Tuesday, February 16, 2010

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, February 16, 2010

 

From the Council on Foreign Relations

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- Taliban Leader Captured
- Clinton Speaks on Iran
- Worries for India-Pakistan Talks
- Russia Asked to Help in Hamas Deal

Top of the Agenda: Taliban Leader Captured

In a secret joint operation by the Pakistani intelligence service and the CIA, Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured several days ago (NYT) in Karachi, Pakistan, according to U.S. officials. He is the most influential Taliban operative after Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden.

Officials said his capture could lead (WashPost) to other senior members, including Mullah Omar. The joint interrogation by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials is considered a significant step in cooperation between the two services.

On day three of Operation Moshtarak--part of a new major offensive in Afghanistan--officials said the joint NATO and Afghan military campaign is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters (BBC) from their strongholds and clearing insurgents from areas around Marjah and Nad Ali. So far, at least fifteen Afghan civilians have been killed (WSJ). But according to U.S. officials, civilian losses have not damaged their ability to win local support.

Analysis:

CFR's Max Boot says the U.S.-led offensive is an important part of the "hold-and-build" strategy to extend Afghan government control into restive provinces.

In Newsweek, Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai argue pacifying insurgents with jobs and money is central to U.S. strategy in Afghanistan but is misguided.

Background:

BBC News profiles Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

MIDDLE EAST: Clinton Speaks on Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the United States fears (NYT) Iran is becoming a military dictatorship, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps seizing control of large swaths of Iran's political, military, and economic establishment. In response, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, accused Washington (NYT) of practicing "modern deceit" to disguise its intentions in the Persian Gulf.

Dubai: Officials in Dubai appealed for an international manhunt (AP) for eleven people allegedly involved in the assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in a hotel room on January 20.

PACIFIC RIM: Five Australians Sentenced for Terror Plot

Five men were sentenced (Reuters) to up to twenty-eight years for conspiring to commit an attack in retaliation for Australia's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Worries for India-Pakistan Talks

Police are questioning (Canadian Press) two people with ties to an Islamic militant group about the weekend bombing of a cafe in western India that killed at least ten people. India's analysts believe talks between India and Pakistan should continue despite the bombing (TheHindu), which they see as part of a pattern to prevent the two countries from fostering closer ties ever since trouble erupted in Afghanistan in 2001.

Sri Lanka: Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka appealed to the country's highest court Tuesday to overturn the results (AP) of the January 26 election, which he lost to incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Fonseka was arrested last week and accused of planning a coup.

AFRICA: EU's Zimbabwe Sanctions Extended

The EU extended sanctions (Reuters) on Zimbabwe for another year due to a lack of progress in implementing a power-sharing accord between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition.

Kenya: Transparency International warns that Kenya risks becoming a failed state (BBC) because of the ongoing political wrangling in the country's coalition government, which is having a detrimental effect on its fight against corruption.

AMERICAS: Spain to Take Five Guantanamo Detainees

Spain will accept five detainees (WashPost) from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which may bolster the Obama administration's flagging effort to close the prison.

Haiti: U.S. officials have not resolved what to do (WashPost) with injured Haitian earthquake survivors who have received medical treatment in the United States.

EUROPE: Russia Asked to Help in Hamas Deal

During talks in Moscow Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to tell Hamas (Haaretz) that Israel wants to make a deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit but will not release more Palestinian prisoners than it already has. Meanwhile, Medvedev said Russia will delay delivering an advanced air defense system to Iran.

EU: The European Commission says it "deplores the unilateral and disproportionate" decision by Libya to halt issuing visas (BBC) to many Europeans.

Belgium: Eurostar services will remain closed (Guardian) between the UK and Brussels as an investigation begins into the Belgian commuter train crash that killed at least eighteen people.
 

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