ON THE FIGHT
Daniel Trombly, on why we won’t intervene to seize or otherwise render-safe Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile.
A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara yesterday, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. Several American and Turkish staff at the embassy were struck by debris, Department of State spokeswoman Vicky Nuland said. The spokeswoman said a Turkish visitor to the embassy was in “serious condition” following the blast, which Turkish Interior Minister said was carried out by a member of an far-left violent extremist group. Nuland said the staff members struck by debris were treated at the embassy clinic and released. The White House said the suicide attack was an “act of terror,” but the motivation was unclear.
Fox News, on the looming threat of al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb:
"With the U.S. military now planning a new drone base to track extremists in northern Mali, senior U.S. intelligence officials confirmed Thursday that the Al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa aspires to strike more U.S. and other western targets in the region. This includes "hardened" targets such as diplomatic and military facilities, as well as "soft" targets, such as American citizens working in North Africa. The warning follows the deadly terrorist strike on an Algeria gas plant in which dozens of hostages, including three Americans, were killed.
Senior U.S. intelligence officials said that in the aftermath of the Algeria crisis, the intelligence suggests Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb wants "to carry out more attacks against western interests." Officials were careful to emphasize there was no evidence of active, credible plots."
ON THE FORCE
The Marine Corps will require female Marines to do the same amount of pull-ups as males.
Africa Command — USAFRICOM — will be staying put in Stuttgart, Germany. Secretary Panetta has decided to reject the recommendation submitted late last year to shift USAFRICOM to either Norfolk, Va. or Tampa, Fla.
The Department of the Army has begun a sizable insourcing effort in the face of impending budgetary pressure and a continuing resolution that no one, even U.S. Special Operations Command, is sure will pass in time:
"SOCOM commander Adm. William McRaven warned the audience at the National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations conference that if Congress passes another continuing resolution to fund the Pentagon through the remainder of 2013, his Special Operations Command would likely lose about $1 billion in funding.
The continuing resolution “puts a greater constraint on us than I think sequestration will,” McRaven said, adding that “we don’t know what sequestration is going to look like, but there is an expectation that it is clearly going to be an additional bill on top of that.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Peter Beinart walks readers through how and why Chuck Hagel miserably dropped the ball in a show-stopping Congressional hearing this week.
ON TECH
The Army has admonished soldiers for using a specialized satellite telecommunications system to check their Facebook profiles and play FarmVille.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
Two Norfolk-area sailors have been arrested by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for attempting to sell body armor they pilfered from the unit armory.
The Washingtonian magazine wonders what, exactly, is being built on the front yard of the 16 Acres complex — directly in front of the White House.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
