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Australia, China inspect fighter jets
By Erik,
Australia, China inspect fighter jets
The Sydney Morning Herald -- September 13, 2010 - 6:29PM
Australia and China have played show-and-tell with their jet fighter aircraft ... in a gesture of transparency.
Defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said it underlined the Australian Defence Force's good relationship with China's defence force, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) - one not shared by the Americans.
He said it was a reciprocal arrangement.
When PLA chief of the general staff General Chen Bingde visited Australia last year, he was allowed to inspect one of our jet aircraft. Just what type of aircraft wasn't specified.
"When the chief of the air force went up to China, he was given what I would say reciprocal access to a fighter aircraft in the same way as we had provided access to that fighter aircraft for General Chen Bingde," Air Chief Marshal Houston told reporters on Monday.
"We thought that was a very positive step and it's typical of the constructive approach we both share."
General Chen was in Australia for the annual Australia-China strategic dialogue and another is to be held soon.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said one topic of discussion last year was China's military buildup.
"We seek to better understand the reason for that buildup and we impress on our Chinese friends the need to be transparent about their intent in terms of that buildup," he said.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said engagement was absolutely the way to go and much of Australia's current prosperity stemmed from China's growth.
"We would love to see our American friends who at the moment are having some difficulties with military to military relationship with China, re-establish those vital engagement links between the two militaries.
That way the US and Chinese militaries could discuss and negotiate issues of common concern, he said.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said it was really up to the US and Chinese militaries to get together and the signs at the moment were quite good.
"If we can help with the re-establishment of links, fine," he said.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Old Friend Challenges Bin Laden
By Ruggbutt,
On the anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks in the United States, a former associate of Osama bin Laden has written a lengthy open letter to the Al Qaeda leader, highly critical of the organization’s actions, and laying out all the negative repercussions of them, on the entire world, both Muslim and non-Muslim.
Noman Benotman, a former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group commander, who fought in the Afghan war against the Soviets alongside Osama bin Laden, writes to the Al Qaeda number one:
“I write to you as a former comrade-in-arms. We fought together. We were ready to die together. Under the banner of Islam, we came to the aid of fellow Muslims in Afghanistan. To this day, I take pride in having fought against the Soviets and the Communists. We were in the right and no enemy could have stood in our way. This is no longer the case. After our victory, we became a curse for the very people we sought to help.”
Ed Husain, Co-Director of the Quilliam Foundation, a well-known counter-extremism think tank in London, says this letter is highly significant.
“This letter has been written by someone who was once a personal guest of Osama bin Laden. In personal and political terms, this document will trouble bin Laden because the letter asks questions that will embarrass al Qaeda and expose its failures. Will bin Laden respond. Time will tell.”
Benotman argues that bin Laden’s actions have brought disrepute upon Muslims. He sees no benefit to the people of Afghanistan—basically that nothing good has come from its being the training ground for the 9-11 attacks.
Bentoman now lives in London. He and his group never embraced the ethic of global jihad, rather they turned to trying to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, and replace it with an Islamic state. Subsequently, the group renounced violence altogether and has been granted amnesty for that by the Libyan government.
Benotman warned bin Laden in Kandahar in 2000 against using violence and attacks outside Afghanistan. In his letter he points out that Taliban leader Mullah Omar asked Bin Laden on several occasions to stop provoking and inviting American attacks on his country, but that bin Laden ignored him.
Benotman, in his letter, asks, “What has the 11th of September brought to the world except mass killings, occupations, destruction, hatred of Muslims, humiliation of Islam, and a tighter grip on the lives of ordinary Muslims by the authoritarian regimes that control Arab and Muslim states? “
He goes on. “Your actions have harmed millions of innocent Muslims and non-Muslims alike. How is this Islam or jihad? For how much longer will al-Qaeda continue to bring shame on Islam, disrupt ordinary Muslims’ lives, and be the cause of global unrest?”
Many people have asked since September 11, 2001, why there haven’t been more credible voices from the Muslim world speaking out against Al Qaeda. Benotman firmly does that in this letter.
“Muslims across the world have rejected your calls for wrongful jihad and the establishment of your so-called ‘Islamic state’ when they witnessed the form this has taken in Iraq. Even the Palestinians consider your ‘help’ to have had negative repercussions on their cause.”
Finally, Benotman brings consequences of the 9-11 attacks right up to the current moment.
“In New York, your un-Islamic actions have caused hurt, loss, pain and anguish to thousands of innocent people and their families. One consequence is that those Muslims seeking to build a House of God in New York are today being compared to Nazis. And now we hear that on the anniversary of your attack, an American preacher is even planning to burn the Koran in revenge!”
Benotman thinks it is time to engage in a debate with bin Laden himself as military interventions have not stopped Al Qaeda in its tracks. He is calling for Al Qaeda to stop its operations for six months to take a good look at itself, to find out really how the rest of the Muslim world sees it, and to seek counsel and guidance from Islamic scholars. Clearly these words are not going to get Al Qaeda fighters to drop their guns on the spot. But there is no apparent harm in an old friend laying out a whole list of informed arguments to Bin Laden. It’s not clear he is listening. But he has been challenged to answer to someone who once fought with him in the trenches.
http://liveshots.blo...test=latestnews
Errant drone near DC almost met by fighter jets
By Fates,
Errant drone near DC almost met by fighter jets
By LOLITA C. BALDOR (AP) – 13 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military almost launched fighter jets and discussed a possible shoot-down when an errant Navy drone briefly veered into restricted airspace near the nation's capital last month, a senior military official said Thursday.
