National Security | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Nat’l Security / Foreign Affairs: October 10th, 2012
Top Five News and Analysis Links (Excerpts Below)
- Taliban Gun Down Girl Who Spoke Up for Rights
- Bing maps reveal CIA training facility in bin Laden’s death
- Libya Claims Right To Try Qaddafi’s Son and In-Law
- U.S. Military Is Sent to Jordan to Help With Crisis in Syria
- Turkey Warns Syria It May Use ‘Greater Force’
Excerpts and more top news and analysis
PAKISTAN: Taliban Gun Down Girl Who Spoke Up for Rights – NYT
Malala Yousafzai, 14, a symbol of defiance and an advocate for the education of girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, was shot in the head and neck on Tuesday by masked Taliban gunmen.
PAKISTAN: Girl Shot by Taliban in Critical Condition After Surgery - NYT
Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was attacked in Pakistan, was expected to be sent abroad for further treatment after undergoing a procedure to remove a bullet.
PAKISTAN: Pakistani girl still unconscious after surgery; clerics mostly silent on shooting – WP
Doctors have removed a bullet lodged near the spine of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl gunned down on her school bus by the Taliban, officials said Wednesday.
PAKISTAN: Bing maps reveal CIA training facility in the lead-up to bin Laden’s death – WP
The team of elite Navy SEALs who hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden last year stormed his Pakistani compound for 15 minutes, shooting his son and two associates before killing the al-Qaeda leader.
LIBYA/EUROPE: Libya Claims Right To Try Qaddafi’s Son and In-Law – NYT
The International Criminal Court in The Hague held its first public hearing on Tuesday in the dispute on where to try Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi and his brother-in-law Abdullah Senussi.
LIBYA: Don’t Just ‘Do Something’ - FP, MICAH ZENKO
Why Obama shouldn’t send a bunch of ninjas to Benghazi.
LIBYA: Before attack on U.S. mission in Libya, State Dept. concluded risk of violence was high - WP
Less than two months before the fatal attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department concluded that the risk of violence to diplomats and other Americans in Libya was high and that the weak U.S.-backed government in Tripoli could do little about it.
SYRIA: U.S. Military Is Sent to Jordan to Help With Crisis in Syria - NYT
The United States military has secretly sent a task force to Jordan to help handle a flood of Syrian refugees and be positioned should the turmoil in Syria expand into a wider conflict.
SYRIA: Syrian massacre is veiled in silence – FT
The killings in Daraya by regime forces attracted worldwide condemnation at the time – but there have been few words and little action since
TURKEY/SYRIA: Turkey Warns Syria It May Use ‘Greater Force’ – NYT
With fighting along the Turkish-Syrian border reported to be intensifying, the Turkish chief of staff, Gen. Necdet Ozel, said on Wednesday that the country may respond more forcefully.
TURKEY/SYRIA: Turkish chief of staff issues threat to Syria - FT
Any more shelling will be answered with ‘greater force’, says Turkey’s chief of staff during visit to border town where five people were killed last week
JORDAN: Radical Cleric Fights Extradition From Britain to Jordan – NYT
Immigration authorities in London were set to resume a protracted effort on Wednesday to send a prominent Muslim cleric to face charges in Jordan.
ISRAEL: With Israel’s Destruction of Drone, the Region’s Dynamics Have Changed Significantly - BROOKINGS
The widely reported downing of an unmanned aerial vehicle that entered Israeli airspace on Oct. 6 demonstrates, in stark terms, how UAVs have the potential to upend long-held assumptions regarding the nature of Iran’s reach in the Middle East.
ISRAEL: Netanyahu Calls for Early Elections in Israel – NYT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he was forced to order the vote, arguing that his coalition partners proved it would be impossible to pass a budget with deep cuts.
IRAN: Iran Cites I.M.F. Data to Prove Sanctions Aren’t Working - NYT
Iran has insisted that a forecast by the International Monetary Fund shows that the country’s economy is growing, but some economists said that didn’t account for the recent fall of Iran’s currency.
IRAN: The Sanctions Conundrum - FP, PETER PASSELL
Some say the sanctions against Tehran are working. But wasn’t the Iranian economy already a basket case?
IRAN/SYRIA: Iran aids Syrian surveillance of rebels - WP
U.S. officials say Iran provides crucial equipment and technical help in effort to electronically track opposition.
AFGHANISTAN: Talking Our Way Out Of Afghanistan - FP, MATT WALDMAN
NATO needs to negotiate with the Taliban NOW, before all the troops — and our leverage — are gone.
MIDDLE EAST: In the Mideast, It’s Not Just About Us – NYT, THOMAS FRIEDMAN
The worst message we can send right now to Middle Easterners is that their future is all bound up in what we do. It is not. The Arab-Muslim world has rarely been more complicated and more in need of radical new approaches by us – and them.
EUROZONE/IMF: Euro-Zone Nations Seen Falling Short – WSJ
France, Spain and other euro-zone governments won’t hit budget deficit targets agreed to with European authorities, the IMF said, setting the stage for debate over more cuts.
EUROZONE/IMF: IHT Rendezvous: The Latest Warning for Europe – NYT
There was more bad news for the euro zone in a bi-annual report Wednesday from the International Monetary Fund. Is Europe facing just another bump in the road, or are its chronic economic problems a sign of irreversible decline?
