IRAQ

Iraq Wants Timetable In US Pact - Londoño and Eggen, Washington Post

Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday that his government would not sign an agreement governing the future role of US troops in Iraq unless it includes a timetable for their withdrawal. The statement was the strongest demand yet by a senior Iraqi official for the two governments to set specific dates for the departure of US forces. Speaking to reporters in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said his government was "impatiently waiting" for the complete withdrawal of US troops.

Iraqi Official Still Insisting on Timetable - Campbell Robertson, New York Times

Iraqi officials continued to insist Tuesday that a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops must be included in any security agreement with the United States. Meanwhile, in western Anbar Province, 22 bodies were found at a Ramadi elementary school that was undergoing construction, 20 of them buried in the playing fields, apparently over a lengthy period, the local police said.

Maliki's Withdrawal Card - Wall Street Journal editorial

A year ago, the conventional Beltway wisdom had it that Iraq was a failed state. Today, the same wisdom holds that it is less chaotic but still fragile, dependent entirely on a US presence to survive. But judging by recent comments from Nouri al-Maliki, even this view may be out of date. Addressing Arab ambassadors in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the Iraqi prime minister made headlines by saying his government was "looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty." Mr. Maliki has also been playing hardball with the Bush Administration in concluding a status-of-forces agreement by the end of the year, when the current UN mandate authorizing the US presence in Iraq expires. Mr. Maliki's comments are an assertion of confidence in his country's stability - and not without cause.

Refined Stances on a Changing Iraq - Kornblut and Shear, Washington Post

Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday dismissed criticism that he is abandoning his principles to move toward the political center, saying he has been consistent in embracing moderate views on several issues, especially his belief that pulling US troops out of Iraq must be done "carefully." Obama addressed what he called "this whole notion that I am shifting to the center, or that I am flip-flopping," with a firm denial that he has tilted his emphasis away from swiftly bringing the war to an end. The remarks came as both candidates scrambled to clarify their visions for Iraq in the face of changing events on the ground. Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided calls for a timetable for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, suddenly found himself confronted with the American-backed Iraqi leadership raising the prospect of exactly that.

Culture of Fear Fades in Basra - Kim Gamel, Washington Times

Men and women can openly study and party together for the first time in years at Basra University, free from the threat of Shi'ite gunmen enforcing extreme Islamic views. To get to class, however, the students must navigate traffic jams and ubiquitous checkpoints that the Iraqi military calls the price of peace in this sweltering, oil-rich southern city where temperatures rise above 120 degrees. It often doesn't get any cooler indoors. Basra is enduring widespread electricity shortages that residents blame on Iraqi authorities, who in turn point the finger at neighboring Iran. And then there's the lack of clean tap water. From students to merchants, people here say they are happy and hopeful about their new freedoms three months after the Iraqi military wrested control of the country's second-largest city from Shi'ite militiamen.

Bomb Kills 3 Police Officers and Civilian - Associated Press

Iraqi police say a bomb in Fallujah has killed three police and one civilian. A police official says 15 people also are injured after Wednesday morning's blast outside a bank in the one-time Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. The injured includes an Iraqi television cameraman.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Foreign Agents Blamed In Kabul Attack - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

Investigators have found evidence that a deadly suicide bombing attack against the Indian Embassy in Kabul this week was planned with the help of a foreign intelligence agency, a spokesman for Afghanistan's president said Tuesday. Humayun Hamidzada, chief spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, pointedly avoided direct references to Pakistan during a news conference but hinted that the scale and complexity of the strike against the embassy bore the markings of previous attacks linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

Bombing Sends Stark Message to India - Somini Sengupta, New York Times

The suicide bombing on Monday outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul was the latest and most audacious attack in recent months on Indian interests in Afghanistan, where New Delhi, since helping to topple the Taliban in 2001, has staked its largest outside aid package ever. India has poured unprecedented amounts of money and people into the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a vital passage into resource-rich Central Asia. It has spent more than $750 million, building a strategic road across the country’s southwest, training teachers and civil servants, and working on erecting a new seat of the national Parliament.

