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News archives for the week ending 22nd May 09

US is losing media war in Afghanistan and Pakistan

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is losing the media war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - something she said must be reversed.

She told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday that militants broadcasting from radio equipment on the backs of pickup trucks are threatening and intimidating people. She says while they are spreading what she called the "worst kind of disinformation" they have been more effective than the U.S. when it comes to strategic communications.

Secretary Clinton says as a result, the Obama administration is revamping its communications strategy - looking at new ways to directly reach people in areas where militants are active - including on their cell phones.

Voice of America, 20/5/09

Bomb kills at least 34 in Baghdad

A car bomb exploded Wednesday near a crowded ice cream parlor in a Shiite neighborhood of northern Baghdad, killing at least 34 people and wounding 72 in one of the deadliest attacks in weeks.

A series of suicide bombings struck predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad last month, making April the most violent month this year and fueling speculation that Sunni insurgents might be trying to instigate the sort of sectarian conflict that plunged Iraq into chaos in 2006 and 2007.

Washington Post, 21/5/09

Holy war, Pentagon style

In the early days of the Iraq War, the cover of one of the Pentagon's "Worldwide Intelligence Updates" showed a tank at sunset with this quote from the Apostle Paul's Letter to the Ephesians: "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

Another cover from the 2003 "Intelligence Updates," produced for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior Pentagon officials, showed a photo of Saddam Hussein with this quote from the First Epistle of St. Peter: "It is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people."

Were Rumsfeld and the Pentagon merely trying to manipulate the religious beliefs of President Bush, an evangelical Christian who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that after giving the order to invade in March 2003, "I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will"?

Or are these Bible-based intelligence briefings more evidence of the influence of evangelical Christians in the U.S. military, documented in the May issue of Harper's magazine by reporter Jeff Sharlet who says there is a "small but powerful movement of Christian soldiers concentrated in the officers corps" who see themselves not as subversives or radicals, but as "spiritual warriors" and "government paid missionaries."

Washington Post, 18/5/09

Afghan reconstruction cash 'lacks oversight'

The military command overseeing $15 billion in U.S. programs to develop Afghanistan's security forces cannot be sure the money is being managed effectively, a top government watchdog warned Tuesday.

In its first audit report since being formed a year ago, the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction says the Combined Security Transition Command "lacks effective contract oversight capabilities."

It is the command's responsibility to ensure U.S. tax dollars are spent properly, the audit says. That means command staff must visit locations where contractors are working to verify that contractors are following the terms of their deals with the government.

"This is not happening," the audit said.

Associated Press, 19/5/09

China ready to join US as world power

David Milliband today described China as the 21st century's "indispensable power" with a decisive say on the future of the global economy, climate change and world trade.

The foreign secretary predicted that over the next few decades China would become one of the two "powers that count", along with the US, and Europe could emerge as a third only if it learned to speak with one voice.

Miliband said a pivotal moment in China's rise came at the G20 summit last month in London. Hu Jintao, China's president, arrived as the head of the only major power still enjoying strong growth (expected to be 8% this year), backed by substantial financial reserves.

"The G20 was a very significant coming of economic age in an international forum for China. If you looked around the 20 ¬people sitting at the table … what was striking was that when China spoke everybody listened," Miliband said. "China's indispensability in part comes from size, but a second part is that it wants to play a role."

In contrast to America's 20th-century ascent, which eclipsed Britain, Miliband said China would not displace the US but rather join it at "the new top table", and because of its low per capita income, it would not rival the US as the world's leading superpower for at least a generation.

A report by the European Council on Foreign Relations argued that China was exploiting the EU's divisions and treating it with "diplomatic contempt". The report, published in advance of Wednesday's EU-China summit in Prague, said that European states, dealing with China individually, lacked leverage on issues such as trade, human rights and Tibet.

Guardian, 18/5/09

Maliki calls for reduction in power sharing...

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a member of Iraq's Shi'ite Arab majority, has called for a reduction in power-sharing pacts that have given minority Sunnis and Kurds a greater political voice since 2003.

Maliki said continuing indefinitely with the agreements, which have provided a degree of consensus in a country battling to contain sectarian violence, would lead to "catastrophe" and that Iraq needed to embrace majority rule.

His comments were likely to fuel suspicions of Sunni Arabs, dominant under Saddam Hussein, and Kurds, who have their own semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, that minority groups could be subject to majority Shi'ite tyranny.

