IRAQ

Deal on a Security Agreement Is Close - Rubin and Myers, New York Times

Iraq and the United States are close to a deal on a sensitive security agreement that Iraqi officials said on Wednesday satisfies the nation’s desire to be treated as sovereign and independent. The agreement, under intense scrutiny in both countries, sets the terms for the presence of American troops in Iraq. Negotiations had stalled a month ago largely over the Bush administration’s refusal to specify an intention to withdraw troops. While the current version does not specify any exact date, officials said, President Bush’s recent acknowledgment that withdrawal was an “aspirational goal” has revived the talks and pushed them closer to completion. The emerging agreement, officials said, gives Iraqis much of what they want - most notably the guarantee that there would no longer be foreign troops visible on their land - and leaves room for them to discreetly ask for an extended American presence should security deteriorate.

Iraq Parliament Plans Emergency Session - Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times

Iraq's parliament ended its summer term Wednesday without passing legislation setting up provincial elections this year, forcing the government to call an emergency session for the weekend. However, a positive outcome remains far from certain. Parliament speaker Mahmoud Mashadani said he would convene a special meeting of lawmakers Sunday to resolve the impasse over the election legislation, which will help decide the status of the oil-rich, ethnically divided city of Kirkuk. US and Iraqi officials have said that new elections could help lead to political reconciliation between Shiite Muslims, Sunni Arabs, Kurds and other groups.

Iraqi Parliament Deadlocks over Kirkuk - Associated Press

Iraqi lawmakers on Wednesday scheduled an emergency weekend meeting during summer recess to resolve disagreements that have blocked a provincial elections law and threaten a new wave of bloodshed in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. The proposed law has raised ethnic tensions in the oil-rich area, which is emerging as one of the biggest threats to US-backed efforts to heal the country's sectarian rifts and prevent a resurgence of violence. The standoff over control of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is also the latest example of Iraqi political deadlock despite impressive military gains against Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents.

Officials Discuss Start of Iraqi-Led Diyala Operations - Jim Garamone, AFPS

The operation now under way to clear enemies from Iraq’s Diyala province is Iraqi-conceived, Iraqi-planned and Iraqi-led, a senior coalition officer said today. US Army Brig. Gen. David Perkins, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, along with Iraqi army spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, spoke with reporters at a Baghdad news conference. Perkins said coalition forces will provide capabilities such as air support, helicopter support, some logistical support and engineer support for the operation in Diyala. “[These are] those things that complete the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces and enable them to accomplish their mission,” Perkins said. Askari said the Iraqi army and police are attacking terrorists, outlaws and Iranian-backed “special groups” to deny them safe haven in the province, which runs from the outskirts of Baghdad to the Iranian border. “The operation has no timetable,” he said through a translator. The operation, which began yesterday, has deployed Iraqi soldiers and police to the province’s cities and villages. The Iraqi security forces already have captured 50 wanted terrorists and criminals, Askari said, noting that the operation has begun “lifting the ‘fear barrier’ between the Iraqi security forces and the people.” Another objective of the operation is to starve the terrorist and criminal groups and separate them from the population. Iraqi officials also want to build security so that displaced people – refugees from the fighting – want to relocate back to the province. Finally, the operation is designed to make it safe enough for the Iraqi government to begin investment in the province to spur reconstruction and agriculture, the Iraqi general said.

Iraq Police Blanket Baqubah - Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times

Residents of New Baqubah woke up Wednesday to a sight they had never seen before: hundreds of Iraqi national police officers blanketing the neighborhood in a city that until last year was a center of the Sunni Arab-driven insurgency. For many of them, it was not a comforting sight. Most of the upscale neighborhood's doctors, teachers and retired military officers are Sunni Muslims, and the force sent from Baghdad to protect them is overwhelmingly Shiite Muslim. But the newly arrived police force was all business Wednesday. The battalion commander, a colonel who gave his name only as Ali, summoned community leaders to a meeting at the neighborhood police station. "I don't want to talk about Sunnis or Shias," he said firmly. "We are professionals, and we work to defend Iraq from inside and out." Thus began the second day of an Iraqi government campaign to wrest control of Diyala province from Sunni and Shiite militants who have fought each other for years.

US Combat Deaths in Iraq Plunge in July - Reuters

The number of US soldiers killed in combat in Iraq has dropped sharply in July and the monthly total is likely to be the lowest since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. Five US soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq so far in July compared to 66 in the same month last year, according to the independent website icasualties.org, which keeps records of US military losses in the conflict. The drop underscores the dramatic fall in violence in Iraq to lows not seen since early 2004.