Afghanistan Blames Pakistan for Bomb Attack - Coghlan and Page, The Times

Afghanistan's government has accused Pakistani intelligence agents of masterminding the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, on Monday, which killed 41 people and injured 140. In the latest escalation in a long running war of words between the two countries Humayun Hamidzada, the Afghan President’s official spokesman, told reporters in Kabul yesterday: “The sophistication of this attack, and the kind of material that was used in it and the specific targeting, everything has the hallmark of a particular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terrorist acts inside Afghanistan in the past. We have sufficient evidence to say that.” Asked to name the agency involved he said the answer was “pretty obvious”. Afghanistan has repeatedly accused Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) of harbouring and supporting the Taliban, leading Afghan President Hamid Karzai to threaten last month to send Afghan forces into Pakistani territory to root out insurgents.

Vicious Attack on India’s Crucial Role - Amir Taheri, The Times opinion

For almost a year the Bush Administration in Washington and the Karzai Government in Kabul have been putting out feelers to India to give its aid to Afghanistan a military dimension. There are signs that elements within the coalition of Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, may be interested. So, was Monday's bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul a warning to Delhi not to deepen its involvement in Afghanistan? The attack that claimed 41 lives, including the military attaché, and injured 141 was the biggest in Kabul since the fall of the Taleban in 2002. India is involved in training Afghan military personnel. It has “exchange of intelligence” accords that have enabled Kabul to track down groups linked to the Taleban. India is the second-largest aid donor to Afghanistan, behind the US and ahead of Iran. It has allocated about $750 million to rebuild the war-shattered infrastructure. This includes strategic roads that have helped the Afghan Army and Nato allies to pursue Taleban fighters in previously inaccessible areas.

Scottish Troops Trying to Keep the Peace - Magnus Linklater, The Times

Musa Qala seems a desolate place of broken houses and rubble, though we are assured it has a clinic, a mosque and a paid workforce. The building in which we sleep was once a hotel and then the headquarters of the Taleban, but is now little more than a concrete shell, pock-marked by bullet-holes. The town's security depends on its resident defence force - 5 Scots (the Argylls) and the Afghan National Army. This remains a highly charged war zone. Three days ago, while we were in the district centre - the army camp on the outskirts of Musa Qala - three platoons of D Company of the Argylls came back from a 48-hour patrol to the north of the town, in the course of which they came under heavy fire on three separate occasions. Private David Poderis, 37, showed us tangible evidence of the Taleban's ferocity in the form of two neat bullet-holes in his helmet.

IRAN

Iran Seeks Seat on Security Council - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times

Tehran will seek a seat on the powerful UN Security Council next year, despite the trade sanctions the body has imposed to slow Iran's nuclear program. "It is our right, we have not been on the council in 50 years, and we are trying our best," an official from the Iranian Mission told The Washington Times on Tuesday. The official, who insisted that his name not be used, said Iran's bid for a seat on the 2009-10 council already has the "confirmation" of the Asian Group, whose members Tehran would represent. Asian diplomats confirmed Tuesday that Iran has sought the group's approval to run for the council seat, which currently is filled by Indonesia and is reserved for an Asian country. Regional blocs often agree in advance which country will get a seat.

Tehran Warns West Against Attack - Alan Cowell, New York Times

A senior Iranian official was quoted Tuesday as threatening that Iran would respond to any military attack by striking Israel and America’s vital interests around the globe. “In case that they commit such foolishness, Tel Aviv and the US fleet in the Persian Gulf would be the first targets to burst into flames receiving Iran’s crushing response,” said Ali Shirazi, a representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, according to the ISNA news agency.

