Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has been roundly criticized in the international community for presiding over a corrupt government. A new report reinforces the perception of widespread corruption in Afghanistan, naming it the second most corrupt country of all those surveyed. That worries American policy makers as they deliberate on the future US strategy in Afghanistan. In Transparency International's just-released 2009 survey of world corruption, Afghanistan was only one step above the bottom rung, ranking 179th out of 180 countries surveyed. According to the group's report, only another war-ravaged state, Somalia, is perceived as being more corrupt.

-- Voice of America

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN

Pakistani Successes May Sway US Troop Decision - Sabrina Tavernese and Eric Schmitt, New York Times. A month after the Pakistani military began its push into the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, militants appear to have been dispersed, not eliminated, with most simply fleeing. That recurring pattern illustrated the problems facing the Obama administration as it enters its final days of a decision on its strategy for Afghanistan. Success in this region, in the remote mountains near the Afghan border, could have a direct bearing on how many more American troops are ultimately sent to Afghanistan, and how long they must stay. Pakistan has shown increased willingness to tackle the problem, launching sweeping operations in the north and west of the country this year, but American officials are still urging it to do more, most recently in a letter from President Obama to Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, over the weekend. On Tuesday, the military escorted journalists on a tour of the area, where it closely restricts access, showing piles of things they had seized, including weapons, bombs, photos and even a long, curly wig. “It all started from here,” said Brig. Muhammed Shafiq, the commander here. “This is the most important town in South Waziristan.”

Pakistani Army Shows Off Captured Taliban Posts - Pamela Constable, Washington Post. A toy car booby-trapped with explosives, chemistry textbooks and handwritten case files from a Taliban court were among the debris left behind by fleeing Islamist militants in this remote village in the conflicted tribal region of South Waziristan. The now-deserted village, which was retaken by Pakistani army forces two weeks ago and visited by Western journalists on Tuesday for the first time since, had been a stronghold of Taliban forces for nearly five years. Army officials described its capture as a military and psychological milestone in their month-old operation to flush militants out of the region. "This place was a fountainhead of terrorism. All government authority was expelled, and the Taliban leaders even had press conferences here," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a military spokesman, standing on the roof of a mosque that overlooked the rubble of a market, school and military fort that were destroyed in five days of heavy fighting.

Prolonged Struggles Loom in Pakistani Battle Zone - Zahid Hussain, Wall Street Journal. Troops from the Pakistani army are pressing deep into a tribal region along the Afghan border as they try to defeat one of the country's most powerful Taliban factions. But commanders say the bulk of the estimated 10,000 militants who were believed to be in South Waziristan when Pakistani forces began the offensive about four weeks ago have now fled, raising the prospect of a drawn-out guerrilla conflict in the region. A daylong trip with the military to the battle zone also revealed another challenge: flattened and abandoned towns and villages that must be rebuilt, repopulated and governed once the fighting ends. Pakistani forces moved against the dominant Taliban faction in South Waziristan in mid-October after a string of terrorist strikes in the towns and cities of the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. More than 30,000 soldiers, backed by fighter jets, helicopter gunships and artillery are now battling the militants in South Waziristan. Some 300,000 people have fled the fighting. The militants' reprisal campaign of terror attacks in Pakistan's cities and towns has continued. The death toll from a steady series of attacks has passed 400.

Afghan, Pakistani Taliban Diverge on Goals - Raza Khan, Washington Times. Both go by the name "Taliban," but militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan are increasingly diverging in their ultimate goal. The Pakistanis have joined al Qaeda's campaign to attack Western targets and spread radical Islam while the Afghans want to rid their country of foreign troops but harbor no global ambitions, according to a number of prominent analysts. The split potentially complicates US strategy in the region while opening a route toward negotiations in Afghanistan. US forces are battling a nationalistic Taliban in Afghanistan, but the internationally more ambitious Taliban, as well as al Qaeda, are located across the border in Pakistan, where the US operates only with drones. In a recent interview with a Pashto-language TV channel, Afghan Taliban commander Abdul Manan (also known as the Mullah Toor) condemned the Pakistani Taliban for targeting innocent civilians as "un-Islamic and wrong." He also denied that al Qaeda influences the Afghan Taliban, a stark change from the 1990s when the Afghan group hosted Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda training camps and became the base for the Sept. 11 attacks. White House National Security Adviser James L. Jones said last month that fewer than 100 al Qaeda members are left in Afghanistan and that most of al Qaeda is now based in Pakistan.

Poll Finds Guarded Optimism on Obama's Afghanistan Plan - Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta, Washington Post. Most Americans say they think President Obama will come up with a successful strategy for Afghanistan, but few are "very confident" that he will do so, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The president is expected in the coming weeks to roll out a new approach for handling the conflict in Afghanistan, and in a stopover at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base on his way to Asia, he pledged to deliver "public support back home" for the war effort. He has a formidable sales job ahead to accomplish that: 52 percent of respondents in this poll see the war in Afghanistan as not worth its costs, and nearly as many trust the Republicans in Congress to deal with the war as trust Obama. Ratings of the president's handling of Afghanistan have plummeted since the summer, turning what had been one of his most favorably regarded issues into another nearly even split: 45 percent approve of how he is dealing with it, while 48 percent disapprove. Of particular concern for the White House is approval among independents, which has slipped to 39 percent, a new low.

