GWOT Media Summary Feb 18

[RAMESES the Great]

This is a shortened version of the full report which was received without the normal full text attachment. WWD

U.S. Joint Forces Command
GWOT Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of February 18, 2008

Ø New Developments

Afghan Blast Kills Over 80 People. More than 80 people, including a leading anti-Taliban commander, were killed in the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday in one of the deadliest bomb attacks in Afghanistan since 2001. The bomb, an apparent attempt to weaken local tribal opposition to the Taliban, killed Abdul Hakim Jan as he joined a crowd attending dog fights in a park near Kandahar city. The governor of Kandahar, Asadullah Khalid, said 80 people were killed in the attack. Local hospitals were overwhelmed trying to take care of more than ninety who were wounded. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed by the blast and how many were caught up in gunfire from Mr. Jan’s guards following the explosion. (London Financial Times)
Woman Sets Off Suicide Bomb In Shiite Area Of Baghdad. A suicide bomber detonated her explosives in a commercial area in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday morning, the latest in a string of attacks by female bombers in Iraq. Police said the bomber killed three people and injured five. But the U.S. military said only the bomber was killed and two people were injured. The military said Iraqi soldiers noticed that the woman, who appeared to be a beggar, appeared bulky around her midsection. The soldiers ordered her to raise her hands, and as she raised one, they noticed an object with wires attached in her other hand, the military said in a statement. Sensing the potential danger, the soldiers fired three rounds. The woman staggered back to a nearby shop, where the blast occurred, the military said. (Washington Post)
Iraqi Military Hopes Security Will Last. Iraqi military officials expressed hope Sunday that security gains from a yearlong crackdown against extremists will allow the removal of thousands of concrete barriers in six months that protect Baghdad residents from bomb attacks. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spent the weekend touting the successes of the security operation that began one year ago and peaked last summer with the influx of thousands of U.S. troops. The operation helped restore some security to a country that in January 2007 was on the brink of civil war. The U.S. military said Sunday that insurgent attacks had declined by 60 percent over the past year, but cautioned the war was not yet won. (Raleigh News & Observer/AP)
Ø Military Coverage

Iran-Backed Groups Using Secret Arms Stores: U.S. The U.S. military said on Sunday it had evidence Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq were increasingly using secret weapons stores to attack U.S. and Iraqi forces. The accusation comes days after Tehran postponed talks with the United States on improving security in Iraq for "technical reasons", a move that prompted rebukes from U.S. officials. "In just the past week, Iraqi and coalition forces captured 212 weapons caches across Iraq, two of those inside Baghdad, (which have) growing links to Iranian-backed special groups," military spokesman Real Admiral Gregory Smith told reporters. The military uses the term "special groups" to describe rogue elements in the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. It says these militants get weapons, funding and training from neighboring Iran. (Reuters)
Ø Homeland Security

§ CIA's Ambitious Post-9/11 Spy Plan Crumbles. The CIA set up a network of front companies in Europe and elsewhere after the Sept. 11 attacks as part of a constellation of "black stations" for a new generation of spies, according to current and former agency officials. But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars setting up as many as 12 of the companies, the agency shut down all but two after concluding they were ill-conceived and poorly positioned for gathering intelligence on the CIA's principal targets: terrorist groups and unconventional weapons proliferation networks. The closures were a blow to two of the CIA's most pressing priorities after the 2001 terrorist attacks: expanding its overseas presence and changing the way it deploys spies. (Los Angeles Times)

§ Researchers: Damage Threat From U.S. Extremists May Be Greater. When it comes to fears about a terrorist attack, people in the U.S. usually focus on Osama bin Laden and foreign-based radical groups. Yet researchers say domestic extremists who commit violence in the name of their cause — abortion or the environment, for example — account for most of the damage from such incidents in this country. These homegrown groups are seven times more likely than overseas groups to commit some kind of violence in the United States, a panel reported Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In many ways, actions by these domestic extremists can be termed "terrorist" cases, the researchers indicated. (Boston Herald/AP)

Ø World Developments

§ Kosovo Declares Itself An Independent Nation. Gun shots, car horns and firecrackers rang out across the snowy streets in Pristina Sunday as Kosovo declared itself the newest nation in the world. Tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians burst into wild cheers and sobs of joy as they listened to their parliament declare Kosovo “an independent, democratic and sovereign state”. “From today onwards Kosovo is proud, independent and free,” said Hashim Thaci, the Prime Minister and former leader of the guerrilla army that took on Serbian troops in a war for independence, ultimately won for them by NATO’s intervention. The most deafening cheers were saved for the moment he lashed out at Serbia, whose brutal repression of Kosovo’s Albanians led directly to this day of celebration, declaring: “We will never be ruled by Belgrade again.” (London Times)

§ Citizens Vote Amid Threat Of Violence. Braving the threat of violence, voters began lining up Monday morning to cast their ballots in an election seen as crucial to whether Pakistan returns to the path of democratic rule or lurches deeper into instability. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. across Pakistan, the culmination of a weeks-long campaign marred by the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, suicide bombings by militants and allegations of widespread electoral irregularities. In Lahore, the nation's second-largest city and historically its political and intellectual capital, election workers had barely finished getting briefed and sealing several clear plastic ballot boxes at one polling center when voters began to trickle in. (Los Angeles Times)

§ Clashes With Israeli Troops Kill 4 Militants In Gaza. Four Palestinian militants were killed in clashes with the Israeli Army in southern Gaza early Sunday, and an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded in an exchange of fire. An Israeli Army spokeswoman said the Israeli forces had been “operating against terrorist infrastructures” inside Gaza, near the city of Rafah. About 80 Palestinians from the area were detained and brought back to Israel for questioning. Palestinian hospital officials said that three of the four gunmen killed belonged to the military wing of Hamas, the Islamic group that controls Gaza, and that the fourth belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees, a smaller militant group. More than 20 Palestinians, including some civilians, were wounded during the army incursion, the hospital officials said. (New York Times)

Ø Public Opinion

President, Vice President And Congress Continue To Have Very Low Approval Ratings. With only eleven months left in office, President Bush is probably hoping that one of his legacies isn’t close to record low approval ratings as he leaves the White House. Unfortunately, the year is not starting off on the right foot for him as just over one-quarter (28%) of Americans view the job he is doing in a positive light while seven in ten (69%) view it negatively. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates does not do as poorly as the president or vice-president, but more Americans view his job performance negatively than positively (47% versus 36%). This is actually a slight rise from October when 32% viewed him positively and 55% negatively. (Harris Interactive)