OFF THE WIRE :

• Hamas Leader Says Group Considering Gaza Draft
   [AP, 27 Jul 10]
• Russia Says New EU Sanctions on Iran "Unacceptable"
   [Reuters, 27 Jul 10]
• US, SKorean Troops Drop Anti-Sub Bombs in Drills
   [AP, 27 Jul 10]
• Serbia Lawmakers Pass Resolution on Kosovo
   [AP, 27 Jul 10]
• US presses Abbas to resume direct peace talks
   [AP, 26 Jul 10]
• Al Shabab terror attacks dominate African Union summit
   [Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jul 10]
• Arabic Channel Bombed in Baghdad
   [New York Times, 26 Jul 10]
• Afghans and NATO Differ on Civilian Deaths
   [New York Times, 26 Jul 10]
• Bomb wounds nine in wake of Thailand election
   [Christian Science Monitor, 25 Jul 10]
• Pakistan extends term of Army chief amid applause - and doubt
   [Christian Science Monitor, 23 Jul 10]

THE AMERICAS :

Washington Post, 27 Jul 10, by Greg Jaffe and Peter Finn
WikiLeaks disclosures unlikely to change course of Afghanistan war
'White House and Pentagon officials sought to diminish the significance of the leak by arguing that there were few, if any, revelations in the documents. Instead, they expressed alarm that the group WikiLeaks.org had posted such a large amount of classified material that could compromise the safety of U.S. forces and their Afghan allies.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 10, by Paul Farhi and Ellen Nakashima
Is WikiLeaks the Pentagon Papers, Part 2? Parallels, and differences, exist.
'Superficially, the two episodes do seem related. In substance, however, the case may be weaker.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jul 10, by Kristen Chick
WikiLeaks report harms national security in Afghanistan, says White House
'WikiLeaks has released more than 90,000 classified US reports and documents spanning 2004-2009 detailing Paksitan's collusion with Afghan militants and the Taliban's increasing sophistication. The White House condemned the leak.'

New York Times, 26 Jul 10, by Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper
Document Leak May Hurt Efforts to Build War Support
'The disclosure of a six-year archive of classified military documents increased pressure on President Obama to defend his military strategy as Congress prepares to deliberate financing of the Afghanistan war.'
• Text From a Selection of the Secret Dispatches

Christian Science Monitor, 23 Jul 10, by Howard LaFranchi
Republican skepticism challenges US-Russia treaty on nuclear weapons
'President Obama is facing Republican opposition and midterm elections in his push to have the US-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ratified before year's end.'

[ recent stories from the Americas ]

AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN :

PBS NewsHour, 26 Jul 10, with Jeffrey Brown
WikiLeaks Revelations Raise Questions Over Pakistan's Role in Afghan War
'Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks released thousands of U.S. military documents related to the Afghan war on Sunday, creating a major stir among government officials and raising questions about Pakistani involvement in the war.'

Reuters, 27 Jul 10
Afghanistan Questions U.S. Silence Over Pakistan's Role
'The United States has pursued a contradictory policy with regard to the Afghan war by ignoring Pakistan's role in the insurgency, the Afghan government said on Tuesday, following the leak of U.S. military documents.'

[ recent stories from Afghanistan and Pakistan ]

WAR & THE MEDIA :

PBS NewsHour, 26 Jul 10, with Judy Woodruff
The Purpose and People of WikiLeaks
'Daily Beast contributor Philip Shenon, a former New York Times investigative reporter, speaks with Judy Woodruff about the purpose of the online whistle-blower publication WikiLeaks and who runs the non-profit website, which continues to create a stir over its publication of classified U.S. government documents.'

[ recent stories on war and the media ]

THE MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY & NORTH AFRICA :

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jul 10, by Joshua Mitnick
Israel signals new cooperation with UN over Gaza flotilla
'As a fresh round of activist ships prepares to set sail from Lebanon, Israel and the UN have made conciliatory statements on the Gaza flotilla issue that could help repair the fraught relationship – although not completely.'

