The sanctions meant to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions are really working...right. New UN Agency report says Iran has moved more of its nuclear processing in a deep underground facility. That is sure to make the Israelis happy. They may not be able to reach it anymore without our help, unless they nuke the place.
The story in today's Reuters.com
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The New Forgotten War
The Afghan conflict generates barely a whisper on the U.S. presidential campaign trail. It's not a hot topic at the office water cooler or in the halls of Congress — even though more than 80,000 American troops are still fighting here and dying at a rate of one a day.
Americans show more interest in the economy and taxes than the latest suicide bombings in a different, distant land. They're more tuned in to the political ad war playing out on television than the deadly fight still raging against the Taliban. Earlier this month, protesters at the Iowa State Fair chanted "Stop the war!" They were referring to one purportedly being waged against the middle class.
By the time voters go to the polls Nov. 6 to choose between Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, the war will be in its 12th year. For most Americans, that's long enough.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Dishonorable Disclosures
A group of mostly retired U.S. Special Forces and intelligence operatives from the CIA have banded together to form an organization called OPSEC (Short for Operational Security) that is highly critical of the disclosure of operational secrets for political gain - especially those secrets leaked by the White House since the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Watch their video on You-Tube - Click Here
It is a compelling argument, and as someone who has worked in the television news media for more than 30-years, I can see both sides. Of course, the safety and security of our armed forces is paramount, and nothing resembling operational security, methods or sources, should be reported by the media. But it's hard not to when that information comes directly from the President of the United States.
However, in a free and open society, with a free press, even if the President hadn't said a word, information about the bin Laden raid would have come out eventually. The event was just too important for the American people to understand and digest. And the information including operational details would have been reported eventually anyway.
But, there would have been a delay if the President had withheld the information for a day or two, allowing Special Forces to act on the intelligence gathered at the bin Laden compound. They may have been able to take down a few more bad guys before they scattered. That would have been worth a couple of days of silence, don't you think?
And as a news-person and an American, I am clearly not happy about the White House using operational details as a re-election strategy. Describing how the president decides what targets to attack with Predator drones is a huge miscalculation that may come back to bite us someday. I hope not. But clearly, the only reason that information was leaked was to help the President look tough on national security, to show that we are going after and killing terrorists who have a link to al Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks. Somebody needs to tell the President to shut up.
Watch the video - OPSEC makes a very compelling argument.
Watch their video on You-Tube - Click Here
It is a compelling argument, and as someone who has worked in the television news media for more than 30-years, I can see both sides. Of course, the safety and security of our armed forces is paramount, and nothing resembling operational security, methods or sources, should be reported by the media. But it's hard not to when that information comes directly from the President of the United States.
However, in a free and open society, with a free press, even if the President hadn't said a word, information about the bin Laden raid would have come out eventually. The event was just too important for the American people to understand and digest. And the information including operational details would have been reported eventually anyway.
But, there would have been a delay if the President had withheld the information for a day or two, allowing Special Forces to act on the intelligence gathered at the bin Laden compound. They may have been able to take down a few more bad guys before they scattered. That would have been worth a couple of days of silence, don't you think?
And as a news-person and an American, I am clearly not happy about the White House using operational details as a re-election strategy. Describing how the president decides what targets to attack with Predator drones is a huge miscalculation that may come back to bite us someday. I hope not. But clearly, the only reason that information was leaked was to help the President look tough on national security, to show that we are going after and killing terrorists who have a link to al Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks. Somebody needs to tell the President to shut up.
Watch the video - OPSEC makes a very compelling argument.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Silent Running
According to a report in today's Freebeacon.com, a Russian Akula attack submarine just spent a few weeks vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico...and the U.S. Navy knew nothing about it. Besides spending time in waters much warmer than most Russian sailors are used to, the Gulf of Mexico is still considered very strategic waters by the United States Navy, with a major boomer submarine base off the coast of Georgia.
What in the name of John Paul Jones is going on here? The Navy is supposed to protect our shores, but it allows an Russian attack submarine armed with missiles capable of striking any spot in the United States to spend several weeks alone in the Gulf of Mexico without so much as a "Howdy" from the most powerful Navy in the world?
Maybe Obama's budget cuts, especially in ASW (Anti-submarine warfare) are not such a good idea. Russian President Putin is back in charge, and the ex-KGB operative shows every intention of returning to good old Soviet style diplomacy...which was always more about action than words. In case you haven't noticed, Putin has initiated a massive ship building program, and we'd better start paying attention. He's enjoyed tweaking us over Syria and Iran, and he is in a growing position to do something more about it.
After all, is there a big difference between the Soviet Union placing ballistic missiles in Cuba (October 1962) and allowing the Russians to cruise our shores with submarines that carry even more lethally armed cruise missiles? I don't think so, do you?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)