technology:military hardware

  • Whoever Predicts the Future Will Win the AI Arms Race – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/05/whoever-predicts-the-future-correctly-will-win-the-ai-arms-race-russi


    A screen shows visitors being filmed by AI security cameras with facial recognition technology at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2018.
    NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

    The race for advanced artificial intelligence has already started. A few weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the “#American_AI_Initiative,” with which the United States joined other major countries pursuing national strategies for developing AI. China released its “New Generation Plan” in 2017, outlining its strategy to lead the world in AI by 2030. Months after that announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared, “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”Russian President Vladimir Putin declared,

    But it’s less clear how much AI will advance, exactly. It may only be able to perform fairly menial tasks like classifying photographs, driving, or bookkeeping. There’s also a distinct possibility that AI will become as smart as humans or more so, able to make complex decisions independently. A race toward a technology with such a range of possible final states, stretching from banal to terrifying, is inherently unstable. A research program directed toward one understanding of AI may prove to have been misdirected after years of work. Alternatively, a plan to focus on small and achievable advances could be leapfrogged by a more ambitious effort.

    China, the United States, and Russia are each negotiating this fraught landscape differently, in ways responsive to their unique economic and military situations. Governments are motivated to pursue leadership in AI by the promise of gaining a strategic advantage. At this early stage, it’s tough to tell what sort of advantage is at stake, because we don’t know what sort of thing AI will turn out to be. Since AI is a technology, it’s natural to think of it as a mere resource that can assist in attaining one’s goals, perhaps by allowing drones to fly without supervision or increasing the efficiency of supply chains.

    But computers could surpass humans in finding optimal ways of organizing and using resources. If so, they might become capable of making high-level strategic decisions. After all, there aren’t material limitations restricting the intelligence of algorithms, like those that restrict the speed of planes or range of rockets. Machines more intelligent than the smartest of humans, with more strategic savvy, are a conceptual possibility that must be reckoned with. China, Russia, and the United States are approaching this possibility in different ways. The statements and research priorities released by major powers reveal how their policymakers think AI’s developmental trajectory will unfold.

    China is pursuing the most aggressive strategy, focusing on developing advanced AI that could contribute to strategic decision-making. The U.S. approach is more conservative, with the goal of producing computers that can assist human decision-making but not contribute on their own. Finally, Russia’s projects are directed at creating military hardware that relies on AI but leaves decisions about deployment entirely in the hands of generals. In all three situations, the forms of AI these governments are investing their resources in reveal their expectations of the technological future. The country that gets it right could reap huge benefits in terms of military might and global influence.

  • A Prize from Fairyland
    https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n21/andrew-bacevich/a-prize-from-fairyland

    Mossadegh represented a bulwark of sorts. He alone stood in the way of the Soviet Union’s laying claim to much of the planet’s known oil reserves. The US wanted Mossadegh to sign up to its anti-communist crusade, which would require Iran to settle its differences with Britain. In return, the US would provide Iran with economic and military assistance. But Mossadegh’s cause was anti-imperialism, not anti-communism. He was first and foremost a nationalist: full sovereignty for Iran was his goal. He would neither compromise with Britain nor do America’s bidding. In Mossadegh’s view, the Cold War was not Iran’s fight. Even while earnestly petitioning Washington for money and military hardware, he didn’t disguise his determination to follow the neutralist course set by Nehru.

  • US sells battle tanks to Saudi Arabia as it renews assault on Yemen - World Socialist Web Site
    http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/11/usse-a11.html

    US sells battle tanks to Saudi Arabia as it renews assault on Yemen
    By Thomas Gaist
    11 August 2016

    In a clear signal of American imperialism’s unrelenting commitment to the Saudi monarchy and its ongoing war against Yemen, the United States’ State Department approved the sale of one hundred and fifty Abrams main battle tanks to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

    The tanks, designed for large-scale ground warfare, are part of a larger package of American weaponry, valued at $1.15 billion, that includes a bevy of additional military hardware.

    #états-unis #arabie_saoudite #yémen #armement

  • Obama to Israel: Our Tax Dollars Won’t Go to Your Defense Contractors | Foreign Policy
    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/18/obama-to-israel-our-tax-dollars-wont-go-to-your-defense-contractors

    The United States and Israel are close to clinching a massive 10-year arms deal, but Washington is pushing to scrap a coveted provision that has allowed Israel to pump hundreds of millions of dollars directly into its defense industry.

