IRAQ

Dozens Killed in Bombing - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post

Dozens of people were killed Tuesday evening after a car loaded with explosives blew up at a market in northwest Baghdad, breaking a weeks-long relative lull in violence in the capital. The US military said at least 27 people were killed in the bombing, which occurred shortly before 6 p.m. in the Huriya neighborhood. An Iraqi public safety official provided a higher death toll, saying that at least 42 people were killed and more than 80 were wounded. The Associated Press, citing an unnamed Iraqi police source, reported that at least 51 people were killed in the bombing.

At Least 51 Are Killed in Blast - Oppel and Hamid, New York Times

Explosives stowed in a minibus obliterated part of a bustling marketplace and set ablaze a crowded apartment building in the heavily Shiite Huriya district of northwest Baghdad, killing at least 51 people and wounding 75 late Tuesday afternoon, Iraqi security officials said. There were immediate and angry calls for revenge from Shiites, a display of sectarian tensions that had been ebbing as the overall violence dropped in Iraq. The blast occurred in the heart of a neighborhood where Sunnis had been brutally driven out - and some of the current residents blamed the displaced Sunnis for the attack. In their rage, others faulted the new pro-American neighborhood patrols, brought in from outside the area, for not preventing the attack. It was the deadliest bombing in Baghdad in more than three months.

51 Killed in Huge Car Bombing - James Hider, Times of London

A massive car bomb ripped through a crowd of evening shoppers in a busy Baghdad, killing 51 people and wounding more than 70, the deadliest strike in the Iraqi capital in months. As US generals pointed to the fragile security gains in Iraq, terrorists sent a pick-up filled with explosives into the mainly Shia area of Hurriyah in northwestern Baghdad in a move designed to reignite the sectarian tensions that once tore the city apart.

Car Bomb Strikes Baghdad Market - Qassam Abdul-Zahra, Associated Press

Iraqi police officials say at least 51 people were killed in a car bombing in a mainly Shiite section of Baghdad. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, say 75 people were wounded in Tuesday's attack in the northern neighborhood of Hurriyah. Witnesses say the car that exploded was parked near a two-story building with shops on the bottom floor and residential apartments on top.

Iraqi Official: Security Pact Altered - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post

US and Iraqi officials negotiating long-term security agreements have reworded a proposed White House commitment to defend Iraq against foreign aggression in an effort to avoid submitting the deal for congressional approval, Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday. The alternative under discussion will pledge US forces to "help Iraqi security forces to defend themselves," rather than a US promise to defend Iraq, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. Although "it's the other way around," he said, "the meaning is the same, almost."

Iraq Bans Dealings with Iran Opposition Group - Associated Press

The Iraqi government Tuesday banned any dealings with an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq. In an official statement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet accused the Mujahedeen Khalq organization of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs. "The Cabinet decided to ban any dealings with this organization by any Iraqi or foreign individual, organization or party," the statement said. The government said those who violate the order will face charges under the anti-terror law. Before the US-led invasion in 2003, the Mujahedeen Khalq enjoyed Saddam Hussein's full support. It was used to quell domestic unrest by Shiites and Kurds after Iraq's defeat in Gulf War in 1991.

Turkish Units Kill Several Rebel Kurds - Associated Press

Artillery units killed most of a 21-member Kurdish rebel group in northern Iraq as it moved toward the Turkish border, the military said Tuesday. The military's Web site said the shelling had rendered the group, which was trying to sneak into Turkey, "ineffective" _ a term used by the military to refer to killed rebels. The rebels were targeted some two miles from the shared border in Iraq's Zap region late Monday, the statement said. The military has launched several aerial cross-border attacks on suspected rebel positions in northern Iraq this year. It also staged a major ground operation against rebel bases there in February.

Charges Dropped Against Marine Officer - Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

A military judge at Camp Pendleton on Tuesday dismissed charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking officer accused in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in 2005 in the town of Haditha. Col. Steven Folsom, the judge, made his ruling in response to a motion from defense attorneys charging that undue influence was exercised on the convening authority in the case. Folsom dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning the Marine Corps could refile them.

