Syria civil war: Russian reinforcements arrive as al-Qaeda-linked rebels crush President Assad’s army in Idlib

Russian tank landing ships, aircraft and troops were claimed to have arrived in Syria to bolster the flagging regime of Bashar al-Assad, as the last remaining Syrian army base in Idlib province fell to al-Qaeda-linked rebels after a two-year siege.

Dempsey’s Final Instruction to the Pentagon: Prepare for a Long War

In a new National Military Strategy, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warns the Pentagon to reorganize its global footprint to combat prolonged battles of terrorism and proxy wars.

The U.S. military needs to reorganize itself and prepare for war that has no end in sight with militant groups like the Islamic State and nations that use proxies to fight on their behalf, America’s top general warned Wednesday.

In what is likely his last significant strategy direction before retiring this summer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon that “global disorder has trended upward while some of our comparative advantages have begun to erode,” since 2011, the last update to the National Military Strategy.

IRAN OFFICIAL: ATTACK ON SYRIA IS ATTACK ON IRAN

Giving credibility to today’s DEBKAfile report:

Iran is Syria’s strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad’s government with military and political backing for years. In September, the top commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said the elite unit had high-level advisers in Syria. Iran also is believed to be sending weapons and money to Syria as it endures its worst crisis in decades.

“Syria plays a very key role in supporting or, God forbid, destabilizing the resistance front,” Velayati was quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying. “For this same reason, (an) attack on Syria is considered (an) attack on Iran and Iran’s allies.”

Panetta Warns of Dire Threat of Cyberattack on U.S.

This has been known for decades and they have had the capability for decades. They being China and Russia. Iran is the only new variable and phenomenon. Chinese chips are used in virtually almost everthing in the United States from home PCs to military fighter jets, ICBM and missile defense networks, and even Pentagon computer networks. When the US has disarmed enough or whenever the Sino-Soviet axis decides it’s tired of the US money printing, they could likely shut down the country with manchurian chips whenever they please.

Studies have shown that this could effectively kill upwards of 100 million Americans as vital infrastructure shuts down or becomes tainted. This includes hospitals, food processing plants, water systems or even pharamaceutical manufacturers that produce medications for the sick and elderly. The nation would be in a full blown crisis.

The warning decades later is scarier than the threat itself. How blind and how far behind is the intelligence community?

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta warned Thursday that the United States was facing the possibility of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor” and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation’s power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government.