Venezuelan army enters crime fight; revolution orders toilet paper

Venezuela’s army has been deployed to fight organised crime, which new president Nicolas Maduro has called the greatest threat to the country. Three thousand soldiers of the national armed forces are spread around the capital Caracas as part of a plan launched earlier this week, called ‘Safe Homeland’.

In one neighbourhood with a high crime rate, a programme commander described the mission now entrusted to men trained for war: “The Venezuelan Bolivarian national police and military police will work body and soul to protect the people and guarantee their safety, as they deserve.”

Opposition critics say promoting social order is a matter for civilian institutions to work on. The government said this is a short-term measure to guarantee the conditions for peace and justice. According to the UN, Venezuela has the world’s fifth-highest homicide rate.

In 2012, the government says the country had more than 16,000 murders. One non-official source says there were far more: well over 21,000.

In a recent survey, the Gallup institute said it found that public fear had remained remarkably high over the past six years, suggesting that the Chavez government, before Maduro, left important aspects of governance unaddressed.

Gallup and other observers also cite Chavez’s stance toward businesses as threatening. The state’s role in the economy, such as through nationalisation and controlling prices, has contributed to acute shortages of basic consumer goods.

One Caracas shopper said: “I have spent two weeks looking for toilet paper. The army guys on the street told me there was some here, so here I am, queuing up.” 

Maduro is blaming what he calls anti-government forces for intentionally destabilising supply. 

Economists say government controls on foreign currency don’t help, and that goods go where people can afford them. Here’s another government bid to cover itself.

Minister for Commerce Alejandro Fleming says: “The revolution will import 50 million rolls of toilet paper in the coming days. We’ll be getting the first shipment this Friday of 20 million rolls, to cover the demand for one week, or even more than a week.”

Companies don’t have free access to foreign currencies, which they need to pay to import consumables, raw materials, equipment and parts. There was a clampdown when Chavez began expropriating land and assets ten years ago and people tried to get their capital out. Now many less well-off Venezuelans are hitting the wall.

Pentagon Points Finger at Chinese Army Over Computer Attacks

For years now security companies have described that attacks originating in China routinely infiltrate and steal data from U.S. corporate networks, and that similar activity targets U.S. government systems, too. But even as politicians and government officials have begun to speak more freely about the issue (see “U.S. Power Grids, Water Plants a Hacking Target”), they have stopped short of making specific accusations about who is responsible. In April, President Obama’s national security adviser Tom Donilon talked vaguely of attacks “emanating from China.”

A new report from the Department of Defense (PDF) uses much firmer language, singling out the Chinese military:

“China is using its computer network exploitation (CNE) capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs.”

That information could be used to help out Chinese defense companies, technology industry military planners, political leaders, says the report, which adds:

“Although this alone is a serious concern, the accesses and skills required for these intrusions are similar to those necessary to conduct computer network attacks.”

That seems to refer to the fact that an intruder on a computer network could also use their access to shut it down and disrupt communications or other – perhaps physical – systems connected to it.

It’s not within the scope of the Pentagon report to mention that the U.S. has expanding computer-based espionage and attacks capabilities of its own (see “Welcome to the Malware Industrial Complex”), that China isn’t the only nation targeting the U.S. (see “Which Four Countries Most Actively Attack the U.S.?”), or to discuss the state of defenses against such actions.

From a technical perspective, the prevalence of successful infiltration of U.S. companies – even defense and security companies such as Lockheed Martin and RSA – suggests they are slim. Recent research has shown that a determined adversary could likely find many opportunities to access physical industrial systems (see “What Happened When One Man Pinged the Whole Internet”).

However, how far China might be willing to test any computer espionage and attack capabilities will be determined by traditional political and strategic concerns more than technical questions. President Obama, secretary of state John Kerry and other senior U.S. officials are all known to have raised the question of computer-based industrial espionage with China in recent months and presumably they are also raising the matter of the actions against Pentagon and government networks described in the new report out today.

For now, China’s government is publicly sticking to its previous line that it does not condone or support any such activity, with a spokesperson telling the New York Times today that:

 “China has repeatedly said that we resolutely oppose all forms of hacker attacks…we are firmly opposed to any groundless accusations and speculations.”

