Early Bird summary
Wednesday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting that American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban’s main source of money, the country’s multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group’s operations.
The plan to send 20,000 Marines and soldiers into Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul Provinces this summer promises weeks and perhaps months of heavy fighting, since American officers expect the Taliban to vigorously defend what makes up the economic engine for the insurgency. Through extortion and taxation, the Taliban are believed to reap as much as $300 million a year from Afghanistan’s opium trade, which now makes up 90 percent of the world’s total. That is enough, the Americans say, to sustain all of the Taliban’s military operations in southern Afghanistan for an entire year.
The Pakistani government's inability to stem Taliban advances has forced the Obama administration to recalibrate its Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy a month after unveiling it, the Washington Post reports.
What was planned as a step-by-step process of greater military and economic engagement with Pakistan -- as immediate attention focused on Afghanistan -- has been rapidly overtaken by the worsening situation on the ground. Nearly nonstop discussions over the past two days included a White House meeting Monday between Obama and senior national security officials and a full National Security Council session on Pakistan yesterday.
A tripartite summit Obama will host next week with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will center heavily on the Pakistan problem rather than the balance originally intended, officials said.
New consideration is being given to a long-dormant proposal to allow U.S. counterinsurgency training for Pakistani troops somewhere outside the country, circumventing Pakistan's refusal to allow American "boots on the ground" there. "The issue now is how do you do that, where do you do it, and what money do we have to do it with?" said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity yesterday.
The San Antonio Express-News reports that Pakistan's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday his country wants control of all American drone aircraft flying over the country's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani warned that the war on terrorism in the region could be lost if Pakistan doesn't operate the unmanned aerial vehicles used to kill insurgents.
U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas near Afghanistan are “creating more Taliban,” he said. A White House spokesman said the administration would not discuss UAVs.
“Do we want to lose the war on terror or do we want to keep those weapons classified?” Haqqani told the San Antonio Express-News after a speech before the local World Affairs Council. “If the American government insists on our true cooperation, then they should also be helping us in fighting those terrorists.”
The New York Times reports Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said Tuesday that Iraqi forces had recently arrested a leader of the Sunni insurgency who had been in league with members of Saddam Hussein’s ousted Baath Party.
Iraqi officials say the insurgent, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, is the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown group that American intelligence officials say is led by foreigners.
The Washington Post reports that Russian news agencies cite one of the country's deputy defense ministers as saying that more that 35,000 officers are to be fired in 2009 as part of sweeping military reforms.
ITAR-Tass and other agencies quote Nikolai Pankov as giving the figures on Tuesday.
Wide-ranging reforms announced by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in October envisaged cutting 200,000 of 355,000 military officers by 2012.
Russia's armed forces have been downsized to 1.13 million troops from the 4 million-member Soviet Army, but observers say Russia has done little to streamline its military.
The reforms, aimed at decreasing Russia's troops to below 1 million, have drawn increasingly loud grumbling from the top military brass. Several top generals who opposed them have lost their jobs.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: Sen. Arlen Specter's surprise defection from the Republican Party to join the Democrats was the lead story in all the papers. (Slate Magazine)
2. Pakistan army retakes key town: The Pakistan army says it has taken control of a key town in Buner district in the north-west, a day after starting an offensive against the Taleban. (BBC)
3. Security tight at Afghan celebration: Police have been deployed in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as a ceremony is held to mark the 17th anniversary of the overthrow of the Communist government. (BBC)
4. Ex-Marine speaks out against Iraq war: For Benjamin "Benji" Lewis, the turning point began when a crying Iraqi woman approached his dug-in position during the first siege of Fallujah in April 2004. (Mail Tribune, Oregon)
5. U.S. cybersecurity “embarrassing”: America's cybersecurity has been described as "broken" by one industry expert and as "childlike" by another. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
Sen. Arlen Specter's surprise defection from the Republican Party to join the Democrats was the lead story in all the papers. Assuming that Al Franken is eventually seated as senator from Minnesota, that gives the Democrats a 60-person, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, which will ease passage of key Obama administration priorities like health care reform and capping carbon emissions. Political considerations motivated Specter's switch; he said internal polling showed that his chances of surviving a Republican primary challenge in 2010 were "bleak."
The Washington Post runs a Dan Balz analysis inside about what the move might mean for the Republican Party: "The question now is whether Specter's departure will produce a period of genuine introspection by a party already in disarray or result in a circling of the wagons by those who think the GOP is better off without those whose views fall outside its conservative ideological boundaries," he writes. "Specter's shocking departure may provide a wake-up call to Republicans that a broad reassessment is urgently needed."
The New York Times has an op-ed by Olympia Snowe, a moderate Maine Republican senator who might have seemed a more likely candidate for defection, called "We Didn't Have to Lose Arlen Specter."
"It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of 'Survivor' — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you're no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party," she wrote.
Mainstream Republicans, however, tried to put a brave, or defiant, face on the news. Most of the papers quote Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, saying Specter left "to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record." And USA Today notes that the Republican congressional campaign committee e-mailed a fundraising appeal citing Specter with the subject line "Good riddance."
This is not the first time Specter has changed parties; early in his political career he switched from the Democrats to the Republicans. USA Today digs up a nice tidbit from Specter's biography in which he called that move "almost like changing my religion." (The book, Passion for Truth, has a subtitle he may now regret: From Finding JFK's Single Bullet to Questioning Anita Hill to Impeaching Clinton. It's out of print but available for $0.01 from several sellers on Amazon.)
The move appeared to be effective immediately: The New York Times noticed that he sat on the Democratic side of the dais at a committee hearing shortly after his announcement.
Both the NYT and Post run front-page photos of 5-year-old Edgar Hernandez, whom the Mexican government has identified as the first person in Mexico to come down with the variant of swine flu that is threatening to become a global epidemic. It's not clear why the boy came down with the flu, but his home town is host to large pig farms. The Wall Street Journal reports that new cases of the flu were found on four continents yesterday, and the number of cases confirmed in the United States rose to 66, including five people who were hospitalized. The Los Angeles Times takes a more cautious tack and notes that the number of new cases in Mexico appears to be leveling off, and World Health Organization officials said that even if a pandemic occurs, it's likely to be mild.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials warned other countries to not ban U.S. pork as a result of the swine flu, the Post reported, and even tried a little rebranding. "This really isn't swine flu. It's H1N1 virus," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The U.S. "surge" in Afghanistan is going to target poppy-growing areas, the NYT says, and that will likely provoke bloody battles with the Taliban. Poppy growing is the main source of income for the insurgency, and U.S. commanders believe the Taliban is likely to fight hard to defend it. And their credibility is on the line, as well: Poppy farmers pay protection money to the Taliban and will expect the Taliban to hold up its end of the bargain when the U.S. disrupts the cultivation. What effect will this have on Afghan hearts and minds? The piece ends with a pessimistic kicker, an anecdote of some American soldiers on patrol stopping to talk to an Afghan farmer. "I'm very happy to see you," the farmer told the Americans. "Really?" one of the soldiers asked. "Yes," the farmer said. The interpreter sighed and spoke in English. "He's a liar."
But Afghanistan is receding in importance now: The recent advances by the Taliban in Pakistan are forcing the United States to recalibrate its new AfPak strategy to focus more heavily on Pakistan, reports the Post. Among the initiatives being considered is a plan for U.S. troops to train Pakistani soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques.
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Pakistan army 'retakes key town'
Pakistan ground forces linked up with air forces in Dagar
The Pakistan army says it has taken control of a key town in Buner district in the north-west, a day after starting an offensive against the Taleban.
Soldiers were dropped from helicopters into the town of Dagar and were linking up with ground forces.
The area is less than 100km (60 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.
The government is concerned the Taleban are trying to extend their control beyond the Swat Valley, an area which they largely control already.
"The airborne forces have linked up to police and Frontier Constabulary in Dagar," the military spokesman said.
See a map of the region
The army said 50 militants and one soldier were killed.
Two ammunition dumps were destroyed by security forces and 70 members of the security forces were abducted by militants, with 18 later released, the army said.
The army launched its assault in the valley, only a few hours drive from Islamabad, on Tuesday afternoon as jets bombed militant positions.
The Pakistan army said 50 militants were killed in the Dagar operation
The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says that the army's assault in the valley means there is a real fear now that the violence will spread.
But our correspondent says that so far the government's peace deal with radical clerics in the Swat Valley seems to be holding.
Dagar resident Saleem Dil Khan said when the army arrived "a lot of firing took place early in the morning, a curfew is imposed in the area and they are not allowing us to come out of our houses.
"We are very much worried."
The Pakistan government says there are as many as 500 armed Taleban fighters in Buner in violation of a peace agreement.
The peace deal between the two sides this year allowed Sharia law to be adopted in large parts of Malakand division - which includes Buner, the Swat Valley and Lower Dir - in return for the Taleban laying down arms.
Fighting in Lower Dir, another mountainous region in the north-west, had ended, said chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas, according to the AFP news agency.
Exodus slows
However the BBC's M Ilyas Khan - who is in Lower Dir - says that house-to-house searches in the town of Maidan are continuing.
Our correspondent says that the large exodus of people fleeing Lower Dir towards the town of Mardan - further south - to escape the fighting has now reduced to a trickle.
Most roads in Lower Dir are still closed to traffic, but the authorities are allowing pedestrians to use them.
The army said about 75 militants and 10 security personnel died in the operation. There is no independent confirmation of the figures.
Tens of thousands of people had fled the area and many houses were damaged.
The increase in army activity follows criticism from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Pakistan was abdicating to the Taleban.
Last week she said the Taleban posed a "mortal threat" to the world security.
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Tight security at Afghan ceremony
By Martin Vennard
BBC News
Remains of the Soviet occupation can be seen all over the country
Police have been deployed in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as a ceremony is held to mark the 17th anniversary of the overthrow of the Communist government.
On the same day last year militants tried to assassinate President Hamid Karzai, who has decided to scale down this year's commemorative events.
The day when Kabul finally fell to the mujahideen is usually marked in the Afghan capital by a military parade.
But the government says its budget can be better spent elsewhere.
Ascent of Taleban
It said it would donate the money it would have spent to victims of recent floods and an earthquake in Afghanistan.
Security was tight even though the celebrations were low-key
But that was not the only reason for calling off the parade.
At last year's event militants killed three people as they tried to assassinate President Karzai.
And the security forces have been deployed at prominent locations throughout the capital this year.
On Monday, 12 militants and a police officer were killed in clashes just to the south of Kabul.
While the decision to call off the parade has been welcomed by some, it has not been popular with everyone.
Some former members of the mujahideen say the authorities are not treating the anniversary with sufficient respect.
As part of the low-key celebrations, Mr Karzai hosted a meal for dignitaries at the presidential palace.
While events 17 years ago marked the end of the Communist government, which had been backed by Soviet troops, they also led to the Taleban's ascent to power.
The mujahideen agreed to form a government, but the factional fighting that followed allowed the Taleban to gain control in 1996.
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Ex-Marine speaks out against Iraq war
Corvallis man who served two tours in Iraq plans three Rogue Valley presentations
April 29, 2009
By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
For Benjamin "Benji" Lewis, the turning point began when a crying Iraqi woman approached his dug-in position during the first siege of Fallujah in April 2004.
Lewis, 23, was serving as the mortar man and the acting linguist for his Marine Corps unit.
"It was a pretty intense time — for the first five days we had little or no sleep," recalled the Corvallis resident. "This woman was approaching our position. People started shooting at her."
Lewis quickly began yelling for a cease-fire.
"It was evident she wasn't a threat — I ran out of my foxhole to see what was going on," he said. "Her face was encrusted with salt crystals from crying. She let me know that the night before, her house had collapsed from the mortars, that she had lost two children."
He and others in his group asked their commander to have her taken to a Red Cross site. Their request was denied.
"So we gave her a bottle of water and sent her back," he said. "I was the one responsible for putting mortar rounds on her house ... this was the first sign to me that maybe we weren't in Iraq on a humanitarian mission."
Lewis is speaking out against the war in three presentations in the Rogue Valley this week, beginning Friday evening in Ashland. Cpl. Lewis completed his four-year hitch, including two combat tours to Iraq, in the Corps in 2007, receiving an honorable discharge.
"I was a good Marine — I never got into trouble," he said.
It wasn't until he was notified last October that he was being considered for involuntary activation in the individual ready reserves and a third Iraq deployment that he began speaking out. Under most enlistment contracts, the IRR program provides that a Marine can be called up for four years following discharge.
