IRAQ

Bush, Iraqi President Meet at White House - Dan Eggen, Washington Post

President Bush discussed the ongoing dispute over a long-term security arrangement for US forces in Iraq with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at a hastily planned meeting at the White House this morning. Appearing with Talabani in the Oval Office, Bush said the Iraqi president was on the "front lines" of the struggle in Iraq and said he "complimented the president" on the "progress" made there. Neither Bush nor Talabani gave any indication of progress on a long-term security agreement that has prompted widespread criticism from Iraqi officials.

Bush, Talabani Discuss Complex Iraq Security Deal - Associated Press

President Bush and Iraq's president expressed cautious optimism Wednesday about prospects for completing a complex agreement that would keep US troops in Iraq after a UN mandate expires at year-end. Bush said the US was working on an agreement that "suits" the Iraqi government. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, speaking in the Oval Office after meeting with Bush, cited recent progress and said he hoped it could be finished "very soon."

3 US Soldiers Killed by Bomb in Iraq - Richard Oppel Jr., New York Times

Three US soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in Ninewa Province on Tuesday night in the second large explosion to strike the Mosul region in a day and further evidence that Sunni Arab guerrillas remain very active in the northern city despite recent Iraqi military operations. Few details of the attack were released by the American military, which said that an improvised explosive device killed the soldiers and interpreter about 10:45 p.m.

4 US Soldiers, Interpreter Killed - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post

Four US soldiers died in roadside bombings Tuesday and Wednesday, the US military said, bringing to 10 the number of Americans killed in Iraq since Monday. Three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter were killed in a roadside bombing late Tuesday in Nineveh province, a military statement said. In recent weeks, US and Iraqi forces have stepped up operations against Sunni insurgents in the area.

Drought Threatens Iraq Farmers - Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times

For nearly three years, farmer Sarheed Ahmed barely touched his land. He was too afraid of drawing the attention of the masked gunmen who terrorized the area, or of the US attack helicopters that prowled overhead. Now, Ahmed says, he can farm until late at night without worrying about safety. But in a cruel twist, the rain didn't come this season.

For Christians, Money Bought Survival - Andrew Kramer, New York Times

As priests do everywhere, Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, the leader of the Chaldean Catholics in this ancient city, gathered alms at Sunday Mass. But for years the money, a crumpled pile of multicolored Iraqi dinars, went into an envelope and then into the hand of a man who had threatened to kill him and his entire congregation. But American military officials now say that as security began to improve around Iraq last year, Archbishop Rahho, 65, stopped paying the protection money, one sliver of the frightening larger shadow of violence and persecution that has forced hundreds of thousands of Christians from Iraq. That decision, the officials say, may be why he was kidnapped in February. Two weeks later, his body was found in a shallow grave outside Mosul, the biblical city of Nineveh.

Was Iraq Worth It? - Tony Blankley, Real Clear Politics opinion

It has been fashionable - indeed, de rigueur in political and media circles - to view contemptuously President Bush's assertion that we are fighting the terrorists in Iraq so we wouldn't have to fight them here. Even conservative commentators have tended to tiptoe around the proposition. We are all far too sophisticated to believe such simplicities. Nor will any self-respecting public chatterer even raise the little matter of America not being hit by terrorism on our soil for the almost seven years since Sept. 11. And yet the undeniable facts certainly would justify a debate -- if not yet a consensus of agreement - on President Bush's assertions. Regarding killing Islamist terrorists in Iraq rather than New York City, consider the numbers: According to USA Today in September 2007, more than 19,000 insurgents had been killed by coalition forces since 2003. The number obviously has gone up in the nine months since then (these were midsurge numbers), but I don't have reliable updated numbers.

Death to al-Qaeda - Carter Andress, National Review opinion

The war in Iraq is not yet finished for US combat forces but you can almost see the end, just over the horizon, from my office perched in the Red Zone of downtown Baghdad. This last May saw the lowest monthly American military deaths of the entire war: 19 to include four non-combat fatalities. Attacks on US Department of Defense contractor convoys have dropped by a phenomenal 20 times from one in five incidents at the beginning of 2007 to approximately one percent of cargo movements today. Oil production has exceeded pre-war volumes and the Iraqi government is on its way to financial self-sufficiency. Provincial elections are sure to happen this fall - which will further reintegrate the once-estranged Sunni minority back into local governance.

