ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By John Vibes Earlier this month, it was reported that less than two weeks before the economic collapse of 2008 , several members of Congress took their money out of the stock market. Many high-ranking government employees were given a heads-up about the impending market crash in secret meetings with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. Then they used that information to engage in insider trading. It was revealed that Senator Shelley Capito and her husband sold $350,000 worth of Citigroup stock at $83 per share, just one day before the stock dropped to $64 per share. Another shady trader was Congressman Jim Moran, who had his biggest trading day of the year days after the secret meeting, sellings stock in nearly 100 different companies. These actions would be illegal for any American in any other circumstance, but members of Congress and high-ranking government officials are actually exempt from insider trading laws. Years later, a 60 Minutes investigation aired on televisi...

A week from now, when all of Russia's warplanes in Syria are blown out of the sky, Putin will scratch his head and think to himself: Why didn't I consider the threat of explosive, floating condoms? But by then it will be far too late. Via the greatest tabloid article ever to grace the Internet : BIZARRE footage has been released appearing to show ISIS fighters using bombs attached to blown up CONDOMS to try to bring down Russian fighter jets. The incredible three minute video shows jihadis putting together the explosives before releasing the contraceptives into the air. Said to take place in the Syrian town of Idlib, the scenes show the desperate levels the terrorists are going to try to stop Vladimir Putin's onslaught. The astonishing footage, which has religious chanting running over the top, begins with jihadis assembling the bombs in a room with Arabic writing on the walls. (Popular Science also reported on this irresponsible Takfiri condom use. So maybe it's ac...

A remarkably candid analysis by U.S. Navy Commander Garrett I. Campbell (also a fellow at the Brookings Institution) concludes that not only has Russia's military shown incredible competency in Syria, it has also done more with less — using “outdated” naval vessels to fire state-of-the-art cruise missiles with no western equivalent, for example. Some highlights from his article : Russia's Air Power Is Nothing to Sneeze At According to Campbell: The Russians are flying a significant number of sorties with recognizable successes. Current estimates range from 48 to 96 daily . This is a lot…… Can Russia sustain this level of air campaign? Maybe. Almost none of our NATO allies could match what Russia has done so far in the skies. Russia Does More With Less The Navy Commander also warns again dismissing Russia's naval capabilities: Russia's navy has been called “ more rust than ready .” But Russia is, impressively, retrofitting older vessels and procuring newer ones. And the...

The end of international law and diplomacy The end of the Cold War was welcomed as a new era of peace and security in which swords would be transformed into plows, former enemies into friends, and the world would witness a new dawn of universal love, peace and happiness. Of course, none of that happened. What happened is that the AngloZionist Empire convinced itself that it had “won the Cold War” and that it now was in charge. Of the entire planet, no less. And why not? It had built anywhere between 700 to 1000 military bases (depending on your definition of “base”) worldwide and it had split up the entire globe into several areas of exclusive responsibility named “commands”. The last time any power had mustered the megalomania needed to distribute various parts of the planet to to different commands was the Papacy in 1494 with its (in)famous “ Treaty of Tordesillas ”. And to make that point abundantly clear, the Empire decided to make an example and unleashed its power against tiny Yu...

The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces in Syria is based at the Hmeymim airbase at Latakia. The Russia’s aviation composed of the next warplanes and helicopters (based on the open source information): Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic strike fighter – 6 units Sukhoi Su-24M supersonic tactical bomber – 12 units Sukhoi Su-25SM subsonic attack aircraft – 12 units Sukhoi Su-30 supermaneuverable fighter aircraft – 4 units Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter – 12 units Mil Mi-8 transport helicopter – 4 units The attack and transport helicopters will be likely used for the rescue and humanitarian operations. Also, an unknown number of the Russian unmanned aerial vehicles “Orlan-10″ is based there.

The government forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as Russian forces now backing him, have a new enemy: Saudi Arabia’s clerics. As reported by the UK’s Daily Mail, in recent days the clerics declared jihad against Russian and Syrian forces following a plea to all Sunni Muslims to join in the fight against Assad. In all, more than 50 clerics and academics signed a joint statement that calls on Sunnis – Saudi Arabia’s dominant sect – to “hurry” into war-torn Syria to assist those seeking to topple Assad’s government. The Daily Mail reported that the call to Sunnis came just before a pair of rockets were launched at the Russian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, an Assad stronghold, which alarmed many who had gathered in support of Moscow’s intervention . The paper reported further: Hundreds of Syrians had reportedly met … to back Russia’s air war in Syria before the shells were fired towards the building in the Mazraa neighbourhood. One witness said both rockets a...

