IRAQ
Violence Down and Gov't Confidence Rising - Robert Reid, Associated Press
Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets. Those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so many years of unfounded optimism by the war's supporters. Unquestionably, the security and political situation in Iraq is fragile. US commanders warn repeatedly that security gains are reversible. Still, Iraq is by almost any measure safer today than at any time in the past three years. Fears that the country will disintegrate have receded - though they have not disappeared.
Iraq Army Tightens Grip on Southern City - Aref Mohammed, Reuters
Iraq's security forces tightened their grip on the southern city of Amara on Monday and appealed to Shi'ite militias to hand over heavy weapons before a government deadline for launching a crackdown. "Our military forces ... have completed their deployment to ensure control of the whole city," the Iraqi Army's deputy chief of staff, Nasir al-Abadi, said in a statement. The show of force in Amara, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, is the latest stage in the government drive to extend its authority to areas that had been controlled by Shi'ite militias or Sunni insurgents.
Al-Mahdi Militia Deadline to Surrender - James Hider, Times of London
Iraqi and US forces were poised to strike a key Shia militia stronghold in southern Iraq yesterday as Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, pushed ahead with his campaign to rid the country of al-Mahdi Army gunmen. Iraqi army tanks, armoured troop carriers and infantrymen surrounded al-Amarah, a lawless tribal city near the Iranian border that is renowned for its smuggling rings. It once held a British base but the army was mortared so heavily by al-Mahdi Army irregulars that it withdrew to patrol the Iranian frontier. Mr al-Maliki has told the militiamen that they have until Thursday to surrender their weapons before the Iraq forces - backed by US troops and air power - move in.
Democrats to Back Down on Iraq War Conditions - Reuters
Democrats in the Congress, who came to power last year on a call to end the combat in Iraq, will soon give President George W. Bush the last war-funding bill of his presidency without any of the conditions they sought for withdrawing U.S. troops, congressional aides said on Monday. Lawmakers are arranging to send Bush $165 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enough to last for about a year and well beyond when Bush leaves office on January 20.
New Ground Rules in Iraq? - Chicago Tribune editorial
Behind closed doors, US and Iraqi officials are battling over the shape of America's future role in Iraq. They're battling a deadline too: The UN mandate under which US forces operate in Iraq expires at the end of the year. So negotiators are trying to forge a long-term security pact that includes an array of sensitive questions about how American forces will operate in Iraq. For instance, will US soldiers be allowed to attack terrorist targets without permission from Iraqi commanders? Will US soldiers who break the law be subject to Iraqi courts? How many bases will the US maintain? Few details have been released about what's in the proposals. Here's what we do know: On the whole, US officials say the proposed agreement won't bind the US to defend Iraq and won't dictate troop levels or authorize permanent bases. Moreover, either side could cancel the deal at any time.
Another Bad Deal for Baghdad - Karl Meyer, New York Times opinion
With only perfunctory debate, the Bush administration is pressuring a divided Iraqi government to approve a security agreement that could haunt Washington’s relations with Baghdad for years to come. The “strategic alliance” that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad’s ancient Jewish community. The outline of the deal, which has not been made public, has been described by a high-level Iraqi insider, Ali A. Allawi, a moderate Shiite who was a post-invasion finance minister. Writing this month in The Independent of London, Mr. Allawi noted a disturbing parallel between the proposed alliance between the United States and Iraq and the earlier treaty that formally ended Iraq’s post-World War I status as a British mandate.
Al Qaeda's Vietnam - Rich Lowry, New York Post opinion
Lately the Iraq War has looked more and more like another Vietnam - not for us, but for al Qaeda. CIA Director Michael Hayden says the terror group has suffered "near-strategic defeat" in Iraq. It has been routed from Anbar, Diyala and Baghdad provinces, and now is getting a beating in its last stronghold of Mosul, in the north. It is reviled by the Iraqi populace, and its downward trajectory began with indigenous uprisings at its expense. When the United States lost Vietnam, it lost credibility and saw an emboldened Marxist-Leninist offensive around the Third World. Al Qaeda is a global insurgency and not a nation-state - and thus its circumstances are radically different from ours 40 years ago - but it has suffered a similar reputational loss.
Why Iraqis Back McCain - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal opinion
However it turns out for John McCain this fall -- and so far he's running his general election campaign the way Gen. Ricardo Sanchez ran counterinsurgency ops -- the Arizona Republican is sure to carry at least one battleground state by a landslide. That state is called Iraq. Last week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey of more than 24,000 people in 24 countries. Result: From Japan to Tanzania to Germany to Russia, the world has "more confidence" in Barack Obama than in his Republican rival to "do the right thing regarding world affairs." But Pew did not poll Iraqis, whose opinions about the choice America makes should weigh at least as heavily with us as the collective wisdom of, say, Brazil. Whom would they prefer as the next US president?
What Obama Can Learn from Gates - Robert Kapan, The Atlantic opinion
As conditions in Iraq improve, Barack Obama has yet to adjust his proposed strategy for managing conflict in the region. Like Sen. Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates strongly doubted the wisdom of invading Iraq. Gates was a member of the Iraq Study Group, which, except for a throw-away sentence about a temporary surge of forces in Baghdad, was inclined to withdraw our forces from combat operations back in 2006. Therefore, when Gates became defense secretary, many assumed he would push for a retreat from our commitment to the Baghdad government. But he did the opposite. He aggressively prosecuted the war, fired his combatant commander for Central Command (who was less enthusiastic than Gates about winning in Iraq) and Air Force chief (who wasn't getting UAVs to the battlefield fast enough). Gates, who initially opposed the war, is fighting it with more gusto than his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, who supported the invasion.
