Iran
Israel shifts views on Iran
Associated Press – March 18, 2012
Despite saber-rattling from Jerusalem, Israeli officials now agree with the U.S. assessment that Tehran has not yet decided on the actual construction of a nuclear bomb, according to senior Israeli government and defense figures.
U.S. Faces a Tricky Task in Assessment of Data on Iran
James Risen, New York Times – March 17, 2012
While American spy agencies have believed that the Iranians halted efforts to build a nuclear bomb back in 2003, the difficulty in assessing the government’s ambitions was evident two years ago, when what appeared to be alarming new intelligence emerged, according to current and former United States officials.
Hawks Steering Debate on How to Take On Iran
Eric Lichtblau and Mark Landler, New York Times – March 18, 2012
Even before President Obama declared this month that “I have Israel’s back” in its escalating confrontation with Iran, pro-Israel figures like the evangelical Christian leader Gary L. Bauer and the conservative commentator William Kristol were pushing for more.
Does America and Iran’s mutual mistrust mean war is inevitable? Edward Stourton, BBC – March 19, 2012 In a striking series of interviews for BBC Radio 4’s Analysis programme, we found that leading voices in Iranian, Israeli and American foreign affairs seem to agree on one sobering point – that a war with Iran over its nuclear programme is more likely today than it has ever been.
Afghanistan
U.S. Readies for Spring Clash With Taliban
Yaroslav Trofimov, Wall Street Journal – March 19, 2012
Mountainous eastern Afghanistan, with its proximity to Kabul and to insurgents’ Pakistani havens, is about to become the war’s final battleground with a large American combat force arrayed against the Taliban.
Korean Peninsula
South Korea says North wants rocket for nuclear weapon
Reuters – March 19, 2012
South Korea on Monday condemned rival North Korea’s planned rocket launch as a “grave provocation”, saying it was a disguised attempt to develop a long-range ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
United States
RIMPAC’s naval war games will feature high-tech arms
Honolulu Star-Advertiser – March 18, 2012
Rim of the Pacific war games scheduled to start in late June off Hawaii will bring thousands of sailors, tests of a submarine-launched unmanned aerial vehicle and blue-laser underwater communications, and a “green” emphasis with the largest government purchase of biofuel in history.
