Thursday, April 30, 2009

DTN News: Military TODAY April 30, 2009

DTN News: Military TODAY April 30, 2009
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: Members of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade wait to deploy to Afghanistan from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Camp Lejeune, N.C. , Thursday, April 30, 2009.
The brigade will conduct counter-insurgency operations in partnership with Afghan National Security Forces.

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY April 30, 2009

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY April 30, 2009
(NSI News Source Info) KABUL/PESHAWAR - April 30, 2009: Afghan refugees who fled Afghanistan due to war, drought and fierce fighting among warlords, wait to go back to their country on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday, April 30, 2009.
Afghan refugees who are forgotten by the international community are leaving the miserable conditions in camps and as the hot summer approaches many families are returning to their homeland.

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 30, 2009

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 30, 2009
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 30, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama arrives with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs Tammy Duckworth, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for the start of the "White House to Light House" Ride at the South Lawn of the White House April 30, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Obama officiated the start of the "White House to Light House" Wounded Warrior Soldier's Ride National Tour, a project that provides rehabilitation opportunities for wounded warriors and raises public awareness for those that have been severely injured.

Russia Vows Firm Reply To NATO's 'Vulgar' Expulsion Of Diplomats

Russia Vows Firm Reply To NATO's 'Vulgar' Expulsion Of Diplomats
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - April 30, 2009: Russia views an attempt to expel two Russian diplomats from NATO's headquarters in Brussels as "a vulgar provocation," the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The Russian ambassador to NATO said Moscow's reaction to NATO's cancelation of accreditation for the two officials from Russia's NATO delegation and their possible expulsion from Belgium would be firm. "The response will be clear and tough," Dmitry Rogozin said. The Foreign Ministry said NATO was attempting to expel the diplomats on "an absolutely far-fetched pretext," and urged all NATO member states to think over the consequences of the action. "The scandalous move runs counter to NATO leaders' statements on their readiness to improve relations with Russia," it added. "Naturally, we will draw our own conclusions about this provocation." Rogozin confirmed that one of the two diplomats facing expulsion is the son of Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's ambassador to the EU. The Financial Times reported Thursday that NATO had acted in response to the spy scandal involving Estonian official Herman Simm, who was convicted in February for passing NATO secrets to Russia.

Russia Signs Deals With Abkhazia, South Ossetia On Border Protection

Russia Signs Deals With Abkhazia, South Ossetia On Border Protection
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - April 30, 2009: Russia signed on Thursday joint border protection agreements with the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The agreements were signed in the Kremlin by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh, and South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity. Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states after the five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years. Under the agreements, Russia will guard the Abkhaz and South Ossetian borders, including maritime frontiers, until both republics form their own border guard services. The agreements, for an initial five years, can be renewed upon their expiration. The sides also signed interdepartmental agreements on cooperation between the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Abkhaz State Security Service and the South Ossetian Committee of State Security. NATO considers the agreements signed by Russia and the two republics to be a breach in earlier reached agreements, Reuters reported on Thursday. "This [signing of the pacts] is in clear contravention of the 12th August and 8th September agreements negotiated by the European Union and is not in the interests of long-term peace and security in the South Caucasus region," Reuters quoted a NATO spokesman as saying.

The Netherlands: Car Attack On Dutch Royal Parade

The Netherlands: Car Attack On Dutch Royal Parade
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: A car driver has crashed into crowds watching a Dutch royal parade, killing five people, in an attempted attack on the royal family, officials say. The car careered into a monument metres from an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and members of her family. The royals, who were unharmed, watched in horror as the car ploughed into bystanders in Apeldoorn, about 90km (56 miles) east of Amsterdam. Officials said the 38-year-old driver had suffered life-threatening injuries. We're speechless that something so terrible could have happened Queen Beatrix Prosecutor Ludo Goossens said the man, who is a Dutch national, would be charged with attempting an attack on the royal family and murder - if he survives. "The man indicated that his action was aimed against the royal family," Mr Goossens told journalists in Apeldoorn. After searching the car and his home, investigators ruled out terrorism as a motive and said it appeared he had acted alone. 'Bewilderment and disbelief' Members of the royal family were shown looking on in horror as the battered car rammed spectators before crashing into the stone monument. In a televised address, Queen Beatrix called the incident shocking, and said everyone would empathise with the victims and their families and friends. "What began as a great day has ended in a terrible tragedy that has shocked us all deeply," she said. "People who were standing close by, people who saw it happen on television, all those who lived through it, must have looked on with bewilderment and disbelief. "We're speechless that something so terrible could have happened." Cynthia Boll, a photographer at the scene, told the BBC the car was already badly damaged before it slammed into the crowds at high speed. "There were people everywhere, you could definitely see that it was serious because everywhere was blood and shoes ripped off and all the people giving CPR," she said. Other witnesses described people being flung into the air as the car crashed through the throngs who had turned out to see the queen. Officials said two men and two women died at the scene of the incident, while another person died later in hospital. Taken by surprise The crowds were celebrating Queen's Day - a national holiday in the Netherlands when thousands of people take to the streets to mark the queen's official birthday. Hundreds of police officers were on duty in a huge security operation that took months to plan. But the authorities said they were taken completely by surprise when the small black car smashed through a security fence and into the crowd of people. Following the incident, flags were lowered to half mast on government buildings across the country and all planned celebrations were called off. Witnesses said the streets of Apeldoorn were now deserted.

India: Electoral Polling Peaceful

India: Electoral Polling Peaceful
*Analysis: India is the largest democracy in the world. In the name of democracy Indian politicans sham the system by unethical remarks, horse trading, overspending, buying votes and the list is endless. In 2004 general elections cost the taxpayer $2.5 billion and the current 2009 general elections estimated official cost is $5 billion but unofficially the cost would exceed almost to approx. $10-12 billion! What a waste of money for a country needy for funds and can invest the same amount in infrastructure? Secondly, majority of the Indian policiticans have no educational qualifications and as lawmakers in the parliament the Indian government should set a degree that anyone aspiring for politics should have a law, university or MBA qualifications. Thirdly, the current Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is very highly educated and is one of the best prime minister India ever had. Unfortunately, an opposition leader side passed some remarks about Dr. Manmohan Singh that he is a weak prime minister. It is unethical and stupid remarks by that entity, there should be mutual understanding and respect amongst politicans to set a good example for others to follow. Lastly, still India is a great democracy going at a snail's pace and if the system is sorted out rationally with politicans having more vested interest for the country then themselves the country will go at a greater pace of development. (DTN Defense-Technology News)
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - April 30, 2009: An Election Commission official said Thursday the three polling phases of the 2009 general elections in India have ended in a peaceful manner. Deputy Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan said from New Delhi the third phase of the elections had a nearly 50 percent turnout following 60 percent turnout in the first phase and 55 percent in the second, the Indo-Asian News Service said. "The polling process was absolutely peaceful and extremely satisfactory," Balakrishnan said. The news service said 144 million voters across India were eligible to participate in Thursday's round of polling. The third polling round was for residents of Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Dadar and Nagar Havel, and Daman and Diu.

U.S. Marine Fires Toward Taliban Position In Helmand Province, Afghanistan

U.S. Marine Fires Toward Taliban Position In Helmand Province, Afghanistan
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: U.S. Marine Sgt. loads a 120mm white phosphorus mortar while firing towards a Taliban position on April 30, 2009 in Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment fired mortars and staged a ground assault on a section of the Taliban front line as part of the major strike.
American air power dropped more than ten tons of explosives on dug-in Taliban fighting positions, according to the military.
The U.S. operation involved Air Force, Marine, Navy and Army aviation and was coordinated as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
The military says the civilian population of Now Zad fled in 2007, leaving the city a battleground between U.S. forces and entrenched Taliban fighters. Hardin is from Nashville, Tenn.

Iran's Delegate Attends NAM In Havana Cuba

Iran's Delegate Attends NAM In Havana Cuba
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki attends a ministerial meeting for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.
The delegates are meeting in preparation for the upcoming 15th NAM summit, to take place in Egypt July 11-16.

