Military Daily News

Day 34 of ‘30+ Days Through Afghanistan’

DixLerTiess — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:03:00 +0000

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Day 34 of ‘30+ Days Through Afghanistan’

U.S. cautious on removing nukes from Europe

onawath — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:18:45 +0000

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is taking a go-slow approach on one of the touchiest and least discussed national security issues: whether to remove the last remaining Cold War-era U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe. Some officials in Germany and other U.S. allies in Europe are advocating a withdrawal, citing President Obama’s call last year for a nuclear-free world. But the U.S. is putting off an early decision, preferring to consult within NATO, starting at a meeting of foreign ministers in April that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to attend, according to several Obama administration officials. The officials discussed the matter on condition of anonymity because details are secret, and the administration is in the midst of an internal review of the role and purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The estimated 200 weapons in Europe are a fraction of that total. Results of the review, originally due to Congress in December, have been delayed repeatedly and now aren’t expected before April. The study, known as the Nuclear Posture Review, is expected to call for a reduced role for nuclear weapons in U.S. national security strategy, as reflected in the substantial reductions being negotiated with Russia in a replacement for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. That negotiation does not apply to the U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, which are categorized as “nonstrategic” because they are short-range bombs designed to be launched by fighter jets based in Europe — including by NATO members’ jets. Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said Feb. 23 that the review “will not make any decisions that preclude any option with respect to nuclear weapons and NATO.” The START negotiations aim to reduce U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear weapons, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles carried on submarines. Talks have bogged down for months. The White House said Obama on Saturday had an “encouraging” telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev about prospects for an early end to the arms negotiations. The bombs in Europe are a sensitive subject because they reflect a long-standing U.S. military and political commitment to the defense of its European allies, who have relied on the U.S. nuclear umbrella as an alternative to developing their own nuclear weapons. Washington has a similar commitment to Asian allies, including Japan and South Korea, but it has maintained that role with U.S.-based long-range nuclear weapons. Asia-based U.S. nuclear arms were withdrawn in the early 1990s by President George H.W. Bush. The U.S. government as a matter of policy will not confirm the location of U.S. nuclear weapons, but it is well known that the sites in Europe are in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey. The U.S. has had nuclear arms in Europe since the 1950s. Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, which advocates nuclear arms control, believes the administration is inclined to remove the nuclear weapons from Europe but wants to take a cautious approach. “The Obama administration came in with a strong pledge to mend ties with the allies, and so the last thing it wants to be seen to do is to make a decision over the heads of the allies,” he said in an interview Sunday. “The U.S. would move these weapons tomorrow if this were just its own decision.” One apparent impediment to an early withdrawal of the weapons is the view of newer members of NATO — those closer to Russia, such as the three Baltic states, which were former Soviet republics. They see the U.S. weapons as an important symbol of a NATO guarantee of their territorial integrity. Older NATO members see it differently. Five of them — Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway — in February called for consultations on the question of a U.S. nuclear withdrawal, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said this month that “a hot issue like our nuclear posture” will be on the agenda, beginning at the April foreign ministers meeting. The consultations are likely to last for months, possibly into 2011. Parliament members from several European NATO countries are circulating a letter to be sent to Obama stating that the elimination of short-range nuclear weapons in Europe is an urgent matter and should be addressed once the U.S. and Russia complete their START treaty. “It is the sincere wish of the majority of people in Europe that tactical nuclear weapons are withdrawn from Europe and eliminated,” the letter says, according to a copy published by the Global Security Institute, an international group that advocates nuclear disarmament. The traditional U.S. view of the nuclear bombs in Europe is that they are a pillar of NATO unity and that they link U.S. and NATO security. Even so, they are not targeted at any specific country and the aircraft used to launch them are not as ready for combat as in years past. An in-depth study of the issue by an expert panel assembled by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, made public one month before Obama took office, said that since 1995 the aircrafts’ ability to go into combat with the bombs “is now measured in months rather than minutes.” That study also revealed internal NATO divisions, saying that some senior U.S. officials at NATO’s military command headquarters in Mons, Belgium, do not support having U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe. It quoted one unnamed U.S. general as saying that the weapons are not needed because the American role of deterring a nuclear attack on its allies can be performed with weapons outside Europe.