Please scroll down for video Muslim migrants set fire to the Brezice refugee camp and proceed to take selfies. Check it out — he’s making the victory sign… The migrants demand that they be allowed to continue their journey on to Austria and beyond. This camp is in Slovenia, where now there are more Muslim migrants than actual Slovenians. What illness has overtaken Merkel, Cameron, et al and most of all the media? Look at the headlines — no mention of who set the camp ablaze, but if it had been a European, hellzapoppin (via pamelageller.com.  “Fire breaks out at Slovenia refugee camp housing thousands” RT‎ “Fire Destroys Part Of Refugee Camp Hosting Thousands Of People,” Huffington Post‎ “Fire tears through Slovenian camp housing thousands of migrants,”  Daily Mail‎ V ŽIVO: Migranti zažgali brežiški center, nato delali selfije V sprejemnem centru v Brežicah je zagorelo, nastal je kaos – Migranti so zakurili ognje in za gorivo porabili tudi šotore, g...

By Moon Of Alabama  Yesterday the Syrian Arab Army supported by Iraqi and Iranian forces and the Russian air force launched a surprise attack to the south and east of Aleppo. Progress at the beginning was rapid but resistance has by now grown and the current progress is at a slower and more sustainable pace. As the front lines are constantly moving the the news about actual positions vary. An excellent map of the ongoing operation via  TexMapMaker1 . (Again with green=insurgents, red=Syrian government and allied forces) There are three important axis. The first one (the upper left marked 1 and 2 in the map) towards the besieged cities Nubl and Al-Zahra developed when earlier this week foreign paid insurgents lost some of their positions north-east of Aleppo in fighting with the Islamic State. The SAA took the opportunity of that fighting in the area to extend its position towards the besieged cities. Extending that position to relief the cities would also cut off the sup...

China’s Type 99A2 (the most modern version of the Type 99 accepted into service in 2001), is one of two tanks in this series of articles which cannot be genuinely called an independent design. The tank’s design is based on T-72 tank which has proven itself all around the world, with the addition of a new welded turret and improved armored protection, both passive and reactive, and an improved set of electronics. Type 99A2 uses an automatic loader, which reduces its crew to three and increases its rate fo fire to seven shots per minute. Moreover, this tank has a unique feature in the form of an active laser suppression system, capable of literally blinding enemy soldiers and damaging observation systems.

Editor's choice 15.10.2015 Yemen Map of War – Oct. 9-15, 2015 Written by Akram abu Abs exclusively for SouthFront Saudi coalition airstrikes continue in the northeastern provinces of Yemen. After losing… Editor's choice 09.10.2015 Yemen Map of War – Oct. 1-8, 2015 Written by Akram abu Abs exclusively for SouthFront Airstrikes by the Saudi coalition against the Houthi alliance have increased in… Editor's choice 01.10.2015 Yemen Map of War – Sep.16-30, 2015 Written by Akram abu Abs exclusively for SouthFront The Saudi-led coalition is still unable to gain a major military success despite… Hot 15.09.2015 Yemen Map of War – Sep. 15, 2015: Saudi-led Coalition Advances to Capture al Jawf and Sa’ada The US-backed Saudi coalition advances to capture al Jawf and Sa’ada. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic… Editor's choice 07.09.2015 Yemen Map of War – Sep. 7, 2015: The War Escalates The US-backed coalition have been expanding Yemen war by exercising more airst...

This is the newst update of the ‘U.S. Carrier Strike Groups Locations Map’ exclusive series showing the approximate locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups on a weekly basis. SouthFront, Analysis & Intelligence tracks locations of U.S. aircraft carriers using the available open-source information. No classified information was used in production of the map. A carrier strike group (CSG) is an operational formation of the United States Navy. It is centered on an aircraft carrier and a carrier air wing (CVW) of 65 to 70 aircrafts. It’s composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers and/or frigates. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships and a supply ship. Carrier strike groups comprise a principal element of U.S. power projection over the world’s oceans.

Executive Summary While Russia’s air campaign against Islamist militants in Syria is continuing and even stepping up the pace of attacks (now with attack helicopters entering into the fray), the heightened level of military activity in the Southern Military District and the upsurge in materiel deliveries, both to the Syrian military and to the Russian contingent in Syria, suggests that Russia is weighing the possibility of an increased ground participation in the fighting to support Bashar al-Assad’s government. Some on-the-ground participation is already evident, in the form of TOS-1A Solntsepyok armored flamethrowers and apparently also heavy MRLs. Elsewhere the Russian military is continuing its modernization programs that increase the quantity of modern weapon systems in its inventory, including of many of the weapons that have proved their worth in the Syria fight. Strategic Forces 1. The seventh Borey-class SSBN to be laid down in December 2015 Location: Severodvinsk The ship wil...