The core goal of American forces in Afghanistan is to defeat al-Qaida and disrupt and degrade the Taliban, the commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan told Congress today. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said he is fully behind President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan to reverse the Taliban’s momentum and create time and space to develop Afghan security and governance capacity.

-- American Forces Press Service

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN

Karzai, Gates Agree Afghans Need Long-Term International Commitment - Al Pessin, Voice of America. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says it could take 20 years for Afghanistan to be able to pay for its own security, although he has said he hopes his new army and police force will be able to take over security control in five years. President Karzai spoke at a joint news conference in Kabul with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. President Karzai says ambitious plans for a large, modern Afghan army are simply more than the country can afford for a long time. "For a number of years, maybe for another 15 to 20 years, Afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that capability and nature with its own resources," Mr. Karzai said. Speaking with President Karzai at a news conference, Secretary Gates indicated he was not surprised by that statement, but hopes it will not take that long. "I think that there is a realism on our part that it will be some time before Afghanistan is able to sustain its security forces entirely on its own," Gates said. "And whether that is 15 or 20 years, we will hope for accelerated economic development in Afghanistan." The two men also discussed the timing of the planned transition of security responsibility from US and coalition forces to the Afghans.

Afghan Says Army Will Need Help Until 2024 - Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times. President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that Afghanistan would not be able to pay for its own security until at least 2024, underscoring his government’s long-term financial dependence on the United States and NATO even as President Obama has pledged to begin withdrawing American troops in 2011. Mr. Karzai spoke at a news conference here with Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who did not put a timetable on the American and allied financial commitment but acknowledged that there was a “realism on our part that it will be some time before Afghanistan is able to sustain its security forces entirely on its own.” The news conference came just hours after as many as a dozen people were killed during an allied raid in Laghman Province, Afghan officials said, prompting hundreds of villagers to march in protest. The early morning operation outside the provincial capital, Mehtar Lam, east of Kabul, happened “without any coordination with the Afghan forces or Afghan officials,” said Sayed Ahmed Safi, a spokesman for the governor of Laghman. He said one woman was among the dead, which included civilians as well as insurgents, all killed by small-arms fire. He said the troops also detained four men.

Afghanistan Will Need US Help for 15 to 20 Years, Karzai Says - Julian E. Barnes and Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times. Afghanistan's security forces will need US support for another 15 to 20 years, President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday in the latest in a series of indications that US involvement there is likely to last far into the future. Also Tuesday, the top US and allied commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, told lawmakers in Washington that the US needed to signal a long-term commitment in Afghanistan in order to reverse the momentum of the Taliban-led insurgency, a commitment that he said must continue even after combat forces begin to draw down in 2011. Questions about the timing of US troop reductions and a hand-over of control to Afghan forces loomed over both McChrystal's testimony in Washington and a trip to Kabul by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. Karzai, appearing beside Gates at a news conference in the Afghan capital, said it would take five years for his forces to assume responsibility for security throughout the country. He said it would be 15 to 20 years before Afghan forces could operate without heavy US financial and technical help.

Gates to US Troops: 'We're in... to Win' in Afghanistan - Al Pessin, Voice of America. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Kabul on Tuesday to tell Afghan leaders that they need to move faster to increase the size and competence of their security forces, and to tell embattled U.S. troops that the United States is "in this thing to win." Secretary Gates told reporters during his flight that he will ask Afghan leaders to increase recruitment efforts for their security forces and to take steps to convince those already in service to stay on. He also wants a faster and better training program to get more Afghan troops into joint operations with US forces as soon as possible. The secretary said that involves giving Afghan forces higher pay and the ability to rotate out of heavy combat zones from time to time. He said that much of this already should have been done. "Well, there's a lot of this that's late in the game, frankly," he said. Gates said he will tell Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he must appoint honest, competent ministers to help deliver government services to the people or Afghanistan. The secretary said several key ministers already fit that description, including the ministers of defense and interior. He added that he will reassure Afghan leaders that the United States wants a long-term relationship with the country, even after the need for large numbers of US troops ends.

General Offers Assurances on Afghan War - Greg Jaffe and Glenn Kessler, Washington Post. The US general in charge of the Afghanistan war assured lawmakers Tuesday that an additional 30,000 troops, combined with changes in the overall war strategy, would trigger a demonstrable change on the ground before US forces start to come home in 18 months. "By the summer of 2011, it will be clear to the Afghan people that the insurgency will not win, giving them the chance to side with their government," Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said. Despite such assurances, members of the House and Senate armed services committees used the appearance Tuesday by McChrystal - as well as the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl W. Eikenberry - to press for answers on what would happen in July 2011, when the 30,000 forces that President Obama recently committed to sending to Afghanistan are to begin their gradual pullout. Republicans, in particular, maintained that by setting a firm date to begin withdrawal, the administration could send the wrong signal to the Afghan people, who are wary of throwing their support behind a teetering Kabul government and a US security force that they fear will eventually leave the country. Republicans and Democrats also probed for signs of rancor between McChrystal, who sent out urgent calls for additional troops, and Eikenberry, who expressed reservations about the timing and size of the escalation in two classified cables to Washington in early November.

Two Top Aides Show Unity on Afghan Strategy - Eric Schmitt, New York Times. The top military commander in Afghanistan told Congress on Tuesday that he had been granted all the forces he needed, was confident of success and did not expect to have to request more troops at a later date, although he said he would base his advice on conditions as they unfolded. The commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, one of the principal architects of the military buildup, said repeatedly at a pair of Congressional hearings that he strongly supported President Obama’s new strategy to add 30,000 troops by later next year and to begin withdrawing them in July 2011. “I’m comfortable with the entire plan,” General McChrystal said. He was joined by Karl W. Eikenberry, the United States ambassador to Afghanistan, who was much more skeptical during the plan’s formulation, and who conceded Tuesday that success could not be guaranteed, especially if the Afghans underperformed and if insurgents maintained havens across the border in Pakistan. Responding to gentle questioning before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the two officials spoke in generally optimistic tones about the chances of the plan, while offering a restrained version of what, ultimately, would constitute success. General McChrystal, for example, said that to “defeat” the Taliban meant merely to blunt the momentum that he said they had gained while the American effort there had lagged in recent years, and to buy time to train Afghan soldiers and police officers to take over security duties.

McChrystal Expects Effects of Surge Within a Year - Yochi J. Dreazen and Peter Spiegel, Wall Street Journal. The top US commander in Afghanistan said he expected the Obama administration's retooled war strategy to show clear results by the end of next year, paving the way for some of the 30,000 planned reinforcements to begin returning home in the summer of 2011. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who commands the 100,000 US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan, appeared before a pair of congressional panels alongside US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, a retired general who had opposed Gen. McChrystal's request for more troops during the administration's monthslong Afghan strategy review. The hearings came amid new indications that the US-led war effort won't be winding down soon. Afghan President Hamid Karzai told reporters in Kabul on Tuesday that it would be at least five years before Afghan security forces could take the lead role in fighting the country's insurgents. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Kabul on an unannounced visit, said the future withdrawal of the American surge troops could take as long as four years. Both said foreign backing would be needed for years to help Afghanistan support its security forces after the US has left. "For 15 to 20 years, Afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that nature and capability with its own resources," Mr. Karzai said.

McChrystal Says he Backs Obama's Afghan Timetable - Tom LoBianco, Washington Times. The leader of US forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday that President Obama's decision to increase troop levels and then draw them down in 18 months was not his call, but he supports the plan. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal also called the capture of Osama bin Laden key to toppling al Qaeda as lawmakers pressed him on whether he could follow enemies into Pakistan, a nation critics have said is home to more terrorist organizations. Still, it is the troop-withdrawal date Mr. Obama announced last week that has become the key sticking point for lawmakers who want troops out sooner and those who say that timelines empower the enemy in a plan that many say they would otherwise support wholeheartedly. "I did not recommend that date. But I did identify to my leadership that I felt that 18 months - in about 18 months, about the summer of 2011, that we thought we could make significant progress against this insurgency," Gen. McChrystal told members of the House Armed Services Committee. He later said he fully supports the withdrawal date.

McChrystal Says Pieces in Place for Success - Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service. The core goal of American forces in Afghanistan is to defeat al-Qaida and disrupt and degrade the Taliban, the commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan told Congress today. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said he is fully behind President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan to reverse the Taliban’s momentum and create time and space to develop Afghan security and governance capacity. McChrystal, who has been in command in Kabul for six months, participated fully in Obama’s strategy review. “Combined with insights and policy considerations from across our government, I believe the decisions that came from that process reflect a realistic and effective approach,” he said. The general reminded the representatives that Afghanistan is a complex environment. “I first deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, and have commanded forces there every year since,” he said. “Despite that experience, there is much in Afghanistan that I have yet to fully understand.” Afghanistan is a challenge that is best approached with a balance of determination and humility, he said. “While US forces have been at war in Afghanistan for eight years, the Afghans have been at it for more than 30,” he said. “They are frustrated with international efforts that fail to meet their expectations, confronting us with a crisis of confidence among Afghans, who view the international effort as insufficient and their government as corrupt or, at the very least, inconsequential.” The insurgency is complex and resilient, too, he said. The Afghan Taliban are the prominent threat to the government of Afghanistan, aspiring to govern the country again. The Haqqani network and the Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin are extremist insurgency groups with more limited geographical reach and objectives, “but they are no less lethal,” McChrystal said.

McChrystal Calls Afghan Training Crucial to Mission Success - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service. The training of tens of thousands of additional, capable Afghan soldiers and police is among the crucial tasks necessary to achieving success in Afghanistan, the commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan told Capitol Hill legislators here today. “To pursue our core goal of defeating al-Qaida and preventing their return to Afghanistan, we must disrupt and degrade the Taliban’s capacity, deny their access to the Afghan population and strengthen the Afghan security forces,” Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This strategy, he said, requires reversing the current momentum of the Taliban, while creating “the time and space to develop Afghan security and governance capacity.” Many of the 30,000 US forces deployed to Afghanistan in coming months will be employed to combat the Taliban, McChrystal said, while others will assist NATO troops in training up new Afghan soldiers and police. “We need to significantly increase the Afghan national security forces,” he said. The surge of US forces to Afghanistan will result in a total of about 100,000 troops in country by the end of summer. About 68,000 US troops are now in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama’s revised Afghanistan strategy calls for July 2011 as the start date of a thinning out of US forces in Afghanistan. That date, McChrystal said, serves as “a positive forcing function on our Afghan partners, in reminding them that although we have a long-term commitment, we also have shared responsibility” for maintaining security. There are now between 180,000 to 190,000 Afghan security forces, McChrystal said, divided between military forces and the police. More Afghan security forces are needed, he noted.

US Commander: Next 18 Months Decisive for Afghanistan - Cindy Saine, Voice of America. The top commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan told a congressional panel Tuesday that the next 18 months will be decisive. The US Ambassador to Afghanistan also spoke to a House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing. The top commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, told the committee that President Barack Obama's security review had provided new clarity to the mission ahead. He said the coalition effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan will be costly and require great commitment, but that it will succeed. "Additional forces will begin to deploy shortly," he said. "And by this time next year, new security gains will be illuminated by specific indicators and it will be clear to us that the insurgency has lost the momentum. And by the summer of 2011, it will be clear to the Afghan people that the insurgency will not win, giving them the chance to side with their government." He said it would take longer to convince Afghans that the insurgency is going to fail, because they have been disappointed by the international military effort so far and because many view their government as inconsequential or corrupt.

Eikenberry Stresses Civilian Component in Afghanistan - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service. While the increase of 30,000 American troops in Afghanistan has garnered most of the headlines, a concurrent increase on the civilian side also is occurring, the US ambassador to Afghanistan told Congress today. Karl W. Eikenberry, who once commanded troops in Afghanistan, said he is marching in lockstep with Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal to put in place the civilian and military strategy in Afghanistan. “On the civilian side, we aim to increase employment and provide essential services in areas of greatest insecurity, and to improve critical ministries and the economy at the national level,” Eikenberry said during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. While security is a key portion of the strategy, so are governance and development, Eikenberry said. “Since assuming my post, I've made a special point of getting outside of Kabul to see conditions first-hand, and I fully concur with General McChrystal's assessment that the security situation remains serious,” the ambassador said. “Sending additional US and NATO [International Security Assistance Force] forces to Afghanistan is absolutely critical to regain the initiative.” More troops will mean more security, he said, and will help in training Afghan forces to take over the security mission. “The second pillar of our comprehensive strategy focuses on governance at the national and the subnational levels,” Eikenberry said. “Our overarching goal is to encourage improved governance so Afghans can see the benefits of supporting the legitimate government and the insurgency loses its support.” One of the major impediments to implementing the new strategy is the Afghan government’s credibility gap with its own people, he said. “To strengthen its legitimacy, our approach at the national level is improving key ministries by increasing the number of civilian technical advisors and providing more development assistance directly through these ministries’ budgets,” he said. This focus, the ambassador said, will accelerate building the Afghan government to one that is sufficiently visible, effective and accountable.

US Seeks New Guards in Kabul - August Cole, Wall Street Journal. The State Department plans to seek new bids to protect the US Embassy in Kabul after the current firm ran into staffing and oversight problems. The company, ArmorGroup North America, a unit of Wackenhut Services Inc., will be allowed to bid on the new contract, the State Department said. "The recent allegations of misconduct and various contract compliance deficiencies led us to conclude it was in the best interest of the government to compete a new contract," said P.J. Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs. The plan to rebid the contract was earlier disclosed by the Project on Government Oversight, an independent watchdog group that in September released lurid photos and videos of ArmorGroup guards at a party. ArmorGroup North America began protecting the Kabul embassy in 2007 as part of a contract valued at as much as $189 million over five years. It is renewed annually, and the current work expires in June 2010. The company struggled to provide English-speaking guards and was frequently understaffed. The previous company had similar issues. The company declined to comment and referred questions to the State Department.

Pakistan Leader Faces Court Test, Militant Attacks - Zahid Hussain, Wall Street Journal. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari holds $1.5 billion in assets across the world, Pakistan's main anticorruption body alleged in a report delivered Tuesday to the country's Supreme Court. The court is considering the constitutionality of an amnesty protecting the embattled leader and thousands of other officials from corruption charges. The National Accountability Bureau, a politically independent government investigative body, gave the court a list of allegations involving Mr. Zardari, following a request by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Mr. Zardari's spokesman denied the allegations and said the asset list was inaccurate and fabricated to victimize Mr. Zardari. "Reports of $1.5 billion of national and foreign assets allegedly belonging to President Zardari are no more than a regurgitation of decade-old unproven politically motivated allegations," said Farhatullah Babar, the chief spokesman for the president.The court will also consider whether a presidential immunity provided by the constitution applies to cases of alleged corruption that took place before Mr. Zardari took office last year. The hearings could open the way for challenges to the legality of Mr. Zardari's presidency, constitutional law experts said. That would add further tension in Pakistan at a time when the US ally has been hit by a series of militant attacks across country.

US Ready to Expand Military Help for Pakistan - Al Pessin, Voice of America. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States is prepared to expand defense cooperation with Pakistan as quickly as that country wants, particularly in the wake of continuing attacks inside Pakistan by groups linked to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Gates, who arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, told reporters during his flight that the United States welcomes Pakistan's increased operations against militants in its autonomous tribal areas near the Afghan border, and offered as much assistance as the Pakistanis want. "We are prepared to move ahead with that relationship and cooperation just as fast as they are prepared to accept it," he said. The United States has long called on Pakistan to be more aggressive against the militants in the border region. Gates said the Pakistani government and military have done more than any US officials would have expected, or believed possible, a year or so ago. Still, US officials want Pakistan to take even more action against the militants, and the secretary said recent attacks might lead to that.

Bomb Blasts Across Pakistan Kill More Than 70 Since Monday - Sean Maroney, Voice of America. Pakistani officials say since Monday, more than 70 people have died in bombings across the country. In the latest attack, police say a bomb blast near an intelligence office in the central city of Multan killed at least 12 people and severely damaged several buildings. Police officials in Multan say at least two armed militants drove a vehicle loaded with about 1,000 kilograms of explosives into a complex housing an office of the country's ISI spy agency. Officials say the militants blew themselves up after security forces stopped them from driving closer to the ISI office. The force of the explosion ripped the facades off several houses in the area. Retired Brigadier-General Mahmood Shah is the former security chief for Pakistan's tribal regions. He tells VOA he believes the attack is the work of Punjabi militants, who used to train with the Pakistani Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold. "All these elements who were training there, who were stationed there, are out of the place and could be acting independently," he said.

Twin Attacks in Pakistan Kill Dozens - Waqar Gillani, New York Times. Continuing a string of attacks against civilians and government offices, militants set off two bombs in one of the busiest markets of this eastern Pakistani city, killing at least 54 people and wounding at least 150 others, Pakistani authorities said on Tuesday. A second attack struck at the offices of the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, Pakistan’s main security service, in the central city of Multan on Tuesday morning. At least 9 people were killed and 40 wounded, rescue authorities said. The attacks showed the wide reach of militant attacks in the Pakistani heartland, far from the troubled and lawless border region with Afghanistan. Authorities in Multan said militants in a car tried to attack the intelligence agency offices with automatic rifle fire and hand grenades lobbed at a guard post. But when forces from the security agency returned fire, the militants blew up the car. Many buildings were damaged. Attacks in Pakistan have increased as the Pakistani Army presses an offensive against militants in South Waziristan, a stronghold of the Taliban and Al Qaeda along the Afghan border. The latest wave of bombings also comes less than one week after President Obama announced a new strategy for the region, sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan next year and offering closer cooperation with the Pakistani government.

IRAQ

Baghdad Bombings Kill at Least 127 - Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post. Four large bombs exploded near education facilities, judicial complexes and other targets in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 127 people and triggering recriminations against the Iraqi government and its security forces. Nearly 500 people were wounded, according to Iraqi police officials. The blasts, which occurred minutes apart shortly after 10 a.m., fueled fears that elections, now scheduled for March 7, as well as the ongoing withdrawal of US forces, will usher in a new phase in the battle for control of Iraq. Although that fight is now unfolding primarily in the political arena, many Iraqis fear that a rise in violence and political instability could again turn politicians into combatants. Iraqi officials accused the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq of responsibility for Tuesday's carnage, the latest in a campaign of powerful bombings apparently designed to undermine the Shiite-led government, which insurgents deride as a byproduct of the US occupation. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has little support among residents, but the anger and sense of impotence apparent here Tuesday suggested that the insurgents have succeeded in portraying the government as feeble and incompetent.

Baghdad Bombs Kill 127 as Iraq Vote is Set - Ned Parker, Raheem Salman and Usama Redha, Los Angeles Times. As Iraqi officials prepared to announce a date for delayed national elections, car bombs detonated Tuesday at government buildings and in crowded Baghdad streets, killing at least 127 people and wounding nearly 500. The attacks on state institutions appeared aimed at further eroding the Iraqi people's faith in the political process, which many already viewed with deep skepticism. The morning explosions shook the east and west sides of the city over a span of about 30 minutes, gutting portions of a major courthouse on the west side of the Tigris River and other buildings. An ambulance packed with explosives detonated at a checkpoint for the makeshift offices of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, which had been forced to move after a bombing in August. Another car bomb exploded at a busy intersection in east Baghdad after a US convoy passed by, police said. Another exploded outside the gates of a technical institute in the southern Dora neighborhood after a police patrol drove by.

String of Bombings Kills at Least 127 in Iraq - Chip Cummins and Ben Lando, Wall Street Journal. A series of five bombings Tuesday rocked Baghdad with officials reporting at least 127 dead and nearly 500 injured at sites across the capital. Residents said they heard a large explosion shake the city shortly after 10:15 a.m. local time, followed by several more blasts. The intensity of the blasts and their quick succession, some spaced just minutes apart, suggested a coordinated bombing campaign. The casualty toll could still climb. The bombings follow a string of similar, high-profile attacks in Baghdad in recent months, and come just days after Iraqi parliamentarians agreed on a long-stalled election law, setting the stage for national elections early next year. They also come ahead of this weekend's planned oil auction in Baghdad, in which the government is expected to award rights to develop some of Iraq's large, untapped fields to foreign oil companies. After agreeing on election legislation over the weekend, officials said Tuesday they would hold polls March 7. The date was reset, for reasons that aren't clear, hours after the council had decided to hold the vote on March 6.

Bombs Shatter Iraq Government Buildings, Kill 127 - Eli Lake, Washington Times. A massive terrorist attack on government buildings in central Baghdad - the third since August - left at least 127 people dead, hundreds wounded and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political future in doubt. The attack sent parliament into emergency session, where calls for an investigation opened a rift within Mr. al-Maliki's Shi'ite bloc, which dominates the legislature. Hassan Shamari of the Shi'ite Fadila Party called for the force known as the "Baghdad Brigade" to be dissolved. The brigade reports directly to Mr. al-Maliki, a leader of the rival Shi'ite Dawa Party. Its functions often overlap with the military and other security services. In Tuesday's attack, most casualties came from three vehicle bombs that exploded shortly after a government council set a date for nationwide elections in early March. Shortly before 10:30 a.m., one payload detonated at the Finance Ministry's new headquarters, which replaced a building blown up in August. A second bomb hit the Labor Ministry, while a third heavily damaged an academy where judges are trained. Officials said at least two of the three explosions were suicide attacks. Earlier in the day, two bombings hit other Baghdad neighborhoods.

Odierno Cites Iraq’s ‘Deliberate, Steady Progress’ - Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service. On the eve of holding parliamentary elections early next year, Iraq continues to make steady progress as a sovereign country that is a valued US ally in the Middle East, the commander of Multinational Force Iraq said in Killeen, Texas, yesterday. “Today, Iraq is a nascent democracy that is rebuilding its strategic depth as a regional power in the Middle East,” Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said at an Association of the United States Army-sponsored event held in the city that hosts the Fort Hood Army base. Iraq also remains of vital interest to the United States, Odierno said, noting its strategic location makes it “a crucial link” between America’s allies along the Arabian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. “Over the past several years, we have continued to make deliberate and steady progress in Iraq,” Odierno said. Current levels of violence in Iraq, he said, are at the lowest point since 2003. 2009 “has been another transformative year for the Iraqi people,” Odierno said, as Iraqis prepare to hold parliamentary elections in January. “As I travel around Iraq, I can sense a feeling of great anticipation for these elections and the hope for continued progress,” Odierno said. “We are witnessing the principles of democracy take hold in Iraq as Iraqis establish the foundations of their own representative government in accordance with their own constitution.” Iraqis, like Americans, desire a better future for their families -- especially for their children, Odierno said.

IRAN

Violent Protests in Iran Carry Into Second Day - Robert F. Worth, New York Times. Iran’s broadest and most violent protest in months spilled over into a second day on Tuesday, as bloody clashes broke out on university campuses between students chanting antigovernment slogans and the police and Basij militia members. As the scale of Monday’s demonstrations became clearer, Tehran’s police chief announced that 204 people had been arrested in the capital, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported. The clashes took place on campuses in cities across the country, as students and opposition members took advantage of National Student Day to vent their rage despite a lengthy and wide-ranging government effort to forestall them. The violence continued Tuesday on the campus of Tehran University, where security forces were using tear gas and arresting students, according to reports and video clips relayed through Twitter and Internet postings. There were protests at large squares near the university as well, witnesses said. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that the clashes began after groups of pro-government students carrying pictures of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, clashed with protesters on campus. Monday’s protests showed a striking escalation in direct attacks on the country’s theocratic foundation and not just on the June presidential election, which the opposition has attacked as fraudulent.

Iran Steps Up Crackdown on Student Protesters - Thomas Erdbrink, Washington Post. Iran intensified its crackdown on demonstrators Thursday as thousands of pro-government militiamen stormed the grounds of the country's most prominent university and assaulted students who had gathered in protest. Armed with steel clubs, electric batons, pepper spray and tear gas, members of the Basij paramilitary organization attacked several hundred students on the campus of the University of Tehran. Witnesses said the student protesters fought back, in some cases injuring members of the Basij, who fall under the command of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was the second consecutive day of clashes between security forces and the opposition. But the show of force on Tuesday was particularly dramatic, and it appeared to signal that the government is determined to neutralize Iran's restive student community. A relatively small but active group of students nationwide has challenged the government for many years, and it now forms the backbone of a grass-roots opposition movement. Nearly six months after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a disputed election, triggering the most intense demonstrations Iran had seen in decades, the protesters are again showing signs of gaining strength.

Iran Threatens Tough Action Against Protesters - Voice of America. Iran's top prosecutor warns that authorities will take tough action against opposition protesters, a day after thousands took to the streets in anti-government demonstrations. Iranian state media quote prosecutor Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie as saying Tuesday that there will no longer be any tolerance for people working against national security. Iranian security forces used tear gas and clubs against thousands of demonstrators in Tehran Monday. Authorities say 204 people were arrested. Meanwhile, the state-run news agency IRNA reports minor clashes broke out at Tehran University Tuesday between pro-opposition students and government supporters. Also Tuesday, the Web site of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi reports a group of about 30 masked men on motorcycles harassed Mr. Mousavi outside his office. The report says Mr. Mousavi told the men that if they were there to kill him, they should go ahead and do their job. The men left a short time after. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has called on Iran to respect the opposition's right to protest.

UNITED STATES

TSA Accidentally Reveals Airport Security Secrets - Spencer S. Hsu and Carrie Johnson, Washington Post. The Transportation Security Administration inadvertently revealed closely guarded secrets related to airport passenger screening practices when it posted online this spring a document as part of a contract solicitation, the agency confirmed Tuesday. The 93-page TSA operating manual details procedures for screening passengers and checked baggage, such as technical settings used by X-ray machines and explosives detectors. It also includes pictures of credentials used by members of Congress, CIA employees and federal air marshals, and it identifies 12 countries whose passport holders are automatically subjected to added scrutiny. TSA officials said that the manual was posted online in a redacted form on a federal procurement Web site, but that the digital redactions were inadequate. They allowed computer users to recover blacked-out passages by copying and pasting them into a new document or an e-mail. Current and former security officials called the breach troubling, saying it exposed TSA practices that were implemented after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and expanded after the August 2006 disruption of a plot to down transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives.

US to Unveil Biological Threat Strategy - Mary Beth Sheridan and Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post. The Obama administration has decided not to support a global monitoring system for biological weapons, a move that affirms an earlier determination by the Bush administration but that will disappoint some nonproliferation experts. The decision will be reflected in the administration's new strategy for countering biological threats, which is due out Wednesday, officials said. Its release comes amid growing concern about the number of nations - and potentially terrorists - developing the scientific expertise to create biological weapons. White House officials said the strategy includes an increased focus on international collaboration and on the prevention of biological attacks, as well as on the response to them. It is scheduled to be presented in Geneva by Undersecretary of State Ellen O. Tauscher at the annual meeting of countries that have forsworn germ-warfare agents under the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. Still, the strategy is notable for what it doesn't include: a way to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention.

Obama Administration Takes a New Approach to Biological Weapons - Mark Landler, New York Times. The Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Wednesday to curb the spread of biological weapons, but it will reaffirm the Bush administration’s opposition to an international regimen for verifying stockpiles of anthrax, smallpox and other agents. The policy, to be disclosed in a speech in Geneva by the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Ellen O. Tauscher, will focus on increasing health security to reduce the impact of outbreaks of infectious disease, whether natural or man-made, administration officials said Tuesday. The United States, these officials said, will pledge to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, a 1975 treaty barring the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. But Ms. Tauscher will declare that the Obama administration does not support efforts to create a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the treaty because, a senior administration official said, supplies of biological weapons are “too difficult to verify.” In 2001, the Bush administration abruptly withdrew from lengthy negotiations to create a verification regimen. It cited, in part, the regulatory burdens that verification would place on the American pharmaceutical industry and on the military’s bio-defense research activities.

FBI to Probe Panels that Reviewed E-mails from Alleged Fort Hood Gunman - Carrie Johnson, Washington Post. FBI leaders announced Tuesday that they are launching an independent investigation into the policies and actions of two bureau task forces that reviewed e-mails from the alleged Fort Hood shooter in the months before the Nov. 5 massacre at the Army base. The inquiry will be headed by William H. Webster, who served as director of both the FBI and the CIA in the 1980s. He will have free rein to probe whether there were lapses in sharing information about Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan within the FBI and between that agency and the military. Hasan, a military psychiatrist, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the deaths of 13 people and the wounding of nearly three dozen others at the base in Texas last month. The action by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is the first significant signal since the attack that the bureau is concerned about its own actions. The Defense Department had already launched such an inquiry, led by former military officials. Hasan exchanged as many as 18 e-mail messages with radical Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi between December 2008 and May 2009. But a joint terrorism task force analyst determined that the correspondence was innocent and in keeping with the doctor's research into religious conflicts among some Muslims in the military.

AFRICA

Morocco, Spain Discuss Future of Expelled Western Sahara Activist - Scott Stearns, Voice of America. Morocco and Spain are trying to figure out what to do with a leading campaigner for independence in Western Sahara. She was expelled from Morocco to the Spanish-ruled Canary Islands where doctors say she is on a hunger strike. Aminatou Haidar returned to the disputed territory of Western Sahara last month after winning the 2009 Civil Courage Prize for her peaceful resistance to Moroccan rule. But when she refused to declare Moroccan citizenship on her immigration form, Moroccan authorities took her passport and sent to the Spanish-ruled Canary Islands where she has been sleeping at the airport and, supporters say, living on only sugared water. Publicity surrounding Haidar's hunger strike has brought pressure on Spain to resolve the dispute. But she has refused the offer of Spanish citizenship. And a Spanish-negotiated plan for her return Saturday fell apart when Morocco rescinded landing rights at the last minute.

AMERICAS

Group Says Police Killings Go Unpunished in Brazil - Alexei Barrionuevo, New York Times. A report released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday raises troubling questions about the large number of police killings in Brazil, suggesting that many could be extrajudicial. Police officers from the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have killed more than 11,000 people since 2003 in the fight against violent crime stoked by drug-trafficking gangs. Most are reported as “resistance” killings - those that occur when police officers return fire in self-defense. But a two-year investigation by the rights group that focused on 51 such killings found evidence that police officers often took steps to cover up the nature of the deaths. In one example cited, Rio police officers killed 19 people in the Complexo do Alemão slum in a single day in 2007. Police documents stated that at least nine victims were taken to the hospital in an attempt to “rescue” them, but photographs and autopsy reports obtained by Human Rights Watch showed that the victims were dead before their removal. “These false ‘rescues’ serve to destroy crime scene evidence while providing a veneer of good faith on the part of the police,” Human Rights Watch wrote in its 122-page report, “Lethal Force.” In most of the cases examined, the police descriptions of shootouts appeared inconsistent with forensic reports documenting gunshot wounds, which were consistent with the victims’ having been shot at close range, the group said.

ASIA PACIFIC

US: Immediate North Korean Decision on Nuclear Talks Unlikely - David Gollust, Voice of America. US envoy Stephen Bosworth is in Pyongyang to determine North Korea's readiness to return to the Chinese-sponsored six-party nuclear talks. But a senior State Department official says that given Pyongyang's record on such matters, it may take more than one round of talks to determine if the negotiations, stalled for more than a year, can be restarted. Bosworth arrived in the North Korean capital with a small inter-agency team of US officials Tuesday on the first visit of its kind since former US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill went there in October of last year. The senior official said despite recent conciliatory comments from Pyongyang, it would not be surprising if the North Korean response to Bosworth is indeterminate and that further consultations on a return to the nuclear talks are required. The official said the Bosworth team was expected to begin meetings with North Korean officials late Tuesday, have a full day of talks Wednesday, and leave Pyongyang for Seoul Thursday to begin consultations with other parties to the negotiations. He said for reasons of communications security, the US envoy would not consult with administration officials on the outcome of the visit until he reached Seoul.

US Envoy Makes Rare Visit to North Korea - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times. President Obama’s special representative to North Korea arrived in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, on Tuesday, the highest-level American official visit in more than a year. The rare trip is part of an effort to halt the North’s reactivated nuclear weapons program and persuade the North Koreans to return to nuclear disarmament talks. The visit by the representative, Stephen W. Bosworth, signaled a new phase in United States diplomacy toward North Korea. For months, the United States had focused on punishing North Korea, leading an international campaign to enforce sanctions imposed on it for testing a long-range rocket in April and detonating a nuclear device in May. Mr. Bosworth is the most senior American official to visit North Korea since October 2008, when Christopher R. Hill, who was then an assistant secretary of state, met North Korean officials in Pyongyang. Mr. Bosworth flew from a United States air base south of Seoul. Later, a one-line dispatch from the North’s official Korean Central News Agency confirmed his arrival. He is scheduled to return to Seoul on Thursday.

Report: Japan Suspends Talks About US Air Base - Blaine Harden, Washington Post. A rift between the United States and Japan over the future of a military air station on Okinawa widened Tuesday, as Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told Japanese media that talks on relocating the base have been suspended. The report offers additional evidence that the newly elected government of Japan is uncomfortable with the military footprint of the United States. Most of the 36,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan are based on the southern island of Okinawa. Japan may ask the United States to mitigate the military's impact on the daily life of Okinawans before reaching a conclusion on what to do about the air station, Hirofumi Hirano, the chief cabinet secretary, said Tuesday. "The biggest priority for the Japanese side is to reduce burdens on the people of Okinawa," he said at a news conference.

Japan Suspends Talks on Where to Move a US Air Base - Martin Fackler, New York Times. Japan’s foreign minister said Tuesday that talks over relocating a United States air base on Okinawa had been suspended, in a sign of renewed disagreement over an issue that has come to dominate an increasingly rocky relationship between Tokyo and Washington. The foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, offered no reason for the suspension of a working group to discuss a 2006 deal to move the Marine Corps air station at Futenma to a less populated part of Okinawa. But major Japanese newspapers, citing anonymous sources within the Tokyo government, said that talks had at least temporarily broken down. While the Obama administration has opposed altering the agreement, the new Japanese government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has spoken of possibly moving the base, which now sits in the middle of a city, off Okinawa altogether. Mr. Hatoyama has said that he will decide as early as next week whether to ask Washington to renegotiate the deal. Okinawans have held large protests in recent weeks calling for removal of the base from the island.

EUROPE

Sarkozy Delivers a Mixed Message to France's Muslim Immigrants - Edward Cody, Washington Post. Faced with swelling unease over the place of Muslim immigrants in France, President Nicolas Sarkozy called Tuesday for tolerance among native French people but warned that arriving Muslims must embrace Europe's historical values and avoid "ostentation or provocation" in the practice of their religion. Sarkozy's appeal, in a statement published by Le Monde newspaper, reflected concern that a government-sponsored debate on France's "national identity," sharpened by a recent referendum banning minarets in neighboring Switzerland, seemed to be contributing to expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment and generating resentment among Muslim citizens and immigrants. "I address my Muslim countrymen to say I will do everything to make them feel they are citizens like any other, enjoying the same rights as all the others to live their faith and practice their religion with the same liberty and dignity," he said. "I will combat any form of discrimination. "But I also want to tell them," he continued, "that in our country, where Christian civilization has left such a deep trace, where republican values are an integral part of our national identity, everything that could be taken as a challenge to this heritage and its values would condemn to failure the necessary inauguration of a French Islam."

MIDDLE EAST

Captive Helps Close the Distance Between Israelis - Ethan Bronner, New York Times. When Prof. Gadi Wolfsfeld asks his political science students at Hebrew University if Israel really should free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including organizers of terrorist attacks, for one seized soldier, as the Israeli government is currently contemplating, he faces a stony silence. “People feel extremely uncomfortable raising it,” he said. “It’s so politically incorrect that you run the risk of being labeled a monster. We all feel like we know this boy and we know his family.” The negotiations for the release of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, seized more than three years ago in a raid into southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups, are entering a crucial stage through German and Egyptian mediation. While the details of the talks are hidden here behind military censorship, the outlines are widely known. They have raised surprisingly little controversy given the risks of future seizures of Israelis and attacks at the hands of those freed and the equally serious risk of raising the fortunes of Hamas. Although Israel has spent decades trying to build a reputation as a tough self-sacrificing society that spurns negotiations with terrorists, polls show a strong majority in favor of the trade.

EU: Jerusalem Should Be Shared Capital - Voice of America. The European Union says Jerusalem should be the shared capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state. A statement issued by EU foreign ministers in Brussels Tuesday did not say whether east Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state. But it did say the European Commission does not recognize Israel's annexation of the disputed area from Jordan in 1967. The EU ministers also called on the Israelis and Palestinians to revive peace talks to create a state for each side. Palestinian officials welcomed the EU statement, while Israel's Foreign Ministry said it ignored the Palestinians' refusal to return to peace talks. A spokesman for the US State Department said Washington believes Jerusalem should be addressed in the final status of peace negotiations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says those talks cannot resume until Israel stops building settlements in occupied territories.

EU Moderates Stance on Jerusalem - Howard Schneider, Washington Post. The European Union's foreign ministers on Tuesday softened their call for a division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians, saying that the city should be shared but that the two sides should negotiate the details. The statement, issued in Brussels, marks a diplomatic victory for Israel in a contest with the Palestinians for international support. In the absence of direct, US-mediated peace talks, Palestinian officials have focused on ways to bring their case before the United Nations and the European Union, prompting intense lobbying over the language used in different texts and over the terms of European and other involvement in the region. The 27 EU foreign ministers met this week amid heightened international concern over Jerusalem's future.