IRAQ
Iran Primary Threat to Progress in Iraq - Sara Carter, Washington Times
New Troops in Iraq Will Keep Number at 140,000 - Josh White, Washington Post
Iraqi Troops Enter Baghdad's Shiite Stronghold - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post
Iraqis Push to Regain Control of Sadr City - Gordon and Farrell, New York Times
Iraq Soldiers Deploy in Sadr City - Zavis and Salman, Los Angeles Times
Operation in Sadr City Is an Iraqi Success - Gordon and Rubin, New York Times
US Deploys a Purpose-Driven Distinction - Amit Paley, Washington Post
Iraqi Forces Begin Crackdown on Sadr City - Zavis and Ahmed, Los Angeles Times
Sons of Iraq? Or Baghdad's Sopranos? - Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times
War Takes Toll on Baghdad Psychiatric Hospital - Erica Goode, New York Times
Tariq Aziz Stays Defiant in Face of Death - Deborah Haynes, London Times
The Price of the Surge - Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs opinion
We Are Making Progress in Iraq - Nechirvan Barzani, Wall Street Journal opinion
Iraqi Army Presses into Sadr City - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
The C Team - Phillip Carter, Intel Dump
Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS
Diggers Launch Strike on Taliban - Mark Dodd, The Australian
Diggers to Evict Taliban from Key Pass - Mark Dodd, The Australian
Beyond the Khyber Pass - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club
Pakistan Frees Afghan Taliban Commander - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
Force Projection as Precondition for Security - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal
Bagram’s New Prison and What Might Have Been - Westhawk, Westhawk
IRAN
Bush Team Criticizes New Report About Iran - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times
Tehran Urges New Round Of Talks - Robin Wright, Washington Post
Iran's Nuclear Program Feeding Proliferation - Associated Press
Middle East in Nuclear Race to Match Iran - Julian Borger, The Guardian
Another Rumor on Attacking Bites the Dust - Mike NIzza, New York Times blog
Activists Criticize New Internet Restrictions - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post
THE LONG WAR
Report Details Interrogation Debate - Lichtblau and Shane, New York Times
Report: FBI Slow in Reporting Detainee Abuse - Johnson and White, Washington Post
FBI Agents Opt Out of Harsh Interrogations - Jerry Seper, Washington Times
High Court Affirms Terrorism Conviction - William Branigin, Washington Post
Homeland Security Stands by Its Fence - Archibold and Preston, New York Times
Bin Laden is Out There - Los Angeles Times editorial
The Lawyers War - Wall Street Journal editorial
After Guantánamo - Kenneth Roth, Foreign Affairs opinion
Islam's History of Anti-Semitism - Raymond Ibrahim, Washington Times opinion
Combating Cyber-terrorism - Mohd Noor Amin, Washington Times
Senator Lieberman and YouTube - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
40,000 Told to Prepare for Action - Sara Carter, Washington Times
Defense Directives Have Wide Scope - Walter Pincus, Washington Post
Pentagon Scales Back Elite Forces’ Authority - Thom Shanker, New York Times
USA Corps of Engineers Mission Shift - Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor
Reports Criticize Pentagon's Recruiting Methods - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times
Gates: Defense's Realist Rebel - Michael Gerson, Washington Post opinion
Why Harvard Harasses the Military - William McGurn, Wall Street Journal opinion
Not in the Pentagon's Pocket - Phillip Carter, Intel Dump
UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
MoD to Agree Two New Aircraft Carriers - Michael Evans, London Times
US FOREIGN POLICY
White House: NBC Distorted Bush Response - Eggen and Slevin, Washington Post
Mr. Bush's Travels - New York Times editorial
Public Diplomacy Wears Combat Boots - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Moral Courage in the Foreign Service - Charlie, Abu Muqawama
UNITED NATIONS
UN Puts its Scope on US Racism - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times
AFRICA
South Africans Fear Backlash of Violence - Craig Timberg, Washington Post
South Africans Vent Rage at Migrants - Bearak and Dugger, New York Times
Migrants Targeted for Fiery Deaths in S. Africa - Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times
Ugandan Rebels Seizing More Children - Nora Boustany, Washington Post
Italian Workers Kidnapped in Somalia - Reuters
Sudan's Slide Toward Civil War - Andrew Natsios, Foreign Affairs opinion
The Trouble With Congo - Séverine Autesserre, Foreign Affairs opinion
AMERICAS
Mexico Drug Wars Suspected in Shootout - Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times
FARC Commander Surrenders in Colombia - Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times
Getting the FARC Out of Colombia - National Review editorial
Cuba: US Envoy Accused of Aiding Dissent - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times
Fidel Aside, Repression Persists - Mauricio Claver-Carone, Washington Times opinion
Raoul Provides Few Changes - Helle Dale, Washington Times opinion
ASIA PACIFIC
UN Chief Flies in for Reckoning with Junta - Kenneth Denby, London Times
Breaking Burma's Cruel Wall of Silence - Harry McKenzie, Sydney Morning Herald
Burma Mourns Victims of Cyclone - Mydans and Cowell, New York Times
UN Keeps Pressure on Burma - Associated Press
Burma Mourns Dead as UN Reports Aid Progress - Reuters
With the Junta or Without It - Washington Post editorial
Burma: Dealing with Evil - The Australian editorial
More Shame on the Junta - New York Times editorial
Burma Outside the U.N. Umbrella - Steven Groves, Washington Times opinion
Elderly Chinese Cling to Ruins - Jill Drew, Washington Post
China: 40,000 Dead, 5 Million Homeless After Quake - Associated Press
Survivors Rescued 8 Days After China Quake - Howard French, New York Times
Protecting Disaster Victims - Los Angeles Times editorial
The Costs of Corruption - Reuben Johnson, National Review opinion
How Will ‘Glasnost’ Work Out For China? - Westhawk, Westhawk
Fiji Stand-off on Australian Diplomat - Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney Morning Herald
EUROPE
Top ETA Leader Is Seized in France - Victoria Burnett, New York Times
Putin's Puppet Press - Masha Lipman, Washington Post opinion
Islamofascism in the Netherlands - Paul Belien, Washington Times opinion
One Big Switzerland - Max Boot, Contentions
MIDDLE EAST
Political Agreement Reached in Lebanon - Bakri and Cowell, New York Times
Lebanese Rivals Agree to Power-sharing - Daragahi and Rafei, Los Angeles Times
