Day 310- North Carolina Terrorists

7 men in North Carolina have been charged with plotting to carry out terrorist attacks abroad or what they call, a "violent jihad".  

More Nuclear News

Yesterday India launches its first Nuclear Powered Submarine.  Today, Iran criticizes the United States' disapproval of Tehran's suspected nuclear program development. Hopefully this MADness is just a war of words.

From the Al Jazeera article:

The comments came after Hillary Clinton last week said the US would arm its allies in the Gulf region if Iran built a nuclear weapon.

"There is no need for the US to provide a defence umbrella for the neighbouring countries," Hassan Qashqavi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday.

"It is enough to tell its ally, the Zionist regime and convince it for the issue of disarmament and dismantle its own 200 nuclear warheads from the occupied territories.

"It automatically will bring security to the region and all countries of the region will feel secure. The solution for defence umbrella is removing nuclear warheads of the Zionist regime and has no other way."

Day 285

British Embassy, Tehran

Day 284

4,000 troops deployed to the Helmand River Valley, Afgahnistan

First Day of Summer

I guess it is appropriate that I am returning to Boston on the first day of Summer and even more appropriate that there is rain in the forecast.  In the context of world news, when it rains it pours. Iran election protests continue with increased violence, 19 reported dead at press time.  Pakistani forces are stepping up their fight against Taliban forces and are sending aircraft closer to the Afghan boarder. Suicide bombers near Kirkuk, Iraq destroys 50 buildings, kill 80 and wound another 211, the deadliest single attack this year.  

Day 254

Obama in Egypt

President Obama will give what could be one of the most important speeches of his presidency on Thursday when he addresses the relationship between the United States and Muslims.

In his speech, to the University of Cairo, he will hope to break with the hostility of recent years and set a new tone designed not only to isolate the extremists of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but to re-establish the understanding America gained on 9/11 and lost in Iraq.

Day 245

Iran on Sunday served as host to its first three-way summit meeting with Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss cooperation on regional issues, the latest sign of Iran's emergence as a regional power.

With Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting to hold back the rising tide of radical, Islamic insurgencies led by the Taliban, the meeting seemed designed by Iran to assure its neighbors that working together the three could solve their problems without having to rely on the West.

More Pakistan vs. Taliban

With the demise of a millitant-government peace pact, thousands of Pakistanis flee the Swat Valley.  With its mountainous vistas, the valley is dubbed "the Switzerland of Pakistan" but fighting has left its towns in rubble.  Thousands flee to seek safety from the air-strikes.  

Gen. Ashfaz Parvez Kayani, the chief of Pakistan's army, said it would commit enough of its resources to "ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants" in the country.

But there was no sign of a major military push in Swat — to the frustration of some.

"If the government, the army wants to control and crush the Taliban, why don't they send ground troops to flush them out? Why they are only shelling, which hurts the public most of all and creates anti-government feeling?" said Mohammad, the stone mason.

Day 217

Pakistan vs. Taliban

Pakistan began a new offensive against Taliban militants.  Fighting is concentrated in the Lower Dir district.  The outbreak leaves Washington on edge:

The Taliban's advance toward Islamabad has heightened concern in Washington that its ally is in danger of sliding into chaos. U.S. officials want Pakistan to take a stand rather than cede more territory to militants through policies of appeasement like the introduction of Islamic law.

Western governments that need Pakistan's support to defeat al Qaeda and succeed in stabilizing Afghanistan, dread the idea of any threat to the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

Day 209

Roxana Saberi

Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison by the Iranian justice system.  She is charged with espionage.  The verdict has been denounced by Secretary of State Clinton and will be formally appealed.

Day 202

Sons of Iraq

A suicide bomber killed 9 people and injured 31 in the town of al-Iskandariya (40 miles south of Baghdad.  The bomber attacked when "awakening councils", also known as Sons of Iraq, were meeting to collect salaries.

Awakening councils, also known as Sons of Iraq, are primarily a Sunni movement composed of former insurgents or sympathizers who have turned against al Qaeda. The U.S. military credits them with having played a key role in bringing about the nationwide drop in violence that coincided with the "surge" in U.S. forces in Iraq. 

Day 196

Day 168

Hamid Karzai

"President Hamid Karzai on Sunday welcomed President Barack Obama's call to identify moderate elements of the Taliban and encourage them to reconcile with the Afghan government."