    If successful, the administration’s push to remove the clause would inflict some real pain on Israel’s growing security sector, which already exports more arms overseas than almost any other country apart from the United States.
    […]
    The issue has been a sticking point in the talks over the new military aid package because it could deprive Israel’s security firms of roughly $10 billion over the next decade, a vast sum for a crucial sector of the country’s economy. The deal, which doesn’t involve the direct transfer of military hardware but instead a commitment from Washington to finance Israel’s weapons buying, illustrates how the two countries’ security ties remain strong enough to transcend the tensions that have plagued relations between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Under the change proposed by the White House, Israel would have to spend all the funds it receives in the arms package on U.S.-made weapons instead of being allowed to spend a portion of it on Israeli-manufactured arms and fuel. That would mean American aerospace giants such as Lockheed Martin, which builds the F-35 fighter jet, and Raytheon, which sells precision-guided missiles and sensors to U.S. partners worldwide, would stand to benefit.

  • « Le mythe de la puissance saoudienne », article qui vient relativiser sérieusement l’impression que pourrait donner la consultation des chiffres récents des budgets militaires où l’Arabie saoudite est désormais en troisième position devant la Russie (http://seenthis.net/messages/477278)

    The myth of saudi power The National Interest / 11.04.16
    http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-myth-saudi-power-15727
    La conclusion :

    Another area of serious concern is Riyadh’s recent military expansion, which looks fraught with defects, if not impending dangers. The kingdom keeps importing foreign military hardware, from sophisticated multirole fighter jets to guided missiles. It became the world’s largest arms importer in 2014, with a total of $6.4 billion spending on defense. Between 2011 and 2015 arms imports by Riyadh rose by 275 percent compared to the previous five years. This is part of a general trend in arms purchases by Middle Eastern states, whose imports increased by 61 percent over the same period as a whole. The question is whether a state like Saudi Arabia can assert its military dominance on the regional scale based on imported arms, while its nemesis Iran has achieved remarkable self-sufficiency in armaments. Great and rising powers are also major arms exporters, though they import arms on a limited scale. Saudi Arabia produces no major arms or weapon systems, having instead built up an arms dependency relationship with the West, China and Russia. This makes it susceptible to pressures from exporters, particularly during times of regional military crises. One example is the European Parliament’s recent decision to call for an arms embargo against Riyadh in response to humanitarian disasters in Yemen created by Saudi bombings.

  • Sunday 21 February 2016 for archives

    Britain lobbied UN to whitewash Bahrain police abuses | Politics | The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/21/britain-lobbied-un-bahrain-human-rights-abuses

    Britain lobbied UN to whitewash Bahrain police abuses
    Documents indicate UK and Saudi Arabia worked to water down human rights statement

    A Bahraini protester during clashes with riot police following a demo to mark the fifth anniversary of the Arab spring-inspired uprising. Photograph: Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images
    Jamie Doward

    Britain has been accused of waging a behind-the-scenes PR offensive aimed at neutering United Nations criticism of Bahrain for its human rights record, including the alleged use of torture by its security forces.

    Bahrain’s young people mark fifth anniversary of Arab spring
    Read more
    Documents shared with the Observer reveal that the UN’s criticism of the Gulf state was substantially watered down after lobbying by the UK and Saudi Arabia, a major purchaser of British-made weapons and military hardware.

  • Russia is Flying Israeli Drones Against Anti-Assad Rebels in Syria - The Daily Beast
    03.24.16 6:00 AM ET
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/24/russia-is-flying-israeli-drones-against-anti-assad-rebels-in-syria.ht

    Russia is Flying Israeli Drones Against Anti-Assad Rebels in Syria
    Military hardware from the Jewish State is helping Putin save Assad.

    Russia’s sort-of-but-not-really withdrawal from Syria passed without the world noticing that it featured aerial technology from a surprising source —Israel, which provided the high-tech surveillance drones that apparently help the Russian warplanes find and strike their targets on the ground.

    The Russian air force acquired a number of 20-foot-long Searcher drones from Israel Aerospace Industries, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles, starting in 2010.

    Russia also acquired from IAI, which is wholly owned by the Israeli government, a license to make its own copies of the propeller-driven Searcher, a rough equivalent of the U.S. military’s own Predator drone.(...)

