THE LONG WAR

Intel Official Sees Little Progress Through Jan - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post
Chertoff: Conventional Terror Arms a Key US Focus - Associated Press
Chertoff Downplays Terrorist Nuclear Threat - Associated Press
Army Judge Is Replaced for Trial of Detainee - William Glaberson, New York Times
Judge Critical of War Crimes Case Dismissed - Carol Williams, Los Angeles Times

IRAQ

Al-Qaeda Virtually Beaten in Iraq - Tim Reid, London Times
Iraq Operation Gives Basra a Reprieve - Parker and Redha, Los Angeles Times
Growing Opposition to Iraq Security Pact - Oppel and Farrell, New York Times
Iraqis Oppose US Security Pact - David Sands, Washington Times
Shiites Across Iraq Protest US Presence - Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
Key Provincial Elections Split Sunni Arabs - Associated Press
Silence Won't Release the Hostages - Brian Keenan, London Times opinion
Genesis - Greyhawk, Mudville Gazette
Overstuffed Sofa - Dr. iRack, Abu Muqawama
Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

NATO General Sees Long Fight in Afghanistan - Associated Press
US Questions Pakistan Force's Allegiance, Funding - Reuters
Afghan Town Recaptured by Security Forces - Reuters
Of Insurgents, Poppy and Gizmos - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal
Taliban Commander Spends $45m Yearly - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
‘These Will be Wars Unlike Any We Have Ever Fought...' - Westhawk, Westhawk

IRAN

No Early Iran Nuclear Estimate Update - Reuters
Iran's Foreign Minister Slams US Foreign Policy - Associated Press

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

AF Nuclear Weapons Security 'Unacceptable' - Walter Pincus, Washington Post

US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

Intelligence Agencies Resist Plan to Shift Power - Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times

US FOREIGN POLICY

Hard-Line Lunacy on Cuba - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post opinion

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

McCain and Obama Spar over Iraq - Los Angeles Times
Obama, McCain Bicker Over Troop Levels in Iraq - Reuters
Obama Diplomacy - Washington Times editorial

UNITED NATIONS

UN to Vote on Somali Piracy Resolution - Associated Press

AFRICA

Zimbabwe: Mugabe's New Z$1bn Banknote - Jan Raath, London Times
Burundi's Rebel Leader Returns Home for Peace Deal - Reuters
Rwanda Criticizes UN Genocide Court Decision - Reuters

AMERICAS

Massacre Leaves Mexican Town Terrorized - James McKinley, New York Times
Chavez Aide to Keep Post in Venezuela - Associated Press
Colombia’s Chance - New York Times editorial
A New Direction in Latin America - Shannon O'Neil, Washington Post opinion

ASIA PACIFIC

N. Korea Contradicts US Intel on Plutonium - Helene Cooper, New York Times
Report: N. Korea Tests Missiles Off Coast - Associated Press
N. Korea: Horror of Re-education Camps - Andrew Salmon, Washington Times
Gates Warns of Asia Arms Race - Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times
Gates Warns China Not to Bully Region on Energy - Eric Schmitt, New York Times
China’s Push to Avert Quake Flood Nears End - Andrew Jacobs, New York Times
For China's Local Officials, a New Test - Jill Drew, Washington Post
China: 200,000 Evacuated Because of Flood Risk - Associated Press
War Memories Sink Japan’s Aid Plan - Jane Macartney, London Times
Japan to Send Aid on Civilian, not Military, Planes - Jim Yardley, New York Times
Burma: Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters - New York Times
Burma Aid Stonewalling Left Thousands Dead - Reuters
Indonesian Police Reports Outline Terror Links - Associated Press
Force May be Used to Stop Thai Protests - Associated Press
US Donates Military Trucks to Cambodia - Associated Press

EUROPE

Putin in Paris, not President but Presidential - Steven Erlanger, New York Times
Protests Over Skyrocketing Fuel Prices Spread - Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post
Tight Security for Macedonian Elections - Associated Press
Georgia Suspends Flights over Abkhazia - Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

Palestinians: Olmert, Abbas to Meet - Associated Press
Israel Revisits Limitations on Gaza Students- Griff Witte, Washington Post
Will Israel and Syria Get Serious? - Claude Salhani, Washington Times opinion
The Clock Ticks on Olmert - Martin Sieff, Washington Times opinion
Gunman Kills 8 Worshipers at Mosque in Yemen - Robert Worth, New York Times
Gunman Kills at least 8 in Yemeni Mosque Attack - Associated Press
Egyptian Police Official: Weapons Cache Discovered - Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

Musharraf Denies He Is Stepping Down - Jne Perlez, New York Times
Musharraf Flays Rumor Mongers for Sowing Strife - Reuters
Bush Phones Pakistan's Musharraf to Reiterate Backing - Reuters
Pakistani Nuclear Scientist Denies Selling Secrets - Alan Cowell, New York Times
Pakistani: Confession to Passing Nuclear Secrets Coerced - Associated Press
Who Can You Trust? - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club
Sri Lanka Soldiers Capture Rebel Base - Associated Press

WORLD

Corruption Reality Check - Washington Post editorial

RECOMMENDED READING

Turkey: Two Good Reads - Tom Barnett, Thomas PM Barnett
Recommended Reading - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Propaganda Is Now Officially Hip - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Whose Face to the World? - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark
Recommended Reading - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
Adding to My “Antilibrary” - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
UK CT & COIN Features - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group

SWJ "ROGUE COUSIN"

Thank You, and Goodbye - Andrew Exum, Abu Muqawama

EVENTS OF INTEREST

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.