Obama’s Hazy Sense of History

By Victor Davis Hanson

AUGUST 28, 2014 

For the president, belief in historical predetermination substitutes for action. 

President Obama doesn’t know much about history.

In his therapeutic 2009 Cairo speech, Obama outlined all sorts of Islamic intellectual and technological pedigrees, several of which were undeserved. He exaggerated Muslim contributions to printing and medicine, for example, and was flat-out wrong about the catalysts for the European Renaissance and Enlightenment.

He also believes history follows some predetermined course, as if things always get better on their own. Obama often praises those he pronounces to be on the “right side of history.” He also chastises others for being on the “wrong side of history” — as if evil is vanished and the good thrives on autopilot.

When in 2009 millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest the thuggish theocracy, they wanted immediate U.S. support. Instead, Obama belatedly offered them banalities suggesting that in the end, they would end up “on the right side of history.” Iranian reformers may indeed end up there, but it will not be because of some righteous inanimate force of history, or the prognostications of Barack Obama.

Obama often parrots Martin Luther King Jr.’s phrase about the arc of the moral universe bending toward justice. But King used that metaphor as an incentive to act, not as reassurance that matters will follow an inevitably positive course.

Another of Obama’s historical refrains is his frequent sermon about behavior that doesn’t belong in the 21st century. At various times he has lectured that the barbarous aggression of Vladimir Putin or the Islamic State has no place in our century and will “ultimately fail” — as if we are all now sophisticates of an age that has at last transcended retrograde brutality and savagery.

A Step Closer to Brexit?

Peter Sutherland

AUG 27, 2014 

Peter Sutherland, Chairman of the London School of Economics and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for International Migration and Development, is former Director General of the World Trade Organization, EU Commissioner for Competition, and Attorney General of Ireland.

LONDON – The referendum on Scottish independence, due on September 18, comes at a time of growing opposition in the United Kingdom to remaining in the European Union. This is significant, because Scotland is the strongest base of pro-European sentiment in the UK.

For example, a poll conducted earlier this year determined that if a referendum on continued EU membership had been held in June in the UK as a whole, 47.1% would have voted to leave, with 39.4% voting to remain. But a poll in February 2014 showed that in Scotland, 48.7% would vote for the UK to remain in the EU, with 35.4% voting to leave. Other polls have also shown a consistent and markedly more positive attitude toward the EU in Scotland than in England.

Of course, it is premature to draw any firm conclusions from these figures. The referendum on exiting the EU that Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed may not take place, regardless of the success (whatever that may mean) of his promised “renegotiation” of the terms of British membership. But, as a result of various ostensibly minor issues, the likelihood of a British exit seems to be increasing – which fundamentally alters the importance of the vote in Scotland.

For example, the proposal of the relatively unknown Jonathan Hill, the leader of the UK House of Lords, as the British member of the new European Commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker was just the latest in a long series of British EU errors. Cameron’s spokesmen said in July that, at his first meeting with the new Commission president, Cameron would seek a prestigious portfolio, such as the internal market, for Hill. Juncker’s office coldly replied that important portfolios in the new Commission would go to major political figures, and that Juncker “does not owe [Cameron] anything.”

Given Cameron’s opposition to Juncker’s candidacy for the Commission presidency, the abuse to which Juncker has been subjected by the British press, and Hill’s lack of centrality within British politics, Cameron may be justifiably nervous when Juncker announces his appointments to the new Commission. Juncker, after all, has many senior politicians to accommodate, and their approval by the European Parliament is no minor matter. And, though it was perhaps unsurprising that Cameron should be unenthusiastic about Juncker’s candidacy, the vehemence of his opposition was extraordinary.

Cameron no doubt wished to reassure those in his Conservative Party who doubt his euroskeptic zeal. Even so, Cameron’s supposed remark that the UK was more likely to leave the EU if Juncker’s candidacy succeeded was strange and disquieting, not least because any renegotiation of the terms of British membership will be carried out primarily with other member states, not with the Commission.

Ebola Vaccine Will Do Little for Current Crisis

Kent Sepkowitz
08.28.14

Ebola Vaccine Will Do Little for Current Crisis

The National Institute of Health announced today that human trials of the Ebola vaccine will begin next week. But it won’t be ready in time for the West Africa’s crisis.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the branch of the NIH that oversees investigations into infections ranging from Ebola to AIDS to Lyme, announced today that the first of a series of vaccine trials aimed at preventing acquisition of Ebola will be launched next week.

The first trial will be conducted in 20 healthy, uninfected volunteers at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. They will be enrolled into the trial three people at a time with frequent monitoring of the vaccine safety. Later this year, a related vaccine will be studied, again in a small number of healthy uninfected volunteers, in Great Britain and in the African countries of Mali and Gambia, which are unaffected by Ebola but which have strong healthcare infrastructures. Very preliminary talks also have commenced to conduct a trial in Nigeria, which has seen more than a dozen Ebola cases during the current outbreak.

