Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, October 8, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, October 8, 2009

October 8, 2009

View this newsletter as a web page on CFR's website.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- Suicide bomber attacks Indian embassy in Kabul.
- Pakistan rejects U.S. aid bill.
- U.S. deficit hits record high.
- Nigeria's MEND to resume attacks.

Top of the Agenda: Attack on Kabul's Indian Embassy while rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

A suicide bomber attacked India's embassy (Quqnoos) in a fortified section of Kabul Thursday morning, killing at least seventeen and wounding eighty-three others. The attack was the second on Kabul's Indian embassy in the past two years. In July 2008, it was the scene of the deadliest attack in the city since the war's start in 2001.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack today. The Washington Post reports the Taliban was also connected to the 2008 Indian embassy bombing. U.S. authorities also implicated members of the Pakistani intelligence agency in that earlier bombing.

The attack today comes as U.S. President Barack Obama and his advisers are rethinking the U.S. military approach in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates forwarded a request (WSJ) for more troops to Obama. The document outlines options ranging up to the addition of forty thousand more troops to the 68,000 already in Afghanistan.

Analysis

A Kabul Press op-ed asks why no Afghans were invited to partake in the presidential meetings that discuss the future of Afghanistan, as U.S. military strategy in the country is being reassessed.

A policy review from Brookings' Jason Campbell, Michael O'Hanlon and Jeremy Shapiro considers ways to assess progress and to measure whether the United States and its NATO allies are winning the war in Afghanistan. They say in Afghanistan, "metrics are probably most important for evaluating efforts at state-building," and emphasize the importance of quantitative data.

On CFR.org, six analysts offer views on how Obama should respond to calls for more troops to carry out U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Background

Reuters has a Q&A on India's role in Afghanistan.

MIDEAST: Libya-UN Relations

The UN Security Council rejected Libya's request (Al-Jazeera) for a special session on the Goldstone Report, identifying war crimes committed during Israel's war on Gaza in January this year. The Security Council met after Libyan diplomats requested an emergency session to discuss the report's findings.

Syria: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening (Christian Science Monitor) regional cooperation.

PACIFIC RIM: Singapore’s Leaders Claim Slander

Singapore's Court of Appeal ruled that the Dow Jones publication the Far Eastern Economic Review defamed the country's founder (BBC), Lee Kuan Yew, and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a 2006 article that interviewed an opposition party leader about the country's ruling party.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Pakistan Aid Bill

Pakistan's military rejected a U.S. aid bill (AP) that would have tripled aid for Pakistan to $1.5 billion per year for the next five years, after criticism that conditions of the bill violate the country's sovereignty. The bill made U.S. military aid contingent on Pakistan helping to fight Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.

AFRICA: Guinea’s Government to Hold Investigation

Guinea's military government said it will create a commission (AP) to investigate the shooting of protesters by security forces in the capital city of Conakry last week. Military leader Moussa Dadis Camara, who took power in a coup earlier this year, says the 31-member commission will include seven Justice Ministry judges. The regime has come under fire for the incident from the Obama administration and human rights groups.

Nigeria: Militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) said it would resume attacks (All Africa) on oil installations in the country once its ceasefire expires on October 15. Its email statement came before tomorrow's meeting between President Umaru Yar'Adua and ex-militant leaders.

AMERICAS: U.S. Deficit

The U.S. budget deficit hit a record (Bloomberg) of $1.4 trillion, or 9.9 percent of its GDP, this fiscal year. The deficit is more than.

Honduras: Honduran de facto President Roberto Micheletti again resisted calls (Latin American Herald Tribune) by the Organization of American States to step down and allow the return of ousted president Manuel Zelaya.

EUROPE: Berlusconi's Immunity

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed to fight the decision (NY Times) by Italy's highest court to overturn a law granting him immunity from corruption charges.

Poland: Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he plans to sign (BBC) the EU's Lisbon Treaty to streamline EU institutions on Sunday after Ireland backed the treaty on October 2. Poland and the Czech Republic are the only EU states that have not ratified yet the Lisbon Treaty.

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