IRAQ

US, Iraq Agree To 'Time Horizon' - Eggen and Abramowitz, Washington Post

President Bush and Iraq's prime minister have agreed to set a "time horizon" for the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq as part of a long-term security accord they are trying to negotiate by the end of the month, White House officials said yesterday. The decision, reached during a videoconference Thursday between Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, marks the culmination of a gradual but significant shift for the president, who has adamantly fought -- and even ridiculed -- efforts by congressional Democrats to impose what he described as artificial timetables for withdrawing US forces.

Bush, in Shift, Accepts Idea of Iraq Timeline - Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times

President Bush agreed to “a general time horizon” for withdrawing American troops in Iraq, the White House announced Friday, in a concession that reflected both progress in stabilizing Iraq and the depth of political opposition to an open-ended military presence in Iraq and at home. Mr. Bush, who has long derided timetables for troop withdrawals as dangerous, agreed to at least a notional one as part of the administration’s efforts to negotiate the terms for an American military presence in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.

Bush Mulls Troop Pullout Timeline - Jon Ward, Washington Times

President Bush said Friday he will soon agree with the Iraqi government on a "general time horizon" for when U.S. troops will leave Iraq, a significant shift in White House policy that it said would nonetheless remain conditional based on events on the ground. By the end of this month, the two governments hope to finalize an agreement that will allow US troops to stay in Iraq into 2009 and will include what the White House described as goals for down the road, when more troops can come out.

US, Iraq Agree to Troop 'Time Horizon' - Laurent Lozano, The Australian

US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed to set a "time horizon" for US troop withdrawals as part of a long-term security pact. But White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said any reduction in the US force presence "would be based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal". The two leaders, speaking by video conference on Thursday, also settled on a "common way forward'' in stumbling talks to craft a long-term pact governing diplomatic ties and the US military presence, Ms Perino said. Washington says the agreement is necessary to lay the ground rules for US forces that will still operate in the war-torn country after the UN mandate for their presence expires at year's end.

British PM in Iraq to Discuss Troops - Associated Press

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held talks Saturday with Iraqi leaders less than a week after the announcement of expected British troop cuts in southern Iraq. Brown was greeted in Baghdad's protected Green Zone by Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, whose office later released a statement saying the meetings "stressed the necessity of establishing a long-term Iraqi-British relationship." Brown also met with top Iraqi advisers and President Jalal Talabani. Brown made no public comments.

Iraq’s Sunni Bloc Rejoins Government - Reuters

Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as key to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds.

Al-Qaida May be Easing Effort in Iraq - Associated Press

Senior leaders of al-Qaida may be diverting fighters from the war in Iraq to the Afghan frontier area, the top American commander in Iraq told The Associated Press on Saturday. Gen. David Petraeus also said al-Qaida may be reconsidering Iraq as its highest priority war front. "There is some intelligence that has picked this up," he said in the interview in his office at the US Embassy along the Tigris River. "It's not solid gold intelligence," he added, stressing that the reliability of the information has not been confirmed.

Iraqis Differ on Obama's Plans - Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post

As Sen. Barack Obama prepares for his second visit to Iraq, Iraqis are divided over his plan to withdraw US combat troops in 16 months should he be elected president. "Iraq will be in hell, and we will find ourselves at the gates of civil war," said Maied Rashed al-Nuaemi, a provincial council member in Mosul, a city in northern Iraq where Iraqi forces are battling the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. "The American presence in Iraq is the safety valve to keep this country quiet. If they withdraw, that will lead to calamity."

