Climate Change Could Pose Significant Risk to US National Security

Crewman Qualification Training students hit the surf before the start of medical training instruction at the Silver Strand beach in Coronado, Calif.

Washington (Telephost) - A bipartisan group of military experts released a statement and two reports today arguing that climate change poses a significant risk to U.S. national security.

The statement, released by the bipartisan group Climate Security Consensus project, argues that the effects of climate change will put a strain on water, food and energy supplies, which can result in "unique and hard-to-predict security risks."

"The effects of climate change present a strategically-significant risk to U.S. national security and international security," the statement, signed by a bipartisan group of 25 national security and military leaders including Dr. Geoffrey Kemp, former special assistant to President Reagan for national security affairs and Dov S. Zakheim, former undersecretary of defense under President George W. Bush, said.

The statement argued that the "U.S. must advance a comprehensive policy for addressing this risk."

Some of the climate change risks to international security include "the likelihood of intra or international conflict, state failure, mass migration, and the creation of additional ungoverned spaces," the statement added.

Reports from two organizations that specialize in the convergence of climate change and national security released with the statement also described the risks. The Climate and Security Advisory Group, comprised of forty-two military and national security experts, issued a "briefing book" to advise the next President of their growing concerns and suggest tactics for creating a task force within the government.

"The national security community has focused on the intersection of climate risk and security for over a decade," Rear Admiral David Titley, of the U.S. Navy (retired), a member of the Climate and Security Advisory Group said in a statement. "The conclusions are clear: climate risks are accelerating in their likelihood and severity. The next administration, whomever is elected, has the duty and obligation as Commander in Chief to manage this risk in a comprehensive manner.”

The book urges the next President to prioritize climate change and assign a cabinet-level leader for climate change and security issues, adding that the Secretary of Homeland Security should develop a "National Adaptation and Resilience Strategy" to deal with climate change and better prepare the nation for extreme weather events.

The second report was prepared by The Center for Climate and Security's military expert panel, which includes senior retired flag officers from each of the division of the Armed Services. This panel outlined the effect of sea level rise on coastal military bases and how it could affect military operations.

"For the United States to remain strong and ready, we must ensure that our military and federal first responder capabilities can withstand and adapt to sea level rise. There isn’t a region in the world where rising seas don’t affect our military readiness and operations, and complicate our ability to do our job," Vice Admiral Rob Parker of the U.S. Coast Guard (retired) and a member of the Military Expert Panel for the Center for Climate and Security said in a statement. "For our Coast Guard this is particularly true as they are embedded in the communities they serve and doubly impacted at home and at work.”

Risks associated with sea level rise could impede military readiness, the report argues, saying the risks, "if not sufficiently mitigated, may eventually have wide-ranging effects on the military’s ability to effectively fulfill its mission."

They also presented a series of responses including building to address infrastructural risks, increased planning, increased tracking of climate trends, and increased collaboration with nearby civilian communities.

The threat to national security as a result of climate change comes as global temperatures continue to break records. On Monday, NASA announced that August 2016 tied with July 2016 for the warmest month ever recorded. Earlier this summer, NASA released mid-year data announcing that 2016 was on track to be the hottest year since their modern record-keeping began in 1880.

Thomas Heatherwick is the centerpiece of a $200 million plaza project

The young demonstrator locked eyes with a riot policeman during a pro democracy protest in Santiago, Chile

Santiago de Chile (Telephost) - The defiant look in a young woman's eyes as she stared at an armored riot policeman has prompted this photograph from Chile to go viral.

The unidentified young woman was photographed during protests in Santiago, marking 43 years since the bloody military coup, which resulted in President Salvador Allende being overthrown, killed, and replaced with a military government led by Augusto Pinochet.

The protesters were honoring the victims of the Pinochet regime -- the dictator was accused of ordering the torture and killing of thousands of people during his 17 years in power. He died in 2006 without ever being tried on the allegations.

The march was organized by an association representing relatives of the disappeared.

The photograph was taken by Reuters photographer Carlos Vera Mancilla outside the General Cemetery in Santiago in the commune of Recoleta, where the protesters had gathered.

Police began making arrests and Mancilla told Chilean news website La Tercera that police apprehended two of the woman's friends when she "reacted and stood before the policeman with a defiant look." He did not ask the girl her name.

The photo has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media.

Some of those who reacted to the photograph compared it to the image of the unknown man who stood in front of a tank during the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest in Beijing in 1989.

Facebook user Chrissy Gilliam commented on the Santiago photograph, saying: "The conviction in her eyes is stronger than his and the gear he's wearing."

Francis Ibori wrote: "This is one of the most powerful images I've ever seen in my life."

Seven police officers were injured and around 49 people were detained during confrontations between police and the protesters.
The Interior Ministry said there were a total of 140 altercations but that these were less intense than last year's protests.

Zimbabwe police announce new ban on Harare protests

A street vendor flees with his goods as Zimbabwe opposition supporters clash with police in Harare

Harare (Telephost) - Zimbabwean police have announced a fresh ban on protests in the capital Harare, state media said Tuesday, in another attempt to end demonstrations against veteran ruler President Robert Mugabe.

The order came hours after a coalition of opposition parties said they would stage mass rallies across the country on Saturday to push for reform before elections due in 2018.

Anti-government campaigners vowed to defy the order and also appeal to the courts.

"These are the last kicks of a dying regime and we expected no better from them," Douglas Mwozora, spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition party, told AFP.

"They have no respect for the law but we are not going to surrender our constitutional right. We are going back to the courts to challenge this illegal ban."

An earlier protest ban in Harare was overturned by the courts last week, despite Mugabe vowing a crackdown on dissent and blasting judges for "reckless" rulings allowing previous rallies.

In a notice in the state-run Herald newspaper, Harare police chief Newbert Saunyama said a ban would be imposed on the "holding of public demonstrations" for one month starting on Friday.

Hardlife Mudzingwa, spokesman for the pressure group Tajamuka (We are agitated), told AFP: "We will not heed this unconstitutional declaration by the police."

- Growing opposition -

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party won the last general elections in 2013 which were marred by electoral fraud.

Opposition to Mugabe's 36-year reign has grown in recent months with a surge of public demonstrations, triggered by an economic crisis that has left banks short of cash and the government struggling to pay its workers.

Two weeks ago, police detained scores of people including activists and bystanders following violent demonstrations in the capital.

Mugabe, 92, has often used used brutal force to silence his opponents, and at the weekend he warned the protestors they were "playing a dangerous game".

"Let the opposition parties and all those angling for chaos, mayhem and violent demonstrations be warned that our patience has run out," Mugabe said in an address to his party's central committee.

"They are planning to terrorise the rural areas in the mistaken belief that they can intimidate and harass our supporters. Let them be warned. They cannot win that war."

Last week, the government announced plans to slash 25,000 jobs after it revealed that nearly 97 percent of its revenue goes to paying public workers' salaries.

Soldiers and civil servants have regularly been paid late this year, heightening pressure on Mugabe, who came to power in 1980 and has vowed to stand for re-election in 2018.

A one-day strike in July, called by trade unions and Christian pastor Evan Mawarire, shut down offices, schools and some government departments.

Violence eases as curfew imposed in parts of Bangalore

An Indian police officer detains a youth as they walk past burning trucks that belong to the neighboring Tamil Nadu state set ablaze by angry mobs in Bangalore, Karnataka state, India

New Delhi (Telephost) - Incidents of looting and vandalism eased Tuesday in parts of India's information technology hub of Bangalore after authorities imposed a curfew amid widespread protests overnight over India's top court ordering the southern state of Karnataka to release water from a disputed river to a neighboring state.

On Monday, police fired at a group pf protesters who set on fire a police jeep and motorbike killing one protester and wounding another in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state, said police officer Madhukar Narote.