The news is surely encouraging, coming as it does on the heels of the news from WHO, which now is preparing for an epidemic of up to 20,000 people, including the 3,000-plus infected thus far, with 1,552 deaths.

Yet NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci was very careful to state that for the current outbreak in West Africa, the best approach will not be the vaccine or any new treatments, but rather the approach being used today and last week and last month and last year: early diagnosis, prompt isolation, and use of “personal protective equipment” including gowns, gloves, and masks.

Bibi Netanyahu’s Secure “Red Phone”

Peter Koop

August 28, 2014

Another “red phone” for the Israeli prime minister

In an earlier posting on this weblog we took a look at the phones used by the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which included an eye-catching red one. In some more recent pictures we can see that this red phone has apparently been replaced by an interesting looking white telephone.

Although this device itself is white, it has a rarely seen but very distinctive feature: a red curly cord for the handset and also a red cable for the phone line. The buttons are also surrounded by some kind of red overlay:

The dark gray phone at the left is a more common Nortel M3904 executive phone - a model which is also used at the NSA headquaters and at the office of the British prime minister. Nortel was a big Canadian telephone equipment manufacturer, but was dissolved in 2009.

The white telephone with the red cord also appears on a side table in the seating corner of Netanyahu’s office, where before there was only a black phone. The latter is a more common Telrad Executive Phone 79-100-0000 from the Israeli telecom equipment manufacturer Telrad. This phone is also in the office of the Israeli defense minister and therefore it seems to be part of the (non-secure) internal phone system of both ministries.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

settle into their seats in Netanyahu’s office, January 2, 2014.

Opinion: A New Era in Anti-Submarine Warfare

By: Lt. Cmdr. Jeff W. Benson, USN

August 27, 2014

China and Russia’s submarine forces are flexing their prowess in the undersea domain by operating further from their respective country’s homeport – in some cases within striking distance of the United States.

Given the expansion in operations, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms on both coasts of the United States will be required to monitor and defend the nation more frequently.

Foreign submarine operations near the homeland are not necessarily immediate threats, but do require careful thought as the Navy prepares to execute future ASW missions. As budget and naval policymakers continue to plan for the future, ASW must remain a high priority for either homeland or overseas defense. The good news is that the U.S. Navy has new platforms and technology coming online that can provide a significant advantage in the undersea domain.

China.

An undated photo of a Jin-class Type 94 nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). PLAN Photo

Adm. Sam Locklear, Commander, Pacific Command, earlier this year stated, “China’s advance in submarine capabilities is significant. They possess a large and increasingly capable submarine force.” China has expanded their undersea reach as evident in this year’s deployment of a Chinese nuclear submarine to the Indian Ocean. The deployment demonstrates extended submarine operations and the capability for China to deploy nuclear submarines within ballistic missile launch range of the United States, within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), or potentially closer to territorial waters. As China continues sustained undersea operations, proficiency will likely improve with time as well.

Here Comes the Pentagon's New Space Plane

By Robert Beckhusen

August 28, 2014

XS-1 is a drone for launching small satellites

We’re entering a new era of space flight. The result—if all the new toys in development work—will be cheaper, lighter and more frequent travels into space.

One example is the XS-1, a program to build a space plane led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Last week, Northrop Grumman—which is competing with Boeing and Masten Space Systems for a final contract—revealed a concept for its version of the craft.

It’s designed to be unmanned and capable of lifting small and medium-size satellites into space—like a tiny, sub-orbital drone version of the Space Shuttle—before arching back down to Earth.

“It would be a spacecraft that most resembles what people see in the movies,” Brian Weeden, a former officer with the Air Force’s Space Command, tells War is Boring.

Right now, in order to launch a satellite, NASA has to spend around $55 million per single-use rocket launch. But DARPA’s goal is to develop a reusable space craft that can handle a quick space flight—at $5 million per launch.

Instead of spending months planning to launch a single rocket in a limited window of time, the XS-1 could be ready again in days—or even hours. DARPA’s goal is even more radical. The agency wants a plane that can carry out 10 launches in as many days.

“If we could pull it off, it would enable much cheaper and faster access to space,” Weeden says. “Something that many people see as the key to opening up space development.”

THE C-130: FEEDING THE NEEDFUL BEAST

Peter Munson

August 28, 2014 

War is a needful beast, consuming vast amounts of things. Munitions. Construction materials for protecting fragile bodies from munitions. Or to build boardwalks and nail salons that protected minds from the war going on outside the construction material. Vehicles and other equipment. Petroleum, oil, and lubricants — lots of them — to feed the vehicles and equipment. And people. People to run the vehicles and equipment, to fire the munitions, to walk on the boardwalk, to absorb the munitions (hence the term “bullet sponge”), and to eat — MREs and water, if you are a bullet sponge. TGI Friday’s if you are a board walker. Add food and water to the list.

