Sri Lankan Army 'Kills 420 Tamil Tigers' In Three-Day Offensive

Sri Lankan Army 'Kills 420 Tamil Tigers' In Three-Day Offensive

*Analysis: It is not acceptable that Sri Lankan army are shelling point blank at civilians or any human object which is termed as genocide. According to UN resolution by-law Sri Lanka has violated human rights and basic human dignity., which should be brought to notice. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: Sri Lankan forces claim to have killed at least 420 Tamil

Tigers in the last three days and to have driven the last of the rebels into a “no-fire zone” packed with tens of thousands of civilians who have tried to flee the conflict. A Sri Lankan soldier stands near a tank as it fires a shell at Puthukkudiyirippu where fights between the Sri Lanka army and the Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) are taking place, north east Sri Lanka March 1, 2009. Picture taken on March 1, 2009. After the bloodiest battle in the last year, some 6,000 troops have now captured the entire northeastern region of Puthukkudiyiruppu, the last rebel territory on the edge of the safety zone, according to a military spokesman. "It was close-combat fighting from house to house, street to street in an area full of underground bunkers that had been built up over the course of 20 or so years," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told The Times. "The fighting is over now. We are just clearing the area and our main concern is how to rescue the civilians inside the safety zone." An estimated 200 hardcore Tigers and several hundred poorly-trained young recruits are holed up with the civilians inside the no-fire zone – a 7.7 square mile strip of land along a beach, he said. Among the rebels is thought to be their charismatic leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and his son, Charles Anthony, who was reported to have been wounded last week. A military statement said the rebels were “facing total annihilation". There was no immediate comment from the Tigers, and it was impossible to confirm the army’s claims as most independent journalists and aid workers are not allowed near the front line. The Times has not been granted a journalist’s visa for Sri Lanka for seven months, despite multiple applications. The latest fighting is sure to heighten international concerns about the 150,000 civilians - mostly ethnic Tamils - that the UN and the Red Cross estimate are trapped inside the safety zone. The government says that there are only about 50,000 civilians left there, and accuses the Tigers of holding them against their will, forcing some to fight while using others as human shields. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, added his voice on Friday to international calls for restraint, amid continued reports of serious rights abuses by both the army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the Tigers are officially known. “The Secretary-General calls upon the LTTE leadership to allow civilians to leave the conflict area of their own free will,” he said. He accused the Tigers of violating international law by restricting civilians’ movements, and said he deplored the forced recruitment of civilians, particularly children. “At the same time, the Secretary-General again reminds the Government of Sri Lanka of its responsibility to protect civilians and to avoid the use of heavy weapons in areas where there are civilians, as promised,” he continued. “The Government should receive and treat displaced persons in accordance with international law, and work closely with the United Nations in meeting the protection and physical needs of displaced persons.” The government has yet to reveal how it plans to defeat the rebels inside the safety zone, where it says they have been building fortifications. But Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, the army chief, told the state-run Sunday Observer newspaper that tens of thousands of civilians would soon be rescued from the zone. The government had hoped to be able to declare a conventional military victory over the Tigers by April 14, which is Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, but officials now say they may need another three weeks or so. The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for the Tamil minority, which is mostly Hindu, to protect them from discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese majority, which is largely Buddhist. More than 70,000 people have been killed in one of the world's longest running current civil wars.

North Korea Launches Rocket 'Failed' - Update # 4 / North Korea 'Satellite' Did Not Make Orbit / North Korea Space Launch 'Fails'

North Korea Launches Rocket 'Failed' - Update # 4 / North Korea 'Satellite' Did Not Make Orbit / North Korea Space Launch 'Fails'

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: A North Korean rocket fails to put a satellite into orbit, US and South Korean officials say, hours after the North claims success. A South Korean man watch a TV news program on the North Korean rocket launch at an electron market in Seoul, Sunday, April 5, 2009. North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. The letters on the screen read, "Japan immediately requested a Security Council meeting at the United Nation".

Whatever North Korea launched aboard its rocket, the payload did not make it into orbit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said today. "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan.

The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean," NORAD said in a statement. NORAD said no object entered orbit.

