The United States recently donated a number of water trucks, field artillery cannon and patrol boats to the Pakistani government, according to U.S. State Department news releases.

Four water trucks were provided to the Pakistani Army’s special services group Feb. 12. The next day, Pakistan’s maritime security agency obtained five American fast-patrol boats, while the Pakistani army received 48 self-propelled field artillery cannon.

The water trucks will be employed in humanitarian relief missions in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region. The boats will enhance Pakistan’s coastal interdiction and patrol capabilities. And, the cannon will be used by Pakistani government forces to combat terrorists that operate in its homeland.

“These field artillery cannons are an important part of enhancing the capabilities of Pakistan’s army as it continues to wage its courageous fight against terrorists who seek to destroy Pakistan’s people and way of life,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata, U.S. Office of the Defense Representative-Pakistan deputy commander, as he officially handed over the M1095A5 howitzers to Pakistani Army Brig. Gen. Farrukh Saeed, commander of the 25th Mechanized Artillery Division.

Nagata also participated in ceremonies featuring the turning over of the water trucks and fast boats to Pakistani senior military officials.

Pakistan is slated to receive another four fast-patrol boats later this year.

“Whether it’s search-and-rescue, combating smugglers, preventing crime or protecting Pakistan’s coastal areas, we hope the increased capabilities these boats provide greatly enhance the MSA’s ability to conduct the full spectrum of maritime operations,” Nagata said during the handover ceremony in Karachi Feb. 13.

During the past three years, U.S. civilian and military assistance to Pakistan has totaled more than $4 billion. Assistance provided and delivered has included support for medical aid, school refurbishment, bridge and well reconstruction, food distribution, agricultural and education projects, 14 F-16 fighter aircraft, 10 Mi-17 helicopters, more than 450 vehicles for Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, hundreds of night-vision goggles, day/night scopes, radios, and thousands of protective vests and first-aid items for Pakistan’s security forces.

In addition, the United States has funded and provided training for more than 370 Pakistani military officers in a wide range of leadership and development programs, covering topics such as counterterrorism, intelligence, logistics, medical operations, flight safety and military law.

One thing that can be said for Iran’s leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: he is either paranoid, a propaganda puppetmaster, or both.

Whatever the case may be, Tuesday found Ahmadinejad stating on Tuesday that Israel was mulling starting a war “next spring or summer”, but has yet to make a final decision.

Of course, Ahmadinejad didn’t cite any sources or specify who would be targeted; however, he did say:

“According to information we have they (Israel) are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet.”

“But the resistance and regional states will finish them if this fake regime does anything again.”

It’s no big surprise that the rift between Iran and Israel has grown wider since Ahmadinejad has been in office. And the Israeli’s have been rumored to have glossed over the possibility of attacking Iranian nuclear sites in order to stop the rogue nation’s blossoming nuclear program.

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I fully expect Israel to eventually lay waste to the Iranian nuclear facilities, especially since the U.S., thanks to President Obama, will not back them up. And it is to no one’s surprise that the Iranians are building their program for purposes other than the alleged “peaceful” purposes that they tout.

And since sanctions against Iran don’t work, the Israelis and hopefully the United States will collaborate and take care of this enigma once and for all. The last thing that the Middle East does not need is a nuclear buildup in the Middle East.

Australia is already one of America’s strongest allies, and Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III will visit the nation to see how the alliance can become even stronger.

Lynn will meet with Australian leaders in Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra to discuss the scope and shape of U.S.-Australian military cooperation.

“Australia is a critical ally that is supporting the effort in Afghanistan in important ways, and we think we can work with them on future threats like cybersecurity,” Lynn said during an interview aboard a military aircraft.

Tomorrow, Lynn will speak about U.S. cybersecurity concerns at a roundtable discussion with Australian academics, business leaders and political leaders during a forum at the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney. The talk kicks off a five-day visit that was delayed 36 hours by blizzards in Washington.

During his visit, Lynn will discuss Afghanistan with Australian leaders.

“We are in a surge situation where we are trying to increase the overall effort,” he said. “But the Australians are making a tremendous effort in Afghanistan already.” Australia has about 1,550 servicemembers in Afghanistan and is contributing to the civilian operations in the country as well.

Lynn will discuss the Defense Department’s Quadrennial Defense Review with leaders of the Australian defense ministry. The leaders will be familiar with the document, as two Australian officers were embedded with the Pentagon’s policy office as the review progressed.

