--Robert Gates, Washington Post
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS
Defense Department to Review Afghanistan Operations, Strategy - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service
The Defense Department is examining its operations and strategy in Afghanistan as part of a broader US governmental review, a senior Pentagon spokesman told reporters today.
The completed Pentagon report and reviews by other US agencies will be presented to the White House’s National Security Council, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.
“Various departments within this government have been tasked to take a look at our Afghan strategy and are in the midst of doing that,” Morrell said.
The Defense Department’s policy shop and the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are working on ideas to present to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Morrell said. The secretary, he said, will be briefed regularly on the report’s progress.
The Pentagon likely will examine things like Afghanistan force levels, civilian support, tactics and strategy, Morrell said.
The Defense Department’s work on the report began just within the past few days, Morrell said. “There is still much work to be done,” he said.
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former commander of Multinational Forces Iraq, is conducting a separate review of operations in Afghanistan, Morrell said. Petraeus takes responsibility for US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq when he becomes US Central Command’s chief in late October.
The review is being conducted on a priority basis, Morrell said.
“We are running out of time in this administration, and so I expect, probably you’ll see products sooner than later,” he said.
More at American Forces Press Service.
4,000 More British Troops 'Needed to Fight Taleban in Afghanistan' - Michael Evans, The Times
The British commander in Afghanistan said yesterday that he could use an extra 4,000 troops to fight the Taleban in Helmand province.
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, head of the Helmand Task Force, told Sky News that there were more than enough tasks in the province for another brigade of between 3,000 and 4,000 troops. There are currently 8,000 British troops in southern Afghanistan.
Last week Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said he had no plans to send more troops to Afghanistan, and insisted that British commanders had not asked for additional units. The Americans are planning to send three more brigades next year, some of whose soldiers could go to Helmand.
In a separate move, NATO's top commander disclosed yesterday that he wanted the troops in Afghanistan to play an expanded role in targeting drugs traffickers.
More at The Times.
US Told it Must Hold Talks with Taliban's Mullah Omar - Isambard Wilkinson, Daily Telegraph
The US must broker a power-sharing agreement with the head of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, in order to establish peace in the region, the Governor of Pakistan's lawless border areas has said.
Owais Ghani, who governs the North West Frontier Province and its adjoining tribal areas, is the most prominent figure to date to publicly advocate holding talks with militant commanders leading the insurgency against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
His thinking reflects that of the conservative hardcore of Pakistan's military hardliners who are accused by Western intelligence operatives of supporting the Afghan Taliban as a "hedging policy" to maintain influence in Afghanistan.
"They have to talk to Mullah Omar, certainly – not maybe, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Haqqani group," Mr Ghani told The Daily Telegraph in an interview in Peshawar.
"The solution, the bottom line, is that political stability will only come to Afghanistan when all political power groups, irrespective of the length of their beard, are given their just due share in the political dispensation in Afghanistan."
The governor's remarks are likely to cause controversy among Pakistan's allies in the US-led "war on terror" and at home where the ruling Pakistan's People's Party is opposed to the Taliban.
More at The Daily Telegraph.
As Crime Increases in Kabul, So Does Nostalgia for Taliban - Pamela Constable, Washington Post
While Taliban insurgents stage increasing attacks in the Afghan countryside, equally fast-expanding violent crime - kidnappings, carjackings, drug-related killings and highway robberies - is plaguing the capital of 5 million and the vital truck and bus routes that connect the country's major cities. It is making some Afghans nostalgic for the low-crime days before 2001, when the Taliban sternly ruled most of the country.
Today's problem, which experts say is intertwined with widespread official corruption, opium trafficking and the get-rich-quick boom of postwar aid and reconstruction, is threatening to destroy public confidence in the government of President Hamid Karzai and drive away what little investment the desperately poor country is attracting.
Police and soldiers are everywhere in Kabul - patrolling traffic circles and markets, cruising in open pickup trucks. Armed private guards stand outside newly built glass offices and wedding salons. Every week, more streets are blocked by massive concrete barricades to shelter embassies, official buildings and compounds used by US and NATO forces.
More at The Washington Post.
PAKISTAN
The Problem of Pakistan - Steve Coll, Think Tank blog
A reader of this blog wrote over the weekend to request that I try to explain what is going on in Pakistan and Afghanistan and what should be done about it. I am by nature and training much better equipped to address the former than the latter. My piece for this magazine earlier this year about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto tried to describe some of the texture and political geometry of the cross-border Islamist insurgency that is attacking the governments of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since then, there has been a steady flow of high-quality descriptive journalism about the Pakistani insurgency, and about the limitations of the Pakistan government’s attempts to contain it—particularly by Jane Perlez, at the Times, whose cumulative work since last year offers the best file on the subject.
As for what-should-be-done, the basic goal of US policy is easy to describe: the pursuit, through all instruments of national influence, of a stable, democratic, modernizing Pakistan at peace with its neighbors and with itself. Achieving this is obviously a difficult prospect, as Pakistan’s history attests. The objective is probably realistic in the long run, as India succeeds and pulls Pakistan along, but that, in the end, may have little to do with the United States. On the other hand, the possibility of failure is real. The idea of Pakistan was shaky and provisional from the beginning; the country has already lost half its territory in a war; and its ultimate success cannot be taken for granted.
