It's still too early to say whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad will succeed in their hard-line coup; de facto opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi remains publicly defiant. Yet it is becoming quite clear - for all who care to see it - what the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime will offer if it survives: harsh repression at home and unrelenting hostility toward the West.

--Washington Post

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN

Taliban Battle Stretches Pakistan's Forces - Zahid Hussain, Wall Street Journal. Pakistan's battle against the Taliban widened to the North Waziristan tribal region after fighters loyal to a local militant commander killed 23 soldiers in an ambush on an army convoy in apparent retaliation for recent US drone attacks. The latest clash ended a local peace deal with the government and opened a new front for an already-stretched Pakistani military in the region, which US officials say is the center of Taliban activities in Pakistan and of al Qaeda. Thousands of Pakistani troops already are battling Taliban militants in the Swat Valley near Islamabad, the capital, and in the South Waziristan tribal area. On Sunday evening, militants armed with rocket launchers and automatic weapons struck an army convoy a few miles from the Afghan border. At least four officers were among the 23 soldiers killed, according to security officials. Local civilian and military officials said as many as 35 soldiers were wounded, many of them critically, in one of the most devastating militant attacks on Pakistan's military in recent years.

Anti-Taliban Campaign in Pakistan's Swat Valley Enters Final Phase - Catherine Maddux, Voice of America. Pakistan says the military is in the final phase of its campaign to expel Taliban militants from northwestern Swat Valley and surrounding areas. But, there are no reports that government forces have killed or captured top Taliban leaders in the region. The Pakistani army says all main areas in the region occupied by the militants have been cleared. Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas also told reporters Monday that Taliban command structures have been dismantled and their training centers and ammunition dumps have been destroyed. In addition, Abbas says government forces have reopened and secured strategic highway links between the northern part of Swat Valley and the west and have discovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition in the region. But Abbas stopped short of declaring total victory in the nearly two month campaign against Taliban fighters in the area, saying some small areas of resistance remain.

Deadly Ambush Could Indicate Threat to Pakistan's Army - Joshua Partlow, Washington Post. The Pakistani military is at war with the Taliban, but the ambush that killed 16 soldiers in the tribal region of North Waziristan on Sunday was still somewhat unexpected. "There is no operation which was either planned or being conducted in North Waziristan," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a Pakistani military spokesman, told reporters Monday. "This attack was completely unprovoked." The Taliban assault on an army convoy passing through the village of Inzar Kas was one of the deadliest incidents for the military during its two-month-old offensive against the insurgents. But to some analysts, it also served as a warning of a bigger threat - the possibility that disparate Taliban factions might be closing ranks to battle the army in Pakistan.

Taliban Scrap Peace Deal in Pakistan Tribal Area - Associated Press. Taliban militants in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan say they have pulled out of a peace deal with the government, raising the prospect of wider unrest as the Pakistani army extends its efforts to eliminate insurgents. The militants in North Waziristan blamed continuing US missile strikes and army offensives against the Taliban for their decision, which was announced in the wake of a Taliban ambush that killed 16 soldiers. Separately, a car bombing Tuesday struck trucks taking supplies to Western troops in Afghanistan, killing four people in Pakistan's southwest, police said. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion in Baluchistan province, but militants have frequently targeted supply trucks for US and NATO troops that travel through Pakistani territory.

US Resumes Surveillance Flights Over Pakistan - Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times. As Pakistan escalates military operations against a top Taliban leader, the United States has resumed secret military surveillance drone flights over the country’s tribal areas to provide Pakistani commanders with a wide array of videos and other information on militants, according to American and Pakistani officials. The sharing of real-time video feeds, communications intercepts and other information with Pakistan’s military is considered essential in the country’s campaign to help hunt down the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and destroy his hideouts and forces in the country’s northwest, the officials said. The increased intelligence cooperation comes as the Obama administration is also speeding the delivery of transport helicopters, body armor and other equipment that Pakistan’s military has requested to help combat Mr. Mehsud and to prepare for a major offensive in the militant leader’s stronghold in South Waziristan, a mountainous region abutting the border with Afghanistan.

Top US Officer Takes More Active Role on Afghanistan - Al Pessin, Voice of America. The top American military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has taken a particularly active role in changing the US approach to Afghanistan, contributing to the new strategy, choosing the new commander for US and NATO forces, and deciding to replace the previous one a year ahead of schedule. During a trip with the admiral to Europe, VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin spoke to him about the new strategy and why he has taken such an active role. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen's main job is to be the top military adviser to the president and the secretary of defense. In that role, he must keep close watch on US military operations, worldwide, as well as the strategic environment related to the full range of US national security interests. It is a job with little direct authority but potentially huge influence, and during this, his second year on the job, Admiral Mullen has been using that influence to the fullest.

