Violence has plummeted and US forces are pulling back, but the year ahead will test the staying power of gains throughout the country.
--Jane Arraf, Christian Science Monitor, on Iraq
AFGHANISTAN
Major Push Is Needed to Save Afghanistan, General Says - Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times
The top American commander responsible for Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, said Thursday that the country would require a “sustained, substantial” commitment from the United States and other nations to stop a downward spiral of violence and a resurgence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
General Petraeus, who declined to suggest a time frame for that commitment, also said that Iran, which has been the target of United Nations sanctions because of its nuclear program, had common interests with the United States and other nations in a secure Afghanistan.
Although he hinted that such interests might make talks with Iran feasible, he said he would leave the topic to diplomats and policy makers.
More at The New York Times.
In Search of the Afghan Maliki - Amir Taheri, National Review opinion
Early in 2007, as the American presidential campaign started to gather momentum, critics of Pres. George W. Bush’s War on Terror invented a scheme that allowed them to oppose the administration’s strategy while dodging charges of appeasement. Under that scheme, Iraq was presented as “the bad war” or, according to Sen. Barack Obama, “the wrong war, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place.” In contrast, Afghanistan was presented as “the good war,” the “just war,” or even “the necessary war.”
The argument was that the war in Iraq was wrong because it had not been explicitly approved by the United Nations, while the invasion of Afghanistan had been. That argument ignored the fact that the UN Security Council had passed 14 resolutions about Iraq, all of them implicitly allowing the use of force against the Baathist regime. The fact that of all the wars in the world since 1945 the UN had ordered only three explicitly did not prevent critics from singling out the liberation of Iraq as a violation of international law. Those critics also ignored the fact that the US Congress had overwhelmingly approved the use of force against Saddam Hussein, thus providing the legal basis that they claimed was lacking.
More at National Review.
AL-QAEDA
Jan. 1 Attack By CIA Killed Two Leaders Of Al-Qaeda - Joby Warrick, Washington Post
A New Year's Day CIA strike in northern Pakistan killed two top al-Qaeda members long sought by the United States, including the man believed to be behind September's deadly suicide bombing at a Marriott hotel in the Pakistani capital, US counterterrorism officials confirmed yesterday.
Agency officials ascertained this week that Usama al-Kini, a Kenyan national who was described as al-Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan, was killed in the Jan. 1 missile strike, along with his lieutenant, identified as Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, the sources said. Both men were associated with a string of suicide attacks in Pakistan in recent months and also allegedly helped plan the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa.
More at the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times.
ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS
Olmert: Army Could Step up Op in Gaza - Elie Leshem, Jerusalem Post
Israel has yet to exhaust all of its military options in the Gaza Strip and could step up its actions against Hamas if the government decides to press forward Operation Cast Lead, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday during a tour of the South.
Olmert also said that he was deeply impressed by the IDF's performance and achievements to date.
The prime minister said that Israel must ensure that "the reality the IDF is currently in the act of changing does not again take control of the South, and that quiet prevails.
More at The Jerusalem Post.
Gaza Ceasefire Hopes Dashed Amid More Killing - Damien McElroy and Tom Leonard, Daily Telegraph
Britain is leading a renewed push for the UN Security Council to pass a resolution demanding a truce. The decision to stop the flow of aid into Gaza came after an Israeli tank opened fire on a UN convoy during an agreed three-hour pause in the fighting, killing two drivers.
With conditions in Gaza worsening by the day, the sudden halt to all humanitarian aid is likely to increase the pressure on Israeli to end its offensive, which has so far resulted in 763 Palestinian deaths.
The diplomatic landscape shifted overnight when America, Britain and France abandoned their opposition to a formal UN resolution demanding a ceasefire. British diplomats have produced a draft resolution that seeks to incorporate the concerns of Arab countries without triggering an American veto.
More at The Daily Telegraph.
UN Suspends Aid to Gaza Strip - Griff Witte and Colum Lynch, Washington Post
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, hours after the United Nations announced it would suspend humanitarian aid deliveries in the territory, citing Israeli attacks on its facilities and personnel.
The 15-nation council adopted the resolution by a vote of 14 to 0. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cast the sole abstention but said the United States supports the text and objectives of the resolution.
The resolution demands an "immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza," U.S. and Arab officials said. It marked a sharp reversal by the Bush administration, which had refused to allow passage of a cease-fire resolution without binding assurances that Hamas would halt its rocket attacks against Israel.
More at The Washington Post.
Rocket Fire From Lebanon Unsettles Israel, but Fears of a Hezbollah Attack Subside - Thanassis Cambanis, New York Times
A salvo of rockets launched into northern Israel on Thursday morning raised fears of a renewed war between Israel and the militant Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon, but those worries quickly subsided when it appeared that the attack came from one of several small Palestinian militant groups in the area.
Hezbollah quickly sought to assure the Lebanese government that it was not responsible for the two Katyusha rockets that wounded two people in the Israeli town of Nahariya, despite its leader’s harsh words for Israel in recent days.
