News updates will resume this fall.

OFF THE WIRE :

• War-weary Afghans in hopes, concerns as U.S. forces to draw down in July
   [Xinhua, 23 Jun 11]
• French troops to leave Afghanistan on US timeline, paves way for further ally drawdowns
   [AP, 23 Jun 11]
• Vietnam to hold joint naval drill with US
   [AFP, 23 Jun 11]
• Al-Qaida suspects tunnel out of Yemeni prison
   [AP, 22 Jun 11]
• Bahrain stages trials of opponents, despite new US criticism
   [Christian Science Monitor, 20 Jun 11]
• South Korea shooting mishap highlights heightened tensions with North
   [Christian Science Monitor, 19 Jun 11]
• Vietnam-China Spratly Islands dispute threatens to escalate
   [Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jun 11]

THE MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY & NORTH AFRICA :

Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jun 11, by Dan Murphy
Even in Egypt, Arab Spring not yet secured
'Egypt may have swept aside Mubarak in the Arab Spring, but the real fight lies ahead.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Jun 11, by Nicholas Blanford
Assad's speech may buy time, but not survival
'Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave his first speech in two months today, offering elections and reforms this summer in an apparent bid to secure the patience of Syria's silent majority.'

New York Times 'At War', 22 Jun 11, by C.J. Chivers
Down the Rabbit Hole: Arms Exports and Qaddafi’s Cluster Bombs
'The use of MAT-120s on a city in which civilians had no reliable route of escape drew wide denunciation. ... setting aside the firsthand field observations, what to make of claims by the Qaddafi government that it could not have fired MAT-120s on Misurata, in part because it did not possess munitions of this sort?'

[ recent stories from the Middle East ]

AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN :

Christian Science Monitor, 23 Jun 11, by Issam Ahmed
How serious are Pakistan's latest moves to purge its military of extremists?
'Recent arrests of military officials suggest that the Pakistani Army is intensifying its hunt for key officers with possible links to outlawed militant outfits such as Hizb ut-Tahrir.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 11, by Tom A. Peter
What Afghans think about President Obama's troop drawdown
'Many Afghans have mixed feelings about tonight's announcement from President Obama that the US will begin drawing down the levels of troops in Afghanistan.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 11, by Owais Tohid
Are Pakistan's Taliban using children as weapons?
'A 9-year-old girl says she was kidnapped in Pakistan by Taliban with the intent of forcing her to be a suicide bomber. She escaped, but her experience raises concerns about the use of children by militants.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Jun 11, by Tom A. Peter
Ambassador Eikenberry's pushback against Karzai: Will it make a difference?
'US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry responded sharply to criticism of the US by Afghan President Karzai. His unusually tart remarks come amid growing pressure in the US to bring troops home.'

New York Times, 23 Jun 11, by Alissa J. Rubin
Karzai Welcomes Withdrawal, but Many Afghans Are Wary
'... even as many senior Afghan officials echoed the president in supporting the withdrawal, local leaders and ordinary people expressed fears of civil war, renewed Taliban encroachments and even government collapse.'

New York Times 'At War', 22 Jun 11, by Rod Nordland
NATO Allies Have a Head Start on Afghan Withdrawal
'NATO has a total of 140,000 troops in Afghanistan, about 100,000 of them Americans.'

New York Times, 22 Jun 11
Timeline: Major Events in the Afghanistan War
'The United States has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it led an invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda. The group had been given safe haven in the country by the Taliban, the extremist Islamic group that had seized control in 1996 after years of civil war.'

[ recent stories from Afghanistan and Pakistan ]

AFRICA :

Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jun 11, by David Sullivan
Providing air defense for South Sudan not ideal, but best available option
'While there are flaws with the idea of providing air defense capabilities to South Sudan, it may be the best option for protecting civilians ...'

[ recent stories from Africa ]

US MILITARY, THE PENTAGON, &
INTELLIGENCE :

New York Times, 22 Jun 11, by Thom Shanker
2012 Troop Pullback Worries Military Experts
'On Afghanistan’s battlefields, the most significant effect of President Obama’s latest orders will be felt at this time next year, when as many as 23,000 American troops who would have been on missions at the peak of the summer fighting season will instead be packing for home.'