Books, Not Bombs - Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times opinion

The dirty little secret of the Iraq war isn’t in Baghdad or Basra. Rather, it’s found in the squalid brothels of Damascus and the poorest neighborhoods of East Amman. Some two million Iraqis have fled their homeland and are now sheltering in run-down neighborhoods in surrounding countries. These are the new Palestinians, the 21st-century Arab diaspora that threatens the region’s stability. Many youngsters are getting no education, and some girls are pushed into prostitution, particularly in Damascus.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Pakistani Taliban Cited in 22 Slayings - Perlez and Shah, New York Times

The bodies of 28 members of a government-sponsored peace committee were found dumped on a road near the tribal area of South Waziristan on Wednesday, Pakistan officials said. The Pakistani Taliban said the men were killed because they supported the government, according to a Taliban statement made to a local journalist. The peace committee was attacked by forces of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, near the town of Jandola on Monday, not far from the Afghan border, said the district coordinating officer, Berkatullah Marwat.

Afghans Sees Pakistan Role in Karzai Plot - Wafa and Bowley, New York Times

The Afghan government for the first time publicly accused the Pakistani intelligence service on Wednesday of organizing the failed plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai at a parade in Kabul in April. In a news conference in Kabul, Sayeed Ansari, the spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service, said Afghan authorities had evidence of the direct involvement of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, in the assassination attempt.

Pentagon Notebook - Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times

Eavesdrop: US intelligence officials recently obtained this quote from a Taliban leader: "Tanks and armor are not a big deal. The fighters are the killers. I can handle everything but the jet fighters." Even though the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are considered "irregular" warfare, precision bombing by fighters has proved valuable in taking out insurgent hide-outs. It was a bomb from an F-16 fighter in 2006 that killed al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Zarqawi.

IRAN

Iran Warns Time Running Out for Talks - Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

The powerful speaker of Iran's parliament warned Wednesday that his nation could take drastic steps in response to economic, political and military pressure meant to halt controversial parts of its nuclear program. Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament and a former nuclear negotiator, said there was "only a little time left" for talks before Iran would make unspecified moves that the West would regret.

Iran's Troubling Opposition - Amir Taheri, Wall Street Journal opinion

On Monday the British parliament removed the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) from the UK's list of banned terrorist organizations. The decision upholds a Court of Appeals' ruling in May that there is no evidence linking the Iranian opposition group to terrorism, and that it should be free to recruit, organize and raise money in Britain. Western and Arab intelligence services have long appreciated the MEK for its sources deep inside Iran. The group was the first to provide evidence of Tehran's secret nuclear project. But the US and Continental Europe shouldn't rush to follow London's move. Although the People's Mujahedeen has won the support of many Western politicians, it is not the force for democratic change it claims to be.

THE LONG WAR

Climate Issues Tied to US Security - Walter Pincus, Washington Post

US intelligence agencies have concluded that global climate change will worsen food shortages and disease exposure in sub-Saharan Africa over the next two decades, creating operational problems for the Pentagon's newest overseas military command. "Without food aid, the region will likely face higher levels of instability, particularly violent ethnic clashes over land ownership," probably creating "extensive and novel operational requirements," for the fledgling US Africa Command, according to a National Intelligence Assessment on the security implications of climate change by the National Intelligence Council.

Terrorism Boost with Change of Climate? - Pamela Hess, Associated Press

Global warming is likely to increase illegal immigration, create humanitarian disasters and destabilize precarious governments and may add to terrorism - all of which could threaten U.S. national security, according to an assessment by US intelligence agencies. "Logic suggests the conditions exacerbated [by climate change] would increase the pool of potential recruits for terrorism," said Tom Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, who testified before a joint House committee hearing Wednesday.

Senate Debates Rewrite of '78 Law - Paul Kane, Washington Post

The Senate, clearing a key parliamentary hurdle, yesterday voted to begin debating a broad revision of US intelligence laws that includes a controversial plan to grant immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted in the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. On a vote of 80 to 15, the Senate officially began debate on a sweeping rewrite of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, with an eye toward final passage of the bill as early as today.

Detainee to File Habeas Petition - White and Del Quentin Wilber, Washington Post

More than six years later and now armed with a recent Supreme Court decision, Barre plans to file a habeas corpus petition in a US federal court in Washington today, the first time he will be able to challenge his detention before a civilian judge. Barre's is among the first new habeas petitions to follow the Supreme Court's ruling June 12 that Guantanamo detainees have a right to access US courts. Lawyers representing other detainees have indicated they plan to file similar cases this week.

