News and Stuff (Sept 21th 2008)

• Was it an attack on US Marines? – And there is the first conspiracy theory about the attack: Days before the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad yesterday there were US Marines seen carrying metal boxes into the building.
• Nigerian Rebells call ceasefire – yesterday they claimed that they hit a major oil pipeline, a week ago they called for a new war and now they call for a ceasefire. Sources claim that they are afraid of Nigerian Army action against their bases.

News and Stuff (Sept 14th 2008)

• Tehran Times: Pakistan army ordered to hit back at U.S. forces.
• News.com.au: Russian submarines to test-fire missiles in Pacific.
• Al Jazeera: Nigeria rebels declare ‘oil war’ .
• BBC: Nigeria militants warn of oil war.
• Al Jazeera: Sudan army ‘threatens Darfur truce’.

News and Stuff (Sept 11th 2008)

• RIAN: Russian Army’s weaknesses exposed during war in Georgia – longer article explaining problems the Russian Army faced during the war in Georgia.
• Danger Room: Joint Chiefs: We’re Losing in Afghanistan
• Al Jazeera: ‘Scores killed’ in Pakistan raids – this time it was a raid conducted by the Pakistani army. So they shot a few villagers and claimed this were Talibs, I guess. They would never hurt their pals. Remember the Taliban was founded by the Pakistani Military Secret Service ISI.
• Al Jazeera: Japan to end Iraq deployment

News and Stuff (10th Sept 2008)

• Where Eagles Dare – inside report on a (British) operation in Afghanistan to transport several tons of equipment on roads controlled by the enemy to install another turbine to the Kajaki dam.
• WSJ: Pentagon Cancels Tanker Competition – after the contest was reopened in early August the competition will now be delayed. Despite the urgent need for new tankers.
• Al Jazeera: Sri Lanka orders aid workers out – they are actually moved from the north of the island where the government started a new offensive to get back control over territories ruled by the Tamil Tigers.
• RIAN: Russian army adopts new reconnaissance drones

Update: I split of the news about the Russian/Georgian war.

Leaders of Al Qaida Killed in Pakistan.

Al Jazeera reports that three leaders of "Al Qaida" were killed in Pakistan by an air strike on Monday. A drone allegedly fired a rocket on a compound and thus killed 25 people including the leaders. Several people were wounded including the sister-in-law of Jallaluddin Haqqani, a Taliban leader. The attacked compound is next to a Madras found by Haqqani. He was the defence minister of the Taliban during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

Three days ago a new president was "elected" in Pakistan after the former president Musharraf was forced to resign. A few days earlier the US conducted a ground attack inside Pakistan.

8,000 Troops To Be Withdrawn From Iraq (Update: But 4,500 To Be Deployed In Afghanistan)

While the number of troops in Afghanistan increases George W. Bush announced to withdraw 8,000 troops (a Marine battalion) from Iraq due to the "increase in security".

I guess the real "action" in Iraq will start after the US has withdrawn (at least the majority of their troops). At the moment most major players seem to wait for the fight about control of Iraq and its territories that will break out as soon as the current government can’t rely on the US troops to protect it. And most major parties in the civil war are actually getting backing from the US. The government clan, the Sunni militias and so on. Most of them fought (or fight) the US troops in the early years of the conflict. But I guess they found out that it is useless to fight against the US. Sure they can inflict heavy casualties and maybe speed up the withdrawal. But on the other hand they can’t cease the official power, yet and they lose a lot of troops, weapons and money which they could use against their real rivals.

So at the moment most fractions in Iraq are about getting and securing their influence and stock piling weapons, supplies and money.

Update: AlJazeera reports that the US wants to deploy 4,500 additional soldiers to Afghanistan. So at the end 3,500 troops will return "home".

Links and Facts on Georgia/Russia and the War.

I actually wanted to write a column about the conflict. But I don’t have the time. So I’ll list some interesting links instead.

Update 4: I created a category about the conflict (I already used tags) to make it easier to follow the articles about it.

• Moscow’s international reserves went down 14 billion US$ during/after the war.
• Human Rights Watch published Satellite images showing the ethnical cleansing.
• Did Reuters faked pictures showing dead Georgian civilians?(*1)
• I already published a link to a precise timeline of the war in Georgia
• Update 4:Gary "war nerd" Brecher wrote four interesting articles about the conflict.
• The Russians used mainly "out of date" T-72 (there are reports that even T-62s were used) tanks.
• The US announced to give 1 billion US$ as aid to Georgia.
• Georgia admits using M85 cluster munition against the Roki tunnel
• Putin claims that the US orchestrated the war so that McCain and his presidential campaign could benefit from it.
• Russia had some problems at the beginning of the war. Like missing air cover and broken down tanks blocking mountain roads. But they were lucky because the Georgians didn’t used the situation to their advantage and failed to blow up the Roki tunnel.
• Georgia’s Radar is now linked to NATO radar. So the NATO can surveil the Airspace over Georgia.
• Update 2: And I forgot to link to my list of facts about South Ossetia.
• Update 3: DIA (US Defense Intelligence Agency) official defends Russia-Georgia reporting
• Update 4: did a wrong translation prolonged the war?

I’m missing some links. So I’ll update this article as soon as I find them. I had one interesting article about the failing of the Russian air force because the Georgian air defence network isn’t organised and was blinded early in the conflict and it uses Russian made weapons. But the Georgians still did well in air defences.

Update 1:
*1) Wired’s Danger Room has a statement from Reuters about those accusations.

US Ground Attack Inside Pakistan

US troops conducted a ground attack inside Pakistan‘s region South Waziristan. This is a new step in the war against the Taliban. While the Taliban uses the tribal areas in Pakistan as a safe heaven to support their fight against the NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani army failed in several attempts to dislocate them (But you should note that the Taliban has very good connections to the Pakistani intelligence and military services). The US uses Drones to attack and observe Taliban movements in the area. But a ground attack is a new step.

There are reports of 15 dead Pakistanis. The incident probably will increase Anti-US feelings in Pakistan since this is a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. There are rumours that similar actions could follow. From a military standpoint attacking the tribal areas is a necessary step. But it might result in a further escalation of the war and could even further destabilises the Pakistan government.

Update: There is a Wikipedia article about the raid.

US Creates All-Drone Air Wing.

The USAF is about to change the 174th Air Wing into an all-drone Air Wing. Consisting completely of MQ-9 Reapers. The Reaper is much cheaper than the F16s currently used by the 174th Air Wing and if a Reaper crashes no pilot is lost.

Three US Naval Strike Groups Heading For Persian Gulf.

There are already two strike groups in the area. This build up will lead to five complete strike groups near to Iran.