IRAQ

US: Quds, Hezbollah Training Hit Squads in Iran - Associated Press

Iraqi Shiite assassination teams are being trained in at least four locations in Iran by Tehran's elite Quds force and Lebanese Hezbollah and are planning to return to Iraq in the next few months to kill specific Iraqi officials as well as US and Iraqi troops, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militia fighters and other sources in Iraq. A senior US military intelligence officer in Baghdad described the information Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The officer on Wednesday provided Iraq's national security adviser with several lists of the assassination teams' expected targets. He said the targets include many judges but would not otherwise identify them. Iraq's intelligence service is preparing operations to determine where and when the special group fighters will enter the country and is to provide an assessment to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraq Increases Karbala Security - Voice of America

Iraqi police say a roadside bomb has killed a Shi'ite pilgrim heading to the holy city of Karbala, after attacks killed at least 19 pilgrims Thursday. Police say the latest bomb exploded as a bus packed with pilgrims was leaving Baghdad for Karbala Friday. At least nine people were wounded. Iraqi authorities have deployed more than 40,000 police and soldiers around Karbala to prevent further bloodshed during the annual festival marking the birth of the Shi'ites' 12th and last Imam. The security personnel include 2,000 women who will search female pilgrims. On Thursday, two women suicide bombers killed at least 19 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iskandariya, as the pilgrims set off for Karbala.

Bomb in Baghdad Strikes Pilgrims and Kills 3 - Associated Press

Iraqi police and hospital officials say a car bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad has killed six people and wounded 11 others. The officials say the parked car exploded at about 9 a.m. Saturday near minibuses assembled to pick up pilgrims in the city's mainly Shiite district of Shaab.

Kirkuk Dispute Fuels Ethnic Tensions in Iraq - Associated Press

Minutes after a suicide bomber killed 25 people, hundreds of angry Kurds stormed the headquarters of an ethnic Turkish group in this northern Iraqi city and torched the building and nearby parked cars. The Kurds blamed Turkomen, the city's ethnic Turkish minority, for the bombing. Weeks later, the husks of eight burned-out cars bear witness to the ferocity of emotions generated by the crisis over who will run Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's northern oil fields. The fate of Kirkuk, where an estimated 850,000 Kurds, Turkomen and Arabs uneasily coexist, is a litmus test for the ability of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian leaders to compromise on critical issues. At stake is the country's ability to preserve its recent decline in violence with genuine national reconciliation.

Security Improvements Amplify Stability in Iraqi Province - AFPS

Citizens of Iraq’s Babil province feel secure, and overall quality of life in the area is improving due to the efforts of Iraqi and coalition forces, a US commander said yesterday. Army Col. Tom James, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, detailed for military bloggers and online journalists the ongoing effort to secure his region of Iraq and stimulate its economy. James has oversight of Babil province, part of the military’s Multinational Division Center area of responsibility south of Baghdad. “Our mission is to secure the population, defeat extremists and neutralize resistance groups, increase the professionalism of the Iraqi security forces, build the capacity of government institutions and economic programs, and transition security and local development tasks to the Iraqi security forces and local governments over time,” James said. Significant improvements in quality of life and the overall security situation are the result of progress within the Iraqi security forces and a working partnership between the Iraqi forces and coalition troops, James said. Those improvements are causing a positive chain reaction and becoming partially self-reinforcing, he noted.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Official: 460 Militants, 22 Troops Die in Pakistan - Associated Press

Pakistan's top civilian security official vowed Friday to "wipe out" Islamic militants in a volatile tribal region where the government says more than 460 insurgents and 22 troops have died in 10 days of fighting. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Pakistani intelligence have reports that about 3,000 armed militants are present in the northwestern region of Bajur, which borders Afghanistan. He said they included Pakistanis, Afghan Taliban and Central Asians. Pakistani army helicopter gunships and jets have been pounding militant positions in Bajur since the fighting broke out Aug. 6 when scores of insurgents attacked a military outpost. The region is regarded as a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida.

US-led Forces in Afghanistan Kill 36 Militants - Associated Press

US-led forces have killed more than 36 insurgents in a series of clashes and air strikes in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said Friday. A militant attack on a NATO patrol killed two of the alliance's troops. Groups of militants began launching attacks Wednesday on a coalition reconnaissance patrol in the south, using rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and small-arms fire, the coalition said. Coalition troops “returned fire with small arms and close air support,” destroying several vehicles and killing more than three dozen insurgents, the statement said. Capt. Christian Patterson, a coalition spokesman said the operation is still ongoing. He would not disclose the exact location of the clashes. Southern Afghanistan is the center of a six-year-old Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan that is gaining strength and spreading to the east.

Attacks on NATO Patrol in Afghanistan Kills 2 - Associated Press

US-led forces have killed more than 36 insurgents in a series of clashes and airstrikes in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said Friday. A militant attack on NATO patrol killed two alliance's troops. Groups of militants began launching attacks Wednesday on a coalition reconnaissance patrol in the south, using rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and small arms fire, the coalition said. Coalition troops "returned fire with small arms and close air support," destroying several vehicles and killing more than three dozen insurgents, the statement said.

Kandahar Governor's String Runs Out - Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail

The governor of Kandahar, whose firing may have been delayed by a diplomatic slip of the tongue from Canada's previous foreign affairs minister, has been replaced by a former commander in the Afghan National Army. Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced late yesterday that Major-General Rahmatullah Raufi would be taking the influential position from Asadullah Khalid, who had been linked to torture and corruption. Gen. Raufi was at one time the military regional commander for Kandahar province where the Canadian Forces are stationed but was replaced two years ago. He has not held a position in the government or military since then, sources said. Gen. Raufi will take over the job of governor today. He is coming to the post at a time when the Taliban's grip on the region is increasing, a situation that is due in large part to corruption within the government and the police.

West's Strategy Failing in Afghanistan - Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star analysis

This week's Canadian deaths in Afghanistan underscore the most troubling aspect of the West's strategy there. Put simply, it isn't working. The strategy is based on what appears to be unassailable logic: If NATO and other Western countries provide physical security for the fledgling government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, then his pro-Western regime will be able to service the population, win its trust and undermine the political appeal of Taliban insurgents. Which, in the end, will allow "our" side to win. But this perfectly rational approach hinges on the ability of NATO to provide that security. As the events of the past few days illustrate, that just isn't happening.

Heroic Afghan Sacrifice - Toronto Star editorial

They were Canadian ambassadors of hope in a shattered land. Shirley Case and Jacqueline Kirk went to Afghanistan bearing the gift of education for women and children. The Taliban gunmen who murdered them Wednesday, with fellow International Rescue Committee workers Mohammad Aimal and Nicole Dial, were not intent merely on killing foreigners. They also had Afghanistan's hopes in their gunsights. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper rightly noted in his tribute to the selfless sacrifice of the United States-based IRC workers, the Taliban offer only a "bleak alternative" of brutality, backwardness and terror. That is why Canadian troops and aid workers alike are risking their lives to prevent the Taliban from reimposing their rule by force, and to rebuild the lives of those who suffered under their benighted regime.

PAKISTAN

Musharraf Vows to Fight Impeachment - Jane Perlez, New York TImes

President Pervez Musharraf fought back Friday against politicians who asserted he would resign rather than face impeachment charges, saying through his chief political supporter that he would challenge the charges when they were brought to Parliament. Politicians across all parties, however, characterized the public insistence by Mr. Musharraf, a former military man, as a kind of last stand, a bravura performance that could not be maintained under the political reality that almost all of his support had evaporated. If Mr. Musharraf does not step down voluntarily very soon, the man who succeeded him last year as army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, will quietly make it clear he has to leave, said two senior Pakistani figures who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Vote Leaves Musharraf Few Options - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

The last of Pakistan's four provincial assemblies voted unanimously Friday in favor of impeaching President Pervez Musharraf, leaving him with few options as the threat of his ouster looms. The vote in the southwestern province of Baluchistan was delivered within hours of an announcement by the two parties in Pakistan's ruling coalition that their leaders had completed a draft of the formal impeachment charges expected to be filed in Parliament on Monday. The country's three other provincial assemblies voted in favor of Musharraf's impeachment earlier this week, with dozens of members of Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q party casting votes with the majority.

Musharraf 'to Quit for Political Role' - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, widely believed to be on the point of quitting, was reported last night to be planning to "do a Putin"and run for political office after he resigns. Supporters in the so-called king's party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid), said they believed that if he did step aside, he would seek a party political role as the former Russian president now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin secured earlier this year. "He wants a role in the country's politics after leaving the presidency," the Dawn News television quoted PML officials as saying. Mr Musharraf, a crucial ally in the war against Islamic extremism for almost nine years, is widely expected to quit in the next two days, ahead of impeachment charges due to be filed against him in parliament on Monday.