Obama and the War - Dennis Byrne, Chicago Tribune opinion
Before Barack Obama can get his presidential hands on the Iraq War, it might end, not in disaster as he figures, but in an American victory. He, his fans and much of the media haven't noticed in the heat of the presidential campaign, but the war is winding down, if not nearing its end. Fewer military and civilians killed or wounded; fewer insurgent attacks; more order and security, especially in such troubled areas as Basra and Sadr City; more reconciliation; improved quality of life, and—not the least—greater liberties. Still, Obama's perspective remains unchanged. There's no accommodation to changed circumstances, only his iron-willed pandering to anti-war voters. As of this writing, his campaign's Web site proclaims: "Obama would immediately begin to pull out troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of next year." Who knows, at the pace of progress in Iraq, maybe the troops could come home even quicker.
What Iraq Needs Next - Amir Taheri, New York Post opinion
The elections that gave legiti macy to the new system in Iraq, thus helping bring about the tipping point against the insurgency, are starting to fade in Iraqi memories. In a democracy, mandates need to be renewed - often faster than the governing elite would like. The Iraqi parliament and government are fast approaching their sell-by date. (Many believe they've passed it.) This shouldn't be taken as a criticism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom history is likely to remember as a courageous leader in a difficult time. Successful or not, though, the incumbents need to be put to the test of popular will again - and soon.
Helping the Iraqis Who Help Us - Max Boot, Contentions
Veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus provides an update today on a small but important organization that is doing invaluable work to help Iraqis who have helped us. The List Project was begun in early 2007 by Kirk Johnson, who spent a year working in Iraq for the US Agency for International Development and was appalled at the suffering of translators and other Iraqis who have risked their lives to work with American forces. Many of them, and their families, have been targeted for death by insurgents. And too often, as George Packer described in the New Yorker last year, the US has seemed uncaring about their concerns. We have not done nearly enough to safeguard employees and their families within Iraq, and we have done even worse when it comes to helping them leave the country.
Glass Half-Empty - Steve Schippert, Threats Watch
Without minimizing the rising level of conflict in Afghanistan, it remains nearly impossible for much of the media to cite conditions in Iraq in any positive light without finding some mechanism through which to diminish the same. The above Robert Burns report is not inaccurate. In fact, it’s a good report in total. But its introduction is striking as an example of the subtleties of negative reporting and selective framing. The complaint is not simply on style and slant, but on a technical omission as well.
The US-Iraq Security Arrangement - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal
As the negotiating continues over a replacement agreement for the UN mandate (in which Iraq and the US are “partners” in Iraq security), there are reports that Iraq is refusing to grant the US immunity from Iraqi laws, rejecting the right of US forces to operate free and independently (and without Iraqi approval), and refusing to grant use of Iraqi skies and waterways at all times. Iraq knows that it needs US troops, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said that negotiations are not dead from their perspective, even though PM Maliki has said that there is an impasse.
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS
Brown: More Troops for Afghanistan - Webster and Baldwin, Times of London
Hundreds more British troops will be sent to Afghanistan during the coming year to help to improve protection for British Forces, Gordon Brown announced yesterday after talks with President Bush. Despite warnings of “overstretch” in the Army, the Prime Minister said that levels of British Forces would reach their highest point. As the bodies of the latest five soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan were returned, ministers said that the extra troops, sent as part of a “reconfiguration” of the British contingent, would improve security for British servicemen and women. At the same time Mr Brown heralded tougher sanctions against Iran as he and Mr Bush presented a strong united front against terrorism.
Gordon Brown Delivers - The Australian
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last night announced new troops for Afghanistan and tougher sanctions on Iran, delighting visiting US President George W. Bush. Mr Brown said he would boost British troops in Afghanistan to the highest level - expected to increase to 8000 with 230 extra engineers, logistical staff and military trainers - at the meeting between the two leaders on the last day of Mr Bush's farewell tour of Europe. "It is in the British national interest to confront the Taliban in Afghanistan, or Afghanistan would come to us," Mr Brown said at a joint news conference with Mr Bush at the Foreign Office in London. Mr Bush thanked Mr Brown for the troop announcement, saying there was a duty to "protect ourselves and help others". "You've been strong on Afghanistan and Iraq, and I appreciate it. But more importantly, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq appreciate it," he said.
Taliban Infiltrate Area Near Kandahar - Carlotta Gall, New York Times
Hundreds of Taliban fighters have swarmed into a strategically important district just outside Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan, in an apparent push for control just days after 400 Taliban members escaped in spectacular breakout from the Kandahar prison, officials said Monday. Afghan military reinforcements arrived in Kandahar on Monday and have already deployed in Kandahar Province, NATO spokesman Mark Laity said. The soldiers flew from Kabul and more could be expected to follow, he said. NATO forces based in Kandahar Province have also redeployed to be better prepared for any potential threat, he said.
Taliban Seizes Afghan Villages - Rondeaux and Hamdard, Washington Post
Hundreds of Taliban fighters took control of seven villages in southern Afghanistan Monday in what appeared to be a major offensive near the country's second-largest city, according to Afghan officials. An estimated 500 Taliban fighters swept into several villages in the Arghandab district, about 15 miles northwest of Kandahar, officials said. Agha Lalai Wali, an official with the government-sponsored Peace and Reconciliation Commission in Kandahar, said the fighters surged into the area Sunday evening, setting up several checkpoints in the district. Wali said local residents had reported seeing dozens of fighters believed to be of Pakistani and Arab origin traveling in the area in pickup trucks shortly before the incursion.
