Current Events and Links

See also:
The Israel-Lebanon War
War in Iraq
Mid-East Conflict
New Cold War
The War of Gog and Magog
Terrorism
CyberWar

Risk of Nuclear Attack on U.S. Rises

Apr. 17, 2008 - The Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs met Tuesday to hear a report from the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia.

Witnesses told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the risk of a nuclear attack on U.S. cities has grown in the past five years due to the spread of nuclear technology and the growth of a global terrorist movement.

Source: NewsMax

'Wars and Rumors of War'

Apr. 3, 2008 - Today's news offers a surprising collection of international threats of war!

China reveals Iran's nuclear secrets to UN - Telegraph - UK

NATO backs Bush's missile defense system - Yahoo

Israel readies largest exercise ever to prepare for Iran-Syria missile war - World Tribune

Al-Qaida No. 2: We'll target world Jews - Jerusalem Post

Russia ‘Alarmed’ As US Readies April Nuclear Attack On Iran - Bellacio

IDF Deputy Chief vows 'painful' response to any attack on Israel - Ha'Aretz

Saudi Arabia is prime source of terror funds, U.S. says - LA Times

Will Saudi Arabia Acquire Nuclear Weapons? - NTI

N. Korea Rebuffs S. Korea, Threatens 'Nuclear Disaster' - Fox

Doomsday Scenarios

Apr. 1, 2008 - Here are two interesting stories about nuclear destruction. They are not "April Fools" Joke, but they are not to be taken too seriously either.

'Big Bang' machine could destroy the planet, says lawsuit - Telegraph - UK

A Merciful White Flash -While despairing of nuclear annihilation, I received an irresistible consolation. - Tyler Wigg Stevenson, Christianity Today

US, Egypt in dispute over Suez Canal shooting

Mar. 25, 2008 - Shots were fired from US troops onboard the Global Patriot, a merchant ship, as it began to transverse the Suez Canal. A small ship approached the US ship before the shots were fired. Egyptian news said one man was shot, but US official denied that anyone had been killed.

Source:AFP

Mar. 26 - US admits to Suez canal killing - BBC

China Hikes Military Budget 17.6%

Mar. 5, 2008 - A day after the Pentagon released an annual assessment of China's military power, China announced a 17.6% increase in its military budget (US$57.22-Billion). This marks the 19th year in a row that China has allocated a double-digit increase for military spending. They have the most active cruise and ballistic missile development in the world.

U.S. officials also say China has developed a capacity to wage cyber-espionage on a huge scale, in addition to showing it can fight in outer space after it shot down one of its old satellites with a missile last summer.

Source:National Post

ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2008

US issues warning as China boosts military - Telegraph UK

China premier warns against Taiwan referendum - Reuters India

Report: China trying to crack U.S. computers, buy nukes - CNN

South America on brink of war

Mar. 3, 2008 - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is a key ally of the United States. Marxist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) oppose his regeime. Over the weekend Columbian forces crossed into Ecuador and killed Raul Reyes, the rebels' number-two leader, in a camp there.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa reacted to the incursion by cutting diplomatic ties and deploying tanks, fighter jets and thousands of troops along the Colombian border.

Source:Washington Times

US 'confident' over satellite hit

Feb. 21, 2008 - The U.S. Navy successfully destroyed a disabled spy satellite. The satellites's potentially toxic fuel tank was of greatest concern.

A fire ball, vapour cloud and spectral analysis indicating the presence of hydrazine all indicated that the tank had been hit, he told reporters.

. Russia and China were critical of the operation. Russia claimed that it was a test of the US's anti-satellite technology. And China suspects that it was a response to their own anti-satellite test last year.

Source: BBC

China's weapons exceed self-defence needs: US military

Jan. 31, 2008 - U.S. Admiral Timothy Keating, the head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific, says that it is troubling that China's new weapons are apparently able to go far beyond their stated goal to "to protect those things that are ours". Their military buildup could keep the US from protecting Taiwan against a Chinese take-over.

A year ago, China used a ballistic missile to destroy a Chinese weather satellite in low Earth orbit, causing worries in Washington that Beijing could disrupt US military satellites in a regional conflict.

In another recent incident, a Chinese submarine surfaced near a US aircraft carrier before being detected.

Source: AFP

Russia: Could Use Nuclear Weapons

Jan. 19, 2008 - Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, Russia's military chief of staff, reasserted their policy to use preventive strikes to protect themselves. He said that they do not intend to attack anyone, but they want everyone to understand...

"... that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons,"

Source: NewsMax