IRAN
Iran unveils new missile systems on second day of drills
Reuters – November 13, 2012
Iran unveiled new missile and artillery systems on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, on the second day of large-scale military exercises which officials said were aimed at sending a warning to those threatening the Islamic Republic.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
John Kerry’s Name Being Floated for Defense Secretary, Not State
Dashiell Bennett, The Atlantic Wire – November 14, 2012
Though he was an early frontrunner to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, a new report says that Senator John Kerry could be tapped to run the Defense Department instead. The Washington Post reports that President Obama is “considering” asking Kerry to take the post currently occupied by Leon Panetta. The 74-year-old Panetta is expected to step down sometime next year, and when combined with Clinton’s planned retirement and the unplanned resignation of David Petraeus at the CIA, the entire national security team will need to be overhauled.
Obama’s Second-Term National Security To-Do List
P.J. Crowley, The Daily Beast – November 13, 2012
Over the past half-century, second terms have been characterized by domestic crises at home—Watergate, Iran-Contra, Monica and Katrina—and ambition abroad—China, Russia, Middle East peace and Iraq. If President Obama has, well, a foreign policy mandate, what are the challenges and priorities as he approaches his second term and the White House shifts it focus from reelection to legacy?
DISARMAMENT
Cutting the U.S. nuclear arsenal can help cut the deficit
Walter Pincus, The Washington Post – November 12, 2012
One way President Obama could help reduce the deficit is to trim funds planned for the next 10 years for building, maintaining and operating the U.S. nuclear weapons program.
That could save up to $100 billion over that period. Would it solve our deficit problem? No, but it would help. Such savings add up.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea ‘carries out fresh missile equipment tests’
The Telegraph – November 13, 2012
North Korea has conducted motor tests to improve its long-range missiles after a failed launch in April, a US think tank has said after reviewing new satellite images.
AFGHANISTAN
Petraeus’ successor in Afghanistan linked to scandal
AP, USA Today – November 13, 2012
The career of Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is now in jeopardy due to the investigation of the David Petraeus sex scandal.
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
Anti-terrorism expert advises against BioWatch upgrade
David Willman, LA Times – November 13, 2012
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s top expert on anti-terrorism technology has privately advised her to spike a long-planned, multibillion-dollar upgrade of BioWatch, the nation’s troubled system for detecting a biological attack.
SYRIA
Enemy inside the gates: Syria’s main foe is ‘foreign-sponsored terrorists’
RT – November 13, 2012
Citing the situation in Syria, which has been engaged in a protracted conflict between a rebel opposition and pro-government forces, Zolotarev said that President Assad is not involved in what could be considered a “normal” civil war. Rather, the Syrian president is primarily fighting against foreign terrorists using foreign weapons, he told RT in a telephone interview.
Syria Presses Bombardment of Border Town
Sebnem Arsu and Rick Gladstone, NY Times – November 13, 2012
Syria pulled Turkey and Israel closer to military entanglements in its civil war on Tuesday, bombing a rebel-held Syrian village a few yards from the Turkish border for the second straight day after Israeli tank commanders in the disputed Golan Heights blasted a mobile Syrian artillery unit across their own armistice line on Monday.