More at Think Tank.
IRAQ
Iraqi Parliament Passes Provincial Elections Bill - Voice of America
After months of debate and dispute, Iraq's parliament has approved legislation to hold provincial elections in most of the country.
Iraqi lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that calls for the elections to be held by January 31, several months later than originally planned.
The measure was adopted after Iraqi lawmakers agreed to postpone voting in the oil-rich region of Kirkuk and the three autonomous Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq.
Kirkuk has been the focus of a power-sharing dispute among the city's ethnic Kurds, Arabs and other minorities. Iraqi lawmakers accepted a UN proposal for a multi-ethnic committee to review the Kirkuk dispute and prepare for local elections there by March.
More at Voice of America.
NORTH KOREA
North Koreans Bar Inspectors at Nuclear Site - Steven Lee Myers and Elaine Sciolino, New York Times
North Korea’s move to resume the reprocessing of plutonium, perhaps as soon as next week, left the country on the verge of restarting a nuclear weapons program whose shutdown had been portrayed by the White House as a significant diplomatic achievement.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the United States still hoped to preserve a hard-won agreement that called for the North to dismantle its nuclear reactor. But North Korea has refused to resume talks, and no new ones are planned.
The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna announced Wednesday that North Korea had barred international inspectors from a reprocessing plant at its nuclear reactor complex in Yongbyon. The agency said that North Korea, which tested its first nuclear device in 2006 and is believed to have enough plutonium for at least six nuclear bombs, intended to resume production of nuclear weapons-grade fuel there within a week.
More at The New York Times.
NEWS & OPINION NOTES
Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas
Winning in Afghanistan - Newsweek Magazine
Pakistani Army Recovers US Drone Near Afghan Border - Voice of America
Militants Claim US Spy Plane Downing - The Australian
US Troops Help Build Afghan Air Corps - AFPS
Diggers save Afghans Injured by Bomb - The Australian
How We Got a 200-tonne Turbine Past the Taleban - Daily Telegraph opinion
Blunt Instruments in Afghanistan - Captain's Journal blog
AF Defense Minister Wardak Makes an Interesting Bluff - Westhawk blog
Iraq
Iraqi Elections Law Approved - Washington Post
Iraq Passes Provincial Elections Law - New York Times
Iraqi Lawmakers Pass Provincial Election Measure - Los Angeles Times
Iraqi Parliament Approves Provincial Elections Law - Associated Press
Iraq Passes Provincial Elections Law - United Press International
Next Iraqi Elections Key, Minister Says - United Press International
Pentagon Hails Passage of Iraqi Provincial Election Law - AFPS
Iraqi Elections: Definitely, Maybe - Abu Aardvark blog
Sadr Won't Run on Party Ticket - United Press International
Police: Iranian Fighters in Southern Iraq - United Press International
Ambush Kills 20 Iraqi Men Searching for Weapons - New York Times
Kirkuk Police Force Ranks Grow by 3,000 - AFPS
Iraq Discarded Due Process in Hussein Trial - New York Times
Iraq Press Roundup - United Press International
Our Generals Almost Cost Us Iraq - Kings of War blog
How the Generals Almost Lost the Iraq War - PrairiePundit blog
Iran
EU Says Iran Close to Developing Nuclear Weapon - Voice of America
Iran Moves Closer to Nukes Capability - Associated Press
Moscow Quits Sanction Talks About Iran - The Times
Why Wait Until Now to Get Tough with Iran? - Westhawk blog
The Long War
Al Qaeda October Surprise? - United Press International
British Muslim was 'Senior al-Qaeda Leader' - Daily Telegraph
Suspect 'Had al-Qaeda Contact Book' - The Times
Bush Aides Linked to Talks on Interrogations - New York Times
White House Talks on CIA Interrogations - Los Angeles Times
Guantanamo Prosecutor Quits, Says Evidence Was Withheld - Washington Post
An Unfortunate Israeli Export - Weekly Standard opinion
Hypocrisy 2.0 - Weekly Standard opinion
New Censors’ Obsession - National Review opinion
Intelligence Literature
Online Education and the New Literature of Intelligence - Kent's Imperative blog
US Department of State
Assistant Secretary for International Information Programs - MountainRunner blog
Understanding Public Diplomacy - MountainRunner blog
US Department of Defense
8 Generals Disciplined After Misstep On Warheads - Washington Post
Countering IEDs - IEEE Spectrum
'Conservatives' vs. 'Crusaders' for Army's Future - Danger Room blog
The Army Vision of New Media - Information Dissemination blog
Australia Department of Defence
Fitzgibbon Sticks With Joint Fighters - The Australian
Projects Group 'Should Split from Defence' - The Australian
United Nations
Extreme Poverty the Focus at UN Summit - Christian Science Monitor
Israel's President Offers Olive Branch to Arab Leaders at UN - Voice of America
Zimbabwe's Mugabe to Address UN General Assembly - Associated Press
Where’s the Outrage, Turtle Bay? - National Review opinion
Antisemitism, Welcomed and Cheered - National Review opinion
Dining with the Enemy - National Review opinion
Africa
Analysis: Somalia Crisis Deepened by Ethiopia - International Herald Tribune
Somali Violence Claims Seven Civilians - United Press International