Afghan Corruption Concerns US Policy Planners - Gary Thomas, Voice of America. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has been roundly criticized in the international community for presiding over a corrupt government. A new report reinforces the perception of widespread corruption in Afghanistan, naming it the second most corrupt country of all those surveyed. That worries American policy makers as they deliberate on the future US strategy in Afghanistan. In Transparency International's just-released 2009 survey of world corruption, Afghanistan was only one step above the bottom rung, ranking 179th out of 180 countries surveyed. According to the group's report, only another war-ravaged state, Somalia, is perceived as being more corrupt. President Barack Obama is considering whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban. Dispatching more troops would further commit the US to a strategy of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. The central premise of counterinsurgency is to win hearts and minds and weaken popular support for the insurgents. Georgetown University Security Studies Professor Christine Fair points out corruption concerns policy makers because it undercuts Afghans' support for their government and support among Western nations for the enterprise in Afghanistan.

Ridding Afghanistan of Corruption Will Be No Easy Task - Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times. Afghans have a name for the huge, gaudy mansions that have sprung up in Kabul's wealthy Sherpur neighborhood since 2001. They call them "poppy palaces." The cost of building one of these homes, which are adorned with sweeping terraces and ornate columns, can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many are owned by government officials whose formal salaries are a few hundred dollars a month. To the capital's jaded residents, there are few more potent symbols of the corruption that permeates every level of Afghan society, from the traffic policemen who shake down motorists to top government officials and their relatives who are implicated in the opium trade. Cronyism, graft and the flourishing drug trade have destroyed public confidence in the government of President Hamid Karzai and contributed to the resurgence of the Taliban by driving disaffected Afghans to side with insurgents and protecting an important source of their funding. With casualties mounting and a decision on military strategy looming, President Obama and other Western leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to justify sending troops to fight for a government rife with corruption.

Afghan Minister Accused of Taking Bribe - Joshua Partlow, Washington Post. The Afghan minister of mines accepted a roughly $30 million bribe to award the country's largest development project to a Chinese mining firm, according to a US official who is familiar with military intelligence reports. The allegation, if proved true, would mark one of the most brazen examples of corruption yet disclosed in a country where the problem has become so pervasive that it is now at the heart of Obama administration doubts over Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reliability as a partner. The question of whether Karzai can address his government's graft and cronyism looms large as he prepares for his inauguration Thursday for a new term, and as President Obama completes a months-long strategy review that will define the future of US involvement in Afghanistan after eight years of war. Karzai is coming under intense international pressure to clear his cabinet of ministers who have reaped huge profits through bribery and kickback schemes. Although he announced a new anti-corruption unit this week, the president has been reluctant to fire scandal-tainted ministers in the past, and it is unclear whether he is ready to do so now. Meanwhile, Afghans' perceptions that they are ruled by a thieving class have weakened support for the government and bolstered sympathy for the Taliban insurgency.

NATO Chief Predicts ‘Substantially More Troops’ in Afghanistan - John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen today predicted the alliance’s future mission in Afghanistan will entail a counterinsurgency approach with “substantially more troops.” The NATO chief, speaking to the alliance’s Parliamentary Assembly, said he expects NATO will reach a troop-level decision in a few weeks for the International Security Assistance Force it leads in Afghanistan. “I’m confident it will be a counterinsurgency approach, with substantially more troops, and will place the Afghan population at the core of ISAF’s collective effort by focusing on their safety, and by supporting reconstruction and development,” he said. Rasmussen’s remarks in Edinburgh, Scotland, today come as President Barack Obama and his advisors continue to debate the US mission in Afghanistan, reportedly debating a full spectrum of options concerning strategy and force levels. US defense officials, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, have criticized NATO allies for creating a “two-tiered alliance” - with the US and a select other countries bearing most of the burden of combat and other aspects of the mission in Afghanistan, while other nations make lesser contributions. In his first appearance before the 28-member Parliamentary Assembly, Rasmussen today called on the political leaders of NATO countries to put forth more resources for the multilateral effort in the Central Asian country. “I want to use this opportunity to strongly encourage you, and your governments, to make more military resources available - extra combat forces for ISAF, extra troops for enhanced partnership and teaming with the Afghan national security forces, and extra troops for training, particularly through the NATO training mission in Afghanistan,” he said.

NATO Chief Confident Afghanistan Will Have More Troops - Jennifer Glasse, Voice of America. The NATO secretary-general says he is confident the United States and other NATO allies will send more troops to Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks have surged in recent months. He spoke at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Meeting in Edinburgh, where Britain's foreign secretary outlined the strategy his nation would support. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made clear that despite an intensifying insurgency and uncertainty over whether US President Barack Obama will send more troops, NATO will remain in Afghanistan. "Do not make any mistake, we will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to finish our job. But that is of course not forever," he said. Mr. Rasmussen said he is confident there will soon be substantially more troops and with that, new momentum for the mission. "Our mission in Afghanistan ends when the Afghans are capable to secure and run their country themselves. The way forward is to hand over lead responsibility for security to the Afghan security forces, district by district, province by province, as their own capacity develops," he said.

Team Combines Civilian, Military Expertise - John T. Stamm, American Forces Press Service. The provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province serves as a model for the continued integration of civilian assets into military operations to achieve a unified strategic goal. The Panjshir team is the only US provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan that is civilian-led and military-commanded, combining resources from the Air Force, Army, Navy, State Department, US Agency for International Development and the Department of Agriculture into one unified effort aimed at economic, judicial, social, educational and infrastructure development. James DeHart, a State Department civilian, directs the Panjshir team and leads its governance efforts. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric W. Hommel is the team’s commander and exercises command authority over military operations. Both civilian and military expertise and resources are needed in a counter insurgency environment, DeHart said. “Each side brings a different skill set,” he explained. “It’s not a question of which is better. The military resources are vital to enabling the other departments to function efficiently. For example, our USDA representative would not be as successful in assisting the local ministry of agriculture in producing better crop yields without a stable security environment.” “There’s a reason why these partnerships are formed,” Hommel said. “Teams usually operate more efficiently than individuals. So when you incorporate other professionals, you increase your chance of success.” The lines of distinction between the military personnel and the civilian representatives here are marked by the uniforms worn by the troops, but that’s where the visible differences end. Both sides are integrated in the decision-making process, participate side by side on missions, meet with local officials together and even share the same office.