"By this time, I made up my mind not to participate," Lewis said, noting he is opposed to the war both on legal and moral grounds and challenges the legality of the IRR program.
The Marine Corps notified him on April 16 that his IRR orders had been canceled.
But the college student is continuing to speak out and counsel other Iraq War veterans.
"The general feeling among many is that they are struggling with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)," he said. "Some I've talked to want to be recalled so they can go back to Iraq and die there for atonement."
Born on a U.S. Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, where his father was a career officer, Lewis joined the Corps in 2003. After being trained to fire mortars, he was selected for Arabic language training.
From Fallujah, his unit was sent to Haditha, where the Marines established their headquarters in a police station for several months.
"When we came back on leave, we found out the insurgents had executed all the police in a soccer stadium," he said, adding the police were killed apparently because of their association with the Americans.
"We felt awful."
Lewis, who later served a year as an urban combat instructor in the Corps' Twentynine Palms base in Southern California, returned to Fallujah during his second tour. Much of his time was spent manning checkpoints.
"There was an Iraqi gentleman who wanted to get into the city but I told him we were closing the checkpoint for the night," Lewis said. "I told him he would have to come back in the morning.
"The guy said, 'I've got this great idea. Why don't you go home, then I'll be able to go home.' "
Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.
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US cybersecurity 'embarrassing'
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
Experts say the cyber threat is increasing at an accelerating rate
America's cybersecurity has been described as "broken" by one industry expert and as "childlike" by another.
The criticism comes as President Obama prepares to release the results of a review he ordered.
Tim Mather, chief security strategist for RSA, told BBC News "the approach we have relied on for years has effectively run out of steam."
Meanwhile Alan Paller from the SANS Institute said the government's cyber defences were "embarrassing."
The government review, which will outline a way forward, is expected to be opened up for public comment at the end of this month.
At the same time, President Obama is also expected to announce the appointment of a cybersecurity tsar as part of the administration's commitment to make the issue a priority.
For many attending last week's RSA conference in San Francisco, the biggest security event of its kind, such focus is welcome.
"I think we are seeing a real breaking point in security with consumers, business and even government saying enough, no more. Let's rethink how we do this because the system is broken," said Mr Mather.
"Laws of procurement"
Over the last couple of weeks, the heat has been turned up on the issue of cybersecurity following some high profile breaches.
One involved the country's power grid which was said to have been infiltrated by nation states. The government subsequently admitted that it was "vulnerable to attack."
The review will provide a roadmap for tackling cybersecurity
Meanwhile reports during the RSA conference surfaced that spies had hacked into the Joint Strike Fighter Project.
The topic is very much on the radar of politicians who have introduced a number of bills to address security in the virtual world.
One includes a provision to allow the President to disconnect government and private entities from the internet for national security reasons in a cyber emergency.
The latest bill introduced this week by Senator Tom Carper has called for the creation of a chief information officer to monitor, detect and respond to threats.
Mr Paller, who is the director of research for security firm SANS, believes the government's multi-billion dollar budget is the most effective weapon it has to force change.
"The idea of cybersecurity leadership isn't if it's the White House or DHS (Dept of Homeland Security). It's whether you use the $70 billion you spend per year to make the nation safer."
He said the best way to ensure that was to require industry to provide more secure technology for federal acquisitions.
"If you want to change things, use the laws of procurement," suggested Mr Paller.
"Hot seat"
There is a growing view that the industry is also at a crossroads and has a responsibility to alter the way it operates.
There are 32,000 suspected cyber attacks every 24 hours
"I think we are more aware of security than ever before," said Benjamin Jun, vice president of technology at Cryptography Research.
"We are looking at risk in a new way and the good security practitioners are in the hot seat. It's time for them to do their job."
It is also time for them to come up with new technologies that can keep pace with and move ahead of the threats that affect the whole of cyber space said Asheem Chandna of venture firm Greylock Partners.
"For the evolution of the internet, I think we need the next wave of innovation. The industry clearly needs to step up and deliver the next set of technologies to protect people and stay ahead of the bad guys."
He also believes the smaller innovative companies in Silicon Valley could help the government be more productive if they were not effectively locked out of the process by the big established firms.
"We want smaller companies that are innovating in Silicon Valley to be given a better chance to help government agencies meet their mandate but the bureaucracy to do this hinders these companies.
"Instead they go to commercial customers because they see the value, they move fast, they see the return on investment and the competitive advantage it can give them. The federal government is more of a laggard in this area," said Mr Chandna.
"Silver lining"
There is undoubtedly a consensus that the security of the internet needs to be improved and that attacks are taking their toll on everything from banks to credit card companies and from critical infrastructure to defence.
The President has likened threats to the internet to that of a nuclear attack
"There is a silver lining to this dark cloud," said Mark Cohn the vice president of enterprise security at security firm Unisys.
"Public awareness, and that among the community and interested parties, has grown tremendously over the last year or two.
"Cyber security affects us all from national security to the mundane level of identity theft and fraud. But that means society as a whole is more receptive to many of the things we need to do that would in the past have been seen as politically motivated."
For security firm VeriSign, a shift in how people practice security is what is needed
"Security is a state of mind," said the company's chief technology officer Ken Silva.
"Up until now we have relied on the inefficient system of user names and passwords for security. Those have been obsolete for some time now and that is why our research is focused on making authentication stronger and user friendly."
To that end, VeriSign has introduced a security application that produces an ever changing password credential for secure transactions on the iPhone or Blackberry. To date the free app has been downloaded over 20,000 times.
"It's one thing to say security is broken, but the consumer doesn't care until it affects them," said Mr Silva.
"But if we as an industry want them to use stronger security measures we have to make it easy and more user friendly."
Indeed Mr Cohn believes everybody has to play his or her part as the online world becomes increasingly integral to our lives.
"It may seem like we are under attack and the world is more dangerous but in some ways the threat environment is shifting.
"Now the greater concern for people is protecting their information, their identity, their financial security as we move to put more information online like our health records and our social security records.
"We are at a crossroads and this should be viewed as a healthy thing," said Mr Cohn.
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
23 April MARFORCOM Media Summary
Early Bird summary
Thursday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting that Taliban militants have established effective control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from the capital, Islamabad, officials and residents said Wednesday.The fall of the district, Buner, did not mean that the Taliban could imminently threaten Islamabad. But it was another indication of the gathering strength of the insurgency and it raised new alarm about the ability of the government to fend off an unrelenting Taliban advance toward the heart of Pakistan.
Top US officials are increasingly concerned about Pakistan's ability to confront the Taliban, who appear emboldened by the government's decision to cede a large part of its territory to the armed Islamic militants, the Boston Globe reports.Weeks after a cease-fire in the northwest Swat Valley gave the Taliban free rein to impose Sharia religious law, Pakistani officials reported yesterday that the Taliban were extending their presence to an adjacent district known as Buner, just 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad. US officials fear the tribal border areas with Afghanistan could be a base for Al Qaeda to plot further attacks against the United States.The Swat Valley cease-fire is jeopardizing the central government's ability to stop infiltration into other parts of the country and is allowing the Taliban to operate with virtual impunity in the Afghan border area, where their followers are stepping up attacks against American and Afghan troops, warned Army General David Petraeus.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the Pakistani government "is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Congress yesterday in an unusually blunt statement that reflects the unease within the Obama administration about an agreement authorized by President Asif Ali Zardari last week.The agreement would permit sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley -- just 100 miles west of the capital, Islamabad -- and was reached after the Pakistani military failed to rout Taliban fighters there.Clinton, appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tempered her remarks by saying that the Pakistani government needs to improve its delivery of justice and services -- precisely what leaders there aim to do with billions of dollars in new U.S. assistance."Look at why this is happening," Clinton said, referring to the Swat Valley agreement. "If you talk to people in Pakistan, especially in the ungoverned territories, which are increasing in number, they don't believe the state has a judiciary system that works. It's corrupt. It doesn't extend its power into the countryside."
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff began a review Wednesday of a new community-based defense program recently deployed to combat rising violence in a province on the doorstep of Kabul, according to the Washington Post.Adm. Mike Mullen visited Wardak province, where U.S. troops deployed in large numbers for the first time this year. The program he's assessing draws volunteers from Afghan communities to defend their villages against militants.Critics say the force is a state-sponsored militia that is likely to worsen the security situation and raise ethnic tensions and tribal rivalries. But its supporters say the program creates a community-based security apparatus."The early reviews are positive," Mullen told The Associated Press. "We are in the beginning stages, and this is a pilot, and we chose Wardak because it is such a critical province, and that's why I came today to see how things are going on the ground."
NBC’s “Today Show” conducted an interview with Adm. Mike Mullen on Wednesday. For a transcript of that interview, follow this link.
Both the New York Times and Washington Post report that the Obama administration is finding that it must turn to military personnel to fill hundreds of posts in Afghanistan that had been intended for civilian experts, senior officials said Wednesday.In announcing a new strategy last month, President Obama promised “a dramatic increase in our civilian effort” in Afghanistan, including “agricultural specialists and educators, engineers and lawyers” to augment the additional troops he is sending.But senior Pentagon and administration officials now acknowledge that many of those new positions will be filled by military personnel — in particular by reservists, whose civilian jobs give them the required expertise — and by contractors.
The Wall Street Journal says that the shape of the Afghan conflict is shifting, as U.S. reinforcements have brought hints of progress along the porous eastern border with Pakistan, while security conditions in southern Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, according to U.S. officials.
Senior American commanders say they believe the war may be won or lost in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold and one of the world's largest opium-producing regions, where an estimated 80% of Afghanistan's insurgent violence occurs. A shortage of U.S. forces has allowed the Taliban to create safe havens in the south."We're at a stalemate" in the south, said U.S. Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, deputy chief of staff for operations for the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization force in Afghanistan. He didn't provide figures on worsening violence."We just simply do not have enough forces to address the needs of the people down there," he said by video link from Kabul. "The enemy, obviously, is taking advantage of that posture."More than 21,000 new U.S. forces are expected to deploy to Afghanistan in coming months. The addition will push U.S. troop levels there to about 65,000, their highest since the start of the war in 2001. Most of the reinforcements will be sent to southern Afghanistan, where the U.S. and its allies are preparing a major offensive against the Taliban.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates plans to meet with Marines in North Carolina as thousands of them train to deploy to Afghanistan, Marine Corps Times reports.Gates is scheduled to visit Camp Lejeune on Thursday to watch members of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade train at the base’s urban terrain facility. Gates also will present awards for four Marines.The 8,000-member brigade will deploy later this spring as part of the surge of forces to Afghanistan. The unit last deployed to Iraq in 2003.
The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon's top Middle East adviser said yesterday insurgent attacks in Iraq will probably increase as US forces start to leave, but there's no plan now to delay troop departures.Colin Kahl, the deputy assistant defense secretary, said that the military will continue to watch whether increased violence may push back deadlines for US troop withdrawals ordered by President Obama.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a Marine pilot whose stricken jet incinerated two University City homes and killed four people in December has been cleared to fly again, but veteran military aviators warn that it will be tough to recapture the swagger needed to command a machine that zooms at twice the speed of sound.“That's got to be a tough thing, knowing you killed somebody on the ground,” Scott “Yogi” Beare, a former Navy F/A-18 pilot who flew with the Blue Angels aerial team, said yesterday. “Things like that, they definitely shake your confidence.”Two flight review boards scrutinized Lt. Dan Neubauer's case before the Marine Corps' deputy commandant for aviation determined that he's fit to resume flight, said Maj. Eric Dent, a Marine spokesman. It's unclear when Neubauer will get back in the sky.Neubauer will be placed on probation, with superiors closely watching his performance as he repeats parts of his training.“It's not a disciplinary thing,” Dent said. “It's a matter of: Is this pilot capable of carrying out safe flight operations?”
The Obama administration turned up the pressure on Iran to agree to negotiations on its nuclear program Wednesday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton threatening "crippling sanctions" on Tehran if it fails to respond to Western diplomatic overtures, the Washington Times reports.Mrs. Clinton's language was tougher than most of the administration's comments on Iran since it took office, although she insisted that Washington's preference is for Iran to open its program to international inspection and supervision in exchange for political and economic incentives.Preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon is "imperative" for the United States and its allies, and Washington's deeper engagement on such issues gives it "more leverage with other nations" and a "much stronger international footing," Mrs. Clinton said.
