National Defense Briefs – November 4, 2013

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
November 4, 2013

Part-three of the series, NATIONAL DEFENSE BRIEFS. Each week we are bringing to readers of LowcountryBizSC.com updates aimed at informing all with timely military and homeland-security news briefs, trends, definitions, and short commentaries. Defense issues are inextricably connected to business. In that, we present the National Defense Briefs that matter.


•    Most of the nations and territories within Africa’s arc of instability – running roughly from the west coast (and the Atlantic Ocean) through the largely lawless Sahel belt (the widest expanse of the continent) to the east coast (the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean) – have become a haven for Islamist recruiting efforts and smuggling operations. Many of these countries, including the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the nations of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, portions of Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia; also serve as staging areas for both Al Qaeda (Sunni) and Hezbollah (Shia) operations worldwide. These two major jihadist terrorist organizations and their affiliates like Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab enjoy great freedom-of-movement in these failed or fragile states; and have demonstrated a capability of striking targets far beyond their home bases. 

•    Just above the Sahel are the also-dangerous North African (NA) nations of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. 

•    The region of Northwest Africa – including Mauritania and the aforementioned NA countries west of Egypt – is known as the Maghreb. Al Qaeda operating in this area is known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or simply AQIM.

•    In War on the Rocks, former U.S. Army intelligence officer John Amble, writes, CBS aired a [Oct. 27, 2013] segment on 60 Minutes devoted to reporting details from the network’s year-long investigation into the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. Consulate and a CIA compound in Benghazi, Libya.  The investigation’s conclusion, in short, was that the attacks were undoubtedly planned and executed by al-Qaeda.

•    CNN reports More than 8,500 terrorist attacks killed nearly 15,500 people last year as violence tore through Africa, Asia and the Middle East, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). That’s a 69 percent rise in attacks and an 89 percent jump in fatalities from 2011. … Six of the seven deadliest groups are affiliated with al Qaeda, according to START, and most of the violence was committed in Muslim-majority countries. … The previous record for attacks was set in 2011 with more than 5,000 incidents; for fatalities the previous high was 2007 with more than 12,800 deaths.

•    Last month, the Institute for Science and International Security reported that Iran may be able to achieve nuclear breakout capability — the time needed to produce enough weapons grade uranium for one nuclear bomb — in a matter of weeks.

•    Clare M. Lopez, senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy and retired CIA operations officer, tells us, Senior Israeli government officials are issuing what may be their final warnings to Iran before taking military action.

•    Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon told USA TODAY, Oct. 25, We have made it crystal clear – in all possible forums, that Israel will not stand by and watch Iran develop weaponry that will put us, the entire Middle East and eventually the world, under an Iranian umbrella of terror.

•    Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – the dominant Taliban organization on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border – suffered a major setback Friday with the killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. The hit – a missile strike by a U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – targeted the Taliban leader’s car in North Waziristan.

•    Like drones, UAVs are unmanned aircraft. Unlike drones, UAVs are designed for aerial strikes and reconnaissance. Drones – though frequently and wrongly (by media) said to perform the same missions – are designed to be shot down as flying targets during testing. 





– W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a military analyst and partner with
NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. Visit him at http://uswriter.com.