Taliban Take Kandahar Villages - Alexandra Panetta, Toronto Star
Taliban fighters stormed onto the doorstep of Afghanistan's second-largest city yesterday, seizing villages, bombing small bridges, and scattering land mines to keep Canadian and international troops at bay. The head of the Kandahar provincial council, who is also the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said the rebels claimed control of numerous villages and were rumoured to be planning attacks on a bigger target: Kandahar city. Canadian soldiers are playing a major role in a multinational push to keep the Taliban from advancing and are accompanied by the Afghan army and US Special Forces, said Ahmed Wali Karzai.
Taliban Prep for Battle Outside Kandahar - Noor Khan, Associated Press
Taliban militants destroyed bridges and planted mines in several villages they control outside southern Afghanistan's largest city in apparent preparation for battle, residents and officials said Tuesday. More than 700 families - meaning perhaps 4,000 people or more - had fled the Arghandab district 10 miles northwest of Kandahar city, said Sardar Mohammad, a police officer manning a checkpoint on the east side of the Arghandab River. Police on Tuesday stopped and searched every person passing on the road. On the west side of the river, hundreds of Taliban controlled around nine or 10 villages, Mohammad said.
Taliban Commander Is Face of Rising Threat - Carlotta Gall, New York Times
The attack was little reported at the time. A suicide bombing on March 3 killed two NATO soldiers and two Afghan civilians and wounded 19 others in an American military base. It was only weeks later, when Taliban militants put out a propaganda DVD, that the implications of the attack became clear. The DVD shows an enormous explosion, with shock waves rippling out far beyond the base. As a thick cloud of dust rises, the face of Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Taliban commander who presents one of the biggest threats to NATO and United States forces, appears. He taunts his opponents and derides rumors of his demise.
Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill 35 Insurgents - AFPS
Afghan and coalition forces killed 35 insurgents during operations yesterday and June 14, military officials said. Afghan national security forces and coalition forces killed 20 militants who attacked a combined reconnaissance patrol in the Deh Chopan district of Afghanistan’s Zabul province yesterday. Officials said the militants attacked the combined forces with rockets, mortars and small-arms fire in a mountainous river valley. Afghan and coalition forces returned fire and called in precision aircraft strikes to kill the militants. During a June 14 operation, 15 insurgents were killed after they attacked a combined Afghan and coalition patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province.
Afghans Support Threat to Target Taliban Havens - Associated Press
Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Monday in support of President Hamid Karzai's threat to send troops against Taliban militant leaders in Pakistan, with many protesters saying they were ready to take up arms. Across the border, Pakistan summoned the Afghan ambassador to lodge a protest, saying it too would defend itself. Afghan tribesmen, elders and clerics gathered in at least four cities in eastern Afghanistan - where Karzai's support is strongest.
Karzai Calls for a Two-way Road - Westhawk, Westhawk
In comments at a news conference yesterday, Afghan president Hamid Karzai threatened to begin offensive military operations inside Pakistan. I seriously doubt that President Karzai reads Westhawk. But for several years, I have suggested that Mr. Karzai’s threat to employ Afghan soldiers or militias against Taliban and al Qaeda base camps inside Pakistan was both justified from an Afghan point of view and a reasonable policy option, at least compared with the others available. And even if Afghan offensive operations inside Pakistan turn out to be a bad idea, such an outcome should have been predictable. The Afghan army has lacked the capacity for such operations. However, the maturation of Afghanistan’s commando battalions and helicopter capability may now give the Afghan government the ability to perform company-sized raids against targets in the border regions. These would obviously be very risky operations with a high probability of both embarrassing Mr. Karzai and his generals and of mobilizing Pakistan against Afghanistan.
IRAN
Britain, EU Plan Iran Sanctions - Dan Eggen, Washington Post
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday announced plans for new sanctions against Iran and a small increase in troops for Afghanistan, handing President Bush a symbolic boost on the last day of his weeklong farewell trip to Europe. Brown, appearing with Bush at a 10 Downing Street news conference, said Britain and the European Union are expected to act to freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli, in response to Tehran's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Europe Will Tighten Iran Sanctions - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Monday that Britain and the European Union would freeze the overseas assets of Iran’s largest commercial bank, joining the United States in intensifying financial pressure against Iran over its refusal to address international concern over its nuclear activities. Mr. Brown, appearing with President Bush after discussions here, also pledged to send additional troops to Afghanistan, and indicated that he would not bend to political pressure at home to withdraw British forces in southern Iraq more quickly.
Britain Joins Bush in Pressuring Iran - Jon Ward, Washington Times
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave a ringing endorsement of President Bush's pro-democracy agenda in the Middle East, and said he will increase British troop levels in Afghanistan. Mr. Brown also announced new sanctions against Iran and urged the European Union to join Britain in freezing the assets of Iran's largest bank, Melli, which has been linked to Tehran's missile and nuclear efforts. "Action will start today in a new phase of sanctions on oil and gas," Mr. Brown said at a joint press conference with Mr. Bush in London. "We will take any necessary action so that Iran is aware of the choice it needs to make."
Bush and Brown's Warning to Iran - BBC News
Gordon Brown and President George Bush have warned Iran to accept their "offers of partnership" or face tough sanctions and international isolation. The UK prime minister said he wanted to maintain a dialogue with Tehran, but if Iran ignores UN resolutions then sanctions would be intensified. Europe would freeze overseas assets of Iran's biggest bank and impose new oil and gas sanctions, he said.