Deal Close for Musharraf to Resign - Laura King, Los Angeles Times

Discussions aimed at setting terms for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation continued through intermediaries here Friday, according to politicians familiar with the talks, and some reports said an accord was close. The president's spokesman, retired Gen. Rashid Qureshi, denied that any agreement had been reached for the beleaguered Musharraf to voluntarily step down. Pakistani politicians and Western diplomats had said Thursday that Musharraf's exit could be announced within days -- a move that would stave off a bruising impeachment battle that could begin in the coming week.

Musharraf Allies Say Talks Could Lead to Resignation - Barry Newhouse, VOA

Allies of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf say there are ongoing talks with his political opponents about allowing Mr. Musharraf to resign without facing impeachment charges. Days before Pakistan's coalition government says it will reveal several impeachment charges against Mr. Musharraf, some of the president's allies say there are ongoing talks between the two sides that could allow Mr. Musharraf to quietly resign without facing impeachment or criminal charges. A spokesman for the president, Rashid Qureshi, is denying that the president plans to step down or is seeking a deal for legal immunity. But Senator Mushahid Hussein, a senior leader of the president's Pakistan Muslim League Q party, confirms in an interview with VOA that there are talks under way for some sort of compromise agreement. He says "the next few days will be decisive" in the standoff.

Pakistan's Musharraf Said Ready to Quit, Talks On - Reuters

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is ready to resign rather than face impeachment but is seeking immunity from prosecution and agreement on a safe place to live, coalition government officials said on Friday. Speculation has been mounting that the former army chief Musharraf and firm US ally would quit since the ruling coalition, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said last week it planned to impeach him. A spokesman for the president has repeatedly denied media reports that he was about to quit, and he did so again on Friday, saying "baseless and malicious" reports about the president's plan to resign were damaging the economy.

Pakistan: After Musharraf - The Times editorial

Despite his spokesman's angry denials of “baseless and malicious” rumours, it is no longer a question of whether President Musharraf will resign, but when. Even as he was blustering about his readiness to face any impeachment proceedings in the Pakistani Parliament, his aides were trying frantically to negotiate a deal that would allow him to resign before the planned actions next week. Mr Musharraf has done the State some service, and they know it. But those now commanding the ship of state are intent only on humiliating the man who seized power in 1999 and banned the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Muslim League, the two parties yoked in uneasy coalition. Nawaz Sharif, in particular, is determined to avenge his ousting as Prime Minister nine years ago. He has refused to grant Mr Musharraf immunity and is seeking a formal trial on the ground of his violating the Constitution.

Pakistan After Musharraf - Tariq Ali, Los Angeles Times opinion

Power has been draining away from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for more than a year. His party suffered a stunning electoral defeat in February that accelerated his isolation. Had he departed peacefully when his constitutional term expired in November 2007, he would have won some respect. Instead, he imposed a state of emergency and sacked the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who was hearing a petition challenging the legality of his presidency. Now Musharraf is under heavy pressure to resign, threatened with impeachment and abandoned by most of his cronies, who accumulated land and money during his term and are now sidling in the direction of the new power brokers. The February election put the Pakistan People's Party led by Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, at the head of a fragile coalition government with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-N. The country moved from a moth-eaten Musharraf dictatorship to a moth-eaten democracy.

India Says Peace Talks with Pakistan Under Threat - Associated Press

India's prime minister said Friday that the peace process with Pakistan was in danger of failing because of attacks like last month's bombing of New Delhi's mission in Afghanistan. India and Afghanistan say Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency orchestrated the attack, which killed 58 people. Islamabad denies playing any role but has promised to investigate the allegation.

IRAN

Iran: Regional Countries Should Help Iraq - Associated Press

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that regional nations should fill the security vacuum when US troops withdraw from Iraq but said there was no prospect of sending in Iranian forces. The United States and Iraq have worked on a deal this year to try to ensure Iraqi security but have disagreed on timing for American troops to withdraw. Iraq has insisted on a timetable but President Bush has refused to accept one.