Nation at War, Kept Clear of Combat - Patrick Walters, The Australian

When Jim Molan came home in April 2005 after a year helping the US-led coalition run the war in Iraq, he was asked by his Canberra debriefers what was the most significant thing Australia could do to influence the way the war was being fought. Molan had just finished serving a hectic eight months as chief of operations to the US commander of the multinational force in Iraq, George Casey, which included planning the second battle for Fallujah in November 2004 and the successful general election the following January. "You should have replaced me with another Australian general," was the major-general's one-line answer to his Canberra interlocutor. Impressed with Molan's performance, Casey had made a specific request for another Australian to take over the chief of operations role but, as events in Iraq took a turn for the worse, Canberra politely declined the US commander's request. Molan has written a remarkable account of a turbulent year in Baghdad helping the Americans run the war. Working deep inside a command structure controlling 175,000 coalition troops, he had little to do with the 400-strong Australian military presence in Iraq. But Molan's book, Running the War in Iraq, poses some fundamental questions about the way our defence forces are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan and how prepared Australia's military will be for the wars of the 21st century.

Hazards Worried Pentagon Official - James Risen, New York Times

A Pentagon safety expert told senior Defense Department officials earlier this year that their failure to heed warnings to fix widespread electrical hazards on American bases in Iraq could leave the Pentagon liable for multiple electrocutions of American soldiers, according to internal e-mail correspondence released Friday. In a May 5, 2008, e-mail message, a safety official at the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Pentagon organization in charge of supervising defense contractors in Iraq, noted that the agency had failed to act after its own comprehensive safety survey in February 2007 found widespread electrical problems at American bases that had led to a series of deaths, injuries and fires.

Fighting Good Fight - Christopher Hitchens, The Australian opinion

If there is one element of moral and political certainty that cements the liberal consensus more than any other, it is the complacent view that while Iraq is "a war of choice", it is really and only Afghanistan that is a war of necessity. The ritualistic solidity of this view is impressive. It survives all arguments and all evidence. Just in the past month, as the Iraqi-based jihadis began to beat a retreat and even (according to some reports) to attempt to relocate to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it still seemed to many commentators that this proved that no US forces should have been wasted on Iraq in the first place. This simplistic view ignores, at a minimum, the following points...

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Army Strength Questioned - Patrick Walters, The Australian

NATO and its allies have less than half the number of troops necessary to ensure military success in Afghanistan, according to the Australian general who served as chief of operations inside the US-led coalition headquarters in Iraq. Major General Jim Molan says there is also a gap a "mile wide" between the Rudd Government's rhetoric on the strategic importance of Afghanistan and Australia's military presence on the ground in Oruzgan province. General Molan, who left the army earlier this month after a 40-year career, was the most senior Australian to have served inside the coalition's war-fighting machine in Baghdad. In his new book, Running the War in Iraq, to be published next week, General Molan has detailed his year in Baghdad helping direct the coalition's war effort. His book also poses some fundamental questions about the way our defence forces are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan and how well-prepared Australia's military will be for the wars of the 21st century.

Taliban Threaten to Kill Officials Held Hostage- Shah and Perlez, New York Times

The Pakistani Taliban have taken dozens of hostages, including police officers, paramilitary fighters and even state bank officials, and threatened on Friday to begin killing them unless the government released four of their comrades captured last week. The standoff has grown into one of the most serious recent challenges to the government’s resolve to curb the militants’ rapid expansion. The threat comes just 10 days before Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House. So far, the government has held firm, sending hundreds of soldiers to the area, Hangu, in North-West Frontier Province, to engage in the first real fighting with the militants since the two sides agreed to a new series of peace deals this year.

Rebuilding, One Book at a Time - Nancy Dupree, New York Times opinion

Since 2001, when the Taliban were dislodged from power in Afghanistan, the international community has spent many billions of dollars toward the nation’s reconstruction. Yet not much progress can be seen. Poor management and lack of coordination among aid agencies are the major reasons for this dismal record, but another very simple problem has been a failure to make sure that the Afghan people have access to books and other printed materials with the information they need to move forward. This is a serious flaw that affects health care, education and government itself. Now, as fighting intensifies in eastern and southwestern Afghanistan, it is especially important that we address the problem.

