Although the additional resources will be applied in different ways on either side of [their mutual border], Afghanistan and Pakistan comprise a single theater that requires comprehensive ‘whole-of governments’ approaches that are closely coordinated.
--General David Petraeus
NATO
Afghanistan, US Leadership Dominate NATO's Historic 60th Anniversary Summit - Sonja Pace, Voice of America
NATO leaders have agreed on more troops, training and money for Afghanistan, warmly welcomed the new U.S. president, and selected a new secretary-general to take over the alliance in August - all amid a highly symbolic summit to celebrate NATO's 60th anniversary in Strasbourg, on the French-German border.
But there was room left for some very serious discussions and Afghanistan topped the agenda.
NATO members agreed to send up to 5,000 more military personnel to help provide security for the upcoming Afghan elections and help train Afghan security forces. An additional $100 million has been set aside in a fund to build up and sustain the Afghan army. And, there is an emphasis on funding for development.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance had come through. "The bottom line is that when it comes to Afghanistan, this summit and this alliance have delivered," he said.
More at Voice of America.
Europeans Offer Few New Troops for Afghanistan - Steven Erlanger and Helene Cooper, New York Times
With protesters raging outside, NATO leaders on Saturday gave a tepid troop commitment to President Obama’s escalating campaign in Afghanistan, mostly committing soldiers only to a temporary security duty.
To a global audience concerned with an exit strategy, Mr. Obama used his most explicit language yet in detailing a narrowed war mission: emphasizing intense action against Al Qaeda even above instilling Western democracy and rights sensibilities.
“We want to do everything we can to encourage and promote rule of law, human rights, the education of women and girls in Afghanistan, economic development, infrastructure development,” he said. “But I also want people to understand that the first reason we are there is to root out Al Qaeda, so that they cannot attack members of the alliance.”
More at The New York Times.
NATO Drags Feet Over Forces for Obama's Afghan Offensive - Matthew Campbell and Isabel Oakeshott, The Times
Black smoke hung above the eastern French city of Strasbourg yesterday as a summit of Nato leaders agreed short-term backing for the alliance’s military presence in Afghanistan but was overshadowed by an orgy of burning and looting.
The decision dashed Barack Obama’s hopes of European support for his military surge in Afghanistan and amounted to the minimum possible commitment of extra troops by European leaders.
Nine countries agreed to send up to 5,000 extra troops, 900 from Britain, but only during the Afghan elections this summer – far short of the permanent commitment that Washington and London had hoped for. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, refused to send any more troops at all.
More at The Times.
NATO Boosts Afghanistan Presence - Jonathan Weisman, Wall Street Journal
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization pledged up to 5,000 additional military troops and trainers for Afghanistan Saturday, along with $100 million for the Afghan national army.
In a round of realpolitik, the member nations papered over anger stemming from a new Afghan law that critics believe will legalize rape in Afghan Shiite marriages and sharply set back women's rights. Leaders warned Afghan president Hamid Karzai not to implement the law, but they backed off threats to withhold aid until the law is rejected.
Deteriorating security in Afghanistan dominated the alliance's 60th anniversary summit, which also elected Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the next secretary general over initial Turkish objections. Mr. Rasmussen led his country when the Muslim world became enraged over a political cartoon published in Denmark that Muslims said insulted the prophet Muhammad.
More at The Wall Street Journal.
NATO Backs Obama's Afghan Plan but Pledges Few New Troops - Edward Cody, Washington Post
NATO allies handed President Obama a broad endorsement of his new Afghan strategy Saturday, pledging the temporary dispatch of 3,000 troops to protect elections next August, new military training teams to strengthen Afghanistan's army and more civilian experts to consolidate its government.
The promises, at a two-day summit marking NATO's 60th anniversary, constituted a sweeping demonstration of support for the new administration's leadership in what has become the alliance's main mission of the moment. But they dramatized once again that European leaders are unwilling to follow Obama's lead in making major new commitments of troops to fight and perhaps die in a faraway war that is widely unpopular among their voters.
More at The Washington Post.
Obama Wins NATO Backing for Afghanistan - Jon Ward, Washington Times
President Obama left France on Saturday having received commitments from allies inside and outside the NATO alliance to add about 5,000 more military personnel to Afghanistan, though most of them appeared headed for noncombat roles.
"What was pledged here today was significant," Mr. Obama said after emerging from a day of meetings to talk with reporters, though he added that the pledges were "a down payment on the future of our mission in Afghanistan."