Vision for Victory, Part I - Michael O'Hanlon, Washington Times opinion. The news from Afghanistan all year has been dispiriting, and the last few weeks have been especially tough in terms of the violence. Yet most foreign and Afghan officials and officers who I encountered on a recent weeklong visit sponsored by the U. military are guardedly optimistic about our prospects. How can this be so? Sure, we have all heard the theoretical explanation of how this war, like any counterinsurgency, could be won through a "clear, hold, and build" process of pushing extremists out of population centers and then helping establish a legitimate Afghan government in their place. But can it really work in tribal, underdeveloped Afghanistan? There are several general reasons for hopefulness to balance all the bad news. The Afghan people remain much more pro-Western and pro-American than generally portrayed. Arguments that Afghans are allergic to foreigners and xenophobic in outlook are much more wrong than right. This is evident in public opinion polling, where recent polling has put US and NATO popularity at more than 50 percent. It is also evident in the zones of relative safety that American, British, Canadian and other NATO soldiers have established of late in the south of the country.

IRAQ

Iraqi Kurds Warn of Election Boycott in Dispute Over Seats - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post. Kurdish officials threatened Tuesday to boycott the upcoming national election in the three provinces they control in northern Iraq unless more parliament seats are allocated to the region. The threat came two days after Iraq's Sunni vice president said he would veto the election law passed last week unless more seats are set aside for representatives of Iraqi refugees. The majority of Iraqis abroad are Sunni. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi has until Wednesday to veto the law, which legislators approved after weeks of wrangling, primarily over how the vote would be held in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. The two ultimatums underscored the deep divisions among Iraqi politicians and raised fresh concerns about Iraq's ability to hold a credible election by Jan. 18. US officials see the vote as a key turning point that they hope will contribute to a smooth withdrawal of tens of thousands of US troops by the end of summer. Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government, said in a statement that the seat allocation system, which is based on food ration cards issued by the Trade Ministry, is "illogical, contradicts the reality on the ground and is a distortion of the facts."

Kurdish Legislators Threaten Boycott of Iraq Election - Marc Santora, New York Times. Only a week after Iraq’s leaders celebrated the passage of an election law that kept the country on course to hold its first national elections in four years, Kurdish lawmakers threatened Tuesday to boycott the election unless their demand for a greater share of parliamentary seats was met. Their demand came on the heels of a threat by the top Sunni politician in Iraq, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, to veto the election law unless Iraqi voters living outside Iraq were also given more seats in Parliament. The majority of Iraqis who fled the country after the American invasion and during the sectarian violence were Sunnis. Lawmakers and representatives of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission met Tuesday to try to negotiate an agreement that would satisfy all parties. The election law must still be approved by Iraq’s presidency council, and details, like the allocation of seats, can be amended before then. Any delay of the elections beyond their scheduled date of Jan. 21 would not only be an international embarrassment but could complicate the American military’s plans for withdrawal.

IRAN

Death of Prison Doctor Draws Attention in Iran - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post. Iran's judiciary is investigating the death of a military doctor who served in a detention center that has come under scrutiny for alleged abuses, including the suspicious deaths of three anti-government demonstrators, Iranian news media reported Tuesday. A parliamentary committee plans to issue a report soon on the Kahrizak prison, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. The makeshift detention center was closed in July on the orders of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, because of substandard conditions. The prison became the focus of a rare investigation into police conduct after the death of Mohsen Rouholamini, the son of a former senior Health Ministry official. Authorities said he and two others died of meningitis, but Rouholamini's father said his son was tortured to death. Former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, a Shiite cleric, publicly accused security forces in August of having tortured and raped detainees in Kahrizak, an allegation that government officials denied. In a raid on Karroubi's office in September, security forces confiscated witness reports, names and addresses. Amid a public furor over the alleged abuses, state media dismissed Karroubi's assertions as exaggerated and false.

Iran Sentences 5 to Death Over Postelection Turmoil - Associated Press. Iran has sentenced five people to death over the unrest that followed the country's disputed June presidential election, state television reported Tuesday. At least three others caught up in the turmoil have received death sentences previously. Iran began a mass trial in August of prominent opposition figures and activists, accusing them of a range of charges from rioting to spying and plotting what authorities have called a "soft revolution" to topple the country's Islamic rulers. The opposition led massive street protests and clashed with security forces in the weeks following the disputed June 12 presidential election. The opposition claimed fraud after election authorities declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of a second term and their anger unleashed the most serious internal unrest in Iran in the 30 years since the Islamic Revolution. A Justice Department statement said the five sentenced to death were members of "terrorist and armed opposition groups," state television reported. The statement said the courts have sentenced a total of 89 defendants since the process began and 81 of them got prison terms ranging from six months up to 15 years.