IRAN

Iran's Tough Talk on US Continues - Ramin Mostaghim, Los Angeles Times

Though the Bush administration appears to be making a late adjustment to its Iran policy, there was little evidence of a gentler Iranian attitude toward the United States at weekly prayers Friday. At Iran's 1,500th Friday prayer session since the sermons resumed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami gave a typically fiery speech. Worshipers chanted slogans likening the US to the Roman Empire and punctuated the sermon with cries of "Death to America!" The US this week announced that it would send an envoy to talks today between international and Iranian negotiators over Iran's nuclear program. Hints increased that the US may be interested in setting up a diplomatic outpost in Iran beyond the tiny Swiss-run interests section it now maintains.

Iran Open to US Diplomatic Talks, Official Says - Sebnem Arsu, New York Times

Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday that his country was open to discussing the establishment by the Bush administration of the first American diplomatic presence in Tehran since relations were severed nearly three decades ago. The minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed as a “positive step” the administration’s decision to send a senior American official to participate in international talks with Iran this weekend, and said he expected the talks to make progress.

Iran Says No to Suspending Enrichment - Associated Press

Tehran on Saturday ruled out freezing its enrichment program, casting doubt over the sense of key nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers less than an hour after they began. The talks with the US in attendance for the first time had raised expectations of possible compromise on a formula that would have had Iran agree to stop expanding its enrichment activities. In exchange, the six powers, including the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, would hold off on passing new UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

THE LONG WAR

Gitmo Go-Ahead - Wall Street Journal editorial

It has taken nearly seven years, but the men who planned the murder of 3,000 Americans on 9/11 are finally going to face justice in a court of law. The last of numerous political and legal hurdles were cleared this week to put the enemy combatants held at Guantanamo on trial. Federal District Court Judge James Robertson ruled Thursday that the military commissions -- established by Congress in 2006 and applying guidelines laid out by the Supreme Court -- can move forward. A military judge in Guantanamo reached a similar decision. So the first case against Osama bin Laden's former driver and al Qaeda terrorist -- Salim Hamdan -- will start Monday. Judge Robertson's ruling makes obvious legal sense. So, in the current environment, it comes as a pleasant surprise. "Courts should respect the balance that Congress has struck," said the judge, a Bill Clinton appointee. Such judicial modesty contrasts with the Supreme Court's recent Boumediene decision that granted foreign terrorists captured abroad the right to challenge their detention in US courts.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Remains of MIA Pilots Identified - Ian Shapira, Washington Post

The Defense Department announced this week that investigators had identified the remains of Army Chief Warrant Officer Bobby L. McKain of Garden City, Kan., and his co-pilot, Warrant Officer Arthur F. Chaney of Vienna, who were killed when their helicopter gunship was hit by anti-aircraft fire and exploded in midair in Vietnam on May 3, 1968. Their remains were believed to be scattered west of Khe Sanh in South Vietnam, near the border with Laos. Now, four decades after the men were listed as missing in action, their remains are being returned for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon said Thursday. Remains of 890 people who served in the Vietnam War and were once listed as missing in action have been identified through forensic investigations, a Defense spokesman said.

UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Soldiers to Learn Nation-building - Chris Smyth, The Times

The head of the Army will today (Thursday) call for creation of a new class of soldier specialising in nation-building and development to reconstruct the Iraqs and Afghanistans of the future. General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, will say that the Army should consider creating “permanent cadres of stabilisation specialists” so that soldiers can deliver “civil as well as military effects within areas as diverse as governance, town administration, finance and banking, law and order and sanitation”. This could mean placing soldiers under the command of the Foreign Office or the Department for International Development, General Dannatt will tell the centre-left Progress pressure group in a speech in Westminster tonight. This would have a radical effect on military career-paths, which could see “an officer spending a tour with indigenous forces, followed perhaps by an attachment to DfiD overseas, or a local council at home or a police force in Africa or elsewhere”, he will suggest.

