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Rachel Oswald

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Obama Chemical Weapons ‘Red Line’ for Syria Keeps Shifting, Ex-Official Says

April 26, 2013 President Obama’s “red line” for U.S. intervention in Syria is actually more of a fuzzy zone whose goalposts keep shifting, said the former top WMD hunter in Iraq. “It’s a term I particularly don’t like because unless you’re prepared [to carry through] you really do damage to your credibility and ...

North Korea Situation Said to Require Careful Diplomacy

April 2, 2013 Dialing back escalating tensions with North Korea will require the United States and partner nations to pursue careful diplomacy and put a pause on using military assets to send the Kim regime a message, regional experts said on Tuesday. The latest round of provocations and saber rattling kicked off with ...

First U.S. patriot battery goes live in Turkey

February 6, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV NATO on Tuesday announced that the first of two Patriot antimissile units deployed by the United States is now live in Turkey, where it is participating in a broader alliance effort to safeguard the nation from feared missile strikes by neighboring Syria. U.S. Patriot batteries are deployed in Gaziantep in ...

North Korea's nuclear test intentions are a puzzle

February 6, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV While there are plenty of recent satellite imagesof North Korea’s nuclear testing grounds to pore over, extrapolating just exactly what the reclusive nation has planned for its next underground blast is a challenging task. Among the questions surrounding the anticipated trial are: when will it happen, exactly where, how many ...

New State Dept. office to help organize sanctions efforts

February 1, 2013 The creation of a new office in the State Department to oversee implementation of both international and domestic sanctions is evidence of the importance of economic penalties as a U.S. foreign policy tool against nations such as Iran and North Korea, one issue expert said on Friday. The department’s new ...

Satellite Images Indicate North Korea Continuing Push for Nuke Test

January 25, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV Recent surveillance satellite images suggest North Korea has pressed forward with preparations for another underground detonation at its nuclear testing site, the expert website 38 North said in analyses this week. "Analysis of new satellite imagery from Jan. 23, 2013 and previous images dating back a month reveal that the ...

Napolitano suggests DHS will never meet cargo scanning mandate

January 24, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday suggested that her department does not plan on meeting a congressional requirement that all foreign cargo shipped to the United States be scanned for dangerous materials that could be used in a terrorism attack. Congress in 2007 approved a law that requires all ...

Defense Department: Antimissile system held back by kill vehicle

January 16, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV The United States’ principal homeland missile defense program against a feared long-range attack by North Korea or Iran made little demonstrable headway last year in moving beyond a restricted capacity to defeat a small-scale threat, according to a new Pentagon report. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system has not had a ...

U.S. warns foreign exchange houses are helping Iran skirt sanctions

January 10, 2013 FROM NEXTGOV The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday warned financial institutions to be on the lookout for money transfers sent by foreign exchange houses and trading companies that are actually an attempt to mask transactions on behalf of sanctioned Iranian entities. The United States and allies have targeted Iran’s banking system and ...

IG says Energy Department facilities still have cyber weak spots

November 19, 2012 FROM NEXTGOV The U.S. Energy Department and its National Nuclear Security Administration have addressed most but not all digital security weaknesses highlighted by an internal audit in 2011, according to the DOE inspector general. The IG report covering fiscal 2012 and issued earlier this month notes the department and the semiautonomous agency ...