JLTV Edges Closer To Entering Technology Development

JLTV Edges Closer To Entering Technology Development

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: The Army and Marine Corps co-hosted a three-day preproposal conference Feb. 19-21 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., to inform industry of the U.S. Government’s acquisition strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. JLTV is a joint Army-Marine Corps program with the Army designated as the lead service. The Office of Naval Research Combat Tactical Vehicle Technology Demonstrator is tested on the unimproved roads of the Nevada Automotive Test Center, Nev. The conference came two weeks on the heels of the Army’s Feb. 5 release of a request for proposal (RFP), which invited suppliers, through a full and open competition process, to submit proposals for the development of a JLTV family of vehicles (FoV). The JLTV FoV and companion trailers can perform multiple mission roles. They will be designed to provide protected, sustained, networked mobility for people and payloads across the full range of military operations. JLTV provides a vehicle platform that will use, to the greatest degree possible, solutions and technology being developed in the Army's Future Combat Systems program; Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC); Army Research Lab; and Office of Naval Research as well as commercial industry advances. The JLTV FoV will be used by all U.S. military services. Several foreign governments have already expressed a strong interest in joining the development of the JLTV vehicles. Presentations included the earned value management process that the JLTV program will use to control cost, stay on schedule and achieve performance objectives. The conference included many presenters from all program areas of expertise that gave industry detailed guidance on how to craft their proposal to address the four important evaluation factors: technical; logistics commonality; cost; and past performance-small business participation. The government also shared lessons learned from various research efforts and displayed vehicles developed under the Army’s Future Tactical Truck System Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, and Office of Naval Research Combat Tactical Vehicle Technology Demonstrator. Despite a Midwest snowstorm and frigid temperatures in the teens, the conference was attended by more than 200 Industry representatives, along with international attendees. “Today was a great meeting at Selfridge, and we are excited to be part of this program,” said Kenneth G. Juergens, JLTV Program Director for the Northrop Grumman-Oshkosh Truck Corporation Team, who traveled to the conference from Oshkosh, Wis. Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corporation announced a teaming arrangement last fall. Several industry teaming efforts also have been formed to compete for JLTV contracts along with a few companies whose partnering plans are yet unannounced. They are: -- Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corp. -- General Tactical Vehicle, a Joint Venture between AM General & General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) -- Lockheed Martin and BAE (formerly Armor Holdings) -- BAE Systems and International Military and Government (IMG), LLC, an affiliate of Navistar International Corporation (International Military and Government LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corporation) -- Boeing, Textron and SAIC -- DRS Sustainment Systems Inc. and Force Protection Inc. “I got a lot out of this,” said Michael Franklin, a member of the BAE Systems Team, who traveled from just outside Los Angeles, Calif., to attend the conference. “You can only get so much information from a [Army’s JLTV] Web site. This forum allowed time for networking and just talking with others, which I found very helpful.” "This was an important investment of time for key industry representatives to come to Selfridge. They could fully understand the entire scope and direction of the JLTV effort and hear the government’s “lessons learned” during more than three years of precursor research and development efforts,” said Colonel John “Steve” Myers, Project Manager, Joint Combat Support Systems. Asked what’s next in the JLTV way ahead, Myers said the government will convene an evaluation board in April to review industry proposals to the JLTV RFP. “The board, comprised of subject matter experts from across the Department of Defense, will evaluate submitted proposals, and we expect to make three contract awards based on ‘best value’ to the government in July 2008,” Myers said. “This will then launch the planned contract performance of the Technology Development Phase wherein the JLTV prototypes will be developed and tested.” A system development demonstration phase is planned to get underway in 2011 for the JLTV. Two contractors will complete the design and development of the JLTV FoV and companion trailers and ultimately compete to produce and field multiple JLTV variants. “Pre-proposal conferences like this one are essential in ensuring we are as open and transparent as we possibly can be,” said Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang Petermann, JLTV Army Product Manager. “Every large, medium and small business represented here goes away with the same amount of information, knowing it is a level playing field.” “It is exciting to see how far we have already come in this program,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ben Garza, Marine Corps JLTV Program Manager. “We have an achievable schedule, and the overwhelming turnout by industry shows how successful this program is going to be.”

U.S. President Barack Obama In Czech Republic

U.S. President Barack Obama In Czech Republic

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama takes part in a welcome ceremony with Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus at Prague Castle in Prague, April 5, 2009. President Obama will commit himself to reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal, bringing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force and seeking tough penalties for nuclear rule-breakers, the White House said on Sunday in an advance outline of his speech.

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 3 / U.N. Security Council Schedules Sunday Session To Discuss North Korean Launch

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 3 / U.N. Security Council Schedules Sunday Session To Discuss North Korean Launch

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: Japan will call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss a possible response if North Korea launches a long-range rocket in the coming days, Japan's U.N. envoy said on Thursday. Ambassador Yukio Takasu said he had raised the issue at a closed council meeting and added that an emergency session on North Korea could take place this weekend if the rocket was fired. Takasu told reporters intensive diplomatic efforts were under way to persuade Pyongyang not to launch the rocket, which he said would represent a "threat to the security of Japan" and would further increase regional and international tensions. "If this effort does not result in a positive way, Japan will request an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss this issue and discuss a response," he said. "We must be clear and firm." Pyongyang has said it will send a satellite into orbit between Saturday and next Wednesday, but the United States, South Korea and Japan say the launch is a disguised test of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is designed to carry a warhead to U.S. territory. "There is a very clear understanding (among) the council members that this affects not only Japan's security but peace and the non-proliferation regime," Takasu said. Japan's envoy gave no details on what response he would like the 15-nation Security Council to make, but he said it was possible Japan would press for a legally binding resolution. "We have been working on this, including the possibility of a resolution, if it's necessary," he said. "How it can be formulated, I don't I want at this moment to speculate." He declined to say whether such a resolution would call for new sanctions or better enforcement of existing financial sanctions and an arms sanctions against North Korea. Council diplomats say that both Russia and China, which are permanent veto-wielding members of the Security Council, have made clear that they would not support a resolution imposing new sanctions. Echoing earlier comments from South Korea's foreign ministry, Takasu said launching the rocket would be a breach of Security Council resolution 1718, which imposed the existing sanctions after North Korea's nuclear test in October 2006. "If the DPRK (North Korea) goes ahead with the action that they announced, it is a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1718," he said. "The violation of this must have consequences."

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 2

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 2

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: Chinese soldiers patrol the North Korea-China border walking past barbed-wire fencing some 30 km southwest of Dandong, in China's northeast Liaoning province, which lies across the river from the North Korean border town of Sinuiju on April 5, 2009.

North Korea aunched a long-range rocket this morning defying months of pressure from the United States and its allies over what they warned would be an illegal ballistic missile test, but the launch, which the North said was a peaceful move to test a communications satellite, angered nations which have held years of nuclear disarmament talks with Kim Jong-Il's secretive communist regime.

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 1

North Korea 'Launches Rocket' - Update # 1

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: South Koreans watch a TV news program on the North Korean rocket launch at a train station in Seoul, Sunday, April 5, 2009. North Korea defiantly carried out a provocative rocket launch Sunday that the U.S. , Japan and other nations suspect was a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. The banner on the screen read, " Alert, North Korea launched a rocket ... ".

North Korea 'Launches Rocket'

North Korea 'Launches Rocket'