'Curveball' Speaks - Goetz and Drogin, Los Angles Times

It was intelligence attributed to Alwan -- as Curveball -- that the White House used in making its case that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He described what turned out to be fictional mobile germ factories. The CIA belatedly branded him a liar. After Curveball's role in the pre-invasion intelligence fiasco was disclosed by the Los Angeles Times four years ago, the con man behind the code name remained in the shadows. His security was protected and his identity concealed by the BND, Germany's Federal Intelligence Service.

Iraq: Still Inscrutable - Thomas Friedman, New York Times opinion

Iraq has become one of those subjects that so many people now come to with so much emotional scar tissue that it is very hard to have a sober discussion about the actual situation there today. So much is colored by how you feel about George Bush or whether you were for or against the war. As a result, what we do next in Iraq - how and why - is barely getting discussed in the presidential campaign. Too bad, because this is going to be a really hard call - one that will require sorting through three conflicting political realities.

Iraqi Security Forces Ramp Up - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal

Iraqi troops replace border guards. Local police forces are raised. Maliki gives deadline for Mahdi Army to disarm. Sadrists fear being targeted. The Iraqi government and military continue to shape the battlefield for the confrontation with the Mahdi Army in Maysan province. Starting late last week, Iraqi security forces started the operation by sealing off the entrances and exits to the province, deploying additional forces from Baghdad and Basrah, warning the population, starting patrols in Amarah, and relieving the provincial chief of police.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Afghan and NATO Troops Pursue Taliban - Gall and Wafa, New York Times

Afghan and NATO forces launched an operation early Wednesday to counter moves by Taliban fighters attempting to infiltrate villages controlling the strategic approaches to the southern city of Kandahar, according to NATO and Afghan officials. At the same time, the British Defense Ministry reported that four more British soldiers had been killed in another part of southern Afghanistan Tuesday, bringing the total to 106 just days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he was sending extra forces. “The soldiers were taking part in a deliberate operation east of Lashkar Gah when the vehicle in which they were traveling was caught in an explosion,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement in London.

Taliban Continue Infiltration in South - Gall and Wafa, New York Times

Afghan families continued to flee Argandab district in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday as Taliban fighters and NATO and Afghan forces prepared to battle over the strategic region. The Taliban have taken control of 18 villages west of the Argandab River and started digging trenches and mines, a tribal elder from the region said. NATO and Afghan forces moved troops into the region and dropped leaflets from the air warning civilians to stay in their homes if fighting erupted nearby. Afghan government officials and the United States military played down suggestions that the Taliban were poised to attack the district center or even Kandahar city, the capital of the south, which is just a few miles from Argandab.

Villagers Flee After Taliban Assault - Rondeaux and Hamdard, Washington Post

Hundreds of residents fled several villages in southern Afghanistan Tuesday after Taliban fighters launched the next phase of a major offensive near the country's second-largest city, according to Afghan government officials. Residents of Arghandab district, northwest of Kandahar, began leaving their homes after hundreds of Taliban fighters took control of nine villages. The fighters blew up three bridges in the district and began laying mines along several key roads, according to Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and head of the Kandahar provincial council. Hundreds of Afghan and NATO troops were on the move in the area in preparation for a counteroffensive, Karzai said.

Taleban Dig in to Face Allied Onslaught - Anthony Loyd, Times of London

NATO helicopters dropped leaflets on villages in southern Afghanistan today, warning civilians to leave their homes ahead of an operation to recapture part of a valley seized by hundreds of Taleban fighters. Refugees fleeing the area also reported that the insurgents were blowing bridges and planting mines in Arghandab district, ten miles north-west of the city of Kandahar, as Afghan and Nato troops rushed to seal off the area. Escaped Taleban prisoners, freed from Kandahar's Sarposa prison during an audacious jailbreak on friday, are believed to be among the insurgents now setting up position in Arghandab's orchards.

Taliban Offensive Feared in Kabul - Sara Carter, Washington Times

Afghan intelligence agencies believe Taliban and al Qaeda forces are preparing a major offensive against Kabul, moving into positions as little as 12 miles from the capital and sending recruits from the US and Britain into the city to collect information needed to kidnap Westerners and prepare for spectacular suicide attacks. The information, provided in Afghan security reports seen by The Washington Times, coincides with preparations for a major battle in the southern city of Kandahar, which have dominated headlines in recent days.