[ recent stories about the US military,
the Pentagon and intelligence ]

COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS :

Washington Post, 22 Jun 11, by Karen DeYoung
Obama’s drawdown in Afghanistan will shift tactics in war
'The withdrawal of 33,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by next summer signals a coming shift in both where and how the war has been fought over the past two years.'

New York Times, 22 Jun 11, by David E. Sanger
Drawing Down, With a Vigilant Eye on Pakistan
'Though the president could not say so directly, one of the constraints on America’s retreat from a hard and bloody decade is the recognition that, more than ever, the United States will be relying on Afghanistan’s help to deal with the threats emerging from Pakistan.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 11, by editorial staff
The president may be sabotaging his own Afghanistan strategy
'President Obama failed to offer a convincing military or strategic rationale for the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan that he announced Wednesday night. In several ways, they are at odds with the strategy adopted by NATO, which aims to turn over the war to the Afghan army by the end of 2014.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 11, by David Ignatius
The decisiveness in Obama’s Afghanistan speech
'With tonight’s speech, the inflection point finally arrived. Obama announced a measured withdrawal of 10,000 of those surge troops this year -- more than military commanders might have wanted but far less than war critics have been demanding. In taking this course, he took ownership of the policy more decisively.'

Washington Post, 23 Jun 11, by Glenn Kessler
Obama’s ‘mission accomplished’ speech on Afghanistan?
'The decision to remove 10,000 at first leaves commanders significant flexibility this summer, allowing them to keep as many combat troops as possible and focus on rotating out support personnel. The pledge to remove another 23,000 troops by next September — in time for the presidential election — may be more difficult ...'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 11, by Jackson Diehl
Obama: The postwar era begins now
'That success in Afghanistan can be glimpsed — even taken as a given — will come as news to those few Americans who have followed the war closely. While there have been important tactical gains against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, they are, as commanders frequently put it, “fragile and reversible.” The Taliban is still strong in eastern Afghanistan, and its sanctuaries in Pakistan remain mostly untouched.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 11, by editorial board
Obama speech on Afghanistan war: the missing moral victory
'No matter what President Obama does after his speech on a partial troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, it is Afghans themselves who must rise up against the brutal tactics of the Taliban.'

Washington Post, 20 Jun 11, by Richard Cohen
Time to quit Afghanistan
'From the start, America’s huge investment in Afghanistan has been a mistake. It was always necessary, not to mention just plain right, to go after Osama bin Laden and kill every last member of al-Qaeda. That job has mostly been done. But the rest — the routing of the Taliban and the building of a democratic state — is beyond America’s reach. The troops — most of them — should come home.'

Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jun 11, by Nzaar Ihsan
In Pakistan, denial is easier than heartbreak
'Pakistanis have long revered their Army as heroic and pure. Now, they're coming to terms with the fact that it might not be as awesome as they thought. Denial is a natural reaction.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Jun 11, by editorial board
In Arab Spring, truth can beget freedom
'From Syria to Morocco, repressive leaders at least now admit the woes their regimes cause. That admission can lead to success for pro-democracy protests.'

Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jun 11, by editorial board
Outsourcing democracy promotion
'Turkey, after seeing atrocities in Syria, joins a club of other regional, democratic powers like Brazil and Indonesia helping their neighbors.'

[ recent commentary and analysis ]

THE AMERICAS :

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 11, by Brad Knickerbocker
Obama details plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan
'President Obama announced that the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will begin with 10,000 troops this year, plus another 23,000 by the end of next summer. Gains have been made against the Taliban, he said, but the fight against al Qaeda will continue wherever necessary.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 11, by Scott Wilson
Obama’s Afghan pullout plan faces criticism
'President Obama charted a middle course Wednesday for ending the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, outlining a departure plan that will remove troops faster than his commanders had requested but more slowly than many of his political allies would like.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 11, by Anna Mulrine
Who will carry out Obama's Afghanistan exit plan? Three new guys.
'After President Obama outlines his strategy Wednesday for winding down the 10-year war in Afghanistan – including the rate of US troop withdrawals – it will be the duty of three men, all new in their roles, to get it done.'

[ recent stories from the Americas ]