National Security | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Nat’l Security / Foreign Affairs: October 11th, 2012
Top Five News and Analysis Links (Excerpts Below)
- Russia Annoyed After Turkey Forces Syrian Jet to Land
- Yemeni Employee at U.S. Embassy in Sana Is Shot Dead
- Pakistanis Unite in Outrage Over Taliban Shooting Girl
- World Bank President Sees Poverty Fight as Investment
- Zakaria Op-ed: Conservative split over the Middle East
Excerpts and more top news and analysis
SYRIA/TURKEY/RUSSIA: Rift with Moscow Deepens After Turkey Forces Syrian Jet to Land – NYT
The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation on Thursday after Turkish warplanes forced a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to Damascus to land in Ankara.
SYRIA/TURKEY/RUSSIA: Syria, Russia Press Turkey on Jet Interception – WSJ
Syria and Russia demanded an explanation from Turkey after Turkish fighter jets late Wednesday grounded a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus.
SYRIA: Rocket-Propelled Syria - FOREIGN AFFAIRS, RANIA ABOUZEID
How the Weapons Trade is Fracturing the Opposition
YEMEN: Yemeni Employee at U.S. Embassy in Sana Is Shot Dead - NYT
A senior Yemeni officer working in the United States Embassy in Sana was killed Thursday in an attack that security sources said bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.
YEMEN: Yemen Detains U.S. Citizen - WSJ
Yemen’s security forces detained a U.S. citizen suspected of having links to al Qaeda, a Yemeni official said Wednesday.
PAKISTAN: Pakistanis Unite in Outrage Over Girl’s Shooting by Taliban – NYT
Pakistanis from across the political and religious spectrum united in revulsion over the attack on Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner.
PAKISTAN: Her ‘Crime’ Was Loving Schools - NYT, NICHOLAS D. KIRSTOF
The Taliban in Pakistan clearly seem to understand the power of girls’ education. Does anyone else?
PAKISTAN: Malala Yousafzai’s Courage – NYT, EDITORIAL
A vicious Taliban campaign against girls’ education crystallized in the cowardly shooting of a 14-year-old girl who fearlessly promoted going to school.
PAKISTAN: Battle Eases Between Pakistani Government and High Court - NYT
Pakistan’s government and its Supreme Court came closer to finalizing a draft of a letter to authorities in Switzerland that could theoretically revive corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
GLOBAL ECONOMY: World Bank President Sees Poverty Fight as Investment - WSJ
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim outlined his vision of the lender’s role, focusing on cases of significant poverty—not as charity, but as an investment in growth.
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Gloom Goes Global – WSJ
Weakness in major economies is starting to infect formerly fast-growing emerging markets, top global economic officials warned, raising fears of a prolonged world-wide slowdown.
FOREIGN POLICY: A conservative split over the Middle East – WP, FAREED ZAKARIA
Mitt Romney’s speech on foreign affairs this week was surprisingly moderate. Rhetorically it was full of sound and fury but, on closer examination, it signified no major change of policy
LIBYA: At Hague, Libya Insists It Should Try Qaddafi Son – NYT
Libyan authorities argued Wednesday at the International Criminal Court at The Hague that Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi and the former intelligence chief of Libya must be tried in their own country.
LIBYA: Official Tells Panel a Request for Libya Was Denied - NYT
The clashing perspectives of witnesses was echoed in the partisan sparring of lawmakers at a House hearing on the deadly attack last month in Benghazi, Libya.
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Officials Denounce Western Group’s Report on Country’s Future - NYT
Officials in Afghanistan blasted Western news media and research organizations as political agents after the release of a report that suggests the possibility of the country’s government collapsing.
AFGHANISTAN: Commander Nominated to Lead War in Afghanistan - NYT
President Obama on Wednesday nominated Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, as the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan.
AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Winds Down Afghan Aid Program - WSJ
The U.S. military is ending a massive nation-building experiment in Afghanistan, shutting down teams that have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into roads, schools and administrative buildings.
