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 War
and Terror
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August 2010
Abbas faces a mission impossible
High hopes are placed on the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks that
resume in Washington this week. United States President Barack Obama
desperately needs a success story in the Middle East, and so does Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
unwillingness and Abbas' likely inability to deliver spell failure. - Sami
Moubayed (Aug 31, '10)
Obama fighting on all fronts
After the Iraq withdrawal, tangible progress towards peace between Israel and
Palestine is key to Obama's pledges to overcome the US's morass in the Middle
East. The talks in Washington are a start. But then there is Afghanistan. And
China, many in the administration believe, is not receiving the attention it
deserves. - Jim Lobe (Aug 31, '10)
Petraeus: Hook, line and sinker
Claims from General David Petraeus' command that the Taliban are losing Marjah
in Afghanistan due to low morale ring hollow in the face of all the available
hard facts. The episode and a similar one in Iraq two years ago instead
illustrate the military's extraordinary efforts to shape the media narrative
surrounding the war - and are straight out of Petraeus' manual on
counter-insurgency. - Gareth Porter (Aug 31,
'10)
Taliban noose around Wardak tightens
The province of Wardak, just 35 kilometers west of the Afghan capital Kabul, is
steadily falling under the sway of the Taliban, according to many residents.
The governor admits the security situation is a concern, but insists it is not
as bad as claimed - a notion the Taliban dismiss with fighting talk.
(Aug 31, '10)
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Obama draws line on Iran policy
United States President Barack Obama appears to have drawn a line that blocks
Defense Secretary Robert Gates' push for a policy that gives Washington reason
for threatening Iran if it fails to cut its low enriched uranium stocks and end
enrichment. Obama's thinking: There are other ways for Iran to demonstrate its
intent not to build a nuclear bomb. - Gareth Porter
(Aug 30, '10)
Tehran debates talks with Uncle Sam
For all the heated and unresolved debate among Iran's political factions over
how to handle the United States, it boils down to the question of whether to
talk or not to talk to Uncle Sam. After several rounds of bilateral and
multilateral negotiations, more talks are not "mission impossible". In the
run-up to next month's United Nations General Assembly meeting, Tehran's main
concern is not to look too defensive. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Aug 30, '10)
Occupation politics stymie
Afghanistan
The Central Intelligence Agency's apparent funding of corruption-tainted
politicians in Afghanistan is a symptom of the larger divide between a
"nation-building" school of thought and those whose mandate is to beat the
Taliban at all costs. This has led to shadowboxing and scandals that have
become a war theater of their own. - Sreeram Chaulia
(Aug 30, '10)
The great chess game of the Middle East
With nerves frayed to breaking point over escalation in the Middle East, a
focus on preparations for war carries the danger of missing out on many
dimensions of a very complex situation. There are plenty of pieces on the
proverbial chess board to ensure suspense until way into the endgame. - Victor
Kotsev (Aug 27, '10)
Karzai wagers on Obama's audacity
The United States-led drive to make an example of a senior official in the
administration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was not so much to crack down
on corruption as to discredit the presidential palace. Karzai has become a
threat to the US's monopoly of the war and the peace process. His best hope is
that Barack Obama refuses to be an "establishment president". - M K Bhadrakumar
(Aug 27, '10)
 THE
ROVING EYE
Red alert! The
Russians are coming!
Moscow's response to Washington's Russophobia, which manifests as humorless spy
movies and plans for full spectrum dominance, has been to get down to business.
While the West is bogged down in Afghanistan, links with Kabul forged in the
1980s ensure the Kremlin a slice of the mineral wealth, and while US neo-cons
balk at Iranian nuclear plants coming online, Russian industry merrily cashes
in. - Pepe Escobar (Aug 26, '10)
Two minutes to midnight?
The American debate about whether to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities (or whether
to let the Israelis do so) has a fraudulent "two minutes to midnight" tone and
there are three crucial questions that are not asked by the debaters as they
potentially set the United States on the road to war. For starters, is Iran
actually developing nuclear weapons? - Tony Karon
(Aug 25, '10)
Karzai faces struggle to oust
contractors
Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants foreign security contractors phased out by
the year's end as he claims they are "corrupt and impeding national
development". While his proposal will likely be welcomed by a resentful Afghan
public, it will face strong opposition from Washington and the military. - William
Fisher (Aug 25, '10)
US troops marching out - or are
they?