German Armed Forces On Patrol In Afghanistan

German Armed Forces On Patrol In Afghanistan
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr securing the area as a German liason monitoring team (LMT) walks into a village in Kunduz district, April 28, 2009.
A German soldier was killed and four more injured in an ambush in Afghanistan, the German army said in a statement April 29, 2009.
A patrol of German soldiers was shot at with small arms weapons and rocket propelled grenades in the early evening near Kunduz, said the statement.
The attack came as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was visiting Afghanistan.

Pakistan: Karachi Firing Kills At Least 23 People

Pakistan: Karachi Firing Kills At Least 23 People
(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - April 30, 2009: At least 23 people were killed and 22 others wounded in firing in the southern port city of Karachi in Pakistan on Wednesday, local media reported. The violence took place in different parts of Karachi when unidentified gunmen opened fire and set ablaze vehicles, the private Geo TV channel said. A Pakistani motorcyclist rides past a burning passenger mini bus on a street in Karachi and vehicle burns after clashes in the southern city of Karachi April 29, 2009. Police and rescue sources said that over a dozen police and security personnel were also injured in the crossfire between two groups in various areas. Pakistani police have arrested 21 suspected gunmen during a search operation and started investigation into the violence.

Indonesia Conducts Anti-Terrorism Drill For Upcoming ADB Meeting

Indonesia Conducts Anti-Terrorism Drill For Upcoming ADB Meeting
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: Indonesian soldiers participate in an anti-terrorism drill for the upcoming 42nd Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Bali, Indonesia, April 30, 2009. The 42nd ADB Annual Meeting will be held here from May 2 to 5, 2009.

Indian Election: Third Wave Of Voting Begins

Indian Election: Third Wave Of Voting Begins
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - April 30, 2009: Polls have opened in the third round of India's month-long elections, with the residents of Mumbai, the site of last year's militant attacks, among 144 million registered to vote.
A Kashmiri woman walks past a paramilitary woman soldier at a closed market area in Srinagar, India, Thursday, April 30, 2009. Thousands of government forces in riot gear patrolled the main city in India's portion of Kashmir Thursday as voting began in the southern part of the disputed Himalayan region amid separatists' call for a strike and boycott of the polls.
Polling booths opened at 7:00am (0130 GMT), with voting in most districts set to end at 5:00pm. Among the nine states voting are parts of impoverished Bihar and populous Uttar Pradesh in the north, Gujarat in the west, the southern agricultural state of Karnataka, and leftist-dominated eastern West Bengal. The states are seen as key to the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's bid to win power from the Congress-led ruling coalition. The BJP appears to trail its main rival in a staggered election that could produce a weak coalition government as India grapples with the global economic slowdown and a spate of militant attacks in the past year. The BJP will hope to get a big haul in the western state of Gujarat where one of the party's biggest stars, the controversial chief minister Narendra Modi, is a poster boy for the party's campaign of development and good governance. Security was tight, especially at polling stations in Bihar and West Bengal considered at risk from Maoist rebels who marred the first round of voting two weeks ago with a series of attacks that claimed nearly 20 lives. More than 19,000 paramilitary troops had been deployed to keep the peace. Ten parliamentary seats are up for grabs in India's financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai, which has seen an increase in political activism among its traditionally apathetic middle class since the November militant strikes that killed 166. The marathon, five-stage election - the world's largest democratic exercise - wraps up on May 13, with the final results expected three days later.

British Forces End Combat Role In Iraq / British Forces Lost In Basra Remembered At Final Service

British Forces End Combat Role In Iraq / British Forces Lost In Basra Remembered At Final Service
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: A memorial service to the British Service personnel and civilians who have died since operations began in Iraq in 2003 has been held at the Basra Memorial Wall this morning. The memorial service takes place at the Basra Contingency Operating Base as the UK mission in Iraq comes to a close [Picture: Corporal James Williams RLC] With British combat operations in southern Iraq drawing to a close and UK Service personnel preparing to draw down from Basra, this was the last service to be held at the wall in Basra which stands outside the UK Headquarters building on the Basra Contingency Operating Base. The service, which was held this morning, Thursday 30 April 2009, was attended by personnel from all three Services, senior coalition officers and the Defence Secretary John Hutton. The Basra Memorial Wall commemorates the 178 UK Service personnel and one civil servant who have died on Operation TELIC, as well as 46 coalition forces personnel and nine contractors (including two British citizens) killed in Multi-National Division South East's area of operations. The service was conducted by The Reverend Paschal Hanrahan who is padre to the British military Medical Group in Basra.
Representatives from all three Services read out in turn the names of all the 233 coalition fatalities commemorated on the wall. British personnel attend a memorial service at the Basra Contingency Operating Base as the UK mission in Iraq comes to a close [Picture: Corporal James Williams RLC] A bagpiper played a lament followed by a bugler who played the Last Post and Reveille. The end of the service was marked by an RAF Tornado flypast. The Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary made a commitment in December 2008 to bring the Memorial Wall home to a fitting resting place in Britain. The Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth is writing to the families to update them on our plans. The plan is to replicate the memorial wall in Basra as closely as possible at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The MOD is working with the Arboretum to finalise the design. The proposed design will incorporate the marble centre-stone of the Basra Memorial Wall, which is engraved with a quotation from the Book of Wisdom. Work on the foundations of the wall is likely to start at the Arboretum later this year. We hope the memorial wall itself will be completed by July next year. There will be a dedication service next year to unveil the completed memorial.

Boeing-IAI Missile Defense Interceptor Shoots Down Target In Test

Boeing-IAI Missile Defense Interceptor Shoots Down Target In Test
(NSI News Source Info) HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - April 30, 2009: The Boeing Company built part of the Arrow II interceptor that successfully shot down a ballistic missile target April 7 in a test of Israel's national missile defense system. The operationally realistic test, conducted in Israel by the Israel Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, used an interceptor co-produced by Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and equipped with new capability enhancements. "This successful test underscores the effectiveness of the cooperative relationship we have forged with IAI on the Arrow program and other international missile defense initiatives," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "Boeing is proud to co-produce Arrow II interceptors, which provide the state of Israel with a proven defense capability against ballistic missile threats." The event marked the co-produced Arrow II's second intercept in two attempts, as well as its third successful flight test. The Arrow II is part of the Arrow Weapon System, which Israel and the United States have jointly developed to defend Israel against the growing threat of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. Under an agreement with IAI, the prime contractor for the Arrow Weapon System, Boeing provides several Arrow II interceptor components, including the Section II electronics assembly (part of the avionics and guidance subsystem); the nose cone; the canister assembly that houses the interceptor; electrical subsystems; and motor cases. IAI is responsible for system integration and final interceptor assembly in Israel. Boeing's major suppliers on Arrow II are Alliant-Techsystems (ATK) of Iuka, Miss., and Clearfield, Utah; Manes Machine, of Fort Collins, Colo.; Patterson Machine, of Union Grove, Ala.; and Sanmina-SCI, of Huntsville, Ala.

