The existence of such "killer robots" is worrying Christof Heyns, the United Nations envoy on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Presenting a report in Geneva, he called for a ban on developing robots which could identify and kill without any human input. "Time is of the essence. Trying to stop technology is a bit like trying to stop time itself - it moves on," he said. "Autonomous robots should be seen as neither a good thing nor a bad thing, [ Rich Walker, managing director of the Shadow Robot Company] told The Independent. "It's the way they are deployed."
By DAVID FRANCIS, The Fiscal Times June 3, 2013 The number of contractors working in Afghanistan now vastly outnumbers American troops stationed there, according to a Congressional Research Service report. CRS, along with the Government Accountability Office, also determined that the Pentagon is unable to properly document the work these contractors are doing. And the information DOD is receiving is often unreliable and inaccurate.
The shocking fact at a time of austerity is that EU military expenditure totalled €194 billion in 2010, equivalent to the annual deficits of Greece, Italy and Spain combined. "Despite the clear evidence of the cost of high military spending, military leaders continue to push a distorted and preposterous notion that European Union’s defence cuts threaten the security of Europe’s nations. NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen “has used every occasion to cajole alliance members into investing and collaborating more in defense.” "
BBC / Jorn Madslien 6 jun 2011 "Corruption in the arms trade contributes roughly 40% to all corruption in global transactions," the think tank said in its 2011 yearbook. The problem could be tackled by a global arms trade treaty, Sipri said The industry's "deep and abiding link to matters of national security obscures many deals from oversight and accountability", according to yearbook authors Andrew Feinstein, Paul Holden and Barnaby Pace.
In the Obama years, US Africa Command has also built a sophisticated logistics system, officially known as the Africom Surface Distribution Network, but colloquially referred to as "the new spice route". Its central nodes are in Manda Bay, Garissa and Mombasa in Kenya; Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda; Bangui and Djema in the CAR; Nzara in South Sudan; Dire Dawa in Ethiopia; and the Pentagon's showpiece African base, Camp Lemonnier.
A response to Nick Turse’s “Terror Diaspora” Horace G. Campbell 2013-08-08, Issue 642 " it is part of the propaganda to make the issue of terrorism in Africa bigger than it really is." "In Africa, the U.S. cannot compete economically with emerging economies, such as China and Brazil, so they manipulate the ideas of terror and brute force to sustain their influence" Where is the peace movement when the military and foreign policy establishment pressure the executive and the legislative branches of the government to provide arms to the Jihadists in Syria and then proclaim that they are fighting the same Jihadists in Somalia and Mali? Al Qaeda operatives were recently arrested in Spain while recruiting fighters for the rebels in Syria. America’s support for Syrian rebels thus shows that the U.S. might be supporting in Syria groups with links to the same Al Qaeda it seeks to kill elsewhere. "
The debate about what happened at Masada is conducted with such energy and venom in Israel because it symbolises two views of the country and its present policies. These are as relevant in 1997 as when Josephus wrote 2,000 years ago. One is that Israel is a besieged fortress whose defenders must fight to the end against an implacable enemy. The other, upheld by Professor Ben-Yehuda, is that today, as in the past, the refusal to compromise of such extremists as the Sicarii at Masada and the leaders of the doomed revolt against Rome bring only death and destruction to the Jewish people. -- Patrick Cockburn, Independent March 1997
Canadian authorities on Thursday sent armed paramilitaries wearing camouflage and carrying high-powered rifles to clear out a group of anti-fracking protesters who’ve blockaded a gas exploration site since Sept. 30, area media reported.
The attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya last month by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants has underscored the need for enhancing U.S. engagement with the African continent, said senior American officials in an online press conference. “It highlighted to us that we were pursuing the right strategy and proved that we had to bolster that strategy,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs of the US State Department.
Another unintended victim of game-changing Iran attack By Phil Muncaster, 11th November 2013 The infamous Stuxnet malware thought to have been developed by the US and Israel to disrupt Iran’s nuclear facilities, also managed to cause chaos at a Russian nuclear plant, according to Eugene Kaspersky.
The revelation came during a Q&A session after a speech at Australia’s National Press Club last week, in which he argued that those spooks responsible for “offensive technologies” don’t realise the unintended consequences of releasing malware into the wild. Video adress: https://www.youtube.com/6tlUvb26DzI
DPA/ The Hindu 26.11. 2013France plans to send 1,000 troops to the Central African Republic to support African soldiers battling to prevent the former French colony from sliding into chaos, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday. The Central African Republic has been mired in a humanitarian crisis since the Seleka coalition of militias rebelled against the government in December and overthrew then—president Francois Bozize in March. "The rebel alliance was officially disbanded in mid—September but has been refusing to disarm and has continued to attack villages. About 400,000 of the country’s 4.5 million people have been displaced and scores of civilians have been killed.
RT December 11, 2013 “One can experiment as long as one wishes by deploying non-nuclear warheads on strategic missile carriers. But one should keep in mind that if there is an attack against us, we will certainly resort to using nuclear weapons in certain situations to defend our territory and state interests,” Rogozin, the defense industry chief said on Wednesday speaking at the State Duma, the lower house. He pointed out that this principle is enshrined in Russia’s military doctrine. Any aggressor or group of aggressors should be aware of that, he said. “We have never diminished the importance of nuclear weapons – the weapon of requital – as the great balancer of chances,” Rogozin sRussia’s Fund of Perspective Researches (FPI) will develop a military response to the American Conventional Prompt Global Strike (PGS) strategy, Dmitry Rogozin told the State Duma. aid.
R. Skenderović. Scrinia Slavonica : Godišnjak Podružnice za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje Hrvatskog instituta za povijest, 5 (1):
115--143(September 2005)