Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

March 11, 2009 (12:46 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda A brief world news roundup for 11 March 2009.

United States & the Americas

Frank Gaffney – Rarely has a second-tier government appointment been more momentous than Team Obama’s decision to entrust the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to Charles “Chas” Freeman. After all, by so doing, Mr. Obama would make the arbiter of the most policy-sensitive intelligence community products — the collective judgments known as National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) — to a man with strong and profoundly troubling views.
Bret Stephens – On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published a letter from 17 U.S. ambassadors defending the appointment of Charles Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council. The same day, the leaders of the 1989 protests that led to the massacre at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square wrote Barack Obama “to convey our intense dismay at your selection” of Mr. Freeman.
DNI – Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman’s decision with regret.
Andy McCarthy – Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dealt a crushing blow to national defense. The three-judge panel’s ruling in al Odah v. United States has gotten scarce media attention. Most significantly, the issuing court has declared an end to the war. No formal armistice has been announced, of course. Instead, as T. S. Eliot would have it, the judges are ending the war not with a bang, but a whimper. First, the 5–4 majority dramatically and dangerously revolutionized the separation-of-powers doctrine that is the cornerstone of our liberty.
Jurist – A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by Saudi Guantanamo Bay detainee Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi that challenged his confinement based on a request from al-Sharbi himself.
AKI – An alleged Al-Qaeda agent appeared in a US court on Tuesday to face terror charges for the first time after more than five years in military custody. Ali Al-Marri, a Qatari national, is charged with providing material support to terror and conspiracy and is expected to be sent to the central state of Illinois to enter a plea.
FOX – Federal authorities are looking to bring terror-related charges against one or more Somali-Americans from the Minneapolis area, and witnesses to the case have been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury, according to a Muslim leader in the area and a woman who said she testified before the grand jury this morning.
US Senate Armed Service Cmte – DNI Dennis Blair, Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Armed Services Committee
US Senate Armed Services Cmte – DIA Director Lt Gen Michael Maples, Annual Threat Assessment
CTV – Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Tuesday the government “will take care” of upgrading and fixing badly needed military equipment. Cannon’s comments come just one day after the head of Canada’s army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, said the military may need a year-long break from operations when the mission in Afghanistan ends in July 2011.
Ottawa Citizen – Terror suspect Mohamed Harkat admitted in a March 1997 conversation that he knew al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah personally and did not fear being contacted by him at home, according to new court documents. A summary of that conversation — between Harkat and an unidentified Ottawa man — has been filed with the Federal Court.
Javno – Several South American defense ministers on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba, saying such a move was crucial to improve U.S. ties with the region. Ministers from the 12-country-strong Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, said the issue would shape future relations with Washington.
AP – Headless bodies in Tijuana, kidnapped children in Phoenix and shootouts on the streets of Vancouver: These are the unwanted byproducts of progress in the Mexican drug war.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

RIA Novosti - Libya has signed with Russia a contract worth up to an estimated $200 million to buy three missile boats, a Russian military journal reported on Tuesday. A contract with Vietnam for the Project 12418 Molniya missile attack boats valued the vessels at $45 million apiece without weapons, so the Libyan contract could be worth a minimum $150 million, and as much as $200 million with arms and spare parts, said Mikhail Barabanov, science editor of the Eksport Vooruzheny (Arms Export) journal.
Itar-Tass – The main base of the Russian North Fleet, Severomorsk, welcomed the Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear-powered cruiser upon its return from nearly six-month voyage on Tuesday.
Moscow Times – Uralkali (potash miner) has offered to pay 5 billion rubles ($140 million) toward the cost of a rail bypass around a damaged mine, bringing its total costs related to the accident to 7.8 billion rubles. The federal budget would contribute 2.79 billion rubles to the total cost, Russian Railways 3.54 billion rubles and rival potash miner Silvinit 1 billion rubles, the company said in a statement. Silvinit’s supplies came under threat after the flood at the Uralkali mine in the Ural Mountains, which opened up a sinkhole that encroached on a nearby rail line used by both producers.
Kremlin - Dmitry Medvedev met with Prime Minister of Hungary Ferenc Gyurcsany. They discussed various issues concerning their bilateral cooperation as well as topical international issues.
Russia Today – Police have found a forth bomb in Makhachkala, one of major cities of Dagestan, southern Russia, after two major explosions rocked the city on Monday night, and another one was defused. There are no victims reported.
OGO – Tethys Petroleum Limited recently announced that the gas pipeline system of its Akkulka gas development in Kazakhstan had been successfully tested. The Akkulka gas development flow lines and associated tie-in to the Company’s Kyzyloi export pipeline system have now been successfully pressure tested and this completes the major fieldworks leaving only regulatory approvals with respect to this pipeline. This pipeline is the major part of the Company’s “Phase 2″ development of the Kyzyloi and Akkulka gas fields in western Kazakhstan.
Asia Times – Russian money could mean salvation for the Kyrgyz hydropower industry and future income for Kyrgyzstan as an energy exporter. It could also lead to the country losing control over its own water resources.
Trend – The U.S. will use the territory of Azerbaijan to deliver non-defense cargo to Afghanistan, U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Public Relations Department head Terry Davidson said on March 10. “We mean water, food and construction materials – not armament deliveries,” Davidson said.
Civil Georgia – President Saakashvili said on March 10 that the state should “definitely finalize the deeds” of those Georgian soldiers who have fallen in the August war. “The Russians were moving to Tbilisi,” he continued. “It was [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin’s initial plan; it was his strategy and an eventual goal.

