--Peter Mansoor, New York Times
AL QAEDA / PAKISTAN
CIA Strike Brings bin Laden Closer - Bruce Loudon, The Australian
Hopes of capturing Osama bin Laden rose sharply among terrorist hunters in Pakistan last night as details emerged of the targeted weekend attacks by unmanned CIA Predator drones that killed Rashid Rauf, the alleged mastermind of the 2006 plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.
Rauf, a British citizen linked to al-Qa'ida's leadership, was killed when the compound where he was hiding in the heart of Pakistan's tribal belt was bombarded by Hellfire missiles fired from the US drones, which are said to have killed at least four major militant operatives this month.
The CIA is said to be operating under new rules, approved by US President George W.Bush, that reduce the "confidence threshold" for "high value" targets believed to be in a target zone from 90 per cent likely to between 50 and 60 per cent before a strike can be ordered.
More at The Australian and:
US Strike Kills British Militant in Pakistan - Wall Street Journal
Pakistan Raid a Sign of Sharper US Intelligence - Associated Press
Rauf Linked to al-Qaeda Number Two - Daily Telegraph
Questions as CIA Kill British Terror Suspect - The Times
Hunt for Rashid Rauf Ended with Hellfire - The Times
Hitting al-Qaeda - The Times editorial
AL QAEDA / IRAN
Iran Receives al Qaeda Praise for Role in Terrorist Attacks - Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
Fresh links between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and al-Qaeda have been uncovered following interception of a letter from the terrorist leadership that hails Tehran's support for a recent attack on the American embassy in Yemen, which killed 16 people. Delivery of the letter exposed the rising role of Saad bin Laden, son of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama as an intermediary between the organisation and Iran. Saad bin Laden has been living in Iran since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, apparently under house arrest.
The letter, which was signed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second in command, was written after the American embassy in Yemen was attacked by simultaneous suicide car bombs in September. Western security officials said the missive thanked the leadership of Iran's Revolutionary Guards for providing assistance to al-Qaeda to set up its terrorist network in Yemen, which has suffered ten al-Qaeda-related terror attacks in the past year, including two bomb attacks against the American embassy.
More at The Daily Telegraph.
AFGHANISTAN
Marines Drafting Plan to Send More Troops to Afghanistan - Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
Marine Corps leaders are devising a plan to send thousands of additional combat troops to Afghanistan to wage aggressive warfare against the Taliban that they expect could take years.
The Marines would like to deploy more than 15,000 troops if Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, newly named head of the U.S. Central Command, approve. About 2,300 Marines have already been sent to Afghanistan to replace units from Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., that are returning home after eight months.
Gates said Friday that he wanted to supplement the more than 30,000 American troops, mostly from the Army, already in Afghanistan. An additional 30,000 troops from other North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and allies are also stationed in Afghanistan to combat the Taliban and other Islamist insurgent forces.
More at The Los Angeles Times.
Militants and Military Brace for a Winter of War in Afghanistan - Laura King, Los Angeles Times
In recent years, the first snow falling on the jagged mountain peaks of Afghanistan has ushered in a seasonal slowdown in fighting between insurgents and the Western forces that overthrew the Taliban in 2001. This winter looks to be different. Snow and icy terrain aside, both sides have made it clear that they plan to keep fighting, each contending that the harsh conditions favor them more than their enemy.
"We'll be pursuing them, and pursuing them aggressively, whatever the conditions, and they know this," said Canadian Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, chief spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, a vow amplified by the top US commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, in a speech in Washington on Tuesday.
The militants say they are more than ready. In restive Kandahar province, a mid-level Taliban field commander noted that winter weather had little effect on their weapons of choice: suicide attackers and roadside bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices.
More at The Los Angeles Times.
UNITED STATES / PAKISTAN
Military Rift with Pakistan Hurts War - Sara Carter, Washington Times
Two senior US military officials say the US-led war on terror is facing challenges in part because Pakistan's young military officers don't have the same relationship with their US counterparts that their predecessors had.
In a recent interview with The Washington Times, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a top priority for the Pentagon is healing the longtime rift between the two militaries, which he said has deprived both nations of the trust needed to combat extremism.
"We don't know each other well enough, and us participating with them in their country is equally as important as them participating with us in our country," he said.
