ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The videos presented by the US Intelligence Community as evidence have staged scenes. Simple observations of the videos can verify this. This is exactly what a recent and modest study did. A detailed independent  report by Mother Agnes Mariam de la Croix and the International Support Team for Mussalaha in Syria (ISTEAMS) makes some important observations about what happened in the Damascene suburb of East Ghouta on August 21, 2013. The independent ISTEAMS study contradicts the assertions of the Obama Administration and the entire US Intelligence Community—a gargantuan network of sixteen different intelligence agencies that includes the standalone Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US Depart of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the Pentagon’s National Security Agency (NSA)—through simple observations of the video material that has been put forward as evidence by the United States. The ISTEAMS report does not deny that chemical weapons were used or that innoce

Somewhere in the Lester B. Pearson Building, Canada’s foreign affairs headquarters, must be a meeting room with the inscription “The World Should Do as We Say, Not As We Do” or perhaps “Hypocrites ‘R Us.” With the Obama administration beating the war drums, Canadian officials are demanding a response to the Syrian regime’s alleged use of the chemical weapon sarin. Last week Prime Minister Stephen Harper claimed “if it is not countered, it will constitute a precedent that we think is very dangerous for humanity in the long term” while for his part Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird declared: “If it doesn’t get a response it’s an open invitation for people, for Assad in Syria, or elsewhere to use these types of weapons that they’ve by and large refrained from doing since the First World War.” The Conservatives also signed Canada onto a White House statement claiming: “The international norm against the use of chemical weapons is longstanding and universal.” While one may wish this were

The Naval Update Map shows the approximate current locations of U.S. Carrier Strike Groups and Amphibious Ready Groups, based on available open-source information. No classified or operationally sensitive information is included in this weekly update. CSGs and ARGs are the keys to U.S. dominance of the world's oceans. A CSG is centered on an aircraft carrier, which projects U.S. naval and air power and supports a Carrier Air Wing, or CVW. The CSG includes significant offensive strike capability. An ARG is centered on three amphibious warfare ships, with a Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked. An MEU is built around a heavily reinforced and mobile battalion of Marines. Carrier Strike Groups The USS Nimitz CSG with Carrier Air Wing 11 embarked is conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR. The USS Harry S Truman CSG with Carrier Air Wing 3 embarked is underway in the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR supporting maritime security operat

In 1979, shortly after the revolution that established the current Iranian regime, Tehran broke off relations with the United States. Nearly 35 years later, it is now Iran that seeks to end hostilities. When they begin, direct public bilateral talks between Washington and Tehran will constitute a significant breakthrough. Major progress is unlikely anytime soon, however, especially since it is far more complicated for the United States to move forward than it is for Iran. Under its new president, Hassan Rouhani, Iran has issued a barrage of statements expressing eagerness to negotiate with the United States, a topic it finally appears to have achieved internal coherence on. In a Sept. 18 television interview with NBC, the first with an American news organization since taking office, Rouhani categorically stated that his country has never sought nuclear weapons nor will it ever in the future. He added that the Islamic republic sought peaceful relations with all countries. These comments

Fighting between security forces and armed groups in Kerdassah district leaves one policeman dead, state TV reports. Egyptian troops and police have stormed the Kerdassah district in the outskirts of Cairo to clear it of "terrorist elements", security officials said, amid clashes with armed groups based in the area. Vehicles carrying armed personnel were sent into the village on Thursday while army helicopters hovered above. The clashes have so far left one policeman dead, state TV reported. It said police forces took control of the area and imposed a curfew. Security troops launched an operation in the area to arrest people accused of torching police stations and killing about 11 security officers in clashes that erupted following the army's ouster of President Mohamed Morsi last July. Police forces were not allowed in Kerdasah since then. Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Cairo, said the operation began at about 3:00a.m. and was still ongoing. "Securit

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that Russia would rebuild a naval base in the Arctic and restart naval patrols in the region. Russia's interest in the Arctic has both an economic and security dimension, one which will only grow as the region will become more accessible in the coming decades. However, following through with such plans will be both technologically difficult and expensive, so for now such naval plans can be seen mostly as military posturing on the part of Moscow. Putin's statements came a few days after a convoy of 10 Russian warships successfully completed a journey from Severomorsk, near Finland, to Kotelny Island in the Novosibirsk Archipelago, a distance of over 2,000 nautical miles. This journey went through the Northern Sea Route along Russia's Arctic coastline, an important transit corridor increasingly used for commercial shipping. While just five years ago there were no ships that transited through this corridor, 495 ships have re

Islamabad/Brussels   |   18 Sep 2013 To consolidate democracy, Pakistan’s new parliament needs institutional reform and strong cross-party determination to fend off an interventionist military and over-reaching judiciary. In its latest report, Parliament’s Role in Pakistan’s Democratic Transition , the International Crisis Group examines the challenges facing a legislature still striving for full democratic sovereignty. In the midst of a security crisis, lingering extremism and a weakening economy, its authority is tested from many directions. Yet, the opportunities to consolidate democracy are real and legislative tools to address institutional challenges are more sophisticated than ever. The report’s major findings and recommendations are: The experience of the thirteenth National Assembly (2008-2013) demonstrated that threats to democracy from an interventionist military, ambitious judiciary and unreformed bureaucracy continue. The second phase of the democratic transition,

Pou r recadrer vite fait : Nous sommes le fin juin 1940. Face aux hordes nazies, la France est « à genou » elle à demandé l’armistice ! Les alliés Anglais nourrissent les plus grand es craintes face à la formidable force navale Française (la Royale) qui pourrait passer du côté obscure, du côté fasciste ! Hitler ayant la main basse sur n otre terre, Winston Churchill ordonne aux Français de neutraliser leurs navires de guerre, « La Royale » Française compte encore beaucoup de navires puissants hors de ses propres ports! Mer El Kébir est une ville d’Algérie, proche d’Oran et port militarisé par la France. Là nous avions les croiseurs de bataille : Dunkerque et Strasbourg (des monstres! ) , des cuirassés Le Bretagne et Le Provence, un porte hydravions, 6 contre-torpilleurs … juillet 1940, vers 7 h 00 du matin une escadre anglaise se présente devant Mers El-Kébir, les marins Français les connaissent très bien, ils ont fait ensemble de nombreux exercices. Les marins Français les