Meanwhile, in other parts of the world

Some things of passable interest.

First, a NY Times piece, "Somali Pirates Seize Ukraine Ship Carrying Tanks". Marvellous. You may be aware that the waters off the coast of Somalia are today's Barbary Coast. When a landlubber like myself knows this, you have to wonder why the skipper of that freighter didn't have some sailors on-deck with a couple of John Moses' .50's.

The tale would make a great movie or a mini-series. George Clooney?

Second is a piece on GlobalSecurity.org, which is a very interesting site about the military, "Eurasian Grouping Plans Regional Army Near Afghanistan".

The Collective Security Treaty Organization, (CSTO), which brings together Russia and a number of other ex-Soviet countries, has announced an ambitious plan to set up an 11,000-strong regional army in Central Asia that will have troops deployed in the vicinity of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Also of interest is "Russia may sell more MiG-29K carrier fighters to India". Over 12 years ago, India bought the Adm. Gorshkov aircraft-carrier from the Russkies. It's been sitting, awaiting re-furbishment while the two governments have haggled over costs. It now appears that there is movement towards completion.

Why should you care? Well, by 2015 or before, if the Indian/Pakistani situation heats up, the Indians will have 2 carriers, and modern aircraft and enhanced first-strike capability, especially with GPS-capable munitions. This could allow a non-nuclear precision attack on Pakistani 3C centres. If you're the Pakistanis, this could be a problem, as their military is not trained for fingerspitzengefühl.