IRAQ

US Expands Visa Program for Iraqi Allies - Alissa Rubin, New York Times

The American Embassy in Baghdad announced Thursday that it had expanded tenfold its program to help Iraqi employees of the American government here, who faced threats for their work, to obtain visas and ultimately citizenship in the United States. Although the program was established by law in January, it has become a practical reality just in the last two to three weeks as guidelines have been finalized and the embassy has brought in staff members and started processing applications.

US Can't Keep Up On Visas for Iraqis - Walter Pincus, Washington Post

The State Department cannot resettle in the United States about 25,000 Iraqi interpreters and other refugees who worked for the US-led coalition over the next two years because of limits on the number of applications that can be reviewed, according to Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte. Human rights agencies, led by Refugees International, say roughly that number of refugees are in danger because they were employed by the US government, the military or their contractors.

Iraq Barred From Games - David Sands, Washington Times

Iraq's Olympic athletes have been barred from the Beijing Summer Games next month after the International Olympic Committee on Thursday upheld a ban on the team's participation, citing political interference from the government in Baghdad. A statement from the Switzerland-based IOC said Iraqi officials had failed to respond to concerns raised when the Iraqi squad was temporarily suspended in early June. Olympic officials imposed the ban after the Iraqi ministry in charge of sports dissolved the country's national Olympic committee amid charges of corruption and installed its own slate of candidates. IOC rules forbid "political interference" in national Olympic organizations, which are supposed to be independent.

Al-Qaida ‘Severely Disrupted’ in Iraq’s Babil Province - Gerry Gilmore, AFPS

Al-Qaida terrorists have been largely marginalized in Iraq’s Babil province, thanks to the joint efforts of Iraqi and US security forces, as well as local “Sons of Iraq” citizen security groups, a senior US military officer posted in Iraq said today. “The organization related to al-Qaida is severely disrupted, … as well as the [extremist] militia” in Babil province,” Army Col. Tom James, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, said during a satellite-carried news conference with Pentagon reporters. “Overall, we are extremely optimistic about the security situation in Babil province, because of the professional actions of the Iraqi security forces and the population’s strong desire for peace and stability,” James said. About 1.2 million people live in Babil province, located about 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, James said. Babil’s population is about 70 percent Shiia Muslim and 30 percent Sunni Muslim. Hillah is the provincial capital.

8 Die in Iraq in Suicide Bombing - Richard Oppel Jr., New York Times

At first, a car bomb seemed the only explanation for the huge blast on Thursday on one of Baquba’s main thoroughfares that killed a pro-American Sunni militia leader, an Iraqi police captain, a local politician, and five other people. But Iraqi security officials soon found evidence suggesting another theory. There was a pair a legs - from a woman, the officials said - sheared from the rest of her body and lying near the blast site, among the dead and the 30 wounded.

Basra - Here's the Good News Story - Basra Blog

With Basra now firmly under the grip of Iraq's new security forces, and normal life slowly returning to the city, Major General Barney White-Spunner, the UK's most senior officer in southern Iraq and the man in charge of multi-national troops in the region, has offered an assessment of what he believes is the current situation. In an article for The Times Maj Gen White-Spunner has given an insight into life in Basra following the defeat of the militias by the Iraqi Security Forces earlier this year and the impact it has had on ordinary people.

A Busy Time in Basra - Tom Holloway, Basra Blog

Last Saturday, 19 July, we hosted the Prime Minister and on Monday, 21 July, a Congressional Delegation of US Senators, one of whom seems to be getting more press than the others. My team, which includes half a dozen US Public Affairs servicemen, have been running flat out escorting journalists, capturing the moment, packaging it and transmitting it to the US and UK. When our reports, images and footage appear on TV screens, newspapers and websites across the globe I feel as if little by little people are beginning to see that Iraq is not all bad news after all. This is something that is very important for those who continue to serve here is unpleasant and austere conditions.

Talabani Rejects the Provincial Election Law - Omar, Iraq the Model

Disagreement erupted between the parliament and presidency council over the provincial elections law. After the parliament passed the law with 127 votes out of 140 that attended the session, president Talabani and VP Adbul Mahdi rejected the law and returned it to the parliament for revision. The key point of disagreement is an article that provides guidelines for the future of Kirkuk. Spokesman of parliament Mahmoud Mashhadani ordered a secret vote for this particular article, the thing that outraged Kurdish MPs and some Shiite MPs who then decided to boycott the vote. No wonder Kurds reject the article. I’ve translated the important parts of the article, which was posted on Azzaman, that are the most likely source of disagreement.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Battle in Southern Afghanistan Leaves 35 Dead - Carlotta Gall, New York Times

Fierce fighting broke out on Thursday in southern Afghanistan when scores of Taliban insurgents attacked an Afghan Army convoy on the main highway south of the capital. Afghan officials said that the Taliban were beaten back by soldiers and police officers, and that 35 insurgents were killed, including several foreign fighters, and five were captured. The battle came as NATO’s secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, warned of critical danger to Afghanistan, with foreign fighters and terrorists trying to destabilize the country. He called for greater international attention to the problem.

Top Taliban Leader Gives Himself Up - Jeremy Page, The Australian

Security forces have arrested a senior Afghan Taliban commander in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, according to British officials, who yesterday hailed it as a significant breakthrough. Mullah Rahim, the top Taliban leader in Helmand province, gave himself up on Saturday, a statement from British military forces in Afghanistan said. The US and Britain have often complained that Pakistan is not doing enough to arrest or kill top Taliban leaders who are sheltering in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, or its lawless northern tribal areas.