Afghans Flee Kandahar Area - Faiez and King, Los Angeles Times

Thousands of frightened villagers fled a district in southern Afghanistan that was overrun by Taliban fighters, as Afghan and NATO forces on Tuesday flew in hundreds of reinforcements to confront the insurgents. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said early today that its troops had begun an offensive in the Arghandab district, and residents reported hearing exchanges of gunfire. But the scope of the fighting was not immediately clear. About 700 Afghan troops were airlifted to the main coalition base outside Kandahar after Taliban fighters moved into villages in the strategic district, a fertile swath of land 10 miles northwest of the southern city. Kandahar was once the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.

NATO, Afghan Troops Move Against Taliban - Noor Khan, Associated Press

Afghan and Canadian forces moved into a series of villages outside of southern Afghanistan's largest city on Wednesday to root out any Taliban who have infiltrated the area, officials said. Troops exchanged fire with militants during "a few minor contacts" but there were no immediate reports of casualties, NATO spokesman Mark Laity said. Helicopters patrolled the skies and smoke rose from fields after exchanges of fire.

Pakistani Fury Over Airstrikes Imperils Training - Jane Perlez, New York Times

The Pakistani military is so angry over the American airstrikes here last week that it is threatening to postpone or cancel an American program to train a paramilitary force in counterinsurgency for combating Islamist militants, two Pakistani government officials said. Some Pakistani officials are convinced that the Americans deliberately fired on their military, killing 11 men from the very paramilitary force the Americans want to train, an accusation the Americans deny. The uncertainty over the program reflects how deeply scarred the United States’ alliance with Pakistan, already strained, has been since the June 10 airstrikes, Pakistani officials and Western diplomats said. The $400 million training program is intended to combat militancy by fielding a paramilitary force, called the Frontier Corps, from among the tribes that live in the border areas. It was a compromise between American and Pakistani officials looking for the least intrusive way to fortify security in an area where the Pakistani government has rejected the idea of American soldiers and where even the regular Pakistani Army is often not welcome.

Afghans Not Planning War with Pakistan - Jason Straziuso, Associated Press

President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said Tuesday that Afghanistan does not intend to go to war with Pakistan, and that Karzai's warning to his eastern neighbor was meant only to make a strong point. Humayun Hamidzada said, however, that Pakistan should not allow militants to use its territory for attacks against Afghanistan and opposed plans by Pakistan's new government to enter into peace deals with militants. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani defended his government's approach of using "political dialogue" and economic development to fight militancy in areas along the border with Afghanistan.

Afghan Prisons - Max Boot, Contentions

Unfortunately the situation in Afghanistan continues to get worse. The latest bad news was the Taliban assault on the main prison in Kandahar which freed some 400 militants. The story has gotten a fair amount of coverage but an important element has been missed: namely, why were so many terrorists being held by Afghan forces who obviously do not have the capacity to keep them locked up? The answer is that most NATO countries operate under rules that forbid them to hold detainees for any length of time. They have to turn over whoever they capture either to Afghan or US forces pronto.

IRAN

U-turns on Iran - Los Angeles Times editorial

Stonewalling. Obfuscation. Threats. Two years of Iranian intransigence have removed any doubt that the leadership in Tehran is determined to develop the technology for a nuclear bomb -- if not the weapons themselves -- as quickly as possible. And after more than two years of giving Iran the benefit of every doubt, and last weekend sweetening their offer of incentives if it agreed to suspend nuclear enrichment, the European Union and Britain announced Monday that they will at last impose tougher financial sanctions. Of course, the sanctions are mainly symbolic, and Iran will find ways to circumvent them. But that does not make them any less important politically. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been able to capitalize on the global unpopularity of President Bush, dismissing legitimate international concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions as an attempt by a warmongering, intelligence-cooking enemy to subjugate and humiliate another Muslim nation. But Ahmadinejad will have a harder time making the case that Britain's Labor prime minister, Gordon Brown, and the European Union are the lap dogs of the lame-duck US president.

THE LONG WAR

CIA Played Larger Role In Advising Pentagon - Joby Warrick, Washington Post

A senior CIA lawyer advised Pentagon officials about the use of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees at Guantanamo Bay in a meeting in late 2002, defending waterboarding and other methods as permissible despite U.S. and international laws banning torture, according to documents released yesterday by congressional investigators. Torture "is basically subject to perception," CIA counterterrorism lawyer Jonathan Fredman told a group of military and intelligence officials gathered at the U.S.-run detention camp in Cuba on Oct. 2, 2002, according to minutes of the meeting. "If the detainee dies, you're doing it wrong."

