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June 18, 2010 EU Okays Iran Energy Sanctions WASHINGTON – The European Union, for the first time, approved energy sanctions as part of a package of strong steps imposed against Iran Thursday, adding to US efforts to build on the recent pass... June 18, 2010 U.S., Europe Target Iran Investment, Trade The United States and its allies are swiftly tightening an economic cordon around Iran by imposing new strictures that could inflict far more economic pain on the Islamic republic than previous san... June 18, 2010 Turkey’s Hollow Prize It's time Congress pulled the plug on Washington's taxpayer-subsidized Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, which has turned itself into a global joke. With Turkey's l... June 17, 2010 How ’bout We Call It ‘Bon Jovi Islam’? After all, we've tried "radical Islam," "extremist Islam," "fundamentalist Islam," "sharia Islam," and — for a real natural in the annals of political correctness — "political Is... June 17, 2010 We Link, You Decide The Defense Department’s Michele Flournoy and Ashton B. Carter argue here that missile defense is essential and that the Obama administration is not negotiating with Russia to limit our opt... June 17, 2010 The Fatal Follies of Containment Cliff May has an outstanding piece arguing, correctly I think, that containment will not work with a nuclear Iran. It would be too costly to maintain, involve too many countries with confl... June 17, 2010 Black-Market Gas Shelters Iran Proposed U.S. sanctions aimed at starving Iran of foreign gasoline could be signed into law before the end of June, but a shadowy network of Middle East gasoline suppliers is already undermining U.... June 17, 2010 The Situation Room BP's ties to the Iranian energy sector. Watch the video here.... June 17, 2010 Boxing Iran? President Obama’s policy of “engagement” with Iran can be viewed as an experiment. There was at least a chance that it was only President Bush — that swaggering, unilatera... June 17, 2010 Hearing on What START Treaty Means for Missile Defense Yesterday Obama officials made the case before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the new START treaty will not have a negative effect on their plans to field a system to protect the Uni... June 17, 2010 Bon Jovi Islam We’ve tried “radical Islam,” “extremist Islam,” “fundamentalist Islam,” and “sharia Islam.” Inevitably, political correctness gave us “... June 17, 2010 Pak Intelligence Pulls Taliban Strings Ever since the United States issued a rather unceremonious threat to bomb the Pakistanis back to the Stone Age in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks unless they changed course, Pakistan has b... June 16, 2010 What Kind of Washington Fools Would Honor Turkey’ s Foreign Minister? Update (June 16th, 2010 10:20 am): A press assistant at the Wilson Center confirmed this morning that what I wrote below is correct. The ceremonial dinner, honoring Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet... June 16, 2010 Yep, the Woodrow Wilson Center is Honoring the Foreign Minister of Turkey It seems too incredible that after Turkey’s Iran-embracing terror-loving anti-American Israel-demonizing hijinks of recent times, the congressionally-created taxpayer-subsidized Woodrow Wil... June 16, 2010 Hizbul Islam faction in southern Somalia defects to Shabaab An important Hizbul Islam faction in southern Somalia has broken away from t... June 16, 2010 Afghan Taliban deny being supported by Pakistan The Taliban's executive council has denied a recent report that stated the Pakistani military and government provides direct support to the Afghan group. In a statement released on it website, the Voice of Jihad, the Afghan Taliban described a study released by the London School of Economics as "a merely baseless propaganda launched to promote British and American interests" and "a dictated drama of the political rulers of the West." The Taliban claimed that it is fighting the US and Afghan governments with the support of the people in Afghanistan and that it has no need for Pakistani support. "The current Jihad and resistance against the invaders are being led by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate based inside Afghanistan ' obviously with the help and support of the Afghan Mujahid people," the statement read. "The enemy itself admits, the Islamic Emirate has control over 70% of the Afghan soil. The Islamic Emirate does not need to have such councils outside the country in order to continue the current popular resistance." The Afghan Taliban have long attempted to portray their movement as a localized, nationalist insurgency seeking only to restore the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, and they did so again in yesterday's statement denying links to Pakistan. "The present resistance is completely an home-grown Afghan Islamic resistance against the aggression of the invaders," the statement read. The Taliban said that it wasn't "rational" for the Pakistani government to back them as Pakistan has declared its support of the US and that "manifestations and impact of their support would have categorically become visible." The Afghan Taliban offered no criticism of Pakistan or the Pakistani military, however, while repeatedly lashing out at the US, Britain, and NATO. The London School of Economics report, titled "The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents," was released last weekend and created a stir as it accused the Pakistani military, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, and even the Pakistani government itself of providing support across the spectrum for the Taliban. "Interviews strongly suggest that support to the Afghan insurgency is official ISI policy," the paper stated."It appears to be carried out by both serving and former officers, who have considerable operational autonomy." The London School of Economics report even claimed that top political leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, have met with detained Afghan Taliban leaders and promised to free them as soon as was politically expedient. Direct Pakistani support for the Taliban has been an open secret for years. The Pakistani government, through the ISI, helped found the Taliban and helped it gain power during the 1990s. Pakistan was