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LeJ claims twin attacks
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 6: Politix
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China-Japan-Koreas
Is Japan ready to revive its military might?
Posted by: ryuge || 06/17/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IMO the real question is whether the US-World is ready for Japan not only to rearm but to possess NucWeapons.

Again, the US has said it wants to turn over much of its Cold War-era overseas security responsibilities to regional allies, e.g. Japan + ROK + PHIL, etal. - BUT, THESE NATIONS FEAR THE RISING CHINA + DON'T WANT US MILFORS TO LEAVE OR BE REDUCED UNTIL THEY DEV OR PROCURE THEIR OWN NUCWEAPS FOR ANTI-CHINA DETERRENCE.

The above also support the US plan to install regional GMD-TMD.

Post-Dubya, despite the Bammer's rhetoric to the contrary many US allies in East Asia fear that Democrat POTUS Obama is unreliable or untrustworthy as per his willingness to use US military assets in the defense of their countries agz a potentially resurgent, MilPol-aggressive China.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2013 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  E.g. TOPIX > JAPAN UNDER SHINZO ABE: GOING INDEPENDENT FROM THE US?, vee PM Abe's desire to revise the post-1945 Japanese Constitution.

versus

* SAME > [SCMP] CHINA, TOO, CAN PLAY THE CONTAINMENT GAME, in reverse agz the US + its Allies.

* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > LU YUGUANG: RESURGENT RUSSIA REVIVALISM/NATIONALISM DOES NOT WISH TO SEE CHINA OVERTAKE THE US.

* SAME > CHINESE FM WANG YI: JAPAN MUST RELEARN THE "CAIRO" + "POTSDAM" DECLARATIONS PERTAINING TO THE RECOVERY OF TERRITORIES STOLEN FROM CHINA.

* DEFENCE.KP/FORUMS > CHINA BUILDS UP [entrenching?] ITS LINKS WID NORTH KOREA, as per Bilateral = Joint Economy + Infrastructure.

Lest we fergit, NORTH KOREA = "un-annexed" or "un-incorporated" Chinese province???
CHINA WILL CONTINUE DOING SO VEE DPRK UNTIL IT GETS BACK TAIWAN, + EVEN IFF IT DOES GET BACK TAIWAN BEIJING STILL WON'T ACCEPT ANY ANTI-CHINA UNIFIED INTER-KOREAN GOVT ON THE PENINSULA.

FYI CHINA is still routinely + intentionally violating Japan's 12-mile territorial limit wid its CMS, PLAN ships around the disputed Senkakus/Diaoyus + increasingly around Okinawa. IMO ONE DAY ITS "SOFT ESCALATION" AGZ JAPAN WILL TURN "HARD" = MILITARILY VIOLENT OR BLOODY???

* Also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Reuters] CHINA INVOKED UNCLOS VERSUS JAPAN, BUT CHINA IGNORES
[i-g-n-o-r-e-s] THE PHILIPPINES' UNCLOS CLAIMS AGZ CHINA.

* SAME > CHINA MUST "STRIKE WHEN NECESSARY" IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: CHINESE SCHOLAR. Han Xudong, Professor of Chinese PLA's National Defense Univerity.

As per WORLD MIL FORUM, US THINK-TANK = denoted as arguing that the US can avoid a US-China mil conflict in the SCS, etc. iff the PHIL is willing to allow China "base rights" into WESTPAC + SOPAC vee PHIL islands, I.E. MILBASES ON PHIL ISLANDS BY + FOR THE EXCLUSIVE LT USE OF CHINA + PLA.

China to purchase key PHIL islands from Manila???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2013 1:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Nope. Different demographic structure.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/17/2013 4:59 Comments || Top||

#4  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHTu9g54WMA

A netcentric CCC naval force that can pretty much blow anything out of the sky around it. Also has offensive cruise missiles of two different flavors one of which can carry a nuke warhead.
Posted by: Shump Ebbinesing8470 || 06/17/2013 9:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Wouldn't blame them if they did. China has overplayed their North Korea card far to many time and the US is not particularly reliable these days. The WW2 generation is more or less gone and Japan is a modern nation with a stake in stability.