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Military voting law could affect Hawaii primary

KumagryS — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:58:36 +0000

HONOLULU — Uncertainty is rising within Hawaii political circles over whether the state’s primary election in September will be moved to an earlier date and, if so, the impact that will have on candidates. Some candidates for statewide offices are devising two sets of schedules and strategies — one based on the current Sept. 18 primary date, and the other for a primary in early August. Others are just waiting to see how lawmakers, the state Elections Office and a federal agency ultimately handle the dilemma. “When you make a campaign plan, Day Zero is election day,” Brian Schatz, one of several Democrats running for lieutenant governor, said last Thursday. “And we have yet to be informed when Day Zero is.” The issue has been percolating for months since enactment of a federal law that requires states to distribute absentee ballots to overseas and military voters at least 45 days before the 2010 general election. The law is intended to give those voters more time to complete and return the ballots. Hawaii doesn’t now comply because its Sept. 18 primary is exactly 45 days before the Nov. 2 general election. That leaves too little time to certify the primary results and send out general election ballots. The state could resolve the problem in one of two ways. The state Elections Office could seek a waiver from a small Defense Department agency called the Federal Voting Assistance Program. But there appears to have been weeks of miscommunication between the state elections office and the FVAP. Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago said FVAP officials in past weeks had verbally advised his office to delay its waiver application. He also cited a March 10 e-mail from an FVAP official that says the agency is now completing the waiver evaluation process and memos providing advice to states should be released in the spring. But FVAP Director Bob Carey said in an interview last Wednesday that states are free to apply whenever they want. He said states may be waiting for additional guidance, but the law is clear enough. “The fact of the matter is, Hawaii has had one of the worst records in terms of military and overseas voter success,” Carey said. Nago, told of Carey’s comments, said his office would quickly apply for a waiver. There’s no guarantee, however, that it will be approved. That’s where the state’s other option arises. Legislation now in the state House would shift the primary election to Aug. 14 and change the candidate filing deadline from July 20 to June 2. But Nago said he doesn’t want those dates changed because that would disrupt plans to site polling stations and prepare volunteer workers. “That’s going to be a nightmare for us,” he said. It also would complicate some candidate schedules. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, for example, will be forced to resign his post once he files papers to run for the Democratic nomination for governor. But his mayoral tenure could turn out to be several weeks shorter than planned if the filing date is moved to June. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Laurie Au, a spokeswoman for Hannemann’s Democratic rival, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, said his campaign will be ready regardless of the primary date. Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu of Waipahu, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, said his low-budget campaign will be impacted if there is less time to develop a grass roots following. “I’m kind of worried about if it does bump up earlier,” he said. But Sen. Gary Hooser of Kauai, another Democratic lieutenant governor contender, said he’s in good shape because he started his campaign a year ago. Another concern is that shifting primary and filing dates will disrupt strategies involving legislative votes to override gubernatorial vetoes. At least two state senators will leave office when they file for the lieutenant governor’s race, and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa will resign if she wins a special congressional election May 22. However, veto override votes may not occur until early July, said Senate Vice President Russell Kokubun, D-Hilo-Naalehu. All the uncertainty is confusing voters and elected officials, he warned. “Some resolution needs to happen quickly,” he said, “and it needs to be clearly explained.” If the state does not change its primary date and is denied a waiver, it may simply agree to a judicial order to extend the current deadline for general election absentee ballots for several days beyond Nov. 2, Nago said. Another bill, sponsored by state House Speaker Calvin Say, would change primary election dates starting in 2012.

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Idaho farmers donate extra potatoes to Hill

limenesyspise — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:49:02 +0000

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Some eastern Idaho farmers have decided to donate 42,000 pounds of potatoes to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, rather than watch the surplus spuds go to waste. Farmer Tom Holm says that rather than sell his potatoes for a cheap price, he thought it’d be better to send them to service members and their families. Holm says Snake River Plains Produce of Ucon agreed to join in his effort, and Idaho Falls-based Doug Andrus Distributing agreed to transport the load. Holm says there are still plenty of Idaho potatoes waiting to be eaten, and next he hopes to arrange for spud donations to people in Haiti and Chile.

