Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Ten Killed in Taliban Attack on US Afghan Base RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- Five airport security guards and five Taliban militants were killed after the gunmen attacked the US airbase in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan early on Sunday, Pajhwok news agency reported.
• Task Force 'Desert Rogues' transfer authority to 'Vikings' Army News 02 Dec 2012 -- 'Desert Rogues' commander Lt. Col. Charles Armstrong officially transferred authority to incoming 'Vikings' commander Lt. Col. William Downing during a transfer of authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base Lindsey, Dec. 1.
• Raiders take command, assure continued support Army News 02 Dec 2012 -- Col. Charles R. Webster Jr. commanding officer of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division relinquished authority over Combined Task Force Arrowhead to Col. James R. Crider, commander of the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, during a transfer of authority ceremony held on Forward Operating Base Apache, Nov. 28, 2012.
• Suicide Bombers Attack NATO-Afghan Airbase VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- Eight suicide bombers attacked the Jalalabad air base in eastern Afghanistan Sunday, but were killed by Afghan forces before entering the complex.
• A productive patch in Shar-e-Safa Army News 02 Dec 2012 -- When they arrived at the farm in September, the Mescal detachment of the Mississippi National Guard Agricultural Development Team 4 knew they had their work cut out for them.
• U.S. drone kills 4 people in Pakistan IRNA 02 Dec 2012 -- A U.S. drone Saturday killed at least Four people in South Waziristan tribal region, the second American attack in the region in two days.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Pentagon Plans to Expand Intelligence Gathering VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- A leading U.S. newspaper says the Defense Department has an 'ambitious' plan to assemble an espionage network, rivaling the Central Intelligence Agency in size.
• Retired military officers’ letter on amending gun law to help battle suicides 28 Nov 2012, Released 2 Dec 2012 -- "A little noticed amendment added to the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act [Section 1062] states that the Secretary of Defense “shall not prohibit, issue any requirement relating to, or collect or record any information relating to the otherwise lawful acquisition, possession, ownership, carrying, or other use of a privately owned firearms, privately owned ammunition or another privately owned weapon” by a member of the Armed Forces or a civilian DoD employee on property that is not a military installation or otherwise owned by DoD. The impact of this provision is extreme. It is preventing commanding officers from being able to talk to service members about their private weapons and encourage use of a gunlock or temporary storage away from their homes. This prohibition is in place even in cases when the commanding officer believes the service member is in danger of committing suicide."
• Taiwan urges North Korea to heed concern over satellite launch CNA 02 Dec 2012 -- Taiwan urged North Korea Sunday to take seriously the international community's concerns over its plan to launch a rocket carrying a satellite payload later this month.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Syrian Forces Pound Damascus Suburbs VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- Syrian security forces attacked rebel-held suburbs of Damascus with fighter jets and rockets Sunday, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens in an offensive to stop rebels closing in on the capital.
• Report: Iraq Is Major Weapons Route to Syria VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- A report in a prominent U.S. newspaper says the air corridor over Iraq has become a main supply route for weapons for the beleaguered government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
• Israeli Cabinet Halts Tax Transfers To Palestinian Authority RFE/RL 02 Dec 2012 -- Israel's cabinet said it would withhold more than $100 million in taxes and other revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
• Israel Suspends Palestinian Funds After UN Vote RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- Israel is halting tax payments it collects for the Palestinians in response to their successful bid to raise their UN status, local media reported on Sunday, citing Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.
• Israel Retaliates for UN Vote on Palestine VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- Israel is retaliating for Thursday's United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood, announcing it will withhold $120 million in taxes and customs collected for the Palestinian Authority to pay debts to Israeli companies.
• DR Congo Rebels Pull out of Goma RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- The M23 rebels on Saturday left Goma, a strategic city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11 days after they have seized it, BBC reported.

News Reports

• Egyptian Court Postpones Constitution Ruling RFE/RL 02 Dec 2012 -- Egypt's top court has postponed a session at which it was to consider the legality of a panel that drafted a new constitution for the country.
• Egypt's Draft Constitution Submitted to President RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- A ceremony to submit the draft of Egypt's new constitution for presidential approval was held on Saturday in Cairo, the national TV reported.
• Egypt's Constitutional Court Shuts down 'Indefinitely' RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has halted its work 'indefinitely' after protesters prevented justices from getting to their offices on Sunday morning.
• Influential Egyptian Judges to Boycott Referendum on Constitution VOA 02 Dec 2012 -- An influential group of Egyptian judges says it will not oversee a December 15 referendum on a new constitution, a move that could undermine the legitimacy of the charter supported by the nation's Islamist president.
• Navy Commander: Indian Ocean states need no outside security help IRNA 02 Dec 2012 -- Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that the regional countries of the Indian Ocean can restore and safeguard the security of that region through mutual interaction and cooperation.
• Commander: No sanction can block Iran's progress IRNA 02 Dec 2012 -- Commander of of the Army Ground Forces Brigadier General Hamid Reza Pourdastan said on Sunday no sanction can halt the progress of Islamic Iran while it has made great achievements in science and technology in recent years.
• Unrest As Mexican President Sworn In RFE/RL 02 Dec 2012 -- Dozens of people have been injured in unrest that broke out as Enrique Pena Nieto took office as Mexico's new president.
• Soyuz-ST Takes Observation Satellite to Orbit RIA Novosti 02 Dec 2012 -- Europe's dual-purpose observation satellite Pleiades 1B was launched into orbit by Russian Soyuz-ST-a carrier rocket on Sunday, a Roscosmos spokesman said.