IRAQ

Basra News Roundup - Small Wars Journal

The public dust-up concerning recent British operations in Basra started with three items in yesterday's Times, nothing yet on the Ministry of Defence official web page or the Basra Blog (official news blog of Headquarters, Multi-National Division South East, Basra) on this issue. At the link is the SWJ roundup of news, analysis, op-ed, editorials and blog commentary so far.

Iraqi Army Is Willing, but Not Ready - Campbell Robertson, New York Times

While Americans and Iraqi civilians alike are increasingly eager to see combat operations turned over to the Iraqi Army, interviews with more than a dozen Iraqi soldiers and officers in Diyala Province, at the outset of a large-scale operation against insurgents led by Iraqis but backed by Americans, reveal a military confident of its progress but unsure of its readiness. The army has made huge leaps forward, most of the soldiers agreed, and can hold its own in battles with the insurgency with little or no American support. But almost all said the time when the Iraqi Army can stand alone as a national defense force is still years away. “You can’t go from a lieutenant all the way to a general at once,” said one Iraqi officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. “The army needs more time.”

Mahdi Army to Lay Down Arms - Daily Telegraph

Headed by Moqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand anti-Western cleric, the Mahdi Army has long controlled large swathes of the capital Baghdad. Its decision to disarm, expected to be announced this week at Friday prayers, will help to further stabilise Iraq. The new strategy has been outlined in a document obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which has had its authenticity confirmed by one of Mr Sadr's spokesmen. As well as promising to refocus on peaceful policy areas more normally associated with a charity or political party, it pledges that the group "is not allowed to use arms at all".

Moqtada Packs It In - Wall Street Journal editorial

Good news out of Iraq is becoming almost a daily event: In just the past week, we learned that US combat fatalities (five) dropped in July to a low for the war, that key leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq have fled to the Pakistani hinterland, that troop deployments will soon be cut to 12 months from 15, and that Washington and Baghdad are close to concluding a status-of-forces agreement. Now this: Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr plans to announce Friday that he will disarm his Mahdi Army, which was raining mortars on Baghdad's Green Zone as recently as April. Coupled with the near-total defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq, this means the US no longer faces any significant organized military foe in the country. It also marks a major setback for Iran, which had used the Mahdi Army as one of its primary vehicles for extending its influence in Iraq. The story, broken yesterday by the Journal's Gina Chon, marks the latest of serial defeats for Mr. Sadr, beginning in February 2007 when he was forced underground (reportedly to Iran) in anticipation of the surge of US troops.

Iraq Banks Billions in Surpluses, GAO Says - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post

Iraq's oil income will more than double this year, even as Baghdad continues to spend only a small percentage of its own money on reconstruction and services while it banks billions in surplus funds, according to projections by US government auditors. Between 2005 and 2007, only 10 percent of Iraq's expenditures went toward reconstruction, with just 1 percent spent on maintaining US and Iraqi-funded investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office. Even when Baghdad has allocated larger sums, the report said, it has spent only a small portion of the budgeted money. Those trends, which the report said have continued during the first half of this year, are likely to fuel further congressional discontent over ongoing US payments to rebuild Iraq.

Iraq: Up to $79 Billion in Surplus Cash - Glanz & Robertson New York Times

The soaring price of oil will leave the Iraqi government with a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year’s end an American federal oversight agency has concluded in an analysis released on Tuesday. The unspent windfall, which covers surpluses from oil sales from 2005 through 2008, appears likely to put an uncomfortable new focus on the approximately $48 billion in American taxpayer money devoted to rebuilding Iraq since the American-led invasion. Over all, the report from the Government Accountability Office estimates, Iraqi oil revenue from 2005 through the end of this year will amount to at least $156 billion. And in an odd financial twist, large amounts of the surplus money is sitting in an American bank in New York - nearly $10 billion at the end of 2007, with more expected this year, when the accountability office estimates a skyrocketing surplus.