The business of feeding the beast is called logistics. The staff types puff, “Amateurs talk strategy, but professionals talk logistics.” These professionals dream of iron mountains and bringing a little slice of America to the world — such as obesity, for example. They call this being expeditionary. One example of being expeditionary is that troops at a fixed base somewhere in Iraq once only could buy Lays potato chips at the exchange because the convoy full of Pringles was destroyed by insurgents. A Marine infantry unit kept watch over the convoy to the laconic midday accompaniment of insurgent mortar fire until Graves Registration or some such unit could arrive to prise from the cabs of the trucks the charred bodies of contract drivers who gave their lives for Pringles. Professionals call Pringles “Class VI,” defined as personal-demand items. When amateurs hear Class VI, they think of booze, since that is what the booze store on base is called. Only in the States though. There was no alcohol allowed in Iraq or Afghanistan. That would detract from the war effort.

War is needful of things and the Class VI store is needful of customers so, during the Korean War, the staff types determined that the best thing for that would be an aircraft designed from the ground up as a combat transport. Thus was born the C-130, which first flew on August 23, 1954, 60 years ago this week. The C-130 was to war as blood doping was to a cyclist’s career. They both contributed significantly to expanding the frontiers of the sport. Anyone who has been to war after Korea has probably ridden somewhere on a C-130 and almost certainly has seen a C-130 landing at (or at least headed for) some small, obscure patch of dirt or sand where before only trucks or helicopters could go.

The C-130 is an amazing aircraft and those of us who flew it developed a relationship with it approaching friendship or perhaps even love. We talked to the planes, patted them on the nose before getting in the saddle, petted the glare shield between their ears during difficult rides, noted their temperaments, and cooed and cajoled them into doing things they didn’t really want to do long after they should have been done doing such things. But like once-magnificent, ever-proud steeds, they kept on at it into the arthritic throes of age, until a new generation came along to follow the trail they blazed.

The two generations conducted their relief-in-place during another era of American wars. The youngsters came in fresh and eager. A decade later, they have aged well beyond their years, ridden far harder than the staff types ever expected. But, like their forebears, they are a proud and reliable lot. Old, or new, a C-130 at work is a practical and purposeful thing. Its collection of systems make a symphony of hums, rattles, roars, and hisses while it goes about its business. This collection of systems has enabled the C-130 to do all manner of things, and do them well: landing or air dropping troops and cargo, refueling jets and helicopters and now a strange hybrid of the two, turning night into day with hours’ worth of flares, and even loosing ordnance on the heads of unsuspecting enemies.

Navy with a mission in mind

By George F. Will 
August 27

Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former President Gerald R. Ford christens the Navy's newest nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. (Steve Helber/AP)

Russia’s ongoing dismemberment of Ukraine and the Islamic State’s erasing of Middle Eastern borders have distracted attention from theharassment of U.S. Navy aircraft by Chinese fighter jets over the South China Sea. Beijing calls this sea, and the Yellow and East China seas, the “near seas,” meaning China’s seas. The episodes involving aircraft are relevant to one of Adm. Jonathan Greenert’s multiplying preoccupations — CUES, meaning Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.

This is designed to prevent incendiary accidents, a topic of special interest during this month’s centennial commemorations of the beginning of a war that, ignited by miscalculations, ruined the 20th century. Greenert, chief of naval operations, has carrier-based aircraft flying from the Persian Gulf to targets in Iraq. He is, however, always thinking about the far side of the largest ocean.

George F. Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977. He is also a contributor to FOX News’ daytime and primetime programming.

One hundred years ago, the principal challenge of world diplomacy, which failed spectacularly, was to peacefully integrate a rising, restless power — Germany — into the international system. Today’s comparable challenge is China. Greenert, who knows well his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Wu Shengli, radiates a serene patience about China.

Today the Chinese have one primitive aircraft carrierbuilt from a hull bought from Ukraine. Greenert says China is about 10 years away from having a seriously large and capable carrier with excellent aircraft. By which time, optimists hope, China will accept the need for orderliness on the seas over which pass 90 percent of the world’s trade (by volume) and beneath which, through cables, pass 95 percent of international phone and Internet traffic.

Libya's interim government resigns under pressure

Aug 29, 2014

The interim government, operating in the east of the country to avoid the Islamist militias which have a strong presence in Tripoli, said yesterday it "presented its resignation to the elected parliament", which is based in Tobruk, 600 kilometres east of the capital, also for security reasons. (AP Photo)

BENGHAZI: Libya's toothless interim government, led by prime minister Abdullah al-Thani, announced it had tendered its resignation to the elected parliament, days after a rival Islamist administration was created. 

The interim government, operating in the east of the country to avoid the Islamist militias which have a strong presence in Tripoli, said yesterday it "presented its resignation to the elected parliament", which is based in Tobruk, 600 kilometres east of the capital, also for security reasons. 