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: North Korea has reportedly launched a long-range rocket, defying calls from world leaders. Japanese television broadcaster NHK and South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the launch from the Musudan-ri site early on Sunday. Pyongyang had earlier said it had plans to put a communications satellite into orbit. The US later confirmed the launch. The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency session on the development later in the day. The rocket reportedly passed over Japan on its way towards the Pacific Ocean. Pyongyang had previously said that it would send a communications satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space programme, but is yet to confirm the firing of the rocket. 'Further Isolation' The reported launch has sparked alarm because North Korea has acknowledged it has nuclear weapons. Barack Obama, the US president, said the launch further isolated North Korea and that the country must abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction to find acceptance in the international community. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, and the European Union separately said that the firing of the rocket threatened regional stability. China, which has close ties to Pyongyang, called on all sides to maintain calm and restraint, and Russia also called for restraint. Fred Lash, a US state department spokesman, told reporters: "We have had a launch. I don't know the type of missile." Lash called the move a "provocative act" and said the US would "take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity and acts like these". "North's Korea's development, deployment and proliferation of missiles, ballistic missile-related materials, equipment and technologies pose a serious threat to the northeast Asia region and to the international community," he said. 'Reckless' South Korea said that the launch was "reckless". "The government cannot but express disappointment and regret over North Korea's reckless act of firing a long-range rocket, which poses a serious threat to security on the Korean peninsula and the world," Lee Dong-Kwan, a South Korean presidential spokesman, said. "The government will deal firmly and resolutely with North Korea's provocative act," Lee said without giving further details. North Korea's 'Space Programme' North Korea says it launched its first satellite, Kwangmyongsong-1 (right), into orbit aboard a Taepodong 1 rocket in 1998 It says the satellite launch was successful, beaming a looped recording of the Song of General Kim Il Sung back to Earth US space command said at the time it was unable to find any North Korean satellite in orbit North Korea says it is now preparing to launch the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite on top of what it has called an Unha-2 rocket"It is extremely regrettable that North Korea went ahead with the launch ... and we protest strongly," Takeo Kawamura, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said. "It has flown over Japan so no orders have been issued to intercept or destroy the projectile," he said. Tensions over the launch have run high. On Saturday, the Japanese government, reported that North Korea had launched the rocket but later retracted the news, blaming a faulty detection device for the erroneous information. The South Korean and Japanese governments allege that North Korea is using the launch to test its Taepodong-2 long-range missile, which is capable of reaching the US. Satellite image of North Korea's Musudan-ri rocket launch site. Pyongyang fired a Taepodong-2 in a July 2006 test session but it exploded shortly after launch. It conducted a nuclear weapons test, its only one to date, in October 2006. Paju on the South Korean side of the border with the North, said that although it was considered to be a satellite launch, South Korea remained cautious. "I don't think that in this particular launch they would be worried. But [South Korea] have stuck to the line that this is a cover for a ballistic missile test," he said. Our correspondent also said that South Korea has ordered 655,000 troops to be on high alert to guard against any provocative activity. 'Strong messages' Leonid Petrov, a research associate at the School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, said that the launch had been successful. "It looks like everything is under control and there was a significant development and improvement into the technology ... because previous launches either failed or there was a controlled explosion 42 seconds after launch," he said. Petrov said the launch sent two strong messages: "One to enemies ... that North Korea has a new technology for deterrence. So nobody should interfere into North Korean domestic affairs, otherwise there will be retaliation. North Korea: A state of war, at least one third of North Korea's GDP is reportedly spent on the military. For more than 50 years, North Korea has been ready to go to war at a moment's notice. Cut off from the outside world behind barricades of barbed wire, landmines and concrete tank-traps, the so-called "hermit kingdom" has come to rely for its very existence on maintaining a constant war footing. "[And one] to friends ... that North Korea is possessing a superior technology not only in satellite launching but also as a duel technology in missile launching," Petrov said. Pyongyang fired a Taepodong-2 missile in a July 2006 test session but it exploded shortly after launch. It conducted a nuclear weapons test, its only one to date, in October 2006.

Pakistan Aid Tied To Tackling Terror Threat: US President Barack Obama

Pakistan Aid Tied To Tackling Terror Threat: US President Barack Obama

(NSI News Source Info) STRASBOURG - April 5, 2009: Release of additional US aid for Pakistan will be dependent on how Islamabad tackles the threat of terrorism, US President Barack Obama said on Saturday at the end of a Nato summit. US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference in Strasbourg, France. Pakistan aid tied to tackling terror threat: Obama ‘I informed our allies that despite difficult circumstances we are going to put more money into Pakistan, conditional on action to meet the terrorist threat,’ he told a news conference. ‘We want to bring all of our diplomatic and development skills to bear towards strengthening Pakistan in part because they have to have the capacity to take on al Qaeda within their borders.’