Up to 20% of Relief Funds Wasted - Associated Press

In the flatlands north of Baghdad sits a prison with no prisoners. It holds something else: a chronicle of US government waste, misguided planning and construction shortcuts costing $40 million and stretching back to the American overseers who replaced Saddam Hussein. "It's a bit of a monument in the desert right now because it's not going to be used as a prison," said Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, whose office released a whistleblowing report late last month detailing the litany of waste and fraud at the vacant detention center in Khan Bani Saad.

Hopeless Iraq in the Past - Associated Press

President George W. Bush said yesterday that US troops going to Iraq would find a country dramatically different from the one that was "hopeless" before his troop surge this year. Beginning a week-long Asian tour with a refuelling stop in Alaska, the US President offered thanks to units from a base near Fairbanks and nearby Fort Wainwright that had done tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said an Army Stryker brigade from Wainwright was about to deploy to Iraq and would be "heading into a different situation". "About a year ago people thought Iraq was lost and hopeless. People were saying 'let's get out of there, it doesn't matter to our national security'. Iraq's changed - a lot. The terrorists are on the run."

Iraq's Female Bombers Rise as Qaeda's Men Fall - Reuters

In a video sold in Baghdad's souks, a group of women draped in cartridge belts and clutching pistols and rifles explained why they had taken up arms against the US military in Iraq. "We are defending Islam and its sanctity. This is the country we were raised in. Why should we stand by while our men are defending the country?" said one woman, her face covered. "What's stopping women?" Lately, nothing is stopping them. Even as overall violence in Iraq has fallen to levels unseen since early 2004, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of attacks by women, deployed by Sunni Arab militants as suicide bombers. There have been 23 suicide bomb attacks carried out by women in Iraq so far this year, compared to eight attacks for the whole of 2007, the US military says.

White House 'Buried British Intelligence' - Reid and Coates, The Times

MI6 told Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq that a high-placed Iraqi source said that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence was passed to the US but was buried by the White House, according to a new book. The book claimed that the former Prime Minister sent a top British spy to the Middle East in 2003 - three months before the invasion - to dig up enough intelligence to avoid war but that President Bush and Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, dismissed any claims or possible evidence that would stop military action. In The Way of the World, the Pulitzer prize-winning author Ron Suskind also claimed that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a backdated, handwritten letter purportedly from the head of Iraqi Intelligence to Saddam. The letter, which came to light nine months after the invasion, was meant to demonstrate a link between the Baathist regime and al-Qaeda.

White House Denies Author's Accusations - Joby Warrick, Washington Post

The Bush administration joined former top CIA officials in denouncing a new book's assertion that White House officials ordered the forgery of Iraqi documents to suggest a link between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The claim was made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, whose book "The Way of the World" also contends that the White House obtained compelling evidence in early 2003 that Iraq possessed no significant stocks of nuclear or biological weapons but decided to invade the country anyway. "The notion that the White House directed anyone to forge a letter... is absurd," said White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto.

CIA Officials Deny Fake Iraq-al-Qaida Link Letter - Associated Press

Two former CIA officers Tuesday denied that they or the spy agency faked an Iraqi intelligence document purporting to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11 bomber Mohammed Atta, as they are quoted as saying in a new book. The White House issued the statement on behalf of the former officials after a day of adamant denials from the CIA and Bush administration about the claim, made in "The Way of the World," a book by Washington-based journalist Ron Suskind. "I never received direction from George Tenet or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document... as outlined in Mr. Suskind's book," said Robert Richer, the CIA's former deputy director of clandestine operations.

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

A Ragtag Pursuit of the Taliban - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post

The United States has spent about $6.2 billion since 2002 to transform Afghanistan's national police into a bulwark against the Taliban and other Islamist fighters. About 730 American military advisers have been deployed to help train and equip the force. But as of this spring, not a single one of the 433 police units that have received the training has been judged fully capable of handling its mission or the Taliban threat, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Across Afghanistan, meanwhile, roadside bombs have become more frequent and firefights have grown fiercer. In May and June, more foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq. Seven years after the United States began its fight against the Taliban, the insurgency is proving more resilient. While US officials say the Afghan army has improved markedly since the war began, the poorly trained, ill-equipped national police force has lagged behind.

