https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Turquoise-Palace-Roya-Hakakian/dp/0802145973/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1523246860&sr=8-2&keywords=hakakian
26 years later: Assassins of the Turquoise Palace: 1 of 2: by Roya Hakakian
https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Turquoise-Palace-Roya-Hakakian/dp/0802145973/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1523246860&sr=8-2&keywords=hakakian
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Islamic State a Deadly Force in Kabul
By Mukhtar A. Khan, Terrorism Monitor: “Afghanistan is no stranger to brutal terrorist attacks, but this year began with a series of particularly vicious deadly attacks in Kabul, the only secured and highly fortified city in the country. Even more worryingly, most of these attacks were claimed by the local franchise of Islamic State (IS), known as IS-Khorasan.” JCPOA PROCUREMENT FOR NUCLEAR MATERIALS: Under the nuclear deal with Iran, a new mechanism was set up to regulate any procurements made by Tehran for its now limited nuclear programme. In a new research paper, Paulina Izewicz looks closely at the mechanism's workings and effectiveness so far, and offers recommendations to policymakers to ensure its sustainability. Download the report
Eli Lake writes: Shirin Ebadi, Iran's Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights lawyer, has had enough. For years she represented her country's dissidents in the Islamic Republic's corrupt courts. She spoke out for the rights of women, minorities and students abroad. But she never called for the end of the regime she was fighting to reform. Until now. - Bloomberg More than militias: Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces are here to stay
(War On The Rocks) Over the last several years, I have met with commanders and fighters from Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (al-hashd al-sha’abi, or PMF), an umbrella organization of some 50 paramilitary groups, to hear about their perspectives on the situation in Iraq. Last month, I re-visited a leader whom I hadn’t seen in some time. As I walked into the room, I noticed that he no longer wore army fatigues — instead, he was in a suit. He joked that things had changed, and he was now returning to politics. Political party asks Pakistan to cut ties with the US BY KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID Designated global terrorist’s party urges Islamabad to sever links with Washington after the US declares party a terror group Ali Fathollah-Nejad writes: Despite their heterogeneity, the slogans of the 2017/2018 Iranian Rebellion can be categorized into three thematic areas: Social justice, critique of the ruling establishment, and the linking between Iran’s regional interventionism and its domestic shortcomings. These slogans, many of them rhyming in Persian, do in fact overlap. - PBS India’s defense minister is visiting Moscow this week to finalize the purchase of a Russian missile defense system, Indian officials say, in a weapons deal that would violate American sanctions against Russia. - New York Times The Afghan government on Thursday accused Pakistan of air strikes in the Afghan province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan, causing “huge financial damage”. The tension comes ahead of a scheduled visit to Kabul on Friday by Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, when he and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani are expected to discuss cooperation on stopping militant attacks. - Reuters The Taliban has closed at least 30 schools in an area under its control south of Kabul after a local militant commander was killed by government forces, Afghan officials say. - Radio Free Europe Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan Of Cross-Border Air Strikes (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of launching air strikes that caused "huge financial damages" in its Kunar border province ahead of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's visit to Kabul. Marine Commander in Southwest Afghanistan Strikes Optimistic Tone on Progress in Fight Against Taliban (USNI News) A recently returned U.S. commander in Afghanistan gave an optimistic assessment of the combined progress of U.S. and Afghan forces against the Taliban. Pakistan and Afghanistan have called upon the Afghan Taliban to join a new peace process in the war-torn country, after a visit by the Pakistani prime minister to his country's northwestern neighbour, a statement said. - Al Jazeera The Taliban has closed at least 30 schools in an area under its control south of Kabul after a local militant commander was killed by government forces, Afghan officials say. - Radio Free Europe One Belt, One Road, One Thrashing: How China Took Pakistan Hostage
by Tunku Varadarajan via The Print As the United States draws closer to India, Pakistan has come to regard China as a life-support machine. James S. Robbins writes: A tectonic shift is taking place in Middle East politics. We may be on the verge of seeing a historic normalization of relations between Israel and several major Arab states. And it is all thanks to Iran. - The National Interest
In or Out? Mixed Signals From Trump Administration on Syria
From The Cipher Brief: “U.S. officials speaking at the U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington reiterated the U.S. commitment to the military mission against ISIS in Syria. “We are in Syria to defeat ISIS. That is our mission and our mission isn’t over and we are going to complete that mission,” said Brett McGurk, U.S. Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.”
