DTN News - GREETINGS: Happy New Year 2011 - Let There Be Peace On Earth, In Perfect Harmony....NSI News Source Info # 1385

DTN News - GREETINGS: Happy New Year 2011 - Let There Be Peace On Earth, In Perfect Harmony....NSI News Source Info # 1385

Source: DTN News - - K. V. Seth

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 30, 2010: We thank you for your patronage on DTN News, please continue to do so. In the interim, we wish you Season's Greetings and God Bless you All!

Some of the world will be able to greet the first part of the new year with a solar eclipse. On the morning of Tuesday, January 4, 2011, an eclipse of the Sun will be widely visible across Europe and as far east as India. The eclipse won’t be visible in North and South America, however. Jay Pasachoff of Williams College in the US is the Chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Eclipses, and says that even at a maximum, this eclipse will be only partial, with some of the Sun always visible. Because the Sun is too bright to look at safely, Pasachoff stresses that special solar filters or projection methods should always be used to protect the eyes.

Pasachoff will be in Tel Aviv to view the eclipse, and since partial eclipses are usually not very scientifically useful, he is looking forward to just enjoying the eclipse instead of scrambling to set up various scientific equipment.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-greetings-happy-new-year-2011.html

DTN News - SPECIAL ARTICLE: Kashmir’s Forever War By Basharat Peer - Granta 112: Pakistan....NSI News Source Info # 1384

DTN News - SPECIAL ARTICLE: Kashmir’s Forever War By Basharat Peer - Granta 112: Pakistan....NSI News Source Info # 1384

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith, Recommended & courtesy of Raj Seth, By Basharat Peer - Granta 112 Pakistan

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 29, 2010: On an early December morning in 2009, I was on a flight home to Kashmir. It doesn’t matter how many times I come back, the frequency of arrival never diminishes the joy of homecoming – even when home is the beautiful, troubled, war-torn city of Srinagar. Frozen crusts of snow on mountain peaks brought the first intimation of the valley. Silhouettes of village houses and barren walnut trees appeared amid a sea of fog. On the chilly tarmac, my breath formed rings of smoke.

The sense of siege outside the airport was familiar. Olive-green military trucks with machine guns on their turrets, barbed wire circling the bunkers and check posts. Solemn-faced soldiers in overcoats patrolled with assault rifles at the ready, subdued by the bitter chill of Kashmiri winter. The streets were quiet, the naked rain-washed brick houses lining them seemed shrunken. Men and women walked quietly on the pavements, their pale faces reddened by the cold draughts.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-special-article-kashmirs.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Agrees To Buy Two Mistral-Class Helicopter Carriers....NSI News Source Info # 1383

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Agrees To Buy Two Mistral-Class Helicopter Carriers....NSI News Source Info # 1383

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 27, 2010: President Dmitry Medvedev informed French President Nicolas Sarkozyby telephone Friday that Russia has decided to go ahead with a purchase of two French Mistral-class helicopter carriers, its biggest foreign arms purchase since the end of the Cold War.

The French reaction to the announcement was jubilant, with a banner on the Elysee's web site reading “France's naval industry has won!” — but the deal, worth up to $1.3 billion, has been greeted with apprehension by some smaller ex-Soviet states.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene on Monday criticized the decision to sell “extremely complex offensive weaponry to a third party, a country where the level of democracy is not one we can feel safe about,” she said, Reuters reported. “It's a big mistake.”

The Mistral-type amphibious assault ships can carry up to 16 helicopters, of which six can be on deck at any one time, and 450 troops for up to six months. For shorter periods that number rises to 700. The vessels also carry landing barges and hovercraft, allowing vehicles, tanks and soldiers to be quickly transferred ashore.

These capabilities will enhance Russia's control of its coastal regions and its striking power in conflicts like the war the Kremlin fought with Georgia in 2008.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-russia-agrees-to.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: First Chinese Stealth Fighter Ready For Takeoff?....NSI News Source Info # 1382

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: First Chinese Stealth Fighter Ready For Takeoff?....NSI News Source Info # 1382

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Mark Thompson - Swampland

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 27, 2010: Aviation buffs are buzzing over blurry photographs now surfacing on Chinese military websites purporting to show Beijing's first stealth fighter jet, the Chengdu J-20 fighter. Chinese aviation fans says they have been snapping pics of the jet during recent taxi tests, with a first flight likely still weeks away. It's the best holiday gift Western air power advocates could wish for -- or further evidence of the self-licking ice cream cone nature of defense spending. Most likely, both.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-first-chinese.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Lockheed F-35 Program Faces $1 Billion Cut In U.S. Senate Spending Measure....NSI News Source Info # 1381

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Lockheed F-35 Program Faces $1 Billion Cut In U.S. Senate Spending Measure....NSI News Source Info # 1381

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Tony Capaccio - Dec 16, 2010 Bloomberg

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - December 27, 2010: Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program faces a $1 billion budget cut under a bill to finance government operations that’s advancing toward a Senate vote.

