If its Friday, the North and South are exchange fire on Korean DMZ

Just FYI:

I spent most of my time, When I was in South Korea in the Gangwon province.

North Korean and South Korean military units exchanged gunfire near their border Friday.

No injuries were reported from the incident, which happened in a remote area northeast of Seoul in mountainous Gangwon province.

The shooting happened at 5:26 p.m. 

The exchange happened after North Korean forces fired two shots at a South Korean military guard post near the border in Hwacheon, South Korea, about 73 miles (118 km) northeast of Seoul, citing an official at the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The incident occurred near the strategic town of Chorwon, which was the scene of heavy fighting during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The demilitarized zone at the location of the shooting is 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) wide.


North Korea has requested record shipments of rice and fertilizer in exchange for concessions on reuniting families separated by the war, which ended in a truce, but without a formal peace treaty.

There were fatal naval clashes there in 1999 and 2002. In March this year, the sinking of a South Korean vessel killed 26 in what a South Korean and international investigatory team concluded was a North Korean torpedo attack.

The prickly relationship between the countries since the 1950-53 Korean War has had periodic conciliatory moves and flare-ups.

North Korea continues to deny involvement. 

While there are occasional shooting incidents across the demilitarized zones, the tensest flashpoint on the peninsula in recent years has been the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

 


The South Korean troops fired back! And that a GOOD thing!

China Respect King of the Battlefield

Although, on paper, Russia and North Korea have larger quantities of artillery, it is China that probably has the largest, combat ready, artillery force on the planet. 

This force includes towed and self-propelled guns, as well as multiple rocket launchers. Meanwhile, many Russian systems are unmanned, and the North Korean artillery is older and often in poor repair. China's stuff has trained crews available, and is of more recent manufacture. 

China has over fifty different models, amounting to over 17,000 guns, howitzers, mortars and rocket launchers. Most of these are mortars used by the infantry. Many Chinese artillery weapons are copies of Russian models, although for the last decades China has been developing its own.

For example, China has developed some interesting new systems, including GPS guided 406mm rockets, carried in self-propelled rocket launchers. The WS-2 system consists of an 8x8 truck mounting six canisters, each holding a 1.3 ton, 406mm WS-2 rocket. The WS-2 has a max range of 200 kilometers. 

Warheads can be as large as 200 kilograms (440 pounds), for the 70 kilometers range version. At 200 kilometers, the warhead is about half that size. The warheads use cluster bomb munitions. The WS-3 version has GPS guidance, a smaller warhead and a longer range (over 300 kilometers). 

While the original WS-2 rocket was unguided, and could land within 600 meters of the aiming point at maximum range, the WS-3, using GPS or inertial navigation, as well as terminal homing guidance, can take out very small targets. The WS-2 is similar to the U.S. 610mm, 1.8 ton ATACMS rocket, which has GPS guidance and a range of 300 kilometers. Each ATACMS rocket costs about a million dollars. 

The WS-2 rocket probably goes for less than $100,000 each, although the WS-3 probably costs several times that.
 
China is one of a handful of nations that still maintains artillery divisions. Russia and North Korea are the other two major users of these units. 

Artillery divisions were first organized during World War I, as a means of more effectively organizing huge (hundreds of cannon) barrages in support of major attacks. 

Only the Russians carried over the use of artillery divisions to World War II, and kept using them throughout the Cold War. Other communist countries followed suit. China still has six of them, but has adapted to new technologies.

Chinese artillery divisions exist mainly to keep specialist artillery, often called "non-divisional" in the West (because more common types of artillery are assigned to each combat division) together. The artillery division can supervise training and maintenance of the cannon, rocket and missile units, along looking after lots of ammunition. In wartime, the artillery division has plans in place to assign its weapons with units that will require.

The Chinese 1st Artillery Division, which is stationed near the coast, opposite Taiwan, is one of the best equipped, and ready-for-combat units in the army. It's five regiments contain 152mm howitzers (both towed and self-propelled), 130mm guns, 100mm assault guns, 300mm rockets and ATGMs (anti-tank guided missile). 