Middle East

Al Jazeera – At least 33 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack at a marketplace west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, officials have said. Tuesday’s blast appeared to target a group of tribal leaders and security officials who were touring the crowded market in Abu Ghraib as part of an effort towards national reconciliation.
Reuters – A politician from Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist Likud party said on Tuesday he had met Syrian diplomats in the United States and felt encouraged about peace prospects. A spokesman for the Syrian embassy in Washington denied that such a meeting took place.
Al Bawaba – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak are planning to visit Riyadh on Wednesday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah, the official SPA news agency announced on Tuesday. “Bilateral relations… and ways of strengthening them in various fields in addition to regional and international issues of common concern” will be on the agenda.
Al Manar – Rival Palestinian factions began a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday aimed at forming a national unity government and resolving major disputes between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest groups. Senior delegations from Hamas and Fatah and smaller factions were due to start work in five reconciliation committees which they agreed to form last month in the Egyptian capital. The talks are expected to last for 10 days.
Naharnet – Prime Minister Fouad Saniora told the daily Al Ahram in an interview published Tuesday that Lebanon will sign a treaty to import natural gas from Egypt.
QNA – A round of official talks commenced at the Emiri Diwan before noon Tuesday between H.H. the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea. The talks covered the relations of bilateral cooperation besides several topics of concern to both sides.

Iran

Al Arabiya – Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Iran on Tuesday on a trip that could help seal Tehran’s presence in an international meeting aimed at helping his violence-wracked nation.
Press TV – The last Iranian Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi has officially announced his bid to run in the country’s upcoming presidential race.
Fars – Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was reinstated as Chairman of the Assembly of Experts with 51 votes on Tuesday. In the fifth meeting of the fourth term of the Experts Assembly, Hashemi Rafsanjani was again elected as the Assembly’s head after he won a majority of votes.
IRNA – Iran is the best friend of Arab nations, said Chairman of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday. Addressing an official meeting of the assembly, the senior cleric condemned some recent moves made by certain states to put Arab countries against Iran.
IRIB – “The Islamic Republic of Iran is to host 22nd International Conference on Islamic Unity from March 13-15,” Secretary-General of the World Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thoughts Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri said during a press conference Tuesday.
ISNA – National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has opened an office in China. The office was established in a bid to deepen oil cooperation between the two countries.
MEMRI – The Iranian Sunni opposition organization Jundallah has said that in the March 7 battle with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) near Zahedan, in Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran, Jundallah killed 15 IRGC troops. Jundallah acknowledged that one of its senior members was killed and five members were wounded, and said it would soon release a film showing its success in the battle. In contrast, the Iranian media reported that Iranian security forces killed 15 Jundallah members.
Press TV – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran and Azerbaijan must make every effort to strengthen relations. In a meeting with the Azeri President Elham Aliyev on Tuesday, the Leader pointed to the cordial Tehran-Baku relations and said both sides should not allow Israeli and US incitements to strain the two countries ties.
Payvand – Photos: Weaving Jajim in Shoushtar

U.S. Army Spc. Christopher Spositi crosses a river during a patrol near Forward Operating Base Baylough, Afghanistan, March 9, 2009. Spositi is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. (photo by Sgt. Christopher S. Barnhart)

