IRAQ

Sunnis to Baghdad - Wall Street Journal editorial

You can tell security is improving fast in Iraq because even some neighboring Arab countries are deciding to send envoys back to Baghdad. The United Arab Emirates announced plans last week to appoint an ambassador, and Bahrain and Jordan have since said they plan to do the same. The Sunni-led Arab autocrats in the region have long been cool to Iraq's new government, not least because it is Shiite-led and democratically elected. In withdrawing their ambassadors, or staffing their embassies with junior-level diplomats since 2003, these countries could also point to security concerns. One of the insurgency's first car-bomb targets was the Jordanian embassy in August 2003, and terrorists later killed, wounded or kidnapped officials from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and the UAE.

Make the Election About Iraq - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post opinion

In his St. Paul victory speech, Barack Obama pledged again to pull out of Iraq. Rather than "continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians,... [i]t's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future." We know Obama hasn't been to Iraq in more than two years, but does he not read the papers? Does he not know anything about developments on the ground? Here is the "nothing" that Iraqis have been doing in the past few months...

Anbar Iraqis Share Al-Qaeda Intelligence - Steve Schippert, Threats Watch

CNN reporter Michael Ware stumbled onto a treasure trove of al-Qaeda in Iraq document and multimedia archives recently, supplied to him by the leaders of Sahwa al-Iraq (Iraq Awakening) who seized them from captured al-Qaeda terrorists in Anbar province. His full report is scheduled to air during the 10PM (EDT) hour on CNN, and this morning his report was teased by the cable network during its morning show. The relevant preview clip is provided below.

ISF Preparing Operation - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal

The Iraqi government is expanding its operations in the South into the Sadrist and Mahdi Army stronghold in Maysan province, according to reports. "Maysan witnessed on Thursday the arrival of large numbers of national police forces from Baghdad and Iraqi army troops from Basrah," a source in the province told Voices of Iraq. "The operation includes pursuing person wanted for judiciary authorities, removing all excesses, searching for medium and heavy weapons and evacuating government buildings" illegally occupied by political parties and movements. Iraqi forces are said to be massing at the military airport outside of Amarah, the provincial capital. Police are said to establishing checkpoints along the roads entering the province.

USIP: Track 2 Reconciliation - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark

I spent the morning with yet another group of visiting Iraqis at the USIP. This one has been gestating for a long time: it was the first public appearance of members of the track 2 reconciliation initiative overseen by Ambassador Richard Murphy, with Randa Salim of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue and the Italian organization Palmo (?) over the last year and a half. The panel featured Fryad Rwandzi (a Kurdish member of Parliament), Omar Abd al-Sattar (a Sunni member of Parliament from the Islamic Iraqi Party), and Sheikh Balasim Yahya (described as a leader of a popular support committee in Diyala from the Tamimi tribe). A representative of Dawa pulled out when the Dawa party collapsed last week in order to fight his political wars in Baghdad.

Sons of Sadr - Dr. iRack, Abu Muqawama

The US military is conducting another experiment. It is allowing Sadr City residents to form groups analogous to the predominantly Sunni “Awakening Councils” and “Sons of Iraq” (SoI) groups. According to the Washington Post : US military officials began planning the new program as early as May, when troops were engaged in deadly fighting in Sadr City. They wanted to base the initiative on a US program known as the Awakening movement among Iraqis but called the "Sons of Iraq" program by Americans. About 103,000 men across the country are involved, and more than 80 percent are Sunnis, the military says.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Video of Skirmish Along Border - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan released video footage Thursday that apparently shows militants firing on Afghan troops from a mountain ridge near the country's northeast border with Pakistan, prompting a deadly skirmish that Pakistan has blamed for the deaths of 11 of its soldiers. A Taliban spokesman said 10 others also died in the military operation, which occurred late Tuesday evening just a few hundred feet inside Pakistan's troubled Mohmand tribal area and has threatened to further destabilize the increasingly fragile alliance between the United States and Pakistan. The footage of the incident, which was shot from above by an unmanned aerial vehicle, was issued as Pakistani government officials unleashed a torrent of criticism about the US military operation along Pakistan's porous border with Afghanistan.

