HAMAS SPREADS WINGS TO TURKEY, CHINA
Israel’s security service, the Shin Bet, has reported that the Palestinian militant group Hamas has established bases in Turkey and China. Hamas has long had an overseas presence in Syria, which serves as a base for exiled Hamas leaders and retains a smaller presence in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. Additionally, a senior Hamas military commander was assassinated in Dubai in 2010. But the news of Hamas’ presence in Turkey and China is new. The Shin Bet revealed that Hamas had a command post in Turkey working to recruit operatives while the terrorist group’s operations in China were focused on financial activities, including money laundering and the procurement of equipment. (The Jerusalem Post August 9, 2011)
IRAQ SIGNS DEAL FOR 18 F-16s
America’s military presence in Iraq is rapidly diminishing. The majority of the U.S. military’s equipment has been redeployed, its troop presence has dropped from 92,000 at the start of the year to 44,000 today, and American forces now operate on only 34 bases, down from 505 in 2008. No deal has yet been reached on the number and role of U.S. military personnel that will remain in the country after the year-end withdrawal deadline, but as American forces stand down, the government of Nouri al Maliki is looking to stand up Iraq’s own fledgling military. Flush with oil revenues after a year of $100-a-barrel oil, Baghdad has concluded an agreement to purchase 18 F-16 fighter jets from America, a $3 billion deal likely to be a “first installment” in what could eventually lead to the sale of 36 fighters. “Having those planes is not much, but it is a beginning,” said Maliki spokesman Ali Musawi, noting the relative strength of the air forces of neighboring countries like Syria, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Iraqi air traffic controllers will next month assume responsibility for all flights in Iraq and the country’s air defense and radar systems will be fully functional next year. Meanwhile, discussions with the U.S. are underway deploying ground-based air defense guns and missiles at strategic sites in the future. (McClatchy Newspapers September 29, 2011)
IRON DOME PASSES TEST
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system has become “the first anti-ballistic missile system to be used in combat,” after the system successfully shot down rockets entering Israel from the Gaza strip during an attack in April. Two batteries of Iron Dome missile interceptors had a success rate of 85% against the Russian-made Grad and Qassam rockets fired against Israel by Islamist militant groups. The system is able to distinguish between rockets destined for populated areas and those headed for remote locations; a critical function for a system some have criticized as too expensive. By some estimates it costs $100,000 to fire each interceptor but only $1,000 for each incoming rocket. Still, Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says the successful live test “restores Israel’s deterrence against a weapons system that Israel’s enemies believed Israel was incapable of defending against.” The U.S. has been a strong supporter of Iron Dome, with the current defense budget allocating $205 million for the missile defense system. (Washington Times August 29, 2011)
YEMEN’S PRESIDENT RETURNS, AWLAKI KILLED IN DRONE STRIKE
Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamist cleric that served as the ideological leader and external operations chief for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was killed Friday, September 30 by a drone strike in Yemen. Al-Awlaki, a dual U.S.-Yemeni citizen who was born and attended college in the U.S. was long wanted by the U.S. on terrorism charges, having been linked to a handful of planned and successful attacks on the U.S. homeland. The strike comes at a time Yemen is embroiled in its own particularly violent chapter of the Arab Spring, which has exploited deep rifts in a society divided along ethnic, political, tribal, and religious lines. The eruption of nonviolent street protests this spring quickly devolved into an armed uprising against the authoritarian rule of longtime president and strongman which resulted in key military and political defections from those loyal to rival tribes and clans, while ongoing insurgencies in the north (Shi’ite Houthi rebels) and the south (separatists and Islamist militants) intensified in an attempt to exploit the chaos and weakened government authority. Saleh himself suffered severe burns in an attack on his compound in June and was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. He defied critics by returning to Yemen September 23, promising olive branches to the opposition, but fighting across the country has intensified in the last week of September. Ironically, the U.S. may be benefiting from the chaos: U.S. counterterrorism chief John Brennan says the Yemeni government is now sharing more intelligence about al Qaeda, as a way to combat the group, which is also seeking Saleh’s overthrow, and to demonstrate Saleh’s value as an ally to the U.S. (Reuters September 23, 2011; Fox News September 30, 2011)
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe