Rockets to flatten Osama bin Laden Pakistan hideout

Next month, in an event slated to take place before a sandstorm of news media cameras, Pakistani officials say they will flatten the Pakistani house where for years, Osama bin Laden eluded capture -- until he was killed last May by U.S. Navy SEALs, according to the U.K.'s Sun.

Military chiefs in Pakistan plan to flatten with rocket-propelled grenades, then bulldoze the house in Abbottabad in an effort to keep the walled complex from becoming a shrine to the former al-Qaida, the Sun reported.

"We will hit it like an enemy fort. But first we must erase everything related to bin Laden from our country," the Sun quoted Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Interior Minister.

Lull in Strikes by U.S. Drones Aids Militants in Pakistan

A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden Al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say.

The insurgents are increasingly taking advantage of tensions raised by an American airstrike in November that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in two border outposts, plunging relations between the countries to new depths. The Central Intelligence Agency, hoping to avoid making matters worse while Pakistan completes a wide-ranging review of its security relationship with the United States, has not conducted a drone strike since mid-November.

Diplomats and intelligence analysts say the pause in C.I.A. missile strikes — the longest in Pakistan in more than three years — is offering for now greater freedom of movement to an insurgency that had been splintered by in-fighting and battered by American drone attacks in recent months. Several feuding factions said last week that they were patching up their differences, at least temporarily, to improve their image after a series of kidnappings and, by some accounts, to focus on fighting Americans in Afghanistan.

Other militant groups continue attacking Pakistani forces. Just last week, Taliban insurgents killed 15 security soldiers who had been kidnapped in retaliation for the death of a militant commander.

Why a one-war posture for the U.S. military will work

For six decades the United States has planned for the capacity to conduct two nearly simultaneous major ground-combat operations. During the Cold War, one of those campaigns was assumed to be an all-out struggle against the Warsaw Pact in Europe, the other a conflict in Asia. Since the Cold War, defense secretaries Dick Cheney, Les Aspin, William Perry, William Cohen, Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates have adopted some variant of this framework as well. It is time for a change.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s new strategic guidance, unveiled Thursday, moves in this direction, stating that the future U.S. military “will be capable of defeating a major act of aggression in one theater while denying the objectives of — or imposing unacceptable costs on — an opportunistic aggressor in a second theater.” Panetta and President Obama are right to reduce the requirements for a second possible war, which in this era would probably not be a ground war in any case.

The case for scaling back is strong. Let’s consider the major concerns: Saddam Hussein is gone, and whatever threat Iraqis may one day pose to themselves and the region, they are unlikely to invade anyone. Farther from home, North Korea has acquired nuclear capabilities, but its conventional forces have weakened, and South Korea’s army is greatly strengthened. Russia remains problematic on multiple issues but not because of its military menace to NATO territory. Threats from Iran or China, at least in the short term, are much more likely to involve U.S. naval, air and special forces (which should retain a capacity for handling more than one major operation at a time). The uncertainty and instability from Syria to Yemen to South Asia, however potentially worrisome for American interests, are unlikely to again require large-scale U.S.-led action.

All that said, budget hawks should beware of pushing this argument too far. The one-war paradigm is not a prescription for cutting the Army and Marine Corps by a third or more. Cuts in force structure and personnel should not exceed 15 to 20 percent, relative to current levels, and could be made only gradually, after the Afghanistan campaign winds down. Ten-year savings would reach perhaps $150 billion. That is much of the roughly $400 billion mandated by the August provisions of the Budget Control Act but hardly a dent in the (ill-advised) nearly trillion-dollar target required by sequestration.

To carry out this approach responsibly, the United States would still need an active-duty Army and Marine Corps almost as large as those of the Clinton years. Then, we thought we had a two-war capability, a fallacy underscored by events in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within a one-war paradigm, we could no longer rely on the force package intended for a second war to compensate for any underestimations made in planning for a first war. Nor could we rely primarily on the National Guard, as rapid response would be even more critical to addressing problems before they could metastasize.

House Republicans attack new military strategy

President Barack Obama’s unveiling of a new strategy for a leaner, more agile U.S. military drew positive but sparse reaction Thursday from House Democrats. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., one of the few Democrats to offer a public comment, called it a responsible framework that “shows that simply spending more money on defense does not necessarily makes us safer.”

But House Republicans were much more vocal in their criticism of the plan and the president. Here’s a sampling of their reactions:

‘Turning the page’ on Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama shifts focus to Asian security threats

In recasting his defense strategy, President Barack Obama is looking beyond the wars he inherited to focus on Asian security risks — mainly China and North Korea — that took a back seat to Iraq and Afghanistan.

This marks a turning point not only for the U.S. military but also for Obama, entering the final year of his White House term. Facing a re-election battle, he is declaring success in Iraq and Afghanistan and taking a forward-looking stance on the how to preserve U.S. military pre-eminence.

A prominent theme of the new strategy that Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta unveiled Thursday is what Panetta has called a renewed commitment to asserting America’s position in the Asia-Pacific region.

“This region is growing in importance to the future of the United States economy and our national security,” Panetta said. “This means, for instance, improving capabilities that maintain our military’s technological edge and freedom of action.”

The administration is not anticipating military conflict in Asia, but Panetta believes the U.S. got so bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 that it missed chances to improve its strategic position in other regions. He has yet to visit China as Pentagon chief but is expected to go as early as this spring.

Smaller military, narrower capabilities highlight strategy review

A smaller American military of the future won’t be designed for conflicts centered on long-term nation-building, but will emphasize special operations and counterterrorism, according to a U.S. defense strategy overview released Thursday.

Underscoring the shift away from wars like those the United States has fought over the past decade, President Barack Obama appeared in the Pentagon press briefing room — a first for a U.S. president, according to the White House — to roll out the strategy, which plans for more than $487 billion in budget cuts in the coming decade but offered few specifics.

The president said the plan, which he stressed “reflects the guidance I personally gave throughout the process,” is an overdue examination of military roles and missions and not simply a reaction to the fiscal constraints facing the country. He acknowledged that lawmakers from both parties are already fighting over whether the upcoming defense budget is too small or too large, but insisted that the new plan brings balance back to the force.

“Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is it will still grow, because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership,” Obama said. “I think the American people understand that we can keep our military strong and our nation secure with a defense budget that continues to be larger than roughly the next 10 countries combined.”

Areas the strategy document pinpoints for cuts include troop levels, Defense Department pay and benefits growth, and the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

U.S. Army command-level air and missile defense unit established in Europe

The U.S. Army has established what it says is its first command-level air and missile defense unit based in Europe.

“This unit gives us the additional capability and capacity to oversee and assist with execution and coordination of ballistic missile defense from the European theater,” said Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer Sr., U.S. Army Europe deputy commander and chief of staff, said of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

The 357th Air and Missile Defense Detachment was redesignated in October, but the unit’s soldiers symbolically ushered in the new mission Thursday with a casing of the old unit’s flag and the uncasing of the 10th AAMDC’s colors; and with the help of Velcro, they attached in near unison the new unit patch on their uniforms.

The unit is expected to grow from 125 to about 150 soldiers by February, officials said, as it brings in more experts who will play a vital role in the planning and execution of President Barack Obama’s “phased adaptive approach” to missile defense, aimed at deterring potential missile strikes from Iran.

No one mentioned Iran specifically during or after the ceremony.

“Ballistic missile defense, no matter where they (missiles) come from, is critical to both European allies and the United States, and this is the unit that does it for us,” said Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, USAREUR commander, after the ceremony. Standing up the 10th AAMCD is USAREUR’s way of “evolving to meet the current threats in today’s environment,” he said.