Right Time for Tougher Sanctions - Bronwen Maddox, Times of London opinion
Gordon Brown was right yesterday to threaten Iran with tougher sanctions immediately – if premature in announcing that the European Union had already formally agreed to do so, and if too grand in implying that freezing an Iranian bank’s assets was, on its own, a big step. It was unfortunate that his declaration, after meeting President Bush, was apparently contradicted by an EU spokeswoman for Javier Solana, the Union’s foreign policy chief. Technically, that is right: the EU scheme to freeze the foreign assets of Bank Melli will take more days to sort out. But although Iran has an almost limitless capacity for reading only the messages it wants from international signals, in this case it would be wrong to brush away the threats. Brown is justified in asserting that EU members, and Russia and China, are more convinced than ever before of the urgency of leaning on Iran to curb its nuclear work.
Iran Sanctions: The Cecil Fielder Strategy - Steve Schippert, Threats Watch
We are so darn smart, we announce finally freezing the assets of the mullah-run Iranian Bank Melli, but only two days after Iran withdraws $75 billion and who knows how many days before the EU actually gets around to ‘freezing’ whatever might be left in EU banks. If I may summon faint whispers from a favorite childhood television show, “I love it when a good plan comes together.”
THE LONG WAR
Rising Oil Cost Finances Turmoil - David Wood, Baltimore Sun
Filling up at the gas pump isn't just financially painful. Paying $4 a gallon also is creating headaches for the United States that are likely to spark new fighting overseas and to aggravate old conflicts. Iran, which trains, arms and finances terrorists across the Middle East, is raking in an extra $4 billion a month thanks to the increased price of oil. That money may show up as sophisticated new roadside bombs in Iraq or as rockets raining down on Israel, experts say.
Rising Oil Cost Finances Turmoil - David Wood, Military Watch
Oil producers are raking in staggering amounts of money from skyrocketing oil prices. Not all of these folks are friendly, and some of the money will be used to make trouble for us. I wrote about oil profits and conflict in The Sun today. Look especially to the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea for trouble. That's the body of water beneath west Africa, where China and the United States are competing for oil. The region is already plagued by corruption, crime and armed insurgents, and the huge undefended offshore oil facilities seem vulnerable to terrorist strikes.
US Designates New Terrorist Entity - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
The US Treasury Department has added the Philippines-based Rajah Solaiman Movement and its leader to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The Rajah Solaiman Movement has close links to Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah, and has been behind multiple attacks in the Philippines. The Rajah Solaiman Movement has "received training, funds, and operational assistance from ASG [Abu Sayyaf] and Jemaah Islamiyah [JI]," the Treasury press release stated. "RSM, in return, has provided field operatives and a pool of potential recruits to the ASG and JI, enabling them to expand their reach into the urban areas of the Philippines."
Canada Brands Tamil Group - Paola Loriggio, Toronto Star
The controversial World Tamil Movement has been added to Canada's list of terrorist organizations, the latest move in an ongoing investigation that links the group to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. The group's assets have been frozen and could be seized by Canada's attorney general, said Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who announced the decision at a Toronto news conference yesterday. "We want to make sure any group who would help terrorist organizations is prevented from doing that," said Day. The minister would not say whether charges would be laid against the group or its members, citing a continuing government probe. In 2006, the RCMP raided the group's office in Scarborough and seized documents that included step-by-step instructions on how to set up a front organization and indoctrinate children.
One-Click Nuclear Shopping - Arthur Herman, New York Post opinion
Imagine clicking and downloading your own nuclear-bomb blueprints. That, it seems, is what the nuclear-technology-smuggling ring led by renegade Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan allowed its customers to do, for the right price. A former top UN nuclear-weapons expert revealed Sunday that laptops captured from the Khan ring contained a step-by-step blueprint for building a modern nuke. Bottom line: In the digital age, the know-how to become a nuclear power is only a mouse click away for a rogue nation like Iran.
Nuke Smuggler Update - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room
The world's most notorious nuclear smuggler may be even more of a monster than we thought. A.Q. Khan - the father of Pakistan's A-bomb - pimped nuclear gear and expertise all over the world. He even gave Libya the designs for a bulky, crude atomic weapon. But the blueprints recently revealed to be on the hard drive of Khan's Swiss partners could be "far more troubling" than these previous sales, the Washington Post reports. Because the plans provide "instructions for building a compact device," which "might allow for delivery by ballistic missile."
The Torture Gambit - Wall Street Journal editorial
Nearly seven years after 9/11, the US homeland hasn't been struck again and American civil liberties remain intact. So how does Congress say "thank you"? By trying to ruin the men who in good faith set the legal rules that have kept us safe. That's the political story unfolding in Washington, as Democrats fire up their latest round of "torture" hearings. Prevented from trying to impeach President Bush by cooler heads, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers has resorted to issuing subpoenas to assail current and former officials for allowing aggressive interrogations of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other murderers. About 60 Democrats, including Mr. Conyers, are demanding that Attorney General Michael Mukasey appoint a "special prosecutor" to investigate.
The Supreme Court Goes to War - John Yoo, Wall Street Journal opinion
Last week's Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v. Bush has been painted as a stinging rebuke of the administration's antiterrorism policies. From the celebrations on most US editorial pages, one might think that the court had stopped a dictator from trampling civil liberties. Boumediene did anything but. The 5-4 ruling is judicial imperialism of the highest order. Boumediene should finally put to rest the popular myth that right-wing conservatives dominate the Supreme Court. Academics used to complain about the Rehnquist Court's "activism" for striking down minor federal laws on issues such as whether states are immune from damage lawsuits, or if Congress could ban handguns in school. Justice Anthony Kennedy -- joined by the liberal bloc of Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- saves his claims of judicial supremacy for the truly momentous: striking down a wartime statute, agreed upon by the president and large majorities of Congress, while hostilities are ongoing, no less.