The challenge of protecting the government’s computer networks is too big for any one agency to handle alone, a top adviser to President Barack Obama said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. That suggests the administration doesn’t intend to consolidate control of U.S. cybersecurity under a single department like the National Security Agency, as some have feared.The comments by Melissa Hathaway, in her first public appearance since completing a still-secret 60-day study on the nation’s computer security, were light on details but offered some hints on how the administration plans to address the turf wars and confusion surrounding the country’s patchwork cybersecurity policies.
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times leads with a Senate intelligence committee report that was released yesterday and gives the most detailed chronology of events that led to the Central Intelligence Agency's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. (Slate Magazine)
2. Pakistan disorder poses global threat: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country. (BBC)
3. Iraq: Suicide bombs kill scores: Scores of people have been killed in two suicide bombings in Iraq. (BBC)
4. Pakistan bid to stop Taliban push: The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad. (BBC)
5. Marine fraud alleged: Marine Corps veteran charged with running another scam: A Marine Corps veteran convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity for veterans and their families has been charged with running a similar scam this month. (Chicago Tribune)
The Los Angeles Times leads with a Senate intelligence committee report that was released yesterday and gives the most detailed chronology of events that led to the Central Intelligence Agency's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. The techniques were approved by a group of senior Bush administration officials in July 2002 after the issue was discussed in a series of meetings that apparently didn't include the secretaries of State and Defense. The report also states that the Justice Department issued memos in 2006 and 2007 noting the techniques were still lawful despite congressional moves to restrict their use. The Washington Post leads with a look at how the release of the torture memos has once again dragged President Obama into a controversy related to his predecessor. Republicans and CIA officials have criticized the release of the documents, while Democrats are pushing for an investigation, a subject that was a hot topic of debate on Capitol Hill yesterday.
The Wall Street Journal banners word that Bank of America's chief executive was pressured by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to not disclose the increasingly dire conditions at Merrill Lynch before the bank bought the company. In February testimony before New York's attorney general, CEO Kenneth Lewis said he wasn't explicitly told to keep quiet, but he made it clear that he believed it was what the government officials wanted. USA Today leads with word that General Motors will stop production at most of its U.S. plants for nine weeks in mid-May. In what the paper says could very well be "a record voluntary shutdown," GM plans to close up shop in 15 of its 21 North American plants, mostly in the United States. The move would affect suppliers and could reverberate throughout the entire economy. One expert said it could suggest that "bankruptcy is more likely, rather than less likely" for the automaker. The New York Times leads with new Census Bureau figures that report fewer Americans are changing residences. From March 2007 to March 2008, 35 million people moved, the lowest number since 1962. In percentage terms, it was the lowest number since the bureau began to keep track in 1948.
The LAT points out that the clear involvement of the most senior members of the Bush administration in approving the brutal interrogation techniques makes it clear that "any effort to hold architects of the program accountable was likely to extend beyond Justice Department legal advisors and into the highest reaches of the government." The report released yesterday also raised questions about whether administration officials tried to keep information away from some senior officials, particularly Secretary of State Colin Powell. But it's unclear how complete the report is because it also states that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was not involved in the early discussions when other documents from that time suggest he was. According to the report, neither Powell nor Rumsfeld were briefed on the interrogation program until September 2003. "This chronology is misleading and incomplete and does not reflect the [National Security Council] review process or the information presented to the NSC," a former White House official tells the Post.
Many top Democrats have decided to keep quiet about whether there should be a far-reaching investigation into the approval of the harsh interrogation techniques. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was an exception, saying she was in favor of an investigation and emphasized that witnesses shouldn't be immune from prosecution. While the administration seems confident there won't be a congressionally backed investigation, it's still unclear whether a commission similar to the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks could become a reality. Whatever ends up happening, it seems clear that White House officials "have been drawn into a debate they did not foresee," says the Post.
The LAT and NYT go inside with looks at how many legal experts are troubled by the prospect of prosecuting the lawyers who approved the interrogation techniques and think it's unlikely that anyone would be indicted. "Those who want heads to roll are likely to be dissatisfied," a criminal-law professor said. In order to have a case against the lawyers, it would be necessary to show that they deliberately misinterpreted the law. Ultimately, being a bad lawyer who gives bad advice isn't a crime. Considering that some of the lawyers, particularly John Yoo, had been talking about their particular views on presidential power before joining the administration, it would be difficult to prove they actually believed that what they were writing was wrong. The NYT points out "that dynamic" could change. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has apparently obtained e-mail messages from that time, and if it turns out the lawyers first thought the program would be illegal but changed their mind when pressured by policymakers, then prosecutors could theoretically have a case.
Interestingly, the LAT points out the whole issue would be different if another country used the same interrogation tactics on Americans. In that case, there would be a consensus that the foreign official who authorized water-boarding of a U.S. agent should be prosecuted for war crimes. "There would be no controversy, no debate," the Washington director of Human Rights Watch said. "And no one would buy the excuse that one of those dictators was relying on the advice of his legal counsel."
In the NYT's op-ed page, Ali Soufan, a former FBI supervisory special agent, writes that "[o]ne of the most striking parts of the [torture] memos is the false premises on which they are based." The memos justify the use of harsh measures because Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative and then cite the success with that detainee as a reason to continue with the techniques, but that is inaccurate. Soufan interrogated Abu Zubaydah and writes that he "provided us with important actionable intelligence" before the harsh techniques were used. Soufan insists that there was no information that "wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics." The use of these techniques brought a return to the "so-called Chinese wall" between the CIA and FBI that was much criticized after the Sept. 11 attacks. Since the bureau wouldn't go along with the techniques, agents who were the most knowledgeable about the terror suspects couldn't participate in the investigations.
It's hardly a secret that the government pushed Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch late last year to keep the financial crisis from spreading. The bank's CEO, Ken Lewis, had previously disclosed he had considered backing out of the deal when he began to realize how much trouble Merrill was really in. If Lewis had told shareholders about this, they could have decided that preventing Merril's collapse wasn't in their best interest. But Lewis said that "it wasn't up to me" to disclose the information. The testimony "suggests how aggressively federal regulators have been willing to behave in their fight to fix the U.S. financial system," notes the WSJ, pointing out it was the first time that government officials have been blamed for the failure to disclose troubles at Merrill, which ended up reporting a $15.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter.
The NYT, LAT, and USAT front news that Taliban militants in Pakistan have moved into new territory next to the Swat Valley that is 60 miles from Islamabad (the NYT says 70 miles). The NYT goes even further and declares that the militants "have established effective control" over Buner, which is a "strategically important district." The move doesn't mean that Pakistan's capital is under immediate threat, but it does illustrate how the militants are making progress moving beyond the Swat Valley. "They take over Buner, then they roll into Mardan and that's the end of the game," a law enforcement official said. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that in signing a deal with militants, "the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists." Clinton remarked that "the continuing advances" pose an "existential threat" to Pakistan and a "mortal threat" to the world.
The LAT says many Pakistanis "have a romantic view of Sharia," or Islamic law, because they're frustrated by the corrupt government and are worried about their own security. Many of the lower and even some of the middle classes don't necessarily think their country is in chaos. The richest members of the population are the ones who are most worried, but they also have the ability to move abroad if things get truly dire. For its part, USAT sees a growing public backlash against the Paksitani Taliban, even among conservative politicians.
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Pakistan disorder 'global threat'
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country.
Mrs Clinton told a congressional panel the situation in Pakistan posed a "mortal threat" to world security.
She said extremists were being allowed to control territory such as the Swat Valley, in north-western Pakistan.
She also called Pakistan's judicial system corrupt, adding that it has only limited power in the countryside.
Earlier this month, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signed a law implementing Islamic law - or Sharia - in the Swat Valley region as part of a deal to end a two-year Taleban insurgency there.
Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday destinations, the Swat Valley is now mostly under Taleban control.
Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed as a result of a Taleban-led insurgency.
The Swat Valley is only about 100km (62 miles) from Islamabad, and reports suggest the Taleban are trying to expand the area under their control.
'Existential threat'
Giving evidence in Washington to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs Clinton said the situation in Pakistan "poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world".
"I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists," she said.
She called on the Pakistani people to speak out "forcefully" against their government's policy, in what the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington called an unusual move.
The government's policy was conceding "more and more territory to the insurgents , to the Taleban, to al-Qaeda, to the allies that are in this terrorist syndicate", Mrs Clinton said.
US President Barack Obama has put new emphasis on trying to resolve the security problems in Pakistan, our correspondent says, offering billions of dollars in aid but demanding greater co-operation from the government.
Using stark language, Mrs Clinton said the situation in Pakistan needed urgent attention.
"I think that we can not underscore [enough] the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan," she said, describing the rebels as a "loosely-confederated group of terrorists and others seeking to overthrow the Pakistani state".
HAVE YOUR SAY
Pakistan is caught in a whirlpool created by its own mistakes and vested interest of other nations
Iqbal Zaman Khan, Dublin
Send us your comments
The presidents of both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan - where international forces are battling the Taleban - are due to come to Washington for talks next month.
During her hearing Mrs Clinton also answered questions on Cuba and Iran, warning that Tehran faces "very tough sanctions" if it rejects offers of engagement over its nuclear programme.
The US was "laying the groundwork" for such measures if Iran refused dialogue or the process failed, said Mrs Clinton.
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Iraq: Suicide bombs kill scores
Violence is predicted to rise as US troop numbers start to be reduced
Scores of people have been killed in two suicide bombings in Iraq.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed at least 28 people - detonating a belt of explosives as police distributed aid to a crowd of homeless families.
Another suicide bomber attacked a group of Iranian pilgrims in the north-eastern city of Baquba, killing at least 45, reports say.
Violence has fallen sharply in the last year but insurgents continue to carry out attacks across Iraq.
Officials in Baghdad said the suicide bomber there infiltrated the crowd of displaced families as they received supplies from police in a square near the city centre.
The people had been made homeless by the sectarian conflict which erupted following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
At least five children were among the dead and more than 50 people were wounded, police say.
Restaurant targeted
In Baquba at least 45 people, including several Iranian pilgrims, died when a suicide bomber struck a restaurant, a military official said.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Defense's top Middle East adviser said insurgent attacks would probably increase as US forces started to leave, but added that there was no plan to delay troop departures.
US President Barack Obama says the Pentagon will withdraw all but 35,000 to 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010.
A joint security agreement requires all US troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
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Pakistan bid to stop Taleban push
The Taleban's insurgency is spreading beyond the Swat Valley
The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.
Officials say the forces will protect government buildings in Buner district, where insurgents have begun patrolling the streets and mounting checkpoints.
As the troops moved into the region, insurgents launched an attack on their convoy, killing at least one soldier.
The militants advanced from the Swat Valley, a region they largely control.
The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says if the government is trying to reassert control over the region, its efforts appear to be too little, too late.
The Taleban are reported to have moved several hundred men into Buner from the Swat Valley.
The government sent six platoons - up to 300 men - to deal with the insurgents.
A police official told the BBC that the troops were attacked as they were leaving the village of Totalai in the south of Buner district.
The convoy was heading for Dagar, the central town of the largely mountainous district.
Springboard
The confrontation comes just weeks after a peace deal was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari allowing the introduction of Islamic law in Swat.
The deal was designed to end a bloody 18-month conflict with the Taleban in Swat by yielding to some of their demands.
But critics say that the militants can now use Swat as a springboard to take over new areas of the country.
The BBC's Ilyas Khan says many people believe Buner could be the next battlefield for the Pakistani security forces after Swat.
Human rights group Amnesty International said there was concern that the Taleban were targeting non-governmental organisations, and residents feared the restrictions imposed.
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director, said: "The people of Buner are now at their mercy, particularly women and girls, whose rights the Taleban systematically deny."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier said the insurgency posed a "mortal threat" to world security.
Speaking to a Congress committee, Mrs Clinton said the Pakistani government was "basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists".
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Marine fraud alleged: Marine Corps veteran is charged with running another scam
Man already is convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity
Tribune staff report
A Marine Corps veteran from Villa Park convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity for veterans and their families has been charged with running a similar scam this month.Donald McCarver, 44, of the 300 block of North Ardmore Avenue has been charged with forgery, allegedly going door to door in Wheaton, claiming he was collecting donations for the Department of Veterans Affairs.Assistant DuPage County State's Atty. Brooks Locke told Judge Peter Ostling in Bond Court on Wednesday that McCarver asked citizens to give donations with a check to "DOVA," and then he would alter the check to be made out to "Donald McCarver."Wheaton police said he did this at least twice this month, and when he was arrested Tuesday he had four such checks on him, made out for amounts of about $20, Locke said.
Ostling set his bail at $75,000.McCarver was honorably discharged, according to a DuPage probation report.
Thursday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting that Taliban militants have established effective control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from the capital, Islamabad, officials and residents said Wednesday.The fall of the district, Buner, did not mean that the Taliban could imminently threaten Islamabad. But it was another indication of the gathering strength of the insurgency and it raised new alarm about the ability of the government to fend off an unrelenting Taliban advance toward the heart of Pakistan.
Top US officials are increasingly concerned about Pakistan's ability to confront the Taliban, who appear emboldened by the government's decision to cede a large part of its territory to the armed Islamic militants, the Boston Globe reports.Weeks after a cease-fire in the northwest Swat Valley gave the Taliban free rein to impose Sharia religious law, Pakistani officials reported yesterday that the Taliban were extending their presence to an adjacent district known as Buner, just 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad. US officials fear the tribal border areas with Afghanistan could be a base for Al Qaeda to plot further attacks against the United States.The Swat Valley cease-fire is jeopardizing the central government's ability to stop infiltration into other parts of the country and is allowing the Taliban to operate with virtual impunity in the Afghan border area, where their followers are stepping up attacks against American and Afghan troops, warned Army General David Petraeus.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the Pakistani government "is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Congress yesterday in an unusually blunt statement that reflects the unease within the Obama administration about an agreement authorized by President Asif Ali Zardari last week.The agreement would permit sharia, or Islamic law, in the Swat Valley -- just 100 miles west of the capital, Islamabad -- and was reached after the Pakistani military failed to rout Taliban fighters there.Clinton, appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tempered her remarks by saying that the Pakistani government needs to improve its delivery of justice and services -- precisely what leaders there aim to do with billions of dollars in new U.S. assistance."Look at why this is happening," Clinton said, referring to the Swat Valley agreement. "If you talk to people in Pakistan, especially in the ungoverned territories, which are increasing in number, they don't believe the state has a judiciary system that works. It's corrupt. It doesn't extend its power into the countryside."
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff began a review Wednesday of a new community-based defense program recently deployed to combat rising violence in a province on the doorstep of Kabul, according to the Washington Post.Adm. Mike Mullen visited Wardak province, where U.S. troops deployed in large numbers for the first time this year. The program he's assessing draws volunteers from Afghan communities to defend their villages against militants.Critics say the force is a state-sponsored militia that is likely to worsen the security situation and raise ethnic tensions and tribal rivalries. But its supporters say the program creates a community-based security apparatus."The early reviews are positive," Mullen told The Associated Press. "We are in the beginning stages, and this is a pilot, and we chose Wardak because it is such a critical province, and that's why I came today to see how things are going on the ground."
NBC’s “Today Show” conducted an interview with Adm. Mike Mullen on Wednesday. For a transcript of that interview, follow this link.
Both the New York Times and Washington Post report that the Obama administration is finding that it must turn to military personnel to fill hundreds of posts in Afghanistan that had been intended for civilian experts, senior officials said Wednesday.In announcing a new strategy last month, President Obama promised “a dramatic increase in our civilian effort” in Afghanistan, including “agricultural specialists and educators, engineers and lawyers” to augment the additional troops he is sending.But senior Pentagon and administration officials now acknowledge that many of those new positions will be filled by military personnel — in particular by reservists, whose civilian jobs give them the required expertise — and by contractors.
The Wall Street Journal says that the shape of the Afghan conflict is shifting, as U.S. reinforcements have brought hints of progress along the porous eastern border with Pakistan, while security conditions in southern Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, according to U.S. officials.
Senior American commanders say they believe the war may be won or lost in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold and one of the world's largest opium-producing regions, where an estimated 80% of Afghanistan's insurgent violence occurs. A shortage of U.S. forces has allowed the Taliban to create safe havens in the south."We're at a stalemate" in the south, said U.S. Maj. Gen. Michael Tucker, deputy chief of staff for operations for the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization force in Afghanistan. He didn't provide figures on worsening violence."We just simply do not have enough forces to address the needs of the people down there," he said by video link from Kabul. "The enemy, obviously, is taking advantage of that posture."More than 21,000 new U.S. forces are expected to deploy to Afghanistan in coming months. The addition will push U.S. troop levels there to about 65,000, their highest since the start of the war in 2001. Most of the reinforcements will be sent to southern Afghanistan, where the U.S. and its allies are preparing a major offensive against the Taliban.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates plans to meet with Marines in North Carolina as thousands of them train to deploy to Afghanistan, Marine Corps Times reports.Gates is scheduled to visit Camp Lejeune on Thursday to watch members of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade train at the base’s urban terrain facility. Gates also will present awards for four Marines.The 8,000-member brigade will deploy later this spring as part of the surge of forces to Afghanistan. The unit last deployed to Iraq in 2003.
The Associated Press reports that the Pentagon's top Middle East adviser said yesterday insurgent attacks in Iraq will probably increase as US forces start to leave, but there's no plan now to delay troop departures.Colin Kahl, the deputy assistant defense secretary, said that the military will continue to watch whether increased violence may push back deadlines for US troop withdrawals ordered by President Obama.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a Marine pilot whose stricken jet incinerated two University City homes and killed four people in December has been cleared to fly again, but veteran military aviators warn that it will be tough to recapture the swagger needed to command a machine that zooms at twice the speed of sound.“That's got to be a tough thing, knowing you killed somebody on the ground,” Scott “Yogi” Beare, a former Navy F/A-18 pilot who flew with the Blue Angels aerial team, said yesterday. “Things like that, they definitely shake your confidence.”Two flight review boards scrutinized Lt. Dan Neubauer's case before the Marine Corps' deputy commandant for aviation determined that he's fit to resume flight, said Maj. Eric Dent, a Marine spokesman. It's unclear when Neubauer will get back in the sky.Neubauer will be placed on probation, with superiors closely watching his performance as he repeats parts of his training.“It's not a disciplinary thing,” Dent said. “It's a matter of: Is this pilot capable of carrying out safe flight operations?”
The Obama administration turned up the pressure on Iran to agree to negotiations on its nuclear program Wednesday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton threatening "crippling sanctions" on Tehran if it fails to respond to Western diplomatic overtures, the Washington Times reports.Mrs. Clinton's language was tougher than most of the administration's comments on Iran since it took office, although she insisted that Washington's preference is for Iran to open its program to international inspection and supervision in exchange for political and economic incentives.Preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon is "imperative" for the United States and its allies, and Washington's deeper engagement on such issues gives it "more leverage with other nations" and a "much stronger international footing," Mrs. Clinton said.
The challenge of protecting the government’s computer networks is too big for any one agency to handle alone, a top adviser to President Barack Obama said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. That suggests the administration doesn’t intend to consolidate control of U.S. cybersecurity under a single department like the National Security Agency, as some have feared.The comments by Melissa Hathaway, in her first public appearance since completing a still-secret 60-day study on the nation’s computer security, were light on details but offered some hints on how the administration plans to address the turf wars and confusion surrounding the country’s patchwork cybersecurity policies.
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times leads with a Senate intelligence committee report that was released yesterday and gives the most detailed chronology of events that led to the Central Intelligence Agency's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. (Slate Magazine)
2. Pakistan disorder poses global threat: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country. (BBC)
3. Iraq: Suicide bombs kill scores: Scores of people have been killed in two suicide bombings in Iraq. (BBC)
4. Pakistan bid to stop Taliban push: The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad. (BBC)
5. Marine fraud alleged: Marine Corps veteran charged with running another scam: A Marine Corps veteran convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity for veterans and their families has been charged with running a similar scam this month. (Chicago Tribune)
The Los Angeles Times leads with a Senate intelligence committee report that was released yesterday and gives the most detailed chronology of events that led to the Central Intelligence Agency's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. The techniques were approved by a group of senior Bush administration officials in July 2002 after the issue was discussed in a series of meetings that apparently didn't include the secretaries of State and Defense. The report also states that the Justice Department issued memos in 2006 and 2007 noting the techniques were still lawful despite congressional moves to restrict their use. The Washington Post leads with a look at how the release of the torture memos has once again dragged President Obama into a controversy related to his predecessor. Republicans and CIA officials have criticized the release of the documents, while Democrats are pushing for an investigation, a subject that was a hot topic of debate on Capitol Hill yesterday.
The Wall Street Journal banners word that Bank of America's chief executive was pressured by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to not disclose the increasingly dire conditions at Merrill Lynch before the bank bought the company. In February testimony before New York's attorney general, CEO Kenneth Lewis said he wasn't explicitly told to keep quiet, but he made it clear that he believed it was what the government officials wanted. USA Today leads with word that General Motors will stop production at most of its U.S. plants for nine weeks in mid-May. In what the paper says could very well be "a record voluntary shutdown," GM plans to close up shop in 15 of its 21 North American plants, mostly in the United States. The move would affect suppliers and could reverberate throughout the entire economy. One expert said it could suggest that "bankruptcy is more likely, rather than less likely" for the automaker. The New York Times leads with new Census Bureau figures that report fewer Americans are changing residences. From March 2007 to March 2008, 35 million people moved, the lowest number since 1962. In percentage terms, it was the lowest number since the bureau began to keep track in 1948.
The LAT points out that the clear involvement of the most senior members of the Bush administration in approving the brutal interrogation techniques makes it clear that "any effort to hold architects of the program accountable was likely to extend beyond Justice Department legal advisors and into the highest reaches of the government." The report released yesterday also raised questions about whether administration officials tried to keep information away from some senior officials, particularly Secretary of State Colin Powell. But it's unclear how complete the report is because it also states that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was not involved in the early discussions when other documents from that time suggest he was. According to the report, neither Powell nor Rumsfeld were briefed on the interrogation program until September 2003. "This chronology is misleading and incomplete and does not reflect the [National Security Council] review process or the information presented to the NSC," a former White House official tells the Post.
Many top Democrats have decided to keep quiet about whether there should be a far-reaching investigation into the approval of the harsh interrogation techniques. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was an exception, saying she was in favor of an investigation and emphasized that witnesses shouldn't be immune from prosecution. While the administration seems confident there won't be a congressionally backed investigation, it's still unclear whether a commission similar to the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks could become a reality. Whatever ends up happening, it seems clear that White House officials "have been drawn into a debate they did not foresee," says the Post.
The LAT and NYT go inside with looks at how many legal experts are troubled by the prospect of prosecuting the lawyers who approved the interrogation techniques and think it's unlikely that anyone would be indicted. "Those who want heads to roll are likely to be dissatisfied," a criminal-law professor said. In order to have a case against the lawyers, it would be necessary to show that they deliberately misinterpreted the law. Ultimately, being a bad lawyer who gives bad advice isn't a crime. Considering that some of the lawyers, particularly John Yoo, had been talking about their particular views on presidential power before joining the administration, it would be difficult to prove they actually believed that what they were writing was wrong. The NYT points out "that dynamic" could change. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has apparently obtained e-mail messages from that time, and if it turns out the lawyers first thought the program would be illegal but changed their mind when pressured by policymakers, then prosecutors could theoretically have a case.
Interestingly, the LAT points out the whole issue would be different if another country used the same interrogation tactics on Americans. In that case, there would be a consensus that the foreign official who authorized water-boarding of a U.S. agent should be prosecuted for war crimes. "There would be no controversy, no debate," the Washington director of Human Rights Watch said. "And no one would buy the excuse that one of those dictators was relying on the advice of his legal counsel."
In the NYT's op-ed page, Ali Soufan, a former FBI supervisory special agent, writes that "[o]ne of the most striking parts of the [torture] memos is the false premises on which they are based." The memos justify the use of harsh measures because Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative and then cite the success with that detainee as a reason to continue with the techniques, but that is inaccurate. Soufan interrogated Abu Zubaydah and writes that he "provided us with important actionable intelligence" before the harsh techniques were used. Soufan insists that there was no information that "wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics." The use of these techniques brought a return to the "so-called Chinese wall" between the CIA and FBI that was much criticized after the Sept. 11 attacks. Since the bureau wouldn't go along with the techniques, agents who were the most knowledgeable about the terror suspects couldn't participate in the investigations.