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$326M to GE for 80 F414 Engines, Equipment and Spares

onawath — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:53:17 +0000

F414-GE-400 engine (click to see in sections) General Electric Aircraft Engines business group in Lynn, MA received a $326 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0088), exercising an option for 80 F-414-GE-400 engines and modules and 2 spare engines for the US Navy. They will be installed in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft . DID has provided coverage of previous modifications to this contract… (more…)

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Aging Aircraft: Cracks in USA’s F/A-18 fleet

Clippelve — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:15:33 +0000

F/A-18C to Afghanistan (click to view full) Earlier in October 2008, a fleet-wide inspection program and limited grounding became necessary after aileron hinge cracks are discovered in some of the US Navy’s 630 or so F/A-18 A-D Hornet fighters. In March 2010, discovery of new cracks led to a much wider grounding. The USA’s is watching the average age of its fighter fleet rise , and will continue to do so even if all F-22s and F-35s envisioned in current Pentagon plans are purchased. “ Aging Aircraft: USAF F-15 Fleet Grounded ” covered the long saga of the USA’s F-15A-D fleet, which culminated in early retirement for a number of its aircraft. The A-10C re-winging program acquired added urgency with the revelation that wing cracks had been found in active aircraft. Now the US Navy’s long-serving F/A-18A-D Hornet fleet can be added to the list… (more…)

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Taliban: Kandahar bombings a warning to NATO

Limenosalt — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:42:15 +0000

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Deadly bomb attacks in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar were a warning to NATO’s top general that the Taliban are ready for a coming offensive in their heartland, the insurgents said Sunday. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the bombings show the insurgents are still able to operate despite the buildup of Afghan and international troops in the south in preparation for a push into Kandahar province. A separate Taliban-linked Web site called the attacks a “warning” to Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The top NATO general has said Kandahar province is the next target for coalition forces who recently drove the insurgents from a key stronghold in neighboring Helmand province. “Gen. McChrystal has said that soon they will start their operations, and now we have already started our operations,” Ahmadi said by telephone. “With all the preparations they have taken, still they are not able to stop us.” The multiple explosions — there were at least five blasts, four of them suicide attacks — killed at least 35 people, according to the Ministry of Interior. Kandahar provincial Gov. Tooryalai Wesa told reporters that he had asked the central government in Kabul for more Afghan troops to protect the city in the run-up to the expected offensive in the province, which is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. He also said he wants to coordinate with NATO forces to improve security. Ministry of Interior spokesman Zemeri Bashary told reporters Sunday that the government was considering Wesa’s request for additional forces. Residents say Taliban militants can operate with little restraint in Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan and capital of the province that shares its name. “They can do what they intend and want, and the government can’t control the situation,” said Javed Ahmad, 40, of Kandahar. “We don’t feel secure in the presence of all the forces in Afghanistan, and it’s terrible for us to live in this kind of situation. We don’t feel safe even at home, and we can’t walk around.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attacks, which hit the city’s prison, police headquarters, a wedding hall next door and other areas on roads leading to the prison. The main target was the prison, where investigators have found eight suicide vests, three rockets and AK47 ammunition, police said. Bashary told reporters the attackers were trying to free prisoners and block security forces from responding, “but they failed in their mission.” The assault mirrored a 2008 suicide bombing at the Kandahar prison gates that freed hundreds of prisoners, many of them suspected insurgents. No inmates escaped this time from the lockup, which Canadian troops reinforced with cement block after the 2008 attack. Among the dead were 13 police officers and 22 civilians, including six women and three children, the interior ministry said. Most of the casualties occurred at the police headquarters and at the wedding celebration in a hall next door. Another 57 people were wounded, including 17 police officers, and 42 homes were damaged, the ministry said. “Last night was like doomsday for all of Kandahar’s people,” said Mohammad Anwar, a 30-year-old shopkeeper, whose relative lost a son in the attacks. He said residents blamed the United States and international forces for not battling the militants strongly enough. “It is difficult for us to bear this kind of situation anymore,” Anwar said. “We don’t know the aim of these people,” he said, referring to the insurgents. “Are they trying to kill civilians or eliminate the system? The government is too weak to control these kind of attacks.” Kandahar city, population 800,000, was the seat of government for the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan, imposing its vision of Islamic theocracy for five years before being toppled by U.S.-backed forces in 2001. The offensive that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are planning in Kandahar later this year is a follow-up to the ongoing military operation in Marjah. The operation is the first test of McChrystal’s strategy to rout insurgents from areas, set up new governance and rush in development aid in hopes of winning the loyalty of the residents. Afghan National Police forces were the first to respond to Saturday’s explosions and some Canadian troops later deployed to support them, Canadian military spokeswoman Capt. Cynthia LaRue said. “The most important part here is to remember that ANP did a very good job and responded quickly,” LaRue said Sunday of the police, which are traditionally one of Afghanistan’s least-trusted institutions. U.S. and Canadian troops have been working in Kandahar to build up a 2,000-strong local police force. The training has become a priority as international forces try to build trust in the Afghan government, which they hope will eventually be able to take over security. The 2,800 Canadian troops who oversee operations in Kandahar city and the surrounding province are due to leave Afghanistan next year. Another roadside bomb Sunday morning targeted a car carrying Pakistani construction workers south of Kandahar in the district of Dand, according to the governor. Four Pakistani workers and their Afghan driver were wounded. ——— Associated Press writers Faiez in Kabul and Heidi Vogt in Helmand province contributed to this report. Related reading • At least 30 dead in 4 Afghan suicide attacks