New Premises in Iraq - Henry Kissinger, Washington Post opinion

The US presidential campaign has been so long and so intense that it seems to operate in a cocoon, oblivious to changes that should alter its premises. A striking example is the debate over withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. Over the past year, many have proposed setting a deadline for withdrawal. Proponents have argued that a date certain would compel the Iraqi government to accelerate the policy of reconciliation; would speed the end of the war; and would enable the United States to concentrate its efforts on more strategically important regions, such as Afghanistan. Above all, they argued, the war was lost, and withdrawal would represent the least costly way to deal with the debacle. These premises have been overtaken by events. Almost all objective observers agree that major progress has been made on all three fronts of the Iraq war: Al-Qaeda, the Sunni jihadist force recruited largely from outside the country, seems on the run in Iraq; the indigenous Sunni insurrection attempting to restore Sunni predominance has largely died down; and the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad has, at least temporarily, mastered the Shiite militias that were challenging its authority. After years of disappointment, we face the need to shift gears mentally to consider emerging prospects of success.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

AQI Leader May Be in Afghanistan - Amit R. Paley, Washington Post

The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, according to group leaders and Iraqi intelligence officials, a possible further sign of what Iraqi and US officials call growing disarray and weakness in the organization. US officials say there are indications that al-Qaeda is diverting new recruits from going to Iraq, where its fighters have suffered dramatic setbacks, to going to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they appear to be making gains. "We do believe al-Qaida is doing some measure of re-assessment regarding the continued viability of its fight in Iraq and whether Iraq should remain the focus of its efforts," Brig. Gen. Brian Keller, senior intelligence officer for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, wrote in an e-mail. But Keller said that the reliability of indications that recruits have been diverted has "not yet been determined" and that US officials have no evidence that top al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders have gone to Afghanistan.

CIA Links Pakistan Spies to Militants - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

The CIA has confronted senior Pakistani officials with evidence showing the country's spy service has deepened its ties with militants responsible for the surge of violence in Afghanistan, including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian embassy in Kabul. Reports from Washington yesterday said a top CIA official travelled to Islamabad in secret this month with new information about ties between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and militants operating in Pakistan's tribal areas. Quoting anonymous US military and intelligence officials, The New York Times said the CIA assessment pointed to links between the ISI and a militant network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, which American officials believe maintains close ties to senior figures of al-Qa'ida in Pakistan's tribal areas. News of the CIA assessment came as hundreds of Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships launched a major raid on a North Waziristan madrassa (religious school) run by Haqqani. Haqqani was a minister when the Taliban ran Afghanistan and is now a major figure in the battle against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

US Says Pakistani Spies Forewarn al Qaeda Allies - Reuters

The United States has accused members of Pakistan's main spy agency of tipping off al Qaeda-linked militants before US missile attacks on targets in Pakistani tribal lands, Pakistan's defense minister said. defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar openly acknowledged American mistrust of Pakistan's main military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in remarks aired on Thursday on Pakistani television. "They think that there are some elements in the ISI at some level that when the government of Pakistan is informed of targets, then leak it to them (militants) at some level," Mukhtar told Geo in Washington, having accompanied Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on a maiden visit to the United States.

Pakistan Probes Taliban Collusion - Sara Carter, Washington Times

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said US concerns about collusion between members of his nation's intelligence agency and terrorists are being taken seriously and "will be resolved." In an interview with reporters and editors of The Washington Times, Mr. Gilani said he had seen no evidence to support allegations that Pakistan´s Inter-Services Intelligence, known as ISI, is compromised. Asked whether he was confident that the ISI contained no pockets of Taliban sympathy, Mr. Gilani said, "I'm pretty sure about it." But he added, "We still have to look into [the accusations]. ... It will be resolved." Top CIA and US military officials traveled to Pakistan this month in part to complain about ties between Pakistani officials and Taliban insurgent groups that may have contributed to a rise in attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

NW Pakistan Clashes Intensify - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

Clashes between insurgents and Pakistani troops escalated Wednesday in the country's fractious northwest as Taliban leaders threatened to withdraw their support for peace deals brokered this year with Pakistan's new government. Accounts of casualties from the skirmishes in Pakistan's Swat Valley, near the Afghan border, varied widely and could not be independently verified. A local military spokesman said that five Pakistani soldiers and at least 38 insurgents were killed, but a spokesman for a pro-Taliban group disputed that tally, saying that only three of its fighters had been slain. It was the third consecutive day of violence between pro-Taliban extremists and government troops in the formerly serene Swat Valley. After skirmishes erupted near the town of Matta, Pakistani security forces began enforcing a 24-hour curfew in the area, a military spokesman said.