Ahmadinejad Says Hopes for Turkey Energy Deals Soon - Reuters

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday he hoped his country and Turkey would soon sign energy deals opposed by Washington, which is exerting pressure on Tehran to give up its nuclear program. The two Muslim neighbors failed to conclude expected energy accords during Ahmadinejad's two-day trip to Turkey, which ended on Friday. Turkey, a NATO member with strong ties to the United States and Israel, has come under fire for inviting him. Ahmadinejad has lobbied hard to visit Turkey since coming to power in 2005 as Iran seeks support amid international demands for a suspension of his country's nuclear enrichment program -- the subject of ongoing talks between Iran and Western powers.

THE LONG WAR

US May Ease Police Spy Rules - Hsu and Johnson, Washington Post

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years. The proposed changes would revise the federal government's rules for police intelligence-gathering for the first time since 1993 and would apply to any of the nation's 18,000 state and local police agencies that receive roughly $1.6 billion each year in federal grants. Quietly unveiled late last month, the proposal is part of a flurry of domestic intelligence changes issued and planned by the Bush administration in its waning months. They include a recent executive order that guides the reorganization of federal spy agencies and a pending Justice Department overhaul of FBI procedures for gathering intelligence and investigating terrorism cases within US borders.

'Millennium Bomber' Sentence Tossed Out - Carol Williams, Los Angeles Times

A federal appeals court Friday threw out the 22-year sentence imposed on Algerian Ahmed Ressam for plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium. The three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to US District Court in Seattle to recalculate a sentence for his conviction on nine felony counts. It was the second time the appellate court has scrapped Ressam's sentence. The San Francisco-based panel noted that the US Supreme Court reversal of its first decision to vacate the term failed to take into consideration recent federal sentencing guidelines on what constitutes a reasonable sentence outside the preset range for criminal offenses. Ressam was arrested Dec. 14, 1999, at a ferry terminal in Port Angeles, Wash., after crossing from British Columbia, Canada, in a rented sedan with explosives in the trunk. He had been under surveillance by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for at least two years for known association with suspected Al Qaeda operatives.

Psychologists Clash on Aiding Interrogations - Benedict Carey, New York Times

They have closely studied suspects, looking for mental quirks. They have suggested lines of questioning. They have helped decide when a confrontation is too intense, or when to push harder. More than those in the other healing professions, psychologists have played a central role in the military and CIA interrogation of people suspected of being enemy combatants. But now the profession, long divided over this role, is considering whether to make any involvement in military interrogations a violation of its code of ethics. At the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting this week in Boston, prominent members are denouncing such work as unethical by definition, while other key figures - civilian and military - insist that restricting psychologists’ roles would only make interrogations more likely to harm detainees.

Guantanamo Prisoner Boycotts War Crimes Trial - Associated Press

An alleged al-Qaida recruiter said Friday he wants nothing to do with his trial at Guantanamo Bay, calling it a "legal farce" and telling his Pentagon-appointed lawyer not to defend him. Ali al-Bahlul, a Yemeni who was allegedly Osama bin Laden's personal secretary, left the courtroom midway through his pretrial hearing and said he plans to return only on the days he is convicted and sentenced.

A Home for a Detainee - Washington Post editorial

Huzaifa Parhat may be one of the unluckiest people alive. Captured in Pakistan after fleeing a training camp in Afghanistan, Mr. Parhat has been held at the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002. Mr. Parhat is an ethnic Uighur who fled China because of the abuses committed against Uighurs in his native country. As early as 2003, the US government determined that he posed little risk and was an "attractive candidate for release"; in June a federal appeals court in Washington ruled that the process used to assess whether Mr. Parhat was an enemy combatant was so flawed -- and the evidence against him so flimsy -- that the United States had to either release or transfer him or give him give a new tribunal hearing. This month the administration declared that it would treat him "as if he were no longer an enemy combatant and house him accordingly while it uses its best efforts to place him in a foreign country." This probably means that he will be housed in a facility in Guantanamo where residents have more freedom and access to TVs and recreational activities. While welcome news, this development continues to leave Mr. Parhat in limbo.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

FBI Will Present Scientific Evidence - Lichtblau and Johnston, New York Times

Growing doubts from scientists about the strength of the government’s case against the late Bruce E. Ivins, the military researcher named as the anthrax killer, are forcing the Justice Department to begin disclosing more fully the scientific evidence it used to implicate him. In the face of the questions, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have decided to make their first detailed public presentation next week on the forensic science used to trace the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks to a flask kept in a refrigerator in Dr. Ivins’s laboratory at Fort Detrick, in Maryland. Many scientists are awaiting those details because so far, they say, the FBI has failed to make a conclusive case.

