Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, October 7, 2009

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, October 7, 2009

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October 7, 2009

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- President Obama rules out troop reduction ahead of eight-year anniversary of Afghanistan war.
- Tensions brew in Jerusalem.
- United Nations calls for emergency relief for flood-battered Philippines.
- Somali defense minister kidnapped in Uganda.

Top of the Agenda: Afghanistan Force Size

U.S. President Barack Obama ruled out (NYT) a significant reduction in the size of the U.S. military force in Afghanistan in a Tuesday meeting with congressional leaders. Obama has been considering whether to bolster the current force with an additional forty thousand or more U.S. troops, per General Stanley McChrystal's recommendations in his comprehensive review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

In the meeting in Washington, Obama faced pressure (WashPost) to make a decision promptly about any strategy change for the war, from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who also said Iraq, not Vietnam, should serve as the model for how the United States should proceed in Afghanistan.

Obama will meet with his national security team on Wednesday to discuss Pakistan and on Friday to talk about Afghanistan before he decides whether to implement McChrystal's recommendations, according to the New York Times.

Analysis

NPR considers the potential impact of changes to U.S. Afghanistan strategy in Pakistan. Naseem Ashraf, director of the Center for Pakistan Studies at the Middle East Institute, notes a widespread concern that the injection of tens of thousands of new U.S. troops could send a wave of Taliban fighters across the border into Pakistan.

In Foreign Policy, Harvard's Stephen Walt speculates that McChrystal believes a U.S. military attack on Iran could worsen the situation in Afghanistan.

In an interview with CFR, Afghanistan expert Clare Lockhart says more attention must be paid to rebuilding the country's civilian institutions.

Background

The Wall Street Journal looks at the influence of two books, "Lessons in Disaster" and "A Better War," over the Afghanistan debate in Washington.

McChrystal's report can be viewed here.

MIDDLE EAST: Israel Sukkot Tensions

Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, was arrested for inflammatory statements (BBC) and suspected incitement amid rising tensions in Jerusalem over the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Thousands of Israeli police patrolled the city during the Sukkot parade, but it passed without incident.

Iraq: At least nine people were killed (Al-Jazeera) from a car bomb explosion in an open-air market west of Baghdad on Tuesday, according to Iraqi police.

PACIFIC RIM: Philippines Flood

The United Nations appealed for $74 million Tuesday to aid one million victims (Xinhua) of Tropical Storm Ketsana in the Philippines over the next six months. The flood has displaced hundreds of thousands and killed at least three hundred after hitting the country last week.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Indian Nobel Prize Winner

Indian-origin chemist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan received the 2009 Nobel prize in Chemistry (Times of India) with Thomas Steitz (U.S.) and Ada Yonath (Israel) for the study of the structure and function of the cell's protein factory, ribosome. Today, Ramakrishnan is a U.S. scientist at the Medical Research Council's Molecular Biology Laboratories in Cambridge.

Nepal: Floods and landslides killed at least thirty-four people (BBC) in Dadeldhura district, three hundred miles from the capital, Kathmandu, and in another nearby district. More than fifty people have been killed since June.

AFRICA: Kidnapping in Uganda

Somali defense minister Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, also known as Indha Ade, was kidnapped (Garowe) in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping remain unclear, but Somali government sources speculate the abduction may have to do with the September 17 suicide bombing that killed twenty-one people, including five Ugandan soldiers.

Guinea: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Guinea's military leader, Moussa Dadis Camara, should step down (Reuters). Clinton's comments come after Guinean security forces killed over 150 demonstrators against the regime in the capital city of Conakry. Clinton said the United States was "appalled and outraged" at the violence.

AMERICAS: Guantanamo Closure

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said it will be difficult for the United States to meet its own January 22 deadline to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, but said the Obama administration would still aim to meet that goal (LAT). President Barack Obama ordered the prison closed on his second day in office.

Climate Policy: NPR reports on U.S. companies quitting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in protest over the chamber's failure to take a stand in favor of greenhouse gas regulation. Apple is the latest such company to resign from the chamber, expressing dismay that it has not taken "a more progressive stance on this critical issue."

EUROPE: Suspected Nazi Trial

The trial of John Demjanjuk, the alleged Nazi death camp guard who was deported from the United States in May, is scheduled to begin November 30 (AP) in Germany. Demjanjuk, 89, is charged as an accessory to the murder of 27,900 people at the Sobibor concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Russia: GlobalPost says the relationship between Russia and Belarus remains rocky, despite major joint military exercises between the countries last week.

TRANSNATIONAL: IMF Reform

At a meeting in Istanbul, International Monetary Fund nations set a timetable to agree on plans (WashPost) to reform the organization's governance and widen its role. The 186 member nations agreed to draft the IMF's new mandate before its meeting in Washington next spring.

In an interview with CFR, analyst Edwin Truman says the IMF is gaining power but its influence will depend on its assertiveness with countries like the United States and China, as well as the pace of its own reforms.

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