Pakistan Unlikely to Accept Advisers - Dodd and Loudon, The Australian

A Rudd government offer to send Australian counter-insurgency trainers to Pakistan to help rid the country of Taliban extremists had not been raised with the Government in Islamabad and faces a cool response. Senior Pakistani officials last night emphasised that "this is our war" while other analysts pointed out the potential pitfalls of identifying Australian soldiers with what is a massively unpopular Pakistan army. Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon admitted he had yet to begin formal discussions with Pakistan about the proposal, details of which were first carried in The Australian yesterday. If Australian help was sought, it would probably take the form of advisers based out of the firing line in the Pakistan capital, Mr Fitzgibbon said. Even if the Australian Defence Force wanted to reinforce its troop contribution in Afghanistan, there was no spare capacity, but it was ready to send trainers to Pakistan.

A Delicate Balance - The Australian editorial

US and Pakistan are locked in a dangerous embrace. US military strikes in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border, such as the one that is claimed to have killed al-Qa'ida's chemical weapons expert Abu Khabab al-Masri, confirm the legitimacy of concerns that Pakistan is unwilling or unable to act against terrorists hiding in the region. The fact that Pakistan's democratically elected Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was forced to publicly chide US President George W. Bush about the raid confirms his fragile grip on power and the extent of fears that the border territories, where anti-US feeling is high, may spin out of control. With the body count of allied troops in Afghanistan rising, the level of frustration felt by the US and Britain is understandable. They know that Mr Gilani was elected on a platform that included a promise to negotiate with militants, but experience shows this is unlikely to produce quick results, if any.

Canada: NATO Must do More in South - Reuters

NATO members must send more troops to southern Afghanistan, where Canada and a few other nations are bearing the brunt of combat against Taliban militants, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said on Wednesday. Canada, which has 2,500 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar and plans to send around 200 more, has long complained that many NATO members refuse to send soldiers to the most dangerous parts of the country. "We're doing enough ... but NATO has to do more," MacKay told reporters in televised comments from Levis, Quebec.

Achieving Victory in Afghanistan - Washington Times editorial

While the US troop surge in Iraq is proving to be an extraordinary success, the same cannot be said for the military situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent. It is almost seven years since the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed close to 3,000 Americans, were carried out by al Qaeda terrorists given sanctuary by the Taliban regime in Kabul. In the fall of 2001, a combination of CIA operatives, several hundred commandos and waves of air strikes drove the Taliban from power. Today, there are more than 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan, together with more than 22,000 from NATO countries. But the increase in US and NATO forces has been dwarfed by the ability of the Taliban and its allies to find new cadres of terrorists. Recently, terrorists bombed the Indian Embassy in Kabul and almost assassinated Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Last month, Taliban fighters escaped from an Afghan prison and captured several villages, which were subsequently retaken by NATO forces. But a large part of the instability inside Afghanistan emanates from outside the country - in particular, Pakistan, where Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's government has made "peaceful" engagement with the Taliban a top priority and has released hundreds of lower-level jihadists from prison.

IRAN

Germany Loves Iran - Wall Street Journal editorial

In the first speech by a German chancellor to the Knesset, Angela Merkel earned Israel's respect in March by insisting that Iran's nuclear program must be stopped and that, if necessary, "Germany will push for further sanctions." Oh, really? It now turns out that only a month earlier, Germany's Export Control Office had given the green light for a €100 million ($157 million) gas deal with Iran. Business interests, it seems, trump any proclaimed concerns for Israel's security. Berlin's refusal to use its considerable economic leverage over Tehran puts it at odds not only with Washington but increasingly with its European partners in London and Paris.

THE LONG WAR

Gates Sees Terrorism Remaining Enemy No. 1 - Josh White, Washington Post

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the "Long War" against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation's top military priority over coming decades, according to a new National Defense Strategy he approved last month. The strategy document, which has not been released, calls for the military to master "irregular" warfare rather than focusing on conventional conflicts against other nations, though Gates also recommends partnering with China and Russia in order to blunt their rise as potential adversaries. The strategy is a culmination of Gates's work since he took over the Pentagon in late 2006 and spells out his view that the nation must harness both military assets and "soft power" to defeat a complex, transnational foe. "Iraq and Afghanistan remain the central fronts in the struggle, but we cannot lose sight of the implications of fighting a long-term, episodic, multi-front, and multi-dimensional conflict more complex and diverse than the Cold War confrontation with communism," according to the 23-page document, provided to The Washington Post by InsideDefense.com, a defense industry news service. "Success in Iraq and Afghanistan is crucial to winning this conflict, but it alone will not bring victory."