IRAN

Iran Seeks Details on Nuclear Offer - Lynch and DeYoung, Washington Post

The Iranian government said Tuesday that it is ready to respond to an incentives package that the United States and five other world powers have offered in exchange for suspension of its uranium-enrichment program. But Iran insisted that the big powers "simultaneously" provide a more detailed explanation of the offer, a formula that may lead to drawn-out talks. Iran's position was outlined in a statement its chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, sent Tuesday to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, said that "such mutual clarification can pave the way for a speedy and transparent negotiating process with a bright prospect."

Big Powers to Consult on Next Move - David Gollust, Voice of America

Senior diplomats from the five permanent UN Security Council member countries and Germany - the P5 + 1 - will consult by telephone Wednesday on an Iranian note about their offer of incentives for Iran to end uranium enrichment. Iran's reply, conveyed to the European Union Tuesday, reportedly is non-committal. European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana has relayed the Iranian message to the six governments involved in the negotiations with Iran. While officials here say the document is still being studied, they do not contest news reports that Iran has again failed to provide a definitive reply to the incentives offer. The P5+1 presented what was termed a refreshed incentives proposal in June, offering Iran - among other things - aid for civilian nuclear power if it stopped a large-scale uranium enrichment project seen by US and other officials as weapons-related.

Iran Suspends Execution by Stoning - Daily Telegraph

Iran has placed a new moratorium on the execution of people by stoning, the country's judiciary has announced. At least nine people in the country are believed to be facing the sentence for a range of offences including adultery, prostitution and incest. The head of the judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi first told judges to stop carrying out the penalty in 2002 after pressure from the EU. Last year, however, a man was stoned to death in western Iran, prompting fears that the punishment would again be regularly carried out. Several other cases of stonings in the past two years were reported but never officially confirmed.

THE LONG WAR

Judge Admits Possible Error - William Glaberson, New York Times

As the military panel at the trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden deliberated for a full day Tuesday without reaching a verdict, the presiding military judge said he might have given the members incorrect legal instructions about how the international law of war is to be applied here. “I may well have instructed the members erroneously,” said the judge, Capt. Keith J. Allred of the Navy, during one of several sessions called outside the hearing of the six-member panel of senior military officers who are considering war-crimes charges against the driver, Salim Hamdan. For a few hours Tuesday morning, defense lawyers suggested that they might use the judge’s admission to press for a mistrial, which could have disrupted the Pentagon’s effort to complete its first war-crimes trial at the United States naval base here. But by day’s end, it appeared that both sides had agreed to permit the panel members to continue deliberating under the original instructions.

Pakistani Woman Faces Assault Charges - William Branigin, Washington Post

A US-educated Pakistani woman suspected of links to al-Qaeda appeared in federal court in New York yesterday on charges of attempting to kill American military officers and FBI agents in Afghanistan last month. Aafia Siddiqui, 36, a neuroscientist with degrees from MIT and Brandeis University, was flown to New York on Monday, a little more than two weeks after she was shot and wounded while allegedly trying to open fire on a group of Americans who had come to question her in a police station in Afghanistan's Ghazni province.

'Lost' Mother Extradited to New York - Bruce Loudon, The Australian

An American-educated female Pakistani neuroscientist was expected in a New York court today after being extradited to the US on charges of shooting at American soldiers while in detention in Afghanistan. The case of Aafia Siddiqui has caused outrage in Pakistan, where her family angrily insisted that the 36-year-old was innocent and accused US forces of secretly holding her for the last five years at Bagram air base, a detention centre operated by the US Army in Afghanistan. Ms Siddiqui, who has three children, disappeared from the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi in 2003 and featured on a list of US suspects linked to al-Qa'ida the following year. At the time of her arrest, she was carrying inside her handbag documents on how to make explosives and descriptions of various US landmarks, including in New York City, Mr Garcia said, citing the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. When US military officials arrived at her detention facility to pick her up one day after her arrest, Ms Siddiqui rushed out from behind curtains and opened fire with an assault rifle that had been left on the floor, Mr Garcia said. Ms Siddiqui fired two rounds without hitting anybody and was shot in the chest by a US officer who returned fire. She is charged with one count of attempting to kill US officers and employees, and one count of assaulting US officers and employees, with a maximum 20 years in prison on each charge.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Amputee Marine Returns to Combat Duty - David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times