Government 'Careless' with the Military - David Byers, The Times

A former senior Army officer today accused ministers of being "very careless" with the military and of having "lacked interest" in improving resources. Major-General Arthur Denaro, who has now retired, said that the country had also failed to play its part in backing the under-resourced Armed Forces due to the unpopularity of the war in Iraq. His comments come as General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, was set to claim in a speech tonight that soldiers were finding that they had to add civilian skills - from town hall administration to banking - to their traditional combat capabilities. The Head of the Army will demand that soldiers are in future assisted by a new squad of “stabilisation specialists” who spend their careers assisting the military in working to rebuild countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Obama Lands in Afghanistan - Jeff Zeleny, New York Times

Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan early Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment of military operations in the two major US war zones. Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about 11:45 a.m., according to a pool report released by his aides. In addition to attending briefings with military leaders, he hoped to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan before flying to Iraq later in the weekend.

Obama Arrives in Afghanistan - Los Angeles Times

Democrat Barack Obama arrived today in Afghanistan on his first overseas trip since he began his successful run for his party's presidential nomination. The trip, which is expected to include stops in Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and three European capitals, is the centerpiece of Obama's efforts to focus his presidential campaign on foreign policy issues, considered an area of strength for Republican rival John McCain.

Obama Going Abroad With World Watching - Dan Balz, Washington Post

Sen. Barack Obama will make his international debut as a Democratic presidential candidate in the coming days with a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe designed to deepen his foreign policy credentials, confront questions at home about his readiness to be commander in chief, and signal the possibility of a new era in US relations with the rest of the world. Obama's visit is among the most unusual ever undertaken by a presumptive White House nominee, planned with the attention to detail of a trip by a president and as heavily hyped abroad as at home. The senator from Illinois will meet with a succession of foreign leaders, make symbolically important visits and hold at least one large public event -- all with an eye to how the trip is playing in the United States.

UNITED NATIONS

UN Effort to Curb Illicit Arms - C. J. Chivers, New York Times

Diplomats from the world’s governments met throughout this week on agreements to cut the global illicit trade in small arms, but their work was curtailed in part by the near-boycott of the meetings by the United States. The tone of the meetings underscored the political complexities of gaining full support for international small-arms agreements from the United States. The American view has balanced recognition of the dangers of illegal proliferation with the government’s own arms-distribution practices and with the American gun lobby’s resistance to the United Nations’ proposals. Since 2001, United Nations members have endorsed a broad but loosely defined initiative, called the program of action, for a collective effort against illegal arms circulation. The agreement in part encourages governments to tighten controls on manufacturing, marking, tracing, brokering, exporting and stockpiling small arms and to cooperate to restrict illicit flows, particularly to regions perennially in armed conflict. It addresses hundreds of millions of weapons, ranging from pistols to shoulder-fired rockets, that the United Nations says are in circulation worldwide.

AFRICA

Diplomats Aid Mbeki with Zimbabwe - BBC News

A group of senior diplomats are to help South African President Thabo Mbeki in his efforts to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis. Envoys will be drawn from the UN, African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The move was welcomed by Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been critical of Mr Mbeki. Mr Tsvangirai is currently considering entering power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe.

ICC Probes Darfur Rebel Leaders - BBC News

Rebel leaders from Sudan's Darfur region are being investigated for war crimes, says International Criminal Court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Mr Ocampo last week asked for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to be indicted on war crimes charges, sparking angry protests in the capital, Khartoum. Now he wants rebels to help investigate two of their own commanders accused of attacking African Union peacekeepers.

Somalis Shot as they Hand Out Aid - BBC News

Gunmen in Somalia have shot dead three elders distributing aid in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu. The killings are being linked to a wave of apparently targeted attacks on humanitarian workers. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has warned that it may have to use private security companies to protect its vessels from pirate attacks in Somalia. The agency has been sending food ships without protective escorts after a Dutch naval mission ended last month.

AMERICAS

Takeovers Captivate Ecuador - Joshua Partlow, Washington Post

The tip came to the old journalist at midnight about the decision at the presidential palace: The police were on their way. Lolo Echeverría in turn called his colleagues at Gamavision, one of Ecuador's prominent television stations, who drove to the studio through the deserted streets of Quito under the looming mass of an Andean volcano. They were in time to see police scale the white metal fence, break locks and force their way into the offices, the beginning of a swift government takeover of more than 190 businesses this month that has captivated this small and volatile nation.