EUROZONE/IMF: IMF warns eurozone on capital flight – FT
Fund concerned that European banks’ balance sheets will contract severely, further damaging growth and increasing unemployment further
EUROZONE: Crisis shows why EU must renew its vows - FT, VERHOFSTADT & COHN-BENDIT
The answer to the region’s pressing problems and its critics is a federal structure.
CHINA: China Bank Chief to Skip IMF Meeting - WSJ
China’s central-bank chief pulled out of the IMF’s annual meeting in Tokyo amid Beijing’s continuing territorial dispute with Japan.
CHINA: China says accusations in House report are ‘groundless’ - WP
China on Tuesday slammed as “groundless” a congressional report that called two Chinese telecom companies a threat to U.S. national security.
CHINA: Can China Be a World Leader? – THE DIPLOMAT, ELIZABETH ECONOMY
Recently I participated in a BBC/Carnegie Endowment debate on the U.S. presidential campaign and policy toward China with the eminent and estimable former U.S. Ambassadors Chas W. Freeman, Jr. and J. Stapleton Roy, and Tsinghua University scholar Yan Xuetong.
CHINA/JAPAN: China Snubs Financial Meetings in Japan in Dispute Over Islands – NYT
The last-minute cancellation came as a Japanese news agency reported that Tokyo may try to defuse the standoff by acknowledging for the first time that China also claims the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
JAPAN/U.S.: IMF Warns U.S., Japan on Risks of Safe-Haven Status – WSJ
The world’s two largest advanced economies, the U.S. and Japan, face growing long-term risks from investors fleeing trouble spots around the world, the International Monetary Fund warned.
JAPAN/CHINA: Japan’s Stealth Buildup of Its Coast Guard - RCW, TODD CROWELL
Repeated incursions into Japanese territorial waters, as Tokyo defines them, is putting a severe strain on the Japanese Coast Guard, which is the agency tasked with maintaining Japan’s control over the controversial Senkaku Islands in the middle of the East China Sea, known to the Chinese as Diaoyu.
FRANCE: French Terror Investigators Find Bomb-Making Materials - NYT
French police discovered bomb-making materials and weapons during their continuing investigation into a group of young Islamic radicals arrested on Saturday.
GREECE/GERMANY: Official Warmth and Public Rage for Merkel in Athens – NYT
Greek authorities sought to shield Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany from protesters angered by painful austerity measures during a visit to Athens aimed at showing solidarity with the country.
GREECE/GERMANY: Merkel Sees Hope Amid Greek Protest - WSJ
Germany’s Angela Merkel, on her first visit to Athens since Europe’s debt crisis began, said she saw “light at the end of the tunnel” for Greece as the country struggles through a painful austerity program.
VENEZUELA: Chavez Win Felt Beyond Latin America - THE GUARDIAN
Cynicism and media-fuelled ignorance have prevented many who would naturally identify with Latin America’s transformation from recognising its significance.
VENEZUELA: In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez’s Last Hurrah – BROOKINGS
Barclays and the respected Venezuelan pollster, Consultores 21, predicted a small but significant victory for the opponent to Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez. Both were wrong.
ARGENTINA/VENEZUELA: Argentine Reporter Says Venezuelan Agents Erased Election Video - NYT
Argentine television journalist Jorge Lanata said he and his crew were detained at the Caracas airport while Venezuelan secret service agents erased his video of the recent elections.
ARGENTINA: Argentine leader defies her critics - FT
Cristina Fernández appears ever more insular and ideological amid rising protests over a host of pressing economic and social issues
ITALY: City Government in Italy Is Dissolved Over Possible Mafia Ties - NYT
The Italian cabinet on Tuesday dismissed the entire local government of the southern city of Reggio Calabria to prevent Mafia infiltration.
IRELAND: Oil Find Offers Hope for Ireland - WSJ
An oil discovery in the Celtic Sea may prove to be a game-changer for Ireland, helping create jobs and boost revenue as the country struggles to dig itself out of debt.
RUSSIA: Pussy Riot woman freed on appeal - FT
Punk band member’s sentence suspended after new lawyer for defence says she should not have been tried with the two other band members.
N. KOREA: North Korea Says a Long-Range Missile Test Is Now More Likely – NYT
North Korea said Wednesday that it felt freer to test a long-range missile now that Washington has agreed to let South Korea nearly triple the reach of its ballistic missiles, putting all of the North within their range.
S. KOREA: Missiles Away! - FP, JEFFREY LEWIS
If you like frantic arms buildups, here’s a new Asia policy for you.
MEXICO: Mexico Kills a Drug Kingpin, but the Body Gets Away – NYT
The death of Heriberto Lazcano, known as El Lazca and the main leader of the Zetas, was confirmed through fingerprint analysis, the navy said. But in an odd twist, the corpse was quickly stolen.
MEXICO: Zetas cartel founder killed, Mexican navy says; masked gunmen steal body - WP
One of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords, who founded the super-violent Zetas criminal organization, was killed over the weekend in a firefight with marines, Mexico’s navy secretary said Tuesday.
BRAZIL: Brazilian Corruption Case Raises Hopes for Judicial System – NYT
In a country where elite citizens are often shielded by the courts, a scandal where prominent politicians and bankers may be punished has caught the public’s imagination in Brazil.
BRAZIL: Top Lula aides convicted of corruption - FT
Brazil’s Supreme Court had never convicted a politician for corruption before the three aides to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
CHILE: Chilean Bishop Accused of Sexual Abuse Resigns – NYT
The Vatican on Tuesday accepted the resignation of a Chilean bishop, Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez, accused of sexually abusing a minor.
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