GCOM Summary (only) 2010 Aug 17

[Felix The Assassin]

GCOM Summary 2010 AUG 17
U.S. Joint Forces Command
Global Current Operations Media Summary
Operations Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom/Noble Eagle
Current as of August 17, 2010


New Developments
•Afghan President To Eliminate Private Security Within 4 Months. President Hamid Karzai will shut down all private security firms operating in Afghanistan within four months, his spokesman announced Monday, sending ripples of alarm through a Western community that relies heavily on such protection. The Afghan leader had said for months that he intended to call a halt to the operations of private security firms, which are not regulated by the Afghan government and have long been a source of friction between the Karzai administration and the West. In announcing a fairly near-term deadline for the shutdown, the president appeared to preempt efforts by NATO's International Security Assistance Force to register private security contractors and set standards for their behavior. (Los Angeles Times – see attached)

•Militants Overtake India As Top Threat, Says Pakistan's ISI. Pakistan's main spy agency says homegrown Islamist militants have overtaken the Indian army as the greatest threat to national security, a finding with potential ramifications for relations between the two rival South Asian nations and for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. A recent internal assessment of security by the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's powerful military spy agency, determined that for the first time in 63 years it expects a majority of threats to come from Islamist militants, according to a senior ISI officer. The assessment, a regular review of national security, allocates a two-thirds likelihood of a major threat to the state coming from militants rather than from India or elsewhere. It is the first time since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947 that India hasn't been viewed as the top threat. (Wall Street Journal – see attached)

•Air Strike Kills al Qaeda Cell Leader In Afghan North. An air strike in northern Afghanistan killed an al Qaeda leader who was planning suicide attacks, NATO-led forces said on Monday, underscoring the spread of the insurgency to once-peaceful areas of the country. In another incident demonstrating the breadth of the Taliban's reach outside traditional strongholds in the south and east, a couple were stoned to death in public in northern Kunduz over an alleged illicit love affair, government officials said. The spread of the insurgency has come despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, backed by about 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, who have attempted to take the fight to the militants in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces. While Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda is widely believed to be funding and training the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the capture or killing of senior al Qaeda figures has been relatively uncommon in recent years. (Reuters)

•Iraq's Main Parties Break Off Coalition Talks. The two men vying to lead Iraq broke off talks on Monday aimed at forming a government after an unseemly quarrel over their blocs' sectarian roots, five months after general elections. In yet another disappointing development for the war-torn nation's citizens, suffering persistent power cuts and a lack of reconstruction, election winner Iyad Allawi demanded an apology from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. A spokeswoman for Allawi's broadly secular Iraqiya coalition said it was ceasing talks with Maliki after the incumbent labeled them a "Sunni bloc," in a television interview to be broadcast on Monday. However, Allawi's party left the door open for a return to talks. While Allawi is a Shiite, like Maliki and the majority of Iraq's population, his bloc claimed most of its electoral support from the predominantly Sunni regions of western and northern Iraq. (Google/AFP)

•Iraq Bomb Targets Iranian Shi'ite Pilgrims; Five Dead. A car bomb exploded Monday in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital while a bus full of Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims was passing. Security officials say five people died and nine were wounded. The blast in Muqdadiya was the latest in a series of attacks testing the mettle of Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to end combat operations at the end of August. The attack comes after bombings and drive-by shootings Sunday that killed at least 10 other people and wounded more than 20. The U.S. military says an American soldier was killed Sunday during an attack on a patrol in Iraq. In a statement released Monday, the military said the attack happened in Baquba, but did not give further details. (Voice of America)

Military Coverage
•Defense Secretary Gates Plans To Step Down In 2011. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he intends to retire next year, a long-anticipated step that would remove a primary architect of U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan and could cast doubt on recently announced plans to trim Pentagon spending. By broadcasting his intentions well in advance, Mr. Gates, one of the longest-serving and most influential U.S. defense chiefs, is giving President Barack Obama considerable time to find a successor prior to the 2012 presidential election. Aides cautioned that Mr. Gates’ retirement was not yet set in stone. "We'll see," one said, holding out the possibility that Mr. Obama could ask him to stay longer. (Wall Street Journal – see attached)

•Pentagon Cites Concerns In China Military Growth. China has increased spending on a military that is becoming larger and more effective even as Beijing has rebuffed exchanges with the Defense Department that could improve stability, according to a Pentagon study released Monday. Senior Pentagon officials acknowledged that much of the Chinese military modernization program may reflect the rational ambition of a rising global power, albeit one that may be a worrisome rival to American interests in the Pacific region. But across the American government – from the White House to the Pentagon to Congress – officials express concern that China’s lack of openness about the growth, capabilities and intentions of its military injects instability to a vital region of the globe. (New York Times – see attached)