Even the serious discussion will probably get China to clamp down on North Korea.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/17/2013 15:08 Comments || Top||

#6  * WAFF > [Al-Jazeera] JAPAN'S [Armed] FORCES + NAME TO CHANGE. PM SHINZO ABE IS PROPOSING TO RENAME THE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE IN MOVE THAT CAN GIVE FORCES NEW ROLE.

Constitutionally, wid simple new Govt legislation + espec an NOT-TOO-HARD-ON-THE-BUDGET/DEBT ERASURE(S), WHITE-OUT???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2013 22:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Formidable threat: Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in Balochistan
[Dawn] AS Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
, that grabbed credit for the horrific violence in Quetta on Saturay, strikes again and again in 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...
, there may be a temptation to regard it as an out-of-control problem in an out-of-control backwater. But LJ is part of a continuum of militancy and extremism that has a long history and an ever more threatening future -- a threat to all of Pakistain, not just particular regions. The history of LJ itself underlines the complexity of the threat from militancy today: what began as an anti-Shia agenda and assassinations has morphed into an expansive list of targets, some seemingly picked at random and without much concern about whether women or children are direct victims. There is the LJ in Balochistan, which is alleged to have developed links with the Baloch separatists. There is the LJ in the tribal areas, which has long-standing ties to Al Qaeda and now the TTP. There is the LJ in Punjab, which continues to grow and develop its network inside the umbrella Punjabi Taliban. Taken together, they pose a formidable threat across the country, not just Balochistan. And LJ is only one aspect of a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted militancy threat.

The pervasiveness of the threat does not, however, mean that a modular, regional approach to countering it cannot be implemented. In Balochistan, LJ's rise is intrinsically linked to a security policy that is controlled and directed by the army-led security establishment. The space for non-state actors' singular obsession with crushing the Baloch insurgency through violence meant that other non-state actors were able to take advantage of the state's focus elsewhere. Even worse, there are allegations that the obsession with crushing the Baloch insurgency also led to encouraging pro-state Baloch gunnies who have their own agendas, including developing ties with LJ. The Baloch separatists remain a problem -- the shocking destruction in Ziarat on Saturday is evidence enough -- but state policy is an even bigger one. Where a political problem -- the Baloch insurgency -- is being dealt with by brute force, the problem that does require an iron fist -- LJ -- is being left largely unaddressed. Both policies, extreme action against Baloch separatists and extreme inaction against LJ, must change and for that a reckoning with army-led security policy is needed first.

Beyond Balochistan and LJ, the bigger picture is almost as bleak. The transition to democracy may appear on track but the politicians have so far made no effort to reach for the holy grail: national security and foreign policy. The euphemistically termed non-state actors cannot and must not be elements of this country's national security and foreign policy because they are the single greatest threat to Pakistain's security and relations with the world. Will the army listen?
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1  Meanwhile, not to be outdone by the LJ ....

* FREEREPUBLIC > AL-QAEDA, ALIVE + WELL IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/17/2013 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  The space for non-state actors' singular obsession with crushing the Baloch insurgency through violence meant that other non-state actors were able to take advantage of the state's focus elsewhere. Even worse, there are allegations that the obsession with crushing the Baloch insurgency also led to encouraging pro-state Baloch gunnies who have their own agendas, including developing ties with LJ.

The concept of "crushing" extremists regardless of their flavor seems never to have occurred to the writer. Normal intelligence or police approaches seem to be out as well. In the wake of the Bostom bombing police and/or FBI followed up all the perps' contacts, leading to two more arrests.

If the bad guyz are in a group they know others in the group. The others will know still others. That was how the Indonesians broke up Jemaah Islamiyah. The Pak police seem incapable of doing that, and I think it's as a matter of policy, not ineptitude, though there's enough of that as well.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2013 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  I think it's as a matter of policy, not ineptitude

That would be at the policy level of management, Fred. It seems to me, after reading about it all these years, that it's a choice at the individual soldier/policeman level, independent of government policy. Whether it is an issue of corruption (yes) or personal sympathy and/or fear of the taqfiris (yes/yes), the outcome is the same -- no pursuit of that kind of bad guy. Though to be fair, they aren't good at chasing down common criminals, either.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2013 15:17 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rowhani's surprise election in Tehran could resuscitate Obama's speech in Cairo
[Haaretz] Ahmadinejad's exit removes most potent rallying cry among U.S. Jews: his vile Holocaust denial. Israel's party-pooping may be unbecoming, but Rowhani's past statements on nuclear goals warrant U.S. caution.
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Rowhani is moderate? Compared to what? The elections are most likely rigged. The mullahs are not going to install anyone they don't approve.