But the attack added to existing anxieties in Lebanon and once again illustrated the precariousness of the truce along Israel’s northern border.
More at The New York Times.
Can Israel Survive Its Assault on Gaza? - Tim McGirk, Time
As Israeli troops encircle Gaza City, their commanders are faced with a painful dilemma: How far must they advance into the deadly labyrinth of slums and refugee camps where Hamas militants await with booby-trapped houses and snipers? With each passing day, Israel's war against Hamas grows riskier and more punishing, with the gains appearing to diminish compared to the spiraling costs - to Israel's moral stature, to the lives of Palestinian civilians and to the world's hopes that an ancient conflict can ever be resolved. Ideally, in a war shaped by television images, Israelis would like a tableau of surrender: grimy Hamas commanders crawling from underground bunkers with their hands up. Instead, the deaths of at least 40 civilians taking shelter at a United Nations–run school north of Gaza City are more likely to become the dominant image of the war. Israeli politicians and generals know that the total elimination of Hamas' entrenched military command could take weeks; it might be altogether impossible. The more realistic outcome is an unsatisfactory, brokered truce that leaves Hamas wounded but alive and able to regenerate - and Israel only temporarily safe from attack.
More at Time.
UN and Red Cross Add to Outcry on Gaza War - New York Times
UN, Red Cross Curtail Aid in Gaza - Los Angeles Times
100 Survivors Rescued in Gaza From Ruins Blocked by Israelis - Washington Post
UN Calls for 'Immediate' Gaza Cease-fire - Washington Times
Egypt Bids to Mediate Israeli-Palestinian Ceasefire - Voice of America
US Presses Israel to Expand Humanitarian Access to Gaza - Voice of America
UN 'Agrees' Gaza Ceasefire Call - BBC News
UN Halts Aid Deliveries to Gaza - Voice of America
Red Cross Accuses Israel of 'Unacceptable' Conduct - The Times
Rockets from Lebanon Reignite Tension in Israel's North - Los Angeles Times
A Second Front for Israel? - Christian Science Monitor
Israel Keeps Tight Leash on Media - Los Angeles Times
Help Plug Leakers of Army Secrets, Israelis Urged - Reuters
Fighter Sees His Paradise in Gaza’s Pain - New York Times
Diplomacy Can Stop the Gaza Shooting - The Australian editorial
Long Tunnel to a Gaza Peace - Christian Science Monitor editorial
The Fall of Hamas - Washington Post opinion
Propaganda Does Nothing for Peace - The Australian opinion
Israel's Failing Campaign - Washington Post opinion
A Defensive War - Washington Times opinion
Paralysed While the Hamas Hydra Lives - Daily Telegraph opinion
Gaza Through Smoke - Washington Times opinion
PIRACY
Multinational Task Force Targets Pirates - American Forces Press Service
A new multinational task force is focusing solely on counter-piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, the commander of the combined maritime forces in the region said. The force created the Maritime Security Patrol Area in the Gulf of Aden in August to support international efforts to combat piracy. Coalition efforts included Combined Task Force 150, which conducted maritime security operations - such as the deterrence of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking.
"Some navies in our coalition did not have the authority to conduct counter-piracy missions," Navy Vice William E. Gortney said. "The establishment of [Combined Task Force] 151 will allow those nations to operate under the auspices of CTF 150, while allowing other nations to join CTF 151 to support our goal of deterring, disrupting and eventually bringing to justice the maritime criminals involved in piracy events."
Gortney commands US Naval Forces Central Command, the US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. Establishing Combined Task Force 151 to focus on the counter-piracy mission enables Combined Task Force 150 to remain focused on security operations, officials said.
More at American Forces Press Service and:
US to Lead New Anti-pirate Force - BBC News
Australian Warship May Fight Somali Pirates - The Australian
New Puntland Head 'to End Piracy' - BBC News
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Obama Selects 4 More Senior Defense Officials - Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post
President-elect Barack Obama yesterday announced his picks for four senior defense officials, including two who served as top Pentagon budget officials under President Bill Clinton.
Obama said he would nominate William J. Lynn III as deputy defense secretary, Robert F. Hale as undersecretary of defense-comptroller, Michèle Flournoy as undersecretary of defense for policy, and Jeh Charles Johnson as general counsel.
More at The Washington Post.
Problems Still Plague Pentagon's Nuclear Mission - David Wood, Baltimore Sun
After firing the two top Air Force leaders last year for a series of embarrassing nuclear weapons mishaps, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was told Thursday that the same problems of inexperience, poor training and splintered authority over nuclear arms affect the entire Pentagon, including its top leadership.
A task force headed by former Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger painted a dismal picture of a Pentagon that has drifted from the mission of nuclear deterrence during the nearly two decades since the Cold War ended. Among the Pentagon's senior military and civilian leaders, the panel found "a distressing degree of inattention" to the role of nuclear weapons in deterring attacks on the United States.
More at The Baltimore Sun.
NATO
NATO's 60th Calls for Change - James Jay Carafano, Washington Times analysis
President-elect Barack Obama should make history. Not just on Jan. 20, but on April 4, as well. The latter date marks the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
When Harry Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty six decades ago, he observed, "Events of this century have taught us that we cannot achieve peace independently. The world has grown too small."
