China pledges neutrality unless US strikes North Korea first

China’s government says it would remain neutral if North Korea attacks the United States, but warned it would defend its Asian neighbor if the U.S. strikes first and tries to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime, Chinese state media said Friday.

“If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime, and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so,” reported the Global Times, a daily Chinese newspaper controlled by the Communist Party.

Meanwhile, other Asia-Pacific countries have come out in support of the United States in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

Japan’s defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, said this week that his nation’s military was ready to shoot down North Korean nuclear missiles, if necessary.

In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described his country and the U.S. as being “joined at the hip,” the South China Morning Post reported.

“If there is an attack on the U.S., the Anzus Treaty would be invoked,” and Australia would aid the U.S., Turnbull told Australia’s 3AW radio Friday morning. Turnbull was referring to a collective security agreement between the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The Chinese response to the heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea followed a number of hot-headed proclamations.

North Korea has threatened the U.S. with a nuclear attack on Guam, a U.S. territory south of Japan, after President Donald Trump said additional threats against the country or its allies would be met with “fire and fury.”

On Thursday, the president doubled-down on the remarks, saying his original comment possibly “wasn’t tough enough.”

In a separate appearance, Trump added: “Let’s see what [Kim Jong Un] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before – what will happen in North Korea.”

One North Korean government official, meanwhile, accused Trump of “going senile,” Fox News reported.

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Ashton Carter: U.S. to Begin 'Direct Action on the Ground' in Iraq, Syria

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. will begin "direct action on the ground" against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria.

"We won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground," Carter said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services committee, using an alternative name for the militant group.

Carter pointed to last week's rescue operation with Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to free hostages held by ISIS.

Carter and Pentagon officials initially refused to characterize the rescue operation as U.S. boots on the ground. However, Carter said last week that the military expects "more raids of this kind" and that the rescue mission "represents a continuation of our advise and assist mission."

This may mean some American soldiers "will be in harm's way, no question about it," Carter said last week.

After months of denying that U.S. troops would be in any combat role in Iraq, Carter late last week in a response to a question posed by NBC News, also acknowledged that the situation U.S. soldiers found themselves in during the raid in Hawija was combat.

"This is combat and things are complicated," Carter said.

During Tuesday's Senate hearing, Carter said Wheeler "was killed in combat."

A feisty Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said on Tuesday that the U.S. effort in Syria is a "half-assed strategy at best," and said that the U.S. is not doing a "damn thing" to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Carter on Tuesday pushed back against that notion.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the "balance of forces" has tilted in Assad's favor.
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US Defense Official: Russia Launchs Airstrikes in Syria

A U.S. defense official tells The Associated Press that Russia has launched airstrikes in Syria.
The move follows a unanimous vote by Russian lawmakers to allow President Vladimir Putin to order airstrikes in Syria, where Russia has deployed fighter jets and other weapons in recent weeks. The Kremlin sought to play down the decision, saying it will only use its air force in the Mideast country, not ground troops.

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The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the airstrikes publicly, said they were launched Wednesday near Homs.
In a statement Wednesday, the office of Syrian President Bashar Assad said Russia's decision to send troops to Syria came at the request of Damascus.

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Putin Rules Out Russian Troops Fighting in Syria After Meeting With Obama

Hours after President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged barbs during the UN General Assembly on Monday, the two leaders met for 90 minutes inside the UN Security Council.

The bilateral meeting, held in the company of ministers and advisers, including Secretary of State John Kerry, was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated conclave during this year's General Debate, which began earlier in the day. The topic of discussion was largely expected to be Syria's civil war, where Russia has recently increased its military presence, sending personnel, planes, and vehicles.

Related: Why the Hell Did Russia Intervene in Syria?

The Obama administration has insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must not remain part of any political transition, while Putin says Assad should be offered support as part of efforts to dismantle the so-called Islamic State (IS). That discrepancy was on full display during the speeches the two leaders delivered earlier in the day.

After leaving the Council chambers, Putin bypassed an expectant group of international reporters and gave a press conference exclusively for Russian media, which was broadcast and translated live by RT, the Kremlin's English language media outlet.

According to the translation, Putin called the meeting "very constructive, practical and surprisingly frank."

"We've found a lot of common ground, but there are differences as well," he said.

Putin did not rule out the use of warplanes in Syria, but he did say, however, that Russian troops would not be deployed in fighting, saying "ground operations, involving Russian units, Russian troops — this is out of the question."