US Troops Rights? - Jonathan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News opinion

If you're an al-Qaida terrorist who has participated in operations that have killed thousands of Americans, if you've been captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq by members of the US military and you're lucky enough to be detained at Guantanamo Bay, you're entitled to challenge the legality of your detention in a federal court. So say five justices of the US Supreme Court. If you're a member of the US military fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq, risking your life on a daily basis to bring to justice - or send to paradise - the jihadists and you're accused of committing war crimes, the court of public opinion can issue an immediate verdict: Guilty.

Away From the Cold War - Greg Sheridan, The Australian opinion

The great Cold War questions were things such as how does the US maintain its geo-strategic influence in key regions of the world; what is the interaction between US military posture and other nations' economic development; how do you keep allies in line with grand Western coalition policy; what is the underlying global balance of power equation; how do you manage the emergence of great powers; how do you balance one power against another; when is it worth embarking on a counterinsurgency campaign and when should the US just stand back from a situation?

Fight Terror With YouTube - Daniel Kimmage, New York Times opinion

Al Qaeda made its name in blood and pixels, with deadly attacks and an avalanche of electronic news media. Recent news articles depict an online terrorist juggernaut that has defied the best efforts by the United States government to counter it. While these articles are themselves a testimony to Al Qaeda’s media savvy, they don’t tell the whole story. When it comes to user-generated content and interactivity, Al Qaeda is now behind the curve. And the United States can help to keep it there by encouraging the growth of freer, more empowered online communities, especially in the Arab-Islamic world.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Insulting Our Troops - New Hampshire Union-Leader editorial

Does Moveon.org despise all military personnel or just think Americans are stupid? Or both? Following its disgusting "General Betray us" ad from last year, the leftist group has a new one depicting a mother and a newborn. The mother says: "Hi, John McCain. This is Alex. And he's my first. So far his talents include trying any new food and chasing after our dog. That, and making my heart pound every time I look at him. And so, John McCain, when you say you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because if you were, you can't have him." So our volunteer service members are just pawns stolen from their parents by the government?

Balance of Forces - William Hawkins, Washington Times opinion

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the Air Force secretary and chief of staff earlier this month, he cited problems in the nuclear weapons program. Many suspect the firings were prompted by more systemic failures, as evidenced by the mismanaged competition for the $35 billion tanker contract. The Center for Defense Information speculated that one reason was the desire to buy more F-22 fighters, "despite the Raptor's complete irrelevance, and nonappearance, in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." This might be dismissed as wishful thinking by the CDI, a left-wing group that opposes all new weapons programs. It is also misleading, as the F-22 is an air superiority fighter and the insurgents don't have combat aircraft to fight. But other more potent adversaries will.

AFRICA

Zimbabweans Make Plea for Help as Runoff Nears - New York Times

As Zimbabwe’s neighbors urged it to postpone this week’s presidential runoff, hundreds of beaten, newly homeless Zimbabweans amassed outside the South African Embassy here in a desperate bid for help during the electoral crisis gripping the nation. By 8:30 p.m., around 400 people, mainly men displaced by the recent political violence, were pulling down their woolen caps and hunching into thin jackets to sit out one of the coldest nights this winter. Few of them had eaten in the last several days; they began converging outside the embassy in hopes of finding food, water and medical attention. “The situation is absolutely desperate,” said an opposition official trying to find shelter for 80 women and children at the site.

Criticism of Mugabe Intensifies as Runoff Nears - Washington Post

A key group of African leaders said Wednesday that presidential elections in Zimbabwe should be postponed and that they would be illegitimate if held Friday, as scheduled, after a brutal campaign of violence and intimidation that caused the opposition candidate to drop out. With global criticism of President Robert Mugabe building, Queen Elizabeth II stripped the longtime Zimbabwean ruler of ceremonial knighthood, a title he received in 1994 when he was still perceived as a symbol of African liberation. Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called on Mugabe to resign and likened him in an interview to "a kind of Frankenstein."

Mugabe Cronies in Grip of Paranoia - The Australian

High-ranking members of Zimbabwe's regime have begun turning on each other, according to a lawyer for a senior opposition official who says his client has been interrogated over whether any ruling-party ministers have struck deals to avoid prosecution. As opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday urged world leaders to back their tough rhetoric against the Government with "military force", accounts of the interrogation of Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), suggest Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party is gripped by deep divisions and paranoia.