It's hardly a secret that the government pushed Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch late last year to keep the financial crisis from spreading. The bank's CEO, Ken Lewis, had previously disclosed he had considered backing out of the deal when he began to realize how much trouble Merrill was really in. If Lewis had told shareholders about this, they could have decided that preventing Merril's collapse wasn't in their best interest. But Lewis said that "it wasn't up to me" to disclose the information. The testimony "suggests how aggressively federal regulators have been willing to behave in their fight to fix the U.S. financial system," notes the WSJ, pointing out it was the first time that government officials have been blamed for the failure to disclose troubles at Merrill, which ended up reporting a $15.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter.
The NYT, LAT, and USAT front news that Taliban militants in Pakistan have moved into new territory next to the Swat Valley that is 60 miles from Islamabad (the NYT says 70 miles). The NYT goes even further and declares that the militants "have established effective control" over Buner, which is a "strategically important district." The move doesn't mean that Pakistan's capital is under immediate threat, but it does illustrate how the militants are making progress moving beyond the Swat Valley. "They take over Buner, then they roll into Mardan and that's the end of the game," a law enforcement official said. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that in signing a deal with militants, "the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists." Clinton remarked that "the continuing advances" pose an "existential threat" to Pakistan and a "mortal threat" to the world.
The LAT says many Pakistanis "have a romantic view of Sharia," or Islamic law, because they're frustrated by the corrupt government and are worried about their own security. Many of the lower and even some of the middle classes don't necessarily think their country is in chaos. The richest members of the population are the ones who are most worried, but they also have the ability to move abroad if things get truly dire. For its part, USAT sees a growing public backlash against the Paksitani Taliban, even among conservative politicians.
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Pakistan disorder 'global threat'
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country.
Mrs Clinton told a congressional panel the situation in Pakistan posed a "mortal threat" to world security.
She said extremists were being allowed to control territory such as the Swat Valley, in north-western Pakistan.
She also called Pakistan's judicial system corrupt, adding that it has only limited power in the countryside.
Earlier this month, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signed a law implementing Islamic law - or Sharia - in the Swat Valley region as part of a deal to end a two-year Taleban insurgency there.
Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday destinations, the Swat Valley is now mostly under Taleban control.
Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed as a result of a Taleban-led insurgency.
The Swat Valley is only about 100km (62 miles) from Islamabad, and reports suggest the Taleban are trying to expand the area under their control.
'Existential threat'
Giving evidence in Washington to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs Clinton said the situation in Pakistan "poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world".
"I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists," she said.
She called on the Pakistani people to speak out "forcefully" against their government's policy, in what the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington called an unusual move.
The government's policy was conceding "more and more territory to the insurgents , to the Taleban, to al-Qaeda, to the allies that are in this terrorist syndicate", Mrs Clinton said.
US President Barack Obama has put new emphasis on trying to resolve the security problems in Pakistan, our correspondent says, offering billions of dollars in aid but demanding greater co-operation from the government.
Using stark language, Mrs Clinton said the situation in Pakistan needed urgent attention.
"I think that we can not underscore [enough] the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan," she said, describing the rebels as a "loosely-confederated group of terrorists and others seeking to overthrow the Pakistani state".
HAVE YOUR SAY
Pakistan is caught in a whirlpool created by its own mistakes and vested interest of other nations
Iqbal Zaman Khan, Dublin
Send us your comments
The presidents of both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan - where international forces are battling the Taleban - are due to come to Washington for talks next month.
During her hearing Mrs Clinton also answered questions on Cuba and Iran, warning that Tehran faces "very tough sanctions" if it rejects offers of engagement over its nuclear programme.
The US was "laying the groundwork" for such measures if Iran refused dialogue or the process failed, said Mrs Clinton.
To top of document
Iraq: Suicide bombs kill scores
Violence is predicted to rise as US troop numbers start to be reduced
Scores of people have been killed in two suicide bombings in Iraq.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed at least 28 people - detonating a belt of explosives as police distributed aid to a crowd of homeless families.
Another suicide bomber attacked a group of Iranian pilgrims in the north-eastern city of Baquba, killing at least 45, reports say.
Violence has fallen sharply in the last year but insurgents continue to carry out attacks across Iraq.
Officials in Baghdad said the suicide bomber there infiltrated the crowd of displaced families as they received supplies from police in a square near the city centre.
The people had been made homeless by the sectarian conflict which erupted following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
At least five children were among the dead and more than 50 people were wounded, police say.
Restaurant targeted
In Baquba at least 45 people, including several Iranian pilgrims, died when a suicide bomber struck a restaurant, a military official said.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Defense's top Middle East adviser said insurgent attacks would probably increase as US forces started to leave, but added that there was no plan to delay troop departures.
US President Barack Obama says the Pentagon will withdraw all but 35,000 to 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010.
A joint security agreement requires all US troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
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Pakistan bid to stop Taleban push
The Taleban's insurgency is spreading beyond the Swat Valley
The Pakistan government has sent troops to tackle Taleban militants who have advanced into a region just 100km (67 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.
Officials say the forces will protect government buildings in Buner district, where insurgents have begun patrolling the streets and mounting checkpoints.
As the troops moved into the region, insurgents launched an attack on their convoy, killing at least one soldier.
The militants advanced from the Swat Valley, a region they largely control.
The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says if the government is trying to reassert control over the region, its efforts appear to be too little, too late.
The Taleban are reported to have moved several hundred men into Buner from the Swat Valley.
The government sent six platoons - up to 300 men - to deal with the insurgents.
A police official told the BBC that the troops were attacked as they were leaving the village of Totalai in the south of Buner district.
The convoy was heading for Dagar, the central town of the largely mountainous district.
Springboard
The confrontation comes just weeks after a peace deal was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari allowing the introduction of Islamic law in Swat.
The deal was designed to end a bloody 18-month conflict with the Taleban in Swat by yielding to some of their demands.
But critics say that the militants can now use Swat as a springboard to take over new areas of the country.
The BBC's Ilyas Khan says many people believe Buner could be the next battlefield for the Pakistani security forces after Swat.
Human rights group Amnesty International said there was concern that the Taleban were targeting non-governmental organisations, and residents feared the restrictions imposed.
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director, said: "The people of Buner are now at their mercy, particularly women and girls, whose rights the Taleban systematically deny."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier said the insurgency posed a "mortal threat" to world security.
Speaking to a Congress committee, Mrs Clinton said the Pakistani government was "basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists".
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Marine fraud alleged: Marine Corps veteran is charged with running another scam
Man already is convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity
Tribune staff report
A Marine Corps veteran from Villa Park convicted of soliciting funds for a non-existent charity for veterans and their families has been charged with running a similar scam this month.Donald McCarver, 44, of the 300 block of North Ardmore Avenue has been charged with forgery, allegedly going door to door in Wheaton, claiming he was collecting donations for the Department of Veterans Affairs.Assistant DuPage County State's Atty. Brooks Locke told Judge Peter Ostling in Bond Court on Wednesday that McCarver asked citizens to give donations with a check to "DOVA," and then he would alter the check to be made out to "Donald McCarver."Wheaton police said he did this at least twice this month, and when he was arrested Tuesday he had four such checks on him, made out for amounts of about $20, Locke said.
Ostling set his bail at $75,000.McCarver was honorably discharged, according to a DuPage probation report.
Monday, April 20, 2009
20 April MARFORCOM Media Summary
U.S. Marines, from multiple units of the 1st Marine Division, take their position to fire during an urban leaders course at the Kilo 2 military operations on urban terrain training area at Camp Pendleton, March 10, 2009.
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Parker Blanche, an explosive ordnance disposal technician attached to 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, takes up an overwatch position in a small village near Bakwa, Farah province, Afghanistan, March 8, 2009. Blanche is providing area protection for Afghan National Police. Marines from the 1st Marine Division train with Division schools to advance their training with combat skills.
Monday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting on the election of a new speaker to Iraq’s Parliament. Ayad al-Sammaraie, a Sunni Arab lawmaker who has until now headed Parliament’s Finance Committee, is expected to break a legislative gridlock, but could also lead to new confrontations with the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.The new speaker has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Maliki, whose party members cast blank ballots rather than vote for Mr. Sammaraie or a challenger. After the vote, however, Mr. Sammaraie pledged to cooperate with Mr. Maliki’s government.“Parliament should be complementary to the executive system, not hold it up,” he said. “I will work with everyone, even the members who didn’t vote for me.”
The London Times reports that 12,350 people still in US detention in Iraq are due to be released without charge or handed over to the Iraqi authorities for prosecution in coming months, under a security agreement between Baghdad and Washington.About 2,850 people have already been set free since February as part of the accord. Before that, US forces had released 85,000 detainees seized since the invasion. Many maintain they did nothing wrong. The US military believes that most were guilty - of something.The freeing of so many Iraqis has fuelled fears that some will join - or return to - the fight against US forces and the Iraqi Government, particularly as the judicial system cannot prosecute many of the suspects based on US intelligence alone. Over the past month there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks; a sign that the instability and violence that plagued the country not so long ago is making a return. The concern is that releasing thousands of men - who, innocent or guilty, have spent time in detention - will fan the flames of resentment just as a semblance of order returns to the country.
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said Sunday there wasn’t enough money in the world to replace the loss of an Afghan civilian, in comments that followed repeated calls by President Hamid Karzai for explanations of civilian deaths, according to a report in the Associated Press.Gen. David McKiernan said international forces do make mistakes — “and for that I apologize” — but that U.S. and NATO forces are working hard to minimize civilian deaths during operations.Karzai on Saturday asked McKiernan to explain allegations of six civilian deaths in two incidents. It was the second time in three days Karzai brought up the topic with him. The U.S. general was summoned to the presidential palace Thursday to explain other allegations of civilian deaths.
CNN aired an interview with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. For a transcript of the interview, click this link.\
A potentially troubling era dawned Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where a top Islamist militant leader, emboldened by a peace agreement with the federal government, laid out an ambitious plan to bring a "complete Islamic system" to the surrounding northwest region and the entire country, according to the Washington Post.Speaking to thousands of followers in an address aired live from Swat on national news channels, cleric Sufi Mohammed bluntly defied the constitution and federal judiciary, saying he would not allow any appeals to state courts under the system of sharia, or Islamic law, that will prevail there as a result of the peace accord signed by the president Tuesday."The Koran says that supporting an infidel system is a great sin," Mohammed said, referring to Pakistan's modern democratic institutions. He declared that in Swat, home to 1.5 million people, all "un-Islamic laws and customs will be abolished," and he suggested that the official imprimatur on the agreement would pave the way for sharia to be installed in other areas.Mohammed's dramatic speech echoed a rousing sermon in Islamabad on Friday by another radical cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who appeared at the Red Mosque in the capital after nearly two years in detention and urged several thousand chanting followers to launch a crusade for sharia nationwide.
The Boston Globe reports that a North Carolina-based US Marine was arrested at Logan Airport yesterday after federal transportation screeners discovered an undeclared semiautomatic weapon, ammunition, and bomb-making materials in his checked baggage, authorities said.Marine Corporal Justin W. Reed was in Boston on a layover from Las Vegas and was bound for Charlotte, officials said. The materials in his bags apparently eluded detection at the Las Vegas airport and were discovered in Boston only because baggage handlers inadvertently routed his arriving luggage to baggage claim rather than onto his connecting flight, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said."They put it on the baggage carousel as if he was staying in Boston," Davis said. "Because it was placed on the carousel, which introduced it into a public area, that required TSA to screen it before it was allowed back on a flight."Davis said the TSA was "actively investigating" why the illicit materials, including fuel and explosives, were not discovered during screening in Las Vegas and loaded onto the cross-country flight.TSA screeners in Terminal B at Logan called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after they said they discovered the following items in Reed's luggage: a locked gun box containing a semiautomatic handgun; a fully loaded gun magazine; several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition; three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture; military fuses; electronics kit boxes with various components; and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.
A 5-pound missile the size of a loaf of French bread is being quietly tested in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles as the military searches for more deadly and far more precise robotic weapons for modern warfare, the Los Angeles Times reports.In the next month or so, researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake expect to test a 2-foot-long Spike missile that is about a "quarter of the size of the next smallest on the planet," said Steve Felix, the missile project's manager.Initially intended for use by ground troops against tanks, these small guided missiles have been reconfigured to launch from unmanned airplanes to destroy small vehicles. In the test, the missile will be fired from a remote-controlled helicopter and aimed at a moving pickup truck.If the test is successful, it will mark another milestone in the development of weapons for unmanned aircraft, a nascent field reminiscent of the early days of flight nearly a century ago when propeller-driven biplanes were jury-rigged with machine guns.
