IRAQ

Iraq Opens Oil Fields To Global Bidding - Raghavan and Mufson, Washington Post

Iraq's government invited foreign firms Monday to help boost the production of the country's major oil fields, beginning a global competition for access to the world's third-largest reserves. Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said the government would seek to tap Western technology and capital to increase Iraqi oil production by about 60 percent, or approximately 1.5 million barrels a day, swelling Iraqi oil revenue and potentially easing tight petroleum markets where prices have doubled in the past year.

Iraq Opens Oilfields - James Hider, The Times

Iraq opened its main oilfields to exploitation by international companies yesterday in a first step towards reintegrating its massive reserves into a market hitting staggering prices. Hussain al-Shahristani, the Oil Minister, said that he was keen to use international finance and expertise to allow Iraq to realise its full oil potential, an important step to boosting reconstruction and ultimately ending the violence. He said that the Government had drawn up a list of 35 companies and six state-owned oil firms that would be allowed to bid for long-term contracts in six oilfields.

Companies Bid to Boost Oil Production - Smith and Rifai, Los Angeles Times

Iraq's oil minister on Monday announced the start of bidding by foreign companies for contracts to boost the production of eight underperforming oil and gas fields. The contracts, to be executed in about 18 months, would open Iraq's oil fields to foreign companies for the first time since former dictator Saddam Hussein nationalized foreign concessions in the 1970s. Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said 35 companies had been selected to bid. Among them were seven from the US and four each from China and Japan.

Oiling Iraq's Revival - The Times editorial

If a multinational oil company were asked today to choose between massive new investment in Russia, Nigeria or Iraq, the answer might be surprising. Political pressure is making Russia an unattractive option. Corruption, poor working conditions and the kidnapping of foreign personnel are a substantial hazard in Nigeria. But Iraq, with proven reserves of 115 billion barrels, is to open up six huge oilfields for the first time in 36 years. The country is set to welcome back American, British and French multinationals among 41 foreign companies invited to bid for long-term deals as well as short-term service contracts. Yesterday Iraq's Oil Minister announced that his country's energy industry is to be opened up to foreign participation.

US Inspects Electric Work Done in Iraq - James Risen, New York Times

The Pentagon has ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a major military contractor, after the electrocutions of several United States service members. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq, told Congress of the new inspections while also disclosing that at least 13 Americans had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began. Previously, the Pentagon said that 12 had been electrocuted. In addition to those killed, many more service members have received painful shocks, Army officials say.

Wounded Iraqi Forces Say Abandoned - Michael Kamber, New York Times

In the United States, the issue of war injuries has revolved almost entirely around the care received by the 30,000 wounded American veterans. But Iraqi soldiers and police officers have been wounded in greater numbers, health workers say, and have been treated far worse by their government. A number of the half-dozen badly wounded Iraqis interviewed for this article said they had been effectively drummed out of the Iraqi security forces without pensions, or were receiving partial pay and in danger of losing even that.

Enemy Neutralized in Anbar Province - Jim Garamone, AFPS

The enemy in the eastern portion of Iraq’s Anbar province has been neutralized, the coalition commander in the area said today. Al-Qaida in Iraq still can launch occasional horrific attacks, but in Ramadi and Fallujah -- once strongholds of the terror group -- security is allowing the region to transfer to provincial Iraqi control, Marine Corps Col. Lewis Craparotta, the area’s coalition commander, told Pentagon reporters in a briefing via satellite from Camp Fallujah today.

Military Success Masks Failures on Other Goals - USA Today editorial

Over the past few months, the headlines coming from Iraq have been mostly good. In fact, very good. The number of US troops killed fell last month to 29 - a huge drop from the 101 killed in June of last year. The number wounded similarly plummeted. Civilian casualties are down 69% over the same period. Many tribal leaders in Sunni areas have turned on al-Qaeda and are - at least for the moment - allied with US forces. Meanwhile, the Shiite-dominated government has regained control of the critical port of Basra from hostile militias, as well as the violent Sadr City section of Baghdad. All this is reflected not just in the numbers but also in news media reports from the front lines in Iraq. But there is another storyline - one about the fragility of the recent successes - and it tells a deeper, more complex tale.

