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

The World At War - Current Conflicts

Dec. 26, 2008 - At the end of 2008, GlobalSecurity.org lists 42 armed conflicts in the world, including 15 "major wars" (inflicting 1,000 or more battlefield deaths per year).

Source: GlobalSecurity.org

China to send warships to Somalia

Dec. 19, 2008 - According to China's state-run newspaper Global Times China will send two destroyers and a supply ship to Somalia in response to the news that the Chinese-operated cargo vessel, Zhenhua 4 , was subject to a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. Seven other Chinese vessels have been attacked in the first 11 months of the year by pirates off the Somali coast.

Source: Jane's Intelligence

Doomsday: U.S. report warns of 'strategic shock' leading to massive unrest

Dec. 15, 2008 - A new report from the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute warns that there a number of possible scenarios that could cause the U.S. to experience "strategic shock," similar to the upsetting events of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The report, "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," points to several possibilities that could trigger this shock. There could be civil war and the collapse of one of the existing nuclear nations, a deliberate attack with weapons of mass destruction, unforeseen economic collapse, public health emergencies, or catastrophic natural disasters.

The report was written by by [Ret.] Lt. Col. Nathan Freir. He encourages the Department of Defense to be more vigilant and flexible.

Source: World Tribune

Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development - Nathan Freir - Strategic Studies Institute

Report: 'India Was Ready to Strike Pakistan'

Dec. 7, 2008 - According to Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, India was planning a retaliatory military strike against Pakistan on the first day of the Mumbai terror attacks. British and U.S. intervention eased the tension enough to stop the strike.

Source: Fox

World At Risk

Dec. 4, 2008 - The just-published report of the government's "Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism" warns that the U.S. is in danger of an attack by weapons of mass destruction by 2013. It also predicts that such an attack could originate in Pakistan.
The Voice of America explains:

"It is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used somewhere in the world prior to the end of 2013," he said. "We also found that it was more likely that that weapon would be biological than nuclear."

The report states that Pakistan is the top security priority for the incoming Obama administration.

Source: Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism

WMD attack on US may originate in Pak: Report - Express India

Report: World at Risk of Bio, Nuke Attack - ABC

US Commission Warns of Possible WMD Attack - Voice of America

U.S. on collision course with Pakistan

Nov. 27, 2008 - Disagreement between the U.S. and Pakistan over the Taliban in Afghanistan could lead to a direct challenge to the U.S. by Pakistan.

The discussions have emerged in U.S. and Indian circles, given Pakistan's efforts for years to instigate Islamic violence in India. Pakistan regards India as an interloper in Afghanistan, which Pakistan regards as being in its sphere of influence.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Future is nuclear war and famine - US intelligence

Nov. 21, 2008 - A new report called "Global Trends 2025 - a Transformed World," has been producedby the National Intelligence Council (US). It warns that by 2025 the world will be tense and unstable, and shadowed by war.

"The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over scarce resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons."

The report does not take the recent global financial crisis into consideration. said the report.

Source: The Australian

GLOBAL TRENDS 2025: THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL'S 2025 PROJECT - Read the report

North Korea Threatens to Turn South Korea Into 'Debris'

Oct. 28, 2008 - Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's administration took office earlier this year. He promised to get tough with Pyongyang. One South Korean general recently threatened to launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea's nuclear sites. In response, a message from North Korea's military stated:

"The puppet authorities had better remember that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris, not just setting them on fire."

Source: Fox

Iran Fighters Force US Plane Down

Oct. 7, 2008 - A US Falcon passenger plane en route to Afghanistan was forced to land in Iran after violating their air space. Those on board were questioned and released after determining that their trespass was unintentional.

Source: Sky News

North Korea Removes Seals From Nuke Plant, Bars Inspectors

Sept. 24, 2008 - North Korea has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors from its Yongbyon reactor and plans to restart it. However, it takes a year to bring the plant to the point that it can produce plutonium for its nuclear arsenal. They might use that time to gain concessions from the U.S. and other nations.

Source: Fox

N Korea 'rebuilds nuclear plant'

Sept. 3, 2008 - According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo, North Korea has started rebuilding its Yongbyon nuclear plant. North Korea had been tearing the plant down, but when the US did not remove them from a list of states that sponsor terrorism, they stopped disabling the facility. and have now begun to rebuild it. The US said North Korea could not be removed from the list until they agreed to inspections that would verify their progress.

Source: BBC

Angry North Korea threatens nuclear U-turn

Aug. 26, 2008 - The North Korean government is angry that it has not yet been removed from the U.S. list of terrorism sponsors. They have stopped the process of disabling its nuclear reactor and may consider restoring their plutonium-producing facility.

Washington said last week it will not remove North Korea from the terrorism list until Pyongyang agrees to set up an internationally recognizable mechanism to verify its declaration.

Source: CNN

U.S. General Warns of Cuban Bomber Crisis

July 23, 2008 - An article in the newspaper Izvestia said that the Russian military is thinking of flying long-range bombers to Cuba on a regular basis in response to US plans to install missile defenses in eastern Europe. Russian officials have not confirmed this plan, and it is unclear whether they would simply use Cuba for refueling or would actually base the nuclear-capable bombers there.

General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff, said

"If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America."

Source: NewsMax

Scientist to Congress: U.S. risks 'catastrophe' in nuke EMP attack

July 11, 2008 - William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, told the House Armed Services Committee that the U.S. is in danger of a catastrophic nuclear attack. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and terrorists either have, or will soon have the ability to deliver and detonate one nuclear bomb at high altitude (25 to 250 miles above the Earth). The immediate effect of such an explosion would be the disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. Other related services would fail as a result.

Graham and the commission see the potential for failure in the financial system, the system of distribution for food and water, medical care and trade and production.

Graham is the former national science adviser to President Reagan.

Source: WorldNetDaily

The weapons of World War III - It will 'be fought in the electromagnetic spectrum' - WorldNetDaily

Iran Developing EMP Weapon - Chuck Missler - KHouse

US air chiefs quit over nuclear blunders

June 11, 2008 - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates accepted the resignations yesterday of Michael Wynne, the Air Force Secretary, and General Michael Moseley, the Chief of Staff. The men resigned because of two serious blunders in Air Force activities.

Last year the US Air Force mistakenly sent a shipment to Taiwan of four cone-shaped, electrical fuses used to trigger nuclear warheads for intercontinental missiles. The shipment was supposed to contain helicopter batteries.

After that incident, a B-52 bomber mistakenly flew across the United States armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The pilot and crew did not know they had nuclear arms on board.

Gates announced new appointments for the top Air Force positions, saying that there was "no room for error" in its nuclear mission." The new appointees are General Norton Schwartz as Chief of Staff, and Michael Donley, as Air Force Secretary.

Source: Space War

Gates tells air force 'no room for error' in nuclear mission - Space War

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