  • Britain lobbied UN to whitewash Bahrain police abuses | Politics | The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/21/britain-lobbied-un-bahrain-human-rights-abuses

    Documents shared with the Observer reveal that the UN’s criticism of the Gulf state was substantially watered down after lobbying by the UK and Saudi Arabia, a major purchaser of British-made weapons and military hardware.

    The result was a victory for Bahrain and for Saudi Arabia, which sent its troops to quell dissent in the tiny kingdom during the Arab spring.

  • Enquête fouillée de The Intercept sur l’ONG H.S.I.G. dirigée par un chrétien évangélique, Kay Hiramine, qui a servi des années 2000 à 2013 de couverture à un programme d’espionnage du Pentagone ciblant notamment la Corée du Nord (mais aussi l’Iran) : https://theintercept.com/2015/10/26/pentagon-missionary-spies-christian-ngo-front-for-north-korea-espionag

    Because American intelligence has so few assets inside North Korea, much of Hiramine’s task was to find transportation routes to move military equipment — and potentially clandestine operatives — in and around the country. The Pentagon would eventually move sensors and small radio beacons through Hiramine’s transportation network, according to another former military official. Much of what Hiramine was doing was what the military refers to as “operational preparation of the environment,” or OPE, a category that encompasses clandestine intelligence gathering and prepositioning equipment inside a country for future conflicts.
    “We needed collection devices, spoofers” — used to disrupt North Korean military devices or radio signals — “and [equipment] to measure nuclear anomalies,” the same former military official told me. The military hardware also included shortwave radios that could be used to help a downed pilot to escape in the event of a future conflict with North Korea.

  • OSCE reports military hardware movements on both sides in Donbas
    http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/osce-reports-military-hardware-movements-on-both-sides-in-donbas-2-397563.

    Significant movements of military hardware have been observed in areas of the Donetsk region which are controlled by the Ukrainian government, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in its daily report valid on Sept. 8, which was published on Sept. 9.

    Contradiction entre le titre : on both sides
    et la brève : in areas which are controlled by Ukrainian government

  • US military considers bringing tanks and other equipment to Baltic states - EN.DELFI

    US Army Europe will soon dispatch a survey team to the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to scout locations for tanks and other military hardware as part of the efforts to boost US military presence in the region, a high-ranking US general has said.

    http://en.delfi.lt/lithuania/defence/us-military-considers-bringing-tanks-and-other-equipment-to-baltic-states.d

    –—

    U.S. Army sends tanks, equipment to Eastern Europe
    http://endtimeheadlines.org/wars-n-rumors-of-wars/u-s-army-sends-tanks-equipment-eastern-europe

    U.S. Army Europe will soon dispatch a survey team to eastern Europe to scout locations for tanks and other military hardware as part of a broader effort to bolster the U.S. military presence in a region rattled by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, the Army’s top commander in Europe said Friday. “We are doing surveys here in the next few weeks up in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to see if there is a place where perhaps some of that equipment could be stored there,” USAREUR chief Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said during an interview with Stars and Stripes. “Maybe it’s a company, maybe it’s a whole battalion, we don’t know yet until we do the survey.” In 2015, the Army expects to rotate a full-sized, U.S.-based heavy brigade of some 3,000 troops and additional tanks and other armored vehicles through Europe in connection with the service’s Regionally Aligned Force initiative. Last year, the program kicked off on a smaller scale, bringing combat tanks back into Europe after a brief absence following the elimination of two Germany-based heavy brigades in 2013. Now, the regional concept is picking up steam, with plans for 220 armored vehicles in Europe.

    #pays_baltes #lettonie #ça_craint

  • The rules of engagement: How militarized police units enforce the law around the world


    In 1993 the Justice Department installed the 1033 program as a way to help law enforcement agencies counter drug activities during the United States’ “war on drugs.” In 1997, the boundaries of law enforcement expanded after Congress passed the National #Defense Authorization Act, granting police and other agencies the right to obtain weaponry for specific law enforcement purposes that would help in making arrests. Many U.S. police departments have since acquired surplus U.S. military hardware: #armored_vehicles, military-grade weaponry. According to Reuters, since 1996 the Defense Department has transferred $4.3 billion in military equipment to local and state police through the 1033 program. And after 9/11, the Department of Homeland #Security allowed local law enforcement to inherit a surplus of military weaponry from wars abroad through federal funds to counter terrorism.