Mugabe in the Dock - Washington Times editorial

There are very legitimate objections to the International Criminal Court - the United States has voiced most of them - but none detract from the case for indicting Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe. Indeed, there are few more worthy targets. A three-pronged strategy of freezing the regime's assets, pressuring South Africa to stop supporting Mr. Mugabe and an indictment comprise the best hope of dislodging the regime which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rightly said this week "must be held accountable by the international community." Most of the court's present activities focus on conflicts in Africa - but why not Mr. Mugabe?

Playing God with Mugabe - Timothy Ash, Los Angeles Times opinion

Whether you believe in him or not, it's time to give God a helping hand. Robert Mugabe, the Catholic mission schoolboy turned tyrant, says "only God" can remove him from power in Zimbabwe. In that case, I'm rooting for God. Go for it, Lord. (Silence on high. Damn.) What we see in Zimbabwe today is naked political terror, orchestrated solely to extend the reign of a once legitimate but now illegitimate ruler who has led his people to a hell on Earth. Destitution, murder, rape and mass beatings are the order of the day -- and a so-called election this Friday, which is now the barest sham. Let Mugabe himself be my witness. "We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X on a ballot," he warned this month. "How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?"

Heart of Darkness - Suzanne Fields, Washington Times opinion

If you had met him, you might think he "had kicked himself loose of the earth" and "knew no restraint, no faith and no fear." He was once perceived as "remarkable" and a man of great promise, but had descended into unspeakable madness in the heart of Africa. That's how the novelist Joseph Conrad describes Kurtz, the white man who leaps into lunacy in the Congo and becomes the focus of "Heart of Darkness," the novel Conrad wrote at the end of the 19th century. His horrific descriptions, I discovered when I recently read the book again, fit Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe - the black man who transformed himself from idealistic freedom fighter to ruthless tyrant who destroyed Zimbabwe along the way.

AMERICAS

El Salvador: Letists on Center Stage? - Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

Like a prizefighter nearing the ring, Mauricio Funes strides through a gantlet of feverish fans. The 48-year-old television journalist, a newcomer to politics, has jolted El Salvador by grabbing a sizable early lead in the race as the candidate of the leftist group that fought a guerrilla war in the country two decades ago.

ASIA PACIFIC

N. Korea Action Expected - Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times

North Korea was expected to turn over a long-awaited inventory of its nuclear program today as part of a deal that will allow the lifting of some US sanctions. President Bush could make an announcement this morning that North Korea should be removed from a State Department list of terror-sponsoring nations and from a blacklist of countries under the Trading With the Enemy Act.

Rice Expects N. Korean Action Soon - Associated Press

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she expected developments on North Korea's long-delayed nuclear declaration within hours, as she arrived in Japan to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said an announcement on North Korea's declaration would be made later Thursday in a special news conference. He did not elaborate. The White House said earlier this week that Thursday was the deadline for the North to hand over an accounting of its nuclear program.

N. Korea to Blow Up Reactor Tower - The Australian

North Korea is to blow up the cooling tower of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and hand over to Washington as early as tomorrow a long-awaited declaration of its nuclear activities, allowing for theresumption of multilateral disarmament talks. Japan's Kyodo news agency said North Korea, which defied international warnings and tested a nuclear device in October 2006, would give the declaration to China by Thursday. "That's been the target date," Christopher Hill, the chief US envoy to the disarmament talks, said yesterday.

Diplomacy Is Working on NK - Condolezza Rice, Wall Street Journal opinion

North Korea will soon make a declaration of its nuclear programs, facilities and materials. This is an important, if initial, step and we will demand that it be verifiable as complete and accurate. Amidst all the focus on our diplomatic tactics, it is important to keep two broader points in mind. One, we are learning more about Pyongyang's nuclear efforts through the six-party framework than we otherwise would be. And two, this policy is our best option to achieve the strategic goal of verifiably eliminating North Korea's nuclear weapons and programs.

Thai Leader Under Fire - Thomas Fuller, New York Times

With his coalition still intact, the Thai prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, appeared set to prevail over Thailand’s emboldened political opposition in a confidence vote this week. But accusations that his five-month-old government bowed to Cambodia in a territorial dispute have weakened the government and stoked nationalist sentiment. The dispute, over an ancient Hindu temple on the Cambodian border, has hardened the poisonous political stalemate that has gripped Thailand since the removal of the previous prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in a coup in 2006. Once a model in the region for democratic pluralism, for the past two years, including 15 months of military rule, Thailand has been immobilized by a power struggle between Mr. Thaksin’s supporters and his impassioned detractors.