Soldiers Kill 'Dozens' of Jihadists, Some Foreign - AFP

Afghan troops recovered the bodies of 34 Taliban-linked fighters after a fierce clash in southern Afghanistan Thursday, the defense ministry said, while police said the final toll was double that. Fifteen Taliban and seven policemen were killed separately in other attacks, with violence linked to a nearly seven-year-long Taliban-led insurgency surging in recent weeks. The clash erupted after "enemy elements" attacked Afghan forces in Zabul province on the main road between the capital Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar.

Civilian Airstrike Deaths Probed - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

US and NATO military officials in Afghanistan have launched investigations into three separate US-led airstrikes that Afghan officials say killed at least 78 civilians this month. The investigations come during what UN and Afghan officials say is one of the deadliest years for civilians since the war began. In the first six months of this year, the number of civilians killed in fighting has increased by nearly 40 percent over the same period last year, according to UN data.

Jihadis at $9 a Day - Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times opinion

Pakistan is "betwixt and between," neither civilian nor military rule, caught between the generation that shied away from democracy and the generation that embraced it, though not yet wholeheartedly. In fact, there is a power vacuum at the top and homegrown Taliban extremists are sowing death and destruction in Peshawar, the storied capital of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Before leaving for the United States to confer with President Bush this coming weekend, Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani flew to Peshawar for an emergency grand tribal jirga on what to do about a rapidly deteriorating situation. "Militancy and terrorism have plunged the entire region into a crisis and tribal leaders should help the government in curbing militancy," he told the assembled elder maliks from the seven lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) where Taliban and al Qaeda enjoy privileged sanctuaries.

Taliban Control of Mohmand Highlights Failures - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal

Less than two months after the Pakistani government negotiated a peace agreement with the local Taliban in the Mohmand tribal agency, the region is now under "complete control" of extremists led by Omar Khalid. Mohmand Taliban commander Omar Khalid "is the strongest and most influential Taliban leader after Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Faqir," residents told Daily Times, referring to the leader and deputy leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

IRAN

The Iranian Shell Game - Emanuele Ottolenghi, Commentary opinion

Ever since a defector exposed the existence of Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, the regime in Tehran has routinely protested its innocence in the face of charges that it is developing fissile weapons of mass destruction and the missiles on which to carry them. Its nuclear program, Tehran claims, has only civilian purposes, and it is allowed to pursue such a program under the terms of the binding international treaties to which it is a signatory. If Iran is telling the truth and desires solely nuclear energy—which would be peculiar, to say the least, considering that under its sands rest the world’s second largest natural-gas reserves and the world’s fifth largest crude-oil reserves—its behavior these past six years makes no sense. The regime would seem to have had everything to gain from making it crystal-clear to the world that it has no intentions of developing nuclear weapons. Instead, it has rejected repeated and alluring incentives designed to seduce it into demonstrating the non-existence of the efforts it continues to insist it is not undertaking. In the process, it has had to suffer painful economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the United States. Its six years of defiance and stonewalling have led to increasing diplomatic isolation.

THE LONG WAR

Hamdan Case Built on His Own Words - Carol Williams, Los Angeles Times

In the custody of US forces in Afghanistan, Salim Ahmed Hamdan drew maps to Al Qaeda training camps and compounds for his captors. A driver for Osama bin Laden for nine months before his November 2001 arrest, Hamdan guided FBI and military intelligence agents to Bin Laden's private residences and guest houses and identified photos of terrorist kingpins still at large. Interrogated dozens of times by soldiers, analysts and investigators after his transfer to Guantanamo in May 2002, the Yemeni with a fourth-grade education gave those working to avert further terrorist strikes vital information about key perpetrators of the US Embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998, the destroyer Cole blast in 2000 and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Justice Advised CIA About Waterboarding - Joby Warrick, Washington Post

Lawyers for the Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its officers could legally use waterboarding and other harsh measures while interrogating al-Qaeda suspects, as long as they acted "in good faith" and did not deliberately seek to inflict severe pain, according to a Justice Department memo made public yesterday. The memo, apparently intended to assuage CIA concerns that its officers could someday face torture charges, said interrogators needed only to possess an "honest belief" that their actions did not cause severe suffering. And the honest belief did not have to be based on reality.

Closing 'Gitmo' Won't be Easy - Christian Science Monitor editorial

The detention center at Guantánamo hangs on the US like a ball and chain. Both presidential candidates and President Bush want it closed. But that won't be easy without broad consensus on how to deal with current and future detainees. On the tip of Cuba at a US naval base, the facility was set up in 2002 for the interrogation and detention of terrorist suspects after the 9/11 attacks. It now holds about 265 prisoners, including 14 of "high value." It may have helped prevent any other 9/11-style attacks, but Guantánamo has cost America considerable moral standing in the war on terror and sowed seeds of doubt about its justice system. Allegations of torture and the long-term holding of suspects without charge or trial may have inspired terrorist recruits and have hindered strategic and logistical cooperation with America's allies. Gitmo must go. But shuttering the island prison raises some tough questions. What countries will take detainees who are released? Where will the others be detained? How will they be tried? And what will happen when US forces pick up more suspects?

