General Stanley A. McChrystal’s military strategy in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama meets with General Stanley A. McChrystal, in the Oval Office at the White House, May 19, 2009.

 

General Stanley A. McChrystal’s review of U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan, in which the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan calls for an increase in troops, can be read here.

The Washington Post also reports on the military debate over whether to withdraw from isolated rural parts of Afghanistan where U.S. troops are more vulnerable to attack and refocus on urban centers.

Read full story.

India gets nuclear submarine

India will launch its first nuclear submarine later this month, the Financial Times reports.

The submarine would add India to a short list of countries with the capability to launch a nuclear strike from the sea.

Read full story.

D-Day – June 6, 1944: The Meaning of the Supreme Sacrifice of Heroes and Guardians of Freedom

 

Let Our Hearts Be Stout – Roosevelt D-Day Prayer

My Fellow Americans,

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – June 6, 1944

North Korea Alert

Yonhap News Agency reports the United States of America and South Korea have increased their alert level toward North Korea and have ramped up surveillance following Pyongyang’s decision to scrap the treaty halting the Korean War.

The BBC has a news analysis attempting to gauge North Korea’s game plan. 

In a strategic paper published by the U.S. War Army College, experts Colonel Ray Midkiff and Dr. James Downey address the policy options available to influence North Korea.

Read full story.

Israeli report: “Venezuela and Bolivia supply uranium to Iran”

Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained by the news agency Associated Press (AP).

“There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program,” the document states, referring to previous Israeli intelligence conclusions. It adds: “Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran.” The report concludes that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is trying to undermine the United States by supporting Iran. Israel also suspects Iran of supporting the establishment of Hezbollah cells in northern Venezuela and the country’s Margarita Island.

President Chávez expelled the Israeli ambassador during Israel’s offensive in Gaza this year, and Israel retaliated by expelling the Venezuelan envoy. Bolivia also cut ties with Israel over the Gaza war.

The three-page document about Iranian activities in Latin America was prepared in advance of a visit to South America by deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, who will attend a conference of the Organization of American States in Honduras next week. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is also scheduled to visit the region.

Russia-Iran Arms Deal

A Russian official said Moscow two years ago finalized a contract that would allow it to send S-300 air defense missiles to Iran, though they noted that no missiles had been sent to the country as yet.

The Associated Press (AP) reports Russia delivering S-300s to Iran would “markedly change the military balance in the Middle East.”

China-U.S. Naval Dispute

A naval dispute between China and the United States escalated today as Beijing rebuffed Washington’s claims that Chinese ships “harassed” an unarmed U.S. ocean surveillance ship in the South China Sea on Sunday.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu said today that “the U.S. claim is totally inaccurate and wrong” and that the American ship was breaking international law.

Read full story.

Mexico’s Biggest Preparation of War against Drug Cartel

The Los Angeles Times reports Mexico will dispatch 5,000 more troops to Ciudad Juarez, a border city racked by drug war violence.

Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon said he believed he could have drug violence in the country under control by the time he leaves office in 2012.

Read full story.

U.S.-North Korea Missile Tests

Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, currently director of the Missile Defense Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, says the United States has successfully passed scenarios testing its ability to use its missile defense systems to intercept missiles fired from North Korea.

The Korea Times reports North Korea, meanwhile, has pressed ahead saying it will soon fire a “satellite” into orbit.

Read full story.

Pakistan’s Battlefield

The New York Times reports that a U.S. unit of more than seventy military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to aid the country’s military in its campaign against militant groups in the country’s tribal areas.

Meanwhile, the Afghan news outlet Quqnoos reports Pakistan’s government has been arming villagers in the country’s northwest in the hopes that they will fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the region.

Read full story.

U.S. warns North Korea about possible missile test

A spokesman from the U.S. State Department spoke out on reports that North Korea may be preparing to test fire a long-range ballistic missile, saying such a move by Pyongyang would be “unhelpful and, frankly, provocative”. Intelligence and military officials believe it could be a long-range weapon capable of reaching the western United States.

Read full story.

Bilanz der israelischen Operation Gegossenes Blei

Die israelische Armee (ZAHAL) hat in einem Informationsbrief ihre mittlerweile abgeschlossene Selbstverteidigungs-Operation Gegossenes Blei im Gaza-Streifen bilanziert.

Richard Kemp, Oberst der britischen Armee, der 2003 in Afghanistan gekämpft hat, lobte in einem Gespräch mit der BBC die außergewöhnlichen Bemühungen der israelischen Armee zur Schonung der palästinensischen Zivilbevölkerung: “Es hat nie eine Zeit in der Geschichte der Kriegsführung gegeben, da eine Armee mehr dafür getan hat, die Zahl der zivilen Opfer zu reduzieren, als die Israelischen Verteidigungsstreitkräfte (ZAHAL) es heute in Gaza tun.”

