US President Obama has expanded the authority of US military forces to use force in Afghanistan. The expanded authority does not authorize the military to engage in offensive combat operations, but the authority will put more US soldiers at risk. Obama came to office in 2009 on the promise to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The end of his presidency sees him expanding the US military role in both theaters, as well as a new theater in Syria.
The USS Porter sailed into the Black Sea on a “routine” maritime mission. Ships from countries that do not border the Black Sea can sail there for no longer than 21 days according to the 1936 Montreux Convention so the mission will be short-lived. But the Russians do not regard the Porter as a “routine” vessel–it is equipped with the latest anti-missile technology and the Russians have adamantly opposed the deployment of such land-based systems in NATO countries close to Russia. Obviously, the fact that the anti-missile system is floating does not alter the Russian strategic perception.
The SeaRAM Anti-Missile System on the USS Porter
One of the joys of studying world politics is that what we think to be true often turns out not to be true. Such, apparently, is the case with the man who led the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini. The BBC has just released documents that suggest that US President Carter had contacts with the Ayatollah prior to his departure from France to Iran two weeks after the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. The documents indicate that the Ayatollah assured President Carter that he did not represent a threat to American interests. According to The Guardian, Iranian officials are not pleased with this information since it implies that the Ayatollah was working with “the Great Satan”.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment