A history of US defense spending

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Petraeus will get whatever he wants?

Well, well, well — where have we seen this before? The indiscreet U.S. commander whose tongue digs his own grave. The stunning resignation submitted within hours of the magazine's online posting of the story. And General David Petraeus — yet again — as the go-to choice as America's turnaround specialist. Amidst all the nonstop chatter from pundits, politicians, and former ambassadors, allow me to distance myself from the familiar situation I was in with Admiral William Fallon and sift through the tea leaves to look ahead at Petraeus's new gig. Because there are magazine stories, and then there is war. And because — who knows? — Afghanistan may be a lot better off, and Obama may have picked his replacement in more ways than one.

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U.S. and Israeli war ships headed to Iran?

Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal as an Iranian flotilla approaches Gaza. Egypt closed the canal to protect the ships with thousands of soldiers, according to the British-based Arabic language newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi.

One day prior to the report on Saturday, Voice of Israel government radio reported that the Egyptian government denied an Israeli request not to allow the Iranian flotilla to use the Suez Canal to reach Gaza, in violation of the Israeli sea embargo on the Hamas-controlled area.

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The Covert War in South America

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) threatened to issue subpoenas against the U.S. Defense and State Departments last month if they continue to refuse to accurately account for billions of dollars spent on private contractors assisting Washington in the 'war on drugs' in Latin America. But McCaskill's concerns raise broader questions about oversight and transparency of a controversial industry and its ever expanding role in Washington's foreign policy. "We asked for this information from the State Department and the Defense Department (DoD) more than three months ago. Despite our repeated requests, neither Department has been able to answer our questions yet," said U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill at a Senate hearing on May 20. More here...

Clear skies for Israel over Saudi Arabia

"Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran"

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North Korea triple feature

This is far from a professional estimate coming out of the department of defense, but rather a well compiled message board post over at militaryphotos.net. It's quite interesting, even if you just look at the pictures. So if you want to know what war with North Korea would look like, this will give you an idea.

Bluffer's Guide: North Korea Strikes!

And as an added bonus, the New York Times ran an article on how North Korean policy ruins the lives of its citizens. Here are the first few paragraphs,

"YANJI, China — Like many North Koreans, the construction worker lived in penury. His state employer had not paid him for so long that he had forgotten his salary. Indeed, he paid his boss to be listed as a dummy worker so that he could leave his work site. Then he and his wife could scrape out a living selling small bags of detergent on the black market. It hardly seemed that life could get worse. And then, one Saturday afternoon last November, his sister burst into his apartment in Chongjin with shocking news: the North Korean government had decided to drastically devalue the nation’s currency. The family’s life savings, about $1,560, had been reduced to about $30."

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Subsequently, the article reminded me of a series of photos I saw over at Boston.com on life in North Korea.

Peering into North Korea

Recent Scenes from North Korea

Kim Jong-il's key ally dies

"Ri Je-Gang, the first vice director of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party and widely seen as the strongman of the reclusive North Korean leader’s regime, died in a car crash shortly before 1 am on Wednesday morning, North Korean media reported on Sunday.

The death of Ri, who was 80, came just days before an unprecedented second session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, at which North Korean watchers had anticipated that the ailing Kim would formally name his inexperienced son, Kim Jong-Un 27, as his successor."

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My comments: Given the crisis revolving around the Choenan, a power struggle in North Korea might further escalate the situation beyond China, the US or South Korea's control. With the Supreme People's Assembly just days away the death of Kim Jong-Il's number two man is certainly an untimely and unfortunate blow to his regime. We'll have to see what the future holds for the Korean Peninsula.

Russia agrees on Sanctions for Iran?

Calling Iran's nuclear stance "irresponsible, Russia's president said Iran's leadership needs to heed an international community now in agreement on sanctions against that country, a Russian state news agency reported.

"Nobody wants sanctions," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters on Saturday during a visit to Germany, where he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel. "But in some cases, it is necessary to agree on them."

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My comments: There's been speculation as to whether the Obama admin has come to some sort of agreement with Russia regarding western expansion in Eastern Europe (Namely Ukraine) in exchange for support for a tougher stance on Iran. Russia's new position is certainly a change from their previous talk, indicating there was some sort of deal/arrangement struck.

Sanctioning Burma

The site Guernica magazine has an interesting article on the effectiveness of sanctions against the Burmese government. Here is an except:

"Morten Pedersen:South Africa was actually a partial democracy. Blacks were not involved in that democracy. But there was a white constituency that had influence on government decisions. In Burma, there is no such constituency. There’s no one outside the army that has influence on policy decisions. There’s a close business community. But while they’re close to the generals, they have no political influence. In South Africa, there was a large business community that had direct influence through electoral processes and beyond that. And South Africa was also heavily integrated into the global economy, and the global cultural community. The whites were really hurt by being shunned by what was in fact their peer group in Europe. So they were hurt, culturally they felt isolated, the shaming worked, and the economic pressure worked. And they then put pressure on the government. That may not have changed otherwise.

Guernica: In Burma, those elements are not there?

Morten Pedersen: The Burmese generals have no affinity at all with the people who are sanctioning them. Culturally, there’s no link whatsoever."

And the remainder of the article can be found here...