Reactions to story from The Washington Post

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  Mosul

  http://www.atlargely.com/2008/05/mosul.html
  198 days ago in at-Largely · Authority: 358

  Posted By Cernig There isn't much English language coverage of what's happening in Mosul, in marked contrast to the reams of stuff that was available on Basrah or Sadr City - but after reading everything I could find on Maliki's latest Napoleon-complex
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  Mosul

  http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/05/mosul.html
  198 days ago in Newshoggers.com · Authority: 380

  By Cernig There isn't much English language coverage of what's happening in Mosul, in marked contrast to the reams of stuff that was available on Basrah or Sadr City - but after reading everything I could find on Maliki's latest Napoleon-complex offensive, here's what I think is going down. It seems to me that AQI melted away ahead of Maliki's offensive, which was telegraphed for a couple of months and had widespread publicity in the days leading up to the first sweep. These are the rump of AQI, the survivors of the Surge, and they're nobody's fools even if they're terrorists. Even Maliki's own people say that's what has happened - although the US military denies it. So Maliki is contenting himself with another purpose - rounding up Baathists and non-violent malcontents he can label AQI. Over 1,000 have been arrested without much, if any, fight and the provincial governor says they've already released those who weren't AQI (they released 94). The US military seems just fine with this. But in a revealing move it appears there were no Awakening groups involved on the government's side - they were deemed unuseable by the US local commander, who expected them to fight against Maliki's forces and each other if it was tried. Col. Michael Bills, the commander for U.S. forces in Mosul, has ruled out using so-called Concerned Local Citizens (CLC), bands of irregulars working alongside American and Iraqi troops in parts of Baghdad, Anbar Province and other areas of Iraq. "You got such a melting pot it's difficult to even fathom trying to do a CLC up here," Bills said of the Mosul area, where the population is complex mix of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups. The territory around Mosul has long been home to Kurds, Sunnis, Christians, Shi'ites, Yazidis and Turkmens. Bills fears any efforts to organize volunteer fighters to set against insurgents could backfire, igniting tensions among the disparate communities. "What ethnic group do you go after?" Bills said. "You just can't start something like that, because I think tensions will start between different CLC groups." That's also made insurgents more difficult to dig out - the Sunni Awakening people have been invaluable sources of streetwise intel in the past. So Mosul, far from being a final accounting with AQI, is just another whack-a-mole operation with a very useful sideline in dissent supression and sectarian revenge for past injustices. Another Theatre-Of-COIN "victory" is in the making.
• 

  Mosul

  http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/05/mosul.html
  198 days ago in Newshoggers.com · Authority: 454

  By Cernig There isn't much English language coverage of what's happening in Mosul, in marked contrast to the reams of stuff that was available on Basrah or Sadr City - but after reading everything I could find on Maliki's latest Napoleon-complex offensive, here's what I think is going down. It seems to me that AQI melted away ahead of Maliki's offensive, which was telegraphed for a couple of months and had widespread publicity in the days leading up to the first sweep. These are the rump of AQI, the survivors of the Surge, and they're nobody's fools even if they're terrorists. Even Maliki's own people say that's what has happened - although the US military denies it. So Maliki is contenting himself with another purpose - rounding up Baathists and non-violent malcontents he can label AQI. Over 1,000 have been arrested without much, if any, fight and the provincial governor says they've already released those who weren't AQI (they released 94). The US military seems just fine with this. But in a revealing move it appears there were no Awakening groups involved on the government's side - they were deemed unuseable by the US local commander, who expected them to fight against Maliki's forces and each other if it was tried. Col. Michael Bills, the commander for U.S. forces in Mosul, has ruled out using so-called Concerned Local Citizens (CLC), bands of irregulars working alongside American and Iraqi troops in parts of Baghdad, Anbar Province and other areas of Iraq. "You got such a melting pot it's difficult to even fathom trying to do a CLC up here," Bills said of the Mosul area, where the population is complex mix of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups. The territory around Mosul has long been home to Kurds, Sunnis, Christians, Shi'ites, Yazidis and Turkmens. Bills fears any efforts to organize volunteer fighters to set against insurgents could backfire, igniting tensions among the disparate communities. "What ethnic group do you go after?" Bills said. "You just can't start something like that, because I think tensions will start between different CLC groups." That's also made insurgents more difficult to dig out - the Sunni Awakening people have been invaluable sources of streetwise intel in the past. So Mosul, far from being a final accounting with AQI, is just another whack-a-mole operation with a very useful sideline in dissent supression and sectarian revenge for past injustices. Another Theatre-Of-COIN "victory" is in the making.
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  18 May SWJ News, Op-Ed, Events & Blog Roundup

  http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/05/18-may-swj-news-ope...
  198 days ago in 坓⁊求杯 · Authority: 225

