RETAKING WILTZ: The latest in StrategyPage’s Battle of the Bulge photo series. If I had to guess I’d say the two American soldiers in the photo are on a recon mission. However, they are not wearing winter camouflage.

POST-CALIPHATE COUNTER-TERRORISM CHALLENGE:From The Cyber Brief. An interview with former Acting Director of the CIA John McLaughlin.

Sample:

Another point to think about on Mosul and Raqqa is that these won’t be real victories unless we have a post-conflict stabilization plan. Stability operations are something that have acquired greater currency in the Pentagon in the aftermath of Iraq. So presumably someone is thinking about who moves into Mosul, how’s it governed, and how we suppress potential ethnic rivalries there that would turn it into yet another violent confrontation. All of that has to be thought through.

MY LATEST CREATORS SYNDICATE COLUMN: We ought to take North Korea’s threat to test an ICBM very seriously.

MEANT TO DO THIS EARLIER TODAY BUT…: The StrategyPage Wars Update. I’ll link to this monster again tomorrow.

All media thrives on FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and the scary headlines in 2017 will feature China (and the possible collapse of the economy there and the worldwide impact), South Asia (the threat of nuclear war between Pakistan and India) and East Asia (the crumbling North Korean dictator may have usable nukes in 2017 and might use them). Meanwhile the threat of Islamic terrorism activity in the West will remain a headline staple.

REMEMBER THE PEACE DEAL IN CONGO?: I linked to the peace deal report late last week. That report struck me as overly optimistic. Well, now there appear to be problems in implementing it.

StrategyPage ran a report over the weekend that saw this coming. We Maybe Might Have A Peace Deal. The StrategyPage report has useful background.

Here’s AFP on January 1.

Congo and sub-Saharan Africa tend to be well off the mainstream media radar. (Re: off mainstream radar. I’ll link to StrategyPage’s “Wars Update” later today.) Congo, however, was a slaughterhouse. The last Congo civil war killed between three and five million people. The death toll estimates include exposure (due to displacement) as well as combat and just plain mass murder. Displacement often leads to malnutrition which increases the risk of disease. That’s why the higher death toll estimates may be correct.

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY: What ever happened to Saddam’s “Most Wanted”?

This is a graphic and worth the look. According to RFE/RL, seven thugs are still at large. A handful were captured and released. Otherwise they are dead or remain in detention.

I picked up a “Most Wanted” deck of cards when I was on active duty in Iraq. I saw it in a drawer about six months ago.

GERMANS ON THE MOVE: German infantry double-time past a burning American vehicle. Today’s StrategyPage.com Battle of the Bulge photo.

NEW YEAR, NEW MISSILE THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: North Korea plans to test a new long-range missile. It’s the same old extortion racket, but South Korea and Japan are no longer putting up with it.

Here’s a little history to support that observation. Ten years ago South Korea was still reluctant to confront the North. (See the December 30, 2006 post.) However, in 2007 South Korean and Japanese attitudes began to change. The March 2010 sinking of the South Korean corvette the Cheonan angered South Koreans. (See the March 26, 2010 post.) North Korea sank the ship and that act of war has had far reaching political consequences. (See the May 20, May 24, May 29, June 2, June 4, and June 5, 2010 posts.)

BASTOGNE THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS: Heavy damage, gutted buildings, yet several are still standing. This is the latest in StrategyPage.com’s Battle of the Bulge commemorative series. The photo of the street includes U.S. soldiers and an elderly Belgian woman.

HELLO 2017: Farewell 2016.

A sobering Battle of the Bulge photo. American troops using a horse to move supplies.

Cold, huh? Real guts.

What’s changed in Mexico’s Cartel War in the last ten years?

Yeah, I’m still waiting for the the FBI to investigate Democratic Party thuggery in the 2016 election.

Let’s hope for better than the same old same old.

THE NAVY’S NEW TORPEDOES: They have longer range and are “resistant” to enemy counter-measures.

Modifications to the weapon improves the acoustic receiver, replaces the guidance-and-control hardware with updated technology, increases memory, and improves processor throughput to handle the expanded software demands required to improve torpedo performance against evolving threats, according to Navy information on the weapon.

RELATED: Swarmware for unmanned surface vessels (USVs). The post includes a discussion of anti-submarine warfare USVs.