South Asia

Air Force – F-15E pilots protect ground forces in massive firefight; A 130-man assault force of American and Afghan soldiers was flown into the valley by CH-47 Chinook helicopters April 6, 2008, with a mission to capture a top insurgent target who had been funding the insurgency. As the assault force assembled near a riverbed in the valley’s rocky terrain, two 335th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagles soared above, providing cover and hunting for potential threats from the insurgents’ mountainside village stronghold.
AFPS – In Nanagarhar province’s Shiwzad district, southeast of Kabul, Afghan special operations and coalition forces targeted a compound to disrupt an al-Qaida foreign-fighter network believed to be responsible for a March 2 suicide bombing that injured six civilians in Jalalabad City. In Khowst province, southeast of Kabul, Afghan special operations and coalition forces conducted operations to disable a suspected high-level commander of the Haqqani terrorist group with strong ties to Hezb-I-Islam Gulbuddin and Taliban militants, and to dismantle a bomb cell believed to be responsible for attacks against coalition forces.
Xinhua – As Afghan new educational year begun days ago, unknown insurgents dynamited a primary school in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Khost late Monday night, spokesman of educational department in the province Syed Musa Majroh said on Tuesday.
Washington Times – Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Tuesday that 70 percent of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan are essentially mercenaries who possibly could be negotiated with instead of fought, and said the United States likely will try this approach.
Dawn – Pakistani security forces killed at least 35 militants in Darra Adam Khel after a two-day military operation, a senior security official said on Tuesday. Darra Adam Khel has become a stronghold of the banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, said to have links to al-Qaeda.
Geo – A Qazi conference is underway at the DCO office in Saidu Sharif here on Tuesday. NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial minister Wajid Ali Khan, Commissioner Malakand Division Syed Muhammad Javed and DCO Swat Khushhal Khan are attending the conference. The conference will discuss Nizam-e-Adl and other related issues. A delegation comprising 25 Qazi will meet with Maulana Sufi Muhammad to discuss the setting up of Qazi courts.
Geo – Section 144 was imposed in several cities of Punjab on Tuesday for three days effective from Wednesday. Under this section, no protest march or gathering of people at one place would be allowed. These cities include Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Pakpattan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Gujrat. District Nazim Mian Amir Mahmood said that the decision to impose section 144 has been taken in view of the security fears and to maintain law and order situation.
Military.com – A major tribe in Pakistan has agreed to stop sheltering the foreign militants, hand over local Taliban leaders and accept the writ of the government in troubled Bajaur district, media reports said today. Leaders of the Mamoond, the largest tribe in the district that borders Afghanistan, signed a 28-point peace accord Monday, agreeing to surrender local Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, his spokesman Muslim Khan and three other key figures.
Colombo Page – At least 14 people were killed and more than 46 others including Post and Telecommunication Minister Mahinda Wijesekara were injured following an LTTE suicide attack on a procession celebrating Milad-un-Nabi at Godapitiya, Akuressa in Matara, Sri Lanka, this morning. The incident took place when the procession was closer to the Jumma Mosque at Godapitiya, Akuressa at about 10:40 a.m. Defence sources said the LTTE bomber has targeted the Islam devotees attending the national Milad-Un-Nabi celebration, held at the mosque.

