Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, July 13, 2009

Monday, July 13, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, July 13, 2009

July 13, 2009

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

-U.S. and British troop casualties in Afghanistan.

- Obama visits Africa.

-Japanese prime minister sets date for general election.

-Swat valley residents return home.

Top of the Agenda: Troop Casualties in Afghanistan; Concerns Mount in UK

A series of attacks in Afghanistan (WSJ) in recent days has killed four U.S. Marines and eight British soldiers. A NATO soldier was also killed (Xinhua) on Sunday.

The rising death count has provoked concern in Britain about the new U.S.-led military offensive in Helmand province. Nick Clegg, a leader of Britain’s opposition Liberal Democrat party, said troops' lives are being “thrown away.” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended the war effort on Sunday, saying in an interview that the operation “is showing signs of success” (AFP).

Despite concerns, a new poll says British support for the war in Afghanistan is rising (Telegraph).

U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday said he has ordered an investigation (AP) into reports that U.S. allies executed some 2,000 Taliban prisoners of war around the beginning of the war in Afghan.

Analysis:

In Foreign Affairs, CFR’s Steven Simon asks whether the war in Afghanistan can be won.

The New York Times looks at the building pressure on Obama to look into the killings in Afghanistan and other war on terror policies of the Bush administration.

MIDEAST: Bombings in Iraq

Five Christian churches were bombed in Baghdad (NYT) on Sunday, killing at least four people.

A roadside bomb in Nasiriya also struck the convoy of U.S. ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill, but he was uninjured.

Iran: The Washington Post looks at rumors that Iran is building a new embassy in Managua, Nicaragua.

PACIFIC RIM: Japanese PM Sets Date for General Election

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told lawmakers he would dissolve the country’s House of Representatives by July 21 for an August 30 general election. The announcement came after his ruling political coalition suffered a crushing defeat in a Tokyo local election to the opposition Democratic Party on Sunday (Japan Times).

North Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is dying from pancreatic cancer (Times of London), South Korea’s Yonhap Television News reported Sunday. Some experts are skeptical of that report (VOA), however.

A Council Special Report looks at how the United States and other counties in Northeast Asia should prepare for sudden change in North Korea.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Swat Valley Displaced Return

Some two million people who had been displaced due to fighting between the Taliban and the military in Pakistan began returning home (FT) to the Swat valley on Sunday. The government reopened roads and restored the region’s electricity and water supply.

Tajikistan: Former Tajik emergency situations minister Mirzo Zioyev died in a drug trade-related shootout (Daily Times), officials said Sunday. The Tajik government had announced on Saturday that Zioyev had been arrested for his alleged involvement in an attack on police near the Afghanistan border. After his arrest, Zioyev had reportedly agreed to negotiate the surrender of a drug-trafficking gang’s leader, and was killed when shooting broke out at the talks.

AFRICA: Obama Visits Ghana

In a major speech (WSJ) during a visit to Accra, Ghana on Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama pushed his $63 billion global health initiative and the food security program he spearheaded at the G8 conference in Italy last week. Obama called on African leaders to bolster democratic institutions and fight corruption, calling good governance “the change that can unlock Africa's potential” (Irish Times).

The full text of Obama’s speech to the Ghanaian parliament is available here.

Analysis:

Writing for the BBC, Michael Zubrow, foreign policy expert at the Center for a New American Security, compares themes of Obama’s four major international speeches.

TIME details the “five pillars” of Obama’s foreign policy

Foreign Policy looks at Obama’s choice to visit Ghana, as opposed to countries with more “geopolitical relevance,” such as South Africa or Nigeria.

Nigeria: Nigeria’s main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), claimed it carried out an “unprecedented attack” (Reuters) on an oil tanker in Lagos state on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear whether the attack had actually taken place.

A CFR Backgrounder profiles MEND.

AMERICAS: Obama to Review Bush Anti-Terror Policies

After the CIA recently conceded it concealed information from Congress about its anti-terror practices for seven years, the Obama administration has begun to reexamine Bush-era intelligence-gathering tactics (WashPost) for a potential criminal investigation.

Honduras: The military-backed interim government has lifted the curfew (Al Jazeera) implemented two weeks ago after ousting President Manuel Zelaya. Interim leader Roberto Micheletti said Sunday he would grant Zelaya amnesty in Honduras “if he comes peacefully first to appear before the authorities.”

In an interview with CFR, Brookings Latin America expert Kevin Casas-Zamora says the Obama administration, by supporting Costa Rican mediation of the dispute in Honduras, is “trying to give the message that the inclusion of regional actors is very important and the United States won't go back to the days when it single-handedly intervened with a heavy hand.”

EUROPE: "Nazi Guard" Charged

Prosecutors in Germany have formally charged (BBC) alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk with being an accessory to murder in World War II.

Demjanjuk has denied accusations that he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp and helped murder Jews.

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