A Serious Problem with the Surge

A Serious Problem with the Surge: "The Bush administration has finally turned its attention in a serious way to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. It has, of course, been seriously deteriorating for some time and the attention is likely to be brief.

...

What has changed in the past 18 months? The Taliban have new weapons, vehicles, communications equipment with encryption, and outreach and propaganda facilities.

It is overdue to seriously rethink how to try to retake the initiative. Al Qaeda and the Taliban have gone from a defeated, dejected force under fire even from fellow travelers, to resilient heroes in the past two years.

Given the lack of security, people are helping the Taliban, if not for conviction, then out of fear that, ultimately, the Taliban will return, as they have in several provinces already."

(Via The Counterterrorism Blog.)

US soldier jailed for Iraq deaths

US soldier jailed for Iraq deaths: "A US soldier has been jailed for 18 years after pleading guilty to murdering three Iraqi detainees.

...

The men initially told prosecutors that they shot the detainees because they were trying to escape.

But during his trial, Hunsaker testified that Sgt Girouard gave an order to kill them.

'He told us to cut the zip ties, tell them to run and shoot them. I went out and did just that,' he told the court."

(Via BBC News.)

Trouble for Ahmadinejad

Trouble for Ahmadinejad: "Is there actually something promising happening in this whole Iran nuclear drama? A number of recent indications suggest that Iranian President Ahmadinejad is in trouble, and his uncompromising stance on the nuclear program is being questioned within Iran.

If Ahmadinejad continues to make his own mistakes, will the West have waited out, perhaps unintentionally, Iran' unyielding position on the nuclear program? These domestic rumblings suggest that even in pursuing a grand bargain with Iran (as has been suggested by several experts) it may be best to take it slow. A real negotiation could do without Ahmadinejad' ultimatums and exclamations.

First there was the election in December where Ahmadinejad supporters lost to more moderate candidates. Also in December, students protested during Ahmadinejad' speech at Amir Kabir University. Last week BBC reported that 50 Iranian MPs signed a letter calling for Ahmadinejad to answer questions on the nuclear program, and 150 members blamed him for economic problems."

(Via ArmsControlWonk.com.)