Another expected topic of discussion, which American officials insisted earlier in the week would be raised, is the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow annexed the country's Crimea region last year, and Russian soldiers have been documented inside separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin has insisted that its forces are not in the country.

There was no immediate word from American officials on the content of the discussion on Monday night.

Related: Obama and Putin Talk Trash and Clink Glasses at UN Ahead of Private Meeting

The hour and a half encounter was the second of the day for Obama and Putin. Earlier, the two men sat at the same table during a luncheon hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The two men clinked glasses during a toast but did not appear to speak to each other.

Asked about the incident, Putin said "this was just a protocol event nothing more."

"You journalists, you really surprise… you are very interesting people," he added.

Follow Samuel Oakford on Twitter: @samueloakford

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Israel adds voice to concerns over Russia's role in Syria

Israel has joined a growing chorus of concern over a reported Russian military buildup in Syria in support of the beleaguered regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking to reporters, Moshe Ya’alon, the Israeli defence minister, echoed claims by western sources that Moscow has in recent days dispatched military advisers and equipment with the main goal of setting up an airbase in the Syrian government-controlled area around Latakia.

“As far as we understand, at this stage we are talking about a limited force that includes advisers, a security team and preparations for operating planes and combat helicopters,” Ya’alon said in a briefing on Thursday.

Ya’alon’s comments follow statements of concern on Wednesday from the secretary general of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, and the US secretary of state, John Kerry, who phoned his counterpart in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov, to reiterate his concerns over recent Russian activity.

The information divulged in Ya’alon’s briefing closely resembles comments by US defence officials this week who said the US had seen a variety of Russian military assets flown into the airfield south of Latakia, including troops capable of protecting Russian forces there and modular housing units capable of accommodating up to 1,000 troops.

One US official said the movements indicated that the Russians were preparing for some sort of air operations.

Responding on Thursday, Lavrov defended Russian military assistance to Syria, saying Moscow wanted to avoid a repeat of the “Libyan scenario” in Syria and would therefore provide greater military assistance to the Syrian president if requested.

“We helped, are continuing to help and will help the Syrian government when it comes to supplying the Syrian army with everything it needs,” he said.

Lavrov has said that Russian aircraft flying into Syria have been delivering military supplies and humanitarian aid.

“The planes the Russian Federation is sending to Syria are carrying military items, in accordance with the contracts we have, and humanitarian aid,” he said. “Depending on what cargo the plane is carrying, we request the proper clearance, in full accordance with international law.”

Russia has also reportedly been seeking permissions to use military airspace through Iran. Bulgaria refused permission for its airspace to be used for Russian military traffic seeking to fly to Syria.

Kerry told Lavrov on Wednesday that if the reports were found to be true “it could lead to greater violence” – a message reinforced by the foreign ministries of Germany and France.


Russia complains of 'strange hysteria' over its presence in Syria
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The claims of an expanding role for Russia in Syria have come as Assad’s forces suffered a series of setbacks, including the loss of a key airfield.

Moscow has backed Assad throughout the nation’s civil war, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 250,000 people. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has sought to cast arms supplies to Assad’s government as part of international efforts to combat Islamic State (Isis) and other militant organisations in Syria.

On Wednesday, three unnamed Lebanese officials told Reuters that a small number of Russian advisers were already participating in military operations in Syria in support of regime forces.

Ya’alon described the Russian move as significant and said if the Russians planned on carrying out airstrikes against Isis militants, they would have to coordinate it with a US-led campaign.

The Israeli minister added that Russia’s first goal was likely to protect its interests in Syria, namely the navy base of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea. Ya’alon did not elaborate on how Israel knew of the Russian deployment in Syria.

In Moscow, Putin recently hinted that Russia might be planning to expand its assistance to Assad. Asked if Russia could deploy its troops to Syria to help fight Isis, Putin said last week that Russia was “looking at various options” but it was too early to talk about it. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said on Thursday that nothing had changed and Putin’s comments still stood.

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Russian fighter jets enter Syria with transponders off

Washington (CNN)A U.S. official told CNN Thursday that Russian fighter jets turned off their transponders as they flew into Syria in an apparent attempt to avoid detection. The official said the fighters flew very close to a transport plane that had its transponder on and functioning.

U.S. satellites rapidly saw that the aircraft were there, according to the official.

