NATO Gives Security to Afghans in Eastern Capital - AP
NATO Hands Over Key Afghan City - BBC
Handover of Key City Tests Afghan Forces Amid Rising - Reuters
Karzai Seeks to Fill Power Void after Brother's Death - WP
Afghan, Pakistan Presidents Meet Amid New Tensions - Reuters
Villagers Join with US Coalition to Bring Peace to Marjah - S&S
Taliban Denies Texting Mullah Omar's Death, Blames Hacking - LAT
Afghan Police and Insurgents in Kandahar Gunbattle - BBC
Militants Storm Kandahar Police Station, Kill Commander - Reuters
Taliban Say Hackers Broke Into Phone, Website - AP
Taliban Deny Their Leader Mullah Omar Has Died - AP
ISAF Operations Roundup - AFPS
Afghanistan's 'Other' Transition - TA opinion
Afghanistan Is Now India's Problem - FP opinion
Pakistan
US, India Press Pakistan on Terrorist Safe Havens - VOA
Clinton Calls on Pakistan to Prosecute Bombing Suspects - WP
FBI: Pakistani Spies Spent Millions Lobbying US - AP
DC Nonprofit Illegal Agent of Pakistani Government - WP
FBI Arrests Man Said to Be a Front for Donations - NYT
Pair Charged with Illegally Lobbying for Pakistan - LAT
Pakistan: Shelling from Afghanistan Kills 4 Troops - AP
US Steps Up Push for Aid Recognition in Pakistan - AP
Pakistan Appoints First Woman Foreign Minister - Reuters
Iraq
UN Envoy Cautiously Optimistic on Iraq - AP
Kirkuk a 'Land Mine' Where All Sides Want US to Stay - McClatchy
Fiery Iraqi Cleric's Political Party Puts On New Face - NPR
Al-Qaida Iraq Group Claims Recent Deadly Attacks - AP
Syria
US Softens its Criticism of Syria - LAT
Syrian Military Assaults Intensify on Homs, 16 Killed - Reuters
Syrian Violence Leaves At Least 10 More Dead in Homs - VOA
Syrian Security Forces Shoot at Funeral Processions - NYT
Syrian Mourners 'Killed in Homs' - BBC
Syrian Forces Fire on Funeral Procession, 10 Killed - AP
Rights Group Fears Syrian Detainees Being Tortured - AP
FBI Interviews Syrian Activists in Washington - WP
A Vision of a Life Free From Dictators - NYT
Libya
US Recognition of Rebels Raises Tough Legal Questions - WP
US Officials Met Gaddafi Envoys - BBC
Libya Forces, Rebels Locked in Battle for Port Brega - LAT
Landmines Hinder Libyan Rebel Battle for Oil Port - VOA
Libyan Rebels Say They Have Encircled Brega - Reuters
Libyan Troops Kill 8 Rebels Near Eastern Oil Town - AP
Gaddafi Could Stay in Libya, France's Juppe Says - Reuters
Yemen
Yemen Opposition Forms Council to Oust President - Reuters
Yemeni Army Shelling Kills More than 20 Militants - AP
Israel / Palestinians
Spirit of Middle East Protests Doesn't Spare Israel - NYT
Israel Seizes Pro-Palestinian Flotilla Vessel - VOA
Israel Troops Board Gaza Protest Boat Dignite-al Karama - BBC
Israel Stops French Boat Headed to Gaza - WP
Protest Yacht, Bound for Gaza, Is Diverted by Israeli Forces - NYT
Israeli Navy Takes Over Gaza-Bound French Ship - AP
Middle East / North Africa
Iran to 'Speed Up' Uranium Enrichment - BBC
Lawmaker: Iran Shot Down Unmanned US Spy Plane - AP
Jordan's Protesters Ask Little, and Receive Less - NYT
Military Is Left Out of Draft for Egyptian Rule - NYT
Egypt's Military Seeks Future Political Role - AP
Tunisia's Islamist Party Denies It Behind Riots - Reuters
Tunisia Gas Pipe Hit by Blast but Still Working - Reuters
Latest Developments in Arab World's Unrest - AP
India
US, India Focus on Homeland Security - WP
Clinton Says US, India 'Allies' in Terrorism Fight - LAT
US Vows Counterterrorism Support for India - AP
Clinton Seeks Indian Security and Nuclear Deals - BBC
Death Toll from Mumbai Triple Bombing Rises to 20 - AP
Afghanistan Is Now India's Problem - FP opinion
US Department of Defense
USMC Sgt Dakota Meyer To Be Awarded The Medal Of Honor - MCA
Accused Fort Hood Shooter to Be Arraigned Wednesday - VOA
Army to Move Hundreds of Wounded as Walter Reed Closes - S&S
DOD Can No Longer Solve Problems with Money as Cuts Loom - S&S
$46 Billion Worth of Cancelled Programs - DT
Two Never-finished Navy Ships Head to Scrap Heap - VP
Lynn: Defense Department Seeks Energy Revolution - AFPS
Lynn: Defense, Energy Departments' Partnership Pays Off - AFPS
Carter Updates Industrial Leaders on 'Better Buying Power' - AFPS
DOD Personnel Chief Slammed in IG Complaint - MT
Coordinated Strategy Lacking for Missile Defense Training - S&S
Air Force Tidies Up Manual on Dress Code, Grooming Standards - S&S
Cut Bloated Head Count, Not Weapons Programs - Forbes opinion
United States
Obama Hails Senate Deficit-reduction Plan - WP
16 Arrested as FBI Hits the Hacking Group Anonymous - NYT
Minnesota Man Admits Somalia Terror Plot - BBC
When a Visa Application Gets Flagged - WP
United Kingdom