“I think they are going to be pretty familiar with the reasoning and the approach,” Lynn said. “[But] I think it is still important to discuss it with their leadership.”

“It’s important for us to compare and contrast and discuss how our reviews approached things,” Lynn said, noting the Australians completed a comparable review in May.

Looking to the future, Lynn said, many asymmetric threats and anti-access threats threaten both the United States and Australia, and the two nations can work to mitigate the effects. The deputy secretary also will discuss Australians’ leadership in the region and the threats they see.

And U.S. and Australian leaders will share lessons learned from military procurement and acquisition. “We’re going to talk with their people about their approach to acquisition reform and some of the things we’re doing in terms of fixed-priced contracting and trying to establish firmer requirements earlier on in programs,” Lynn said. Part of the Australian defense review was a pledge to modernize and recapitalize the force.

Australia also is a partner in the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program, planning to buy 100 of the fighters.

“I am planning on walking them through the changes we’ve made in the program,” Lynn said. “We really re-set the program, and tried to establish a baseline of development costs to get a more conservative estimate in production costs.” The moves are designed to give the program – and the nations participating in it – more stability, he said.

Lynn is best known in the department for his work on cybersecurity. Some Australian government sites were overwhelmed by denial-of-service attacks earlier this week. Australia has the same concerns as the United States about a cyber attack and has established a command inside its defense ministry to defend this important infrastructure.

But it is a new fight in a new environment, Lynn noted. Terrorist organizations can launch cyber attacks, he said, but attributing attacks to groups or nations is tough.

“I think we’ll get better at it, but it’s an inherently difficult proposition,” he said. “One of the purposes of this trip is to increase international cooperation, because the Internet doesn’t respect national borders. The more shared warning, the more shared resources you devote to attribution, the better we’re going to get at it.”

Still, attribution never will be perfect, he acknowledged.

Setting the parameters for a discussion of the cyber threat also is problematic. “One of the difficulties in the cyber world is the definition you use: what’s an attack? Do they have to do physical damage? Is intelligence gathering an attack? Does somebody have to get hurt? These are all questions we are wrestling with,” the deputy secretary said.

“We are in the early stages of defining the doctrine on cybersecurity, and I think even the basic concepts of what constitutes an attack and what’s an appropriate and proportional response are things we are still working through,” he said.

These issues must be raised with allies, he said, but it is hard to do so until the United States can define for itself some of the basics.

“It’s something we are working on in the interagency process — with the Department of Justice on the legal concepts, and working with the Department of Homeland Security on how we protect both the ‘dot-gov’ world as well as critical infrastructure in the private sector,” Lynn said.

Jim sent this in:

United States’s closest ally and partner, the United Kingdom, is about to release classified material to the British media and to the world, according to a report to the National Association of Chiefs of Police from the U.S. Office of National Intelligence. 

Yesterday, London’s Court of Appeal rejected a plea by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to not reveal the claims that former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed had been shackled and subjected to sleep deprivation and threats while in U.S. custody.  

The office of Dennis Blair, U.S. director of national intelligence, immediately released a response regarding the U.K. court ruling: “The protection of confidential information is essential to strong, effective security and intelligence cooperation among allies. The decision by a United Kingdom court to release classified information provided by the United States is not helpful, and we deeply regret it.” 

“The United States and the United Kingdom have a long history of close cooperation that relies on mutual respect for the handling of classified information. This court decision creates additional challenges, but our two countries will remain united in our efforts to fight against violent extremist groups,” said Director Blair.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary had argued that full disclosure of the redacted claims might make the United States less willing to share intelligence which would be detrimental to Britain’s national security.

Although the British government has contributed to the proposals being drawn up as part of unifying European countries and their resources, Britain’s security services — MI5, its internal agency, and MI6, its foreign intelligence agency – will likely put up stiff opposition to these plans.

“This is serious business even for the United States,” said former US Marine intelligence officer and NYPD detective Sid Frances.

“The United States shares top secret intelligence with the British intelligence and law enforcement agencies. That means that very soon, U.S. secrets will be distributed to nations that should not have access to our military and law enforcement secrets,” claims the decorated Marine and cop.

Historically British intelligence officers have enjoyed a good relationship with their U.S. counterparts, regularly exchanging information particularly in the fight against terrorism.

However, there has been a degree of mistrust between the British authorities and European security agencies. For example, in the 1990s the French intelligence service was blamed for leaking information shared by MI6 to the Serbian military,

The intelligence-sharing plan from the European Union Future Group is expected to form the basis of legislation next year and calls on EU countries to abandon the “principle of confidentiality” which has governed the sharing of intelligence for decades.