US Releases Video of Pakistan Airstrike - Mike Nizza, New York Times

The United States military today confronted the sharpest criticism of an airstrike that left 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers dead on Tuesday night by releasing what it says is a video of the incident. (For background, see this article by Carlotta Gall and Eric Schmitt). Rather than it being a “completely unprovoked and cowardly act” - a charge from a Pakistani military officer that was later leavened by other officials - the Pentagon hoped the video would persuade the public that the American air attack was a legitimate act of self-defense. While it generally confirms aspects of both the American and the Taliban accounts of the border clash on Wednesday, the released video shows only part of the operation - the striking of three bombs, out of a total of about 12 that were used, officials said.

US Releases Video of Airstrike - Chu and Barnes, Los Angeles Times

Faced with outrage from a key ally, the US military on Thursday released footage of a clash between coalition forces and Taliban militants that Pakistan alleges killed 11 of its soldiers. The unusual move by military officials was clearly designed to soothe anger in Pakistan and to bolster the US account of what happened in the rugged Afghan-Pakistani border region Tuesday, when American warplanes dropped bombs during a battle with militants in the area.

Clash on Afghan-Pakistani Border - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal

The US military has released footage from a unmanned aerial vehicle detailing the controversial June 10 battle against Taliban forces right on the Afghan-Pakistani border. The US military maintains it fired at Taliban forces, while the Pakistani government continues to maintain US airstrikes targeted an outpost manned by the Frontier Corps and killed Pakistani paramilitary troops. The US military said the clash began in Kunar province, less than 200 yards from the Pakistani border near the Garparai checkpoint. The fighting, which lasted for three hours, moved across the border as US warplanes pursued the Taliban as they retreated into Pakistan's Mohmand tribal agency.

World Offers Karzai $20bn - Charles Bremner, Times of London

World donors promised Afghanistan more than $20 billion (£10 billion) of new aid, plus fresh moral support, yesterday, but told President Karzai that they were losing patience with his Government’s failure to stem rampant graft and drug trafficking. Under international pressure over the lack of progress in rebuilding his country, Mr Karzai promised to fight corruption and sought understanding. Poppy-growing farmers, for example, needed help, he said. “Opium is about survival for them.”

Donors Promise $21 Billion More - Gearan and Charlton, Associated Press

Donors ranging from the US to the World Bank pledged more than $21 billion for Afghanistan on Thursday - and this time they want their money spent better in a desperately poor country where the president is barely in charge. Benefactors that have already poured billions into Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban nearly seven years ago said they want greater coordination of the handouts and larger involvement by President Hamid Karzai's administration. In opening their pockets yet again, many donors complained about endemic corruption that has bled past donations in a nation where illegal drugs are the mainstay of a broken economy.

A Dangerous Place - New York Times editorial

There is enormous confusion about what happened Tuesday night on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say that American air and artillery strikes killed 11 of their paramilitary troops, and some are angrily demanding an end to all military cooperation. The Bush administration says that American forces were firing in self-defense - against Taliban fighters crossing into Afghanistan - and made conflicting statements about whether any Pakistani troops had died. The two governments must work together to establish the facts and ensure that if a horrifying mistake was made, it is not repeated. The incident is an urgent reminder of the desperately bad state of relations between the two countries - relations essential to the fight against terrorism - and how much needs to be done to salvage them.

Afghanistan Needs More Help - Washington Times editorial

Americans do have a vested interest in rebuilding Afghanistan and preventing the nation from sliding back into the hands of the Taliban. The problem, however, is that massive amounts of foreign aid provide limited results unless there is strict accountability. The US must work to ensure that the funds provided lead to the achievement of specific objectives. The World Bank/IMF review of the proposed Afghan development strategy recommends that Afghanistan must improve its financial management and budgeting systems before it can effectively implement infrastructure reforms. Also, US aid must be used as leverage to ensure that the Afghan government arrests drug lords in the country and cracks down on lawbreakers.

