GWOT Media Summary Feb 28

[RAMESES the Great]

U.S. Joint Forces Command
GWOT Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of February 28, 2008

 New Developments
 Iraqi council rejects election law. Iraq's presidential council rejected a measure Wednesday setting up provincial elections, sending it back to parliament in the latest setback to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts. The three-member panel, however, approved the 2008 budget and another law that provides limited amnesty to detainees in Iraqi custody. Those laws will take effect once they are published in the Justice Ministry gazette. (San Jose Mercury News)
 Gates urges limits on Turkish rates. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Turkish leaders on Wednesday to abandon their invasion of guerrilla-controlled lands in the northernmost reaches of Iraq by mid-March. American and Iraqi leaders seem increasingly worried that fighting along the Turkey-Iraq border could widen into a broader and bloodier conflict. (The New York Times)
 Al-Qaeda deputy vows to avenge death of Afghanistan commander. Al-Qaeda deputy commander Ayman al- Zawahiri vowed to avenge the death of a commander fighting NATO- led forces in Afghanistan, according to a U.S.-based group that monitors extremist Web sites. Zawahiri made the threat in a videotaped eulogy to Abu Laith al-Libi, who was killed in Pakistan's tribal region last month, according to a transcript e-mailed today by IntelCenter. (Bloomberg)
 Afghan CTV journalist declared enemy combatant. The U.S. military said today a journalist working for Canada's CTV television network, who has been held for four months without being charged, has been designated an unlawful enemy combatant. (Toronto Star)
 New sanctions against Iran likely soon. The U.N. Security Council will approve new sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment — but the timing is uncertain and the resolution may not get unanimous support. (AP)

 Military Coverage
 Surge expands to Tigris river. Surging U.S. troops and defections of Iraqis previously sympathetic to al Qaeda have spread to the Tigris River Valley between Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Mosul — the northern edge of the feared Sunni triangle. (Washington Times)
 Marines halt study critical of MRAP program. The Marine Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority, a Marine official said Tuesday. Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer and civilian science adviser, alleged in a Jan. 22 report that "gross mismanagement" of the program to quickly field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles had resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Marines in Iraq. Gayl had planned to continue his investigation. (USA Today)

 Homeland Security
 “Virtual Fence” along boarder to be delayed. The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from linked, tower-mounted sensors and communications and surveillance gear, federal officials said yesterday. (The Washington Post)

 World Development
 Strikes destroy ministry in Gaza, kill 10 Palestinians. An Israeli airstrike Wednesday evening destroyed the Interior Ministry building in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip just hours after fighters from the movement launched a barrage of rockets into southern Israel. (The Washington Post)
 Winning parties, urging unity, press Pakistan’s leader to convene parliament. Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister and an opposition leader, on Wednesday increased the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf by urging him to call a session of Parliament and contending that the three opposition parties discussing a coalition had won two-thirds of the seats. (The New York Times)
 U.S. and India to strengthen security ties. With a landmark nuclear energy pact between the United States and India stalled, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that the nations would nonetheless strengthen their security ties as India looked to embark on a closer — and still contentious — level of military cooperation with the United States. With its booming economy and a strong desire to upgrade Soviet-era weaponry, India has emerged as one of the world’s most prosperous arms markets. (The New York Times)
 EU Parliament: Europe's efforts in Iraq failing; must do more to help. The European Union has failed to improve the situation in Iraq despite committing more than €800 million (US$1.2 billion) to reconstruction efforts since 2003, a European Parliament report said Wednesday. The report by the assembly's foreign affairs committee called for the EU to expand its presence in the country, operate on the ground in the Kurdish region, among others, and boost its operations in Basra and Erbil. (International Herald Tribune)

 Public Opinion
 Most Israelis back direct talks with Hamas on Shalit. Sixty-four percent of Israelis say the government must hold direct talks with the Hamas government in Gaza toward a cease-fire and the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Less than one-third (28 percent) still opposes such talks. (Haaretz)

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

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Gates urges limits on Turkish rates
The New York Times
February 28, 2008

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Turkish leaders on Wednesday to abandon their invasion of guerrilla-controlled lands in the northernmost reaches of Iraq by mid-March. American and Iraqi leaders seem increasingly worried that fighting along the Turkey-Iraq border could widen into a broader and bloodier conflict.

