The Obama administration is launching a new space arms-control initiative that critics say will lead to restrictions on U.S. military activities in space, a key U.S. strategic war-fighting advantage.
The Pentagon's assessment of the EU draft says the code's provisions would hurt the U.S. military's space operations in several areas. The details are classified.
John Bolton says, "The last thing the United States needs is a space code of conduct." The Chinese, on the other hand, could sure use a space code of conduct. That last ASAT test left a debris cloud.
B.O. killed the manned US space program, so for his next trick, he will try to cripple the military program. In return for what, might I ask?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/16/2012 20:19 ||
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"Pyongyang's foreign policy goals are surprisingly easy to describe: They are regime security and obtaining unconditional aid (the former is an absolute priority with the latter a rather distant but still significant second). In other words, North Korea's foreign policy makers want to squeeze as much aid as possible from the outside world but only so long as this aid comes without too many conditions which might have impact on regime security."
Not a cent, not a single red cent.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/16/2012 12:32 ||
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#1
The game plan should be to ratchet-up pressure on regime security. Bribing starving boarder police might be the cheapest way to start dividing the regime. Planting evidence of coup plans by various factions within the government might be another. I am sure that the inner circle sings Kumbaya together all the time.~
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/16/2012 14:42 Comments ||
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Too bad we don't have a competent CIA that would actually do those things.
I like the border guards idea. They're only human and they (or at least their families, or certainly their distant relations) aren't eating all that well. Spread some Chinese currency around and who knows what might happen. Bonus touch for the CIA: use really well done counterfeit Chinese currency, and then say the Norks made it...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2012 17:23 Comments ||
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One of the various ways to interprete the 9-11 event = SOMETHING/SOMEONE'S GOTTA GIVE.
Despite the fact that China is the DPRK's primary trading partner, the NORKS repor gulag or execute even pro-China activists, personages, etal. for not liking or being loyal to the Kim Regime, but now face the dilemma that SINO-DPRK FTAS for the sake of DPRK-specific econ, national survival will only strengthen Chinese influence + control oer the country.
Hell, the CCP/CPC mass Plenum to be held this year will repor discuss whether China should begin treating the DPRK as a de facto Chinese province [semi-autonomous = e.g. Hong Kong?], or else to continue wid the Sino-DPRK "status quo" for a time to come.
The Norks wants Nukes + repor German-style reunification wid South Korea - truth be told, to prevent China from permanently controlling or annexing North Korea, the SOUTH MAY WANT THE NORTH TO HAVE NUKES AS LONG AS THE SOUTH ALSO HAS SAME???
The ROK enjoys the protection the US nuclear umbrella. Even though with B.O. standing behind that guarantee, who knows what the Norks calculation might be. But with 28.5k US troops in the ROK, even B.O. would have to act to protect them, at least until November.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/16/2012 20:46 Comments ||
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[Dawn] THE military handling of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... is pushing Baloch nationalists into the separatist camp. All the apparent `kill and dump` policy is achieving is to kill any possibility of reconciliation and dump any chance of peace.
The real problem lies in the mindset underpinning the approach to handling the Balochistan crisis the frame of mind created by the national security paradigm that gives the security and intelligence agencies a greater role. Only if this mindset is changed can the disgruntled youth of Balochistan be brought back into the national mainstream.
Balochistan has always remained on the country`s political periphery. Over-centralism, a unitary type of governance and the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process in Islamabad have alienated the young of Balochistan. A province, already at the receiving end, is now receiving the bullet-riddled bodies of its people. The `mysterious kidnappings of political activists and extra-judicial killings are only fanning anti-federation flames.
Four insurgencies have previously been witnessed in Balochistan: in 1948, 1958, 1962 and 1973. Four military operations were undertaken but these only resulted in a worse mess and in deepening the sense of deprivation, alienation and frustration in the province. Now, the province is facing another insurgency backed by separatists operating under different names including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... the restive province is effectively under the control of the security establishment. The killing and abduction of young Baloch men indicate that the establishment is again trying to resolve the situation through the barrel of a gun. Theresult is that the Baloch feel even more oppressed, repressed and suppressed.
It is possible to argue that a military operation for restoring or establishing the writ of the government in an area of conflict is somewhat justified but imposing the `will` of the establishment, masquerading in a national security state as the writ of the government, cannot be justified. In Balochistan`s case, the will of theestablishment has been against the will of the people which is for a social security or welfare state.