The 152mm howitzers can fire the Chinese copy of the Russian Krasnopol laser guided shell. The division also has units for detecting the location of enemy artillery (using specialized radars and computers) along with other computers for planning elaborate attacks using different types of cannon and rockets. 

This is similar to the one artillery division (the 7th) the German army did maintain during World War II. Their 7th Artillery Division was a response to the American use of highly coordinated fire from a large number of widely dispersed cannon.

The U.S. had developed techniques for rapid and highly coordinated artillery use during the 1930s, and it changed the way modern artillery was used. 

The Germans were surprised when they first encountered it, but never had enough artillery, radios and ammunition to make it all work like the Americans did. So they formed an Artillery Division to try and make it work for them.

Smart shells and rockets have once more changed the game. Large scale use of artillery is no longer beneficial if you have the GPS guided weapons. 

China is building these weapons, and working hard to figure out how to make the most of them. But they are not likely to disband their artillery divisions anytime soon. 

Their 1st Artillery Division, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, may not last another half century, but for the time being, it will remain a convenient way to administer the large number of non-divisional artillery units the Chinese have.

China and Turkey

NATO is not happy with Turkey hosting Chinese Su-27s and MiG-29s last month, for joint air exercises. NATO, especially the U.S., felt that this event allowed China to familiarize themselves with NATO air tactics and operations. 

Previously, these yearly Anatolian Eagle exercises involved Turkish, American and Israeli aircraft. But Turkey is cozying up to China, and other Islamic states, and pulling away from Israel and the West. 

For the last decade, a reform government, with Islamic roots, has ruled the country. While the corruption certainly needed attention, turning towards Islamic nations and away from Israel was not popular with Turkey's Western allies, or many Turks for that matter.

China has pledged to quickly increase trade between the two countries from the current $17 billion a year, to $50 billion. Despite this economic incentive from China.

But Turkey has said it would increase military cooperation with China. Turkey has also held joint training exercises with neighboring Syria, a sworn enemy of Israel.

Retired Senior Government Officials speaking out in China

While China prominently proclaims the peaceful intentions behind its growing military buildup, within the military the rhetoric is far more aggressive. 

The United States is the main foe among officers, and they continue to churn out books and articles about how America can be defeated. Lesser foes include Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea. But it's understood, among Chinese officers, that if the mighty Americans can be brought to heel, all other local powers will become much easier to handle.
 
Meanwhile, the winds of political change can be detected within China. A group of 23 retired senior government officials and academics openly called for more democracy in China, and authoritarian rule. These old guys can get away with this kind of open talk because they are old, retired, and still have many friends within the government. The real target of the letter was the hard-liners in the government who pay more attention to maintaining the communist police state, than to improving the well-being of the average Chinese. The hard-liners used to include a lot of officials who still believed in communism, but there are few of those left, and not enough of them for anyone to bother with anymore. 

The hard-liners tend to ally themselves with corrupt officials (nearly everyone in the ruling elite is at least a little dirty) to maintain the police state. But many senior officials actually back more democracy, and accountability to the people.

The United States sees China as having a natural interest in protecting its access to the sea (for importing raw materials and exporting manufactured goods). This justifies the large amounts of money the Chinese are pouring into building up their fleet. This is very new for China, which has not been a major naval power for over 600 years. What alarms the Americans is how the U.S. is being demonized by the Chinese military leadership. 

 Chinese politicians speak in more friendly terms, while tolerating the bellicose attitudes of their generals and admirals. The politicians refrain from reining in the aggressive attitudes of their military commanders. China experts counsel that the rants from the military are mainly to build morale within the ranks, and make it easier for the politicians to reduce corruption in the armed forces. This corruption is an old, old problem in China. 

It's been reduced in the last two decades, but is still there, in a big way. By whipping up this fervor for dealing with a major war, it becomes unpatriotic (for many, but not all, officers) to steal and connive. But to outsiders, it looks like the Chinese are preparing for something ominous. This is reinforced by the increasingly aggressive Chinese attitudes towards disputes with its neighbors over uninhabited islands (often just rock outcroppings only visible at low tide). Outright possession of these islets gives the owner possession of nearby oil or natural gas deposits. Something worth fighting for, and that's what worries neighbors when it comes to China's growing naval strength.