Want Democracy in Iraq? - Lawrence Harrison, Christian Science Monitor opinion

Sen. John McCain recently suggested that pacification of Iraq and the departure of American forces was feasible by 2013. But pacification of Iraq is not how President Bush defines success. The president recently restated his goal: to transform Iraq into democratic-capitalist modernity, much as Germany and Japan had been transformed during the military occupations that followed their defeat in World War II. But Iraq is an Arab country, and no Arab country has yet been able to consolidate democracy, and that includes Jordan and Lebanon, the two that are most developed.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Taliban Border Havens Targeted - David Sands, Washington Times

Last week's Pakistani offensive against an Islamist warlord near Peshawar was just an example of what is in store for any extremists who challenge the nation's new government militarily, Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani said in an interview Monday. Several more actions planned for the Afghan border area in the coming days will demonstrate to the world the new government's commitment to fighting the Taliban and other extremist groups, the ambassador told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

Pakistan Turns to Force - Mian Ridge, Christian Science Monitor

Pakistan's paramilitary forces launched a decisive offensive against Islamic militants encircling the strategically important city of Peshawar over the weekend – an indication that the new government is turning to military action after focusing, until now, on negotiation. Troops from the Frontier Corps bolstered by tanks, armored personnel carriers, and helicopters cleared militants from the mountainous Khyber tribal area just outside Peshawar on Saturday in the first major military operation since Pakistan's new government came to power in March.

Blast Kills 8 in Northwest Pakistan - Hussain and Ali, Washington Post

A powerful explosion ripped through a compound used by an armed Islamist group in Pakistan's volatile tribal areas Monday, killing eight people, as the country's paramilitary forces pushed forward with their offensive against insurgents. The cause of the explosion in Qambarkhel village in Khyber Agency was unclear. The Pakistani military denied involvement.

US Deaths Near Those In Iraq - Jim Michaels, USA Today

US troop deaths in Afghanistan are approximating those in Iraq, reflecting a shifting balance in the two wars the United States is fighting. Iraq has grown more stable as violence in Afghanistan increased, prompting a renewed look at whether the number of US forces in Afghanistan should grow as forces draw down in Iraq. "At what point do US combat forces, and in particular the Marine Corps, shift from what is a dramatically improved security situation in Iraq to one that needs to be dramatically improved in Afghanistan?" Gen. Robert Magnus, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, said recently in an interview at the Pentagon.

IRAN

Ex-Agent Says CIA Ignored Iran Facts - Joby Warrick, Washington Post

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb. The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

THE LONG WAR

In-fighting Stalled bin Laden Hunt - Toby Harnden, Daily Telegraph

The White House has blocked a secret Pentagon plan to pursue Osama bin Laden in the tribal areas of Pakistan, it has been reported. For six months, the possibility of killing or capturing the al-Qa'eda leader and mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks has diminished because of political in-fighting, according to the New York Times.

A Ragtag Insurgency Gains a Qaeda Lifeline - New York Times

Today, as Islamist violence wanes in some parts of the world, the Algerian militants - renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - have grown into one of the most potent Osama bin Laden affiliates, reinvigorated with fresh recruits and a zeal for Western targets. Their gunfights with Algerian forces have evolved into suicide truck bombings of iconic sites like the United Nations offices in Algiers. They have kidnapped and killed European tourists as their reach expands throughout northern Africa.

Detainee Faces War Crimes Charges - William Glaberson, New York Times

A Pentagon official announced war crimes charges Monday against a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, suspected of helping to plan the attack on the Navy destroyer Cole in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors. Military prosecutors said they were seeking the death penalty against the detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi who has long been described by American officials as Al Qaeda’s operations chief in the Persian Gulf and the primary planner of the October 2000 attack on the Cole.

Military Tribunal Charges Saudi - Pauline Jelinek, Washington Times

The Pentagon said Monday it is charging a Saudi Arabian with "organizing and directing" the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole - and will seek the death penalty. Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, legal adviser to the US military tribunal system, said charges are being sworn against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi of Yemeni descent, who has been held at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006.

Tortured Evidence - Wall Street Journal editorial

Democrats on Capitol Hill are continuing their "torture" hearings, with selective leaks suggesting that government officials delighted in cruel and inhuman punishment. Allow us to tell you the story they aren't telling friendly reporters. Consider the case against former Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes, who in 2002 recommended the use of some "enhanced" interrogation techniques, such as light deprivation, stress positions and removal of clothing. Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed off on that recommendation. Michigan's Carl Levin, the main Monday morning Senator, has been portraying this as illegal and disdainful of other Pentagon lawyers.

Al Qaeda's Plan B - Amir Taheri, New York Post opinion

No one should feel safe without submitting to Islam, and those who refuse to submit must pay a high price. The Islam ist movement must aim to turn the world into a series of "wildernesses" where only those under jihadi rule enjoy security. These are some of the ideas developed by al Qaeda's chief theoretician, Sheik Abu-Bakar Naji, in his new book "Governance in the Wilderness" (Edarat al-Wahsh). Middle East analysts think that the book may indicate a major change of strategy by the disparate groups that use al Qaeda as a brand name.

Why Brits Are Setting Terrorists Free - Melanie Phillips, Wall Street Journal opinion

It turns out that the US, whose Supreme Court last month ruled that non-American prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay may challenge their detention, isn't the only country where judges are hampering the war on terror. Many people here are rubbing their eyes at the fact that Britain is letting out of jail some of al Qaeda's most dangerous members. In June, a British court released the notorious Islamist preacher Abu Qatada, who had spent the previous three years in jail pending deportation to Jordan to stand trial on terrorism charges. Now there are media reports that the UK government is considering releasing an even more dangerous terrorist this week, rather than deporting him to his native Algeria. The man known only as "U" (to protect his identity) was a close contact of Abu Qatada and allegedly was involved in planning terror operations in Los Angeles and Strasbourg, France.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Pentagon Faulted On Toxic Cleanup - Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post

Five Senate Democrats wrote to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday, chastising the Pentagon for resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up three contaminated military bases in their states. They also slammed the Pentagon's refusal to sign cleanup agreements required by law covering 12 other sites on the Superfund list of the nation's most polluted sites.

Honor Our Military - Douglas MacKinnon, Washington Times opinion

As has been infrequently reported, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan progressed, a number of members of our military became somewhat dismayed and disturbed by the almost complete lack of positive coverage printed or aired by the American media. Now, more than five years into those conflicts, they have come to accept the sad reality that for much of our media, their decisive victories against the enemy, their critically important intelligence intercepts, their comrades lost in the line of fire protecting Iraqi and Afghani civilians, and the growing trust they have painstakingly cultivated with those civilian populations, has been deemed "non-newsworthy" by their own press corps.They don't like it, but realize that the ethics, judgment, and bias of some in the media is beyond their control.

UNITED NATIONS

UN Personnel Increasingly Under Attack - Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

United Nations personnel around the world are increasingly likely to be targets for attack because the organization is perceived by some as a tool of powerful members, rather than an unbiased advocate for all nations, Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran diplomat who headed a global study on the security of United Nations staff members, said Monday. The study, conducted by a seven-member panel that was organized after 17 United Nations workers were killed in a bombing in Algiers last December, concluded that neither individual staff members nor the organization had fully grasped the change in perceptions, Mr. Brahimi said.

'Big Powers' Taint UN's Image - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times

A top UN official said Monday that the world's "big powers" have tarnished the world body's image of neutrality, at a time when the United Nations is increasingly threatened by terrorist attacks. Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister and senior UN diplomat who helped form governments in Iraq and Afghanistan, has just completed a survey of UN security in 20 duty stations around the world. He told reporters at the United Nations that his team was told time and again by UN staff members that the United Nations is no longer seen as impartial.

AFRICA

Mugabe Sails Through Summit - Verma and Bone, The Times

A defiant Robert Mugabe has sailed unchallenged through the first test of his presidency by his peers. Freshly sworn in after a single candidate election, he received a leader’s welcome when he strode into the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday and emerged unfazed, his authority intact. He dined at a lavish luncheon given by his Egyptian hosts, hugged heads of state and other diplomats in the corridors and stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, one of the most luxurious in this Red Sea town. “Mr Mugabe is staying there as a courtesy by the Egyptian Government,” a hotel spokesman said. Delegates from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lodged at the Sheraton, while their leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, remained in Zimbabwe.

Leaders Plan to Discuss Mugabe's Future - Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post

African leaders allowed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to take his seat at a summit here Monday, but controversy over the coercion and violence surrounding his recent reelection prompted some of the leaders to begin discussing how to end his 28-year rule. Although formal talks about Mugabe at the African Union meeting were put off until Tuesday, Ghanaian President John Kufuor said he and other leaders were concerned "by what we saw in the prelude to the election, in terms of the violence and the extreme intimidation" of voters.

