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SWJ Daily News LinksSWJ ceased publishing the Daily News Links with the Early Edition of 28 Mar 07, in order to invest more heavily in other aspects of the site. We plan to put up various news feeds soon that will be a partial substitute. They won't replace the manually authored version, but will mitigate the loss while allowing us to concentrate on other areas that will be of greater value to our community in the long term. Here are our other mitigating plans:
Once Around the World - Once or Twice a Day... 8 February 2007 SWC / TOP STORIES / IRAQ / AFGHANISTAN / PHILIPPINES / HORN OF AFRICA / PHILIPPINES / PME / THREAT / U.S. DOD / U.S. DHS / U.S. DOS / U.N. / U.S. / U.K. / AUS / CAN / AFRICA / AMERICAS / ASIA-PACIFIC / EUROPE / MIDDLE EAST / SOUTH ASIA / EDITORIALS / COMMENTARY / BLOGS / QUOTABLES / CARTOONS / VIDEOS SWJ BLOG LATEST Two Schools of Classical Counterinsurgency - David Kilcullen. Discussion of the new Iraq strategy, and General Petraeus’s recent Congressional testimony have raised the somewhat obvious point that the word “counterinsurgency” means very different things to different people. So it may be worth sketching in brief outline the two basic philosophical approaches to counterinsurgency that developed over the 20th century (a period which I have written about elsewhere as "Classical Counterinsurgency"). These two contrasting schools of thought about counterinsurgency might be labeled as “enemy-centric” and “population-centric”. 28 Articles - Practical Application 102: The Battle Captains - David Dilegge. This is the second installment of “posts of note” from the Small Wars Journal’s discussion board - the Small Wars Council. Poster JCustis, a long-time Council member, is a Marine infantry officer with two tours in Iraq under his belt. RTK has written on his experiences using the framework of Dave Kilcullen’s Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency and I felt that same framework could be used to offer some lessons learned on the battle captain system that my unit applied during its 2004-2005 rotation. SMALL WARS COUNCIL DISCUSSION BOARD Join the thought provoking dialog on the Small Wars Council. Register and join the discussion. The last 10 new threads are:SWJ MAGAZINE A pre-release version of volume 7 is available. See this thread for more information. Volume 6 is still the latest fully published volume. Volumes 1-5 are available in the back issues area.
TOP STORIES
U.S.
General Says Baghdad Security Operation Underway - VOA.
U.S. military spokesman Major General William
Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad the operation to end the city's
worsening sectarian violence is underway. "The implementation of
the prime minister's plan has already begun and will be fully
implemented at a later date," he said. The plan calls for units of
American and Iraqi forces to patrol Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods
and to drive out the city's powerful sectarian militias. The operation
is the key part of President Bush's so-called "troop surge" aimed at
reversing Iraq's slide into sectarian war. General Caldwell says
the Baghdad operation will broaden when more troops are available.
Security Crackdown Under Way in Baghdad - AP.
Iraq - Baghdad's streets were electric with tension Wednesday as
U.S. officials confirmed the new security operation was under way. U.S.
armor rushed through streets, and Iraqi armored personnel carriers
guarded bridges and major intersections. New coils of barbed-wire
and blast barriers marked checkpoints that caused traffic bottlenecks.
U.S. Apache helicopters whipped the air over parts of the capital where
they hadn't been seen before.
Gates:
Baghdad Operation Not 'Last Chance' to Prevail Against Insurgents -
VOA.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the joint U.S.-Iraqi military
operation underway in Baghdad is not the last chance to prevail against
insurgents. But in a second day of testimony on Capitol Hill, Gates
said U.S. military planners are preparing for the possibility that the
new effort won't work. Secretary Gates was asked by
lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee to assess the Baghdad
security operation which is in its early stages. His response
echoed testimony before a Senate panel the previous day, emphasizing
that the effort is being implemented gradually.
U.S. Pullout to Begin by Year's End - The Australian. The Bush
administration's new Defence Secretary held out some hope yesterday that
troop withdrawals from Iraq might start at the end of the year, just as
new details emerged about Washington's chaotic post-invasion planning in
Baghdad. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Pentagon chief Robert Gates's candid assessment -- the administration
has avoided any talk of troop timetables -- was predicated on a
successful U.S.-Iraqi security offensive in Baghdad. His testimony
came as Paul Bremer, the former head of the Coalition Provision
Authority in Iraq -- the country's first government after the 2003
invasion -- also fronted Congress and faced tough criticism of his role.
Few Veteran Diplomats Accept Mission to Iraq - NY Times. While
the diplomats and Foreign Service employees of the State Department have
always been expected to staff “hardship” postings, those jobs have not
usually required that they wear flak jackets with their pinstriped
suits. But in the last five years, the Foreign Service landscape
has shifted. Now, thanks to the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House is calling for more American
civilians to head not only to those countries, but also to some of their
most hostile regions -- including Iraq’s volatile Anbar Province -- to
try to establish democratic institutions and help in reconstruction.
That plan is provoking unease and apprehension at the State Department
and at other federal agencies.
Iraq Security Plan Underway; Crash of Marine Copter Kills 7 -
Washington Post. On the day the U.S. military announced that
American and Iraqi forces had begun implementing their long-awaited
security plan, a U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed northwest of
Baghdad, the fifth deadly loss of an American helicopter in
Iraq in less than three weeks. Military officials said all
seven crew members and passengers were killed in the crash of the CH-46
Sea Knight on Wednesday in Anbar province. The cause remains under
investigation, but officials said the aircraft was having mechanical
problems before it went down. The four other helicopters in recent
crashes were shot down, the military acknowledged this week.
Copter Crashes Suggest Change in Iraqi Tactics - NY Times.
With two more helicopter crashes near Baghdad, including a Marine
transport crash on Wednesday that killed seven people, the number of
helicopters that have gone down in
Iraq over the past three weeks rose to six. American officials say
the streak strongly suggests that insurgents have adapted their tactics
and are now putting more effort into shooting down the aircraft.
The number also includes a previously unreported downing of a helicopter
operated by a private security firm on Jan. 31. Some aspects of
the recent crashes indicate that insurgents have become smarter about
anticipating American flight patterns and finding ways to use old
weapons to down helicopters, according to military and witness reports.
The aircraft, many of which are equipped with sophisticated antimissile
technology, still can be vulnerable to more conventional weapons fired
from the ground.
Dissent Grows in Iran - LA Times. Iran's leadership is facing
mounting public unease and the seeds of mutiny in parliament over the
combative nature of its nuclear diplomacy. For the first time
since Iran resumed its uranium enrichment program, there is broad, open
criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's defiance of the Bush
administration and United Nations Security Council, and warnings have
emerged that the public may not be prepared to support the Islamic
regime through a war...
Why Latest
Korea Nuclear Talks Raise Hopes - Christian Science Monitor.
International negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program resume in
Beijing Thursday with more optimism than at any time in more than 18
months -- largely because the two principal parties in the talks, North
Korea and the United States, both have reason for craving the appearance
of progress. The spoiler may be that Pyongyang, which toughened
its bargaining position by testing a nuclear weapon last October, may
demand too high a price for putting its nuclear ambitions on the table.
Hamas and Fatah Pledge to Meet Until They Agree - NY Times.
Saudi Arabia - The leaders of the two main Palestinian political
groups ended their first day of an emergency summit meeting on Wednesday
promising to stay until they agreed on a new government to end a wave of
violence in Gaza and the West Bank and salvage the moribund
Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. The two, Ismail Haniya, the
Palestinian prime minister, and Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based
militant leader, both of
Hamas, faced the
Palestinian Authority president,
Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, at a round table as other Palestinian
officials watched in a royal palace towering above the Grand Mosque,
where Islam was born.
U.S.
Military Requests More Civilian Help in Iraq - VOA.
A published report says top U.S. military commanders
have told President Bush his new Iraq strategy could fail unless
civilian agencies step forward quickly to help rebuild the country.