Iran, Its Hostages and the West - Wall Street Journal editorial. Iran's big news yesterday is that the government will formally kill five people who participated in June's pro-democracy rallies. Consider, though, the implications for the West's peace-brokers of the case of Frenchwoman Clotilde Reiss. It is now 20 weeks since Ms. Reiss was arrested while trying to leave Iran and 12 weeks since she was released to the French Embassy "to await her return to France," in the words of President Sarkozy. She's still waiting. This week, the Islamic Republic resumed legal proceedings against her. Iran has refused to let her leave the country, and the French have complied. But by delivering her to an Iranian court for proceedings this week, Mr. Sarkozy is gambling with the 24-year-old's life. Coming from a politician who has offered stern denunciations of Tehran's nuclear programs, one has to wonder how that decision was made. In its 30 years, the Islamic Republic has used assassination squads, fatwas, terrorism and hostage-taking as tools of its war with the West. A nearly unbroken string of outrages connects the taking of the US embassy in 1979 to the death sentence demanded for writer Salman Rushdie in 1989 to, more recently, the grabbing of British sailors in 2007. Add to that the detention and trial of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi earlier this year, the 12-year prison sentence meted last month to Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakshsh and, most recently, the charges of espionage leveled against the three American backpackers who stumbled across the Iranian border in July.

THE LONG WAR

When the Sheikh Walks - Washington Times editorial. President Obama stated last week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will face "the most exacting demands of justice" during his trial on federal terrorism charges. But justice is a two-way street. The trial can only be considered fair if there is a presumption of innocence and the possibility of acquittal. The defense team will use every avenue available to see to it that the Sheikh walks. In the American legal system, the exacting demands of justice apply most importantly to the government. This was why the previous administration established a rule set appropriate to a global war against violent non-state actors who operated in legal gray areas. The Obama team has denounced the George W. Bush administration's approach, but previous actions cannot be wiped away, and under current policies, the Sheikh has been granted a bevy of rights that the defense will claim have already been violated. The defense can argue that the entire process leading up to the trial has been illegal and everything derived from it is the "fruit of the poisonous tree."

Holder's Trials and Errors - Michael Gerson, Washington Post opinion. Eric Holder - distinguished prosecutor, judge, foe of public corruption, basketball enthusiast, mentor to disadvantaged youth - seemed a reassuring choice for attorney general. When Holder affirmed during his confirmation hearing that America remains at war with terrorists, Sen. Lindsey Graham enthused, "I'm almost ready to vote for you right now." So how did Holder become the most destructive member of Barack Obama's Cabinet? Holder launched his tenure by showing disdain for the work of career federal prosecutors when it fit his ideological predispositions. In 2004, a task force from the Eastern District of Virginia investigated allegations of misconduct against the CIA and found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct or intent. Holder ignored the views of these respected prosecutors and appointed his own special prosecutor, appeasing a political constituency that wanted the CIA to be hounded and punished. As a result, morale at a front-line agency in the war on terrorism has plunged. What possible reason could a bright, ambitious intelligence professional have to pursue a career in counterterrorism when the attorney general of the United States is stubbornly intent on exposing and undermining his colleagues? Now Holder is displaying an exaggerated respect for the work of career federal prosecutors in New York, also when it fits his ideological predispositions.

Why We Should Put Jihad on Trial - Steven Simon, New York Times opinion. The Justice Department’s decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, in a federal court in New York City has elicited several criticisms. Most are pointless, but one - the idea that it will give a terrorist a platform from which he could stir up support in the Muslim world for his radical views - is well taken. First, let’s dispose of the straw men. John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House, accused the Obama administration of “treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue” - as though “law enforcement” is an epithet. In truth, the White House’s counterterrorism team is composed largely of the same professionals who battled terrorists under President George W. Bush. They are generally in sync with the White House’s insistence on a strategy that uses law enforcement where appropriate and military force in places, like Afghanistan, where conspirators can’t be arrested by federal agents driving Fords. Others complain that Mr. Mohammed might take advantage of quirks of the criminal justice system and go free. That’s highly unlikely. First, he has already confessed to the crime; and, given the zero acquittal rate for terrorists in New York previously, any anxiety about a “not guilty” verdict seems unwarranted.

UNITED STATES

Suspected Fort Hood Shooter Believed to Be Self-Radicalized - Cam Simpson and Siobhan Gorman, Wall Street Journal. Some lawmakers briefed Tuesday on the Fort Hood shooting said the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was most likely a self-radicalized extremist. The briefing for select members of Congress came as Republicans with oversight of national-security issues called on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open a full congressional inquiry into alleged government miscues in the case of Maj. Hasan. He is charged with murdering 13 people Nov. 5 on the sprawling US Army base where he served as a psychiatrist. Military and FBI investigators cautioned lawmakers Tuesday their probe is still in its early stages, according to people familiar with the briefings. But there didn't appear to be any new information about alleged connections between Maj. Hasan and foreign or domestic extremists, cementing the early view that he acted alone, officials said. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D., Texas) said that declaring Maj. Hasan a homegrown radical would be premature. "It's dangerous to speculate at this point when we know we don't have all the facts," he said in an interview.

Republicans Criticize Obama's Call to Delay Hill Inquiries on Fort Hood - Paul Kane, Washington Post. The Obama administration's request that congressional committees slow their investigations of the Fort Hood shootings sparked denunciations Tuesday from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who pushed for an immediate inquiry of any warning signs before the massacre. House and Senate Republicans, emerging from the most detailed briefings given to Congress since the Nov. 5 attack killed 13 at the central Texas Army post, said delaying investigations would put off legislative efforts to give military officials the tools to prevent similar tragedies in the future. They said such an effort would not interfere with the criminal investigation of shooting suspect Nidal M. Hasan, an Army major who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan. "Congress also needs to move forward to make sure we do our work to get to the right conclusions," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee. House Democrats, however, said they will heed the White House's request and hold off on initiating any fresh investigations. Several Senate committees pressed ahead with preliminary oversight hearings, but aides indicated that they expect little help from the administration.