Reuters, 15/5/09

...as Iraqi government arrests Sunni leaders

Iraqi government security forces arrested two prominent Sunni leaders in Diyala Province on Monday, according to local security officials, leading to renewed concerns that sectarian tensions in the area could once again erupt into greater violence.

Ghassan al-Hayali, a leading Awakening official in Diyala, complained even before the arrests that there was a secret informer program aimed at providing the two accusations of criminal acts that are needed to swear out an arrest warrant against a council member.

Dozens of Awakening members have fled from their villages near Baquba, he said, since the government began a major military campaign in the province several weeks ago. More than 30,000 troops and police officers have poured into the province as a part of the operation, Iraqi military officials said.

Mr. Hayali said Awakening leaders believed that arrest warrants had been issued for more than 1,000 Sunni tribal figures and council members, leading some 300 members to quit.

New York Times, 18/5/09

US escalation in Afghanistan could move Taliban further west

A planned U.S. offensive this summer threatens to push insurgents into the west, roiling previously calm areas that border Iran, Afghan and Italian commanders say.

The influx of Taliban, combined with violence linked to Afghanistan’s Aug. 20 presidential elections, could lead to “several hot months,” said Brigadier General Rosario Castellano, commander of 3,900 NATO troops in the west.

“The Taliban are like a balloon, you push one place and they show up elsewhere,” General Esmatulla Alizai, 52, the police chief for the province of Herat, the most populated province in the west, told reporters May 16. “The extra Americans will have a positive impact on security in Helmand but could cause problems here.”

Bloombereg, 18/5/09

Afghanistan to review regulations governing NATO presence...

Afghanistan will review regulations governing the presence of tens of thousands of foreign troops fighting a bloody Islamist insurgency, Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Saturday.

The review was demanded by parliament after US air strikes against Taliban insurgents killed civilians in the western province of Farah this month. An Afghan government investigation says 140 civilians died, making it one of the deadliest such incidents since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban.

AFP, 17/5/09

...as US predicts 50% increase in bombings

Strategically buried in dirt roads, packed in culverts and attached to trip wires, a heightened hidden danger awaits the thousands of U.S. troops pouring into Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

The U.S. military expects a 50% increase this year in roadside and suicide bombings, which surpassed the number of similar strikes in Iraq during the spring. These types of bombs killed 172 coalition forces last year -- and far more Afghan civilians -- according to military figures.

Associated Press, 16/5/09

US sends special forces to Pakistan

The U.S. is sending Special Forces teams into one of Pakistan's most violent regions as part of a push to accelerate the training of the Pakistani military and make it a more effective ally in the fight against insurgents there.

Senior U.S. officials said 25 to 50 Special Forces personnel are deploying to two new training camps in Baluchistan, a Taliban stronghold on the porous Afghan-Pakistani border. The deployment brings U.S. personnel deeper than before into tribal regions of Pakistan, which the Obama administration views as among the world's most-dangerous flashpoints.

A senior American military officer said he hoped Islamabad would gradually allow the U.S. to expand its training footprint inside Pakistan's borders. A former U.S. official familiar with the plans said the deployments would "get more American eyes and ears" into the strategically important region.

The project, which draws on proposals first discussed under the Bush administration, is a joint effort with the U.K., senior U.S. officials said. The U.K. plans to help fund the training, although it is unclear if British military personnel would take part in the initiative. British officials have been pushing for such an effort for several years.

Wall Street Journal, 16/5/09

Taliban fight threatens Pakistan's economy

Pakistan's widening fight against the Taliban is threatening key areas for the country's economy, potentially turning a long-running dispute into an economic and fiscal crisis.

While foreign investors have shied away from Pakistan for months due to political turmoil and security concerns, the economy has so far avoided recession in the global downturn and Karachi shares have gained this year.

But with recent advances, Islamic militants can now harass Pakistan's economic heartland, potentially causing significant damage to government finances. This could dry up the country's already meager tax revenues, sending Islamabad back to the International Monetary Fund and other donors for another bailout, some analysts say.

Wall Street Journal, 15/5/09

Israeli Foreign Minister's party proposes ban on Arab mourning

Yisrael Beitenu, the political party of Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has proposed that Arab Israelis be banned from marking the anniversary of the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Arab Palestinians in 1948.

An estimated 700,000 Arabs were expelled or fled from their homes in 1948 and forbidden from returning in what Israel calls its “War of Independence” but what Arabs call the “Nakba”, or “Catastrophe”.