"We'll need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals," he said. A senior administration official said the White House expects more announcements of troops and civilian resources from other countries in the near future.
More at The Washington Times.
NATO Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan, But Not Combat Forces - Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times
NATO announced Saturday that it would send about 5,000 additional troops and trainers to Afghanistan, a boost that President Obama hailed as "a strong down payment on the future of our mission" there, but one that failed to include the combat forces Washington had sought.
The commitment came at the conclusion of Obama's first summit of the most powerful military alliance in the world, an event marked by pageantry and protest here on the border between France and Germany.
More at The Los Angeles Times and:
Officials Chart Alliance Future at NATO Summit - AFPS
Afghanistan, Alliance's Future Role Command NATO’s Focus at Summit - AFPS
NATO Remains as Necessary as Ever, Secretary General Says - AFPS
Heads of State Honor NATO Military Personnel - AFPS
NATO Council Formally Welcomes Albania, Croatia - AFPS
Obama, Sarkozy Share Views on NATO, Russia, Afghanistan - AFPS
Anti-NATO Rioters Clash with French Police - Associated Press
NORTH KOREA
Defiant N. Korea Launches Missile - Blaine Harden, Washington Post
North Korea launched a long-range missile Sunday morning, defying repeated international warnings, worrying its neighbors and setting up the prospect of increased sanctions.
The launch, from a base on the country's northeast coast, came shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday EDT, the U.S. State Department reported. The three-stage rocket flew over Japan, with its first two booster stages falling harmlessly into the Sea of Japan -- also known as the East Sea -- and Pacific Ocean, respectively.
North Korea said the "peaceful" launch would put a communications satellite into orbit, and South Korean officials confirmed that the rocket was carrying a satellite. But President Obama called it a "provocative act" with which North Korea has "further isolated itself from the community of nations."
More at The Washington Post and:
North Korea Fires Missile over Japan - Voice of America
Defying World, North Koreans Launch Rocket - New York Times
North Korea Launches Rocket - Wall Street Journal
North Korea Launches Long-range Rocket - The Times
Japan, US Rap Launch of Rocket - Washington Times
North Korea Launches Rocket - Los Angeles Times
Obama Condemns North Korean Rocket Launch - Washington Post
Kim's Targets - Wall Street Journal opinion
MEXICO
US Aid Delays in Drug War Criticized - William Booth and Steve Fainaru, Washington Post
After promising $1.4 billion last year under a landmark initiative to help fight drug trafficking in Mexico, the US government has spent almost none of the money, fanning criticism on both sides of the border that the United States is failing to respond quickly to the deepening crisis.
In June, Congress appropriated $400 million to assist Mexico under the first installment of the Merida Initiative, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The three-year aid package was passed as an emergency measure because of deteriorating security in Mexico. In December, the State Department announced that $197 million had been "released."
But a closer examination shows that just two small projects under Merida -- the delivery of high-speed computer servers in December and an arms-trafficking workshop attended by senior US officials at a Mexican resort last week -- have been completed.
More at The Washington Post.
MORE NEWS AND OPINION
Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas
NATO Pledge to Afghan Mission a ‘Strong Down Payment,’ Obama Said - AFPS
Gates Touts New Strategy on Afghan Television - AFPS
Coordinators in Afghanistan Perform ‘Ballet in Action,’ General Says - AFPS
Coalition Troops Kill 35 Insurgents in Afghanistan - Voice of America
Aid Groups Warn US Troop Surge Could Increase Afghan Casualties - VOA
World Leaders Condem Afghan Law on Women - Washington Post
Karzai Vows to Review Family Law - New York Times
Karzai Orders Review of Controversial Afghan Marriage Law - Voice of America
Discarding the Negative Old Stereotypes - Washington Times opinion
Pakistan
Can Pakistan Be Governed? - New York Times
Suicide Bomber Kills 8 Paramilitary Officers in Pakistan - Washington Post
Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Pakistan - New York Times
Suicide Bomber Kills 22 in Islamabad Mosque - Associated Press
American UN Worker Freed After Two Months in Captivity - Voice of America
Iraq
US, Iraqi Troops Join for Census, Aid Distribution in Villages - AFPS
Coalition Air Weapons Team Strikes Roadside Bombers in Iraq - AFPS
Black Funeral Banners Belie Iraq's Declining Death Toll - Los Angeles Times
The Long War
Lawyer for Canadian Detainee at Guantanamo Fired - Washington Post
Navy Lawyer Who Faulted Guantánamo Is Reassigned - Associated Press
US Department of Defense
Fiscal 2010 Budget to Reflect ‘Fundamental Shift’ in Defense - AFPS
United States