Mohammed Unlikely to Aid Defense Of Ex-Driver - Jerry Markon, Washington Post

The self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has refused to meet with attorneys for Osama bin Laden's former driver and probably will not testify at the driver's military trial, the lawyers said Wednesday. Attorneys for the former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, had sought the testimony of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and seven other detainees at the US military prison here, in the belief they could exonerate Hamdan of terrorism conspiracy charges. Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, has provided written answers to questions from Hamdan's attorneys. But Mohammed sent word to the defense that "he's not inclined to come to court," Harry Schneider, a lawyer for Hamdan, said at a hearing. "I see no value in trying to bring him forcibly to testify," Schneider said. He added that it is likely that Mohammed's written answers will be submitted to the jury instead.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

British Computer Hacker Loses Appeal - Frances Gibb, The Times

Gary McKinnon stands accused of becoming the most accomplished computer hacker in history by crashing the United States army network, but claims only to have been pursuing a fascination with aliens. The 42-year-old unemployed systems analyst, who broke into US military computers from his bedroom in Wood Green, North London, faces at least ten years in a US jail. He has always claimed that he was seeking information on UFOs and aliens. He lost his final appeal against extradition yesterday after the law lords were told that he rejected a plea bargain in which he was offered a shorter prison sentence of three or four years in return for pleading guilty. The law lords dismissed Mr McKinnon’s claim that threats made against him by US prosecutors amounted to an abuse of process and refused to quash extradition procedings against him. Mr McKinnon admits accessing 97 US military and NASA computers. US prosecutors also allege that he shut down and rendered inoperable 300 computers at a US navy weapons station at a critical time, immediately after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Aircraft Carriers Are Crucial - Mackenzie Eaglen, Washington Post opinion

On May 22, a serious fire broke out on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier George Washington as it sailed to relieve the forward-deployed Kitty Hawk in the western Pacific Ocean. It might take all summer to repair the ship, so the planned decommissioning of the Kitty Hawk is on hold. Instead, it's now one of 40 ships from the United States, Chile, Canada, South Korea, Australia and Japan taking part in this year's Rim of the Pacific exercise. In an age of guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency operations, many US officials appear content to overlook the importance of conventional weapons such as the aircraft carrier. That's a serious mistake. For any US president, the aircraft carrier embodies the ultimate crisis management tool. Continuously deployed throughout the globe, carrier-strike groups give our military unparalleled freedom of action to respond to a range of combat and non-combat missions.

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

It's Time to Stop Selling Ambassadorships - Barbara Bodine, Politico opinion

After World War I, the US professionalized its diplomatic and consular corps. Yet, without parallel in the industrialized world, the United States continues to raffle off to well-heeled political donors ambassadorships to many of our most strategically important allies, as well as to some of the cushiest spots on earth. The US ended the sale of military commissions over 100 years ago; it is inconceivable today that we would sell off military commands. We should not sell off diplomatic commands - the last vestige of the 19th-century spoils system. The American Academy of Diplomacy, which counts among its members all living ex-secretaries of state, recently called upon Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to pledge to end this practice and accord the nation’s diplomacy and diplomats the same recognition we accord our senior military officers, who dedicate their careers to national service. How do you explain to a student or any aspirant to the Foreign Service that, while the US government expects that level of commitment, no matter how well and how long you serve, it is likely that a political donor with little relevant experience will end up with the top job of your profession? It is time to end the last great vestige of the 19th-century spoils system. The American people, our foreign policy, our national security, and our current and future career Foreign Service officers deserve better.

US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

Bush Orders Revamping Of Intelligence Gathering - Joby Warrick, Washington Post

President Bush ordered a major restructuring of the nation's intelligence-gathering community yesterday, approving new guidelines aimed at bolstering the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) as the leader of the nation's 16 spy agencies. The long-awaited overhaul of Executive Order 12333 gives the DNI greater control over spending and priority-setting, and also over contacts with foreign intelligence services -- a responsibility that has traditionally fallen to the CIA, according to a Bush administration document describing the changes. Executive Order 12333, which was originally issued by President Ronald Regan in 1981, established the powers and responsibilities of the major US intelligence services. Administration officials have been quietly negotiating the overhaul for more than a year, seeking to modernize the law to reflect the new role of the DNI as the head of the intelligence community.