“It’s very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave,” Mr. Gates told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday as he prepared to leave for Turkey.

His words reflected the Bush administration’s sharper tone toward the Turkish government over the cross-border raids and stood in contrast to earlier American statements backing the Turks in their operations against guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the P.K.K., the initials of the group’s name in Kurdish.

“I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that, not months,” Mr. Gates said. It was the first time he had demanded a strict timeline for the Turkish operation to end.

The Turkish military has vowed to destroy the havens inside Iraq that P.K.K. fighters have long used to stage attacks and assassinations in Turkey. Last week, the Turks carried out their most ambitious operation against the guerrillas in years, with what Turkish news reports described as thousands of troops.

Turkey claims that it has killed 230 P.K.K. guerrillas since last Thursday, including 77 rebels since Tuesday. Ahmed Denis, a P.K.K. spokesman, scoffed at the Turkish numbers and said more than 100

Turkish soldiers had been killed. Neither claim could be independently verified.

American officials have supported the right of Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, to defeat the P.K.K., which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization. The United States has also been providing intelligence to the Turks about the guerrillas.

Turkey has sometimes sent troops over the border in temporary “hot pursuit” raids against guerrillas. But this is the first time that American officials have been so adamant about urging a Turkish withdrawal.

Though the Turkish invasion has been limited so far, Iraqi officials say they fear what it could become. The Iraqi cabinet issued a statement on Tuesday night condemning the operation as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and warning that “unilateral military action is not acceptable.”

But, publicly at least, the Turks show no sign of letting up. Ahmet Davutoglu, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Wednesday that there was no “timetable” for ending the operation. Meeting in Baghdad with Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, Mr. Davutoglu warned that the operation would not stop until P.K.K. bases inside Iraq were “eliminated.”

Mr. Gates’s stop in Turkey had been planned long before Turkish troops entered Iraq, and aides to the defense secretary said he considered canceling the visit once the raids began. But, they said, he decided to deliver the administration’s message in meetings with Turkish leaders.

“Military activity alone will not solve this terrorist problem for Turkey,” Mr. Gates said.

