President Obama on Monday admonished President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan that he must take on what American officials have said he avoided during his first term: the rampant corruption and drug trade that have fueled the resurgence of the Taliban. As Mr. Karzai was officially declared the winner of the much-disputed presidential election, Mr. Obama placed a congratulatory call in which he asked for a “new chapter” in the legitimacy of the Afghan government.

--New York Times

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN

Afghan Presidential Runoff Is Canceled - Yaroslav Trofimov and Zahid Hussain, Wall Street Journal. Afghanistan's election commission declared incumbent Hamid Karzai the winner of the country's presidential contest and canceled a second round of voting, ending a political drama that had thrown the country into two months of turmoil. The commission acted a day after Mr. Karzai's challenger dropped out of the race and hours after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived to press Mr. Karzai to abandon his plan to press on with the Nov. 7 vote unopposed. Mr. Karzai didn't comment on the commission's decision Monday. On Sunday, he pledged to abide by any ruling by the body. The decision was intended to save the lives of voters and election workers, including UN personnel. The UN is in the process of pulling out some nonessential staff from Afghanistan following an attack last week that killed five UN workers. A UN spokeswoman said Monday the organization was also curtailing its programs across the border in Pakistan because of security concerns, amid a string of terrorist attacks. On Monday, a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, the capital.

Afghan Election Officials Cancel Runoff, Declare Karzai Winner - Sean Maroney, Voice of America. Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission says it has canceled the presidential runoff, originally scheduled for this Saturday. The announcement came a day after President Hamid Karzai's challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race. After enduring months of political uncertainty, Taliban violence, and the realization of massive fraud in the first round of voting, Afghans now know who their president will be. "We declare that Mr. Hamid Karzai, [who] got the majority of votes in the first round and [who] is the only candidate for the second round of elections of Afghanistan in 2009, we declare [is] the elected president of Afghanistan." said Azizullah Lodin, election commission president. Lodin also said officials decided to cancel the runoff in order to save Afghans the expense and security risk of another election. Sunday, President Karzai's challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah said he could not accept a runoff overseen by the same people who were in charge of the August 20th poll. In that round of voting, international officials uncovered massive fraud, mainly in President Karzai's favor. As a result, Mr. Karzai's victory fell below 50 percent, requiring a runoff. After the IEC decision, the United States and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued statements congratulating President Karzai on his victory.

Obama Warns Karzai to Focus on Tackling Corruption - Helene Cooper and Jeff Zeleny, New York Times. President Obama on Monday admonished President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan that he must take on what American officials have said he avoided during his first term: the rampant corruption and drug trade that have fueled the resurgence of the Taliban. As Mr. Karzai was officially declared the winner of the much-disputed presidential election, Mr. Obama placed a congratulatory call in which he asked for a “new chapter” in the legitimacy of the Afghan government. What he is seeking, Mr. Obama told reporters afterward, is “a sense on the part of President Karzai that, after some difficult years in which there has been some drift, that in fact he’s going to move boldly and forcefully forward and take advantage of the international community’s interest in his country to initiate reforms internally. That has to be one of our highest priorities.” The administration wants Mr. Karzai and the Afghan government to put into place an anticorruption commission to establish strict accountability for government officials at the national and provincial levels, senior administration officials said Monday.

Obama Warns Karzai to Clean up Afghanistan's Government - Paul Richter and Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times. President Obama, facing an unanticipated setback to his goals in Afghanistan as he weighs whether to send in more troops, warned the country's leader Monday to get serious about eradicating corruption and developing a stable government. Obama's administration faces a more difficult job in achieving his objectives after Afghan election officials canceled a runoff vote that had been scheduled for this weekend and declared President Hamid Karzai the winner of a new five-year term. The move, which follows August's fraud-tainted election, came after former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah bowed out of the rematch Sunday, saying the government-appointed electoral commission was biased in favor of Karzai. The outcome left a shadow over Karzai and roused antiwar voices in Washington. Though administration officials called the end to the election uncertainty a step forward for Afghanistan, Obama could be harder-pressed to justify the major US troop increase that his military leaders have recommended to bolster the fight against Islamic militants. The president will decide in coming weeks on the request for a reported 40,000 additional troops, which would make for a US deployment of more than 100,000, in addition to the nearly 40,000 from other Western nations.