South Korean and Australian military officials believe China has recently made a major effort to steal secret data from them via the Internet. The hacking attacks try hard to hide their origins, but better forensic tools make it easier to find and follow tracks. The Chinese Internet based espionage efforts have been growing more frequent and aggressive over the last decade. As the evidence piles up, China is having a more difficult time trying to hide behind blanket denials.

China is aggressively offering inexpensive weapons and military training services to African nations. This would give China more influence within African armed forces, and better knowledge of what makes them tick. This can be useful when there are embarrassing incidents. Recently, in Zambia, two Chinese mine officials opened fire with assault rifles, when confronted by workers angry about the way they were mistreated. Two workers were wounded and the rest dispersed. The Zambian government wants to prosecute the two Chinese gunmen, while China wants to avoid any damage to Chinese economic interests in Zambia and Africa. China has also been approaching Western nations for greater military cooperation. The latest targets were Poland and Italy.

Not wanting to incur the wrath of China, Vietnam made it clear that it will not lease Cam Rahn Bay to Russia, or any other foreigners. From 1979-2002, Russia did lease access, but left in a dispute over how much they should pay. Russia recently offered to return, and China was not pleased. Despite centuries of tension, China is currently a major trading partner with neighboring Vietnam. While Vietnam has been deferential to China, most other neighbors of China (including India) are increasingly cooperating in efforts to form a de facto military and political alliance against China. If this ever becomes a formal alliance (an eastern NATO, against the eastern superpower), China will not be pleased.

China now has military alliances that allow it to fly combat aircraft all the way to Europe. A joint air force training exercise in Turkey last month had Chinese jet fighters flying through the air space of two allies, Pakistan and Iran, to new ally Turkey.

The U.S. has approached China about negotiating who would be allowed to do what in North Korea once the current North Korean government collapsed. Everyone in the region agrees that it's not a matter of if, but when, the North Korean dictatorship will collapse. South Korea considers it their responsibility to move in and clean up the mess. China has openly discussed other ideas, not involving South Korea. The proposed U.S. talks would seek to work out an arrangement that would not risk another major war in the area.

The government made a major effort to keep the recent news of imprisoned 1989 demonstration leader Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Censors worked overtime to keep the news off all forms of media (especially cell phones and the Internet). It got through anyway, and the extent of the censorship effort made the government look weak and afraid of what the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations represented.

In the northwest, China continues to have problems with its Moslem minority. As mainstream (Han) Chinese continue to move into these remote areas, the locals, who are often Moslem, increasingly respond with violence. Last month, for example, over a thousand northwestern Moslems (not Turkic Uighurs, but Hui, a catchall term for dozens of Moslem ethnic groups in the area) rioted and tried to destroy a newly built (by Han, largely for Han) nightclub. The locals objected to the booze and prostitution such places featured.

Peru need 300 Tanks?

 According to Ukrainian News reported Oct. 12 the Government of Peru has decided to abandon the purchase of Chinese-made MBT-2000 main battle tanks, and then purchase the Tifon-2 tanks.

Peru has received the first of the 300 upgraded T-55 tanks is plans to buy from Ukrainian firm Morozov Machinery Design Bureau. 

The upgrade is called the Tifon (Typhoon) 2, was designed by The Morozov Machinery Design Bureau in Kharkiv, Ukraine and Casanave (DISCA) in Peru have jointly developed the Tifon-2 tanks., and  includes a new, 1,050 horsepower engine. There is a new turret, with a 125mm gun, modern fire control electronics (including a thermal imager) and an auto-loader. 

There is additional armor (ceramic panels and ERA, Explosive Reactive Armor), skirts and standoff panels. There are also improvement to the running gear, to handle the greater weight (five more tons). The crew is reduced from four to three, and ammo storage for the main gun is reduced from 43 to 30 rounds.

Secondary armament consists of a 12.7mm and 7.62mm machine-gun. Morozov also supplies upgraded T-55s armed with NATO type 120mm guns. Peru is replacing 300 original design T-55s, if the initial units pass user tests.