The New York Times newspaper (Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq)
says the officers complained about a request from Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice's office that military personnel fill more than
one-third of 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq that are to be
created under the new strategy. Testifying before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday, Rice said the president's plan
requires 350 people whose skills are different, including engineers,
legal specialists and soil specialists. She said the State Department is
relying on the recruitment of civilians with these special skills,
outside of government agencies, from across the country. Rice also said
the department has asked that reservists fill in temporarily until these
specialists can be hired, trained and deployed.
Military Must Fill Iraq Civilian Jobs - Washington Post.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Congress yesterday that more
than 40 percent of nearly 300 State Department positions to be added in
Iraq as part of President Bush's new strategy will have to be filled
by military personnel. "Frankly, the agencies of the U.S.
government cannot fill that many posts" as quickly as necessary, Rice
said at a hearing of the House Foreign Relations Committee yesterday
morning. "And so our agreement with the Department of Defense was that
for a period of time... we would actually use reservists to fill those
positions."
Seven Killed as U.S. Copter Crashes in Iraq - NY Times. Seven
people were killed Wednesday when a Marine transport helicopter crashed
into an insurgent-heavy region northwest of Baghdad. It was the fifth
American military helicopter to crash or be shot down since mid-January.
Military officials are growing increasingly concerned that Iraqi
insurgents are successfully adapting their tactics to be more effective
against American aircraft.
U.S. Loses
Another Helicopter in Iraq - AP.
Iraq - A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed in flames
Wednesday in a field northwest of Baghdad, killing all seven people
aboard, the U.S. military said. It was the fifth U.S. aircraft lost in
less than three weeks and the latest sign of growing problems with
aviation in Iraq. A U.S. military statement gave no reason for the
crash of the CH-46 Sea Knight, which went down near Fallujah in Anbar
province, about 20 miles from Baghdad. However, at the Pentagon, three
Marine Corps officials said the troop-transport helicopter was in flames
when it went down, with the pilot appearing to attempt a hasty landing
but losing control as the aircraft descended.
Iraq Says Officers Held Over Diplomat's Kidnapping - Reuters.
Four Iraqi military officers are being held over the kidnapping this
week of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar
Zebari said on Wednesday. Up to 30 gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms
kidnapped Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy, on
Sunday. Zebari said it did not appear that the four officers were
linked with the government, although he did not elaborate.
Iraq's Deputy Health Minister Detained - AP. U.S. and Iraqi
troops on Thursday detained the deputy health minister, a follower of a
radical Shiite cleric, a spokesman said. The joint forces stormed
the Health Ministry compound in northern Baghdad and took Hakim al-Zamili
from his first-floor office, the spokesman Qassim Yahya said. Al-Zamili
is a member of the movement of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
whose militia has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence against
Sunnis in recent months.
Degrees of Peril at a Baghdad University - LA Times.
Mustansiriya, in a mainly Sunni Arab neighborhood, is home to a student
body that's predominantly Shiite Muslim, mostly from Shiite-dominated
southern Iraq. It has long been co-ed. But violence is changing that
demographic. Today, with militias and insurgents increasingly
threatening young men, Mustansiriya has become a mostly female campus
and a battleground where the stakes for getting a degree grow by the
day.
5 Indicted in Probe of Iraq Deals - Washington Post. Three
U.S. Army Reserve officers were indicted Wednesday, accused of taking
part in a bid-rigging scam that steered millions of dollars for Iraq
reconstruction projects to a contractor in exchange for cash, luxury
cars and jewelry. The 25-count indictment handed up by a Trenton,
N.J., grand jury expands a probe that has resulted in three guilty
pleas. Those indicted yesterday were accused of participating in a
scheme to funnel $8.6 million in reconstruction contracts to an American
businessman in exchange for cars, $3,200 Breitling watches, plane
tickets, $3,000 Toshiba laptop computers, weapons and stolen money.
Named in the indictments were Col. Curtis G. Whiteford; Lt. Col. Debra
M. Harrison and her husband, William Driver; Lt. Col. Michael B.
Wheeler; and Michael Morris.
AFGHANISTAN - OEF-A - PAKISTAN BORDER AREA
NATO Chief to Urge Allies to Boost Afghan Fight - Reuters.
NATO's top operational commander will urge the alliance on Thursday to
step up efforts to crush an expected Taliban offensive in
Afghanistan but many allies remain reluctant to come forward,
officials said. U.S. General Bantz Craddock will present defense
ministers meeting in the Spanish city of Seville with plans to bolster
the NATO force along the border with
Pakistan and in the southern heartlands of the Taliban. The
United States and
Britain have in past weeks announced reinforcements of the
33,000-strong NATO force, half of whose troops are now supplied by the
two allies alone, but want to see other countries share more of the
burden.
Taliban Controls Southern Afghan Town - AP.
Afghanistan - Taliban militants remain in control of a southern
Afghan town nearly a week after capturing it, but NATO expects the
Afghan government to soon reassert its authority there, an alliance
spokesman said Wednesday. Also Wednesday, two bomb attacks killed
five people in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said.
Canadian Troops Expect Increased Taliban Attacks - Reuters.
Taliban militants in
Afghanistan will step up their attacks on Canadian troops this year,
using a combination of suicide bombers, roadside bombs and ambushes, the
country's top soldier predicted on Wednesday. General Rick
Hillier, chief of the defense staff, also played down suggestions that a
probe into whether soldiers abused Afghan detainees could alienate the
local population.
Taliban Warlord's Threat to Troops - London Daily Telegraph. A
Taliban commander has told The Daily Telegraph of his plans to sabotage
a
British-backed operation to eradicate the poppy crop in southern
Afghanistan due to start this weekend. In a rare interview with a
military leader of the Islamist group, conducted as Nato warplanes
hovered overhead, Haji Aghar Mohammad claimed that he intends to defend
the poppy fields of Helmand province to exploit dissatisfaction among
locals over the eradication program.
Afghan Cleric Takes Islamic Battle to the Airwaves - Reuters.
When the Soviet Union occupied
Afghanistan in the 1980s, Sheikh Mohammad Asif Mohseni formed an
Islamic force while in exile to fight alongside other holy warriors
against the invaders. But when the communist-backed regime
collapsed, the victorious Mujahideen groups began a bloody power
struggle, sparking a civil war that killed tens of thousands and he
found himself trying to play peacemaker. Now, the 75-year-old,
silver-bearded Mohseni has another mission; this time to save
Afghanistan's deeply conservative Islamic society from corruption by
alien cultures. Mohseni is launching a semi-Islamic television
channel which does not focus exclusively on Islamic teachings.
Afghan Camps
'to Close by August' - BBC. Pakistan has announced it
will close four Afghan refugee camps in its border provinces by the end
of August. The decision was made by a commission that also
includes representatives from Afghanistan and the UN refugee agency.
This is part of an ongoing project to repatriate some 2.5m Afghans who
have taken refuge in camps in Pakistan over nearly three decades.
But the Pakistani government has recently been stressing that these
camps are also a security risk. Around 300,000 people live in the
four refugee camps.
U.N. Rights Boss Arbour Condemns Afghan Amnesty - Reuters.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has criticized
Afghanistan's parliament for granting immunity to all Afghans
involved in the country's 25 years of war. In an interview with Le
Monde newspaper, published on Wednesday, Arbour said the parliament
should have waited and not rushed into the amnesty.
NPA Split Hounds Rowe Assassin - Manila Times. Juanito Itaas
drums his short, stubby forefingers across his biceps as if itching to
squeeze the trigger one more time. For nearly two decades Itaas,
42, has been held in the maximum security compound of the National
Penitentiary in Muntinlupa where he is serving life for the
assassination of Col. James “Nick” Rowe, a Vietnam War hero and one of
America’s most highly decorated soldiers. A counterinsurgency
specialist, Rowe was the highest ranking U.S. officer killed in the
Philippines since the communist insurgency began nearly 40 years ago.
His assassination on a crowded Manila street on April 21, 1989, rocked
the government of then-president Corazon Aquino and the U.S. authorities
in Manila.