Trump challenges the Russian-Turkish-Iranian alliance
BY M.K. BHADRAKUMAR The US President's remarks about wanting to bring troops home from Syria may have complicated talks on how events should play out in the war-torn state
Seth G. Jones, Charles Vallee and Maxwell B. Markusen write: For some, al Qaeda’s cunning and concerted efforts in Syria and other countries highlight the group’s resilience and indicate its potential to resurge and rejuvenate. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that al Qaeda has largely failed to take advantage of the Syrian war. - Center for Strategic and International
The three presidents — Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Russia’s Vladimir Putin — gathered in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where they pledged to cooperate on reconstruction and aid. They also vowed to protect Syria’s “territorial integrity,” even as all three nations maintain a military presence inside the country. - Washington Post
Speaking at a joint news conference, Erdogan said Turkish troops, which last month took control of the northwestern Kurdish enclave of Afrin, would move eastward into Manbij and other areas controlled by the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia, the Peoples’ Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey considers to be terrorists. - Associated Press
From Ankara to Moscow, Eurasia integration is on the move
BY PEPE ESCOBAR The Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union is spreading its wings and gaining strength, with some key projects, big players and big plans in the pipeline
Erielle Davidson writes: Moscow recently confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would be meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this Wednesday to discuss the current state of Syria...These series of summits allude nervously to the declining role of the United States in Syria—and the potential consequences of the United States’ departure. - Washington Examiner
20 dead, civilians protest following Indian counter-terror operation in Kashmir
Indian security forces launched a decisive counter-terror operation yesterday in the Kashmiri districts of Shopian and Anantnag resulting in the deaths of at least 13 terrorists, three Indian security forces, and four civilians.
Dexter Filkins writes: [Mohammed bin Salman] promised to end the long-standing arrangement of Saudi domestic politics, in which the royal family, and its myriad princes, bought off political opposition by allowing radical Islamists to propagate their creed and even to carry out terrorist acts abroad. [...] The question for many analysts around the world was whether he represented genuine reform or was merely using the language of reform to consolidate power. - The New Yorker
Hamza Bin Laden Warns of Shiite Expansion in the Middle East
By Thomas Joscelyn, FDD's Long War Journal: “The Shiites are advancing “from the outside on several fronts and from the inside as well,” but the House of Saud has demonstrated a “shameful inability” to confront them, Hamza claims.”
Saudi Crown Prince Says Israelis Have Right to Their Own Land
(Voice of America) Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.
Saudi crown prince acknowledges Israelis' right to their own land
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acknowledged Israelis’ right to their own land in an interview with The Atlantic on Monday. “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations,” he said. The crown prince’s statements reveal a shift in the kingdom’s stance, which has long linked normalization of ties with Israel’s pullout from Arab lands taken in the 1967 war. The crown prince is currently on a US tour to garner support against Iran and find investment partners. Read More theatlantic.com
Our Executive Editor, Kimberly Dozier, recently spoke with Chagai Tzuriel, Director of Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence.
Tzuriel discussed what’s his agency is worried about: the growing Iranian presence in Syria, and better predicting other future threats.
Can Resolute Support Possibly Still Not Understand Taliban Strategy? By Bill Roggio, FDD's Long War Journal: “Based on the U.S. military’s own statistics, the Taliban has had success: nearly half of the districts in Afghanistan are controlled or contested by the Taliban.” The Trump Administration’s New Afghan Problem: The Islamic State
By Sudha Ratan, The Diplomat: “The Trump Administration is supportive of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s call for talks with the Taliban in order to bring peace to Afghanistan. Russia, Iran and China have also reached out to the group. The interest in talking to the Taliban is partly the result of concerns about the Islamic State in Afghanistan.”
Iran’s Rouhani seeks to bolster ties in Central Asia amid Western pressure Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Azerbaijan today and inaugurated a joint car factory and railroad alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the hopes of increasing economic connectivity between the two neighbors. Rouhani is currently on a tour of Central Asia in an apparent effort to boost regional ties amid rising Western pressure as the United States threatens to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord unless its European allies step up sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program. Rouhani has also visited Armenia and Turkmenistan and he will soon travel to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Read More Ivan Sascha Sheehan writes: Many of those who oppose the selection do so under the false assumption that Bolton will put the United States on war footing with rogue states, most notably the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the argument ignores a fundamental reality: Tehran already is at war with the West and is single handedly responsible for inciting violence in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. - The Hill
Is Peace on the Horizon for Afghanistan? // Krishnadev Calamur
An offer of talks by the Ghani government was met with silence from the Taliban. That, in itself, could be a good sign.
Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, bestselling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
Prior to 9/11, the United States had been carrying out small-scale covert operations in Afghanistan, ostensibly in cooperation, although often in direct opposition, with I.S.I., the Pakistani intelligence agency. While the US was trying to quell extremists, a highly secretive and compartmentalized wing of I.S.I., known as "Directorate S," was covertly training, arming, and seeking to legitimize the Taliban, in order to enlarge Pakistan's sphere of influence. After 9/11, when fifty-nine countries, led by the U. S., deployed troops or provided aid to Afghanistan in an effort to flush out the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the U.S. was set on an invisible slow-motion collision course with Pakistan. Today we know that the war in Afghanistan would falter badly because of military hubris at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the drain on resources and provocation in the Muslim world caused by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and corruption. But more than anything, as Coll makes painfully clear, the war in Afghanistan was doomed because of the failure of the United States to apprehend the motivations and intentions of I.S.I.'s "Directorate S". This was a swirling and shadowy struggle of historic proportions, which endured over a decade and across both the Bush and Obama administrations, involving multiple secret intelligence agencies, a litany of incongruous strategies and tactics, and dozens of players, including some of the most prominent military and political figures. A sprawling American tragedy, the war was an open clash of arms but also a covert melee of ideas, secrets, and subterranean violence. Coll excavates this grand battle, which took place away from the gaze of the American public. With unsurpassed expertise, original research, and attention to detail, he brings to life a narrative at once vast and intricate, local and global, propulsive and painstaking. This is the definitive explanation of how America came to be so badly ensnared in an elaborate, factional, and seemingly interminable conflict in South Asia. Nothing less than a forensic examination of the personal and political forces that shape world history, Directorate S is a complete masterpiece of both investigative and narrative journalism
Geneive Abdo writes: But this is different: The controversy over the detention of Ayatollah Hussein Shirazi this month is reigniting an important debate over whether Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, should be able to claim divine sanction for his unlimited powers to rule the state. - Bloomberg
Is America Winning to Lose in Afghanistan?
By Nathan Jennings, RealClearDefense: “The United States has experienced a troubled history with a variety of foreign interventions since achieving definitive victory in the Second World War. These failures may hold insights for the seemingly interminable—and troublingly similar—NATO campaign in Afghanistan.”
Is ISIS gaining ‘serious’ ground in Afghanistan? Russia says yes. The US says no.
(Military Times) U.S. airstrikes killed two leaders of ISIS-Khorasan — the Islamic State’s Afghan offshoot — this month, as U.S. commanders claim they are fighting a narrative pushed by Russia that IS is growing in the country. Afghans soon to fly missions with Black Hawks from US (The Associated Press) The U.S. military has been flying UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter missions in Afghanistan for years, but the storied aircraft will soon take to the country’s battlefields manned by pilots and crews from the Afghan military.
US Slams Pakistani Firms with Sanctions for Nuclear Trade
(Voice of America) The United States is imposing sanctions on seven Pakistani companies for alleged links to the nuclear trade. India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba for Kashmir attack on security forces Pakistan continues to fuel the terrorist insurgency inside Jammu and Kashmir by backing Lashkar-e-Taiba and other proxies. Pakistan has defended its record on nuclear safety after the United States sanctioned seven Pakistani companies over alleged links to the nuclear trade, saying the suspicions over the companies should not be used to discredit it. - Reuters
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed Sunday that Iran will not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons."Iran won't have nuclear weapons. The State of Israel is determined not to allow nuclear weapons for Iran," Lieberman said at a conference organized by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth to celebrate 70 years of Israeli success. - Ynet
Just last month, the long-simmering Israeli-Iranian conflict came out of the shadows when Iran sent a drone across the Jordanian border into Israel, and Israel retaliated with air strikes on several targets including the Iranian drone operators at a Syrian base in Palmyra, northeast of Damascus.
The two sides appear to be on a collision course as Iran penetrates further into a hollowed-out Syria and Israel tries to frustrate that effort.
Compromising With Iran on International Security
By Thomas Buonomo, RealClearDefense: “It is highly improbable that Iran will compromise on demands from the U.S. and its allies that it halt the expansion of its ballistic missile capabilities or extend critical provisions of the current nuclear agreement.” Michael Knights writes: To blunt this advance, the Houthis are increasingly using advanced antiarmor roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs)—a technology provided by Iran via its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah. Given the preponderance of evidence on the matter, the international community urgently needs to expose this link and provide support to minimize the effectiveness of deadly EFP munitions. - Washington Institute
What Pakistan Needs from America's Afghan War Effort
By Touqir Hussain, The National Interest: “Problems between the two countries are long-standing, and neither occupies the moral high ground in the eyes of the other: the United States regards Pakistan as a two-faced ally, while Pakistanis have long dwelled on the recurring pattern of America’s betrayal and abandonment.”