Just over a year ago, Cpl. Garrett Jones was one of thousands of Marines slogging through a tour of duty in Iraq. Today, he is deployed with the same unit in Afghanistan, but he serves now with an unusual distinction. On July 23, 2007, Jones was on foot patrol near the Iraqi city of Fallouja when he was injured by a roadside bomb. After the attack, his left leg was amputated above the knee. He developed infections and fevers. His weight dropped from 175 pounds to 125. At 21, Jones faced months of painful rehabilitation and a likely end to his service in the Marine Corps. One year later, Jones is walking smoothly on a prosthetic leg. He not only continues to serve on active duty, but he has worked his way back to a war zone, serving with his Marine battle buddies in Afghanistan.

AFRICA

Al Qaeda Remains a Threat in Algeria - Liam Stack, Christian Science Monitor

A bomb blast injured 25 people on Sunday in the Algerian town of Tizi Ouzou, which is the latest attack in a string of bombings attributed to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an extremist group that has plagued the country in recent months. The explosion took place near a police station in Tizi Ouzou, which is the largest city in the eastern Berber-speaking province of Kabylie. Four of the wounded were policemen, reports Agence France-Presse. It is unclear whether the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber or a car bomb, but the damage to the site was considerable, according to Reuters.

Zimbabwe Rivals Reported Near Power-Sharing Accord - Voice of America

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are to begin face-to-face negotiations Thursday in what could be the closing phase of power-sharing talks. Sources in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, and South Africa's capital, Pretoria, tell VOA Studio 7 Zimbabwe that South African President Thabo Mbeki will go to Harare to facilitate the dialogue. Sources close to talks still underway in Pretoria say the sides must decide whether Tsvangirai will hold executive powers as prime minister in a proposed government of national unity. They say another issue is who will appoint the governors of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.

French Leaders Accused in Rwanda Genocide - Mike Pflanz, Daily Telegraph

Rwanda said top French politicians should "answer for their actions" as it named them in a report accusing France of arming and advising extremists in the 1994. The two-year investigation said France helped the extremists who carried out the genocide and even took part in some of the killings. It named François Mitterand, France's late former president, and former prime minister Dominique de Villepin among 33 military and political leaders. In 100 days 14 years ago, more than 800,000 of Rwanda's minority Tutsi tribe and moderates from the majority Hutus were killed.

AMERICAS

New Decrees From Chávez - Simon Romero, New York Times

President Hugo Chávez is using his decree powers to enact a set of socialist-inspired measures that seem based on a package of constitutional changes that voters rejected last year. His actions open a new stage of confrontation between his government and the political opposition. The government quietly revealed last week that the president had approved 26 new laws on Thursday, when the 18-month decree powers bestowed on him by Congress were set to expire, but officials withheld offering the full text of the new laws until this week. Some of the laws significantly increase Mr. Chávez’s power. For instance, one law allows him to name regional political leaders who would have separate budgets, which could help him offset possible victories by opposition candidates in state and municipal elections scheduled for November.

Venezuela's Top Court Upholds Candidate Blacklist - Associated Press

Venezuela's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a list barring hundreds of candidates suspected of corruption from running in elections is constitutional, despite complaints that it singles out opponents of President Hugo Chavez. The list - released by the country's top anti-corruption official in February - prevents 272 mostly opposition-aligned politicians from running in November's state and municipal elections.