War Powers Patch - Wall Street Journal editorial

Commissions often come to life to solve problems seemingly beyond the reach of the political system. The latest is the National War Powers Commission led by former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher. Their mission impossible: Give both the Presidency and Congress an exit from their endless struggles over the failed War Powers Act. They and their commission partners have proposed the War Powers Consultation Act. Clearly, the central goal of this effort sits in its title -- consultation. Our fear, among many, is that the effort does little to solve another problem at the heart of this problem -- leaking. Indeed by our search, the word "leak" appears in the commission's report just once.

Brotherhood Against Democracy - Walid Phares, Counterterrorism

Seven years after 9/11 the ongoing confrontation between the free world and the forces of Jihadism seems to be revealing another broader more dangerous dimension: the emergence of an undeclared solidarity between regimes and organizations which --despite their enmity for each other -- come together to destroy freedom and obstruct its spread. This transnational brotherhood is increasingly revealing itself in international relations, despite the assurances of Western diplomats and academics that such a de facto web, do not really exist. While lobbying efforts in the West are attempting to convince the public that the ideology of Jihadism doesn’t exist and that Democracies’ foreign and economic policies are at the roots of terrorism, stunning evidence proves the opposite. Not only Jihadism is alive and thriving, but it is influencing a much larger bloc of countries.

Another Sign of AQ’s Limits on Soft Power - Tom Barnett, Thomas PM Barnett

OP-ED: “Fight Terror With YouTube: Why Al Qaeda can’t make the leap to the more interactive web,” by Daniel Kimmage, New York Times, 26 June 2008, p. A23. Like an authoritarian entity, al Qaeda wants its walled-garden when it comes to the web: environments and messages it can control. That gets harder over time for al Qaeda in theory, and yet the Internet restrictions imposed by authoritarian Middle East governments plays into its hands... Connectivity is the cause for the friction, but also the force that ultimately wins.

Dark Knight - Robert Jordan Prescott, House of Marathon

Under the direction of Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight stakes out formidable ground as a definitive piece of film-making derived from graphic novels. A welcomed gritty and realistic successor to movies alternatively breathtaking and cartoonish, The Dark Knight delivers on every level – cinematically and narratively. Moreover, The Dark Knight provides an earnest and complex exploration of heroism, underscoring the ambitions and challenges a would-be redeemer bears when confronting evil. With the opportunity granted by the filmmaker to the moviegoer to interpret the film however he or she chooses, this author observes subtle references to America’s own struggle with terrorism in a post-September 11 world.

COMPLEX OPERATIONS

Going Native - Kip, Abu Muqawama

Advisors are in the business of developing a foreign force. This is done in order to further US interests in the region. Advisors are not commanders. Successful advising is a factor of influence and the raw capabilities of the force with which the advisor is assigned. Because the advisor does not command the security forces with which he works, his success is based on his ability to build rapport with his counterpart, demonstrate his credibility as an advisor worth being listened to, and provide value in terms of access to resources otherwise unavailable to his counterpart. Without rapport, the enterprise fails, and the advisor cannot demonstrate the overlap in US and foreign force interest required for success. Oftentimes, a strict adherence to US military standards of appearance is detrimental to the development of rapport--something long ago recognized by US Special Forces. In Afghanistan, for instance, a lack of facial hair is generally associated with youth, inexperience, Communism, and homosexuality, yet conventional advisors are prohibited from growing beards. Advisors in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been oft-chastised by the advisor commands for uniform modifications meant to build rapport such as wearing of the Afghan or Iraqi flag opposite their US flag or wearing other elements of local dress. These advisors are criticized as having "gone native."

Asymmetric Warfare - Sam Liles, The Selil Blog

There is an almost injudicious love of science by the military academic community. Within the deep reaches of the Pentagon and the service schools and academies there is an intellectual reach and lust for the trapping of academia. I think it is quite wonderful. Do not think that I am simply talking about using the terms and lexicon of academia. No, I personally believe that the military has a desire to extend the flexibility thinking strategies of academia into their environ where flexibility and mental calculation is much more than academic. It is simply survival. The question is will the military keep with the rigor, or slip into pseudo scientific morass where the intellectually challenged and failing epistemologist sink into oblivion? As I read the literature exiting as articles from the different journals and think tanks ran by the military I have been struck by an epiphany. Like a blinding flash of on target artillery I realized there is no formal language or research agenda for counterinsurgency.

Small Wars Past and Present - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group

A useful research resource worth being aware of is the lists of small wars past and present maintained by the USMC Small Wars Center of Excellence.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Army Gains Valuable Insight From Network - Jennifer Cragg, AFPS

An integration network called L2I, now in its second year of operation, is giving officials at the Center for Army Lessons Learned valuable insight from their forward-deployed theater observers. L2I connects military and civilian analysts at across the Army and the other services. The analysts -- embedded in units conducting operations in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Philippines and at stateside units -- gather, analyze and disseminate lessons learned. “Since I’ve been the director, we’ve given seven Combat Action Badges and a Purple Heart to our theater observers,” Army Col. Steven Mains, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned, told online journalists and bloggers in a teleconference yesterday. The theater observers, or analysts, go on patrols with soldiers and try to look at the broad issues they face -- not necessarily what a single company is facing, Mains explained. They share those issues to get the ball rolling in determining lessons that can be learned. “We’ve put together a network of people that are supported by processes and technology,” the colonel said. “And those people are out at … every unit, both deployed and not deployed, as well as all of the Army centers and schools.”

