GWOT Media Summary Jan 17

[RAMESES the Great]

U.S. Joint Forces Command
GWOT Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of January 17, 2008

 New Developments
 Female Bomber Kills 8 In Iraq. A female suicide bomber detonated her explosives vest in a popular marketplace in Diyala province Wednesday, killing at least eight people and injuring seven others. The attack was the fourth suicide bombing by a woman in Iraq since November, all of them in Diyala, where Iraq's insurgency has been centered for much of the last year. It occurred on the same day that small-arms fire killed three U.S. soldiers conducting operations in Salahuddin province, north of the capital, the American military said. Two other soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a hospital. The soldiers' identities were not released pending notification of their families. (Los Angeles Times – see attached)
 U.S. Boosts Its Use Of Airstrikes In Iraq. The U.S. military conducted more than five times as many airstrikes in Iraq last year as it did in 2006, targeting al-Qaeda safe houses, insurgent bombmaking facilities and weapons stockpiles in an aggressive strategy aimed at supporting the U.S. troop increase by overwhelming enemies with air power. Top commanders said that better intelligence-gathering allows them to identify and hit extremist strongholds with bombs and missiles from above, and they predicted that extensive airstrikes will continue this year as the United States seeks to flush insurgents out of havens in and around Baghdad and to the north in Diyala province. (Washington Post – see attached)
 Petraeus Says Iran Still Training Iraq Militants. The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said during a tour of an Iraq-Iran border crossing Wednesday that Tehran was still training militants despite its pledge to cut support for the insurgency. General David Petraeus said he was uncertain if supplies of weapons flowing into Iraq from Iran were decreasing, but that Iranian training of militants continued to pose a serious threat to Iraq's stability. Asked whether Iran had stopped the flow of money and weapons into Iraq, Petraeus told reporters: "We honestly don't know, it is unclear. We do know that training (of Iraqi militants in Iran) has continued. (Google/AFP)
 Afghan Army To Lead More Operations. The Afghan army will lead nearly all military operations in eastern Afghanistan this year, with U.S. troops in a support role, a top American general said Wednesday. It's the next step in a strategy to increase the strength of Afghanistan's military so U.S. forces can leave one day. Since the first major Afghan-led operation last July in southern Ghazni province, U.S. troops have been training their Afghan counterparts across the country to take over a larger share of the security responsibilities. "Our intention is for all 2008 operations in Regional Command East to be led by Afghan National Security Forces with enabling assistance (fire support and medical evacuation in particular) from coalition forces," Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, deputy commanding general for operations for American forces in Afghanistan, wrote in an e-mail. (Denver Post/AP)
 UN Chief Lauds Reduction In Iraq Attacks. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the reduction in attacks across Iraq and called for similar improvements in the political arena. His report to the U.N. Security Council echoed remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, warning that the cut in violence could be fleeting if the country's main groups did not reach an agreement on the future of the country. Ban, who wrote his report prior to Rice's visit, said "the reduction in the overall number of attacks reported across Iraq is a welcome development." But he said continued improvement in the security situation is likely to depend on engagement by Iraqi security forces and the U.S.-led multinational force, an extension of a temporary cease-fire by radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and developments related to the Awakening Councils, Sunni Arab groups that switched sides to join U.S. forces against al-Qaida in Iraq. (FOX News/AP)

 Military Coverage
 U.S. Criticism Reflects NATO Divisions. The Pentagon's decision to send 2,200 Marines to southern Afghanistan will fill a void created in part by NATO's inability to fight the insurgency adequately, a job the allies never signed up to do. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in comments made public Wednesday, said NATO forces aren't trained for counterinsurgency. His criticism sparked an international furor, as allies defended their work against the stubborn and growing insurgency in southern Afghanistan, long a Taliban stronghold. It also laid open long-standing divisions – even among coalition members – over what NATO's job should be after the 2001 invasion. (Raleigh News & Observer/AP – see attached)
 Army Chief May Shorten Tours In Iraq, Afghanistan By Summer. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's chief of staff, said Wednesday he hopes to shorten the 15-month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan this summer. The move would end a policy, required by the buildup of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq last year, that has placed significant stress on soldiers and their families. Casey suggested that the withdrawal from Iraq of five U.S. Army combat brigades by July could allow soldiers once again to deploy for 12 months and then spend a year at home, although he cautioned that a decision will depend on conditions in Iraq. (Washington Post – see attached)

