IRAN
Demands Grow for Action Against Alleged Iranian Plot
Sara Sorcher, Global Security Newswire — October 27, 2011
As Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee demanded that the Obama administration take more serious action against Iran for its alleged role in the purported plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador and bomb embassies in Washington, witnesses testifying before two key subcommittees on Wednesday called for everything from killing senior members of Iran’s elite Quds Force to limited cyberattacks within Iran.
Iraq invasion, not withdrawal, was gift to Iran
Tony Karon, TIME/CNN — October 27, 2011
Outlandish posturing on foreign policy matters is par for the course in a U.S. electoral season, but the claim that President Barack Obama will deliver Iraq on a plate to Iran by honoring the U.S. treaty obligation to withdraw American troops by New Year’s Day is worth closer scrutiny.
Iran pulls out of diplomatic event
ESPN — October 27, 2011
North and South Korea and India and Pakistan are among 10 nations competing in the latest version of pingpong diplomacy, but Iran backed out of a chance to compete alongside American players.
NORTH KOREA
Panetta Voices Skepticism on North Korea Talks
Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times — October 27, 2011
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta cast doubt on Thursday on talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear program despite more positive public comments from negotiators for both countries earlier this week.
North Korea bans citizens working in Libya from returning home
Julian Ryall, The Telegraph — October 27, 2011
North Korea has banned its own citizens working in Libya from returning home, apparently out of fear that they will reveal the extent – and final outcomes – of the revolutions that have shaken the Arab world.
LIBYA
U.N. ends mandate for NATO operations in Libya
Louis Charbonneau, Reuters — October 27, 2011
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday canceled its authorization for a seven-month-old NATO military operation in Libya that led to the ouster and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Lawyer: Gadhafi family to file war crimes complaint against NATO
CNN — October 27, 2011
The family of deceased Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi will file a war crimes complaint against NATO with the International Criminal Court, a lawyer representing the family said Thursday.
UNITED STATES
Rich get a lot richer, outpace middle class
Andrew Taylor, USA Today — October 27, 2011
Yet another study shows how the richest 1% of Americans have been getting far richer over the last three decades while the middle class and poor have seen their after-tax household income only inch up by comparison.
Rising U.S. Debt Will ‘Crush’ Defense Budget, Lawmaker Predicts
National Defense — October 27, 2011
It’s not the “super committee” or the dreaded “sequestration” that threaten defense budgets. The real menace is the crushing federal budget deficit that nobody has yet figured out how
