Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Secretary Panetta and President Karzai talked by phone earlier today to discuss the war in Afghanistan DoD 19 Aug 2012
• Panetta Discusses Afghanistan Progress With Karzai AFPS 19 Aug 2012 -- Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the telephone yesterday, discussing the 'significant progress' of American and Afghan forces as the transition process moves forward, said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little.
• South Carolina Guard Soldiers keep sharp during Kuwait deployment Army News 19 Aug 2012 -- The live-fire exercises, which involved clearing buildings and assaulting a trench system, were both a refresher and a step forward for his troops, said Capt. Brian Pinson, commander of A Company, 4th Battalion.

Defense Policy / Programs

• How Safe Is Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal? RFE/RL 19 Aug 2012 -- Militants' storming of a Pakistani Air Force base where some nuclear warheads are reportedly stored has once again sounded the alarms about the security of the country's atomic weapons.
• India's anti-tank Nag missile fails in user trials IRNA 19 Aug 2012 -- The long-delayed Nag anti-tank missile project of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has suffered yet another setback as its user trials held recently failed.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• German spy ship aiding Syrian insurgents: daily IRNA 19 Aug 2012 -- A German spy ship is actively helping western-backed Syrian rebels to topple the Syrian government, according to the Sunday daily Bild am Sonntag.
• Assad Appears in Public for Eid Prayers VOA 19 Aug 2012 -- Syrian state television has shown embattled President Bashar al-Assad attending ceremonies for the annual Islamic Eid al Fitr holiday, marking the end of Ramadan. The service took place at a mosque near the presidential palace and most of those attending appeared to be government officials.
• Taiwan summons Japanese envoy to protest over Tiaoyutais CNA 19 Aug 2012 -- President Ma Ying-jeou's East China Sea Peace Initiative to help resolve the dispute over the Tiaoyutai Islands has received a positive response from the U.S. authorities, Taiwan's representative to the United States said Friday.
• Japanese Activists Land on Disputed Islands in Japan-China Row RIA Novosti 19 Aug 2012 -- A group of Japanese nationalists has landed on a chain of uninhabited islands claimed both by China and Japan amid an escalating territorial dispute between the two countries, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
• Japanese Activists Land on Disputed Islands VOA 19 Aug 2012 -- Japanese activists have landed on disputed islands in the East China Sea amid escalating diplomatic tensions with China. The landing came two days after Japanese authorities expelled Chinese activists who had landed in the same islands carrying the flags of China and Taiwan.
• Rodong Sinmun Calls for Removing Root Cause of War KCNA 19 Aug 2012 -- The south Koreans and the U.S. are set to stage large-scale Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises from August 20.
• DPRK Institutions Condemn Ulji Freedom Guardian Exercises Projected in S. Korea KCNA 19 Aug 2012 -- The Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises are to be staged throughout south Korea from August 20.

News Reports

• Report: Iraq Helping Iran To Skirt Sanctions RFE/RL 19 Aug 2012 -- A U.S. newspaper reports that Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions.
• Iraq Helping Iran Skirt Sanctions, Report Claims VOA 19 Aug 2012 -- A report in Sunday's New York Times says Iraq has been using a network of financial institutions and oil smuggling operations to help Iran skirt economic sanctions imposed because of its nuclear program.
• Assange Calls On U.S. To End 'Witchhunt' Against WikiLeaks RFE/RL 19 Aug 2012 -- Appearing on a balcony at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, Julian Assange called on U.S. President Barack Obama to end what he described as the U.S. "witchhunt" of his WikiLeaks organization.
• Assange Calls for US to End 'Witch-Hunt' VOA 19 Aug 2012 -- WikiLeaks founder and wanted fugitive Julian Assange made a defiant statement from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Sunday, railing against the United States and other countries he says are persecuting people who exercise their right to free speech. But he did not give any indication of his own plans, as he can not leave the embassy or British police will arrest him.
• Russian Booster Rocket Lifts U.S. Satellite in Seaborne Launch RIA Novosti 19 Aug 2012 -- A Russian booster rocket has blasted off from the Odyssey launch pad in the Pacific Ocean as part of the Sea Launch project to deliver a U.S. satellite into orbit, a spokesman for Energiya space corporation said on Sunday.