• The Pentagon in the United States announced their plans on Thursday to change rules in the armed forces to open up more than 14,000 positions for women to serve as frontline medics, helicopter pilots and intelligence analysts, bringing them closer to frontline combat roles. On Saturday, Republican Presidential front-runner Mitt Romney narrowly won Maine’s caucuses with 39% support; while the hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility for disabling the CIA website, making it inaccessible for several hours. On Monday, lawmakers in New Jersey passed a bill through the state Senate to legalize gay marriage for the first time, but Governor Chris Christie announced he would veto the bill. On Tuesday, Texas announced that they may be incapable of carrying out further death sentences beyond June because they are running out of supplies of lethal drugs; more than 1.8 million dead Americans reportedly remain listed as active voters, as the voter registration system is “plagued with errors and inefficiencies”; the US Defense Secretary told members of Congress that President Obama’s proposed smaller defense budget won’t compromise US “military superiority” around the world; while the US Department of Defense is apparently asking the federal government for almost $3 billion for “activities” in Iraq, even though they have supposedly withdrawn from the country.
• Argentina accused Britain of sending a nuclear submarine to the disputed Falkland Islands on Friday, in an ongoing feud between the two nations. MPs from a parliamentary committee that oversees defence matters are set to visit the Falklands next month, in a move that is likely to he...

[continued at http://apeaceofconflict.com/2012/02/17/this-week-in-conflict-in-the...