Category: National Security

Sudan promises to do what it is accused of doing if people persist in saying they have done it already.

Sudan reacted with anger today to the International Criminal Court’s indictment for war crimes in the Dafur region. Sudan promised to turn Darfur “into a graveyard” after President al-Bashir was accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In addition, the UN also withdrew nonessential staff, and international peacekeepers were put on high alert, in anticipation of reprisals from government-run militias.

“Man developed in Africa. He has not continued to do so there.”–PJ O’Rourke.

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Georgian-Russian War, version 2008

The President of George has called “Russia a Menace to Peace” in the recent war of words between the two countries. Last week Russia admitted that four aircraft flew over South Ossetia, the breakaway region that is the source of much controversy between the two governments. This comes during on top of the Russian ‘change of heart’ on Zimbabwe sanctions that saw them exercise their security council veto power.

This is one of those troublesome conflicts that could easily become a hot war in a matter of moments. The Russian military, still a hollow shell of their strength during the Cold War, is more than capable of inflicting great damage on Georgia’s military. Though small, Georgia has been making substantial purchases of armor in recent years.

From the FAS:

The weaponry purchased reportedly includes armored personnel carriers, self-propelled artillery, helicopters, and T-72 tanks. The latter three items called into question earlier statements that Georgia has no aggressive intentions and plans to strengthen its armed forces exclusively for defensive purposes, to repel any external invasion. These weapons are well suited for an offensive against the Ossetians. From mid-June to mid-July 2005, some 800 Georgian troops conducted large-scale tank exercises using some 170 battle tanks. One year earlier, Georgia had only 76 T-55 and T-72 tanks.

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Are iPhone launches the new Woodstocks, Burning Man?

One of the odder things that’s been occurring with iPhone launches (and to a lesser extent, new versions of OSX) is the almost ’social’ aspects of the event where techies and even some non-techies show up and make a day (and a night) of the wait. If you read stories on blogs and in the newspapers you’ll find dozens of examples of people showing up who don’t even want to buy one, but just want to be part of the experience.

Reminds me of the time I bought the original OSX operating system from the Apple store in Soho, New York. The line stretch around the block in two directions, and for hours we had fashion models and ‘beautiful people’ heading to clubs and parties that would come up to us and ask questions. “What club are you in line for? What restaurant has this wait?” They were quite fearful that they were missing out on the new new thing. Their fears were alleviated when we had to reply ‘we’re waiting in line for new computer software.’ They all sort of smirked and went on their way.

One guy said ‘you should wait in line for Microsoft because I have stock in them.’ At the time, APPL was trading for about $20. Split adjusted it is now well over $400. Guess he should have noticed and listened to the mob.

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Betancourt's Guardian Angel

Now that the hubbub of the rescue has ended, the media is rightly turning their attention not the rescuers, but the man who saved Ingrid Betancourt while she was a prisoner. William Perez, a young corporal in the Colombian army and fellow hostage, helped Ingrid eat, cared for her when sick, and gave her the strength to fight on even after she had decided to stop eating and just give up.

When Betancourt gave up the will to live and refused to eat saying she wanted to die, it was Perez who urged her to remain strong, who spoon fed her, who constantly reminded her she had to stay alive with “a spoonful for her daughter Mélanie, one for her son Lorenzo and one for her mother Yolanda.”

France24 will have an interview with him at 2:10 Paris time (GMT+2) on July 10.

Sadly, William Perez’s grandmother died of a heart attack upon hearing that he had been freed.

There is also news that Betancourt and her husband may be on the rocks. Of course it’s a bit early after years in the jungle to be back to normal, but something is up.

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When will the Georgia v. Russia war start?

For those who haven’t been paying attention, the war of words is escalating to guns, car bombs, and hostage taking in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Condi Rice has just landed in Tibilsi in some last minute diplomatic push to settle down things before troops get involved. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.

Georgia Messenger is a good English language paper from Georgia. Moscow Times is a good one from Moscow.

UPDATE: For recent visitors, it is worth noting this post came a month before actual ‘hostilities’ commenced on August 7, 2008, but the situation in the region has been tense for years.

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Pentagon to rebid Tanker contract. Legal war bigger than real one.

The $40 billion tanker contract awarded to Northrop/BAE/Airbus last year is up for ‘rebid’ after crazy political pressure from Boeing.

Northrop proposed turning the Airbus A330A into a military tanker. Boeing had proposed retrofitting its commercially designed 767 into a tanker.

Politically, this puts the issue back in play during the election year, and forces the final decision on the next administration. McCain has been a fierce critic of Boeing’s earlier dealings, and 1000s of Boeing workers in the state of Washington and Northrop workers in Georgia will be watching.

I imagine the lawsuits will be flying fast and furious no matter who wins.

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Nazi war criminal Heim (Dr. Death) sought in Chile

Aribert Heim – known as Dr Death – is hiding in Patagonia according to new evidence reported by the BBC. Heim participated in some torture and experiments in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Sometimes I’m amazed these guys are still alive. In the last census of 2000, of the 16 million Americans who served, only 5 million were still alive. I suspect that number is going to be drastically reduced in the next census in a few years. I think we only have a half-dozen World War I veterans alive worldwide.]]>

US Special Forces played role in Betancourt hostage rescue

The Washington Post is reporting, with somewhat exaggerated headlines, that US Special Forces played a role in the Columbian rescue mission. You have to read through the whole story to find out that basically they did some radio intercepts and that a few US special forces recon teams were on the ground chasing after the groups known to hold hostages, but purely for intelligence purposes (i.e. they were not about to snatch them). The story also talks about a videoconference call and other discussions between US and Colombian officials in the days prior to the operation being launched. ]]>