 Homeland Security
 Account Of C.I.A. Tapes Is Challenged. The former Central Intelligence Agency official who authorized the destruction in 2005 of videotapes documenting harsh interrogation of detainees from Al Qaeda gave the order despite apparently being directed to preserve the tapes, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday. Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, said Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., head of the C.I.A.’s clandestine service at the time, had not “gotten authority from anyone” to destroy the tapes. “Matter of fact, it appears that he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed,” he said. Mr. Hoekstra spoke after hearing testimony from John A. Rizzo, the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, who addressed the committee on Wednesday during a closed session lasting nearly four hours. (New York Times – see attached)
 Ex-Congressman Indicted In Terrorism-Funding Case. A former Republican congressman from Michigan who has dedicated himself to building ties between Christians and Muslims was indicted in federal court yesterday for alleged ties to an Islamic charity that sent money to suspected terrorists. Mark D. Siljander, who served more than two terms in the House in the 1980s and later ran as a Republican candidate for the House from Northern Virginia, was charged with money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. The indictment alleges that he lied to the FBI about his work on behalf of the Islamic American Relief Agency, which the Treasury Department designated as a terrorist organization in 2004. (Washington Post – see attached)
 Chertoff Says Europe Poses Terrorism Threat. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Wednesday that one of the biggest threats to U.S. security may now come from within Europe. In an interview with BBC radio, Chertoff said that American authorities were becoming increasingly aware of a real risk of Europe becoming a "platform for terrorists". He said it was important to step up security checks on passengers coming from Europe to the United States. "We have watched the rise of home-grown terrorism," he added, citing the Madrid train bombing in March 2004 and recent foiled plots in Britain and Germany. "That suggests to us that the terrorists are increasingly looking to Europe both as a target and as a platform for terrorist attacks." (Reuters)

 World Developments
 Pakistan Fort Overrun By Militants. Hundreds of Islamic militants attacked a paramilitary fort in Sararogha, in the restive South Waziristan tribal region in north-west Pakistan on Tuesday, killing 22 soldiers and taking several others hostage in a nearly six-hour battle, government intelligence agency officials and local officials said Wednesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the attack, said that 600 to 700 militants had attacked the Sararogha fort, firing rockets and mortars in a region where local and foreign militants have battled the Pakistani military. Fifteen soldiers belonging to the South Waziristan Scouts, an official paramilitary militia, died in the battle, one intelligence official said. Another local official said that the militants later beheaded at least seven other soldiers. (New York Times – see attached)
 Two Killed As Riot Police Open Fire On Anti-Kibaki Protesters. Heavily armed police used live rounds, teargas and clubs to clear demonstrators from city centers in Kenya Wednesday as opposition leaders began three days of protest. Two people were shot dead in the western city of Kisumu, while three young men were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds in Kibera, Nairobi’s biggest slum. Protesters said they would not rest until President Mwai Kibaki was forced from office and replaced by his challenger, Raila Odinga. More than 600 people have died and 250,000 more been forced from their homes since President Kibaki was declared the winner of disputed elections. Much of the country was paralyzed today as police tried to disperse demonstrators before they could form into mass columns. (London Times – see attached)
 Israeli Coalition Begins To Crumble. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, lost the crucial backing of his rightwing coalition partner on Wednesday as the Yisrael Beiteinu party said it would quit the government in protest at the opening of peace talks with the Palestinians. The departure leaves Mr. Olmert with only a slim majority in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, severely weakening him at an important moment in his effort to forge a peace agreement by the end of the year. The loss of Yisrael Beiteinu will also raise the pressure on at least one other coalition member, the ultra-orthodox Shas party, to pull out – a move that would rob Mr. Olmert of his majority. (London Financial Times – see attached)
 Most Sri Lankan Bus ambush Victims Were Shot-Military. Sri Lanka's military said on Thursday most of the 27 people killed in a bus ambush were shot by rebels as the passengers tried to flee rather than in the blast that struck the vehicle. Wednesday's attack came as a 6-year truce between the state and rebels formally ended, paving the way for what analysts forecast will be a military push for the Tigers' northern stronghold and a bloody escalation in a 25-year civil war. The Tigers were not immediately available for comment on the ambush, but routinely deny involvement. (Reuters)

 Public Opinion
 57% Want Troops Home From Iraq Within Year. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 57% of Americans would like to see U.S. troops brought home from Iraq within a year. That’s down from 63% a week ago and matches results from our survey conducted two weeks ago. Over the last fifteen weeks, the number wanting troops home within a year has ranged from a low of 57% to a high of 64%. Twenty-seven percent (27%) now want the troops brought home immediately. That’s up two points from a week ago and down four points from the week before. (Rasmussen Reports)

*AP = Associated Press UPI = United Press International KR = Knight Ridder

Please contact the U.S. Joint Forces Command (J00P) Public Affairs Office (757) 836-6554 to report non-receipt of this product or to change your e-mail address.

Female Bomber Kills 8 In Iraq
Los Angeles Times
January 17, 2008

A female suicide bomber detonated her explosives vest in a popular marketplace in Diyala province Wednesday, killing at least eight people and injuring seven others. The attack was the fourth suicide bombing by a woman in Iraq since November, all of them in Diyala, where Iraq's insurgency has been centered for much of the last year. It occurred on the same day that small-arms fire killed three U.S. soldiers conducting operations in Salahuddin province, north of the capital, the American military said. Two other soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a hospital. The soldiers' identities were not released pending notification of their families. Wednesday's suicide assault occurred in Khan Bani Saad, a farm village midway between Baghdad and the provincial capital of Baqubah.