Afghan Police to Grow by 10,000 for Elections - American Forces Press Service. The Afghan National Police force will grow by 10,000 members to meet security needs for the country’s upcoming national elections, military officials here reported. The international security forces approved the growth at a recent meeting of the Afghan-led International Police Coordination Board, they said. The additional police will provide site security to polling stations throughout 14 selected provinces. With about 10 police to each station, the force will be able to secure nearly 1,000 additional polling stations in Afghanistan, Col. Bradley K. Nelson, the national police force integration officer with Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, said. The training for the additional police will be divided into two phases, much like the training for the additional 4,800 police that are being trained for duty in Kabul, Nelson said. The officers will attend three weeks of training prior to the elections and will receive an additional five weeks of training after the elections. “This is a critical component in election security,” he said, “as we continue to build police forces throughout Afghanistan.” The training of the 10,000 is the second phase of the plan to train 15,000 new police and will take place after the 4,800 new Kabul police are trained. “There is a lot of hard work going on all across Afghanistan, from the Ministry of Interior to the coalition forces, to enable the Afghan National Police to perform their duties and ensure a safe election,” Nelson said.

Afghan Air Corps Returns Mi-35 Helicopters to Flight - American Forces Press Service. After an absence of nearly a decade, the Afghan Mi-35 is again flying the skies of Afghanistan, thanks to pilots from the Afghan National Army Air Corps and the Czech Republic, military officials here said. On May 27, Afghan Mi-35 attack helicopters fired 12.7 mm rounds and 57 mm rockets near Bagram Air Base. Each partnered Afghan and Czech Republic crew fired 200 rounds of ball ammunition and 16 rockets while practicing gunnery on the East River Range Complex. The practice session was the culmination of more than a year’s work to rebuild the Mi-35 program, which gives the Afghan National Army dedicated, armed aircraft for the first time in eight years. The seven-hour training was supported by personnel and equipment from the ANAAC, the Czech Republic Operational Mentor and Liaison Team, Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan mentors and personnel from Task Force Thunder at Bagram Air Base. After the completion of the live-fire training, the lead pilot from the Czech team, Major Juracka, commented, “The Afghan shooting was perfect.” The Czech team began ground training and limited flight training for Afghan Mi-35 crewmembers last summer. In January, Afghan Mi-35 training increased greatly with the arrival of six refurbished helicopters. Since then, the Czech team has completed assessments on nine pilots and added a more aggressive training program. To date, the Afghan pilots have received training on pre-mission planning, contact maneuvers, emergency procedures, navigation, and presidential escort operations. After the completion of their gunnery tables, the Afghan pilots will receive training on pre-planned and close air support combat missions.

Afghan Security Guards Are Blamed in a Gun Battle That Killed a Police Chief - Richard A, Oppel, Jr., New York Times. The police chief of Kandahar Province and five other police officers were killed in a gun battle Monday when about 40 Afghan security guards charged into the prosecutor’s office in Kandahar and demanded the release of a man accused as a car thief and a counterfeiter, according to several senior Kandahar officials. The case immediately raised diplomatic tensions after Afghan government officials said the guards worked for American forces. President Hamid Karzai cited reports that blamed gunmen from “a private security company employed by coalition forces” and demanded that American and NATO forces hand over the guards to Afghan authorities.

IRAQ

Iraqis Celebrate Day of National Sovereignty Marking US Troop Pullback - Edward Yeranian, Voice of America. Iraqis are staging a national celebration to mark the impending June 30th withdrawal of US troops from most cities, towns and villages. Celebrations in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, include music, dance and poetry. Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the US military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th. Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces. The government declared a "Day of National Sovereignty" to mark the event, and has invited ordinary citizens to join evening celebrations at Baghdad's Zawra Park for a festival of music and poetry. Interior Minister Jawad Boulani told journalists the US withdrawal is almost complete and Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining order across the country. He says he believes Iraq's security situation is under control. "I do not think we need to declare a curfew," he insisted.

Jubilation in Iraq on Eve of US Pullback - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post. Iraqis danced in the streets and set off fireworks Monday in impromptu celebrations of a pivotal moment in their nation's troubled history: As of Tuesday, this is no longer America's war. Six years and three months after the March 2003 invasion, the United States will withdraw its remaining combat troops from Iraq's cities and turn over security to Iraqi police and soldiers. While more than 130,000 US troops remain in the country, patrols by heavily armed soldiers in hulking vehicles will largely disappear from Baghdad, Mosul and Iraq's other urban centers. "The Army of the US is out of my country," said Ibrahim Algurabi, 34, a dual US-Iraqi citizen now living in Arizona who attended a concert of celebration in Baghdad's Zawra Park. "People are ready for this change. There are a lot of opportunities to rebuild our country, to forget the past and think about the future." The looming deadline has also created enormous fear and uncertainty among many Iraqis, who believe that the US military pullback will open the door for insurgents to increase their attacks.

US Leaves Iraqi District Where Anger Lingers - Marc Santora, New York Times. When Americans first set up a base in the Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya more than two years ago, their first foot patrol lasted 20 minutes. Wading through sewage, they were shot at by snipers three times. They made it only four blocks. They called the base the Alamo. This month, as American soldiers prepared to withdraw from such outposts as part of a security agreement with the Iraqi government, the last stand was drawing to a close. The base, renamed Casino, will eventually become part of an Iraqi National Police garrison. To meet a deadline Tuesday, three other bases in the neighborhood have been dismantled altogether or turned over to Iraqi security forces. With attacks in the neighborhood down to a fraction of past levels, there was little for the hundred soldiers in one of the last remaining combat units in Baghdad to do.