The original T-55 is a 40 ton vehicle that was the ultimate development of the World War II T-34. Armed with a 100mm gun, as well as a 14.5mm and two 7.62mm machine-guns. Over 90,000 were produced (even more than the T-34) before production ended in the 1980s. The crew of four is not well protected from anti-tank weapons, and the 100mm gun is largely useless against modern tanks. 

But against civilians, the T-55 has proved to be effective. 

Peru wants an upgraded T-55 for use against possible battles with neighbors, some of whom are armed with Leopard 2s.

South Korea Amps Up ASW

 After losing the corvette Cheonan to a North Korean submarine earlier this year, South Korea is, understandably, working hard to increase its ASW  (Anti-Submarine Warfare) capabilities. 

Short term, it has equipped 30 fast patrol boats with commercial sonar (used for detecting fish, but also capable to detecting subs in shallow coastal waters) and installed improved military sonars on over a dozen larger warships. 

The navy is also buying a dozen fast rigid inflatable boats, equipped with sonar, for searching coastal waters for the smaller North Korean subs. P-3C anti-submarine aircraft are now allowed to operate closer to the Northern Limit Line (the unofficial maritime border between north and south Korea.)


Longer term a new ASW training areas are being built on each coast over the next two year. These areas will have electronic sensors to score how well ships perform in their hunt for submerged targets. Already underway are building programs to construct 20 new frigates and six more submarines. There are also plans to built a 15,000 ton ASW carrier (with six ASW helicopters). 

The navy is investigating obtaining more advanced American helicopter ASW gear. Finally, ASW training exercises will be held with American ships annually (once a year off each coast). New communications gear is being installed in South Korea warships, to make it easier for them to exchange ASW data with their American counterparts.

Kids And Their Toys In Afghanistan

For the last two months, 12,000 NATO troops, and 7,000 Afghan soldiers and police, have been swarming all over Kandahar province, systematically taking down Taliban bases, safe houses, headquarters and bomb workshops. This culminated on the recent air-land assault on the Horn of Panjwai (a hilly, and heavily fortified Taliban base area, 30 kilometers long and 10 kilometers at its widest, shaped like a rhino horn). The Taliban have controlled this rural area for four years, but now admit they have been forced to abandon it. However, the Taliban also say they were return from their Pakistan sanctuaries when the foreign troops leave.
The successful offensive relied on several factors.

Intelligence was the biggest reason. The additional UAVs, intel aircraft and intelligence analysts reaching Afghanistan in the last year have made their mark. Much more is known about the enemy, and the foe can be monitored 24/7 when necessary. The Taliban were surprised at the speed and accuracy of the attacks, and how follow up raids, based on just captured information, were carried out. This was all possible because of good intelligence, that was constantly updated. All these operations were also carried out with little or no publicity. The troops, and the smart munitions, were just suddenly there. Few protracted firefights. Just a lot of initial noise, and then a systematic clean up.

Cell phones are very common throughout Kandahar province. While more tips are coming in from disgruntled Afghans (who are getting tired of the Taliban, even if they are the home team), the Taliban are also very reliant on them. Now the Taliban are well aware of the fact that the Americans can tap into cell phone networks, but too many Taliban use them freely anyway. Smart phones are particularly popular, and newly recruited Taliban will often blow their first month's pay on one, and then do all sorts of stuff with their new toy, providing American intel analysts with lots of useful information. This drives the Taliban leaders nuts, but you know how it is with kids and their toys.

Precision weapons are being used more often, even with the more restrictive ROE (Rules of Engagement). The better intel about Taliban hideouts made it more possible to hit targets that did not have local civilians rounded up as human shields. With NATO troops on the move a lot, more Taliban were flushed out into the open. Thus, last month, warplanes made 700 attacks with smart bombs, missiles or cannon fire (more than twice as many as were made in September 2009). Add to that hundred of attack helicopter and UAV attacks, and you have some three dozen attacks a day (and these were often at night). In addition, the American soldiers and marines fired hundreds of GPS guided rockets and 155mm artillery shells. These were particularly unnerving for the Taliban, because they came without any warning. You can often spot a warplane or UAV up in the sky, and head for cover. But the guided 227mm rockets just hit, within a few meters of the aiming point, and could take down an entire compound.