"After the explosion, I went outside to see the burning bodies thrown on the ground, and the remains," said Abu Yousif Mtorsi, who sells food at the market. "I saw some children there. Some of them had their eyes open but couldn't speak [or] move -- and some showed involuntary body movements . . . they were between being dead and living." The perpetrator, witnesses told Mtorsi, was wearing a traditional abaya covering. "Honestly, my heart was aching worrying about my son, who went to one of the market restaurants to have breakfast," Mtorsi said. "I was looking for him among the dead bodies and those injured. I was thinking that he might be one of them. Later, I felt guilty [because] my son is no different from the innocents lying there, but my son showed up and started helping in evacuating the victims." Female suicide bombers remain rare, but the U.S. military said they are an increasing threat.

"We have indications that Al Qaeda is trying to recruit more female suicide bombers," said Col. Donald Bacon, a U.S. military spokesman. "They think that the female suicide bombers can infiltrate defenses more easily or they may have more chance for success in their operation. They tend not to be searched as closely." Military officials said they have reduced the flow of foreign terrorists into Iraq nearly by half in recent months, forcing the Al Qaeda in Iraq group, a Sunni Arab militant formation, to look for new ways to recruit suicide bombers. "They've had to go out and find different ways to compensate," Bacon said. "I think it's an act of desperation." Because the bombing occurred at an open market not controlled by a military checkpoint, the bomber did not have to undergo a search. But Bacon said that efforts are underway to increase searches of women where checkpoints do exist.

Bacon said the military continues to study how the women are recruited. Some are relatives of Al Qaeda members. Last month, the military said it had discovered a training operation in Diyala for female suicide bombers. Evidence suggests that women sign up as a way to make amends to their families, he said. "They feel like they've done something in the past and this is one way to get redemption," Bacon said. Khan Bani Saad, which is surrounded by verdant orange orchards and date palms, is believed to have absorbed a flood of insurgents recently after an effort to clear them out of a nearby portion of the Diyala River valley. About 4,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops, backed by warplanes and attack helicopters, swept into the northern part of the valley this month in the latest effort to flush out Al Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliates from their havens. Few insurgents were captured, however, and Wednesday's attack suggested that insurgents continue to operate in the area.

Meanwhile, a bomb embedded in a road exploded near an arts college in an eastern section of Baghdad. Two people were killed and 10 were injured. In Mosul, the capital of northern Nineveh province, a suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. military convoy. Five Iraqi civilians were killed, but information about any American casualties was not immediately available, Iraqi police Brig. Gen. Khalikl Jubbori said. In Kirkuk, also in the north, police said a bomb embedded in the road exploded and wounded four policemen. Iraqi officials in Baghdad announced a vehicle curfew beginning today and ending Saturday across a wide swath of the country in anticipation of the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura. In past years, the celebration -- banned under Saddam Hussein -- has prompted attacks by Sunni Arabs. In Baiji, 125 miles north of Baghdad, an electricity shortage prompted the shutdown of an oil refinery that produces gasoline, kerosene and gas oil. "We have strategic reserves for those products that will cover consumption for only five to six days," said Ali Abdullah, an engineer working at the refinery. The refinery serves residents of northern and central Iraq, and the shutdown came one day after the primary refinery producing similar products in southern Iraq was shut down by fire.

U.S. Boosts Its Use Of Airstrikes In Iraq
Washington Post
January 17, 2008

The U.S. military conducted more than five times as many airstrikes in Iraq last year as it did in 2006, targeting al-Qaeda safe houses, insurgent bombmaking facilities and weapons stockpiles in an aggressive strategy aimed at supporting the U.S. troop increase by overwhelming enemies with air power. Top commanders said that better intelligence-gathering allows them to identify and hit extremist strongholds with bombs and missiles from above, and they predicted that extensive airstrikes will continue this year as the United States seeks to flush insurgents out of havens in and around Baghdad and to the north in Diyala province. The U.S.-led coalition dropped 1,447 bombs over Iraq last year, an average of nearly four a day, compared with 229 bombs, or about four each week, in 2006.

"The core reason why we see the increase in strikes is the offensive strategy taken by General [David H.] Petraeus," said Air Force Col. Gary Crowder, commander of the 609th Combined Air Operations Center in Southwest Asia. Because the United States has sent more troops into areas rife with insurgent activity, he said, "we integrated more airstrikes into those operations." The greater reliance on air power has raised concerns from human rights groups, which say that 500-pound and 2,000-pound munitions threaten civilians, especially when dropped in residential neighborhoods where insurgents mix with the population. The military assures that the precision attacks are designed to minimize civilian casualties -- particularly as Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy emphasizes moving more troops into local communities and winning over the Iraqi population -- but rights groups say bombings carry an especially high risk.