Obama Calls Karzai, Urges 'New Chapter' in Afghanistan - Paula Wolfson, Voice of America. US President Barack Obama is urging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open a new chapter in his country's history by taking action against corruption and implementing reforms. Mr. Obama called the Afghan leader just hours after he was declared the winner of a presidential election marked by controversy and accusations of fraud. President Obama acknowledges the election process in Afghanistan was difficult. But he says it was legal. "Although the process was messy, I am pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law," said President Obama. Mr.Obama says he called Hamid Karzai to pass along his congratulations. He also offered some tough talk. "I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter based on improved governance, a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption, joint efforts to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces so that the Afghan people can provide for their own security," he said. Hamid Karzai was declared the winner on Monday, roughly 24 hours after his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of the run-off election set for November 7.

In Kabul, a Collective Sigh of Relief - Pamela Constable and Joshua Partlow, Washington Post. Election officials declared Afghan President Hamid Karzai the winner of a new five-year term Monday, canceling Saturday's runoff election just one day after Karzai's sole challenger quit the race. The decision ended weeks of political drift since a first presidential poll in August was found invalid because of massive fraud. In the capital, a sense of relief was instant and palpable. Kabul residents honked horns and exchanged celebratory text messages as the news spread. American, European and UN officials rushed to congratulate Karzai and pledged to work closely with his new administration. But the decision to allow Karzai to begin a new term without a clear mandate raised questions about the legitimacy of his future administration. And despite calls for calm by his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, there were fears that opposition supporters might cause violent unrest. In an unusual and potentially worrisome development Monday evening, Abdurrashid Dostum, a former ethnic militia leader and political ally of Karzai's who has a long track record of human rights abuses, arrived on an international flight at the Kabul airport. Dostum, who has been living in exile in Turkey, is a longtime rival of a northern strongman who backed Abdullah.

Suicide Bomber Kills 35 People Near Pakistan's Army Headquarters - Sean Maroney, Voice of America. Police in Pakistan say a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people Monday near the country's army headquarters in Rawalpindi, where gunmen kept up a nearly 24-hour hostage-taking assault last month. Monday's blast occurred in a parking lot outside a government bank, just a few kilometers from the capital, Islamabad. On the first business day of the month, many people - especially government employees - line up at the bank to collect their monthly salaries or pensions. Mohammad Saleem says he was going to the bank to get his salary when a blast occurred near the gate. He said he ran out from the building and saw many dead bodies. Saleem said his child - who was sitting in his car parked in the bank's lot - is still missing. Last month, the number of attacks across the country increased, starting with a suicide bombing in a United Nations office in Islamabad and ending with a massive bombing in a Peshawar market that was the single deadliest act of terrorism since 2007. Also, militants launched an assault on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, which killed the nine attackers, more than a dozen soldiers and several civilians.

Pakistan Militants Kill 35 in Latest Attack - Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times. Militants continued Monday to exact a price on Pakistan for the government's ongoing offensive against the Taliban near the Afghan border, killing 35 people in a suicide bombing attack on military personnel and civilian workers lined up at a bank to get their monthly wages and pension checks. The midmorning blast in the city of Rawalpindi, just a few hundred yards from the Pakistani army's sprawling headquarters, was followed by another suicide bombing at a highway checkpoint outside the eastern city of Lahore that injured at least 15 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. The incidents followed a relentless surge in militant violence across Pakistan last month as the government launched its long-awaited military operation to crush the local Taliban in its stronghold in rugged, largely lawless South Waziristan. Nearly 300 people were killed in those attacks. The ongoing violence led the United Nations to announce Monday that it was suspending long-term development efforts in the country's northwest and pulling out some of its non-Pakistani staff members.

Officials Showcase Armored All-terrain Vehicle - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service. Senior Defense Department officials today showcased a more agile, downsized version of the military’s family of super-armored vehicles now arriving in Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain requires a more agile vehicle than the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles used in Iraq, the MRAP vehicle was modified to produce a lighter, all-terrain vehicle known as the M-ATV, said Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. The new vehicles will replace up-armored Humvees. Like the version used in Iraq, the new trucks feature armor and V-shaped hulls to deflect roadside-bomb blasts, Carter. M-ATVs “will similarly be a live-saver in Afghanistan,” he added. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pushed to develop the new vehicle quickly, Carter said, noting the first production order was provided to Wisconsin-based manufacturer Oshkosh Corp. in June. Vehicles already are arriving in Afghanistan, Carter said, noting he has test-driven an M-ATV. “These are superior vehicles,” he told reporters. The military is planning to buy more than 6,500 M-ATVs, Carter said, with about 690 having been accepted. “We will continue to make changes in the MRAP-ATV as we get feedback from soldiers [on] how to improve it,” Carter said. US soldiers in Afghanistan are training with the first 41 M-ATVs that have arrived there, said Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va. Marines, too, will get M-ATVs, he said. The M-ATV weighs about 5 tons less that the 40,000-pound regular MRAP, Brogan said, noting the new vehicle also features an independent suspension and a shorter wheelbase to better negotiate Afghanistan’s rocky hills.