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Taliban: Kandahar bombings a warning to NATO

Kandahar leader wants more troops after attacks

preepayescand — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:42:15 +0000

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The governor of Kandahar province demanded more security around Afghanistan’s largest southern city Sunday after a series of explosions killed dozens of people in the Taliban heartland — the target of the war’s next major offensive by Afghan and international forces. The blasts, which occurred one after another for 25 minutes Saturday night across Kandahar city, indicate that the insurgents remain a potent force in the area where NATO plans an assault later this year, the follow-up to an operation that has driven militants from a key stronghold in neighboring Helmand province. Residents say Taliban militants can operate in Kandahar with little restraint. “They can do what they intend and want, and the government can’t control the situation,” said Javed Ahmad, 40, of Kandahar. “We don’t feel secure in the presence of all the forces in Afghanistan, and it’s terrible for us to live in this kind of situation. We don’t feel safe even at home, and we can’t walk around.” At least 35 people were killed in Saturday night’s attacks, according to the Ministry of Interior. Gov. Tooryalai Wesa said the blasts included two car bombs, six suicide attackers on motorbikes and bicycles, and homemade bombs. The attackers targeted the city’s prison, police headquarters, a wedding hall next door and other areas on roads leading to the prison. Wesa told reporters that he had asked the central government in Kabul for more Afghan troops to protect the city in the run-up to the expected offensive in Kandahar province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. He also said he wants to coordinate with NATO forces to improve security. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attacks, and Ministry of Interior spokesman Zemeri Bashary told reporters Sunday that the government was considering Wesa’s request for additional forces. The main target of the attacks was the prison, where investigators have found eight suicide vests, three rockets and AK47 ammunition, police said. Bashary told reporters the attackers were trying to free prisoners and block security forces from responding, “but they failed in their mission.” “They were trying to open the jail, that is why they attacked cleverly in different parts of the city,” said Kandahar provincial police chief Gen. Sardar Mohammad Zazi. The assault mirrored a 2008 suicide bombing at the Kandahar prison gates that freed hundreds of prisoners, many of them suspected insurgents. No inmates escaped this time from the lockup, which Canadian troops reinforced with cement block after the 2008 attack. Among the dead were 13 police officers and 22 civilians, including six women and three children, the interior ministry said. Most of the casualties occurred at the police headquarters and at the wedding celebration in a hall next door. Another 57 people were wounded, including 17 police officers, and 42 homes were damaged, the ministry said. “Last night was like doomsday for all of Kandahar’s people,” said Mohammad Anwar, a 30-year-old shopkeeper, whose relative lost a son in the attacks. He said residents blamed the United States and international forces for not battling the militants strongly enough. “It is difficult for us to bear this kind of situation anymore,” Anwar said. “We don’t know the aim of these people,” he said, referring to the insurgents. “Are they trying to kill civilians or eliminate the system? The government is too weak to control these kind of attacks.” Haji-Muhammad Aslam, 46, who also runs a store in the city, said residents of Kandahar feel helpless. “What we can do?” he asked. “Almost nothing, except accept deaths and injuries. We are created to be killed by anyone, whether by militants, Americans or Afghan forces.” President Karzai’s half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, a member of the Kandahar provincial council, told The Associated Press that two of the explosions occurred near his home. But he said he was not being targeted personally. The offensive that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are planning in Kandahar later this year is a follow-up to the ongoing military operation in Marjah. The operation is the first test of top Afghanistan commander U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy to rout insurgents from areas, set up new governance and rush in development aid in hopes of winning the loyalty of the residents. Kandahar city, population 800,000, was the seat of government for the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan, imposing its vision of Islamic theocracy for five years before being toppled by U.S.-backed forces in 2001. Armed Taliban bands still control villages around the city, and Taliban agents move through the city at night, delivering letters warning people against cooperating with the U.S.-backed government. International forces find homemade bombs almost daily as they patrol the city streets. Another roadside bomb Sunday morning targeted a car carrying Pakistani construction workers south of the city in the district of Dand, according to the governor. Four Pakistani workers and their Afghan driver were wounded. Training a workable Kandahar police force has become a priority for international forces trying to build trust in the Afghan government, which they hope will eventually be able to take over security. The 2,800 Canadian troops who oversee operations in Kandahar city and the surrounding province are due to leave Afghanistan next year. The U.S. sent nearly 300 more military police to Kandahar in August to help build up the 2,000-strong local police force — a six-fold increase over the small Canadian and U.S. force that had been there training Afghan police, traditionally one of the country’s least-trusted institutions. Afghan National Police forces were the first to respond to Saturday’s explosions and some Canadian troops later deployed to support them, Canadian military spokeswoman Capt. Cynthia LaRue said. “The most important part here is to remember that ANP did a very good job and responded quickly,” LaRue said Sunday. ——— Associated Press writers Kathy Gannon in Islamabad, Rahim Faiez in Kabul and Heidi Vogt in Helmand province contributed to this report. Related reading • At least 30 dead in 4 Afghan suicide attacks

