National Security Law Brief

Twenty years after the reunification of East and West Germany, promises about the role of NATO in the former Soviet-controlled territory still create friction in US-Russian relations. Russia still claims that it allowed the reunification on conditions that NATO would not expand into the territory of the GDR.

Letter recently released by key players negotiating the reunification clear up some of the murkiness. James Baker, US Secretary of State at the time, seems to have promised to Mr. Gorbachev that NATO would not expand past its pre-unification borders. But days after Mr. Baker’s meeting, President George H.W. Bush sent a letter, at the insistence of his National Security Counsel, stating that the GDR would be given a special status within NATO, with no promise that the border would not expand. Neither of these two exchanges produced any concrete agreement about the future role of NATO in the region.

Helmut Kohl, chancellor of the FRG at the time, met Mr. Gorbachev a few days after Mr. Baker. Aware of both Mr. Baker’s meeting and the presidential letter to Moscow and informed of the details of both exchanges, Mr. Kohl echoed Mr. Baker’s implicit promise, that “naturally NATO could not expand its territory” into the territory of East Germany. Unlike the US-USSR exchanges, the meeting in Moscow with the German leader ended in a deal, that contained Mr. Kohl’s promise of a limited role for NATO.

However, Mr. Kohl was not speaking for the United State nor for NATO. Nor was the promise about a limited NATO role cemented in writing. Although Germany and the US spoke publicly on a short time after the meetings of the leaders about a “special NATO status” for East Germany, the Soviet Union did not publicly criticize what it saw as a change in plans. Although the release of these new sources after the 20th anniversary of reunification clarify the origins of Russian resentment, they also highlight the mistakes that prevented a clarification of the Soviet position on NATO expansion and the promises Moscow had received in return for allowing reunification.

Read more at NYTimes.com.

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Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has consistently used the terminology of waging a “soft war” on the people of his own country who do not support the radical Islamic regime in power. This “soft war” is anything but soft. Since the  disputed elections of the summer, Iranians have protested in the millions against the clerical regime in power and have been met with harsh beatings, killings, mass show trials, and executions. Iran has not only established a new task force to seek out people and sources on the Internet they deem threatening but have instilled 6000 Basiji members into elementary schools in an attempt to pressure the youth. As the nuclear issue is creating external pressure, the Iranian regime has become more and more desperate to maintain control with in its own borders.

The paranoia of the regime is apparent in the arrests of numerous journalists and non-political academics. For example, the recent release of Maziar Bahari has made news because Bahari, like many others still in prison, was accused of charges that were false. Bahari credits International pressure, especially from friends in the Media like Fareed Zakaria, NGO’s like Amnesty International, and important political figures like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for shedding light on his situation and helping to get him released.

While Mr. Bahari has been lucky enough to get released, numerous other academics, journalists, and supporters of human rights have already been executed, sentenced, or remain in jail with false charges brought against them. Such is the case with the American academic Kian Tajbakhsh.  Two days ago, the White House issued a press release calling for the immediate release of Mr. Tajbakhsh. Mr. Tajbakhsh was arrested in 2007 in Iran on similarly bogus charges but was released after pressure from the International community and groups like Amnesty International called for his release. He has been arrested on false charges again and detained without cause. A petition has been circulating on the Internet calling for the release of Mr. Tajbakhsh.

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President Obama is planning to unveil his plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at West Point during a speech he is scheduled to give on Tuesday. He plans to give a time frame in which troops will withdraw and when the Kabul government will be able to take over the fight in Afghanistan. Although there is no confirmation, President Obama is expected to put forth a plan that will remove forced by the end of 2011. To read more, click here NYTimes.com.

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The U.S. Navy had the wool pulled over their eyes when it purchased over $140,000 dollars worth of fake computer chips from a family operation.  The man in charge of the counterfeiting, Neil Felahy, operated a factory in southeast China where he employed workers to refurbish old computers to make them look like new–so new that even the Naval Sea Systems Command, who maintains the U.S. Navy’s ships and systems, fell for the fakes.  Felahy faces up to 51 months in prison and millions of dollars in fines for his actions.

Source: Computer World

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Though it seems like it should have been implemented years ago when black boxes became routine for airplanes, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is just now beginning testing on an inexpensive video camera for widespread use in bus transportation nationwide.  The black boxes with video cameras inside will survive not only explosions and the intense heat of a bus on fire but also preserve valuable recorded images for investigation and hopefully, prevent future threats.

Source: DHS Science & Technology Snapshots

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently made a statement imploring Pakistani officials to step up efforts to locate Osama bin Laden and other top-level terror commanders. Although he applauded Pakistan’s recent attempts to combat the Taliban, Brown added, “We have to ask ourselves why, eight years after Sept. 11, nobody has been able to spot or detain or get close to Osama bin Laden, nobody has been able to get close to Zawahri, the No. 2 in Al Qaeda.”

Intelligence experts believe bin Laden is hiding somewhere in Pakistan’s tribal regions, close to its border with Afghanistan.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Office responded to Brown’s statements by assuring world leaders they are working hard to fight terrorism within their borders.

On a related note, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari transferred some of his military authority to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani amid increasing calls for Zardari to cede power.

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On Sunday, Iran, in refusing to comply with U.N. demands to halt work on a once-secret enrichment plant, responded by announcing plans to build ten more enrichment facilities. The defiant announcement would place Iran in violation of a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions if carried out. Initial response to the plans have been mixed. The White House stated that this is another move by Iran to further isolate itself. European diplomats labeled the move as one of unreasonable “national aspiration,” as opposed to “imminent threat,” noting that the United States only has one uranium enrichment plant.

Additionally, International Atomic Energy Agency, a watch-dog arm of the U.N., stated that the plans would make it easier for the agency to suggest sanctions. Western nuclear experts, however, have noted that Iran does not have the infrastructure to carry out these plans. Iran’s main enrichment facility is only operating at one tenth of its potential, and any plans to build and maintain up to ten additional facilities could take decades.

Regardless of its solvency, the announcement is sure to provide a source of strain on Iran’s existing deals with Russia and China dealing with nuclear development. Furthermore, any move towards additional military-uranium enrichment will definitely spark the attention of Israel. Iran’s announcement came the same weekend it gave policing control of the Persian Gulf to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Read more at The New York Times.

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The Obama administration has announced that it will not disclose the contents of secret documents that were set to be unveiled on December 31.The initial disclosure date was maintained under an order originally signed by President Clinton. Critics argue that the decision indicates a failure by the Obama administration to live up to its promise of greater government transparency. Supporters counter that the problem lies in the failure of government intelligence agencies to comply with Obama’s demands for greater accountability and transparency.

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Government authorities charged eight men with recruiting 20 or more young Somali Americans to join an extremist Islamic group in Somalia.  The Group, Al-Shabab, is alleged to have conducted terror operations aimed at unseating a Somali government it sees as weak.  The charges were a culmination of a year long investigation by the FBI into the departure of a number of Somalis, at least some of which were feared to have been forming a link with much larger terror groups, such as Al-Qaeda.

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A Greek oil tanker is on its way to Somalia hours after being hijacked by pirates. The Maran Centaurus was originally headed for New Orleans when pirates boarded the ship and overpowered its crew. Authorities are now waiting for the pirates to contact the tanker’s owner with an expected ransom demand. The ship has reportedly been redirected to the small town of Hobyo, which serves as the base of operations for several Somali pirates.

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