Unterdessen berichtet die gestrige Ausgabe der italienischen Tageszeitung Corriere Della Sera unter Berufung auf einen Arzt des Krankenhauses Shiva in Gaza, dass die Zahl der Todesopfer der israelischen Militäroperation womöglich sehr viel geringer sei, als von der Hamas kolportiert werde (Die Rede war bisher von 1300 Toten gewesen): “Die Zahl der Toten liegt bei nicht mehr als 500 bis 600. Die meisten sind junge Männer im Alter von 17 bis 23 Jahren, die von der Hamas rekrutiert wurden, die sie dann ins Massaker schickte”, sagte der Arzt, der aus Angst um sein Leben anonym bleiben möchte.

Lokale Journalisten bestätigten diese Aussage: “Vielleicht ist das wie in Jenin 2002. Am Anfang sprach man von 1500 Toten und am Ende stellte sich heraus, dass es sich nur um 54 handelte, 45 davon bewaffnete Kämpfer.”

Andere Palästinenser erzählten der Zeitung davon, wie die Hamas Krankenwagen als Fluchtfahrzeuge missbraucht habe.

Russia-Ukraine Deal

Russia and Ukraine signed a deal this weekend that will get Russian gas flowing to Europe again and seems likely to end a weeks-long standoff over Russian gas exports.

The BBC explains the spat in a Q&A.

Operation Cast Lead – Israel under attack

Click here to read the last briefing from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the operation in the Gaza Strip.

The following link is to a video by the IDF, entitled Hamas’ Escalation to Confrontation, explaining why the State of Israel was forced to re-enter the Gaza Strip in order to prevent further terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians in the Southern District.

Israeli Troops in Gaza

The Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, all three major U.S. newspapers headlined today Israel’s spectacular resolution to send ground troops, tanks, and artillery into Gaza Strip yesterday evening.

After eight days of air strikes, Israel says the invasion is crucial to cut into pieces Hamas’s rocket-launch infrastructure – a task that “will not be easy or short”, Israeli officials said, while the terror group Hamas calls for suicide attacks all around the globe against Jewish and Anglo-American interests.

In an article published today in The Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem-based reporter Charles Levinson reviews the risks and chances of the ground invasion.

Read full story.

Zur israelischen Militäroperation “Gegossenes Blei”

Während letzter Nacht hat Israels Armee (Israel Defense Forces – IDF) ca. 20 Hamas-Ziele im Gaza-Streifen angegriffen. Unter den Zielen waren: eine Moschee in Jabaliya, die als Terrorstützpunkt und Lager für Raketen und Munition benutzt wurde. Die Explosion zog weitere Detonationen nach sich, was auf die hohe Menge des dort gelagerten Sprengstoffs hinweist.

Auch wurden weitere Waffenlager und -fabriken, Tunnel und Raketenabschussrampen angegriffen und zerstört.

Am Donnerstag den 1. Januar 2009 hat die IDF ebenfalls 20 Ziele angegriffen. Die IDF zerstörte das Haus des Hamas-Terroristen Nabil Amrin in Shei Radwan, der als Battallionskommandeur fungierte. Auch hier zeigten die zusätzlichen Explosionen nach dem Luftschlag, dass in dem Haus ebenfalls Waffen, Munition und Sprengstoff lagerten.

Donnerstag nachmittag wurde das Haus des Terrorführers Nizar Rayan in Jabaliya im nördlichen Gazastreifen angegriffen. Das Haus fungierte als großes Munitions- und Waffenlager. Unter dem Haus befand sich ein Tunnel, der als Fluchtweg für Hamas-Terroristen diente.

Laut der Website Palestine-Info wird Rayan als der Initiator bezeichnet, der die Methode der “Menschlichen Schutzschilde” gegen israelische Luftschläge vor zwei Jahren einführte.

Am Donnerstag morgen wurden Ziele wie das Haus des PRC-Terroristen Muhamad Fuad Barhud in Jabaliya angegriffen, der verantwortlich für den Raketenbeschuss auf Israel im nördlichen Gazastreifen ist. Auch die als Lager für Bauteile für Raketen, Waffen- und Munitionslager und als Raketenwerkstatt benutzten Häuser der Terroristen Hasin Drairy in Sabra und Taufik Abu Ras in A-Nusseirat wurden angegriffen.

Das Außenministerium Israels hat einen You Tube-Video-Kanal eingerichtet, in dem die aktuelle Situation und israelische Position von einem Außenministeriumssprecher erläutert wird.

Unter der Webseite der israelischen Armee sind Details zur Militäroperation, Luftaufnahmen und weitere Informationen zu finden.

Quelle: Außenministerium des Staates Israel

Brazil signs arms deal with France

Two-day summit talks between Brazilian and European leaders in Rio de Janeiro concluded with Brazil and France signing a $12 billion arms deal in which Brazil agreed to buy fifty helicopters and technology to build five submarines, including a nuclear-powered submarine from France.

Read full story.

War without Borders: The Colombia-Ecuador Crisis of 2008

In a new report written by Dr. Gabriel Marcella from the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College, the concept of war without borders is used to analyze the strategic implications of the Colombian attack against a FARC camp inside Ecuadorean territory on March 1, 2008. Lessons learned apply directly to the policy of the United States and the hemispheric community.