French Army Ordered 15 ARAVIS® For Afghanistan

French Army Ordered 15 ARAVIS® For Afghanistan
(NSI News Source Info) April 30, 2009: Herve Morin, the Minister for Defence, is pleased about the order for 15 ARAVIS® armoured vehicles placed as part of the defence section of the economy stimulation plan. ARAVIS®, the most protected multi-mission vehicle of its category. Protection is one of the major asset of this new 12 tonne class 4 X 4, an essential requirement of the armed forces, highlighted by the experience acquired in Iraq and in Afghanistan. ARAVIS®’s protection level outclasses that of all existing 4x4 vehicles, with the following combined protection levels : level 4 ballistic protection (defeats 14,5 mm threats), level 4 mine protection (defeats 10kg mines under the belly and wheels) , level 4 artillery splinters protection (defeats 155mm artillery threats) and IED protection. With its easily sustainable Unimog châssis, ARAVIS® offers as well a very high tactical mobility on road and in cross-country. It is transportable by air in C130, A400M and C17. This vehicule offers a large internal volume of 9.5 m3 and can carry 2 permanent crew plus up to 6 infantry men with their equipment. ARAVIS®, can be fitted with remote cotrolled weapon station. This vehicle is ideal to achieve piece keeping and law enforcement operation, especially in urban aera. That section of the economy stimulation plan amounts to 2.4 billion euros and will be used, among other things, towards a 10% increase in funds dedicated to equipment purchase in 2009. The Delegation Generale pour l`Armement (DGA – French Procurement Agency) advised NEXTER Systems of the contract on April 16, 2009. The purchase will provide the French Army with highly protected vehicles for reconnaissance assignments on potentially mined routes. The ARAVIS®s will go to the Engineers unit, which escorts BUFFALO and SOUVIM vehicles specialised in improvised explosive device prevention (IED) tasks in Afghanistan. The ARAVIS® is a 12.5-ton, air-transportable 4WD vehicle with a high level of combined protection against mines and improvised explosive devices (IED). It can carry as many as 7 Engineers unit personnel. Since it may have to counter-attack in unsafe area, it has a remote-controlled weapon station with a 12.7 mm machine gun similar to the VAB TOPs used in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year. For its reconnaissance tasks, the ARAVIS® has, in addition to the turret cameras, peripheral cameras showing the nearby environment around the vehicle. The first vehicles will be delivered by NEXTER Systems to the DGA at the end of 2009. Users and personnel in charge of maintaining the ARAVIS®s will be trained upon the delivery of the first vehicles.

Chile To Finalize F-16 Deal With Netherlands - Minister

Chile To Finalize F-16 Deal With Netherlands - Minister
(NSI News Source Info) SANTIAGO - April 30, 2009: The Chilean Air Force is on the cusp of acquiring 18 used F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands, Defense Minister Francisco Vidal said Wednesday. The F-16 is the largest Western jet fighter program with over 4,400 aircraft built since production was approved in 1976. Though no longer being bought by the U.S. Air Force, advanced versions are still being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta. Although the $278 million contract has not yet been signed by the two countries, Vidal insisted the deal was ready to go. "The deal is closed, only the signatures are missing," Vidal said Wednesday, following an earlier denial from the Netherlands that a deal had been reached. The F-16 fighters will replace the Chile's aging F-5 jets, which have been in use since 1976. "Chile has acquired a new fleet of F-16 planes," Vidal announced late Tuesday after leaving a Defense Commission hearing in the Congress. The jets will join the Chilean Air Force in December, he added. The purchase is the second military deal between Chile and the Netherlands, after Santiago's 2006 acquisition of 18 used F-16 jets at a cost of $185 million. In 2003, Chile bought 10 new F-16 jets from U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) at a cost of $660 million.

Taliban Pressures NATO Supply Lines In Pakistan

Taliban Pressures NATO Supply Lines In Pakistan
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 30, 2009: Although Taliban fighters are battling Pakistani army troops only 100 kilometers from the capital, analysts downplay the potential for a direct armed takeover by the Islamic militants. Pakistani Muslims walk past army vehicles with cannons heading for the military operation against the Taliban.
However, there is a potential for them not only to ratchet up suicide attacks, but also to put greater pressure on the routes ferrying supplies through Pakistan to NATO troops in Afghanistan. Analysts say the move by Pakistan-based Taliban fighters out of their traditional base in the tribal areas along the border could spell trouble for the Obama administration's new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy. The U.S. plan calls for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan as well as a gradual increase in counterinsurgency aid for Pakistan. More troops will require more supplies. Landlocked Afghanistan can be supplied only overland and by air. And the most viable overland supply lines run through Pakistan, which is locked in its own insurgency. Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with the private intelligence firm Stratfor, points out that the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban have different primary goals. The Pakistani Taliban wants to destabilize the Islamabad government, while the Afghan Taliban wants to force Western troops out of Afghanistan. "Obviously, striking at the supply line is helping the brethren across the border in Afghanistan. But there is a complex disconnect between those who say the focus of the fighting or the insurgency should be in Afghanistan and those who say we should raise an uprising against the Pakistani state. So definitely, they're helping their guys on the other side. But at the same time, they have these other differences that are running parallel. It's like cooperation and competition taking place in tandem," he said. Seventy percent of Western supplies to NATO forces have to pass through lawless ground in the tribal areas of Baluchistan and militant-held areas in the North-West Frontier Province. Supplies are offloaded in the port city of Karachi and trucked to depots in Peshawar, then through the Khyber Pass and on to Kabul. The Khyber Pass, which has been a supply and trade route since the time of Alexander the Great, is particularly vulnerable. Blowing up a bridge there can shut down convoy traffic for days, as has happened at least seven times since last September. The depots and terminals that store supplies in Peshawar also have been plagued by suspected Taliban sabotage. But the convoys are not escorted by either U.S. or Pakistani forces. Using American troops is politically untenable in Pakistan, so the United States uses Pakistani security contractors rather than enlisting the Pakistan army for security. Stratfor analyst Kamran Bokhari says that does not sit well with Islamabad. "They don't want the United States overriding them and making their own direct channels with local security contractors and other firms and transportation company. So that's their main incentive. Second of all, if the army is doing it or is in charge of ferrying all these supplies and making sure they reach their destinations, there is a monetary incentive in that because there's a lot of money involved and the military will get a cut in that," he said. Brian Cloughley, a former Australian army military attaché in Islamabad, says the system is riddled with corruption even among the contractors. "There's quite a lot of underhanded maneuvering concerning contracts and, of course, the actual passage of vehicles because one contractor can perhaps say, 'Right, if you are not going to pay me off, I will ensure that your convoy is torched [i.e., burned],'" he said. Retired Lieutenant General Ali Aurakzai, former army corps commander in Peshawar and former governor of the North-West Frontier Province, says that even if the supplies are not weapons-related, the routing of NATO convoys through the province nevertheless is resented among local tribespeople. "The plea [position] that the militants have taken is that the government of Pakistan allows these convoys to use our territory where ammunition and weapons are transported to Afghanistan, and then the same weapons and ammunition are used against us in the form of drone attacks and helicopters coming and artillery fire coming across from Afghanistan and killing innocent people in the tribal areas," he said. There are also air routes, but those supply lines have been subjected to political pressures. The United States has been trying to persuade Kyrgyzstan not to close the Menas air base in the central Asian state, which has been used to move military personnel and goods in and out of Afghanistan. The U.S. had an air base in Uzbekistan, but was evicted in 2005 in a dispute over that country's poor human rights record. The U.S. has also started moving some supplies through Russia and other central Asian states. But Pakistan remains the most direct route - if not the safest one.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pakistan: Military Operation In Buner

Pakistan: Military Operation In Buner
(NSI News Source Info) April 29, 2009: Pakistani troops took control of the key town of Daggar, the headquarters of Buner district, a day after launching a major ground and air assault against Taliban militants. The operation in Buner has been mounted to stem Taliban efforts to encroach into regions beyond Swat.
In February, the government agreed that Islamic sharia law could be enforced in Swat and its surrounding districts in the Malakand region in a deal aimed at ending two years of rebellion during which followers of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah beheaded opponents and torched girls'. Pakistani army trucks carrying cannons and armored vehicles for the military operation against the Taliban arrive in the Umar Abad area outside Buner district.

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 29, 2009

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 29, 2009
(NSI News Source Info) April 29, 2009: President Barack Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. , aboard Air Force One, Wednesday, April 29, 2009.