Sudan Welcomes U.S. Special Envoy

Sudan Welcomes U.S. Special Envoy

*The Sudan, A Saga of Genocide and Enslavement....The Sudan Slave Story

(NSI News Source Info) Khartoum - April 5, 2009:The Sudanese government welcomed the decision by the U.S. to send a new special envoy to Khartoum, a representative of the Sudanese leader said on Friday. U.S. special envoy Scott Gration, who arrived in Sudan on Thursday, said he hoped for friendship and cooperation from Khartoum. "We welcome the U.S. idea to send a special representative to Sudan, but only if he has come here with an open heart," Awad Ahmed al-Jaz told a news conference. He added that previously U.S. envoys had distorted the situation in the country or made the wrong decisions. "We hope that things will be different now," he said. Gration said on Thursday: "I come here with my hands open. And it will be up to the Sudanese government to determine how they want to continue with the relationship. Hopefully it will be with hands of friendship and cooperation." He appealed for stronger relations with Sudan, whose president, Omar al-Bashir, is accused of war crimes in Darfur. "The United States and Sudan want to be partners and so we are looking for opportunities for us to build a stronger bilateral relationship," he said. The International Criminal Court has accused al-Bashir of criminal responsibility for "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property." Bashir expelled 13 international aid groups from Darfur after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant for him on March 4. Al-Jaz said the Sudanese authorities would not allow these groups to return to the country "This decision is final and will not be reviewed," he said.

US-Iran Thaw Could Bolster Afghanistan Rebuilding Efforts

US-Iran Thaw Could Bolster Afghanistan Rebuilding Efforts

*In The Hague this week, Iranian officials offered to cooperate with the US. Iran has pursued an ambitious redevelopment effort in Afghanistan since 2001.

*By Anand Gopal Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

(NSI News Source Info) Kabul, Afghanistan - April 5, 2009: In a crowded section near the western edge of the capital sits a sprawling new university compound, a structure of ornate white stone and blue-tiled domes. As hundreds of students here file in for morning classes, many say they have one country to thank for helping to improve higher learning in this education-starved country: Iran. At the Afghanistan Conference in The Hague on Tuesday, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (center l.) shook hands with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh (r.). The $100 million university is one of Iran's many development projects across Afghanistan – and just the type of contribution Washington wants to bring positive change to this troubled country. At an international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague this week, Iranian officials offered to cooperate with the United States on developing and reconstructing Afghanistan. Though deep mistrust remains between the two countries, the move marked a thaw in relations and could facilitate Washington's efforts to turn the situation around here. "The conference underlines Iran's willingness to play a cooperative role and can jump-start Obama's policy of getting more support throughout the region," says Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department analyst on Afghanistan-Pakistan and currently a scholar in residence at the Middle East Institute based in Washington. More cooperation between Washington and Tehran could bolster development efforts. For example, according to "Afghanistan's Other Neighbors: Iran, Central Asia, and China," a recent report from the Washington-based think tank, the Hollings Center for International Dialogue, the US forbade contractors to purchase cheaper and more readily available Iranian asphalt to build a key highway here, presumably because of the hostile relations between the two countries. Iran's support is crucial, Mr. Weinbaum says, because of its longstanding political, cultural, and economic interests in Afghanistan. For example, Tehran has been working on an ambitious development plan here since 2001, mostly near its shared border with Afghanistan but also in the north and in major cities. Iran's projects provide a glimpse of how much more it could help the country in the future, says Weinbaum. According to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, an umbrella organization that tracks aid here, Iran has disbursed nearly a half-billion dollars in aid since 2001. In fact, Iran is one of the most effective donors in the country, delivering 93 percent of the aid it has pledged. By comparison, the US has delivered only 48 percent of $5 billion in pledged aid; India has contributed 24 percent of its $200 million in pledged aid. The western city of Herat has boomed with Iran's beneficence. Unlike most of the country, the city boasts 24-hour electricity, dozens of industrial zones, paved roads, and more. Iran is responsible for much of this, according to government officials. Elsewhere, Iran has built mosques and education centers and provided loans to Afghan businessmen. Iranian entrepreneurs have poured investment dollars into the country. These investments might be the driving factor in Iran's interest in the country. Afghanistan is a valuable market for the Iranians, says Weinbaum: "Iranian businessmen are operating pretty freely in Afghanistan, and more consumer goods are being exported into the country from Iran." Iran doesn't want an unstable neighbor Another motivation for Iran might be the fear of a destabilized Afghanistan. "Their nightmare is that a radical Sunni group like the Taliban come to power next door," Weinbaum continues.