Far East & Pacific

VietNamNet – Receiving Qatari Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah Bin Hamed Al Attiyah on March 9, the visiting Vietnamese PM proposed that Qatar consider allowing the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to invest in a gas-fueled fertiliser plant in the country and facilitate PetroVietnam’s purchase of oil, fertiliser, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas from Qatar.
JoongAng – North Korea released the names of 687 newly elected Supreme People’s Assembly members on Monday night, including news of the re-election of its leader Kim Jong-il, but none of Kim’s sons were included in the roster of the country’s legislators.
Bangkok Post – The cabinet has approved the reshuffle of 28 senior officials, mostly provincial governors and two interior directors general, in a move seen as diminishing the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra.
news.com.au – Bali bombers Ali Imron and Mubarok said they would testify against alleged terrorist mastermind Hambali if he’s returned to Indonesia after the United States closes Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
Japan Times – Prime Minister Taro Aso visited Okinawa Prefecture over the weekend for the first time since he came to power in September, and met with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima. He did not visit any U.S. military bases or their vicinity, as he apparently sought to avoid luring public attention to base-related issues.
Canberra Times – Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, accused China of having brought ”hell on earth” to his homeland in a speech yesterday on the sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising. As Chinese authorities deployed a massive security force across the Tibetan plateau to prevent protests, he demanded ”legitimate and meaningful autonomy” for the region in a speech at his exile base in northern India.
Xinhua – Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama has not only been on the wrong side of history, but also has got the history upside down. Miseries of “hell on earth” and “untold suffering” occurred nowhere but in the slavery Tibet symbolized by the Dalai Lama.
Xinhua – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Tuesday talked by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss issues on bilateral relationship and other issues of mutual concern. During the conversation initiated by Lavrov, both sides agreed to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties to further move their strategic cooperative partnership forward by making joint efforts and enhancing exchanges and cooperation in various fields.
China Daily – A US navy vessel violated international and Chinese laws as it conducted unauthorized activities in China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. “China has lodged a protest to the United States as the USNS Impeccable conducted the activities … without China’s permission,” ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing.
China MFA – Q: It’s reported that Malaysian Prime Minister Badawi inspected the Danwan Reef of the Nansha Islands on March 5 and claimed sovereignty over the Reef and adjacent waters. How does China respond to this? A: China owns indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters
Phnom Penh Post – National police said Monday they have opened and investigation into whether a US-based charity with ties to Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tigers had ever operated in Cambodia, following sanctions against the group by the US Treasury Department
US Coast Guard – The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Rush, a 378-foot high endurance cutter home ported in Honolulu, returned home last week after a ground-breaking six-week law enforcement patrol through the South Pacific. The Rush’s crew conducted joint law enforcement operations with three embarked Republic of Kiribati law enforcement officials under a new diplomatic ship rider agreement recently signed between the U.S. and Kiribati governments.
PACOM – The first flights of Cope Tiger 2009 launched March 9, filling the skies above Thailand with fighter aircraft and signaling the 15th year of partnership between the United States, Thailand and Singapore militaries. Cope Tiger is an annual, multilateral aerial exercise which divides Thai, Singaporean and U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft into two mixed groups, pitting them against each other in a mock battle.

Europe

AKI – The Italian government investigated 216 terror threats against Italy last year, concluding that Islamist cells were the “primary threat to the public interest, both inside Italy and abroad,” according to a report released on Tuesday.
Times Online – With France about to rejoin Nato’s military command and a more sympathetic Administration in Washington, the European Union will at last be able to get on with building an army. That sums up the hope and fear of some in the opposing camps on defence – federal-minded Europeans and Atlanticists.
Press TV – France accuses Iran of not fully cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog, once again calling on Tehran to suspend its disputed nuclear work.
BBC – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to help Mexico in its battle against organised crime during an official visit to the country. Mr Sarkozy offered his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon help with police training and technology for gathering intelligence.
US News – Across the French countryside, within sight of villages and towns, thick clouds of steam rise from giant cooling towers at 58 nuclear energy plants that provide more than three quarters of the nation’s electricity. In this, France far outpaces other countries, with Japan second at about 34 percent of its electricity. Nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, where public anxieties and high costs have prevented construction of new reactors since 1979. This reliance has made France something of a poster child for nuclear power.
Neftegaz – Sweden, which takes over the EU presidency in July of this year aims to highlight the ecology of the Baltic Sea and energy security. These issues were discussed by the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victor Zubkov and his Swedish counterparts. Zubkov said the Swedish side seemed inclined to accomplish the Nord Stream project. Sweden is the last country to say approve the Nord Stream project that will carry 55 billion cubic meters of gas to European consumers.
EurActiv – A Commission plan to spend five billion euro on clean energy and broadband Internet infrastructure projects has been redrafted. According to the new version, seen by EurActiv, a number of countries will obtain more funding, at the expense of the EU’s flagship Nabucco pipeline project. Although a Commission spokesperson strongly denied its existence, EurActiv has obtained the revised version of the five billion “smart projects” plan. The document clearly shows that a number of countries will receive more funding than initially planned, whereas less will be allocated to the Nabucco project.
Russia Today – The South Stream gas pipeline project, to supply gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, is a step closer to reality. Announcing that Gazprom had reached agreement with the Hungarian Development Bank on the joint venture to build the Hungarian section of South Stream, Gazprom CEO, Aleksey Miller, said the Russian gas giant will create a joint venture with Hungary by May 15, adding that Gazprom will run operate the $13 Billion project which is due to begin operation at the end of 2015.
UK MoD – Thousands of Royal Navy sailors, Royal Marines and airmen are taking part in a major amphibious exercise in Cyprus, as part of one of the Royal Navy’s largest deployments of recent years.
Lithuania Foreign Ministry – On 9 March in Washington during a working visit to the U.S.A., Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton and discussed bilateral relations, security and other issues of international policy. During the meeting, the U.S. Secretary of State highlighted the commitments of the U.S.A. to Lithuania in compliance with the Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and indicated that Lithuania and the U.S.A. were NATO Allies. H.R.Clinton thanked for the critical and constructive position of Lithuania regarding the relations between NATO and Russia, which was voiced the previous week during the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