The announcement came three days after Libya's general national Congress, officially replaced by the parliament elected in June, on Monday named pro-Islamist figure Omar al-Hassi to form a "salvation government". 

The Islamist-dominated GNC convened in Tripoli following an appeal by Islamists groups which contest the legitimacy of the parliament based in Tobruk. 

"The GNC dismissed Abdullah al-Thani as head of government and gave Omar al-Hassi a week to form a salvation government," GNC spokesman Omar Ahmidan told journalists in Tripoli on Monday. 

Islamists called for the GNC to reconvene after they accused parliament of complicity in air raids last week on Islamists battling to capture Tripoli international airport from the nationalist Zintan militia. 

The Islamists claimed to have seized the airport and television pictures on Monday showed them apparently running rampage and celebrating their capture of the facility. 

In its resignation statement the Thani government said it hoped parliament, which it described as "the only legitimate authority in the country", would form a new government "representing all Libyan people... and capable of re-establishing security and building a lawful state". 

That will also be the wish of the international community which has become increasingly concerned at the chaotic situation in Libya. 

The outgoing administration denounced the move to create an alternative Islamist government. 

"It's an act of rebellion against the legitimacy of parliament which is recognised by the international community," it said.

FBI investigates cyber attack on US banks

James Moore

Aug 29, 2014

The attack on JP Morgan reportedly resulted in the loss of “gigabytes of sensitive data” that could have involved customer and employee information. 

The FBI is investigating a suspected Russian cyber attack on a number of American banks. Hackers are believed to have targeted JP Morgan and at least four other banks in the US, amid increasing concern over cyber security from watchdogs on both sides of the Atlantic. 

The attack on JP Morgan reportedly resulted in the loss of "gigabytes of sensitive data" that could have involved customer and employee information. It is said to have been of a level of sophistication beyond ordinary criminals, leading to speculation of a state link. 

The FBI is thought to be investigating whether there is a connection to Russia. American-Russian relations continue to be fraught amid the crisis in Ukraine, with sanctions ramped up. 

The bank is understood to have been in touch with executives in London to see if there is any link to its UK operations, but so far the attack, which happened earlier this month, is thought to have affected only the US. But watchdogs are increasingly worried about the city's potential vulnerability to an aggressive state-backed hack. 

A spokesman for JP Morgan said: "Companies of our size unfortunately experience cyber attacks nearly every day. We have multiple layers of defence to counteract any threats and constantly monitor fraud levels." 

JP faced criticism in April when it blocked a payment from a Russian embassy to the affiliate of an American-sanctioned bank. Russia's foreign ministry described the move as "absolutely unacceptable, illegal and absurd". 

That led to speculation that the bank would face some form of retaliatory action. UK watchdogs say sophisticated hackers have changed tack recently, using publicly available information and a more pinpoint approach to find a way through or around banks' security walls. The tactic has also affected European banks.

One released from Ebola surveillance, 229 under watch

ZUBEDA HAMID

One passenger who travelled from Ebola-hit Sierra Leone to Tamil Nadu has now been released from health surveillance, after 30 days of monitoring.

As of Thursday, a total of 229 passengers who have travelled from the four countries where the deadly virus has broken out, are being monitored across the State, said director of public health K. Kolandaisamy. Of these, 227 passengers passed through Chennai airport and two at Madurai.

Among the 229 are 11 students from two city colleges, who had travelled to their home countries recently. However, all of them are in good health and show no signs of the virus, Dr. Kolandaisamy said.

“They are just being observed as a precautionary measure,” said an official from one of the colleges.

While there are dozens of students from various parts of Africa in the State, only a few fall into the category for observation, as the others have remained here for a while and could not have been exposed to the virus, Dr. Kolandaisamy explained.

A majority of the passengers — 222 — are from Nigeria, while five are from Guinea, one from Sierra Leone and one from Liberia.

The passengers will all be monitored for 30 days since the date of their leaving these countries, as the virus has an incubation period that could be anything between two and 21 days. A total of 15 passengers travelled to other states from Chennai, and are being tracked by their respective State health departments.

Across the country, 821 passengers are being tracked for Ebola as of Wednesday. Besides Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala too account for a lot of the passengers

For any information on the virus, residents can contact the health helpline 104.

Obama tamps down prospect of strikes in Syria

APPresident Barack Obama gestures in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday.

President Barack Obama played down the prospect of imminent U.S. military action in Syria on Thursday, saying “we don’t have a strategy yet” for degrading the violent militant group seeking to establish a caliphate in the Middle East.

Mr. Obama spoke shortly before convening a meeting of his national security advisers on a range of Pentagon options for confronting the Islamic State group. However, he said his strategy would require more than military action and called for a regional strategy that includes political support from other countries in the region.

In blunt terms, the President said it was time for Middle Eastern nations to “stop being ambivalent” about the aims of extremist groups like the Islamic State.