Cuba to Allow Private Farming - Associated Press

Communist officials decreed Friday that private farmers and cooperatives can use as much as 100 acres of idle government land, as President Rául Castro works to revive Cuba's floundering agricultural sector. The law, published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, did not say how much state land would be turned over to private hands and gave no indication of how many Cubans might apply.

Colombia's Uribe Calls Off Vote - BBC News

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has decided not to call a referendum to determine if there should be a new presidential poll. He had said he would seek a repeat of the 2006 vote, in which he was re-elected amid a bribery scandal. The Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional amendment that cleared the way for Mr Uribe to run for a second term was tainted by corruption.

US Aided Mexico in Sub Capture - Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday that US intelligence helped Mexico capture a cocaine-laden smuggling submarine this week. As the Mexican navy finished hauling the 33-foot vessel to shore, Chertoff disclosed that the US government had shared information with Mexican authorities before Wednesday's successful operation. "We shared information with the Mexican navy, but the Mexican navy acted alone in actually executing the seizures: their marines, their helicopters, their naval vessels," Chertoff told reporters here after meetings with Mexican officials on security issues.

ASIA PACIFIC

Rice to Meet N. Korean Diplomat - Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet next week with her North Korean counterpart and the foreign ministers of four other countries involved in the effort to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs, the State Department said yesterday. The session, which will take place on the sidelines of a Southeast Asia security conference in Singapore, will mark Rice's first meeting with the North Korean official, Pak Ui Chun, and follows on an extraordinary thawing in the tensions between the two countries. North Korea last month demolished the cooling tower attached to its Yongbyon nuclear facility after President Bush notified Congress that he intended to remove the country from the list of sponsors of terrorism.

Across China, Security Instead Of Celebration - Edward Cody, Washington Post

With the Games three weeks away, the precautions already have proved so sweeping that some observers question whether the sense of fellowship and fun that is supposed to accompany the Olympics can survive. Alongside the crackdown against Muslim extremists here in Xinjiang, for instance, have come confusing new visa restrictions, multiple roadside checkpoints, reinforced pat-downs at airports and subway stations, and raids on bars popular among foreigners. The result has been an atmosphere of coercion, not celebration. On Thursday, China issued a manual advising the public what to do in the case of a terrorist attack, according to state-run media. The manual included guidance on how to respond to 39 scenarios including explosions, kidnappings and shootings, and attacks involving chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, China's leaders have extended the scope of their concerns to include peaceful political protests. In public and private comments, Chinese officials have seemed just as determined to prevent pro-Tibet demonstrators from unfurling banners in front of television cameras as they are to head off hotel bombings by Muslim extremists, according to Chinese specialists and foreign diplomats.

Chinese Blackout over Monk Deaths - Jane Macartney, The Times

Two monks at a monastery in western China were killed in a clash with paramilitary police last weekend, three Tibetan sources have told The Times. The monks, at a monastery in western Sichuan province, which borders Tibet, were killed in a clash on July 12. For monks of what are popularly known as the “red hat” sects, the date marks one of the most auspicious festivals of the year. It is the first report of the lethal use of gunfire against Tibetan protesters demanding the return of the exiled Dalai Lama and independence since the fatal shootings on April 2 at the Tongkor monastery. The reports come despite a news blackout imposed by the Chinese authorities on reports of continuing deadly unrest in Tibetan parts of the country. A month before the Olympics, Beijing is determined to present a trouble-free image to the world.