Africa

IslamOnline – The Somalia government endorsed on Tuesday, March 10, plans to introduce Shari`ah-adherent laws in the African Muslim country. “The cabinet members discussed deeply on the issue regarding the Islamic shari`ah law and the members unanimously approved full implementation,” Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told reporters.
Garowe – Islamist rulers in Somalia’s southern port of Kismayo have shut down money-wiring firms, attracting anger from the local population, Radio Garowe reports. “The Islamists asked us for additional money to be used to improve the city’s image, but we informed them that we cannot pay,” said a senior source at a money-wiring firm in Kismayo.
Shabelle – Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein, a representative of the Islamic Organization of al-Shabab for Banadir region has denounced Tuesday the Somali clerics’ travel to Qatari capital Doha. Sheik Ali Mohamed said that the clerics traveled to Qatari capital Doha saying that it is a military centre for America and added that they often go to many countries in the world using different passports accusing them that they have recently been insulting the Islamist insurgents in the country.
CSIS – Challenges for Renewed Engagement in Somalia; The conference examined current developments in Somalia and the possibilities for greater U.S. and international engagement. Speakers included a variety of Somalia experts from the region itself, distinguished policymakers, humanitarian representatives, and security analysts.
Sudan Tribune – Four peacekeepers were wounded in an ambush in Darfur near El Geneina, leaving one peacekeeper in serious condition as all the wounded were evacuated to a hospital in El Fasher. The peacekeepers, who are serving with the UN-African Union hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID), were returning to their base in El Geneina, a major town in West Darfur used as a military garrison and supply source for Chadian opposition groups.
GBC – United Nations Staff in Madagascar says opposition leader Andry Rajoelina has taken refuge at the French Embassy. The 34-year-old former DJ said, he was in hiding after Police tried to arrest him. Mr. Rajoelina has been involved in a fierce power struggle with Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana for several weeks. Security forces are reported to have opened fire following widespread outbreaks of looting in southern parts of the capital Antananarivo.
Monitor – The army announced it had killed a senior LRA rebel commander, Okello Yape and rescued one of the Aboke girls snapped up as a wife by Joseph Kony in 1996.
IHT – Madagascar’s defense minister says he is resigning amid growing concern that the military will take sides in the island’s political dispute.
This Day – President Umaru Yar’Adua said that Nigeria would be able to solve gas supply shortages experienced by the European Union by the time the trans-saharan gas pipline project being undertaken by Nigeria and Algeria, is completed.

The Romanian Army's 26th Infantry Battalion assumed authority from the 341st Infantry Battalion at Camp Dracula on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, March 3, 2009. The 341st set a very high standard, "one we will maintain and, of course, try to better," said Lt. Col. Toma, incoming commander of the 26th Inf. Bn. "We will be great partners (with U.S. and Iraqi forces) and the relations between us will prove that we are a team that can accomplish any kind of mission." (photo by Maj. Chad Carroll)

The Global War

NY Times – The five detainees at Guantánamo Bay charged with planning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have filed a document with the military commission at the United States naval base there expressing pride at their accomplishment and accepting full responsibility for the killing of nearly 3,000 people.
NATO – The Vice President of the United States, Joseph Biden, met today with the North Atlantic Council to discuss the main challenges ahead in Afghanistan and consult with NATO Allies on the ongoing US strategic policy review towards Afghanistan and Pakistan.
GAO Report - National Cybersecurity Strategy: Key Improvements Are Needed to Strengthen the Nation’s Posture
Pentagon – Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter determined today that the status of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher is changed from “Missing/Captured” to “Missing-In-Action” (MIA). Speicher was the first casualty of Operation Desert Storm. His F/A-18 Hornet was downed by hostile action on January 17, 1991, during the first manned air strike of the war, and he was declared “Killed-In-Action/Body-Not-Recovered” in May 1991.
EIA - Short-Term Energy Outlook; The global economic slowdown is projected to cut these prices by more than half, to average $42 per barrel in 2009 and $53 in 2010…

Sights & Sounds

Brian Beutler and Conor Clarke: The Curious Case of Chas Freeman – Chas Freeman’s troubled National Intelligence Council nomination… Isn’t this whole fight really about Israel?… Conor: Freeman’s critics are more smeared against than smearing… Brian laments Israel’s sacred cow status… The “self-hating Jew” charge… Meditations on online away messages