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TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Pentagon chief Leon Panetta made history Saturday as the first American defense secretary to set foot on Libyan soil and said he hoped the post-Moammar Gadhafi government could assemble the country’s militias into “one Libya.” Panetta has indicated that the U.S. will give the Libyans some time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Gadhafi during an eight-month civil war before determining how to help the fledgling government. At a news conference in the capital with Prime Minister Abdal-Raheem al-Keeb, Panetta said that he was confident that the new Libyan government is reaching out to...

MOSCOW — Russia's Vladimir Putin implicated Washington on Thursday in the killing of Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and launched a tirade against Senator John McCain in an extraordinary attack on US policies. The Russian premier used his annual televised phone-in to unleash the type of no-holds-barred attack that characterised his 2000-2008 term as president and threatens to shadow his expected return to the Kremlin in March polls. Putin turned stone-faced when asked about a tweet from McCain -- one of Washington's fiercest critics of Putin -- warning Russia it faced an "Arab spring" revolt over the disputed December 4 parliamentary...

“I’d rather go to war in a Typhoon than in a F-18 (Super) Hornet” an Aussie exchange pilot says December 5, 2011 “I’d rather go to war in a Typhoon than in a F-18 Hornet”. This alleged Australian exchange pilot’s statement is one of the most interesting outcomes (and marketing slogans) of BERSAMA LIMA 11 an exercise marking the 40th Anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement (FPDA) the only multilateral defence agreement in South East Asia with an operational element commitment undertaken by five nations (UK, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Australia) to consult in the event of an...

Given the events of the Arab spring, some might say that the tell-tale sign that a dictator's days are numbered is when his defiance turns to delusion. Last Wednesday, in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, a chuckling and snorting Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, tried to deny any responsibility for the attacks on his own people: "They are not my forces. They are the forces belonging to the government. I don't own them, I'm president." ... ("Some mistakes committed by some officials," shrugged Assad.) His television interview has been interpreted by some as further evidence that the Syrian regime...

Nasrallah making his first public appearance since July 2008, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed hundreds of thousands of followers in the south part of Beirut on Tuesday, Dec. 6... Nasrallah reaffirmed his support for reforms in Syria, saying once again that "some people want to destroy Syria and compensate for their loss in Iraq. We remain on our stance; we support the reforms in Syria, and we are with a resisting government," he said... "Regarding the Golan Heights, head of the Syrian National Council stated that he will refer the issue to the international community, and therefore this serves...

Thousands of refugees fleeing the escalating violence in Syria are seeking shelter in Libya, a country still recovering from its own civil war. Buses from Damascus, crammed with Syrian families, are arriving daily into the east Libyan city of Benghazi. "Up to 4,000 Syrian families have sought refuge in Libya in the last weeks, and the numbers are increasing every day" said Dr Mohammed Jammal, a Syrian community leader in the city. "The buses arrive full and go back empty. There used to be two a week, but now there are two a day." The journey is a gruelling four...

<p>Question: When the Libyan "military" comes to US staff colleges -- a real possibility-- do they get to bring their flags of al Qaeda with them?</p> <p>This is a joke, right? I'm dreaming, aren't I? Either give me a pitchfork, or wake me up when it's over.</p>

Mexico's success in preventing Saadi Qaddafi from escaping to a Mexican resort with his family stands in stark contrast to the impunity with which many international criminals are able to operate in Mexico. ...The Mexican government today is touting its role in helping thwart an attempt by Saadi Qaddafi, one of the sons of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, to enter the country under a false name and take up residence in a wealthy resort on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The news comes less than two months after Mexico announced it had helped foil a plot that included an Iranian-American...

Dubai: Syria faced new sanctions after missing an Arab League deadline yesterday to allow observers to monitor the uprising.A senior Qatari official was quoted as saying that Syria had asked for "new clarifications and further amendments to be made to the protocol which was proposed" to cover the deployment of the observer mission. But the Arab ministers had "refused."Yesterday's deadline was announced in Doha by Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani, who also warned against the internationalisation of the Syrian crisis if Damascus did not heed the Arab call.

WASHINGTON — Two hundred and seven years after their deaths, 13 of the Navy’s first fallen heroes this week came closer than ever to returning home from the shores of Tripoli — thanks in part to the efforts of two veterans’ advocates from Western New York. But then Sen. John McCain got in the way.

