Mobile Generated News

Moscow Building Spy Site in Nicaragua-- SIGINT facility part of deal for 50 Russian tanks


Bill Gertz

The Russian government is building an electronic intelligence-gathering facility in Nicaragua as part of Moscow’s efforts to increase military and intelligence activities in the Western Hemisphere.

(....)



Retired Navy Cdr. Daniel Dolan, writing in the blog USNI News, stated that the cost of the tanks, an estimated $80 million, is $9 million more than the entire Nicaraguan defense budget for 2015.
“The acquisition of tanks is particularly perplexing to many in the region since Nicaragua has relatively good relations with its neighbors, has a growing tourist industry, and can boast in recent years as being the safest country for foreign tourists in all of Central America,” Dolan stated. “Additionally, the ruling Sandinista party (FSLN) does not face a serious a challenge in the pending November elections.”




Yesterday's U.S. Ambassador on Today's Middle East Turmoil

By Nick Fouriezos  JUN 232016

Few have had an upclose look to turmoil like Ryan Crocker, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon … and that’s just in the past two decades. After a career navigating what’s become a who’s who of the world’s most tumultuous regions, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient recently became a dean at Texas A&M University. In this conversation with OZY, before speaking at the Common Good Forum in New York, Crocker tries to make sense of the chaos left in places he once tried to help piece together.