can be ensured only by modernizing our strategic forces. At the same time, we must take steps to reduce the risk of a conventional military conflict escalating to nuclear war by improving our nonnuclear capabilities.

America does possess - now - the technologies to attain very significant improvements in the effectiveness of our conventional, nonnuclear forces. Proceeding boldly with these new technologies, we can significantly reduce any incentive that the Soviet Union may have to threaten attack against the United States or its allies.

As we pursue our goal of defensive technologies, we recognize that our allies rely upon our strategic offensive power to deter attacks against them. Their vital interests and ours are inextricably linked. Their safety and ours are one. And no change in technology can or will alter that reality. We must and shall continue to honor our commitments.

I clearly recognize that defensive systems have limitations and raise certain problems and ambiguities. If paired with offensive systems, they can be viewed as fostering an aggressive policy, and no one wants that. But with these considerations firmly in mind, I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.

Tonight, consistent with our obligations of the ABM treaty and recognizing the need for closer consultation with our allies, I’m taking an important first step. I am directing a comprehensive and intensive effort to define a long-term research and development program to begin to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating the threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles. This could pave the way for arms control measures to eliminate the weapons themselves. We seek neither military superiority nor political advantage. Our only purpose - one all people share - is to search for ways to reduce the danger of nuclear war.

My fellow Americans, tonight we’re launching an effort which holds the promise of changing the course of human history. There will be risks, and results take time.

But I believe we can do it. As we cross this threshold, I ask for your prayers and your support.

Thank you, good night, and God bless you.

China concern over U.S. nuclear parts mistake in Taiwan

The Pentagon has revealed that U.S. defense officials mistakenly shipped nuclear weapons parts to Taiwan in 2006. Taiwan returned the parts last week and U.S. officials advised China of the error but Beijing has expressed “serious concern” over the incident.

The Financial Times says it is the second major recent failing of U.S. nuclear safeguards, following an incident last year in which a bomber carried nuclear weapons across the United States.

Read full story.

First Sioux Inducted Into Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes

Photo by Carrie McLeroy

by John J. Kruzel

The U.S. Defense Department posthumously inducted Army Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble into its Hall of Heroes on March 5, 2008, a day after President George W. Bush bestowed the Medal of Honor on the Korean War hero.

Woodrow Keeble is the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the nation’s highest military award. Almost six decades after the gallant actions that earned him the nation’s highest military award, and 26 years after his death, his relatives unveiled his name during a ceremony at the Pentagon. He joins 131 other veterans to receive the Medal of Honor for combat valor in the Korean War.

Woodrow Keeble risked his life to save fellow soldiers in 1951 during the final allied offensive in Korea. He was recommended for the medal by every surviving member of his unit at the time, but “administrative errors” and “bureaucratic processes” delayed the honor, said General Richard A. Cody, the Army’s Vice Chief of Staff, who praised George W. Bush for “setting the record straight.”

“Over 300 million Americans are free today because … (Keeble) fought bravely with honor and humility to defend this country and his fellow citizens,” General Cody told the audience gathered here for the ceremony. “The personal courage and selfless service of Master Sgt. Keeble lives on in the Soldiers that have succeeded him.”

Calling it an honor to salute the master sergeant, to whom he affectionately referred as “Woody,” General Cody held his straightened right hand to his brow in a sign of deference to Woodrow Keeble, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.

When war broke out in Korea, Woodrow Keeble was a 34-year-old master sergeant serving with the 24th Infantry Division’s 1st Platoon, Company G, 19th Infantry Regiment. He’d joined the North Dakota National Guard in 1942 and already had earned the first of his four Purple Hearts and his first Bronze Star for actions on Guadalcanal. Keeble volunteered to go to Korea, saying that “somebody has to teach these young kids how to fight,” General Cody said.

The division was serving in central Korea in October 1951 when it was called to take a series of mountains protecting a major enemy supply in the town of Kumsong. Operation Nomad-Polar, known as the “Big Push,” was the last major United Nations offensive of the war.

U.S. casualties mounted as enemy soldiers barraged them, fortified by three pillboxes containing machine guns during ferocious fighting over a six-day span. Keeble’s officers had all fallen, so he continued the assault with three platoons under his leadership.

Despite extensive injuries himself, with 83 grenade fragments in his body, Keeble defied the medics and took matters into his own hands. On Oct. 20, 1951, he charged the hill solo. “Woody knew the enemy machine guns in the heavily-fortified pillboxes were the problem. He resolved, ‘I’m going to take them out or die trying,’” General Cody said.

