Chanhassen Villager - Wars and rumors of wars - Comments

AFRICOM assumes

FAdams — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:41:41 -0500

AFRICOM assumes responsibility for
military relations with 53 countries

With Africa expected to supply one quarter of the United State's oil supply by 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Oct. 1, 2008, that United States Africa Command has become the sixth unified geographic command within the Department of Defense unified command structure.

Based in Stuttgart, Germany, with select personnel assigned to U.S. Embassies and diplomatic missions in numerous African nations, U.S. Africa Command is responsible for coordinating military-to-military relationships between the United States and 53 African nations, as well as African military and security organizations.

According to published news reports, over the weekend, Congress slashed Africom's 2009 budget by a third, to $225 million. It also ordered Defense Secretary Robert Gates to report back by April 1 on how the command can be improved.

Africom is inheriting responsibility for a Centcom-run base in Djibouti, where 1,800 troops are deployed to keep Horn of Africa terror networks in check. It also takes over European Command's Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative and dozens of other military and maritime training programs.

Africom's deputy for military operations, Vice Adm. Robert T. Moeller, is reported to have said the following: "Our primary responsibility ... is working with our African partners to help them build their security capacity" -- mainly by training armies and peacekeepers.

There has reportedly been resistance to the program among African governments. It has allegedly been so strong that commanders abandoned initial ambitions to install a headquarters on the continent. About two dozen Africom liaison officers are posted at embassies.

About U.S. Africa Command

Africa Commandds staff of approximately 1,000 personnel -- half military and half civilian -- is dedicated to closely working with U.S agencies, African nations and organizations, and the international community to promote security and prevent conflict in support of U.S. government policies in Africa.

U.S. Africa Command is pioneering closer cooperation between government agencies by embedding members of other agencies into U.S. AFRICOM's military chain of command. These officials are not liaisons. They are fully integrated members of the staff. Senior leaders from the Departments of State, USAID, Treasury, Commerce and others bring new insights and viewpoints so that the U.S. military can more effectively support the whole of the U.S. government effort in Africa. In the years ahead, the command plans to seek international partners to join the headquarters staff, including members of African militaries.

Established in October 2007 as a sub-unified command under U.S. European Command, U.S. AFRICOM's focus during its first year was to build a unique organization dedicated to long-term partnerships. Beginning in October 2008, U.S. Africa Command is focused on synchronizing hundreds of activities inherited from three regional commands that previously coordinated U.S. military relations in Africa.

North Korea has removed U.N.

FAdams — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:15:57 -0500

North Korea has removed U.N. nuclear watchdog monitors, seals and cameras from its shutdown atomic bomb-producing complex and aims to reintroduce nuclear material there in a week, according to a Reuters report.

Two former Iraqi government

FAdams — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:34:47 -0500

Two former Iraqi government officials testified before the Democratic Policy committee on Tuesday (Sept. 23) that corruption in the Iraqi government is widespread and being covered-up by the Iraqi government.

The former Chief Investigator for the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity testified that corrupt Iraqi officials stole hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars and diverted funds to al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq.

St. Cloud State Professor Abbas Mehdi testified about corruption he witnessed while serving as Chairman of the Board of the Iraqi government’s National Investment Commission, a cabinet-level position in the Maliki government. Mehdi, who was born in Iraq and currently lives in Minnesota, testified that based on his experience, a significant percentage of Iraqi government officials are involved in corruption.

A whistleblower who served as a senior advisor to the U.S. government in Iraq testified that corrupt Iraqi officials are actively undermining U.S. reconstruction efforts. The former official, who asked that his name be withheld to ensure his safety, detailed the fraud behind one of the biggest examples of wasted money in the reconstruction effort, the never-finished prison construction project in Kahn Bani Sa’ad, which has cost American taxpayers over $40 million. The facility, which was supposed to house 3,600 inmates, was built by the U.S. over objections by the Iraqi government that it was not needed. The unfinished project, now abandoned, sits unused in the desert.

In March the former head of Iraq’s Integrity Commission estimated that as much as $18 billion in reconstruction funding has been lost to corruption.

Russia sent one of its

FAdams — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:06:10 -0500

Russia sent one of its largest warships to join military exercises in the Caribbean, according to the Times Online. The nuclear-powered flagship Peter the Great set off for Venezuela with the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels in the first Russian naval mission in Latin America since the end of the Cold War.

Peter the Great is armed with 20 nuclear cruise missiles and up to 500 surface-to-air missiles. Vladimir Putin, the Russia's Prime Minister, said recently that Russia should “restore its position in Cuba” – the nation where deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in 1962 brought Russia and the United States to the brink of nuclear war.

FOX News is reporting that

FAdams — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:24:35 -0500

FOX News is reporting that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is more impaired from the stroke he apparently suffered last month than reports from the region suggest, and the United States and China are holding talks about what to do if the government in Pyongyang collapses.

