US Troops in Afghanistan post-2014

     Los Angeles Times today reported that the US is expected to keep around 6,000 to 9,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014 much lesser than expected.Mr.Obama is facing increasing pressure in his home to bring back the troops from war torn Afghanistan.Hundred's  of US soldiers have died since the war began years ago.Most of the death is due to IEDs(Improvised Explosive Devices) buried inside the ground.The US has said that the remaining troops will be used in counter terror operations  against Al-Qaeda targets & to secure US diplomatic assets in Afghanistan.Iran has expressed concern against continued US military presence in Afghanistan.Iran has already captured  a top high tech US spy plane RQ-170 Sentinel(The same  plane used for collecting intelligence on Osama Bin Laden's compound) near Afghan border through sophisticated electronic attack.
     Many fear that Taliban may take over Afghanistan as the US troops leave the country.The US has been unable to control Taliban after years of investment of money,resources & man power in Afghanistan.US military is likely to use it's best toy in post 2014, the drones in it's fight against militants.Taliban has succeeded in striking fortified military bases,government buildings,embassies & UN missions.One strike on Camp Bastion in September resulted in the loss of six AV-8B Harrier jets & damaged other two(Each harrier jet costs about $30 to $40 million US dollars).Many European counterparts are not willing to donate more money & military assets to Afghanistan because many governments are under pressure to cut military spending because of lower economic growth.
      Other major problem the US faces is the cultivation of drugs in Afghanistan & pulling out heavy machinery and troops from the land locked Afghanistan in 2014.One author noted that during the Iraq war it was easy for US to pull out the troops,they moved all their machinery to Kuwait by road & then shipped them to US.But in Afghanistan the troops can be pulled out either through Iran or Pakistan.US & Iran are at logger heads due to Iran's disputed nuclear program.Only economical way is to transport the equipment & troops to Karachi,Pakistan by road & then ship them to US.The US-Pakistan relations are not so good these days due to continued support for Al-Qaeda & Taliban by some elements inside Pakistan.Transporting troops by air or through northern network may prove costly & high weight equipments like land-mine protected vehicles  cannot be carried by air.For more information like these subscribe to my blog for email updates.
 
Related Posts:
         1.Israel's Iron dome
         2.America vs Al-Qaeda
         3.Timebome waiting to explode
         4.Indo-US relationship : changing the global order
         5.Indian navy cheif's gamble

Iron Dome

 Irone dome is an air defence system capable of destroying incoming short range rockets & artillery shells from distances upto 4 to 70 kilometers away.The above you-tube video shows the live working of the Iron dome during Israel - Hamas war.It is developed by the Rafale Advanced Defence Systems headquartered in Haifa,Israel.The project was started in the aftermath of the second Leabanon war in which Hezbollah is believed to have fired more than 4,000 rockets inside the Israeli terrority causing death of 44 Israeli civilians.Part of the funding for the development of Iron dome is given by the united states.It consists of three main components a radar,a battle management & control system & an interceptor launcher.The radar tracks the incoming  missiles & sends the data to BMC(Battle Management & Control system).BMC decides whether to engage the rockets or not based on an in-built software program which calculates whether the incoming rockets will hit the populated areas or not & then an interceptor missile with electro optic sensors is launched to destroy the rocket at mid-air.The cost of the Tamir interceptor is around US$35,000 to 50,000.

Iron dome has made 421 interceptions during the operation "Pillar of Defence" began.Though the main disadvantage of Iron dome is that it cannot intercept rockets that can change their targets in the mid-air after launch.Such rockets can be programmed to hit other installations while descending on their target.So Israel is  readying another type of defence system known as David's Sling.India is said to be interested in buying Iron dome from Israel among many other countries who are  interested in this state of the art system.Eventhough of high cost the system is highly  reliable.For more information like these subscribe to my blog for email updates.