Mugabe Joins African Union Summit - Abwao and Cowell, New York Times

Unabashed by critics and challenging his peers to prove their own democratic credentials, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe went to an African Union meeting here on Monday, displaying his victory in a one-candidate election that his neighbors said did not “represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe.” The trip, his first formal act after being inaugurated Sunday to a sixth term, showed his determination to take his seat among African leaders despite international criticism. The rebukes included a pronouncement from southern African election monitors that last Friday’s presidential runoff was not free, fair or credible. The African Union’s own election observers concluded Monday that the vote “fell short” of the organization’s standards.

US Urges UN Sanctions on Zimbabwe - Maggie Farley, Los Angeles Times

The United States began rallying the UN Security Council on Monday to impose sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his close supporters if he doesn't reconsider his disputed claim on Zimbabwe's highest office. The US circulated a draft resolution asking the Security Council to reject Mugabe's claim of victory in the election Friday in which he was the sole candidate, to freeze the assets and bar travel of officials responsible for election violence, and to halt arms shipments to Zimbabwe.

Mugabe Welcomed as 'Hero' - David Blair, Daily Telegraph

African leaders gathering for a summit have greeted President Robert Mugabe as a "hero", dashing hopes that Zimbabwe's regime would come under immediate international pressure. President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who has held power for 41 years and won a series of widely criticised elections, gave his public backing for Mr Mugabe as leaders met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Why Mbeki Won't Rein in Mugabe - Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor

As the world grows more anxious to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis, all eyes focus on one man: South African President Thabo Mbeki. The leader of the region's economic power has the best chance of brokering a deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to avert further violence in the wake of an election widely condemned as a sham. Yet African leaders wrapping up a two-day summit in Egypt are growing more critical of Mr. Mbeki's failure to rein in Mr. Mugabe, with some calling for Mbeki to step up his mediation or step aside.

Enabling Mr. Mugabe - New York Times editorial

Robert Mugabe brazenly and brutally stole his latest re-election as president of Zimbabwe. Now Africa’s leaders, who have looked the other way for far too long, must decide what they will do. They can continue to enable Mr. Mugabe out of political cynicism or misplaced solidarity with a former liberation leader turned tyrant. Or they can follow the wiser example of the living symbol of African liberation, Nelson Mandela, who last week condemned Zimbabwe’s “tragic failure of leadership.”

Stop Mincing Words - The Australian editorial

After his inauguration for a sixth term following the predictable and sick sham of the presidential run-off, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, 84, will be back to business as usual. Controversial as it was among Zimbabweans desperate for sane and democratic rule, first-round election winner Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the run-off was justified. Government violence had left at least 86 people dead and 200,000 displaced, and he was never going to be allowed to win. The one-horse election race leaves Mugabe exposed as what he is - an illegitimate tyrant. Heading off to Egypt for the African Union summit, he has no more right to represent his country there than he had to feast at the UN food summit in Rome after starving his people into submission. Their life expectancy, 35, is the world' lowest, in a once-rich farming nation.

The Judgment of Mandela - Boston Globe editorial

When Nelson Mandela lamented Robert Mugabe's "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe last week, the former South African president was keeping faith with the democratic ideal that inspired the antiapartheid movement he led. African Union officials currently meeting in Egypt would do well to follow Mandela's lead. Majority rule had been the political demand of Mandela's African National Congress. Majority rule enabled South Africa to overcome the injustice of apartheid. And it is the principle of majority rule that Mugabe and his thugs are trampling in Zimbabwe as they batter and murder citizens for daring to oppose a president who once had the same liberationist prestige as Mandela.

An Extra Trophy - Bronwen Maddox, The Times opinion

Yesterday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Robert Mugabe walked triumphantly into the summit of the African Union by the side of his host, Egypt’s President Mubarak. A day after being sworn in again as Zimbabwe’s President, after elections which he seized through violence, he won the extra trophy of a reception from the country’s neighbours that was at least civil, if not enthusiastic. At the same time in New York, US officials were rapidly drafting a new sanctions resolution to put before the Security Council. The measures, intended to punish Mugabe and more than a hundred of his colleagues, may not sound like much. But the sanctions, preventing those people from travelling widely and curtailing their ability to hold assets abroad, are the best tool for trying to prise Mugabe from the presidency of Zimbabwe. They are aimed at the regime, with the hope that they will not also inadvertently hit the poorest - the main reason that other countries have not yet clamped down on foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe. That remains a hovering possibility, although for the moment, governments have bought the arguments of the companies, mainly in banking and mining, that they provide jobs for poor people.