IRAN: West Is Foolish to Celebrate Iran’s Rial Crisis, Ayatollah Says - NYT
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, dismissed last week’s protest over the country’s plummeting currency as an anomaly that the West had misinterpreted as a harbinger of crisis.
IRAN/ISRAEL: ‘Surgical’ Iran Strike Is Impossible – HURLBURT, DAILY BEAST VIA RCW
Earlier this week, a respected journalist reported that the White House is considering a “surgical strike” on Iran before the election. Don’t bet on it.
IRAN: Iran Sanctions Aren’t Working – RFE, DINA ESFANDIARY, VIA RCW
There are two misconceptions about sanctions on Iran and the country’s currency crisis: one, that sanctions are the only cause for the rial’s free fall in value last week. And two, that sanctions are achieving their strategic objectives.
ISRAEL: Why Israel Will Vote Early - JERUSALEM POST, VIA RCW
If Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hadn’t moved up the elections to early 2013, we’d be voting in late 2013.
ISRAEL: Netanyahu’s Coalition Seen as a Crucial Question in Election – WSJ
Netanyahu is widely expected to win re-election with a campaign focused on national security. However, the vote will be far from meaningless because the election has the potential to spur a makeover of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition.
UK: Britain Resumes Bid to Send Cleric to Jordan to Face Terror Charges – NYT
A preacher known as Abu Qatada, who was convicted in absentia for his involvement in terrorist bombing plots, has been under restriction in Britain for more than a decade.
GUANTANAMO: An Un-Dangerous Mind - NYT, STEPHEN N. XENAKIS
Some of the Guantánamo detainees, as we know, are dangerous men. Others, like Omar Khadr, are emphatically not.
CHINA: Smashed Skull Serves as Grim Symbol of Seething Patriotism - NYT
Li Jianli, who was attacked in Xi’an, China, for driving a Japanese car, has become a symbol of what can go wrong when latent nationalism over disputed territories spins out of control.
CHINA/GREECE: Under Chinese, a Greek Port Thrives - NYT
Cosco, a global shipping giant owned by the Chinese government, is running its part of the port of Piraeus in a much different way than the Greek company nearby operates.
SOMALIA: 300 Suspected al-Shabaab members detained – SHABELLE, VIA CFR
Somalia’s national army detained at least 300 suspected al-Shabaab members in Mogadishu, the biggest mass arrest for months in the capital.
RUSSIA: Russia Won’t Renew Pact on Weapons With U.S. - NYT
The Russian government said Wednesday that it would not renew a hugely successful 20-year partnership with the United States to safeguard and dismantle nuclear and chemical weapons.
RUSSIA: Moscow Court Frees One Member of Punk Protest Band - NYT
In a split decision, an appellate court in Russia set Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich free but upheld the prison sentences of her band mates, who were convicted on charges of hooliganism.
EUROZONE: Ms. Merkel Goes to Athens – NYT
Ms. Merkel offered sympathy to Greeks for their economic suffering, yet insisted on more austerity and no end to the policies that created the calamity.
EUROZONE: EU to Press for Unified Airspace – WSJ
European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas is preparing legal action against EU member countries to force faster action on a delayed program to unify the bloc’s airspace, according to a speech he will deliver Thursday.
AUSTRALIA: Australia’s Gillard Reclaims Spotlight – WSJ
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s 15-minute verbal attack on opposition leader Tony Abbott—accusing him of sexism and misogyny— has gone viral and fueled debate about gender bias in politics.
VENEZUELA: Chávez Taps His Possible Successor – WSJ
President Hugo Chávez named his foreign minister, who is a former bus driver and union activist, as his next vice president—and potential successor—after the Venezuelan leader won his re-election.
MALAYSIA: Malaysian Court Rejects Challenge to Cross-Dressing Ban - NYT
An application to review an Islamic law that bars Muslim men from dressing as women was rejected on Thursday, raising fears that transgender people could face increasing prosecutions.
MYANMAR: Long Reliant on China, Myanmar Now Turns to Japan - NYT
As Myanmar seeks to shed its authoritarian past, it is outsourcing redevelopment projects to Japan and diversifying away from China, its largest foreign investor in recent years.
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