Surge expands to Tigris river
Washington Times
February 28, 2008

Surging U.S. troops and defections of Iraqis previously sympathetic to al Qaeda have spread to the Tigris River Valley between Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Mosul — the northern edge of the feared Sunni triangle.
Although discoveries of bombs known as IEDS and explosions continue to occur regularly along the main highway between the two cities, the frequency of the deadly blasts has dropped by about half, said Capt. Matthew McKee, executive officer of Crazy Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Soldiers in Crazy Troop cite a number of improvements, including:
Villages that were once terrorist sanctuaries are becoming less so.
Iraqi police and U.S. intelligence operations, combined with a joint U.S.-Iraqi information campaign, are helping drive a wedge between al Qaeda and nationalist insurgents in the region, and a wedge between al Qaeda and the general populace.
The recent deployment from Tikrit of Iraqi army troops, who conduct joint operations against the terrorists with U.S. and Iraqi police forces.
The effort includes establishing security checkpoints along roads from villages to the highway to augment those set up by police and Concerned Local Citizen groups, now renamed Sons of Iraq.
"In the past, the population passively condoned attacks on coalition forces," said Capt. Sam Cook, commander of Crazy Troop. "They're struggling internally now, within themselves.
"They don't want occupation, but they don't like the insurgency's foreign links, they don't like al Qaeda's thuggery and foreign support, and they're totally against Iraqis killing innocent Iraqis."
Capt. Cook and Crazy Troop are based at Joint Security Station (JSS) Sharqat, about an hour's drive south of Mosul. They share the facility on the southern edge of the city — in a partially destroyed hotel compound they call Camp Crazyhorse — with Iraqi troops.
Crazy Troop's task is to support the Iraqi police and military, which plan and conduct their own operations. That puts an Iraqi face on missions and, when combined with civic action projects, lessens the impression of Americans as occupiers while increasing the impression of Americans as partners.
Despite improvements in security, soldiers say explosions still occur about every other day between Tikrit and Mosul, compared with about one a day before the surge moved northward.
The estimate, while rough, tracks with the drop in high-profile attacks throughout Iraq of about 60 percent since March — a figure cited recently by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander for Iraq.
"We try to partner with Iraqi forces in the area of greatest threat to secure people in their daily lives," said Lt. Col. Thomas Dorame, commander of the 1st Squadron.
"I tell the Iraqi troops that we're here to support them, rather than they support us," he said. "At the end of the day, success depends on the Iraqis standing up and taking charge of security and governance."
Sharqat is an agricultural trading center of about 140,000 residents. People in the city and area villages are mainly Sunni Arabs who feel disenfranchised politically and economically since the overthrow of Saddam's Ba'athist Party regime.
In addition to al Qaeda terrorists in the region, there are members of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) group.
Intelligence officials say ISI, despite its nationalist face, is in the main faction of al Qaeda in Iraq, which was established in Diyala province in 2006.
The "state" and its supposed Iraqi leader — whom U.S. officials believe does not exist — were seen as a counter by al Qaeda to criticism of it being mainly led by non-Iraqi Arabs and funded by outsiders.
Capt. Cook and other U.S. commanders in the Tigris River Valley ensure that the link between the two terrorist groups comes up in conversations with Iraqis, many of whom are unaware of it.
According to U.S. officials and Iraqi police, it's believed some members of ISI cells are also in the dark about the link and this could lead to recent defections by more nationalist-minded ISI members.
The exact number of estimated hard-core fighters was not immediately available, but Capt. Cook said in one village alone — Aitha — about 100 of its 10,000 people were believed either members of al Qaeda or ISI or support their operations.
Attacks on Iraqi police and U.S. forces follow two main patterns, officials said: bombs planted along the main highway — mainly by unemployed villagers hired for the task — and bombs or sniping by hard-core terrorists in retaliation for the capture or killing of ISI or al Qaeda leaders.
The U.S. military has plans in the works to help put people in the area into jobs through a paid civilian service corps for repairing or building infrastructure.
"I think [terrorist] foot soldiers now are primarily fighting for money," Col. Dorame said. "Many of those we have captured are not fanatics, they're not ideologues. ... They're doing it for money to feed their families.
Winning parties, urging unity, press Pakistan’s leader to convene parliament
The New York Times
February 28, 2008

Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister and an opposition leader, on Wednesday increased the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf by urging him to call a session of Parliament and contending that the three opposition parties discussing a coalition had won two-thirds of the seats.
“I would like to say on behalf of all of my colleagues that we inform Mr. Musharraf that we are not prepared to wait for a single day more for the assembly to be convened,” Mr. Sharif said. He called on the Election Commission to announce the results of the Feb. 18 elections so that Parliament could convene.
The opposition parties held a joint meeting Wednesday in the capital to reinforce their alliance.
The luncheon meeting held by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto and now chairman of her Pakistan Peoples Party, was seen here as a show of strength by the three main parties that are discussing a coalition government — the others are Mr. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N, and the Awami National Party, which is the Pashtun nationalist party. Mr. Sharif has ruled out working in any government with Mr. Musharraf.
“It should be amply clear to him that the nation has given a verdict against dictatorship,” Mr. Sharif said, referring to Mr. Musharraf, a former army chief who took power by ousting Mr. Sharif in a coup in 1999. Mr. Sharif said 171 opposition elected members of Parliament were present at the gathering. “In the coming days, we will be crossing two-thirds” of the 272 seats in the national election, Mr. Sharif said. The results for 264 seats have been announced so far.
Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad, the secretary of the Election Commission, has been quoted in local news media as saying that the official results will be announced Saturday. A two-thirds majority is needed in Parliament to repeal constitutional amendments made by Mr. Musharraf or to impeach him.
Mr. Sharif urged the opposition forces to support one another. “We will make sure we stay united, and united we will defeat dictatorship,” Mr. Sharif said. He said he would support the Pakistan Peoples Party, which emerged as the largest party in Parliament after the elections.
Mr. Sharif said the judiciary should be restored to its pre-Nov. 3 position, before Mr. Musharraf declared emergency rule and replaced the members of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Zardari, who took over the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party after his wife’s assassination, had the same message of unity, though his tone was more temperate. “P.P.P. has rendered numerous sacrifices for strengthening of democracy,” he said. “We want to change the system.” Mr. Zardari said his party would give power to Parliament.
“There are many problems ahead,” he said. “Pakistan stands on the verge of disaster but also on the verge of opportunity, and we have to seize the opportunity for democracy and stability.”
Asfandyar Wali Khan, the leader of the Awami National Party, which has emerged as the largest party in the North-West Frontier Province, urged the opposition not to compromise. “We have to ensure that we reach the goals for which our forefathers struggled,” he said, and enumerated these goals as the independence of the judiciary, the sovereignty of Parliament and the supremacy of the Constitution.
U.S. and India to strengthen security ties
The New York Times
February 28, 2008