Wounded Warriors, Empty Promises - New York Times editorial

The bad news about the Army’s treatment of wounded soldiers keeps coming. The generals keep apologizing and insisting that things are getting better, but they are not. The latest low moment for Army brass came on Tuesday in Washington, where a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing to examine the sorry state of the Army Medical Action Plan. That’s the plan to prevent the kind of systematic neglect and mistreatment exposed by The Washington Post last year at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Resistance To Change Building on Capital Hill - Galrahn, Information Dissemination

The resistance movement against the cancellation of the DDG-1000 on Capital Hill is gathering itself for the fight ahead. Lets be clear, this is a lobby driven movement, there is nothing strategic about it from a maritime strategy perspective, rather from an industrial strategy perspective. That isn't a bad thing, the industry is critical to the success of the future Navy, but lets not confuse what is happening as anything other than Defense Industry giving some key politicians some directions.

AUSTRALIA DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

Defence Poised to Scrap Raptor - Patrick Walters, The Australian

The Pentagon is reviewing the future of the F-22 Raptor in a move that will rule out any Australian purchase of the stealth fighter. Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon approached his US counterpart, Robert Gates, earlier this year about the potential availability of the F-22 for the RAAF. But soaring maintenance costs in the F-22 program have prompted a review of the fighter's future production status. The RAAF is now certain to acquire the F-35 joint strike fighter with a decision due to be taken by the Rudd Government next year. The view of Defence insiders is that the F-35 has incorporated the best of the stealth technology contained in the F-22 with a more advanced air frame.

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The World Can Expect Better of America - Roger Boyes, The Times

Barack Obama, already hailed as a political Messiah by the German press, tonight took the US presidential campaign to Europe with a thunderously applauded speech promising a better, more sensitive America and urging a new global partnership. The rally in front of Berlin's Victory Column was by the standards of post 9/11 political campaigning remarkably open, a veritable carnival as some 200,000 German Obama fans frequently interrupted his foreign policy speech with cheers and shouts of Pres-i-dent! If the intended message was to show American voters that he could restore the tarnished image of the US abroad, then the rally - the only such event in his overseas tour - succeeded.

Obama, Vague on Issues, Pleases Crowd - Steven Erlanger, New York Times

For Senator Barack Obama, who came to Europe once in the last four years, making a stop in London on his way to Russia, the response of many Europeans to his potential presidency has been gratifying - emotional, responsive, replete with the sense of hope he seeks to engender about a more flexible, less ideological America. European governments and politicians are not so sure. On Thursday evening in a glittering Berlin, Mr. Obama delivered a tone poem to American and European ideals and shared history. But he was vague on crucial issues of trade, defense and foreign policy that currently divide Washington from Europe and are likely to continue to do so even if he becomes president - issues ranging from Russia, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan to new refueling tankers and chlorinated chickens, the focus of an 11-year European ban on American poultry imports.

Obama Says Walls Must Come Down - Balz and Smiley, Washington Post

Addressing a huge throng in the middle of this once-divided city, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday implored Americans and Europeans to renew the partnership that once defeated communism to address 21st-century threats that he said put the security of all nations at risk. Obama invoked the sweep of history over the last half of the 20th century, pointing to Berlin as a symbol of what cooperation in the transatlantic alliance can do. "People of the world: Look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one," he said.

Feted Abroad, Facing Fight at Home - Tim Reid, The Times

While Barack Obama was being feted in Berlin, there were many voters back in the US wondering what he was doing in Europe at a time when their homes are being repossessed and jobs cut. With Europeans clearly favouring Mr Obama over his Republican rival John McCain, the reality back in America is that their presidential race is close, with many voters still harbouring significant doubts about the Democrat's lack of experience and core values. Although it is early days in the general election campaign, and with Mr Obama still favoured to win, the polls show that since he captured his party's nomination a month ago, Mr McCain has actually gained ground on his opponent.

Obama Speaks to Germany on Ties - Zeleny and Kulish, New York Times

Senator Barack Obama stood before a sea of people here Thursday evening and issued a call for cooperation, imploring America and Europe to bridge differences and rekindle old alliances in an effort to restore global stability and better confront existing and unforeseen threats. Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who is on a weeklong international tour, delivered his address at the base of the Victory Column in the Tiergarten, a sprawling park in the center of the city. He looked out toward the Brandenburg Gate, where President Ronald Reagan implored the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down that wall” and end the Cold War, and spoke to crowd that the German News Agency DPA estimated at 200,000 people. On the other side of the Atlantic, where Mr. McCain campaigned in the nation’s midsection on Thursday, he criticized Mr. Obama for traveling to Germany to deliver the address. “I’d love to give a speech in Germany - a political speech or a speech that maybe the German people would be interested in,” he told a crowd in Ohio, “but I’d much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate.”

Obama Scraps Visit to Wounded Troops - Associated Press

Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his spokesman said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate on a campaign-funded journey. The spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said Thursday that Obama made his decision out of respect for the servicemen and women, but Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign immediately criticized the move. "Barack Obama is wrong. It is never inappropriate to visit our men and women in the military," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the Republican contender.

Baghdad, Berlin, Barack - Wall Street Journal editorial

For our money, the best line in Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Berlin came in the form of a quote from Ernst Reuter, the city's mayor during the period of the Soviet blockade and the American airlift, in 1948: "But in the darkest hour," said Sen. Obama, "the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. 'There is only one possibility,' he said. 'For us to stand together united until this battle is won…. The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty'." This, from a US Senator whose consistent message to the people of Baghdad, a similarly besieged city, also dependent on America's protection, has been, in effect, to give up.

