http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com Gail Force: Security and Defense Issues Today Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:19:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It was an interesting week.  The  Iraqis voted in a  nationwide election, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called 9/11 a “big lie” and the death of a beloved relative along with the sight of U.S. veterans returning to Iwo Jima for a 65th reunion caused me to stop and reminisce about ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/03/07/gailforce-week-in-review-%e2%80%93-iraqirangreatest-generation/ Yesterday I took a break from watching the Winter Olympics to read press accounts of a couple of Soviet Union ballistic missile tests conducted in the fall of 1987.  According to a report in the October 2, 1987 Washington Post, the warheads of one of the missiles fell into the ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/02/28/gailforce-annual-intelligence-threat-assessment-part-ii/ Last night I saw something I never thought I’d see, a televised war game.  Last week a DC think tank, The Bipartisan Policy Center, staged a war game with former members of government simulating the President’s staff dealing with a massive cyber attack against the United States.  CNN taped it ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/02/21/gailforce-cnn%e2%80%99s-cybershock-tv-special/ Last week I blogged about the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR); I thought this week I’d take a look at the Intelligence Community’s annual threat assessment.  The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dennis Blair presented the report before Congress on February 2.  I found it interesting that in spite of ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/02/16/gailforce-annual-intelligence-threat-assessment/ Last week there were two major events coming out of the Defense Department, the release of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and a recommendation by both the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy be repealed allowing gay ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/02/08/gailforce-qdrdon%e2%80%99t-ask-don%e2%80%99t-tell/ Over the weekend several newspapers ran articles on U.S. efforts to accelerate deployment of missile defenses in the Persian Gulf region.  According to the New York Times, the U.S. is providing 2 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) batteries each to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.  The U.S. is ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/02/02/topic-us-increasing-missile-defenses-in-the-gulf/ Topic:  Just a Typical Week in the World of Defense Issues   Last week was interesting but pretty typical for those involved with monitoring national security issues.  Osama Bin Laden crawled out from under whatever rock he’s been hiding under and claimed responsibility for the failed attack on Flight 253 on Christmas ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/01/25/gailforce-6/ Reflections of a Retired Baby Boomer   Topic:  Haiti:  U.S. Military Contributions   While watching the excellent media coverage of the Haitian earthquake last night, I noticed that many people are beginning to wonder why it was taking so long for U.S. military units and other nations and relief groups involved in the effort ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/01/16/gailforce-5/ Reflections of a retired Baby Boomer   Topic:  Obama and the Intelligence Community   On Thursday, President Obama and his staff discussed the findings of their internal review of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack.  They concluded there was not a failure to share information such as was seen in the pre 9/11 days; ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/01/09/gailforce-4/ Note:  I wrote this opinion piece last week but was unable to load on the web site due to problems with my travel computer.   Reflections of a retired Baby Boomer   Topic:  Pregnant Soldiers   When I woke up the day after Christmas and checked the morning news, I was very happy to hear, General ... http://defense.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/01/03/gailforce-3/