Under legislation proposed by Lieberman’s party, it would be illegal for Arab Israelis to mark the ethnic cleansing of Palestine as a time for mourning. “The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning,” party spokesman Tal Nahum said.

Yisrael Beitenu said its proposed legislation would make it illegal to memorialize the dispossession of the Arab Palestinians in a day of mourning. Arabs who violate the law would face up to three years in jail.

Foreign Policy Journal, 15/5/09

Obama says Iran war not off the table

President Barack Obama says the US has not taken military action against Iran over its nuclear program off the table ahead of the Israeli premier's trip to Washington.

"I've been very clear that I don't take any options off the table with respect to Iran. I don't take options off the table when it comes to US security, period," said Obama

Iran will be a main topic of talks during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Obama in Washington this week.

The new government of Barack Obama says it wants to engage diplomatically with Iran to resolve the country's nuclear issue but has simultaneously followed in the Bush administration's footsteps by pursuing a double-edged policy of carrots and sticks with Iran.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that he could not imagine any Israeli attack against Iran without Washington's approval.

Washington and Tel Aviv - the sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East - have stepped up accusations that Iran is amassing weapons-grade uranium.

According to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency figures, Iran has produced some 1,010 kilograms of low enriched uranium (LEU) - a level "less than 5 percent." Only enriched to high levels of above 90 percent, can uranium be used for production of nuclear weapons.

Press TV 17/5/09

Violence across northern Pakistan

A car bomb ripped through an Internet cafe and other businesses Saturday in a congested neighbourhood of Peshawar, killing at least 11 people. A second bomb exploded in the northwestern city several hours later, wounding four people.

The bombings came amid continued bloodshed across Pakistan, with residents of a rural tribal region reporting 29 deaths from a suspected U.S. drone missile attack on a village and Pakistani authorities reporting that they had killed 47 more militants in their campaign to retake the Swat Valley.

Meanwhile, the government sought Saturday to counter speculation that extremists could seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani complained of an "orchestrated campaign" to "discredit Pakistan's nuclear capability."

"We are determined to retain nuclear deterrence at all cost while ensuring fail-safe security of our nuclear assets," he told lawmakers, according to a statement from his office.

Los Angeles Times 17/5/09

US has plan to seize Pakistan nuclear weapons

The United States has a detailed plan for infiltrating Pakistan and securing its mobile arsenal of nuclear warheads if it appears the country is about to fall under the control of the Taliban, Al Qaeda or other Islamic extremists.

American intelligence sources say the operation would be conducted by Joint Special Operations Command, the super-secret commando unit headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C. JSOC is the military's chief terrorists hunting squad and has units now operating in Afghanistan on Pakistan's western border. But a secondary mission is to secure foreign nuclear arsenals -- a role for which JSOC operatives have trained in Nevada.

Fox News, 14/5/09

Obama considers indefinite detention without trial

The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The proposal being floated with members of Congress is another indication of President Barack Obama's struggles to establish his counter-terrorism policies, balancing security concerns against attempts to alter Bush-administration practices he has harshly criticized.

Wall Street Journal, 14/5/09

Iraq to award oil contract in June

Iraq expects to award the contract to develop the giant Nassiriyah oil field in the southern part of the country to one of three competing international companies in June, Iraq's oil minister said Thursday.

"We hope that the contract would be signed next month," Hussein al-Shahristani told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview in the Jordanian capital. He also said his ministry is planning to invite international companies to compete for developing the southern portion of the East Baghdad oil field near the Iraqi capital.

Wall Street Journal, 14/5/09

Israel, US making moves in Central Asia

Despite budget cutbacks at the foreign affairs ministry, Israel has announced that it will open an embassy in Turkmenistan following a round of secret talks. In addition to being a major source of natural gas, Turkmenistan shares a border with Iran.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has shown an interest in expanding Israel's footprint in Central Asia before, leading delegations to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan while he was interior minister. Israel is keen to promote security ties with Central Asian states to limit Iran's regional influence.

The U.S. has been making moves in the 'stans this week as well. As mentioned in yesterday's morning brief, the U.S. will once again be supplying troops Afghanistan through Uzbekistan, with an assist from South Korea. Josh Kucera also reports that the new State Department budget includes major aid increases for Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, with an eye on keeping supply lines to Afghanistan open.

Foreign Policy, 14/5/09