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This Week in the Blackwater Tactical Weekly…
Afghanistan–Pakistan Developments
Homeland Security–First Responder
From Our Friends at Total Intelligence Solutions If you are having trouble viewing this please Click Here |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death” –General Omar N. Bradley |
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| WEEKLY SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS |
Times Square Car Bomber: Police Release Video of Possible SuspectABC NewsPolice are now engaged in an urgent manhunt for a man caught on tape near where an SUV full loaded with propane, fireworks, fertilizer and timing devices was left on a Times Square street. Though a Taliban leader thought killed in a U.S. drone strike has now resurfaced in a video threatening attacks on U.S. cities, and the Taliban has claimed credit for the failed New York attack, U.S. authorities are skeptical. According to police, surveillance shots from a half block away from the site of the Saturday incident may give clues to the person responsible. |
Pakistani Taliban Claim Responsibility for Failed New York Car Bomb AttackReutersThe Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attempted car bomb attack in New York's Times Square, a statement on an Islamist website said. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim. Security officials have urged caution, saying there could be links to other Islamist groups or to a domestic cause in the United States. The Pakistani Taliban announces its responsibility for the New York attack in revenge for the two leaders al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir and Muslim martyrs," said a statement on a website commonly used by Islamists. |
Mexican Drug Cartels Changing Tactics; Turning Attacks on AuthoritiesAssociated PressMexico's drug cartels have changed tactics and are turning more attacks on authorities, rather than focusing their fire on rivals gangs, the country's top security official said. Interior Secretary Fernandez Gomez-Mont said at a news conference that two back-to-back, bloody ambushes of government convoys — both blamed on cartels — represent a new tactic. "In the last few weeks the dynamics of the violence have changed. The criminals have decided to directly confront and attack the authorities," Gomez-Mont said |
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| U.S. DEFENSE NEWS |
The U.S. Sniper's More Accurate, Quieter RiflePopular MechanicsFor snipers, every war is different. Recognizing the differences between conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is now selecting a contractor to upgrade the 22-year-old Remington bolt-action rifle to become a more effective killing machine. The Army will pour about $5.6 million into upgrades to the M24, with the new gear expected to be delivered to troops by this fall. The M24's barrel is being modified to shoot heavier .300 Winchester Magnum rounds, instead of the 7.62mm NATO ammunition, which should extend the rifle's maximum effective range by hundreds of yards to a maximum of about 1400 yards. Full StoryArmy Releases 2010 Modernization StrategyDefense TalkThe Department of the Army released today the 2010 Army Modernization Strategy (AMS). “The goal of Army modernization is to develop and field the best equipment available to allow our soldiers to be successful against our enemies,” said Gen. George W. Casey, chief of staff of the Army. “We must continue to transform into a force that is versatile, expeditionary, agile, lethal, sustainable and interoperable, so that our soldiers will have a decisive advantage in any fight,” Casey said. Full StoryUS Army Wants 120mm Guided Mortars for the Front LinesDefense Industry DailyThe US Army is pushing to get precision mortars developed and deployed to the field in Afghanistan as soon as possible. Mortars are lighter and can be towed by a HMMWV or MRAP, or carried and fired from inside M113 or Stryker APCs, making them easier to deploy than heavier cannon artillery. Full StoryJHMCS: Fighter Pilot “Look & Shoot” Helmets’ Upgrade, Ups & DownsDefense Industry DailyIn the 1970s, fighter aircraft began to appear with Head-Up Displays (HUD) that projected key information, targeting crosshairs etc. onto a seemingly clear piece of glass. HUDs allowed pilots to keep their eyes in the sky, instead of looking down at their instruments. Ever since, we’ve been wondering when we’d see them in our automobiles. In the 1990s, another innovation appeared: helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) put the HUD inside the pilot’s helmet, providing this information even when the pilot wasn’t looking straight ahead. The Israelis were already pioneering a system called DASH (Display And Sight Helmet) when a set of former East German MiG-29s equipped with Soviet HMDs slaughtered USAF F-16s in NATO exercises. Suddenly, helmet-mounted displays became must-haves for modern fighters – and a key partnership positioned Elbit to take DASH to the next level. Full StoryUS Army Creates World’s Worst PowerPoint SlideNational Business ReviewVia the most excellent NZ Trade & Enterprise, our government has long warned about the dangers of Death by PowerPoint. The US military bureaucracy has been a little slower on the update. A slide shown by General Stanley McChrystal, head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is now zinging around the internet, held up as a metaphor for America’s tangled policy in the region, and an example of the perils of over-reliance on Microsoft’s presentation software. Full StoryUS May Deploy New Intercontinental Weapons SystemVoice of AmericaThe Obama administration is considering deploying a new group of intercontinental ballistic weapons that could deliver large conventional warheads and reduce America's dependence on its nuclear arsenal. Called Prompt Global Strike, the new class of weapons would allow the United States to attack with conventional weapons targets across the globe. According to a recent report in The New York Times newspaper, the new weapons could carry out tasks like killing terrorist Osama bin Laden in a cave, destroying a North Korean missile as it is being transported to the launch pad, or demolishing an Iranian nuclear site - all without using nuclear bombs. Full Story |