Chavez's Harvey - James Zumwalt, Washington Times opinion

The 1950 movie "Harvey" starred Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd - a middle-aged, somewhat eccentric man whose best friend was an invisible six-foot, three-and-a-half-inch tall rabbit named Harvey. Throughout the film, Dowd convinces others the rabbit exists. But not until the movie's end do viewers learn whether Harvey is real or just a figment of Dowd's colorful imagination. Unfortunately, Elwood P. Dowd lives today as president of a South American country. Dowd's real-life version is Hugo Chavez, the middle-aged, somewhat eccentric leader of Venezuela. And, just as Jimmy Stewart sought to convince others about the existence of an invisible rabbit only he could see, today Mr. Chavez seeks to convince others an invisible enemy exists, visible only to him. To Mr. Chavez, that enemy - the United States - is his justification for taking various initiatives depleting valuable domestic resources (better used to address the country's internal ills) and destroying his nation's democratic foundation. Jimmy Stewart's portrayal of Dowd made for a cute story; Mr. Chavez's portrayal does not.

Bullet-riddled Bodies Found in Dominican Republic - Reuters

The bullet-riddled bodies of seven men were discovered on Tuesday along a drug-smuggling route south of the Dominican capital, authorities said. Police said the victims, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, were found dumped with their hands tied together alongside a road near Ojo de Agua, a village about 40 miles (65 km) south of Santo Domingo. The report said four of the victims were kidnapped by heavily armed gunmen in military-style camouflage uniforms who dragged them out of a house on Monday night in Banfi, near Ojo de Agua.

ASIA PACIFIC

Bush Presses N. Korea on Weapons - Steven Lee Myers, New York Times

President Bush said on Wednesday that North Korea had not yet done enough to merit removal from an American list of governments that sponsor terrorism, raising the prospect of new delays in the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program. Making his first stop on a visit to Asia focused on the Olympic Games opening in Beijing on Friday, Mr. Bush also chided China for restricting religious freedoms. At the same time, though, he insisted that his attendance was a gesture of respect for the Chinese people and should not be used as an occasion to criticize the country’s authoritarian policies. Mr. Bush, appearing with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, spoke in unusually personal terms about North Korea - a country he once included in an “axis of evil” with Iran and Iraq - and its leader, Kim Jong-il. He suggested that the country’s commitment to giving up nuclear weapons remained unclear even to two leaders involved in the talks that has led to an agreement to do so.

China's Uighurs Wary, Worried After Attack - Jill Drew, Washington Post

Fear and caution pervaded the warren of mud-brick homes and shops of this northwestern city's ethnic Uighur neighborhood Tuesday, a day after an attack on a paramilitary police unit that killed 16 officers. Residents said they feared they would be blamed because the two assailants arrested at the scene were identified by police as Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority already subject to strict security measures. Black-clad police officers carrying short clubs patrolled the Uighur neighborhood, entering several houses to check occupants' names against a government list of registered residents. Police presence at highway checkpoints and throughout the city was beefed up.

Chinese Leaders Indicted on Tibet - Rowan Callick, The Australian

Spain's National Court last night launched an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Tibet, indicting seven Chinese political and military leaders three days ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. The move, certain to infuriate Beijing, came a day after an attack in another ethnically tense region - the Muslim northwest - killed 16 border police. Judge Santiago Pedraz accepted a complaint lodged by several groups including the Tibet Support Committee, which accuse China of a "generalised and systematic attack" against the Tibetan population since March 10. The repression has led to the deaths of 203 people and to the disappearances of nearly 6000, while 1000 people were seriously injured, the complaint stated. Those indicted were Chinese Defence Minister Lian Guanglie, State Security Minister Geng Huichang, Chinese Communist Party secretary for Tibet Zhang Qingli, Politburo member Wang Lequan, Ethnic Affairs Commission leader Li Dezhu, Lhasa Popular Liberation Army Commander Tong Guishan and Chengdu military commando political commissioner Zhan Guihua.

