Under the [defunct] assault weapons ban, it was illegal to manufacture or sell new high-capacity magazines, defined as those that hold more than 10 rounds. The magazines used by Loughner had 31 rounds each, according to police.
••• Gaston Glock’s namesake company manufactures this 30-oz. assault weapon.
“An extra 150 miles of shelf can be billions [or] trillions of dollars in resources,” said Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, commander of Alaskan Command, Joint Task Force Alaska, Alaskan North American Defense Region and the 11th Air Force.
••• New stuff to fight over, thanks to global warming.
Afghans crossing the border into Iran in search of work may be putting their lives at risk… [A] video on Tolo TV shows grisly images of some 20 dead and injured Afghan nationals on the ground while Iranian border guards stand around them, laughing and filming.
••• Afghanistan-Iran border troubles, part I ).
Hundreds of fuel tankers are stranded at the country’s main border crossings with Iran, stopped by Iranian border agents, and the number making it across has slowed to a trickle. About 40 tankers a day are crossing the border at Herat, Farah and Nimruz Provinces, compared with 250 to 330 a day before, according to commerce and customs officials.
••• Afghanistan-Iran border troubles, part II
Some argue that ANSF commanders, usually the police, should not be involved in the private security business. Some contend that paying the police is the same as bribery. Counterintuitively, using the police as security for construction companies actually forces them to get outside instead of hunkering down in their checkpoints. The alternative to ANSF providing security is unacceptable:
Forty members of a Karzai-affiliated unit, the Kandahar Strike Force, entered the office of the Kandahar City prosecutor and demanded the release of an associate being held for car theft and forgery… . The Kandahar City prosecutor refused to hand over the suspect, leading to an exchange of gunfire during which Kandahar Province Police Chief Matiullah Qateh was killed.
Furthermore, in the volatile south, new police recruits earn $240 a month while their rival armed security groups make upward of $600 a month, not including food and transportation to the work site. The private security company that EACC frequently uses is Asia Security Group, which is owned by Hashmat Karzai, cousin of President Hamid Karzai.
••• A US Army captain explains in great detail how poor contract oversight by Western forces enables Afghan corruption, contributing to lawlessness and prolonging violence. [rssless][visitor]
**WHAT CAN YOU FIND OUT ABOUT BAE SYSTEMS?
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The [intelligence analysis] business is great for BAE’s balance sheet, since even expensive acquired firms can be expanded rapidly by hiring retired military officers. The profit from their labor is a nearly infinite return on invested capital. Overall BAE aims for a return of at least 10% on revenue, with anything above 15% serving as little more than an invitation for political interference.
••• Forbes tries to make lemonade from a less-than-revealing interview with BAE executive Linda Hudson.
China announced a smaller-than-usual increase last year in its military budget, 7.5 per cent, bringing it to $76.3-billion. But actual spending, including money for new weapons and research and development, is believed to be as much as double that.
••• An old-fashioned arms race.
Good news for the French. Not so long ago the Canadians were giving thought to purchase of a San Antonio class LPD. Guess that’s not going to work out.
••• Bad news for Northrop Grumman.
Recently, the Pentagon updated its numbers on bases and other sites, and they have dropped.… According to the Department of Defense’s 2010 Base Structure Report, the U.S. military now maintains 662 foreign sites in 38 countries around the world. Dig into that report more deeply, though, and Grand Canyon-sized gaps begin to emerge.
••• The US military has lost count of its overseas bases.
Power rests with corporations. And corporations gain very lucrative profits from war, even wars we have no chance of winning.
••• Chris Hedges calls for physical obstruction of “war makers and weapons manufacturers.”