The Wall Street Journal reports that The U.S. is hoping an international donor conference this week in Brussels will raise money to help Somalia combat pirates on land before they attack ships on the high seas.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week that the U.S. was sending an envoy to Wednesday's conference as part of Washington's four-point plan to fight piracy off the African nation's coast. The U.S. views the meeting as a chance to improve the security services of Somalia's transitional government. Funds will also be raised for the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia.The U.S. antipiracy strategy includes meeting with the international Contact Group on Piracy and with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defense measures. The U.S. also will send a diplomatic team to consult with Somali leaders in the capital, Mogadishu, and in Puntland, the northeast region where most of the pirates are based.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times leads with word that CIA interrogators used water-boarding 266 times on two al-Qaida detainees. (Slate Magazine)
2. Suicide bomb hits Pakistani police: A suicide bomber driving a pick-up truck has killed 27 people in an attack at a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police say. (BBC)
3. Walk-out at Iran leader’s speech: Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a “racist government.” (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times leads with word that CIA interrogators used water-boarding 266 times on two al-Qaida detainees. The CIA used the simulated drowning technique, which senior Obama officials have described as torture, 83 times on Abu Zubaydah in 2002 and 183 times on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003. USA Today leads with a look at how the federal government has so far committed only $60 billion for projects from the $787 billion stimulus package. Of the $499 billion allotted to new spending, the bulk of the money has so far gone out as financial aid to states and to help carry out highway repairs, among other public works. Some are raising concerns that the money isn't being spent quickly enough to help the ailing economy.
The Washington Post leads with a look at how the Taliban takeover of Pakistan's Swat Valley has emboldened Islamist militant leaders to publicly urge the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law, in the whole country. While government officials hoped that they could slow the spread of extremism in Pakistan by appeasing the Taliban, it seems militants are more motivated than ever to take their fight to the rest of the country. "The government made a big mistake to give these guys legal cover for their agenda. Now they are going to be battle-ready to struggle for the soul of Pakistan," one expert tells the paper. The Wall Street Journal leads with the positive responses that President Obama elicited from Latin American leaders during the fifth Summit of the Americas. Cuba's Raúl Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez both made it clear they were willing to work with the new president to improve relations, but it's unclear whether the "overtures … would augur improved relations with the U.S. or just a smooth patch in a long and often unfriendly road," notes the paper. The Los Angeles Times leads locally with a look at how California lawmakers will be asking voters to take away $2 billion from popular state programs designed to help young children and the mentally ill. The programs were approved by voters, but now lawmakers want to use that money to help balance the budget.
The number of times water-boarding was used on two key al-Qaida prisoners wasn't mentioned in the initial coverage of the CIA memos released last week because it seems the information had been redacted in some copies. But the numbers were visible in others and started trickling out this weekend after several bloggers pointed them out. It's unclear whether the information was supposed to be redacted. When asked whether it was true that Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, had been water-boarded 183 times, Michael Hayden, who led the CIA for the last two years of the Bush administration, told Fox News he believed that information was still classified. Regardless, the numbers indicate that the controversial interrogation technique was used far more often than previously believed and raise questions about its effectiveness in eliciting information from detainees. In 2007, a former CIA officer told news organizations that Zubaydah had been water-boarded for a mere 35 seconds before he broke down and spilled everything he knew.
The WP hears news that Obama will gather his Cabinet for the first time today and order officials to come up with $100 million in combined budget cuts over the next 90 days. Although the cuts would amount to a tiny proportion of federal spending, they are meant to show that Obama is serious about reducing costs and reforming government.
The NYT off-leads with word that the Obama administration is considering converting the government's preferred shares in the nation's largest banks into common stock. This would allow the White House to stretch the $700 billion bailout funds without having to go to Congress to ask for more money. Changing the loans to common stock could provide banks with more than $100 billion in additional capital. While it wouldn't involve more taxpayer money, the move is likely to be controversial because some are likely to consider it "a back door to nationalization," as the NYT puts it, since the government could end up being the largest shareholder at several institutions. It would also involve a higher risk for taxpayers as the government's investment would be more vulnerable to the ups and downs of the stock market. This tactic was already used with Citigroup, and now the White House "seems convinced that this maneuver can be used to make up for any shortfall in capital that the big banks confront in the near term," notes the paper.
The WSJ takes a look at Treasury Department data and points out that biggest recipients of federal money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program made or refinanced 23 percent less in new loans in February than in October, when the program got started. All but three of the 19 largest recipients of TARP funds made fewer loans in February than October. The WSJ's way of slicing the data "paints a starker picture of the lending environment" than the government's monthly reports. Many say the Treasury analyzes the data in such a way that ultimately understates the drop in lending.
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Suicide bomb hits Pakistan police
Most of the dead were members of the Pakistani security forces
A suicide bomber driving a pick-up truck has killed 27 people in an attack at a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police say.
Most of the dead are reported to be police or soldiers and at least 62 people were injured.
Police say the bomber rammed his pick-up into a convoy at the checkpoint near the town of Hangu.
The Pakistani Taleban, which is based in the nearby tribal areas, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The militants, who are allied to al-Qaeda, have carried out numerous such attacks over the past two years.
Senior police official Farid Khan told Reuters the death toll could rise still further because at least seven of the injured were in a critical condition.
He said a local police chief was among the injured.
Pakistani Pime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has condemned the attack as a "cowardly act of terrorism" and promised to use an "iron hand" against militants.
'Retaliation'
The attack happened at 1610 local time (1010 GMT) at Doaba.
"The bomber was driving a pick-up truck which he rammed into a convoy passing by a security checkpost," said Mr Khan.
A spokesman for Pakistani Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud told news agencies by telephone that militants would continue its attacks on security forces.
"It was retaliation for the US drone strikes and security forces will have to see more attacks because our people have suffered many losses in the missile attacks," he said.
Militants based in Pakistan's north-west have launched attacks with increasing frequency in recent months.
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Walk-out at Iran leader's speech
Two protesters in brightly coloured wigs interrupted Mr Ahmadinejad's speech
Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a "racist government".
Two protesters, wearing coloured wigs, briefly disrupted the beginning of the speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but he continued speaking.
Shortly afterwards a stream of Western delegates walked out when he attacked the creation of the state of Israel.
Some of those who stayed clapped as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his speech.
The walk-out is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is good at - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
UN dismay
The walk-out happened within minutes of the speech starting on Monday.
Moments earlier security guards escorted two protesters from the conference hall after one threw an object at the Iranian president and they yelled "racist, racist" as he stood at the podium.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued his speech and was applauded by many
Mr Ahmadinejad, the only major leader to attend the conference, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East "in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine".
The US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand had all boycotted the conference being held in Geneva, in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance, and Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had warned that French delegates would walk out if the forum is used as a platform to attack Israel.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed dismay at the boycotts.
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Friday, April 17, 2009
17 April MARFORCOM Media Summary
Early Bird summary
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took his campaign for the Pentagon’s budget to one of the nation’s premier military institutions on Thursday as he pressed his argument for shifting billions of dollars from future Army weapons programs to the more immediate needs of the country’s two wars, the New York Times reports in today’s lead story in the Early Bird.“For too long, there was a belief, or a hope, that Iraq and Afghanistan were exotic distractions that would be wrapped up relatively soon,” Mr. Gates told a sometimes skeptical audience of officers and civilians at the Army War College in south-central Pennsylvania.As a result, Mr. Gates said, weapons and equipment most urgently needed for Iraq and Afghanistan were “fielded ad hoc and on the fly” and with temporary financing by Congress “that would go away when the wars did, if not sooner.”Mr. Gates, a former director of central intelligence, was on the fourth day of a weeklong political swing to sell the Pentagon’s half-trillion-dollar 2010 budget, an exercise that has left his adversaries — many in the military contracting industry and Congress — taken aback by what they say is both his deftness and his aggressiveness.
Meantime, the Los Angeles Times reports that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that the Obama administration would move cautiously in shifting policies on gays serving openly in the military, but he signaled that service members should prepare for possible changes.In his most extensive remarks to date about the ongoing ban on gays who serve openly, Gates said he and other military leaders had "begun a dialogue" with President Obama about the issue.Obama promised during last year's presidential campaign to end the ban on gays in the military, and the White House said recently that it was reviewing the issue. Gates said Obama had been clear with the military about his position."We will do what the president asks us to do," Gates said at the Army War College. "There is a law; we will uphold the law. If the law changes, so will our policies."
Welcome to Iraq. Now go to Afghanistan.That was the message delivered to the Army's 4th Engineer Battalion just two weeks after arriving in Baghdad for what was supposed to be a year-long tour, USA Today reportsDespite the stress caused by the unusual change of plans last month, many of the unit's approximately 500 soldiers said they realized their specialty — clearing roads of bombs and other obstacles — is more needed in the area of southern Afghanistan, where they'll likely begin patrols in a few weeks."If we were in the frying pan, we're now heading directly into the fire," Capt. Heath Papkov, one of the unit's company commanders, said this week as the soldiers packed their gear to leave.Moving a unit directly from one theater of war to another on such short notice is very rare, said Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, the battalion's commander. Usually when troops are shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, the change occurs between regular rotations abroad, after they spend several months at their home base.
The Arizona Republic reports that a growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there's little hope of preventing nuclear-armed Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists, posing a greater threat to the U.S. than Afghanistan's terrorist haven did before Sept. 11."It's a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution," said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.Pakistan's fragmentation into warlord-run fiefdoms that host al-Qaida and other terrorist groups would have grave implications for the security of its nuclear arsenal; for the U.S.-led effort to pacify Afghanistan; and for the security of India, the nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia, the U.S. and its allies."Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American army, and the headquarters of al-Qaida sitting in two-thirds of the country which the government does not control," said David Kilcullen, a retired Australian army officer, a former State Department adviser and a counterinsurgency consultant to the Obama administration.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices.The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security.Disclosure of the DHS memo this week has sparked controversy among some conservatives and veterans groups. Appearing on television talk shows Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the assessment, but apologized to veterans who saw it as an accusation.
Somalia's prime minister says his government has identified many pirate leaders and would be willing to share that information with other countries, including the United States, to get the resources needed to go after them, the Associated Press reports.Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, speaking yesterday to The Associated Press in an exclusive interview, said the pirates have become so wealthy and powerful that they threaten his government."We have information on who is behind this, who is involved," Sharmarke said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. "There is a lot of money flowing in. . . . We are following very closely how money is distributed here."He was referring to the fact that Somali pirates can earn $1 million or more in ransom per ship.
A new dispute erupted between Russia and Nato on Thursday, the Financial Times of London reports, when Moscow called for Nato military exercises in Georgia next month to be postponed or cancelled.The development came against a backdrop of improving Russian ties with the west, with a separate announcement by Moscow that talks would begin next week on a treaty with the US to reduce strategic nuclear weapons.Still, Moscow sees Nato’s 19-nation exercise as a sign of support for Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, which it fought a war against last August.Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that the exercises would not promote stability in the South Caucasus. Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s Nato envoy, said they could derail the restoration of relations with the alliance after ties were cut in the wake of last year’s conflict.
Meanwhile, Moscow Times reports that Russian and U.S. officials will begin negotiating a new deal next week to cut strategic nuclear weapons, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.The deal aims to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and has been billed as part of an effort by Moscow and Washington to reset relations that hit a post-Cold War low under former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post lead with the Justice Department documents released by the Obama administration that provide the most detailed accounting to date of the harsh interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush administration, as well as the legal reasoning to back them up. (Slate Magazine)
2. U.S. envoy to hold talks with Abbas: US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day after his first meetings with Israel's new government. (BBC)
3. Hezbollah alleges Egypt vendetta: Egypt's claim to have broken up a Hezbollah cell plotting attacks on its territory is a "baseless" revenge bid, Hezbollah's deputy head has said. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post lead with the Justice Department documents released by the Obama administration that provide the most detailed accounting to date of the harsh interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush administration, as well as the legal reasoning to back them up. At the same time, the administration made it clear that CIA officers who followed the guidelines would not be prosecuted. The four memos, one from 2002 and three from 2005, spell out in painstaking detail the techniques that could be used to get information from prisoners.