Air mobility allowed assault troops to bypass roads well covered with mines and roadside bombs. The Taliban planned on these roads to slow down approaching troops so that a proper getaway could be organized. Not so when the helicopters came in at night, sometimes after a few smart bombs or guided rockets had hit.

Defeat of the IED (Improvised Explosive Device, the bombs and mines) has deprived the Taliban of their main weapon. Last month, 1,320 IEDs were encountered by NATO and Afghan forces. Most were destroyed, disarmed or simply marked and avoided. Less than 14 percent of them went off, killing 24 foreign troops. It was a repeat of what happened in Iraq, with American troops neutralizing enemy IED tactics faster than those tactics could be modified and improved.

Kandahar has a population of 950,000, about half of it in the city of Kandahar. It's the homeland of the most important Taliban leaders, and many of their early followers. It's second to adjacent Helmand province in opium and heroin production. These two province produce most of the world's heroin.

The Taliban didn't just get hammered in Kandahar, but all across southern Afghanistan, and in those areas of the north where there has been some Taliban activity. A lot of this anti-Taliban activity has actually been aimed at the drug operations the Taliban guard. The heroin gangs have had a bad year, what with a fungus that wiped out half the opium crop, and more attacks on labs (that turn opium into heroin) and caches of drugs and smuggling operations in general. No wonder the Taliban are trying to negotiate a peace deal.

ATTORNEY GENERAL DREW EDMONDSON TURNS TO PRIVATE PRACTICE WITH GABLEGOTWALS AFTER TERM ENDS

 

Attorney General Drew Edmondson today announced he will join the law firm of GableGotwals as a shareholder in the firm’s Oklahoma City office after his term in public office ends in January 2011. Edmondson has served as the state’s attorney general since his election in 1994 and served as the president of the National Association of Attorneys General from 2002-2003.

“Drew Edmondson has been a powerful and principled force as Oklahoma’s attorney general,” said David Keglovits, GableGotwals president. “We are excited about bringing his talents to bear on behalf of our clients.”

During his term, Edmondson was one of eight attorneys general asked to serve on the negotiating team for states involved in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit filed against the tobacco industry. The suit resulted in a national settlement in excess of $200 billion with the industry and will bring more than $2 billion to Oklahoma over a 25 year period.

Under his leadership, the attorney general’s office has helped reform the death penalty appeals process, established victims’ services and vigorously represented rate payers in telephone, gas and electric rate cases. On his watch, the attorney general’s office finally ended the Battles prison case, the Terry D. juvenile justice case and the Hissom class action lawsuit. He was instrumental in creating the constitutional Technology Trust  and the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust.

“Although it will be hard to leave public service after 16 years in office, I look forward to working in private practice,” Edmondson said. “I could not be more excited to become a shareholder in a firm that has such a great reputation and long history of serving public and private companies and individuals throughout the United States.”

Before his election as attorney general, Edmondson was elected, unopposed, to three consecutive terms as Muskogee County District Attorney in 1982, 1986 and 1990. He served as president of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association and was selected as Outstanding District Attorney for the State of Oklahoma in 1985 and the Outstanding Death Penalty Prosecutor in the 9th and 10th Circuits.

Edmondson served one term in the Oklahoma Legislature before entering the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1976. His undergraduate teaching degree is from Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, which he attended after graduating from Muskogee Central High School.

Edmondson is a Navy veteran with a tour of duty in Vietnam. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

About GableGotwals
GableGotwals is a full-service law firm representing a diversified client base in Oklahoma, the Southwest and across the nation. The firm has offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. With more than 60 attorneys on staff, the firm handles complex litigation in all areas of state and federal courts as well as representation in compliance matters before state and federal administrative agencies and regulatory authorities, energy-related disputes and transactions, sophisticated business transactions and administrative matters for many different clients including individuals, corporations, regulated entities, financial institutions, insurance companies, estates and trusts, inventors, employers and employees.
 

2 Hurt in Scaffolding Collapse at Cleveland County Jail Site

It look like it's not a good day for Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Lester , First this Joe Lester Deputies Release Wrong Inmate and now this...


Authorities say two workers were injured when scaffolding collapsed at the site of the new Cleveland County jail in Norman.