The move would strip out the JSF money, eliminating seven aircraft, from a U.S. Defense Department request for $7.86 billion and 42 planes, according to the spending measure, which didn’t give a rationale for the new totals.

Savings from the JSF program, the Pentagon’s biggest arms project, would be the most among $8.4 billion in weapons- spending reductions in the 1,924-page Senate bill released Dec. 14. Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed is the largest U.S. defense contractor by sales.

The measure’s $667.7 billion defense section also provides $450 million to keep developingGeneral Electric Co.’s F-35 backup engine. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the engine from primary supplier United Technologies Corp. is sufficient, and has vowed to advise President Barack Obama to veto any bill that funds the GE model.

Senators are proposing to drop five of the Air Force F-35s from the Pentagon’s request and two of the short-takeoff and vertical-landing models being built for the Marine Corps. The military expects the first F-35s to be ready for combat in 2016.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-lockheed-f-35.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Afghanistan TODAY December 25, 2010 - Leaders Surprise Coalition Troops On Christmas....NSI News Source Info # 1380

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Afghanistan TODAY December 25, 2010 - Leaders Surprise Coalition Troops On Christmas....NSI News Source Info # 1380

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By ISAF Joint Command

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - December 25, 2010: Italian Air Force Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, Italian chief of defense; U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander, International Security Assistance Force; and Italian Army Brig. Gen. Marcello Bellacicco, commander, Regional Command-West, met with coalition soldiers and delivered holiday messages of thanks and encouragement in Bakwah District, Farah province today.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-afghanistan-today_25.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Top US General Visits Troops In Afghanistan....NSI News Source Info # 1379

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Top US General Visits Troops In Afghanistan....NSI News Source Info # 1379

**Why are the Taliban on the offensive? The reply is straightforward, President Obama’s Afghan strategy is not working. The Taliban are gaining confidence from increased news coverage and political strength from Iran and other elements, who are supposed to be fighting along side the NATO ISAF coalition forces againist insurgency. On December 25, 2010, the Taliban are on the offensive attacking NATO ISAF troops with rockets from safe distance near Pakistan border.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AP

(NSI News Source Info) MARJAH, Afghanistan - December 25, 2010: The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan crisscrossed the country on Saturday, visiting coalition troops on Christmas at some of the main battle fronts in a show of appreciation and support in the tenth year of the war against the Taliban.Gen. David Petraeus started his Christmas visit by traveling by helicopter

from the capital, Kabul, to the northern province of Kunduz, telling troops with the U.S. Army's 1-87, 10th Mountain Division that on this day, there was "no place that (he) would rather be than here" where the "focus of our effort" was.

The northern part of the country has seen increased fighting, with the Taliban increasing their attacks as NATO focuses its sights on the militant movement's southern strongholds. Petraeus was briefed on the situation in the region by German Maj. Gen. Hans-Werner Fritz, the commander of NATO's northern regional command.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-top-us-general.html

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Brits Making Merry Christmas At Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia....NSI News Source Info # 1378

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Brits Making Merry Christmas At Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia....NSI News Source Info # 1378

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 25: Hayley Docherty and Jerry Long from Norfolk, England enjoy the warm weather at Bondi Beach on December 25, 2010 in Sydney, Australia.

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Christmas On Potomac River, Maryland, USA....NSI News Source Info # 1377

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Christmas On Potomac River, Maryland, USA....NSI News Source Info # 1377

Santa Claus water skis down the Potomac River onChristmas Eve December 24, 2010 at Maryland's National Harbor, a few miles down the river fromWashington, DC. The Water Skiing Santa, Flying Elves, a Jet-Skiing Grinch, and even Frosty the Snowman, have been appearing on the river for 25 years in freezing temperatures. What started as a small thing has now turned into an annual event with thousands of people watching from the shore.

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 24, 2010 - Militants Launch Coordinated Attacks In Pakistan....NSI News Source Info # 1376

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 24, 2010 - Militants Launch Coordinated Attacks In Pakistan....NSI News Source Info # 1376

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Ismail Khan The New York Times

(NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - December 24, 2010: Eleven members of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed and nine were wounded on Friday when about 150 militants launched simultaneous attacks on five security posts in the northwestern Mohmand tribal region close to the Afghan border, a senior security official said.

The official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the security forces had received a tip about an impending assault, “but frankly, we didn’t expect an attack of this scale and magnitude.”