"The Iraqi population remains at risk of harm during these operations," said Eliane Nabaa, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq. "The presence of individual combatants among a great number of civilians does not alter the civilian character of an area." UNAMI estimates that more than 200 civilian deaths resulted from U.S. airstrikes in Iraq from the beginning of April to the end of last year, when U.S. forces began to significantly increase the strikes to coordinate with the expansion of ground troops. The strategy was evident last week, as U.S. forces launched airstrikes across Iraq as part of Operation Phantom Phoenix. On Thursday morning in Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military dropped 38 bombs with 40,000 pounds of explosives in 10 minutes, one of the largest strikes since the 2003 invasion. U.S. forces north of Baghdad employed bombs totaling more than 16,500 pounds over just a few days last week, according to officers there.

"The purpose of these particular strikes was to shape the battlefield and take out known threats before our ground troops move in," Army Col. Terry Ferrell, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, said at a news conference in Baghdad last Friday, describing the Arab Jabour attacks. "Our aim was to neutralize any advantage the enemy could claim with the use of IEDs and other weapons," he said, referring to improvised explosive devices. Counterinsurgency experts said the greater use of airstrikes meshes with U.S. strategy, which calls for coalition troops to clear hostile areas before holding and then rebuilding them. U.S. forces have put the new counterinsurgency efforts into play by using their increased numbers to home in on insurgent strongholds. Colin Kahl, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University who studies the Iraq war, said airstrikes rose in 2007 because of a combination of increased U.S. operations and a realization that air power can have a strong psychological effect on the enemy. "Part of this is announcing our presence to the adversary," said Kahl, who recently returned from a trip to the air operations center. "Across this calendar year you will see a reduction in U.S. forces, so there will be fewer troops to support Iraqi forces. One would expect a continued level of airstrikes because of offensive operations, and as U.S. forces begin to draw down you may see even more airstrikes."

Senior Air Force officials said the greater use of airstrikes stems from better intelligence that provides a clearer picture of the battlefield. Commanders said the additional U.S. forces in Iraq over the past year have pushed insurgents out of urban areas and into places that are easier to target. "You see an increase in the number of kinetic strikes because we have found the enemy, we are finding the enemy's emplacement sites, manufacturing facilities for IEDs and caches of weapons," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, the U.S. Central Air Forces and Combined Forces Air Component commander. "And we're striking them." The Marine Corps keeps its own statistics for airstrikes in western Iraq but could not provide 2007 data. In Afghanistan, where U.S. and NATO bombings picked up in the middle of 2006, coalition airstrikes reached 3,572 last year, more than double the total for 2006 and more than 20 times the number in 2005. Many of the strikes have targeted the Taliban and other extremists in Helmand province, and military officials said they have been able to use air power to support small Special Forces units that engage the enemy in remote locations.

Human rights groups estimate that Afghan civilian casualties caused by airstrikes tripled to more than 300 in 2007, fueling fears that such aggressive bombardment could be catastrophic for the innocent. Marc Garlasco, a military analyst at Human Rights Watch who tracks airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the strikes carry unique risks. "My major concern with what's going on in Iraq is massive population density," he said. "You have the potential for very high civilian casualties, so you need really granular intelligence on what you're going to hit. But I don't think they're being careless." In preparation for last week's major airstrikes near Baghdad, North said, he met two weeks ago with Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division and U.S. forces in Baghdad, to walk through the plans. "What you're seeing in the last few days is a very deliberate process honed by intelligence, targeted and aligned to get the desired effect in a particular area," North said.

Commanders also said they are using air power more creatively, in some cases dropping bombs that explode in the air to detonate insurgent roadside bombs. Other U.S. munitions have cut off small bridges or roads to isolate insurgent movement. As seen in Air Force videos, some attacks have been extremely precise, such as when a Predator unmanned aircraft fired an AGM-114P Hellfire missile to kill three extremists who were setting up a mortar attack on Nov. 7 in Balad. North said the Air Force has at times used concrete-filled bombs to detonate IED sites and is using 250-pound GBU-39 small-diameter bombs to make blasts safer for civilians. Commanders also have been using airstrikes on houses suspected to be rigged with explosives, called "house-borne IEDs." Such a strike happened Jan. 6, when soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team spotted five suspected insurgents with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles apparently rigging a house with explosives near Khan Bani Saad, northeast of Baghdad. Lt. Col. Stuart Pettis, air liaison officer for Multinational Division North, said the unit asked for airstrikes. "After doing a show of force to get civilians out of the area, they engaged the house and the fighters with a 500-pound bomb," he said of the attack by two British Tornado GR4 jets. "They took the fighters out."

U.S. Criticism Reflects NATO Divisions
Raleigh News & Observer/AP
January 16, 2008

The Pentagon's decision to send 2,200 Marines to southern Afghanistan will fill a void created in part by NATO's inability to fight the insurgency adequately, a job the allies never signed up to do. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in comments made public Wednesday, said NATO forces aren't trained for counterinsurgency. His criticism sparked an international furor, as allies defended their work against the stubborn and growing insurgency in southern Afghanistan, long a Taliban stronghold. It also laid open long-standing divisions — even among coalition members — over what NATO's job should be after the 2001 invasion. At that time, NATO countries saw their role largely as peacekeepers who would help rebuild the war-ravaged country. Instead, they have seen a resurgence by the Taliban and heard repeated calls from the Pentagon for more NATO aid and forces, while the U.S. largely kept its focus on Iraq. The latest criticism also came as the Pentagon prepared to send Marines to southern Afghanistan this spring. Trained extensively in counterinsurgency, Marines were applauded for their successes beating back the militants in western Iraq.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that the Marine deployment should not be seen as a slap at NATO. "The idea that this was a vote of no confidence never entered my mind or anybody else's mind that I've discussed this with," he said. Mullen added, however, that the counterinsurgency in southern Afghanistan is a greater challenge than he had realized. In comments reported Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, Gates said that while U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan "are doing a terrific job ... I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with." Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Gates was not leveling his critique at any particular country. Instead, he said Gates was referring to discussions he had in a December meeting with counterparts from Britain, Canada and five other NATO countries whose troops are doing the bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan's violent south.

"He said at that time ... that the alliance, NATO as an alliance, does not train for counterinsurgency. The alliance has never had to do it before," Morrell said. He added that Gates is "concerned — and has expressed that concern to our allies — that we may be sending (advisers) that are not properly trained" for their mission in Afghanistan. And he said Gates has been encouraging the allies to make sure that the advisers have as much training as possible. U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan "have had some success with counterinsurgency, but we had to learn from our mistakes," Morrell said. "We've been doing this now for six, seven years. So we are figuring it out. But the alliance is having to adjust to this new mission." Still, Gates' comments spurred the Dutch Defense Ministry to summon the U.S. ambassador for an explanation, and they prompted NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to retort, "All the countries that are in the south do an excellent job. Full stop."

One British lawmaker, Patrick Mercer, condemned Gates' comments as "bloody outrageous" and added, "I would beg the Americans to understand that we are their closest allies, and our men are bleeding and dying in large numbers." As Pentagon officials scrambled publicly to calm the storm, other officials and experts quietly acknowledged that NATO nations don't have the capabilities needed to fight an insurgency, particularly one many believe has grown because the U.S. did not wipe it out after the 2001 invasion. "The mission has been transformed from a peacekeeping NATO mission to a peace-enforcing mission," said Kamal Beyoghlow, a national security professor at the National War College. The NATO allies, he said, "are not as well-equipped and prepared to deal with peace enforcing" and the increasing threats from the Taliban. NATO, Beyoghlow added, didn't plan for the more recent Taliban resurgence. "They went on the basis that they weren't going to see combat," he said. "That's why they (the Pentagon) are sending in the Marines, who have the urban warfare experience they gained in Iraq."

Since 2004, NATO has been slowly taking over the four sectors of Afghanistan, as the U.S. focused its troops and attention on Iraq, using a buildup of forces to quell skyrocketing violence in Baghdad. Military leaders readily acknowledged that, by necessity, Afghanistan was a secondary priority. Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, said Wednesday that he is concerned about weak coordination of U.S. and NATO efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. But he said the security situation there is better than many realize. "A lot of this is less coordinated than it might be, and if we could figure out how to get it harnessed together we might be able to leverage all the (contributions) ... to better effect," said Fallon, who is overseeing a review of the Afghanistan mission.

He added, however, that he sees the Marine deployment to Afghanistan as a way to help U.S. forces in the volatile east make gains against insurgents there. Last year an Army battalion was shifted from the east to the south to help battle insurgents during the spring offensive. By sending in the Marines, the U.S. will not have to shift forces from the east this spring. Southern Afghanistan — where there are about 11,700 coalition troops — is largely controlled by British, Canadian and Dutch forces, and there are some U.S. troops there. Overall, about 27,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the NATO-led coalition. The other 13,000 U.S. troops are training Afghan forces and hunting al-Qaida terrorists. The 2,200 Marines to be sent to southern Afghanistan in the spring and another 1,000 to help train Afghan forces would bring the total U.S. commitment to about 30,000, the highest level of U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the invasion.

Army Chief May Shorten Tours In Iraq, Afghanistan By Summer
Washington Post
January 17, 2008

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's chief of staff, said Wednesday he hopes to shorten the 15-month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan this summer. The move would end a policy, required by the buildup of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq last year, that has placed significant stress on soldiers and their families. Casey suggested that the withdrawal from Iraq of five U.S. Army combat brigades by July could allow soldiers once again to deploy for 12 months and then spend a year at home, although he cautioned that a decision will depend on conditions in Iraq. "The big question is when you come off the 15 [months] . . . and the answer is probably sometime around next summer," Casey told a gathering of the Association of the United States Army. A decision would not be final "until I am sure we are not going back on that," Casey said in response to a question on the heavy pace of combat zone rotations.

