GCOM Summary (only) 2010 Aug 27
 

GCOM Summary 2010 Aug 27
U.S. Joint Forces Command
Global Current Operations Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of August 27, 2010

New Developments
•Afghan Candidate’s Campaign Workers Abducted. Ten campaign workers for a female parliamentary candidate in western Afghanistan were abducted by gunmen Thursday and the Taliban claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks, one that killed eight Afghan police officers and another that killed two Spanish police trainers and a translator a day earlier. The campaign workers, all men, were in southern Herat Province traveling between remote districts when gunmen stopped them, said Fawzia Gilani, a current member of Parliament who is running for re-election. “I received a phone call and a person said, ‘We have your campaigners with us,’ ” she said. “I do not know who did it. I have political rivals and there are other armed groups, but I cannot blame anyone specifically because it is hard to know.” (New York Times – see attached)

•Afghan Troops Learn Rules Of The Road. Afghan Sgt. Maj. Barakatullah Kolistani, who trains army recruits, is confident that his fledgling soldiers are learning the discipline, strategic skills and marksmanship needed to defeat the Taliban. But Kolistani, one of the base's senior enlisted soldiers, is worried about their proficiency in another key skill: driving. Particularly when it comes to the 8,000-pound-plus U.S.-supplied Humvee, the vehicle of choice in the nascent Afghan army. He's not alone. Afghan and American trainers at the NATO-run Kabul Military Training Center, where 10,000 recruits receive instruction at any given time, are shocked to discover just how bad the Afghans drive. (Los Angeles Times – see attached)

•Afghan President Questions U.S. Timeline For Leaving. President Hamid Karzai on Thursday criticized the U.S. plan to begin withdrawing troops starting next July and said the war on terror cannot succeed as long as the Taliban and their allies maintain sanctuaries in Pakistan. Karzai's statements were made during a meeting with visiting U.S. congressmen and come at a time when the Obama administration is ratcheting up pressure on the Afghan leader to do more to stamp out corruption. The Afghan government maintains that the U.S. should be doing more on other fronts, including pressuring Pakistan to shut down the insurgent sanctuaries. A statement by Karzai's office said the Afghan leader told the U.S. delegation that significant progress had been made in rebuilding the country after decades of war. But he said the campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaida had faltered because of ongoing civilian casualties during NATO military operations and a lack of focus on "destroying the terrorists' refuge" across the border. (Boston Globe/AP)

•Bin Laden's Bodyguard Warns Of Escalation In Yemen. A former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden warned of an escalation in fighting between al-Qaida and Yemeni authorities and predicted the government would need outside intervention to stay in power. Nasser Ahmed al-Bahri told the Associated Press late Wednesday that recent attacks by al-Qaida in southern Yemen were an indication of its increasing strength. U.S. officials have said that the CIA now sees al-Qaida's branch in Yemen as a greater threat to the United States than its parent organization hiding out in Pakistan. "I expect that the confrontations will escalate and will reach an open war between the government and al-Qaida fighters," he said, adding that U.S. forces may have to intervene to keep the terror network from triumphing. The U.S. is already spending tens of millions of dollars to help the Yemeni government fight al-Qaida and on Wednesday U.S. officials said the CIA's deadly Predator drones may be added to the fight. (ABC News/AP)

Military Coverage
•Administration Halts Prosecution Of Alleged USS Cole Bomber. The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing. The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden. (Washington Post – see attached)

•Pentagon To Seek Modest Budget Growth. The Pentagon's chief financial officer said Wednesday that he expected the Obama administration to seek modest growth in the next defense budget amid concerns in Washington about mounting deficits. Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale told reporters that the Defense Department would seek an increase of 1% over inflation in the White House's next budget request, for fiscal year 2012. While that figure represents slower overall growth for the defense budget, Mr. Hale's optimism reflects hopes that a cost-saving effort by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates may help shield the military from more substantial cuts. (Wall Street Journal – see attached)

Homeland Security
•FBI, ATF Squabbles Are Hurting Bombing Inquiries, Justice Official Says. A long-standing battle between the FBI and the ATF over who controls investigations of bombings is a serious problem that has caused law enforcement delays and duplication of effort, according to a top Justice Department official who is trying to resolve the dispute. Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler, in an internal memo, said it is "critically important" that the two agencies share information so key intelligence is not lost. He designated the FBI as the lead investigator for explosives cases linked to terrorism, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will control all other bombing inquiries. (Washington Post – see attached)

World Developments
•Carter Wins Release Of American In North Korea. Former President Jimmy Carter was expected to leave North Korea on Friday with Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American who was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for illegally entering the country, the Carter Center said. Mr. Gomes was granted amnesty by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, the Carter Center said in an e-mail. Mr. Carter had been visiting Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on a private humanitarian mission to win the release of Mr. Gomes, who was sentenced in April to eight years in a North Korean prison and fined $700,000 for entering the country illegally. (New York Times – see attached)

•Grenade Explodes In Bangkok, Rattles Nerves. A grenade exploded in central Bangkok, seriously wounding a security guard, police said on Friday, the third such incident in a month during a state of emergency across Thailand's capital. The explosions threaten to undermine attempts to revive Thailand's huge tourism industry three months after the country's worst political violence in modern history in which 91 people were killed in clashes between troops and red-shirted anti-government protesters. The grenade was tossed into the headquarters of Thai duty-free giant King Power Group late on Thursday, on the same street where a grenade exploded on July 30, seriously wounding a garbage collector. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters the incident showed Bangkok, where there is still emergency rule, remained volatile. (Reuters)

•UK Faces New Wave Of Homegrown Attacks: Report. Britain faces a new wave of attacks from poorly trained but highly motivated homegrown militants, as the al Qaeda threat shifts from big, sophisticated bomb plots to acts by individuals, a report said on Friday. A shift in al Qaeda tactics, the growing radicalization of Muslims in prisons and a foreign policy that "serves to focus alienation and resentment," was fuelling the threat, the study by the Royal United Services Institute think tank argued. There have been 20 significant Islamist plots against Britain since 2000. Only one has been successful, the July 2005 London bombings by four young Britons which killed 52 people. More than 230 people have been jailed for planning attacks. (Reuters)

Public Opinion
•Iraq Seven Years Later: Was The War Worth It? In a USA Today poll, 60% of Americans say "No," when asked "Do you think the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over?" Similar majorities either felt that the war did not make the USA safer from terrorism or made no difference. The same was said of whether the political situation in the Middle East is more stable. At the same time, 52% of Americans say that Iraqis are better off as a result of the war; 20% believe they are not. (USA Today – see attached)