IRAQ

Suicide Bomber Kills 18 In Iraq - Raghavan and Saad Sarhan, Washington Post

A female suicide bomber detonated explosives among a group of Shiite pilgrims heading to a religious festival in the holy city of Karbala on Thursday, killing at least 18 people and wounding 68, police said. The attack occurred inside a tent where scores of travelers were resting in the city of Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Many of the injured suffered serious burns, and many bodies were so charred that they could not be identified, police said. Even as overall violence has declined across the country, the attack served as a reminder of Iraq's fragile state. Although no one asserted responsibility for the bombing, it bore the hallmarks of sectarian violence. Sunni extremists have often targeted Shiite pilgrims, sowing sectarian tensions.

Bomber Kills 18 on Pilgrimage - Robertson and Muhammed, New York Times

At least 18 people were killed and scores were wounded Thursday when a suicide bomber blew herself up in a tent filled with women on a religious pilgrimage, Iraqi security officials said. The attack, which came around dusk in the city of Iskandariya, occurred at the same apartment complex where a suicide bomber killed 40 Shiite pilgrims in February. And at Camp Bucca, an American military base in southern Iraq, six sailors who were working as prison guards in Iraq are facing courts-martial on charges of abusing detainees, the United States Navy said in a statement on Thursday.

Suicide Bomber Kills 19 in Attack on Shi'ite Pilgrims - Voice of America

Iraqi police say a female suicide bomber has killed at least 19 people and wounded at least 40 - the latest in a series of attacks on Shi'ite pilgrims heading to a major religious festival south of Baghdad. Police say the woman detonated her explosives Thursday in Iskandariya, as the pilgrims set off for the festival in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala. Earlier, in Baghdad's Karrada district, police say a roadside bomb killed another pilgrim and wounded at least seven others as they headed to the festival. Also today, police say an explosion killed a policeman in the capital's southern Zafaraniya district. Security officials say the blast wounded at least five other people.

British Combat Troops to Leave 'Within a Year' - Evans and Haynes, The Times

All British combat troops are to be withdrawn from Iraq by the middle of next year, leaving a few hundred military trainers to continue instructing an Iraqi army division based in Basra, according to proposals confirmed by defence sources yesterday. The British sources also said that the Government had no plans to maintain a permanent base in Iraq, although they emphasised that no final decisions had been taken. Details of the new British personnel structure are to be negotiated in the status-of-forces agreement to be signed with Baghdad. Yesterday The Times disclosed, after an interview with Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, that all American combat troops are to be withdrawn from Iraq within three years.

General Reports on Security Operations in Iraqi Province - AFPS

Security operations in Iraq’s Diyala province have achieved success, in part, because coalition and Iraqi forces are working in proximity to and with the support of Iraqi citizens, a senior US Army officer in Baghdad said yesterday. Ongoing security operations in Diyala province that have contributed to greatly lessened violence there “are going well,” Multinational Force Iraq spokesman Brig. Gen. David G. Perkins told reporters. “Over the past 18 months, we have seen time and again in Iraq that security is sustainable with support and service from the people,” Perkins said. “Part of the success of the partnership between Iraqi and coalition forces has been our ability to live close to the people and provide them with immediate and urgent help.” Success in providing timely support to Iraqi citizens “has sustained reconciliation,” Perkins observed. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s amnesty program for citizens who cease support of insurgents continues to make notable progress, Perkins said.

Iraq May Be Stable, But... - Francis Fukuyama, WSJ commentary

Though Iraq remains a very troubled country, virtually all of the trend lines - Iraqi and US casualties, government provision of basic services, and the ability of Iraqi forces to provide order - have been moving in a positive direction for the past year. What I absolutely did not concede, however, was the fact that this change meant that the war itself was worth it. By invading Iraq in the manner it did, the US exacerbated all of the threats it faced prior to 2003. Recruitment into terrorist cells shot up all over the world. North Korea and Iran accelerated their development of nuclear weapons. Indeed, Iran has emerged as the dominant regional power in the Persian Gulf once the US removed its major rival from the scene and put its Shiite clients into power in Baghdad. While everyone is better off without Saddam Hussein around, the cost was hugely disproportionate.