Iran Test-Fires Missiles, State Media Reports - Reuters

Iran has test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles, including one which it has previously said could reach Israel and US bases in the region, state media reported on Wednesday. The tests occurred at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at making bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is only for power generation.

Iran Raises Vanishing of 4 Citizens to UN - Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

Iran, sharpening its image contest with Israel amid the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, has resurrected questions about the fate of four of its citizens who disappeared in Beirut in 1982 while Israeli forces occupied the city. Officials in the office of the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said Tuesday that a letter the Iranian Mission released publicly on Monday, asking him to intervene to determine the men’s fate, had yet to arrive. In it Iran accuses Israel of holding the Iranians - two diplomats, their driver and a journalist - as prisoners for 26 years, a charge the Israelis dismiss.

Progress May Require "US Regime Change" - Bronwen Maddox, The Times opinion

Iran issued dramatic threats to the US yesterday about the consequences of an American or Israeli military attack on its nuclear plants, part of the past week’s showy verbal exchanges with the US and the European Union. But the real drama lies in the next stage of complicated negotiations, hard to interpret even by the intricate standards of the six-year wrangle over Iran’s nuclear aspirations. Their unpredictability stems from new factors: disagreements within Iran on whether to negotiate, and on what terms; the dwindling possibility of military action by the US or Israel, now very unlikely; and the Bush Administration’s new interest in links with ordinary Iranians, to build on the pro-American feeling within the country.

Attack Plans Spiked? - Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times opinion

Is the United States heading into a deadly confrontation with Iran? Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the unsuccessful maverick Republican presidential candidate, warned millions of radio listeners this is now inevitable. He cited House Congressional Resolution 362, lobbied hard by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as a "Virtual Iran War Resolution." Since its introduction three weeks ago, and before the weeklong July Fourth break, the resolution garnered 150 cosponsors. In the Senate, sister Resolution 580, introduced by Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh, was also gathering momentum. If passed by both houses, the United States would be at war with Iran - alone, without allies, and oil would double immediately to $300 a barrel. The Bush administration has pledged it will keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and protect tankers transporting 25 percent of the world's daily ocean-borne oil traffic through the 32-mile-wide strait.

THE LONG WAR

Ex-Secretaries: New War Powers Policy - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post

The 1973 War Powers Resolution is ineffective, possibly unconstitutional and should be repealed, two former secretaries of state said yesterday in proposing new legislation to govern the war-making powers of the president and Congress. "The rule of law is undermined and is damaged when the main statute in this vital policy area is regularly questioned or ignored," former secretary James A. Baker III said of the existing law. Baker, along with former secretary Warren Christopher, headed an independent, bipartisan commission that spent the last year examining the issue.

Report Urges Overhaul of the War Powers Law - John Broder, New York Times

Two former secretaries of state, concluding that a 1973 measure limiting the president’s ability to wage war unilaterally had never worked as intended, proposed on Tuesday a new system of closer consultation between the White House and Congress before American forces go into battle. Their proposal would require the president to consult senior lawmakers before initiating combat expected to last longer than a week, except for covert operations or rare circumstances requiring emergency action, in which case consultation would have to be undertaken within three days.

Missile Threat to Civilian Aircraft Remains - Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times

A State Department envoy assigned to reduce the worldwide supply of shoulder-fired missiles said Tuesday that missiles traded on the black market remain a potential threat to civilian aircraft. In his first public comments since beginning the effort six months ago, Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. said that there is a total of about 500,000 missiles of the type that have been used to shoot down 28 civilian planes since the 1970s, killing 600 to 800 people. Even though the US government is spending millions of dollars to buy up missiles and help other nations secure their stockpiles, Bloomfield acknowledged that the effort is not likely to eliminate the threat anytime soon.

