The United States remains the undisputed dominant power in space, but Russia and China are aggressively seeking to challenge the country’s superiority with space programmes of their own.James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, stressed his concerns as he accused Russia and China of “developing capabilities” to take out American satellites.
He said China in particular, had demonstrated the “need to interfere with, damage, and destroy” US satellites, referring to a series of Chinese anti-satellite missile tests that began in 2007. Continue reading
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U.S. intel: Syrian regime could survive 2012 with backing from China, Russia, Iran
The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that a fragmented opposition and powerful foreign support could sustain the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout 2012.
Officials said the assessment took into account the strong military, intelligence and financial support the Damascus regime has received from China, Iran and Russia.
The U.S. intelligence assessment has determined that Assad faced increasing resistance to his regime by Sunni fighters and thousands of deserters. But the assessment concluded that Assad’s military and security forces were sufficiently powerful to ensure regime survival for at least the next year.
“It could be a long time,” National Intelligence Director James Clapper said. “The opposition appears fragmented.”
The intelligence assessment, issued at a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Jan. 31, marked the first high-level assertion by Washington that the Assad regime remained resilient.
Continue reading article: U.S. intel: Syrian regime could survive 2012 with backing from China, Russia, Iran (World Tribune)
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