Any Way to Rebuild Iraq? - Bilmes and Stiglitz, Los Angeles Times opinion

Across the Middle East, from Abu Dhabi to Yemen, the dizzying rise in oil prices has fueled a construction and employment boom. Yet in Iraq, one-quarter of the population remains jobless, and Baghdad gets only 11 hours of electricity a day. Four million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes and are urgently in need of resettlement. After five years of war, the country is still desperately in need of rebuilding. It's not that Iraq has failed to share in the oil windfall. Iraq sits atop the world's third-biggest known oil reserves, and the Iraqi government keeps a mounting pile of petrodollars firmly tucked away in American banks. A new report by the US Government Accountability Office shows that Iraqi oil revenues will reach up to $85 billion this year, resulting in a budget surplus of as much as $50 billion. But despite all the money that is pouring in, Iraq is not taking responsibility for its own reconstruction.

Arsenal for Iraq-racy - Pete Hegseth, National Review opinion

As outlined in previous posts, security gains in Samarra have been dramatic: IED attacks are down 97 percent, small-arms attacks are down 80 percent, and confiscated enemy weapons caches are up by 800 percent since December 2007. We’ve at last created the necessary security environment for economic and political progress - the first and most important step in any counterinsurgency fight. The rest of the country experienced this transformation in 2007; it took another year for Samarra to catch on. But crumbling sidewalks and roads, unreliable water and electricity, and under-developed government leadership prevent Samarrans from putting the devastation of the past five years fully behind them. When I served in Samarra, we did our best to address development and reconstruction, to little avail. Today, the American unit in Samarra - “No Slack” infantry battalion - has the chance to pick up our slack.

What Counts as 'Success' in Iraq? - John Tirman, Boston Globe opinion

A voluble attempt to describe the Iraq war as a success is widely apparent, and will increase as the Republican National Convention nears. John McCain is staking his campaign on this assertion. There is little doubt that the level of violence in Iraq has subsided noticeably in the last 12 months. But is this "victory"? Two notions are in play. First is whether what exists now, or will in the near term, is a favorable and sustainable outcome and is due particularly to the "surge" of US troops since early 2007. Second is whether the price of this outcome is acceptable. On the first matter, the reductions in violence are mainly due to the withdrawal of Moqtada al-Sadr's militia and the cooperation of many Sunni tribes in ridding Iraq of foreign extremists. A fervent debate among experts is indecisive about why Iraqis pulled back from the wicked killing of 2006 and early 2007. Some is due to a change in US strategy. But all the actors with explosives began to see the futility of their tactics, apparently, and have altered course.

Iraq Report X - ErIc HamIlton, Weekly Standard opinion

The security dynamics in Diyala Province demonstrate the continued need for Coalition forces to clear, control, retain, and rebuild the provinces to defend against al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their counter- offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq in June of 2007, driving the organization from its safe havens around Baghdad. Working together they cleared Baqubah, once a major AQI stronghold, in June and July of 2007. Consequently, AQI leaders and fighters fled north up the Tigris River Valley and northeast up the Diyala River Valley to cities and villages that they had previously used as bases for their terror campaign. By December 2007, AQI held terrain and had freedom of movement in the remote Hamrin Ridge where the organization attempted to re-infiltrate Diyala. Friendly forces had retained control of Baqubah throughout the second half of 2007, forcing AQI to focus its violence on Muqdadiyah, the Diyala province's second city, and on the rural, tribal areas west of the Diyala River. AQI thereby tried to regain a toehold from which to launch spectacular attacks, rearm, undermine the tribes' rejection of al Qaeda, and re-establish safe havens in Diyala.