Maliki's Gift - Peter Wehner, Commentary opinion

There is a certain bitter irony for the McCain campaign regarding Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi leaders having publicly agreed with Barack Obama's call for withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq by 2010. It has lent an enormous political assist to the man (Obama) who, if he had his way, would have allowed Iraq to die, and dealt a huge setback to the man (McCain) who fought courageously and successful on behalf of a new counterinsurgency strategy that saved Iraq. While it's true that the surge is not alone responsible for the progress we've made in Iraq, it's impossible to argue that the progress we made would have been possible without it. There is little question now that the Iraqi government's newly stated position on troop withdrawals has been a great gift for Obama. The public perception is that even the Iraqis agree with Obama now; caveats and subtle interpretations of what is really being said, and not said, will be lost. It may be that the United States has made, and will continue to make, so much progress in Iraq that it will succeed even if Obama is sworn in as president next January. But it may not. The gains there, while indisputable and enormous, may in fact turn out to be fragile and reversible, as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have repeatedly warned.

Topic A: Obama in Berlin - Douglas Schoen, Washington Post opinion

The pundits are unanimous. Barack Obama's tour of the Middle East was a triumph, but his speech in Berlin was fraught with risk. Even Obama's supporters worried that it was too political, too presumptions, too foreign, too novel -- in short, too much like the things many skeptics find most worrisome about the candidate himself. So why did he do it. To win in November, Barack Obama must convince voters that his worldview trumps John McCain's credentials. If Obama can do this, victory is certain. Yesterday's speech was the first salvo in this all-important campaign. Despite Obama's recent successes, polls suggest serious weaknesses. According to the latest NBC-Wall Street Journal survey, Americans see Obama as a riskier choice for president than McCain by a margin of 20 percentage points. Thirty-four percent see McCain as the more experienced commander in chief. That's why Obama sought to do something bold in Berlin.

Faking It - Maggie Gallagher, Washington Times opinion

Obama has a problem: What do you do when you're a lightly accomplished one-term senator, a former state legislator from Illinois, a Harvard law graduate who has no substantive record of accomplishments and are running against a war hero whom polls show that Americans overwhelmingly view as far more fit to be commander in chief? Pose, of course. What else can a guy like Mr. Obama do? So the man who would be president of the United States of America flies around the world in the middle of a political campaign, enlisting the US military and the Berlin Wall as free campaign commercial backdrops, to lend him the emotional weight and substance - the aura as a commander - that he hasn't yet earned on his own. NBC's Andrea Mitchell was the one journalist with the courage to name what she was actually seeing happen: Mr. Obama faking even being interviewed by the press. "Let me say something about the message management. He didn't have reporters with him, he didn't have a press pool, he didn't do a press conference," either in Afghanistan or Iraq, noted Miss Mitchell on the air. Instead Mr. Obama manufactured "what some would call 'fake interviews,' because they are not interviews from a journalist," Miss Mitchell added.

Playing Innocent Abroad - David Brooks, New York Times opinion

The Berlin blockade was thwarted because people came together. Apartheid ended because people came together and walls tumbled. Winning the cold war was the same: “People of the world,” Obama declared, “look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together and history proved there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.” When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign. But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more.

Maliki Votes for Obama - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post opinion

In a stunning upset, Barack Obama this week won the Iraq primary. When Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki not once but several times expressed support for a US troop withdrawal on a timetable that accorded roughly with Obama's 16-month proposal, he did more than legitimize the plan. He relieved Obama of a major political liability by blunting the charge that, in order to appease the MoveOn left, Obama was willing to jeopardize the astonishing success of the surge and risk losing a war that is finally being won. Maliki's endorsement left the McCain campaign and the Bush administration deeply discomfited. They underestimated Maliki's sophistication and cunning.

‘This Is the Moment’ - Victor Davis Hanson, National Review opinion

Given the size of the audience in Berlin Thursday, the enthusiastic response, and the standard lines about how we-were-, are, and -will-be-friends boilerplate, one wonders whether all it took to win the Euro-hearts and minds was to have a charismatic, multiracial American spice up a standard George W. Bush speech about helping the world, addressing AIDs, more troops in Afghanistan, etc.? So supposedly sophisticated Europeans, who constantly dissect American politics and culture, seem suddenly to like us now, because a younger, more mellifluous figure repackaged the standard American trans-Atlantic rah-rah speech, dressed up with a little Obama messianic sermonizing: “People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time!” along with some throwaway lines about global warming and Darfur?

Iraqi Victory Fallout? - Austin Bay, Washington Times opinion

Ironically, victory in Iraq could mean defeat for John McCain. Crown the lucky Barack Obama, bury the courageous Mr. McCain. What a fate for a warrior senator who has played a key leadership role in Iraq's emerging victory. But before Mr. Obama declares peace in our time, consider the "Effect on region" paragraph. The Iraqis want an alliance. That means Washington must be prepared to back Iraq in a confrontation with Iran. We know Mr. McCain can handle that dangerous test. In the maelstrom moment when an Obama-advocated rapid military withdrawal would have devastated the Iraqis, Mr. McCain stood firm.