    The recent clashes between heavily armed law enforcement and protesters in the wake of a police officer killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., have reignited the discussion surrounding the militarization of American police forces. The rules of engagement for police or paramilitary forces abroad allows the use of lethal force using military-grade gear with relatively few restrictions. But with that is a code of conduct, a set of rules, that sharply regulates the wide latitude of law enforcement, and puts into a place a system of accountability.

    Human rights monitors say police in Belgium are legally entitled to use proportionate force, after a warning, where there is no other means to achieve a legitimate objective. #Police may use #firearms in self-defense, to confront armed perpetrators, or in #defense of persons or key facilities, but never for crowd control. In Afghanistan, “the police can use weapons or explosives against a group of people only if they it has … disturbed security by means of arms, and if the use of other means of force … has proved ineffective.” And Afghan police are required to give no fewer than six warnings – three verbal and three warning shots – before using force in this situation. In India, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) are called on for violent disorder that the police are unable to contain. They require an on-the-spot magistrate’s consent and must issue a warning before each escalation of the use of force, from verbal warning to water cannon and tear gas, then to rubber bullets or baton rounds, and then to firearms. Britain’s law states that “lethal or potentially lethal force should only be used when absolutely necessary in self-defense, or in the defense of others against the threat of death or serious injury.” In Italy, police and the paramilitary Carabinieri follow the same guidelines, which say that the use of weapons is allowed only in the line of duty, when it is an “unavoidable necessity to overcome resistance, stop #violence or prevent a [serious] #crime,” and that the response must be proportionate to the situation.

    The series below takes a closer look at law enforcement around the world and their respective tactics.
    #photo

  • Egypte « La répression est pire que durant les périodes les plus sombres du règne Moubarak » : le NYT remet en cause l’aide militaire de 1,3 milliard de dollars versée annuellement sans conditions par les États-Unis

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/opinion/sunday/reining-in-egypts-military-aid.html?_r=1

    Egyptian leaders have come to see the annual $1.3 billion American military aid package as an entitlement they are due in perpetuity for having signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. The United States has done little to disabuse them of that notion. It’s time it does. Failing to make significant cuts to the program later this year, when the Obama administration will confront tough choices regarding Egypt’s future, would be indefensible. Since Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took control in Egypt though a military coup in July 2013, the country has returned to its authoritarian moorings by jailing political opponents, silencing critics and vilifying peaceful Islamists.

    In the coming months, however, the administration will have two opportunities to correct its course and signal that it can no longer condone brutality.

    First, Washington must stop allowing Egypt to place military hardware orders under a preferential system called cash flow finance. Available only to Israel and Egypt, the mechanism works much like a credit card, permitting the countries to place orders under the assumption that Congress will eventually appropriate enough funds to cover them. It will take years to wean Egypt off cash flow finance, since orders can take years to process, but doing so now will help untangle contractual and legislative knots in the future.

    Second, Secretary of State John Kerry has to certify to Congress that Egypt is on a path to democracy as a condition for delivering several items of military aid that are in the pipeline. Congress insisted on such certification when it appropriated Egypt’s military aid package last year. Failing to do so by the end of the year would halt the delivery of roughly $650 million worth of American tanks and fighter planes. The only reasonable answer from Mr. Kerry is no.

    Egypt values American military hardware, and continued cooperation is in the interest of both countries. The onus is on Cairo to earn it.

  • Military hardware rolls from parade in Kyiv to anti-terrorist operation area
    http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/military-hardware-rolls-from-parade-in-kyiv-to-anti-terrorist-operation-ar


    ©AFP

    The military hardware that was involved in the Aug. 24 parade on the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence in Kyiv has headed to the area of the anti-terrorist operation in the country’s east, the press service of the Ukrainian president says.

    Le matériel qui défile et va rejoindre l’Ukraine orientale est flambant neuf. Il semblerait qu’il s’agisse des BTR3E1 initialement destinés à la Thaïlande…


    Royal Thai Army’s BTR-3E1 APC during acceptance ceremony. (Photo : Army Technology)

    DELIVERY OF UKRAINIAN BTR-3E1 APC TO THAILAND SUSPENDED - Rentaka (17 juin 2014)
    http://rentaka.weebly.com/blog/delivery-of-ukrainian-btr-3e1-apc-to-thailand-suspended