The incident underscores safety concerns with unmanned aircraft as defense officials campaign to use them more often during natural disasters and for homeland security.
Navy Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., head of Northern Command, said Thursday that the August mishap could hamper the Pentagon's push to have the Federal Aviation Administration ease procedures for drone use by the military in domestic skies.
"It certainly doesn't help our case any time there's a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that wanders around a little bit outside of its controlled airspace," said Winnefeld, who also is commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. "We realize the responsibility on our part to include the technical capability and proper procedures. We'd just like to be able to get at it quicker."
Read Article
Medal of Honor Awarded to 1st Living Recipient since Vietnam
By Ruggbutt,
WASHINGTON — In the most dangerous valley of the most rugged corner of eastern Afghanistan, a small rifle team of airborne soldiers fell into a vicious insurgent ambush, a coordinated attack from three sides.
A young Army specialist, Salvatore A. Giunta, took a bullet to the chest but was saved by the heavy plates of his body armor. Shaking off the punch from the insurgent round, he jumped up and pulled two wounded soldiers to safety before grabbing hand grenades and running up the trail to where his squad mates had been on foot patrol.
There, he saw a chilling image: Two insurgents hauling one of his American comrades into the forest. Specialist Giunta hurled his grenades and emptied the clip in his automatic rifle, forcing the insurgents to drop the wounded soldier. Still taking fire, he provided cover and comfort to his badly wounded teammate until help arrived.
True stories of combat defy retelling, and he leaves the recounting of the details of that mission on Oct. 25, 2007, to others. “It was one of the worst days of my life, and when I revisit it, it kind of guts me a little bit more every time,” he said on Friday.
But the White House wants to honor his heroism, and announced that for his valor during that mission, Salvatore Giunta of Hiawatha, Iowa, who is now 25 and a staff sergeant, will become the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s most prestigious award, for action during the wars since September 11, 2001.
President Obama spoke with Sergeant Giunta on Thursday, to discuss the “acts of gallantry at the risk of his life that went above and beyond the call of duty,” according to a White House statement. The date of the medal ceremony has not been set.
“President Obama said ‘thank you’ for what I did,” Sergeant Giunta said in an interview from his current post in Vicenza, Italy. “My heart was pounding out of my chest, so much that my ears almost stopped hearing. I had my wife by my side. She was holding my hand. When she heard me say, ‘Mr. President,’ she gave me a squeeze.”
The soldiers of Company B, Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry, were part of Operation Rock Avalanche, a classic hearts-and-minds campaign to provide food, winter clothing and medical care to remote Afghan villagers — and to assure them that the American and Afghan troops were a stronger force for security than the insurgents.
The mission was described by Elizabeth Rubin, who wrote of the military’s travails in the Korangal Valley for The New York Times Sunday Magazine on Feb. 24, 2008. It is also the subject of a section of a recently published book, “War,” by Sebastian Junger. After months of patrols that cost the American military dearly, the outposts in the Korangal were eventually disbanded, and the forces in them relocated to provide security to larger population centers.
Sergeant Giunta does not discuss strategy or policy when he reflects on that night, when two paratroopers died and most of the patrol received serious injuries.
“I entered the Army when I was 18, and I’m 25 now — I became a man in the Army,” he said. “That night I learned a lot, and after that night I learned even more. This respect that people are giving to me? This was one moment. In my battalion, I am mediocre at best. This shows how great the rest of them are.”
The official White House statement does not share in Sergeant Giunta’s modesty. “His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands,” the statement said.
Sergeant Giunta has also received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Flames Roar in San Bruno, California
By ONETINSOLDIER,
Bad news in the bay area, no details, happening as i type this.
R.I.P. to those lost.
F-35 engine fight gives rivals sense of deja vu
By Fates,
For years, top U.S. Defense Department officials have tried to cancel the F136 engine being developed by GE and Britain's Rolls-Royce Group PLC (RR.L) as an alternative to the F135 engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N). Then each year, Congress has defied veto threats and White House pressure to keep the program alive.
The struggle has taken on new significance this year, amid a major Pentagon cost-cutting push and growing concern among lawmakers about widening U.S. deficits.
"We've nicknamed ourselves the Groundhog Day program. Come February we get to do it again," Russell Sparks, vice president of military strategy at GE Aviation, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit.
David Hess, president of Pratt & Whitney, said the comedy movie "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray, provided an apt analogy for the fight over funding for a second engine for the F-35 fighter, built by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N).
In that film, Murray plays a television weatherman who wakes up to relive the same day, February 2, over and over again.
"There is a bit of a 'Groundhog Day' feel to it," Hess told the Reuters Summit. "You know, we've been battling this for 4 years and for 4 years we've had a customer who says he doesn't want it, and for 4 years Congress has put it back in. So it does seem to be deja vu all over again."
Together the two companies have at least 33 lobbyists working on the issue, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group.
Read More: http://www.reuters.c...E68802820100909
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