USA
August 22, Global Security Newswire – (California) New details emerge about U.S. nuclear missile test failure. The U.S. Air Force is beginning to narrow down possible explanations for a rare flight test failure of one of its Minuteman 3 ICBMs, but it appears the precise cause has not yet been determined, Global Security Newswire reported August 22. An "anomaly" occurred during the final powered stage of the July 27 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, when the missile was being propelled by its post-boost motor, according to Air Force Global Strike Command (GSC) officials. This was the first flight test failure in 2 years and only the second such incident since 1998, when the current Minuteman 3 configuration was fielded, said a GSC spokeswoman. GSC has not described the anomaly, saying only that the shot was "terminated due to potential safety concerns along the predicted flight path." The command officials also would not say whether initial findings appear to indicate a guidance problem, a faulty propulsion system, or some other glitch. After observing the abnormality, military controllers aborted the flight with a self-destruct mechanism 5 minutes after the missile launched. Command officials confirmed the Propulsion System Rocket Engine used in the failed ICBM test in July was refurbished in 2005. An ongoing service-life extension effort is being conducted to ensure all the liquid-fuel motors installed in Minuteman 3 missiles can remain in service through 2020, according to Aerojet, the motor manufacturer. A malfunctioning guidance system on the Minuteman 3 might be a more likely cause of the test failure, according to defense experts. Source: http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20110822_1563.php For anot
EUROPE
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
ASIA
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
RUSSIA
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
IRAN
Germany: North Korea Sent Software, Nuclear Training To Iran August 24, 2011
North Korea sent Iran software that could be used to develop nuclear weapons as well as a team of North Korean scientists in February to train 20 Iranian Defense Ministry employees in the operation of the neutron flow simulation program, the German Suddeutsche Zeitung reported Aug. 24, citing unidentified Western intelligence sources.
Iran: Transfer Of Centrifuges Begins August 22, 2011
The Iranians have begun a move of centrifuges from Natanz to Fordow, an underground bunker near Qom, leading nuclear official Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani told IRIB, Reuters reported Aug. 22.
Iran: Russia May Build More Nuclear Plants - Official August 21, 2011
Russia has put forward proposals to build new nuclear power plants in Iran upon completion of the Bushehr facility, according to local Iranian media, AFP reported Aug. 21. Iranian nuclear chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani said negotiations on the matter have already taken place. Davani did not provide any details as to the number or location of the potential facilities, however.
IRAQ
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
ISRAEL
Israel: 3 Eliat Attackers Were Egyptian August 24, 2011
At least three of the militants who engaged in attacks on the Aug. 18 Eliat road in Israel were Egyptian citizens and members of an extremist Islamic group, according to a report of an investigation carried out by Egyptian security forces, al-Masry al-Yaoum reported Aug. 24. Israeli daily Haaretz reported that 12 militants operating in four separate groups carried out the Eliat attack. These groups were dispersed over a 12 kilometer (7.5 miles) area and at least a few of the militants wore brown uniforms similar to those worn by the Egyptian Army.
Palestinian Territories: IDF Says Strike Targets Arms Depot August 24, 2011
An airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Aug. 25 targeted an arms depot, the spokesman’s office of the Israeli Defense Forces said, Y Net News reported. Sources in the Gaza Strip said two Palestinians died and 20 were wounded.
Palestinian Territories: Israel Hits Smuggling Tunnel - Report August 24, 2011
The Israeli Air Force attacked a smuggling tunnel in Rafah on Aug. 25, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip said, Y Net News reported. The report said three people were seriously wounded and several others are trapped in the tunnel.
Israel: Third Iron Dome Battery To Be Installed August 21, 2011
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, while touring an Iron Dome battery in the southern part of the country, said that within weeks a third Iron Dome batter would be installed in the region and that about nine more batteries would be installed within the next two years, The Jerusalem Post reported Aug. 21.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Weekly War Update: Attack on a Western Civilian Compound in Kabul
MIDDLE EAST
The Intelligence War in Libya
An excellent summary of this excellent article:
As military strategist Sun Tzu once said, “to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence; the highest excellence is to subdue the enemy’s army without fighting at all.” All warfare, as the Chinese military general said, is based on deception. In the Libya case, NATO needed to transform an illusion — that Libya’s National Transitional Council was fit to govern and that Gadhafi was ready to capitulate — into a reality. An elaborate disinformation campaign is the method for achieving these aims.
Libya: The First Regime Change of the Arab Spring
Libya's Oil Production Future
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Mexico Security Memo: Violence Shows Strategic Value of Torreon, Acapulco
http://web.stratfor.com/images/latinamerica/map/082311-Mexico_Roads_800.jpg
MISC
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
Except where noted courtesy www.stratfor.com
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