Iraqi Forces Take Control in Baghdad - Associated Press. Four US soldiers were killed in combat on the eve of the withdrawal of American troops from Baghdad and other Iraq cities, the US military said, as Iraqi forces on Tuesday assumed control for security in urban areas. The US military said the four soldiers served with the Multi-National Division-Baghdad but did not provide further details pending notification of their families. It said they died as a "result of combat related injuries." The withdrawal that was completed on Monday is part of a US-Iraqi security pact and marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.

Iraq Begins Oil and Gas Auction - Alissa J. Rubin and Alan Cowell, New York Times. After a year in preparation, a much-heralded auction of licenses to develop Iraq’s huge oil reserves began Tuesday but seemed to run into difficulties when oil and gas companies demanded far more remuneration than the authorities were ready to pay. Symbolically, the sale, broadcast on television, coincided with the formal handover by American forces of security arrangements in urban areas to Iraqi forces- an economic counterpoint to the striving for political military independence underpinning the Iraqi takeover of patrolling Iraq’s restive cities. At the auction, each contender offered a sealed bid containing details of how much oil the developing company would produce and how much they expected to be paid for each barrel of oil produced. The auction has been billed as one of huge economic importance to Iraq, whose oilfields have been closed to foreigners for decades since they were nationalized under Saddam Hussein. Iraq is seeking to boost its oil production after six years of war.

As Iraq Stabilizes, China Eyes Its Oil Fields - Keith Bradsher, New York Times. As the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing consumer of oil, China is showing increasing interest in oil fields in a country that has until very recently seemed to be firmly in the American sphere of influence for natural resources: Iraq. Chinese oil companies are expected to bid for the rights to develop Iraq’s oil fields in auctions that are set to start Tuesday, although Sinopec, the China National Petroleum Corporation and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation all declined to comment Monday about their bidding strategies. In another sign of China’s interest in Iraqi oil fields, Sinopec, China’s refining giant, offered $7.22 billion on Wednesday to buy Addax Petroleum, a Swiss-Canadian company with operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and in West Africa. If Addax’s shareholders and Canadian regulators approve the deal, which Addax’s board is recommending, it would be China’s largest overseas energy acquisition.

The First Deadline - New York Times editorial. After six bloody, ruinously costly years, there is an end in sight to the American occupation of Iraq. Under an agreement with the Baghdad government, American combat troops are to leave Iraq’s cities by Tuesday. President Obama has pledged that by Aug. 31, 2010 - 14 months from now - all combat troops will be out of Iraq and by the end of 2011 all American troops will be gone. For a badly overstretched American military it will certainly be time to go. Repeated deployments have taken a huge toll on soldiers and their families. The Iraq war - an unnecessary war - has diverted critically needed resources away from Afghanistan, the real front in the war on terrorism. Many Iraqis are eager to see the Americans gone. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has declared June 30 to be a day of “feast and festivals.” But there is an enormous amount to do - and not a lot of time - to help Iraqis prepare for the withdrawal and to reduce the chances the country will unravel as American troops leave.

US Troops Withdraw From Iraq's Cities - Washington Post opinions. The Post asked foreign policy experts for their views on American troops' pullback from Iraqi cities. Below are contributions from Daniel P. Serwer, Michael O'Hanlon, Andrew J. Bacevich and John A. Nagl.

Iraq: Mission Not Yet Accomplished - Jawad Al Bolani, Washington Post opinion. Today is the deadline by which US troops are to withdraw from major Iraqi cities. This clear line in the sand must provide some relief to many Americans, whose sacrifice has been extraordinary. But as the United States shifts its attention from Iraq to Afghanistan and other issues of grave importance, none of us can be lulled into believing that Iraq is a "mission accomplished." That sense of security is simply false. June 30 is not an historical endpoint to be celebrated by political philosophers; it is the beginning of a highly uncertain chapter in Iraqi democracy and self-governance. Recent painful events here demonstrate the challenges ahead. This month we had the sad task of burying one of Iraq's leading moderate politicians, Harith al-Ubaidi, who was brutally shot at a mosque June 12, probably at the hands of al-Qaeda. Large-scale violent attacks such as suicide bombings are down dramatically overall, but as two tragic incidents last week showed, they still occur and still sow chaos and despair. Countries in our region continue to attempt to influence our internal politics to their advantage; the continuing hold on power of the regime in Iran, for example, means continued Iranian support for sympathetic parties and groups in Iraq. Our country's trade minister resigned in May amid allegations of corruption that is reportedly so widespread in Iraq as to be on the scale of a second insurgency. Just this month, I was forced to take action against police officers accused of violating the rights of prisoners.

The Troop Drawdown Could Be Costly for Iraq - Michael Rubin, Wall Street Journal opinion. Today is a milestone in Iraq. Under the terms of the Strategic Framework Agreement, US troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities. In retrospect, however, June 30 will likely mark another milestone: the end of the surge and the relative peace it brought to Iraq. In the past week, bombings in Baghdad, Mosul and near Kirkuk have killed almost 200 people. The worst is yet to come. While the Strategic Framework Agreement was negotiated in the twilight of the Bush administration, President Barack Obama shaped the final deal. He campaigned on a time line to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, and his words impacted the negotiation. Iraq has shown us time and again that military strength is the key to influence in other matters. Just look at the behavior of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric. Under Saddam, Mr. Sistani was an independent religious mind, but he was hardly a bold voice. Like so many other Iraqis, he stayed alive by remaining silent. Only after Saddam's fall did he speak up. Though he is today a world-famous figure, the New York Times made its first mention of the ayatollah on April 4, 2003, five days before the fall of Baghdad.