AFRICA

Chad Sentences Former President to Death - Associated Press

A Chadian court on Friday sentenced a former president and eleven rebels to death for crimes against the state, an official said. Former president Hissene Habre is currently awaiting trial in Senegal for torture and murder. A Chadian commission of inquiry concluded Habre killed tens of thousands of political opponents during his eight years in power until he was ousted by rebels in 1990. Habre has been in exile in Senegal since he was overthrown. He lives in a villa in an upscale Dakar neighborhood with his family.

AMERICAS

Crackdown on Smugglers Needed - Randal Archibald, New York Times

The rising tide of guns flowing into Mexico from the United States, which is fueling some of the worst drug violence in Mexico in years, can be stopped only by cracking down on smugglers the way federal authorities hobbled the Mafia, the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, said Thursday. Mr. Chertoff gave that assessment in an interview as he attended a conference here of governors from United States and Mexican border states that ended Friday. With thousands killed in Mexico in the past year as drug cartels battle for turf and supremacy, security along the border remained a major focus of the governors, who were under heavy guard by local, state and federal law enforcement officers. The Mexican governors sought to emphasize the United States’ place as the chief recipient of drugs and exporter of weapons. United States officials have estimated that 90 percent to 95 percent of the weapons used in Mexico’s drug violence come from the United States.

Difficult Road Ahead for New President - Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times

Fernando Lugo, “the bishop of the poor,” as he is known here, was sworn in Friday as president of Paraguay, promising to give land to the landless and to end entrenched corruption after six decades of one-party rule. Despite his remarkable victory in April, the gray-bearded Mr. Lugo, a 57-year-old former Roman Catholic bishop, faces a challenging road in pursuing his agenda, knowing that the Colorado Party, which ruled Paraguay for 61 years, is still very much ingrained in politics here. For 35 of those years, the party was dominated by one man, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, a dictator blamed for many human rights atrocities. In the past five years it was represented by the departing president, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, who expanded an already bloated and inefficient government bureaucracy.

Paraguay Hails New Leader - David Adams, The Times

A leftist, sandal-wearing former priest known as “the Bishop of the Poor” became President of Paraguay yesterday bringing to an end the world’s longest period of uninterrupted one-party rule. Yesterday’s swearing-in of Fernando Lugo, 57, made him the first former Roman Catholic cleric in modern times to lead a Latin American country. The ceremony also marked the first time in Paraguay’s 197-year history that the ruling party has willingly ceded power after losing an election. The Colorado Party had held power since 1947 - including 35 years of dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner - longer than any other party in the world.

Lugo Sworn in as President - Patrick McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo, whose election broke a six-decade legacy of dictatorship and one-party rule, was sworn in Friday as president of this poor, landlocked nation in the heart of South America. "Today a new Paraguay is born," Lugo told thousands of supporters and various heads of state assembled outside the congressional palace in the normally sleepy capital. "Today marks the end of an exclusive Paraguay, a secretive, notoriously corrupt Paraguay." This nation of 6 million has had a fragile democracy since the 1989 ouster of strongman Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled for 35 years under the banner of the Colorado Party. But Stroessner's colorados retained power until Lugo's inauguration - which is being widely seen as the nation's definitive transition to democratic rule.

Paraguay's Lugo Sworn In, Embraced by Region's Left - Reuters

Former Bishop Fernando Lugo was sworn in on Friday as Paraguay's president in a ceremony attended by Latin America's socialist leaders, who have embraced him even as he has distanced himself from their policies. Lugo, who once led anti-government protests and fought for rights for landless peasants, broke 61 years of rule by the Colorado Party when he was elected in April to lead this poor South American country of 5.6 million people. In his inauguration speech in Spanish and in the Guarani Indian language, Lugo said during his five-year term he would fight the country's infamous corruption.

Court Looks at Supporters of Rebels in Colombia - Simon Romero, NY Times

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said on Friday that he would visit Bogotá shortly to determine whether the court should open a formal investigation into support networks for Colombia’s largest rebel group. In an interview, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he would travel on Aug. 25 to meet with judicial authorities and officials in President Álvaro Uribe’s government to discuss the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The preliminary inquiry comes as concerns about the FARC’s support network outside Colombia have deepened.