    As reported by the chief editor of Ukrainian web-resource Tsenzor.Net Yuri Butusov, “for three weeks more than 30 new Ukrainian BTR-3E near Kiev are not in motion. These armored vehicles were built by order of Thailand, but due to the war, delivery was suspended.” 
    Based on available information, it is a part of 32 series machines BTR-3E1 for Thailand of SE “Kiev armored plant” has passed the preliminary acceptance of the spring of 2014. Reminding that the contracts in 2007 and 2011 to be delivered to Thailand total 233 BTR-3E1 and machines based on them, of which in 2010-2013 were shipped, according to different sources, from 142 to 153 units. (BMPD)

    • Pour le modèle plus récent (BTR4), les livraisons à la Garde nationale sont constituées des rejets des commandes à l’export… (article d’avril 2014)

      Ukraine National Guard to receive BTR-4s - IHS Jane’s 360
      http://www.janes.com/article/36447/ukraine-national-guard-to-receive-btr-4s

      The Ukraine National Guard will soon receive 74 new armoured personnel carriers, national defence industrial group Ukroboronprom announced on 2 April 2014.

      The National Guard was formed by Ukraine in early March in response to the Crimean crisis and subsequent stand-off with Russia. It is reported to have a target strength of 60,000, comprised in large part of reservists, and is backed by a USD700 million rise in the country’s defence budget.

      According to the Ukroboronprom announcement, the National Guard will imminently receive 74 of a planned 100 vehicles built by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau (KMDB).


      Ukraine’s new National Guard is set to receive BTR-4 armoured fighting vehicles Source : Ukroboronprom

      ANALYSIS
      Ukraine is keen to emphasise its efforts to create and bolster the National Guard with new equipment - which would otherwise effectively be a paper force.

      However, the quantity, designations, and availability of the vehicles points to them being vehicles rejected and returned by export customers. To date, Ukraine is only known to have ordered 10 BTR-4 vehicles, although the type’s only known export customer, Iraq, ordered 420 in 2009.

      Iraq has, however, complained about the quality of the BTR-4s it has received, with issues reported to have been found with the first batch of vehicles’ 30 mm ZTM-1 autocannons. These issues are understood to have eventually been resolved, with Iraq reportedly happy with the second batch of vehicles.

      However, the third batch of vehicles, understood to include around 40 vehicles, was returned to Ukraine after cracks were reportedly found in the vehicle’s hulls. Given the similarity in the number of BTR-4s in the returned Iraq shipment and the Ukraine delivery, it appears likely that the vehicles destined for the Ukraine National Guard come from this returned batch. The readiness of the vehicles for delivery also appears to confirm this, with it taking around two years to build an APC such as the BTR-4 from order to delivery. With the vehicle type only in mass production for Iraq it is highly likely that the vehicles either come from a future part of the Iraqi order, or - more likely - the returned shipment.

      Additionally, the designations of BTR-4 variants Ukroboronprom refers to match the variants of those ordered by Iraq. In particular the usage of the BTR-4E designation, understood to be reserved for the export version of the BTR-4, would appear to confirm that these vehicles were originally destined for export.

  • Robert Ford : le type restera dans l’histoire pour son sens du timing : c’est le moment où jamais d’un bon oped réclamant des armes pour les rebelles syriens :
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/opinion/ford-arm-syrias-opposition.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

    To achieve this, the Free Syrian Army must have more military hardware, including mortars and rockets to pound airfields to impede regime air supply operations and, subject to reasonable safeguards, surface-to-air missiles. Giving the armed opposition these new capabilities would jolt the Assad military’s confidence.

    Je ne vois pas comment ça pourrait rater.

  • Troupes russes à la frontière ukrainienne.

    Communiqué russe
    ******************
    14 planes, four trains with personnel and military hardware leave Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions after drills
    http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/fifteen-planes-4-trains-with-personnel-and-military-hardware-leave-rostov-

    Four trains and 15 Ilyushin Il-76 airplanes left Russia’s Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on May 21, carrying Armed Forces units that had taken part in recent routine military exercises in the regions, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release, seen by Interfax.

    ********************

    Info reprise par AP (après un long article sur les affrontements entre troupes régulières et séparatistes).

    AP News : 13 Ukraine troops dead, over 30 wounded in attack
    http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_306481/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=c8KdBSsb

    While fighting raged in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday its forces were leaving the regions near Ukraine as part of a massive military pullout ordered by President Vladimir Putin. It said four trainloads of weapons and 15 Il-76 heavy-lift transport planes had already left the Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov regions.

    NATO had estimated Russia has 40,000 troops along the border with Ukraine.

    Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, told reporters in Brussels that some Russian military movements had been detected but it was too early to assess their size or importance. He said a very large and capable Russian force still remained close to Ukraine.

    In Kiev, Yatsenyuk described Russia’s announcement of troops pull-out as “bluffing.”

    “Even if the troops are withdrawing, Russian authorities are still assisting the armed terrorists who were trained in Russia,” he said.

    ***************************************

    Même Rasmussen s’y met.
    On notera l’empilement des restrictions… limited activity, suggests , may be , preparing to withdraw (ouf !)…

    Rasmussen says Russian troops may be preparing to withdraw from Ukraine’s border
    http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/rasmussen-says-russian-troops-may-be-preparing-to-withdraw-from-ukraines-b

    NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that limited activity by Russian troops is observed on the Ukrainian-Russian border, which suggests that these forces may be preparing to withdraw.

  • Washington cuts Egypt aid despite intense Israeli lobbying -
    Haaretz
    By Jonathan Lis, Reuters and The Associated Press | Oct. 10, 2013
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.551666

    he United States’ decision to freeze military and economic aid to Egypt in the wake of a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood came despite intense Israeli lobbying to maintain it, Haaretz has learned.

    The U.S. on Wednesday announced that it would withhold deliveries of military hardware and cash assistance from Egypt’s military-backed government, pending progress on democracy and human rights.

    Israel fears that cutting aid to Egypt could affect the peace treaty between the two countries, signed in 1979, which brought Cairo into Washington’s sphere of influence. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel.

    In recent months, Israel has tried to convince the White House that punishing Egypt for the latest violence between the government and protesters was secondary to preserving the peace deal.

    “As long as the American aid flows to Cairo, the Egyptian regime can ward off criticism against preserving the peace treaty with Israel,” Israeli officials told their U.S. counterparts.

    Security establishment officials have maintained in recent weeks that cooperation with the Egyptian government should continue, despite the violence used against demonstrators. They say Jerusalem’s and Cairo’s common interest – fighting the Muslim Brotherhood – was much more important.
    An Israeli cabinet member said Thursday morning that he believes that the decision would not affect Israel-Egypt relations.

    “I hope this decision by the U.S. will not have an effect and won’t be interpreted as something that should have an effect,” Home Front Minister Gilad Erdan told Army Radio. Israel and Egypt, he said, maintain close ties and are cooperating.

    • http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/world/middleeast/obama-military-aid-to-egypt.html?hp&pagewanted=all&_r=1&

      (...)

      But in a sign of how the administration is balancing its interests, senior officials said the United States would continue aid for counterterrorism programs as well as for Egypt’s efforts to protect its borders and secure Sinai, which has become a haven for extremists.

      In announcing the decision, administration officials reiterated that the Egyptian military’s brutal repression of supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, was not acceptable. But in explaining their specific steps, American officials sounded as if they were reaffirming a valuable relationship rather than delivering a rebuke.

      “This is not meant to be permanent; this is meant to be the opposite,” a senior administration official said. “It is meant to be continually reviewed.” Still, the official added, “it’s fair to say that holding up hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance is a pretty clear message.”

      Among the assistance that will be untouched, officials said, are programs to train and educate Egyptian military officials in the United States; the delivery of spare parts for many American-supplied weapons; and aid for health care, education and the promotion of business in Egypt.

      The administration conveyed the news in a phone call on Wednesday from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the army chief who led the ouster of Mr. Morsi. American officials portrayed the phone call as friendly.

      The administration also continued to take the position that it was not obligated to classify Mr. Morsi’s ouster as a coup — a judgment that could have required a wholesale suspension in aid. The aid that the administration is holding back, officials said, could be restored if Egypt’s interim leaders take steps toward restoring democracy.

      The announcement laid bare the underlying calculations that have shaped the United States’ effort to respond to the upheaval in Egypt ever since the crackdown began in July, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.

      American officials have long doubted that cutting back military aid would have any effect on the behavior of Egypt’s military-backed government. The United States also does not want to jeopardize security interests in Egypt, notably counterterrorism efforts, the stability of the Sinai Peninsula and the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

      Critics on Capitol Hill, however, said the administration was failing to send a signal to leaders who seized power in a coup, imposed martial law and carried out a systematic repression of the Islamist opposition.

      “The administration is trying to have it both ways, by suspending some aid but continuing other aid,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who is chairman of the subcommittee that appropriates aid to Egypt. “By doing that, the message is muddled.”