Notes Show Confusion on Interrogation - Mazzetti and Shane, New York Times

When military officers at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, struggled in the fall of 2002 to find ways to get terrorism suspects to talk, they turned to the one agency that had spent several months experimenting with the limits of physical and psychological pressure: the Central Intelligence Agency. They took the top lawyer for the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center to Guantánamo, where he explained that the definition of illegal torture was “written vaguely.” “It is basically subject to perception,” said the lawyer, Jonathan M. Fredman, according to meeting minutes released Tuesday at a Senate hearing. “If the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong.” The minutes of the October 2002 meeting give an extraordinary glimpse of the confusion among government lawyers about both the legal limits and the effectiveness of interrogation methods. The new documents also reveal for the first time the close collaboration between the CIA and the Defense Department on harsh interrogation methods.

Abu Qatada Freed in Britain - Gregory Katz, Associated Press

Radical preacher Abu Qatada, once called Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe," was released on bail Tuesday in a court decision that dealt an embarrassing blow to the British government's anti-terror campaign. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith reacted by saying the government will protect national security and public safety, despite the unwanted release of Abu Qatada.

Nuke Data Known, US Says - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

The Bush administration rejected accusations Tuesday that it has failed to unravel the nuclear proliferation activities of Pakistan's Abdul Qadeer Khan network, saying that recently reported blueprints of sophisticated nuclear warheads linked to the network are no reason for concern. The State Department dismissed a Monday report by former UN weapons inspector David Albright about the blueprints, which were found on the computers of Swiss businessmen with ties to the Khan ring. Mr. Albright said they might have been passed to Iran, North Korea or even terrorists.

Mr. Bush v. the Bill of Rights - New York Times editorial

In the waning months of his tenure, President Bush and his allies are once again trying to scare Congress into expanding the president’s powers to spy on Americans without a court order. This week, the White House and Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill hope to announce a “compromise” on a domestic spying bill. If they do, it will be presented as an indispensable tool for protecting the nation’s security that still safeguards our civil liberties. The White House will paint opponents as weak-kneed liberals who do not understand and cannot stand up to the threat of terrorism. The bill is not a compromise. The final details are being worked out, but all indications are that many of its provisions are both unnecessary and a threat to the Bill of Rights.

Next Attack: Coming Soon? - Cal Thomas, Washington Times opinion

When the terrorists attack again - as Homeland Security has repeatedly warned us they will - how many survivors will be consoled because the Supreme Court and the State Department looked out for the "rights" of terrorists before the rights of their dead loved ones? Will the dead be wrapped in a copy of the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling granting foreign detainees, whose mission is to destroy our Constitution, our country and way of life, the right to appeal to US civilian courts to challenge their detention, a right that should be reserved only for American citizens? Perhaps inside the caskets can go a statement by the State Department refusing to close Islamic schools underwritten by the government of Saudi Arabia, which teach visceral hatred of Jews, Christians and all things Western.

Ceding To Terrorists Through Incoherent Courts - Steve Schippert, Threats Watch

So you think the United States has problems with its courts, namely the Supreme Court, when it comes to dealing with terrorism and terrorists? Step aside, SCOTUS. Britain just saw your habeas corpus and raised you one bail and threw in government subsidies for good measure when it awarded bail to Abu Qatada today and was then freed at 10PM London time.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Pentagon to Consult Academics on Security - Patricia Cohen, New York Times

Eager to embrace eggheads and ideas, the Pentagon has started an ambitious and unusual program to recruit social scientists and direct the nation’s brainpower to combating security threats like the Chinese military, Iraq, terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has compared the initiative - named Minerva, after the Roman goddess of wisdom (and warriors) - to the government’s effort to pump up its intellectual capital during the cold war after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957. Although the Pentagon regularly finances science and engineering research, systematic support for the social sciences and humanities has been rare. Minerva is the first systematic effort in this area since the Vietnam War, said Thomas G. Mahnken, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy planning, whose office will be overseeing the project.