one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government. After the US ousted Mullah Omar from power in 2001 and 2002, the Taliban and al Qaeda regrouped in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan as well as in northwestern Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban teamed up with Pakistani Taliban factions and maintain safe havens and training camps in Pakistan to this day. The Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban's executive council, is named after the Pakistani city where it is based. The ISI, through the Haqqani Network, is known to have directed suicide operations against the Indian Embassy and other targets in Kabul. Several Pakistani military officers have been detained inside Afghanistan in connection with terrorist attacks on Afghan soil, while numerous Afghan Taliban commanders have admitted to receiving support from the Pakistani military over the past several years. Full text of the denial of Pakistani support by the Quetta Shura A Study Team of the London School of Economics has claimed in a report that the intelligence agency of Pakistan has been supporting the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan militarily and logistically. It has claimed that Pakistani intelligence officials practically participate in meetings of the alleged Quetta Council and impose their discretions on members of the Leadership Council. While considering this report of the London School of Economic as a merely baseless propaganda launched to promote British and American interests, the Islamic Emirate, meanwhile, declares its stand as follows: 1. The military power of the Evil Coalition including American, British and NATO forces have failed to prevent the victorious operations of the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Now they want to utilize their academic and research institutes in the work of the occupation of Afghanistan and for oppression of the Afghan Muslim people. The baseless report of the London School of Economics is a case in point. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan believes, the said report by the so-called research institute is a dictated drama of the political rulers of the West. It is not an investigative report based on facts and reasons, ethically carried out by academic research institute. 2. The current Jihad and resistance against the invaders are being led by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate based inside Afghanistan ' obviously with the help and support of the Afghan Mujahid people. The enemy itself admits, the Islamic Emirate has control over 70% of the Afghan soil. The Islamic Emirate does not need to have such councils outside the country in order to continue the current popular resistance. 3. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always emphasized that the present resistance is completely an home-grown Afghan Islamic resistance against the aggression of the invaders. It is not possible to lead such resistance simply by foreign support instead of the native support of the Afghan masses. Had a foreign support rather than indigenous support , ever played a role in such cases, then the surrogate administration of Karzai has military, espionage, economic and political support of 49 countries, why it has failed to prevent the growing national resistance of the Afghan Mujahid nation despite the support of the foreign invaders that the Administration enjoys? 4. Rulers of the government of Pakistan claim that they are the frontline pioneers of the American ignited war. They have not spared to do whatever was in their capacity to do. Hence, it is not rationale to say that they are supporting the jihad and resistance against the Americans in Afghanistan. Had Pakistan supported the Mujahideen, then manifestations and impact of their support would have categorically become visible. 5. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan openly invites all academic and research institutes, military and intelligence entities of the world including the London School of Economics to come to Afghanistan and behold the ranks of the Islamic Emirate with their own eyes that whether the Afghan gallant people or any foreigner make up the Mujahideen and leaders of the Jihad. Then again, they should check the ranks of the Karzai stooge administration to see whether their leaders are the gallant Afghans or the open enemies of our country and the invaders. After that, they should put, their academic and investigative report conducted on the basis of the ground realities, at the disposal of the public of the world. Had they done so, these academic institutes would have abided by their recognized norms and principles; would have saved their caliber and reputations, and produced useful academic report. At least, it would not have been a fabricated drama, ironically ordered by the arrogant powers. 6. To end, the Islamic Emirate calls on all independent countries of the world, particularly, the neighboring countries to extend their support to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to put an end to the occupation of the arrogants so that our oppressed and suffering countrymen can get rid of the occupation of the tyrants and form an independent system. Leadership Council Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. June 16, 2010 Taliban kill 10 Pakistani troops, capture 40 more in northwest The Pakistani military was hit hard this week by the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban operating in Pakistan' s lawless northwest. Ten Frontier Corps troops were killed and 40 more were captured during fighting in Bajaur and Mohmand, two regions where the military has declared victory in the recent past. The Afghan Taliban captured 40 paramilitary Frontier Corps troops yesterday after clashes along the border between the Pakistani tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand. Major General Athar Abbas, Pakistan's top military spokesman, confirmed the attack and said the Afghan Taliban captured the troops after overrunning a Pakistani military outpost, Reuters reported. The Afghan Taliban released five of the troops at the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, while the 35 other troops are still thought to be in the custody of the Taliban. The report of the Afghan Taliban capturing Pakistani troops took place just one day