IRAN

Iran Confirms Ahmadinejad Win After Partial Vote Recount - Voice of America. Iranian officials have again declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the nation's disputed presidential election. The powerful group that supervises Iran's elections, the Guardian Council, conducted a partial recount Monday of 10 percent of random ballot boxes nationwide. According to Iranian state media, the Council said the recount confirms the official results from the June 12 vote, and the body dismissed all the election complaints it received. Earlier in the day, the Council said its members met with defeated reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, but that the meeting was "ineffective." Mr. Mousavi previously rejected the partial recount and insisted that the results of the election be annulled. In other news, Iran says it has released five Iranian staffers of the British embassy in Tehran, days after nine were detained for alleged links to the nation's post-election unrest. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday condemned the detentions, saying they are "unacceptable, unjustified and without foundation." Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference Monday that four staffers of the British embassy still are being held for questioning.

Iran's Guardian Council Affirms Vote Result - Thomas Erdbrink and William Branigin, Washington Post. A top supervisory body reviewing Iran's disputed June 12 election formally dismissed all opposition complaints of fraud Monday and affirmed a landslide victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, setting off shouts of protest from Tehran's rooftops but leaving opponents with few options amid an intensifying government crackdown. The decision by the Guardian Council, a 12-member panel of Shiite Muslim clerics and jurists who oversee elections and certify results, was announced about 10 p.m. Tehran time after a partial recount was conducted in an effort to mollify political opponents who charge that Ahmadinejad benefited from massive vote-rigging. Before the announcement, security forces, including members of the pro-government Basij militia, deployed in large numbers to prevent street protests, witnesses said. But that did not stop people from taking to their rooftops to chant "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and "Death to the dictator" in a form of protest used by the popular movement that ultimately deposed the shah of Iran three decades ago.

Iran Dismisses Vote-Fraud Claims - Margaret Coker and Roshanak Taghavi, Wall Street Journal. Iranian officials on Monday certified President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election, after a partial recount, sealing reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's last legal means of disputing the result. Mr. Mousavi and fellow opposition candidate Mehdi Karroubi claimed widespread fraud during the June 12 election. Both men have signaled they wouldn't accept the partial-recount results, according to state media. Yet it was unclear how they would push their protests further. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "We're going to take this a day at a time," when asked if the White House would recognize Mr. Ahmadinejad as Iran's legitimate president.

Iran Council Certifies Ahmadinejad Victory - Michael Slackman, New York Times. The powerful Guardian Council touched off scattered protests in Tehran Monday night when it formally certified the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a second four-year term, saying there was no validity to charges of voting fraud. As the certification was announced, security and militia forces flooded the streets, and protesters who were already out marching down Tehran’s central avenue, Vali Asr, broke into furious chants. The marchers were quickly dispersed, but other Iranians, urged by opposition Web sites, went to their rooftops to yell “God is great!” in a show of defiance. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the Guardian Council’s secretary, sent a letter to the interior minister saying the panel had approved the election after a partial recount, according to state television. Earlier in the day, apparently in an attempt to create a semblance of fairness, state television said the Guardian Council had begun a random recount of 10 percent of the ballots in Tehran’s 22 electoral districts and in some provinces. The recount only aroused new skepticism, however, when the official news agency, IRNA, said that in one district, Mr. Ahmadinejad won even more votes than he had in the first count.

Obama's Obsolete Iran Policy - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal opinion. President Obama's Iran policy is incoherent and obsolete. Maybe David Axelrod should take note. On Sunday, Mr. Obama's consigliere was asked about Iran by ABC's George Stephanopoulos and NBC's David Gregory. Mr. Gregory asked whether there "should be consequences" for the regime's violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations. "The consequences, I think, will unfold over time in Iran," answered Mr. Axelrod. Mr. Stephanopoulos quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that "this time, the Iranian nation's reply will be harsh and more decisive to make the West regret its meddlesome stance." Said Mr. Axelrod, "I'm not going to entertain his bloviations that are politically motivated." As for whether the administration wasn't selling short the demonstrators, Mr. Axelrod could only say that "the president's sense of solicitude with those young people has been very, very clear."

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

House Would Sharply Raise Cost of Guam Project - Walter Pincus, Washington Post. Alittle-publicized provision in the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill approved by the House last week would double the $10 billion cost of construction on Guam as part of the realignment of US military forces in the Pacific. The planned move of 8,000 US Marines and about 3,600 other US military troops and their dependents from Okinawa and mainland Japan to Guam over the next five years was originally expected to cost about $15 billion. Of that total, $10 billion would be in construction of facilities, family housing and public utilities. But a provision in last week's House bill would require that construction companies pay their employees working on Guam's realignment construction projects wages equivalent to rates in Hawaii, which are 250 percent higher than those on Guam, according to the Joint Guam Program Office.