AFRICA

Mbeki, Mugabe Meet to Discuss Stalled Talks - Delia Robertson, Voice of America

South African President Thabo Mbeki met in Zimbabwe with President Robert Mugabe to discuss the stalled negotiations aimed at ending the country's political crisis. He says the talks are to resume Sunday. Following his meeting with Mr. Mugabe, the South African president repeated his earlier assurances that negotiations between Zimbabwe's political parties are going well. On Tuesday he said the talks were merely adjourned. "They will be adjourning shortly for a couple of days because they want to go back Harare to go and consult with their principals about the work that has been, and then come back by the end of the week to resume the negotiations," President Mbeki said. "But they are proceeding." President Mbeki is evidently more concerned about progress in the talks than he concedes in public. Before flying to Harare, he met in Pretoria with the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

UN Council Set to Renew Darfur Peacekeeping Mandate - Reuters

The UN Security Council is set to renew a mandate for peacekeepers in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region on Thursday in a resolution calling for redoubled efforts to end a 5-year humanitarian disaster. The 15 council members struck a deal on a revised British draft resolution after Western powers agreed to include wording that echoes African Union concerns that International Criminal Court moves to indict Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes could derail the fragile Darfur peace process. The resolution makes it clear the council is ready to discuss suspending any future ICC genocide indictment of Bashir in the interest of peace in Darfur.

Help the People of Darfur - Leif Wenar, Christian Science Monitor opinion

Imagine that a soldier named Bashir overthrows the United States government. Bashir's militias leave everyone in Pittsburgh dead, and force everyone in Nevada to flee their homes. Bashir puts Alaska under military rule, and trades its oil to China for weapons and money that he will use to seize the oil fields of Texas. Gen. Omar al-Bashir overthrew the government of Sudan in 1989. Since his militias attacked in Darfur, Sudanese in numbers equal to the population of Pittsburgh have been killed, and Nevada-sized numbers have fled their homes. Mr. Bashir has traded Sudan's oil to China for billions in arms and cash, and is eyeing the oil fields of south Sudan. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has demanded that Bashir be arrested for crimes against humanity. Steven Spielberg cut ties with the Beijing Olympics in protest of China's support for Bashir. And the US government has responded to Bashir's gross violations of human rights by declaring a genocide in Darfur and tightening economic sanctions. These efforts are admirable, but we need to stop Bashir's power at its source: stolen oil. The oil that Bashir sends to China is not his to sell. America should act to safeguard Sudan's oil for its rightful owners: the people of Sudan.

Why Not Invade Darfur? - Los Angeles Times online debate

David Rivkin says the US usually bears an unfairly disproportionate military burden in humanitarian missions. Joseph Cirincione says stopping genocide is just as important as toppling leaders such as Saddam Hussein.

AMERICAS

Drop in Illegal Immigrants Due to Enforcement - N.C. Aizenman, Washington Post

A report released yesterday by a Washington think tank that advocates stricter limits on immigration says the number of illegal immigrants in the country appears to have declined significantly over the past year, at least partly because of the chilling effect of stepped-up enforcement. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies based its findings on census data that indicate that the number of less-educated, working-age Hispanic immigrants, defined as 18-to-40-year-olds with a high school diploma or less, has dropped by more than 10 percent, or about 830,000 people, since last August. Previous research suggests that a large share of less-educated foreigners is in the country illegally and that it makes up the bulk of the illegal immigrant population. Furthermore, although earlier declines in the number of these Hispanic immigrants have been linked to a rise in their unemployment rate, the current drop-off began last year almost immediately after Congress abandoned legislation to legalize undocumented immigrants and six months before any significant rise in their unemployment rate had occurred.

At a Fork in the Road, Cuba Follows Two Paths - Marc Lacey, New York Times

When President Raúl Castro spoke last week at the old military garrison where he and his older brother Fidel began the Cuban revolution 55 years ago, the younger Mr. Castro looked minuscule compared with the outsize banner looming over him of his bearded predecessor. It was a fitting symbol of Raúl’s government, which willingly operates in Fidel’s shadow at the same time it tries to forge a path of its own. Raúl, whose functionaries hung the banner of Fidel at the entrance to the Moncada Garrison in Santiago de Cuba, has voluntarily submitted his speeches to his brother for approval, even when he plans to diverge from what his brother would have said. Policy changes are also hand-carried to Fidel’s sick bed, even when they veer from Fidel’s longstanding dictates. And Raúl does not miss a chance to praise his brother from the lectern, using him as a symbol of revolutionary vigor, even as he argues that the Socialist experiment his brother created has drifted significantly off course.