Army's Record Suicide Rate 'Horrible,' General Says - Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli on Tuesday called the Army's record suicide rate this year "horrible" and said the problem of soldiers taking their own lives is the toughest he has faced in his 37 years in service. As of Nov. 16, 140 soldiers on active duty and 71 soldiers not on active duty were suspected to have committed suicide. "We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year," which was also a record for Army suicides, Chiarelli said at a Pentagon news conference. "This is horrible," he said. "Every single loss is devastating." However, Chiarelli, who has made suicide prevention a priority, said that despite the high total, the monthly suicide rate has largely declined since March. In January and February, there were about 40 suicides, or about one-third of the active-duty total this year, and since March the general trend has been down, with the exception of a couple of months, he said. He attributed that progress primarily to a campaign to increase the involvement of Army leaders at all ranks in suicide prevention efforts.

AFRICA

US Officials: Terrorism in Africa's Sahel Region Increasing Concern - Cindy Saine, Voice of America. Senior US government officials say terrorism is an increasing concern in Africa's Sahel region. Government leaders told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States needs to play a supporting role, and not a leadership role, in efforts to help countries in the Sahel region fight terrorism. Several high-level Obama administration officials told a Senate panel the United States and its allies are supporting counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel countries, which include Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea and Senegal. The region is one of the poorest in the world, and governments there often lack the necessary resources to fight terrorist activity, which surged when al-Qaida branches began to emerge in Africa. In January 2007, the group "al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb" announced its existence. The State Department's Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, Daniel Benjamin, described the problem. "Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb continues to menace parts of the Maghreb and the Sahel. In the north it is frustrated by Algeria's effective counter-terrorism operations, but in parts of the Sahel it continues to operate with considerable impunity," he said. Benjamin said the extremist group finances itself mainly by kidnapping foreign tourists and diplomats and demanding ransom, and commits murders and other crimes to garner media attention.

Annual Report Finds Sub-Saharan Africa Especially Hard Hit by Corruption - Jennifer Glasse, Voice of America. The non-governmental organization Transparency International has issued its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Somalia ranks as the most corrupt country at the bottom of the 180-nation list, with New Zealand as the nation perceived to be the least corrupt. Transparency International's annual report offers a snapshot of how corrupt a country's government is perceived by international institutions including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the Asian and African Development Banks. This year's list includes 180 nations. Patrick Berg is a program coordinator for Transparency International, which is dedicated to fighting corruption and raising public awareness of the problem. "Overall we do not see a lot of changes to the last year's results," Berg said. "We see that there are quite a number of countries that still have a long way to go to increase public trust in their institutions." He says corruption is the responsibility of everyone; civil institutions, corporations and governments, but that governments have a clear incentive to root out corruption. "The interest of a government to reduce corruption is to provide better services the population overall, to provide better security, increase trust and that of course will also have a positive impact on business development, which again is profitable to the state," Berg said.

25 Years After Live Aid, Ethiopia Tries to Cover Up a New Famine - Francis Elliott, The Times. The UN warns that 6.2 million Ethiopians will need some sort of food aid in the coming months. The Government also seems highly sensitive to the idea that it needs help. Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister, would rather the world took notice of his position representing Africa in the climate change negotiations next month than his country’s never-ending dependency on food aid. In Addis Ababa Ethiopian and Western officials voice disapproval of doom-laden reports that fail to acknowledge the progress being made, or the differences in scale between the famine of 1984, which killed a million people, and the situation today. In private they acknowledge that Mr Meles and his Government are deliberately frustrating and delaying official assessments of the scale of the country’s humanitarian needs and blocking access to some areas where the situation is worst. The latest UN estimate, to be released this Friday, is due to revise its figure upwards to nine million for those who will need help. Arguing that the definition of those in need is too broad - it includes those who are in a position to sell assets to buy food - the Government wants to change the way the figures are calculated to reduce that figure to 5 million. Donor countries and the UN fear that counting only the truly desperate is a ploy that risks understating the true scale of the crisis. There are also allegations that food aid is being withheld from the regime’s opponents.

African Leaders Discouraged But Undaunted by Climate Talks Outlook - Peter Heinlein, Voice of America. Africa's climate summit negotiators say they are discouraged by the outlook for next month's Copenhagen talks, but will insist on a political deal that meets their demands. Members of Africa's negotiating team met to finalize a continental strategy for the talks. Their hopes for a legally-binding climate treaty in Copenhagen have been dashed, but Africa's climate-summit negotiators remain undaunted. The lead negotiator, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, says the same goals could be achieved by a political deal that leads to a treaty in the near future. "While Africa's preference continues to be to come up with a full fledged treaty agreed in Copenhagen, nevertheless Africa may be prepared to engage the international community with a view to coming up with a binding political agreement that addresses all the key issues ... and that is followed as soon as possible with negotiations on such a treaty," he said. Diplomats say a legally-binding treaty could be signed at a followup meeting next year in Mexico City. Prime Minister Meles's comments came during a meeting of the committee of 10 heads of state named to present a unified voice for Africa in Copenhagen. Two of the others, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, were also present, along with African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping. The other seven were represented by ambassadors. Mr. Meles says Africa's summit demands will focus on lowering emissions and compensating African countries for damages caused by climate change.

