GWOT Media Summary Feb 27

[RAMESES the Great]

U.S. Joint Forces Command
GWOT Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of February 26, 2008

 New Developments
 Major powers push for new Iran sanctions. Western powers on Monday pushed for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program as Tehran voiced defiance about any new punitive measures, saying high oil prices would cushion the blow. (Reuters)
 Gates praises Indonesian military but cautions on human rights. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that the U.S. was still willing to sell Indonesia new weaponry, particularly for its navy and air force. But he cautioned that democracies must have firm civilian control of their militaries, which must be disciplined for human rights abuses. Gates praised Jakarta for moving to professionalize its military, which for decades under former President Suharto ruled the archipelago with an iron fist until the late dictator was deposed a decade ago. (Los Angeles Times)
 4 Shiite Pilgrims Slain in New Attack. A roadside bomb killed four Shiite pilgrims and injured 15 south of Baghdad on Monday in the third fatal attack on people traveling to one of their sect's most sacred gatherings, officials said. In all, police reported at least 25 people were killed or found dead in violence nationwide Monday. The death toll from a suicide bombing Sunday rose to 56, making it one of Iraq's deadliest attacks this year. It also wounded 68. (AP)
 McCain: 'The war will be over soon'. Republican presidential candidate John McCain defended his belief that U.S. troops will need to stay in Iraq for decades Monday but said the unpopular war will soon end "for all intents and purposes." McCain said his potential Democratic rivals have distorted his January comment that U.S. forces may need to remain in Iraq for up to 100 years. Speaking at a campaign event in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, he said that referred to a long-term American presence similar to those in South Korea or Kuwait. (CNN)

 Military Coverage
 Post surge troop levels: 140,000. The Pentagon is projecting that when the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq ends in July there will be about 8,000 more troops on the ground than when it began in January 2007, a senior general said Monday. Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, operations chief for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that by July the troop total is likely to be 140,000. That compares with 132,000 when President Bush approved orders to send an additional five Army brigades to Iraq to improve security and avert civil war. (AP)
 Suicide Bomb Kills Pakistani General. A top Pakistani Army general was killed Monday when a suicide attacker approached his car at a traffic light in Rawalpindi and blew himself up, military officials said. In a separate development, three Pakistani workers were killed when bombs exploded at the office of Plan International, a British aid agency, in Mansehra in the North-West Frontier Province, according to Pakistani officials. (New York Times)
 NATO may follow if Canada exits Afghanistan: Canadian minister. Canada's defense minister urged parliament on Monday to keep its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan until 2011, warning that an earlier withdrawal could lead its NATO allies to abandon the shaky nation too. "This is perhaps the most important debate facing our parliament and our nation today," Defense Minister Peter MacKay said at the start of a parliamentary debate on whether to extend the military mission or exit. (AFP)
 Taliban Threatens Afghan Cellphone Companies. The Taliban have demanded that all four cellphone companies in Afghanistan cease operating at night or face attacks on their offices and communication towers, according to a statement released to journalists on Monday. The statement, issued by a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, complained that NATO and American forces in Afghanistan, which it called “occupying forces,” were tracking the whereabouts of militants through their mobile phones and conducting espionage through cellphones. (New York Times)

 Homeland Security
 Intelligence sharing still lacking. The Department of Homeland Security is stumbling in its efforts to coordinate the gathering and sharing of domestic intelligence with state and local officials, one of its core responsibilities, according to an internal report. In particular, Homeland Security doesn't provide state and local officials with all the information they need, according to a report commissioned by the department and written by an outside consulting firm. It also often tailors intelligence reports for department officials in Washington rather than those at lower levels of government, the report said. (The Wall Street Journal)

