The United States has deployed yet another warship to the Middle East, meaning that three major aircraft carriers allied with numerous guided-missile destroyer ships are now either already located or are on their way to the troubled region.
According to Stratfor.com’s weekly naval update, a third Nimitz-class supercarrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, has now been deployed to join the U.S. fifth fleet in the Middle East.
A KOMO news report confirms the deployment, noting that 5,000 sailors are on board “headed back to the Middle East where its fighter jets will back up U.S. troops in Afghanistan.” The mission is scheduled to last four months.
The deployment follows last week’s news that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, in addition to guided missile destroyers USS Bunker Hill and USS Halsey, are also on their way to the Middle East to join the 5th fleet area of operations. The ships are currently almost half way across the Pacific Ocean on their route through Asian territory.
The warships will join the USS John C. Stennis, which is already stationed just outside Pakistani and Iranian territorial waters. The USS Bataan (LHD-5) Wasp-class amphibious assault ship is also stationed in the region just south of Yemen.
All Hail The United States Of Germany? The Rest Of Europe Is Facing Either German Domination Or Financial Collapse
It has now become very clear who dominates Europe. As European officials prepare to gather for one of the most important summits in EU history, it has become apparent that either the German plan for a new EU treaty is going to be adopted or there is not going to be a deal at all.
Germany says that if all 27 EU nations are not willing to go along with a new treaty then it is prepared to strike an agreement with just the 17 nations that make up the eurozone.
Critics are saying that the German proposals (which are also being backed by the French) would mean a massive loss of sovereignty for most of the nations that make up the eurozone, and they would essentially turn the eurozone into "the United States of Germany".
Doomsday War Games: Pentagon's 3 Nightmare Scenarios
Pentagon planners have plenty to deal with these days – Iran in search of nuclear-weapons technology, suicide bombings in Afghanistan, and the final pullout of US troops in Iraq potentially leaving behind a security vacuum in the Middle East. But in war games in Washington this week, US Army officials and their advisers debated three nightmare scenarios in particular. Here are the doomsday visions that Pentagon planners have been poring over:
After listing the three (Pakistan, China, N. Korea), we see this:
This would strain US forces, but the Pentagon noted in its 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review that the “instability or collapse of a WMD-armed state is among our most troubling concerns. Such an occurrence could lead to a rapid proliferation of WMD material, weapons, and technology, and could quickly become a global crisis posing a direct physical threat,” the scenario warns, “to the United States and all other nations.”
Obama's Dream For Iran Becoming A Nuclear Nightmare
President Obama, who shaped his policy on Iran believing that a kinder approach would bring about changed behavior in Iran's tyrannical leaders, now must know bitterly that the mullahs and their henchmen have no intention of changing.
With presidential elections only a year away, Obama is on the horns of a dilemma. Continuing his sanctions policy, at least as it is right now, won't work. That leaves him with either a military confrontation with the Islamic state or accepting Iran as a nuclear power.
Obama brought this dilemma on himself by failing to understand the complexity of Middle East politics and the ideology of the radicals who rule Iran, thereby giving the Islamic regime sufficient time and leeway to pursue their missile and nuclear programs.
The jihadists in Tehran, who want to destroy us, will arm their missiles with nuclear warheads at worst in only months. How we act now will determine the world we live in. It is time for our leaders to understand this threat and take a stand, not for politics but for humanity.
U.S.'s military Restraint On Missing Spy Drone Bolsters Israel's Iran Hawks
The Obama administration's decision after internal debate not to send US commando or air units into Iran to retrieve or destroy the secret RQ-170 stealth drone which fell into Iranian hands has strengthened the hands of the Israeli faction which argues the case for striking Iran's nuclear installations without waiting for the Americans to make their move.
Senior Israeli diplomatic and security officials who followed the discussion in Washington concluded that, by failing to act, the administration has left Iran not only with the secrets of the Sentinel's stealth coating, its sensors and cameras, but also with the data stored in its computer cells on targets marked out by the US and/or Israeli for attack.
DEBKAfile’s military sources say that this knowledge compels the US and Israel to revise their plans of attack for aborting the Iranian nuclear program.
A senior Israeli security official had this to say: “Everything that’s happened around the RQ-170 shows that when it comes to Iran and its nuclear program, the Obama administration and Israel have different objectives. On this issue, each country needs to go its own way.”
NAU Progress:
Canada-U.S. Border Deal: The New Realities
The Canada-U.S. border agreement envisions a brave new world in bilateral relations. Assuming it’s implemented as planned, the deal has the potential to touch nearly every aspect of Canadians’ lives, from travel to food to the way our personal information is shared with government authorities. A look at the wide range of new realities:
By next summer, Canada and the United States will begin a “next generation” pilot project involving two police teams of both RCMP and U.S. officers who can operate together on either side of the border. It’s a follow-up to a similar marine system called the Shiprider program.
The Border Deal: What Does It Mean To You?
(there are many more examples than the ones given below - read them all - they are quite stunning)
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama released a sweeping perimeter security and trade deal Wednesday that will redefine our relationship with the United States and revamp how Canadian travellers and businesses cross the border into the U.S.
Beginning in September 2012 — and to be completed by June 2014 — Canada and the U.S. will record and exchange information of travellers at land borders, enabling each government to know when one of its citizens has left the country. By 2014, Canada will also collect exit information from airlines.
As part of its plan for foreign nationals, both countries will install systems for sharing biographical information by 2013 and biometric information by 2014.
By summer 2012, both countries will adopt a new program that allows law enforcement officials from Canada and the U.S. to operate on both sides of the border, and will implement a new interoperable cross-border radio system so police officers and other first responders can react more swiftly.
Canada-U.S. Border Deal Aims To Strengthen North America Perimeter While Unblocking Trade
Canada and the United States unveiled plans Wednesday for an unprecedented joint approach to border protection aimed at developing common practices to screen travellers and cargo, with both governments promising the measures will better guard against terrorism and speed up cross-border traffic.
The much-touted border-security deal, unveiled Wednesday at the White House by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama, comes 10 months after both leaders launched negotiations to strike an accord.
"These agreements create a new, modern order for a new century," Harper said at a joint news conference with Obama. "Together, they represent the most significant steps forward in Canada-U.S. co-operation since the North American Free Trade Agreement."
The two countries have identified 29 initiatives where Canada and the U.S. will "align" their regulatory approaches in four areas: agriculture and food; transportation; health and personal care products and chemical management; and the environment.
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