Al-Shabab Accuses ONLF of Aiding Islamist Rival in Somalia - Alisha Ryu, Voice of America. The spokesman for Somalia's militant al-Shabab group in Kismayo says members of the Ethiopia-based rebel group, Ogaden National Liberation Front, are fighting alongside one of the factions of al-Shabab's former Islamist ally, Hizbul Islam, in the south of the country. The accusation runs counter to Ethiopia's claim that the ONLF has ties to al-Shabab. Al-Shabab's spokesman for the Jubba regions, Hassan Yacqub, spoke to local reporters late Monday, following a day of heavy fighting between the militant group and forces led by Islamist leader Ahmed Madobe in Lower Juba. Madobe is the newly-appointed leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigade, an Islamist group that also has strong ties to a regionally dominant Somali sub-clan called the Ogaden. Yacqub says the fighting began after Ahmed Madobe led an attack on al-Shabab bases in the village of Hagar. The al-Shabab spokesman says Madobe's troops included ONLF fighters. Monday's fighting appeared to be a continuation of the violent power struggle that erupted in the port city of Kismayo in late September between al-Shabab and factions of Hizbul Islam, led by Ras Kamboni.

Pirates Free Crew of Spanish Ship - Associated Press. Pirates freed 36 crew members from a Spanish trawler Tuesday after holding them for more than six weeks. A self-proclaimed pirate said the hostage-takers were paid $3.3 million in ransom, while Spain's prime minister said the country did what it had to do. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the tuna boat Alakrana "is sailing toward safer waters. All of its crew members are safe and sound." The release came despite the fact that two Somali pirates in Spanish custody soon will stand trial for kidnapping and related charges. A Somali villager named Ali Ahmed Salad said 12 armed pirates left the ship shortly after noon Tuesday and joined colleagues near the pirate town of Haradhere. Ali Gab, a self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press that a boat delivered $3.3 million in ransom. Gab said pirates began leaving the ship shortly afterward, and that a Spanish warship nearby watched the proceedings. The EU Naval Force said the Alakrana had made its way to the open sea late Tuesday, accompanied by two Spanish warships that would see the trawler to safety.

AMERICAS

Chávez's Populism Faces Test as Venezuelan Economy Sink - Darcy Crowe and David Luhnow, Wall Street Journal. Venezuela's economy is suffering a deepening recession at a time when the rest of the world's economies are picking up steam, according to data released Tuesday by the country's central bank. That is bad news for the country's populist leader Hugo Chávez. In the third quarter, economic output fell 4.5% compared with the year-earlier period. The decline follows a second-quarter drop of 2.4% - the second consecutive quarter of economic decline - officially putting Venezuela into recession. The Venezuelan government doesn't provide data to compare economic activity from one quarter to the next. The drop, worse than expected, poses a major challenge for Mr. Chávez, who has been in power for a decade and has moved Venezuela sharply to the left, nationalizing industries and using the country's oil money to boost government spending and build popularity. "This is much worse than expected and will send the government into panic mode," said Boris Segura, senior economist for Latin America at Royal Bank of Scotland. A decline in oil prices from their record levels in July 2008 has forced Mr. Chávez to rein in public spending this year. Consumers also have tightened their belts, with imports falling 29% in the third quarter compared with the year-earlier period. Retail sales slipped 11.5%.

ASIA PACIFIC

US, China in Strained Diplomatic Embrace - Jonathan Weisman and Ian Johnson, Wall Street Journal. President Barack Obama was set to leave China on Wednesday after an awkward summit with some achievements but a long list of unfinished business - a result that suggests challenges ahead for the US as it struggles to come to terms with Asia's increasingly assertive superpower. The president secured a far-ranging framework for cooperation Tuesday with Beijing. But that deal was announced as frictions between the two nations appeared to increase over human rights and economic policy. President Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao issued their ambitious statement on cooperation in a clumsy fashion - at a media "availability" where they took no questions, didn't address each other and exhibited body language that seemed to say they had been frustrated by the entire exercise. Later in the day, at a congressional hearing in Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner repeated America's wish list for Chinese economic policy, including a reform of the Chinese currency system (that is, a stronger yuan) and an increase in Chinese imports. But he struck a more moderate tone than past Treasury secretaries.

In Obama's China Trip, a Stark Contrast with the Past - Andrew Higgins and Anne E. Kornblut, Washington Post. President Obama has emerged from his first trip to China with no big breakthroughs on important issues, such as Iran's nuclear program or China's currency. Yet after two days of talks with the United States' biggest creditor, the administration asserted that relations between the two countries are at "an all-time high." Although one concrete advance emerged - that the United States may offer a target for carbon-emission cuts to boost climate negotiations in Copenhagen next month if China offers its own proposal - it was a relatively small step for a new president who had campaigned on a promise to enact far-reaching change in US diplomatic interactions. If there was any significant change during this trip, in fact, it was in the United States' newly conciliatory and sometimes laudatory tone. In a joint appearance with President Hu Jintao on Tuesday, Obama hailed China as an economic partner that has "proved critical in our effort to pull ourselves out of the worst recession in generations." The day before, speaking to students in Shanghai, he described China's rising prosperity as "an accomplishment unparalleled in human history."

China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit - Helene Cooper, New York Times. In six hours of meetings, at two dinners and during a stilted 30-minute news conference in which President Hu Jintao did not allow questions, President Obama was confronted, on his first visit, with a fast-rising China more willing to say no to the United States. On topics like Iran (Mr. Hu did not publicly discuss the possibility of sanctions), China’s currency (he made no nod toward changing its value) and human rights (a joint statement bluntly acknowledged that the two countries “have differences”), China held firm against most American demands. With China’s micro-management of Mr. Obama’s appearances in the country, the trip did more to showcase China’s ability to push back against outside pressure than it did to advance the main issues on Mr. Obama’s agenda, analysts said. “China effectively stage-managed President Obama’s public appearances, got him to make statements endorsing Chinese positions of political importance to them and effectively squelched discussions of contentious issues such as human rights and China’s currency policy,” said Eswar S. Prasad, a China specialist at Cornell University. “In a masterstroke, they shifted the public discussion from the global risks posed by Chinese currency policy to the dangers of loose monetary policy and protectionist tendencies in the US.”

During Visit, Obama Skirts Chinese Political Sensitivities - Michael Wines and Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times. Whether by White House design or Chinese insistence, President Obama has steered clear of public meetings with Chinese liberals, free press advocates and even average Chinese during his first visit to China, showing a deference to the Chinese leadership’s aversions to such interactions that is unusual for a visiting American president. Mr. Obama held a “town hall” meeting with students on Monday. But the students were carefully vetted and prepped for the event by the government, participants said. And the Chinese authorities, wielding a practiced mix of censorship and diplomatic pressure, succeeded in limiting Mr. Obama’s exposure to a point where a third of some 40 Beijing university students interviewed Tuesday were unaware that he had just met in Shanghai with their peers. Some students who were aware cast him in terms rarely applied to American leaders, like “rather humble” and “bland.” “Is America being capricious because their economic difficulties force them to be nicer to China and other countries, or is this a genuine change?” asked Liu Ziqi, 18, a freshman at the University of International Business and Economics. “I don’t know.”

EUROPE

Russia Expects New START Agreement by December 5 - Peter Fedynsky, Voice of America. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expects a new Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the United States to be signed by the time the old one expires in less than three weeks. Lavrov is also not concerned about any violations taking place while lawmakers in both countries consider formal ratification of the document. Foreign Minister Lavrov told a Moscow news conference the Russian and American presidents firmly agree their arms negotiators should do everything at ongoing talks in Geneva to sign a new Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty by the time the current one runs out on December 5. Lavrov said Russia and the United States will abide by the terms of the agreement pending ratification by lawmakers in both countries. The foreign minister points to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which obligates signatories to an agreement to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the document.

Turkish-Cypriot Leader Optimistic on Talks - John Phillips, Washington Times. Turkish-Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat says recent talks with Greek-Cypriot leaders made significant progress toward a power-sharing settlement and that he is confident that Europe's last wall, dividing the island's capital, Nicosia, can be dismantled before April presidential balloting in Northern Cyprus. In an interview, the moderate, pro-Western Mr. Talat invited his Greek-Cypriot counterpart, Dimitris Christofias, to attend Camp David-style marathon peace talks by the end of the year to draft an accord reuniting the island in a federation in which Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots would have political equality. "Cristofias tells me he can do it. He says he wants a solution, that he stood as an independent candidate because I was the Turkish-Cypriot leader. The recent talks produced many points of convergence," Mr. Talat told The Washington Times. The United Nations' special envoy for Cyprus, Alexander Downer, an Australian, has made progress in finding common ground and said Turkish Cypriots now think only the United Nations can deliver a deal.

MIDDLE EAST

US Dismayed at Israeli Building Plan for East Jerusalem - Meredith Buel, Voice of America. The United States says it is dismayed that Israel has authorized the construction of new housing units in occupied east Jerusalem. Israel has approved construction of 900 new units in mostly Arab east Jerusalem despite objections by the United States and the Palestinians. Speaking to reporters at the US State Department, spokesman Ian Kelly says the Obama administration is deeply disappointed by the Israeli decision. "We believe that neither party should engage in any kind of actions that could unilaterally preempt or appear to preempt negotiations. I think that we find the Jerusalem planning committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem as dismaying," said Kelly. US officials have put pressure on the Israeli government to halt construction of settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 Middle East war in a move that is not recognized internationally. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says peace talks cannot resume until Israel freezes building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. So far, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only offered a limited reduction in new building.

Housing Plan for Jerusalem Neighborhood Spurs Criticism - Howard Schneider, Washington Post. City officials moved forward Tuesday with a plan to build 900 homes in a disputed neighborhood of Jerusalem, prompting sharp criticism from the White House, the Palestinians and others who feel it will further undermine the chance of renewing peace talks. The new units will expand the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo, one of several built on land taken by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed to the city in a step not recognized by the international community. The Obama administration has asked Israel to halt building in those parts of town, which the Palestinians say should form the capital of their future state. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration was "dismayed" at the Jerusalem Planning Committee's approval of the Gilo project. "At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed," Gibbs said. The status of Jerusalem, he said, is a matter that should be negotiated between the two sides, and "neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt or appear to preempt negotiations."

Plan to Expand Jerusalem Settlement Angers US - Isabel Kershner, New York Times. Israel said Tuesday that it had advanced plans to expand a Jewish district of Jerusalem in territory that was captured in the 1967 war and that the Palestinians claim as part of their future state. The move is likely to further complicate the Obama administration’s faltering efforts to restart peace talks. The news that the building plans had moved closer to approval drew a sharp response from the White House, which has declared reviving the talks to be a major goal. Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, issued a statement saying the administration was “dismayed” and asking both parties to avoid unilateral actions that could “pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently generated a furor among Palestinians and other Arabs by praising as “unprecedented” an offer by Israel to slow down, but not stop, construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Arab countries worried that the administration was backing off its previous insistence on a complete freeze, but Mrs. Clinton denied that, saying that she was offering “positive reinforcement” for policies that headed in that direction.

