ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

It's not just the chilling rhetoric. In the past five months, warships from both sides have done everything but ram one another. By Conn Hallinan A combination of recent events, underpinned by long-running historical strains reaching back more than 60 years, has turned the western Pacific into one of the most hazardous spots on the globe. The tension between China and the United States “is one of the most striking and dangerous themes in international politics,” says The Financial Times’ longtime commentator and China hand, Gideon Rachman . In just the past five months, warships from both countries—including Washington’s closest ally in the region, Japan—have done everything but ram one another. And, as Beijing continues to build bases on scattered islands in the South China Sea, the United States is deploying long-range nuclear capable strategic bombers in Australia and Guam . At times the rhetoric from both sides is chilling. When Washington sent two aircraft carrier battle grou

By Gareth Porter In a stunning diplomatic surprise, Turkey and Iran have announced a preliminary agreement on fundamental principles for a settlement of the Syrian conflict. The dramatic turn in the diplomacy of the Syria War was revealed in Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s regular weekly speech to the ruling AKP Party in the parliament and confirmed by a senior Iranian foreign ministry official Tuesday. Both Yildirim’s speech and the Iranian corroboration were reported Tuesday by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and Al-Hayat, Arabic-language newspapers published in London, but the potentially pivotal development has been unreported thus far in Western news media. The common approach to a Syria settlement outlined by Turkey and Iran represent what appears to be the first significant diplomatic break in a five-year international conflict on Syria that has been immune from any real peace negotiations up to now. International conferences on Syria under UN auspices have generated no real moves t

By Finian Cunningham Russia’s air raids in Syria, launched from Iranian territory this week, were received by Washington with a mixture of consternation and disappointment. Understandably, too. It marks a breakthrough in Russia’s standing in the Middle East. Russia is working closely in a quartet that includes Iran, Iraq and Syria. We can add Lebanon because of the cooperation on the ground in Syria with Hezbollah, which is one of the governing coalition partners in Beirut. Even Middle East countries, thought of as Washington’s partners, are showing a newfound appreciation of Russia and the leadership provided by President Vladimir Putin. The notably conciliatory relations between Turkey and Russia – in the wake of a failed coup that Ankara implicates a cleric who lives in the US in – speaks of a tectonic shift in regional geopolitics. VIDEO: Russian Tu-22M3 'Backfire' long-range bombers target ISIS from Iran base https://t.co/qBLEAisf8c pic.twitter.com/1NyLygpdG4 — RT (@RT_com

Editor’s Note: Here’s something the American establishment media isn’t touching with a ten-foot pole…  The leading Islamic newspaper in Turkey – and official government mouthpiece – has Tweeted the announcement that the United States must give Turkey its NUCLEAR WEAPONS at Incirlik air base or Turkey will take them.  This is CONFIRMED by the Washington Point and other news media through their reporters Tweeting too as shown below: UPDATE 10:28 AM EDT — This information is being broadcast on television inside Turkey.  This could be the single most important news story of all our lifetimes and it is developing very fast. If Turkey tries to proceed, it means immediate war with the United States and NATO ( via thedailysheeple.com ). Author: SuperStation95 

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Fallujah Police Directorate announced about finding ten ISIS prisons containing the bodies of 13 victims during a search operations in Fallujah. Fallujah Police Chief, Colonel Jamal al-Jumaili, in press statement said, “Security forces belonging to the army and police, during search operations in Fallujah discovered ten ISIS prisons inside civilians’ houses and government buildings in different areas of the city.” “ISIS was using the prisons to torture and execute the innocent civilians. 13 decomposed bodies were found inside the prisons,” he added. Jumaili further added, “The security forces are conducting search operations and securing the residential areas where the prisons were found. The prisons contained quarries and secret hideouts that were used by ISIS to hide the abductees for executing in the future.”

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh informed that an airstrike in Mosul carried out by the US-led international aviation killed at least 50 ISIS men and destroyed a chunk of their vehicles and other belongings. Sharing details about the incident, the source seeking anonymity said, “International coalition aviation jets today bomb ISIS headquarters at Masaref, Kahera, Ghabat and Somer in central Mosul, killing 50 men of the outfit.” “The airstrike also destroyed a number of ISIS headquarters and 22 vehicles of the outfit,” the source further added.

Some people say that the last time this happened was WTC towers in 2001. That was about half then - about $3.3 trillion they couldn't account for. The fact that no one's talking about this is alarming.  Here is the official full report from the OFFICE of INSPECTOR GERNERAL:   http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/report_summary.cfm?id=7034 07-26-2016   Financial Management Army General Fund Adjustments Not Adequately Documented or Supported (Project No. D2015-D000FL-0243.000) DODIG-2016-113 View printable version  We determined whether adjustments made to Army General Fund (AGF) data during the FY 2015 financial statement compilation process were adequately documented and supported. In addition, we assessed the internal controls over the compilation process.  The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management & Comptroller) (OASA[FM&C]) and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service Indianapolis (DFAS Indianapolis) did not adequately suppo

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to resolve disputes on the South China Sea by the middle of next year through using a regional framework of regulations. Senior officials from China and the 10-member grouping held a meeting in Manzhouli, a land port city in northern China, on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Chinese media reported. The DOC was signed in November 2002 as a code of conduct for all parties involved in the South China Sea issue. Both sides agreed to get the framework for the code of conduct done by mid-2017, and also approved guidelines for a China-ASEAN hotline for use during maritime emergencies, according to China Daily. They also agreed that a pact on unplanned maritime encounters, signed in 2014 by countries in the region, be applied to the South China Sea. A ship (top) of the Chinese Coast Guard is seen near a ship of the Vietnam Marine Guar