Exiles Try to Rekindle Hopes for Change in Burma - Seth Mydans, New York Times

On Thursday, Mr. Win Min will be among a small group of activist exiles who are scheduled to meet here with President Bush, who has given his backing to what has so far been an unsuccessful struggle for democracy in Myanmar. The military junta that seized power in 1988 has only tightened its grip since then, locking up opponents and hunkering down in the face of criticisms and sanctions from the West. The pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. The junta violently suppressed a peaceful uprising led by monks in September and restricted foreign aid to victims after a cyclone in May. The generals have demonstrated that they will take whatever steps are needed to retain power, Mr. Win Min said, so it is hard to remain optimistic.

Disaster Lessons From Burma - John Holmes, Washington Post opinion

Three months have passed since Cyclone Nargis and an accompanying tidal surge swept across Burma's fertile Irrawaddy Delta region, claiming nearly 140,000 lives and devastating the livelihoods of many more people. All told, some 2.4 million people were seriously affected by Nargis, ranking it among the worst cyclones in Asia in the past 15 years and the worst in Burma's history. I recently completed my second trip to Burma, where I was again sobered by the immensity of the tragedy but was also cautiously hopeful about relief efforts. In May, government reluctance to allow international aid workers into the affected region sparked a storm of international criticism.

EUROPE

Serbian Officials Urge Fugitives to Surrender - Associated Press

Serbian government officials reportedly are urging war crimes fugitives to surrender following last month's arrest of Radovan Karadzic. Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac is quoted by Serbia's daily Vecernje Novosti as saying "the whole country is the hostage" of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic and ex-Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

MIDDLE EAST

Death of Syrian General Escalates Tensions - Martin Chulov, The Australian

The slaying of a mysterious Syrian general, who was shot dead as he sat on the foredeck of a yacht, has sharply raised tensions in Damascus and led to speculation that cracks are appearing in President Bashar al-Assad's iron-fisted rule. Brigadier General Mohammed Suleiman was little known in Western or Israeli intelligence circles until he was killed by a sniper in a Syrian port on Saturday. He was, however, a critical go-to man for Mr Assad and a loyalist who personally kept most of the regime's secrets and knew the origins of the rest. The general is understood to have been among the closest of Mr Assad's confidants and a key player in regime strategy since Syria was forced to leave Lebanon in March 2005. The death of the general has not been reported in Syrian state media and is being carefully treated elsewhere in the region.

Syrian General's Killing Severs Hezbollah Links - James Hider, The Times

The mysterious killing last week of a top Syrian general and key aide to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has sparked intense speculation about internal feuding within the regime’s intelligence apparatus. Syria is at a critical juncture as it pursues indirect peace talks with Israel and a closer relationship with the West, while attempting to maintain its long-standing regional alliances with Iran and the militant Shia Hezbollah of Lebanon. General Mohammed Suleiman, one of Mr Assad’s closest confidantes, was shot dead on Friday at his chalet in the prestigious Rimal al-Zahabieh, Arabic for “Golden Sands”, seafront resort, 9 miles north of Tartous on the Mediterranean coast. A sniper, apparently located out at sea, shot him in the head, neck and stomach and he was pronounced dead at a hospital in Tartous.

Calls for End to Saudi Child Marriages - Associated Press

An 11-year-old boy gave out invitations to his classmates for a big event his family was planning this summer - and it wasn't his birthday party. It was his wedding to a 10-year-old cousin. Muhammad al-Rashidi's marriage was eventually put on hold, his father said, after pressure from the governor of the northern province of Hail, who considered the elementary school student too young to marry. The case is among a recent spate of marriages involving the very young reported in the media and by Saudi human rights groups. They have been widely denounced by activists, clerics and others who say such unions are harmful to the children and trivialize the institution of marriage.

SOUTH ASIA

Musharraf Cancels Visit to China - BBC News

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has cancelled a planned trip to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The move comes as the country's governing alliance is discussing his possible impeachment. Pakistan's foreign ministry gave no reason for the cancellation. China is one of the country's closest allies. Mr Musharraf's supporters were defeated in elections earlier this year. He has so far resisted pressure to quit.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

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.