“They have no ideology beyond violence and chaos and the slaughter of innocent people,” Mr. Obama said, alluding to the group’s announcement last week that it had killed American journalist James Foley. The militants also have threatened to kill other U.S. hostages.

The U.S. already is striking Islamic State targets in Iraq, and officials have said the president is considering similar action in neighbouring Syria in the wake of Foley’s death. The militants have moved with ease between the two countries, effectively blurring the border.

“The suggestion has been that we’ll start moving forward imminently and somehow Congress, still out of town, will be left in the dark,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s not what’s going to happen.”

The surprise move threw his policy into chaos. Congress balked at Mr. Obama’s request for a vote, contributing to his decision to ultimately scrap the strikes. The White House said it also abandoned plans to take military action after Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpiles.

This time, with the midterm elections just over two months away, lawmakers may be even less inclined to take a politically risky vote on military action.

“I see no reason to come to Congress because, if he does, it’ll just become a circus,” Rep. Steve Cohen said this week.

There are some notable exceptions in both parties. Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, a frequent critic of the administration’s foreign policy, has said Congress should “certainly” authorize any military action in Syria. Sen. Tim Kaine, a White House ally, has also called for a vote on the president’s broader strategy for going after the Islamic State.

“I am calling for the mission and objectives for this current significant military action against ISIL to be made clear to Congress, the American people, and our men and women in uniform,” said Kaine, using one of the acronyms for the militant group. “Congress should vote up or down on it.”

EU mull more Russia sanctions after alleged Ukraine incursions

Western leaders are to mull further steps against Russia in the coming days including sanctions, after satellite images backed up NATO’s allegation that Russian combat forces are engaging in military operations in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s “alarming” situation will be the focus of an informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Friday in Milan, said Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

“The images, captured in late August, depict Russian self-propelled artillery units moving in a convoy through the Ukrainian countryside and then preparing for action ... in the area of Krasnodon,” NATO said.

NATO estimated that more than 1,000 Russian solders were fighting among pro-Russian separatists, while insurgents conceded the number to be up to 4,000.

The pictures, sourced from an independent firm named Digital Globe, are “only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall scope of Russian troop and weapons movements,” the alliance said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the increasing Russian presence a military invasion and cancelled plans to attend the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He met with his security council and called on Ukrainians to remain calm and united, “We are capable of protecting ourselves.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said tougher sanctions against Russia would be considered on Sunday at an EU summit.

In a phone conference, Ms. Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed “that Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine” and on the need for added sanctions, Mr. Obama said. They reaffirmed intentions to work for a diplomatic solution.

Mr. Obama said the current sanctions have already made Russia “more isolated than at any time since the end of the Cold War” with capital flight and a shrinking economy.

Answering a reporter’s question in Washington, Obama declared that U.S. “military action” in Ukraine — or a U.S.-Russia “military confrontation” — was “not in the cards”. But he warned that his visit to Estonia ahead of the NATO summit next week in Britain will let alliance members large and small “know that we mean what we say with respect to our treaty obligations”. “Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but a number of those states that are close by are,” he said.

Mr. Poroshenko is to visit Mr. Obama next month in Washington.

The Ukrainian military said it had largely lost control of cities in the country’s south-eastern border region, where Washington has said that Moscow has opened a second front in the conflict with rebels advancing toward Mariupol, a key port city near the Russian border.

“As separatists have become under pressure, we have seen a real upsurge of Russian activities,” said Brigadier General Nico Tak, director of NATO’s crisis centre in Mons, Belgium.

He said Russian combat troops “equipped with sophisticated heavy weaponry” were operating inside Ukraine, with “large quantities of advanced weapons” being transferred to the pro-Russian separatists.

Russian involvement is becoming “more and more overt,” Mr. Tak said, calling the allegation of 1,000 Russian soldiers a conservative estimate.

Ebola disease caseload could reach 20,000: U.N.

APPeople stand on the shoreline near a sign reading 'NO DUMPING', amongst rubbish at West Point, a area heavily effected by the Ebola virus, with residence not being allowed to leave West Point, as government forces clamp down on movement to prevent the spread of Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia, on August 27, 2014.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is accelerating and could grow six times larger to infect as many as 20,000 people, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The U.N. health agency unveiled a new road map for containing the virus, and scientists are fast-tracking efforts to find a treatment or vaccine.

Ebola has menaced Africa for 40 years, but previously struck in remote villages and was contained fairly quickly. This time, it has spread to major cities in four countries, provoking unrest as whole neighbourhoods and towns have been sealed to the outside.

An experimental vaccine developed by the U.S. government and GlaxoSmithKline will be tested on humans starting next week, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced on Thursday. The NIH trial will use healthy adult volunteers in Maryland, and British experts will simultaneously test the same vaccine in healthy people in the U.K., Gambia and Mali.

Preliminary results on the vaccine’s safety and its effectiveness could be available in months.