•Judge Orders Longtime Gitmo Detainee Released For Lack Of Evidence. A U.S. district court judge in the District of Columbia Monday ordered the United States to release a detainee held for nearly nine years at the military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. ruled that the federal government had "failed to demonstrate that the detention of [Adnan Farhan Abd Al Latif] is lawful." Kennedy heard oral arguments on the matter in early June. Significant portions of Kennedy's 28-page ruling are redacted. But the document makes clear that Kennedy agreed with Latif's arguments that documents and other evidence used against him were not reliable and that the government's belief that a man he met with was an al Qaeda recruiter is incorrect. (CNN)

World Developments
•START Expiration Ends U.S. Inspection Of Russian Nuclear Bases. For the first time in 15 years, U.S. officials have lost their ability to inspect Russian long-range nuclear bases, where they had become accustomed to peering into missile silos, counting warheads and whipping out tape measures to size up rockets. The inspections had occurred every few weeks under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. But when START expired in December, the checks stopped. Meanwhile, in an obscure State Department office staffed round-the-clock, a stream of messages from Russia about routine movements of its nuclear missiles and bombers has slowed to a trickle. The Obama administration hopes the inspections and messages will soon resume under the New START agreement, which was signed by the two countries in April. If it faces long delays in the Senate, or is voted down, the U.S. government will lose critical insight into Russia's nuclear forces, officials say. (Washington Post – see attached)

•Turkey Plays Down U.S. Rift. Turkey sought to downplay tensions with Washington on Monday following a warning by President Barack Obama that Ankara’s stance on Iran and Israel jeopardized Congressional approval of arms purchases from the U.S. A senior official from the Turkish foreign ministry said on Monday that Ankara did not plan any major change in policy. “They tell us that they understand our position, and that we have to understand their position and help them, if they are to get Congress to approve the sales.” In June Iran voted against U.S.-championed sanctions on Tehran at the United Nations Security Council, following a deal Turkey and Brazil brokered with Iran over its nuclear program. (London Financial Times)

•U.S. Citizen Berenson Says Sorry For Peru Terrorism. U.S. citizen Lori Berenson publicly apologized on Monday for collaborating with a Marxist guerrilla group during Peru's civil war and pleaded with judges to let her stay out of jail on parole. It was the first time since going to jail about 15 years ago that Berenson, who was at court hearing, was seen on television speaking about her affiliation with Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA. "Yes, I collaborated with the MRTA. I was never a leader or a militant. I never participated in violent or bloody acts. I never killed anybody," she told a panel of judges. "If my participation contributed to societal violence I am very sorry for this," she said during the televised hearing. Berenson was calm and sounded contrite, unlike when she was arrested in the 1990s and shouted angrily at TV cameras while clenching her fists at her side. (Reuters)

Public Opinion
•Support For Afghan War In U.S. Reaches Lowest Point In 2010. Support for the military operation involving American soldiers in Afghanistan has slightly dropped in two months, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found. In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,002 American adults, 47% of respondents express support for the operation, down three points since June. Rejection to the mission is relatively stable at 42%. The proportion of people in the United States who think that engaging the military in Afghanistan was a mistake has risen from 32% in June to 37% now. Over half of respondents (52%) admit that they do not know what war in Afghanistan is all about, whereas 48% say they do. (Angus Reid Global Monitor)

[ElfBane]

Felix, why are you giving us daily GCOM reports?

[SpiritWarrior]

Good question.

[Felix The Assassin]

Folks here do not know anything about politics, but they express their opinion.

Since I get this daily, and share it elsewhere, why not allow those here who do not know anything about GCOM get an understanding of it, that way, when they do type something, well there is a saying for that...

[ElfBane]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin Folks here do not know anything about politics, but they express their opinion. Since I get this daily, and share it elsewhere, why not allow those here who do not know anything about GCOM get an understanding of it, that way, when they do type something, well there is a saying for that...

You have to have a degree in political science to post on IW's?? When did THAT happen?!

[SpiritWarrior]

I dunno what i'd do without this info.

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior I dunno what i'd do without this info.

Whine and post unintelligible remarks.


@EB
Not my rules.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin Whine and post unintelligible remarks. @EB Not my rules.

Hehe, like you can tell when something is unintelligible...

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior Hehe, like you can tell when something is unintelligible...

You provide many here a fine example, sometimes more than once daily.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin You provide many here a fine example, sometimes more than once daily.

When I make an example out of you, yes. (It doesn't know that it can't communicate coherently).