AFRICA

International Court Under Unusual Fire - Colum Lynch, Washington Post. When Luis Moreno-Ocampo charged Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with war crimes last year, the International Criminal Court prosecutor was hailed by human rights advocates as the man who could help bring justice to Darfur. Today, Moreno-Ocampo appears to be the one on trial, with even some of his early supporters questioning his prosecutorial strategy, his use of facts and his personal conduct. Bashir and others have used the controversy to rally opposition to the world's first permanent criminal court, a challenge that may jeopardize efforts to determine who is responsible for massive crimes in Darfur. At issue is how to strike a balance between the quest for justice in Darfur and the pursuit of a political settlement to end an ongoing civil war in the western region of Sudan. In recent months, African and Arab leaders have said the Argentine lawyer's pursuit of the Sudanese president has undercut those peace prospects.

Militants Hit Oil Supplies in Nigeria - Will Conners and Michael Allen, Wall Street Journal. Militants attacked two installations operated by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the Niger Delta on Monday, sending world oil prices higher and complicating government efforts to bring peace to the region. Two oil-well clusters supplying Shell's Forcados oil-export terminal in Delta State were bombed by militants, spokesmen from Shell and the Nigerian military confirmed, just days after Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua unveiled an amnesty offer to militants. "Some production has been shut in as a precautionary measure, while we investigate to determine what really happened," a Shell spokesman said. He didn't specify the amount affected by the bombings. Another oil-company manager based in the region said the effect was severe, closing down at least 100,000 barrels a day in exports in Shell's western Delta region and further crimping Nigeria's oil output.

New Torture Allegations Against Kenyan Security - Derek Kilner, Voice of America. A human-rights group is bringing fresh allegations of torture by Kenya's security forces. In a new report, Human Rights Watch says hundreds of civilians were tortured or beaten during a government security operation to disarm militants last year. Human Rights Watch is calling for the Kenyan government to set up an independent investigation of an October military operation in the country's northeast. According to the group, "scores" of men were tortured, at least a dozen women raped, and over 1,200 people wounded during the three-day operation to disarm militants. Human Rights Watch says those found responsible for crimes should be punished. The report is the latest of several recent accusations to hit Kenya's police and military. Earlier this year, a UN investigator on extrajudicial killings recommended the dismissal of Kenya's police chief and attorney general for failing to rein in the widespread use of extrajudicial killings and other misconduct by security forces.

Vigilante Justice and Constant Fear in South Africa Slum - Barry Bearak, New York Times. The two robbery suspects had already been viciously beaten, their swollen faces stained with rivulets of red. One of them could no longer sit up, and only the need to moan seemed to revive him into consciousness. The other, Moses Tjiwa, occasionally stared into the taunting crowd and muttered, “I didn’t do anything.” The suspects were awaiting the final cathartic wrath of the mob, the torment of being burned alive, wrapped in the fatal shawl of a gasoline-soaked blanket. Then suddenly they were saved from that hideous death by the brave intervention of a local politician. “Let the police handle this,” he implored. As usual, the police arrived late on that recent evening, and many in the mob angrily objected to their being there at all. Finally, one police inspector shouted: “Get back or I’m leaving this place and never helping you people again. I hate Diepsloot!” Crime in South Africa is commonly portrayed as an onslaught against the wealthy, but it is the poor who are most vulnerable: poor people conveniently accessible to poor criminals. Diepsloot, an impoverished settlement on the northern edge of Johannesburg, has an estimated population of 150,000, and the closest police station is 10 miles away.

In Morocco, an Alternative to Iran - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post opinion. If you want an antidote to the photographs of police officers beating demonstrators and girls dying on the streets of the Iranian capital, take a drive through the streets of the Moroccan capital. You might see demonstrators, but not under attack: On the day I visited, a group of people politely waving signs stood outside the parliament. You might see girls, but they will not be sniper targets, and they will not all look like their Iranian counterparts: Though there is clearly a fashion for long, flowing headscarves and blue jeans, many women would not look out of place in New York or Paris. Welcome to the kingdom of Morocco, a place which, in the light of the past two week's events in Iran, merits a few minutes of reflection. Unlike Turkey, Morocco is not a secular state: The king claims direct descent from the prophet Mohammed. Nor does Morocco aspire to be European: Though French is still the language of business and higher education, the country is linguistically and culturally part of the Arabic-speaking world. But unlike most of its Arab neighbors, the country has over the past decade undergone a slow but profound transformation from traditional monarchy to constitutional monarchy, acquiring along the way real political parties, a relatively free press, new political leaders - the mayor of Marrakesh is a 33-year-old woman - and a set of family laws that strive to be compatible both with sharia and international conventions on human rights.

A Broken UN Promise In Congo - Eve Ensler, Washington Post opinion. over a year ago, in answering whether sexual violence in conflict was an issue that the UN Security Council should take on, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed, "I am proud that, today, we respond to that lingering question with a resounding 'yes!' " With this statement, and with the cooperation of other power brokers at the table, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1820, which finally recognized sexual violence as a widely used strategy of warfare and cleared the path for the council to respond to it worldwide. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to report to the Security Council today on implementation of Resolution 1820. What will we learn? A year after adopting the resolution, Congo remains the worst place on the planet to be a woman. Over 12 years, in a regional economic war for resources, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped and tortured, their bodies destroyed by unimaginable acts. The Security Council's implementation of Resolution 1820 in Congo - the very place that inspired it - has been an utter failure.