Oceania's New Airstrip One - Patrick Walters, The Australian

The US island territory is destined to become the key hub for American maritime power in the western Pacific with the start of a long, $15billion construction boom. The strategic importance of Guam to Washington's long-term presence in East Asia was a point hammered home by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore a fortnight ago. Gates's speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of Asian defence ministers and military chiefs, was his most complete exposition of future US defence strategy in the region since he took over from Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon 18 months ago. Gates's key theme to his East Asian interlocutors was that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the US was not about to begin a long, slow, historic withdrawal from the region. Instead he outlined the concept of the US as a "resident power" in addition to its longstanding roles as an ally, partner, friend and routine offshore presence.

DoD Paradigm Shift and the Navy - Galrahn, Information Dissemination

Today we turn our attention to an article recently published in the 2008 Summer Washington Quarterly by Michael J. Mazarr. Michael J. Mazarr, a professor of national security strategy at the US National War College, brings a thought provoking article regarding the Paradigm Shift in the DoD towards asymmetrical warfare that is sure to be cited in future research. As a 33 page PDF, we believe those who take the minutes to read in full will be rewarded with a thoughtful view for consideration regarding the current military retooling effort. Naturally, over the coming days we will discuss this contribution in more depth.

US PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Candidates Clash on Terrorism - Kornblut and DeYoung, Washington Post

The campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama on Tuesday engaged in a heated exchange over the rights of terrorism suspects, with each side accusing the other of embracing a policy that would put the country at risk of more attacks in the future. In a Tuesday morning conference call with reporters, McCain advisers criticized Obama as "naive" and "delusional" in his approach to the handling of terrorism suspects after he expressed support for last week's Supreme Court decision granting detainees the right to seek habeas corpus hearings. Obama fired back, saying the Republicans who had led failed efforts to capture Osama bin Laden lacked the standing to criticize him on the issue. The exchange marked the general election's first real engagement over the campaign against terrorism and demonstrated that both sides are confident that they have a winning message on the issue.

Mr. Zebari's Message - Washington Post editorial

Sen. Barack Obama told Iraq's foreign minister this week that he plans to visit the country between now and the presidential election. We think that's a good thing, not because Sen. John McCain has been prodding the candidate to do it but because it will give Mr. Obama an opportunity to refresh his badly outdated plan for Iraq. To do that, the Democrat needs to listen more to dedicated Iraqi leaders like Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister -- who, it seems, didn't hold back during their telephone conversation. Mr. Obama laid out his current strategy for Iraq in November 2006, shortly before announcing his candidacy for president. At the time, Iraq appeared to be on the verge of a sectarian civilian war, and Mr. Obama was trying to distinguish himself in the Democratic primary race by offering a timetable for withdrawal. Nineteen months later, the situation in Iraq has changed dramatically, with violence down 75 percent from its peak and the Iraqi government and army in control of most of the country.

AFRICA

Actress Farrow Pleads for Darfur - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times

Actress and activist Mia Farrow Tuesday reprimanded the 15 members of the UN Security Council for their inaction on Darfur, telling diplomats in a closed meeting that they have failed desperate people as well as UN principles. Miss Farrow - like actor George Clooney, who addressed a similar meeting in September - stressed the overwhelming need to get well-equipped peacekeepers on the ground and protection for humanitarian relief convoys unable to reach millions of refugees who have tumbled over Sudan's borders.

Mugabe Threatens Opposition Arrests - Angus Shaw, Associated Press

Election observers from across Africa are hearing accounts of political violence as Zimbabwe draws closer to a presidential runoff, their spokesman said Tuesday. Marwick Khumalo, head of a 64-member Pan-African Parliament observer mission, said his team had been investigating reports of election violence for the last several days. His was among the first observer missions at work for a June 27 runoff between President Robert Mugabe and challenger Morgan Tsvangirai.

Shadows Grow Across Senegal - Lydia Polgreen, New York Times

From the air, this sprawling city looks like a metropolis on the move, a buzzing quadrilateral jutting into the Atlantic. Cars speed along a supple, newly reconstructed four-lane highway that hugs the rugged coastline. Cranes dot the seaside, building luxury hotels and conference centers, as investors from Dubai revamp the city’s port, hoping to transform it into a high-tech regional hub. But on the ground the picture shifts. Jobless young men line the new highways, trying to scratch out a living by selling phone cards, cashews and Chinese-made calculators to passers-by. The port is full of imported food that is increasingly out of reach for most Senegalese.

