This Week in War. A Friday round-up of what happened and what’s been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week. It’s a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts and longform journalism.
- A number of high-ranking officials in Assad’s circle were killed this week. This morning, security chief Hisham Ikhtiar died of his wounds from an attack earlier this week.
- On Thursday, Russia and China vetoed a sanctions bill on Syria in the Security Council.
- The Red Cross officially declared the conflict in Syria a civil war.
- Haaretz reports that Assad’s forces have used helicopter gunships on rebels in Damascus.
- French president François Hollande says that defected Syrian general Manaf Tlass is in Paris.
- The special UN tribunal set up in Lebanon to investigate the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri has set a date for the trial.
- A US Navy helicopter crashed in Oman on Thursday.
- A bombing of an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria is being blamed on Hezbollah.
- On his website, Moroccan journalist and editor Ahmed Benchemsi posted a well-written narrative of the reformist and revolutionary February 20th Movement.
- A new controversy is stirring in Morocco over “luxury jails” for VIP offenders.
- The EU is establishing a new mission to train security forces in the Sahel.
- The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary investigation into violence in Mali.
- The first six months of 2012 saw a downtick in global sea piracy.
- The USNS Rappahannock in the Persian Gulf fired on a fishing skiff that came too close to the ship, killing one.
- An Afghan military court found an Afghan soldier guilty of killing four French soldiers in Kapisa province in January. This is the first such conviction for a so-called green on blue attack (Afghan forces attacking troops in the American-led coalition).
- There have been a number of protests following the public execution of a woman in Afghanistan’s Parwan province.
- The American Security Project released a report analyzing the lessons it believes America can learn from its mistakes in Afghanistan.
- The US House of Reps voted to cut $650m in aid to Pakistan.
- The raid on Osama Bin Laden had an unintended by very serious consequence: it significantly damaged vaccination programs in the area.
- The relatives of Anwar al-Awlaki, his son Abdulrahman and Samir Khan (all American citizens) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal district court for their killings in drone strikes.
- Conor Friedersdorf wrote in The Atlantic about the misuse and misanalysis of the New America Foundation’s drone strike data. An important and necessary read.
- Late on Thursday, the House approved the $606b defense spending bill by a vote of 326-90.
- The UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty will not be ratified by this Senate.
- A revised cybersecurity bill has been introduced to the House.
- Congress is demanding that the State Department either designate the Haqqani Network as a terror group or explain why it will not.
- The ACLU is persisting in attempts to gain more information from the DOJ on warrantless wiretapping cases.
- Americans on the no-fly list can still… learn how to fly. Awkward.
- A new study from the University of Oklahoma found that the symptoms of TBI are persistent and long-term.
- There are currently 10 female veterans running for seats in Congress.
- An interesting guest piece on TIME’s Battleland by Army photojournalist Sgt. Mike MacLeod: “I’ve shot 29 bullets and 212 images.”
- The Pentagon has said that LGBT personnel marching in San Diego’s upcoming pride parade are allowed to attend in uniform.
Photo: A child stands in front of a destroyed tank in Atareb, Syria. Alessio Romenzi/The Telegraph.