Obama Outlines Disarmament Plan - Wall Street Journal
Obama Details Anti-Nuke Plan - Voice of America
In Prague, Obama Set to Speak on Global Arms Control - Washington Post
Obama Wants World with No Nuclear Weapons - The Times
Obama's Bipartisan Moment on Foreign Policy - LA Times opinion
Africa
US Envoy Warns Sudan Crisis Could Worsen - Voice of America
Somalia's Government Requires Aid Agencies to Register - Voice of America
Americas
Obama to Loosen Restrictions on Policy With Cuba - New York Times
US to Lift Some Cuba Travel Curbs - Wall Street Journal
Asia Pacific
Thailand's Thaksin Says No to Peace Talks - Wall Street Journal
Dying, and Alone, in Burma - New York Times
Europe
Czechs Protest Missile Defense - Washington Post
Admirers, Hopeful of Change, Await US President in Turkey - Washington Post
Turkey Awaits Obama with Mixed Emotions - Los Angeles Times
Middle East
Britain Says US Doesn't Object to Efforts to Engage Hezbollah - LA Times
Israeli Police Kill Armed Teenage Girl - Voice of America
A Mideast Play's Uncertain Script - Washington Post opinion
South Asia
Sri Lanka: 420 Tamil Tigers Killed in Rebel Stronghold - Associated Press
Violence Silences Voices of Sri Lankan Journalists - New York Times
BOOK REVIEWS
Soldiers of Misfortune - James Glanz, New York Times book review of Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage by Donovan Campbell.
A Counterinsurgency Primer - Max Boot, Wall Street Journal book review of The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen.
Reluctant Warriors - The Economist book review of both The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas Ricks and The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen.
BOOKS
Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage - Donovan Campbell.
Donovan Campbell, first as a Marine and then as a writer, shows us that the dominant emotion in war isn’t hatred or anger or fear. It’s love. His story stands as a poignant tribute to his men–their courage, their dedication, their skill, and their love for one another, even unto death.
The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose - Anthony Zinni and Tony Koltz
The intellectual complement to Zinni and Clancy's bestselling Battle Ready (2004), a narrative memoir salted with specific policy recommendations, this volume provides the former US Central Command chief's analysis of America's current global position. Zinni begins by asserting that America's status as "the most powerful nation in the history of the planet" has created a de facto empire. The US has no choice: if it fails to take the lead, nothing significant happens. At the same time, Americans must recognize that, in a global age, there can be no zero-sum games.
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education - Craig Mullaney
The Unforgiving Minute is the ultimate's soldier's book - universal in its raw emotion and its understanding of the larger issues of life and death. Mullaney, a master storyteller, plunges the depths of self-doubt, endurance, and courage. The result: a riveting, suspenseful human story, beautifully told. This is a book written under fire - a lyrical, spellbinding tale of war, love, and courage. The Unforgiving Minute is the Three Cups of Tea of soldiering.
Great Powers: America and the World after Bush - Thomas P.M. Barnett
In civilian and military circles alike, The Pentagon’s New Map became one of the most talked about books of 2004. “A combination of Tom Friedman on globalization and Carl von Clausewitz on war, [it is] the red-hot book among the nation’s admirals and generals,” wrote David Ignatius in The Washington Post. Barnett’s second book, Blueprint for Action, demonstrated how to put the first book’s principles to work. Now, in Great Powers, Barnett delivers his most sweeping - and important - book of all.
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One - David Kilcullen
A remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror. Kilcullen takes us "on the ground" to uncover the face of modern warfare, illuminating both the big global war (the "War on Terrorism") and its relation to the associated "small wars" across the globe: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Chechnya, Pakistan and North Africa.
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
The US Army / US Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center announces the next COIN Leadership Workshop.
From 27 April - 1 May 2009, the United States Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center will present its next Counterinsurgency Leader Workshop at the Lewis and Clark Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 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.
This workshop will feature presentations from prominent general officers and guest speakers from the interagency community on the COIN environment in addition to the instructional material.
We have 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.
The COIN Leader Workshop Site is open for registration. Please head to the COIN Center website, click on "Events" and then click on the "27 April - 1 May 2009 COIN Leader Workshop" to view more detailed information and register.