FISA's Fetters - Washington Post editorial

The American Civil Liberties Union, in a letter we printed yesterday, accused us of backing a surveillance bill that would give the president "unfettered power to spy on Americans," reducing the role of the court overseeing the surveillance to "little more than serving as a rubber stamp." Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), in another letter, said the measure overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on the verge of congressional passage, "gives the government broad new powers to collect information on innocent Americans within the United States without providing nearly enough protections for privacy." It means, Mr. Feingold said, that "Americans e-mailing relatives abroad or calling business associates overseas could be monitored with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing by anyone." These are serious concerns, worth taking seriously. We are under no illusion that the measure is perfect; future fine-tuning may well be called for. The classified nature of the surveillance program makes it impossible to assess the implications with anything near certainty. But the legislation reflects, as far as we can tell, a reasonable compromise, worked out over long months of negotiations, between the legitimate needs of intelligence agencies and the legitimate privacy interests of Americans.

The Test of Leadership - James Goodby, Washington Times opinion

Much has been written about what the next president's priorities should be. Iraq? Health care? The environment? The economy? Seldom mentioned is a danger many Americans have chosen to forget - the atom bomb. The damage done to one of the world's great cities by just one atom bomb, not to mention the thousand times more powerful hydrogen bomb, would eclipse any other imminent danger faced by humanity. The United States and Russia have reduced their nuclear arsenals significantly since the end of the Cold War, but each has thousands of nuclear weapons in its inventory even though the strategy of mutual assured destruction (MAD) has become obsolete. The real danger lies elsewhere. Terrorists are anxious to get their hands on an atom bomb or other nuclear device and will pay a high price to do so. They are determined to find vulnerabilities and to exploit them. So far, the civilized world has patched the potential leaks in time. A thriving nuclear black market was broken up just a few years ago, but it operated without detection for a long time. Even the most meticulous control system sometimes loses track of the thousands of nuclear weapons or their components.

Free This Detainee - Ruth Marcus, Washington Post opinion

There's someone I'd like to introduce to President Bush. Also to Chief Justice John Roberts and Sen. John McCain. His name is Huzaifa Parhat, and that get-together might be tricky to arrange. Parhat is also known as ISN (Internment Serial Number) 320 at Guantanamo Bay. Parhat is Uighur, a Muslim ethnic minority group from western China. He fled China for Afghanistan, and, when the camp he was living in there was bombed by US forces, went to Pakistan. For a bounty, Parhat was turned over to US authorities and shipped to Guantanamo. He has been held as an enemy combatant for more than six years -- even though the government concedes he was never a member of the Taliban or al-Qaeda and never took part in any hostilities against the United States.

Surrender! - Cal Thomas, Washington Times opinion

So this is how it ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The most senior judge in England has declared that Islamic legal principles in Shariah law may be used within Muslim communities in Britain to settle marital arguments and regulate finance. Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said, "Those entering into a contractual agreement can agree that the agreement shall be governed by a law other than English law." In his speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips said Muslims in Britain could use Islamic legal principles as long as punishments - and divorce rulings - comply with English law. Shariah law does not comply with English law. It is a law unto itself.

Multiculturalism Run Amok - Stephen Schwartz, Weekly Standard opinion

The incoherent debate over sharia, or Islamic law, continues in Britain. The main culprit: multicultural confusion among non-Muslim leaders. In February, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams argued that the introduction of sharia as a separate legal system for British Muslims is "unavoidable" (see this article). Williams's comments produced widespread alarm and condemnation, so Britain's Lord Chief Justice, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers then stepped in. (He's the rough equivalent of our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but with more latitude for public tomfoolery.) Phillips declared early this month that family and business disputes can be submitted to sharia mediation in Britain. He was careful to specify that "hudud" punishments for moral and criminal charges, such as flogging, stoning of adulterers, cutting off the hands of thieves, and capital sentences should not be imposed under sharia in Britain. But even his language regarding marital and commercial matters was off the mark.