AMERICAS

US Condemns Honduran Coup - Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post. President Obama said yesterday that the military ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and could set a "terrible precedent," but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States government was holding off on formally branding it a coup, which would trigger a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished Central American country. Clinton's statement appeared to reflect the US government's caution amid fast-moving events in Honduras, where Zelaya was detained and expelled by the military on Sunday. The United States has joined other countries throughout the hemisphere in condemning the coup. But leaders face a difficult task in trying to restore Zelaya to office in a nation where the National Congress, military and Supreme Court have accused him of attempting a power grab through a special referendum.

New Honduras Leader Faces Backlash From Coup - Paul Kiernan and David Luhnow, Wall Street Journal. Protesters demanding the return of their ousted president clashed with police and army troops here Monday, as the day-old provisional government found itself severely isolated with world leaders from President Barack Obama to Venezuela's Hugo Chávez condemning Sunday's coup. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Honduras's acting leader Roberto Micheletti defended the forced exile of President Manuel Zelaya, who was escorted out of the country in his pajamas at gunpoint by military troops. He said the military wasn't subverting democracy, but protecting it from Mr. Zelaya's plans to change the constitution so he could run for re-election. "We are acting within the law," said Mr. Micheletti, a member of Mr. Zelaya's own political party and leader of Honduras's Congress, who was sworn in as president hours after troops stormed the presidential palace. Mr. Zelaya, he said, "is now suffering the consequences of having broken the law." Mr. Zelaya told Latin American leaders meeting in Nicaragua that he would return to Honduras Thursday to reclaim his presidency, after addressing the United Nations on Tuesday.

New Honduras Government Resists International Pressure - Brian Wagner, Voice of America. The new president in Honduras is rejecting international pressure to allow the return of President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted by military forces on Sunday. Mr. Zelaya is meeting with Latin American heads of state in Nicaragua to demand that the new government step down. Former congressional president Roberto Micheletti is facing growing pressure from foreign governments one day after he took the oath of office as president in Honduras. Micheletti said Monday that his new government is not afraid of anyone, and asked for respect for the country so it could prepare for general elections in November. Several Latin American blocs and foreign governments, including the United States, have called for President Manuel Zelaya to be returned to power. The Organization of American States said it would not recognize any government that does not include Mr. Zelaya. The ousted leader said masked soldiers woke him at his home in Tegucigalpa early Sunday and forced him onto a plane to Costa Rica. Monday, Zelaya was in Nicaragua for a meeting of Latin American leaders, including Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

New Honduran Leadership Flouts Worldwide Censure - William Booth and Juan Forero, Washington Post. Honduras's new government vowed Monday to remain in power despite growing worldwide condemnation of the military-led coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. As leaders from across Latin America met in Nicaragua to demand that Zelaya be returned to office, hundreds of protesters in the Honduran capital were met with tear gas fired by soldiers surrounding the presidential palace. The new government ordered the streets cleared, and shopkeepers barricaded their doors. Residents rushed home as a 9 p.m. curfew was enforced. Although the United States and its allies condemned the coup, the most vocal opposition - along with threats of military intervention - came from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who led a summit of leftist allies in Nicaragua that demanded Zelaya be reinstated. The Venezuelan populist, who led a failed coup in his own country in 1992 and survived one in 2002, said the Honduran people should rebel against the new government.

In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past US Policies - Helene Cooper and Marc Lacey, New York Times. President Obama on Monday strongly condemned the ouster of Honduras’s president as an illegal coup that set a “terrible precedent” for the region, as the country’s new government defied international calls to return the toppled president to power and clashed with thousands of protesters.“We do not want to go back to a dark past,” Mr. Obama said, in which military coups override elections. “We always want to stand with democracy,” he added. The crisis in Honduras, where members of the country’s military abruptly awakened President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday and forced him out of the country in his bedclothes, is pitting Mr. Obama against the ghosts of past American foreign policy in Latin America. The United States has a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region, and administration officials have found themselves on the defensive in recent days, dismissing repeated allegations by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela that the CIA may have had a hand in the president’s removal.

Defend Democracy - Washington Post editorial. The arrest and deportation of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the country's military on Sunday was wrong and should be reversed. Quite possibly, it will be: Facing the united condemnation of governments in the Americas, and under heavy pressure from the United States - on which Honduras depends for aid, free trade and remittances from workers - the politicians and generals who deposed Mr. Zelaya may not hold out for long. If their goal is, as they declare, to defend the country's democracy, they will have a better chance of doing so if they allow the president to return and at least temporarily resume his post. The Obama administration, however, shouldn't limit itself to reversing the military's foolish intervention. The crisis in Honduras offers an opportunity to address the more substantial and more serious threat to democracy in the region - a threat represented, in part, by Mr. Zelaya himself.