The Taliban and Tehran have been at odds for years. The ultraconservative Sunni militants view Shiite Islam and its adherents with severe hostility. During Afghanistan's civil wars in the 1990s, Iran supported Shiite groups and other non-Pashtun groups. It later backed the arch rivals of the Taliban government, the Northern Alliance. Iranian officials also worry that a destabilized Afghanistan could spark a refugee crisis within its borders. Iran is already home to more than 2 million Afghan refugees, most of them illegal. The problem has caused tensions between Tehran and Kabul, as Iran periodically expels the illegal refugees. Drug smugglers frequently infiltrate the 560-mile border between the two countries, driving up crime and opium addiction rates. Iranian officials have pledged to cooperate with US counternar- cotics efforts. "While Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, Iran is the world's largest consumer," writes the Hollings Center in its recent report. Iranian officials have not yet outlined how they plan to help fight the drug trade, but some officials say they might increase border security to limit smuggling. US, Afghans question Iran's motives Despite pledges of cooperation, the US and Iran have much mutual suspicion to overcome. "Iran is certainly fearful of the US developing a strategic partnership with Afghanistan," says Weinbaum. Officials in Tehran worry that the Americans will build permanent military bases in Afghanistan that could one day be used to launch attacks against Iran. Iran has been critical of US troop presence in the region, saying at Tuesday's conference that the planned increase in forces "will prove ineffective." The US, for its part, has accused Iran of surreptitiously supporting the Afghan insurgency, citing instances in which Iranian-made weapons were recovered from the insurgents. But Iranian officials respond that such weapons are readily available on the black market and do not indicate active support from Tehran. Many Afghans suspect Iran's motives. Due to its historical, religious, and cultural ties with Afghanistan's Persian-speaking minorities, who together make up roughly half of the country, Iran is sometimes perceived as favoring them with their support. "They build everything for Shiites," says Kabul resident Fazel Minlallah. "They don't help the Pashtun people," says lawmaker Najib Kabuli. "They use their money to win influence, like they do in Lebanon," where Iran supports the Shiite group Hezbollah. Other Afghans are wary of Iran's cultural influence – the country is more socially liberal than Afghanistan and many returned refugees bring such ideas back home, causing tensions in this ultra-conservative society. In some cases, young Afghan women return from Iran and dress less conservatively, for example. But the overlapping American, Afghan, and Iranian interests here suggest that the countries can find areas to work together. None of the countries involved, notes Weinbaum, wants Afghanistan to descend into instability or civil war, and therefore they have an interest in helping to rebuild and develop the country.

Pakistan: Baitullah Mehsud’s Pals In High Places

Pakistan: Baitullah Mehsud’s Pals In High Places

*Border Crossings: Intelligence experts believe Baitullah Mehsud has help from Pakistan's ISI and remnants of Al Qaeda

*By Mark Hosenball NEWSWEEK Published Apr 4, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Apr 13, 2009

(NSI News Source Info) April 5, 2009: Baitullah Mehsud, the brazen jihadist operating along the violent, lawless border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has a curious gift for escape. On several occasions over the past couple of years, security forces in Pakistan have launched operations to kill or capture him, and each time he has vanished without incident.

Border Crossings: Intelligence experts believe Baitullah Mehsud has help from Pakistan's ISI and remnants of Al Qaeda

Based in South Waziristan, where he heads a group known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Mehsud has made a name for himself since late 2007 as one of the militants' most ambitious leaders. Increasingly emboldened, Mehsud claimed credit last week for a deadly paramilitary assault on a police academy near Lahore and threatened the White House, telling the Associated Press: "Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world." U.S. officials generally dismiss the threat—Mehsud is not believed to possess either the resources or the global reach to pull off such an attack—but his elusiveness suggests that he has friends in high places. Two counterterrorism experts familiar with official U.S. government reporting, who each requested anonymity when discussing sensitive matters, said that officials in both Washington and Islamabad suspect Mehsud has contacts inside the ISI, Pakistan's inscrutable and sprawling intelligence agency.

Mehsud's contacts, the theory goes, are tipping him off before Pakistani troops can pounce. According to a Pakistani source who follows the issue, high-level American officials have shared with their counterparts in Islamabad some intelligence indicating that renegade ISI elements helped Mehsud's group train for the December 2007 assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is now the country's president. (U.S. officials either declined to discuss that point or said they couldn't confirm it.)