More at The Washington Times.
ONE WAR, TWO FRONTS
New York Times: It is not a stretch to say that Barack Obama faces stiffer, more vexing challenges on more fronts than any president in recent memory. In the coming weeks, the Opinion section will publish a series of Op-Ed articles by experts on the most formidable issues facing the new president. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the subject of the following articles.
The Little Battles We Must Win - Linda Robinson
Out of Conflict, a Partnership - Frederick Kagan
A Wartime Presidency, On Two Fronts - Anthony Cordesman
One Surge Does Not Fit All - Donald Rumsfeld
How to Leave Iraq, Intact - Peter Mansoor
Thanks, But You Can Go Now - Ahmad Chalabi
The 'Good War' Isn't Worth Fighting - Rory Stewart
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Keeping Gates at Defense - Arnold Beichman, Washington Times opinion
There is no better appointment in his incoming administration than for President-elect Barack Obama to keep the incumbent Robert M. Gates in his post as defense secretary. I would go even further: No public official is as trusted and indeed as trustworthy as is Mr. Gates. And when it comes to experience he has it in spades.
Mr. Gates has served as defense secretary under Mr. Bush since 2006 when he replaced that political stormy petrel, Donald Rumsfeld. Mr. Gates is much admired by Obama advisers, one of whom, Richard Danzig, was recently quoted by the Financial Times as saying that while Mr. Gates had been a good defense secretary, he would be "an even better one in an Obama administration." Right on.
More at The Washington Times.
IRAN / ISRAEL / UNITED STATES
Israel Fears US Will Dither While Iran Goes Nuclear - Uzi Mahnnaimi,, The Times
Mounting fears that the United States will do nothing to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power will be outlined by Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, when he meets President George W Bush in Washington tomorrow.
Israel is concerned that Bush will pass the Iranian hot potato to Barack Obama, the president-elect, while the last chance of destroying Tehran’s nuclear bomb-making programme may be passing.
A Pentagon source told The Sunday Times earlier this year that Bush had given Israel an “amber light” to carry on with military preparations to attack Iranian nuclear sites.
More at The Times and Daily Telegraph.
CONGO
Thousands Receive Aid in DR Congo as Ceasefire Holds - David Blair, Daily Telegraph
For the first time in weeks, aid workers were able to move freely in North Kivu province, the epicentre of the rebellion led by Laurent Nkunda, a renegade Tutsi general. So far, a ceasefire is holding and Gen Nkunda has withdrawn his forces from two key locations 90 miles north of Goma, the local capital. This has allowed the creation of buffer zones between the rebels and Congo's national army, patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers, and opened up large areas for aid workers.
A British-based aid agency, Merlin, was able to deliver essential drugs to the town of Kanyabayonga, previously fought over by government and rebels. "It has been 10 days since we were last able to get here and the clinics were running out of drugs," said Louise Orton, from Merlin.
More at The Daily Telegraph and:
Thousands of Congolese Stone UN Convoy Near Camp - Associated Press
Congo Rebel Leader Slams Extra UN Deployment - Agence France-Presse
DR Congo Rebel Rallies Support - BBC News
NEWS & OPINION NOTES
Afghanistan
Obama, Karzai Discuss Improving Afghan Security - Voice of America
Obama Speaks With Karzai - New York Times
Afghans Say Obama Promises More US Military Help - Associated Press
US Aims to Boost Afghan Troop Surge - The Australian
French FM Airs Doubt About Obama's Afghan Plan - Associated Press
UN: Violence Against Afghan Children Rising - Reuters
Civilian Is Killed in Afghan Strike - New York Times
Footage Released of Afghan Battle - BBC News
Iraq / OIF
Maliki May Gain Power With US Security Agreement - Los Angeles Times
Iraqi Cabinet Campaigns for Security Pact With US - Associated Press
Failure to Pass US Security Pact Will Hurt Economy - Voice of America
Foes of Security Agreement Cite Failure to Shield Assets From Suits - NY Times
Iraq PM Says US Troops Will Leave If No Pact - Reuters
Iraq Security Pact Poses Detainee Dilemma For US - Associated Press
Iraq's Neighbors Discuss Security Cooperation - Associated Press
US Alone Critical of Syria at Iraq Conference - Reuters
As Kurdish North Grows, Some Are Left Out - Washington Post
Two Bombs Kill 16 in Baghdad - New York Times