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Next-gen Burkes may push limit of DDG frame

agidgeOvafe — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:17:18 +0000

The Navy’s next batch of workhorse destroyers will likely be larger, sport a different-looking superstructure and could carry a new set of weapons, according to a Navy official and congressional reports. Service officials committed the Navy to a new variety of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in appearances around Washington over February and March, even rolling out the term “Flight III” for a ship that will combine much of what sailors already know in today’s Flight I, II and IIA ships with advanced refinements that designers hope are ready in the next few years. “We ultimately have to go beyond today’s level of missile defense capability that’s in the [DDG] 51 class, which is why we have continued to move forward development of the air and missile defense radar technology,” the Navy’s top weapons buyer, Sean Stackley, said in a congressional hearing March 3. “So that’s an ongoing development. And those two intercept in about 2016 in terms of maturity of that technology and spiraling of the 51.” As with any modern warship, the new destroyer’s sensors and weapons will be the two key variables that determine how different it becomes from today’s version. One basic component is its new radar, still in development, which will likely have a bigger array than the SPY-1 radar worn by today’s cruisers and destroyers. The radar antenna for the Flight III ship could have a diameter of about 14 feet, compared with the roughly 12-foot arrays of today, according to a Feb. 26 report by Congressional Research Service shipbuilding expert Ron O’Rourke. ——— To read more about the destroyers, pick up the next issue of Navy Times, on newsstands this Monday, or read it online at navytimes.com.

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Army will allow soldiers to recolor M4s

Floulticula — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:14:54 +0000

The Army is finally going to give soldiers the green light to paint their black weapons so they blend in with the terrain on the battlefield. Soldiers have been using commercially available, spray-on camouflage paint since the beginning of the war — despite an unenforced Army policy prohibiting the practice. Army weapons officials announced March 2 they will soon release guidelines on the proper way to paint M4 Carbines and other weapons so paint doesn’t interfere with the weapon’s operation. “The soldiers are doing it anyway; if you go to theater, you will see that units have their weapons sprayed,” said Col. Doug Tamilio, head of Project Manager Soldier Weapons. The reversal of the policy follows the Army’s Feb. 19 decision to start issuing MultiCam camouflage uniforms and equipment to soldiers deploying to Afghanistan this summer in an effort to help soldiers blend more effectively with the Afghan terrain. Most Army infantry weapons are black. “It sticks out, and we need to give them that ability,” Tamilio said. “We should issue out in the next couple of months an advisory message … to say, ‘It’s OK to spray paint your weapons, but here is how to do it.’Ÿ” The guidelines will identify parts of the weapons that should not be painted, such as inside the chamber and accessories such as optics. “If you get any spray on these optics, you reduce the capability of that optic,” Tamilio said. The guidelines will also recommend the safest paints to use. Weapons officials stressed that soldiers will have to get approval from their unit commanders before they paint their weapons. “It will be up to the commander to say we are going to do it or we are not going to do it,” Tamilio said.

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