US Deploying New Armored Vehicle to Afghanistan - Al Pessin, Voice of America. The US military has begun deploying a new generation of relatively light-weight all-terrain armored vehicles to Afghanistan, which have enough armor to protect troops from deadly roadside bombs but are not too heavy for the country's relatively undeveloped road network. This report is about the latest effort to reduce the record and rising casualty levels among US troops in Afghanistan, as President Barack Obama considers sending tens of thousands more troops into harm's way. But it comes with a consumer advisory label: Warning, the following story unavoidably contains military acronyms and technical terminology. The story really begins in Iraq several years ago, when insurgents first began using home-made roadside bombs against the High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee, the main vehicle the troops were using. The soldiers and marines quickly realized the light-weight Humvees did not have enough protection against the bombs, so they added some armor. That helped but not enough, and at the same time the bombs got bigger. So, the military created a new armored vehicle, a sort of cross between a Humvee and a tank, and called it the MRAP, the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protect vehicle. Officials say the vehicles have saved hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives along Iraq's well-developed road network. "MRAPs are lifesavers," says Assistant Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. But, he explains, the MRAPs did not work so well in Afghanistan. "The terrain in Afghanistan is different from Iraq, it's more uneven, the roads are less easy to traverse. And for that reason, we've had to create an all-terrain version of the MRAP," he said. The challenge for designers was to create a vehicle with the protection provided by an MRAP but about 25 per cent lighter. And so, an acronym within an acronym was born - the M-ATV, or MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle. "This vehicle here will similarly be a lifesaver in Afghanistan," he added.

President Karzai’s Second Term - New York Times editorial. We regret the decision by Afghanistan’s opposition leader, Abdullah Abdullah, to withdraw from this week’s runoff election for the presidency. After President Hamid Karzai’s supporters tried to steal the first-round vote, Mr. Abdullah had strong reason to mistrust the process. But Afghan voters deserved another chance. And Afghanistan’s government - under assault from the Taliban and its own corruption and incompetence - desperately needed the legitimacy of a cleaner vote. Now that Mr. Karzai has been re-elected by default, he is going to have to do everything in his power to persuade his people - and the rest of the world - that he is deserving of their trust. After the last seven years of mismanagement and corruption, that will be a hard sell. The Obama administration, which had to twist Mr. Karzai’s arm to get him to agree to a runoff, is going to have to twist even harder to get him to build a viable government. President Obama’s characterization Monday of the Afghan election process as “messy” was, to say the least, an understatement. We hope that he and his aides are talking a lot tougher in private.

Afghanistan: Now What? - Los Angeles Times editorial. In the first round of balloting, Afghan President Hamid Karzai received 1 million "ghost votes" from people who simply didn't exist. When those were eliminated, he lacked the requisite plurality and was pressed by his Western backers into agreeing to a runoff - only to see his challenger drop out in anticipation of further fraud. Faced with a one-man race, the Independent Election Commission on Monday canceled the second round and returned Karzai to power for a second five-year term. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has tried to put a positive spin on all this, saying that candidates pull out of elections even in the United States and that the withdrawal of former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah does not affect the legitimacy of the process. But the Obama administration looks silly pretending this is anything but a mess. Although we had our doubts about the Afghan government's ability to pull off a safe and clean runoff, we had hoped there would be one. Now, although he received more votes than anyone else the first time and likely would have won a second vote, Karzai looks like a president by default, and his government looks increasingly illegitimate.