Deputy Fire Chief Jim Bailey said Tuesday firefighters found the men when they were called to the scene in north Norman about 12:30 p.m.

Bailey says the 15- to 18-foot high structure was set up inside the building, and had been holding concrete blocks when the blocks came down on the men.

Bailey says one of the workers was taken to Norman Regional Hospital after he complained of back pain. The other worker was transported with multiple contusions, abrasions and a possible leg fracture.

The men's names weren't immediately released.

Joe Lester Deputies Release Wrong Inmate

Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Lester said deputies are on the lookout for an inmate who escaped after posing as his cellmate.

Police are looking for Rowdy Offield after authorities said he changes his appearance to mimic the look of his cellmate who was scheduled to be released on Monday.

Detectives said they've learned that several inmates in the detention center conspired with Offield to help him trick jailers that he was the inamte whose bond had been posted.



Police said Offield was last seen around 8:30 p.m. Monday night walking North from the detention center.

“This is very serious and we are utilizing all of our resources to locate Offield”, said Lester Tuesday morning. “We are currently using the U.S. marshals office, the District Attorney’s Street Crimes Task Force and local law enforcement to assist us in this search. We have also began an in-house investigation to determine how to stop this from ever happening in the future.”

Deputies said Offield should be considered dangerous.

Offield was last seen wearing black and white tennis shoes, black pants, a black T-shirt and a white thermal shirt.

Offield was charged June 29 in Cleveland County with robbery with a weapon. Court documents indicate he is accused of showing a gun to rob a clerk at the Walmart in east Norman.

Offield had been transferred from a penitentiary in Fulton, Mo., to face the Cleveland County charge.

Anyone who may come in contact with Offield, or who may have information regarding his location is urged to call the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office at 405-321-8600 and ask for a detective.

Lawmakers seek justification for closing Joint Forces Command

The House Armed Services Committee will not provide any financial or legislative support for several Defense Department cost savings initiatives, including the closure of the Virginia-based Joint Forces Command, unless the Pentagon turns over details justifying its recommendations, according to the panel's chairman.

In a letter sent last week to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and released publicly on Wednesday, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said the department failed to turn over relevant documents explaining its decisions to disestablish JFCOM, as well as the Business Transformation Agency and the Office of Network and Information Integration.

Skelton said without the information the committee would be "unable to evaluate the rationale for the decisions. ... Previous recommendations of this magnitude included significant documentation to support decisions made by the secretary of Defense."


The Oct. 7 letter was written at the request of Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va., and was prompted by a contentious Sept. 29 committee hearing on the efficiency initiatives.

Lawmakers from both parties grilled senior Defense Department officials on the plan to close JFCOM, and expressed frustration when witnesses could not provide any written justification for the decision, the plan's estimated cost savings, or any successor organization. The command provides roughly 6,000 jobs in Virginia.

The chairman noted that prior to the hearing, the committee requested Defense share any business case analysis justifying the closure, as well as any guidance related to the decision. While the committee ultimately received a package of documents, it did not include, or even address the existence, of the requested guidance and analysis.

Skelton suggested in the letter that the department has not been forthcoming in responding to his request and it could still be formulating its analysis. On the day of the hearing, for example, the committee obtained from sources outside the department a memo to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of cost assessment and program evaluation on the subject of the Joint Forces Command Disestablishment Working Group.

"Needless to say, the committee is deeply disappointed that it had to obtain this document from sources outside the department," Skelton wrote.

Following the hearing, most of the committee members signed a letter requesting Skelton subpoena Gates to appear before the panel. But Skelton took a different approach, urging the department to comply with the information request or risk losing funding for the plan.

"It is important to note that a number of elements of the efficiency initiative will require changes to statute, the creation of or modification of legal authorities, and funding," he wrote. "The committee will be unable to support any request for legislation or funding resulting from the efficiency initiative until the committee's requests for information have been satisfied."

The closures, announced on Aug. 9, are part of a larger departmentwide effort to reduce overhead spending and redirect $100 billion to needed troops and equipment. A Defense Department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Norman Earthquake Shakemap

Earthquake 5.1 intensity. 

Epicenter 10 - 15 miles east of Norman. 