A Fight to the Finish - Jonathan Kay, WSJ book review

This is what an ambush felt like, for an American soldier, in Fallujah in 2004. Bing West was there, going house to house with the US Marines. Unlike so many Iraq-war commentators, Mr. West has seen the fierce fighting in Iraq at close range. "The Strongest Tribe" is, in part, his attempt to capture the experience of the men with the boots and the guns -- the rank-and-file US infantry whose skills and sacrifices have brought the long, bloody American campaign in Iraq to the brink of victory. Over five years, Mr. West has traveled with 60 US and Iraqi battalions and interviewed 2,000 soldiers, mostly in Baghdad and Anbar province, the heartland of al Qaeda's insurgency. His chronicle is full of eyewitness accounts of nerve-wracking patrols, improvised-explosive detonations and small-unit gunfights. But Mr. West, who served in Vietnam as a Marine infantry officer, is more than a battlefield observer. He is a military analyst who wants to show how counterinsurgency works. Specifically, he wants to explain how the "surge" of the past 18 months has proved to be such a success.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Taliban Wages War on Aid Groups - Anand Gopal, Christian Science Monitor

A Wednesday attack that killed three Western aid workers in Afghanistan raises concerns that the Taliban is attempting to force the expulsion of all foreign humanitarian workers from the troubled country. "This was the worst attack in many years and is a major escalation of hostilities," says Sayed Rahim Satar, vice chairman of the Afghan NGO Coordinating Bureau. The assault signals a shift in the Taliban's strategy toward a policy of direct confrontation with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), says Waliullah Rahmani of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies. "This appears to be the beginning of a new approach," he says, "to surround Kabul and eliminate any foreign or government presence in the area."

Ex-officer Slams Lack of Medical Support - Cameron Stewart, The Australian

The lives of our troops in Afghanistan are being endangered by a critical shortage of medical helicopters, according to the Australian who helps manage the airfield where they are based. John Roberts, a former Australian army officer and now a contractor at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province where Australian troops are stationed, has written to Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon warning that more troops may die unless an extra medical evacuation helicopter is deployed. His comments follow the second botched helicopter rescue in Afghanistan in two months after three wounded diggers this week waited six hours on the battlefield before being taken to hospital. Last month, SAS signaller Sean McCarthy was fatally wounded while on patrol, but his helicopter rescue, which should have taken only 20 minutes, took two hours.

THE LONG WAR

Free Trade Can Fight Terror - Gresser and Dunkelman, WSJ commentary

When trade flares up as a political issue - as it is likely to do in the presidential campaign this year - one aspect of the debate is almost always neglected. There is a fierce competition among foreign countries to sell their products here, in the United States, the largest commercial market in the world. Moreover, by opening up our market to Muslim countries, we could not only help American consumers, but also serve a larger strategic goal: that of boosting the economies which now produce large pools of unemployed, embittered youth. We can make trade an effective weapon against terrorism. Our tariff regime puts many nations in the Middle East, whose young people are susceptible to the sirens of Islamic fundamentalism, at an unintended disadvantage. This works against our efforts to stamp out jihadism. Fortunately, the problem is easy to fix.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Never Forget... Always Remembered - Washington Times editorial

The slogan "never forget" has been seared in our national conscience as an eternal symbol for remembering what took place on 9-11. That slogan has found its place on a new part of history, which will be an enforcing reminder of what's at stake when it sets sail late next year. After four years of construction and a spring christening, it was announced this week that the USS New York is headed to the Big Apple in preparation for her Fall 2009 "commissioning" ceremony which will place the 684-foot vessel into active military service. In describing the The USS New York, Secretary of the Navy Gordo England said: "This new class of ships will project American power to the far corners of the Earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century." The ship is constructed with seven-and-a-half tons of recycled steel from the fallen World Trade Center, by Fairfax County-based Northrop Grumman. The irony can't be lost.

US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

OSS Records Bristle With Details About Agents - Josh White, Washington Post

Before the CIA became the country's chief intelligence-gathering agency, the Office of Strategic Services worked worldwide to undermine the enemies of the United States during World War II. Though the OSS employed more than 24,000 Americans during the early 1940s, little has been known about the individual men and women who carried out the organization's secret missions. Yesterday, the National Archives released nearly 750,000 pages of material contained in the OSS's previously secret personnel files, folders the CIA had blocked from public view until turning them over to archivists in College Park seven years ago. In them, the public can now get a glimpse into the wartime lives of those who served in the OSS, many of whom have been reluctant to share details of their secret missions.