Gloria Arroyo 'Fiddles as Rome Burns' - Emma-Kate Symons, The Australian

Gloria Arroyo is being scorned for acting like an emperor in the dying days of Rome, after she refused to cancel her "extravagant junket" to the US despite the devastation wrought by Typhoon Fengsheng. While those connected to the Princess of the Stars ship tragedy, which left about 800 people drowned, struggle to pick up the pieces, the Philippines President is on a 10-day visit to Washington with more than 70 MPs, staff and family. Catholic bishops, her political opponents, the media and ordinary Filipinos are expressing outrage that the President and her enormous entourage flew out when the typhoon was already lashing the country.

THE CAUCUSAS

Chechnya Neighbor Could Suffer Same Fate - Michael Shwirtz, New York Times

Though violence in Chechnya has decreased markedly in recent years, fighting between Muslim insurgents and Russian troops threatens to engulf a neighboring region, a human rights group said in a report released on Wednesday. The group, Human Rights Watch, asserted that a recent spike in insurgent attacks in the region, Ingushetia, has provoked a spate of kidnappings, torture and arbitrary killings of innocent civilians by law enforcement reminiscent of earlier rights abuses in Chechnya.

EUROPE

Russian Flights Smack of Cold War - Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times

Russian bombers have stepped up provocative flight exercises off the Alaskan coast, reminiscent of Cold War incursions designed to rattle US air defenses. US Northern Command, which protects North American airspace, told The Washington Times that TU-95 Bear bombers on 18 occasions the past year have skirted a 12-mile air defense identification zone that protects Alaska. The incursions prompted F-15s and F-22 Raptor fighters to scramble from Elmendorf Air Force Base and intercept the warplanes. The last incident happened in May.

MIDDLE EAST

Olmert in Deal to Avoid Early Vote - Isabel Kershner, New York Times

The embattled prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, agreed on Wednesday to hold primaries in his centrist Kadima Party by late September, averting a looming political crisis and gaining a few months’ reprieve for himself and his governing coalition - but also paving the way to his possible ouster before the end of the year. The agreement, reached in overnight talks between Kadima and its main coalition partner, the Labor Party, led to the suspension of a bill that could have dissolved the current Parliament and led to early general elections. It had been scheduled for preliminary reading on Wednesday.

Olmert Averts Rebellion by Partners - Griff Witte, Washington Post

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert bought himself more time in office Wednesday, fending off a rebellion by coalition partners who had threatened to bring down his government if he did not resign over a burgeoning corruption probe. But in exchange for keeping his coalition together temporarily, Olmert was forced to allow internal elections in his centrist Kadima party by late September. Rivals within Kadima are already jockeying for his job, and it is unclear if Olmert will even run.

Facebook in the Middle East - Nir Boms, Washington Times opinion

Facebook, the popular social networking site, is becoming more than just a cyber-meeting place, growing into a powerful vehicle for social change. Squeezing out MySpace as the site of the moment and with 75 million users (more than the population of most countries around the globe,) it is the most popular meeting place in the virtual world, and like other virtual endeavors, Facebook has no borders. Its reach is as wide as the reach of the Web, or, perhaps, as wide as the reach of those who attempt to control it. Facebook offers a "virtual" platform for the advancement of political and social causes, and is quickly turning into a hotbed of "actual" activism - a cause for alarm for many autocratic regimes in the Middle East attempting to block it and curtail its reach.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

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.

11-12 September - DNI Open Source Conferece 2008 (Public Event - Conference). Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The Office of the DNI is pleased to announce the "DNI Open Source Conference 2008" to be held on Thursday, 11 September and Friday, 12 September, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC. The conference is free; however, all who wish to attend must register online in advance (deadline 31 July). The two-day conference will explore a wide range of open source issues and open source best practices for the Intelligence Community and its partners. We invite participants from the broader open source community of interest including academia, think tanks, private industry, federal, state, local and tribal entities, international partners, and the media to attend. The conference will include speakers from across the broader open source community participating in panel discussions and focus group sessions. Information about the agenda and break-out sessions is now available. The DNI Open Source Conference 2007 was held 16-17 July 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. More than 900 registered participants and speakers attended. Presentations made at the conference break-out sessions are available on the DNI Open Source Conference 2007 website.

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.