By HELENE COOPER, ERIC SCHMITT and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDTMARCH 1, 2016
The New York Times
WASHINGTON — An elite American Special Operations force has captured a significant Islamic State operative in Iraq and is expected to apprehend and interrogate a number of others in coming months, ushering in a new and potentially fraught phase in the fight against the extremist Sunni militant group.
American defense officials described the capture as a crucial development in battling the Islamic State but said it also raised questions about handling what is likely to be a growing group of detainees.
"Ό,τι η ψυχή επιθυμεί, αυτό και πιστεύει." Δημοσθένης (Whatever the soul wishes, thats what it believes, Demosthenes)
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
What China Has Been Building in the South China Sea
By DEREK WATKINS
UPDATED February 29, 2016
China has placed runways and radar facilities on new islets in the South China Sea, built by piling huge amounts of sand onto reefs. The construction is straining already taut geopolitical tensions
The New York Times
The speed and scale of China’s island-building spree in the South China Sea last year alarmed other countries with interests in the region. After announcing in June that the process of building seven new islands by moving sediment from the seafloor to reefs was almost done, China has focused its efforts on building ports, three airstrips, radar facilities and other military buildings on the islands. The installations bolster China’s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500 miles from the Chinese mainland.
China’s activity in the Spratlys is a major point of contention between China and the United States, and has prompted the White House to send Navy destroyers to patrol near the islands twice in recent months.
UPDATED February 29, 2016
China has placed runways and radar facilities on new islets in the South China Sea, built by piling huge amounts of sand onto reefs. The construction is straining already taut geopolitical tensions
The New York Times
The speed and scale of China’s island-building spree in the South China Sea last year alarmed other countries with interests in the region. After announcing in June that the process of building seven new islands by moving sediment from the seafloor to reefs was almost done, China has focused its efforts on building ports, three airstrips, radar facilities and other military buildings on the islands. The installations bolster China’s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500 miles from the Chinese mainland.
China’s activity in the Spratlys is a major point of contention between China and the United States, and has prompted the White House to send Navy destroyers to patrol near the islands twice in recent months.
Army's Delta Force begins to target ISIS in Iraq
Barbara Starr-Profile-Image
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT) February 29, 2016
CNN
Washington (CNN)The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force operations to target, capture or kill top ISIS operatives have begun in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation, an administration official with direct knowledge of the force's activities told CNN.
The official said the group has spent the last several weeks preparing, including setting up safe houses, establishing informant networks and coordinating operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga units. It's the same strategy that Special Operations forces have used in previous deployments to combat zones.
Several Pentagon and military officials declined to discuss specifics of the so-called Expeditionary Targeting Force with CNN.
But Defense Secretary Ash Carter seemed to confirm in comments made at the Pentagon on Monday that the Special Operations forces had begun missions.
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT) February 29, 2016
CNN
Washington (CNN)The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force operations to target, capture or kill top ISIS operatives have begun in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation, an administration official with direct knowledge of the force's activities told CNN.
The official said the group has spent the last several weeks preparing, including setting up safe houses, establishing informant networks and coordinating operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga units. It's the same strategy that Special Operations forces have used in previous deployments to combat zones.
Several Pentagon and military officials declined to discuss specifics of the so-called Expeditionary Targeting Force with CNN.
But Defense Secretary Ash Carter seemed to confirm in comments made at the Pentagon on Monday that the Special Operations forces had begun missions.
Monday, February 22, 2016
China signals no South China Sea backdown as foreign minister goes to U.S.
Mon Feb 22, 2016 4:27am EST
BEIJING | BY BEN BLANCHARD
Reuters
China's South China Sea military deployments are no different from U.S. deployments on Hawaii, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, striking a combative tone ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States this week.
The United States last week accused China of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island, a move China has neither confirmed nor denied.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
China's Pivot To Latin America: Beijing's Growing Security Presence In America's Backyard
FEB 20, 2016 @ 08:40 PM 3,030 VIEWS
Paul Coyer , CONTRIBUTOR
I cover foreign policy with a focus on Eurasia.
FORBES
China’s extremely ambitious efforts under Xi Jinping to extend its reach around the globe and to put its economic clout to work aggressively pursuing its strategic goals have had considerable impact on Latin America. As I’ve written previously, the nature of Chinese economic engagement with Latin America, despite having some beneficial aspects, has also had long term negative economic and normative effects in the region and has strengthened anti-American regimes. China’s growing military presence in the region is having a similar effect, and, although it is still relatively limited, is serving to undermine, aided by Washington’s neglect, the United States’ strategic position in its own Hemisphere.
Paul Coyer , CONTRIBUTOR
I cover foreign policy with a focus on Eurasia.