Thailand and Cambodia on Edge of Conflict - Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times

With its friezes of kings, gods and elephants, its ancient buildings and its location at the top of a beetling cliff, the temple of Preah Vihear is one of the most spectacular and historic sites in South-East Asia. Now it is threatening to make history for a different reason, as the first World Heritage Site to become a battleground. Thai and Cambodian troops pulled guns on one another in a tense stand-off in the 1,100-year-old Hindu temple, after several days of increasing military tension. Stoked by a build-up of soldiers, accusations of corruption and a developing political crisis in Thailand, Preah Vihear has emerged as Asia’s newest flashpoint. About 400 Thai and 200 Cambodian troops have moved into the temple area since Tuesday, after three Thai activists were detained briefly for entering the temple to assert Bangkok’s claim to the land. Yesterday a Cambodian general reported that soldiers from both sides levelled weapons at one another on Thursday night, after the Thais drove Cambodian forces out of one of the temple buildings.

Nasty in Kuala Lumpur - Wall Street Journal editorial

The last time Malaysian democrat Anwar Ibrahim was prosecuted on a trumped-up sodomy charge, we wrote that the government's "crude measures will exact a heavy price in terms of lost credibility." Ten years later, Malaysia's political leaders are repeating their mistakes. On Wednesday, Mr. Anwar was picked up by men in ski masks and hauled to police headquarters. He was interrogated for six hours, stripped and asked to supply a DNA sample -- a request he refused. He spent the night on a concrete floor without furniture and was released on bail Thursday morning. Malaysian media report that the government is exploring ways to compel Mr. Anwar to give DNA.

EUROPE

Imams to Counter 'Mistaken' Muslim Beliefs - Richard Ford, The Times

A board of Islamic experts is to be set up with funds from the Government to offer advice to Muslims on issues such wearing a veil and the role of women in public life. The move, announced yesterday, is aimed at sidelining extremists within the community who misuse Islamic beliefs to reinforce cultural practices, including stereotyping women. There will also be citizenship classes for young Muslims in mosque schools. Trials of the new lessons will begin in in East and West London, Leicester, Birmingham, Oldham, Rochdale and Bradford at the start of the new term in September. The initiative is designed to show youngsters that there is no conflict between their religion and being British. The Government is providing money to train imams for the schemes.

MIDDLE EAST

Hamas to Raise Price for Shalit - Martin Chulov, The Australian

Hamas has pledged to heed lessons from Israel's prisoner swap with Hezbollah by demanding a higher price for captured soldier Gilad Shalit, held in the Gaza Strip. The militant regime, which rules Gaza, has said Israel had shown it was no longer able to dictate terms during negotiations, and immediately moved to set its own terms on protracted talks about Shalit's release. Israeli officials have spent days trying to downplay the aftermath of the swap, in which many commentators on both sides of the Lebanese border have claimed Israeli leaders did poorly. After three days of celebrations throughout central and southern Lebanon, Hezbollah will this weekend rebury the 19 slain soldiers exhumed from Israel and returned as part of the deal. Hamas negotiators in Gaza, meanwhile, were demanding that the same German negotiator who brokered the Hezbollah-Israel deal also play a role in floundering talks about a trade for Shalit.

SOUTH ASIA

Killer MPs Bailed for Nuke Votes - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

India will grant bail for a day to six jailed members of parliament, including three convicted over murders, so they can vote on a no-confidence motion triggered by the US nuclear deal that threatens to bring down the Government. Tuesday's vote on the atomic pact is regarded as a turning point in the world's biggest democracy, and the ruling Congress party has been accused of buying votes to secure its passage through the lower house of parliament. With assessments showing only two votes separating the Government and the combined opposition, a group of "honourable jailbirds" will be allowed to attend the Lok Sabha (lower house) in New Delhi on Tuesday to vote on the no-confidence motion. The MPs, some serving life sentences for murder and kidnapping, have been wooed by both sides.

India Premier Stakes Career on Nuclear Pact - Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post

Manmohan Singh is fighting the biggest political battle of his career as he tries to implement another radical initiative, one that he hopes will transform India in the 21st century: the historic nuclear energy agreement with the United States. The agreement would give India access to nuclear fuel and technology, even though it has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. For months, however, the deal appeared to be near collapse because of opposition from Singh's allies and adversaries. Critics said it would erode India's sovereignty, tying the country to US strategic interests and taking away its right to conduct nuclear tests.

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.