Pentagon and military leaders have emphasized that they seek to end the taxing 15-month-long Army tours as soon as possible, but Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates predicted during a visit to Baghdad last month that such a change would not be possible until the end of this year at the earliest. Casey's remarks could reflect an optimism shared by other senior military officials that the U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq announced last fall -- with five Army combat brigades scheduled to leave by July -- will continue apace after the summer. U.S. commanders in Iraq have begun planning for the possibility of a further reduction of another five brigades by the end of the year, with a recommendation on the drawdown expected this spring from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Casey, who became Army chief in April after serving for nearly three years as the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, has warned for months that the Army is "out of balance" and cannot long sustain the increased troop levels in Iraq. He reiterated those convictions yesterday but indicated that if current trends continue, the Army will return to a normal pace of training, deployments and recuperation within four years. "The surge has sucked all of the flexibility out of the system," Casey said. "But as they come back over the spring, we'll start getting more flexibility back." As more troops return from Iraq, and as the Army adds tens of thousands of new soldiers by 2010, the number of combat brigades available to deploy will grow, Casey said. As a result, he said, "If we stay steady at about 15 active brigades [deployed] . . . we can put ourselves back in balance in about four years."

Account Of C.I.A. Tapes Is Challenged
New York Times
January 17, 2008

The former Central Intelligence Agency official who authorized the destruction in 2005 of videotapes documenting harsh interrogation of detainees from Al Qaeda gave the order despite apparently being directed to preserve the tapes, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday. Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, said Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., head of the C.I.A.’s clandestine service at the time, had not “gotten authority from anyone” to destroy the tapes. “Matter of fact, it appears that he got direction to make sure the tapes were not destroyed,” he said. Mr. Hoekstra spoke after hearing testimony from John A. Rizzo, the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, who addressed the committee on Wednesday during a closed session lasting nearly four hours. Mr. Hoekstra did not provide details, including who may have told Mr. Rodriguez not to destroy the tapes. The lawmaker said it was important to have Mr. Rodriguez testify before the committee to get his version of events.

A lawyer for Mr. Rodriguez, Robert S. Bennett, challenged Mr. Hoekstra’s comments about what agency officials told his client. “Nobody, to our knowledge, ever instructed him not to destroy the tapes,” Mr. Bennett said. “Had the director or deputy director or general counsel told him not to destroy the tapes, they would not have been destroyed.” Mr. Rizzo was the first C.I.A. official with direct knowledge of the events surrounding the destruction of the tapes to appear before the House Intelligence Committee, which is in the midst of an investigation that could last for several months. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, testified before the committee last month, and lawmakers have said they intend to call several current and former officials from the C.I.A. and the White House to appear before the House panel. A federal prosecutor, John H. Durham, is currently leading a separate criminal investigation to determine whether Mr. Rodriguez or other officials may have broken any laws by destroying the tapes or concealing them from the courts and the national Sept. 11 commission. The tapes showed agency operatives using harsh interrogation methods on two Qaeda detainees, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Agency officers began taping detainees in April 2002 and stopped the videotaping by the end of that year out of concern the tapes could leak and put C.I.A. operatives at physical and legal risk. Mr. Rodriguez has told former colleagues that he consulted with two C.I.A. lawyers before giving the destruction order. Several intelligence officials have said that the lawyers, Steven Hermes and Robert Eatinger, told Mr. Rodriguez that he had the authority to destroy the tapes and that it would not be illegal to do so. The intelligence officials cautioned, however, that the lawyers did not give Mr. Rodriguez approval to dispose of the tapes and that senior agency officials expected him to get their permission before acting. Senior White House officials were consulted about the tapes several times over three years, but it remains unclear if anyone at the White House favored the destruction of the tapes. Mr. Rodriguez, who is under subpoena from the House committee, has declined to testify without a grant of immunity. Mr. Bennett acknowledged that Mr. Rodriguez did not seek permission from Mr. Rizzo, Porter J. Goss, then the C.I.A. director, or from any other C.I.A. official before giving the destruction order. Representative Silvestre Reyes, the Texas Democrat who is chairman of the intelligence committee, called it “simply unacceptable” that members of Congress were not informed promptly after the videotapes were destroyed.

Ex-Congressman Indicted In Terrorism-Funding Case
Washington Post
January 17, 2008

A former Republican congressman from Michigan who has dedicated himself to building ties between Christians and Muslims was indicted in federal court yesterday for alleged ties to an Islamic charity that sent money to suspected terrorists. Mark D. Siljander, who served more than two terms in the House in the 1980s and later ran as a Republican candidate for the House from Northern Virginia, was charged with money laundering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. The indictment alleges that he lied to the FBI about his work on behalf of the Islamic American Relief Agency, which the Treasury Department designated as a terrorist organization in 2004. The case appears to be unique in accusing a former member of Congress of conspiring with a designated terrorist group, said Justice Department officials and national security experts. The allegations also are unusual because they involve a former politician with strong Christian support who is charged for his connections to alleged Islamic militants.