AFRICA

US Steadfast for Zimbabwe Sanctions - Neil Macfarquhar, New York Times

Supporters and opponents of international sanctions against Zimbabwe argued vehemently in the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, with the United States vowing to push ahead, despite arguments by South Africa and Russia, among others, that rushing to punishment would retard mediation. Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador, said that President Robert Mugabe and his ruling circle needed more than carrots to convince them to yield. “We are trying to put a few sticks into the equation,” he said. “The mediation has not been effective as it has been conducted so far.”

Shock Tactics Force UN Showdown on Mugabe - The Times

The United States will force a vote this week to place UN sanctions on Zimbabwe's leaders after Russia's new President joined other G8 leaders yesterday in threatening “further steps” against Robert Mugabe's Government. The decision to force a showdown in the 15-nation UN Security Council followed two impassioned debates at the rich nations' G8 summit at Lake Toya, Japan. British officials said that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, used shock tactics to win support for a tough G8 statement refusing to recognise Mr Mugabe's rule.

AMERICAS

A Quiet Role in Jungle Ruse - Juan Forero, Washington Post

For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three American citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of US Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across formidable jungle terrain in the country's southern fringes. The US team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the US Embassy in Bogota, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when they would spring into action to help Colombian forces carry out a rescue.

Uribe More Popular than Ever - Kraul and Mcdonnell, Los Angeles Times

As he stood in the plaza of this remote coffee-growing town hoping for a glimpse of President Alvaro Uribe, cattle rancher Antonio Jaramillo said the reason for Uribe's striking popularity was simple. Before Uribe became president, life was chaotic because of armed groups that terrorized residents, Jaramillo said. "Now we have peace," he said. "That's why we want him to stay for another election. If not, life will become difficult again." A seemingly humorless workaholic, the thin and bespectacled Uribe could be mistaken for an accountant or professor. But in places such as Aguadas, the no-nonsense Harvard-educated lawyer is widely admired for having subdued rebels and having brought Colombia back from the abyss of violence and despair.

Smugglers Thrive in Guatemala's Peten - Héctor Tobar, Los Angeles Times

Here in the Wild West of the Central American isthmus, tough hombres like "the Bald Guys" make mahogany trees disappear in the middle of the night. Here, "cattle ranch" cowboys wrangle cocaine that falls from the sky. This is the Peten, for centuries a thinly populated frontier where jaguars ruled an unspoiled natural kingdom and the rainbow-colored scarlet macaw flew unmolested over towering Maya temples. Now the jungle region is a lawless no man's land, prized by smugglers for its proximity to the lightly guarded border with Mexico and for the swamps and dense forest undergrowth that give them an advantage over the ragtag forces of law and order. It's a place where the immigration police have no guns, the park rangers have neither radios nor automobiles, and the Guatemalan air force can't see or chase the "kamikaze" cocaine-smuggling pilots.

Ecuador Seizes TV Stations, Companies - Gonzalo Solano, Washington Times

Ecuador's government seized three television stations and 195 businesses on Tuesday to collect debts stemming from a bank failure in the 1990s. The economy minister resigned just hours before the takeover. In raids backed by dozens of police, Ecuador's state banking agency took over TC Television, TC Noticias and Gamavision stations, along with dozens of insurance, construction and real estate businesses owned outright or in part by Quito's Isaias family.

ASIA PACIFIC

Activists Assemble to Press China on Rights - Robin Shulman, Washington Post

Marking the one-month countdown to the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, activists gathered here (New York) and in cities around the world Tuesday to call on China to ease crackdowns on dissenters and release political prisoners. A coalition of advocates met at City Hall in Lower Manhattan to announce the launch of a 24-hour appeal for China to release prisoners -- including journalists, bloggers and artists -- before the Olympics opening ceremony on Aug. 8. "It would show goodwill toward keeping promises they made in 2001 to the International Olympic Committee that they have not yet kept," said Lucie Morillon, Washington director of Reporters Without Borders, which helped organize the appeal.