Iraq: Saddam Hussein-era Officials Face New Trial - Associated Press
Iran
Ya'alon: Israel Should Mull Killing Ahmadinejad - Jerusalem Post
Teheran Hanging of Spy Seen as Warning - Jerusalem Post
Somalia Piracy
Islamist Fighters Warn Pirates to Free Saudi Tanker - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Move Saudi Tanker as Islamists Warn of Attacks - Bloomberg
The Long War
Closing Guantanamo Prison May Be the Easy Part - Los Angeles Times
Islam
Worldwide Hate Speech Laws? - Weekly Standard opinion
US Department of Defense
US-Canadian Protesters Call for Closing of Military School - Canadian Press
What a Single Nuclear Warhead Could Do - Wall Street Journal opinion
United States
World Leaders at APEC Anxiously Await Obama Administration - Washington Post
Report Calls for Fresh Approach to Latin America - New York Times
Bush Claims Modest Gains for Agenda in Peru Talks - New York Times
Iraq War an Unfair Litmus Test - Los Angeles Times editorial
Drugs: A War We Could Still Win - Washington Post opinion
The Dissident Choice - Los Angeles Times opinion
Africa
Calm in Guinea-Bissau After Attack on President's Home - Voice of America
G-Bissau Leader's Home Under Fire - BBC News
Guinea-Bissau President Escapes Coup Attempt - Associated Press
Guinea-Bissau Leader Survives Post-election Attack - Reuters
Carter, Annan Push on With Efforts to Aid Zimbabwe - Associated Press
Mugabe's Regime Hides Cholera Crisis - The Times
Send the Troops into Zimbabwe, Says Odinga - The Times
Zimbabwe: Has South Africa Figured It Out? - New York Times editorial
Sudan: Ex Darfur Rebels Report Govt Attack - Reuters
Bush Does the Right Thing for Darfur - Wall Street Journal opinion
Americas
Venezuelans Vote in Critical Local Elections - Voice of America
Venezuelans Test Chávez's Dominance - Washington Post
Venezuelan Opposition Gains in Vote - New York Times
Chavez's Candidates Leading in Venezuela Elections - Los Angeles Times
Chavez Faces Test in Venezuela's Local Elections - Daily Telegraph
Chavez Tested in Venezuelan Polls - BBC News
Venezuelans Swamp Polls in Key Vote for Chavez - Associated Press
Chavez Says Russian Warships Arriving Soon - Associated Press
Official: Russians Want to Search for Oil Off Cuba - Associated Press
Nicaragua: Sandinista Fervor Turns Sour - New York Times
Election Fraud in Nicaragua - Wall Street Journal
Asia Pacific
North Korea Hardens Stance on Reconciliation - New York Times
South Korea Stands Firm as Tension Rises With North - Reuters
Talks on North Korea Set for Dec. 8 in China - Associated Press
China's Communist-led Reforms Continue to Hold Peasants Back - Daily Telegraph
Thai Protesters Mass for Final Push to Topple Government - Voice of America
Thai Lawmakers Postpone Session Amid Protests - Wall Street Journal
Thai Protesters Surround Parliament - New York Times
Thai Protesters Surround Parliament in Showdown - Associated Press
Europe
Two Presidents Say They Encountered Gunfire - New York Times
Georgian, Polish Presidents Say They Were Shot - Washington Post
'Shots Fired' at Georgia's President - Daily Telegraph
'Shots Fired' Near Georgia Leader - BBC News
Georgian, Polish Presidents' Motorcade Fired On - Associated Press
Russia Denies Troops Fired at Georgian and Polish Presidents - AFP
Georgian Opposition Leader Launches New Party - Voice of America
Pressure Mounts on Georgian Leader - Wall Street Journal
Germans Held in Kosovo Over Blast - BBC News
Russia's Lavrov Skeptical About US Missile Shield - Reuters
Middle East
Lebanon Seeks Weapons, Aid From Iran - Jerusalem Post
Abbas Calls on Obama to Implement Arab Peace Plan - Associated Press
Abbas Elected 'President of Palestine' by PLO - Agence France-Presse
Abbas May Call for Palestinian Elections - Voice of America
Abbas Threatens Early Elections - BBC News
Abbas to Hamas: Unity Talks or Early Elections - Associated Press
Israel Ignores UN 'Palestine Day' - Jerusalem Post
Israeli-Palestinian Agreement: Forget About It - Jerusalem Post opinion
Big Mosque for President Puzzles Yemen's Poor - Associated Press
South Asia
In India, Controversy Over Bombing Arrests - Washington Post
Second Phase of Elections Held in Indian-Controlled Kashmir - Voice of America
Violence Marks Kashmir Election - BBC News
Dalai Lama Urges Caution in Tibet's Dealings With China - Washington Post
Tibetans Back Dalai Lama's 'Middle Way' - Christian Science Monitor
Dalai Lama Convinces Exiles - Daily Telegraph
Dalai Lama: Tibetans Face Great Danger - The Australian
Dalai Lama May Appoint a Regent to Succeed Him - The Times
BOOKS
Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned - Rufus Phillips
