Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, September 1, 2009

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, September 1, 2009

September 1, 2009

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

-McChrystal review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.
-Reports of prisoner abuse in Iran.
-New leader for Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.
-U.S. calls for end to violence in Myanmar.

Top of the Agenda: Afghanistan Strategy Review

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, illustrated a "serious" situation in his assessment of U.S. Afghanistan strategy. McChrystal said the Taliban insurgency is stronger than previously believed (LAT), and called for an increase in the number of Afghan security forces, and in the speed with which they are being trained.

Although McChrystal did not ask for an infusion of additional U.S. troops, U.S. officials said he may request as many as forty thousand new troops (WSJ) in the coming weeks.

In the review, which remains classified, reports say McChrystal calls for a shift in strategy (WashPost) toward protecting civilians, encouraging good governance, and building the country's economy.

Analysis
In Foreign Policy, political risk consultant Hillary Mann Leverett looks at Afghan military commander Mohammed Qasim Fahim's consolidation of power, and says the United States cannot count on an Afghan military led by Fahim as a bulwark against an al-Qaeda resurgence in the country.

Washington Post columnist George Will calls for a major reduction in ground troops in Afghanistan, and says U.S. forces should "do only what can be done from offshore" with missile strikes and Special Forces units along the Pakistan border.

In an interview with CFR, journalist Elizabeth Rubin says U.S. officials must become more closely involved in improving Afghan governance.

Background
A CFR interactive timeline tracks the course of the war in Afghanistan since its beginning in 2001.

Reuters has a Q&A on McChrystal's strategy review.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Border Crossing Reopened

A crossing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has reopened after suspected Taliban militants blew up sixteen oil tankers (Dawn) and trailers carrying NATO supplies from Karachi to Kandahar. The Chaman border crossing is a major crossing point for U.S. and NATO supplies.

MIDEAST: Prisoner Abuse in Iran

Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that Mohsen Ruholamini, the son of an adviser to a prominent conservative politician died of "physical stress, conditions of imprisonment, repeated blows and harsh physical treatment." The New York Times says the apparent admission of abuse is part of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's strategy to calm political upheaval and restore his credibility.

Israel: The Israeli military said Israeli troops killed a seventeen year-old Palestinian boy (Reuters) after he threw a firebomb at a guard post at the Jewish settlement Beit El, near Ramallah in the West Bank. Palestinian media claimed two others were wounded in the incident. Haaretz reports the IDF will establish a separate military court for West Bank youths, where the president of the military appeals court will "appoint military judges trained to serve as juvenile-court judges."

Iraq: The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a prominent Shiite political party, nominated Ammar al-Hakim to take over as its new leader (Aswat al-Iraq). Al-Hakim is the son of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the previous leader of the group, who died last week of cancer.

PACIFIC RIM: North Korea Lifts Border Curbs

North Korea lifted restrictions on traffic (Yonhap) at the border with South Korea, allowing a normal flow of goods and personnel to and from the Kaesong joint industrial park. Kaesong houses over a hundred South Korean-run factories that employ about forty thousand North Koreans.

Myanmar: The Obama administration called for an end to violence between ethnic militants and Myanmar's military, and said the Myanmar government should launch a "genuine dialogue" (Xinhua) with ethnic minority groups. Refugees in China's Yunnan province who fled the clashes in Kokang in recent weeks are beginning to return to Myanmar.

Papua New Guinea: A cholera outbreak (BBC) has reportedly killed more than forty people in Papua New Guinea. As many as eight hundred people have been reported ill. The country's health minister said the rapidly spreading infection would strain the "fragile health system."

AMERICAS: WTO Ruling

The World Trade Organization ruled that U.S. goods would face some $295 million in annual sanctions (AP) due to the country's failure to eliminate illegal subsidies to domestic cotton growers. Brazil, which brought the case before the organization, had hoped for $2.5 billion in economic retaliation.

Brazil: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveiled a plan that would put more control over the country's oil industry (MercoPress) in the hands of the state. Lula says he will use oil profits to fight poverty and make Brazil a developed nation.

AFRICA: AU Summit

A special summit (AFP) of African Union leaders in Libya, intended to address conflicts in Somalia, Darfur, and the Great Lakes region, has ended. In his opening address at the summit, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said Israel is "behind all of Africa’s conflicts."

South Africa: Nearly seven hundred South African soldiers were dismissed after clashing with police in Pretoria while protesting for higher pay (BBC). The soldiers' union said the firings are illegal.

EUROPE: Turkish-Armenian Diplomacy

Turkey and Armenia agreed to establish diplomatic relations (Hurriyet) after nearly a century of hostilities. The countries have never had diplomatic ties. Tensions between the two countries stem from the killing of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Turk government from 1915 to 1918. The Turkish government has denied that those killings amounted to genocide.

Norway: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is visiting the Arctic Circle in Norway to call for action on climate change (BBC) at international negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Ban warned that climate change could lead to a "virtually ice-free Arctic within thirty years."

TRANSNATIONAL: UN Security

UN security director Gregory Starr told the Washington Times he believes at least twenty UN outposts do not have adequate security despite high levels of danger. Starr pointed to UN offices in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Darfur, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon as areas of concern.

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