The assessment over the weekend was that the fighter jets were on their way. The same official said the Russians have begun flying drones around the coastal city of Latakia.

Russia launches drones in Syria

With no ISIS fighters in the area, the move raises serious questions about the Russians' intentions with their military buildup, which the U.S. has questioned the purpose of and watched with wariness. The action points to a higher likelihood that the Russian plan is to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rather than fight the terror group.

Is Russia preparing to move troops to 2 new Syria bases?

The U.S. has its own effort underway to defeat ISIS but has also said that Assad must go.

Asked about what the U.S. can do about the situation, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told CNN at a press conference Thursday that "it's a matter of seeing what the Russians do."


Carter said he hopes the Russians will fight ISIS, "but if it's a matter of pouring gasoline on the civil war in Syria, that is certainly not productive from our point of view."

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France launches airstrikes against ISIL in Syria

France on Sunday said it launched its first airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria.

French President Francois Hollande earlier this month said his country will have to carry out airstrikes against the militants, also known as ISIL and ISIS, in the war-torn country, days after France ordered surveillance flights over ISIL positions there.

Hollande said there was proof that attacks were planned from Syria against several countries including France, and blamed ISIL for Europe's refugee crisis, the largest the continent has faced since World War II.

Announcing the airstrikes, Hollande's office said in a statement Sunday: "Our country thus confirms its resolute commitment to fight against the terrorist threat represented by Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIL). We will strike each time that our national security is at stake."

Also Sunday, Iraq's military said it reached a deal to share intelligence with Russia, Iran and Syria in the fight against ISIL, CNN reported. The statement cited "the increasing concern from Russia about thousands of Russian terrorists committing criminal acts within ISIS," according to the broadcaster.

France did not previously carry out airstrikes against ISIL in Syria because it feared such action could maintain the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has however, carried out airstrikes in Iraq. A U.S.- led coalition is carrying out airstrikes against ISIL in both countries.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to drop his opposition to Assad playing a role in any Syrian transitional government when he meets leaders from around the world at the United Nations in New York City on Sunday, the BBC reported.

The broadcaster said Cameron will call for a new diplomatic drive to end the war, which started in 2011, but is expected to insist that Assad stand down.

Millions of refugees from countries including Syria and Iraq, where ISIL has seized vast swaths of territory, have fled to neighboring countries and to Europe. Sunday, an official said at least 17 Syrians drowned after their boat sank off the Turkish coast on the way to the Greek island of Kos, the Anadolu news agency reported.

French security forces had been on high alert since Islamic extremist gunmen, one of whom pledged allegiance to ISIL, carried out a series of attacks in Paris in January that left 20 people dead.

In an Islamist terror attack in June, a man was decapitated at a gas factory in the southeastern city of Lyon. In a separate incident, a gunman on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris was tackled and subdued by passengers including three Americans in August as he apparently prepared to open fire on passengers.


USA TODAY reporter Kim Hjelmgaard traveled the land route taken by many migrants from Lesbos, Greece, to Berlin. Follow his journey on Twitter and here:

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Apollo 14 astronaut claims peace-loving aliens prevented 'nuclear war' on Earth

From “The Day the Earth Stood Still” to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” to “E.T.,” pop culture is filled with stories about friendly, curious extraterrestrials visiting Earth to learn more about mankind. For Apollo 14 veteran Edgar Mitchell that plotline is less fiction than it is reality. The sixth man to walk the surface of the moon told Mirror online that he believes peace-keeping aliens visited our planet to prevent a nuclear war between Russia and the United States.

The idea sounds far-fetched, but Mitchell claims that military insiders viewed strange flying crafts cruising over U.S. missile bases and the White Sands facility in New Mexico, the site of the first-ever nuclear bomb detonation in 1945.

“They wanted to know about our military capabilities,” he said. “My own experience talking to people has made it clear the ETs had been attempting to keep us from going to war and help create peace on Earth.”

Mitchell, who grew up near the famous Roswell site in New Mexico, said that he has heard from various Air Force officers who claim UFOs were a regular site during the Cold War.

“They told me UFOs were frequently seen overhead and often disabled their missiles,” he added. “Other officers from bases on the Pacific coast told me their (test) missiles were frequently shot down by alien spacecraft.”

Some are understandably skeptical about this theory that diplomatic aliens have traveled the cosmos to disarm U.S. military weapons.