Phillips details how the legendary Edward G. Lansdale helped the South Vietnamese gain and consolidate their independence between 1954 and 1956, and how this later changed to a reliance on American conventional warfare with its highly destructive firepower. He reasons that our failure to understand the Communists, our South Vietnamese allies, or even ourselves took us down the wrong road. In summing up US errors in Vietnam, Phillips draws parallels with the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and suggests changes in the US approach. Known for his intellectual integrity and firsthand, long-term knowledge of what went on in Vietnam, the author offers lessons for today in this trenchant account.
Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq - Peter Mansoor
This is a unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on the Iraq war, analyzing the day-to-day performance of a US brigade in Baghdad during 2004-2005. Mansoor uses a broad spectrum of sources to address the military, political and cultural aspects of an operation undertaken with almost no relevant preparation, which tested officers and men to their limits and generated mistakes and misjudgments on a daily basis. The critique is balanced, perceptive and merciless - and Mansoor was the brigade commander. Military history is replete with command memoirs. Most are more or less self-exculpatory. Even the honest ones rarely achieve this level of analysis. The effect is like watching a surgeon perform an operation on himself. Mansoor has been simultaneously a soldier and a scholar, able to synergize directly his military and academic experiences.
The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq - 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. We interpret reality through the clouded prism of our own experience, so it is unsurprising that Bing West sees Iraq through the lens of Vietnam. He served as a Marine officer there, and he thinks politicians and the media caused the American public to turn against a war that could have been won. Now a correspondent for the Atlantic, West has made 15 reporting trips to Iraq over the last six years and is almost as personally invested in the current conflict as he was in Vietnam; this book, his third on Iraq, is his attempt to ensure that the "endgame" in Iraq turns out better than in his last war.
Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq - 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. Linda Robinson conducted extensive interviews with Petraeus and his subordinate commanders and spent weeks with key US and Iraqi divisions. The result is the only book that ties together military operations in Iraq and the internecine political drama that is at the heart of the civil war. Replete with dramatic battles, behind-doors confrontations, and astute analysis, the book tells the full story of the Iraq War’s endgame, and lays out the options that will be facing the next president.
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 - Bob Woodward
Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realizes the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 US troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election. As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the US military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the US government from 2006 through mid-2008. The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam - Harold Moore and 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. It would be a monumental task for Moore and Galloway to top their classic 1992 memoir. But they come close in this sterling sequel, which tells the backstory of two of the Vietnam War's bloodiest battles (in which Moore participated as a lieutenant colonel), their first book and a 1993 ABC-TV documentary that brought them back to the battlefield. Moore's strong first-person voice reviews the basics of the November 1965 battles, part of the 34-day Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. Among other things, Moore and Galloway (who covered the battle for UPI) offer portraits of two former enemy commanders, generals Nguyen Huu An and Chu Huy Man, whom the authors met - and bonded with - nearly three decades after the battle. This book proves again that Moore is an exceptionally thoughtful, compassionate and courageous leader (he was one of a handful of army officers who studied the history of the Vietnam wars before he arrived) and a strong voice for reconciliation and for honoring the men with whom he served.
