YEMEN
Gunmen kill U.S. embassy employee in Yemen
Reuters – October 11, 2012
Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni man on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, a security source said, the latest in a wave of assassinations in the Arab state where Washington is battling al Qaeda militants.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Analyst: Use of Conventional Global Strike Weapons Not Likely to Spark Nuclear War
Dan Parsons, National Defense Magazine – October 10, 2012
A decade ago, when the concept of conventional global strike was first introduced, technological limitations hampered its adoption as a strategic weapon system. At the time, the only vehicles capable of delivering a prompt strike anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice were the same systems designed to deliver nuclear weapons. “Nuclear ambiguity” — the worry that a conventional strike could be mistaken for a nuclear offensive — derailed efforts to outfit legacy nuclear delivery systems with conventional warheads.
IRAN
West Is Foolish to Celebrate Iran’s Currency Crisis, Ayatollah Says
Rick Gladstone, New York Times – October 10, 2012
Iran’s supreme leader spoke out publicly for the first time on Wednesday about the country’s foreign-exchange problems, describing the mass protest in Tehran last week over the plummeting Iranian currency as an anomaly that the West had gleefully but foolishly misinterpreted as a harbinger of crisis.
Should the U.S. Help Iran Save Face on Its Nuclear Program?
Dominic Tierney, The Atlantic – October 9, 2012
The story is from Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton’s classic book on negotiation, Getting to Yes, and illustrates the current challenges of reaching a deal over the Iranian nuclear crisis that allows all sides to save face. Let’s say an agreement exists that the United States and Iran could live with, where Tehran is given fuel rods in exchange for exporting its existing stockpiles of enriched uranium. How can the United States and Iran accept this kind of deal without looking weak?
Russian FM: Iran wouldn’t use nuclear weapons on Israel
Jerusalem Post – October 11, 2012
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said Russia believes Iran would not use nuclear weapons on Israel, citing Israel’s large Arab and Muslim populations as the reason, according to a press release issued by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin’s Office.
Romney seeks to match PM’s ‘red lines’ on Iran
Jerusalem Post – October 10, 2012
US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu share the same red lines for Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking to CNN, Romney said: “My own test is that Iran should not have the capability of producing a nuclear weapon. I think that’s the same test that Benjamin Netanyahu would also apply.”
NORTH KOREA
North Korea says its missiles can hit U.S.
Hyung-Jin Kim, Washington Times – October 10, 2012
North Korea has warned that the U.S. mainland is within range of its missiles, and said that Washington’s recent agreement to let Seoul possess missiles capable of hitting all of the North shows the allies are plotting to invade the country.
SYRIA
Rift with Moscow Deepens After Turkey Forces Syrian Jet to Land
Ellen Barry, Anne Barnard and Sebnem Arsu, NY Times – October 11, 2012
Adding to strains with Turkey over the conflict in Syria, Russia demanded on Thursday that Turkey explain why its warplanes forced a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to Damascus to land in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on suspicion of carrying military cargo.