Scientists also announced that they have mapped the genetic code of this strain of Ebola to better understand how it kills. In a study published on Thursday in the journal Science, researchers traced an explosion of cases in this outbreak to a single funeral in Guinea in May.

They hope to use the genetic mapping to track mutations that could become more worrisome the longer the outbreak lasts, and make a difference in how doctors spot and fight the disease as vaccines are developed.

The outbreak has now killed at least 1,552 people among 3,069 reported cases in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and the real caseload in urban areas could be two to four times higher. Meanwhile, an entirely separate Ebola outbreak has killed 13 of 42 people sickened in a remote area of Congo, in Central Africa, the agency said.

With about a 50 per cent mortality rate among those known to be infected, the overall death toll could reach 10,000 in the worst-case scenario.

“I think that’s completely unacceptable,” said the agency’s emergency operations director, Dr. Bruce Aylward.

The WHO’s new plan would cost $489 million to support 750 international health workers and 12,000 national ones. It aims to stop Ebola transmission in affected countries within six to nine months to prevent the spread of any new infections within eight weeks of a case being identified anywhere in the world and improve the public health responses to Ebola in any nation with major transportation hubs or borders shared with affected countries.

With the world’s support, medical workers hope to take “the heat out of this outbreak” within three months, Mr. Aylward said.

The U.N. agency’s announcement was immediately criticized by Doctors Without Borders, a medical charity running many of the treatment centres in West Africa.

“The WHO road map is welcome, but it should not give a false sense of hope. A plan needs to be acted upon. Huge questions remain,” the charity’s operations director, Bruce de le Vingne, said in a statement. “States with the capacity to help have the responsibility to mobilize resources to the affected countries, rather than watching from the sidelines with a naive hope that the situation will improve.”

Containment is key, but it has to be done carefully, in ways that don’t cause panic or hamper the response, the agency said.

The WHO has supported the quarantine of sick people, and said cordoning off entire neighbourhoods can be useful, as long as civil rights are respected. But it has called on airlines to resume flights to affected countries, since Ebola is unlikely to spread through air travel. Health checks at airports should provide sufficient protection while still enabling humanitarian workers to get in.

The Rand Paul Doctrine: Don’t Get Involved

BY DAVID FRANCIS,

The Fiscal Times

August 26, 2014

At the height of the Iraq crisis, as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) surrounded a mountain where Iraqi Christians and other minorities had taken refuge, one loud voice on the American public policy scene was silent. As President Obama launched air strikes that eventually allowed the Yazidis to leave Mount Sinjar, Rand Paul had nothing to say.

Paul’s silence was understandable; he is as close to an isolationist as the Republican Party has seen in decades. In recent years, Paul has criticized the White House’s decision to intervene in Libya, has been against efforts to stop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has criticized Obama in general for getting America involved in foreign affairs.

Even before the Mount Sinjar crisis, Paul had advocated against sending American troops to Iraq to protect diplomatic facilities, a practice common around the world. In June, he penned an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal advocating that American do nothing in Iraq.

Bill Kristol: Rand Paul's foreign policy "would be a lot...

Laura Ingraham, Bill Kristol, foreign policy, Rand Paul, Obama

"What would airstrikes accomplish?" he asked. "We know that Iran is aiding the Iraqi government against ISIS. Do we want to, in effect, become Iran's air force? What's in this for Iran? Why should we choose a side, and if we do, who are we really helping?"

However, as a shrewd politician, Paul knew that Republican voters would not forgive him for advocating this position as groups of Christians were slaughtered by jihadists. So he kept his mouth shut.

His rivals did not. Rick Perry, the Texas governor who appears poised to make a second run at the White House, slammed Paul.

Related: Rick Perry and Rand Paul Slug it Out in Prep for 2016

“[I]t’s disheartening to hear fellow Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), suggest that our nation should ignore what’s happening in Iraq,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry wrote in a July op-ed.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a longtime hawk who has been openly critical of Paul and other isolationist upstarts within the GOP, also was critical of Paul’s refusal to engage. Paul is “part of a wing of the party that has been there prior to World War I that is a withdrawal to 'Fortress America.'"

A Military Post-Mortem on the 50 Day War Between Hamas and Israel

Déjà Vu In Gaza

August 27, 2014

In July 2014 Hamas thought they could risk another war with Israel and come out the winner (to the Arab world at least). Despite public warning from Israel that the Israeli armed forces were much better prepared to deal with Hamas tactics, Hamas went to war anyway, confident that they had enough new tricks to stay ahead of the Israelis. Hamas quickly discovered that the Israelis were a lot quicker and better coordinated than in the past. This has happened before, to both the Israelis but mainly to the Arabs.