Given Mehsud's odious reputation and Pakistan's purported knowledge of his whereabouts, "it's a puzzle why they're ignoring and avoiding any strike against him," one tribal elder in the region, who asked for his name to be withheld for safety reasons, told NEWSWEEK. MEHSUD definitely has one other well-connected ally in the region. "Baitullah is very much mixed up in Afghanistan and with Al Qaeda," said one Afghan Taliban commander, who also requested anonymity, adding that Mehsud was capable of shipping foreign fighters into Afghanistan "and even [farther] west."

Several U.S. officials consider such threats to be mere chest-thumping, but they don't rule out the possibility that Mehsud could be cooperating with better-equipped jihadists, such as the remnants of Al Qaeda's high command.

Frances Townsend, a top counterterrorism adviser to former president George W. Bush, notes that Mehsud has already demonstrated his ability to mount attacks inside Pakistani cities, well beyond his base of operations. "You have got to be careful about dismissing [his more expansive threats] out of hand," Townsend warned.

U.S. President Barack Obama And NATO Pressure Afghan Leader Hamid Karzai Over Law On Women

U.S. President Barack Obama And NATO Pressure Afghan Leader Hamid Karzai Over Law On Women

(NSI News Source Info) STRASBOURG, France - April 5, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama piled pressure on Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on Saturday to scrap an "abhorrent" law which critics say would legalise marital rape. Afghan women pray for justice and security of the country during a gathering to mark the International Women's Day in Kabul, Afghanistan. Human rights groups and some lawmakers criticized Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday, April 2, 2009 for signing into law legislation that some believe legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband and prevents women from leaving the house without a man's permission. Other leaders meeting at a NATO summit joined in the chorus of disapproval, warning that support for the military alliance's Afghan mission would suffer if the Shi'ite Personal Status Law was not dropped. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown personally phoned Karzai to complain and Western officials said the Afghan leader had ordered a review of the draft law, which would apply to the country's Shi'ite minority. "I think this rule is abhorrent ... We have stated very clearly that we object to this law," Obama told a news conference after a NATO summit. "It is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture but we also think there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold ... (including) respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity." The former Taliban regime, overthrown by U.S.-led forces in 2001, discriminated strongly against women and girls, and NATO leaders have justified their continued presence in Afghanistan partly by saying they were defending human rights. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said if Afghanistan compromised the pursuit of fundamental human values "there will be clear diminishment in Allied support for this venture." Shi'ite Muslims account for some 15 percent of mainly Sunni Muslim Afghanistan. Karzai is facing an election in August and Shi'ite support could be crucial to his chances.

KARZAI SEES MISINTERPRETATION Karzai said on Saturday the West's criticisms were based on a wrong translation or misinterpretation of the law, which has not yet come into force. His comments did not satisfy Canada, whose troops have paid a heavy price fighting in the south of Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are at their strongest. "I'm not sure the Alliance is prepared to accept simply soothing reassurances," said Harper. He acknowledged a contradiction between the West insisting Afghanistan was a sovereign country that could not be told what to do and then telling Kabul to scrap the law. "Clearly the Afghan government is a sovereign government. That said, (it) understands the involvement of international forces in their country ... is based on our adherence to certain principles," he said. Brown told reporters he had called Karzai and "demanded assurances" that the law would not infringe women's rights. (Recently approved version of law also mandates that a woman ask a male relative to leave the house.) "He (Karzai) has promised there will be a statement made by his Justice Department tomorrow and he has promised that, if necessary, this will return to the Afghan parliament rather than being enacted in practice," Brown said.

