America, Europe, News Watch, Side Feature, South Asia

News Review 12/04/2023

Details:
* Pentagon Leaks Reveal Divisions over Ukraine
* US Officials Call for War in Mexico
* Government Announces Launch of ‘All-Out Comprehensive Operation’ Against Terrorism

Pentagon Leaks Reveal Divisions over Ukraine

More than 100 US intelligence documents were posted on Discord, a secure messaging app that contained sensitive, classified information about the war in Ukraine, Russian military activity, China and the Middle East. The photographed papers, which appeared to have been folded over and then smoothed out, contained top secret information, including from the Central Intelligence Agency. POLITICO’s review of the documents shows some that appear to have been assembled into a briefing packet by the Joint Staff’s intelligence arm, known as J2, with summaries of global matters pulled from various U.S. intelligence systems. Some of the documents contain markings in the corners that correspond with specific wires with information that appear to be compiled in summary form — a practice often used by individuals inside the government to prepare briefing packets, the former U.S. intelligence analyst said. Complete with timelines and dozens of military acronyms, the documents, some marked “top secret”, paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine and also offer information on China and allies. Pentagon officials are quoted as saying the documents are real. According to the Washington Post Newspaper, one document from early February expresses misgivings about Ukraine’s chances of success in its forthcoming counteroffensive, saying that problems with generating and sustaining sufficient forces could result in “modest territorial gains”. Other documents also included Egypt’s plans to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia in secret. The Post said President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi told officials to keep production and shipment secret “to avoid problems with the West”. Whilst the leak doesn’t provide any new strategic details about the world’s powers, what it does is provide more details and it shows the Western show of unity for Ukraine is cracking at the seams.

US Officials Call for War in Mexico

A growing number of prominent Republicans are rallying around the idea that to solve the fentanyl crisis, America must bomb it away. In recent weeks, Donald Trump has discussed sending “special forces” and using “cyber warfare” to target cartel leaders if he’s reelected president. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force to “put us at war with the cartels.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he is open to sending US troops into Mexico to target drug lords even without that nation’s permission. And lawmakers in both chambers have filed legislation to label some cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move supported by GOP presidential aspirants. We need to start thinking about these groups more like ISIS than we do the mafia,” Waltz, a former Green Beret, said in a short interview. Not all Republican leaders are behind this approach. John Bolton, Trump’s third national security adviser who’s weighing his own presidential run, said unilateral military operations “are not going to solve the problem.” The eagerness of some Republicans to openly legislate or embrace the use of the military in Mexico suggests that the idea is taking firmer root inside the party. And it illustrates the ways in which frustration with immigration, drug overdose deaths and antipathy towards China are defining the GOP’s larger foreign policy.

Government Announces Launch of ‘All-Out Comprehensive Operation’ Against Terrorism

Pakistan’s National Security Committee announced it would launch “an all-out comprehensive operation with the support of the entire nation and the government” against terrorism that will occur at all levels of society and incorporate all elements of state power. The government says it has formed a committee to make more detailed recommendations about the operation’s next steps within the next two weeks, and it added that prior negotiations with militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had been a mistake, an implicit rebuke of opposition leader former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The government may very well be using the operation to delay the vote in upcoming provincial elections in Punjab, which the Supreme Court recently said must go ahead on May 14 despite the government’s attempt to delay the poll. Since operations first began in 2004 despite the immediate success, which usually leads to massive displacement and high level of civilian deaths, on the long term they have never succeeded.