Waiting for Obama - Wall Street Journal editorial. Afghanistan's messy election ended yesterday with President Hamid Karzai securing another five-year term after his challenger withdrew and a run-off was called off. Maybe now President Obama can get on with his job as Commander in Chief of deciding whether this really is the "war of necessity" he pledged for two years to fight. Mr. Karzai's election should put to rest the doubts about his "legitimacy" heard in America's liberal media and in whispers from the Administration, even if it won't. He won that legitimacy by agreeing to a second round, once the official electoral commission invalidated enough of his votes to deprive him of a majority, in accordance with Afghan law. In the end Abdullah Abdullah, who came in second in August, declared that the run-off would be as crooked as the first round and dropped out. Always unlikely to win even in an honest vote, Dr. Abdullah is serving his own political interest here in avoiding a formal defeat and claiming the moral high ground in opposition. But in a larger sense, he has behaved responsibly and opposed any mass protest against the government.

DC Cabbies on Afghanistan - Lydia Khalil, Washington Post opinion. And herein lies the lesson for the Obama administration: decide already. No matter how many more opinions you seek, they will be contrasting and conflicting. There is no hidden oracle within the Beltway or beyond that will provide the answer. No doubt, this is a difficult decision, and its effects are far-reaching. The ultimate strategy for Afghanistan has ramifications beyond our diplomatic and military strategy for the region. The decision whether or not to go forward with Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recommendations will cement whether or not counterinsurgency will be the prevailing military doctrine for years to come. How much the US focuses on institutional reform, governance and infrastructure as part of any new strategy will answer once and for all whether the United States has the stomach or the capability to engage in modern-day nation building. The outcome in Afghanistan will also affect Washington's standing vis a vis its international rival, Iran, just as it presents some unsettling implications for nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India. And once the United States commits itself to a cause and backs away from that commitment, as some have suggested we do in Afghanistan by scaling back our presence and constricting our goals, it is jeopardizing its ability to intervene in future conflicts should the need arise. Just take a look at Somalia.

Afghanistan's Drug War: The Farmers Aren't the Enemy - Moyara Ruehsen, Los Angeles Times opinion. There is concern that our continued efforts in Afghanistan are being undermined by widespread corruption within the administration of President Hamid Karzai. What few people are talking about is the opium cultivation and heroin production that is fueling this corruption. But should we do anything about it? Can we do anything about it? Not really. Controlling opium production is a Sisyphean task - hopelessly futile. Trying to eradicate the crop creates perverse incentives that actually lead to increased production, as NATO allies learned in the years following the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. However, if we do nothing about opium cultivation, farmers will naturally overproduce, stocks of stored opium will accumulate, prices will fall further and farmers will eventually abandon the crop of their own free will (as they did in 2000 and as they are starting to do now). This year, the United Nations issued two reports suggesting significant drops in opium crop cultivation, suggesting that US- and British-funded crop eradication and alternative development schemes were finally paying off. But the continued drop in the number of acres planted with poppies is not all that it seems. Thanks to increasing crop yields (because of more intensive planting and more efficient techniques), new opium production has fallen by far less than the numbers would suggest. Annual production levels are still double what they were in the decade before 9/11 and during the first few years of this war.

IRAQ

US Concerned About Iraq Election Law Delay - Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times. As the commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr. will play a key role in making the assessments on which the US military will base its final decision on whether to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by August, the goal set by President Obama. After that, 50,000 US troops will remain to help with training and logistics until the end of 2011. The current timetable calls for Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander, to make a recommendation on withdrawal 60 days after crucial Iraqi elections due to take place Jan. 16. Amid growing concerns that the vote may be delayed by Iraqi political disputes, and in the wake of the devastating Oct. 25 bombings that killed 155 people in downtown Baghdad, Jacoby sat down with The Times to talk about factors that will influence the decision.

IRAN

Clinton: Nuclear Offer to Iran Will Not Change - Scott Stearns, Voice of America. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says there will be no changes to an international offer to end the dispute over Iran's nuclear program by having its low-grade uranium processed and enriched abroad. That proposal is still being considered by the government in Tehran. Secretary of State Clinton says it is time for Iran to accept the UNbacked nuclear fuel deal. "This is a pivotal moment for Iran. Acceptance fully of this proposal which we have put forth and which we are unified behind would be a good indication that Iran does not wish to be isolated and does wish to cooperate with the international community and fulfill their international responsibilities," she said. While the International Atomic Energy Agency remains in contact with Iran to answer its questions about the agreement, Clinton says the United States, Russia, France, China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union will not accept any modifications to its terms. "We urge Iran to accept the agreement as proposed. Because we are not altering it. It is the proposal that they agreed to in principal, so that we can move forward and work with Iran on a full range of issues including, but not limited to, their nuclear program," she said. Clinton spoke to reporters in Morocco where she is meeting with Arab, North African and G8 foreign ministers.