25 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK: The Soviet Union dissolved. My Creators Syndicate column for this week. (bumped)

ICELAND ENDS THE YEAR WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT: Well, not quite — services continue to function. Despite the situation, the island appears to be flourishing.

Iceland is ending an eventful year in a political quagmire, left without a government for two months after the Panama Papers scandal and a snap election reflecting deep divisions in the island nation.

“In recent years we thought we were seeing the craziest, but we were proven wrong every time — Iceland found ways to be even crazier,” a parliamentary assistant from the Icelandic opposition said on April 6, seeing a government in tatters hesitate on its next move.

Former Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson had resigned the day before over revelations of his holdings stashed away in a tax haven.

This prompted demonstrations for six consecutive days with protesters shouting “Elections right away! Elections right away!” while striking metal fences in front of Iceland’s parliament.

DEAL REACHED IN CONGO?: Well, mediators say so. They’re trying to avoid another round of civil war. In a bid to stay in power, President Kabila broke constitutional law. Kabila was supposed to cede power on December 19th. He didn’t. According to this report he will step down by the end of 2017.

A TUSK LATE AND A YUAN SHORT: China bans ivory trade in a bid to curb elephant poaching.

RELATED: The war over blood ivory.

REMEMBERING ROBERT CREAMER: Still waiting for the FBI to investigate Democrat thuggery in the 2016 election.

STORAGE BECOMES MORE VALUABLE: It’s certainly scarce in my garage. Of course this article references digital storage and stored digital data.

AI will make stored data – and therefore storage- more valuable. When you can take – as we can today – a grainy surveillance video or a blurred face and read a license plate number of determine someone’s identity using AI, the value of stored data rises, for good or ill.

BRITAIN’S PRIME MINISTER REBUKES JOHN KERRY: Teresa May demonstrating a Thatcher inclination? The Guardian thinks she’s playing up to Trump. Britain did vote for the UN resolution calling on Israel to stop construction of settlements in disputed territory. However:

The prime minister’s spokesman said May thought it was not appropriate to make such strongly worded attacks on the makeup of a government or to focus solely on the issue of Israeli settlements.

“We do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally,” he said. “The government believes that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between the two parties, supported by the international community.”

AIR AND GROUND COOPERATION IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE DOWNS A LUFTWAFFE FIGHTER: Today’s StrategyPage Battle of the Bulge photo — with an amazing story and a “warm” photo in the Ardennes snow. This is the first time I’ve heard this story, but apparently it is well documented.

RELATED: Hmmm. I was looking around StrategyPage and found an interesting photo that isn’t from the Battle of the Bulge photo. In fact, it’s quite recent. It isn’t something I would normally link to on Instapundit. However, the photo shows U.S. Army paratroopers in a very cold environment having a blast.

A P-38 LIGHTNING WARMS UP: Today’s StrategyPage Battle of the Bulge photo.

ONE I MISSED: A dug-in mortar emplacement near St. Vith. Looks like the outfit in the Hunnage photo (updated a week ago thanks to the Instapundit commenter who recognized the locale). The mortar photo is marked as a U.S. Army photo.

THE SOVIET UNION’S DEMISE: It’s been 25 years.

BLACK WIDOW OF BASTOGNE: Today’s StrategyPage Battle of the Bulge photo: a 90 mm anti-aircraft gun emplacement at Bastogne. This gun got a nickname.

NORTH KOREA HAS BIG PLANS:

Next year will be the most opportune time for North Korea to bolster its nuclear program because of upcoming leadership changes in the United States and South Korea, according to a senior North Korean official who defected recently to the South.

“With South Korea holding presidential elections and the U.S. undergoing an administration transition, the North sees 2017 as the prime time for nuclear development,” said Thae Yong-ho, who was North Korea’s second highest ranking diplomat in London.

GRIPPING PHOTO, GRIPPING MUD: From StrategyPage’s Battle of the Bulge photo series. This was posted several days ago and I managed to miss it. Move That Gun: an American anti-tank gun crew wrestles with the weapon and the mud.

KOREAN AIR LINES STUN GUN POLICY:

Korean Air Lines said it will allow crew members to “readily use stun guns” to manage violent passengers, and hire more male flight attendants, after coming in for criticism from U.S. singer Richard Marx over its handling of a recent incident.

The article describes the incident that led to decision.