After his first House election in 1981, Siljander said he thought he won because he often wore a "Jesus First" button and because "God wanted me in." Siljander, 56, is founder and chairman of Global Strategies in Great Falls, a public relations and marketing firm, and is slated to publish a book in June focused on bridging the divide between Christians and Muslims. The charity, which was based in Columbia, Mo., allegedly paid Siljander $50,000 in March 2004 to lobby the Senate Finance Committee in an attempt to be kept off a list of terrorist organizations. Senate records indicate that Siljander has not been registered as a lobbyist since 1998. According to the indictment, the money was stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Siljander lied to federal agents about his role. His attorney, James R. Hobbs of Kansas City, Mo., said in a statement yesterday that his client "denies the allegations in the indictment and will enter a not-guilty plea."

Siljander "is internationally recognized for his good faith attempts to bridge the gap between Christian and Muslim communities worldwide" and was never involved "in any prohibited financial transactions with any U.S.-designated terrorist," Hobbs said. But Kenneth L. Wainstein, the assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement that the "indictment paints a troubling picture of an American charity organization that engaged in transactions for the benefit of terrorists and conspired with a former United States Congressman." The allegations against Siljander are part of a 42-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, which has been conducting an investigation of the charity. It closed in October 2004 when it was added to the designated terrorist list.

The group and five of its officers have been charged with an array of terrorist-financing crimes, including allegations that the group sent $130,000 to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan warlord with ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Hekmatyar, who was loosely allied with the United States in the 1980s during efforts to expel Soviet forces from Afghanistan, is accused by the Justice Department of vowing "to engage in a holy war" against U.S. and international troops there. Siljander's role in the case is more limited. He is not charged with a terrorism crime. Instead, the indictment alleges, Siljander worked with the group's leaders to conceal the source of stolen international aid money, which was transferred to accounts he controlled. He initially denied doing any advocacy work for the charity, telling the FBI that the funds he received from the group were "donations" to help him write a book, according to the indictment. The book, "A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide," is scheduled for publication by HarperOne.

The six counts against Siljander each carry potential sentences of as much as 20 years in prison, officials said. Siljander left the House after losing to a fellow Republican in 1986. He attempted to return as a candidate for Virginia's 11th District in 1992, telling supporters in the Reston area that "the image of Congress is lower than street prostitutes and street peddlers" and that "we are slowly losing morality" in Congress. He was soundly defeated in the GOP primary. President Ronald Reagan appointed Siljander as a United Nations delegate for one year after his departure from Congress. Siljander also notes on his company's Web site that his immigrant grandfather "invented the mechanical pencil," although many experts credit others with that achievement.

Pakistan Fort Overrun By Militants
New York Times
January 17, 2008

Hundreds of Islamic militants attacked a paramilitary fort in Sararogha, in the restive South Waziristan tribal region in north-west Pakistan on Tuesday, killing 22 soldiers and taking several others hostage in a nearly six-hour battle, government intelligence agency officials and local officials said Wednesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the attack, said that 600 to 700 militants had attacked the Sararogha fort, firing rockets and mortars in a region where local and foreign militants have battled the Pakistani military. Fifteen soldiers belonging to the South Waziristan Scouts, an official paramilitary militia, died in the battle, one intelligence official said. Another local official said that the militants later beheaded at least seven other soldiers.

A spokesman for Tehreek-i-Taliban, an Islamic group that is sympathetic to the Taliban, said that it had carried out the attack and that it had killed 16 soldiers and captured 24, and that only two militants had been killed. Militant groups operating in the tribal region formed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan * the Taliban Movement of Pakistan * last month, to coordinate their activities and wage a joint struggle against Pakistani forces. A spokesman for the militant group, Maulvi Umar, was quoted by Dawn, an English-language newspaper here, as saying by telephone that the militants who attacked the fort were led by Baitullah Mehsud, whom the Pakistani government has accused of responsibility for the assassination last month of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader and former prime minister. A last distress radio message was sent to another fort nearby, requesting artillery support as the militants blew up part of the Sararogha fort, broke through the defenses and poured inside, the officials said.