He said that 24 militants were killed in the clashes that went on for several hours but displayed the bodies of only eight militants to the local media. “Our assessment is based on militants’ intercepts and chatter,” the official said.

The simultaneous attacks, in the Baizai area close to the Afghan border, were the biggest since Pakistani forces launched operations in the lawless tribal regions along the border.

A government official said that militants in the Mohmand region, a mountainous, heavily forested area with easy escape routes to Afghanistan, have largely been confined to a small area that adjoins Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal area and Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province. The strategic location makes it relatively easy for militants to organize.

“All the bad guys are now there,” Amjad Ali Khan, the administrator of the Mohmand region, said. “Kunar’s border region has gone to the dogs due to the absence of international forces there. These guys go there and come back to launch attacks on our forward positions.”

Officials said that the authorities had planned an operation to flush out militants from the remaining pockets of Mohmand but lack of resources caused a delay.

“Action will get under way shortly,” Mr. Khan said.

On Dec. 6, suicide bombers struck the administrative headquarters of Mohmand, killing 43 people and wounding more than 60.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-pakistan-today_24.html

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Ethiopian Christ Icon Found 500 Years On....NSI News Source Info # 1375

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Ethiopian Christ Icon Found 500 Years On....NSI News Source Info # 1375

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Telegraph UK

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 24, 2010: An 15th century Ethiopian icon of the infant Christ child sitting on his mother's knee was discovered after it was cleaned by a British charity.

The central panel of the triptych had over the centuries become blackened with the sprinkling of perfume that the monks use as they worship.

The hugely important and stunning painted wood panel is now visible in its original coloured glory, showing a pale-faced Jesus with black curly hair and rosy cheeks.

His hand has three digits raised and two down as if blessing the person looking at him.

He has a halo and is wearing a gown and is perched on his mother's knee and she too has a halo.

The monks at the Monastery of St Stephen on an island in Lake Hayq in the north of the African country believe the icon, known as The One Who Listens, to be miraculous.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-special-report-ethiopian.html

DTN News - WIKILEAKS BREAKING NEWS: WikiLeaks ~ Israel Bombed Syrian Nuclear Facility....NSI News Source Info # 1374

DTN News - WIKILEAKS BREAKING NEWS: WikiLeaks ~ Israel Bombed Syrian Nuclear

Facility....NSI News Source Info # 1374

**Condoleezza Rice confirms Israeli strike in 2007, says intel collected by US, Israel shows that reactor was built with N. Korean help

. Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By JPost.com Staff

(NSI News Source Info) - December 24, 2010: Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria, apparently built with North Korea's help, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said to State Department officials in April 2008, according to Yedioth Ahronothquoting a recently released cable by Wikileaks.

The cable is the first official confirmation of the incident, and details the intelligence gathered before the attack, the collaboration between the US and Israel, the Israeli government's move to bomb the Syrian reactor and concern that Syrian President Bashar Assad would retaliate with war, Yedioth Ahronoth reported quoting the cable.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-wikileaks-breaking-news.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Iranian Officer Captured In Afghanistan: NATO....NSI News Source Info # 1373

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Iranian Officer Captured In Afghanistan: NATO....NSI News Source Info # 1373

**'Iran arms smuggler' held by Nato BBC News

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Katherine Haddon (AFP)

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - December 24, 2010: A member of the elite al-Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard has been captured in southern Afghanistan accused of cross-border weapons smuggling, international forces said Friday.

The man, described as a "key Taliban weapons facilitator", was captured Saturday in Zhari district, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, a volatile district targeted in recent coalition offensives.

He was targeted "for facilitating the movement of weapons between Iran and Kandahar through Nimroz province," a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

It is thought he was connected to smuggling small arms between the countries.

"The now-detained man was considered a Kandahar-based weapons facilitator with direct ties to other Taliban leaders in the province," the ISAF spokesman added in a statement.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-iranian-officer.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Hails US Nuclear Pact Approval....NSI News Source Info # 1372

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Hails US Nuclear Pact Approval....NSI News Source Info # 1372

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - December 23, 2010: President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed the US Senate's decision to ratify a landmark US-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, but Russian legislators said they need to study a resolution accompanying the document before following suit.

Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said on Thursday that when he signed the New START treaty with President Barack Obama, they agreed that the ratification process should be conducted simultaneously.

She said that Medvedev voiced hope that both houses of Russian parliament would ratify the pact, but added that they would need some time to analyse the Senate's conditions for its ratification before making their decision.

The New START treaty, signed by Obama and Medvedev in April, would limit each country's strategic nuclear warheads to 1550, down from the current ceiling of 2200. It also would re-establish a system for monitoring and verification which ended last year with the expiration of a previous arms control deal.