after the terror group denied receiving support from Pakistan's government and intelligence services. Interestingly, the Afghan Taliban have not harmed the Pakistani troops despite claiming that Pakistan supports the US in Afghanistan. Several major Taliban groups, including the Haqqani Network and the Tora Bora Military Front, operate in Nangarhar and are known to shelter and train across the border in Mohmand and Bajaur. Anwarul Haq Mujahid, the commander of the Tora Bora Military Front, and Maulvi Abdul Kabir, the former leader of the Peshawar Regional Military Council, are both said to be in Pakistani custody. In a separate incident, 38 Pakistani Taliban and 10 Frontier Corps troops were killed in clashes that took place less than 10 miles away from the town of Khar, the administrative seat of Bajaur. The Pakistani military displayed the bodies of 18 Taliban fighters killed in air and artillery attacks. The military did not detail the circumstances of the deaths of the Frontier Corps troops. Just yesterday, the Taliban issued pamphlets in Bajaur announcing their return and threatening to kill tribesmen who support the government. In the pamphlets, the Taliban "threatened the people, particularly the government employees and security forces, not to support the agenda of the US and its allies," The News reported. "The militants said that they would continue their 'jihad' against the US and its supporters. They also urged the Taliban fighters not to surrender to the government and warned them and security forces of stern action." Over the past 18 months, the Pakistani military has twice declared victory in Bajaur and Mohmand. The first time was on March 1, 2009, when Major General Tariq Khan declared victory in Bajaur. "They have lost," Khan told reporters after a brutal campaign that began in August 2008 was declared to have ended. "Their resistance has broken down. We think we have secured this agency. The Taliban have lost their cohesion." And in the neighboring tribal agency of Mohmand, Colonel Saif Ullah claimed the Taliban had been defeated and that the region was "under the control of law enforcement agencies." But the Taliban continued to exert control in Bajaur and Mohmand during 2009, killing tribal leaders who dared to work with the Pakistani government and military. Earlier this year, General Khan again claimed victory in Bajaur. On March 2, 2010, one year and one day after claiming the Taliban had lost in Bajaur, Khan again declared victory. He said that more than 2,200 Taliban fighters had been killed during two years of military operations. Yet although the military claimed to have defeated the Taliban in Bajaur and Mohmand in both 2009 and 2010, the senior leaders in these tribal agencies remain at large. Faqir Mohammed, a senior leader in Hakeemullah Mehsud's Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and a close ally to al Qaeda's Ayman Zawahiri, has not been killed or captured during the offensive. Military officials claimed Faqir was killed in August 2008, but the leader later surfaced. Faqir established a parallel government in Bajaur, complete with sharia courts, recruiting centers and training camps, taxation, and security forces. The US has conducted several airstrikes Bajaur, including two attacks that targeted Zawahiri and another that killed Abu Sulayman Jazairi, a senior Algerian operative for al Qaeda who was the terror groups' operational commander tasked with planning attacks against the West. Omar Khalid, the Taliban commander in Mohmand and a deputy of Hakeemullah' s Taliban movement, also remains at large. He is considered one of the most effective and powerful leaders in the tribal areas after Hakeemullah and Faqir. Khalid gained prominence in Mohmand during the summer of 2007 after taking over a famous shrine and renaming it the Red Mosque, after the radical mosque in Islamabad whose followers attempted to impose sharia in the capital. He became the dominant Taliban commander in Mohmand in July 2008 after defeating the Shah Sahib group, a rival pro-Taliban terror group with ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. During the summer of 2008, Khalid declared sharia in Mohmand. June 16, 2010 FDD Applauds Obama Administration for Targeting Iran’s Energy Industry Press Release June 16, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948judy@defenddemocracy.orgt FDD Applauds Obama Administration for Targeting Iran's Energy Industry Washington, D.C. (June 16, 2010) - The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) June 16, 2010 Current State of Afghan War Mirrors Iraq Circa 2005-2006 This morning I had the opportunity to listen in on a panel called "Will Pakistan be Democratic in 2020?" that was hosted by The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (full disclosure, I am a... June 15, 2010 Taliban assassinate key district governor in Kandahar Haji Abdul Jabbar, the district governor of the Arghandab district, from a US military news report posted on DVIDS on May 25, 2010. The Taliban assassinated an important ally in a district seen as vital to securing Kandahar province. Haji Abdul Jabbar, his son, and driver were killed after the Taliban detonated a bomb near their vehicle inside Kandahar City earlier today. Jabbar was the district governor of the Arghandab district, which lies just north of the provincial capital of Kandahar City. The US has placed great emphasis on turning Arghandab "into a working model of peace and stability," and Jabbar was the focus of a May 25 military news report on the district. The US has poured in aid money to help revitalize the farming community in Arghandab. The military has described the district as "the country's breadbasket." The assassination of Jabbar is the second major Taliban blow against the district in the past week. On June 10, a young Taliban suicide bomber detonated at a wedding in a village in Arghandab. The attack killed 40 people. Some of the men at the wedding support the police or were members of a local anti-Taliban militia. The Taliban have carried out a campaign of assassination and intimidation against tribal leaders and politicians who back the government and Coalition forces in Kandahar. Over the past several months, more than 20 senior officials, including the deputy mayor of Kandahar, have been killed by Taliban assassins. The US has been targeting top Taliban leaders and facilitators in Kandahar in the run-up to the long awaited operation to dislodge the Taliban from the province, which is the birthplace of the Taliban and a major power center for the group. Over the past four months, more than 70 mid-level Taliban commanders have been killed during a series of special operations raids in and around Kandahar City, The National Post reported. Two top Taliban leaders have been killed in Kandahar since late May. On May 30, Afghan and Coalition special operations forces killed Mullah Zergay, who led the Taliban in Kandahar City and in the vital districts of Zhari and Arghandab. On May 29, Afghan and Coalition forces killed Haji Amir, who was described as one of the top two Taliban leaders in all of Kandahar province. The International Security Assistance Force has placed great emphasis on Kandahar and is deploying the bulk of its forces en route to Afghanistan to the province. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have said that progress must be made by December in Kandahar, and in other key areas in the south, east, and north, in order for Western nations to continue their support for the war. But a Department of Defense survey of the situation in key districts in Afghanistan paints a grim picture of Afghan public support for the government in the south. In Kandahar and Helmand, the two provinces considered to be the key to the Taliban's power in the south, the majority of the population is considered to be ambivalent toward the Afghan government and the Coalition, or sympathetic to or supportive of the Taliban. Of the 11 of Kandahar's 13 districts assessed earlier this year, one district (Kandahar City) supported the government, three districts were considered neutral, six were sympathetic to the Taliban, and one supported the Taliban. Of the 11 of Helmand's 13 districts assessed, eight of the districts were considered neutral, one was sympathetic to the Taliban, and two supported the Taliban. The situation appears equally grim in neighboring Helmand province. Of the 11 of Helmand's 13 districts assessed, eight of the districts were considered neutral, one was sympathetic to the Taliban, and two supported the Taliban. The US has indicated that it will begin turning over security to the Afghan Army and police by July 2011 and that it will also start to withdraw its forces from the country at that time. June 15, 2010 Iran’s Revolution: Year 2 IN 1985 — when no case officer could even dream of widespread pro-democracy demonstrations in Tehran like those that occurred a year ago this week — I first arrived on the Iran desk i... June 15, 2010 The Dangers Of Doing Business With Iran’s Revolutionary Guards You won't find Khatam al-Anbiya traded on a public stock exchange, but if you own stock in a company that is developing Iran's energy resources, you may well be doing business with it.... June 15, 2010 Austrian Chancellor Slams Vienna’s Anti-Israel Resolution The head of Austria’s Jewish community, Ariel Muzicant, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday that Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann had described a Vienna city council re... June 15, 2010 Umbilically Yours, Says Nasrallah to Iran Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, has carefully cultivated a personality cult, a central tenet of which is that his word is always true. However, in a speech on the recent an... June 15, 2010 Complaint Against German ‘Mavi Marmara’ MPs Thomas Schalski-Seehann, a local politician from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the city of Stade, outside of Hamburg, filed a legal suit against three members of the German Left Party last w... June 14, 2010 The Helen Thomas Show An interesting side debate has broken out over whether Helen Thomas should have been fired from Hearst for saying what she did. A retired Pakistani brigadier of my acquaintance wrote to me to say... June 14, 2010 Arthur Herman: Why Are We Still in NATO? As NATO member Turkey jumps into the jihad — on the wrong side — with both feet, and NATO member member France prepares to sell Russia warships with sophisticated technology that inte... June 14, 2010 US, Afghan forces kill Haqqani Network commander during raid in Khost Click to view slide show of the Haqqani Network. Pictured is a composite image of Siraj Haqqani. Coalition and Afghan forces killed a Haqqani Network commander who is known to help al Qaeda fighters enter Afghanistan and carry out attacks in the region. The commander, Fazil Subhan, was killed along with an undisclosed number of Haqqani Network fighters last week during a two-day-long military operation in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, the International Security Assistance Force said in a press release. Subhan was "known to facilitate foreign fighters" in eastern Afghanistan. ISAF often uses the term "foreign fighters" to describe al Qaeda operatives. Subhan and his fighters were holed up "in fortified fighting positions in an area known for ambush attacks against international troops, southwest of Kowte Kheyl in the Shamul district" when the battle took place. An ammunition and weapons depot was also destroyed during the clearing operation. In addition to the raid that killed Subhan and some of his fighters, Coalition and Afghan forces carried out another raid against the Haqqani Network last week in the Shamul district. On June 9, joint forces detained "a Haqqani network weapons facilitator and several suspected insurgents" in Shamul. The facilitator, who was not named, "was responsible for acquiring IED materials and small arms for attacks against coalition forces, and has also supported suicide bombing operatives." A Haqqani Network leader known as Zakim Shah serves as the shadow governor of Khost province. Khost, Paktika, and Paktia provinces are the main strongholds of the Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan. The Haqqani forces in Paktika province are commanded by Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin Haqqani. A US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal that Sangeen also commands forces outside of Paktika and has become one of the most dangerous operational commanders in eastern Afghanistan. Last summer, Sangeen took credit for the kidnapping of a US soldier who apparently stepped away from his post at a combat outpost in Paktika on June 30, 2009. US forces in eastern Afghanistan launched a massive manhunt for the soldier, but failed to find him. The soldier is believed to be held across the border in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. The Haqqani Network also has a presence in the provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Zabul, and Kabul. US and Afghan forces hit the Haqqani Network hard in the summer of 2009 during a series of raids in Khost, Paktika, Paktia, Logar, and Zabul. Major battles were fought in mountainous regions as the joint forces assaulted heavily defended Haqqani Network "fortresses." The raids failed to dislodge the Haqqani Network from the provinces. The Haqqani Network has also been heavily targeted by the CIA in the covert air campaign in Pakistan's tribal areas. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the group's top leader, has been the target of multiple Predator strikes. His brother, Mohammed, who served as a military commander, was killed in a February 2010 strike in North Waziristan. Background on the Haqqani Network The Haqqani Network has extensive links with al Qaeda and the Taliban, and its relationship with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has allowed the network to survive and thrive in its fortress stronghold of North Waziristan. The Haqqanis control large swaths of the tribal area and run a parallel administration with courts, recruiting centers, tax offices, and security forces. They have established multiple training camps and safe houses used by al Qaeda leaders and operatives, as well as by Taliban foot soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network has been implicated in some of the biggest terror attacks in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, including the January 2008 suicide assault on the Serena hotel, the February 2009 assault on Afghan ministries, and the July 2008 and October 2009 suicide attacks against the Indian embassy. American intelligence agencies confronted the Pakistani government with evidence, including communications intercepts, which proved the ISI' s direct involvement in the 2008 Indian embassy bombing. [See LWJ report "Pakistan's Jihad" and Threat Matrix report "Pakistan backs Afghan Taliban" for additional information on the ISI's complicity in attacks in Afghanistan and the region.] The Haqqani Network is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son, Sirajuddin. Jalaluddin is thought to be ill and is considered the patriarch of the network. Siraj runs the daily operations and is the group's military commander. Siraj is one of the most wanted Taliban and al Qaeda leaders in the Afghan-Pakistan region. The US military has described Siraj as the primary threat to security in eastern Afghanistan. He is the mastermind of the most deadly attacks inside Afghanistan, including suicide assaults in Kabul, and he is the senior military commander in eastern Afghanistan. He is the leader of the Taliban's Miramshah Regional Military Shura, one of the Afghan Taliban's four regional commands [see LWJ report, "The Afghan Taliban's top leaders"]. Siraj is considered dangerous not only for his ties with the Afghan Taliban, but also because of his connections with al Qaeda's central leadership, which extend all the way to Osama bin Laden. Siraj is a member of al Qaeda' s Shura Majlis, or top council, US intelligence sources told The Long War Journal. In a tape released in April 2010, Siraj admitted that cooperation between the Taliban and al Qaeda "is at the highest limits." On March 25, 2009, the US Department of State put out a $5 million bounty for information leading to the capture of Siraj. Despite Siraj's ties with al Qaeda, and the Haqqani Network's use of suicide attacks, some top US military commanders have stated that Jalaluddin Haqqani, his father, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another supporter of al Qaeda, are "absolutely salvageable" and ripe for negotiations. 'The HIG already have members in Karzai' s government, and it could evolve into a political party, even though Hekmatyar may be providing al Qaeda leaders refuge in Kunar," Major General Michael Flynn, the top military intelligence official in Afghanistan, told The Atlantic in April 2010. "Hekmatyar has reconcilable ambitions. As for the Haqqani network, I can tell you they are tired of fighting, but are not about to give up. They have lucrative business interests to protect: the road traffic from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to Central Asia.' Sir Graeme Lamb, a senior adviser to General McChrystal, echoed Flynn's view on Hekmatyar and Haqqani, and discounted the groups' close ties to al Qaeda. "Haqqani and Hekmatyar are pragmatists tied to the probability of outcomes," Lamb also told The Atlantic. "With all the talk of Islamic ideology, this is the land of the deal." June 13, 2010 Russians capture, kill 2 top Caucasus Emirate commanders Emir Magas. Image from Kavkaz Center. Russian security forces dealt a double blow to the al Qaeda-linked Caucasus Emirate during operations in the southern Russian republics... June 13, 2010 Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Cash in After a Year of Suppressing Dissent In return for standing by him in the bloody crackdown that saw thousands arrested and up to 100 people killed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has awarded a series of lucrative oil and gas deals to G... June 13, 2010 Reflections on Brian Michael Jenkins’ ‘Would-Be Warriors’ Recently RAND released a new paper by Brian Michael Jenkins entitled Would-Be Warriors: Incidents of Terrorist Radicalization in the United States Since September 11, 2001. The paper constitutes... June 12, 2010 Please, No More ‘Arc of History’ When Barack Obama finally piped up last year about the massive protests following the rigged June 12 presidential election in Iran, he quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral u... June 12, 2010 Iran’s Revolution Has Only Just Begun Today is the first anniversary of the fraudulent election that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power, igniting huge demonstrations all over Iran. At the time, very few outside observers bel... June 11, 2010 US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan The US struck Taliban targets in two