Armed only with grenades and his Browning automatic rifle, he shimmied across the ridge, single-handedly eliminating one pillbox after another as he dodged a barrage of enemy fire. Only after Keeble had taken out all three pillboxes and killed the machine gunners did he order his troops to advance and secure the hill.

Army Secretary Pete Geren said Woodrow Keeble was known on the battlefield for his resolve and tenacity in the face of danger and adversity. “The safest place to be was right next to Woody,” said Mr. Geren, quoting a WWII veteran who fought alongside Woodrow Keeble.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the audience that Keeble’s heroism and sacrifice reminds Americans of the high price of freedom.

“Woodrow Keeble showed us — again and again on desperate battlefields from the home he loved, first in the Pacific and then in Korea — the very best we can be,” he said. “America needs its heroes, needs men like Woodrow Keeble — we need their service, and perhaps most of all, we need their example.”

Reports from ARNEWS’s Carrie McLeRoy and AFPS’s Donna Miles contributed to this article.

Nicolas Sarkozy et Jacques Chirac réunis pour l’hommage au dernier héros de la Grande Guerre

La République a rendu aujourd’hui un hommage solennel à Lazare Ponticelli, soldat et patriote français né en Italie et ultime poilu décédé à l’âge de 110 ans, ainsi qu’à ses 8,5 millions de camarades de la Première Guerre mondiale, dont 1,4 million furent tués lors de ce conflit, le premier du genre de l’histoire contemporaine de par son ampleur planétaire.

La cérémonie s’est déroulée à l’Hôtel national des Invalides, haut lieu de mémoire des armées de la France.

11 heures: Le cercueil de Lazare Ponticelli pénètre dans l’église Saint-Louis des Invalides, porté par onze légionnaires au képi blanc et encadré de quatre pionniers barbus au large tablier de cuir, hache sur l’épaule, appartenant au 3e régiment étranger d’infanterie, héritier du 4e régiment de marche de la Légion étrangère où avait servi Lazare Ponticelli. Une minute de silence est observée dans les administrations et les drapeaux mis en berne sur les bâtiments publics.

Sous les ors de “l’Eglise des soldats”, 500 personnes suivent les obsèques religieuses, dont le président Nicolas Sarkozy et son prédécesseur et ancien mentor Jacques Chirac.

12 heures: Le cercueil est acheminé vers la cour d’honneur entre une double haie de membres de l’association “Le Poilu d’Epernay”, fusil Lebel à la main, revêtant l’uniforme français de 1915: casque d’acier Adrian, capote, pantalon et bandes molletières en drap bleu horizon, brodequins de cuir. L’académicien et ancien homme politique Max Gallo, lui aussi fils d’immigrés italiens, prononce alors une allocution émouvante évoquant avec prestance les faits d’armes de Lazare Ponticelli qui “nous rend fiers, par toute sa vie, d’être son frère humain”.

12 heures 45: La “Marche funèbre” de Chopin accompagne le pas des légionnaires qui portent le cercueil vers la sortie. Il sera inhumé cinq heures plus tard, dans l’intimité, dans le caveau familial du cimetière d’Ivry-sur-Seine.

15 heures 40: Nicolas Sarkozy pénètre seul sous le Dôme des Invalides. Près du tombeau en bronze du maréchal Ferdinand Foch, généralissime des armées alliées à la fin de la Grande Guerre, il dépose une gerbe devant une plaque dévoilée par deux collégiens.

La plaque porte les mots suivants: “Alors que disparaît le dernier combattant français de la première guerre mondiale, la Nation témoigne sa reconnaissance envers ceux qui ont servi sous ses drapeaux en 1914-1918. La France conserve précieusement le souvenir de ceux qui restent dans l’Histoire comme les Poilus de la Grande Guerre”.

16 heures: Dans une longue allocution, le président de la République Nicolas Sarkozy déclare notamment: “En cet instant, dans toute la France, la pensée de chacun se tourne vers ces femmes et ces hommes qui nous ont appris la grandeur du patriotisme qui est l’amour de son pays et la détestation du nationalisme qui est la haine des autres”.

17 heures: La cérémonie s’achève. Le choeur de l’Armée française interprète “La Madelon”, le chant des poilus.

Le 11 novembre 2006, René Riffaud avait été le seul survivant de la «Grande Guerre» à se rendre sous l’Arc de Triomphe pour la commémoration de l’Armistice. Crédits photo: Euler/AFP

Made in Israel – Highlights der israelischen Sicherheitsindustrie

Der Heimatschutz hat in Israel schon vor der Staatsgründung höchste Priorität besessen. Israelische Sicherheitssysteme wurden für ein Land entwickelt, dass ständig um seine Existenz zu kämpfen und wachsam gegenüber andauernden Bedrohungen zu sein gezwungen gewesen ist. Aus dieser einzigartigen Perspektive heraus hat die israelische Sicherheitsindustrie eine beispiellose Fachkompetenz und eine weltweite Reputation in der Entwicklung von Spitzenprodukten erlangt.