Obama Is Optimistic About US, Colombia Free Trade Deal - Greg Hitt, Wall Street Journal. President Barack Obama said he is confident the US "can strike a deal" with Colombia on a free-trade agreement, but signaled Monday concerns linger about violence against Colombian union organizers. After meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Mr. Obama said he had instructed his trade ambassador, Ron Kirk, to begin working with Colombian authorities on "how we can proceed on a free-trade agreement." Mr. Obama acknowledged Colombia has made strides in improving human rights and protecting labor leaders, noting "progress…has been made." But the president cautioned "there remains more work to be done." Concern about violence against labor leaders has been a major impediment to action in the Democratic-controlled Congress on a free-trade deal with Colombia.

Obama to Pursue Different Path With Colombia's Uribe - Juan Forero, Washington Post. In a White House ceremony in January, President George W. Bush awarded Colombian President Álvaro Uribe the Presidential Medal of Freedom and praised him for his "immense personal courage and strength of character" for taking on his country's fight against Marxist guerrillas. On Monday, Uribe again arrives at the White House. But this time he will encounter an administration pushing to expand its alliances in Latin America and increasingly worried about Colombia's dismal human rights record, Colombia experts say. Obama administration officials declined interview requests to discuss policy toward Colombia, a country that has received nearly $6 billion in mostly military aid since Uribe took office in 2002. But four people who have met with policymakers in the Obama administration say the United States is concerned about the wiretapping and surveillance of Uribe's critics by an intelligence agency controlled by the presidency and reports that as many as 1,700 civilians have been killed by Colombian army units in what a preliminary United Nations investigation characterized as "cold-blooded, premeditated murder."

Kirchner Resigns as Party Leader in Argentina - Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times. Néstor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina, resigned his post as leader of the Peronist Party on Monday, a day after he and his supporters suffered a crushing defeat in national congressional elections. The resignation was a stunning admission of defeat for a combative and often stubborn politician who is widely viewed to be deeply involved in running the government led by his wife, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Combined with their loss of both houses of Congress, Mr. Kirchner’s defeat appears to have dashed any dreams the couple had of extending their political dynasty, and put Argentina’s presidency up for grabs in the 2011 elections. Analysts said the election results on Sunday would restore some balance to Argentine politics and could increase the country’s credibility with foreign investors.

ASIA-PACIFIC

US Pursues Financial Leverage Over North Korea - Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal. The Obama administration is preparing to wield broad financial pressure to try to force North Korea to dial back its weapons program, building on strategies former President George W. Bush employed, but then unwound. The Treasury Department is taking a leading role and will work through international banking channels to try to restrict funds to 17 North Korean banks and companies that US officials say are central players in Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons trade. These firms serve as a financial lifeline to leader Kim Jong Il, his family and ruling circle. United Nations sanctions call for the banning of the shipment of all luxury goods to Pyongyang's leadership. American diplomats are also negotiating through the UN Security Council to sanction by July 12 as many as a dozen North Korean individuals or companies active in Pyongyang's weapons trade. There is likely to be overlap with the US Treasury's list of 17 sanction targets.

Photo Stirs Speculation on North Korean Leader - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times. An image of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, shown recently on government-run television appears to be a doctored version of an earlier photo, raising the possibility that Mr. Kim’s health has deteriorated to the point where he has had to skip public appearances, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday. On June 14, the state-run Central TV showed what it said was a still photo of Mr. Kim posing with a group of soldiers indoors during a visit to a military unit. The Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, said Tuesday that it looked remarkably similar to a photo the North Korean government had said was taken April 25. The newspaper quoted unidentified intelligence officials as saying that there was “a high possibility” the April image had been recycled. In both pictures published by Chosun on Monday, Mr. Kim stands with a group of soldiers under what looks like the same ceiling lights and the same Communist slogan. The later image, captured from television, is too blurry to make precise comparisons, but the heights and positioning of the soldiers in both images look strikingly similar, except for 13 figures who do not appear in the later picture.

EUROPE

For a Post in Europe, a Renaissance Admiral - Thom Shanker, New York Times. When Adm. James G. Stavridis took over the military’s Southern Command in late 2006, his French was excellent but he spoke no Spanish. Not content to rely on interpreters, he put himself on a crash course to learn the language. Over the next three years, his fluency was measured not only in the high-level meetings he conducted in the native tongue of his military hosts. He also read the novels of Gabriel García Márquez, the Nobel laureate from Colombia, in the original rich and lyrical Spanish. Now Admiral Stavridis’s boss, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, has given him a new assignment, which starts Tuesday. “Jim must also learn to speak NATO,” Mr. Gates said. As the new American and NATO commander in Europe, Admiral Stavridis, 54, becomes the first naval officer appointed to a position previously held by famed ground-warfare generals.

Russia Begins War Games Near Georgia - Michael Schwirtz, New York Times. Russian military forces began large-scale war games on Monday in the Caucasus region, not far from the Georgian border, raising tensions between the countries less than a year after they went to war. In a series of news conferences on Monday, military officials said that about 8,500 troops from all branches of the armed services would take part in a week of exercises, the largest such war games since the fall of the Soviet Union. The officials noted that the exercises were intended in part to incorporate lessons learned from the war last August. Russia easily won, but the military officials said the war exposed deficiencies in training and equipment. Military exercises in the Caucasus have been held before, and similar maneuvers there last year ended days before the war broke out on Aug. 7. The war games this year are scheduled to end next Monday, the day that President Obama arrives in Moscow for a summit meeting. The event is also occurring a few weeks after NATO concluded its own exercises in Georgia.