Dureza Blames Times for ‘Hostage’ Incident - Manila Times.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza on Wednesday took
to task The Manila Times for publishing an article which he said
prompted Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) officials to detain
government peace negotiators for two days in an MNLF camp in Jolo.
At the Fernandina Forum, an angry Dureza said the government relations
with the MNLF were strained after The Times reported the scrapping of a
tripartite meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Somali PM Reshuffles Cabinet Amid Attacks - Reuters. Somali
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday,
stamping his authority on a government seeking to reassert itself in the
chaotic nation after driving out rival Islamists. In a reminder of
Somalia's instability, unknown assailants fired mortar bombs and rockets
in the capital, Mogadishu, wounding at least eight people, a police
official said. A resident said two children were killed in the attack.
Somalia's PM Demotes His Deputy - BBC. Somalia's deputy PM and
ex-warlord, Hussein Aideed, has been demoted from internal affairs to
the housing ministry in a cabinet reshuffle. A BBC correspondent
says it is part of the prime minister's efforts to exert his authority
since the government routed the Islamists from Mogadishu.
Five people have been killed in the capital by gunmen in the past 24
hours. Meanwhile, Uganda's parliament is expected to approve the
deployment of 1,500 troops for a Somali peace force.
Mogadishu Mortar Attack Wounds at Least 8 - Reuters. Unknown
assailants fired mortar bombs in the Somali capital Mogadishu on
Wednesday, wounding at least eight people, a police official said, and a
witness said two children had been killed. "Three mortars hit a
building close to the seaport, one boy was wounded. Another mortar hit a
house in al Baraka neighborhood, wounding seven," Ali Said, head of the
Mogadishu police, told Reuters.
PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION
Counterinsurgency - U.S. Army
Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24 and Marine Corps Warfighting
Publication 3-33.5.
Counterinsurgency Reader - Military Review, October 2006.
This volume compliments the new Army / Marine Corps field manual on
counterinsurgency operations. As the new doctrine explains, the
conduct of counterinsurgency operations is a "graduate level" endeavor,
full of paradoxes and challenges and different in many ways from
conventional military combat. The editors have designed the this
collection of selected articles from Military Review to help
leaders develop the understanding needed to prepare for the
responsibilities they will shoulder leading America's sons and daughters
in counterinsurgency operations.
Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort - Washington Post. Gen.
David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in
Iraq, is assembling a small band of warrior-intellectuals --
including a quirky Australian anthropologist, a Princeton economist who
is the son of a former U.S. attorney general and a military expert on
the Vietnam War sharply critical of its top commanders -- in an
eleventh-hour effort to reverse the downward trend in the Iraq war.
Army officers tend to refer to the group as "Petraeus guys." They are
smart colonels who have been noticed by Petraeus, and who make up one of
the most selective clubs in the world: military officers with doctorates
from top-flight universities and combat experience in Iraq.
Army Civil Affairs Operations - Secrecy News. Civil Affairs
has recently been elevated to a branch of the U.S. Army by order of Army
Secretary Francis J. Harvey on January 12, 2007. According to an
Army manual on civil affairs operations (Civil Affairs Operations,
U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-05.40, September 2006), "A supportive
civilian population can provide resources and information that
facilitate friendly operations. It can also provide a positive climate
for the military and diplomatic activity a nation pursues to achieve
foreign policy objectives."
Noncombatant Evacuation Operations - Secrecy News.
Noncombatant evacuation operations are addressed in
Noncombatant
Evacuation Operations, Joint Publication 3-68, January 22, 2007.
Army Manual on Psychological Operations - Secrecy News.
Psychological
Operations Field Manual FM 3-05.30, April 2005 has not been approved
for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.
War Foes Will Not Hurt Morale - Washington Times. The Defense
Department's top civilian and its top military officer, undercutting the
White House and other senior Republicans yesterday, said Congress
doesn't endanger troop morale by voting on nonbinding resolutions
opposing President Bush's Iraq reinforcement plan. "From the
standpoint of the troops, I believe that they understand how our
legislature works and that they understand that there's going to be this
kind of debate," said Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace,
effectively taking out of play an argument that had been made by Mr.
Bush's spokesman and other top Republicans, who had warned resolutions
disagreeing with the troop increase plan would send bad signals.
Joining Gen. Pace in testifying to the House Armed Services Committee,
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the troops are "sophisticated
enough to understand" that the debate is about a way to move forward in
Iraq.
Army Says It Will Withhold $19.6 Million From Halliburton, Citing
Potential Contract Breach - NY Times. The Army announced
during a House oversight committee hearing on Wednesday that it would
withhold $19.6 million from the Halliburton Company after recently
discovering that the contractor had hired the company Blackwater USA to
provide armed security guards in
Iraq, a potential breach of its government contract. The Army
has said that its contracts with Halliburton, which has a five-year, $16
billion deal to support American military operations in Iraq, generally
barred the company and its subcontractors from using private armed
guards. But in a statement, Halliburton disagreed with the Army’s
interpretation and suggested that there was nothing to prohibit
Halliburton’s subcontractors from hiring such guards.
Military says Guantanamo Abuse Boasts Unsubstantiated - Reuters.
A military investigation found no evidence of prisoner abuse after
probing allegations that Guantanamo guards had bragged about beating
detainees, the military's Southern Command said on Wednesday.
Miami-based SOUTHCOM, which oversees the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, ordered an investigation in October after a Marine paralegal
reported that sailor guards had boasted in a bar on the base that they
routinely beat captives at the detention camp for suspected al Qaeda and
Taliban operatives.
Soldier's Court-Martial Ends in Mistrial - AP. The judge
overseeing the court martial of an Army lieutenant who refused to deploy
to Iraq declared a mistrial Wednesday, saying the soldier did not fully
understand a document he signed admitting to elements of the charges.
First Lt. Ehren Watada was fighting charges of conduct unbecoming an
officer and missing movement for refusing to leave last June with his
unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Prosecutors said
Watada admitted in the document that he had a duty to go to Iraq with
his fellow soldiers. Watada, however, said he admitted only that
he did not go to Iraq with his unit, not that he had a duty to go.
Inside the Ring
- Washington Times. 2 February edition of a weekly feature on
issues associated with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Coast Guard Failed to Properly Oversee Contracts, Officials Say -
Washington Post. Even as contractors built patrol boats with
buckling hulls and a large new cutter with structural flaws, a U.S.
Coast Guard review gave their performance high marks last year, extended
their deal for nearly four years and paid them a multimillion-dollar
bonus, government investigators said. Coast Guard analysts
evaluated only boats, aircraft and equipment systems that had been
delivered under its troubled $24 billion, 25-year fleet-replacement
program, known as Deepwater, disregarding defective ships under
development by companies led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin,
Homeland Security Department Inspector General Richard L. Skinner said
at a congressional hearing Tuesday.
Rice Denies Seeing Iranian Proposal in '03 - Washington Post.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was pressed yesterday on whether the
Bush administration missed an opportunity to improve relations with
Iran in 2003, when Tehran issued a proposal calling for a broad
dialogue with the United States, on matters including cooperation on
nuclear safeguards, action against terrorists and possible recognition
of
Israel. Although former administration officials have said the
proposal was discussed and ultimately rejected by top U.S. officials,
Rice, who was then national security adviser, said she never saw it.
U.N. Urges
Other Nations to Assist Jordan, Syria With Iraqi Refugees - VOA.
The head of the United Nations refugee agency
has urged other nations to help Jordan and Syria with the four million
Iraqis who have fled their homes. About two million Iraqis are
seeking refuge in other countries in order to avoid the continued
violence in Iraq since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion. Another two million
are displaced within Iraq. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
Antonio Guterres said Wednesday Jordan and Syria received many of the
refugees, and the two nations are enduring pressures on their education
and health infrastructures.
7 GOP Senators Back War Debate - Washington Post. Senate
Republicans who earlier this week helped block deliberations on a
resolution opposing President Bush's new troop deployments in Iraq
changed course yesterday and vowed to use every tactic at their disposal
to ensure a full and open debate. In a letter distributed
yesterday evening to Senate leaders,
John W. Warner (Va.),
Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and five other GOP supporters of the resolution
threatened to attach their measure to any bill sent to the floor in the
coming weeks. Noting that the war is the "most pressing issue of our
time," the senators declared: "We will explore all of our options under
the Senate procedures and practices to ensure a full and open debate."
House Sets Path for Iraq Vote, but Must Decide What to Say - NY
Times. As the House prepares for three days of debate next week on
Iraq, Democratic leaders sought Wednesday to reconcile deep
differences within the party in order to shape a symbolic resolution
denouncing President Bush’s troop buildup plan. Seventy-one
Democratic representatives signed a statement urging Congress to take a
stronger stance against the war, including setting a six-month timetable
for withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
Veterans Group Speaks Out on War - Washington Post. When Iraq
war veteran Jon Soltz accused Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of "aiding the enemy," the Democratic
senators gathered around him yesterday did not wince. Nor did Democrats
object when Soltz, the chairman of a group called VoteVets.org, called
President Bush and Vice President Cheney "draft dodgers." In the
United States Congress, where decorum usually holds sway, Soltz and his
small band of veterans are saying things many Democrats would like to
express but can't. And as the politics heat up over the Iraq war,
Democratic leaders increasingly are being drawn to Soltz and his angry
soldiers.
NBC’s Russert Rebuts Libby Testimony - NY Times. The
television journalist Tim Russert testified today that, contrary to what
I. Lewis Libby Jr. has maintained, the two of them never discussed a
CIA agent whose unmasking touched off a scandal. Mr. Russert’s
account is potentially very damaging to Mr. Libby, who has testified
before a grand jury that he first learned about the agent from Mr.
Russert on July 10. He is on trial in Federal District Court here for
perjury and obstruction of justice, accused of trying to thwart an
FBI investigation into the disclosure of the agent’s name.
British Court Frees 2 Arrested as Suspects in Terrorism Plot - NY
Times. A court on Wednesday ordered the release of two men
arrested last week as suspects in a terrorism plot that the authorities
said involved kidnapping a British Muslim soldier and broadcasting video
images of his killing on the Internet. The judge, Daphne Wickham,
also ruled that the police had only an additional 72 hours to present
evidence against seven others who were arrested at the same time, a much
shorter period than the two weeks the police had requested.
Failed London Bomber Studied Osama Tapes - AP. A man accused
of planning to detonate a bomb on London's transportation system often
spoke about martyrdom and listened to the speeches of Osama bin Laden
and radical preachers, a witness testified Wednesday. Muktar Said
Ibrahim, 29, is one of six men accused of plotting to detonate
explosives on four subway trains and a bus, two weeks after four suicide
bombers killed 52 commuters in London in July 2005.
Letter Bombs Are Coordinated, Britain Says - NY Times. A
letter bomb exploded at
Britain’s main motor vehicle agency on Wednesday, extending what the
police depicted as a coordinated series of attacks that has troubled the
nation’s leaders and inspired comparisons with the Unabomber in the
United States. The blast at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing
Agency, at Swansea in southern Wales, slightly injured four people. It
was the third such bombing in three days.
Six Hurt in British Letter Bomb Campaign - Reuters. Six people
were hurt in
Britain on Wednesday by the latest in series of letter bombs, but
police said they believed the devices were intended to shock, not kill.
Wednesday's blast at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in
Swansea, south Wales, was the third in three days aimed at agencies or
contractors involved in enforcing traffic rules, leading media to blame
disgruntled motorists.
$4bn Hornet Buy Tipped to Get Nod - The Australian. A $4
BILLION deal to purchase 24 F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters from the U.S.
is expected to be approved by the Howard Government's national security
committee within weeks. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson is driving
the acquisition amid concerns that Australia may lack a fully deployable
air combat capability early next decade following the retirement of the
F-111 strike force. Defence officials are now close to finalising
details of the Super Hornet deal with the Pentagon, with the new
warplanes expected to enter service from 2009-10.
I'm No Terrorist, Claims Brigitte - The Australian. Declaring
"I am not a terrorist", Willie Brigitte last night refused to co-operate
with French judicial authorities on the opening day of his long-awaited
terror trial in Paris. Brigitte's case finally began more than
three years and four months after he was deported from Australia and
arrested in France on charges of criminal association with a view to
committing a terrorist act. The former Sydney kebab shop worker has been
in French custody ever since and now faces up to 10 years in jail.
The opening remarks of French prosecutors outlined Brigitte's alleged
extensive connections with radical Islamists from Paris to Pakistan to
Yemen and Australia.
U.S. Plans
Sanctions if Sudan Refuses Darfur Force - VOA.
Bush administration
officials say the United States is prepared to impose sanctions against
Sudan if it does not follow through on a stated commitment to allow an
expanded peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region. However, they
say U.N. member states have not yet pledged enough troops to put the
Sudanese promise to the test. The peacekeeping plan,
originally approved by the U.N. Security Council last August and amended
in November to accommodate Sudanese concerns, would replace the current
7,000-member African Union observer mission in Darfur with a "hybrid"
United Nations and African Union force three times as large. Under
intense diplomatic pressure, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed in
principle late last December to admit the new force in three phases.
But the process has not gone beyond the initial stage, raising concerns
about the Sudanese leader's sincerity, and about the prospect of a
renewed outbreak of Darfur violence if the over-stretched A.U. force is
not upgraded.
Sudan Downplays U.N.'s Darfur Criticism - AP. Sudan dismissed
U.N. criticism of President Omar al-Bashir's failure to approve a joint
U.N.-African Union force for conflict-torn Darfur, insisting Wednesday
that only "minor details" stand in the way of an agreement. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who met al-Bashir last month, said
Tuesday he was still waiting for a "clear agreement" from the Sudanese
government to pave the way for deployment of the "hybrid" force. He said
unacceptable delays were preventing help from reaching millions of
victims.
U.S., Africans Vow to Fight Terrorism - AP. Military chiefs of
nine African countries pledged Wednesday to work with U.S. forces to
prevent the spread of terrorism in the Sahara desert region. Since
the rise of al-Qaida, security experts have worried that the Sahara's
wide open spaces and porous borders could serve as a haven for terrorist
groups, much the same way
Afghanistan once acted as a terrorist incubator.
No More
U.S. Combat Troops to Be Based in Africa - VOA.
U.S. officials say
they have no plans to base additional combat forces in Africa as part of
the creation of a separate U.S. military command for the continent,
announced on Tuesday. The officials say the command should be
operational this year, although it may not reach its full strength until
next year. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Ryan Henry provided more information on the Africa Command plan at a
news conference Wednesday. Henry said the Defense Department wants
the headquarters for Africa Command to be on the continent, with a staff
of about 1,000, including a sizable contingent of diplomats and aid
officials. But he says he does not expect more U.S. combat troops to be
based in Africa, beyond the 1,700 now at the Combined Joint Task Force
in Djbouti, performing training, humanitarian and counter-terrorism
missions.
No Extra Troops to be Based in Africa, says Pentagon - Reuters.
No extra U.S. combat troops will be stationed in Africa as a result of
plans to create a U.S. military command for the continent, U.S. defense
officials said on Wednesday. The new headquarters will have a
strong focus on helping African nations train their security forces and
will include more U.S. government civilians than other regional command
centers, the officials told reporters at the Pentagon. President
George W. Bush announced on Tuesday he had given approval for the new
command, AFRICOM, which will be based initially in Stuttgart, Germany,
but later move to an African location yet to be determined. The
creation of the new headquarters reflects increasing U.S. strategic
interest in Africa. Washington is concerned that African nations with
weak governments offer a haven for Islamist militants and is attracted
by the continent's natural resources.
China's Hu Seeks to Reassure Africans on Exports - Washington Post.
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday sought to reassure Africans
that his country's aggressive investments in oil, copper and other
natural resources do not amount to a new wave of colonialism, saying
China would "not do anything harmful to the interests of Africa and
its people." Hu's comments, made in Pretoria on the sixth stop of
an eight-country tour of the continent, came amid rising anxiety that
China's economic power is strangling African manufacturing while locking
up vital resources for years. Despite massive Chinese purchases of oil
from Angola, Sudan and Nigeria, the flood of finished goods to Africa
has caused a large trade imbalance. Nigerian VP Named on Graft List - BBC. Nigeria's anti-graft agency has released the names of 135 politicians it alleges are too corrupt to run in the country's elections in April. Most prominent is Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who defected from the ruling party to run as an opposition presidential candidate. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sent the list with a covering letter to political parties. Opposition parties criticised the list, saying it was biased against them. French Oil Worker Kidnapped in Nigeria - AP. Gunmen seized a French oil worker in Nigeria's restive southern petroleum-producing region, the latest victim in a spate of hostage takings, police said Thursday. An employee for French oil company Total SA was taken late Wednesday, said Rivers State police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua. Rice: President Chavez Policies 'Destroying' Venezuela - VOA. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the policies of Venezuela's populist leader Hugo Chavez are "destroying" the South American country. In congressional testimony, Rice said the ongoing U.S. feud with Mr. Chavez is deflecting attention from the good relationship the Bush administration has established with other leftist governments in the region. Bush administration spokesmen have warned that recent moves by the Chavez government, including nationalization of oil and utility assets, would prove to be counterproductive. Chavez Largess Hurts Venezuela Oil Firm - Washington Times. Venezuela's national oil company is buckling under the burden of financing President Hugo Chavez's more than $9 billion a year in social and political ventures. Production at Petroleos de Venezuela is declining, and any major drop in oil prices or failure to reverse declining investment and production could lead to bankruptcy of the goose that lays the golden egg for Venezuela, Moody's Investors Service warned yesterday. Venezuela to Help Finance Bolivia's Coca Production - LA Times. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has found a novel way to dispense foreign aid: by promising to underwrite coca production in Bolivia. Officials here confirmed Wednesday that Venezuela would buy whatever legal products Bolivia could make from coca leaf, as part of that central Andean nation's attempt to wean farmers from the cocaine industry. Killing Haunts Colombia's Peace Plan - LA Times. Yolanda Izquierdo received death threats, but her pleas for police protection went unanswered. When she was killed last week, it delivered a devastating blow to Colombia's tortured peace process. Izquierdo, 44, was gunned down in daylight on the patio of her concrete-block house in the Mi Ranchito barrio in this torrid cattle-country town 300 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota. She was leading a group of 800 displaced families trying to regain possession of land seized a decade ago by right-wing paramilitary groups. Cuba Debates Economic Path Ahead Under Raul Castro - Reuters. Cuban economists are busy studying ways to rev up one of the world's last communist-run economies, a step encouraged by acting President Raul Castro since he took over from his ailing brother six months ago. The debate is focused on how to make Cuba's inefficient command economy more productive and take advantage of newfound financial buoyancy in foreign exchange earnings. Some Cubans Welcome Relations With U.S. - AP. Some Cubans welcomed a poll released Wednesday showing that most Americans favor renewed diplomatic ties with the communist-governed island. Cuba's government had no immediate reaction to the poll, but acting President Raul Castro, who took power in July after his brother Fidel became ill, has said at least twice that his country wanted better relations with the United States. Cuba Deports Top Colombian Drug Suspect - AP. Cuba will deport reputed drug kingpin Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante to Colombia, which plans to extradite him to the United States, a government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Colombian official said Gomez was expected to arrive in Bogota on Thursday and would be held at its heavily fortified chief prosecutor's office compound before being extradited to the United States. Miami's Cubans Prepare for Life after Castro - Washington Times. Rumors (of Castro's death) have swept through Miami since Mr. Castro fell ill in July, only to be dashed with the release of videos showing a frail but indisputably living Cuban leader, most recently receiving a visit from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. That has not deterred Miami's Cuban-Americans from planning and preparing for the dictator's death. Some say they intend to return to the island, while others anticipate that thousands of Cuban refugees will stream into southern Florida. Drug Violence Threatens Mexico's Tourism - AP. Mexico - Brazen daylight killings by presumed drug smugglers just up the hill from Acapulco Bay are worrying business leaders that increasingly bloody drug wars will cripple Mexico's critical tourism industry. Hotel owners and other business leaders in the Pacific coast resort have demanded officials do something to quell the violence that has been closing in on the city's beachfront hotels, flashy discos and fish taco eateries. Nuclear Talks on North Korea Set to Resume in Beijing - NY Times. Negotiators on Thursday will resume the long-stalled talks aimed at North Korean nuclear disarmament amid tentative signs of a possible breakthrough in a diplomatic process that seemed shattered four months ago when North Korea tested a nuclear device. Christopher R. Hill, the chief American envoy, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday and held separate meetings with Chinese and Russian diplomats. Mr. Hill has been shuttling around the world, meeting with envoys from North Korea and other countries, in an effort to restart and advance the talks that North Korea abandoned more than a year ago. North Korea Talks Resume Amid Report of U.S. Deal - Reuters. Six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear program start in Beijing on Thursday, with a Japanese newspaper reporting that the isolated state has already signed a memorandum with the United States. Participants have played down hopes of an immediate settlement of the protracted standoff, which took a higher profile around the world when the Communist North staged its first test atomic blast in October, prompting U.N. sanctions. Fingers Crossed for North Korea Talks - Reuters. Six-party negotiations on closing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program resumed on Thursday, with hopes raised for agreement on first steps after milestone talks between U.S. and North Korean envoys in Berlin last month. Negotiators from the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China gathered in a secluded compound in western Beijing amid reports North Korea may be persuaded to suspend the facilities that helped it stage its first nuclear test last year. Poll Finds Surge of Religion Among Chinese - Washington Post. A new government-sponsored survey on spirituality in China has found that the number of religious believers among the country's 1.3 billion people is far higher than generally known, amounting to as many as 300 million. The findings, based on a poll of 4,500 people conducted by professors at East China Normal University in Shanghai, supported growing indications that many Chinese are searching for new value systems to replace the communist doctrine that has been jettisoned in favor of market economics and a race for prosperity. Wardens Seize Bali Bombers' Cell Phones - AP. Wardens seized cell phones from nine Muslim militants convicted in the 2002 Bali bombings, a prison official said Thursday amid concerns imprisoned Indonesian terrorists are contacting sympathizers outside. Police this week said a man on death row at a Bali prison for his role in the blasts gave religious instruction via cell phone to militants accused of attacking Christians on Sulawesi island. Rains Bring Fresh Floods to Indonesia - AP. Residents working in waist-high mud salvaged family photos from washed-out neighborhoods as fresh rains Thursday triggered more flooding, compounding the misery for hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. A week after the Indonesian capital was struck by the worst floods in recent memory, waters had receded in many middle-class districts, but conditions remained grim in narrow riverside alleys where the city's poor live. U.S. Soldier Charged in Death of Italian Agent - Reuters. A judge ordered a U.S. soldier to stand trial in the slaying of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq in 2005 while the agent was escorting a rescued hostage to safety, court officials said Wednesday. Spc. Mario Lozano of the Army's 69th Infantry Regiment was charged with voluntary homicide in the shooting of Nicola Calipari at a checkpoint near Baghdad's airport. Lozano probably will be tried in absentia. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said it was "a fair assumption" that the U.S. military would not hand over Lozano for trial. Both countries have called the death an accident. U.S. Assures Russia on Backing of Kosovo - Washington Times. The United States has assured Russia that Washington's support for Kosovo's eventual independence from Serbia does not mean it will back the breakaway aspirations of Russian autonomous regions in the Caucasus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday. Moscow, in sympathy with Belgrade, has been reluctant to join American and European endorsements of a plan proposed by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that would lead to independence for Kosovo in all but name. Russia Plans New ICBMs, Nuclear Subs - AP. Russia's defense minister on Wednesday laid out an ambitious plan for building new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly aircraft carriers, and set the goal of exceeding the Soviet army in combat readiness. Sergei Ivanov's statements appeared aimed at raising his profile at home ahead of the 2008 election in which he is widely seen as a potential contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin. But they also seemed to reflect a growing chill in Russian-U.S. relations and the Kremlin's concern about U.S. missile defense plans. Suspects in Journalist’s Killing Came From a Hotbed of Turkish Ultranationalist Sentiment - NY Times. All eight suspects in the plot to kill Hrant Dink, a nationally prominent editor, came from nearby, and links to other ultranationalist crimes here are beginning to emerge. Mr. Dink, an Armenian Turk who was an outspoken commentator on the country’s handling of minority rights and was once convicted of insulting the Turkish identity for an article he wrote, was killed on Jan. 19 in Istanbul. Ogun Samast, 17, a high school dropout who has confessed to the killing, was arrested with five others in connection with the crime. Five more people are in police custody in Istanbul. The attack has caused a harsh examination in Trabzon of how the authorities handled early hints of this and similar crimes. Alliance Split Over Iran Nuclear Defiance - AP. Europeans are accusing Americans of strong-arming them into cracking down on Iran in the latest trans-Atlantic conflict straining efforts to maintain a joint front on Tehran and its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. U.S. officials, in turn, complain that Europe is not pulling its weight because individual nations are placing business interests above the common goal of keeping Iran from heading down a path that could lead to nuclear weapons. Russia Urges Iran to Show 'Good Will' - AP. Russia's foreign minister on Thursday urged Iran to show good will in resolving the dispute over its nuclear program, as a senior Iranian envoy held talks in Moscow. Sergey Lavrov told Ali Akbar Velayati, an envoy of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Moscow hoped for a positive response in Tehran to its efforts to achieve a solution. Iran's Larijani Plans Talks with West in Germany - Reuters. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said on Wednesday he planned to hold talks with Western officials in Germany, in the first such contacts since the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iran in December. "On the sidelines of the Munich conference, we will hold negotiations with Western parties," Ali Larijani was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency as saying. Shooting Erupts on Israel-Lebanon Border - AP. Lebanon - Lebanese troops deployed along the border with Israel opened fire late Wednesday as Israeli troops searched for Hezbollah bombs, drawing retaliatory fire, officials from both sides said. It was the first time that shooting erupted across the border since shortly after an Aug. 14 cease-fire that ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah militants. Lebanon, Israel Armies Swap Fire - Reuters. Israel - Lebanese troops and an Israeli army patrol exchanged fire on their shared border on Wednesday in the first such incident since Lebanon deployed regular forces after Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas. A Reuters correspondent at the scene and Israeli security sources said the clash began after the Lebanese troops shot in the air as the patrol crossed a security fence near the border village of Avivim to search for explosives planted by Hezbollah. Palestinian Leaders Continue Peace Talks - AP. Saudi Arabia - In a palace overlooking Islam's holiest site, rival Palestinian leaders vowed Wednesday to work out a power-sharing agreement to avert a civil war, asking their followers to abide by a truce during the marathon talks crucial to the peace process with Israel. But threats of new revenge attacks arose in Gaza after the killing of a Hamas activist -- underlining the danger of an explosion of factional fighting if the talks in Mecca fail. Palestinians Open Second Day of Crisis Talks - Reuters. Saudi Arabia - Rival Palestinian factions began a second day of crisis talks in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, focusing on the platform of a unity government that would honor past agreements with Israel. A deal on a unity government could help end deadly fighting that has killed more than 90 Palestinians since December. It could also end an international blockade of Islamist group Hamas, which won parliamentary elections last year against the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas that had steered peace talks with Israel since 1993. Olmert Rejects Appeal to Stop Jerusalem Excavation - Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected an appeal by his defense minister to halt excavation work near Jerusalem's most important holy site, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported on Thursday. The work has angered Palestinians. Sri Lankan Police Arrest 2 Journalists - AP. Sri Lankan police have arrested two journalists and a graphic designer for helping ethnic Tamil rebels in their campaign for an independent homeland, the government said Wednesday. The journalists, Lalith Seneviratne and Sisira Priyantha, and graphic designer Nihal Senasinghe were arrested Monday, government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. They worked at Akuna, a bimonthly newspaper, and belong to the country's majority Sinhalese ethnic group. Two Killed in New Nepal Protests - BBC. Two people have been killed by police firing in the south-eastern Nepalese town of Biratnagar, officials say. The deaths bring the number of people killed in continuing protests to 19. Scores of people including policemen have been injured in the violence. The Madheshi community have been demanding autonomous federal regions and greater representation in parliament. Nepal Agrees to Protesters' Key Demands - AP. The government will allocate more seats in parliament and guarantee places in its administration to representatives of southern Nepal, the prime minister said Wednesday as he agreed to protesters' demands following clashes that have killed 21 people. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala made the announcement after meeting with leaders of the seven ruling parties and former Maoist rebels who are set to join the government soon. Civil War and Jihadists - Washington Times. As the Senate continues its surreal debate over Iraq, anti-war lawmakers are getting remarkably glib about suggesting that the U.S. military shouldn't dirty its hands as Iraq spirals toward an all-out civil war. "We cannot continue to feed our troops into the middle of a civil war," says Sen. Chuck Hagel. Similarly, Sen. Barack Obama declares that American soldiers have no business trying to "solve the differences at the heart of somebody else's civil war." Such comments might make sense if Iraq were some sort of remote island backwater and the fighting there had no relationship to this country's larger, existential war against radical Islamists. But in the real world, as opposed to the Senate, it is nonsensical to talk about Iraq this way -- as if U.S. troop withdrawals or "redeployment" won't have destabilizing, even catastrophic, consequences for American interests... The Fog of Accountability - NY Times. The details are graphic: billions of dollars of Iraqi oil revenues -- 363 tons of cash -- bundled up and urgently flown to Baghdad on 484 pallets from the Federal Reserve Bank to jump-start a new Iraqi government. Four years later, the unanswered questions are just as graphic: Who was responsible for the money? What became of it? Two years ago, the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction reported that $8.8 billion of the cash surge could not be adequately accounted for by the Bush administration’s provisional governing authority. The Republican-controlled Congress -- which shrugged off oversight responsibilities for President Bush’s failed war —--dutifully sidestepped the issue. Thankfully, the new Democratic Congress is finally investigating the disappeared billions and other aspects of the war’s mismanagement... The Snake Eater - Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal. Subject: A case study of how the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq. Problem: If a cop in Anytown, USA, pulls over a suspect, he checks the person's ID remotely from the squad car. He's linked to databases filled with Who's Who in the world of crime, killing and mayhem. In Iraq, there is nothing like that. When our troops and the Iraqi army enter a town, village or street, what they know about the local bad guys is pretty much in their heads, at best. Solution: Give our troops what our cops have. The Pentagon knows this. For reasons you can imagine, it hasn't happened. This is a story of can-do in a no-can-do world, a story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province. They did this in 30 days, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. Compared to standard operating procedure for Iraq, this is a nanosecond. Keys to a Successful Surge - Max Boot, LA Times. While politicians debate whether more U.S. troops should be sent to Iraq, just as important is how those troops will be utilized. In the Boer War, a "surge" of soldiers helped. In the Vietnam War, it didn't. The difference is that the British had a sounder strategy. In formulating the right strategy, there is no better guide than a slim 1964 volume, "Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice." Its author was a French officer named David Galula, who saw service not only in World War II but in postwar China, Greece, Hong Kong and Algeria. If there is a Clausewitz of counterinsurgency, Galula is it. Although much has changed in recent decades, most of his admonitions still apply, which is why so many are echoed in the new Army-Marine counterinsurgency field manual. U.S. forces have gotten better at this demanding type of warfare in Iraq, but even now they're still falling short, often through no fault of their own, in carrying out many of Galula's key precepts... Bush & Co. Must Learn to Fight on the Information Battlefield to be Effective in the War on Terror - Rod Dreher, Dallas Morning News. Cultures shaped by the printed word prized logic, reason and dispassion. But a global culture conditioned by television - which is to say, by the power of sound and image - to process information a certain way, McLuhan taught, will revert to pre-modern modes of thought. It will be more emotional, more tribal, less trusting of traditional authority and more inclined to privilege individual judgment. And it will have more political and religious extremism. Under the right circumstances, mass opinion can be mobilized quickly against traditional authority figures, who must have the means to adapt with haste to the new information environment if they wish to hold on to their power to influence events and thus to conserve their own power. The U.S. government is like the queen, cluelessly clinging to a media and public relations strategy best suited for the day before yesterday. The president put in charge of public diplomacy an old friend, Karen Hughes, whose best-known sortie in this job was a "listening tour" of the Mideast that more or less flopped. Give Petraeus a Chance - Victor Davis Hanson, National Review. The haggling over various resolutions and nit-picking (inasmuch as no one is seriously going to cut off funding) the surge is surreal. Whatever critics think of its rationale, it is clear that something dramatic is going to shortly transpire, most likely a last-ditch, go-for-broke effort to secure Baghdad that deserves the support of all Americans and our representatives. Surely if Congress can confirm General Petraeus without a dissenting vote, it can at least give this gifted officer a period of grace to allow his counteroffensive to proceed without pre-judgment -- especially when thousands of American troops will be on the offensive in a matter of hours and in greater danger as all eyes turn to Baghdad. Resolution and Irresolution - William Hawkins, Washington Times. Though a vote on the "bipartisan" Iraq resolution sponsored by Sen. John Warner, Virginia Republican, was stalled over partisan questions of procedure, the debate did not end. What the Senate is trying to do remains confused and out of sync with the nature of the war. The Warner resolution states "the Senate believes a failed state in Iraq would present a threat to regional and world peace, and the long-term security interests of the United States are best served by an Iraq that can sustain, govern, and defend itself, and serve as an ally in the war against extremists." This kind of conclusion is within the Senate's purview, but since it is an endorsement of the Bush administration position, it does not constitute any change. The resolution is not about strategy. It is a controversial attempt by senators to dictate military operations on the ground. This is not the ancient Roman Senate, whose members took the field and commanded the armies the Republic raised. And the resolution's assessment of the war shows their lack of expertise... A Critical Crossroad - Joseph Lieberman, National Review. Mr. President, our nation has reached a critical crossroad in the war in Iraq. More than four years ago, this chamber voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein, a tyrant who slaughtered his own people, attacked his neighbors, and threatened our security. Thanks to the courageous service of the men and women of our military, that evil regime was overthrown. And in its place came hopes of democracy in the heart of the Middle East and a victory in the war for the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. As of today, those hopes have not been realized. Because of the ruthless conduct of our enemies, as well as our own failures, we instead today find ourselves on a knife’s edge in Iraq. Now, a new course has been chosen. A new commander is in place in Iraq, confirmed by this Senate. A new Secretary of Defense is in place at the Pentagon, confirmed by this Senate. And a new strategy has begun to be put into action on the ground in Iraq by our troops... NIE Report Seems to Back Bush Iraq Plan - Peter Brookes, Real Clear Politics. The long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq - "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead" - is finally on the streets after months of delay. If you've been following events in Iraq, then the publicly released, declassified version of the NIE is a bit of a thumb-sucker. But it's supposedly the unvarnished consensus of the 16-agency intelligence community, with added input from outside experts - and it meshes well with the president's new plan... How Not to Inflame Iraq - Javad Zarif, NY Times. Before the United States invaded Iraq on false pretexts nearly four years ago, the overwhelming view of analysts and diplomats was that war would plunge the region and the world into greater turmoil and instability. Echoing the views of my colleagues from the region and beyond, I told the Security Council on Feb. 18, 2003, that while the ramifications of the war could go beyond anyone’s calculations, “one outcome is almost certain: extremism stands to benefit enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq.” This assessment came not from any sympathy for the former Iraqi dictator or his regime. Certainly Iran -- which had suffered the carnage of an eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, and on which Saddam Hussein unleashed chemical weapons -- had no affinity for him. Rather, it was based on a sober recognition of the realities of the region and the inescapable dynamics of occupation... A Warning to Iran - Claude Salhani, Washington Times. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is concerned by Iran's nuclear ambitions and cautioned the Islamic republic to take U.S. warnings "very, very seriously." In a private conversation with this reporter, the former warrior-turned-politician at the same time admitted being worried by the Bush administration's strong-arm policies in the Middle East. "I'm concerned," said Mr. Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe -- SACEUR -- (1997-2000) and a potential Democratic presidential candidate in the 2008 race for the White House. Mr. Clark, who commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War, worries that the rising tension between the United States and Iran could escalate to a point of no return. As a former soldier who has seen his share of action from Vietnam to Kosovo, Mr. Clark does not scare easily. But the Iranians, too, have reason to be concerned, says Mr. Clark. Speaking to United Press International Friday after addressing a meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, Mr. Clark said that the Iranians should take "very, very seriously the prospect of air strikes and missile strikes as well as other operations directed against Iran's nuclear capacities and all other elements of their military power."... Eye (Contact) for an Eye - Suzanne Fields, Washington Times. The men and women who shake us down at the airport are getting a crash course in Muslim culture. A training DVD that runs for 45 minutes tackles such "sensitive" questions as why Arabs often avoid looking someone in the eye. An agent of the Homeland Security Administration questioning a suspected terrorist, for example, may regard dropped eyes as evidence of suspicious behavior, suggesting the suspect is hiding something. But now he must confront his own ignorance. He's told that Arab culture considers it impolite to stare. (So does ours, as any toddler is told, again and again.) Such sensitivity may be polite, but it may blind the officer to his own intuition and the sum of his experience. It's entirely possible that the suspect has learned to stare a policeman down, just as the September 11 terrorists learned to eat pizza and enjoy the scenery at strip joints. We've come a long way from the heroic mythmaking of "Tales of the Arabian Nights," of Sheherazade and Lawrence of Arabia, and that's no doubt good in its own way. Nevertheless, looking for insights through cultural relativism is exercising what President Bush might call "the soft bigotry of false, not soft, expectations." ... The Road to Helmand - Holly Barnes Higgins, Washington Post. The news came in a phone call from Afghanistan. Ten days ago, a suicide bomber tried to talk his way into a compound in Lashkar Gah where I had worked until last October. He blew himself up without getting in and no one else was seriously hurt, but the story shook me. What I had expected for so long had finally happened. I went to Afghanistan in October 2005 to work on an economic development project funded by the U.S. government. I went because I believed in the mission: helping to improve the quality of life in a war-torn land. I was lucky to get out. Now I am home, hearing with dismay that President Bush lauds our work as a success and is requesting more aid for Afghanistan. I think of my colleagues still back in Helmand province, especially the young Afghans who risk their lives to work with us because the United States has insisted that progress is on the way. I know about the millions of dollars already wasted there... My Brother’s Sacrifice was for Peace and Understanding - Last Wednesday I woke up to find out that I had 41 missed calls plus a dozen or so voicemail messages, mostly from the media, but a few from my loved ones. I soon found out the cause -- the eight arrests linked to an alleged plot to kidnap and execute a British Muslim member of the Armed Forces. My immediate thoughts were of concern for members of my family, who live not far from the locations raided by the police. Upon speaking to my family, who were under siege by journalists, I foresaw a hectic time ahead based on my experience of the days after the death of my brother, Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, in Sangin, Afghanistan, on July 1, 2006. So why did my brother and I decided to join the British Army, having been born in Pakistan and being proud Muslims?... The Petraeus Thinkers: Five Challenges - Captain's Journal. The Small Wars Journal has a fascinating discussion thread that begins with a Washington Post article by reporter Thomas Ricks, entitled “Officers with PhDs Advising War Effort.” The related conversation in the discussion thread at the Small Wars Journal ranges from doctrinal observations on counterinsurgency strategy to personal reflections on the public’s view of the military concerning whether there is sufficient brain power in the conventional military to develop a strategy to pull off a victory in Iraq... Deploying the The Snake Eater in Khalidaya - The Fourth Rail. In the middle of January, I embedded with the joint U.S. Marine and U.S. Army Military Transition Team based in Khalidaya in Anbar province. The MTT was then commanded by Major Owen West. Major West's greatest criticisms of the war effort is our failure to recognize the nature of the insurgency, which in many parts of Iraq is fought by applying what he calls "heavy police tactics," and our failure in to applying the right tools to the problem. Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Page has written an article about how a group of people looked to solve part of this problem. Mr. Henninger describes the enterprise as such, and well: "This is a story of can-do in a no-can-do world, a story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province. They did this in 30 days, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. Compared to standard operating procedure for Iraq, this is a nanosecond." Major West, along with Spirit of America, a technology company called CDI, and with a small helping hand from me, fielded "The Snake Eater," a biometric device that photographs, fingerprints and stores data about captured suspected insurgents, and then builds a networked picture on their family, history and activities... The Brain Trust - MilBlogs. The WaPo headlines: "Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort" The only appropriate response might be "Well, duh!" But seriously folks... no offense to the fine folks profiled therein, but try finding a senior officer in the military without an advanced degree. These guys might be exceptional, but they aren't the exception in that department. There's a bit of myth perpetuation here - the reality is the military invests time and money in developing the talents of the right folks for the right jobs - and sometimes they get it right. And in spite of the article's "but the job is too big for these guys or anyone else" tone, I think the right people have indeed been chosen for this task. And his Don't confuse the surge with the strategy entry at the Small Wars Journal blog was recently recommended by one of Mrs Greyhawk's favorite military thinkers. You might also want to make time for A Framework for thinking about Iraq Strategy and Two Schools of Classical Counterinsurgency. Operation Baghdad Has Started! - Iraq the Model. Minutes after nighttime curfew began in Baghdad at 9 pm we saw breaking news on al-Hurra and al-Jazeera saying that Baghdad's security operation has just started. The news says the first operation is currently underway in Azamiyah in the northeastern part of the city. However, it looks quiet here at the moment, except for a sudden increase in activity in the skies with US jet fighters patrolling over the northern parts of Baghdad. We're now only a few kilometers far from Azamiyah, so if there's going to be some action, we'll certainly hear-or see-it, and we'll keep you updated... The Surge and the Baghdad Security Operation - The Fourth Rail. News that an Iraqi Army brigade and 2,000 American troops have begun an operation in the Sunni dominated neighborhood of Azamiyah has kicked off speculation the Baghdad Security Operation is now underway in full force. Expect the forces to establish one or more Combat Outposts (or COPs) in Azamiyah. But the fact is the operation to stabilize the capital and the surrounding provinces is only in its infancy. Today's positioning of forces Azamiyah is but one more opening move on the chessboard... If the ‘Surge’ Fails, al-Sadr Wins - Westhawk. According to this article from the Associated Press, the new combined Iraqi-U.S. security operation in Baghdad has begun. We’re not sure what a “rolling surge” is. Residents of Baghdad likely don’t know and don’t care either. Most Baghdadis are upset that the security operation has taken so long to get started; Iraq’s Interior ministry reported 1,000 killings just in the past week, including 38 on Monday and 137 murdered by a truck bomb on Saturday. Baghdadis should be excused if they have low expectations for the results from the latest security operation for the city... Iran Not Exactly Denying Accusations - Captain's Quarters. The U.S. has accused Iran of fomenting the Shi'ite insurgencies and supplying materiel and weapons to an even broader range of terrorists in Iraq. Recently, the .U.S has captured five Iranian agents in Irbil as part of the wider rules of engagement for the pacification of Baghdad and Anbar, an action protested by both Iran and Iraq. Newsweek interviewed Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, and asked him to respond to these American accusations, among other topics -- and he didn't exactly deny them... Clearing Off Admiral Fallon’s Desk - Westhawk. When Admiral William Fallon, USN, arrives at his office as the new commander of U.S. Central Command, he will find a desk groaning under the strain of open files. Front and center, and scattered in disarray, is the file for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gathering dust on one side is the file for Afghanistan. On the other side of the desk is a thin file for the Horn of Africa, thickened a bit lately by action in Somalia. Finally, a junior aide neatly stacked on the corner an old war plan for a mysterious offensive air campaign over Iran. An anonymous officer from the Joint Staff prompted the aide to place this old plan on Admiral Fallon’s new desk... Iran’s Nuclear Festival - The Fourth Rail. The diplomatic track for compelling Iran to comply with its international obligations over its nuclear ambitions appears to be coming to a crashing end. On February 21, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will deliver a report to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran’s compliance with Resolution 1737, which was passed with a unanimous vote in December to compel Tehran to halt all uranium enrichment activities. Failure to demonstrate compliance will lead to legally-binding Chapter VII sanctions. The Iranian leadership, however, has stepped up its enrichment program and is preparing to hold a “Nuclear Festival” on Sunday, February 11, where a major announcement is promised that will escalate the crisis... Israel, Lebanon Exchange Fire At Border - Captain's Quarters. Israeli and Lebanese Army troops exchanged fire on the border near Maroun al-Ras, the first shots fired since the cessation of hostilities last summer. A wayward bulldozer apparently sparked the incident, and the U.N. has started deploying peacekeepers in the area (via Israel Matzav). This should give UNIFIL forces something to do besides watching Hezbollah terrorists replenish their weapons stocks. The presence of U.N. troops will certainly make the Israelis stop firing, and perhaps the Lebanese Army troops, too. If nothing else happens to exacerbate the tension, that should be enough to defuse it... Bowden on Hunting the Abu Sayyaf - The Belmont Club. Mark Bowden has a long feature in the Atlantic on hunting the Abu Sayyaf, entitled Jihadists in Paradise . He details the search for one of the kidnappers of the Burnhams. Abu Sabaya. He has cool video interviews, including UAV surveillance footage. Unfortunately the article is requires a subscription, but if you read Bowden's opening and compare it to my piece on the Islamic insurgency at Pajamas, you will see that both of us regard the Sulu Sea frontier, if not the most famous theater of the terrorist war, as certainly among the most picturesque. Here's an excerpt from Bowden, but read the whole thing... North Korea Agrees To De-Nuclearization? - Captain's Quarters. American nuclear expert David Albright, a former U.N. inspector on the North Korean impasse, has told the AP that he believes North Korea is ready to shut down its nuclear program for an end to the Korean War and "massive" energy shipments. Pyongyang will also insist on an end to the sanctions that shut down the Macau money-laundering operation connected to its counterfeiting ring...
--Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
--David Kilcullen, Small Wars Journal What Goes Around
Hanging Out With The Boys by James Hooker H/T MilBlogs
Poster Girl by Beccy Cole - On the Wrong Side of the World H/T Blackfive Blog
A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly H/T The Belmont Club Blog --Dave Dilegge (SWJ) |
Books Small Wars Manual United States Marine Corps Nineteen-Forty Thomas Ricks Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor Bob Woodward Robert Kaplan Thomas Friedman TX Hammes Keith Bickel Max Boot Alistair Horne Fred Charles Ikle Ralph Peters John Keegan Bing West C. E. Caldwell Donald Hamilton Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam John Nagl H. R. McMaster We Were Soldiers Once...and Young Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway T. E. Lawrence Bernard Fall Mark Bowden Robert Kaplan Douglas Porch and John Keegan Thomas Friedman James Corum and Wray Johnson Humanitarian Intervention: Operation Provide Comfort Gordon Rudd Bing West Tommy Franks Tom Clancy and Anthony Zinni The Bear Went Over the Mountain Lester Grau Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester Grau Robert McNamara and Brian VanDeMark Bernard Fall With the Old Corps in Nicaragua George Clark Small Wars and Skirmishes, 1902-18 Edwin Herbert and Ian Heath Defeating Communist Insurgency Robert Thompson Ray Smith and Bing West John Keegan John Hersey Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton Edward Rice The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order Samuel Huntington Martin van Creveld Bernard Lewis William Shawcross Henry Kissinger Frances FitzGerald Eric Hammel From People's War to People's Rule Timothy Lomperis Mark Bowden Walter Clarke and Jeffrey Herbst Karl Von Clausewitz Nicholas Warr Brian McAllister Linn Robert Kaplan H. John Poole H. John Poole |
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