China Warns Sarkozy Not to See Dalai Lama - Steven Erlanger, New York Times

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, whose office announced Wednesday that he would, after all, attend the opening ceremonies of Beijing’s Olympic Games, was warned by China on Tuesday not to meet with the Dalai Lama in France next month. China’s ambassador to France, Kong Quan, told reporters there would be “serious consequences” for Chinese-French relations if Mr. Sarkozy meets the Dalai Lama, asserting that it “would be contrary to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.”

Mandate of Beijing - Wall Street Journal editorial

On a visit to Hong Kong this week to supervise preparations for the Olympic equestrian events to be held there next month, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping spared a few minutes to offer leadership advice to the territory's Beijing-appointed Chief Executive, Donald Tsang. Along the way he created a local ruckus over the lack of democracy in the territory. "Our expectations for the administration team can be summed up in two phrases: [govern] sensibly and reasonably; solidarity and high efficiency," Mr. Xi said, as quoted in local media. The Hong Kong government won't comment on the accuracy of this translation.

N. Korea Nuclear Talks to Resume - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times

The United States and other regional powers will resume talks with North Korea this week on ending the Communist state’s nuclear weapons programs, a South Korean envoy said on Tuesday. The six-nation talks, the first in nine months, are to begin on Thursday, the South Korean envoy, Kim Sook, told reporters before flying to Beijing for the conference among the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.

N. Korea Talks to Resume This Week - Edward Cody, Washington Post

After a nine-month stall, China announced Tuesday that formal negotiations will resume this week on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program, including ways to verify its recent accounting of plutonium-based nuclear material. The talks, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry said will begin Thursday in Beijing and last three days, mark the latest attempt to maintain momentum in the start-and-stop six-party negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and the means to produce them.

Vertical Take-off Jets Sought for Australia's Navy - The Australian

The federal government has been urged to buy a dozen vertical landing strike fighters to avert another Gallipoli. The Navy League, a defence lobby group, today said 12 new short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) versions of the Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) would give the Royal Australian Navy back an aircraft carrier capability lost in 1982 when HMAS Melbourne was decommissioned. In an editorial in the latest edition of its magazine The Navy, the league said there was an obvious linkage between the new landing ships, now under construction, and the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) version of the Lockheed F-35 JSF. It said acquisition of a dozen STOVL JSFs for use aboard the landing ships - known as LHDs (landing, helicopter, dock) - should be included in the upcoming defence White Paper. “Like it or not, the ADF's new amphibious capability will be used at some stage and when used will mean the situation is a serious one, requiring serious and decisive firepower,” it said.

Nukes vs. Rights? - Doug Bandow, Washington Times opinion

After refusing to talk to Pyongyang for years, the Bush administration chose "appeasement" - as its own officials often deride negotiations. So far Washington's bet has paid off, but administration critics contend that the US has sacrificed human rights in the bargain. However, stopping the North's nuclear program is necessary to achieve progress elsewhere. Against all odds, the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea has begun dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and turned over 19,000 pages of documents on its nuclear activities. In return, the United States lifted sanctions under the Trading with the Enemy Act and delisted Pyongyang as a terrorist state. Washington previously agreed to unfreeze some North Korean bank accounts and provided 134,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil.

Why Were We in Vietnam? - Harold Meyerson, Washington Post opinion

According to a report by Keith Bradsher in the New York Times last month, such multinational companies as Canon (the printer and copier maker) and Hanesbrands (the North Carolina-based underwear empire) are expanding or building factories in Hanoi, where they churn out products for Wal-Mart and other American retailers. Foreign direct investment in Vietnam increased 136 percent between 2006 and 2007, while it increased just 14 percent in China. The reason for the move south is straightforward: Vietnamese factory workers make about a quarter of what their Chinese counterparts earn. Now, far be it from me to begrudge the Vietnamese their moment in the sun before global capital finds them too costly and moves on to Bangladesh and Somalia. But didn't we fight a war to keep Vietnam from going communist? Something like 58,000 American deaths, right? And now American business actually prefers investing in communist Vietnam over, say, the more or less democratic Philippines? In all likelihood, it would prefer investing in communist Vietnam to investing in a more chaotic, less disciplined democratic Vietnam, if such existed.