President Hugo Chavez Says He Wants To 'Reset' Relations With US

President Hugo Chavez Says He Wants To 'Reset' Relations With US

*Analysis: It seems Obama administration is in no hurry or considers it a priority matter to rekindle relation with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, but more so with Iran due to Afghan factor. (DTN Defense-Technology News)

(NSI News Source Info) CARACAS, Venezuela - April 5, 2009: President Hugo Chavez said Saturday he hopes to "reset" relations with the United States at an upcoming summit. Despite recent criticism of President Barack Obama, Chavez said he wants to bring relations between the two governments back to a "rational level." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, and his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, hold cut ribbons, during an inauguration of a joint commercial bank, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2009. "I'll be willing to press the reset button," he said in a telephone call to Venezuelan state television from Iran. "I hope that will be the policy of President Obama." Venezuela's relations with Washington grew increasingly strained under former President George W. Bush — reaching a low point in September, when Chavez expelled the U.S. ambassador and withdrew Venezuela's envoy to Washington. His visit to Iran is part of an effort to build ties with other countries at odds with the U.S. The socialist leader last month called Obama "ignorant" after the U.S. president accused Chavez of "exporting terrorism" and being an obstacle to progress in Latin America. But Chavez said Saturday that the April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago could "be the place to reset all types of relations between the United States and Venezuela." Chavez employed the "reset" metaphor that U.S. officials have been using to describe their efforts for better relations with Russia after years of tension under the Bush administration. Chavez said he's waiting for signals that Obama is willing to take similar steps with Venezuela. Chavez said that he'll have some questions for the new U.S. leader when they finally meet. "Somebody needs to ask him what his vision is for the crisis that's weighing terribly on Latin America," he said. "It would be good to see if something happens with Posada Carriles," he added. "If the blockade against Cuba will persist." Venezuela has said it plans to reactivate an extradition request for Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane that killed all 73 people. During a televised news conference later Saturday, Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against the G-20 meeting held earlier this week in London. Ahmadinejad said the Group of 20 industrial and developing countries wants to continue on the same path that led the world into the economic crisis. "It's a total failure," the Iranian president said. Iran's state television reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Chavez for breaking ties with Israel in January to protest its offensive in the Gaza Strip. Iranian television reported that the two countries signed agreements on economic, energy and consular affairs during Chavez's trip.

Basic Thoery: An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away Similarly An ACT 1 Keeps The Bad Guys Away

Basic Thoery: An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away Similarly An ACT 1 Keeps The Bad Guys Away

(NSI News Source Info) April 6, 2009: It's getting harder to be a terrorist, and much of that grief comes from cheaper thermal imagers, and more powerful pattern recognition software. One example of this is the ACT 1 (Access Counter IED Technology) thermal imager. This device can examine individuals approaching a checkpoint, or simply moving near a base.

As counter IED technologies evolve, so do IED detonation techniques, creating a new kind of arms race. According to (HSRC)’s research, 2008-2012 Global Counter-IED Markets and Technologies Forecast released in July 07, this unique situation creates a robustly dynamic counter-IED technology market, hungry for innovation and “out of the box” thinking, and eager to test best-in-class, next generation technologies.HSRC’s Research Examines and Analyzes 71 current and next generation IED Technologies including: Quantum Entanglement, Non-linear Junction Detector (NLJD), Anti IED Devices, Thor IED Zappers, JIN – Joint IED Neutralizer – Ionatron, Counter-IED Reconnaissance Planes, Aerostats, Microwave Based Explosive Caches Detection, IED Volumetric Detection, Ultra Wide Band High Powered Electro Magnetics Technology. Above is a photo of a specialized IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Clearing Truck, designed to scan the ground (see the horizontal panels) for buried bombs/explosives.

The software examines the thermal image of the individuals, and, using a library of data on how explosives or weapons show up under clothing, determine with a high degree of accuracy, who is armed, or wearing a bomb. ACT I is small, it looks like a large pair of binoculars sitting on a tripod. The entire systems weighs less than twenty pounds and can be operational in less than 15 minutes. Systems like this are getting smaller, more powerful and cheaper. A knowledgeable terrorist can do things to deceive it, but not all your terrorists are that smart. In Iraq and Afghanistan, similar systems, used as part of base defenses, to track suspicious activities, or assist in the pursuit of enemy forces. The U.S. Army is developing a new generation of remote sensors that uses similar technology. These can be air dropped, or placed by troops on the ground, to provide more monitoring capability in remote areas. The ability of the police or military to store vast quantities of this data also allows for suspicious activity to be sought out after a crime has occurred. Criminals, and terrorists, usually scout out a location before carrying out a crime. Advances in pattern recognition and statistical analysis software helps investigators find things that are not easily noticed at a glance.