Obama's Fact-Fudging Mission in Iraq - Omar, Iraq the Model

Obama arrived in Iraq on Monday for what is described as a fact-finding mission. However, it’s hard to believe Obama is actually searching for facts in Iraq, nor will the facts he finds change his position. The position he chose for himself, as well as all the comments he has made so far about Iraq, reflect a disregard for facts, and there is no reason to expect a change now. This visit, for Obama, is just a necessary evil - part of an electoral campaign and not a sincere fact-finding mission. The fact that Obama made Afghanistan his first stop (after arriving in Kuwait, just next door to Iraq) suggests that it’s his electoral campaign that sets his priorities when it comes to the war on terrorism, not the actual map and course of the war. Obama is lucky in that his host, Prime Ministe Maliki, is also going through an election season. He’s even luckier that Maliki has been convinced by the close circle around him that Obama is going to win the American presidential race.

AFRICA

Zimbabwean Peace Talks Begin in South Africa - Jonathan Clayton, The Times

Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party sat down yesterday for face-to-face talks with the bruised and battered Zimbabwean Opposition at a secret location outside Pretoria. The negotiations that Mr Mugabe once vowed would never take place finally began around noon after high-level delegations travelled separately to neighbouring South Africa, the host and main mediator. Such is the sensitivity about the talks that authorities imposed a news blackout on the event but local media quoted well-informed sources as saying that a deal could be reached before the end of a two-week deadline.

Ditch this Old Dictator - David Coltart, The Australian opinion

With talks between the Movement for Democratic Change and ZANU-PF set to determine the future of Zimbabwe, it is incumbent on all to refer to the vision of Zimbabwe held by its most important stakeholders: Zimbabweans. That vision reaches out to gather in the desires and hopes most ordinary Zimbabweans carry for peace, freedom and justice in their country. The coming weeks are not a time for empty leadership, nor is it time for a process of arranging the chairs of power to comfort the padded fundaments of power-brokers. Zimbabwe has seen enough of this. We need leaders who listen to human-scale policies.

Liberia's New Lap of Luxury - Anita Huslin, Washington Post

Typically, you might expect hotel owner Robert L. Johnson to leave the spiel about bed linens and room decor to his marketing types. But here he is, the BET founder-turned-billionaire developer/financier (among other things), perched casually at the foot of a California king, patting the poofy white duvet, noting the colorful mudcloth laid across it, pointing out the antique tribal African masks on the walls. This is his model showroom, if you will, and on Monday he plans to unveil it to potential investors and guests. RLJ Kendeja Resorts & Villas will be an $8 million, 85-room, four-star resort on the Atlantic coast of northern Africa, near the capital of Liberia. Whatever images the world might have of an impoverished country that is still trying to recover from 13 years of civil war, Johnson wants this project to provide a new one.

AMERICAS

Colombia, Switzerland at Odds - McDonnell and Kraul, Los Angeles Times

A diplomatic dispute has broken out between Colombia and Switzerland over the role of a Swiss mediator involved in hostage-release talks with leftist rebels. Colombia cut off the longtime European mediation effort after the July 2 rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, including three U.S. contractors. Colombian officials have suggested that the Swiss mediator, Jean-Pierre Gontard, exceeded his authority and became a money courier for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Fears of a New Cuban Crisis - Tony Halpin, The Times

The Russian military, furious at American plans to install a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, is talking up the prospect of turning Cuba into a base for its long-range nuclear bombers. Defence chiefs in Moscow are said to be pressing for the Kremlin to retaliate against the missile shield by placing strategic bombers off the American coast. The move threatens a rerun of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Women Lead Cuba's Dissident Fight - Clark and Llana, Christian Science Monitor

Most experts agree that Raúl Castro is already cautiously moving toward a freer economy. But few expect to see any significant changes in Cuba's totalitarian political system in the near future. Only a handful of dissidents, such as Rivero, are willing to take on the risk of fighting for basic freedoms. While these spirited few - many of whom are now women - don't wield much clout, they insist that more people are quietly asking them how to get involved. "People are showing up asking us to help them more and more," says FLAMUR's country director, Belinda Salas Tapanes. "They come to us for networking. We don't have much more than that to help them." Indeed, dissidents such as the women involved in FLAMUR - who last year collected more than 10,000 signatures demanding that the Cuban peso be the only unit of currency, thereby eliminating the present two-currency system - have few resources. Lacking the right to organize freely, they surreptitiously meet in crumbling apartments and speak quickly on tapped phone lines.

Argentine Ex-Army Chief Gets Life - Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times

A court in Argentina sentenced a notorious former military leader to life in prison for atrocities committed in 1977 at a clandestine torture center used by the military dictatorship where only 17 of more than 2,200 political prisoners survived. Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, the former commander of the regional Third Army Corps in Córdoba during the military dictatorship, oversaw the kidnapping, torture and murder of four activists who protested against the military government that lasted from 1976 to 1983. The atrocities occurred at La Perla detention center in Córdoba, the biggest in the province at the time.

Ortega Steps Into the Breach with the FARC - Douglas Farah, Counterterrorism

While Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez seem content for the time being to keep is distance from his (erstwhile?) allies in Colombia, the FARC guerrillas-tied to international drug trafficking, kidnapping and assorted criminal and terrorist activities-Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega seems to have few such qualms. Nicargua's leading newspaper, La Prensa, is reporting that a six-member FARC delegation visited Ortega earlier this month in Managua. The aircraft carrying the FARC delegation left from Venezuela, and arrived in time to celebrate the July 19 anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. The delegation, while keeping a low public profile, met with Ortega, who has a long-standing relationship with the organization.