Legislators in the Kremlin-controlled parliament had said before the Senate landmark ruling on Wednesday that they would approve the treaty quickly after it was ratified in the US

Lower house speaker Boris Gryzlov, however, told reporters on Thursday that the Senate's ratification resolution contained some conditions and the legislators need to study the text carefully before making their decision.

He added that the State Duma may ratify the pact on Friday if the text of the treaty itself remained unchanged.

"If these conditions don't change the text of the treaty, we may pass a ratification bill even tomorrow," Gryzlov said.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-russia-hails-us.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 23, 2010 - ISI Chief Won't Appear In US Court Over 26/11: Pakistan PM....NSI News Source Info # 1371

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 23, 2010 - ISI Chief Won't Appear In US Court Over 26/11: Pakistan PM....NSI News Source Info # 1371

*No force can make ISI chief to appear before US court: Gilani

* Govt to take no dictation on North Waziristan: PM

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Indo-Asian News Service

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - December 23, 2010: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday declared that the country's spy master will not appear in any US court in connection with the Mumbai terror attack. Addressing the National Assembly, he said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) "is a sensitive agency of the Pakistani military and it is unimaginable that we will force their officers to appear in the US court on foreign dictation".

Gilani was responding to a fiery speech by opposition leader Nisar Ali Khan who took the government to task over what he described as a failed foreign policy.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-pakistan-today_23.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: South Korea Conducts Fresh Military Exercise North Of Seoul....NSI News Source Info # 1370

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: South Korea Conducts Fresh Military Exercise North Of Seoul....NSI News Source Info # 1370

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Seonjin Cha and Shinhye KangBloomberg

(NSI News Source Info) SEOUL, South Korea - December 23, 2010: South Korea began a one-day military exercise involving jet fighters and mobile artillery in an area between Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone that separates the nation from its communist neighbor.

About 800 troops joined the drill near Pocheon, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with North Korea, said an official at the Defense Ministry who declined to be named, citing government policy. The exercise began at around 2:42 p.m., according to a pooled report from journalists.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-south-korea.html

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: *Afghan National Army (ANA) ~ Afghanistan In Pictures Of The Day - December 22, 2010....NSI News Source Info # 1369

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: *Afghan National Army (ANA) ~ Afghanistan In Pictures Of The Day - December 22, 2010....NSI News Source Info # 1369

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 22, 2010: The Afghan National Army (ANA) is divided into five combat Corps. The Corps function as regional commands and are deployed throughout the country. In addition to the 201st Corps in Kabul, the 203rd in based in Gardez, the 205th Corps is based in Kandahar, the 207th Corps is based in Herat, the 209th Corps is based in Mazar-e-Sharif. The kandak, or battalion, of 600 troops is the basic unit of the ANA. Most kandaks are infantry units. As of April 2009, there were roughly 80,000 soldiers in the ANA.

The U.S. with the help of international partners including the U.K, France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Romania, Bulgaria and Mongolia are tasked with creating a functional Afghan National Army. The Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A) has the primary responsibility for training and mentoring of the ANA while formal training courses are administered at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC), National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA), or Command and General Staff College (CGSC).

While CSTC-A has primary responsibility for managing the training and mentoring of all ANA forces, CJTF-Phoenix, under the CSTC-A command, has the specific responsibility to “mentor the ANA in leadership, staff , and support functions; planning, assessing, supporting, and execution of operations; and training doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures.”

Currently, Task Force Phoenix has one brigade-sized element and resources from the Air Force, Navy, Marines and various contractors. The increase in forces over the course of 2009 will nearly double the troops in TF-Phoenix.

After 5 years of training, mentoring and capacity building, the ANA has begun to show substantive, measurable results. In 2007, the ANA led 45 percent of all operations, participating and assisting in many more. This grew to 62 percent in the spring and summer of 2008, as the ANA is increasingly capable of leading operations.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-special-report-afghan-national.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Receives US Air Force Contract For C-17 Training Devices....NSI News Source Info # 1368

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing Receives US Air Force Contract For C-17 Training Devices....NSI News Source Info # 1368

(NSI News Source Info) ST. LOUIS, - December 22, 2010: The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced it has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to deliver C-17 training devices to three sites. The contract value is $44 million initially and up to $72 million if two options are exercised.The first set of devices is an Integrated Training Center (ITC) to be delivered to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in the first quarter of 2012. The ITC will consist of a weapon systems trainer, pilot and co-pilot station, loadmaster station and related courseware and support equipment. A second weapon systems trainer will be installed at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., in the third quarter of 2012 and a third ITC will go to a new C-17 training site in early 2013.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2010/12/dtn-news-defense-news-boeing-receives.html