Close Ties Between UK Media, Police Scrutinized - AP
2nd News Executive, Arrested, May Have Counseled PM - NYT
No Outside Involvement in UK Whistleblower's Death - AP
Murdochs Deny That They Knew of Illegal Acts - NYT
Murdoch Apologizes, But Deflects Blame - WP
Africa
Clinton Promises $28M More in Famine Aid to Africa - AP
Oxfam: $800 Million Needed to Help HOA Hungry - AP
Somali President Declares Famine - VOA
UN Declares South Somalia Famine - BBC
UN: Parts of South Somalia Suffering From Famine - AP
UN Set to Declare Famine in Parts of Somalia - Reuters
UN Wants Security Guarantees for Somalia Aid Work - AP
Somalia Pirate Video: Danes, Filipinos Plead for Release - AP
Attack on Home of Guinea President Conde Repelled - BBC
Guinea's President Calls for Calm After Assassination Attempt - VOA
Ex-Army Chief Held After Guinea's Conde Escapes Attack - Reuters
5 Nigerian Cops Say They Didn't Kill Sect Leader - AP
South Sudan Heralds Independence With First Oil Cargo - Reuters
Americas
Slain Kids Cast Larger Shadow on Mexican Drug War - Reuters
Venezuela Court Drops Complaint Against Chavez Foe - AP
Peru: Shining Path 'Kills Two Soldiers' - BBC
Nicaragua: Ortega Proposes Referrendum to Demand US Damages -AP
Paraguay Rebel Leader Launches Book Outside Jail - AP
Asia Pacific
ASEAN Foreign Ministers Discuss South China Sea Dispute - VOA
ASEAN, China Approve 'Guidelines' for Disputed Sea - AP
South China Sea Dispute: Philippine MPs Visit Spratlys - BBC
Filipino Lawmakers Visit Disputed Isle, Defy China - AP
Xi Jinping: China Will 'Smash' Tibet Separatism - BBC
China Executes Corrupt Hangzhou and Suzhou Officials - BBC
China Says 14 Rioters Killed in Xinjiang Attack - AP
Japan Claims Success in Cooling Damaged Nuclear Reactors - VOA
Europe
IMF Warns European Debt Could Derail Global Economy - VOA
IMF Says Euro Under 'a Shadow' - WP
Europe Fears Financial Contagion in Italy and Spain - NYT
Europe Sees US Debt Crisis as Threat - WP
Russia and Germany Bolster Trade Ties - NYT
Serbia Arrests Last War Crimes Fugitive - BBC
Serbia Arrests Last UN War Crimes Fugitive - AP
Comments
<b>carl:</b><blockquote>"...Maybe even those educated at the best schools are starting to understand what the Pak Army/ISI actually is."</blockquote>They knew, long before you became aware. They just made a deal they didn't like but saw as necessary and with which you do not agree.
As you write, sarcasm is about all you can do and that is unlikely to have any effect either way. ;)
Madhu:
The Pak Army/ISI deserves to be picked on and sarcasm is about all we could do given the morons inside the beltway. I was going to say something along the lines that the Pak Army was only doing what Israel does but didn't do it as well. But then it occurred to me that they achieve the same results as Israel but in a different way. Israel has to go through Congress to get its way with us, the Pak Army/ISI bypasses Congress and goes directly to the executive branch. Same result.
But maybe things are changing now. Maybe even those educated at the best schools are starting to understand what the Pak Army/ISI actually is.
<strong>FBI Arrests Man Said to Be a Front for Donations - NYT</strong> - Interesting link above.
The following is also interesting, if dated. Dated, yet strangely timely....
<em>Guests crowded around Kayani at the annual Pakistani National Day party at the embassy, posing for photos and jostling for the military leaders ear. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, also <strong>drew those eager for photographic souvenirs of the occasion</strong>, but not such a feeding frenzy as that around Kayani.
U.S. senators and Obama administration officials lined up to speak to the slim and dapper general, who Pakistani media say rules the roost back home but is also central to U.S. relations with Islamabad.</em>
(Bolded emphasis mine).
I'm not picking on Pakistan. Really. Everyone does it, simply everyone. Even within that spectrum, however, some things stand out. This has been going on for years and years but because of American domestic blinders (by both our main political camps), no one else was much interested.
Except, certain immigrant diaspora were interested but they weren't the good or interesting kind, now were they?
Am I overly sarcastic? Maybe. It's just that I hate to think of the best - the absolute <em>best</em> of our young people being used in games. It is the way of the world but I don't have to like it. I wish our media were always curious about all things and not just when it suits their fancy or their "patrons" fancy.
Simple everyday human curiosity is a powerful tool.