What's going on in the World Today 101130

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USA
WikiLeaks and the State Department

Documents STRATFOR

WikiLeaks' Impact on U.S. Efforts
Against Iran's Nuclear Program STRATFOR

EUROPE
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

ASIA
Dispatch: China Considers Options
After North Korean Strike STRATFOR

South Korea's Tougher
Approach to North Korean Provocations? STRATFOR

RUSSIA
Russia: Unified Air, Space Defense Command Needed - President
November 30, 2010

Russia should create a unified strategic command that combines air,
missile and space defenses in 2011, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev
said Nov. 30, RIA Novosti reported. During his annual address to the
Federal Assembly, Medvedev said Moscow should strengthen air and space
defenses while joining existing air and missile defense networks,
early-warning missile systems and airspace monitoring systems. The
unified command will absorb some air defense units that currently are
part of the Russian Air Force as well as Space Forces units. Russia’s
military intends to build a comprehensive defense network comprising
S-400 Triumf and S-500 air defense systems as well as MiG-31 Foxhound
supersonic interceptors.

IRAN
Iran: Assassinated Professor Worked On Nuclear Project November 29,
2010

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi said
Majid Shahriari, the university professor killed on Nov. 29 in a car
bomb attack, was in charge of a major nuclear project, adding that
enemies of Iran should not try its patience as attacks like those on
Shahriari will never halt others from pursuing nuclear aims, IRNA
reported Nov. 29.Salehi said Iran will work hard to remove all
obstacles in achieving its aspirations.

Update on the Tehran Attacks Targeting
Scientists STRATFOR

IRAQ
Iraq: General Census Postponed November 30, 2010

The General Secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers has decided
to postpone Iraq’s General Census until next week, Aswat al-Iraq
reported Nov. 30, citing a council spokesman. Originally scheduled for
Dec. 5, 2010, the census will now take place after a meeting of Iraqi
political blocs, set to convene the week of Dec. 6, the spokesman said.

Iraq: Kurds Want New Energy Laws Or No Coalition November 30, 2010
The semi-autonomous government of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region
wants new hydrocarbon and revenue sharing laws by June 2011 or it will
not join the new Iraqi coalition administration, Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami said, Dow Jones reported
Nov. 30. Hawrami criticized the new government’s oil production target,
adding that Baghdad should end its blacklisting of energy companies
working in the KRG region.

ISRAEL
Israel: New Mossad Chief Named November 29, 2010

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Tami Pardo to head
the country’s intelligence service, Haaretz and Ynet reported Nov. 29.
Pardo held several senior positions in the Mossad for decades,
including the post of deputy chief. The Turkel Commission must still
approve Pardo’s appointment.

Israel: Navy Chief Hints At Secret Operations Against Iran November 30,
2010

Israeli Navy chief Maj. Gen. Eliezer Marom said the navy had to stretch
its arms to distant theaters of operations to fight the Iran-led Axis
of Evil, Israel National News reported Nov. 30. Speaking at the annual
Haganah Day event in Tel Aviv, Marom said Israel Defense Forces are
also facing a new kind of warfare in which hostile elements seek to
delegitimize Israel through a media campaign which spreads lies
portraying Israel as a country that tramples on the rights of others.

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan: U.K. General Discusses Troop Withdrawal November 29, 2010

Slow reductions of the 10,000 troops based in the Afghan province of
Helmand will most likely begin by 2012, U.K. General Sir David Richards
said, adding that the reduction and redistribution of manpower will be
undertaken cautiously, since the Taliban will still be active and the
Afghan National Security Forces need to continue growing, The Daily
Telegraph reported Nov. 29. Speaking at the 3rd Battalion Parachute
Regiment headquarters in Shazad, Helmand province, Afghanistan,
Richards said the six-month tours of British soldiers in Helmand may be
extended to eight months if needed, adding that NATO forces as a whole
will remain indefinitely in support and sustaining roles. Richards
noted that the United States has switched its attention from Iraq to
Afghanistan. A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s office
said Cameron agrees with Richards’ assessments.

Afghanistan: NATO Air Operations Have Increased - Official November 30,
2010

A 20 percent increase in NATO air operations has taken place in
Afghanistan in the last year, but the number of civilians killed in air
operations has decreased, said U.S. Col. James Sturgeon, chief of the
air operations control center in Kabul, AP reported Nov. 30. NATO
restrictions on engaging insurgents that call for a disciplined process
to make sure no civilians are in a prospective attack area have led to
the decrease in civilian deaths, Sturgeon said. Air operations are
often in support of ground troops that are pushing into historic
insurgent safe havens, a NATO spokesman said.

MIDDLE EAST
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Brazil: Police Crackdown In Rio District Begins November 28, 2010

About 2,600 Brazilian police and security forces have begun a crackdown
on drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro’s Alemao region, The New York
Times reported Nov. 28. Police had earlier urged traffickers to
surrender by sundown on Nov. 26, and when they failed to do so,
authorities sent 15 armored vehicles to block 80 entrance points to the
region to fulfill more than 100 arrest warrants. Large quantities of
drugs, guns and ammunition were recovered, and police plan to continue
searching every house in the region. A police spokesman said resistance
has been lighter than expected, and that while police had taken the
highest point in the region, they were on guard for increased
confrontations.

Brazil: Officials Claim Success In Rio Slums November 29, 2010

A Brazilian military and police operation against drug trafficking
gangs in the Rio de Janiero slums was a success, Rio state Governor
Sergio Cabral said, AFP reported, citing TV Globo. Cabral said the
operation was a decisive step forward for public safety, a turning of
the page in the history of Rio. State officials said police seized 40
tons of marijuana and encountered nominal resistance compared to a Nov. 25 incident. Rio state Police Commander Mario Sergio Duarte said the
operation went smoothly because police helicopters were overhead with
aerial firepower.

Mexico: 18 Bodies Found In Mass Grave November 29, 2010

Local Mexican authorities found 18 bodies in 11 separate graves near
Puerto Palomas in the state of Chihuahua on Nov. 27, El Universal
reported Nov. 29.

Mexico: La Familia In Morelia Leader Arrested November 30, 2010

Mexican Federal Police arrested an alleged leader of the La Familia
gang in Morelia, Michoacan state, AP reported Nov. 30. Jose Alfredo
Landa led the gang’s operations in Morelia, the Federal Police
anti-narcotics chief said. Police surrounded a house outside Morelia on
Nov. 29, capturing Landa and three others.

Mexico Security Memo: Nov. 29, 2010 STRATFOR

MISC
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

Except where noted courtesy www.stratfor.com