      Some experts said the moves were meant to be more symbolic than substantive.

      “This is not a signal to the generals to get their act together,” said Tamara Cofman Wittes, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. “It is an effort by the administration to say, ‘You did what you did, and we want to keep working with you, but there is some price to be paid for not listening to us.’ ”

      “At the end of day,” she added, “it is a pretty symbolic price.”

      ...

  • No heavy military hardware at N. Korea’s anniversary parade | NK News – North Korea News

    http://www.nknews.org/2013/09/no-heavy-military-hardware-at-n-koreas-anniversary-parade

    No Kim Jong Un speech or heavy military parade at 65th anniversary of the DPRK
    military-parade-dprk

    by Chad O’Carroll , September 9, 2013


    A military parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of North Korea took place in Pyongyang on Monday, but without the display of heavy military hardware often associated with commemorative parade ceremonies in the DPRK.

    The parade, which took place in Kim Il Sung Square, featured no missile, artillery or tank displays, instead focusing on formation displays led by reserve soldiers from the Worker Peasant Red Guards – not seen at anniversary drills since September 2008.

    #corée_du_nord

  • Le développement de l’internet, l’informatique et le logiciel libre est du pain béni pour les régimes autoritaires du monde entier et leurs bienveillants protecteurs européens et américains :

    everything a regime would need to build an incredibly intimidating digital police state—including software that facilitates data mining and real-time monitoring of citizens—is commercially available right now. What’s more, once one regime builds its surveillance state, it will share what it has learned with others. We know that autocratic governments share information, governance strategies and military hardware, and it’s only logical that the configuration that one state designs (if it works) will proliferate among its allies and assorted others. Companies that sell data-mining software, surveillance cameras and other products will flaunt their work with one government to attract new business. It’s the digital analog to arms sales, and like arms sales, it will not be cheap. Autocracies rich in national resources—oil, gas, minerals—will be able to afford it. Poorer dictatorships might be unable to sustain the state of the art and find themselves reliant on ideologically sympathetic patrons.

    And don’t think that the data being collected by autocracies is limited to Facebook posts or Twitter comments. The most important data they will collect in the future is biometric information, which can be used to identify individuals through their unique physical and biological attributes. Fingerprints, photographs and DNA testing are all familiar biometric data types today. Indeed, future visitors to repressive countries might be surprised to find that airport security requires not just a customs form and passport check, but also a voice scan. In the future, software for voice and facial recognition will surpass all the current biometric tests in terms of accuracy and ease of use.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424650479285218.html

  • Part 7: SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Sunday, 10 June 2012

    The Syrian Network for Human Rights and Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies have documented more than 700 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan on 10-06-2012, including live gunfire, artillery shelling, raids, and attacks on peaceful civilians. As a result, many people were killed, others were wounded and some were arrested.
    ===============

    ====
    Lattakia: 36 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 9
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 3
    – Shelled Areas: 6
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 6

    Al-Hiffeh+ Dafeel: heavy machinegun fire and shelling by the regime’s army amid power cut and communications blackout in addition to gunfire.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcul4uCY6ns


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-74GbMyUw0

    Al-Hiffeh: the regime’s army burns the woods
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4L0jbJ0CFs

    Babna+ al-Jinkeel: helicopters hover over the area
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqFB-vgDPs

    Kansaba: shelling
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snKij8QCTvw

    ====
    Raqqa and Rural Raqqa: 28 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 5
    1- al-Mashlab+ al-Thakana+ al-Mansour+ Rumeila+ al-Rasheed Park+ al-Wadi+ al-Fardous+ al-Qitar Street: security forces are deployed in those areas.
    2- Al-Shuhada Square+ Husein Jahid Square+ As-Sa’a Square+ Bab Baghdad+ State Security Square+ Jesr Al-Mansour+ Al-AMasi Road Intersection+ Al-Batani+ Al-Khider Road Intersection+ As-Sawami’e Square+ Al-Byatra: regime’s army forces deployment, sand barricades and snipers.
    ====
    Tartous: 2 violation point of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 1
    Banyas: security forces are deployed and checkpoints are stationed there.

  • SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Friday, 8 June 2012

    The Syrian Network for Human Rights and Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies have documented more than 820 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan on 08-06-2012, including live gunfire, artillery shelling, raids, and attacks on peaceful civilians. As a result, many people were killed, others were wounded and some were arrested.

