The Political Conundrum!

Carefully balancing the need to punish and demonstrate accountability and the need to preserve rare institutional knowledge about nuclear weapons, the Air Force has reprimanded or admonished six generals, including the deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support and the former commander of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.

DALLAS - Like any new homeowner, Marcial Peredo had some ideas on landscaping his new house in Falls Church, Va. And, like a lot of homeowners, he hired a crew to do the heavier work.

That home improvement project became an issue Wednesday in the Hamas-support trial of five former officials of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Workers working in a corner of his property with a Bobcat tractor unearthed some black tapes, Peredo said. He collected nearly three dozen in all, tossing them in a trash bag.

"I was going to throw them out," Peredo testified. "I was speaking to my neighbors and heard the house [had been] under surveillance."

Peredo bought the house from a man named Fawaz Mushtaha, an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF case, identified by prosecutors as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee in America. He didn't know that, but after hearing the house was being watched, Peredo said he pulled the bag out of the garbage can and "decided to call a friend of mine in Homeland Security to ask what I should do."

He took two tapes to his friend and then heard from FBI agents a few weeks later. They took the rest of the videos as well as finding some more. Agents also seized things from old grill on the property, including "cases, a burnt cell phone, a packet of half burnt maps and money," Peredo said.

Defense attorneys had no questions for Peredo.

For the entire story, visit the IPT's website.

Pakistani troops fired at American reconnaissance helicopters patrolling the Afghan-Pakistani border Thursday, heightening tensions as the U.S. steps up cross-border operations in a region known as a haven for Taliban and al-Qaida militants. Pakistan's president said only "flares" were fired.

Russia's ambassador to Managua said Wednesday that his country will replace the Nicaraguan army's aging weaponry.

A military interrogation expert, U.S. Air Force Col. Steven Kleinman, told Congress on Thursday that he witnessed interrogations of Iraqi detainees that he considers violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Yesterday I noted that Sterling Jensen, who has been providing excellent translations and analysis for the Voices of the Awakening series, would be addressing recent media reports of infighting within the Iraqi Awakening movement, as well as conflict between the Awakening and the government of Iraq. (See, for example, this Sept. 23 UPI report). Today he has authored an intelligence briefing for FDD's Center for Terrorism Research addressing the distinction between the two major Awakening initiatives. An excerpt:

These media reports tend to blur the distinction between two main Awakening initiatives, one Iraqi and the other American. Understanding the differences between the two, and their relationship with the Government of Iraq (GOI), is important to adequately assess their impact on security.

THE IRAQI AWAKENING. The Awakening credited for the decrease in violence in Iraq began as an Iraqi initiative that was supported by the GOI. In mid-2006 the Anbar Awakening, led by Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was an Iraqi attempt to create an emergency provincial government to replace the one that had been undermined by al-Qaeda and insurgents. In doing so, the Anbar Awakening promoted Iraqi police and Iraqi army recruitment, and worked closely with both Iraqi and coalition forces in bringing security to the province. While the Anbar Awakening did not succeed in creating an emergency government, it was partially integrated into the existing provincial government, and established a relationship with the GOI....

THE SONS OF IRAQ. The other initiative, which is actually the group being discussed in a large portion of media coverage, was led by coalition forces in mid-2007 as an attempt to copy and paste the success of the Anbar Awakening into Sunni areas of Baghdad, Salahideen and Diyala. This American initiative became known as the Sons of Iraq program--where basically marginalized Sunnis, including former insurgents, were recruited, equipped and paid by the Americans, and called Concerned Local Citizens (CLCs). CLCs manned security posts and worked with coalition forces in security operations. CLCs were basically coalition forces employees, and most had little contact with the Government of Iraq. Many of these CLCs informally organized themselves, and were later called Awakening councils. However, these Awakening councils were not necessarily affiliated with the Anbar Awakening. Some of these Awakening councils had no intention of reconciling with the GOI; as a result, the GOI has been cautious to fully integrate them into the Iraqi security forces....

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Saying that the GOI has bad relations with the Awakening, and that this threatens its successes, is misleading. While the Sons of Iraq program employs nearly 100,000 CLCs whose jobs may be in jeopardy once the GOI takes over the program, this has little bearing on the GOI's relationship with the Awakening. It is true that the Iraqi Awakening and other Sunni politicians are trying ensure that the CLCs be given adequate employment opportunities, whether in security or public service, as they transfer from the American to the Iraqi payroll. But the Iraqi Awakening and other Sunni parties are doing so largely out of a desire to gain constituents, rather trying to defend themselves from a GOI threat to the Awakening's existence.

For Jensen's entire intelligence briefing, click here.

Bowing to President Bush's demands, the House passed a mammoth package for the Pentagon on Wednesday that contains a pay raise for troops, billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - and some political protection for lawmakers during a tense election season.

Eight generals -- six from the Air Force and two from the Army -- and ranging in rank from one to three stars, have been issued disciplinary letters as a result of the mistaken shipment of fuses for nuclear warheads to Taiwan.

A U.S. military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay has quit because of what he described as ethical disputes with his superiors, alleging they suppressed evidence that could help clear a young Afghan detainee of war crimes.

Pakistan's new president said he was trying to convince his country to support the war against Islamic extremists, after a group that claimed responsibility for the Marriott Hotel bombing threatened more attacks.