Yesterday an international coalition began Operation Odyssey Dawn against Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces. The organizational structure set up to conduct operations is Joint Task Force (JTF) Odyssey Dawn. The JTF commander is U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear who is directing operations from the command ship USS Mount Whitney. Twenty four additional ships from Italy, […]
Amid reports that Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces continue to make gains against the rebel forces to include air strikes on the rebel stronghold at Benghazi, it looks like the international community is reaching agreement to intervene militarily. A New York Times report quotes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the turning point was the Arab […]
Over the weekend forces loyal to Colonel el-Qaddafi advanced against rebel forces in the west regaining lost territory and heading east toward Benghazi, the opposition capitol. General Abdul Fattah Younes, Qaddafi’s former interior minister and one of the rebel leaders is calling the movement a strategic retreat. According to press reports, the rebels are preparing […]
The U.S. Defense Department is mobilizing support to assist in the earthquake relief efforts. The U.S. military has a total of 38,000 military personnel, 43,000 military dependents, 5,000 Department of Defense civilians, and 25,000 Japanese civilians working and living on bases throughout Japan. On the main Japanese island of Honshu there are 7 major bases […]
Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi continues to show the world if he’s going down it won’t be easy. He’s vowed to fight to the end and is ramping up his military actions. According to recent press reports Libyan aircraft dropped bombs near the oil refinery in the port town of Marsa El Brega. Judging from the conflicting […]
Been off the blogging sphere recently because of travel; now that I’m back home in Colorado thought I would give my thoughts on the Libyan situation. As I write this, according to press reports, anti-government forces are in control of most of the eastern portion of Libya, to include a large segment of the oil […]
Been traveling this past week so have not had time to blog but wanted to do an update on Egypt. After apparently losing the support of the military and facing continuing demonstrations, President Mubarak has stepped down and turned over all power to his Vice President, Vice President Omar Suleiman. According to a New York […]
The New York Times just put out a news alert stating: “The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately, turning over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.” […]
Like many around the world, I’ve been mesmerized by the ongoing events in Egypt. Some in the media are trying to tie the events to radical Islamists and terrorist groups. I believe this is not the case and instead we are bearing witness to one of the most important civil rights movement in history. The […]
Last week I blogged about Human Rights, China, and National Security Policy; in light of ongoing events in Egypt I thought I would expand on those thoughts as applied to the Egyptian uprising. As I write this, President Mubarak has asked his cabinet to resign and has appointed for the first time since coming into […]
Like many Americans I watched the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao this week with great interest. My original intent had been to focus on defense related issues like China’s rising Pacific naval presence and their relations with North Korea; but an item in the 20 January issue of the Washington Post unexpectedly caught my […]
To the surprise of probably no one, on Tuesday the Navy announced that Captain Owen Honors had been removed from command of the USS Enterprise in the wake of the furor caused by articles in the media over videos he apparently produced and starred in while serving as the Executive Officer in 2006 and 2007. […]
Been spending the holidays with my 83 years young Mom so have been over eating and not blogging. I’m on my net notebook and still have not figured out how to do spell check! Sorry. Here are my thoughts on 2010. Overview 2010 saw Afghanistan become the top defense issue as the US and NATO […]
Been a busy week on the Afghanistan issue. Earlier this week, the press was filled with reports of the release of two new National Intelligence Estimates (NIE), one on Afghanistan and the second on Pakistan. Yesterday, the White House released the Afghanistan and Pakistan review. I’ll address the NIE’s first. Classified Intelligence Reports Leaked […]
Still traveling, in Saint Louis for a speaking engagement after spending Thanksgiving with my Mom; but wanted to comment on the most recent crisis with North Korea. 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and the 57th of the Mutual Defense Treaty we signed with South Korea. Yet though 60 […]