Peaceful Coexistence with the Enemy - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal

We have previously discussed how Hamid Karzai wants the U.S. to stop arresting members of the Taliban because it was a disincentive to peace with them. Pakistan’s version of this sentiment is remarkably similar.

IRAN

Iran's Influence Waning, Bush Says - John Phillips, Washington Times

President Bush said Thursday that Iran is losing influence in Iraq as Iraq develops into a "functioning democracy." "Obviously there is some... Iranian influence inside Iraq, but it's less than it has been, and will continue to lessen, in my judgment, as its economy and as its political society begins to develop," Mr. Bush said in a French television interview broadcast yesterday ahead of his arrival in Paris. "Iraq is becoming a democracy, a functioning democracy. They understand Iranian influence is destabilizing," he told France 3 television. But Mr. Bush also reaffirmed he would not rule out military force as an option to force Iran to abandon its efforts to enrich uranium, which can be used to power an atomic reactor or an atomic bomb.

THE LONG WAR

Detainees: Right to Challenge Detention - Barnes and Eggen, Washington Post

The Supreme Court today rebuked the Bush administration for a third time for its handling of the rights of terrorism detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying those in custody there have a constitutional right to challenge their captivity in federal courts. By a 5 to 4 vote that brought strongly worded and remorseful dissents from the court's conservative justices, the majority held that an alternative procedure designed by the administration and Congress was inadequate to insure that the detainees, some of whom have been imprisoned for six years without a hearing, receive their day in court.

Justices Rule Terror Suspects Can Appeal - David Stout, New York Times

Foreign terrorism suspects held at the Guantánamo Bay naval base in Cuba have constitutional rights to challenge their detention there in United States courts, the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, on Thursday in a historic decision on the balance between personal liberties and national security. “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court. The ruling came in the latest battle between the executive branch, Congress and the courts over how to cope with dangers to the country in the post-9/11 world.

War Stance Shapes View of Ruling - Ben Conery, Washington Times

Whether politicians considered Thursday's Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detainees a victory for terrorists or for the Constitution was largely determined by their substantive stance on the war in Iraq. The reactions of both parties' presumed presidential nominees also mirrored their general stances on the Iraq war.

Detention Camp Remains - William Glabberson, New York Times

The Guantánamo Bay detention center will not close today or any day soon. But the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday stripped away the legal premise for the remote prison camp that officials opened six years ago in the belief that American law would not reach across the Caribbean to a United States naval station in Cuba. The decision granted detainees the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts, meaning that federal judges will now have the power to check the government’s claims that the 270 men still held there are dangerous terrorists. That will force officials to answer questions about evidence that they have long deflected despite international criticism and expressions of support, from President Bush on down, for closing the camp.

Ability to Challenge Transfer Limited - Carrie Johnson, Washington Post

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled yesterday that two US citizens accused of terrorism-related crimes in Iraq cannot use American courts to challenge their transfer into foreign custody. Relatives of Shawqi Omar and Mohammad Munaf, who were captured by military forces on suspicion of terrorism links, had asked federal judges in the District to review their cases, citing the fear that they would be tortured. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made clear that the men had the right to file habeas corpus petitions in U.S. courts attacking their detention. But he said that option offered little comfort for Omar and Munaf, as it would be inappropriate for American judges to bar the military from transferring accused criminals into the custody of foreign governments that wish to prosecute them.

The Justices' Refrain - Washington Post editorial

The Supreme Court ruling yesterday that those held at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions in federal court is a welcome victory for due process and the rule of law. It completes a signal and totally avoidable failure by President Bush, who will leave office with the nation's regime for holding al-Qaeda combatants in shambles. And it leaves unanswered many questions that will undoubtedly trigger more litigation. A 5 to 4 majority of the court correctly concluded that habeas corpus, the ancient right to contest one's detention, extends to those held at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay. Although it only leases the property from Cuba, the United States exerts complete legal and military control over the base; those held there have nowhere to challenge their detentions other than US courts. To have forbidden the detainees access to those courts would have left the executive branch almost unfettered power to hold people indefinitely -- a proposition that is untenable.