A Quick Way Forward - Andrew McCarthy, National Review Opinion
It is difficult to single out the most outrageous aspect of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s cataclysmic Boumediene ruling last Thursday: The reckless vesting of constitutional rights in aliens whose only connection with our body politic is their bloody jihad against Americans; the roughshod ride over binding precedent to accomplish that feat; or the smug arrogance perfectly captured by dissenting Chief Justice John Roberts’s description of a “constitutional bait and switch” - a Court that first beseeches the political branches to enact a statutory procedure for handling combatant detentions, and then, once a thoughtful law is compliantly passed, invalidates the effort for its failure to satisfy the eccentric predilections of five lawyers.
Dangerous Overreach - Horace Cooper, Washington Times opinion
On Thursday June 12, 2008, a narrow five-member majority struck down the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, the so-called military tribunals' law.This law was passed by Congress to set up procedures for the legal treatment of unlawful enemy combatants in order to prevent terrorists from flooding our federal courts.Not only does the decision in the case, Boumediene v. Bush, run contrary to precedent and the Constitution, but it is yet another dangerous example of the judiciary usurping the constitutional authority of the political branches of government. Most importantly, this ruling stands sharply at odds with the national-security reality that Americans face: We are in a global war with terrorists who seek to destroy our country and our way of life. This threat is real. They have attacked us at sea and on land, at home and abroad. While we didn't initially recognize what they were doing, the body count reveals the truth: more than 3,000 dead in the 21st century. Unfortunately, this ruling, by denying the seriousness of the threat, will hinder our efforts to save American lives.
Soldiers or Criminals? - Bruce Fein, Washington Times opinion
Speaking for a 5-4 majority in Boumediene v. Bush (June 12, 2008), Justice Anthony Kennedy tacitly asserted that international terrorists were more criminals than soldiers when measured against their threat to the sovereignty of the United States. Accordingly, the court held that Guantanamo Bay detainees held for life without accusation or trial as "unlawful enemy combatants" were entitled to test the legality of their detentions in federal civilian courts through the constitutionally enshrined Great Writ of habeas corpus. It epitomizes an unflagging commitment to differentiate between the guilty and the innocent - the hallmark of every civilized nation. It may be suspended only when "in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it." International terrorism is a great evil - like mass murderers or serial killers - but not tantamount to rebellion or invasion.
IRREGULAR WARFARE
POP on COIN - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark
Perspectives on Politics, one of the flagship journals of the American Political Science Association, has just published a fascinating roundtable discussion of the U.S. Army/Marine Counterinsurgency Field Manual (FM 3-24). I will try to balance my hopes that the APSA wants public exposure for the symposium with potential copyright issues and post some excerpts, and suggest that all interested should get to a library and read the whole thing.
Visualcy and the Human Terrain - Mark Safranski, CTLab
COIN and public diplomacy alike tend to encounter significant barriers to effective communication between the state actor and the intended audience. In part, this is due to gaps in cultural intelligence that will only be remediated by degrees with the careful advice of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and the experience derived from an extended immersion in another society. The other aspect of the problem is that the target audience often has greater complexity and cognitive heterogeneity than the Western society from which the warrior or diplomat hails.
Filling in the Gaps - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Two weeks ago, I spoke to a reporter from Inside the Pentagon, a subscription only news service. We had a long conversation on the phone as I explained to her the salient (and not so salient) points of the Smith-Mundt Act. The purpose of her investigation was talk about legislating (or creating a rule for) an exception from Smith-Mundt for the Defense Department.
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Report Questions Pentagon Accounts - Joby Warrick, Washington Post
A Senate investigation has concluded that top Pentagon officials began assembling lists of harsh interrogation techniques in the summer of 2002 for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and that those officials later cited memos from field commanders to suggest that the proposals originated far down the chain of command, according to congressional sources briefed on the findings. The sources said that memos and other evidence obtained during the inquiry show that officials in the office of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld started to research the use of waterboarding, stress positions, sensory deprivation and other practices in July 2002, months before memos from commanders at the detention facility in Cuba requested permission to use those measures on suspected terrorists.
Lawyers Face Inquiry on Interrogation Role - Mark Mazzetti, New York Times
Senior Pentagon lawyers played a more active role than previously known in developing the aggressive interrogation techniques approved for use in 2002 at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to officials familiar with a Senate investigation. Investigators with the Senate Armed Services Committee have found documents from July 2002 showing that Pentagon lawyers working for William J. Haynes II, then the Defense Department general counsel, gathered information about a program used to train American pilots to withstand captivity, according to the officials.
The Navy is not the Air Force - Galrahn, Information Dissemination
The Navy clearly has some tough challenges right now, shipbuilding is a popular topic in Congress, the media, and among industry observers, but shipbuilding is only one of several issues that draw the ire of observers regarding Naval leadership. When Air Force secretary Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley were forced to resign on June 6th, we began to wonder how long it would be before speculation begins regarding replacing the current Naval leadership. As it turns out, it didn't even take a full week. On June 12th we observed the first conversation pop up by blogger Westhawk. We aren't familiar with Westhawk, but his profile lists him as a former U.S. Marine Corps officer: infantry company commander, artillery battalion staff officer. Being that he is also on the blogroll of the Small Wars Journal, we observe Westhawk to come with highly credible credentials. Westhawk raises an interesting discussion.
PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANIES
Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir - James Risen, New York Times
The Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops. The official, Charles M. Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. Speaking out for the first time, Mr. Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004 after informing KBR officials that the Army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations.