Fact Mirrors Fiction in African Coup Trial - Lydia Polgreen, New York Times

The plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea in 2004 was so improbable that it sounded like something out of a tale from the tropics, too outlandish even for Graham Greene.It was, as outlined in a series of court cases and breathless news articles, a steamy stew of British upper-crusters concocting a scheme on behalf of a reclusive financier to use private mercenaries to overthrow the dictator of a tiny, mineral-rich African nation for fun and profit - or, in the conspirators’ argot, “a large splodge of wonga.” But as the trial of one of the accused men, Simon Mann, an old Etonian and veteran of Britain’s elite Special Air Service, got under way on Tuesday in Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, fact has proved as strange as fiction, if not stranger.

Why We Won't Talk to Sudan - Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, Wall Street Journal opinion

The international community is horrified by the situation in Darfur. While the massacres of black Africans have been documented and their perpetrators -- government troops and their Arab militia -- identified, the political causes are less known. One theory popular in the Western media is that the conflict is the result of ethnic or economic rivalries that are too complex and too entrenched to solve. There lies perhaps Khartoum's greatest misinformation success: Making the world believe that the situation is so confused that there is no cohesive opposition, and therefore no solution to the crisis. Part of the blame for this misconception has to go to our party, the Sudan Liberation Movement. We haven't done enough to explain the situation to the international public, simply because we decided to rely only on ourselves.

AMERICAS

Mexico Adopts US-style Trials - Julie Watson, Associated Press

Mexico threw open the doors to its judicial system Tuesday, allowing US-style public trials and creating a presumption of innocence. Under the long-awaited constitutional amendment signed by President Felipe Calderon, guilt or innocence will no longer be decided behind closed doors by a judge relying on written evidence. Prosecutors and defense lawyers will now argue their cases in court, and judges must explain their decisions to defendants.

Sorry, Che, We Blew It - John Thomson, Washington Times opinion

Why did Hugo Chavez and Rafael Correa, presidents, for now, of Venezuela and Ecuador, do it? What made them change - seemingly overnight - from fiery, fearsome supporters of the terrorist, narco-trafficking Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces [FARC], to princes of peace, pleading with FARC's bloodthirsty gangs to stop their war against Colombia's government and people, and to free hundreds of kidnapped hostages? Presidents, pundits and other assorted potentates have been abuzz in Washington, Madrid, London and other concerned capitals, but their colleagues in Caracas, Quito and Bogota knew the answer: They were forced to by the citizens of Venezuela and Ecuador.

Losing El Salvador? - Jaime Daremblum, Weekly Standard opinion

Americans haven't paid much attention to El Salvador since the 1980s, when the country was being torn apart by a civil war and the Reagan administration was trying to balance its support for the anti-Communist military regime with a push for free elections. In those days, the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (known by its Spanish acronym, FMLN) was waging a bloody guerrilla campaign. Today, the FMLN is a legitimate political party with heavy representation in the Salvadoran National Assembly. By this time next year, it may control both the Assembly and the presidency--which should alarm anyone who cares about the success of democracy in Latin America. Indeed, there is a genuine risk that El Salvador could become another satellite of Hugo Chavez, whose radical "Bolivarian Revolution" has eroded political and economic liberties in Venezuela and attracted followers elsewhere. Legislative and municipal elections are due in January; a presidential election will follow in March. Polls show that the FMLN boasts a sizable lead over the ruling National Republican Alliance party (known as ARENA).

ASIA PACIFIC

Burmese Endure in Spite of Junta - New York Times

More than six weeks have passed since Cyclone Nargis swept through the Irrawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar, leaving a trail of flattened villages and broken lives and arousing international sympathy that turned to anguish as the military government obstructed foreign aid. Now doctors and aid workers returning from remote areas of the delta are offering a less pessimistic picture of the human cost of the delay in reaching survivors. They say they have seen no signs of starvation or widespread outbreaks of disease. While it is estimated that the cyclone may have killed 130,000 people, the number of lives lost specifically because of the junta’s slow response to the disaster appears to have been smaller than expected.