Turkey Ignores Criticism Of Joint Military Exercise With Syria

Turkey Ignores Criticism Of Joint Military Exercise With Syria
(NSI News Source Info) ANKARA - April 29, 2009: Turkey's army chief brushed aside Israel's criticism of his country's first joint military exercises with neighboring Syria. "Israel's reaction does not interest us. We do not have to explain to a third country any military exercise that we undertake with another country," Gen. Ilker Basbug told a news conference April 29. "The exercises only concern Turkey and Syria," he added, describing the three-day maneuvers as a "small-scale" affair between teams of border troops. In this photo released by the Turkish General Staff headquarters, a Turkish soldier uses binoculars to search the area during an operation against Kurdish rebels at an undisclosed location. Turkey declined to set a timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops fighting Kurdish rebels in Iraq, despite calls from the United States to quickly wrap up the operation. Also, Turkey's military said its troops killed seven more rebels in the fighting in Iraq, bringing the total claimed death toll to 237 rebels since Turkey's ground incursion began a week ago. On April 27, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the exercises as a "worrying" development. "The military maneuvers are a worrying development, but the strategic ties uniting Israel and Turkey will prevail," Barak said. Non-Arab, secular Turkey is one of Israel's rare allies in the Muslim world, with the countries signing a military cooperation accord in 1996, much to the anger of Arab countries and Iran. Syria is one of the Jewish state's top foes, and the countries remain in a technical state of war since 1948. But Turkey has significantly improved ties with Syria after a long period of animosity during which Ankara threatened war over what it saw as Damascus's support for separatist Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey. Turkey hosted indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria last year, but the efforts were suspended following Israel's deadly offensive on Gaza. An undated picture released in Brussels by the pro-Kurds Firat news agency shows Turkish soldiers kept hostage by Kurdish rebels near the Iraq-Turkey border. A news agency which has close links to Kurdish rebels fighting Turkish troops published what it said were pictures of eight Turkish soldiers taken hostage by the guerrillas. The Gaza offensive also hit Israel's ties with Turkey, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of a debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos with Israeli President Shimon Peres, accusing the Jewish state of "barbarian" acts against the Palestinians.

700 Additional British Troops Will Be Sent To Afghanistan: Prime Minister Gordon Brown

700 Additional British Troops Will Be Sent To Afghanistan: Prime Minister Gordon Brown
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - April 29, 2009: Some 700 additional British troops will be sent to Afghanistan to provide security during the forthcoming presidential elections, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has confirmed. In a Commons statement, Mr Brown said the additional troops, which will take the British force to 9,000, will remain in the country until the autumn. In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Wednesday Feb. 18, 2009, British Royal Marines of 42 Commando, break down a door during Operation Diesel, an assault launched by British troops into the Taliban heartland in Afghanistan's notorious Sangin Valley. The operation resulted in the disruption of enemy command and control and logistics facilities, as well as the capture of four narcotics factories, millions of pounds (dollars, euros) worth of drugs, processing chemicals and equipment. Officials made clear that there will be no permanent increase in UK troop numbers, which will return to the current level of 8,300 once the temporary "surge" is over. Mr Brown, who visited Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this week, said the lawless borderlands between the two countries are a "crucible of global terrorism" which ultimately threaten the security of the UK. He echoed US president Barack Obama, who warned that extremism is a "cancer that is killing Pakistan from within". Mr Brown was for the first time publishing a strategy document covering both Afghanistan and Pakistan. He described security in the mountainous borderlands between the two countries as the "greatest priority" for the international community. "They are the crucible for global terrorism, they are the breeding ground for international terrorists, they are the source of a chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain," he said. He said that, in Afghanistan, Britain's aim was to build up the police and army to ensure that the country's democratic government was strong enough to withstand and overcome the terrorist threat. The goal would be to achieve a "district-by-district, province-by-province handover" to Afghan control. In Pakistan, the focus would be on supporting education and development to prevent young people "falling under the sway of violent and extremist ideologies" while at the same time helping the security forces regain control of the border areas. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) listens to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani during a joint press conference at The Prime Minister's House in Islamabad on April 27, 2009. Brown held talks in Pakistan after announcing a new strategy to tackle a "crucible of terrorism" on a visit to Kabul. Brown met with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to discuss terror threats after visiting British troops in insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan and meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Mr Brown said the Afghan National Army would be strengthened from 80,000 troops to 134,000 by late 2001. However more work was needed to build up the police, who were not yet seen as an "honest and fair institution", if the rule of law was to be established. He said that, as the US forces took on an increasing role in southern Afghanistan, UK forces would "shift the balance of our operations away from frontline combat and towards an enhanced contribution to the training" of the police and army. In Pakistan, he said, much of Britain's £665 million aid programme for the next four years - including £125 million of education spending - would be refocused on the border areas. At the same time, he said, senior UK and Pakistani military, intelligence and diplomatic teams would meet on a more regular basis in an "enhanced strategic dialogue". Closer co-operation would be reinforced through a £10 million counter-terrorism capacity-building programme with the Pakistani police and security services. Mr Brown said he would continue work on a new "concordat" on strengthening co-operation between the two nations when President Asif Ali Zardari visits Britain next month.

President Barack Obama Marks 100 Days With Trip To The Heartland

President Barack Obama Marks 100 Days With Trip To The Heartland
(NSI News Source Info) ARNOLD, Missouri - April 29, 2009: Barack Obama marked 100 days as president Wednesday with a trip to the US heartland, claiming his ambitious agenda of "remaking America" had begun to take hold but warning of much more work ahead to pull the nation out of recession. US President Barack Obama speaks as Senator Arlen Specter and Vice President Joe Biden looks on, April 29, 2009 in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Specter, a veteran Republican senator from Pennsylvania, announced April 28, 2009 that he was switching to the Democratic party. Since taking office January 20, Obama has battled the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, shifted the US military posture in Iraq and Afghanistan, and shown the world a different face of America as the first African-American US president.
As if that were not enough, he now faces a deadly new challenge in the form of a swine flu outbreak that health authorities fear could explode into a global pandemic. Against that backdrop, Obama set out from the White House Wednesday morning for the central state of Missouri for a town hall meeting where he put his own perspective on his first 100 days, a traditional milestone for gauging US presidents' debuts. "We have begun to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and we have begun the work of remaking America," Obama told a raucous crowd in opening remarks at a town hall meeting in this St Louis suburb. "Now, after 100 days, I'm pleased with the progress we've made, but I'm not satisfied," an upbeat Obama said. "I'm confident in the future, but I'm not content with the present," he added. "Not when there are workers that are still out of jobs, families who still can't pay their bills." Obama's debut -- seen as a success by the majority of Americans, according to several polls released just ahead of the 100-day milestone -- has been marked by the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression, and what Obama described Wednesday as the administration's "bold and sustained" steps to rein it in. The president unleashed a huge government intervention in the economy with a historic 787-billion-dollar stimulus bill and now has high-stakes environmental and healthcare reforms on the launchpad. Abroad, Obama hit the "reset button" on US foreign policy, reaching out to Muslims and vowing to end decades of enmity with foes Cuba and Iran. He mandated the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison camp, outlawed torture and set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. He also doubled down in Afghanistan and Pakistan and reversed US denial on climate change. "We've come a long way, we can see the light on the horizon, but we've got a much longer journey ahead," Obama said. Many of the new policies have not sat well with Republicans, who for the first time in eight years control neither the White House nor either chamber of Congress. "We don't have a majority. It's very difficult to pass legislation," Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell lamented. Compounding their woes, senior Republican Senator Arlen Specter announced Tuesday that he was becoming a Democrat, boosting Obama's ability to drive his agenda through the US Congress. Obama's Democratic allies hailed his first months in office, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said followed the "misguided policies and misplaced priorities" of the Bush administration. "I am encouraged that in the brief time we have had so effective a partner in the White House as President Obama, we have taken so many strong steps, so swiftly, in the right direction and for the right reasons," Reid said. Obama returns to Washington for a nationally televised press conference Wednesday evening when he is certain to be grilled about huge challenges that face the country on many fronts. "I think the American people are less likely to spend a lot of time sitting around Wednesday judging what we've done in our first 100 days, and are more concerned with what we're going to do each and every day going forward," said Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs, who gave his boss a report card grade of "B plus." But Americans have looked back at Obama's debut, and polls show he still enjoys strong backing among a wide swath of US voters. A survey published Wednesday by Quinnipiac University found that 58 percent of those polled approve of his performance as president, compared to 30 percent who disapprove. That was similar to the 59 percent approval rating Obama garnered in a Quinnipiac survey in early March. Meanwhile, Obama faced the first health crisis of his term, with the country experiencing its first swine flu death since the disease's outbreak in Mexico. At least 91 infections were confirmed across 10 US states as of Wednesday, and after declaring a public health emergency at the weekend Obama pressed Congress to release 1.5 billion dollars in emergency funding. On Tuesday the Senate confirmed Kathleen Sebelius as health and human services secretary, rounding out the president's cabinet amid concerns that many other senior positions remain vacant.