Russia-Venezuela

FAdams — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:19:56 -0500

Russia-Venezuela strengthening military ties

Just days after Russia and Venezuela said they would conduct joint naval exercises in the Caribbean later this year involving a nuclear-powered Russian battleship, two Russian Tu-160 bombers, both capable of carrying nuclear weapons, landed in Venezuela, according to Reuters. On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the planes were in the South American oil-exporting nation to strengthen military ties and counter U.S. regional influences.

Standoff between Rusia and

FAdams — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:07:16 -0500

Standoff between Rusia and U.S.

A U.S. military ship loaded with 34 tons of humanitarian aid docked at a southern Georgian port Wednesday. Georgia's government said its short war with Russia had caused $1 billion in damages, while European leaders called the Kremlin's moves in two breakaway Georgian regions an unacceptable attempt to unilaterally redraw the map of the Caucasus region. In response to the U.S. aid to Georgia, Russia sent three missile boats to another Georgian port, according to an international report.

An Iranian cleric accused

FAdams — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:59:51 -0500

An Iranian cleric accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of betraying the people and called on reformers to unite to defeat him in next year's elections, according to an interview in a German newspaper quoted by Reuters, Wednesday.

"Ahmadinejad is not complying with the will of the people," The Financial Times Deutschland quoted Grand Ayatollah Bajat Sanjani as saying.

Ahmadinejad is expected to run for a second term in Iran's next presidential election, slated to take place early in 2009. His reformist rivals are expected to attack him especially on his economic policies.

Iran suffers from a rising consumer price index, high percentage of unemployment and an inflation of 26 percent.

Iraqi Prime Minister Prime

FAdams — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:29:34 -0500

Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that an agreement had been reached in negotiations on a security pact with the United States to end any foreign military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011, according to Reuters.

Russia says its response to

FAdams — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:24:13 -0500

Russia says its response to the shield will go beyond diplomacy. Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the U.S. missile shield plans are clearly aimed at weakening Russia. The U.S. says the missile defense system is aimed at protecting the U.S. and Europe from future attacks from states like Iran.

Secretary of State

FAdams — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:52:16 -0500

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland. The deal is to install 10 U.S. interceptor missiles just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost frontier.

U.S. military equipment to

FAdams — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:55:46 -0500

U.S. military equipment to Georgia

President Bush dispatched U.S. military hardware to the Georgia yesterday, Aug. 13, and warned Russia that it could be frozen out of international bodies as punishment for its aggression, according to the UK Times.

Bush accused Russia of breaching the provisional ceasefire agreed with Georgia only 24 hours earlier.

The U.S. is reportedly in talks with allies about whether to suspend Russia’s membership of the G8 club of industrialized nations. There is also a growing clamour to block Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organization and to rescind an invitation for it to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the Times.

The Times reports that although direct military intervention is not being considered, Pentagon sources have hinted that a limited number of troops could be deployed to support what Bush described as a vigorous and continuing humanitarian mission headed by the U.S. military.

The first U.S. air force transport aircraft arrived last night, and the navy was heading to the Black Sea – which is controlled by Russian warships – to deliver humanitarian and medical supplies direct to Georgian ports.

President Dmitri A. Medvedev

FAdams — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:09:28 -0500

President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced Tuesday (Aug. 12) that he had ordered a halt to Russia's military operation in Georgia, although he did not say that troops were pulling out and Russian forces were still authorized to fire on enemies in South Ossetia.

According to a New York

FAdams — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:04:42 -0500

According to a New York Times reporter in Moscow, each side in the conflict between Russia and Georgia portrays the other as the aggressor.

Russia's military is about 1 million strong. Georgia has a military of about 20,000. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the Russian forces had effectively cut his country in half. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency session at Georgia's request—the fifth meeting on the subject in as many days.

The two-front battlefield was a major escalation in the conflict that blew up late Thursday after a Georgian offensive to regain control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with EU mediators, Russia appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally that has been pressing for NATO membership, according to reports.

"Here in Moscow, people have been picketing the American embassy," said the Times reporter. She said many people see the U.S. as the unseen player in this skermish, emboldening Georgia to engage in armed conflict with Russia. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have both called for Russia to withdraw from Georgia.

Suicides averted thanks to

FAdams — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:48:47 -0500

Suicides averted thanks to hotline

According to a recent Rand Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The government says that more than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted.

The VA teamed up with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to launch the hot line last July after years of criticism that the VA wasn't doing enough to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wars and rumors of wars

FAdams — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:29:34 -0500

It's been five years since the "shock and awe" bombing campaign to overthrow Sadaam Hussein in Iraq. Since then nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died, and thousands more Iraqis have died. Troops are still there trying to create and maintain order. Meanwhile tens of thousands of allied troops are trying to maintain the new order in Afghanistan. Perhaps you'll be surprised to know that these aren't the only places in the world where there's war. The purpose of this blog is not to glorify all the conflicts in the world but to ackowledge them and perhaps gain an appreciation of peace.