China sticks to its stand; says no incursion by its troops

Ignoring India's demand to revert to a status-quo in Depsang Valley, China today firmly stuck to its stand that its troops have not violated the Line of Actual Control (LAC) “by a step” in the Ladakh region.

“I want to iterate here that the Chinese border troops have been acting in strict compliance with the bilateral agreements and conducting normal patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC. They have never crossed the line by a step”, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.

Ms Hu's assertion of not even a step of violation was highlighted by the state television, CCTV which along with the rest of the official media began covering the incident for the first time even since the Ladakh incursion came to light last week.

She was replying to a question on yesterday's flag meeting between the militaries of the two countries in Ladakh region and subsequent assertion by India that status quo should be restored.

Ms Hua's assertion, iterating her remarks made on 22 April, makes it clear that China is sticking to its stand that there is no violation and its troops may stay put in the area until it is resolved through the talks.

Ms Hua said both sides have opened the “communication channels” to discuss the issue though the consultation mechanisms on boundary issue. But, at the same time she said both sides should stick to the consensus reached so far on LAC.

“The two sides should abide by their consensus which is in the interest of both. The two sides should work together to properly resolve border issues with in the framework of existing mechanisms and create favourable conditions for the bilateral relations”, she said.

This is the first time, after the controversy broke, that China has acknowledged that the issue is being discussed between the two countries

Infantry - The Renaissance Of Competence

Over the last decade South Korea, Russia and China have followed the American example by building an instrumented combat training range for its ground forces. Part of this involves forming a combat unit to play the "enemy" (opposing force or OPFOR) in these battalion and brigade sized training exercises. Each country finds, as did the Americans, that this OPFOR brigade or battalion becomes the most formidable combat unit in the country. That's because the OPFOR unit gets more combat practice than any other outfit.

In some countries, belonging to the training center OPFOR unit is a great honor and only the most competent applicants are allowed in. This is the case where the South Korean Jeongal Daedae (OPFOR battalion) is very much an elite unit and troops who want to make a career of the army, or simply have something to brag about, hustle to qualify for the unit. Even after being accepted, candidates must pass a brutal three week training/screening period. Thus the South Korean OPFOR unit is probably the most formidable of all OPFOR units, which is what members of the Jeongal Daedae like to think.

This is all based on a breakthrough training system developed by the U.S. Army in the early 1980s. This began when the National Training Center (NTC), a 147,000 hectare (359,000 acre) facility in the Mohave Desert at Fort Irwin, California was established in 1982. There, the United States Army revolutionized the training of ground combat troops with the development of MILES (laser tag) equipment for infantry and armored vehicles and the use of MILES in a large, "wired" (to record all activities), combat training area. Other countries soon realized the importance of these innovations and a few built their own NTC clones. NTC type training centers are usually built to enable a combat battalion or brigade to go through several weeks of very realistic combat exercises.

Other countries joined the NTC even earier, Israel has been using and expanding its own NTC since the 1990s. This is their 39,000 hectare (98,000 acre) Tactical Training Center (TTC) at Ze'elim in the Negev desert. In addition to wide open areas for the training of armor, infantry, and artillery units, there are several villages and urban areas wired for training troops to fight in close quarters. Israel has now developed a portable version of this technology and many other innovations as well.

China recently opened its own version. The Chinese NTC is a big deal. It means the Chinese are really serious about training their ground combat troops to the highest standards. This kind of training is serious stuff, in part because it's expensive to use an NTC. Not just the fuel and other supplies the troops will use, but the expense of a staff to run the NTC, and perform as OPFOR (opposing force). American intelligence officers track which units go through the Chinese NTC and mark them as likely to be much more effective in combat. Russia opened its own NTC four years ago. Most major Western military powers have also adopted the NTC approach to combat training.

Ft Irwin itself has been expanded. Since the 1980s, the United States has established many similar training centers, all using lots of electronics to assist the trainees in having a realistic experience while also enabling them to see their mistakes and learn from them.

Israeli and American manufacturers have individually, or through collaboration, developed new features for NTC type facilities. These include portable equipment that can allow any area to be wired to provide the same effect (constant monitoring, and recording, of everything everyone does). There are also VPUs (Vehicle Player Units) that make Hummers appear as armored vehicles (tanks, infantry vehicles, or artillery) to the monitoring system, and save a lot of money (by not using the real thing). There is also a system that releases different colored smoke when a vehicle is hit, indicating if it is damaged or destroyed. Helicopters and warplanes, for example, are being wired to operate as part of NTC exercises.

NTC type training is not only very close to the experience troops get in actual combat, but it also stresses commanders the same way actual combat does. This enables commanders to test themselves, and their subordinate commanders, before they get into a real fight. You can also uses NTC type facilities to experiment with new tactics, in addition to keeping troops well trained in whatever the current tactics are. This includes counter-terror operations as well as the kind of novel combat tactics that might be encountered in the future.

 One of the critical aspects of this type of training is the playback. Instructors can edit the electronic record of who did what when and show commanders and troops where they made mistakes. This feedback makes the troops much more effective in the future.

EU’s army in decline, senior officer admits

The arms spending of the EU sees a decline amid the financial woes of the bloc.

Many European Union countries will not be able to afford key parts of their armed forces, such as air forces, in a few years unless they spend more and cooperate more closely on defense, the top EU military officer said Sept. 19.

In a hard-hitting speech, Hakan Syren, a Swedish general who chairs the EU’s Military Committee, said rising costs, inefficiencies and budget cuts had brought European defense to a critical point. “The military capabilities of the EU states are on a steady downward slope,” Syren told a seminar in Brussels organized by Greek Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency. The downturn is mirrored slightly by trends in the United States, but comes in stark contrast to Russia and China.prime example,” said Syren.

The downturn in spending is mirrored slightly by trends in the United States, but comes in stark contrast to Russia, which increased defense spending by 9.3 percent in 2011, and China, which has increased such expenditures by a whopping 170 percent since 2002 and now has the second-best funded military in the world.

“Looking a few years into the future, it is simple mathematics to predict that many member states will be unable to sustain essential parts of their national forces, air forces being the prime example,” Syren said.

‘Embarrassingly obvious’

The EU army chief said he was speaking out now because he was nearing the end of his three-year term as chairman of the Military Committee. Many EU states have slashed defense spending as part of deficit-cutting measures forced on them by the financial crisis, which has plunged the eurozone into turmoil. It was “embarrassingly obvious” that long-identified European deficiencies such as intelligence, precision-guided munitions and air-to-air refueling had not yet been fixed, Reuters quoted Syren as saying. He cited the high cost of military operations as another pressure on European armed forces.

According to a study released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in April, the countries with the biggest falls have included many that have faced severe sovereign debt crises, and where austerity measures have been particularly harsh: Greece (down 26 percent since 2008), Spain (18 percent), Italy (16 percent) and Ireland (11 percent); but also Belgium (12 percent).

In contrast, the top three spenders in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have so far made only modest cuts in military spending, in each case less than 5 percent. Germany and the U.K. both plan further cuts in military spending in the coming years as the U.K. plans to make a 7.5 percent cut in real terms by 2014-15, while Germany plans cuts of around 4 percent in cash terms by 2015. U.S. spending decreased slightly in 2011 for first time since 1998, and spending is likely to fall over the next few years due to withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan and new budget control measures.

While China has devoted far more money to its military in real terms, the total remains in line with its aggressive economic growth, typically equaling 2 percent of gross domestic product each year.

India & Pakistan - Embarrassing Questions

The Pakistani government has asked the U.S. government to stop publically demanding that Pakistan take action against the terrorist sanctuary in North Waziristan. Such public demands make it more difficult for Pakistan to act as such an operation would be jumped on by the Pakistani media as Pakistan taking orders from the United States. This is a deadly accusation in Pakistan, where decades of government enthusiasm for Islamic radicalism and hatred of the United States has made it impossible for a Pakistani government to have cordial relations with America. The way the local culture works in Pakistan, this attitude means America can be blamed for just about every problem in Pakistan. That would include the persistent poverty, corruption, bad government and constant threat of another military coup. Pakistan means, literally, "Land of the Pure" and that means it's easy for Pakistanis to believe that their problems must be caused by some external force. The United States and India have been tagged as the cause of Pakistan's problems for so long that it's simply not acceptable for any Pakistani politician or media outlet to describe the source of Pakistan's problems any differently. Actually, there are a growing number of politicians and media outlets who are questioning the traditional attitudes towards the U.S., India and the personal responsibility of Pakistanis. Alas, such heretical opinions can still get you killed and many such Pakistanis emigrate or keep silent. In Pakistan, politics is very much a contact sport.

Pakistan also wants the U.S. to keep quiet about North Waziristan because such discussions tend to bring out more evidence of Pakistani cooperation with Islamic terrorist groups. Pakistan has always denied this, but the Americans have collected some compelling evidence in the last decade, and now more of that evidence is being made public to encourage the Pakistanis to do the right thing. The Pakistani government would rather not anger their own intelligence agencies (the ISI) who are indeed allied with many Islamic terror groups and that enables the ISI to reduce the number of assassination attacks against senior Pakistani politicians. Thus the American enthusiasm for shutting down North Waziristan is seen as personally dangerous to Pakistani leaders. The Islamic radical groups will terrorize whoever they have to in order to keep going.

The ISI is under attack on several fronts. The most embarrassing one is an investigation by the UN over the ISI and military counter-terror operations in Baluchistan (southwest Pakistan). There, Baluchi tribes have been fighting for more autonomy and a larger share of the revenue from natural gas fields in their territory. In response to this the government has allowed the ISI and military to kidnap, and often kill, Baluchis believed involved in resistance efforts. The government denies this sort of thing is going on and the UN is insisting that it be allowed to send in investigators.

Another worrisome issue is being tagged by the United States (and eventually the rest of the world) as a state sponsor of terrorism. Pakistan has actually been sponsoring terrorist groups for decades but has so far managed to avoid admitting it. Those efforts are failing now that the U.S. and India have been pressing Pakistan more energetically to shut down terrorist operations in its territory. The recent U.S. designation of the Haqqani Network (based in North Waziristan and long under the not-so-subtle protection of the Pakistani military) as an international terrorist organization has annoyed Pakistan a great deal. For decades, it's been no secret in Pakistan that Haqqani has government sponsorship. But the official position of the Pakistani government was that Haqqani either didn't exist or had no government recognition or support. The U.S. presented compelling evidence to the contrary, which was another way of calling several decades' worth of Pakistani officials liars. This designation means the Americans will now prosecute government and non-government organizations working with Haqqani. The Pakistani government knows this means specific individuals and organizations within the Pakistani government as well as banks and other commercial organizations. The U.S. prosecutors have proved to be quite relentless since September 11, 2001 and the Pakistani nightmare is retired military and intelligence officials being arrested while vising Europe or the Americas. Suddenly, the world is a more dangerous place for many Pakistani officials and businessmen who worked with Haqqani over the years. Likewise, India won't let up on pressuring Pakistan to shut down Islamic terror groups based in Pakistan that are continuing to support Islamic terrorism in India. Pakistan has officially shut down 43 terror groups (all but two of them since September 11, 2001), and that includes 14 so far this year. But the U.S. and India point out that most of these groups simply disband and reform under another name and continue to be left alone by the Pakistani government.

This form of self-deception takes many forms. Case in point is the current protests against an American movie critical of Islam. Portions of the film appeared on YouTube and Islamic radical clerics called for violent reaction to this blasphemy. Several Pakistanis have died in the subsequent rioting and many more have been injured. Such protests have occurred throughout the Moslem world, which simply spotlights once more the violent intolerance of Islam and the continued reliance on extremism to control the faithful and justify the poverty and bad government Islamic culture has played a large role in creating and maintaining. Islamic radicals are hostile to scientific education and any education for women. Democracy is considered un-Islamic and killing non-believers is accepted as the solution for a wide range of internal problems. Changing these attitudes is dangerous and very slow. It's a painful process that won't be completed anytime soon.

Peace talks between Pakistan and India are stalled over the issue of loosening up each countries visa rules. Currently, it's very difficult for people from either country to get visas. India fears loosening up visa rules will make it easier for Islamic terrorists to get into India. Pakistan fears easier visas will enable too many Pakistanis to see how much better things are in India and how the Indians have no intention of invading Pakistan. The fear of such an invasion has been the major reason for the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies taking such a large chunk of the national income (which allows the military leadership to live very well) for over half a century.

India is changing its tactics in its campaign against Maoist rebels in eastern India. The 80,000 special police will now exercise more care to avoid civilian casualties. That means more intelligence work and scouting before large scale operations into rural areas long controlled by Maoists.

September 18, 2012: Two bombs went off in a market in Karachi, Pakistan, killing six people. It's unclear if this was the result of religious, ethnic or political disputes, or was part of an extortion effort. Karachi sees constant violence for all of those reasons. In southwest Pakistan a bomb went off in a bus carrying Shia, killing two. Religious violence between Moslem sects, especially Sunni terrorists going after Shia, is on the rise.

In eastern India (Jharkhand) police raided a Maoist hideout. One rebel was killed and three police wounded. A large quantity of weapons and documents were seized.

September 16, 2012: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Lower Dir) a roadside bomb destroyed a van, killing 14 people. The attack was believed an effort by local Islamic terrorists to discourage villagers from forming self-defense militias (to keep terrorists out.)

September 14, 2012: Responding to continuing public pressure the Pakistani military has agreed to prosecute three retired generals suspected of participating in a large scale theft of government funds three years ago. Like many senior officers, the three enjoy a standard of living not possible with their official salaries (which are quite good by local standards). Many senior military and intelligence officials come from wealthy families which gives them some protection from this sort of criticism. But many senior officers have no way to explain the enormous wealth they seem to have acquired as they rose in rank. More and more Pakistanis, including journalists who risk arrest or "disappearance" (and death) are openly asking embarrassing questions.

September 9, 2012: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Kurram) a car bomb intended for a nearby convoy of troops instead killed 11 civilians and wounded another 40.

Professional soldiers take on border security duty

Nearly 36,000 people have applied to the TSK to join the army as professional soldiers since July 2011, according to figures provided by Defense Minister Yılmaz. 1,388 have so far been trained and sent to border units, he says

Turkey has hired a total of 1,388 people in a year to serve as professional soldiers.

In line with an action plan drafted by the ruling Justice and the Development Party (AKP) government, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has begun its transformation to a professional force, rather than a conscripted one.

Since July 2011, 35,877 people have applied to the TSK to join the army as professional soldiers, according to figures provided by Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz. Of these, 1,388 have so far been trained and sent to border units, Yılmaz said. Yılmaz’s explanation came as a written response to an official request from Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Hakkari deputy Adil Kurt for information about practices underway to create a professional army.

Professional soldiers have been contracted in three phases, Yılmaz said in his response, without elaborating on the dates of these phases. In the first phase, 17,827 people applied to the army, of whom 3,038 were tested. Of those, 1,992 passed the tests, and eventually 503 of this group were employed as professional soldiers. In the second phase, 453 people were hired, and in the third phase, 432 were hired, Yılmaz said.

Applications are still being reviewed, and candidates are still undergoing physical examinations and security investigations, the minister said. Hiring will also continue gradually, according to the results of the personnel examinations and background checks, he said.

“The contracted soldiers are being employed at border units within internal security zones, in line with the TSK’s needs,” Yılmaz said.

No soldiers among the 1,388 professional soldiers hired so far have died in service, Yılmaz said, while adding that 41 soldiers (commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers) died in service between Sept. 3, 2011 and June 26, 2012.

The minister didn’t specify the terms of the contracts under which the current 1,388 professional soldiers are employed.

According to a law adopted by Parliament in March 2011, candidates to become professional soldiers first sign a pre-contract agreement in order to receive military training. Those who successfully graduate from training are supposed to then sign a contracts for at least a three-year, and no longer than a four-year, term of employment. Consecutive contract agreements for those who have already been employed will pave the way to extend this term from one year up to three years. Contracted soldiers will serve for a maximum of 10 years in total.

One of Kurt’s questions, concerning rumors that “according to agreements, the TSK will not inform the public of the professional soldiers’ deaths if they are killed while serving,” was not addressed in Yılmaz’s response.