ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By Eric Margolis President Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about the dangers of the military-industrial complex made half a century ago ring as loud and clear today. The soft coup being mounted against the Trump government by America’s ‘deep state’ reached a new intensity this week as special interests battled for control of Washington. The newly named national security advisor, Lt Gen Michael Flynn, was ousted by Trump over his chats with Russia’s ambassador and what he may or may not have told Vice President Pence. The defenestration of Flynn appeared engineered by our national intelligence agencies in collaboration with the mainstream media and certain Democrats. Flynn’s crime? Talking to the wicked Russians before and after the election. Big, big deal. That’s what security advisors are supposed to do: keep an open back channel to other major powers and allies. This is also the job of our intelligence agencies. There is no good or bad in international affairs. The childish concept of ‘g...

Click to see the full-size image The USS America LHA-6 successfully completed combat systems ship qualification trials (CSSQT) on February 3rd, in preparation for its first overseas deployment at the head of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit/Amphibious Ready Group (MEU/ARG). The vessel went to sea several times in January to conduct training exercises in the run-up to its future deployment, testing different mixes of aviation assets to be fielded on the new class of ship. The USS America is classified as a Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA), and lacks a well deck to launch and recover LCACs or AAVs. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps have to determine exactly how to best utilize the new vessel as an integrated component of an MEU/ARG. There was no small amount of controversy over the new vessel when it was first proposed. Many senior officers in the USMC argued that an amphibious assault ship meant to head an MEU/ARG must have amphibious assault capability. Without a well deck, t...

It would appear the mainstream media (along with several celebrities and Swedish politicians) is going to be apologizing to President Trump once again. Having spent the entire new cycle trying to ignore the immigrant crisis facing Sweden, and pin the ignorant tail on Trump, both Dagbladet and Expressen reports riots breaking out in the highly immigrant concentrated Stockholdm borough of Rinkeby, Sweden with police firing warning shots as 100s of young people throw stones and burn cars. During the evening hundreds of young people gathered in the center of Rinkeby, well known for its high concentration of immigrants and people with immigrant ancestry. In June 2010, Rinkeby was the scene of riots and attacks against the local police station and Rinkeby is the region in which the ’60 Minutes’ crew were attacked in 2016. The problems Sweden faces integrating large numbers of Muslim immigrants is a subject on which Nordstjernan columnist Ulf Nilson has written many times. His warnings of ...

FILE PHOTO The so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF, in other words rebranded fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units), supported by the US Air Power and the US Special Forces, have seized 4 more villages from ISIS terrorists in the countryside of Raqqah. US-backed forces have taken control of al-Ferar, Kassar, Terfawiyah and Sabah al-Khayr in the countryisde of Raqqah. SDF units also attacked the ISIS-held areas of Mokha and Tell Shair. Clashes are now ongoing there. SDF fighters also reportedly captured an ISIS suicide bomber near Kassar:

By David Price With members of the CIA and NSA leaking materials on Michael Flynn’s communications with Russian officials, we are witnessing a slow boiling domestic coup that will transform American governance and the Executive Branch’s relationships with intelligence agencies. It remains to be seen whether these moves signal broader attacks on the Presidency by agencies long accustomed to taking out administrations threatening the Agency’s perceived interests. This moment tells us more about the CIA revolting against a particular administration than it does about Trump’s people engaging in unusually diabolical-illegal activities designed to undermine an outgoing administration. We know enough about Reagan’s pre-election dealings with Iran to know that the CIA and NSA knew about these transactions, yet these agencies were content to remain silent; apparently glad to see Carter ousted and welcoming a new era of unparalleled “peace time” military and intelligence spending. Similarly, Ame...

This map shows the military situation in Daraa. Pro-militant media sources dissiminate a fresh infographics allegedly depicting the casuatlies of the Syrian army during clashes in the Manshiyah neighborhood of the city of Daraa in southwestern Syria. According to the infographics, 30 government troops, including 12 officers, had been killed, 2 battle tanks, two 23mm guns and a buldozer belonging to the Syrian army had been destroyed. The joint forces of the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) had allegedly captured a 14,5mm gun and tank projectiles. Meanwhile, sporadic firefights have been ongoing in Manshiyah. Since launching an advance in the area earlier this month , the joint militant forces have seized a number of building from government troops. But the militant advance faced a deadlock and now sides are engaged in a positional warfare in an urban area.

Originally appeared at ZeroHedge Threatening to destabilize the tentative improvement in Sino-US relations achieved in recent days following Trump’s recent concession over the “One China” policy, was the US deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) to the disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday as part of maritime “routine operations”, according to an announcement posted on the Vinson’s Facebook page. Sailing with the 97,000-ton Vinson is the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, the Navy said in a statement. The Vinson carries a flight group of more than 60 aircraft, including F/A-18 jet fighters. The deployment comes just one day after China wrapped up its own naval exercises in the South China Sea on Friday, CNN reported . War games involving its own aircraft carrier have unnerved neighbors with which it has long-running territorial disputes. US aircraft carrier operations in the South China Sea are not unusual. Almost a year ago, the USS John C...

REUTERS/RODI SAID The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have seized 5 more villages from the ISIS terrorist group in Syria. On February 19, SDF units retook Bir Shamawi, Fetatish, Sabah al Khayr, Azman and Shuwayhan in the areas east of the ISIS self-proclaimed capital of Raqqah. These advances are a part of a wider effort aimed to isolate the ISIS stronghold and to set a foot-hold for a direct storm of the city. Meanwhile, ISIS continues to implement a mobile defensive approach, avoding a direct confrontation against SDF units, backed up by the US Special Forces and the US Air Force. Meanwhile, the terrorist group is preparing to defend the city of Raqqah itself.