EUROPE

US, Czechs Sign Missile Accord - Dempsey and Bilefsky, New York Times

The United States and the Czech Republic signed a landmark accord on Tuesday to allow the Pentagon to deploy part of its widely debated antiballistic missile shield on territory once occupied by Soviet troops. The accord, the first of its kind to be reached with a Central or East European country, was signed in Prague by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart, Karel Schwarzenberg, despite strong opposition from Russia. It also needs to be ratified by Czech lawmakers, many of whom oppose it.

Czechs Sign Missile Shield Accord - John Ward Anderson, Washington Post

The United States and the Czech Republic signed an initial agreement Tuesday allowing the US military to build a radar station southwest of Prague as part of an antiballistic missile defense system in Eastern Europe. "It is an agreement for friends and allies who face a common threat in the 21st century and wish to address it through the application of the best defensive technologies that we can bring to bear," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after signing the agreement at a ceremony in the Czech capital.

Rice Urges Missile Shield Completion - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times

The coming change of administrations in Washington could unravel President Bush's plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Tuesday in urging both presidential candidates not to abandon the project. Miss Rice, who signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base a tracking radar, conceded that the system is yet to be fully developed. But she insisted that construction should begin soon nevertheless, because the missile threat from Iran is not "imaginary."

Russia Threatens Military Response - David Charter, The Times

Russia threatened to retaliate by military means after a deal with the Czech Republic brought the US missile defence system in Europe a step closer. The threat followed quickly on from the announcement that Condoleezza Rice signed a formal agreement with the Czech Republic to host the radar for the controversial project. Moscow argues that the missile shield would severely undermine the balance of European security and regards the proposed missile shield based in two former Communist countries as a hostile move.

Steps in Missile Defense - Helle Dale, Washington Times opinion

Good news from Europe this week. The cause of missile defense took a significant step forward when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed in the Czech Republic to sign an agreement for the Czechs to host a radar system that will become part of the US missile defense system. The agreement signed in Prague represents progress toward a more secure world, and the Czech government has to be commended for its steadfastness in following through on its commitments to the United States. Another piece of the system, a battery of 10 anti-missile interceptors, is still being considered by the Polish government, on whose territory they would be housed. Negotiations with Poland have been more difficult, as it has persisted in driving an ever harder bargain, including a major package of aid for Polish military transformation and a billion-dollar mobile air defense system.

Ready to Talk to Turkey - Serzh Sargsyan, Wall Street Journal opinion

The problems of newly independent nations attempting to build a novel, democratic way of life did not end with the break-up of the Soviet Union. Armenia, a small country strategically located between Turkey, Russia, Iran and the energy-rich Caspian region, is a case in point. Postindependence Armenia's potential for peaceful development has not been realized as best it could. During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey closed its border with Armenia as an expression of ethnic solidarity with Turkic Azerbaijan. The regrettable result is that for almost 15 years, the geopolitically vital border between Armenia and Turkey has become a barrier to diplomatic and economic cooperation. It is closed not only to Armenians and Turks who might want to visit their neighboring countries, but to trade, transport and energy flows from East to West.

MIDDLE EAST

Riot at Syrian Prison Threatens to Escalate - Raed Rafei, Los Angeles Times

A deadly days-long standoff between inmates and security forces threatened to escalate at a Syrian military prison known for holding Islamist and political dissidents, human rights observers said Tuesday. According to rights groups in touch with prisoners and other sources in Syria, security forces have already killed at least 25 inmates and wounded as many as 100 at the Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital. The violence erupted Saturdayafter inmates rioted to protest a sweep of the prison by guards, the rights groups said. The police responded by firing on the prisoners.