AFRICA

Kenya: Embassy Bomber Hunt Anger - Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post

Almost 10 years to the day after the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, dozens of Kenyan anti-terrorism police busted their way into two homes in this sleepy resort town on the Indian Ocean. The early-morning raids on Aug. 3, including one based on information from FBI agents, produced a frenzy of front-page headlines and some boasting on the part of Kenyan authorities, who cast the operations as evidence of their hot pursuit of terrorist sympathizers. But the raids did not turn up the intended target: al-Qaeda operative Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, considered the chief organizer of the embassy bombings and a 2002 attack on a hotel near here. Mohammed is a man with more than 15 aliases who has been in Kenyan custody twice and targeted by US airstrikes across the border in Somalia - only to slip away again and again. Over the years, the pursuit of Fazul and two other suspects in the embassy bombings has enraged Kenyan Muslims, who have complained of being harassed by Kenya's US-funded anti-terrorism unit.

Nigeria Hands Over Disputed Bakassi to Cameroon - Voice of America

A 15-year dispute about the Bakassi Peninsula was brought to an end, Thursday, with the transfer of authority from Nigeria to Cameroon. The hand-over process has been dogged by threats of attacks by an armed group opposed to the transfer. Two years ago, the Nigerian government agreed to transfer Bakassi, in line with a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling, which said the area belonged to Cameroon. However, most residents of the peninsula - predominantly Nigerian fishermen and their families - oppose the transfer of sovereignty on the 1000-square-kilometer land. A Nigerian rebel group launched two attacks on Cameroonian soldiers in Bakassi, last month, and is threatening further violence.

AMERICAS

Bolivia: Everybody Loses - New York Times editorial

All sides are claiming victory in last weekend’s competing referenda to recall the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, and rival governors. But the continuing political warfare is leading the country to a destructive impasse. More than two-thirds of Bolivians voted to keep Mr. Morales in power. His four main rivals in the gas-rich eastern lowlands also won by large margins. Mr. Morales claims that he now has the mandate to call a national referendum on constitutional reforms that would give even more power to the presidency and allow him to seek another term. All four governors have rejected those changes and insist that their wins mean they must now be given more autonomy. The proposed reforms are already legally dubious. Virtually all opposition delegates were excluded from the constitutional assembly proceedings that approved the changes.

ASIA PACIFIC

China's Choreographed Detentions - Jill Drew, Washington Post

As he sat munching Kentucky Fried Chicken with his captors at a Beijing police station last week, the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney couldn't help thinking that he was going to be used as a star in an upcoming Chinese propaganda film. Along with two other Americans, Mahoney had been dragged from Tiananmen Square just a couple of hours earlier, as they attempted to unfurl a "Jesus Christ Is King" banner and protest human rights abuses in China, including forced abortions. Such public expressions of belief are illegal in this country. Now Mahoney and the others were being subjected to a classic good-cop, bad-cop interrogation routine, in this case augmented with official Chinese photographers. With the good cop in charge, out came the cameras, recording everything. When the bad cop came in, no shutters clicked.

Still on the Terror List - Wall Street Journal editorial

The US said Monday that it would not take North Korea off the terror blacklist until Kim Jong Il's government had agreed to a "strong verification regime" to ensure that it has abandoned its nuclear program. It's a rare flash of muscle in the Bush Administration's North Korea policy. Removal from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terror was supposed to be a reward for the North's delivery in June of a long-promised nuclear accounting. Never mind that the North's nuclear-program list was months overdue and did not mention its suspected uranium program or its proliferation of nuclear technology to Syria and possibly Iran. The Korean dictator learned long ago that stalling is an effective negotiating technique with partners who are desperate for a deal, and he's now playing the same game on verification.

EUROPE

Flash Point: South Ossetia - Small Wars Journal

SWJ roundup of the conflict in Georgia. News, analysis, commentary, videos and background...

US and Poland Set Missile Deal - Shanker and Kulish, New York Times

The United States and Poland reached a long-stalled deal on Thursday to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory, in the strongest reaction so far to Russia’s military operation in Georgia. Russia reacted angrily, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States that have already been strained severely in the week since Russian troops entered separatist enclaves in Georgia, a close American ally. But the deal reflected growing alarm in countries like Poland, once a conquered Soviet client state, about a newly rich and powerful Russia’s intentions in its former cold war sphere of power. In fact, negotiations dragged on for 18 months - but were completed only as old memories and new fears surfaced in recent days. Those fears were codified to some degree in what Polish and American officials characterized as unusual aspects of the final deal: that at least temporarily American soldiers would staff air defense sites in Poland oriented toward Russia, and that the United States would be obliged to defend Poland in case of an attack with greater speed than required under NATO, of which Poland is a member.