End to Colombian Terrorism - Thomson and Laserna, Washington Times opinion

The last few months have been a heady time in Colombia. In February an estimated 10 million citizens demonstrated against the guerrilla organizations, principally the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN). In March, three of the FARC's seven directors, died - after two were murdered, the group's founder had a fatal heart attack. Shortly after, two senior FARC comandantes voluntarily surrendered. In recent years, FARC's ranks have plummeted from more than 25,000 to fewer than 8,000. Then on July 2, the Colombian military rescued 15 high-profile hostages in a daring helicopter mission. Seven specially trained, unarmed troops, impersonating guerrillas and foreign mediators, outwitted 60 FARC guards without a shot fired.

ASIA PACIFIC

Millions in N. Korea Facing Famine - Richard Spencer, Daily Telegraph

"Millions of vulnerable North Koreans are at risk of slipping toward precarious hunger levels," Jean-Pierre de Margerie, North Korea director for the organisation, told a news conference. "The last time hunger was so deep and so widespread in parts of the country was in the late 1990s." The famine in the 1990s was one of the world's gravest in recent decades, and yet passed largely unnoticed in the outside world until it was well under way due to the country's historic secrecy. Hundreds of thousands - some estimates went as high as two million - people died, from a total population of 22 million. Tens of thousands more fled over the border into China, where they continue to eke out a precarious existence, many on the run from the police, others sold into marriage.

N. Korean Food Crisis Spurs UN to Act - Edward Cody, Washington Post

With shriveled harvests and a cutback in imports, North Korea has slipped back into a serious food shortage that is causing millions of people to go hungry, the United Nations announced Wednesday. The main UN aid agency in North Korea, the World Food Program, has decided to resume emergency operations there in the next two weeks to help feed more than 5 million people over the next 15 months at a cost of $500 million, according to Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the agency's country director in the North's capital, Pyongyang. "The situation is indeed very serious," de Margerie said at a news conference in Beijing. The decision to resume emergency operations, which were scaled back in 2005 on a request from the North Korean government, came after a UN survey last month showed the most severe and widespread hunger among North Koreans in a decade.

China To Limit Internet Access - Edward Cody, Washington Post

The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese government acknowledged Wednesday that reporters covering the Olympics will be blocked from accessing Internet sites that Chinese authorities consider politically sensitive. The avowed censorship, although standard procedure for China's millions of Internet users, contradicted pledges made earlier by IOC and Chinese officials that the estimated 20,000 journalists and technicians due in Beijing next week for the Olympic Games would have unfettered Web access. It was the latest in a series of steps taken by Chinese authorities reneging on promises they made seven years ago, when Beijing was granted the Games, to allow free reporting during the Olympics. In response, the Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders issued a guide on how to use proxy servers to get around China's censorship. The Web-based guide also advised reporters covering the Games, which begin Aug. 8, that their telephone calls and e-mails are liable to be monitored by Chinese security agencies.

More Pressure on Beijing - New York Times editorial

President Bush is finally beginning to complain - gingerly - about China’s disgraceful wave of pre-Olympics repression. With the start of the 2008 Games less than two weeks away, we hope that he keeps speaking out and enlists others to join him, including world and corporate leaders and the International Olympic Committee - if that troubled organization is not already beyond redemption. After playing Beijing’s game and declining to condemn China’s latest crackdown on critics and journalists, Mr. Bush deserves credit for holding talks on Tuesday with five prominent Chinese dissidents. Although the meeting was private, the White House announced it and said that President Bush spoke of his “concerns” about human rights in China. Mr. Bush also attended a separate meeting between his national security adviser and the Chinese foreign minister and advised how the Olympics present an “opportunity to demonstrate compassion on human rights and freedom.”

EUROPE

Turkey's Top Court Rejects Ban on Ruling Party - Dorian Jones, Voice of America

Turkey's constitutional court Wednesday ruled against banning the governing Justice and Development Party, or AK party, and instead opted to fine it after finding it guilty of undermining the secular state. The head of Turkey's constitutional court, Judge Hasim Kilic, said the justices decided to cut half of the treasury funds to which the AK party was entitled. He said six judges voted in favor of closure and four supported fining the party. Under Turkey's constitution, seven of the court's 11 judges are required to agree on a motion to close a politcal party. The verdict came after three days of deliberations on whether the party had been seeking to steer Turkey toward Islamic rule. The court's ruling also ended the threat of expulsion for 71 senior members of the ruling party, including prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and president Abdullah Gul.

