Afghanistan Feature: Obama to Announce Plans for Troop Withdrawal --- But How Many and How Fast? (Landler/Cooper)

President Obama plans to announce his decision on the scale and pace of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in a speech on Wednesday evening, an administration official said Monday.

As he closes in on a decision, another official said, Mr. Obama is considering options that range from a Pentagon-backed proposal to pull out only 5,000 troops this year to an aggressive plan to withdraw within 12 months all 30,000 troops the United States deployed to Afghanistan as part of the surge in December 2009.

Under another option, a third official said, Mr. Obama would announce a final date for the withdrawal of all the surge forces sometime in 2012, but leave the timetable for incremental reductions up to commanders in the field — much as he did in drawing down troops after the surge in Iraq.

Click to read more ...

Yemen Analysis: Why the US Death-by-Drone Strategy Will Not Work (Johnsen)

There are many more Islamists in Yemen --- people who went abroad to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq --- than there are members of Al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula. 

Why?

Because many of those who went abroad to fight did so to defend Muslim lands from western military aggression and when they returned they disagreed with AQAP's claim that Yemen is a legitimate theater of jihad. 

With the US launching bombs into Yemen many more individuals will join up with AQAP for the same reason they went abroad to fight: to defend their land from what they see as Western military aggression. 

As if this wasn't bad enough the US is taking it one step further and, according to the Wall Street Journal, will be targeting people according to their "pattern of life."

Click to read more ...

US Feature: 5 Top Facts About Defense Spending --- and What It Costs America (Holland)

Head Start provides education, health, nutrition, and parenting services to low-income children and their families. It's an incredibly successful, effective and popular program, but there are only 900,000 places in the program for more than 2.5 million eligible kids. According to the National Priorities Project, what we've spent on the Afghanistan war so far could fund Head Start for all eligible children for the next 15.6 years.

Click to read more ...

US Analysis: What General Petraeus' Move to CIA Means for Pro-Democracy Movements

Expect Petraeus to use his new position to build bridges with pro-democracy movements, and expect the US to back more opposition movements soon. Because if there is one thing that the Arab Spring has taught us, it's that the only certainty right now is that the people have all the power. Petraeus understands this, he's built his career on the concept, and I predict that this is exactly what Obama is counting on him to do as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Yemen, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Just Another Friday?

1838 GMT: Activists have compiled a list of 68 people killed in Syria protests today, including casualties in Moadamia (8), Homs (15), Douma (8), Izraa (15), Zamalka (5), Harasta (3), and Barzeh (2).

1835 GMT: Thanks to James Miller for taking the LiveBlog through the afternoon.

A doctor from Madamia, a Damascus suburb, has said:

There are four people killed and about 50 wounded and we cannot take them to the public or private hospitals. At Daraya hospital security were shooting and arresting people. So I have been treating people inside homes. It is very hard to treat the wounds because many have been shot in the head.

I can tell you now, the situation in Madamia will never be calm. Today is an historical day for the country. There is now a new strategy to kill all the protesters, not even arrest them.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Slow Build-Up

2005 GMT: Two clips of demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, with a large Shi'a population, in support of the uprising in Bahrain:

Click to read more ...

Bahrain: US Secretary of Defense Gates Forgets to Ask About The Repression

If true, this passage from US Secretary of State Robert Gates' account of his meeting on Wednesday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is telling:

SEC. GATES: We had a very good meeting. We met for about an hour and a half, one-on-one. It was an extremely cordial warm meeting. I think the relationship is in a good place. We talked about developments all over the region. We obviously talked about Iran....

Q. Did you talk about the Saudi troops in Bahrain? Did you raise that as an issue?

SEC. GATES: No.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Coalition Too Slow?

2025 GMT: Opposition forces say that there was fighting on three fronts in Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, with shelling by regime troops and at least one resident killed.

2020 GMT: Egypt's Health Ministry has raised the death toll in the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak to more than 800, well over double the previous estimate of 384.

The ministry said another 6400 people had been injured.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Settling Into Conflict

2020 GMT: Abdel Fatah Younis, the head of the pro-democracy opposition's army, addressed a press conference in Benghazi. He said there are no divisions in the rebel army. He continued:

NATO has disappointed us. My staff have been in contact with the NATO envoys to direct them to targets that should protect civilians, but until now, NATO has not given us what we need...

Civilians are dying daily in Misurata because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATo waits for another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas only.

2010 GMT: Two civilians were killed and six others were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded outside a shiite mosque in western Baghdad. 

2000 GMT: Video showing Libyan rebels modifying rockets/missile launchers in an unknown place. 

1955 GMT: Qaddafi forces have razed a mosque in Az Zawiyah that had been used by rebels as a base.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Shifting Positions?

1915 GMT: Medical sources says at least five people have been killed in shelling by regime forces and five more people are in critical condition. Many other wounded people could not be reached by medical teams because of sporadic shelling.

1820 GMT: Britain has announced that it is bringing four more Tornado fighter jets to the coalition mission, bringing the British total to 10.

Even more interesting, however, is the news that London will provide communications equipment on the ground to the opposition. That has probably already been occurring --- Al Jazeera English's James Boys reported yesterday on insurgents moving towards Brega with the new gear.

Click to read more ...