With a landmark nuclear energy pact between the United States and India stalled, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that the nations would nonetheless strengthen their security ties as India looked to embark on a closer — and still contentious — level of military cooperation with the United States.

With its booming economy and a strong desire to upgrade Soviet-era weaponry, India has emerged as one of the world’s most prosperous arms markets.
During two days of meetings with Indian officials, Mr. Gates pressed the case of American defense companies competing for multibillion-dollar contracts with the Indian government, including a coveted $10 billion fighter jet deal.
But beyond the economic benefits of Indian military modernization, American officials contend that India can be an important stabilizing force in Asia and a critical counterweight to China’s regional ambitions.
On Wednesday, Mr. Gates denied that the Bush administration’s effort to strengthen ties to India and other Asian nations was planned specifically with China in mind.
But Pentagon officials said that during Mr. Gates’s meetings with Indian officials, more time was spent discussing China than Pakistan, India’s longtime rival.
Mr. Gates has logged thousands of miles on stops around Asia to deepen military ties and pave the way for future arms deals with three of Asia’s most important democracies: India, Indonesia and Australia.
A senior defense official traveling with Mr. Gates said that, given China’s military ambitions, it was essential to cement security relationships with other powers in Asia “not in an aggressive sense, but certainly as a hedge.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to talk publicly about American defense policy.
During a stop in Indonesia, Mr. Gates pledged more active Pentagon support for the Indonesian military, after more than a decade of estrangement over the Indonesian military’s past human rights abuses.
In Canberra, Australia, Mr. Gates promised to investigate whether a Congressional prohibition on foreign nations from buying the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet could be lifted. Australian officials have expressed interest in buying the high-tech fighter.
India and Australia are formidable naval powers in the Indian Ocean, a vital strategic corridor for oil supplies as well as for terrorist organizations and trafficking groups.
Security analysts predict that India’s spending for weapons could grow to as much as $40 billion over the next several years, more than its entire annual armament budget today. India is trying to upgrade its arsenal of submarines, tanks, jet fighters and transport aircraft. It has conducted several military exercises with the United States in recent years.
India announced last month that it would buy six C-130 cargo planes from the American military contractor Lockheed Martin, a deal worth about $1 billion. Earlier, the Indian Navy bought an American warship, the Trenton, which it renamed the Jalashva. The vessel increases India’s capacity to project its power in the Indian Ocean region.
Lockheed and Boeing are among the companies competing for the $10 billion contract to supply India with 126 fighter jets, to upgrade an aging fleet of Russian-built MIGs.
The Indians want to expand their strategic relationship with the United States, but not necessarily at the expense of traditional military partners, like Russia.
India has also insisted on high-technology transfer, which would have been unimaginable even a decade ago, when mutual distrust lingered from the cold-war era. India traditionally relied on Russia for its military hardware. In recent years, Israel has become a more important partner, and now so has the United States.