Case in point was a Hamas attempt to use their scuba equipped “naval commandos” to make an underwater assault on an Israeli seaside base just north of Gaza. The Hamas commandos were quickly spotted by Israeli sensors monitoring offshore waters, which automatically sent the contact information to the new Israeli computerized command and control system. This automatically sent the alert (along with location and other data) to land, naval and air vehicles within range. That meant that before the Hamas men hit the beach they were being tracked by an Israeli tank gunner, an armed UAV overhead and a nearby warship. The closest infantry unit sent troops to the beach the Hamas men appeared to be moving towards. The five Hamas men refused to surrender to the Israeli troops waiting for them on the beach and in a brief gun battle all five were killed. One Israeli soldier was wounded and this (and the fact that the Hamas men made it onto the beach) was, by Arab standards a victory. A week later Israel released details of what had happened to the Hamas frogmen.

At that point Hamas was discovering that many of their other new tactics, like dozens of deep tunnels into Israel and numerous new ideas for hiding and launching rockets from residential areas and public buildings (schools, hospitals and mosques) were not only known to the Israelis but were captured by Israeli aerial video cameras. Hamas also discovered that the Israelis had better information on where the Hamas leaders were hiding out and a lot more of these fellows were getting killed than during past conflicts. Hamas also found that their attempts to force Israel to kill a lot more Palestinians during efforts to halt the rocket attacks were compromised by Israeli warnings to civilians (often via telephone) to get out when the rockets hidden in their building were about to be destroyed by smart bombs or missiles. The saddest aspect of all this was that Hamas had been warned.

Months before the July war began Israel revealed that because of new technology and weapons the air force could now hit more targets in 24 hours than it did in 33 days (during the 34 day war with Hezbollah in 2006). For Hamas Israel pointed out that it would now hit in less than 12 hours the number of targets it took seven days to find and attack during the week-long 2008 war with Hamas. This was all part of a technological revolution the Israeli armed forces has been undergoing since the 1990s. Since the 2006 war with Hezbollah those changes have been accelerating.

Expose on Israel’s Powerful Defense Industry

Markus Becker 

August 27, 2014 

Factory and Lab: Israel’s War Business 

Casual attitudes towards weapons: An Israeli soldier kisses his Merkava tank along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. 

Israel invests more money in research than most other countries — and in no other place are research institutes, the defense industry, the army and politics as interwoven. The result is a high-tech weapons factory that successfully exports its goods globally. 

There’s not much left of the high-tech car. In a warehouse about the size of an aircraft hangar, its remains look tiny. There are no wheels, no chassis, just the angular body of the car. And it’s not in good shape at all. There’s a gaping hole in its side with edges of lacerated metal. “Rocket-propelled grenade,” says Yoav Hirsh, smiling. Had a person been inside, he or she would likely not have survived the blast. But there was no one behind the wheel: The Guardium is a fully automated vehicle.

Pride radiates from Hirsh — who has a mix of gray and white hair, an athletic frame and a determined look on his face — when he talks about his cars. He’s the CEO of G-Nius, one of first companies in the world able to produce an army of robot fighters. The Guardium has been used since 2007 in patrols along the border of the Gaza Strip. It can be guided by remote control or can steer itself through a pre-selected route as its cameras and sensors capture data about the surroundings.

G-Nius: Rolling Robots for Israel’s Military

“Guardium already has 60,000 hours of operations behind it,” Hirsh says. “And it has saved many lives.” He says the aim is to complete “missions without any risk to the soldiers.” But in addition to saving lives, G-Nius vehicles can also destroy them, using remote-control weapons systems mounted on top of the unmanned vehicles. Hirsh notes that, although the weapons-equipped vehicles haven’t yet been used, they are deployable. In another warehouse, a standard Ford F350 pick-up truck is parked, one equipped with its own weapons station. The cameras and sensors are real but the machine gun is a dummy. “We’re a civilian firm, after all,” Hirsh says.

G-Nius is a textbook example of the way technology is created in Israel. The company’s headquarters are located in the High-Tech Park development in the city of Yokneam in northeastern Israel, surrounded by numerous other technology firms. It’s a joint venture of the space and electronics firm Elbit Systems and the state-owed aviation and defense company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It also has excellent ties with the military.

'Combat Proven'

Inspired by ISIS, Violent Splinter Group Leaves the Pakistani Taliban

IHSANULLAH TIPU MEHSUD and DECLAN WALSH

August 27, 2014

Hard-Line Splinter Group, Galvanized by ISIS, Emerges From Pakistani Taliban

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban has suffered its second major split in three months, with militant leaders this week confirming the emergence of a hard-line splinter group inspired by the success of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The new group, known as Jamaat-e-Ahrar, is composed of disaffected Taliban factions from four of the seven tribal districts along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, according to a video released by the group. Counterterrorism experts said the group was effectively controlled by Omar Khalid Khorasani, an ambitious Taliban commander with strong ties to Al Qaeda.

Mr. Khorasani’s faction, which is based in the Mohmand tribal agency near Peshawar, had emerged as one of the most active Taliban elements this year. It is believed to have carried out a bombing in Islamabad that sought to derail peace talks between the Taliban and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government.