“The lessons of the March 1 crisis are fundamental for security cooperation in the Hemisphere. The crisis is superimposed upon a Latin American tradition of laissez faire on ungoverned space and border control and continuing disagreement on what to do about terrorism. Moreover, the institutional capacity, political will, preventive diplomacy, and the mechanisms for security cooperation and conflict resolution between states have not caught up to the demands of wars without borders. An assortment of terrorists, contrabandists, and drug traffickers depend on weak borders and weak states. Though Clausewitz may have been right that war is the continuation of politics (or policy) by other means, the politics of wars without borders have changed that equation. Yet the analytical and institutional capacities of governments have not caught up to that change.

The United States can and must be a catalyst for confidence-building between Ecuador and Colombia in order to restore the full gamut of security cooperation between the two countries. At the same time, the United States needs to be more sensitive about the immense power it wields in its dealings with small states, such as Ecuador. The United States has been less than forthcoming in addressing Ecuador’s security needs in the last 10 years, at times for the noblest of intentions. Noble intentions can have profound negative impact if policy is not pursued pragmatically.”

Read full story.

The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare

This study of the U.S. Army War College seeks to inform the debate about Hezbollah’s conduct of its 2006 campaign in southern Lebanon.

The authors, Dr. Stephen D. Biddle and Jeffrey A. Friedman,  analyze whether Hezbollah was a nonstate actor employing irregular methods or a nonstate actor waging a state-like conventional war. Their findings shed valuable insights for the future of warfare and the U.S. defense debate.

This monograph was published in September 2008, but we are highlighting it again due to continued interest and relevance.

Read full story.

Beyond Dependence:How to deal with Russian gas

In a report published today by the Berlin-based think tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Pierre Noel argues that the most effective strategy for the European Union to counter Russia’s divisive energy diplomacy would be building a single European market in natural gas.

The analysis is published a few days prior to the next EU-Russia summit. It also comes two months before the start of the Czech EU presidency which has designated energy security as one of its top priorities.

Read full story.

India-France nuclear talks

After the U.S. House of Representatives voted this weekend to pass the U.S.-India nuclear deal (it still must pass the U.S. Senate), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets today with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss boosting civilian nuclear energy trade, the BBC reports.

Read full story.

Asymmetrische Kriegsführung – Irans bedrohliche Marinedoktrin

Der andauernde Konflikt über das iranische Atomprogramm hat die Spannungen in der strategischen Region des Persischen Golfs erhöht. Auf der Grundlage seiner Erfahrungen während des iranisch-irakischen Krieges und jüngerer Konflikte im Irak, in Afghanistan und im Libanon hat die Islamische Republik eine umfassende Doktrin asymmetrischer Kriegsführung entwickelt. Gemeinsam mit der verstärkten Rolle der Revolutionswächter im Persischen Golf stellt sie eine zunehmende Bedrohung für die US-Marine und die Verbündeten der USA in der Golfregion dar.

Der iranische Militärexperte Fariborz Haghshenass, Mitglied der US-amerikanischen Denkfabrik Washington Institute for Near East Policy, hat eine umfassende Analyse der iranischen Marinedoktrin veröffentlicht.

Zum Artikel.

Russia-Venezuela joint naval operations

Four Russian warships set sail for Venezuela to hold what will be the first joint naval exercises in the Western hemisphere involving Russian troops since the end of the Cold War.

Read full story.

U.S.-Pakistan Talks

Admiral Michael Mullen, the top U.S. military commander, met with Pakistani leaders to discuss operations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and to defuse tensions over recent U.S. land incursions into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Read full story.

U.S. General David Petraeus hands over Iraq command

General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander who has overseen much of the “surge” effort in Iraq, today hands over command in the country to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno.

Petraeus has been promoted to head up the U.S. Central Command – CENTCOM – (HIRAM7 REVIEW reported) and will oversee operations across the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read full story.

My interview with a 9/11 survivor

Dear Friends,

Here is my interview with a 9/11 survivor.

His story is harrowing, yet also life affirming.

I hope you all had a peaceful 9/11.

God bless America!

Eric aka the Tygrrrr Express

9/11: Freedom is not free

If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom. (U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower)

Twin towers of the World Trade Center burning on September 11, 2001

“Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen,” President George W. Bush told the nation at an emergency joint session of U.S. Congress on September 20, 2001.

Today, HIRAM7 REVIEW remembers and honors those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks and in the military conflicts that have followed. Seven years later and just seven short weeks from a presidential election, we must consider difficult questions: What is al Qaeda’s structure and strategy today?

Are the U.S., European and Israeli intelligence services better today than they were seven years ago, and are they good enough to prevent another attack on our civilization and way of life? Does the U.S. military have the tools it needs to win the long war on terrorism? Do we, Americans, Europeans and Israelis, have an adequate legal framework for confronting the challenges of terrorism?

1776 – 1944 – 2001: The Meaning of the Supreme Sacrifice of Heroes and Guardians of Freedom 

Let Our Hearts Be Stout – Roosevelt D-Day Prayer

 

My Fellow Americans,

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – June 6, 1944

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