| INTERNATIONAL MILITARY NEWS |
Russian Company Markets New Hidden Cruise Missile SystemNational Terror AlertThe Washington post and several other news sources report that a Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system, which can be hidden inside a shipping container. According to the Post story, the system would provide any merchant vessel the capability to potentially wipe out an aircraft carrier. Full StoryTaiwan’s Military Simulates Chinese Air AttackDefense TalkTaiwan's military Tuesday lifted the veil on how it would respond to a massive Chinese air attack, showing that the island still takes the risk of war very seriously despite improving ties. Journalists were invited for the first time to a drill simulating aerial assaults on Taiwan's major air bases and testing the military's ability to recover quickly from such a shock. The maneuvers, staged at a military air base near Hualien city in eastern Taiwan, played out a scenario in which runways were bombed by waves of bombers or missiles from the mainland. At Iraqi Border Outpost, a U.S.-Iran Game of 'Spy vs. Spy'Stars & StripesThis windswept U.S. garrison on Iraq's border with Iran has no running water and sporadic mail service, and it's so easily overlooked that the military accidentally canceled its contract for portable toilets last month, forcing the 60 soldiers who live here to resort to disposable waste bags for a while. Yet Joint Security Station Wahab, which service members recently voted "the most austere base" in southern Iraq, is expected to remain after most of the American super bases in the country close. China's Grand StrategyForeign PolicyChina's insatiable demand for energy and natural resources is driving its strategic policy, as it expands its military reach and influence both on continental as well as in maritime Asia. It is not that China has a master plan for world domination, rather, like all rising powers, (nineteenth-century America included) the logic of its growth requires it to play a greater international role. To its west China is strengthening its grip on Xinjiang and Tibet. Soon it will complete two major pipelines extending from Central Asia to Xinjiang. In Tibet it is building roads and railroads to extract resources, pacify the restive population, and keep it out of Indian hands. China is marching southward as well, as it increases control over Burma, which may provide Beijing with a port and maritime access to the Bay of Bengal. |
| AFGHANISTAN–PAKISTAN DEVELOPMENTS |
Entire 101st to Deploy to Afghanistan Within YearDefense TalkThroughout 2010 and 2011, more than 20,000 Soldiers from Fort Campbell's 101st Airborne Division will deploy to Afghanistan, the first time an entire Army division has deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom within one year. During a press conference Monday, Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of the 101st, told reporters his division is well-suited to make a presence in the Afghan theater because of previous experience in the country -- the 101st's 3rd Brigade Combat Team was the first regular Army unit deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pakistani Taliban Leader Hakimullah Mehsud 'Still Alive'BBC NewsPakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud survived an American drone attack in the northwest of the country in January, intelligence sources say. Officials said at the time that he was killed in a US missile attack along with at least 10 suspected militants. Pakistani intelligence officials now say that Mr Mehsud was only wounded in the attack - although his authority within the Taliban has diminished. Showdown Looms in North WaziristanAsia TimesMilitants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area issued a statement claiming that skirmishes had broken out early in the morning when the military tried to enter Miranshah, the tribal headquarters. There was no official confirmation. The United States has placed Islamabad under intense pressure to launch an operation in North Waziristan, which it views as the command and control center of al-Qaeda and from where the powerful network of Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani is based for its operations in Afghanistan. Full StoryNumber of Terrorist Attacks Increase in Afghanistan and PakistanThe GuardianAn increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan triggered a spike in the number of civilians killed or wounded there last year, pushing South Asia past the Middle East as the top terror region in the world, according to figures compiled by a U.S. intelligence agency. Thousands of civilians — overwhelmingly Muslim — continue to be slaughtered in extremist attacks, contributing to the instability of the often shaky, poverty-stricken governments in the region, the statistics compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center show. Full StoryElite American Units Step Up Effort in Afghan City Before AttackNew York TimesSmall bands of elite American Special Operations forces have been operating with increased intensity for several weeks in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city, picking up or picking off insurgent leaders to weaken the Taliban in advance of major operations, senior administration and military officials say. The looming battle for the spiritual home of the Taliban is shaping up as the pivotal test of President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy, including how much the United States can count on the country’s leaders and military for support, and whether a possible increase in civilian casualties from heavy fighting will compromise a strategy that depends on winning over the Afghan people. Full Story |
| HOMELAND SECURITY–FIRST RESPONDER |
