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Al Qa'qaa High Explosives Controversy
The Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy concerns the possible removal by Iraqi insurgency of about 377 tonnes of high explosives, HMX and RDX, after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Although Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not come forward with documentation that explains how it arrived at the figure of 377 tons of missing explosives. The IAEA so far only has verified in its paperwork that 219 tons of explosive materials were at Al-Qaqaa and surrounding facilities. The explosives, considered dangerous by the IAEA, were certified by UN weapons inspectors to be inside facilities whose doors were fastened with chains and the United Nations' seal, at the Al Qa'qaa industrial complex in Iraq in 2003. By October 2004, the facility was empty. Background In October 2004, the Iraqi interim government warned the U.S. that nearly 380 tons of conventional explosives had been removed from the Al-Qa'qaa facility. The Bush administratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defense
Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industry, industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology * Self-defense, the use of force to defend oneself * Haganah (Hebrew for "The Defence"), a paramilitary organization in British Palestine * National security, security of a nation state, its citizens, economy, and institutions, as a duty of government ** Defence diplomacy, pursuit of foreign policy objectives through the peaceful employment of defence resources ** Ministry of defence or department of defense, a part of government which regulates the armed forces ** Defence minister, a cabinet position in charge of a ministry of defense * International security, measures taken by states and international organizations to ensure mutual survival and safety Sports * Def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sami Al-Araji
Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise network of malaria researchers People * Samee, also spelled Sami, a male given name * Sami (name), including lists of people with the given name or surname * Sámi people, indigenous people of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland ** Sámi cuisine ** Sámi languages, of the Sami people ** Sámi shamanism, a faith of the Sami people Places * Sápmi, a cultural region in Northern Europe * Sami (ancient city), in Elis, Greece * Sami Bay, east of Sami, Cephalonia * Sami District, Gambia * Sami, Burkina Faso, a district of the Banwa Province * Sami, Cephalonia, a municipality in Greece * Sami, Gujarat, a town in Patan district of Gujarat, India * Sami, Paletwa, a town in Chin State, Myanmar * Sämi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Terrain Team
The Human Terrain System (HTS) was a United States Army, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) support program employing personnel from the social science disciplines – such as anthropology, sociology, political science, regional studies, and linguistics – to provide military commanders and staff with an understanding of the local population (i.e. the "human terrain") in the regions in which they are deployed. The concept of HTS was first developed in a paper by Montgomery McFate and Andrea Jackson in 2005, which proposed a pilot version of the project as a response to "identified gaps in S militarycommanders' and staffs' understanding of the local population and culture", such as became particularly visible during the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. HTS was subsequently launched as a proof-of-concept program, run by the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), in February 2007, with five HTS teams deployed between Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2007, HT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montgomery McFate
Montgomery McFate (also known as Montgomery Sapone and nicknamed Mitzy; born January 8, 1966) is a cultural anthropologist, a defense and national security analyst, and former Science Advisor to the United States Army Human Terrain System program. As of 2011, she holds the Minerva Chair (Strategic Research) at the U.S. Naval War College. Early life McFate was raised in the houseboat community in Sausalito, California, at the time a " hippie" community. Her parents were artists and associates with such figures as Jack Kerouac and Lawrence Ferlinghetti."Montgomery McFate's Mission" by Matthew B. Stannard, '''', April 29, 2007 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Mine
A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, although other detonation mechanisms are also sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both. Landmines are typically laid throughout an area, creating a ''minefield'' which is dangerous to cross. The use of land mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming civilians and the economy. Seventy-eight countries are contaminated with land mines and 15,000–20,000 people are killed every year while many more are injured. Approximately 80% of land mine casualties are civilians, with children as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improvised Explosive Device
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechanism. IEDs are commonly used as roadside bombs, or homemade bombs. IEDs are generally done in these terrorism operations or in asymmetric unconventional warfare by insurgent guerrillas or commando forces in a theatre of operations. In the Iraq War (2003–2011), insurgents used IEDs extensively against U.S.-led forces and, by the end of 2007, IEDs were responsible for approximately 63% of coalition deaths in Iraq. They were also used in Afghanistan by insurgent groups, and caused over 66% of coalition casualties in the 2001–2021 Afghanistan War. IEDs were also used frequently by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Background An IED is a bomb fabricated in an improvised manner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants (mostly civilians and neutral military personnel). The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Basque conflict, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States. There are various different definitions of terrorism, with no universal agreement about it. Terrorism is a charged term. It is often used with the connotation of something that is "morally wrong". Governments and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings; it has been designated as a List of designated terrorist groups, terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, India, and Al-Qaeda#Designation as a terrorist group, various other countries. The organization was founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden and other volunteers during the Soviet–Afghan War. Following the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1989, bin Laden offered ''mujahideen'' support to Saudi Arabia in the Gulf War in 1990–1991. His offer was rebuffed by the Saudi authorities, which instead sought the aid of the United States. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Simon
Steven Simon is a former United States National Security Council senior director for the Middle East and North Africa. He also previously served as the Executive Director IISS-US and Corresponding Director IISS-Middle East and as a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute based in Washington, D.C. He was Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a Spring 2008 Berlin Prize Fellow. Steven Simon is now a visiting professor at Colby College in Maine. Education Simon holds a BA in Classics and Near Eastern Languages from Columbia University, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and an MPA from Princeton University. Career In 1999 Steven Simon moved to Britain, where he worked as Deputy Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Before he moved to London, Simon was Director for Global Issues and Senior Director for Transnational Threats at the White House. After Simon left the IISS he specia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Benjamin
Daniel Benjamin (born October 16, 1961) is an American diplomat and journalist and was the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the United States Department of State from 2009 to 2012, appointed by Secretary Hillary Clinton. Benjamin was the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. In July 2020, he became president of the American Academy in Berlin, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent transatlantic institution in the German capital. Early life Benjamin grew up in Stamford, Conn., one of three sons (William Benjamin and Jonathan Benjamin) born to Burton and Susan Benjamin. His father is an internist; his late mother was a teacher, an administrator at the University of Connecticut and the head of marketing for a Manhattan law firm. They were a moderately observant Jewish family. Benjamin graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude, and then was a 1983 Marshall Scholar at New College, Oxford. After college, he worked as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials. Since its inception in 1947 by President Harry S. Truman, the function of the Council has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies. It also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. The Council has subsequently played a key role in most major events in U.S. foreign policy, from the Korean War to the War on Terror. The NSC has counterparts in the national security councils of many other nations. History The immediate predecessor to the National Security Council was the National Intelligence Authority (NIA), wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