 World Development
 U.S. Backs Musharraf as Opponents Discuss Coalition Government. The U.S. voiced support for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as parties opposed to his military-backed rule tried to form a coalition government. President George W. Bush continues to back Musharraf ``for all the work that he's done to help us in counterterrorism,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington. (Bloomberg)
 Sri Lankan Says 49 Killed in Fighting. Sri Lankan forces attacked rebel fortifications by ground and staged an airstrike on a Tamil Tiger naval base in a wave of fighting that killed 43 rebels and six government soldiers, the military said Monday. The heavy fighting came amid an offensive against the rebels' de facto state in parts of this South Asian island state's north. Top government officials have vowed to destroy the Tamil Tigers and win the 25-year-old war with the separatist group by the end of the year. (AP)
 Kosovo Statehood Delicate for NATO Force. Spc. Scott Krampitz stands on a plateau overlooking a smattering of shabby houses against a backdrop of snowcapped peaks known as the Cursed Mountains. His unit of Humvees and trucks patrol muddy roads in northern Kosovo, protecting tiny hamlets of Albanians from ethnic Serbs infuriated by the birth of the newest state in Europe. The Minnesota native is one of 1,455 American troops taking part in a NATO peacekeeping force whose mission has become even more delicate since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. (AP)

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

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Gates praises Indonesian military but cautions on human rights
The Los Angeles Times
February 26, 2008

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that the U.S. was still willing to sell Indonesia new weaponry, particularly for its navy and air force. But he cautioned that democracies must have firm civilian control of their militaries, which must be disciplined for human rights abuses.

Gates praised Jakarta for moving to professionalize its military, which for decades under former President Suharto ruled the archipelago with an iron fist until the late dictator was deposed a decade ago.

Although Gates did not criticize the Indonesian military's current conduct, he made a point to emphasize that democracies must investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption or abuse within their armed forces.

"In addition to the importance of civilian control of the military, there cannot be even a taint of corruption or a hint of tolerance for human rights abuses," Gates told the Indonesian Council on World Affairs.

During the last three years, the Bush administration has moved to lift restrictions on military ties between the two countries that were first cut after Indonesian military atrocities committed in East Timor in 1991.

Congress has moved to withhold some of the aid until past abuses by the Indonesian military were accounted for, and human rights groups have argued that the armed forces still are not fully answerable to civilian authorities.

Gates' address followed his afternoon meetings with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono. U.S. officials traveling with Gates said he pushed to deepen security ties with Indonesia, which as the world's largest Muslim country has become a key ally in the region and a model of the kind of secular Muslim state the Bush administration hopes to replicate elsewhere.

Although Indonesia has become the second-largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the region, at about $15.7 million this year, Indonesian government officials have expressed repeated frustration with the slow pace of U.S. military sales.

In recent months, Indonesia has discussed acquiring weapons from China and Russia, with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin vowing during a visit here in September to sell Jakarta $1 billion of advanced weaponry.

The discussions with the Russians and Chinese were seen by analysts as a hedge against inaction, but Gates emphasized that all U.S. restrictions on arms sales to Indonesia were lifted by the Bush administration in November 2005. At a news conference with Gates after their talks, Indonesia's defense minister said his consideration of non-U.S. weaponry was sound acquisition policy.

"We review all equipment from all countries, including the United States, in a balanced and very fair-minded way," Sudarsono said.

Suicide Bomb Kills Pakistani General
The New York Times
February 26, 2008

A top Pakistani Army general was killed Monday when a suicide attacker approached his car at a traffic light in Rawalpindi and blew himself up, military officials said.

In a separate development, three Pakistani workers were killed when bombs exploded at the office of Plan International, a British aid agency, in Mansehra in the North-West Frontier Province, according to Pakistani officials.