Trash Can Bomb Kills 7 at Colombia Fair - Associated Press

Authorities say a bomb exploded during a crowded street fair in northwestern Colombia, killing seven people and wounding 17. Police say the device was hidden in a trash can in the town of Ituango. It exploded late Thursday. Regional commander Col. Luis Eduardo Martinez said Friday that police arrested a suspect believed to be connected to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

22 Years in Castro's Gulag - May O'Grady, Wall Street Journal opinion

In late December 1959, nearly a year after Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista had been run out the country by a movement that had a goal of restoring the 1940 Cuban constitution, Fidel Castro was tightening his grip. At the time, Armando Valladares was a 22-year-old government bureaucrat at the Post Office Savings Bank. One day a group from the Communist Party showed up in his office and put a sign on his desk that read "If Fidel is a communist, put me on the list. He's got the right idea." Castro had not yet made public his communist intentions. But Mr. Valladares says that "the sign was part of the campaign by the party and by Fidel to prepare the population for communism, which most knew little about. The idea was that since Fidel had already made his name synonymous with the Cuban messiah, he must be right about communism."

ASIA PACIFIC

Olympic Protests Continue in Beijing - Stephanie Ho, Voice of America

Pro-Tibetan activists unfurled a banner proclaiming "Free Tibet" over an Olympics poster at the headquarters of China's nationwide TV broadcaster. This is the latest in a string of unsanctioned protests during the first full week of the Olympics. Chinese police Friday detained five foreign protesters from the group, Students for a Free Tibet. The group says two of the demonstrators had climbed up on the still under-construction headquarters of state-owned China Central Television to hang the banner. The other three watched from below. There is no immediate word as to what happened to Friday's protesters. But other foreign demonstrators detained recently have been quickly deported. This protest is the latest in a series of small-scale demonstrations by pro-Tibet and other foreign activists, who have criticized China for alleged repression in Tibet, human rights abuses and religious restrictions.

A Beijing Awash in Capitalism - Maureen Fan, Washington Post

With dozens of Chinese gawkers nearby, supermodel Cindy Crawford toured the Omega corporate pavilion here earlier this week, showing off her photographs of Tiananmen Square and Beijing's narrow alleys. The pavilion was one of the elaborate sponsor buildings set up on the Olympic Green, and Crawford was being paid to attend, and to wear one of Omega's diamond-encrusted watches. The Chinese onlookers thought her appearance Thursday was the most natural thing in the world. "Everyone wants to be in Beijing right now, from ordinary visitors to famous stars," said Zhang Fenglian, a 29-year-old lawyer who had to ask who Crawford was. "This is the most modern and cool place to be." Wealthy Chinese have been throwing glamorous receptions and trendy, celebrity-filled parties for years. But with the Olympics, Beijing is reveling in the most lavish display of capitalism, commercialism and celebrity the Communist Party has ever seen.

Philippine Court Opens Hearing on Peace Pact - Associated Press

The Philippine Supreme Court opened a hearing Friday on an autonomy agreement with Muslim rebels, as tensions remained high with the discovery of a homemade bomb at a southern school. Under tight security, the court began hearing arguments from the government and opponents of the accord, who claim it is unconstitutional and would lead to the partition of the Philippines.

Thai and Cambodian Troops Leave Disputed Territory - Associated Press

A monthlong standoff between Thailand and Cambodia appeared to be ending as both sides pulled back their troops Saturday from disputed territory around a temple near their shared border, a Cambodian official said. The redeployment from the Preah Vihear temple area began Friday evening and was continuing on Saturday, said Hang Soth, director-general of the Preah Vihear National Authority. The authority is the government agency that manages the historical site. The standoff near the 11th-century shrine began on July 15 after UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency, approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Both countries have long held claim to the temple, but the World Court awarded it to Cambodia in 1962.

In Broken Economy, Burmese Improvise or Flee - Washington Post

Sixty years ago, Burma, also known as Myanmar, was among the wealthiest countries in Southeast Asia, outshining its neighbors with higher standards of living and greater social mobility. Its universities attracted students from across the region, and its rich stock of natural resources promised steady growth. But decades of mismanagement by military rulers who have kept as tight a grip on the economy as on their political power have sent the country to the bottom of regional and global rankings -- among the worst for poverty, health care and corruption. The education system has been deliberately weakened in response to students' anti-government organizing, and virtually all avenues to prosperity are controlled by senior generals.