AFRICA
UN Criticizes Sudan Over War Crimes Suspects - Mark Heilprin, Associated Press
The UN Security Council called Monday on Sudan to arrest and hand over two Darfur war crimes suspects for prosecution by the International Criminal Court. Sudan has repeatedly rejected UN demands to hand over Ahmed Harun, a Cabinet minister, and Ali Kushayb, a militia commander. The two face 51 charges, including murder, rape and forced expulsions in 2003 and 2004 in Darfur. They are accused of organizing a system to recruit, fund, arm and command a militia that terrorized villages in the western Sudanese region. Monday's action was notable because it was backed by both China, a strong protector of Sudan, and the United States. It occurred during the month when the US holds the council's rotating presidency.
UN Council Says Sudan Must Heed Court on Darfur - Louis Charbonneau, Reuters
Sudan must stop turning a blind eye to crimes committed during the conflict in Darfur and hand over suspected war criminals to the International Criminal Court, the UN Security Council said on Monday. "The council urges the government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to fully cooperate with the court, consistent with resolution 1593 (from 2005), in order to put an end to impunity for crimes committed in Darfur," the council said in a unanimously approved statement.
The Genocide Continues - New York Times editorial
Despite the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur and the issuing of international arrest warrants for leaders of the genocide, the killing goes on. So does the burning of villages, the bombing of schools and the systematic rape of women and girls. And it will continue until the Security Council shows the will to stop it. The Council needs to get more peacekeepers, helicopters and reconnaissance planes in the field, enforce the arrest warrants and increase diplomatic and financial pressure to get Sudan to stop obstructing the work of the peacekeepers. But the Council has shown little urgency in doing any of that. Thwarted by Sudan and the United Nations’ own bureaucratic rules, far less than half of an anticipated force of 26,000 international soldiers and police officers is now in Darfur. That is too small to protect the population, or even the peacekeepers themselves. An additional 100,000 people have been forced from their homes since the peacekeepers began arriving in January.
Khartoum's Genocidal Despot - Washington Times editorial
Mia Farrow, now a persistent human-rights activist, won world attention when, in the Wall Street Journal last year, she described China's forthcoming time of glory in August as "the genocide Olympics" because China is a prime buyer and investor in Sudan's oil as well as an arms supplier to that government's continuing genocide in Sudan. It is also a protector of Sudan at the UN Security Council from serious accountability for its horrifying atrocities in Darfur. On May 28, the former actress, who has become a world-class exposer of nations' crimes against their citizens, wrote a letter to President Bush that began: "I have just returned from my ninth trip to the region affected by the Darfur tragedy, now in its sixth year. I am writing to urge you to use the remaining months of your presidency to end the genocide in western Sudan and to make lasting peace in the region a legacy of your administration." She continued by giving justified credit to the Bush administration's "essential role in securing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) formally ending Sudan's (20-year) North-South Conflict (with 2 million dead)." That peace agreement, she told the president, is "fast unraveling and in urgent need of attention."
Mugabe Warns Zimbabwe's Voters - Raath and Philp, Times of London
Robert Mugabe gave warning yesterday that he would not cede power if he loses next week’s election to the Opposition in his most explicit statement yet of his refusal to respect the result. State-controlled media reported his comments to supporters at an election rally, the latest in a series of increasingly menacing threats as Zimbabwe counts down to the June 27 presidential run-off poll. Mr Mugabe’s military-backed regime has been carrying out a campaign of violence aimed at wiping out the opposition vote. “We fought for this country, and a lot of blood was shed,” Mr Mugabe told his supporters. “We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”
British Map out Robert Mugabe Endgame - The Australian
World powers are preparing an economic blockade of Zimbabwe if Robert Mugabe steals the election due in two weeks, as the isolated despot yesterday said he would be willing to hand power to a ruling party ally. Britain and its international allies indicated yesterday they would urge South Africa to cut off electricity supplies to Zimbabwe if Mugabe rigged the June 27 presidential runoff to stay in power. Plans are being drawn up to persuade Zimbabwe's allies to mount an economic blockade and diplomats are considering a ban on the children of the elite going to school in Europe if Mugabe loses the election but refuses to step down. British officials are also examining ways of widening sanctions against Zimbabwe in ways that will not hurt the population further.
UN Envoy Set for Zimbabwe Talks - BBC News
A senior UN official has arrived in Zimbabwe for a five-day visit ahead of the presidential run-off vote, which continues to be marred by violence. Haile Menkerios is expected to meet politicians to discuss the situation in the run-up to the election on 27 June. Violence is reported to have spread to urban areas near Harare, with opposition activists complaining of being attacked near the capital.
Somali Crisis 'Worse than Darfur' - Adam Mynott, BBC News
The number of people in Somalia in need of emergency food aid is likely to rise to about 3.5m in the coming months, the United Nations has warned. Mark Bowden, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for the region, says the food crisis is dramatically worsening. Somalia faces a worse situation than Darfur, Mr Bowden says. Contributing to the crisis are fighting between rival militias, successive droughts, sharply rising food prices and a collapse of the Somali currency.
France and China Talk... Somalia - Galrahn, Information Dissemination
France has essentially taken over on the international diplomatic front in regards to Somalia, and we can add this bit of news to the developing discussion regarding the international approach to dealing with piracy. We are not really sure what kind of intelligence assets China brings to the table off the coast of Somalia, but this is an interesting development nonetheless. We still don't believe the Europeans and Americans can bring piracy to a halt regionally without either getting more aggressive, or bringing in new partners to build a larger international coalition.
AMERICAS
3 Police Officers Killed in Gunbattle in Mexico - Associated Press
Drug cartels are believed to be behind a series of banners hung Monday in this crime-ridden border city that blamed rival gangs for spiraling violence. The six banners appeared along different avenues of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, city police spokesman Jaime Torres said. They were taken down immediately. One of the banners blamed reputed Sinaloa drug-cartel chief Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman for the city's rising crime, including brazen daylight shootouts and increasing numbers of homicides.