FORBES
China’s extremely ambitious efforts under Xi Jinping to extend its reach around the globe and to put its economic clout to work aggressively pursuing its strategic goals have had considerable impact on Latin America. As I’ve written previously, the nature of Chinese economic engagement with Latin America, despite having some beneficial aspects, has also had long term negative economic and normative effects in the region and has strengthened anti-American regimes. China’s growing military presence in the region is having a similar effect, and, although it is still relatively limited, is serving to undermine, aided by Washington’s neglect, the United States’ strategic position in its own Hemisphere.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
China 'has deployed missiles in South China Sea' - Taiwan
3 hours ago
BBC
China has deployed
surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the South China Sea, Taiwan
says.
Satellite images taken
on 14 February appear to show two batteries of eight missile launchers and a
radar system on Woody or Yongxing Island in the Paracels.
The presence of
missiles would significantly increase tensions in the acrimonious South China
Sea dispute.
China's Foreign
Minister Wang Yi said reports were a Western media invention.
But Mr Wang defended
"the limited and necessary self-defence facilities" on islands
inhabited by Chinese personnel as "consistent with the right for
self-preservation and self-protection.... under the international law".
Monday, February 1, 2016
U.S. Warship Enters Waters Claimed by China Without Approval
Alan Bjerga
January 30,
2016 — 5:53 PM EET Updated on January 31, 2016 — 8:58 AM EET
Bloomberg
The
Pentagon confirmed it sent a ship into waters claimed by China , calling
it a “freedom of navigation” operation meant to challenge attempts by that
country and others to restrict navigation in the area.
The USS
Curtis Wilbur got to within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of Triton Island in the
South China Sea, Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said by e-mail
Saturday.
The island,
administered by China , is
part of the Paracel islands chain in the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan . Taiwanese President Ma
Ying-jeou ignored a rebuke from the U.S. and visited an island in the
contested area earlier this week, reiterating claims to the disputed waterway.
U.S. Broadens Fight Against ISIS With Attacks in Afghanistan
By MICHAEL
S. SCHMIDT and ERIC SCHMITTJAN. 31, 2016
The
operations followed President Obama’s decision last month to broaden the authority
of American commanders to attack the Islamic State’s new branch in Afghanistan .
The administration — which has been accused by Republicans of not having a
strategy to defeat the group — is revamping plans for how it fights the
terrorist organization in regions where it has developed affiliates.
Monday, January 11, 2016
U.S. may send more strategic weapons to Korean peninsula: South Korea
Mon Jan 11,
2016 4:51am EST Related: WORLD, SOUTH
KOREA
Reuters
The United States and its ally South Korea were discussing on Monday sending more
strategic U.S. weapons to
the Korean peninsula, a day after a U.S. B-52 bomber flew over South Korea in response to North Korea 's
nuclear test last week.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Turkey says has duty to protect soldiers in Iraq after Baghdad ultimatum
Mon Dec 7,
2015 7:56am EST Related: WORLD, TURKEY ,
IRAQ
ISTANBUL/ERBIL
| BY DAREN BUTLER
AND ISABEL COLES
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Greece and geopolitics
A
semi-guided missile
The
Economist
Feb 28th
2015 | From the print edition
NEVER
imagine that the euro zone is the only club in which Greece is a maverick player. The
Hellenic relationship with NATO, and bilateral defence ties with the United States ,
have long been important (although many would say diminishing) and contested.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
David Ignatius: A U.S.-China ‘reset’?
The Washington Post
By David
Ignatius Opinion writer December 16 at 7:11 PM
This year
began with some Chinese and American foreign-policy analysts looking back a
century to World War I and wondering if confrontation was inevitable between a
rising power and a dominant one. But now there has been progress on climate,
trade and security issues and what seems a modest “reset” of the Sino-American
relationship.
Future
disagreements between the United States
and China
are inevitable. But the surprise of a high-level dialogue here last weekend was
the interest by both sides in exploring what the Chinese like to call “win-win”
cooperation.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
China's Economy: Don’t Bet on Beijing
A recent
report makes clear the enormous challenges facing China ’s economy.
The
Diplomat
http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/chinas-economy-dont-bet-on-beijing/
By Sam
Winter-Levy
December
02, 2014
The
Financial Times recently reported that China has wasted nearly $7 trillion
since the global financial crisis. According to research by China ’s state
planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, “ineffective
investment” made up nearly half the total amount invested in the Chinese
economy since 2009. The soaring ranks of empty skyscrapers and residential
complexes that crowd the skylines of so many of China’s third- and fourth-tier
cities are the most obvious sign of this prodigality, although alongside extraordinary
levels of misallocated capital, billions of dollars of post-crisis stimulus has
simply disappeared into the opaque pockets of Communist Party officials.