In a Time of War: The Proud and Perilous Journey of West Point' Class of 2002 - 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. Most come from career military families and hold conservative opinions. Murphy describes their four years at West Point with respect even when discussing their love lives and marriages. All yearn for battle, and most get their wish. The book's best passages describe the confusion of moving to Iraq or Afghanistan and fighting insurgents, for which they lack both training and equipment. All feel something is not right but concentrate on the job at hand; some inevitably die or are grievously wounded.
Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy - Steven Metz
Today the US military is more nimble, mobile, and focused on rapid responses against smaller powers than ever before. One could argue that the Gulf War and the postwar standoff with Saddam Hussein hastened needed military transformation and strategic reassessments in the post–Cold War era. But the preoccupation with Iraq also mired the United States in the Middle East and led to a bloody occupation. What will American strategy look like after US troops leave Iraq? Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem “developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework.” He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America’s worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled. With lessons for all readers concerned about America’s role in the world, Dr. Metz’s important new work will especially appeal to scholars and students of strategy and international security studies, as well as to military professionals and DOD civilians. With a foreword by Colin S. Gray.
EVENTS OF INTEREST
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.
8 December - Counterinsurgency Leadership Seminar (Seminar). Quantico, VA. On 8 December 2008 the US Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare (CIW) will host a Counterinsurgency Leadership Seminar at Little Hall (Base Theater), Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, featuring Colonel Stephen Davis (USMC), Colonel David Maxwell (USA) and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling. This seminar is cosponsored by CIW, US Joint Forces Command Irregular Warfare Center (IWC), the US Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center (COIN Center) and Small Wars Journal (SWJ). Seminar Panel Members: Colonel Stephen Davis, USMC. Col Davis is currently the Deputy Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Special Operations Command. Previously, Col Davis commanded Regimental Combat Team 2 in Iraq. Colonel David Maxwell, USA. COL Maxwell is currently the G-3 (Operations Officer) of the US Army Special Operations Command. Previously he commanded the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling, USA. LTC Yingling is the Commander of 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery and is currently deployed to Iraq performing detainee operations. He has served two previous tours in Iraq, and has also deployed to Bosnia and Operation Desert Storm. Colonel Daniel Kelly, USMC, will moderate. Col Kelly is the Director of the US Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare. He has held a wide variety of command and staff billets and participated in numerous operations to include Operations Restore Hope / Continue Hope (Somalia), Operations Allied Force / Joint Guardian, (Kosovo) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF I and II).
13 January - The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future (Symposium). Washington, D.C. Mark your calendar for January 13, 2009. That is the confirmed date for “The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future”, a symposium to discuss the legislation on which America’s arsenal of persuasion is anchored. The one-day event will be hosted in Washington, D.C., with the location and co-sponsor all but confirmed. The format is four 90 minute panels and will emphasize Q&A, discourse, and debate and not presentations or monologues. The four panels will focus on past, present, future, what to do, respectively. Panelists will be drawn from practitioners (State and Defense Departments), academics, Congress, and the media. The event is free and open to the public but registration will be required (see below). This is a first of its kind in-depth discussion into the legislation that continues to set the parameters of our global engagement. Enacted at the beginning of the First War of Ideas, it is long past time to discuss it ten or more years into the Second War of Ideas, a struggle that goes beyond terrorism and insurgency and into economic and financial power.
26-28 February - Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) (Conference). Texas A&M University - Memorial Student Center Complex, College Station, TX. Sponsored by Texas A&M University. The Student Conference on National Affairs at Texas A&M is in its 54th year. This years conference topic is US Interventions in Problematic Area's Around the World. It will take place from February 26th to the 28th. While the conference activities are focused toward Graduate and Undergraduate students, the speakers we have are open to the general public. Two of the at least five speakers we have confirmed are, Joe Galloway, Author of We Were Soldiers Once and Young, and James Olson, former Director of Counter Intelligence for the CIA. The other speakers will be the best individuals we can find in military, humanitarian, and business issues. We are currently interested in any individuals with a background in Humanitarian issues to speak, or individuals with professional knowledge on the topic to facilitate our student delegate roundtables. More information can be found at scona.tamu.edu and interested parties can contact scona.information@yahoo.com.