Quake felt in over 300 ZIP codes, including Kansas and Texas

Screw Pakistan

After a recent incident where U.S. helicopter gunships crossed into Pakistan, in hot pursuit of Islamic terrorists, and killed three Pakistani soldiers (and a lot more terrorists), Pakistan cut one of the two NATO supply routes that pass through Pakistan.

Aside from the fact that the Pakistani soldiers fired on the NATO helicopters (which they often do, even when the choppers are on the Afghan side of the border), the U.S. didn't have to remind the Pakistanis that such a gesture was self-defeating. 

The Pakistani government is heavily dependent on American economic and military aid, and more and more of the supplies for foreign troops in Pakistan is coming from non-Pakistani sources. This hurts Pakistani businesses that move, and often provide, the supplies.

At the moment, about half those supplies come through Pakistan. The Pakistanis only closed, for about a day, one of the two main routes. About 30 percent of the supplies come in via Central Asia railroads, and another comes from the Black Sea, via rail to the Afghan border. The remaining 20 percent comes in by air. But some of that may be shifted to the Central Asian route, which is much safer (from bandits, bad roads and the Taliban) than the Pakistan routes.

The U.S. and NATO supplies coming in via railroad from Western Europe, go through Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, to Afghanistan. This approach costs $400 a ton to get supplies into Afghanistan, versus three times that to truck it in from Pakistani ports, or $14,000 a ton to fly stuff in. 

 This Central Asian route has been under negotiation since 2003, but Russia kept agreeing to it, and then withdrawing cooperation. What has finally compelled Russia to cooperate in the last year is the growing problems they are having with heroin and opium coming out of Afghanistan into, and through, Russia. 

Shipping supplies to Afghanistan via Russian and Central Asian railroads has advantages for the nations it passes through. Russia has an economic interest in this, as more traffic makes it financially attractive for Central Asian nations to invest in upgrading their rail connections to Afghanistan. Tajikistan, for example, is extending its railroad to the Afghan border by building another 145 kilometers of track. 

Afghanistan itself has no railroads, mainly because there is not enough economic activity in the country to make this worthwhile. Foreign donors have contributed billions of dollars since 2002 to build more paved roads in Afghanistan. Currently, there are 42,000 kilometers of roads there, but only a third  are paved. There are few rivers, much less navigable ones, and no access to the sea. The place has long been a logistical nightmare. 

Most Afghans recognize that roads will make the country more prosperous, by making it economically feasible to export many commodities, and cheaper to bring in, and distribute, foreign goods. Naturally, the Taliban are opposed to all this road building, as it threatens the poverty and ancient customs that Islamic conservatives are so fond of.

Afghanistan's neighbors are eager to trade, and are using the U.S. and NATO need for more access to upgrade their transport links to the country. 

For example, 90 cargo containers were shipped through the Caucasus, via Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Caspian sea and Kazakhstan, to Afghanistan last year, as a test, and regular shipments began shortly thereafter. It's also possible to ship containers across the Caspian to a port in Turkmenistan, and thence to Afghanistan. 

The U.S. and NATO wants to move up to 50,000 containers a year via these new Russian and Caucasus routes. This makes it economically feasible to ship more civilian goods this way. As the traffic increases, it makes economic sense for Afghanistan to start building rail lines, something most nations began doing over a century ago.

WHY WE MUST DEFEAT RADICAL ISLAM AND HOW WE CAN DO IT

Tonight, Brigitte Gabriel will give a talk titled: WHY WEMUST DEFEAT RADICAL ISLAM AND HOW WE CAN DO IT. 

The location will be the First Baptist Church of Moore, just East of I-35 at the 27th street exit in Moore. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m., there is no charge to attend.

Brigitte is a leading expert on global Islamic terrorism, a New York Times Best Selling Author, frequent consultant for Fox News, CNN, ABC News, CBS News and MSNBC. She has also been named one of America’s 50 most prominent speakers.


Brigitte grew up in Lebanon as a Christian and saw first hand what happens when the balance of power is tipped towards Islam. Lebanon was once called the “Paris of the Mediterranean” and a major tourist destination. Now, Lebanon is a dangerous place heavily influenced by Hezballah.

Boomer Sooner