France Discloses 'Contacts' With Hamas - Molly Moore, Washington Post
Saudi Critic Jailed - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Middle East Musings - Tulin Daloglu, Washington Times opinion
More On Goldberg - Max Boot, Contentions
SOUTH ASIA
Possible Musharraf Treason Charge - Bruce Loudon, The Australian
WORLD
Imbalances of Power - Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Global Food Crisis: Malthus Redux - Kip, Abu Muqawama
RECOMMENDED READING
Documents of Note #4 - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group
Recommended Reading - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
Global Guerillas, Meet the Resilient Communitarians! - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
Five Thoughts on Friday - Galrahn, Information Dissemination
Book Bibliography of "Great Powers" - Tom Barnett, Thomas PM Barnett
Links I Liked - Chris Blattman, Chris Blattman
Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report
UK CT & COIN Features - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group
EVENTS OF INTEREST
29 May 2008 - Occupational Hazards: Success and Failure in Military Occupation (Public Event). Washington, D.C. Book forum hosted by The Cato Institute. Featuring the author David M. Edelstein, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University, with comments by Robert M. Perito, U.S. Institute of Peace and Christopher Preble, Cato Institute. What makes military occupations more or less likely to succeed? Drawing on 26 cases since 1815 where outside powers have seized territory without a claim to its sovereignty, David Edelstein attempts to determine why some occupations succeed and why so many seem doomed to failure. Edelstein combines detailed case studies with a theoretical approach and concludes that occupations face a paradox: Success requires a long-term and massive commitment of resources and attention; however, such large-scale occupations can elicit nationalist responses from the occupied populace. Further, as the occupier faces difficulty, discontent grows at home, and pressure builds to remove occupying forces. Examining the history of occupation as a component of grand strategy, Edelstein offers warnings for today’s policymakers, who seem tempted to include military occupations as part of the approach to countering terrorism. Please join the author and our distinguished commentators for a discussion of this timely and pathbreaking book.
4-5 June 208 - 2008 Joint Symposium - Strategic Re-Assessment: From Long-Range Planning to Future Strategy and Forces (Public Event). Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Institute for National Strategic Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Joint Forces Command. Fundamental to the development and implementation of a successful future defense posture is a foundation comprised of a well-reasoned assessment of the future security environment, a clear understanding of the “realm of the possible” for and limitations of military forces, and an understanding of the nation’s security objectives. Developing an appropriate assessment of the future security environment is not something done in a vacuum as it is impossible to fully separate purely military or national security issues from other elements of the national and global environment. This is particularly true for the United States. Technical innovation and adaptation, the rise and decline of other actors on the international stage, domestic politics, globalization and its effects on trade, migration, communications, and the power of nonstate actors all, bear heavily on any security assessment. There is no shortage of assessments of the future security environment. In the last decade, National Defense University itself has produced several, most recently, Strategic Challenges – America’s Global Security Agenda. The objectives of this symposium are to examine some of these strategic assessments, to review our success at incorporating their key elements into strategic and operational plans, and to propose ways to institutionalize best practices into the process for future force development and joint force planning. We will explore these issues through a series of panel discussions and keynote addresses. Featured speakers will include military officers, government officials, and experts from research institutes.
17-19 June 208 - 3rd Annual North American Security Colloquium: Wars Without Borders (Public Event). Kingston, Ontario. Sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, Queen's Centre for International Relations, and Defence Management Studies at Queen's University, and the Canadian 'Forces' Land Doctrine and Training System. The conflicts today in Iraq and in Afghanistan are examples of what some leading scholars and many commanders have termed “continuous wars among the people.” This type of conflict is developing or occurring in other regions of the world, in Africa and in Latin America for example. In many of these situations traditional and legal borders no longer define or contain the conflict, nor do obvious sovereign entities control belligerents. International commitments to control these conflicts necessarily demand complex, multi-dimensional diplomatic, military, police, and humanitarian responses. What has been learned about such conflicts from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan may to some degree be transferable to conflicts in other regions. Assuming that the international community may well face future operations characterized by regional, borderless “wars among the people”, the centres at Queen’s University and their partners propose convening a distinguished group of approximately 200 experts from academic, military, governmental, and international institutions to examine how best to prepare commanders, military units and governments to plan for and conduct complex, multi-dimensional stability campaigns in this new environment.
16-18 September 2008 - The U.S. Army and the Interagency Process: A Historical Perspective (Public Event - Conference / Call for Papers). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute. The symposium will include a variety of guest speakers, panel sessions, and general discussions. This symposium will explore the partnership between the U.S. Army and government agencies in attaining national goals and objectives in peace and war within a historical context. Separate international topics may be presented. The symposium will also examine current issues, dilemmas, problems, trends, and practices associated with U.S. Army operations requiring close interagency cooperation.