Clinton Tells Iran to Adhere to Plan - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged Iran to stick to an agreement to ship low-enriched uranium abroad for processing for use in a Tehran research reactor, after a senior official Iranian official said his country wants to instead purchase nuclear fuel. Clinton said there should be no backing away from the deal with the United States and other countries, which was intended to slow any Iranian efforts at developing uranium for a nuclear bomb. "This is a pivotal moment for Iran," she said while traveling in North Africa. "Acceptance of this proposal would be a good indication that Iran does not wish to be isolated." Her comments came hours after the first Iranian statement on the issue since Iran formally submitted its response on the proposed deal to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Thursday. The contents of that response have not been made public. "The key point is guarantee of providing the fuel," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency regarding the deal.

Iran’s Politics Stand in the Way of a Nuclear Deal - Michael Slackman, New York Times. Iran’s leadership has once again equivocated after agreeing to a deal that would ease its nuclear standoff with the West. But this time, that may be as much a product of the nation’s smoldering political crisis as it is a negotiating tactic, political analysts and Iran experts said. Tehran has yet to state publicly why it objects to the deal, in which it would ship its low-enriched uranium out of the country for additional processing and eventual return as fuel rods for a civilian reactor. But Iran experts say the very caustic, and very public, nature of the debate in Iran over the proposed nuclear deal suggests that the deep divisions cemented by the summer’s disputed presidential election have complicated, if not undermined, the ability to resolve such a major issue. “Since the 1979 revolution it is rare for the political elite to disagree so openly with an issue of this significance,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a political scientist at Syracuse University. The announced agreement headed off efforts to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, yet patience may be waning.

Iran Warns Opposition Over Anti-US Day Rallies - Elizabeth Arrott, Voice of America. Iran's elite security force is warning the opposition against holding any rallies this week as the nation marks 30 years since the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards statement called on Iranians to watch out for "false slogans" and "plots by the enemy's agents" during anti-American, pro-government demonstrations planned for Wednesday. For the past few weeks, opposition groups have called for renewed protests on that day to again raise the issue of the disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Top opposition figures have appeared to back the call, with Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami in recent days offering their support to demonstrators. Such developments, after nearly five months and thousands of arrests in a post-election crackdown, continue to keep the government on alert. The co-director of the London-based British-American Security Information Council, Paul Ingram, says the depth of opposition anger is not likely to go away soon. "There is certainly a concern that if these rallies were allowed to happen then certainly they could spark a series of unrest over several weeks that could threaten the regime," he said. The annual celebrations are meant to recall the early, heady days of the Islamic revolution, when militants in the young republic overran the US embassy, a symbol of the "Great Satan." But in the months since the June vote, several pro-government traditions have been turned on their heads.

Iran Students Carry on Protests - Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times. Students in the western Iranian city of Ahvaz in recent days launched an impromptu protest in a campus auditorium. In Kashan on Monday, a group took over the campus cafeteria, singing anti-government songs. A couple of weeks ago in Tehran, others cheered wildly as someone threw a shoe at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's former culture minister. Then on Monday, students shouted down the ex-minister, Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, once again. Largely absent from international media reports and discounted by Western policymakers more focused on Iran's nuclear program, the protest movement that erupted after Ahmadinejad's disputed June 12 reelection has continued to smolder, mostly on college campuses. Defying warnings by security officials, protesters plan to stage their first large public gatherings in six weeks on Wednesday. This time they plan to turn an annual nationwide march commemorating the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy, held on the 13th day of the Persian calendar month of Aban, into an anti-government rally. "The 13th of Aban is another appointment for us," opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi said in a statement published by reformist websites. "It is here to remind us, once again, that the people are the leaders."

When No Means No - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal opinion. I once overhead a guy try to make a date over the phone. His end of the conversation went roughly as follows: "How about Friday?" (Pause.) "Not Friday? Because I'm free most of the weekend." (Pause.) "Not this weekend? What about next Saturday?" (Pause.) "Are you free at all next week?" (Long pause.) "Well, are you ever free?" Apparently she was not, at least as far as he was concerned. Now it's the turn of the Obama administration to play the guy who won't take a hint. And it falls to the Islamic Republic of Iran to be the girl who's hard - actually, impossible - to get. Tehran's most recent abrupt rejection came last week, when it reportedly decided that it was not enough for the US to trash four binding Security Council resolutions demanding that Iran cease enriching uranium. Nor was it enough that France and Russia were prepared, with America's blessing, to convert Iran's existing stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to a grade of 19.75%, a hair's breadth shy of the 20% needed for a crude nuclear device. "The key issue is that Iran does not agree to export its lightly enriched uranium," an unnamed senior European official told the New York Times. "That's not a minor detail. That's the whole point of the deal." Perhaps this is merely some tactical posturing by Iran; as of this writing, its foreign minister hasn't yet categorically ruled a deal out. Then again, it's probably worth rehashing the history of the West's nuclear negotiations with Tehran to see where things are likely to go from here.