Debut For World's Fastest Camera

Debut For World's Fastest Camera
By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News
(NSI News Source Info) April 29, 2009: The fastest imaging system ever devised has been demonstrated by researchers reporting in the journal Nature. Their camera snaps images less than a half a billionth of a second long, capturing over six million of them in a second continuously. It works by using a fast laser pulse dispersed in space and then stretched in time and detected electronically. The approach will be instrumental in analysing, for example, flowing blood samples in a search for diseased cells. What is more, the camera works with just one detector, rather than the millions in a typical digital camera. Gathering steam Dubbed Serial Time-Encoded Amplified imaging, or Steam, the technique depends on carefully manipulating so-called "supercontinuum" laser pulses. These pulses, less than a millionth of a millionth of a second long, contain an enormously broad range of colours. Two optical elements spread the pinprick laser pulses into an ordered two-dimensional array of colours. It is this "2-D rainbow" that illuminates a sample. Part of the rainbow is reflected by the sample - depending on light and dark areas of the illuminated spot - and the reflections travel back along their initial path. Because the spreading of the pulse's various colours is so regular and ordered, the range of colours reflected contains detailed spatial information about the sample. "Bright spots reflect their assigned wavelength but dark ones don't," explained Bahram Jalali, the University of California, Los Angeles professor who led the research. Our next step is to improve the spatial resolution so we can take crystal clear pictures of the inner structure of cells Bahram Jalali, UCLA "When the 2-D rainbow reflects from the object, the image is copied onto the colour spectrum of the pulse." The pulse then passes back through the dispersive optics and again becomes a pinprick of light, with the image tucked away within as a series of distributed colours. However, that colour spectrum is mixed up in an exceptionally short pulse of light that would be impossible to unpick in traditional electronics. The team then routes the pulse into a so-called dispersive fibre - a fibre-optic cable that has a different speed limit for different colours of light. As a result, the red part of the spectrum races ahead of the blue part as the pulse travels along the fibre. Eventually, the red part and blue part separate in the fibre, arriving at very different times at the fibre's end. All that remains is to detect the light as it pops out of the fibre with a standard photodiode and digitise it, assigning the parts of the pulse that arrive at different times to different points in two-dimensional space. The result of all this optical trickery: an image that represents a snapshot just 440 trillionths of a second long. The researchers used a laser that fired more than six million pulses in a second, resulting in as many images. However, they say that the system can be improved to acquire more than 10 million images per second - more than 200,000 times faster than a standard video camera. 'Rogue cells' Instead of the millions of detectors in a digital camera, Steam uses just one While other cameras used in scientific research can capture shorter-lived images, they can only capture about eight images, and have to be triggered to do so for a given event. The Steam camera, by contrast, can capture images continuously, making it ideal for random events that cannot be triggered. Some applications that may benefit from the approach include observing the communication between cells, or the activity of neurons. But the perfect example of an application for the Steam camera's specifications is analysing flowing blood samples. Because the imaging of individual cells in a volume of blood is impossible for current cameras, a small random sample is taken and those few cells are imaged manually with a microscope. "But, what if you needed to detect the presence of very rare cells that, although few in number, signify early stages of a disease?," asks Keisuke Gode, lead author of the study. Dr Gode cites circulating tumour cells as a perfect example of such a target. Precursors to metastasis, they may exist as only a few among a billion healthy cells. "The chance that one of these cells will happen to be on the small sample of blood viewed under a microscope is virtually negligible." But with the Steam camera, fast-flowing cells can be individually imaged. The team is working to extend the technique to 3-D imaging with the same time resolution, and to increase the effective number of "pixels" in a given image to 100,000. "Our next step is to improve the spatial resolution so we can take crystal clear pictures of the inner structure of cells," Professor Jalali told BBC News. "We are not there yet, but if we are able to accomplish this, then there is no shortage of applications in biology."

Defense Focus: Age Of Wars Indian Forces

Defense Focus: Age Of Wars Indian Forces
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINTON - April 29, 2009: India has poor special forces, but its enormous manpower gives it a powerful advantage in maintaining security and fighting guerrilla conflicts. A newly raised soldier of Indian Army Jammu Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment (JKLIR) shouts during a passing out parade on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Four hundred and fourteen recruits from Jammu and Kashmir state were formally inducted into JKLIR after training. This model flies in the face of the fashionable and currently widely accepted theories of military force deployment and weapons procurement spearheaded by the United States and followed by almost of all of the major industrialized democracies.
Indeed, French President Nicolas Sarkozy embarked on an ambitious program last year to drastically cut the size and manpower numbers of the French armed forces while pouring far more investment into high-tech weapons, space-based command and communications and long-distance force-projection capabilities instead. It always sounds so attractive, and it was the mantra that Donald Rumsfeld followed during his six years as defense secretary of the United States. But it didn't work well at all for the United States and its armed forces. The U.S. military had to pour a disproportionate percentage of its combat forces into a long and exhausting guerrilla conflict against Baathist and other Sunni Muslim guerrillas operating among a minority of only around 30 percent or less of the total population of Iraq, an average-sized country that is only as large as California and with a population half the size. But in fighting counterinsurgency wars and in struggling to prevent the erosion of the state to entropy or chaos -- generating forces of fourth-generation war -- the most important goal for armies to achieve is the protection of the population from being terrorized and coerced by the ruthless guerrilla forces seeking to co-opt them. U.S. Gen. David Petraeus has applied that principle with brilliant success in central Iraq over the past two years after about four years of continual failure before him. Petraeus was able to pull off his achievement despite a strict limitation on the number of troops he was able to concentrate on the ground. And the super-expensive high-tech weaponry that Rumsfeld loved proved to be totally irrelevant to his achievement. Petraeus was able to pull off his success by co-opting and paying local Iraqi tribal leaders who had been disgusted by the out-of-control violence and cruelty of al-Qaida and other insurgent forces. The Indian army continues to fight guerrilla and terrorist challenges on a number of fronts, and it has achieved considerable success against them using two low-tech and very old-fashioned and unfashionable forces. It has not sought to bribe or politically co-opt its enemies as the British Empire did for centuries around the world with mixed but generally positive results and as Petraeus more recently did in Iraq. The Indians have relied on strong passive border defenses to keep mujahedin Islamist guerrillas from wreaking havoc in Muslim-majority Jammu & Kashmir or across their eastern border from Bangladesh. But above all else, they have trusted in having large numbers of relatively low-trained and lightly equipped combat soldiers who can flood areas threatened by guerrillas for long periods at a time.

Afghanistan: British Forces On Guard And Hunting Taliban Hideout

Afghanistan: British Forces On Guard And Hunting Taliban Hideout
(NSI News Source Info) April 29, 2009: In this undated image made available in London Wednesday April 29, 2009 by the Ministry of Defence, snipers and an observer of the Black Watch, the 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, take up positions during Operation Sarak 1 in the Maywand region of Afghanistan. Operation Sarak 1, which took place from April 21 to April 25, enabled the troops to carry out searches and exploit compounds of interest following a helicopter air assault to shuttle troops to their area of operation.