China's Responsibility to Protect - David Gompert, Washington Post opinion

Because of the world's failure to stop the butchering of 800,000 Rwandans, and other atrocities of the 1990s, the United Nations in 2005 adopted a principle known as the responsibility to protect, which sanctions international military action " should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. " Thus, a government that causes or does not prevent large-scale death inside its borders cannot use sovereignty as a shield from intervention to save lives. In effect, sovereignty lapses when masses die because a government either loses control or uses brutality to keep control. This manifestation of universal conscience is a natural consequence of the heightened awareness of human, and inhuman, conditions that come with globalization.

Who'll Lead in Asia? - Holmes and Lohman, Los Angeles Times opinion

Occasionally, a simple remark reveals far more about the state of American leadership than any speech, policy statement or white paper. During an official visit to Beijing in late May by Lee Myung-bak, the new South Korean president and stalwart American friend, China's foreign ministry declared the US-South Korea alliance a "historical relic." Americans need to wake up to the challenge of leadership and start fighting for it in Asia. That the Chinese are testing one of our closest relationships shows that if we cannot step up, Asia may well make plans for its future without us. The US government, from the president on down, strains to plead our long-term interests and staying power in Asia. Why is Asia not buying it?

EUROPE

Sarkozy Marches France Back to NATO - Charles Bremner, Times of London

Four decades after President de Gaulle broke with the NATO command President Sarkozy announced France's return to the heart of the alliance - with conditions on EU defence that may unsettle Britain. Setting out a big shift in doctrine and spending yesterday, France's most pro-Atlanticist President said that nothing prevented a return to the integrated command from which de Gaulle withdrew in 1966 in dispute with the United States. “In Europe, nearly all our partners are members of the alliance. They do not understand why we persist in standing apart,” he said. The return to NATO would come as France cuts 50,000 military posts to reduce forces to 225,000 personnel, while diverting funds to new equipment and expanded intelligence systems.

Major Reassessment of Defense Policies - Molly Moore, Washington Post

President Nicolas Sarkozy Tuesday announced a major new defense policy that would integrate French troops into the command structure of the NATO alliance for the first time in more than four decades. Sarkozy also proposed a leaner military with fewer troops and bases, a slow-down in the deployment of expensive aircraft and warships and more money for intelligence-gathering satellites and other equipment needed to fight terrorism, cyber-crime and drug trafficking on French territory. The new military doctrine, the first major reassessment of the country's defense policies in 14 years, reflects the realities of shrinking military budgets and changing security threats. It also underscores Sarkozy's efforts to mend rifts with the United States and his European neighbors.

France: Aux Armes - Times of London editorial

Cutting the strength of the French Army by 24 per cent seems, on first sight, an odd way of modernising France's armed forces when Afghanistan and the demands of peacekeeping are straining the military capabilities of most NATO members. But President Sarkozy's ambitious proposals, outlined to 3,000 officers yesterday in the first major review of military strategy in 14 years, are as sensible as they are far-reaching. The military aim is to make the French Army leaner, supplied with better intelligence and modern weaponry and more focused on today's terrorist threats rather than the Cold War danger of conflict in Europe. But there is also a significant shift in defence doctrine. France is reconfiguring its armed forces with the intention of rejoining NATO's unified military command and boosting the European Union's role in defence. More than 40 years after France gave NATO notice to quit Paris, Mr Sarkozy has told his allies and his countrymen that the Gaullist dream of military independence is over.

France’s Military Contribution - Max Boot, Contentions

It’s nice that France is rejoining the military arm of NATO, but how much of a contribution can it make given that it continues to spend so little on its armed forces? Granted France has the second highest defense budget in Europe (behind the United Kingdom), but that’s not saying much, considering that all of the European states have let their militaries wither in recent years.

Europe, an Irrelevant Greek Chorus? - Westhawk, Westhawk

Mr. Robert Kagan’s essay from Sunday’s Washington Post is worth reading. Mr. Kagan is a former U.S. State Department official who has spent much of this decade in Brussels (his wife is a US ambassador). From that perch, he has been able to observe at close hand the reaction of Europe’s elite to the challenges presented by Russia, China, the Middle East, and, not least, the Bush administration.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel, Hamas Agree to Truce - Witte and Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post

Israel and Hamas agreed in principle Tuesday to a truce brokered by the Egyptian government that could halt months of escalating attacks in and around the Gaza Strip, officials on both sides said. The truce is expected to begin in the coming days, possibly as soon as Thursday, although officials familiar with the talks cautioned that heavy violence before then could lead to a breakdown in the agreement. The truce was first reported Tuesday afternoon by Egyptian state media, and was later confirmed by a Hamas official in Gaza. Israeli officials said the final details needed to be ironed out. They said Israel's special envoy, Amos Gilad, had been unexpectedly dispatched to Cairo Tuesday afternoon for that purpose.