At the time of the attack, 38 soldiers and six civilians, including cooks, barbers and orderlies, were in the fort, which was built in the British colonial era, the officials said. The remaining soldiers are presumed to have been taken hostage by the militants, although several were reported to have escaped. In an official statement, Pakistan’s military said that seven soldiers had died in the attack, which it said had been carried out by 200 militants, and that 40 militants had been killed. The security official said that seven soldiers who had escaped had said that six militants had been killed, and that four of them were said to be Uzbeks. The militants abandoned the fort after seizing arms and ammunition, the intelligence officials said. “Nobody is there now.” an official said. Witnesses reached by telephone said that the militants had captured several soldiers and slaughtered many of them. “The forts were well stocked, and soldiers had been told to fight till the last man, last bullet,” a local administration official said. “The soldiers did put up a good fight in a seemingly hopeless situation.”

Two Killed As Riot Police Open Fire On Anti-Kibaki Protesters
London Times
January 17, 2008

Heavily armed police used live rounds, teargas and clubs to clear demonstrators from city centers in Kenya Wednesday as opposition leaders began three days of protest. Two people were shot dead in the western city of Kisumu, while three young men were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds in Kibera, Nairobi’s biggest slum. Protesters said they would not rest until President Mwai Kibaki was forced from office and replaced by his challenger, Raila Odinga. More than 600 people have died and 250,000 more been forced from their homes since President Kibaki was declared the winner of disputed elections. Much of the country was paralyzed today as police tried to disperse demonstrators before they could form into mass columns.

In Kibera, witnesses said police fired indiscriminately at people in the street. Bonnie Ouma, whose friend was injured in the leg, said: “One of them was at his workplace, selling charcoal. There was no demonstration, no barricades, nothing and the police came through, firing from their car." Heavy rain during the morning meant that the protests got off to a slow start. But as word of the shootings spread, burnt-out cars were dragged in to the streets and tires set alight. Police made sporadic forays into the muddy slum, firing teargas and live rounds into the air as protesters chanted: “No Raila, no peace.” In the city centre, police ordered shops and businesses to close early and chased hawkers and office staff away.

Witnesses said that they had seen women being clubbed by officers in riot gear. Teargas fumes wafted around the entrances to the city’s deserted hotels, which should be full of tourists on their way to Kenya’s famous game parks. In Kisumu, about 1,000 young men took to the streets carrying a coffin with Mr. Kibaki’s name on it. Protesters there threw rocks at police who let loose volleys of rifle-fire into the air. Similar scenes played out in the coastal city of Mombasa, where police hurled teargas and used batons to beat back groups of protesters several-hundred strong. Salim Lone, spokesman for Mr. Odinga, said that the protests were peaceful and designed to show the Government that it could not ignore the strength of feeling. He said that they would continue to paralyze business adding: “How long can the Government cope with this disruption before it sits down with us to negotiate a way out of the crisis?

The U.S. Ambassador to Kenya added his voice to the concerns about the outcome of the election. In an interview with The Nation newspaper, Michael Ranneberger said it was not possible “to say with certainty who won because the process was not transparent”. Mediation efforts have been put on hold after Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, was taken ill with flu shortly before he was due to arrive in the country. Supporters of Mr. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement believe that they have gained momentum this week. Their candidate was elected speaker of the parliament Wednesday, raising hopes that the Opposition would be able to control legislative business.

Israeli Coalition Begins To Crumble
London Financial Times
January 16, 2008

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, lost the crucial backing of his rightwing coalition partner on Wednesday as the Yisrael Beiteinu party said it would quit the government in protest at the opening of peace talks with the Palestinians. The departure leaves Mr. Olmert with only a slim majority in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, severely weakening him at an important moment in his effort to forge a peace agreement by the end of the year. The loss of Yisrael Beiteinu will also raise the pressure on at least one other coalition member, the ultra-orthodox Shas party, to pull out – a move that would rob Mr. Olmert of his majority.

Avigdor Lieberman, Yisrael Beiteinu’s leader and minister of strategic affairs, said his party could not tolerate Mr. Olmert’s decision to negotiate the so-called core issues of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, such as the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees. He called on Mr. Olmert to hold early elections and attacked the government’s negotiating stance. “Any negotiations based on [the principle of] territories in return for peace is a fateful mistake. For me, this is a mistake that cannot be understood,” he said. The departure of Mr. Lieberman and his 10 fellow legislators means the number of seats Mr. Olmert’s coalition holds in the 120-member Knesset will shrink from 78 to 67, though he can rely on independents to support him on any peace vote.

In the wake of Yisrael Beiteinu’s departure the focus is likely to turn to Shas and its 12 legislators, who now hold the key to Mr. Olmert’s political survival. The party has argued in the past that it is open to discussing borders and Palestinian refugees but remains adamantly opposed to talks on the status of Jerusalem, the third core issue. Shas believes Jerusalem should not be divided into an Israeli and a Palestinian half – a key Palestinian demand and one that Mr. Olmert has said he will discuss in the current talks. However, his coalition travails are likely to further undermine his room for maneuver in the peace talks, which have made little progress since they were launched in Annapolis last November. The biggest domestic test for Mr. Olmert is likely to come later this month, when the Winograd committee publishes its findings into the government’s handling of last year’s botched war in Lebanon.