Monday Winds of War: May 30/05

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. In addition, we also have our in-depth Iraq Report today.

Today's Winds of War briefing is brought to you by Bill Roggio and evariste of Discarded Lies.

Top Topics

• Happy Memorial Day to those in the United States! Here is a fitting tribute to our men and women who have served (Windows Media format) - and here are a set of Memorial day posts and resources, including our updated directory of ways to support the troops.

• The Zarqawi roundup. He's dead. He's just fine. He's in Iran or is he surrounded in Iraq? Where might he go if he is wounded? The reports are all over the place, but it seems clear he has been wounded, perhaps seriously. This may result in infighting as various factions struggle for ascendancy. Bill looks at the potential successors.

• The health of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd is reported to be improving. Belmont Club looks at the failures of successive administrations' policy towards the Saudi government. Victor Comras states the US continues to send mixed signals about the Saudi's participation in the war.

• In what may portend major policy shifts, a high-level internal review in the Bush administration may lead to broadening the anti-terror effort from killing Al Qaeda leaders to dealing with the rise of a new generation of loosely-affiliated terror leaders.

• The citizens of France have rejected the referendum on joining the European Union. But does 'non' mean 'oui'? Belmont Club has more. Austin Bay says its time for a new NAFTA, while The Moderate Voice offers a media roundup.

• In somewhat related news, NATO's Rapid Response Force is quickly becoming a force to reckon with.

Other Topics Today Include: Iran roundup, Iran set to resume nuclear bomb; A look at the political process in Lebanon; Fleet surge; Hamas still building bombs; CIA cyberwar simulation; Los Zetas; Algerian Jihad; new Crisis in store for southern Sudan; Pakistani bomb blast kills 20; Indonesia bomb kills 22; Schapelle Corby; Protests in China; Terrorist bases in Europe; ETA Arnaldo Otegi; Russian power; Japanese hostage Akihiki Saito murdered.

IRAN REPORTS

• Iran says the US and Israel are the real nuclear threats.

• Iran is set to resume enrichment if talks with the EU fail.

• Regime Change Iran has the full week's roundup.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Publius Pundit looks at the political process in Lebanon.

• As part of the Fleet Response Plan, the Navy has surged five ships on short notice to the Balkans and the Middle East in support roles for the Global War on Terror. Wish we knew why. Suspect we'll find out. (Hat Tip: reader Ruth)

• Over 400 Palestinian prisoners will be released as a goodwill gesture, while Hamas continues to build bombs and attack Israeli troops.

AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY

• Some of the agencies singled out for criticism and proposed reform by the
  President's intelligence committee are mounting a rearguard action to defeat change.

• The
  CIA wrapped up its cyberwar simulation exercise Thursday.

• Los Zetas, elite School Of The Americas-trained Mexican commandos, were meant to combat the drug cartels but have now switched sides and pose a deadly threat to US law enforcement.

AFRICA

• al-Qaeda of the Jihad in Algeria has set up shop in, you guessed it, Algeria.

• Algeria will load up on Russian weaponry.

• The Muslim Brotherhood accuses the Egyptian government of attacking protestors.

• A new crisis may be in store for the residents of southern Sudan.

ASIA & AUSTRALIA

• A bomb blast at a Muslim shrine in Pakistan kills 20.

• Nathan Hamm provides a roundup of news from Uzbekistan.

• The United States has designated Islamic Jihad of Uzbekistan as a terrorist entity.

• A pair of car bombings in Indonesia which killed 22 resembles the work of al Qaeda.

• Australians are hot over the sentence of Schapelle Corby in an Indonesian court.

• More democracy protests in China.

EUROPE

• ETA is establishing bases throughout Europe.

• Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi, who is believed to be a leader in the ETA, has been released from prison.

• Russia is getting two new nuclear submarines in 2006. They'll be armed with 5,000-mile range ICBMs.

• Russia says it has successfully tested its newest cruise missile, the X-555. It's an aircraft-launched, satellite navigation-independent precision strike system that can hit a target on the nose from 2000 kilometers away.

• Chechen terrorists target Russian power supplies.

THE GLOBAL WAR

• Japanese hostage Akihiko Saito has been murdered by the Army of Ansar al-Sunnah.

Thanks for reading! If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". If you think we missed something important, use the Comments section to let us know.

For ongoing tips, email "MondayWindsOfWar", over here @windsofchange.net.