Authorities then imposed the curfew in the troubled parts of Bangalore, bringing the situation under control, he said.

The curfew came after rampaging mobs set fire to dozens of buses, trucks and cars and attacked shops and businesses in Bangalore and some other parts of the state, police said.

Television images showed dozens of buses, with license plates from neighboring Tamil Nadu state, burning in a private transport company depot in Bangalore. The company's managing director, Rajesh Natarajan, said nearly 40 buses were burned or damaged, PTI reported.

The Cauvery River, which originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, has been the source of a bitter water dispute for decades. Karnataka officials told the court that the state did not have enough water reserves to share.

Earlier Monday, protesters in Tamil Nadu vandalized a hotel in the city of Chennai owned by people from Karnataka, triggering violent protests in both states.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) for 10 days to Tamil Nadu, a move that led to protests by Karnataka farmers, who say they have no water for their fields.

The Karnataka government then appealed the ruling to the top court, which reduced the daily supply to Tamil Nadu.

Police in Bangalore passed prohibitory orders preventing the gathering of more than five people after angry mobs smashed the windows of several buses from Tamil Nadu and attacked bus drivers.

Many schools in Bangalore were closed Monday. Offices and shops were closed as groups of young men wandered the streets attacking property owned by people from Tamil Nadu.

In the city of Mandya, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bangalore, protesters set fire to trucks and buses bearing Tamil Nadu license plates.

Karnataka authorities have stopped bus services to Tamil Nadu for an unspecified period of time to prevent passengers from being attacked.

Farmers in India are largely dependent on monsoon rains and rivers to irrigate their crops. But with successive poor monsoons, rivers and reservoirs have been running dry and farmers in many places have been forced to cut the number of crops they grow.

US Flies Bombers in Show of Force Against North Korea

US Flies Bombers in Show of Force Against North Korea

Seoul (Telephost) - Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers flew over South Korea near the border with North Korea today to reinforce the U.S. commitment to its regional ally after the North's latest nuclear test.

The supersonic B-1 bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam before conducting low-level flights in the vicinity of Osan Air Base near Seoul, just 75 miles from the border with North Korea. The bombers were accompanied by a Korean F-15K fighter aircraft, as well as a U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft.

"The United States and the Republic of Korea are taking actions every day to strengthen our alliance and respond to North Korea's continued aggressive behavior," Gen. Vincent Brooks said in a press release. "Today's demonstration provides just one example of the full range of military capabilities in the deep resources of this strong alliance to provide and strengthen extended deterrence. The alliance military forces remain ready to meet mutual defense obligations against threats to the security of the Korean Peninsula and the region."

Last Thursday, North Korea tested its fifth and possibly largest nuclear weapon, once again violating U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit the communist country from using such technology. North Korean state TV declared that the nation had standardized and minimized nuclear warheads and would continue to strengthen its nuclear capabilities.

President Barack Obama issued a condemnation, calling North Korea's actions "provocative and destabilizing," and assured U.S. allies in the region of Washington's "unshakable commitment" to their defense.

Just days before that test, North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. That launch was timed to coincide with the G-20 economic summit held in China and attended by Obama.

Before B-1 bombers flew over Osan Air Base today, they conducted fighter interceptor training alongside Japanese F-2 fighter aircraft, according to U.S. Pacific Command. The sequenced flights with two U.S. allies were meant to demonstrate how the U.S. can work with both nations militarily.

"These flights demonstrate the solidarity between South Korea, the United States and Japan to defend against North Korea's provocative and destabilizing actions," said Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, in a press release.

"U.S. joint military forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific are always ready to defend the American homeland," he added. "We stand resolutely with South Korea and Japan to honor our unshakable alliance commitments and to safeguard security and stability."

U.S. flyovers are not uncommon after North Korean tests. After North Korea's fourth nuclear test, in January, the U.S. responded by conducting a similar flyover with a B-52 bomber.