US, Poland Agree to Anti-missile Defense Deal - Associated Press

Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland, a plan that has infuriated Moscow and sparked fears in Europe of a new arms race. "We have crossed the Rubicon," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, referring to US consent to Poland's demands after more than 18 months of negotiations. Washington says the planned system, which is not yet operational, is needed to protect the US and Europe from possible attacks by missile-armed "rogue states" like Iran. The Kremlin, however, feels it is aimed at Russia's missile force and warns it will worsen tensions.

Poland Spring - Wall Street Journal editorial

Russia's invasion of Georgia seems to have concentrated the minds of at least some politicians in Europe. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Thursday that his country had agreed to host 10 American missile-defense interceptors. The agreement comes along with an enhanced promise of mutual defense between the US and Poland. Poland is already a member of NATO, whose linchpin is a promise of mutual aid in case of attack. But Mr. Tusk made it clear that, in light of the West's anemic initial response to the Russian invasion, he wanted more. "It is no good when assistance comes to dead people," Mr. Tusk said, as far too many Georgians have learned. NATO, he feared, would take "days, weeks" to mobilize a response to aggression against Poland.

MIDDLE EAST

Is Freedom Near for Captive Israeli Soldier? - Rafael Frankel, CS Monitor

More than two years after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid, he is being used more than ever as a pawn in the battle between Israel, Hamas, and Fatah over the future of the impoverished coastal strip. On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that calmed fighting along Gaza's border should be used to push for Mr. Shalit's return. And the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said a prisoner swap in exchange for Shalit, believed to be alive and held inside Gaza, could conclude within a week. But the reality remains complex and ever-changing. Hamas vacillates between suspending and reopening Egyptian-led negotiations over the fate of the soldier, and talks are now caught up in the terms of the Israel-Hamas truce and stymied by the internal Palestinian power struggle between rivals Hamas and Fatah.

SOUTH ASIA

Musharraf Expected to Resign - Rondeaux and DeYoung, Washington Post

Faced with mounting pressure from former political allies and dwindling support from his international backers, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, once a top US ally, is expected to resign in the next few days, according to Pakistani officials. A week after leaders of the ruling coalition said they planned to impeach Musharraf, the capital was abuzz with speculation that he would step down before formal impeachment charges are filed in Parliament on Monday. Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup nine years ago, has survived at least two assassination attempts. But his opponents said Thursday that he was unlikely to withstand the current challenge to his presidency.

Musharraf Set to Resign in Days - Jane Perlez, New York Times

Faced with desertions by his political supporters and the unsettling neutrality of the Pakistani military, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan is expected to resign in the next few days rather than face impeachment, Pakistani politicians and Western diplomats said Thursday. His departure from office seems likely to unleash new instability in the country as the two main parties in the civilian government jockey for his share of power. It would also remove from the political stage the man who has served as the Bush administration’s main ally here for the last eight years. The details of how Mr. Musharraf would exit, and whether he would be able to stay in Pakistan or would seek residency abroad, are now under discussion between representatives of Mr. Musharraf and the governing coalition, the politicians said.

Calls for Musharraf Resignation Grow - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

A massive suicide bomb blast ripped through the Punjab capital of Lahore yesterday, minutes before besieged President Pervez Musharraf launched Independence Day celebrations marking the 61st anniversary of the founding of Pakistan. The suicide attack, the second major bomb blast in less than 24 hours, caused panic across Lahore, one of Pakistan's biggest cities. It came as al-Qa'ida and Taliban jihadi militants warned against taking part in the celebrations, forcing many events to go indoors under tight security. Throughout the day - one of the most important on the Pakistan calendar - the depth of the crisis confronting the deeply troubled nation was apparent, with government ministers refusing to attend festivities held by Mr Musharraf - and the President was not invited to events presided over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. British and American diplomats are attempting to find an exit for Mr Musharraf, a staunch Western ally, before he is dragged through a humiliating impeachment process in the nation's parliament next week.