  IRAQ Truce Holds in Sadr City Amid Iraqi Army Patrols - Alissa Rubin, New York Times Iraqi PM Opens Command Center in Mosul, Returns to Baghdad - VOA ISF Detain More Than a 1,000 Suspected Militants in Mosul - VOA Iraq Detains 1,000 in Anti-al-Qaida Crackdown - Associated Press Iraqi Forces Detain 1,000 in al Qaeda Push - Reuters Iraqi Court Rulings Stop at US Detention Sites - Associated Press Feith's Version - Daniel Gallington, Washington Times opinion Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS Hopeful Signs From Ex-Taliban Hotbed - Rosie Dimanno, Toronto Star Militants Free Pakistan Ambassador in Exchange - Jane Perlez, New York Times Bush Tells Karzai US Will Help at Paris Donor Conference - AFPS Gitmo's Heir? - Phillip Carter, Intel Dump Pakistan - Baitullah Mehsud Peace Agreement - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal IRAN In Iran, Debate Over an Article of Faith - Nazila Fathi, New York Times Shaping a Nuclear Iran - Ray Takeyh, Washington Post opinion Time for Serious Public Debate on Iran Policy - Victor Comras, Counterterrorism A New Tone From Iran? - Dr. iRack, Abu Muqawama Irany Alert - Jules Crittenden, Forward Movement THE LONG WAR Insurgent Propaganda, Western Response - Andrew Exum, Arab Media and Society The Spectacle of War by Andrew Exum - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner Terror Terminology - Oliver North, Washington Times opinion The Ray-ban Theory of History - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club Smuggler's Round-Up - Michael Innes, Complex Terrain Laboratory US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Fixing the Military - New York Times editorial Darpa's Greatest Hits and Misses - Sharon Weinberger, Danger Room UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Imperial Holdover: Gurkhas Flock to British Army - Associated Press US FOREIGN POLICY Musings, Random and Otherwise - Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe opinion Why Shouldn’t the President Negotiate? - Westhawk, Westhawk AFRICA Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Cancels Return - VOA Mugabe's Men in Plot to Kill Tsvangirai - Christina Lamb, London Times Tsvangirai Cancels Return to Zimbabwe - Celia Dugger, New York Times 'Plot' Delays Tsvangirai Return - BBC News Tsvangirai Postpones Zimbabwe Return After Threat - Associated Press Sudan Opposition Head: Rebel Assault May Spur More Violence - Associated Press Islamist Fighters Seize Somali Town - Associated Press Somali Talks End with No Meeting - BBC News Somali Pirates Hijack Jordanian Ship Carrying Aid - Associated Press AMERICAS New Phase Seen in Mexico's Drug War - Héctor Tobar, Los Angeles Times Chávez Seizes Greater Economic Power - Simon Romero, New York Times Venezuela Says Colombians Crossed In - Associated Press ASIA PACIFIC Large Aftershock Rattles Southwest China - VOA Chinese Flee Flood Threat From Quake - Edward Wong, New York Times 1m Chinese Flee New Threat of Flooding - Michael Sheridan, London Times Fear of Floods Grips China Earthquake Area - Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times Thousands Flee China Quake Area Over Flood Fears - Associated Press Earthquake Opens Gap in Controls on Media - Howard French, New York Times China's Quake Calms Olympic Controversies - Associated Press China: Nuke Weapon Plants on Disaster Alert - Dean Nelson, London Times Burma Junta Killing its Own People - Alan Brown, London Daily Telegraph Asian Health Professionals Allowed Into Burma - VOA As Cyclone Refugees Wait, Burma Refuses Aid - Associated Press In Burma, A Price for 'Stability' - Jim Hoagland, Washington Post opinion Save Us From the Rescuers - David Rieff, Los Angeles Times opinion Fed Up With Peace - Nicholas Kristof, New York Times opinion UN to Burma: Drop Dead - Matthew Continetti, Weekly Standard opinion EUROPE Russia's Opposition Launches Alternative National Assembly - VOA Italy Pledges to Bolster Security - BBC News MIDDLE EAST Hezbollah Ignites Sectarian Fuse in Lebanon - Worth and Bakri, New York Times Hezbollah Emerges Ahead in Lebanon - Anthony Shadid, Washington Post Lebanese Factions at Qatar Talks - BBC News High-level Lebanese Talks in Qatar - Associated Press Hezbollah's Power Play - Washington Times editorial The Limits of War in Lebanon - Boston Globe editorial The Resistance as Oppressor - Abu Muqawama, Abu Muqawama Square One in Lebanon - Abu Muqawama, Abu Muqawama Mapping Hezbollah Telecoms - Michael Innes, Complex Terrain Laboratory Bush Emphasizes Peace Deal Commitment - Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post Bush Says Saudi Oil Increase is Not Enough - VOA Saudis See No Reason to Raise Oil Production Now - Associated Press Bush Says Saudi Oil Boost Doesn't Solve US Problem - Associated Press Bush Speech Seen Impeding Peace Talks - Joshua Mitnick, Washington Times Bush: Mideast Must Push Back Against Iran, Syria - Associated Press Bush Meets Palestinian President - BBC News Food Crisis Opening for Fundamentalists - Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Religious Hardliners Gain in Kuwait - Associated Press Israeli, Egyptian Leaders to Seek Gaza Cease-fire - Associated Press Kuwaitis Elect New Parliament - Associated Press Coming Soon, Scorsese of Arabia - Abdullah