Indonesia: Islamic Parties Losing Grip And Becoming Unpopular Among Masses Of People

Indonesia: Islamic Parties Losing Grip And Becoming Unpopular Among Masses Of People
(NSI News Source Info) JAKARTA, Indonesia - April 29, 2009: The recent national elections saw the Islamic parties lose half their support, although they still hold about twenty percent of the seats in parliament. Five years ago, the Islamic parties got so many votes because their promise of "clean government" was believed. Singaporean Islamist Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin (R) sweeps his beard as he listens to the judge sentence him in Jakarta on April 28, 2009 while Ali Masyudi (C) and Wahyudi (L), terror suspects from Indonesia, sit next to him. Hasan, who trained for a "holy war" in Afghanistan and met Osama bin Laden in 2000, was sentenced to 18 years jail under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law.
But that has since been shown to be a lie, with many Islamic politicians caught in corrupt acts. Many of the Islamic parties still want to turn Indonesia into a religious dictatorship. This disturbs many Moslems, but it especially bothers the 15 percent of the population that is not Moslem. Most of these are Christian, and while the government has been effective in reducing the Islamic violence, the Islamic radicals are still there, and still hating. In Papua, tribal separatists demonstrated against the elections, and continued their attacks on government officials and police. The violence isn't just ethnic, it's also practical. The government encourages migration of Moslem Malays from the more crowded islands to the west, to the sparsely populated forests and hills of Papua. The largely Christian (and non-Malay Melanesians) don't like it. In East Timor, a recent study estimated that some 20,000 young men were part of over a hundred tribe and clan based gangs. The high unemployment, and concentration of so much of the population in urban areas, makes it easy for these gangs to form. The gangs generate a lot of crime, both against other gangs, and ordinary citizens. The government is corrupt, with the politicians stealing much of the foreign aid, and now the growing funds from oil and gas fields as well. Eight years ago, about a third of the half million population was living below the poverty level. Now half the population is, and there is no economic progress. East Timor is turning into an economic basket case, kept alive by foreign charity. April 26, 2009: In Papua, three bombs were found near a police station, and disabled before they could go off. April 20, 2009: An Islamic terrorist, wanted for murdering a Christian teacher, was arrested in South Sulawesi. April 9, 2009: For the third time since the dictatorship was overthrown in 1998, national elections were held. While there was some violence, the elections generally came off without incident. April 4, 2009: In Aceh, a former rebel turned politician was murdered by unidentified gunmen. Many separatist rebels entered politics after the peace deal two years ago. But not all the rebels agreed with this, and, so far this year, at least five former rebel leaders have been killed.

Boeing, Danish Aerotech Sign MOU For Super Hornet Support

Boeing, Danish Aerotech Sign MOU For Super Hornet Support
(NSI News Source Info) KARUP, Denmark - April 29, 2009: The Boeing Company and civil defense and aerospace company Danish Aerotech today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines opportunities for Danish Aerotech to provide select F/A-18E/F Super Hornet logistics support capabilities. If the Royal Danish Air Force names the Super Hornet as its New Combat Aircraft, Boeing and Danish Aerotech could partner in a Performance Based Logistics (PBL) program for long-term support of the strike fighter aircraft and other platforms. "This MOU is of high value to our company," said Danish Aerotech CEO Søren E. Petersen. "With its wide scope of business in the defense industry and as a leading manufacturer of civilian and military aircraft, Boeing is an extremely attractive partner for Danish Aerotech. We look forward to further developing our core capabilities and jointly working with Boeing on new areas of support that are of strategic, long-term value to Danish Aerotech, as well as providing a considerable boost to revenue and employment." Boeing and Danish Aerotech may also pursue opportunities related to training; PBL contracting; maintenance, repair and overhaul; and build-to-print activities across Boeing's portfolio of programs for some of the world's most advanced military aircraft and rotorcraft. "Boeing has long been an innovator in Performance Based Logistics, and leveraging Danish Aerotech's expertise in aircraft and component maintenance and repair could further boost our strength in delivering mission readiness to our customers," said Tom Bell, vice president of Business Development for Boeing Military Aircraft. Boeing instituted the PBL model a decade ago to address maintenance and repair support as a total integrated task. PBL contracts allow the customer to comprehensively purchase a set level of readiness instead of paying for parts or services on a more expensive transactional basis. The PBL approach continually improves the cost-effectiveness of logistics products and services. Danish Aerotech is a civil defense and aerospace company specializing in the development, production, installation and support of mechanical, electrical and electronic parts and components for aircraft, helicopters, missiles and targeting systems, as well as maintenance, modifications and integration of aircraft, missiles and associated components.

India's BEL Has New Strategy For Growth

India's BEL Has New Strategy For Growth
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - April 29, 2009: As part of its new growth strategy, India's largest defense electronics company, Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL), plans to strike joint ventures with foreign companies in the future, a company executive said. BEL, Bangalore, also plans to enter the nuclear power instrumentation market as part of the strategy, and will henceforth give priority to defense and even homeland security products, the executive said. The growth initiatives have been recommended by consulting firm KPMG, which was hired in 2008 to help BEL compete in the emerging business environment and restructure itself. BEL, with an order book at about $2 billion as of April 1, recorded $923.6 million in sales for the year 2008-09 compared with the previous year's $820.5 million. The BEL executive said the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Astra Microwave Products, Hyderabad, India, for microwave components. Under another agreement signed this year, BEL and U.S. defense giant Boeing will jointly develop an analysis and experimentation center in India to help customers make better-informed decisions on modernizing the country's defense forces. Some significant orders that BEL executed during the year include artillery combat command and control systems for India's network-centric warfare effort, radar warning receivers, surveillance radar elements, thermal imager-based integrated observation equipment, the Rohini 3-D surveillance radar, shipborne and airborne electronic warfare systems, laser rangefinders and night-vision binoculars, the BEL executive said.

Pakistan Says 50 Taliban Killed In Buner Operation

Pakistan Says 50 Taliban Killed In Buner Operation
(NSI News Source Info) RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - April 29, 2009: Pakistani security forces have killed 50 Taliban and lost one soldier in an operation to drive the militants out of the strategic valley 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad, a military spokesman said on Wednesday. Pakistan's military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas briefs the media about the recently launched military operation, Tuesday, April 28, 2009 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Pakistan deployed troops and bombed Taliban positions in a district near the capital Tuesday, the military said, in an expansion of an offensive against militants seemingly emboldened by a much-criticized peace deal. Major-General Athar Abbas told a newsconference in Rawalpindi, the garrison town next door to the capital, that forces in Buner has also freed 18 of some 70 police and militiamen kidnapped by the militants on Tuesday. Pakistani soldiers had earlier occupied the main town of Daggar, but hundreds of Taliban remain in the valley.

India Puts Army And Navy On Alert To Prevent Tamil Tigers From Entering

India Puts Army And Navy On Alert To Prevent Tamil Tigers From Entering
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - April 29, 2009: India has put its army and navy on high alert along its southern coast to prevent fleeing Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels from entering the country, said the private Indo-Asian News Service on Wednesday. Sri Lankan government soldiers stand behind a display of weapons they say were captured from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) near the town of Kilinochchi located near the 'No Fire Zone' in northern Sri Lanka April 24, 2009. Government soldiers and the LTTE rebels continue to fight the apparent endgame of Asia's longest-running war despite calls to protect an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in an area controlled by the LTTE. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said operations to finish Asia's longest-running war would not let up, adding troops were moving toward the rebel pocket where the LTTE's leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, is believed to be hiding. The news service quoted a top commander of the Indian army, Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Noble Thamburaj, as saying that the southern command of the Indian armed forces has put its personnel on high alert to prevent fleeing Tamil Tiger cadres from entering the country. "The Coast Guard and the Indian Navy form the first tier (of defense). We have some troops deployed to ensure LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) don't enter (India)," the news service quoted Thamburaj as saying. The Sri Lankan government forces are in the final stage of routing out the 26-year-old rebellion of LTTE in the northern part of the island nation.

North Korea Threatens Nuclear Tests

North Korea Threatens Nuclear Tests
(NSI News Source Info) April 29, 2009: North Korea has threatened to carry out nuclear missile tests unless the UN Security Council apologises for its condemnation of a recent rocket launch. Pyongyang said it would be compelled to take self-defence measures "including nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests" if no apology was made. Replicas of North and South Korean missiles are displayed at the Korea War Memorial in Seoul on April 29, 2009. North Korea threatened to conduct a second nuclear test and to test-launch ballistic missiles unless the United Nations apologises for condemning its recent rocket launch. When North Korea launched its rocket on 5 April, the launch was seen by the US and others as a disguised missile test. The UN denounced North Korea's actions and called for tighter sanctions. Pyongyang has insisted it put a communications satellite in orbit, and said it would ignore the sanctions, describing them as "a wanton violation of the UN charter". North Korea conducted its first and only nuclear test in 2006. Backward step North Korea's foreign ministry said the UN should apologise for "infringing" the country's sovereignty and retract "all its resolutions and decisions" against Pyongyang. It also announced plans to build a light-water nuclear reactor, according to the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Following the UN criticism, the North pulled out of international negotiations on its denuclearisation and ejected all monitors from the country. Pyongyang has since announced that it has started reprocessing spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear plant. The reprocessing is a possible move towards producing weapons-grade plutonium. North Korea had partially dismantled its nuclear reactor under a deal agreed at international talks in early 2007, in which it was also promised fuel aid.

