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[SWJ Blog] 12 August SWJ Roundup (SWJ Blog): and the Defense Intelligence Agency have concluded that the amount of drug money flowing to the Taliban in Afghanistan is far lower than widely estimated but remains critical to the insurgents' ability to survive, according to a Senate report released Tuesday. The two spy agencies believe that Taliban leaders receive about $70 million a year from Afghanistan's lucrative poppy crop - far lower than the $400-million estimate released last year by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

[Untitled] The Pony Local | The Progressive Realist: This is especially true when the Shiite-dominated government in power has two things going for it - two things that will stay with it during the extension of the withdrawal deadline proposed by Walter. The Shiite-dominated government can continue to consolidate power while US troops remain in Iraq playing a helpful role, and as soon as US forces outlive their utility, the Shiite-dominated government can demand that US forces leave according to the timeline in the SOFA or according to the terms of a subsequent agreement. 

[Liberal Conspiracy] Liberal Conspiracy » Real Women - Really Patronising?: Lets say they are appealing to a certain type of women (who maybe wouldn’t normally be interested in politics for example) I find it insulting that they have only seemed to target less educated or politically disinterested women rather than targeting everyone. If there was a shinny leaflet with their policies being given out to all I would almost be happier.

[Sustainabilitank] SustainabiliTank: Al Qaida was an intense Saudi-Sunni creation ...: Shiite Islam is all about patience and the long view, waiting for the hidden 12th imam, the Mahdi, to return and redeem the faith’s followers. And it is also about enduring suffering, as illustrated by the annual and always passionate commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the seventh-century Shiite saint, when many flagellate themselves in bloody displays of regret.

[War Report] Statement of Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, United States Ambassador ...: instance, there is a budding debate about federalism among Iraq's leaders and, importantly, within the Sunni community. Those living in place like al-Anbar and.

[e-IR] e-IR » The Status of Middle-Eastern Palestinian Refugees outside ...: Iraqi Palestinians are thus left in a situation which is sadly reminiscent of their co-nationals in the Occupied Territories: without anywhere to flee (borders are almost ubiquitously closed to Iraqi Palestinians), they are subject to the depredations of the unrepresentative state in which they reside. Despite robust constitutional protection for minority rights, realpolitik within Iraq seems to indicate that the future of Iraqi Palestinians is bleak, consisting of ongoing discrimination aided and abetted by government agencies.[2]

[Obsidian Wings] Obsidian Wings: Pony Express Local, Part I: However, a large number of US troops were present during that excessively bloody chapter which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, led to the displacement of roughly 4 million more and caused severe demographic shifts in key cities and towns (from heterogeneous ethnic/sectarian blends to homogeneous enclaves).  But if such an episode was possible with 150,000 troops present, why is Walter so certain that the 50,000 troops she envisions remaining behind will be able to prevent a sequel?

[The Best Defense] How to lose in Iraq: two old school memoirs show the way - By Tom ...: Saville later testified at a court-martial that he had been told to go after certain Iraqis and not bring them back alive if they were captured, another point Sassaman omits. This incident, coming after two men were killed, made me wonder how Sassaman might have reacted if he had commanded, say, the 1st Battalion of the 26th Regiment, which lost an agonizing total of thirty-one soldiers in Baghdad in 2006 and 2007.

[Small Wars Council] 12 August SWJ Roundup - Small Wars Council: Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem “developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework.” He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America’s worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled.

[Prada World] Prada World » Blog Archive » The patience of the Shiites today is ...: The patience of the Shiites today is in extraordinary contrast to Iraq's recent past. With a demographic majority of 60 percent and control of the government, power is theirs for the first time in a thousand years.

[Pickled Politics] Pickled Politics » Public thinks foreign policy has been a failure: In 1996, extreme right wing Israeli Likud policy makers wrote a policy paper for Benjamin Netanjahu, titled a “Clean Break”…..they essentially argued that Israel should not seek peace and co-existence with the Palestinians, as that would spell the end of Israel, with the demographics of the Palestinians viz Israelis..and other issues, and that Israel should have an aggressive military policy around her against Saddam’s Iraq, Syria, Lebanon…and so forth. That such an Israeli policy should be carried out through the might of the USA.

[The American Conservative] The American Conservative » The Book on Information War: An example of this at work was Zarqawi’s information operations campaign of late 2004 where a web-casted beheading had as much or more of a negative impact on popular support reflected in opinion polls on the Iraq war as compared to tons of bombs dropped on Japan during WWII. Instead of only attacking the physical body, the new way of war will attack the enemy’s mind through the infosphere.

[Breaking News] Iranian opposition says at least 69 dead in 2 months of unrest ...: Nobel laureate urges Iran to release detaineesSEOUL, South Korea ””Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi on Sunday urged Iran's government to release detained activists and citizens accused of involvement in the country's postelection unrest, saying the president must "listen to the people's voice."Hundreds of people in Iran have been detained following massive demonstrations protesting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 12 re-election. On Sunday, Iran's police chief acknowledged that some of the detained protesters were abused in custody, but said the death of some prisoners was caused by illness not torture.

[The Dawn Blog] The Dawn Blog » Blog Archive » Today, I too am a minority: Mr.Nadeem when you commented on India’s hindus you should also have mentioned that unlike pakistan where the minority population of hindus, sikhs and christians have seriously diwindled in the past 50 years due to heavy persecution and physical elimination carried out by the majority muslims here in India the minority muslims (the percentage of this population is higher than pakistan population) are the fastest growing population in India. They have grown by 50% and more in the past 50 years which shows the innate tolerance and secularistic environment in India and also shows how Hindus are the most tolerant people in the whole world.

[Worldfocus] Rising Sunni-Shiite violence threatens security in Iraq | Worldfocus: This shuffling of demographic cards totally distorted the prices of property. Many were forced to sell cheap, especially if they were living in Sunni areas.

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