separate villages in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency late Thursday night and Friday. The US has carried out three airstrikes in Pakistan in the past 24 hours. Unmanned Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at Taliban safe houses in the villages of Bahadar Khel and Khaddi, killing 14 terrorists. Eleven were killed in the attack on Bahadar Khel and three more in the strike in Khaddi, according to a report published in Dawn. Three "foreigners," a term used by Pakistani officials to describe Arab or Central Asian al Qaeda fighters, were killed in Bahadar Khel and two more were killed in Khaddi. The identity of those killed is not yet known, and no senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed at this time. The strikes took place in a region administered by North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar. Al Qaeda and allied Pakistani and Central Asian jihadist groups shelter in Bahadar's tribal areas, and they also run training camps and safe houses in the region. Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Bahadar or the Haqqani Network, a deadly Taliban group that is closely allied with al Qaeda. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Some of al Qaeda's most senior leaders have been killed in Bahadar's tribal areas. Most recently, on May 21, a US strike in North Waziristan killed Mustafa Abu Yazid, one of al Qaeda's top leaders, and the most senior al Qaeda leader to have been killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan to date. Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, and more importantly, as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Background on US strikes in Pakistan The latest two strikes are the second and third reported inside Pakistan this month. All three strikes have taken place over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, the US hit a Taliban compound in the town of Norak in North Waziristan, killing three terrorists. So far this year, the US has carried out 41 strikes in Pakistan; all but two of them have taken place in North Waziristan. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year' s strike total in Pakistan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Over the past several months, unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan, and have also struck at targets in South Waziristan and Khyber, in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] A top terrorist leader claimed that the US program had been crippled. In early April, Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had 'decreased 90 percent" since the suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only three top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.] For the past few months, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. But recently, after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US. US strikes in Pakistan in 2010: ' US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan June 11, 2010 ' US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan June 10, 2010 ' US kills 11 in Predator strike in South Waziristan May 28, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 6 in North Waziristan May 21, 2010 ' US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber May 15, 2010 ' US pounds Taliban in pair of strikes in North Waziristan May 11, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 10 'rebels' in North Waziristan May 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan May 3, 2010 ' US strike kills 8 Taliban in North Waziristan April 26, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 7 Taliban in North Waziristan April 24, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan April 16, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan April 14, 2010 ' US strike kills 5 Taliban in North Waziristan April 12, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan March 30, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 27, 2010 ' US kills 6 in strike against Haqqani Network March 23, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 21, 2010 ' US kills 8 terrorists in 2 new airstrikes in North Waziristan March 17, 2010 ' US Predator strike in North Waziristan kills 11 Taliban, al Qaeda March 16, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan March 10, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters March 8, 2010 ' US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8 Feb. 24, 2010 ' US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Feb. 18, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Feb. 17, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan Feb. 15, 2010 ' US strikes training camp in North Waziristan Feb. 14, 2010 ' Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan Feb. 2, 2010 ' US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Jan. 29, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6 Jan. 19, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20 Jan. 17, 2010 ' US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan Jan. 15, 2010 ' US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan Jan. 14, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan Jan. 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan Jan. 8, 2010 ' US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike Jan. 6, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan Jan. 3, 2010 ' US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan Jan. 1, 2010 June 11, 2010 The Grand Jihad — New York Times Bestseller We learned yesterday that The Grand Jihad is a New York Times bestseller. It is no. 18 on the nonfiction list for the week ending June 5 (meaning the list dated June 20). I'm very grateful f... June 11, 2010 White House Works to Ease Iran Proposal in Congress The Obama administration, which labored for months to impose tough new United Nations sanctions against Iran, now is pushing in the opposite direction against Congress as it crafts U.S. sanctions t... June 11, 2010 Next for the Iran Sanctions: Making Them Actually Bite The Obama administration scored a significant diplomatic success Wednesday when it persuaded the United Nations Security Council to approve new economic sanctions on Iran for failing to curb its nu... June 11, 2010 France Leads Europe With Ban on Hamas TV France became the first European government on