Australia To Send 450 More Troops To Afghanistan

Australia To Send 450 More Troops To Afghanistan
(NSI News Source Info) CANBERRA, Australia - April 29, 2009: Australia announced Wednesday it will increase by almost one half its troops in Afghanistan to about 1,550 as part of the U.S.-led surge of international forces to bolster the faltering fight against Taliban insurgents. Australian Army soldiers from the 8th/12th Medium Regiment and British Army soldiers from the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery as the Army's only parachute light gun regiment, the Airborne Gunners primary role is to provide artillery support to 16 Air Assault Brigade Task Force Helmand during their operations to support the Afghan national Government in its fighting against the Taliban. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has mostly played down prospects of increasing Australia's commitment against Afghan insurgents since taking office in 2007, said he had been persuaded to increase the deployment during discussions last week with President Barack Obama. The deployment of 450 new forces is Rudd's first new military commitment to the Afghan war, and gives him a political stake in the outcome at a time when Australian public opinion has dipped following a string of combat deaths. The new troops would mostly focus on training the Afghan National Army in the southern province of Uruzgan and will include a temporary eight-month deployment of 120 soldiers to enhance security around the August elections, Rudd said. "As I make these further commitments today, I am acutely conscious of the fact that I am placing more Australians in harm's way and I fear that more Australians will lose their lives in the fight that lies ahead," Rudd said. Ten Australians have already been killed in the conflict, four of them since November last year. Australia is the biggest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition outside NATO. Rudd has long called for other NATO partners to do more before Australia would consider increasing its commitment. He noted Wednesday that Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain had all agreed to send more troops since Obama this year ordered 21,000 new U.S. troops to Afghanistan to bolster the record 38,000 already there. Rudd acknowledged that the war was becoming less popular among Australians, but said Afghanistan must not be allowed to once again become a haven and training ground for international terrorists. "Australia concurs with the United States that the current civilian and military strategy is not working," Rudd said. "If anything, security in Afghanistan is deteriorating."

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 28, 2009

US President Barack Obama Day To Day Activities On April 28, 2009
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - April 29, 2009: US President Barack Obama arrives alongside the 2009 National Teacher of the Year Tony Mullen and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on April 28, 2009. Mullen is a special education teacher from the ARCH School in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Poland To Send 400 More Soldiers To Afghanistan

Poland To Send 400 More Soldiers To Afghanistan
(NSI News Source Info) WARSAW - April 28, 2009: Poland is to dispatch 400 more soldiers to Afghanistan by the end of this month amid the worsening security situation in the war-ravaged country, German news reports said here Tuesday. Poland will bolster its 1,600-strong contingent in Afghanistan with 400 more troops to help improve security in the leadup to an August election there, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said recently the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan will need some 4,000 extra soldiers to secure Afghanistan's presidential poll. "We have taken today a decision to formally ask the president to increase our contingent by 400 soldiers," Tusk told a news conference. "It is related to the elections in Afghanistan and we are all aware the situation there will not be any easier over the weeks to come. Sending more troops is justified from the point of view of our own forces' security there," Tusk added. Poland, NATO's largest ex-communist member, had previously said it would not increase its forces in Afghanistan as it looks to make budget savings because of a sharp economic slowdown. Poland's Defense Ministry recently agreed to cut spending plans this year by 2 billion zlotys ($601.5 million), but Tusk said it could afford the 35.1 million zlotys needed for the troop reinforcements. Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who as commander-in-chief must approve the additional deployments, has spoken in favor of increasing Poland's engagement in Afghanistan and is widely expected to approve Tusk's request. Warsaw will increase its overall troop size in Afghanistan to 2,000 by the end of April, said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk following his meeting with his British counterpart Gordon Brown in the Polish capital. The situation ahead of the Afghan presidential elections, scheduled for August, requires "utmost efforts," added Tusk. There are currently 1.600 Polish troops deployed in Afghanistan fighting a rejuvenated Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency. Polish soldiers have faced increased attacks in recent times, Polish military officials have been quoted saying. The US has reportedly pressed Poland to send additional soldiers to Afghanistan. Polish troops have been based mostly in the Afghan province of Ghasni since last fall as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which has currently deployed around 55,000 troops. ISAF is by far NATO's largest mission, and is seen as crucial to the security and long-term credibility of the controversial western military alliance. The ISAF mission was mandated by the United Nations in December 2001, in the wake of the overthrow of the Taliban. The largest troop contingents come from the US with 23,220 followed by Britain with 8,910 and Germany with 3,500. American President Barack Obama announced he would boost the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan by around 17,000. However, he has also called on European allies to make a similar commitment.

Pakistan: Where Has Sufi Mohammad Gone?

Pakistan: Where Has Sufi Mohammad Gone?
(NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR - April 28, 2009: The government as well as followers of Sufi Mohammad's defunct Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi are looking for him for one reason: to start talks to remove the last few remaining hurdles in the enforcement of Nizam-i-Adl Regulation. Sufi Mohammad was last seen leaving for his home in Lal Qila area from his base camp in Maidan on Saturday afternoon. Sufi Mohammad was last seen leaving for his home in Lal Qila area from his base camp in Maidan on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning, according to his spokesman Ameer Izzat, the cleric started for his base camp along with his son Ziaullah, just when the paramilitary forces moved in to attack militants’ hideout in Lal Qila. ‘The last time we had contact with Sufi Sahib was when he said he was on his way to Maidan. He said that he wanted to return home but he was not allowed to proceed by security people because of the fighting there,’ Ameer Izzat said. ‘There has been no communication since then and we don’t know where he is. Everybody is looking for him. We are looking for him. The government is looking for him. We are concerned. We want him to come back and resume talks to resolve the pending issues.’ Ironically, the NWFP government faces the same predicament. It desperately needs to start talks and announce the remaining steps for the implementation of the recently-announced regulation but it does not know where to find the TNSM chief. In fact, a two-member team of the NWFP government comprising Senator Afrasiab Khattak and Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain flew into Upper Dir on Monday. But Sufi was nowhere to be seen. Anxious to resolve the remaining issues, the government is believed to have reached out to all those who could locate Sufi Mohammed. One significant announcement would be the setting up of Darul Qaza in Malakand. This would be a major stride in the full implementation of the regulation but before it does so, the government would like to consult the unpredictable TNSM leader. Pakistani citizens rally against Taliban in Lahore, Pakistan on Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Fighter jets began bombing Taliban hide-outs in a district near the Pakistani capital Tuesday, a military spokesman said, signaling an expansion of an offensive against militants seemingly emboldened by a controversial peace deal. The TNSM wants the operation to be halted and one reason for the demand is to help find their leader, who is known for his disappearing antics. In 1994, when the TNSM had launched an armed rebellion against the state for enforcement of Sharia in Malakand, Sufi was literally pulled out from the mountains by a helicopter to negotiate a settlement. Sufi had agreed and went along with government officials to disarm his supporters and dislodge them from the mountains.