ASIA PACIFIC

Rice Drops Security Union Push - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given up hope for setting up a security alliance in Northeast Asia before she leaves office, mainly because of the unresolved North Korea nuclear issue and lingering disputes between some of the countries in the region. Miss Rice, who has been advocating the idea for two years, initially envisioned an organization that would address common threats - without coming even close to NATO's integrated political and military structures - possibly growing out of a six-nation forum dealing with Pyongyang.

Canberra to Assign Envoy to ASEAN - Mark Dodd, The Australian

Canberra is to strengthen regional ties by appointing the first Australian ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While Australia is not a member of the 10-nation group, under the terms of a revised charter it is entitled to appoint an ambassador, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday. Australia became ASEAN's first dialogue partner in 1974 and as a result has developed a longstanding and deep relationship with the grouping.

ASEAN on the Rocks - Wall Street Journal editorial

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is noted more for what it doesn't do than for what it does do. Topping the list is its nonaction on Burma, which is a member of the 10-nation regional group. Two other members, Thailand and Cambodia, are currently facing off over a border dispute over an 11th-century temple while Asean stands by. Nothing at this week's meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Singapore indicates that the organization is making progress in addressing its members' most important problems. The assembled ministers issued a mild rebuke of Burma on Monday, managing to mention detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a press release for the first time ever.

China Set To Protect Olympics - Edward Cody, Washington Post

China's public security minister told paramilitary police at a pre-Olympic rally that they must "resolutely" prevent political protests as well as terrorist attacks during next month's Beijing Games, the official press reported Thursday. Meng Jianzhu's comments underlined the determination of China's leaders to smother any attempt to stage political demonstrations when China is in the international spotlight during the Aug. 8-24 events. Following a pattern set early on in Olympic preparations, Meng appeared to accord equal priority to preventing terrorism and preventing protests.

EUROPE

Mladic Ratted on Captured Leader Karadzic - The Australian

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested after information provided to investigators by The Hague's other most wanted man, Ratko Mladic, German intelligence sources have revealed. General Mladic, Karadzic's military commander who led Bosnian Serb troops during the massacre at Srebrenica, is one of two Balkan war crimes suspects still on the run. The other is Goran Hadzic, a former Serb politician on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's (ICTY) wanted list for "ethnic cleansing" in Croatia. Mladic's capture is expected within weeks as his political support network crumbles and the European Union continues to pressure Serbia to hand him over. But Britain's Daily Telegraph cited German intelligence sources yesterday as saying that Mladic had been negotiating with those hunting him over the terms of his capture, and "gave information (on Karadzic's whereabouts) to save himself".

'Suicide Rather than Face Justice' - Rayner and Todorovic, Daily Telegraph

General Ratko Mladic will order his own bodyguards to kill him rather than allowing himself to be captured and face trial at The Hague, Serbian officials fear. Mladic, who is now Europe's most wanted war crimes suspect following the arrest of Radovan Karadzic, must be handed over to international prosecutors before Serbia can be considered for membership of the EU. But the former army commander, who faces charges of genocide if caught, is thought to have two armed guards constantly at his side, who would be unlikely to give up without a fight. Serbian intelligence sources quoted in the Belgrade media said hunting down Mladic was altogether a different prospect from snatching Karadzic, who was taken without a fight on a No. 73 bus in Belgrade last Friday.

Serbia Greets Arrest Of Karadzic Calmly - Peter Finn, Washington Post

There were some small protests and brief flashes of rhetoric from hard-line nationalists, but the arrest of war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic this week revealed a Serbia that is increasingly tired of its brutal past and intent on joining the European Union, a beacon of prosperity for most European countries that remain outside its borders. The passion and anger that drew 100,000 people onto the streets of Belgrade when Kosovo declared independence in February, and led extremists to attack and set fire to the US Embassy, was all but absent for Karadzic. On Thursday came another sign of changing heart in Belgrade: Serbian ambassadors who were called home to protest the declaration of independence by Kosovo, a province of Serbia, will return to their posts, the government said.

Serb Leader’s Capture Brings Little Solace - Dan Bilefsky, New York Times

Fadila Efendik had little time to rejoice this week over the capture of Radovan Karadzic, the man she blames for the death of her only son: she was too busy looking for his missing and scattered body parts. The arrest on Monday of Mr. Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs accused of masterminding the worst massacre since World War II, brought her cold comfort, Mrs. Efendik said. She nervously played with her head scarf and sobbed as she scanned the endless rows of white gravestones here on Wednesday in the area where Serbian paramilitary forces under the command of Mr. Karadzic separated the men and boys who would later be killed in a frenzy that claimed 8,000 lives.

Future Catches Up with War Criminal - The Australian editorial

The capture of Radovan Karadzic, considered to be Europe's Osama bin Laden, symbolises Serbia's decision to finally sever ties with its bloody recent past to embrace a future of greater economic potential within the European Union. State sympathies for Karadzic, if not necessarily for his crimes, had allowed the man responsible for tens of thousands of deaths to evade capture for 13 years. The fact that Karadzic's detention coincides with the formation of a pro-Western coalition Government in Serbia cannot be considered purely coincidental. The stated ambition of the new coalition has been to bring Serbia into the EU, the world's biggest trading bloc. The EU has made delivering indicted war criminals to The Hague court a precondition for Serbia's membership of the union. For the war crimes tribunal, Karadzic's capture could not be more welcome. He will become the second most senior person tried, behind former president Slobodan Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and died in 2006 while on trial on war crimes charge.