“Given that the Universe is around 14 billion years old, if we’re being visited, it’s unlikely we’re dealing with a civilization just a few hundred years ahead of us, so stories of aliens managing to disrupt a few of our weapons tests are far-fetched,” Nick Pope, former Ministry of Defense UFO researcher, told Mirror online. “Chances are they’d be millions of years ahead of us and could do anything they wanted to.”

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Here’s how a war with Iran would go

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released an incendiary video this week, describing the “humiliation” the U.S. would experience if it were to invade Iran. The video reminds the viewer of the protracted American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and of Hezbollah’s perceived “victory” over Israel in 2006.

The video, as inflammatory as it may be, is as meaningful as any propaganda produced by any government; which is to say, it’s dubious at best. Iran has never started a war in the modern era. Its standing orders are to never launch a first strike and the success of the Iranian nuclear deal means we will likely not go to war with Iran anytime soon. That does not keep Iran from trolling the United States more than any country, group, or individual (and we just tend to remember that kind of sh*t talk).

Also, that hostage crisis. Old habits die hard.

Iran is the industrial, military, and economic Shia counterweight to Saudi Arabia, the preeminent Sunni monarchy in the Middle East. Iran considers the Middle East their backyard, sending money, weapons, and supplies to Shia Islamic groups in neighboring countries in an attempt to destabilize or undermine the Sunni (or secular) leadership there. The Islamic Republic is currently projecting power all over the region, well beyond the borders of the old Persian Empire: they assist Houthi rebels in Yemen, fund and supply paramilitary organizations like Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army in Iraq and Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon as well as others, all fighting Sunni paramilitary organizations funded by members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), such as the al-Nusra Front. These Iranian-funded and Saudi-funded groups both fought U.S. troops during the Iraq War (though likely not side-by-side). The goal is to keep the fighting there, and not in Iran.

Those are the bare basics of the Sunni-Shia religious civil war everyone is always talking about. There are of course other issues in play. This is the Middle East, after all. The promise of military support from United States is one of the pillars of Saudi (and global oil market) security. Israel is the U.S.’ eternal ally. America has made promises in to fight ISIS in the region, alongside (but not with) Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, Syrian rebels, and Sunni-funded al-Qaeda groups. Now the Russians are sending more advisors and weapons to the Asad regime (which is also an Iranian client state). All this means we could be right back to where we started.

This really isn’t that far off.

The nuclear deal also doesn’t rule out a military strike from Israel. Israel has long depended on security and defense guarantees from the United States and is not averse to starting wars with countries it deems a threat to their long-term survival. As an added bonus, Israel already has nuclear weapons. Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on a motley mixture of right-wing political parties and ultra-orthodox Jewish parties, who are convinced Iranian leaders said they want to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, despite the fact that this phrase is a misquote from a bad translation. And a surprise from Israel is not unheard of.

So what would the United States be up against? Would we be as humiliated as the Supreme Leader’s video suggests? Not likely. Much of Iran’s military hardware predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the resulting arms embargo. Because of that embargo, a lot of the Iranian defense industry is homegrown, which means the Iranians are not limited to arms deals with foreign powers. They can build their own tanks, fighters, and subs (more on those later). Anything not built in Iran or coming from Russia is likely aging very poorly. Overall defense spending is relatively (to the worldwide arms industry) miniscule, around $6 billion, especially in comparison to the GCC.

(Keep in mind, U.S. defense spending wouldn’t even fit on the scale above.)

Iran has about a half million troops on active duty, not including the 125,000 in the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). As the name suggests, the IRGC are the most devoted members of the Iranian military. All Iranian forces take men as young as 18, but the Basij Forces (meaning “Mobilization of the Oppressed”) will take a male as young as 15. The Basij mainly acted as human minesweepers and led human wave attacks to great effect during the Iran-Iraq War.

Yep. Pretty Much.

The Iranian conventional forces have 4 branches: The Islamic Republic of Iran Army (IRIA), Navy (IRIN), Air Force (IRIAF), and Air Defense Force (IRIADF). Iran’s conventional military are considered “severely limited, relying heavily on obsolescent and low quality weaponry.” The IRIA has a large tank force of over 1600 but as with other materiel, it’s aging rapidly. They are able to make their own tanks (the most recent based on the design of the M47M Patton), but not in significant numbers and the U.S. has effective anti-armor tactics.

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