Turkey Steps Back from Brink of Chaos - Suna Erdem, The Times

Turkey stepped back from the brink of political turmoil yesterday when the ruling party narrowly escaped closure over its alleged Islamist tendencies. After three days of deliberations, six of the eleven judges in the country’s Constitutional Court voted to ban the Justice and Development (AK) party, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister. Seven votes were needed for a majority verdict. Instead the court decided to cut the party’s Treasury funding for this year by half - amounting to little more than a slap on the wrist for AK, which stirred controversy by promoting Muslim headscarves. The court’s decision ends months of uncertainty and opens the way for Turkey to pursue its international interests once more. It has recently adopted a key role in Middle East peace talks. A vote to close a party with nearly 50 per cent support in elections last year would have also harmed Turkey’s EU membership aspirations.

Turkey’s Ruling Party Constitutional - Tavernese and Arsu, New York Times

Turkey’s governing party narrowly missed being banned in a court ruling on Wednesday that relieved months of pressure in the country and handed a victory to the party’s leader, a former Islamist. The party, Justice and Development, or AKP, as it is known in Turkish, was kept alive by just one vote - six members of Turkey’s Constitutional Court voted to close it for violating the country’s secular principles, but seven were required. A ban would have brought down the government, forcing elections for the second time in a year and pitching Turkey into political chaos. The court case was the culmination of an epic battle between the country’s secular establishment - a powerful coterie of judges and generals that has deposed elected governments four times in Turkish history - and Mr. Erdogan, a broadly popular politician whose supporters say that his past as a political Islamist is firmly behind him.

By a Whisker - The Times editorial

Turkish democracy has suffered four military coups in the past 48 years; yesterday it came very close to a fifth coup, this time promulgated by the country's Constitutional Court. By one vote, however, the judges held back from outlawing the governing AK party and banning Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister, and dozens of his colleagues from holding political office for five years. The court ruled that the moderately Islamist Justice and Development party had not violated Turkey's staunchly secular Constitution and should not therefore be closed down. It is a notable victory for a popular and capable government, an important judgment on the role of Islam in a modern, secular state and a triumph for Turkish democracy. It has been a close-run thing. Six of the court's 11 judges, a majority, voted to close the party on the ground that its actions threatened the secular Constitution bequeathed by Kemal Atatürk, modern Turkey's founder. That vote fell one short of the number required. But the court did decide to cut some state aid to the party because it had become a “hub of anti-secular activities”.

Karadzic to Appear Thursday Before War Crimes Tribunal - Sonja Pace, VOA

Former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has been extradited to The Hague where he will stand trial for his role in the Bosnian war of the 1990s. After 13 years on the run and one week after his arrest in the Serbian capital Belgrade, Radovan Karadzic is in The Hague. He faces what prosecutors say is likely to be a lengthy and complex trial before the special UN-mandated International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz says the charges are among the most serious under international law - genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Karadzic Finally Faces Genocide Charges - David Charter, The Times

Radovan Karadzic will stand in the dock finally today at The Hague to be charged with genocide, 13 years after the bloody and brutal ethnic conflict that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia. Dr Karadzic, 63, is not expected to enter a plea to the 11 charges he faces at the war crimes tribunal but is expected to make full use of a 30-day deadline as part of a strategy to cause maximum delay to the process. His mentor, Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serb President, used a similar tactic and died in his cell before a verdict could be reached. After arriving in the Netherlands on an overnight flight from Belgrade, Dr Karadzic was read his rights and given a medical examination as he settled into the detention centre on the Dutch coast that held Milosevic until his death in 2006.

Karadzic to Appear Before Tribunal Today - Peter Finn, Washington Post

Former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic will appear in a courtroom here Thursday to be formally charged with war crimes related to the siege of Sarajevo, the execution of 8,000 prisoners in the town of Srebrenica and other atrocities of the three-year war in Bosnia, prosecutors said. After more than a decade on the run, Karadzic, 63, was being held in a jail in The Hague on Wednesday, awaiting his first appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Hours earlier, he had been flown from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, under heavy security and secrecy.

Riots Erupt as Radovan Karadzic Sent to Hague - Associated Press

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was transferred to a UN jail cell yesterday to await trial on charges of waging a genocidal war against non-Serbs during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. His arrival in a white Serbian government business jet from Belgrade marked the end of a 13-year effort by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal to take custody of its most wanted war criminal, accused of responsibility for the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats. Tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic, confirming his arrival at the UN detention centre outside The Hague, said the tribunal would "ensure his wellbeing and right to a fair trial as much as possible and in accordance with the highest international standards". The tribunal declined to give details of the transfer, but the confirmation came shortly after a helicopter landed behind the jail walls while another helicopter hovered overhead. Two black minivans drove through the prison gates moments earlier.