Musharraf May Resign Within Days - Laura King, Los Angeles Times

Indications grew stronger Thursday that President Pervez Musharraf, whose allegiance has been a linchpin of the US fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, will be pushed into resigning in the next few days rather than face a humiliating impeachment saga. In recent days, longtime allies of the Pakistani president have fallen by the wayside. Close associates and Western diplomats signaled that the former general's camp has entered talks to ensure that if he does step aside, he will be allowed to head abroad into self-imposed exile rather than potentially stand trial in Pakistan for constitutional violations and corruption.

Embattled Musharraf Urges Reconciliation - Barry Newhouse, Voice of America

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has made his first public remarks since political opponents announced their intention to impeach him. In a televised speech marking Pakistan's 61st independence anniversary, the president called for political reconciliation. Since last week's announcement by Pakistan's ruling political parties that they plan to impeach Pervez Musharraf, only the president's closest allies have been defending him in public, insisting that the opposition does not have enough votes to unseat the unpopular leader. But following a few high profile defections among his traditional allies this week, anticipation has grown over when Mr. Musharraf - and the powerful military he once led - would respond to the confrontation.

Musharraf Rival Hits Immunity - Associated Press

As speculation mounted that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would resign instead of face impeachment, a leader of the new ruling coalition said Thursday that the embattled former army chief should not be granted legal immunity. Mr. Musharraf has not indicated publicly that he will step down, though his allies acknowledged this week that quitting is an option. His rivals say they could introduce an impeachment motion in parliament as early as next week, while observers say the president may be holding out for guarantees he will not face criminal charges if he does resign. During a speech to celebrate Pakistan's Independence Day on Thursday, Mr. Musharraf called for reconciliation but did not mention the moves against him.

Musharraf's Endgame - The Australian editorial

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is only prolonging his country's political crisis by refusing to stand down despite the threat of impeachment. In a country that has spent more than half of its 61 years of independence under military rule, the risk of the army moving in to protect its former chief of staff cannot be discounted. By remaining in office, Mr Musharraf retains the power vested in him under the constitution to dismiss the Government. It would be better if he read the writing on the wall. Having seen his political party soundly defeated in February's parliamentary election, Mr Musharraf has in recent days lost the support of three of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies. More importantly, Pakistan's closest ally, the US, has signalled it wants to wash its hands of the whole affair. Although Mr Musharraf initially proved to be a useful ally in the war on terror, he failed to live up to expectations. Instead of tackling the insurgency head-on, he drifted between inaction and appeasement. From their safe havens in the tribal areas, Taliban and al-Qa'ida insurgents have planned and co-ordinated attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and menaced the West. Despite his protestations to the contrary, Mr Musharraf never completed the U-turn in Pakistan's support for the Taliban that the US demanded after the 9/11 terror attacks. Sections of the national army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency have continued to back the insurgents, spurred on by hatred of the US.

War of Words Erupts Between India, Pakistan - Anjana Pasricha, Voice of America

A war of words has erupted between India and Pakistan over the recent violence that has engulfed Indian Kashmir. Anti-India protests that turned violent in Indian Kashmir this week have become the focus of bitter exchanges between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has slammed comments by Pakistani leaders, who have condemned what they say are "gross human rights violations" in the region, where more than 20 people have been killed and hundreds injured in demonstrations in recent days. Late Wednesday, Pakistan's parliament approved a resolution condemning the "excessive and brutal" use of force by Indian security forces against Muslim protestors in Indian Kashmir. Pakistani lawmakers also called on the international community and the United Nations to take note of the deteriorating situation in the region.

Muslims Call for Autonomy - Associated Press

Thousands of Muslims poured into the streets of Kashmir on Thursday, demanding independence from India hours after archrival Pakistan called on the United Nations to stop what it characterized as gross human rights violations in the divided Himalayan region. Pakistan's statement drew a sharp rebuke from India, which called the comments “deeply objectionable.” More than six weeks of unrest in India's part of Kashmir have pitted the region's Muslim majority against its Hindu minority and left at least 34 people dead, many of them protesters shot during violent clashes with police and soldiers. Villages have been attacked, police stations torched, and in at least one town, security forces have been ordered to shoot on sight any protesters violating a curfew.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

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.