The formation of Jamaat-e-Ahrar is one of the most serious internal threats to the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, since it was formed seven years ago.

PAKISTAN’S HOT SPOTS AT A GLANCE

Main theaters of conflict in northwestern Pakistan.

In a lengthy video statement explaining the decision to break away, Mr. Khorasani said the Taliban had become undisciplined and suffered from factional infighting. “This was devastating for our movement,” he said.

The new group also represents a challenge to the authority of the main Taliban leader, Maulana Fazlullah, who gained control of the insurgency last year after his predecessor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in an American drone strike.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the new group, which is formally called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-e-Ahrar, said the new group had become “the real T.T.P.” and would refuse to take orders from Mr. Fazlullah.

“Now the T.T.P. is ours, not theirs,” Mr. Ehsan said in a phone interview. Mr. Fazlullah’s Taliban faction has come under heavy assault by the Pakistani military in the North Waziristan tribal district. The army said that since the start of the offensive in June, it had killed over 500 militants, although the figures could not be independently confirmed. On Aug. 15, a senior Pakistani general said that the operation was in its “final stages” and that most of the area had been cleared of militants.

Hard-line splinter group, galvanized by ISIS, emerges from Pakistani Taliban

Aug 27, 2014

The new group, known as Jamaat-e-Ahrar, is composed of disaffected Taliban factions from four of the seven tribal districts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, according to a video released by the group. 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban has suffered its second major split in three months, with militant leaders this week confirming the emergence of a hard-line splinter group inspired by the success of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. 

The new group, known as Jamaat-e-Ahrar, is composed of disaffected Taliban factions from four of the seven tribal districts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, according to a video released by the group. Counterterrorism experts said the group was effectively controlled by Omar Khalid Khorasani, an ambitious Taliban commander with strong ties to al-Qaida. 

Mr Khorasani's faction, which is based in the Mohmand tribal agency near Peshawar, had emerged as one of the most active Taliban elements this year. It is believed to have carried out a bombing in Islamabad that sought to derail peace talks between the Taliban and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government. 

The formation of Jamaat-e-Ahrar is one of the most serious internal threats to the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, since it was formed seven years ago. 

In a lengthy video statement explaining the decision to break away, Mr Khorasani said the Taliban had become undisciplined and suffered from factional infighting. "This was devastating for our movement," he said. 

The new group also represents a challenge to the authority of the main Taliban leader, Maulana Fazlullah, who gained control of the insurgency last year after his predecessor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in an American drone strike. 

Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the new group, which is formally called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-e-Ahrar, said the new group had become "the real TTP" and would refuse to take orders from Mr Fazlullah. 

"Now the TTP is ours, not theirs," Mr Ehsan said in a phone interview. Mr Fazlullah's Taliban faction has come under heavy assault by the Pakistani military in the North Waziristan tribal district. The army said that since the start of the offensive in June, it had killed over 500 militants, although the figures could not be independently confirmed. On Aug. 15, a senior Pakistani general said that the operation was in its "final stages" and that most of the area had been cleared of militants.

Pakistani soldiers patrol during a military operation against Taliban militants in the main town of Miranshah in North Waziristan. (AFP Photo)

The internal threat to the Taliban comes from ideological arguments and power struggles. 

‘Russian soldiers crossed Ukraine border by accident’

August 26, 2014 

Smoke from shelling rises over a residential apartment house in Shakhtarsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Monday, July 28, 2014. (Source: AP)

Ukraine's security service said that 10 Russian paratroopers were captured near the Ukrainian village of Dzerkalne.

Russian military sources quoted by state agencies on Tuesday said that Russian troops captured by Kiev and shown on Ukrainian television had crossed the border accidentally.

“The soldiers were really taking part in patrolling a section of the Russian-Ukrainian border, they crossed it most likely by accident, on an unequipped, unmarked section,” a defence ministry source was quoted as saying by three Russian news agencies.

A Russian defence ministry spokesman told AFP that he could not comment on the reports. Ukraine’s security service said on Monday that 10 Russian paratroopers were captured near the Ukrainian village of Dzerkalne.

The village is located about 20 to 30 kilometres from the border with Russia and 50 kilometres southeast of the rebel hub Donetsk. The defence ministry source quoted by the RIA Novosti, ITAR-TASS and Interfax news agencies, said that the soldiers “did not put up any resistance on capture as far as we know.”

Kiev and the US have repeatedly accused Moscow of stoking the separatist insurgency raging in its east but this is the first time Ukrainian authorities claimed to have taken captive soldiers from Russia’s regular army.

The Russian source claimed that a total of more than 500 Ukrainian troops had crossed over the border into Russia on a number of occasions, including in armed vehicles. Russia “did not make a huge fuss about it” and allowed them to cross back into Ukrainian territory, the source said.