Related Posts:
         1.US Troops in Afghanistan post-2014
         2.America vs Al-Qaeda
         3.Timebome waiting to explode
         4.Indo-US relationship : changing the global order
         5.Indian navy cheif's gamble 

America vs Al-qaeda

    America has been fighting a war against Al-Qaeda  from the begining of  9/11.The US strategy is to eliminate all top Al-Qaeda leaders such that after continued targeted killing of top leaders Al-Qaeda will only remain as a idea or a logic with no operational capabilities.Obama has succeeded in eliminate major top most leaders of Al-Qaeda through concentrated drone campaign targeting top leadership of Al-Qaeda.So far the strategy is a success America has been successfull in eliminating top leaders like Bin laden,Abu Yahya Al Libi,Jan Baz Zadran,Ilyas Kashmiri,Atiyah Abd al Rahman.etc.Almost all top Al-Qaeda leaders except Bin Laden all others are killed by the drones.So far there have been 323 drone strikes inside the Pakistan,says Long war journal.For latest charts on drone strikes inside Pakistan  click here.American military planners are positive that their war against Al-Qaeda will not go on continuously for decades instead they hope that they will be able to contain Al-Qaeda soon in the long run.Though the fate of this war remains unclear,it is notable that U.S has prevented major terror attacks from happening in the United States since 9/11 but it's unable to do so in Afghanistan.Hundreds of soldiers have died since the war began in Afghanistan(also known as the Graveyard of Empires).US has been fighting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan,Pakistan,Somalia,Yemen & in a lot more countries.Instead of sending soldiers every where US is sending the drones.The below you-tube video shows the most commonly used drone(MQ9 Reaper)

The drones are faster,lighter,mobile & it does not put the lives of US soldiers in risk.A drone flying in Asia can be controlled by a pilot sitting in New York.George.W.Bush was the first American president to use drones to target the militants.But it was Obama who quadrupled drone strikes around the world.Since Mr.Obama has won the second term it is likely that he is to continue the same strategy.But many oppose that drones does not necessarily kills the militants but a lot of civilian population.It is like this "If you stand near a terrorist then you are also a terrorist" thus justifying  the death of civilian's as "collateral damage".Al-Qaeda is still active in many parts of the world,though US has reduced it's operational capability to conduct strikes.No one knows who may win this war but the war goes on.....For more information like these subscribe to my blog for email updates.

Related Posts :
         1.Israel's Iron dome
         2.US Troops in Afghanistan post-2014
         3.Timebome waiting to explode
         4.Indo-US relationship : changing the global order
         5.Indian navy cheif's gamble

Timebomb waiting to explode

China & Japan are both involved in a hot dispute over the sovereignty  of  a small Island chain known as Senkaku in Japan & Diaoyu in China.The island is very small between 800 m² to 4.32 km².Then why they are they fighting for such a small island,because it is believed to contain  huge oil & gas reserves.One who controls the island can control upto 200 nautical  miles around the islands,by law of the sea.China & Japan are the Asia's first & second largest economies respectively.Any fight between them will affect global trade to a large extent & risks sucking in other nations like US into the conflict.China is increasingly getting agressive  in dealing with it's neighbours because of it's sheer military strength.Moreover Taiwan also claims those islands belong to it.
    Japan has heavily invested in China toyota,sony,panasonic,hitachi almost all Japanese companies have invested in China.They mostly have their manufacturing centers there.More importantly most of the Japanese companies are electrical & electronics companies.Most electronics components need rare earth metals for their manufacture & China produces 99% of rare earths.Rare earths metals aren't necessarily rare they are found all over the world but low cost Chinese rare earths made other producers to cease their operations.
    China has already used this advantage to it's gain.It threatened to stop all rare earths exports to Japan in case the dispute arises(already did).Japan  is trying to reduce it's dependency on China in rare earths by buying them from other countries.Japan signed a pact with India for rare earth  before few months & the Indian plant is expected to be operational soon & start exporting to Japan.Japan has also signed agreements with Kazakastan & Vietnam for rare earths mining & the united states & Australia is expected to start rare earth mining soon.
    Many hope that Japanese investors will shift their investments from China to other competitive  & anti-China & Japan friendly countries like Vietnam,Philippines & India.If that happens then it will result in lot of economic growth in the south east asia.And that's what Uncle Sam exactly wants ,a regional arc of democracies to counter China.Those who have issues with China namely Japan,South Korea,Taiwan,Philippines,Singapore,India are all US allies.US is treaty bound to help most of those countries.Australia another US ally is in a dilemma it don't know which side to choose on one hand China is it's largest trading partner & on the other hand US is it's net security provider.
    China cannot be taken lightly, it has the world's largest army & is also technologically superior.It has the world's fastest economic growth & is also known as "engine of the world".It has just tested it's fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft,only the third country in this world to do so.Can Japan really stop the dragon?who know's may be with the US help.For more information like these subscribe to my blog for email updates.

Related Posts:
         1.US Troops in Afghanistan post-2014
         2.Israel's Iron dome
         3.America vs Al-Qaeda
         4.Indo-US relationship : changing the global order
         5.Indian navy cheif's gamble