As far as open source evidence suggest (news reports etc), the US government did not interfere directly to the uprising in Iran after the alleged fraud in the presidential elections. However, it interfered indirectly with a statement from Obama.

Well, a recent Washington Post article cites Ahmadinejad replying to the US president:

“Why did he interfere and comment in a way that disregards convention and courtesy? It is enough. No not disgrace yourself further by such language and behavior.”

I am not going to review Obama’s speech concerning Iran – but why make a statement in the first place? This is interfering indirectly into the country’s internal affairs and as far as I am concerned, the US has no business in Iran. Leave them alone!

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AFP reports:

Some 2,000 Serbs gathered for a religious ceremony on Sunday at the site of a historic 14th century battle, demonstrating their opposition to Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.

“We love Serbia,” said a huge banner at Gazimestan, the site northwest of the capital Pristina where the medieval Serb army was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the famous battle of Kosovo in 1389.

Britain decided to buy 200 ATVs for the country’s troops in Afghanistan:

Britain is buying another 200 ATVs (all terrain vehicles) for its troops in Afghanistan. These are militarized versions of the Yamaha Grizzly 450. Basically, the Grizzly is a four wheel, 628 pound, cross country motorcycle. This ATV is six feet long and 3.5 feet wide. In addition to the driver, there are racks on the bike that can carry another 175 pounds. In addition, the vehicle can tow a trailer carrying another 350 pounds of cargo. Top speed, on a flat surface, without a trailer, is about 75 kilometers an hour. Cross country, it’s usually about half that, and a bit less if a trailer is being hauled.

It comes as no surprise that these small vehicles are very popular with the troops. Scouting and patroling missions are done more quicker and much more safer. This is exactly the kind of technology regular troops need against insurgents when big tanks are usually useless.

Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) helped out by the Coalition force advisor have arrested 2 suspects responsible for kidnapping and killing Iraqi citizen.

It is also believed that the 2 terrorists belong to an insurgent network and conducted small-arms fire attacks against Iraqi Security Forces in Baghdad.

The capture of the 2 terrorist is, of course, a success for the ISOF. However, we do not know the status of the terrorists and the alleged insurgent network to which they belong. Maj. Robert Bockholt, a Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula spokesman, immediately released a statement saying that:

“The successful arrests of these terrorists testifies to the people of Iraq that Baghdad is not a safe haven for terrorist networks and that the Iraqi Security Forces are dedicated to making Iraq a more secure and stable nation”

These are big words coming after a rather minor success. Personally, I do not believe that the ISOF is ready for this kind of warfare – 4GW. Why? Because their trainers are not. There is a lack of understanding of 4GW in general. The US and some European country will equip the Iraqi forces with technology redundant to this type of warfare.

Anyway, I think that before the Iraqi troops will be ready to secure Baghdad and all Iraqi cities they will need better intelligence service and 4GW training – of which there probably is none.

The good thing is that we see that the Iraqi troops and security forces are finally making progress.

Definitely interesting

Amnesty International is concerned that two months after the demonstrations in Chisinau – which followed the parliamentary elections on 5 April and led to rioting from 7 April 2009 – little progress has been made in investigating the hundreds of allegations of police ill-treatment and torture.

The organization is also concerned that civil society activists and opposition politicians are being prosecuted and may face imprisonment for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and that local NGOs are being targeted apparently for their human rights monitoring activities. Repeat elections are scheduled for 29 July and Amnesty International fears a new wave of human rights violations.

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Yonkers, NY The earliest known manuscript about an African-American in the new United States has been identified by a Yonkers dealer.

Dated July 4th, 1776, the handwritten document relates to the life of Cuff Dole, a black who was sold into slavery as a young child by his unscrupulous nurse. Confessing what she had done on her deathbed, Dole became free again, serving in the Revolutionary War.

The document places him inside George Washington’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Called the Barrack on Prospect Hill, the house was later owned by Henry Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and immortalized in a poem.

Dole is believed the first African-American to be mentioned in a document of the newly-independent United States. Continue Reading »

Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAI) said it has been awarded a prime single award blanket purchase agreement by the U.S. Army to support the U.S. military’s mine resistant ambush protected vehicle program.

The first task order under the BPA has a one-year base period of performance, one twelve-month option, and one six-month option, and is valued at more than $357 million if the options are exercised.

Work on the task order will be performed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and at locations throughout the U.S. as required.

MRAP vehicles support urban combat operations, multi-mission operations, and mine/IED clearance operations and explosive ordnance disposal. Under the task order, SAIC will provide planning, management, and analytical support.

San Diego-based SAIC is a scientific, engineering, and technology applications company whose roughly 45,000 employees serve customers in the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other U.S. government civil agencies and various commercial markets.

The U.S. military has taken on a new initiative for combating computer network threats.

Wired PR News – The U.S. military has announced a new initiative for defending itself against escalating computer network threats. As reported by AFP, the military has announced the establishment of the first cyber command in the nation.

As noted by AFP, over 100 foreign intelligence agencies make frequent attempts to hack into the United States military’s over 15,000 networks.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn is quoted in the report as remarking in regards to the importance of the measure, “Our defense networks are constantly under attack… They are probed thousands of times a day. They are scanned millions of times a day. And the frequency and sophistication of attacks are increasing exponentially.” A White House policy review is further quoted as stating, “cybersecurity risks pose some of the most serious economic and national security challenges of the 21st century.”