USA Today leads with a look at how Democrats and Republicans in state legislatures across the country are having the same "classic fight over taxes" as Congress. As states struggle to balance their budgets during a recession, Democrats are pushing for tax increases on the wealthy, while Republicans want to cut taxes for businesses. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with President Obama stating that the ball is now in Cuba's court as the United States will not remove any more of its sanctions against the island until it gets some reciprocal action from the Cuban government. "Having taken the first step I think it's very much in our interests to see whether Cuba is also ready to change," Obama said during his visit to Mexico.
Many of the interrogation tactics described in the Justice Department memos were already well-known, but others either haven't received a lot of attention or were unknown. The two highlights involve insects and "walling." In one memo, lawyers allowed interrogators to exploit a prisoner's fear of insects by putting him in a small box with what they would describe as a stinging insect when, in fact, it would be a harmless one, "such as a caterpillar." The technique was allowed, although never actually used, as long as the prisoner was told the insect "will not have a sting that would produce death or severe pain." In the practice known as "walling," a prisoner could be pushed "quickly and firmly" against a "flexible false wall" so that his shoulder blades hit the wall and produce a loud noise.
Even if most of the techniques had already been known, that doesn't make the memos any less terrifying, particularly when all the techniques are brought together and described in such detail. Prisoners could be deprived of sleep for as many as 11 days, confined to small boxes, doused with water as cold as 41 degrees, kept shackled for days at a time, and slapped in the face and abdomen, among others. All with the ultimate goal of making prisoners feel as if they have "no control over basic human needs." The memos also included extensive discussions about water-boarding and how it should be carried out. But the NYT points out that these directives weren't always followed, and one memo notes that water-boarding was used "with far greater frequency than initially indicated" and with "large volumes of water."
The LAT notes that, as outlined in the documents, "[e]ven the less violent techniques … can have a harrowing aspect," and points out that a prisoner being deprived of sleep would have his feet shackled to the floor, his hands cuffed near his chin. In that position the prisoner would be forced to wear a diaper and fed by hand and wouldn't be able to fall asleep because he would lose his balance.
Reading through the memos, it is evident that the administration's lawyers devoted lots of effort to justifying each and every technique. As the WP notes, the lawyers seemed to "put significant weight on the question of whether the tactics would cause severe, lasting pain."
The memos were released after a long, drawn-out fight within the upper echelons of the Obama administration. The CIA opposed the Justice Department's desire to release the documents. But ultimately, the documents were released practically without redactions, marking a victory for Attorney General Eric Holder. The talks became more urgent in recent weeks as the administration faced a court-imposed deadline in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain the documents. Obama said the documents illustrated "a dark and painful chapter in our history," but the WSJ reports that the president "wrestled with the decision" on Wednesday night and had been considering redacting more of the information. The WSJ says that one of the main factors that pushed Obama to release the documents was that the New York Review of Books had published the Red Cross account of the interrogations, which led him to conclude that most of the information was already known.
Although Obama said that those who followed the advice from Justice would not be prosecuted, a carefully worded statement seems to leave "open the possibility that operatives and higher-level administration officials could face jeopardy if they ventured beyond the boundaries drawn by the Bush lawyers," notes the Post. The NYT also points out that it's not clear whether the lawyers themselves could be penalized in some way.
The WSJ and NYT front word that the head of the Obama administration's auto task force, Steven Rattner, is one of the executives involved in what has been described as a pay-to-play scheme to obtain business from New York state's pension fund. Rattner isn't named in a Securities Exchange Commission complaint, but both papers say he is the "senior executive" at Rattner's investment firm, Quadrangle Group, that is mentioned. The whole issue is a bit confusing because the investigation into the fund has been going on for a while. It basically breaks down into two parts. Through an affiliated company, Quadrangle acquired the DVD rights to a low-budget movie that was produced by New York's deputy comptroller and his brothers, netting the producers almost $90,000. Soon afterward, the deputy comptroller informed Quadrangle that it would get a $100 million investment from the pension fund. And then Quadrangle paid $1.1 million in finder's fees to a company affiliated with one of the comptroller's top political aides. Such payments aren't illegal per se, but why would Quadrangle need to pay an intermediary when Rattner had already met with the deputy comptroller, particularly since it had previously retained a separate intermediary for the deal? Both papers emphasize that Rattner, a former NYT reporter, hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, and the Treasury Department said yesterday that "during the transition, Mr. Rattner made us aware of the pending investigation."
In an important front-page piece, the NYT reports on a so-far mostly overlooked factor that helped the Taliban gain control over Pakistan's Swat Valley: class warfare. In order to gain power, the Taliban skillfully exploited class divisions and ultimately forced out the approximately four dozen landlords that held the most power in the region. In order to do so, the Taliban organized armed gangs of landless peasants "that became their shock troops." The Taliban gained popularity by offering peasants, who were frustrated with their living conditions and a corrupt government that was deaf to their needs, what amounted to rich economic rewards and a feeling of self-determination. The ease with which the Taliban were able to exploit these entrenched class divisions is raising worries that the same series of events could play out in other parts of Pakistan, particularly in the populous Punjab province, which largely remains a feudal society.
In a piece that was reported in conjunction with ProPublica, the LAT fronts a look at how civilian contractors often have to endure long legal fights in order to get covered for injuries suffered in a war zone. Unlike soldiers, contractors are insured by private companies that frequently resist paying for coverage. The main culprit? American International Group. AIG is the main player in providing insurance to civilian contractors in war zones and has made a handsome profit from the business. As a whole, insurers have earned nearly $600 million in profit by charging premiums that a military audit called "unreasonably high." Yet that doesn't translate into good medical care. Insurers have rejected 44 percent of claims from contractors suffering serious injuries and more than half of claims relating to psychological ailments. Disputes are usually settled through mediation, but more than 1,000 cases have made their way to court. Workers win the vast majority of the appeals, but resolving the cases can take years while medical bills keep piling up.
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US envoy to hold talks with Abbas
Mr Abbas's accused Israel of putting new obstacles in the way of peace
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day after his first meetings with Israel's new government.
On Thursday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only discuss a Palestinian state if Palestinians recognised Israel as a Jewish state.
Mr Abbas's office warned Israel's new policy could have "devastating repercussions for the whole region".
Mr Netanyahu has stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood.
During his meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday, Mr Mitchell reiterated the US government's commitment to a two-state solution, which the previous government pursued in talks with the PA.
But far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the long-standing approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had brought "neither results nor solutions" and new ideas were needed.
And senior official in Mr Netanyahu's office quoted the new prime minister as telling Mr Mitchell: "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognise Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples."
Review call
Under previous agreements, the Palestinians have recognised the right of the state of Israel to exist.
But correspondents say recognising it as a Jewish state would be tantamount to abandoning one of the Palestinians' key demands in final-status talks, the "right to return" of Palestinians refugees.
A spokesman for Mr Abbas accused to new government of putting "new obstacles" in the way of a two-state solution.
"This is seen as a challenge to international efforts, especially by the US. It needs the international community to carefully review Israeli policy for fear of devastating repercussions on the whole region," he said.
The Palestinian Authority has also called repeatedly for international pressure on Israel to keep its commitment to freezing building in settlements in the West Bank.
Human rights groups say construction activity has continued since US President Barack Obama came into office.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Mr Mitchell has given little comment on his meetings with leaders in the region, although he also assured Israeli President Shimon Peres of Washington's "absolute and strong commitment" to Israel's security.
The visit is Mr Mitchell's first since Mr Netanyahu formed his right-leaning coalition, which brings together centre-right, centre-left and far-right parties.
President Obama's MidEast envoy (l) flew in to Israel on Wednesday
Mr Netanyahu has said the economy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank should be improved before progress on creating a Palestinian state is attempted.
He has said he intends to resume talks and co-operation to promote "economic peace".
Mr Lieberman has said his government remains committed to the 2003 "road map" peace plan, which aims to create a Palestinian state through a phased process.
But he has also rejected the previous Israeli government's pledge to work towards Palestinian statehood at the 2007 peace conference at Annapolis in the US.
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Hezbollah alleges Egypt vendetta
Egypt is under pressure to halt smuggling from the Sinai
Egypt's claim to have broken up a Hezbollah cell plotting attacks on its territory is a "baseless" revenge bid, Hezbollah's deputy head has said.
Egypt says it is holding 25 Hezbollah suspects and searching for 24 more in the Sinai peninsula.
Cairo's claims are "fabricated" to "sully Hezbollah's image", Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP news agency.
The Lebanese political and militant group says one suspect was trying to smuggle arms into Gaza for Hezbollah.
Last week Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Sami Shihab had been trying to get military equipment into Gaza along with no more than 10 other people.
Egypt announced on Wednesday that it was holding the group on suspicion of planning "hostile operations".
Egyptian prosecutors said Hezbollah had told the men to collect intelligence from villages along the Egypt-Gaza border, tourist sites and the Suez Canal.
"It has become clear to everyone that these accusations are fabricated... and that they are worthless," Sheikh Qassem said.
He said the accusations were "politically motivated" and were being made in revenge for the Lebanese movement's stance on Egypt's support for the Israeli blockade for Gaza.
Hezbollah supports Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls Gaza.
'Maid of honour'
In December, as Israel began a three-week offensive in Gaza - with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket fire into Israel - Mr Nasrallah called on Egyptians to protest and force their government to open the border.
Hezbollah is both a political faction, with seats in the Lebanese government, and a military organisation which fought a war against Israel in 2006.
On Tuesday, in comments to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit accused Iran of using the Shia group to gain a foothold in Egypt.
"Iran, and Iran's followers, want Egypt to become a maid of honour for the crowned Iranian queen when she enters the Middle East," he said.
Correspondents say the row reflects a wider power struggle between Sunni Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and Shia Muslim Iran and its allies Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.
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Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates took his campaign for the Pentagon’s budget to one of the nation’s premier military institutions on Thursday as he pressed his argument for shifting billions of dollars from future Army weapons programs to the more immediate needs of the country’s two wars, the New York Times reports in today’s lead story in the Early Bird.“For too long, there was a belief, or a hope, that Iraq and Afghanistan were exotic distractions that would be wrapped up relatively soon,” Mr. Gates told a sometimes skeptical audience of officers and civilians at the Army War College in south-central Pennsylvania.As a result, Mr. Gates said, weapons and equipment most urgently needed for Iraq and Afghanistan were “fielded ad hoc and on the fly” and with temporary financing by Congress “that would go away when the wars did, if not sooner.”Mr. Gates, a former director of central intelligence, was on the fourth day of a weeklong political swing to sell the Pentagon’s half-trillion-dollar 2010 budget, an exercise that has left his adversaries — many in the military contracting industry and Congress — taken aback by what they say is both his deftness and his aggressiveness.
Meantime, the Los Angeles Times reports that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that the Obama administration would move cautiously in shifting policies on gays serving openly in the military, but he signaled that service members should prepare for possible changes.In his most extensive remarks to date about the ongoing ban on gays who serve openly, Gates said he and other military leaders had "begun a dialogue" with President Obama about the issue.Obama promised during last year's presidential campaign to end the ban on gays in the military, and the White House said recently that it was reviewing the issue. Gates said Obama had been clear with the military about his position."We will do what the president asks us to do," Gates said at the Army War College. "There is a law; we will uphold the law. If the law changes, so will our policies."
Welcome to Iraq. Now go to Afghanistan.That was the message delivered to the Army's 4th Engineer Battalion just two weeks after arriving in Baghdad for what was supposed to be a year-long tour, USA Today reportsDespite the stress caused by the unusual change of plans last month, many of the unit's approximately 500 soldiers said they realized their specialty — clearing roads of bombs and other obstacles — is more needed in the area of southern Afghanistan, where they'll likely begin patrols in a few weeks."If we were in the frying pan, we're now heading directly into the fire," Capt. Heath Papkov, one of the unit's company commanders, said this week as the soldiers packed their gear to leave.Moving a unit directly from one theater of war to another on such short notice is very rare, said Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, the battalion's commander. Usually when troops are shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, the change occurs between regular rotations abroad, after they spend several months at their home base.