UNITED STATES

Dick Cheney and the Use of Classified Information - Walter Pincus, Washington Post. Then-Vice President Richard B. Cheney gave a surprisingly honest description of how top administration officials treat classified information when he was questioned more than five years ago by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel investigating the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, who was then a covert CIA employee. According to the FBI report on the May 8, 2004, session, released last week, the vice president was asked about testimony by I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his chief of staff. Libby had said Cheney authorized him on July 8, 2003, to disclose classified information from a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq to Judith Miller, then a reporter for the New York Times. Though the vice president said he could not recall any members of his staff, including Libby, being authorized to talk to Miller at that time, he did give his views on speaking to the news media about information in classified intelligence estimates. "The vice president advised that it is possible to talk about something contained in a classified document without violating the law regarding declassification," according to the FBI report. Cheney said he had made "numerous statements about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction which were based on and, in some cases, tracked his reading of classified information," including a then-classified Iraq NIE.

Gates, Casey Welcome New Army Secretary - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service. The new Army secretary received an official welcome from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the Army’s top uniformed officer today at a ceremony held in Conmy Hall at Fort Myer, Va. Gates hailed former New York Congressman John M. McHugh, who became the 21st secretary of the Army on Sept. 21, as a staunch supporter for the military during his 16 years in Congress. “In the Congress, Representative McHugh was a strong advocate for Fort Drum, for the Army, and for the needs of all those who serve,” Gates said. Fort Drum, home of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, is located in Waterville, NY, which is McHugh’s hometown. Fort Drum also is part of McHugh’s former congressional district. Gates thanked McHugh, who had served as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, for his support of important acquisition reform legislation that was passed earlier this year. McHugh’s late father was an Army Air Corps B-17 bomber crewman during World War II and his mother was an Army nurse. “Now he takes charge of the entire Army family,” Gates said of McHugh’s new role as the Army’s top civilian. Today is a crucial time for the Army, Gates said. As US operations and force levels wind down in Iraq, he said, the campaign in Afghanistan is entering a new phase. And, difficult budget decisions lie ahead, he added. McHugh also will manage the replenishment, replacement and modernization of the Army’s battered, lost or obsolete equipment, Gates said, as he works to ensure the Army is equipped and prepared to fight today’s and tomorrow’s battles. The new Army secretary also will focus on improving the quality of life for US soldiers, their families and wounded warriors, Gates said.

AFRICA

Congolese Army Units Lose UN Aid - Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post. The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo will suspend its support of Congolese army units accused of deliberately killing 62 civilians during a controversial military operation against rebels in eastern Congo, UN officials said Monday. The decision follows a UN investigation that confirmed the killings, said Madnodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the mission. "By taking this position, it's a statement that [the UN mission] will no longer tolerate the Congolese army's violations of human rights against civilians," he said, adding that additional investigations are underway. But leading human rights groups said Monday that the United Nations' decision is far too little, too late and that the 62 killings are only a fraction of the atrocities carried out by the famously ill-trained, predatory Congolese army. Soldiers are accused in more than 700 killings, including two massacres, gang rapes and incidents in which they reportedly forced villagers to haul supplies across the jungle and shot them dead if they fell out from exhaustion.

Al-Shabab Tightens Grip in Somalia - Alisha Ryu, Voice of America. Somalia's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants are tightening their grip on areas of the country they already control, imposing new rules and punishing people they say are violating their radical brand of Islamic law. Some observers believe until a more powerful group emerges to bring law and order to the country, ordinary Somalis are not likely to challenge al-Shabab's violence-driven agenda. In recent months, al-Shabab militants have carried out violent acts they describe as "just punishments" for Somalis who violated Sharia - Islamic law. Alleged spies and Christians have been publicly executed. Thieves have had their legs and hands amputated. And women accused of adultery have been flogged and stoned. Al-Shabab militants have also reportedly forced citizens, including children, to watch the gruesome punishments being meted out. Somalia observer Paula Roque at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies says there is little doubt that in some places, al-Shabab has restored law and order that Somalis have been have been missing since the fall of the last functioning government in Somalia in 1991. But Roque says al-Shabab is trying to bring order through violence and the threat of violence, which is not what Somalis want.