[ recent stories from the Middle East ]

IRAQ :

Washington Post, 24 Jul 10, by Leila Fadel
Mosul struggles with ethnic divides, insurgency
'Mosul and the surrounding province of Nineveh are a microcosm of Iraq's most explosive and unresolved conflicts as the United States prepares to draw down to 50,000 troops by Sept. 1.'

[ recent stories from Iraq ]

COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS :

PBS NewsHour, 26 Jul 10, with Jeffrey Brown
WikiLeaks Documents: What War Info Can Be Verified?
'In the wake of the WikiLeaks whistle-blower website releasing thousands of documents detailing Afghan war operations, Jeffrey Brown discusses the military significance with Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation, and documentary filmmaker Philip Smucker, who have both written about the war.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 10, by Eugene Robinson
Wikileaks reveal the obvious dangers of Afghanistan
'The Obama administration, our NATO allies and the Afghan government responded to the documents -- made public by a gadfly organization known as Wikileaks -- by saying they tell us nothing new. Which is the problem.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 10, by Richard Cohen
Wikileaks, telling us the obvious in Afghanistan
'The news in that massive data dump provided by the dauntingly mysterious Wikileaks (who? what?) to one American and two European publications is that there is no news at all.'

New York Times 'At War', 25 Jul 10
The War Logs: Reaction to Disclosure of Military Documents on Afghan War
'... reaction to the release of an archive of classified military documents described here that paints a grim portrait of the war in Afghanistan.'

New York Times, 26 Jul 10, by editorial staff
Pakistan’s Double Game
'If President Obama cannot persuade Islamabad to cut its ties to, and then aggressively fight, the extremists in Pakistan, there is no hope of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.'

BBC News, 27 Jul 10, by Barbara Plett
Could a different option with Iran work?
'How do you solve a problem like Iran's nuclear programme? Especially when Iran does not see it as a problem and elevates what it says is a peaceful drive for nuclear energy to the status of a national cause?'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jul 10, by Ben White
Ten years after Camp David, Israel has made peace even harder
'A decade after the failed accords at Camp David, a just peace is still possible, but only if Western leaders act to end Israel’s discriminatory policies toward Palestinians.'

[ recent commentary and analysis ]

US MILITARY, THE PENTAGON, &
INTELLIGENCE :

BBC News, 27 Jul 10, by Gabriel Gatehouse
US 'fails to account' for Iraq reconstruction billions
'The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says the US Department of Defence is unable to account properly for 96% of the money [it received to help rebuild Iraq].'

BBC News, 27 Jul 10
Afghanistan war leak papers will take 'weeks to assess'
'The US military has said it could take weeks to determine the impact of the leak of more than 90,000 classified military records.'

[ recent stories about the US military,
the Pentagon and intelligence ]

ASIA & THE PACIFIC :

Christian Science Monitor, 25 Jul 10, by Donald Kirk
North Korea's threats over US-South Korea war games: Another bluff?
'US-South Korea war games got under way in the Sea of Japan today as a flotilla of 20 US and South Korean ships conducted the first of four days of military exercises as North Korea threatened nuclear deterrence.'

New York Times, 26 Jul 10, by Andrew Jacobs
China Warns U.S. to Stay Out of Islands Dispute
'The Chinese government reacted angrily on Monday to an announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that Washington might step into a long-simmering territorial dispute between China and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.'

[ recent stories from Asia and the Pacific ]

AFRICA :

Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jul 10, by Laura Seay
Why recent US 'conflict minerals' legislation may not help in eastern Congo
'The advocates arguing that recent US 'conflict minerals' legislation will help bring peace to eastern Congo are operating on a flawed understanding of the violence and the logic that motivates the fighters.'

[ recent stories from Africa ]

BRITAIN, EUROPE, RUSSIA and CENTRAL ASIA :

Washington Post, 27 Jul 10, by Edward Cody
European Union imposes new economic sanctions against Iran
'Falling into step with the United States, European nations significantly broadened economic sanctions against Iran on Monday in what was described as an effort to force Tehran to resume serious negotiations on its disputed nuclear program.'

[ recent stories from Britain, Europe,
Russia and Central Asia ]