Iran
Obama aide tells Israel of Iran attack plan
Reuters – July 29, 2012
President Barack Obama’s national security adviser has briefed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a U.S. contingency plan to attack Iran should diplomacy fail to curb its nuclear programme, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday.
Panetta Sidesteps Issue of Israel’s Plans on Iran
Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times – July 29, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Sunday that he did not think Israel had yet made a decision to strike Iran, but that his goal in meeting with the Israeli leadership this week was to strengthen ties with the United States “so that we can be fully prepared to deal with any contingency that may happen.”
Syria
Syria: Aleppo is nail in Assad’s coffin, says Panetta
BBC – July 30, 2012
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s assault on the city of Aleppo will be “a nail in his coffin”.
Iran Warns Arab States Over Syria
Sam Dagher, Wall Street Journal – July 29, 2012
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned Sunni-led Arab states and Turkey, who are supporting Syria’s opposition in its battle with Tehran’s ally President Bashar al-Assad, that their insistence on toppling the Syrian regime will destabilize their own countries and the entire region.
Russia
Russia seeks sea power with decrepit fleet
Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times – July 29, 2012
Russia’s boast that it plans to extend its naval forces to bases in Cuba, the Seychelles and Vietnam poses little strategic threat to U.S. interests in Latin America, the Indian Ocean or the Pacific, analysts say.
Defense Spending
McDonnell targets defense spending, but opposes automatic cuts
Seth McLaughlin, Washington Times – July 29, 2012
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says that defense spending must be reined in if Congress is serious about getting the nation’s fiscal house in order but opposes the $500 billion in automatic defense cuts under last year’s debt deal, warning they would weaken national security, kill jobs and devastate his state’s defense industry.
GOP senators in NC to talk up defense spending
AP – July 30, 2012
A trio of Republican senators is in North Carolina making the case for protecting military spending from more than $1 trillion in budget cuts that will slash both domestic and defense programs.