Justice 5, Brutality 4 - New York Times editorial

For years, with the help of compliant Republicans and frightened Democrats in Congress, President Bush has denied the protections of justice, democracy and plain human decency to the hundreds of men that he decided to label “unlawful enemy combatants” and throw into never-ending detention. Twice the Supreme Court swatted back his imperial overreaching, and twice Congress helped Mr. Bush try to open a gaping loophole in the Constitution. On Thursday, the court turned back the most recent effort to subvert justice with a stirring defense of habeas corpus, the right of anyone being held by the government to challenge his confinement before a judge. The court ruled that the detainees being held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have that cherished right, and that the process for them to challenge their confinement is inadequate.

Habeas for Guantanamo Detainees - Los Angeles Times editorial

For the third time in four years, the Supreme Court has rebuked the Bush administration for denying due process of law to inmates at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In ruling Thursday that suspected terrorists may avail themselves of the protection of the ancient writ of habeas corpus, the justices also undid a compliant Congress' collusion with the administration's refusal to give the inmates a meaningful day in court. Instead of doing the minimum to comply with the court's decision -- as it has done in the past -- the administration should enlist Congress' cooperation in improving the flawed Military Commissions Act and cooperate in expedited judicial hearings for inmates who have filed habeas actions in federal court. The 5-4 decision also broke important new ground. In 2004, the court held that detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo, a de facto US territory, could challenge their confinement in a US court under a federal habeas corpus statute. Rather than accept that ruling, Congress obliged the administration by passing legislation making it clear that the habeas statute didn't protect the detainees and purporting to strip federal courts of jurisdiction to hear such appeals. It was a craven capitulation to an administration that has made cutting legal corners the trademark of its anti-terrorism policy.

Congress's Guantanamo Burden - Benjamin Wittes, Washington Post opinion

The key words in Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's Guantanamo opinion do not involve the history of habeas corpus, the territorial status of Guantanamo Bay or the accountability of the executive branch to the rule of law. They appear on the opinion's penultimate page and are unlikely to attract much attention amid the chatter the decision has already generated. "[O]ur opinion does not address the content of the law that governs petitioners' detention," Kennedy wrote. "That is a matter yet to be determined." Yes, habeas corpus has been grandly re-established at Guantanamo. But, as the court majority made clear in this brief passage, that does not mean the government is holding a single person illegally at the base.

A Victory for the Rule of the Law - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post opinion

It shouldn't be necessary for the Supreme Court to tell the president that he can't have people taken into custody, spirited to a remote prison camp and held indefinitely, with no legal right to argue that they've been unjustly imprisoned -- not even on grounds of mistaken identity. But the president in question is, sigh, George W. Bush, who has taken a chainsaw to the rule of law with the same manic gusto he displays while clearing brush at his Texas ranch. So yesterday, for the third time, the high court made clear that the Decider has no authority to trash the fundamental principles of American jurisprudence. In ruling 5 to 4 that foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detentions in federal court, the court cited the Constitution and the centuries-old concept of habeas corpus. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's majority opinion seems broad and definitive enough to end the Kafkaesque farce at Guantanamo once and for all.

The European Model (Really) - Wall Street Journal editorial

Critics of the Bush Administration's antiterror policies often cite the attitudes of our European allies as models of wisdom and effectiveness. And sometimes these critics are right, though not in the way they imagine. Only a day before the Supreme Court handed down yesterday's Boumediene decision (see here) – which gives alien detainees access to American courts and American rights that they had sought to destroy – the British parliament voted to extend the time terrorist suspects can be held without charge to 42 days from 28. In the US, it's 48 hours. Meanwhile, in Germany, the government of Angela Merkel last week approved a draft law widening the powers of the federal police to monitor homes, telephones and computers. Germany's regional police already enjoy some of these powers. But German federalism makes it difficult for law enforcement to act effectively when terrorists cross provincial borders, a loophole the old Baader-Meinhof gang was notorious for exploiting. This is the very problem Berlin now seeks to correct.