From Fox: ...a closer look at Rowhani's resume reveals a history of advancing the agenda of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. As secretary to the National Security Council for 16 years and top nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, Rowhani was the face of Iran's diplomatic duplicity, often publicly pledging cooperation with nuclear inspectors even as the nation continued its intransigence.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/17/2013 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Ha'aretz prides itself on being the New York Times of Israel... and so they are, both in terms of writing ability and slanted reportage.

I don't doubt Iran's election was fair, because from the perspective of the ruling mullahs, it doesn't matter which of their pre-approved candidates wins the office. Let the plebeians play at democracy if it makes them happier and therefore malleable; the mullahs will do as they please, regardless.

Iran's nuclear policy is made by the senior mullahs, well above the head of whoever might be president. And the Mullah's policy is full speed ahead on the development on nuclear bombs, which are to be dropped on Israel as soon as nuclear blackmail fails to yield the desired result.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/17/2013 15:24 Comments || Top||


Old Friendships Die Hard for Hezbollah Angering Gulf Over Syria
[BLOOMBERG]
Posted by: Fred || 06/17/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Government
Naomi Wolf's take on the former Booze Allen employee and leaker
So even a liberal nutter, in her own way, sees through Snowden.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/17/2013 08:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Actually, I was thinking along similar lines: While the NSA snooping is a great concern to me, an associated danger is going from the belief that they can snoop on ANYONE (a near certainty), to an unwarranted belief that they can snoop on EVERYONE. Not gonna happen given current technology. So what exactly prevents the NSA from LYING about what it "heard"?

Establish a reputation by stopping (on their word of honor of course!) ohh about 20 terrorist plots all over the world (implying they are listining in on the entire world), THEN start lying about what they heard certain 'tea party' candidates/leaders said over the phone or in their e-mails. It'll just be their word against the NSA's.

Doesn't matter what the REAL state of things are: either way can prove useful to Obama and the Democrats given the current non-critical MSM.
Posted by: Ptah || 06/17/2013 16:34 Comments || Top||

#2  "If you wore more Earth tones, you'd have greater credibility"?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/17/2013 18:55 Comments || Top||

#3  That's what she said after wiping Obama's spooge off her chin...
Posted by: badanov || 06/17/2013 19:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
27[untagged]
7Govt of Syria
3Arab Spring
3Hezbollah
3Lashkar e-Jhangvi
2TTP
2al-Nusra
2al-Qaeda in North Africa
2Govt of Iran
1Govt of Pakistan
1Hamas
1Baloch Liberation Army
1al-Shabaab
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Qaeda in Iraq

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-06-17
  LeJ claims twin attacks
Sun 2013-06-16
  Double blasts kill 25 in Pakistan
Sat 2013-06-15
  Mali's Tuareg rebels ready to sign peace deal
Fri 2013-06-14
  Mortars Fired at Damascus Airport, Delay 3 Flights
Thu 2013-06-13
  60 Boko Haram members killed in Maiduguri
Wed 2013-06-12
  Thousands Throng Istanbul Protest Square
Tue 2013-06-11
  Bombs and battles hit northern Iraq, more than 70 dead
Mon 2013-06-10
  Syria Islamists Execute Youth in Front of Family
Sun 2013-06-09
  Pak police recovers 15,000 kilos of explosive material
Sat 2013-06-08
  Tunisia Turns Away 8 Gulf Muslim Preachers
Fri 2013-06-07
  Seven killed in suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan
Thu 2013-06-06
  Nawaz Sharif elected as Pakistan PM
Wed 2013-06-05
  Locks Cut To Boston Water Supply Aqueduct
Tue 2013-06-04
  Missile Kills 26, including 8 Youths, in Syria Village
Mon 2013-06-03
  Damascus car bombing kills 9 security forces members

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