Gen. Joseph Dunford: There are signs of progress in Afghan war
(The Associated Press) In fits and starts, for nearly a decade, the U.S. has talked about and struggled to make progress on building an Afghan military that can take control of its own nation’s security and lay the groundwork for a stable government.
Mattis, Saudi leader discuss Taliban safe havens to support peace talks
(Military Times) The United States and Saudi Arabia are discussing how they could support safe havens for moderate Taliban leaders who seek to negotiate a reconciliation with the Afghan government, Pentagon spokesman Dana White said Thursday. US will have role in Afghan reconciliation with Taliban (The Associated Press) The U.S. has a role to play in setting the conditions for members of the Taliban to lay down their weapons and move back into Afghanistan’s society, the top U.S. commander for the war said Thursday.
The Pentagon is looking to senior leaders in the Islamic world to apply “religious pressure” to the Taliban, as part of a new strategy to bring the Afghan insurgents to the negotiation table, the top U.S. commander in the country said Tuesday. - Washington Times
U.S., PAKISTAN: Pakistan Is Feeling U.S. Pressure. Now What?
By Daniel Markey, The Cipher Brief: “After a short trip to Pakistan last week, I return to Washington convinced that the Trump administration’s new coercive approach toward Islamabad is working, at least in the narrow sense that it has grabbed the attention of Pakistani decision-makers and forced them to take notice of U.S. demands.”
US military will not pursue Taliban into Pakistan
(Long War Journal) A Pentagon spokesman said that the US military will not conduct hot pursuit of Taliban and allied jihadist fighters from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
Pakistan is still mulling Afghanistan’s recent overtures, including an invitation that Pakistani prime minister visit Kabul — an offer that analysts see as a good sign, underscoring that dialogue between the two often uneasy neighbors is key to defeating militants on both sides of the border. - Associated Press
Joint Chiefs chairman visits Afghanistan to review US military campaign
(The Associated Press) The top U.S. military officer visited Afghanistan on Monday to evaluate the military campaign and ensure new American advisory teams and an upgraded Afghan Air Force are on target as the next fighting season with the Taliban looms. Nicholson: US Planning Religious, Diplomatic, Military and Social Pressure on Taliban (Voice of America) The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said a combination of religious, social, diplomatic and military pressure will be applied to the Taliban this year to force them to start negotiating for peace in the war-torn country. Crown Prince Seeks to Solidify Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Iran Stance With U.S. (Wall Street Journal) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to bring to Washington the brash foreign policy that has shaped Saudi Arabia’s more muscular stance in the Middle East to counter archenemy Iran.
US strikes Shabaab south of Somalia’s capital
US forces conducted nine strikes in Somalia this year, all of which have targeted al Qaeda's affiliate in the country. Islamic State suicide bomber strikes near shrine in Afghan capital The Islamic State's Khorasan branch quickly claimed responsibility for an attack near a shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. The Sunni jihadists regularly target Shiite civilians in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Robin Mills writes: The discovery of Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field in August 2015 was heralded as the solution to the country’s energy problems. So why did Egypt cut a deal this year to import natural gas from Israel, its former enemy? - Bloomberg
Jonathan Spyer writes: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud is here to rebrand. If all goes well, his visit to the U.S. this week will wow Americans with Saudi Arabia’s new progressivism, increase U.S. investment in the Saudi economy, and align US and Saudi strategies in the Middle East. - The New Republic Above lazy booms of artillery shelling and howling mountain winds, a Yemeni army commander described the endgame of his country’s destructive, three-year civil war in a way that suggested a bloodier phase was yet to come. - Washington Post
Israel’s preference is not that the Iranian nuclear deal should be nixed but that it should be extended indefinitely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close ally, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, revealed Monday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post at his office in the capital. - Jerusalem Post Saudi Arabia has two interests in pursuing nuclear power. The official explanation is economic: growing domestic energy consumption is cutting into the kingdom’s oil profits. But the unofficial, and perhaps more important explanation, is serious concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions—and the long-term effects of the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal.
As Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman recently told CBS’ 60 Minutes, “Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible.” Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former Chief of Israeli military intelligence – and one of the former Israeli air force pilots who participated in Israel’s airstrike on Iraq’s nuclear program – offers a roadmap for how the U.S. can acknowledge the Saudis’ legitimate energy needs while avoiding a nuclear arms race in the Middle East:
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