IRREGULAR WARFARE

US Sees Kosovo as Model - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

The US military, which has been part of a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo for nine years, views its mission as a model for its presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The more than 16,000-strong force, known as KFOR, includes more than 1,000 Americans. It has managed to keep Kosovo largely peaceful, because "problems get worked out before they become an issue that results in violence," said Brig. Gen. John E. Davoren, the US commander here. "I'd like to think we are the template for what we'd like Iraq and Afghanistan to be," he said in an interview. "The average soldier out there is working very hard to ensure that people in the US really don´t read about us, because peace could seem to be boring business when it comes to [news] articles."

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Will Gates’s Axe Strike Navy Next? - Westhawk, Westhawk

Robert Gates has been Secretary of Defense for about 18 months. During that time he has fired the Secretary of the Army, declined to reappoint the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fired the Commander of Centcom, and fired the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. There are likely a few other notable executive service-level civilians and flag officers I have neglected to mention who have met Mr. Gates’s axe. Might Mr. Gates’s next blows land on the Navy? Those who follow defense issues know about the deep problems the Navy has with its acquisition programs, particularly for surface combatants. The Navy is trying to plan for the replacement of its frigate, destroyer, and cruiser fleets. Unfortunately, the programs designed to accomplish these recapitalizations have all gone badly awry.

AFRICA

Opposing Mugabe Now 'Treason' - Jan Raath, Times of London

The crackdown on the Opposition in Zimbabwe intensified yesterday with the arrest of its deputy leader on the charge of treason, as he arrived back in the country from a week-long trip to South Africa. Tendai Biti, the secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was met at Harare airport by five plainclothes officers who handcuffed him and led him to an unknown police station. The police said that Mr Biti was to be charged with publishing a “treasonous document” outlining MDC plans to return all land seized from white farmers and to dismiss all members of the military and police service if it won the presidential election at the end of this month. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.

Zimbabwe Detains Opposition Leaders - Dugger and Cowell, New York Times

The standard bearer for Zimbabwe’s opposition was twice detained by police on Thursday and one of his most important deputies was arrested to face treason charges, underscoring the daunting obstacles to campaigning against President Robert Mugabe in the two weeks before a presidential runoff. The opposition presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, had already been detained twice last week, but was held up by police twice more on Thursday in what was supposed to have been a day of rallies and campaigning, his party said. The arrest of Tendai Biti, the party’s secretary general, was even more chilling for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He was swiftly apprehended at Harare airport on Thursday as he returned to the country from South Africa after a self-imposed absence of two months. He will be charged with treason, a police spokesman said.

Opposition Official Arrested in Zimbabwe - Washington Post

Zimbabwean government's crackdown on political opponents took an ominous turn Thursday with the arrest of the opposition party's No. 2 official, who was charged with treason and could face the death penalty. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was also arrested Thursday, in a pattern of harassment two weeks before he is to face President Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff election. Tsvangirai has been arrested four times in recent days, but has not been charged in any of the incidents.

China Steps Up Pressure on Sudan Over Darfur - Edward Cody, Washington Post

President Hu Jintao strongly urged Sudan to cooperate in the swift deployment of international peacekeeping forces and to help end humanitarian abuses in the country's embattled Darfur region, the official Communist Party newspaper said Thursday. The Chinese leader, in a meeting with visiting Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, used unusually frank language in calling on the Khartoum government to try harder to settle the conflict along Sudan's western border and "allow people there to reconstruct their homeland," according to the People's Daily.

AMERICAS

Armed Militia Replaces Drug Gangs - Alexi Barrionuevo, New York Times

Rio De Janeiro - When several Brazilian journalists decided to go undercover here in May to report on life in one of the hundreds of slums that have sprouted up around Rio, they thought they had chosen carefully. The slum they picked, Batan, was under the control of a militia that had expelled a drug gang last September. The journalists assumed that a slum under the thumb of a gun-toting militia, which included off-duty policemen, would be safer than one controlled by drug dealers. They were wrong. And what they lived through has become a public scandal that has focused attention on the growing danger posed by these militias, which have supplanted drug gangs as the violent overlords who run many of Rio’s slums and their illicit enterprises, often with links to corrupt police officers and politicians.

