ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

In an exclusive report today, Reuters dropped a bombshell that needs to be echoed far and wide by the alternative media because it won’t get much play at all in the so-called “mainstream media”: Namely, top U.S. spy officials do not agree with the CIA’s assessment Russia tried to disrupt the presidential election in favor of President-elect Donald J. Trump. Here’s the crux of the report : The overseers of the U.S. intelligence community have not embraced a CIA assessment that Russian cyber attacks were aimed at helping Republican President-elect Donald Trump win the 2016 election, three American officials said on Monday. While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) does not dispute the CIA’s analysis of Russian hacking operations, it has not endorsed their assessment because of a lack of conclusive evidence that Moscow intended to boost Trump over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, said the officials, who declined to be named. The position of the ODNI, which overs...

WRITTEN BY: USAFEATURESMEDIA Germany is the latest European nation to suffer an Islamic terrorist attack, with the deaths of more than 12 people and wounding of dozens more in a crowded Christmas market on Monday after an ISIS operative driving a stolen Polish truck slammed into them, al la Nice, Paris-style. In the wake of the attack, political opponents in Germany have begun pointing the finger of blame at Chancellor Angela Merkel, over her policy of allowing millions of Middle East migrants into the country. GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a backlash after 12 people were killed when an attacker ploughed through innocent revellers at a Christmas market in a truck. The country’s far-right leaders have blasted the chancellor’s “open-door” immigration policy for sparking the attack in Berlin – and even her own party is putting the boot in. “These are Merkel’s dead,” Marcus Pretzell, chairman of the Alternative for Germany party in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, p...

WRITTEN BY: USAFEATURESMEDIA  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in a New Year’s address to his nation, said the country is close to testing its first intercontinental ballistic missile, just as the administration of Donald J. Trump prepares to take office. Kim Jong Un said North Korea is in the “last stage” of preparations to test-fire an inter-continental ballistic missile, refusing to slow his nuclear arms development as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in Washington. Kim made his remarks in a New Year televised address as he outlined his country’s military achievements for the past year, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests under Kim and launched a series of long-range rockets. North Korea “will continue to strengthen its ability based on nuclear might to mount a preemptive attack,” Kim said during a half-hour speech that touched on a range of issues, including economic policy and relati...

WRITTEN BY: USAFEATURESMEDIA While much of the country remains rural and mired in corruption, China poured more resources into its military during the past year, making several advances. As noted by the Asia Times, the People’s Liberation Army, Navy and Air Force all saw important upgrades in technology and capability during 2016, including the recent launch of the country’s first aircraft carrier. The Asia Times noted further : As 2016 drew to a close, China flexed its military muscle with the high-profile dispatch of its lone aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, to an area of the western Pacific in a carrier battle group formation. Seven warships accompanied the carrier – three destroyers, three frigates and a supply ship. Contrary to many western China analysts’ who said the Chinese carrier would take many years to deploy, Chinese state media trumpeted naval drills as a sign the the carrier will ready for combat operation sooner than expected. “Compared with other countries, China has p...

Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have entered the Industrial district west of al-Karamah in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul in the Iraqi province of Nineveh. ISF is aiming to liberate the area from ISIS terrorists. An intense fighting is ongoing there. Earlier this week, ISF allegedly liberated the areas of al-Arkoob and al-Saada located southeast of Tell Kepe. While ISF claims that al-Arkoob and al-Saada are under full control of government forces, there are indications that ISIS units are still able to operate in the area. Click to see the full-size map