Brazil Cracks Down on Militia - Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times
A police officer accused of leading a local militia that the police said had tortured four people, including two journalists, for more than six hours here last month turned himself in on Monday. The officer, Odnei Fernando da Silva, 34, surrendered to the Rio state police organized crime unit, known as Draco, after being a fugitive for almost two weeks. A lawyer, André Gomes, accompanied him, said Jorge Gerhard, Draco’s head of intelligence. Mr. Gerhard said Mr. da Silva, a former prison security guard who also worked at a psychiatric hospital before becoming a police officer, denied torturing the four people in the Batan slum on May 14. Mr. da Silva also denied being the leader of the militia. He has yet to be formally charged.
Silence on Attack at US Embassy - Eduardo Gamarra, Miami Herald opinion
On June 9, another US Embassy suffered an attack by an enraged mob that threatened to burn the building down if the ambassador was not thrown out of the country. This time the riot occurred in La Paz, Bolivia, and not in a far away Middle Eastern or African capital. Washington has remained silent except to express its gratitude to the Bolivian police for protecting the building and at the same time expressing its support for the protesters' right to demonstrate without violence. Ambassador Phillip Goldberg, who has been under extreme pressure since his arrival in Bolivia two years ago, failed in his mild-mannered attempt to explain that political asylum is granted not by the Bush administration but by the judiciary, an independent branch of government. Among other things, the mob -- some 80,000 strong according to the Bolivian government, but more like 20,000, according to independent news reports -- was protesting against the United States for granting political asylum to former Minister of Interior Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, who has resided in Miami since his flight from Bolivia in 2003.
ASIA PACIFIC
South Korea Continues Beef Talks - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times
US and South Korean trade envoys broke off and then agreed to resume talks on revising a beef import accord that has pushed President Lee Myung-bak’s government into political crisis, officials said Monday. Kim Jong-hoon, South Korea’s trade minister, was scheduled to fly home from Washington after both governments announced that two days of talks between Mr. Kim and Susan Schwab, the US trade representative, ended without an agreement.
UN Police Eye East Timor Handover - BBC News
UN police in East Timor are considering returning responsibility to the local force earlier than planned following problems with a mentoring programme. East Timor's police force disintegrated in Dili during a spate of political violence two years ago. That violence prompted the return of UN security forces, with a mandate to vet and re-train the force. But since then the relationship between the two organisations has rapidly deteriorated.
THE CAUCASUS
Brutal Biography of Ramzan Kadyrov - Megan Stack, Los Angeles Times
Ramzan Kadyrov has been the president of Chechnya for a year; he was appointed by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin shortly after his 30th birthday made him old enough to hold the job legally. He inherited his power from his father, Akhmad Kadyrov, a Muslim cleric and separatist leader who cut a deal with Moscow after a blood-drenched war and emerged as Chechnya's president, only to be assassinated. Ramzan Kadyrov is finishing the job his father started when he shifted allegiances and steered Chechnya back under the sway of Moscow. The younger Kadyrov has managed to silence dissent, pacify the breakaway republic and embark on a massive reconstruction campaign. Kadyrov's biography is brutal and Byzantine. His story is the story of Chechnya, and also a glimpse into the violent underbelly of modern Russia.
EUROPE
Defense Policy: France Joins Allies - Erlanger and Beinnhold, New York Times
In its first new national defense policy in 14 years, France has decided that its security lies within Europe and the NATO alliance, establishing a significant shift from the country’s longstanding notions of moral and military self-sufficiency. More than four decades ago, Gen. Charles de Gaulle, angry with American and British domination of NATO, said that France’s military integration into the alliance had been “stripped of justification.” But now that the Soviet Union is gone and the European Union is more fully established, President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided that France is best served by participating fully with Washington and NATO, in part because the vast majority of members of the European Union are also members of the alliance.
France Plans Smaller, Harder-hitting Army - Tamora Vidaillet, Reuters
France aims to create a smaller, more mobile and better equipped army, able to respond to threats ranging from terrorism to cyber attacks, under plans to be formally presented by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday. A government policy document outlines plans to trim the fat from the military, spend more on equipment and pay greater attention to intelligence and home security, while maintaining France's independent nuclear deterrent.
NATO Head Assures Ukrainians Over Membership - Ron Popeski, Reuters
NATO's secretary general, visiting Ukraine to bolster thin public support for joining the Alliance, said on Monday that membership would in no way oblige the country to host foreign bases or send soldiers off to war. NATO'S Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko also said Ukrainian membership would not harm the interests of neighboring Russia, with which many Ukrainians have close ties and which objects to Kiev moving closer to the alliance.
EU Vows to Pursue Lisbon Treaty - BBC News
EU foreign ministers have agreed to keep the Lisbon reform treaty alive despite its rejection by Irish voters. The ministers said those EU members who have not yet ratified the treaty should carry on and do so. The ministers have been meeting in Luxembourg ahead of a two-day summit in Brussels, starting on Thursday, that is expected to chart the way ahead.
Exploiting Anne Frank - Alvin Rosenfeld, Weekly Standard opinion
In January, a stenciled image of a smiling Anne Frank wearing a red and white kaffiyeh appeared on the walls of buildings in Amsterdam. Soon after, an enterprising Dutch business firm called Boomerang transferred this image to designer T-shirts and postcards. The cards were distributed free throughout the Netherlands, no doubt to boost sales for Boomerang's politically chic new line of shirts. But it was a risky marketing move to promote a product featuring the face of Amsterdam's most famous martyr made over to look like Yasser Arafat's daughter. The Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands expressed outrage. So did Dutch Jewish organizations. But that response was not universal. Some were drawn to the newfangled Palestinian Anne Frank and endorsed the artist's political point, which one blogger interpreted to be that "the Zionists, in the name of Jewry, [were] doing to the Palestinians what was done to Jews in Europe." This simplistic formula has become a staple in the rhetoric of contemporary anti-Zionism. The charge it makes is baseless, but it is rhetorically catchy and now routinely employed to tar Israel with the Nazi brush.
