The U.S. Air Force plans to temporarily deploy heavy bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons to Europe one day after President Barack Obama announced he would increase the U.S. military presence in the region.
Taliban leaders are expressing jubilation over the trade, hailing it as a major recognition of their status and boon to their cause. The Taliban is seeking to solidify legitimacy as a political force in Afghanistan in the face of the imminent U.S. drawdown, after which less than 10,000 soldiers will remain in the country. With the Bergdahl exchange, the Taliban has achieved a major propaganda victory that will further aid its ascendancy in the country — on top of the benefit the return of several of its top operatives will offer as a consequence of the deal.
Two B-52 Stratofortresses bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and a pair from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, and Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, arrived at Royal Air Force Fairford, England, on Wednesday, where airmen will train and integrate with U.S. and allied military forces in the region, the Air Force said in a news release.
“During this deployment, which will span approximately two weeks, the multi-role heavy bombers will conduct training flights in the U.S. European Command area of operations, providing opportunities for aircrews to sharpen skills in several key operational sets and become familiar with airbases and operations in the region,” the release states.
The move comes amid Russian aggression in Eastern Europe where Moscow has invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Russian troops are also said to be massed along the border with Ukraine.
President Obama on Tuesday called for Congress to approve $1 billion dollars to boost a rotational U.S. troops presence in Europe.
In March, the U.S. repositioned F-15 and F-16 fighters to Lithuania and Poland.
“The Department of Defense routinely conducts training missions in support of geographic combatant commands to ensure the U.S. has a credible and flexible capability to respond to a variety of potential threats,” the release said. “Bomber operations enhance this capability by providing the President a variety of options he may need to protect the nation or its allies and partners,” it said.
A B-52 will also take part in the 70th anniversary D-Day commemoration in Graignes, France, on June 7 in recognition of the legacy of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II, according to the release.
The B-52 is a long-range, multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. B-52s can fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. Deployed aircraft will not bring live weapons into the United Kingdom.
The Global Hawks, which will conduct routine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in the region while deployed from Japan, will return to Andersen AFB later this summer, Perrow said.
The Block 30 Global Hawk can fly missions up to 28 hours equipped with a synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, an electro-optical camera and SIGINT sensors. However, only one of the sensors can be used at one time, Perrow added.
The Air Force is also currently developing a next-generation Block 40 Global Hawk which is slated to be ready sometime this year. The Block 40 aircraft will feature an active electronically scanned array radar which will provide SAR and Ground Moving Target Indicator data, Air Force officials said.
In total, 42 Global Hawks are in service worldwide, with 32 currently making up the Air Force’s inventory.
China is increasing military spending, particularly through “unprecedented” modernization of air force, the Pentagon said in a report. Beijing rebuked the document as “preposterous criticisms of China's normal defense and military building.”
Beijing’s military spending last year exceeded $145 billion, assessed the US Department of Defense on Thursday in its annual report to the Congress. The estimate is more than 20 percent higher than the official Chinese figure.
“China has the fiscal strength and political will to support defense spending growth at comparable levels for the foreseeable future,” the report said. “Continued increases will support People’s Liberation Army (PLA) modernization efforts and facilitate China’s move toward a more professional force.”
The Pentagon’s report gave an overview of the latest effort to modernize Chinese military in various service branches as well as China’s participation in international military and security events. The report particularly pointed out the investment into PLA’s Air Force, which is already the biggest in Asia and third-largest in the world.
“The PLAAF is pursuing modernization on a scale unprecedented in its history and is rapidly closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities,” the document said.
“Although it still operates a large number of older second- and third-generation fighters, it will likely become a majority fourth-generation force within the next several years,” it added.
Chinese military may further improve their capability to dominate airspace through purchase of Russian S400 air defense system, US military planners say. Beijing is also in talks with Russia on a possible deal to buy advanced Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft, which would also bolster its military fleet.
This year China is expected to deploy its first Luyang III-class guided missile destroyer, which has China’s first multipurpose vertical launch systems. Along with an expanded fleet of Jiangkai II-class guided missile frigates, the Chinese Navy will get a significant upgrade to area air defense capability,“which will be critical as it expands operations into ‘distant seas’ beyond the range of shore-based air defenses.”
Details of the internal assessment of the Bergdahl swap come from a TIME magazine interview with two Taliban commanders. “This is a historic moment for us. Today our enemy for the first time officially recognized our status,” one commander said. “[T]hese five men are more important than millions of dollars to us.” When asked if this exchange would inspire the Taliban to capture other Americans, he responded succinctly. “Definitely,” he said. “It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the commander added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”
The five released Taliban leaders were initially reported to be under house arrest in Qatar, but this was later discovered to be untrue. “All five men received medical checks and they now live with their families in an accommodation facility in Doha,” a Gulf source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters Tuesday. “They can move around freely within the country.” Moreover, officials in the U.S. intelligence community note that Qatar has a long track record of turning a blind eye to terror financing taking place in the emirate, and that they failed to keep track of a Gitmo detainee sent there at end of the Bush administration. “We know that many wealthy individuals in Qatar are raising money for jihadists in Syria every day,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast. “We also know that we have sent detainees to them before, and their security services have magically lost track of them.”
In other words, while the Obama administration continues to tout the merits of the deal, the deal itself has unraveled—a reality that further enhances the status of the Taliban, which poses greater danger to Americans in the process.
The good news for Israel is that the president has given up on the idea of achieving a so called “peace” deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians during his presidency, but the bad news is that Obama has no intention of ever attacking the Iranian nuclear program militarily even as a last resort and will never support an Israeli attack. Consequently, ongoing useless and endless negotiations, as well as meaningless diplomatic agreements, will lead to a nuclear Iran unless it is stopped by Israel or the U.S. Congress.
In the Middle East, which houses the most brutal dictators in the world, perception of the use of power is more important than having the power. Tyrants only change their behavior if they believe that you will use your power against them. After such a speech, Iran and others will perceive the U.S. as a paper tiger. The only time Iran suspended its nuclear program was 2003, after the U.S. invaded their next door neighbor Iraq because the Ayatollahs truly believed President Bush‘s warnings that it wouldl be attacked next.
For the first time in a decade the Iranians know that they can achieve their nuclear capability without paying a price as long as they are making believe they are truly negotiating.
The July 20 deadline for the six-months talks is approaching, with the gap between Western and Iranian demands evidently unbridgeable. However, it seems that Obama and the Western powers have already agreed that the deadline could be extended by a further six months.
The only way Iran will not have a nuclear weapon is if they agree to shut down their uranium enriching underground military reactor at Fordow, remove 15,000 centrifuges, downgrade the reactor at its plutonium production facility at Arak, and export its entire stockpile of enriched uranium, which can produce a few bombs. Of course, the Iranians will never agree to such conditions without the credible threat of a military attack.
Sadly, Obama’s recent speech will only encourage Iranian deception and determination to run out the clock on negotiations and achieve their irreversible goal of acquiring a nuclear capability while Obama is still in office.
While the Iranians could be encouraged by the fact that past U.S. administrations also failed to prevent India, Pakistan, and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, the Iranians should not forget that Israel destroyed both the Iraqi and the Syrian nuclear programs alone, without getting U.S. permission or assistance.
Also see:
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar