Center for Strategic Communication

12 September 2012

US ambassador killed in consulate attack in Libya

Esam Mohamed/Associated Press

A mob enraged by a film ridiculing Islam’s prophet killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in a fiery attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. President Barack Obama strongly condemned the violence, vowed Wednesday to bring the killers to justice and tightened security at diplomatic posts around the world.

Somali president escapes assassination bid

Al Jazeera

There was an assassination attempt on the new Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the hotel in Mogadishu where he was addressing a press conference, where Kenyan Foreign Minister Sam Ongeri was also present.  Mohamud was unharmed in the attack, and commented “first and foremost we will address the security issue” in the country.

US military deaths in Afghanistan at 1,980

AP/Stars and Stripes

As of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, at least 1,980 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

Security lapses at nuclear complex identified two years before break-in

Dana Priest/Washington Post

Nearly two years before activists broke into a U.S. nuclear weapons facility, government investigators warned of lax security at the complex where the nation’s largest concentration of weapons-grade uranium is stored.

UN panel warns of climate credit market collapse

Boston.com

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change says governments need to restore investors’ faith in so-called carbon markets, including the U.N.’s Clean Development Mechanism.

Could wind power ever meet the world’s energy needs?

Brad Plumer/Washington Post

The U.S. would have enough energy to power the world. At least in theory. A new study published this week in Nature Climate Change finds that there’s enough wind potential both on the Earth’s surface and up in the atmosphere to power human civilization 100 times over.

Russia, China join West in Iran rebuke at UN nuclear meet

Reuters

Russia andChina backed four Western powers on Wednesday to step up diplomatic pressure on Iran to allay concerns that it is developing atomic bombs capability, a day after Israel ramped up threats to attack the Islamic state.

Marines, Navy March Into ‘Fiscal Valley Forge’

Sydney J. Freedberg Jr./AOL.com

As budgets tighten, the Navy and Marine Corps are looking at a host of ways to save, from installing LED lights on ships to slowing vehicle purchases to centralizing power on the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff.

ASP Published Today

Inertial Confinement Fusion at the National Ignition Facility

Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, USMC (ret.), Brig. Gen. John Adams, USA (ret), Andrew Holland

America faces long-term energy challenges. While fossil fuel production is increasing, the U.S. still needs to invest in next-generation energy technologies to ensure supplies of clean, safe and abundant energy for decades to come.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

The National Ignition Facility Shows What American Science Can Do

Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, USMC (ret.), Brig. Gen. John Adams, USA (ret), Andrew Holland

The NIF is ‘big science’ at its very best. NIF is the central part of the National Ignition Campaign, a nationwide collaboration with some of the nation’s leading scientific institutions that is attempting to demonstrate fusion “ignition” – the point at which a self-sustained fusion reaction is achieved.

MRAPs Reach End of Line in Afghanistan

Elizabeth Deal

As the fog of war clears, government officials are faced with the consequences of a decade of acquisition without an overall strategy. This policy of “act now, think later” has the potential to devastate future military capabilities and severely compromise US national security.

Can we count the cost of drone warfare?

Joshua Foust

With bad or missing data and uncooperative governments, can we really discuss the real costs – or benefits– of the drones program? From the bits of data we do have available, drones are actually lower-casualty alternatives to countering terrorism; as traditional Pakistani military offensives have killed countless civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands. Beyond these very imprecise measurements about the human cost, it is impossible to know the effectiveness of drones.

Why it’s the Wrong Time to Release Emergency Oil Reserves

Andrew Holland

The Obama Administration is considering releasing oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Such a release would be contrary to the rationale of having Strategic Petroleum Reserves, and — coming only 60 days before an election — it would be a nakedly political ploy seemingly aimed only at alleviating a persistent political vulnerability: high gas prices.

ASP Podcast – the 11 year struggle against al-Qaeda

In the last eleven years we have seen U.S. military operations – big and small – all over the world. It’s clear that the 2001 leadership of al-Qaeda has been broken or killed. But where does this leave America now? Where are we with the struggle against al-Qaeda? and what if anything do we need to change?

The defense budget needs rationalizing and reprioritizing – not blind sequestration

Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, USMC (ret.)

The world is rapidly changing—those that wish to do harm to the United States have adapted their strategies, and we must do the same to tackle our challenges. If America holds on to inflexible strategies, weapons and paradigms of the past, it risks suffering the terrible consequences of falling behind in this incredibly competitive world.

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About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.

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