The Barack Obama administration plans that an improvised US State
Department-controlled army of contractors will replace all US combat troops in
Iraq by the end of 2011. Sections of the military command prefer that US combat
forces remain in Iraq indefinitely - a possibility that might not be as
unlikely as Obama paints it. - Gareth Porter (Aug
24, '10)
A homecoming parade of war truths
Heart-warming scenes of American mothers and fathers returning home as part of
the US withdrawal of its "last brigade" from Iraq mask the country’s rising
violence and corruption, seemingly immutable political rifts and that some
50,000, mostly combat-ready, US personnel will remain. The "victory" claims
also hide that Washington is silently re-branding the Iraq occupation. - Ramzy
Baroud (Aug 24, '10)
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Medvedev's wishful thinking
As Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev hosted talks this week with Tajikistan,
Afghanistan and Pakistan, a Moscow commentator waxed lyrical about gaining the
historic dream of a direct route to the Arabian Sea. Moscow has more immediate
needs in Tajikistan, while the leitmotif of the format is Russia's return to an
active role in the search of an Afghan settlement; its linchpin is the
importance of countering US influence with Islamabad. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Aug 20, '10)
Mission assassination in Afghanistan
"Find, fix, finish and follow-up" is the way the Pentagon describes the mission
of secret military teams in Afghanistan that have been given a mandate to
pursue members of the Taliban or al-Qaeda wherever they may be found. One such
"manhunting" unit is Task Force 373 - a nightmare for Afghans, but a symptom of
deeper policy disasters. - Pratap Chatterjee (Aug
20, '10)
Old and new faces of Indonesian terror
Jakarta has received international praise for its counter-terrorism efforts.
While terrorism is not necessarily on the rise, it hasn't been eradicated.
Militant Islam in Indonesia is instead mutating. As long as figures like
arrested cleric Abu Bakar Bashir - once seen as the Jemaah Islamiyah terror
group's spiritual leader - are able to arouse extremist sympathies, the
government cannot rest on its laurels. - Clifford McCoy
(Aug 19, '10)
The guns of August
As guns blaze in one war in Afghanistan and the United States tries to
extricate itself from another in Iraq, it is time to take stock of what would
happen if America gave up its self-appointed role as the world's policeman.
Washington's main fears may prove but chimeras - and be remarkably similar to
the dire predictions of the 1970s about states falling like dominoes to
communists if America lost the war in Vietnam. - Chalmers Johnson
(Aug 18, '10)
Shadow over Iraq
The scheduled departure this month of the last United States combat soldiers in
Iraq is a milestone, not a mark of success. While General David Petraeus' surge
strategy broke the cycle of violence and brought fragile stability to Iraq, it
did not carve out a political solution or preclude a return of violence. A
fundamental reality remains: Iran holds the key to the success of American
strategy in Iraq. - George Friedman (Aug 18,
'10)
Bizarre bedfellows rally to
Afghanistan
Public debate about the protracted conflict in Afghanistan has thrown up some
strange bedfellows, with the human-rights lobby in line with neo-conservatives
and the military's preference to bolster the war effort. Opponents are less
passionate, to the extent that despite the restiveness of Americans, there is
barely an anti-war movement. - Brian M Downing
(Aug 17, '10)
Israel
gives Obama reason to worry
New evidence has emerged that senior figures in the Israeli intelligence and
military oppose a strike against Iran and believe Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's apocalyptic rhetoric against Tehran is self-defeating.
Nevertheless, Washington still has to worry that Israel may strike unless it
hardens its stance on Tehran's nuclear program. - Gareth Porter
(Aug 16, '10)
Pakistan has a man for a crisis
Chief of army staff Ashfaq Parvez Kiani has inspired confidence in Pakistan's
flood-recovery efforts as people struggle with a calamity of massive
proportions. The 58-year-old, chain-smoking general has risen fast through the
ranks, and the "soldier's soldier" has restored much pride to the military.
Now, though, the humanitarian crisis might prompt calls for a more direct
political role for the men in uniform. - Abubakar Siddique
(Aug 16, '10)
Afghan militants return to arms
Hundreds of militants in western Afghanistan who were promised amnesties and
jobs in return for laying down their weapons claim they are still being
harassed and have no work, forcing them to rejoin the Taliban. Some officials
blame the militants for having "unrealistic expectations". - Zia Ahmadi
(Aug 10, '10)
Iran-Saudi rivalry deepens
Despite numerous efforts to improve cooperation, ties between Iran and Saudi
Arabia historically have been fraught with intermittent rhetorical wars and
grim strategic competition. Recent developments, including alleged
Saudi-Israeli coordination on a planned "surgical strike" against Iran's
nuclear facilities, are beginning to escalate tensions to new heights. - Richard
Javad Heydarian (Aug 10, '10)
Eyes on the skies over Iran's reactor
Iran has reportedly shot down drones to test the defense systems at the Bushehr
nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to open soon. By becoming operational
the facility will affirm Iran's right to develop and utilize nuclear
technology, and increase the possibility of an Israeli attack. There are only a
few weeks before nuclear fuel arrives, after which an attack would carry with
it far too many risks. - Marsha B Cohen (Aug
9, '10)
Drugged and dressed to kill
 Rania
al-Anbaki says she was coerced into becoming a suicide bomber by her husband.