AMERICAS

Agencies Join Forces to Tackle Gangs - Jennifer Haberkorn, Washington Times

Federal law enforcement authorities have coupled multi-agency task forces with strategies that once focused on Mafia-era crime syndicates to target national and international gangs, many of which have brought warfare to the nation's cities. With a propensity for indiscriminate violence, intimidation and coercion, some of the gangs are considered security threats. One of the largest is Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, with an FBI estimate of 10,000 members in 42 states, including Maryland and Virginia, as well as the District. An FBI threat assessment issued in January said MS-13 uses firearms, machetes and blunt objects to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement officers and the public.

A Hulking Drug Problem - Los Angeles Times editorial

It was probably unintentional, but "The Incredible Hulk" is much more than a summer afternoon's escape; it's clearly a satire, a perfect depiction of Washington's boneheaded belief that firepower can resolve any problem. Although the creature is obviously bulletproof, soldiers shoot him anyway. They get bigger guns, then tanks. He survives. They get cannons. They shoot and shoot. The Hulk sulks for a bit and then is fine. Unfortunately, combative redundancy is also our strategy for fighting drug trafficking. In South America, we throw money, military equipment and aerial fumigation at the problem, and as a result, coca growers relocate, regroup and production thrives. We repeat the cycle. Yes, there may be occasional dips in production after a particularly successful mission (the Hulk sometimes goes for months "without incident"), but inevitably the coca growers, cocaine producers and drug traffickers return.

ASIA PACIFIC

US Wheat Begins New Aid to N. Korea - Blaine Harden, Washington Post

A US ship bearing 37,000 tons of wheat has arrived in North Korea, officials said Monday, the first installment in what is scheduled to be a major expansion of international food aid in the closed totalitarian country. The UN World Food Program said it had signed an anticipated agreement with North Korea that would increase the international feeding operation there to more than 5 million people, up from the 1.2 million people now being fed. The United States is to provide the bulk of the food this year. The agreement also promises to give UN monitors more access than ever to find out who is eating the free food.

N. Korea to Widen Access for Aid Workers - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times

A United States freighter began unloading tons of American wheat in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Monday, as the government agreed to give international aid workers unprecedented access to its isolated, hunger-stricken territory, the United Nations World Food Program said. The shipment is the first installment of 500,000 tons in promised American aid to be distributed by the World Food Program and American groups like Mercy Corps. The aid, and the North Korean agreement to invite 50 more food program experts and a consortium of American relief agencies, followed recent progress in efforts to end the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Food Not Linked to Nuclear Deal - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

North Korea prepared Monday to unload 37,000 tons of wheat from a US-chartered ship, which the State Department called a humanitarian act with "zero linkage" to nuclear talks with the communist state. The food arrived Sunday in response to an urgent call by the UN World Food Program (WFP), worried about shortages not seen in seven years. It is the first installment of 500,000 tons in assistance promised by the United States.

A Win for North Korea - Washington Times editorial

Does Washington's decision to remove North Korea from the list of terrorist-supporting states and make other diplomatic concessions to the Stalinist regime illustrate that President Bush's foreign policy is in free fall? Despite the fact that Pyongyang continues to come up short when it comes to telling the truth about its nuclear weapons program, the president and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are giving tangible economic and diplomatic concessions to Pyongyang. In the next 45 days the administration will remove North Korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list and will lift economic sanctions imposed under the Trading With the Enemy Act.

Korea Deal 'Like Truce with Mafia' - John Bolton, Daily Telegraph opinion

For most Europeans, President Bush's second-term North Korea policy is a welcome relief from his earlier unilateralist cowboy-ism. Recent photos of the Yongbyon reactor's cooling tower collapsing are soothing evidence that Washington's foreign-policy establishment has reasserted itself. Can direct US negotiations with Iran be far behind? In fact, what is collapsing is not the North's nuclear program but President Bush's foreign policy. North Korea has violated every significant agreement ever reached with the United States, and all indications are that the North is again following its traditional game plan.

