IRAQ
Petraeus: Troops in Iraq Help Blunt Iran Threat - Associated Press
US: Mosul Attacks Down 85 Percent - Associated Press
Iraqi Troops Welcomed In Sadr City - Londono and Raghavan, Washington Post
Sadr City Calm After Iraqi Troop Move - Associated Press
Iraq Operation Offers Alternative to Former Enemy Fighters - AFPS
Bush Calls Iraqi PM over Quran Shooting - Associated Press
The Long Count - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club
US Military Killed Mahdi Army Commander - Bill Roggio, The Long War
The IA Enters Sadr City - Dr. iRack, Abu Muqawama
Iraqi Troops Push into Sadr City - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room
Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS
NATO Extends Afghanistan Tour - Gordon Lubold, Christian Science Monitor
NATO Allies to Extend Command Lengths in Afghanistan - AFPS
NATO to Keep Rotating Command in Afghan South - Reuters
NATO Afghan Chief Wants Talks on Command in South - Reuters
Taliban Make Afghan Stability a Distant Goal - Carlotta Gall, New York Times
Pakistan Signs Truce with Militant Faction - Ali and King, Los Angeles Times
Reaping War's Harvest - Mark Dodd, The Australian
Pakistan Strikes Deal with Militants in Swat Province - Barry Newhouse, VOA
Deal Reached with Militants - David Sands, Washington Times
Pakistan in Deal with Militants - BBC News
US Warns Pakistan Against Deal with Militants - Reuters
Call to Reinstate Afghan Woman MP - Martin Patience, BBC News
Provincial Reconstruction Teams Strive to Improve Afghan Lives - AFPS
Pakistan Inks Peace Deal with Swat Taliban - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
Afghan Development - Kip, Abu Muqawama
German SOF: Not Licensed to Kill - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group
More ROE Problems - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal
IRAN
Petraeus: Diplomacy, Not Force, With Iran - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post
US Looking for Progress in Iran Nuclear Report - AFP
Diplomats Say UN Probe of Iran Nukes a Failure - Associated Press
Iran's Abused - Wall Street Journal editorial
Appease Iran? - James Lyons, Washington Times opinion
THE LONG WAR
Counterterror Staff Falls to 62% - Jerry Seper, Washington Times
Agent Says the FBI is Not Prepared - Richard Schmitt, Los Angeles Times
Interrogation Tactics Were Challenged - Johnson and Whie, Washington Post
What the FBI Agents Saw - New York Times editorial
Al Qaeda’s ‘War Amongst the People’ - David Betz, Kings of War
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
US Special Forces to Stay in Iraq, Afghanistan - Julian Barnes, Los Angeles Times
Fear of Exodus Fuels Debate on G.I. Bill - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times
US: Cluster Bomb Ban Could Jeopardize Peacekeeping - Reuters
Americans Under Fire - Mackubin Thomas Owens, Weekly Standard books review
We Still Have Grants and Shermans? - Victor Davis Hanson, National Review opinion
Air Force Wants New Killer Drone - Sharon Weinberger, Danger Room
More Spy Drones, Less Information? - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room
AFRICA
S. African Troops to Help Protect Immigrants - Craig Timberg, Washington Post
S. Africa Army to Deploy - BBC News
Army to Help End South Africa Violence - Reuters
Fighting in Disputed Sudan Town - BBC News
Sudan: 22 Soldiers Killed in Abyei Clash - Associated Press
Mugabe Accuses Opponents of Violence, MPs Arrested - Reuters
Aid Workers Abducted in Somalia - BBC News
Guinea President Sacks Peace PM - BBC News
Kenya Mob Kills 11 Accused of Being Witches - Associated Press
African Renaissance Lost - Wall Street Journal editorial
AMERICAS
Cuba Reemerges as Issue at White House - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post
Bush Urges Cuba to Expand Freedoms - William Branigin, Washington Post
US to Allow Americans to Send Cell Phones to Cuba - Reuters
Chavez Accuses US of Spying on Venezuela - Associated Press
ASIA PACIFIC
China: Quake Pushes Tibet to Sidelines - Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times
Survivor Unrest Prods China to Act - Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
Earthquake and Hope - Nicholas Kristof, New York TImes opinion
UN Chief to Burma: Focus on Saving Lives - Reuters
Ban to Meet Burma's Top General - BBC News
Burma Victims Lose Aid Battle - Bennett and Macartney, London Times
Embattled Malaysian PM Wins Ruling Party's Support - Reuters
Why Does China Need US Satellite Support? - Westhawk, Westhawk
EUROPE
Swedish Police Hold Two Men Over Nuclear Scare - Reuters
Police Arrest Two Alleged ETA Members - John Ward Anderson, Washington Post
'Highest ETA Commander' Arrested - BBC News
Two Georgian Groups Claim Election Victory - Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post
Opposition to Contest Election in Georgia - Reuters
Georgia Opposition: 'Poll Rigged' - BBC News
MIDDLE EAST
Lebanese Factions Reach Agreement - Shadid and Ibrahim, Washington Post
Lebanese Deal Ends Civil War Threat - Nicholas Blanford, London Times
Lebanon Rivals Agree Crisis Deal - BBC News
Deal in Lebanon a Win for Hezbollah - Associated Press
Deal for Factions Leaves Hezbollah Stronger - Worth and Bakri, New York Times
Hezbollah Gets its Way in Lebanon - London Daily Telegraph editorial
The Power of Hezbollah - Los Angeles Times editorial
Hezbollah Wins in Lebanon - Andrew Cochran, Counterterrorism
Hezbollah as Iranian Occupier - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal
Hezbollah Comm Network Confirms Terror Goals - Walid Phares, Counterterrorism
Israel, Syria Confirm Peace Talks - Sockol and Knickmeyer, Washington Post
Israel Holds Peace Talks With Syria - Ethan Bronner, New York Times
Israel and Syria Open Peace Talks - James Hider, London Times
Israel, Syria Confirm Holding Peace Talks Mediated by Turkey - Jim Teeple, VOA
Israel Engages in Indirect Peace Talks with Syria - Associated Press
Olmert Warns of Syria Concessions - BBC News
4 Palestinians Reported Killed in Gaza Airstrikes - Associated Press
US on the Outside in Peace Efforts - Robin Wright, Washington Post analysis
Reason Arab-Israeli Conflict Can’t be Settled - Clifford May, National Review opinion
SOUTH ASIA
India's Missile Power Lifts Off - James Hackett, Washington Times opinion
India / Pakistan Sign Prisoner Access Deal - BBC News
Sri Lanka Loses Bid for UN Human Rights Panel Seat - Associated Press
Kashmir Crossroads - Wall Street Journal editorial
WORLD
Nations Gather to Ban Cluster Munitions - The Australian
How to Think About World's Problems - Bjorn Lomborg, Wall Street Journal opinion
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.