From a prison in Iraq where she is serving a seven-year sentence, she recalls
the day that, drugged and dressed in a vest of explosives, she was promised
reunion with her husband in heaven and escorted to a marketplace in the capital
of Diyala province. - Ali Mohammed (Aug 9,
'10)
BORDERING ON WAR
Lines blur in Lebanon's ranks
The main beneficiary of Tuesday's  skirmish
between the Israeli Defense Forces and the Lebanese army is Hezbollah, although
it was not directly involved. Despite claims that its leader Hassan Nasrallah
had been surprised by it, what the incident does reveal is that at times it is
difficult to tell where Hezbollah ends and where the Lebanese army begins. - Victor
Kotsev (Aug 6, '10)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Whose hands? Whose blood?
United States officials have charged that WikiLeaks' release of classified
military reports from the Afghan conflict will indirectly kill civilians. This
ignores the wedding party killings and botched air strikes and night raids by
US forces. While the Taliban have reportedly threatened to search the archive
for names of informants, the real blood is on the hands of those who have
perpetrated "collateral damage". - Tom Engelhardt
(Aug 6, '10)
Now it's the turn of 'children of
the conflict'
 Control
of the mass protests gripping the Kashmir Valley, led by stone-pelting
teenagers brought up during the 1990s, has slipped from the police, the
government, separatist leaders who had stoked the rage and even Pakistan-based
militants. With graphic images of children killed spreading rapidly through the
Internet, nothing can cool the youngsters' fury. - Sudha Ramachandran
(Aug 5, '10)
Iran's 'special' naval threat
dissected
The "special" in Iran's threat of a "special and suitable response" to vessel
inspections under United Nations-authorized sanctions could see missile boats
of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy in suicide attacks against US
naval forces. A "suitable" reaction would likely involve an unruly attempt to
close a strategic waterway. - Nima Adelkhah (Aug
5, '10)
Al-Qaeda meddles while Karachi burns
At least 65 people have been killed in Karachi in clashes between anti-al-Qaeda
and pro-militant groups. The unrest has brought the southern port city,
Pakistan's main commercial hub, to a standstill and choked North Atlantic
Treaty Organization supplies bound for Afghanistan. From al-Qaeda's viewpoint,
all is going according to plan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 4, '10)
Obama drops pledge on Iraq
A media bonanza over the US's purported shift from a military to a civilian
role in Iraq ignores that President Barack Obama has quietly dropped a campaign
pledge to remove all combat brigades by September this year. The 50,000 US
troops remaining in Iraq will have fighting capabilities, and the military
officials who pushed for them to stay envision an indefinite presence. - Gareth
Porter (Aug 4, '10)
India digs deep to outflank Maoists
The Indian government is considering radical legislation that would make local
communities stakeholders in mining projects. By compensating these people,
mostly tribals living in resource-rich regions, officials hope to alienate them
from Maoist insurgents, while at the same time squeezing the lucrative business
that the red rebels have built around both legal and illegal mining. - Sudha
Ramachandran (Aug 3, '10)
Battle for upper hand in Marjah
continues
Months after "Operation Moshtarak" was launched to drive the Taliban out of
Marjah, in Helmand province, locals say the area has never been so insecure.
This clashes with claims to the opposite by US military officials. Regional
authorities warn that intimidation and violence could be increasing as the
Taliban's Pakistan-based leadership council is focusing all efforts on Helmand.
(Aug 3, '10)
Lebanon awaits a verdict
A special tribunal set up to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese
premier Rafik Hariri in 2005 is expected to reveal its findings soon amid a
widespread belief that "rogue elements" of Hezbollah will be implicated. The
situation is tense, although some people are comforted by the fact that
Hezbollah is just too strong to be undermined. - Ramzy Baroud
(Aug 3, '10)
Militants see opportunity in
disaster
More than 1,100 people have been killed and over a million disrupted by the
worst-ever floods to hit Pakistan. Militants in the most badly affected areas,
where infrastructure is shattered and the military struggles to bring relief,
see an opportunity. Supplies for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in
Afghanistan have also been severely disrupted, affecting operations there. - Syed
Saleem Shahzad (Aug 2, '10)
ON THE GROUND IN AFGHANISTAN
Here be dragons
An embed with the US Army in eastern Afghanistan reveals a toxic mix of
paranoia, entitlement and good intentions gone awry that undercuts the
military's heralded counter-insurgency strategy. Despite gaps that appear
obvious to the outsider, in this pseudo-war no one seems to question the
relative cushiness of life in US garrisons, or base cultural failings that
undermine meetings to win hearts and minds. - Ann Jones
(Aug 2, '10)
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ATol Specials
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar, '06)
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The evidence for and against Iran's alleged
nuclear weapons program
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the 3rd
armored cavalry in western Iraq
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Islamism, fascism and
terrorism
by Marc Erikson
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For earlier articles go to:
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