Israel and Hamas Agree to a Cease-Fire - Isabel Kershner, New York Times

The prime minister and defense minister of Israel have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Hamas for the Gaza area starting Thursday, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday morning. Egyptian and Hamas officials had already announced on Tuesday that a deal had been reached. An unidentified senior Egyptian official told the state news agency MENA, "The Palestinian and Israeli sides have accepted the first stage of a reciprocal and simultaneous period of calm, starting in the Gaza Strip, from 0600 on Thursday."

Israeli Siege Strangles Gaza Strip - Griff Witte, Washington Post

It has been a year since Hamas took power in Gaza in a violent coup, toppling a fragile unity government and killing off rivals. Israel responded with a siege, and 12 months later, the results for most Gazans have been disastrous. Much of the strip's economy has been driven, literally, underground. Unemployment has soared. Businesses have shuttered. And the prices for many goods have tripled or quadrupled amid rampant shortages.

Israel Says Ready for Lebanon Talks - Associated Press

The Israeli government is calling on Lebanon to open peace talks. Government spokesman Mark Regev says Israel is interested in "direct, bilateral" talks. He says "every issue of contention" is on the table, including a key border dispute over a small piece of land controlled by Israel. The dispute over the Chebaa Farms enclave is a key sticking point between Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

A Fair Fight for Lebanon’s Army - Nicholas Noe, New York Times opinion

In the wake of a narrowly averted civil war here last month, the United States now has a unique opportunity to help build something that all the parties to the conflict have said they very much want: a strong Lebanese Armed Forces. Unfortunately, even though the Bush administration has provided more than $300 million in tactical aid to Lebanon since the Syrian withdrawal of 2005, it still apparently refuses to provide the kind of strategic weapons - guided rockets, tanks, modern artillery and intelligence-gathering equipment - that are desperately needed in this task. During her visit to Beirut this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice didn’t even mention the issue.

SOUTH ASIA

Military Says 31 Killed in Sri Lanka Violence - Associated Press

Scattered fighting across Sri Lanka's restive north killed 25 Tamil Tiger rebels and six soldiers, the military said Wednesday. The latest clashes broke out Tuesday along the Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya fronts, where government troops have been trying for the past months to break into the well-guarded rebel territory, the military said in a statement. No other details were available. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be immediately reached for comment, and it was not possible to verify the government's claims because reporters are not allowed into the war zone.

WORLD

Refugee Numbers on Rise Again - Mike Steketee, The Australian

Refugee numbers around the world are rising after a five-year decline, with conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq boosting the numbers. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says there is a threat of further increases because of multiple conflicts, bad governance, competition for scarce resources as a result of climate change and instability generated by food and fuel price rises that have hit the poor. The UNHCR's report on global trends for last year, released yesterday, estimates the number of refugees under its responsibility rose by 1.5million to 11.4million, with the volatile situation in Iraq making a significant contribution. It was the second year of increases after five years of falls. The total excludes persons who are displaced by conflict but stay within their country: that number grew last year by 1.6 million to 26 million.

Number of Refugees Worldwide Rises - Jill Lawless, Associated Press

Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, driving up the global number of refugees after several years of decline, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday. In 2007, 11.4 million refugees were living outside their countries, compared with 9.9 million in 2006, the UNHCR said in its annual report. A further 26 million were displaced within their own countries, up from 24.2 million the year before. The group said nearly half the world's refugees are from Afghanistan and Iraq. UNHCR said there are 3 million displaced Afghans, most in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, and 2 million Iraqi refugees, mostly in Syria and Jordan. A further 2.4 million Iraqis are internally displaced, an increase of 600,000 since the start of 2007.

RECOMMENDED READING

Five Good Reads - Galrahn, Information Dissemination

Five good reads.

KeepNet 18 June 2008 - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

More good reads.

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

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.