Russians Pull Out of Georgian Area - Reuters

The last of 400 Russian soldiers sent to repair a railroad in Georgia’s rebel region of Abkhazia began to leave on Wednesday, ending a deployment that had angered Georgia and its Western allies. “It’s certain that all the personnel and all the equipment will be sent away from here,” the Russian commander, Lt. Gen. Sergei Klimets, said after he had handed out medals to the soldiers. Abkhazia is a lush, mountainous stretch of land that hugs the Black Sea. Rebels fought Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in a three-year war that ended in a cease-fire.

MIDDLE EAST

Syria Offers Direct Talks with Israel - James Hider, The Times

Syria has said it wants direct talks to seal a peace deal with Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from the strategic Golan Heights border region it captured in the Six Day War 40 years ago. The peace overtures from Syria's ambassador to the United States came as Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, poured cold water on hopes of a quick deal with the Palestinians, ruling out an agreement on the key issue of Jerusalem by the end of this year. Mr Olmert's statement was the first public admission by an Israeli leader that President George Bush's prediction of an accord being signed by the end of 2008 was overly optimistic. He was also cautious about the offer of face-to-face talks with Syria, telling a weekly cabinet meeting that Damascus continued to support the Hezbollah militia movement in Lebanon and had close ties to Iran.

Olmert to Quit as Israeli PM in September - Jim Teeple, Voice of America

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he plans to step down as prime minister in September. In a surprise announcement from his residence in Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert says he will step down as Israel's prime minister immediately after his Kadima Party selects a new leader at a party convention on September 17. Mr. Olmert says he will not run in the Kadima Party primary and he will leave office once a new leader is chosen. He says he hopes a new party leader will be able to put together an effective government once he leaves office. Ehud Olmert's decision follows months of mounting political pressure, and an official police inquiry into whether or not he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal payments from a US citizen long involved in political fundraising for Israel's right-wing Likud Party.

Peace Process in Turmoil as Olmert to Exit - James Hider, The Times

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, announced tearfully last night that he would step down in September, ending months of speculation over whether he could ride out a string of corruption allegations. “I have decided I won’t run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections,” Mr Olmert said, tears glistening in his eyes as he made an impromptu announcement from his Jerusalem office. The disclosure is likely to have a juddering effect on the fraught Middle East peace process, since much of the recent progress in talks with the Palestinians had hinged on the close personal bond Mr Olmert had forged with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President.

Olmert to Quit After Elections in September - Isabel Kershner, New York Times

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, embroiled in a high-profile corruption investigation, announced on Wednesday that he would resign after his party chose a new leader in September elections. The televised announcement injected new uncertainty into Israeli politics and the Middle East peace effort, coming just as Mr. Olmert has been intensifying negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as well as Syria. It also raises questions about the political legacies of both President Bush and Mr. Olmert, who have hoped to burnish their reputations by achieving breakthroughs in Middle East peace talks before leaving office.

Olmert Declares Intent to Step Down - Linda Gradstein, Washington Post

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, facing a widening corruption investigation, announced Wednesday that he will not compete in his party's leadership primary in September. The move will effectively end his tenure as premier and is likely to complicate efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before President Bush leaves office. Olmert, 62, who has been under growing pressure to resign, continued to insist he was innocent of the corruption charges. He said he was choosing the public good over justice for himself.

Rice Meets With Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators - David Gollust, Voice of America

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators Wednesday in a new effort to spur progress toward a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. US officials discount the impact on the peace process of the pending resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Officials here insist that the negotiations that have been painstakingly cultivated by Secretary Rice are making progress. But they decline specifics and refused to allow more than an official photo of the three-way meeting with Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian envoy Ahmed Qureia. Rice is stepping up the pace of her involvement in the talks as the Bush administration moves into its final six months in office. Aides say she intends to meet with the parties again in the region in about three weeks, and hold still more consultations with them on the sidelines of the new UN General Assembly in New York in September.

SOUTH ASIA

Sri Lanka Fighting Kills 25 as Summit Nears - Associated Press

The Sri Lankan army launched a wave of attacks against Tamil Tiger separatists in the north, sparking battles that killed 24 rebels and one soldier, the military said Thursday. The new fighting came as officials from eight South Asian nations gathered in Colombo for a regional conference that is to culminate in a top-level summit this weekend. The Tamil Tigers offered a cease-fire beginning last Saturday because of the conference, but the government rejected it as a ploy by the rebels to gain time to regroup after several recent battlefield losses. A rebel attack near Colombo during the summit would be deeply embarrassing for the government, which has sealed off roads across the capital and sent 19,000 troops and soldiers onto the streets to prevent any bombings.

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.