Qatar, Playing All Sides, Is a Nonstop Mediator - Robert Worth, New York Times

In the past month, after Qatari diplomats brokered a landmark peace deal for Lebanon in talks here, this tiny emirate on the Persian Gulf has enjoyed a brief moment of giddy celebrity. Editorialists praised the Qatari emir as a modern-day Metternich. Huge billboards went up on the road to the Beirut airport, proclaiming, “We all say: Thank you Qatar.” An ice cream shop in downtown Beirut put out a sign offering a Doha Agreement Cone. But the Qataris did not linger over their diplomatic triumph. They were too busy trying to solve every other conflict in the Middle East.

Israel Bans British Group Over 'Hamas Links' - Sheera Frenkel, The Times

Israel has banned the British Interpal organisation from continuing its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, claiming it has financial links to Hamas. Interpal, also known as the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, was designed in 1994 with the stated aim of alleviating the needs of Palestinians in a number of countries including Israel, Jordan and Lebanon. Since 1996, however, it has faced questions from Israel and the US about its funding network and alleged connections to the Islamists. In 1997, it was labelled an "unlawful organisation" by Israel and as a "specifically designated global terrorist" grouping by America in 2003.

SOUTH ASIA

Jihadis Break Cover - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, the Bush administration's point man on policy in South Asia, is a highly regarded and experienced diplomat seldom given to public expressions of exasperation. So when on a recent visit to Islamabad he gave vent at a news conference to apparent feelings of despair about what was happening in a country increasingly seen as the linchpin in the war against global Islamic extremism, it was inevitable that his remarks would create concern. The issue facing nuclear-armed Pakistan, Boucher insists, is not President Pervez Musharraf. "This is not the problem that Pakistan faces right now," he maintains, in what was taken as a warning to the country's floundering civilian Government, installed in office only 100 days ago. "There's danger of bombings and suicide bombers. There's rising food prices. There's energy difficulties. Their electricity is being cut off through load shedding."

Congress May Not Pass US-India Nuclear Pact - Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

India's civil nuclear agreement with the United States may have cleared a key hurdle in New Delhi this week, but it appears unlikely to win final approval in the U.S. Congress this year, raising the possibility that India could begin nuclear trade with other countries even without the Bush administration's signature deal, according to administration officials and congressional aides. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has struggled to keep his coalition government intact over the controversial deal to give New Delhi access to U.S. nuclear technology for the first time since it conducted a nuclear test in 1974.

Indian Communists Leave Coalition - Muneeza Naqvi, Washington Times

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Communist Party allies withdrew their support for his four-year-old coalition government on Tuesday to protest the government's plan to push forward with a controversial nuclear deal with the United States. Prakash Karat, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief, announced the decision after more than a week of frenzied political activity as Mr. Singh tried to cobble together alternative support for the deal ahead of his Wednesday meeting with President Bush on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Japan.

WORLD

Nations Pledge to Halve Greenhouse Gas - Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times

President Bush and leaders of the world’s richest nations pledged Tuesday to “move toward a low-carbon society” by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, the latest step in a long evolution by a president who for years played down the threat of global warming. The declaration by the Group of 8 - the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia - was the first time that the Bush White House had publicly backed an explicit long-term target for eliminating the gases that scientists have said are warming the planet. But it failed to set a goal for cutting emissions over the next decade, and drew sharp criticism from environmentalists, who called it a missed opportunity.

US Joins G-8 Plan To Halve Emissions - Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post

The United States for the first time joined the major industrialized countries Tuesday in committing to try to halve greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. President Bush immediately began promoting the plan with skeptical developing country leaders who would be crucial to its success. After months of negotiations, Bush agreed, along with other leaders of the Group of Eight countries gathered here, to a joint communique that declares the countries will "consider and adopt" reductions of at least 50 percent as part of a new UN treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.

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.