The Bear's Awakening - Washington Times editorial

The ascension to power of new president, Dmitry Medvedev, in May has done little to reverse the anti-American course established by his predecessor and current Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Riding high on an economic boom and an energy monopoly, Russian leaders are now crafting an assertive foreign policy that seeks to undermine American unilateralism and its unipolar ascendancy. Russian officials long to restore the international stature they had during the days of the Soviet Empire. This policy is most recently on display in this week's trip to Russia by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel-Syria Talks Hindered - David Sands, Washington Times

An Israeli-Syrian peace deal could be signed by the end of this year, but that requires Bush administration involvement that has not been forthcoming, the head of a high-profile Syrian delegation visiting Washington said Thursday. "If the political will is there, we could achieve an agreement within three or four months," said delegation lead spokesman Samir al-Taki, director of a leading Damascus think tank and an adviser to Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari, during a luncheon with editors and reporters at The Washington Times. "The security issues involved in an agreement I would say are about 95 percent finalized," he added.

Israel Accused Over New Settlement - James Hider, The Times

Israel has dusted off controversial plans to build the first Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, at a time when hopes for renewed peace and the swift creation of a Palestinian state are already flagging. The decision to start building 20 homes at a former military base at Maskiot in the Jordan Valley came as government statistics revealed that the settler population in the West Bank - known to Israelis as Judaea and Samaria - had risen by 15,000 people last year, despite an official freeze in construction. The figures marked a 5.5 per cent growth in the settler population in occupied Palestinian land, which is a serious blow to the promises to halt settlement growth made by Israel at the Annapolis peace conference in Maryland in November.

Israel Building More Settler Homes - Isabel Kershner, New York Times

An Israeli defense committee has approved the construction of 22 homes in a barely populated West Bank settlement, Defense Ministry officials said Thursday. The move appeared to catch some Israeli officials off guard, angered Palestinians and was likely to prompt criticism from the international community as it tried to push forward a long-faltering peace process. Israeli officials who confirmed the details on condition of anonymity in the absence of any official statement suggested that the approval came in the context of a quiet deal with settler leaders who had agreed to remove some illegal West Bank outposts in return. The officials noted that the building plans were subject to final approval by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan Warns of New Nuclear Arms Race - Jeremy Page, The Times

Pakistan warned the international community yesterday that a deal allowing India to import US atomic fuel and technology could accelerate a nuclear arms race between Delhi and Islamabad. The warning was made in a letter addressed to more than 60 nations as the Indian Government, having survived a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, dispatched diplomats to clear the deal with international regulators. Later, in a concession to Islamabad, the United States said that it planned to shift $230 million (£116 million) in aid to Pakistan away from counter-terrorism to upgrading its F16 fighter jets seen as crucial for maintaining military parity with India.

Pakistan: Nuke Deal to Spark Arms Race - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

Pakistan launched a full-scale diplomatic offensive against India's nuclear deal with Washington yesterday, warning it would provoke a new atomic arms race between the two South Asia rivals and harm non-proliferation efforts. In a move causing major concern in New Delhi, the new civilian Government in Islamabad sent a letter to more than 60 nations that are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, including Australia, outlining its concerns about what it sees as attempts to steamroll approval of the deal through the two bodies. The letter addressed to more than 60 nations comes less than two weeks before the 35-nation IAEA board is expected to approve a so-called safeguards agreement setting up rules for inspecting some of India's civilian nuclear facilities.

Inflation Adds to Pakistan's Troubles - Shahan Mufti, Christian Science Monitor

The Pakistani government, elected in February with great hopes of restoring stability, is not just struggling to deal with a Taliban insurgency, a judicial crisis, and an internally fractured coalition. It is also managing one of the worst economic periods in the country in the past decade. And as millions of Pakistanis from a cross-section of economic classes feel the heat from a dipping economy, some are beginning to blame the new government. "The economic situation is deepening the political crisis," says Rasul Baksh Rais, professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. "If the government isn't able to address this soon," he says, people could start spilling out onto the streets. And a weak government, he says, might not ready for all this so soon after coming into power.

India's Global Ambition - Manjari Miller, Christian Science Monitor opinion

For three decades, India has craved a nuclear energy deal that would bring prestige and advanced technology. Yet when the coalition government declared this week that it would move ahead with one, it triggered a crisis and a no-confidence motion in Parliament, which it had to scramble to survive. Watching this drama unfold, the international community may be forgiven for feeling a little baffled. After all, the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal is immensely advantageous for India. It allows India to buy nuclear technology from the US in exchange for abiding by International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. It would give India's growing economy much-needed energy without endangering its strategic capabilities or influencing its sovereignty in foreign policy. To understand the political anguish and hand-wringing in India over a nuclear deal with the US, one needs to understand a very simple fact. Unlike China, its rival rising power, India lacks a grand strategy or concept of its role in the world. India thinks it should be a great power but has no clear vision of its path. In contrast, China thinks it is a great power and expends a great deal of time and energy outlining its "peaceful rise" to itself and the world.

Military: Sri Lankan Fighting Kills 45 - Associated Press

Sri Lankan troops fought off an attack early Friday by Tamil rebels trying to recapture lost territory, as violence in the northern battle zone killed 42 rebels and three soldiers, the military said. The Tamil Tiger's pre-dawn attack came hours after government forces captured a section of rebel-held territory near a key supply route in the Mullaitivu district, about two miles south of the village of Mallavi, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

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.