Al-Eyaf, Washington Post opinion Online Rebellion Struck Down in Egypt - Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post SOUTH ASIA India to Resume Pakistan Peace Talks - Reuters Bush and Pakistan's Gilani Pledge to Fight Terror - Reuters Sidelined Musharraf Still Exerts Influence - Constable and Wright, Washington Post Sri Lankan Troops Capture Rebel Position, 16 Killed - Reuters Sri Lankan Air Force Bombs Rebel Center - Associated Press Suicide Bomb in Sri Lanka Capital - BBC News Jaipur Serial Blasts: Investigations on... - Animesh Roul, Counterterrorism RECOMMENDED READING Global Guerillas, Meet the Resilient Communitarians! - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit Five Thoughts on Friday - Galrahn, Information Dissemination Book Bibliography of "Great Powers" - Tom Barnett, Thomas PM Barnett Links I Liked - Chris Blattman, Chris Blattman Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report UK CT & COIN Features - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group EVENTS OF INTEREST 4-5 June 208 - 2008 Joint Symposium - Strategic Re-Assessment: From Long-Range Planning to Future Strategy and Forces (Public Event). Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Institute for National Strategic Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Joint Forces Command. Fundamental to the development and implementation of a successful future defense posture is a foundation comprised of a well-reasoned assessment of the future security environment, a clear understanding of the “realm of the possible” for and limitations of military forces, and an understanding of the nation’s security objectives. Developing an appropriate assessment of the future security environment is not something done in a vacuum as it is impossible to fully separate purely military or national security issues from other elements of the national and global environment. This is particularly true for the United States. Technical innovation and adaptation, the rise and decline of other actors on the international stage, domestic politics, globalization and its effects on trade, migration, communications, and the power of nonstate actors all, bear heavily on any security assessment. There is no shortage of assessments of the future security environment. In the last decade, National Defense University itself has produced several, most recently, Strategic Challenges – America’s Global Security Agenda. The objectives of this symposium are to examine some of these strategic assessments, to review our success at incorporating their key elements into strategic and operational plans, and to propose ways to institutionalize best practices into the process for future force development and joint force planning. We will explore these issues through a series of panel discussions and keynote addresses. Featured speakers will include military officers, government officials, and experts from research institutes. 17-19 June 208 - 3rd Annual North American Security Colloquium: Wars Without Borders (Public Event). Kingston, Ontario. Sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, Queen's Centre for International Relations, and Defence Management Studies at Queen's University, and the Canadian 'Forces' Land Doctrine and Training System. The conflicts today in Iraq and in Afghanistan are examples of what some leading scholars and many commanders have termed “continuous wars among the people.” This type of conflict is developing or occurring in other regions of the world, in Africa and in Latin America for example. In many of these situations traditional and legal borders no longer define or contain the conflict, nor do obvious sovereign entities control belligerents. International commitments to control these conflicts necessarily demand complex, multi-dimensional diplomatic, military, police, and humanitarian responses. What has been learned about such conflicts from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan may to some degree be transferable to conflicts in other regions. Assuming that the international community may well face future operations characterized by regional, borderless “wars among the people”, the centres at Queen’s University and their partners propose convening a distinguished group of approximately 200 experts from academic, military, governmental, and international institutions to examine how best to prepare commanders, military units and governments to plan for and conduct complex, multi-dimensional stability campaigns in this new environment. 16-18 September 2008 - The U.S. Army and the Interagency Process: A Historical Perspective (Public Event - Conference / Call for Papers). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute. The symposium will include a variety of guest speakers, panel sessions, and general discussions. This symposium will explore the partnership between the U.S. Army and government agencies in attaining national goals and objectives in peace and war within a historical context. Separate international topics may be presented. The symposium will also examine current issues, dilemmas, problems, trends, and practices associated with U.S. Army operations requiring close interagency cooperation.

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