The proposals stop short of calling for a European spy agency but say there is a need for “increased synergies between police and security intelligence services.”

“While the U.S. won’t directly be involved in consolidating intelligence, any secrets we share with Britain, France, Germany or other countries will be open to espionage by enemy nations or terrorist groups,” warns Det. Frances.

“Once we submit classified information to foreign entities, we no longer have control over what groups have access to our secrets,” he said. “This U.K. court decision is proof positive of that.”

Admiral Michael Mullen says the U.S. is in Afghanistan for the long haul.

National Guard troops in four states are responding to severe winter weather.

Coast Guard officials say nearly half the oil that spilled at a major Texas port has dispersed or been recovered from the water.

Counter IED efforts in Afghanistan hope to reduce the number of combat casualties.

The United States plans to provide Pakistan RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles to support their fight on extremists, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates confirmed today during a roundtable session with Pakistani reporters, according to AFPS’ Donna Miles.

The United States has been working with the Pakistani military for more than a year to enhance its own ISR capabilities, Gates said. “We share a lot of information that we acquire on the Afghan side of the border and from our satellites, but we also are trying to help the Pakistanis build their own capabilities.”

In addition to the drones themselves, the United States also will provide training and other capabilities required to “coordinate these platforms and be able to get the maximum possible value out of them,” Gates said.

The secretary first alluded to the new initiative last night, during an interview with Pakistani television reporters, but did not specifically mention the Shadow models, or the fact that a decision had been made about providing them, until today.

A senior defense official traveling with Gates told reporters the United States will provide 12 of the unarmed aircraft to help Pakistan in its offensive on extremists.

“We are trying to do everything we can to assist Pakistan in the fight in the west,” Gates told reporters today.

Funding would come from congressionally appropriated counter-insurgency funds Gates said enable the Defense Department to quickly provide equipment or training to help the Pakistanis in the fight.

The United States has been working with the Pakistani military for more than a year to enhance its own ISR capabilities, Gates said. “We share a lot of information that we acquire on the Afghan side of the border and from our satellites, but we also are trying to help the Pakistanis build their own capabilities,” he said.

Shadow UAVs are extremely popular within the U.S. Army, providing warfighters better situational awareness in their operations.

The Shadows are relatively small, with a 14-foot wingspan, and have an ability to oversee specific sites and feed video images.

The United States seeks to maintain a positive, cooperative and comprehensive military relationship with China, senior Defense Department officials told the House Armed Services Committee today.

Wallace “Chip” Gregson, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security, acknowledged that the U.S. relationship with the largest nation in the world is complicated.

China is a partner in some respects, but a competitor in others, he explained, and the United States must engage constantly with China and seek to lessen uncertainty.

Uncertainty is the major stumbling block to Sino-American relations, Navy Adm. Robert Willard, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told the committee.

Willard noted inconsistency between Chinese security statements and reality on the ground. China insists its military program is defensive only, and that it seeks a peaceful and harmonious environment in which its economy can grow and prosper, the admiral said. But the Chinese military has increased its capabilities in power projection and in asymmetric and conventional forces, according to Jim Garamone of AFPS.

“That ambiguity that currently exists, and our attempts to reconcile that, are the security issue that we hope to tackle in a military-to-military dialogue with our [Chinese] counterparts,” Willard said.

Gregson said the department is particularly concerned about Chinese developments in the nuclear arena, cyberspace and space.

The military-to-military relationship with China is important and must be nourished, the admiral said, and a good dialogue between the United States and China will help spread security throughout Asia.

“It’s the reason for our emphasis to the Chinese on the need for continuity, some constancy in terms of that dialogue,” he said. “We think that it’s lagging behind the other engagements between our nation and the People’s Republic of China.” The Defense Department must speed up its engagement to match corresponding U.S. efforts on the economic and political levels, he added.

The United States will maintain its presence in the Asia-Pacific region “as robustly as we have in the past as we continue to engage the Chinese in dialogue and, hopefully, foster an improved relationship and get to some of the ambiguities,” the admiral said.

Gregson said U.S. engagement with China and U.S. engagement with the region are inseparable.

“Our consistent and increased engagement with the region, our enhancements of our alliances and partnerships there — not only in the East Asian region but, increasingly, through the Indian Ocean area — will be essential to us shaping the environment that will allow us to also shape or develop cooperative, comprehensive relationships with the Chinese,” he said.