ASIA PACIFIC

Burma Gives 'Cronies' Slice of Storm Relief - Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

Just seven days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma last month, the ruling military junta parceled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favored tycoons and companies, including several facing sanctions from the U.S. Treasury, according to a Burmese magazine with close ties to the government. Some of the most notorious business executives in Burma, including Tay Za and Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, were given control of "reconstruction and relief" in critical townships, under the leadership of top generals. Tay Za was identified by Treasury as a "regime henchman" this year when it slapped economic sanctions on hotel enterprises and other businesses he owns.

A Charter Deal for Taiwan and China - Edward Wong, New York Times

Representatives of China and Taiwan agreed Friday to start weekend charter flights next month between the two sides, taking the first step toward establishing regular transportation links that could ease relations. The representatives also agreed Thursday to establish permanent offices in each other’s capitals to help coordinate discussions about closer relations. The offices could reduce the chances of misunderstanding if tensions were to arise over issues like military maneuvers.

Japan to Lift North Korea Sanctions - Associated Press

Japan decided to partially lift its sanctions against North Korea after the communist nation promised a new probe into its kidnappings of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s, news reports said Friday. Kyodo News agency and national broadcaster NKH quoted Foreign Minister Masahiko as saying Pyongyang also agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the 1970 hijacking of a Japanese jet that was flown to North Korea. Word of a breakthrough came after the two sides -- which do not have formal diplomatic relations -- met for two days of bilateral meetings in Beijing.

Fuel Protests Intensify Across Asia - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times

Thousands of South Korean truck drivers went on strike Friday to protest rising fuel prices, threatening to paralyze the country’s ports and challenging the already unpopular government of President Lee Myung-bak. Across Asia, sharp rises in fuel prices continued to stoke public anger. In Malaysia and Thailand, consumers and truckers demanding bigger fuel subsidies from their governments threatened to strike and Thai fishermen warned that they would burn their boats.

EUROPE

Irish Wielding an Outsize Power - Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post

Ireland cast ballots Thursday on a treaty overhauling the European Union, in a referendum that by a fluke of constitutional law gives 3 million Irish voters a big say in the future lives of nearly 500 million Europeans. For the Lisbon Treaty to go into force, all 27 E.U. nations must approve it. In 26 of those countries, the decision is up to politicians, where support is solid. Only Ireland is bound by its constitution to put it to the citizens -- and many of them are by tradition proudly contrarian. Polls taken as the vote neared showed the issue too close to call, but with the "no" vote gaining steam.

MIDDLE EAST

'Occupation´ Mars Hezbollah Reputation - Claude Salhani, Washington Times

The mufti of Lebanon, the highest religious authority representing Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community has called Hezbollah's brief but potent military takeover of West Beirut several weeks ago "a military occupation." His comments mark a reversal from the full support the Shi'ite organization enjoyed during the summer 2006 war with Israel. Hezbollah's military success against Israel earned it praise and the respect of many Lebanese, including a number of Christians, as well as the Sunnis. But last month, Hezbollah reneged on an earlier promise never to turn their guns on fellow Lebanese, costing them the support they previously enjoyed. It also brought back to the forefront the question of Lebanon's militias and their weapons, and the growing role Iran plays in the Arab world.

Israeli Envoy Returns without Gaza Truce Deal - Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press

An Israeli envoy engaging in Gaza cease-fire talks returned without a deal late Thursday, after another day of bloodshed in the coastal territory that included seven Palestinians being killed in an explosion that Hamas indicated was an accident. When the explosion flattened a house in the Gaza Strip, killing the seven, Hamas blamed Israel and unleashed rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. But the militant group, which has controlled Gaza the past year, later suggested the blast was accidental. Dozens of gunmen have been killed while handing explosives in recent years.