US Fury as Israel Approves 900 New Housing Units in Gilo Settlement - James Hider, The Times. Strained relations between Israel and the United States hit a fresh low yesterday when the State Department condemned the construction of 900 new housing units in an East Jerusalem settlement suburb as “dismaying”. Britain also condemned the controversial decision by Israel to go ahead with the major construction project in Gilo, which was built on land conquered in the 1967 war, calling the move “wrong.” The dispute brought to a head simmering tensions between Israel’s right-wing Government, headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and its major backer, Washington. Almost immediately after he assumed office, President Barack Obama said he wanted a total freeze on all Jewish settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, considered illegal by the international community, as a means of reinvigorating long-stalled peace talks. But Mr Netanyahu has refused, blocking a central plank of the US administration’s policy to end the decades-old conflict. In a rare flash of diplomatic anger yesterday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said, “We find the Jerusalem planning committee decision to move forward the approval process for the expansion of Gilo, in Jerusalem, as dismaying.”

Israel Punishes Protesting Soldiers - Associated Press. The Israeli army punished six soldiers Tuesday for protesting the army's demolition of structures at an unauthorized settler outpost in the West Bank, after other troops refused to take part in the operation. The soldiers hung a banner Monday at an army base in the West Bank, proclaiming their opposition to using soldiers for such missions. The soldiers were suspended and face courts martial, the military said. Earlier Monday, soldiers dismantled two makeshift houses at the outpost of Negohot, near the city of Hebron. A photograph of them hoisting a sign opposing settlement evacuations was featured widely in Israeli media on Tuesday. Six other soldiers who serve in the infantry unit in the West Bank refused to take part in the demolition, and they were disciplined Monday. Two were jailed for a month and dismissed from their combat unit. Two others were sentenced to several weeks in military prison, and the remaining two were confined to their base for a month. Negohot is one of dozens of wildcat outposts put up by settlers without government authorization, though the government provides services to many of them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was no place for insubordination in the military, adding commanders would deal such incidents with a "strong hand."

EU says it is Not Time to Recognize Palestinian State - Lisa Bryant, Voice of America. The European Union has followed the United States in saying it is not ready to recognize Palestinian statehood, after Palestinian leaders declared they would seek that status at the United Nations. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, said the time is not right for recognizing a Palestinian state. "I do not think we are there yet," he said. "I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first. So I think that is somewhat premature. We have said previously if you go back to what the European Union has said that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but the conditions are not there as of yet." Bildt said the European Union is discussing other steps to increase support for Palestinian aspirations. And at a press conference later in the day, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana offered strong backing for an eventual Palestinian state.

EVENTS

The US Military Academy’s Department of History is pleased to invite you to a West Point Symposium on the History of Irregular Warfare, 18-20 November 2009. The symposium will feature the scholarship of five cadet panel presenters with commentary by distinguished guest scholars, including: Dr. Stephen Biddle as our keynote speaker, Dr. Jeremy Black, Col. Robert Cassidy, Dr. Conrad Crane, Dr. George Herring, Dr. Brian Linn, and Dr. Peter Mansoor. Additionally, Dr. James Le Sueur (Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics, 2005) will present a special lecture on Algerian society since 1963. Col. Gian Gentile, a History faculty member, will participate as part of the “Visiting Scholars Panel” with Dr. Crane, Dr. Mansoor, and Col. Cassidy. (Invitation and POC Information) (History of IW Symposium Agenda)

An Evening of Counterinsurgency at the Pritzker Military Library. Hearts and minds? Overrated. If you want to run a successful counterinsurgency, it all starts with the person at the top. On Thursday, December 3rd, Mark Moyar will appear at the Pritzker Military Library to discuss his new book, A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq. This event is free and open to the public. The presentation will begin at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception for Library members at 5 p.m. It will be webcast live on pritzkermilitarylibrary.org and recorded for later broadcast on WYCC-TV/Channel 20. Moyar takes issue with much of the current U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, which guided the “surge” in Iraq. Though its creation was overseen by Gen. David Petraeus, whose leadership he considers a near-perfect model for counterinsurgency, Moyar finds the general’s most important qualities de-valued in the manual, which suffers from what he calls a “population-centric” emphasis toward defeating an insurgency by depriving it of public support. Using case studies from the Philippines, Vietnam, and other conflicts over the last 150 years, Moyar argues instead that counterinsurgencies succeed or fail based on the leaders involved: their ability to inspire subordinates, adapt to complex situations, unify civilian and military efforts, and identify capable sub-commanders, both from their own ranks and the target population. Though A Question of Command describes historical insurgencies around the world, Moyar posits that the American South, after the Civil War, may have been the best model for the situation in Iraq. Whereas Grant and Sherman had led major victories on the battlefield, it was lesser-known leaders like Brig. Gen. Robert F. Catterson and Maj. Lewis Merrill who had the most success against insurgent forces such as the Ku Klux Klan. A Question of Command attempts to capture the qualities and decisions that set those leaders apart, making their successors easier to find. Mark Moyar is Professor of National Security Affairs at the Marine Corps University. He is also the author of Triumph Forsaken: the Vietnam War, 1954-1965 and Phoenix and the Birds of Prey: Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism in Vietnam. Moyar’s writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Cambridge. Seating for this event is limited, so reservations are recommended. Call 312.587.0234 or email events@pritzkermilitarylibrary.net.

BOOKS

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan - Doug Stanton.

Horse Soldiers tells the important story of the Special Forces soldiers who first put American boots on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001. Fighting alongside the Northern Alliance, the troops, often riding on horseback, achieved several important victories against the Taliban.

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 US 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.