There will be no improvement in Balochistan`s situation until the mindset of the decision-makers changes. It is this that has alienated the Baloch youth. Veteran nationalist leader Sardar Ataullah Mengal believes that the Baloch have reached the point of no return; that they consider the slow unfolding of large-scale killings justification enough for going their separate way. The question, then, is: what led to this point of no return? Gen Musharraf once presented the rationale behind military action in Balochistan: to get into a `position of strength` so that the weak enemy was forced to agree to terms for the resolution of the conflict. Whilst at war, this could be a prudent military strategy against an enemy. But is it justified against disgruntled and frustrated citizens of Pakistain? There is irony to be found in the death of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was targeted and killed in 2006.
Immediately after, the official media announced the killing probably thinking that the impact would be an insurgency sapped of its strength. In actual fact, the province slid into renewed violence as the news of Bugti`s death circulated. The killing revived and ignited Baloch nationalism, giving it a martyr while providing new young recruits to separatist and cut-thoat organizations. Now, the separatists are fighting for an independent Balochistan against Pakistain`s armed forces and law-enforcement personnel.
The light at the end of the tunnel lies in delineating and marginalising separatists from the nationalists, who have been fighting for political and economic rights as enshrined in the 1973 constitution. The killing of nationalists is diminishing any prospects of peace and pushing more young Baloch into the separatist camp.
The `national security paradigm` has got Balochistan hamstrung, with even efforts towards development confined within it. A state version of the development of the province`s natural resources was put in place in which local needs and demands were imposed. Mega projects worth billions of rupees were launched under the Musharraf administration, but they were accompanied by proposals to establish military cantonments at Khuzdar, Gwadar, Dera Bugti and Kohlu.
While they were probably meant to protect the projects under way in `enemy zones`, the impression created was that development was to be achieved at gunpoint.
Then in 2009, the federal government presented the Aghazi-Hugooq-i-Balochistan package. But Baloch leaders rejected it on the grounds that the government had not even mentioned a date for the cessation of military operations or the recovery of `missing` persons. True, the package addressed some of the genuine grievances of the province; but how good was that when the Baloch continued to pick up the mutilated and bulletriddled bodies of their compatriots? One recalls US president George W. Bush`s comments when his country launched aerial attacks against Afghanistan: he boasted of American generosity and said that American planes, while bombing Afghanistan, also dropped food for the poor and hungry.
Military offensives and political initiatives cannot go together. Economic packages to compensate for the destruction caused by military action will not be acceptable to the Baloch.
The authorities must immediately halt the military operation in the province, and make efforts to bring Baloch nationalists to the negotiating table. Credible assurances must be given regarding a fair investigation into the killing of political activists and the recovery of `missing` persons. A political process engaging all nationalist forces and tribal elders is the only silver lining.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] THERE is an upsurge in violence in Syria, the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... observers` mission has all but failed, and there are fears the country is sliding into civil war. The AL mission entered the country on Dec 26 and came up with a plan Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... accepted only to renege on it. The mission has come under sharp criticism from the Syrian opposition, which claims the observers have no training in monitoring trouble spots. The mission itself complained that it relied on government transport, and that turned its mission into a guided tour. The AL plan that the regime should withdraw troops and heavy weapons from streets in main cities, release prisoners, allow foreign observers and AL monitors to move freely and start talks with the opposition would have improved the situation perceptibly and led to talks. But the regime had second thoughts on the plan because its implementation would have meant large swathes of territory out of government control, giving a free hand to the so-called Free Syrian Army composed of deserters whose ranks areswelling by the day.
Angry elements within the armed forces claim that the majority of the troops hate firing on civilian protesters, that they could desert en masse, but that they are not sure of victory without more vigorous UN involvement, like imposing a no-fly zone as was done in Libya. Without the air force being crippled, the would-be deserters fear they would be crushed. Unfortunately, a Libya-like foreign involvement is not possible in Syria because of its key position in the Arab-Israel conflict, and that adds to Mr Assad`s intransigence.
He is not without support among the people, and says violence, especially the recent suicide kabooms in Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... , was the work of `foreign terrorists`. With the casualty toll having exceeded 5,000 2,000 of them soldiers his regime has become an international pariah. Unless he implements the AL plan, he will not be able to hold the constitutional referendum and the subsequent general election he has promised.
The result would be continued slaughter, with the possibility of a descent into a ferocious civil war.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