Gaza House Blast Kills 7 - Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press

An explosion flattened a house in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing seven people. After blaming Israel and unleashing a barrage of rockets and mortar shells, Hamas suggested the blast was accidental, not an Israeli attack. By then Israel had carried out an airstrike aimed at a Gaza rocket squad, killing a Palestinian. Two other Israeli military operations in Gaza killed five more militants. The violence threatened to scuttle Egyptian cease-fire efforts as they approached the finish line. A key Israeli envoy, Amos Gilad, was in Egypt trying to wrap up a deal, but there was no announcement of results.

Misdirection - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club

It's been said that the most important step in problem solving is defining what the problem is. This is even more true in politics when the terms in which a problem is originally cast often determines how it is approached in the future. Martin Kramer asks, at Middle East Strategy at Harvard, why every Middle Eastern crisis is necessarily linked to Israel. Kramer argues that Israel is placed at the center of every problem in the region not because it is true; but because things have been set up that way. The result he says, is a distortion in which otherwise tractable problems are twisted out of shape and made dependent on the resolution of its "linkage".

SOUTH ASIA

Sri Lanka Vows No Tamil Ceasefire - Richard Beeston, Times of London

Britain stands accused of applying double standards to its counter-terrorism policy because a banned Tamil militant group is being allowed to raise money among expatriates in London. President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka said that supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were able to raise millions of pounds each year from the Tamil community in Britain, some of whom were coerced into donating the money. “You can't have two different attitudes towards terrorism,” he told The Times this week during a visit to London for a Commonwealth meeting, where he raised the issue with Gordon Brown. “I don't agree that there are good terrorists and bad terrorists. There is only one kind of terrorist.” There are about 150,000 Tamils living in Britain, mostly in North London. The Sri Lankans estimate that £70million is sent home every year.

WORLD

Global Image of US Improves Slightly - Meg Bortin, New York Times

There is good news and bad news for President Bush as he pursues his valedictory tour of Europe this week, according to a new worldwide study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. The image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year, the poll results show. But the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Mr. Bush will soon be leaving office. Meanwhile, the survey showed that many across the globe blamed the United States at least in part for slumping economies and global warming.

RECOMMENDED READING

KeepNet 12 June 2008 - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

Looks like Will Hartley is back in the saddle at the Insurgency Research Group, with a new edition of UK CT & COIN Features...

KeepNet 8 June 2008 - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

More great reading from a SWJ friend.

UK CT & COIN Features - 11 June 2008 - Insurgency Research Group

A round-up of today’s newspaper articles covering the UK’s involvement in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations at home and abroad.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

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.

24-25 June - 16th Annual Expeditionary Warfare Wargame (Public Event - Wargame). Quantico, Virginia. Sponsored by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC) and National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). The purpose of the war game series is to provide education and familiarization to members of the Association concerning current issues, capabilities, and expeditionary force trends in the United States Marine Corpsand to identify areas where NDIA can provide assistance. The Purpose of the 2008 NDIA Expeditionary Warfare Division/USMC War Game is to examine C2 Integration issues concerning Sensor Fusion, Information Management, and Fusion and the Commander's Visualization Requirements and Realities using seabased Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief operations at the MEB level for a background.

11-15 August - Counterinsurgency Leaders Workshop (Official Event - Workshop). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The US Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency (COIN) Center is hosting a five-day program for prospective counterinsurgency leaders, 11-15 August 2008, at the Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The program is focused on equipping leaders with an understanding of the insurgency and counterinsurgency environments, as well as close consideration of the kinds of persons and organizations that usually emerge from insurgencies in contrast to those of conventional conflicts. This event will be held at the Battle Command Training Center (BCTC) Training Facility on Fort Leavenworth. Seating is limited. However, registration is open to any person who serves in any official capacity with regard to dealing with insurgencies, with priority is given to those applying from invited organizations. Other applicants will be reviewed for eligibility on a space-available, case-by-case basis. The duty is uniform/business casual. There will be a $30 conference fee. Application must completed on-line at the link above. The deadline for application is 1 August 2008. For more information, contact the COIN Center at 913-684-5196.

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.