Benchmarking Burma - Benedict Rogers, Wall Street Journal opinion

The United Nations special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is expected to arrive in Rangoon in the next few days for another round of talks with the country's military regime. If his visit is to have any meaning, he must move beyond the UN's traditional diplomatic niceties and make concrete demands for change. Since 1990, UN envoys have made 37 visits to Burma. The Human Rights Council and General Assembly between them have passed more than 30 resolutions, and the Security Council has made two Presidential Statements. All of this has had little effect. Vague requests to the junta to engage in dialogue with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, made without any deadline, have led nowhere. She remains under house arrest, just as she has been for 12 years. So rather than more of the same, the UN must present the regime with specific benchmarks for progress, accompanied by deadlines.

EUROPE

Flash Point: South Ossetia - Small Wars Journal

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

Russian Says Shield Makes Poland Target - Jon Ward, Washington Times

A top Russian general said Friday that hosting a US missile shield makes Poland a Kremlin military target, even as Moscow lowered its saber by agreeing to a cease-fire with the former Soviet republic of Georgia in their nations' weeklong war. According to Russia's Interfax news agency, Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Poland's decision could even lead to a nuclear attack on the Kremlin's former Warsaw Pact ally. Russia's president also denounced the US-Poland deal as an anti-Russia act, though he stopped short of threatening Warsaw.

Russia in Nuclear Threat to Poland - Philp and Halpin, The Times

Russia threatened Poland with a nuclear strike yesterday as the ripples of the Caucasus conflict spread through Europe and pitched West against East along new borders. In a chilling echo of the Cold War, Russia gave warning that Poland was “exposing itself to a strike - 100 per cent” after signing a deal with the US to set up a missile shield on Polish soil. The threat, the strongest since the fall of the Soviet Union, came as President Saakashvili of Georgia was forced to accept defeat as he signed a truce giving the Russian Army the right to patrol Georgian soil. General Anatoli Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the general staff in Moscow, said that Russian military doctrine sanctioned the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them”, as Poland had done in signing the deal.

Russia: Poland Risks Attack Because of US Missiles - Associated Press

A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a US missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported. The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations. Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia's missile force.

A Catastrophe in the Making - Richard Beeston, The Times

Donald Tusk, Poland’s Prime Minister, could not have chosen his words better when he told his countrymen: “We have crossed the Rubicon.” He was speaking after the signing of an agreement with America to base ten US interceptor missiles on Polish soil, ostensibly to protect the West against rogue states such as Iran. To clinch the deal, the US also agreed to boost Poland’s defence with Patriot missiles and to conclude a mutual defence treaty “in case of trouble”. Trouble came hours later in the form of a direct threat from General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the Russian deputy chief of staff, who warned the Poles that they should now regard themselves as potential nuclear targets. The Russians believe that the interceptors have nothing to do with Iran but are part of a Western defensive shield that could one day make the Kremlin’s huge stockpile of ballistic missiles obsolete.

Poland Chooses Sides - New York Post editorial

Even as Russia yesterday continued its heavy-handed intimidation of the former Soviet bloc, the government of Poland sent a message of its own to Moscow. After 18 months of talks, Warsaw agreed to place a US missile-defense base on Polish soil, while Washington committed America to defend Poland "in case of trouble" - presumably of the military variety. Clearly Polish President Lech Kaczinsky and Prime Minister Donald Tusk have been following Moscow's continuing march through Georgia - evidence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's determination to re-establish its domination over Eastern Europe. Such a move is of particular danger to Poland, which Russia historically has eyed as a buffer, a vassal - or both.

Serbian Official: Gen. Mladic Will be Caught Soon - Associated Press

Serbia's foreign minister predicted Friday that fugitive Gen. Radko Mladic will be apprehended soon and put on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal, putting to rest an ugly legacy of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime commander, and ex-Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic, are the only remaining major Balkan war crimes fugitives. "There are 43 indictees out of 45 that are already sent to The Hague," Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told reporters on Friday at the United Nations. Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, considered the intellectual author of Serb aggression, was arrested on July 21 and extradited to The Hague, Netherlands, after years of evading NATO forces and internal exile.