Secularism, Democracy, and Turkey - H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe opinion
Stephen Kinzer, in his book "Crescent and Star, Turkey Between Two Worlds," wrote that if "isiklal" (freedom) was his favorite Turkish word, "devlet" was his least favorite. Devlet means state in the dictionary, but it goes far beyond that. It is an "omnipotent entity that stands above every citizen and every institution," Kinzer wrote. "It is a self-perpetuating elite - the generals, police chiefs, prosecutors, judges, political bosses, and press barons who decide what devlet demands. . . . This elite has written many laws to help it do what it perceives as its duty, and when necessary it acts outside the law." Today, democracy in Turkey is imperiled by devlet. Recently, the constitutional court struck down the Turkish Parliament's decision to allow girls to wear headscarves in state universities. Parliament is controlled by an Islamic-leaning government, under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is committed to maintaining a secular state. Ironically, his government is more democratic than the devlet will allow. Partly because of headscarves, there is another case before the courts that would shut down his political party, and ban its leaders from politics for endangering Kemalist principles.
MIDDLE EAST
Hint of Movement on Hostile Fronts - Isabel Kershner, New York Times
Israel appeared to be making diplomatic progress Monday on three hostile fronts: indications of an upcoming prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, the militant group in Lebanon; a second round of indirect talks with Syrian representatives in Turkey; and positive remarks from a Hamas leader in Gaza regarding a possible truce brokered by Egypt. Israeli officials refused to comment on the diplomacy with Hezbollah and Hamas, and said it would be premature to draw any conclusions from the Syria talks except to say they were positive and serious.
'Historic Meeting' Planned - Sheera Frenkel, Times of London
The top Israeli and Syrian leadership could meet face-to-face next month for the first time in the history of those two countries, said Israeli officials yesterday. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Bashar Assad, the Syrian President, are scheduled to attend a July 13 summit of European and Mediterranean countries in Paris. “The possibility of bringing the two leaders together while they cross paths in Paris was raised by the Israelis. It is presently a tentative offer… it depends on what happens between now and Paris,” said one Israeli official involved in the current indirect talks between Syrian and Israeli envoys in Ankara, Turkey that ended yesterday. Israel and Syria last held indirect talks in 2000.
Hamas Leader Says Truce Talks Near Successful End - Reuters
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday a successful end was in sight in Egyptian-sponsored talks on a truce in the Gaza Strip between his Islamist group and Israel. In separate remarks, a Palestinian official familiar with the Egyptian mediation efforts said a declaration on a ceasefire, or a period of calm, was very near. "The talks under way in Egypt on calm are nearing an end, an end that would bring about what the Palestinian people aspire to -- a lifting of the siege, the opening of the crossings and an end to the aggression," Haniyeh told a gathering in Gaza.
Rice in Beirut on Unannounced Visit - Robert Worth, New York Times
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon Monday, the first by a senior American official since the agreement last month that handed decisive new powers to Hezbollah, the militant Shiite group that the United States considers a terrorist organization. Ms. Rice met with government leaders from both the government majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition, signaling her support for a compromise that appears to have stabilized the country - at least for the short term - even as it delivered another setback to American allies in the region.
UK Says UAE Terror Risk is 'High' - BBC News
British nationals in the United Arab Emirates have been warned there is now a high risk of a terror attack there. Travel advice from the UK Foreign Office said terrorists might be planning indiscriminate attacks in places frequented by expatriates. It did not give details about why there was believed to be a more serious threat than the general one previously issued to UK nationals. Unlike neighbour Saudi Arabia, the UAE has had no major terrorism incidents.
Stalking Yemen's Streets - Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post
Call them vice and virtue vigilantes: Even as Islamic scholars and lawmakers push Yemen to create a police unit to enforce religious standards, gangs of bearded men have appeared ad hoc to police public mores. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, where official religious police armed with clubs roam the streets and shopping malls enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law, also has vice and virtue committees. So did Taliban-era Afghanistan.
SOUTH ASIA
Bomb Kills 4 Outside Pakistan Mosque - Associated Press
A bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least four people and wounding five others, police said. The bomb exploded near the outer wall of the mosque in downtown Dera Ismail Khan as worshippers were leaving after evening prayers, said Abdul Ghafoor, a local police officer.
Gunmen Kill 4 Shiite Muslims - Associated Press
Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying four Shiite Muslims in northwestern Pakistan Tuesday, killing them all, officials said. It was unclear whether the attack was sectarian. It was not immediately known who killed the men as they drove through the town of Hangu, local police official Umar Hayyat said. Police were investigating, he said.
WORLD
First Trial of ICC Now at Risk - Marlise Simons, New York Times
Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague warned on Monday that they may throw out their very first case because of doubts that a fair trial is possible. The announcement came just a week before the long-awaited trial was scheduled to begin. The judges added that they would discuss next week whether to release the defendant in that case, Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese warlord. Mr. Lubanga has been charged with recruiting child soldiers during the militia violence in the Congo’s Ituri region in 2002-2003.
RECOMMENDED READING
Recommended Reading for Saturday - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
A short list of posts you may not have seen.
KeepNet 15 June 2008 - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar
Today’s essential reading.
KeepNet 8 June 2008 - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar
More great reading from a SWJ friend.
UK CT & COIN Features - 16 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. 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.