Chairman Calls US-Poland Relationship ‘Vital’ - Samantha L. Quigley, American Forces Press Service. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his visit today with his Polish counterpart, while “routine,” also was one of great importance to the US military. “It’s a representation of the strength, commitment, and importance of the relationship to both countries,” Mullen said following a military honors ceremony welcoming him to Warsaw. “This is a vital relationship that from my perspective should continue,” he said. “The Polish military has provided great capability and great results in Iraq and does so today in Afghanistan under the auspices of [the International Security Assistance Force.]” The United States is very committed to its partnership with Poland and the modernization of that country’s military, Mullen said. “We’ve had good initial discussions today, and throughout the day those discussions will continue to do exactly what General [Franciszek] Gagor spoke of, which is to deepen the relationship,” Mullen said. “Thank you for the partnership that is so strong. We look forward to it becoming stronger in the future.” Mullen also praised the “young people” who fulfill the commitments Poland has made in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m always reminded … of the young people who make this possible, those who sacrifice and, in cases have … given their lives, to support what we share in common and what we believe in,” he said.

MIDDLE EAST

In the West Bank, Suburb or Settlement? - Howard Schneider, Washington Post. Chaim Hanfling knows a lot about this settlement's population boom. Six of his 11 siblings have moved here from Jerusalem in recent years to take advantage of the lower land prices, and at age 29, he has added four children of his own. Located just over the Green Line that marks the territory occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the booming ultra-Orthodox community, home to more than 41,000 people, shows why the settlement freeze demanded by the Obama administration is proving controversial for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and also why Palestinian officials are insisting on it. Amid their gleaming, modern apartment buildings, with Tel Aviv visible on the horizon, residents say they have little in common with the people who have hauled mobile homes to hilltops in hopes of deepening Israel's presence in the occupied West Bank. But they are having lots of babies - and they expect the bulldozers and cement mixers to keep supplying larger schools and more housing, a typically suburban demand that the country's political leadership is finding hard to refuse.

Report Questions Israeli Drone Strikes - Christopher Drew, New York Times. Twenty-nine civilians, including eight children, were killed in several missile strikes by Israeli drones in Gaza in December and January, according to a report released on Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. The group questioned whether Israeli forces had taken “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military, said Israeli forces had gone to extraordinary lengths to warn civilians during the Gaza offensive, and she questioned the credibility of some of the Palestinian witnesses cited by the advocacy group. The report represented the latest in a series of accusations of civilian abuse in the Gaza war. And it raised broader concerns about how carefully the remote-controlled drones are being used, much like the complaints that the Central Intelligence Agency has encountered in its use of drones to attack Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan.

ICRC Says Palestinians Trapped in Gaza Face Rising Poverty, Despair - Voice of America. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says many Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are not able to rebuild their lives and are sliding deeper into despair. In a report released Monday, the ICRC says stringent import restrictions by the Israeli government are hampering reconstruction efforts by donors who have pledged nearly $4.5 million. The report, which comes six months after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, says many seriously ill patients are not getting the treatments they need. The Red Cross is urging Israeli authorities to lift restrictions and allow medical supplies and building materials into the territory. Israel says it launched the Gaza offensive to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel. The fighting killed 13 Israelis and at least 1,300 Palestinians. The United Nations Human Rights Council is holding its second day of public hearings Monday as part of an investigation into possible war crimes committed by the Israeli military and Hamas militants during the offensive.

BOOKS

War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age - Thomas Rid and Marc Hecker.

War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age argues that two intimately connected trends are putting modern armies under huge pressure to adapt: the rise of insurgencies and the rise of the Web. Both in cyberspace and in warfare, the grassroots public has assumed increasing importance in recent years. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Web 2.0 rose from the ashes. This newly interactive and participatory form of the Web promotes and enables offline action. Similarly, after Rumsfeld's attempt to transform the US military into a lean, lethal, computerized force crashed in Iraq in 2003, counterinsurgency rose from the ashes. Counterinsurgency is a social form of war - indeed, the US Army calls it armed social work - in which the local matrix population becomes the center of strategic gravity and public opinion at home the critical vulnerability.

The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the U.S. Military for Modern Wars - David H. Ucko.

Confronting insurgent violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military has recognized the need to "re-learn" counterinsurgency. But how has the Department of Defense with its mixed efforts responded to this new strategic environment? Has it learned anything from past failures? In The New Counterinsurgency Era, David Ucko examines DoD's institutional obstacles and initially slow response to a changing strategic reality.

Journey into Darkness: Genocide in Rwanda - Thomas P. Odom.

In July 1994, Thomas P. Odom was part of the US Embassy team that responded to the Goma refugee crisis. He witnessed the deaths of 70,000 refugees in a single week. In the previous three months of escalating violence, the Rwandan genocide had claimed 800,000 dead. Now, in this vivid and unsettling new book, Odom offers the first insider look at these devastating events before, during, and after the genocide.

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.