Die Ereignisse des 11. September 2001 haben die globale Perspektive auf den Terrorismus verändert. Überall auf der Welt suchen Länder nun nach Mitteln, um der Bedrohung durch den Terrorismus zu begegnen, und viele der nötigen Technologien können von Israels Sicherheits- und Heimatschutzindustrie geliefert werden. Hunderte von israelischen Unternehmen bieten ausgeklügelte Sicherheitslösungen an - von automatischen Spracherkennungssystemen und Fernsensoren bis hin zu Videolokalisierung, Frühwarngeräten und taktischen Bildbearbeitungssystemen.

Gegenwärtig arbeiten in Israel 25 000 Menschen in 450 sicherheits- und heimatschutzbezogenen Unternehmen, von denen mehr als 300 ins Ausland exportieren. Die Exporte im nichtmilitärischen Bereich beliefen sich dabei im Jahr 2005 auf eine Milliarde Dollar und zwei Milliarden Dollar im IT-Sektor.

Über die Jahre hat sich Israel bei der Landesverteidigung auf seine eigenen Ressourcen verlassen müssen. Für ein kleines Land mit einer Bevölkerung von etwa sieben Millionen Menschen hat es eine unverhältnismäßig große Zahl von militärischen Projekten entwickelt und hergestellt, darunter Satelliten, die Kampfflugzeuge Kfir und Lavi, den Merkava-Panzer, die Maschinenpistole Uzi sowie die Sturmgewehre Galil und Tavor u.v.m.

Die israelische Sicherheits- und Heimatschutzindustrie umfasst ein weites Spektrum von Unternehmen. Dazu gehören große Rüstungsfirmen wie Elbit, Tadiran, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), RAFAEL, Elisra, ELTA und Israel Military Industries (IMI), aber auch Unternehmen aus der Telekommunikationsbranche wie Motorola, Comverse, Nice, Verint, Mer Group, Ness TSG u.a.

Einige Firmen haben sich allein auf die Entwicklung und Herstellung von Sicherheitsprodukten in Bereichen wie Eingangskontrolle oder Körperschutz spezialisiert. Einige der weltbekannten Unternehmen in diesem Zusammenhang sind ISDS, Magal Security Systems, Plasan Sas und Rabintex.

Zu den Kernbereichen der Branche gehören: Luft- und Seefahrt-Sicherheit, CBRN-Bereitschaft, Kommando- und Kontrollsysteme, Terrorismusbekämpfung, Krisen- und Notfallmanagement, Infrastrukturschutz, internationale Veranstaltungen, IT-Sicherheit und Betrugsbekämpfung, Körperschutz, öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit und Bereitschaft, Dienstleistungsanbieter.

Israelische Sicherheitsunternehmen sind in allen Regionen der Welt aktiv und bieten Lösungen und Technologien für staatliche und private Abnehmer. Die folgenden Beispiele veranschaulichen die globale Präsenz:

- Mehr als ein Dutzend israelischer Unternehmen waren bei der Sicherung der Olympischen Spiele in Athen beteiligt.

- Gegenwärtig sind israelische Unternehmen in Grenzschutzprojekte v.a. in den USA, Asien und Lateinamerika involviert.

- Israelische Schutzeinrichtungen für Fahrzeuge, Gebäude und Personen werden von den internationalen Truppen und Organisationen im Irak und anderen Konfliktzonen verwendet.

- Die Infrastruktur des Buckingham Palace, des Vatikan und des Eiffelturms werden mit israelischer Technologie gesichert; ebenso die Flughäfen JFK in New York, Heathrow in London, Hannover, Tel Aviv und Singapur u.a.

Ausführliche Informationen zur israelischen Sicherheitsindustrie findet man unter folgendem Link.

© The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute

US Army War College 19th Annual Strategy Conference

Dear Colleagues,

Here you will find an invitation to the US Army War College 19th Annual Strategy Conference “Rebalancing the Instruments of National Power“.

Panelists from RAND, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the US Institute of Peace, the Institute for Defense Analysis, Central Command, the Council on Foreign Relations, National Defense University, Georgetown University, Dickinson College, the U.S. military departments, the U.S. Department of State and USAID, and the Department of Commerce will help us identify the issues and stimulate what promises to be a lively discussion.

We welcome you to join us this year from April 8-10, 2008.