Many people have the misconception that sanctions are an effective means to encourage a change of behavior in another country without war. However, imposing sanctions and blockades are not only an act of war according to international law, they are most often the first step toward a real war starting with a bombing campaign. Sanctions were the first step in our wars against Iraq and Libya, and now more sanctions planned against Syria and Iran are leading down the same destructive path. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) latest report, just out this month, there is no evidence...

CAIN’S VISION FOR FOREIGN POLICY & NATIONAL SECURITY The Americas Mexico: Friend and Partner Mexico is a friend in need. Our southern neighbor is struggling with drug-related violence that has claimed an estimated 40,000 lives over the past several years. By standing with Mexico now to help it solve its increasingly severe economic and security problems, we will help solve the problem of illegal immigration at home. Some 40% of Mexicans believe Mexico is a failed state. This helps explain why so many are seeking to emigrate. With declining oil reserves, a looming water shortage in Mexico City, and youth...

Former Libyan revolutionaries still hold about 7,000 people, and some reportedly have been subjected to torture and ill treatment, according to a UN report circulated Monday. The report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made public before a Security Council briefing about Libya on Monday afternoon, says that many of the inmates have no access to due process in the absence of a functioning police and judiciary. It also says that sub-Saharan Africans, in come cases accused or suspected of being mercenaries hired by Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, constitute a large number of those held. “While the (National Transitional Council) has taken...

President Barack Obama welcomed the decision, saying the U.S. would stand by the Yemeni people “as they embark on this historic transition.” Saleh signed the U.S.-backed power-transfer deal; (ending his 33-year rule), brokered by neighboring countries, Wednesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh in exchange for immunity from prosecution. If the deal holds, he’ll be the fourth leader to lose power in the wave of Arab Spring uprisings this year, following longtime dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

There are many things that have made the bombing campaign in Libya that helped oust Moammar Gaddafi questionable at best. Among these questions are the fact that there was no congressional approval for the campaign, and more. I myself asked this question as well as other important inquiries while the bombings were taking place. But all these questions were the sorts of queries that were more relevant while the war was being waged, but once Gaddafi was at long last toppled and even violently lynched, many of the questions regarding the action have since subsided. Now that even Gaddafi's son...

Much has been written about the democratic upraising in several Middle Eastern countries. Once those old regimes fell, the current Administration was quick to take credit for inspiring the democratic revolutions that will turn them into “new countries.” Nevertheless, now that these revolutions have shown themselves to be less than “democratic” Obama’s Administration must accept responsibility because things are going terribly wrong. Egypt The Muslim Brotherhood is set to win enough elections to take total control of Egypt and attempt to transform her into an Islamic Republic. The only organization in its way is the Egyptian military. "..protests and upraising...

ROME (AP) — A week into his new job, Premier Mario Monti is running out of time to reassure nervous investors that his government has a strategy to deal with Italy's crippling debts. The nation's borrowing rates skyrocketed Friday after a grim set of bond auctions, with a new auction looming Tuesday. Another borrowing debacle could ratchet up fears that Italy has entered a debt spiral driving it toward bankruptcy and the 17-nation eurozone into its most acute crisis yet.

Libya's new defence minister has said he has seen no evidence to back claims by his government that it has captured Abdullah al-Senussi, Muammar Gaddafi's former intelligence chief who is wanted by the international criminal court. Osama Jweli said that since being appointed to the defence post on Tuesday night he had made inquiries trying to establish if Senussi had been captured but had had no reply. "I have not seen any proof," he said. "When our Thwar [revolutionary fighters] capture someone, you have pictures of him on video straight away, or anyway within a couple of hours, made by...

"...a deep and spreading frenzy, particularly among  some of the youth militia and the Islamists..." Vengeance hangs thick in the air of post-Gaddafi Libya, where just about anybody can be cornered and accused by roving bands of witch-huntin' rebels of being a 'former regime loyalist'. This includes much of the nominal NTC leadership, adding to their own individual fears of rebel militias they have little or no control over. Besides 'justice' of the sort spontaneously administered to Muammar Gaddafi, they've shipped-off over 7000 folks they didn't like the looks of to concentration camps and old regime prisons. With no working justice system in place whatsoever, it's difficult...

"I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy," said Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain the other day after fumbling a question about President Obama's actions in Libya. "Because you run for president [people say] you need to have the answer. No, you don't! No, you don't!" His dearth of knowledge and interest in foreign policy was on full display in last night's GOP debate.... ...On the Patriot Act, Mr. Cain was even more hazy. "If there are some areas of the Patriot Act that we need to refine, I'm all for that. But I do not believe we ought...