Somali Islamists, Peacekeepers Clash in Mogadishu; 12 Killed - Bloomberg
Somali Pirates: Story of the MV Iran Deyanat - Information Dissemination blog
Time Bomb Ticking in Darfur Camps - Los Angeles Times
Persistent Corruption Threatens Liberian Stability - Christian Science Monitor
S. Africa: Zuma Appeals for Calm as Mbeki Quits - Daily Telegraph
South Africa on the Edge - Daily Telegraph editorial
Americas
FARC International Network Sophisticated - United Press International
Colombia: Secret Meeting Sparks Inquiry - Washington Post
Grenade Attack in Mexico Breaks From Deadly Script - New York Times
Mexico on the Brink? - Washington Times opinion
Asia / Pacific
UN Says N. Korea Ejects Inspectors From Nuclear Reprocessing Plant - VOA
North Korea Bars UN Nuclear Inspectors - Washington Post
North Korea Ousts UN Nuclear Inspectors - Los Angeles Times
North Korea Kicks Out Nuclear Inspectors - The Times
North Korea's Reverse - Washington Post editorial
Nuclear Proliferation - The Times editorial
Philippines: Army Ready for Rebel Attack - United Press International
Japan: The Return of Taro Aso - New York Times editorial
Europe
Russian Neighbors Urge UN to Stand Against Aggression - New York Times
US, Russia To Continue Cooperation on Iran, North Korea - Voice of America
Chechen Politician, a Former Rebel Leader, Slain in Moscow - Washington Post
Russia's Scorched Earth Georgia Withdrawal - ThreatsWatch blog
Middle East
Mullen Reinforces US Posture in Middle East, Despite Iraq Success - AFPS
Report: Blair is Failing Middle East Peace Effort - The Times
Yemen Rejects Some US Requests on Extremists - Washington Post
South Asia
Inside Sri Lanka: A Life Given Over to War - National Post
BOOKS
In a Time of War - Bill Murphy
The West Point cadets Murphy follows through their baptism by fire are an admirable sample of young American men and women: intelligent, ambitious and intensely patriotic.
Baghdad at Sunrise - Peter Mansoor
This compelling book presents an unparalleled record of what happened after US forces seized Baghdad in the spring of 2003.
The Strongest Tribe - Bing West
From a universally respected combat journalist, a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around–and the choice now facing America.
Tell Me How This Ends - Linda Robinson
After a series of disastrous missteps in its conduct of the war, the White House in 2006 appointed General David Petraeus as the Commanding General of the coalition forces. Tell Me How This Ends is an inside account of his attempt to turn around a failing war.
We Are Soldiers Still - Joe Galloway
In their stunning follow-up to the classic bestseller We Were Soldiers Once... and Young, Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway return to Vietnam and reflect on how the war changed them, their men, their enemies, and both countries - often with surprising results.
EVENTS OF INTEREST
2 October - Civil Affairs Roundtable (Public Event - Roundtable). ROA Headquarters, One Constitution Ave, NE Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Reserve Officers Association. In earlier roundtables, the observation was made that the center of gravity for stability operations is the human population in the area of operations. Civil affairs professionals and information operators are the key national security resources for influencing the human population. Civil affairs professionals assist in humanitarian operations and building civilian capacity. Information operators develop messages and keep the population informed. This roundtable will explore the relationship between the civil affairs and strategic communications functions.
3-7 November - Counterinsurgency Leaders' Workshop (COIN Workshop). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sponsored by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center. This event is a five-day program focused on understanding the fundamentals of insurgency and counterinsurgency. This is a version of the same extremely popular workshop offered to hundreds of military and civilian attendees over the past two years. The COIN Center has expanded the number of slots available to compensate for the high demand of previous sessions. The proceedings are UNCLASSIFED and registration is open to all interested US government and allied personnel.
6-7 December - Boyd Conference 2008 (Conference). Charlottetown, Prince Edward, Canada. There is an opportunity to hold a short, intense seminar on the applicability of Boyd’s ideas, particularly operating inside the OODA loop and grand strategy (sustaining our own morale and attracting the uncommitted), on the weekend of December 6-7 at the University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI. Canada. The theme would be applying these ideas to conflict in the post-Iraq era, and more specifically to the types of diffused, networked, “open source” armed conflicts that some have called “fifth generation warfare.” We are also interested in exploring solutions, such as the role of “resilient communities” (RC), for countering them. As Oil and food prices have climbed and the mortgage crisis has grown, the need to think more about Resilient Communities has become more urgent. We may have to re-invent our world! We envision this as a working seminar to help shape the policy agenda in the first year of the new administration.