Online registration closes on Thursday, April 5th, 2008.

Very Respectfully,

Rebecca Bremer
Academic Engagement
Strategic Studies Institute
US Army War College
Phone: (717) 245-3133

US Admiral in Middle East resigns over Iran

Admiral William J. Fallon, commander of US military operations in the Middle East, has abruptly ended his 42-year military career with a phone call from Iraq in which he asked to resign because of controversy caused by his criticism of the Bush administration’s Iran policy.

Defense secretary Robert Gates accepted Fallon’s request and said the resignation was the “right thing to do.”

The controversy around Fallon had been hovering for weeks after an Esquire magazine story described him as a lone bulwark stopping an overzealous administration from starting a war with Iran. The article, written by a former professor at the US Naval War College, described Fallon as “brazenly challenging the commander in chief.” In it, Fallon is quoted as saying the administration did not seem to understand why he was meeting with Middle Eastern leaders and explaining US policy to business gatherings.

The article also quotes him as telling Al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite TV channel, that war with Iran was undesirable. “This constant drumbeat of conflict … is not helpful and not useful,” he said. “I expect that there will be no war and that is what we ought to be working toward.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s foreign minister Tzipi Livni, on a visit to the United States, has told the Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama that there was a direct link between Iran and Middle East terror. She said that Israel’s strategy was to work toward understandings through negotiations while working against Hamas and terror. For this strategy to succeed, the international community had to stand fast against terror and Iran.

Discours du Général de Gaulle du 12 mars 1941

9 mars 1941: Le Congrès des États-Unis vote le Lend-Lease Bill.

Discours prononcé par le Général de Gaulle à la radio de Londres le 12 mars 1941

Au nom de la nation française, je remercie les États-Unis d’Amérique de la décision qu’ils viennent de prendre, sur l’initiative du Président Roosevelt, en ce qui concerne l’armement des peuples qui combattent pour la liberté.

Cette décision a une portée morale immense.

Elle aura, dans l’ordre matériel, des conséquences colossales.

Du point de vue moral, cette décision signifie que l’Amérique a pris ouvertement parti. Elle a jugé, une fois pour toutes, que la tyrannie des dictateurs constitue le plus grand danger et la plus grande infamie qui aient jamais menacé le monde.

L’Amérique a résolu d’assurer la défaite de l’ennemi par le plus vaste effort d’armement que l’univers ait jamais vu. Mais, en outre, les États-Unis, témoins très bien renseignés, manifestent avec éclat leur confiance dans la victoire des Alliés. Car un peuple aussi avisé, quelles que puissent être ses sympathies, ne prêterait pas à fonds perdus d’aussi gigantesques ressources à des gens qu’il croirait condamnés.

Du point de vue matériel, le concours illimité de l’Amérique apporte à nos alliés et aux Français Libres la certitude d’une supériorité croissante et implacable des moyens. Cette guerre est une guerre mécanique. La puissance militaire s’y mesure presque exclusivement au nombre et à la qualité des machines de combat. Il n’y a pas eu, depuis le premier jour du conflit, il n’y aura pas, jusqu’au dernier, de résultats tactiques, ni stratégiques, importants, sinon par l’action des engins mécaniques. Or, l’industrie américaine est en mesure de produire, et va produire effectivement, pour les donner aux Alliés, tant de navires, tant d’avions, tant de chars, que l’ennemi, martyrisé plus durement chaque jour, n’échappera pas à l’écrasement final.

Aucun homme sensé ne niera qu’il doive se produire jusque-là de multiples péripéties. L’ennemi auquel nous avons affaire est tout à fait capable de remporter encore des succès. Mais la décision prise par les États-Unis le place dans une situation sans issue. Le filet est jeté sur le fauve.

La France continue la guerre.

Elle la continue par sa résistance nationale à la soumission et à la collaboration. Elle la continue par l’effort guerrier d’une partie de ses territoires, de son armée, de sa marine, de son aviation. Des hommes sans conscience ou sans réflexion ont pu croire que le rôle de la France dans la guerre était terminé. Or, depuis l’effondrement momentané qui suivit le soi-disant arrmstice, ce rôle n’a cessé de s’étendre. La volonté nationale est maintenant redressée, là même et là surtout où la présence de l’ennemi se fait le plus lourdement sentir. La France a des marins belligérants sur toutes les mers. Elle a des aviateurs combattant dans tous les ciels. Ses drapeaux flottent sur tous les champs de bataille. A mesure que passeront les jours, j’affirme que ce poids pèsera plus lourd dans la balance. La France, elle aussi, gagnera la guerre.