In addition to killing the surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Ahmad Baig, the attack on his staff car claimed the lives of eight other people, including the attacker and five civilians.
The attack took place at 2:45 p.m. in a crowded commercial neighborhood in Rawalpindi, a garrison town just outside the capital, Islamabad. The blast tore through a busy road and damaged at least four vehicles. The general’s car was mangled.
More than 25 people were wounded, including several pedestrians. One pedestrian, a woman, was among those killed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Pakistani officials said the suicide bomber was on foot when he attacked the car. “The attacker was a pedestrian who was waiting for the target,” said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the main spokesman for the Pakistani military. “At a traffic signal, he approached the vehicle and blew himself up.”
General Abbas said the bomber had not singled out the medical corps as a target. “In my judgment, he was just waiting for a senior army officer,” the general said. “When he saw a staff car with the signature of a senior officer, he carried out the attack.”
General Baig’s guard and driver in the car were also killed. General Baig led the Army Medical Corps and was the principal of the Army Medical College in Rawalpindi.
Plan International, an agency working for children, said that the motive for the attack on its office in Mansehra was not known and that the agency had not been given a warning. Six to 12 armed men burst into the office and set off the bombs, a statement on the agency’s Web site said.
“The men, who were carrying guns and grenades, marched into the office and fired indiscriminately before setting off the devices at 4:15 p.m. local time,” the statement said. In addition to those killed, the statement said, one staff member was critically wounded and the office was “burned to the ground.”
In recent months, Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the Pakistani Army, has been the scene of a spate of attacks on military personnel, including officials from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister and opposition leader, was assassinated at a political rally in Rawalpindi on Dec. 27.
The car bombing on Monday was the second recent attack on officers in the Army Medical Corps. Last month, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed a military bus carrying doctors in Rawalpindi, killing six people.
Pakistan’s military has been battling militants in the country’s semiautonomous northwestern tribal regions straddling the border with Afghanistan. In retaliatory attacks, the militants have aimed at military installations and personnel.
Pakistani officials have blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal militant sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, for the attacks on the military. Mr. Mehsud is from the restive South Waziristan tribal region.
However, Mr. Mehsud had declared a cease-fire before the recent parliamentary elections, and other groups are active in the tribal region.
The suicide attack took place as militants sympathetic to the Taliban in the tribal areas issued statements to the Pakistani news media urging the new government to stop the military operations and initiate dialogue to restore peace.
Pakistani political parties are in negotiations to form a government after the Feb. 18 elections, in which the Pakistan Peoples Party of Ms. Bhutto emerged with the most seats.
No political party secured a majority in the Parliament, and the next government is expected to be a coalition led by the Peoples Party.
Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and opposition leader who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-N, has said he will support the Peoples Party in forming a government.
On Monday, Mr. Sharif reiterated his demand that President Pervez Musharraf resign. “Musharraf should realize the situation; accept the verdict of the people,” Mr. Sharif said at a news briefing in Islamabad.”
In a signal that he was opposed to the use of force and military operations in the tribal areas, Mr. Sharif urged a different approach.
“We want to know whose war of terror it is,” Mr. Sharif said. “What is the definition of this war on terror? Only after that we can decide whether to use bullets or dialogue.” Mr. Sharif was echoing a popular sentiment here among many Pakistanis who view Mr. Musharraf as blindly following America’s orders.
“Britain solved the Northern Ireland issue with dialogue,” Mr. Sharif said. “When we can talk with India, can’t we talk with our own?”
Taliban Threatens Afghan Cellphone Companies
The New York Times
February 26, 2008

The Taliban have demanded that all four cellphone companies in Afghanistan cease operating at night or face attacks on their offices and communication towers, according to a statement released to journalists on Monday.

The statement, issued by a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, complained that NATO and American forces in Afghanistan, which it called “occupying forces,” were tracking the whereabouts of militants through their mobile phones and conducting espionage through cellphones.
“It has caused heavy casualties to Taliban and sometimes to civilians,” the statement said.
United States counterterrorism forces have tracked insurgents and Taliban commanders in Afghanistan using satellite and cellphone signals, and have conducted airstrikes and raids based on such information. The Taliban have also often accused villagers of alerting counterterrorism forces of their movements.
The Taliban said they had already contacted the companies, but without result. Some companies said they were not able to stop foreign forces from tracing their signals, the statement said.
So the Taliban council decided to demand that all companies shut off their signals across Afghanistan from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., the statement said.
“If they do not heed it, the Taliban will target their offices, suboffices and tower stations,” it said. “The council has decided to give a three-day deadline to all mobile telephone companies to stop their signals in order to prevent the enemy obtaining intelligence though cellphones and to prevent Taliban and civilian casualties.”
The cellphone companies represent one of the most successful new industries in Afghanistan, where telephone communications were virtually nonexistent under the Taliban.