Dalai Lama's Envoys in Beijing - Jill Drew, Washington Post

Envoys of the Dalai Lama arrived in Beijing on Monday to open a new round of formal talks with Chinese officials on easing tensions over Tibet. No agenda was released for the talks, set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Indications are that the delegations will focus on reestablishing calm and improving conditions for Tibetans across the Himalayan plateau before the Aug. 8 start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

EUROPE

Last-Minute Missiles - Washington Post editorial

The Bush administration may have radically shifted its foreign policy more than once in the past seven years, but it has been foolishly consistent in one endeavor: the overzealous pursuit of missile defense. Before and after Sept. 11, 2001, without regard for technological failures or the mixed results of testing, the administration has relentlessly and recklessly sought to build and deploy interceptors in Alaska and Europe and on ships. Before the 2004 election, the Pentagon rushed to pour concrete for silos in Alaska, though the ground-based system had not passed the most rudimentary tests or even been equipped with all of its components. Now the State Department is trying to seal agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic for a second interceptor base and a large radar station before President Bush leaves office. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes to travel to Prague and maybe to Warsaw early this month.

Court to Consider Fate of Ruling Party - Andrew Borowiec, Washington Times

Turkey's balancing act between Islam and secularism goes on trial Tuesday when the Constitutional Court takes up an indictment to outlaw the ruling party and slap a five-year ban from politics on the prime minister and president. A government proposal to let girls wear head scarves in school - struck down by the courts - triggered the indictment against the ruling party and its top officials. A 160-page indictment accuses the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of violating the constitution and of trying to turn Turkey, a secular democracy, into an Islamic state.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel's Ugly Exchange - New York Post editorial

In the latest of far too many reminders of the lengths to which Israel will go to bring its captive soldiers home, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet formally approved one of the most painful prisoner-exchange deals in the nation's history. Israel chose to release Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese serving four life terms for a brutal 1979 attack in which he and a team of terrorists killed three people, including a 4-year-old girl - whose head he smashed on beach rocks and then crushed with his rifle butt. Meanwhile, her mother accidentally suffocated her 2-year-old sister while hiding in terror in a crawl space and trying to keep the child from crying and revealing their whereabouts. In return for this animal and three other prisoners, Israel is getting back the corpses of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, kidnapped and apparently murdered by Hezbollah in 2006. An unequal exchange, to put it mildly.

Live Terrorists for Dead Soldiers - Benny Morris, Los Angeles Times opinion

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and the rest of the region's terrorists are no doubt rubbing their hands with joy. Israel has once again been humiliated by its Arab foes, and Nasrallah's depiction of the Jewish state as a "cobweb" polity, a Middle Eastern paper tiger, has been significantly reinforced. This is the unfortunate upshot of Sunday's decision by the Israeli Cabinet to swap a cluster of live Lebanese and Palestinian terrorists for the remains, held by Hezbollah, of two Israel Defense Forces reserve soldiers -- Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser -- killed in an ambush in July 2006 along the Israel-Lebanon border. Ironically, the ambush triggered that summer's war in Lebanon during which Israel tried, and failed, to force Lebanon and Hezbollah to give back the two soldiers, who, we now know, were either killed outright or mortally wounded in the ambush. More than 1,500 Lebanese, including about 500 Hezbollah men, and 160 Israelis died in the 33-day war.

SOUTH ASIA

India Struggles to Complete Nuclear Deal - Somini Sengupta, New York Times

The Indian government is desperately trying to salvage a landmark nuclear deal with the United States that has emerged not only as a personal test for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but also as a symbol of the difficulties of enacting policy in India’s system of coalition politics. At issue this week is whether the fragile government led by Mr. Singh’s Congress Party will go through with the deal, even if it means being pushed to the brink of what, in a time of discontent over soaring food and fuel prices, it wants to avoid: early elections, before the end of its five-year term in May.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

22 July - Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Public Event). Washington, DC. The Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) is sponsoring a discussion on counterinsurgency on 22 July 2008, at the National Press Club (the Holeman Lounge), Washington, DC. Dr. John Nagl (Center for a New American Security), Dr. Daniel Marston (Australian National University), and Dr. Carter Malkasian (CNA) recently collaborated on Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Osprey, 2008), an edited book that examines 13 of the most important counterinsurgency campaigns of the past 100 years, including the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Dr. David Kilcullen (U.S. State Department), the renowned counterinsurgency expert, will moderate the discussion and provide critical commentary. Lunch will be provided. Books will be available to purchase at a discounted rate. For more information, visit the first link above. RSVP at kattm@cna.org or 703.824.2436.

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.