    Areas that witnessed violations of the Plan are:
    ====
    Daraa: 96 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    Arrests: 15 at least
    Victims: 6
    Protests that were fired at: 5
    Gunfire Cases: 9
    Shelled Areas: 4
    Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 11
    Time internationally prohibited weapons have been used: 1

    ====
    Damascus and Rural Damascus: 400 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 31 at least
    – Victims: 21
    – Protests that were fired at: 16
    – Gunfire Cases: 80
    – Shelled Areas: 18
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 37
    – Time internationally prohibited weapons have been used: 1

    ====
    Homs and Rural Homs: 84 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 20
    – Victims: 12
    – Protests that were fired at: 1
    – Gunfire Cases: 6
    – Shelled Areas: 17
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 19
    – Time internationally prohibited weapons have been used: 1

    ==========
    Aleppo and Rural Aleppo: 15 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 2
    – Protests that were fired at: 7
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 1
    ====
    Hama and Rural Hama: 80 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: at least 8
    – Victims: 2
    – Protests that were fired at: 22
    – Gunfire Cases: 29
    – Shelled Areas: 3
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 2
    ====
    Idleb and Rural Idleb: 35 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 3
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 6
    – Shelled Areas: 4
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 7
    ====
    Deir Ezzor: 54 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 3
    – Protests that were fired at: 1
    – Gunfire Cases: 11
    – Shelled Areas: 5
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 6

    Al-Bu Kamal: the army forces open gunfire
    ====
    Lattakia: 51 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 5
    – Protests that were fired at: 1
    – Gunfire Cases: 9
    – Shelled Areas: 14
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 6
    ====
    Raqqa and Rural Raqqa: 31 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 7
    ====
    Tartous: 3 violation point of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 1
    ====
    Al-Hasakah: 8 violation point of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 0
    – Victims: 2
    – Protests that were fired at: 2
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 0

  • SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Wednesday, 6 June 2012 - PART 8
    ======================

    Tartous: 2 violation point of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 1
    1- Banyas: security forces are deployed and checkpoints are stationed.
    ====
    Al-Hasakah: 6 violation point of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 1
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 1
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 0

    Al-Nashwa al-Gharbia: security forces open gunfire.
    Al-Houl: water was cut off for more than 20 days.
    Qahtanya: security forces presence.
    ====

  • SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Wednesday, 6 June 2012 - PART 7
    ======================
    Raqqa and Rural Raqqa: 54 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: 3
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 1
    – Gunfire Cases: 0
    – Shelled Areas: 0
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 7
    1- al-Mashlab+ al-Thakana+ al-Mansour+ Rumeila+ al-Rasheed Park+ al-Wadi+ al-Fardous+ al-Qitar Street:
    http://youtu.be/xUfPFsUOhwg


    http://youtu.be/4dzmbC0pBWo

    2- Al-Shuhada Square+ Husein Jahid Square+ As-Sa’a Square+ Bab Baghdad+ State Security Square+ Jesr Al-Mansour+ Al-AMasi Road Intersection+ Al-Batani+ Al-Khider Road Intersection+ As-Sawami’e Square+ Al-Byatra: regime’s army forces deployment, sand barricades and snipers.
    http://youtu.be/7BAYN3HdFXk

    http://youtu.be/jkkOdSml6KQ

  • SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Wednesday, 6 June 2012 - PART 6
    ======================

    Lattakia: 40 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 13
    – Protests that were fired at: 1
    – Gunfire Cases: 5
    – Shelled Areas: 4
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 6
    Al-Hifeh: shelling by regime’s army and military reinforcements.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldl5TinwbUs


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldl5TinwbUs

    Kansaba: shelling by the regime’s army.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vDUJIQP2wE

    ====

  • SNHR & DCHRS | Syria| Mr Annan’s Plan Violation Points*| Wednesday, 6 June 2012 - PART 5
    ============================
    Deir Ezzor: 76 violation points of Mr Annan’s Plan.
    – Arrests: unconfirmed
    – Victims: 0
    – Protests that were fired at: 0
    – Gunfire Cases: 22
    – Shelled Areas: 2
    – Times heavy military hardware were spotted: 17

    Mayadeen: gunfire by heavy and medium weaponry by the regime’s army.
    Al-Sh’eetat/al-Hwaija: the regime’s army burns down properties.
    http://youtu.be/baY7ca9adsA


    http://youtu.be/1eueHyClEeg

    Mo Hasan/al-Huseinya: snipers target citizens.
    ====