Wednesday to order the French-owned satellite station Eutelsat to stop its broadcast of the Hamas Al-Aksa program because of violations against Euro... June 11, 2010 Iran’s Arc Of Injustice When huge protests broke out in Iran over last year's rigged reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, U.S. President Barack Obama had some cool, calm answers. The brutality of Iran'... June 10, 2010 Suicide bomber kills 40 at wedding in Kandahar A Taliban suicide bomber struck at a wedding in a strategic district in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. The suicide bomber detonated as "massive bomb" in the midst of a wedding party. It is unclear if the bomber used a vest or a vehicle to carry out the attack. "Right now I can say that dozens of people were killed and injured in the blast," a senior police official in Kandahar told The Hindu. "It was a suicide bomber that targeted the wedding party." The suicide bomber killed 40 people and wounded 77, according to Xinhua. The groom and several children were among those wounded. The target of the attack is not yet known. According to AFP, the families in attendance support neither the Taliban or the government. Taliban suicide bombers are often recruited and trained in Taliban and al Qaeda camps in Pakistan's lawless tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan. The Taliban have carried out a campaign of assassination and intimidation against tribal leaders and politicians who back the government and Coalition forces. More than 20 senior officials, including the deputy mayor of Kandahar, have been killed by Taliban assassins over the past several months. The attack may be revenge for the killing of two senior Taliban leaders in Kandahar since late May. On May 30, Afghan and Coalition special operations forces killed Mullah Zergay, who led the Taliban in Kandahar City, as well as in the vital districts of Zhari and Arghandab. On May 29, Afghan and Coalition forces killed Haji Amir, who was described as one of the top two Taliban leaders in all of Kandahar province. Kandahar is considered to be the center of the Taliban's power base in Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force has placed great emphasis on Kandahar and is deploying the bulk of its forces en route to Afghanistan to the province. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have said progress in Kandahar and in other key areas in the south, east, and north, must be made by December in order for Western nations to continue flagging support for the war. June 10, 2010 US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan Click to view slide show of the Haqqani Network. Pictured is a composite image of Siraj Haqqani. The US killed three suspected terrorists in the first airstrike in Pakistan's lawless tribal agencies this month. The strike, which was carried out by unmanned Predators or the more deadly Reapers, targeted "a sprawling compound" in the village of Norak in North Waziristan, according to Reuters. It is unclear if the strike targeted al Qaeda, the Taliban, or allied Central Asian terror groups known to operate in the tribal agency. The compound is known to be used by the Taliban. The Taliban have reportedly cordoned off the scene of the attack and are preventing outsiders from observing recovery operations. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported killed at this time. The town of Norak is in the sphere of influence of the Haqqani Network, a Taliban group led by mujahedeen commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj. The Haqqanis are closely allied to al Qaeda and to the Taliban, led by Mullah Omar. The Haqqanis are based on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. Siraj is the leader the Miramshah Regional Military Shura, one of the Taliban's top four commands; he sits on the Taliban's Quetta Shura; and he is also is a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis. The US killed Mohammed Haqqani, one of 12 sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, in the Feb. 18 airstrike in Danda Darpa Khel just outside of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. Mohammed served as a military commander for the Haqqani Network. Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on the Haqqani Network or allied Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar. The Haqqanis and Bahadar are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Today's strike is just the second since Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, called for the CIA to end the attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas. Alston claimed the program is not subject to accountability that would exist under a program run by the US military. Alston's comments follow criticisms of the CIA program earlier this year by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a lawsuit against the the Defense Department, the State Department, and the Justice Department, demanding enforcement of its January request for information on the program. The US government has defended the air campaign in Pakistan, and insisted the program is in line with international laws of war and remains accountable to the US Congress. Background on US strikes in Pakistan Today's strike is the first reported inside Pakistan this month. So far this year, the US has carried out 39 strikes in Pakistan; all but two of them have taken place in North Waziristan. An airstrike on May 28 occurred in South Waziristan. Al Qaeda later announced that Osama bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Damjan al Dawsari, a wanted Saudi terrorist, was killed in the strike. The US is well on its way to exceeding last year' s strike total in Pakistan. In 2009, the US carried out 53 strikes in Pakistan; and in 2008, the US carried out 36 strikes in the country. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, "Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Over the past several months, unmanned US Predator and Reaper strike aircraft have been pounding Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts in North Waziristan, and have also struck at targets in South Waziristan and Khyber, in an effort to kill senior terror leaders and disrupt the networks that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the West. [For more information, see LWJ report, "Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2010."] Most recently, on May 21, a US strike in North Waziristan killed Mustafa Abu Yazid, one of al Qaeda's most senior leaders. Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, and more importantly, as al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Yazid is the most senior al Qaeda leader to have been killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan to date. His death came more than a month after a top terrorist leader claimed that the US program had been crippled. In early April, Siraj Haqqani, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, said that the effectiveness of US airstrikes in killing senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders had 'decreased 90 percent" since the suicide attack on Combat Outpost Chapman. While other factors may be involved in the decreased effectiveness in killing the top-tier leaders, an analysis of the data shows that only three top-tier commanders have been killed since Jan 1, 2010, but seven top-tier leaders were killed between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009. [See LWJ report, "Effectiveness of US strikes in Pakistan 'decreased 90 percent' since suicide strike on CIA - Siraj Haqqani," for more information.] For the past few months, most US and Pakistani officials believed that Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, had been killed in a Jan. 14 strike in Pasalkot in North Waziristan. But recently, after four months of silence on the subject, the Taliban released two tapes to prove that Hakeemullah is alive. On the tapes, Hakeemullah said the Taliban will carry out attacks inside the US. US strikes in Pakistan in 2010: ' US Predator strike kills 3 in North Waziristan June 10, 2010 ' US kills 11 in Predator strike in South Waziristan May 28, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 6 in North Waziristan May 21, 2010 ' US Predators carry out first strike in Khyber May 15, 2010 ' US pounds Taliban in pair of strikes in North Waziristan May 11, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 10 'rebels' in North Waziristan May 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 'militants' in North Waziristan May 3, 2010 ' US strike kills 8 Taliban in North Waziristan April 26, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 7 Taliban in North Waziristan April 24, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan April 16, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan April 14, 2010 ' US strike kills 5 Taliban in North Waziristan April 12, 2010 ' US strikes kill 6 in North Waziristan March 30, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 27, 2010 ' US kills 6 in strike against Haqqani Network March 23, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan March 21, 2010 ' US kills 8 terrorists in 2 new airstrikes in North Waziristan March 17, 2010 ' US Predator strike in North Waziristan kills 11 Taliban, al Qaeda March 16, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 12 in North Waziristan March 10, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 5 Taliban fighters March 8, 2010 ' US hits Haqqani Network in North Waziristan, kills 8 Feb. 24, 2010 ' US airstrikes target Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Feb. 18, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike kills 3 in North Waziristan Feb. 17, 2010 ' US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan Feb. 15, 2010 ' US strikes training camp in North Waziristan Feb. 14, 2010 ' Predators pound terrorist camp in North Waziristan Feb. 2, 2010 ' US airstrike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Jan. 29, 2010 ' US airstrike in North Waziristan kills 6 Jan. 19, 2010 ' Latest US airstrike in Pakistan kills 20 Jan. 17, 2010 ' US strikes kill 11 in North Waziristan Jan. 15, 2010 ' US airstrike hits Taliban camp in North Waziristan Jan. 14, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 4 Taliban fighters in North Waziristan Jan. 9, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 5 in North Waziristan Jan. 8, 2010 ' US kills 17 in latest North Waziristan strike Jan. 6, 2010 ' US airstrike kills 2 Taliban fighters in Mir Ali in Pakistan Jan. 3, 2010 ' US kills 3 Taliban in second strike in North Waziristan Jan. 1, 2010 June 10, 2010 Re: Coulda Fooled Me Yes, Mark, it is improbable for Erdogan to say "It is not possible for those who belong to the... June 10, 2010 Plug the Sanctions Hole on Iran With a short time left before the U.S. Congress finalizes an energy sanctions bill on Iran, the Iranian regime is already exploiting what could be a gaping loophole in Iran sanctions laws.... June 10, 2010 Disrupt Iran’s Oil Trade, Aid the Green Movement Conventional wisdom has it that imposing harsher energy sanctions on the Iranian regime will have little effect on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ent... June 10, 2010 Beyond Bigotry Israel is at war and were Israel to be defeated much of the world would not shed wet tears. What would happen after such a defeat? No one can seriously doubt that Hamas has genocidal intentions.... June 10, 2010 How Political Artists Do Away With Nations There is nothing more dreary than contemporary art that sets out merely to be provocative when it is in fact conventional and reactionary. A case in point is the Danish artistic group Surrend&#03... June 10, 2010 The Islamic Republic of Sudan? The Sudanese newspaper Rai al-Shaab (Opinion of the People), owned and controlled by Sudanese opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, recently published an article that potentially provides new and i... June 10, 2010 German Jews: Break Gaza Blockade Edith Lutz, a member of a fringe group of anti-Israeli German Jews, announced on Thursday in German radio (Deutschlandradio) that members plan to deliver musical instruments and other goods aboar... June 9, 2010 Hamas Has Been Dealt Blow to its Terrorist TV Station Press Release June 9, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948 judy@defenddemocracy.org Hamas Has Been Dealt Blow to its Terrorist TV Station Coalition... June 9, 2010 Security Council Approves New Iran Sanctions Press Release June 9, 2010 CONTACT: Judy Mayka 202-621-3948 judy@defenddemocracy.org Security Council Approves New Iran Sanctions Congress Set...

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