The words still ring true, but the world has changed. NATO must change, too, if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
More at The Washington Times.
DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY
If Only Drone Aircraft had Belligerent Bee Brains - Leigh Dayton, The Australian
It took six months but finally Australian scientists found a hive of Queensland honeybees aggressive enough to mimic a heat-seeking missile. It is all part of a project to discover the tactics bees use to detect, track and intercept moving targets. It's something bees do well and unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles cannot do, despite the best efforts of overseas military researchers.
"We didn't realise that Queensland would have such peaceful bees," said team leader, neuroscientist and engineer Mandyam Srinivasan. "That wasn't a problem when I worked in the ACT," said Professor Srinivasan, of Queensland University's Queensland Brain Institute and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.
He predicted that within three or four years the team will have developed a drone aircraft able to detect and track a moving target such as a truck or missile. The target detection and tracking work could also be applied to mid-air collision avoidance systems for civilian aircraft.
More at The Australian.
NEWS & OPINION NOTES
Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas
Suicide Bomber Attacks Foreign Troops, Kills Civilians - Voice of America
Suicide Bomber Kills 10 in Afghanistan - Associated Press
Obama's Afghan Challenge - Los Angeles Times opinion
Iraq
2009 Opens With New Milestones and More to Come in Iraq, Official Says - AFPS
10 Are Killed in 3 Bomb Attacks on Iraqi Soldiers - New York Times
GIs in Iraq Get a Taste of Home: Football and Beer - Washington Post
Iran
Iran Denounces BBC's New Persian Channel - Daily Telegraph
The Long War
Obama Picks CIA Veteran Brennan as Counterterror Adviser - Washington Post
Terror Threat in Britain Lessened - Christian Science Monitor
Terrorist Penpals - Weekly Standard opinion
United States
Surprise at the CIA - Washington Times opinion
Africa
China Discusses Darfur Prosecution - Voice of America
Diplomatic Activity Builds to Halt Eastern Congo Clashes - Voice of America
Rwanda's Army Chief in DR Congo - BBC News
Zimbabwe: Breakdown of Power-Sharing Deal - Washington Post
Lawyers Want Charges Dropped Against Zimbabwe Activists - VOA
UN Names New Western Sahara Envoy - BBC News
Ghana's Example - Washington Post editorial
Uganda's Epic Murderer - Washington Post opinion
Americas
Q & A with Colombian Defense Minister - Los Angeles Times
Asia-Pacific
Diplomat Cites Bush Efforts to Strengthen Sino-American Ties - Voice of America
North Korea: Election Date, and Outcome, Are Set - Associated Press
Failure of Justice in Indonesia - The Australian opinion
Europe
Gas Cut by Kremlin Highlights US Concern Over Russian Intentions - NY Times
Panel Urges Keeping US Arms in Europe - Washington Post
Russia to Pump Gas to Europe When International Monitors in Place - VOA
Gas for Europe Is Contingent On Monitoring, Putin Says - Washington Post
Russia Ready to Restart Gas Flow to Europe - Los Angeles Times
NATO Warning to Russia over 'Political' Gas Crisis - The Times
Deal Struck to End Gas Cutoff - New York Times
Europe’s Big Chill - New York Times editorial
Kremlin Uses Gas as a Weapon - Los Angeles Times editorial
Georgia: Strategic Partners for What? - Washington Times opinion
Middle East
Conflict Hits Egypt Smugglers - BBC News
South Asia
India in US 'Missile Shield Talks' - BBC News
Sri Lankan Military Presses Ahead with Offensive - Voice of America
Sri Lankan Army 'Takes More Tiger Territory' - BBC News
Gauging Sri Lanka's Inroads in Battle Against Tigers - CS Monitor
Top Sri Lankan Editor Shot Dead - BBC News
Sri Lanka: In Victory, Disgrace - Daily Telegraph editorial
BOOKS
The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 - Thomas Ricks
Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.
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
13 January - The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: A Discourse to Shape America’s Discourse (Symposium). Washington, D.C. – at the Reserve Officer’s Association at the intersection of First Street and Constitution Avenue, NE. The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was passed as the U.S. was beginning a "war of ideology... a war unto death," as America's Ambassador to Russia described it at the time. But, beginning in the 1970's, instead of promoting international engagement through information, cultural and educational exchanges, the law was distorted into a barrier of engagement. From its propaganda and counter-propaganda intentions, it transformed into an anti-propaganda law for reasons that had little to nothing to do with concerns over domestic influence and far removed from the original intent of the law. Keynotes will be given by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James K. Glassman and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy Michael Doran. There will be four 90 minute panels – past, present, future, and Congress – that will emphasize Q&A, discourse, and debate and not presentations or monologues. Registration is free, open to the public, and required to attend. The event will be on the record with a transcript available after the event. A public report based on the proceedings will be produced. Registration and other information can be found at http://mountainrunner.us/symposium.
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.