MIDDLE EAST

Syria to Open Embassy in Beirut - Martin Chulov, The Australian

Syria is to open an embassy in Lebanon for the first time in a move that recognises its unstable neighbour's sovereignty, but fuels fears of resurgent foreign meddling. The move by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to recognise Lebanon, which was under the tutelage of Damascus until 2005, was immediately welcomed by the US, but treated warily by the Sunni Arab world as a harbinger of Syria again seizing control of the country - this time through the cover of official channels. New Lebanese President Michel Sleiman agreed to reciprocate by opening a Lebanese embassy in Beirut, in a sign of rapidly strengthening ties between his office and Damascus, which endorsed his appointment in May.

Blood Off Their Blood - Martin Peretz, The Australian opinion

There are so many more important issues in the world today than Palestine that I wonder why I am so obsessed with it. Well, of course, what I am obsessed with is Israel, and it's a personal obsession relating to the catastrophe that befell my people in a way that no catastrophe had previously befallen any other people. This fact alone brings the fate of the Jews into the consciousness and conscience of others. It also provokes in a demonic way a wish for the end of the insistent Jewish problem, even if that means the end of the Jewish nation, a goal hoped for by not a few Arabs and their sympathisers. Even if not in numbers, the Darfur genocide in Sudan is of the same order of moral magnitude as the Shoah. It will haunt us in whatever day of judgment we face, and it will haunt us when civil and civilised people at last come to bring some just order to the world, including the moment when some court renders justice. I believe Richard Just's desolating essay, The Truth Will Not Set You Free, will be an exemplary witness and a rare one.

Why Al Jazeera Owes an Apology - Judea Pearl, Wall Street Journal opinion

I have often wondered why some of the best thinkers of our time refuse to believe in human progress. After all, there was a time when tens of thousands of ordinary citizens flocked to the gates of the Roman Coliseum to enjoy the sight of wild beasts tearing human beings to pieces. Today, such a sight would evoke revulsion and disbelief. Of course, inhumanity still exists, but it is no longer laudable or fashionable in the public sphere. With the exception of exhibition killings by jihadist recruiters, cruelty is no longer a catalyst of mass arousal. Even the Nazis tried to hide their deeds from the eyes of history. Be it for fear or shame, the trend is clear: The norms of civilized society are moving forward, and it is those norms, not their exceptions, that shape the minds of our youngsters and justify our hopes for a better world. All this was true until about three weeks ago, when the royal procession of Samir Kuntar brought barbarism back to the public square. Samir Kuntar is the killer who smashed the head of a 4-year-old girl with his rifle in 1979 after killing her father before her eyes. He was convicted, sentenced to 542 years in prison, and never expressed any remorse. He was released by Israel on July 26 in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2006.

SOUTH ASIA

India Asks Kashmiri Separatists to End Protests - Associated Press

Tens of thousands of Muslims took to the streets again Friday in India's part of Kashmir, ignoring a plea by the country's prime minister for an end to weeks of violence that has left 34 people dead. A curfew that had been in place throughout much of Kashmir was lifted earlier Friday because the day appeared calm with streets deserted and shops closed as Kashmiris fell in line with a call by separatist leaders to observe the Indian Independence Day holiday as a "black day." But soon after Muslim Friday prayers ended, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of Kashmir's towns and cities. In Srinagar, the region's main city, protesters burned Indian flags and raised an Islamic green flag at the clock tower in the city's main bazaar.

Nepal Elects a Maoist to Be PM - Pokharel and Sengupta, New York TImes

The leader of the decade-long Maoist rebellion in Nepal was elected prime minister on Friday after four months of political wrangling. His victory sets the stage for the former rebels’ toughest challenge: how to uplift the lives of 27 million people in one of the poorest countries in the world at a time of soaring food and fuel prices. The Maoist leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal - who goes by the nom de guerre Prachanda, “the fierce one” in Nepali - won more than two-thirds of 577 votes cast in the Constituent Assembly on Friday evening. His election had been expected since April, when the Maoists won a majority in a special assembly elected both to draft a new constitution and to form a government.

Ex-rebels' Chief Chosen as Nepal's New PM - Associated Press

Nepal's national assembly chose the leader of the Himalayan nation's former rebels as the new prime minister Friday, two years after he gave up a bloody insurgency and joined the peace process. Prachanda, chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), had been widely expected to win because he had the backing of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) , the Madeshi People's Rights Forum and several smaller parties. His own party won the most seats in April elections but fell short of a majority.

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.