Road to Radicalism: The Man Behind the 'South Park' ThreatsFox NewsBy all appearances, Zachary Adam Chesser was the boy next door. He played football and was on the crew team at one of the best high schools in the country. He even studied Japanese. He was hardly the sort of boy you'd expect would suggest on a radical Islamic website that the creators of the edgy cartoon series "South Park" will be targeted for death. Full StoryUS-Born Cleric Awlaki 'Proud' to Have Taught al Qaeda OperativesLong War JournalAn American-born Muslim cleric who is a senior member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has admitted to training two terrorists who carried out attacks against the US over the past six months. Anwar al Awlaki, an American citizen who is based in Yemen and serves as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's mufti, said he was "proud" to have trained Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army doctor who murdered 13 soldiers at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who failed to detonate a bomb on an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day. Border Security Bill: Surveillance Drones, Radar Key Parts of $300M PlanEl Paso TimesSen. John Cornyn wants to take control of the border with Mexico by filling it with military technology like drones, radar and night-view cameras. Cornyn, R-Texas, proposed the Southern Border Security Assistance Act, a $300 million grant program for border law enforcement officials. Under the proposal, state, county, city agencies and sheriff's departments would be able to apply for expedited grant funding to buy monitoring equipment, communications technologies, night-view cameras, laptops, vehicles, drones and helicopters. Newark Hosts Simulated Terrorist Attack as Part of New Jersey Firefighter TrainingStar-LedgerAs firefighters from the Bayonne, Hackensack and Newark Fire departments sifted through burned-out cars and cracked cement slabs inside the improvised Metro City Tunnel, none of them heard the mechanical cry for help coming from the back of a truck. Stepping carefully over the shifting, wet debris behind them, Newark firefighter Frank Bellina pulled a life-size mannequin out of the hollowed vehicle and turned off the recorder attached to it. "They missed one," he muttered. |
| FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TOTAL INTELLIGENCE SOLUTIONS |
Philippines: Terrorism in the Archipelago - A SummaryHighlights
The Philippines’ political exuberance, displayed throughout the nation with colorful campaign posters and throngs of crowds rallying to hear political candidates speak, has so often in the past been derailed by violence. With national and local elections scheduled to take place on May 10, 2010 the armed forces will be placed at high alert status beginning April 30th and redeployed to barracks and predetermined staging points in an attempt to break the nation’s cycle of bloodshed. Manila’s efficacy to end the violence remains in question – particularly as attacks by leftist rebels and Muslim militants crowd the headlines daily. Three groups in particular, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Abu Sayyaf, and the New People’s Army (NPA) threaten the elections. In the days and weeks ahead, violence targeting voters and polling stations is a near certainty, though the threat posed by these lethal organizations will linger far beyond the upcoming election. Full ReportThe preceding article is part of subscription service created byTotal Intelligence Solutions (TIS). For additional information, please contact Brad Slade at bslade@totalintel.com. Follow Total Intelligence Solutions on Facebook and Twitter (search TIS Online) |
| BUMPER STICKER |
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| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment EvaluationAltama Ortho-Tac X6 BootsYou know, the longer I write these equipment reviews the more I have to challenge my own restrictions. I’ve never been a fan of side-zip boots – but a previous pair I was sent to test changed my mind. I’ve never been a fan of 6” boots… but now I’ve gotten a pair from Altama and felt duty bound to wear test them so that I could report on them. I put them on the first day fully expecting to hate them simply because I’d never liked 6” boots. Well, my mind has been changed a bit. I still prefer 8” boots but I was pretty happy with these Ortho-Tac X6 boots. Here’s why. The rest of the review http://www.newamericantruth.com/reviews/footwear/altamaorthotacx6.htmRecreational Equipment Review“The Making of our Warrior” by Jeff FalkelWhen I was at SHOT Show I saw a booth in the lobby just a few down from the AmericanSnipers.org guys. This book was set on a stand and there was an assortment of related paraphernalia spread out on the booth’s table. On the cover was a photo of a soldier manning a Browning M2 mounted on a HMMWV (Humvee). At first I thought it was a biography of a soldier recently returned from one of our current wars. I was sad to find out that he didn’t return – but this is the story of how he grew up to be the warrior he was – told by his father. |
| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
C Y A… AND THOUGHTSWhile often I try my best to include all Peace Keepers in my messages, today I am inspired to write to those of you who are involved in record keeping and dealing with people. Please always remember that people are the raw material of your day no matter where you work as a Peace Keeper or in the support system for peace keeping. |
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The Blackwater Tactical Weekly is a free weekly e–publication. The Mission of the Blackwater Tactical Weekly is to provide readers with valuable information from diverse sources regarding tactical, strategic, and geo–political security issues. Editor–in–Chief - N Conley (btw@ustraining.com) Questions regarding US Training (252) 435–2035 To subscribe to the Blackwater Tactical Weekly, Click Here To view an archived edition of the Blackwater Tactical Weekly, Click Here |
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