Following the widely hailed conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum earlier this month in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping
insisted once again on a “new type of great-power relations” between the United
States and a rising China, these reports of waste on an immense scale should be
a salutary reminder of the extent of the challenges the Chinese Communist Party
faces before any supposedly inevitable transition of global power takes place.
Monday, June 16, 2014
China economic clout good for U.S.: Column
Ted C.
Fishman 4:05 p.m. EDT June 15, 2014
Instead of
feeling threatened, Chinese buying power can help us and improve relations.
Early this
spring, the World Bank announced that, by one measure, the size of the Chinese
economy at the end of 2011 was nearly equal to that of the U.S. and, this
year, it will be bigger. Americans are fearful of China lately. A bigger economy
seems to be giving China
sharper elbows. The Asian giant has been pressing territorial demands. China 's
military supports cyber spies who steal American industrial secrets. China 's President Xi Jinping warns the U.S. in speeches that America
will get burned if America
stymies China 's
assertion of its goals.
Should
Americans feel threatened? Surprised?
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
U.S. accuses China of cyber spying on American companies
BY JIM
FINKLE, JOSEPH MENN AND ARUNA VISWANATHA
Mon May 19,
2014 6:04pm EDT
(Reuters) -
The United States on Monday charged five Chinese military officers and accused
them of hacking into American nuclear, metal and solar companies to steal trade
secrets, ratcheting up tensions between the two world powers over cyber
espionage.
China
immediately denied the charges, saying in a strongly worded Foreign Ministry
statement the U.S. grand jury indictment was "made up" and would
damage trust between the two nations.
Officials
in Washington have argued for years that cyber espionage is a top national
security concern. The indictment was the first criminal hacking charge that the
United States has filed against specific foreign officials, and follows a
steady increase in public criticism and private confrontation, including at a
summit last year between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi
Jinping.
Friday, April 11, 2014
During Hagel Visit, China Showed Its Military Might, and Its Frustrations
By HELENE COOPERAPRIL 10, 2014
The New York Times
ULAN BATOR,
Mongolia — When Robert M. Gates visited China in 2011 as the United States
defense secretary, the military greeted him with an unexpected and, in the view
of American military officials, provocative test of a Chinese stealth fighter
jet, a bold show of force that stunned the visiting Americans and may even have
surprised the Chinese president at the time, Hu Jintao.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
China or America? Indians pick U.S.
12:52 AM ET
By Bruce
Stokes, Special to CNN
Editor’s
note: Bruce Stokes is the director of global economic attitudes at the Pew Research
Center . The views
expressed are the writer’s own.
During the
Cold War, the Indian government attempted to position itself between Moscow and Washington
by claiming leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement. As Indians head to the
polls over the next six weeks, their country again finds itself in a world with
two preeminent powers: this time, China
and the United States .
And the
Indian public is fairly clear where its sympathies lie: with America . Of
course, how such attitudes will influence the views of the next Indian
government remains to be seen. But, for now at least, there appears to be no
evidence of broad anti-Americanism on the sub-continent.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
President Obama’s foreign policy is based on fantasy
By
Editorial Board, Published: March 3
The Washington Post
FOR FIVE
YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the
world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war
is receding” and the United
States could, without much risk, radically
reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would
behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions,
brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances — these were things of
the past. Secretary of State John F. Kerry displayed this mindset on ABC’s
“This Week” Sunday when he said, of Russia ’s
invasion of neighboring Ukraine ,
“It’s a 19th century act in the 21st century.”
Friday, January 17, 2014
Women are wielding notable influence in Congress
The Washington Post
By Ed
O’Keefe, Friday, January 17, 4:03 AM
After
decades of trying to amass power, several women have vaulted to the top of
influential congressional committees, putting them in charge of some of the
most consequential legislation being considered on Capitol Hill.
The $1.1
trillion spending plan Congress approved this week was the handiwork of Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and her House
counterpart, Harold Rogers (R-Ky.).
In
December, when lawmakers approved a budget deal with big majorities in both
chambers, credit went to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray
(D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Mission accomplished, says Snowden: Washington Post
Mon Dec 23, 2013 11:35pm EST
(Reuters) -
Former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed
extensive details of global electronic surveillance by the U.S. spy
agency, said in an interview published on Tuesday that he has accomplished what
he set out to do.
"For
me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already
accomplished," he told the Washington Post. The newspaper said it spoke to
Snowden over two days of nearly unbroken conversation in Moscow , "fueled by burgers, pasta, ice
cream and Russian pastry."
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