Quant aux traîtres ou aux malheureux qui, abusant de la confiance et de la détresse du peuple et faisant le jeu de l’ennemi, ont saisi le pouvoir pour souscrire à la servitude, pour interdire le chemin du devoir à tant de bons Français dans l’Empire et dans la flotte et pour s’enfoncer, heure par heure, plus avant dans le déshonneur de la collaboration, leur provisoire fortune s’écroulera à mesure que reparaîtra la fortune éternelle de la France. Malheur à ceux qui ont joué la défaite de la patrie! Il vaudrait mieux, pour eux, qu’ils ne fussent jamais nés.

La France, avec nous!

Général de Gaulle

NSA Surveillance

The Wall Street Journal reports on Pentagon efforts to build a new data-sweeping system that has some civil liberties activists up in arms.

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Air and Space Power in the future

An article from Joint Force Quarterly, a publication of the U.S. National Defense University, looks at potential future trends in air and space military forces.

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In the Navy

Friendly Fire

Foreign policy experts Charles Ferguson and Bruce MacDonald write that the Bush administration risked U.S. security interests in shooting down a satellite this week, in the Los Angeles Times.

“Washington should not be surprised when Beijing exploits this launch to justify its own burgeoning anti-satellite program. The U.S. action will give China, Russia and others an excuse to develop and test comparable capabilities, claiming that they too need to keep their populations safe from falling satellites. China may well feel freed from the pledge it made last year not to test its anti-satellite weapons again.”

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Spy Satellite Destruction

World Politics Review reports that U.S. plans to destroy a spy satellite by shooting it out of the sky have raised serious questions about diplomatic fallout, given U.S. opposition to China shooting down a satellite in January 2007.

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Putin repeats threat on missiles

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated threats made earlier this week in Ukraine that he would aim Russian missiles at neighboring countries if they allow the United States to use their territory to install a missile defense system.

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Syria develops new missile with Iranian support

Syria has successfully developed a new surface-to-surface missile that would enable it to target with greater accuracy Israeli installations - such as airports, ports and factories - according briefings recently presented to senior ministers.

According to the information, Syria developed the new missile with Iranian support, which is further indication of the tight strategic bonds between the two countries. Much of these strategic ties revolve around military and intelligence cooperation. Israeli defense circles estimate that Damascus and Tehran shared technical know-how that has allowed Syria to upgrade the Iranian-made Zelzal surface-to-surface missile.

The missile has an operational range of approximately 250 kilometers and is capable of carrying an especially large warhead. According to Israeli estimates, Syria has tens of thousands of rockets of this type, as well as smaller-caliber and shorter-range missiles. In addition, they have Scud-C and Scud-D ballistic missiles with ranges of 500-800 kilometers, which can effectively strike every part of Israeli territory.

Source: Haaretz, 08.02.2008.

What did Israel bomb in Syria?

In the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh examines Israel’s September air strikes in Syria.

He writes: “I was repeatedly told by current and former intelligence, diplomatic, and congressional officials that they were not aware of any solid evidence of ongoing nuclear-weapons programs in Syria.”

But the Wall Street Journal reports on persistent concerns in Washington and other capitals about possible North Korea-Syria nuclear link.

L’Autorité des marchés financiers enquête sur l’information financière d’EADS

L’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) a étendu son enquête sur les délits d’initiés présumés au sein du groupe aéronautique EADS, le soupçonnant d’avoir diffusé entre fin 2005 et début 2006 des “informations trompeuses” au marché, rapporte le quotidien Le Monde daté du 28 octobre 2007.

Certains dirigeants du groupe, dont Noël Forgeard, ancien coprésident, devraient être entendus à nouveau par l’AMF, affirme le journal qui ne cite pas ses sources, mais évoque “un proche du dossier”.

Selon Le Monde, la direction d’EADS aurait averti avec un retard calculé le public des délais de fabrication de l’A380. A la mi-juin 2006, l’annonce des difficultés de fabrication de cet avion très gros porteur avait fait plonger le cours de l’action de 26%.

Les sociétés doivent communiquer “aussitôt que possible” les informations “susceptibles d’avoir une influence significative” sur les cours, a indiqué, à plusieurs reprises, Michel Prada, le président de l’AMF.

“Il y a deux façons de tromper le marché, soit en ne disant pas des choses que l’on devrait dire, soit en laissant dire des choses exagérément optimistes”, commente la source citée par Le Monde.

L’AMF et la justice enquêtent sur un possible délit d’initiés commis par les principaux dirigeants et actionnaires privés d’EADS lors de la vente massive d’actions fin 2005 avant l’annonce des graves difficultés du groupe européen, qui avait fait plonger le titre en Bourse.

Source: AFP