First Japanese Helicopter Carrier Commissioned At Tokyo Bay

First Japanese Helicopter Carrier Commissioned At Tokyo Bay
(NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - April 28, 2009: DDH 181 Hyuga, the Japanese Maritime Self defense Force (JMSDF) new 'Helicopter Destroyer' was commissioned at the Yokosuka port in Japan on March 18, 2009. Hyuga is the lead ship of this new class of 'helicopter destroyers'. Two additional ships are planned, the second is already under construction. During World War II Hyuga was one of Japanese Imperial Navy's battleships, that was converted into a 'hybrid battleship/aircraft carrier' in 1943. The 197 meter long, 13,950-ton flat-deck vessel can carry up to four helicopters on deck and operate 11 SH-60K type helicopters. The ship is operated by a crew of 340 sailors. Japan has clearly stated that the vessel has been restricted to operate helicopters only as Japan cannot possess offensive aircraft carriers under the pacifist constitution. Hence, Hyuga is not equipped with offensive capabilities. Nevertheless, Hyuga is equipped with 16 Mk41 VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells for anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles and accommodates two 20mm Phalanx anti-missile cannon and two triple 12.75-inch torpedo mounts for self defense. While its primary function is anti-submarine warfare, the Hyuga will also give Japan its first real power projection capability since 1945. The Hyuga is the largest warship built in Japan since World War II. The Japanese constitution forbids it to have aircraft carriers, which is the main reason it is called a destroyer. The vessel could also be instrumental for disaster recovery missions in the region, prone to floods, earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis. The new vessel was opened to the public a month later, on April 11.

Russia To Finalize Plans For New Aircraft Carrier By 2012

Russia To Finalize Plans For New Aircraft Carrier By 2012
(NSI News Source Info) ISTANBUL - April 28, 2009: Russia will finish drafting plans for a new aircraft carrier for its Navy by 2012, a deputy defense minister for procurements said on Tuesday. In file photo from 2004, the Russian navy's Admiral Kuznetsov carrier is seen in the Barents Sea, Russia. The Russian navy said Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 that its sole aircraft carrier and several accompanying ships have left their base and are heading for the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. "We are planning to resolve all the issues in 2010-2011, and after that we will make a final decision. At this point it is necessary to determine all technical specifications of the ship and the means of achieving them. Simultaneously, we have to decide on the strategic uses of aircraft carriers in the future," Vladimir Popovkin said. So far the Russian Navy only has one aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, built in 1985, with a displacement of 55,000 metric tons, a crew of 1,500, and capability to carry more than 50 aircraft. Vice Adm. Anatoly Shlemov, the head of defense contracts at the United Shipbuilding Corporation, said in February that Russia's new-generation aircraft carrier would most likely be nuclear-powered, and have a displacement of up to 60,000 metric tons. He added that the new carrier would serve as a seaborne platform for new-generation fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, in particular a fifth-generation fighter set to replace the Su-33 multirole fighter aircraft currently in service, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Shlemov said that unlike in the past, the new aircraft carrier would not be armed with cruise missiles, which were not part of its "job description." He also said that at least three such carriers were to be built, for the Northern and Pacific Fleets. Shlemov offered no timeline on the project, saying it was not as yet clear which shipyard would get the contract. The new carrier has an estimated price tag of $4 billion.

Russian Armed Forces To Acquire New Drones In 2010 - Popovkin

Russian Armed Forces To Acquire New Drones In 2010 - Popovkin
(NSI News Source Info) ISTANBUL - April 28, 2009: Russia's Armed Forces are to be equipped with new domestically-produced drones in 2010, a deputy Russian defense minister responsible for military procurements said Tuesday. "Russian drones not inferior to foreign varieties will appear in a year, no earlier," General of the Army Vladimir Popovkin said at the IDEF 2009 defense industry exhibition in Istanbul. The issue of insufficient modern weaponry, including drones, in the Russian military came to the fore in August 2008, when Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war after Tbilisi launched an offensive of its former republic of South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. The lack of advanced reconnaissance equipment severely hampered the effectiveness of Russian military operations in South Ossetia due to an absence of reliable up-to-date intelligence. Popovkin confirmed Russia had concluded a deal to buy a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Israel, which he earlier called a "temporary measure," and without specifying a figure. "Despite that, we have not stopped any of our efforts on developing them in Russia. We have maintained funding and concentrated our work in one place. I am personally leading on this," he said.

Final “Increment 1” VH-71 US Presidential Helicopter Delivered

Final “Increment 1” VH-71 US Presidential Helicopter Delivered
(NSI News Source Info) April 28, 2009: The ninth and final VH-71 to be built under “Increment 1” of the US Presidential Helicopter Replacement Programme departed AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility today on its way to the United States for completion by prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
The aircraft will depart the UK for the US later this week aboard a US Air Force C-17 transport aircraft. Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, AgustaWestland said at the delivery ceremony “The delivery of the final aircraft today has been achieved just over four years after the contract was awarded in 2005.
All the aircraft delivered are completely compliant to the specifications required by the U.S. Government and the progress achieved in such a short period of time is uncommon for an acquisition of this size and complexity. The whole VH-71 team can be proud of this remarkable achievement”.
He went on to say “The VH-71 helicopters meet or exceed all the performance requirements specified in the contract and it remains the only helicopter available today, or in the medium term, that can meet the demanding requirements. The VH-71 delivers much greater safety, speed, range and capability that the legacy aircraft which are now reaching the end of their service life.” The contract to build four Test Vehicles (TV) and five Pilot Production (PP) aircraft was awarded in January 2005 after an exhaustive evaluation of all solutions. Since then the programme schedule for AgustaWestland has changed by only six months while accommodating over 800 customer changes including 50 major design changes.
The VH-71 is more than an executive transport helicopter - it is a command and control platform that will provide the President with seamless communications connectivity and fulfil the Marine One mission requirements.
The VH-71 aircraft will be ready to enter service in late 2010 following installation of the cabin interior, communications suite and other mission equipment. Following delivery of the final “Increment 1” aircraft AgustaWestland will continue to provide technical and logistical support for the fleet of aircraft and is ready to proceed with “Increment 2” or a range of alternative solutions utilising the capabilities of the “Increment 1” VH-71. The VH-71 is based on the successful multi-mission AW101 helicopter currently serving with seven armed forces and has logged more than 180,000 flight hours, including prolonged combat operations in Iraq and Kosovo.

AgustaWestland Unveils The TUHP 149 Helicopter

AgustaWestland Unveils The TUHP 149 Helicopter
(NSI News Source Info) April 28, 2009: AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, unveiled a full scale mock-up of the TUHP 149 helicopter at IDEF 2009 in Istanbul today. The TUHP 149 is the AgustaWestland candidate for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme (TUHP).
The TUHP 149 features a wide, constant cross section and unobstructed cabin with large sliding doors. The cabin can be easily reconfigured to meet different operational requirements with the capability to transport up to 18 equipped troops.
It is a new generation 8.1 ton medium lift multi-role helicopter designed to meet the military requirements of Turkish end users.
The TUHP 149 maximizes the involvement of TAI and additional leading Turkish aerospace and defence companies, including ASELSAN, TEI, ROKETSAN, HAVELSAN, building on the strategic partnership already set up by AgustaWestland and Turkish industries through the ATAK programme.
The TUHP 149 features a wide, constant cross section and unobstructed cabin with large sliding doors. The cabin can be easily reconfigured to meet different operational requirements with the capability to transport up to 18 equipped troops.
The leading edge technology, open architecture digital avionics and integrated mission and weapon systems allow the aircraft to undertake a wide range of missions. The high performance twin engine helicopter is designed for operations in all environments day and night.
The aircraft can be configured to carry a wide range of weapons, including rocket launchers, air-to-surface and machine-guns as well as external auxiliary tanks in a variety of combinations. Pintle mounted machine-guns can also be fitted on fixed frame windows or in the doors. Structural provisions for the installation of an external cargo hook, heavy duty rescue hoist and a wide range of other mission equipment are provided.
The TUHP 149, due to its modular design for rapid role re-configuration, is perfectly suited to perform an impressive range of duties including troop transport, battlefield and logistic operations, fire support, SAR and combat SAR, special forces operations, reconnaissance, surveillance, CASEVAC, command control and communication, external load lifting as well as VIP military transport.
The new technology TUHP 149 has been designed from the outset with low support and maintenance requirements to minimize the operating costs and the through life ownership costs. A range of support and training services packages will be available to provide cost effective through life support to meet customer's requirements. A full "Level D" flight simulator is also envisaged.