AMERICAS

In Mexico, Fears of a 'Lost Generation' - William Booth and Steve Fainaru, Washington Post. The number of minors swept up in Mexico's drug wars - as killers and victims - is soaring, with US and Mexican officials warning that a toxic culture of fast money, drug abuse and murder is creating a "lost generation." Although the exploitation of children by criminals is timeless, authorities say the cartels are responding to new realities here. They have stepped up recruiting to replace tens of thousands of members who have been killed or arrested during President Felipe Calderón's US-backed war against the traffickers. The crackdown has led the cartels to diversify their operations, moving from the transshipment of narcotics to extortion, immigrant smuggling and kidnapping. It also has sparked intense rivalries, with youngsters serving as expendable foot soldiers in battles over trafficking routes to the United States and local markets that serve a growing number of Mexican drug users.

ASIA PACIFIC

In North Korea, Military Now Issues Economic Orders - Blaine Harden, Washington Post. North Korea's military, whose nuclear program vexes the Obama administration, has grabbed nearly complete command of the nation's state-run economy and staked out a lucrative new trade in mineral sales to China to make money for its supreme commander, Kim Jong Il. As it deepens its dominance over nearly every aspect of daily life, the Korean People's Army is also deploying soldiers to take first dibs on all food harvested in the isolated, chronically hungry country, according to the latest assessments of analysts. The army has earned hundreds of millions of dollars selling missiles and weapons to Iran, Pakistan, Syria and other nations. But its two nuclear tests, the most recent of which occurred in May, have triggered UN sanctions that are now choking off arms sales. So the army has come up with a new business model, taking over the management of state trading companies to rapidly increase sales of coal, iron ore and other minerals to China, according to trade data and analysts. The potential profits are eye-popping: China is one of the world's most voracious consumers of raw materials, and North Korea's mineral reserves are worth $5.94 trillion, according to an estimate by South Korea's Ministry of Unification. China has been critical of North Korea's nuclear program and missile tests, but it also has vastly increased its economic ties with Kim's government.

US Diplomats Engaging Burma in Major Policy Change - Daniel Schearf, Voice of America. Two senior United States diplomats are heading to Burma this week to meet with the military government and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The visit is the highest level dialogue between the United States and Burma in more than a decade and has been welcomed as a positive change in Washington's Burma policy. But whether or not Burma will respond constructively remains to be seen. The US Assistant Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, and his deputy, Scot Marciel, arrive in Burma Tuesday for two days of high-level meetings. The US officials will hold talks with senior leaders of Burma's military government as well as opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being held under house arrest. The visit has been welcomed as a positive change in Washington's Burma policy, from one of isolation to engagement. The Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Surin Pitsuwan, recently told VOA that Washington's willingness to talk with Burma, also known as Myanmar, is opening a "new ballgame" for the region. He says countries in Southeast Asia are looking forward to seeing adjustments from both sides.

EUROPE

Karadzic Promises to Attend War Crimes Trial Tuesday - Marlise Simons, New York Times. Radovan Karadzic was absent again on Monday, the third day of his trial, but he sent a letter to the chief judge of the international war crimes tribunal hearing his case saying that he would be “pleased” to attend on Tuesday. Judges have called for a hearing on Tuesday to discuss how to proceed if Mr. Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, who is defending himself, keeps defying the tribunal and saying he is not ready for his trial. Mr. Karadzic’s stance remains that the timing of his appearance is up to him. “I am continuing to work hard to prepare for my trial and look forward to making my own opening statement as soon as I am in a position to do so,” Mr. Karadzic wrote in his letter, which was released Monday. Proceeding without him, prosecutors at the tribunal, in The Hague, are laying out their case that Mr. Karadzic, who spent 11 years as a fugitive, committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Alan Tieger, who is an American and the lead prosecutor, has cited Mr. Karadzic’s own words, drawn from public speeches, telephone intercepts and video clips, as he prepared his followers for war or urged them to keep on fighting. Mr. Tieger painted a picture not of a civil war that broke out in the heat of confrontations, as is often claimed, but one that was carefully planned, with the backing of the Serbian government, to replace Bosnia’s multiethnic state with a Serbs-only one.

MIDDLE EAST

Arabs See US Tilt to Israel - Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal. The Obama administration's drive for Middle East peace risked a major setback as Arab nations warned of "failure" after a surprise US shift away from insisting on a total freeze of Israeli settlement-building in disputed areas ahead of peace talks. A furor in Arab capitals forced US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to issue a carefully worded statement from Morocco on Monday, asserting that US policy on the settlement issue hadn't changed. That didn't damp the criticism. "The Americans couldn't bring something serious" on the settlement issue, said Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League and an Egyptian diplomat. "I'm really afraid we're about to see failure....Failure is in the atmosphere." The disquiet was sparked by comments Mrs. Clinton made over the weekend in Jerusalem. She lauded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to a partial freeze of building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, calling it an "unprecedented" move toward peace that should bring Palestinians to the negotiating table. The Obama administration had repeatedly described a full freeze as critical to creating the conditions for progress on peace.The White House's point man on the Middle East peace process, former Sen. George Mitchell, has been seeking to get a complete settlement freeze in exchange for Arab governments taking early steps to normalize their relations with Israel, such as establishing trade and telecommunications links.

Clinton Says Israel Should Reciprocate Palestinian Moves - Scott Stearns, Voice of America. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Arab foreign ministers in Morocco to discuss Israel's offer to limit the expansion of Jewish settlements. Clinton says Israel should reciprocate positive Palestinian moves to improve security. Secretary Clinton says Palestinian President Mahmud Abass has shown "leadership and determination" to improve security, and Israel "should reciprocate." Her comments in Jerusalem Saturday praising Israel's offer to limit the expansion of Jewish settlements were widely criticized in the Arab world. Palestinian officials say the Obama administration is encouraging Israel to sidestep a 2003 agreement calling for a complete halt to those settlements. Jordan and Egypt issued statements critical of the apparent shift in US policy. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is "deeply disappointed" and says "failure is in the atmosphere" regarding Obama administration efforts to resolve the conflict. After meeting with Arab foreign ministers in Morocco, Clinton sought to deflect that criticism, saying none of her counterparts characterized what she said in Jerusalem as representing a change in US position. "They engaged with me at length about what it is that Israel is offering, why I believe it is unprecedented. We discussed how the position of the Obama administration has not changed. We do not believe that settlements are legitimate. We have said that repeatedly. And we have made that clear to the Israelis, the Arabs, the Palestinians, and the world," she said.

Clinton Denies Easing Pressure on Israel - Mark Landler, New York Times. Struggling to stem protests from the Arab world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday reiterated that the Obama administration still wanted Israel to freeze construction of Jewish settlements, even if it regarded Israel’s compromise offer as “unprecedented.” Arab officials expressed alarm that the United States seemed to be easing pressure on Israel after Mrs. Clinton said in Jerusalem on Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal of restrained settlement building was better than anything previous Israeli governments had offered. Mrs. Clinton said the administration would not stop pushing Mr. Netanyahu to do more. But she said that in trying to revive a stalled peace process, she wanted to offer Israel encouragement for moving in the right direction, even if that movement fell short of what the United States wanted. “I will offer positive reinforcement to the parties when I believe they are taking steps that support the objective of reaching a two-state solution,” she said here, on the eve of a conference of Arab and Western countries. “I will also push them as I have in public and private to do even more.”

In Face of Arab Anger, Clinton Amends View on Israel's Offer to Curb West Bank Growth - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to soothe Arab uneasiness Monday over weekend statements she made praising the Israeli government's offer to "restrain" growth in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying it "falls far short" of the Obama administration's hopes and is "not enough." Reflecting her concern over the Arab reaction, Clinton decided to extend her week-long trip to the region, scheduled to end Tuesday, with a previously unplanned stop in Cairo on Wednesday to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. On Sunday, Egypt backed the Palestinian stance that negotiations cannot resume until Israel stops all settlement construction. Clinton insisted that the administration still considers settlement activity on disputed territory "illegitimate" and advocates a freeze. But she repeated at a news conference here that Israel's offer was "unprecedented" and that it "holds the promise of moving a step closer to a two-state solution." In remarks made Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Clinton set off a firestorm in the Arab world by emphasizing the "unprecedented" nature of Israel's offer while failing to add that it was "not enough." She described the overture as significant enough to draw the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, where they could argue the point with the Israelis.

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)

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.