Leavenworth Strategist

US, South Korea Military Raise Defense Alert Level After North's Threats

VOA By Kurt Achin, Seoul, 28 May 2009

South Korea and the United States have raised their defense alert levels on the Korean peninsula, a day after the North said it was willing to discard the 56-year-old armistice that paused the Korean War. Analysts expect more tension in the days ahead.

South Korea and the United States boosted defense alert conditions to the second highest in a five-level structure, Thursday.

Won Tae-jae, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, says the two militaries are devoting more personnel to intelligence gathering and analysis, including aviation and reconnaissance. He says South Korea and the United States will cooperate in keeping a watch over North Korea's movements...

Experiment to Examine Joint Operations Concept

Armed Forces Information Service By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nikki Carter
Special to American Forces Press Service

SUFFOLK, Va., May 29, 2009 – More than 180 representatives from the U.S. military and other government agencies, as well as from foreign militaries, will gather in McLean, Va., from May 31 to June 5 for a war game to test the Defense Department's recently revised Capstone Concept for Joint Operations, or CCJO.

U.S. Joint Forces Command is leading the war game, the culminating event of an overall experiment that has included two previous workshops.

The CCJO, a document approved by Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, envisions how the joint force will respond to an array of future national security challenges in the 2016 to 2028 time frame. The CCJO is a companion piece to the Joint Operating Environment, which describes future operational environments and challenges the joint force may encounter.
The CCJO describes how the joint force will operate to address those challenges, which include winning the nation's wars, deterring potential adversaries, developing cooperative security, defending the homeland, and responding to civil crises...

Turks to NATO: Let’s get it right

by Serkan Demirtaş ISTANBUL (Hürriyet) - Turkey says the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan, referred to collectively as Afpak, should be considered separate cases with separate solutions. 'Analysis made for Afghanistan cannot be applicable to Pakistan,' a senior official says. Turkey has expressed this view to NATO, the EU and the US and will work to influence policy in the region

 Amid new initiatives to deal with the growing problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkey is readying to roll up its sleeves to guide international efforts toward a more sound policy regarding the region.

Despite its support for the United States-led approach to resolving issues in the troubled region, Turkey has objected to the generalization of the countries’ problems, saying, "One size does not always fit all."

"Analysis made for Afghanistan cannot be applicable to Pakistan. We have no problem with the use of the word ’Afpak,’ but one should not forget the differences between these two countries," a senior foreign ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Chinese navy again escorts Taiwan ship off Somalia

By Wang Hui (chinadaily.com.cn)
The Chinese navy Wednesday began a 550-nautical-mile escort mission for a Taiwan ship and four other ships through Somali waters to protect them against pirate attacks.

They were expected to reach the east estuary of Bab-el-Mandeb (or Mandeb Strait) Friday. Bab-el-Mandeb, which literally means, the "Gate of Tears", is where the Red Sea meets the Arabian Sea, and despite being very difficult to navigate, it is among the busiest shipping channels in the world.

NATO begins Georgia military exercises

By James Blitz in London (Financial Times)

About 1,000 troops and government officials on Wednesday began taking part in Nato-led military exercises in Georgia that Russia condemned as "muscle flexing", but which the western alliance insists are no threat to any state in the region.

The exercises take place a day after Georgia said ithad quelled a mutiny at an army base which it claimed was part of a Kremlin-orchestrated plot to disrupt the Nato event.

The exercises involve personnel from the 28 Nato members and from regional states that are not formally part of the alliance but co-operate with it under its "partnership for peace" programme.

They are being held at a former Russian air force base east of Tbilisi and a few kilometres from the Mukhrovani base, where the government said tank commanders had rebelled on Tuesday.

Although described by the media as a "war game", Nato officials say it falls short of that. A first phase of the exercise, involving 650 officials, involves simulating a "crisis response" at a Georgian army base east of Tbilisi...

US Shares Drone Intelligence with Pakistan, But No Joint Control

VOA By Al Pessin, Washington, 14 May 2009

The top U.S. military officer says the United States has shared intelligence with Pakistan that was gathered by unmanned aircraft flying over Pakistani territory. But he says there is no joint-control of drone missions, as a U.S. newspaper reported on Wednesday. The comments came during a U.S. Senate committee hearing, at which one leading senator called on the Pakistani government to be more supportive of U.S. efforts to clear the region of militant groups.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the United States has provided Pakistan with pictures taken by the unmanned aircraft operated by the U.S. military. But he said Pakistan has not requested any such photos for the past month, while it has been engaged in a major offensive against militants in the Swat Valley, not far from the capital, Islamabad

Security Council deplores renewed incursions in eastern Chad

(UN News Service) 8 May 2009 – The Security Council today condemned the renewed military incursions in eastern Chad, where the United Nations says ongoing clashes are hindering efforts to assist hundreds of thousands of civilians taking refuge in the area.

In a statement read by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for May, the 15-member body spoke out against the incursions “of Chadian armed groups, coming from outside.”

The Council stressed that any attempt at destabilizing Chad by force is “unacceptable” and demanded that rebel armed groups cease violence immediately.

In addition, it voiced deep concern at the direct threat posed by the activity of armed groups for the safety of civilians and humanitarian operations in the area.

In an earlier meeting, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Dmitry Titov reported that the UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) was able to confirm that the Chadian National Army was conducting air strikes against a rebel column in eastern Chad, in the area of Goz Beida.

While no significant population displacements have been reported as a result of the fighting so far, the clashes have “seriously compromised” the ability of UN agencies and their non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to deliver humanitarian assistance, he said...

Turkey to command Somalia anti-piracy force: US

MANAMA (Google/AFP) Apr 24, 2009

The US Fifth Fleet announced on Friday it is transferring command of the counter-piracy international naval force CTF 151 to the Turkish Navy on May 3.

"The US Navy will transfer command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 to the Turkish Navy on Sunday May 3, 2009," Lieutenant Nathan Christensen of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Rear Admiral Michelle Howard will hand over control of the task force to Turkish Rear Admiral Caner Bener in a ceremony aboard the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, the Navy said.

"Turkey will be the second nation to command the counter-piracy task force. This also marks the first time Turkey will command a Combined Maritime Forces Task Force," the statement said...

PLA Navy expands its horizons in Somalia mission

(China Daily) After returning from China's first anti-piracy mission yesterday, fleet commander Rear Admiral Du Jingchen admitted he had more on his mind than battling hijackers during his four-month tour off the coast of Somalia.

The highly experienced officer led three ships from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy as part of a multinational taskforce formed to stop bandits targeting merchant ships on major trade routes.

But for Rear Admiral Du, the voyage also provided a rare opportunity to test the Chinese facilities, weapons and support functions to the full, as well as open the door for military-based diplomacy on the open sea...