The Arizona Republic reports that a growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there's little hope of preventing nuclear-armed Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists, posing a greater threat to the U.S. than Afghanistan's terrorist haven did before Sept. 11."It's a disaster in the making on the scale of the Iranian revolution," said a U.S. intelligence official with long experience in Pakistan who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.Pakistan's fragmentation into warlord-run fiefdoms that host al-Qaida and other terrorist groups would have grave implications for the security of its nuclear arsenal; for the U.S.-led effort to pacify Afghanistan; and for the security of India, the nearby oil-rich Persian Gulf and Central Asia, the U.S. and its allies."Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American army, and the headquarters of al-Qaida sitting in two-thirds of the country which the government does not control," said David Kilcullen, a retired Australian army officer, a former State Department adviser and a counterinsurgency consultant to the Obama administration.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices.The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security.Disclosure of the DHS memo this week has sparked controversy among some conservatives and veterans groups. Appearing on television talk shows Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the assessment, but apologized to veterans who saw it as an accusation.
Somalia's prime minister says his government has identified many pirate leaders and would be willing to share that information with other countries, including the United States, to get the resources needed to go after them, the Associated Press reports.Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, speaking yesterday to The Associated Press in an exclusive interview, said the pirates have become so wealthy and powerful that they threaten his government."We have information on who is behind this, who is involved," Sharmarke said in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. "There is a lot of money flowing in. . . . We are following very closely how money is distributed here."He was referring to the fact that Somali pirates can earn $1 million or more in ransom per ship.
A new dispute erupted between Russia and Nato on Thursday, the Financial Times of London reports, when Moscow called for Nato military exercises in Georgia next month to be postponed or cancelled.The development came against a backdrop of improving Russian ties with the west, with a separate announcement by Moscow that talks would begin next week on a treaty with the US to reduce strategic nuclear weapons.Still, Moscow sees Nato’s 19-nation exercise as a sign of support for Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, which it fought a war against last August.Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that the exercises would not promote stability in the South Caucasus. Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s Nato envoy, said they could derail the restoration of relations with the alliance after ties were cut in the wake of last year’s conflict.
Meanwhile, Moscow Times reports that Russian and U.S. officials will begin negotiating a new deal next week to cut strategic nuclear weapons, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.The deal aims to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and has been billed as part of an effort by Moscow and Washington to reset relations that hit a post-Cold War low under former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post lead with the Justice Department documents released by the Obama administration that provide the most detailed accounting to date of the harsh interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush administration, as well as the legal reasoning to back them up. (Slate Magazine)
2. U.S. envoy to hold talks with Abbas: US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day after his first meetings with Israel's new government. (BBC)
3. Hezbollah alleges Egypt vendetta: Egypt's claim to have broken up a Hezbollah cell plotting attacks on its territory is a "baseless" revenge bid, Hezbollah's deputy head has said. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post lead with the Justice Department documents released by the Obama administration that provide the most detailed accounting to date of the harsh interrogation tactics used by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush administration, as well as the legal reasoning to back them up. At the same time, the administration made it clear that CIA officers who followed the guidelines would not be prosecuted. The four memos, one from 2002 and three from 2005, spell out in painstaking detail the techniques that could be used to get information from prisoners.
USA Today leads with a look at how Democrats and Republicans in state legislatures across the country are having the same "classic fight over taxes" as Congress. As states struggle to balance their budgets during a recession, Democrats are pushing for tax increases on the wealthy, while Republicans want to cut taxes for businesses. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with President Obama stating that the ball is now in Cuba's court as the United States will not remove any more of its sanctions against the island until it gets some reciprocal action from the Cuban government. "Having taken the first step I think it's very much in our interests to see whether Cuba is also ready to change," Obama said during his visit to Mexico.
Many of the interrogation tactics described in the Justice Department memos were already well-known, but others either haven't received a lot of attention or were unknown. The two highlights involve insects and "walling." In one memo, lawyers allowed interrogators to exploit a prisoner's fear of insects by putting him in a small box with what they would describe as a stinging insect when, in fact, it would be a harmless one, "such as a caterpillar." The technique was allowed, although never actually used, as long as the prisoner was told the insect "will not have a sting that would produce death or severe pain." In the practice known as "walling," a prisoner could be pushed "quickly and firmly" against a "flexible false wall" so that his shoulder blades hit the wall and produce a loud noise.
Even if most of the techniques had already been known, that doesn't make the memos any less terrifying, particularly when all the techniques are brought together and described in such detail. Prisoners could be deprived of sleep for as many as 11 days, confined to small boxes, doused with water as cold as 41 degrees, kept shackled for days at a time, and slapped in the face and abdomen, among others. All with the ultimate goal of making prisoners feel as if they have "no control over basic human needs." The memos also included extensive discussions about water-boarding and how it should be carried out. But the NYT points out that these directives weren't always followed, and one memo notes that water-boarding was used "with far greater frequency than initially indicated" and with "large volumes of water."
The LAT notes that, as outlined in the documents, "[e]ven the less violent techniques … can have a harrowing aspect," and points out that a prisoner being deprived of sleep would have his feet shackled to the floor, his hands cuffed near his chin. In that position the prisoner would be forced to wear a diaper and fed by hand and wouldn't be able to fall asleep because he would lose his balance.
Reading through the memos, it is evident that the administration's lawyers devoted lots of effort to justifying each and every technique. As the WP notes, the lawyers seemed to "put significant weight on the question of whether the tactics would cause severe, lasting pain."
The memos were released after a long, drawn-out fight within the upper echelons of the Obama administration. The CIA opposed the Justice Department's desire to release the documents. But ultimately, the documents were released practically without redactions, marking a victory for Attorney General Eric Holder. The talks became more urgent in recent weeks as the administration faced a court-imposed deadline in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain the documents. Obama said the documents illustrated "a dark and painful chapter in our history," but the WSJ reports that the president "wrestled with the decision" on Wednesday night and had been considering redacting more of the information. The WSJ says that one of the main factors that pushed Obama to release the documents was that the New York Review of Books had published the Red Cross account of the interrogations, which led him to conclude that most of the information was already known.
Although Obama said that those who followed the advice from Justice would not be prosecuted, a carefully worded statement seems to leave "open the possibility that operatives and higher-level administration officials could face jeopardy if they ventured beyond the boundaries drawn by the Bush lawyers," notes the Post. The NYT also points out that it's not clear whether the lawyers themselves could be penalized in some way.
The WSJ and NYT front word that the head of the Obama administration's auto task force, Steven Rattner, is one of the executives involved in what has been described as a pay-to-play scheme to obtain business from New York state's pension fund. Rattner isn't named in a Securities Exchange Commission complaint, but both papers say he is the "senior executive" at Rattner's investment firm, Quadrangle Group, that is mentioned. The whole issue is a bit confusing because the investigation into the fund has been going on for a while. It basically breaks down into two parts. Through an affiliated company, Quadrangle acquired the DVD rights to a low-budget movie that was produced by New York's deputy comptroller and his brothers, netting the producers almost $90,000. Soon afterward, the deputy comptroller informed Quadrangle that it would get a $100 million investment from the pension fund. And then Quadrangle paid $1.1 million in finder's fees to a company affiliated with one of the comptroller's top political aides. Such payments aren't illegal per se, but why would Quadrangle need to pay an intermediary when Rattner had already met with the deputy comptroller, particularly since it had previously retained a separate intermediary for the deal? Both papers emphasize that Rattner, a former NYT reporter, hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, and the Treasury Department said yesterday that "during the transition, Mr. Rattner made us aware of the pending investigation."
In an important front-page piece, the NYT reports on a so-far mostly overlooked factor that helped the Taliban gain control over Pakistan's Swat Valley: class warfare. In order to gain power, the Taliban skillfully exploited class divisions and ultimately forced out the approximately four dozen landlords that held the most power in the region. In order to do so, the Taliban organized armed gangs of landless peasants "that became their shock troops." The Taliban gained popularity by offering peasants, who were frustrated with their living conditions and a corrupt government that was deaf to their needs, what amounted to rich economic rewards and a feeling of self-determination. The ease with which the Taliban were able to exploit these entrenched class divisions is raising worries that the same series of events could play out in other parts of Pakistan, particularly in the populous Punjab province, which largely remains a feudal society.
In a piece that was reported in conjunction with ProPublica, the LAT fronts a look at how civilian contractors often have to endure long legal fights in order to get covered for injuries suffered in a war zone. Unlike soldiers, contractors are insured by private companies that frequently resist paying for coverage. The main culprit? American International Group. AIG is the main player in providing insurance to civilian contractors in war zones and has made a handsome profit from the business. As a whole, insurers have earned nearly $600 million in profit by charging premiums that a military audit called "unreasonably high." Yet that doesn't translate into good medical care. Insurers have rejected 44 percent of claims from contractors suffering serious injuries and more than half of claims relating to psychological ailments. Disputes are usually settled through mediation, but more than 1,000 cases have made their way to court. Workers win the vast majority of the appeals, but resolving the cases can take years while medical bills keep piling up.
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US envoy to hold talks with Abbas
Mr Abbas's accused Israel of putting new obstacles in the way of peace
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day after his first meetings with Israel's new government.
On Thursday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only discuss a Palestinian state if Palestinians recognised Israel as a Jewish state.
Mr Abbas's office warned Israel's new policy could have "devastating repercussions for the whole region".
Mr Netanyahu has stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood.
During his meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday, Mr Mitchell reiterated the US government's commitment to a two-state solution, which the previous government pursued in talks with the PA.
But far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the long-standing approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had brought "neither results nor solutions" and new ideas were needed.
And senior official in Mr Netanyahu's office quoted the new prime minister as telling Mr Mitchell: "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognise Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples."
Review call
Under previous agreements, the Palestinians have recognised the right of the state of Israel to exist.
But correspondents say recognising it as a Jewish state would be tantamount to abandoning one of the Palestinians' key demands in final-status talks, the "right to return" of Palestinians refugees.
A spokesman for Mr Abbas accused to new government of putting "new obstacles" in the way of a two-state solution.
"This is seen as a challenge to international efforts, especially by the US. It needs the international community to carefully review Israeli policy for fear of devastating repercussions on the whole region," he said.
The Palestinian Authority has also called repeatedly for international pressure on Israel to keep its commitment to freezing building in settlements in the West Bank.
Human rights groups say construction activity has continued since US President Barack Obama came into office.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Mr Mitchell has given little comment on his meetings with leaders in the region, although he also assured Israeli President Shimon Peres of Washington's "absolute and strong commitment" to Israel's security.
The visit is Mr Mitchell's first since Mr Netanyahu formed his right-leaning coalition, which brings together centre-right, centre-left and far-right parties.
President Obama's MidEast envoy (l) flew in to Israel on Wednesday
Mr Netanyahu has said the economy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank should be improved before progress on creating a Palestinian state is attempted.
He has said he intends to resume talks and co-operation to promote "economic peace".
Mr Lieberman has said his government remains committed to the 2003 "road map" peace plan, which aims to create a Palestinian state through a phased process.
But he has also rejected the previous Israeli government's pledge to work towards Palestinian statehood at the 2007 peace conference at Annapolis in the US.
To top of document
Hezbollah alleges Egypt vendetta
Egypt is under pressure to halt smuggling from the Sinai
Egypt's claim to have broken up a Hezbollah cell plotting attacks on its territory is a "baseless" revenge bid, Hezbollah's deputy head has said.
Egypt says it is holding 25 Hezbollah suspects and searching for 24 more in the Sinai peninsula.
Cairo's claims are "fabricated" to "sully Hezbollah's image", Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP news agency.
The Lebanese political and militant group says one suspect was trying to smuggle arms into Gaza for Hezbollah.
Last week Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Sami Shihab had been trying to get military equipment into Gaza along with no more than 10 other people.
Egypt announced on Wednesday that it was holding the group on suspicion of planning "hostile operations".
Egyptian prosecutors said Hezbollah had told the men to collect intelligence from villages along the Egypt-Gaza border, tourist sites and the Suez Canal.
"It has become clear to everyone that these accusations are fabricated... and that they are worthless," Sheikh Qassem said.
He said the accusations were "politically motivated" and were being made in revenge for the Lebanese movement's stance on Egypt's support for the Israeli blockade for Gaza.
Hezbollah supports Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls Gaza.
'Maid of honour'
In December, as Israel began a three-week offensive in Gaza - with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket fire into Israel - Mr Nasrallah called on Egyptians to protest and force their government to open the border.
Hezbollah is both a political faction, with seats in the Lebanese government, and a military organisation which fought a war against Israel in 2006.
On Tuesday, in comments to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit accused Iran of using the Shia group to gain a foothold in Egypt.
"Iran, and Iran's followers, want Egypt to become a maid of honour for the crowned Iranian queen when she enters the Middle East," he said.
Correspondents say the row reflects a wider power struggle between Sunni Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and Shia Muslim Iran and its allies Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.
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