Open Source Daily INTSUM: Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005

[Airbornelawyer]

From Various Sources:

Middle East

Security incidents in Iraq, Nov 9 (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MOU954504.htm) (Source: Reuters Alertnet (http://www.alertnet.org))
Ongoing operations (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/releases.htm) – Miscellaneous releases from Multi-National Force Iraq (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/).
Operation Steel Curtain Update (http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051147.txt) "Iraqi Army Soldiers and U.S. Marines, Sailors and Soldiers are in the fourth day of fighting along the Iraq-Syria border in the town of Husaybah. …" (Source: U.S. Central Command (http://www.centcom.mil/))
"Husaybah has been cleared and secured" - An Interview with Col Davis (http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/11/cleared_and_sec.php) "This afternoon I conducted an interview with Colonel Stephen W. Davis, the Commander of Marine Regimental Combat Team - 2 currently operating in western Iraq and engaged in Operation Steel Curtain in the border town of Husaybah. …" (Source: Bill Roggio's blog, The Fourth Rail (http://billroggio.com/))
Co-opting the Sunni Insurgency's Leadership (http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/11/coopting_the_su.php) "The political war against the Sunni-led insurgency proceeds in conjunction with military operations. Strategy Page details how successful military operations help feed the success on the political front. Intelligence on the Sunni leadership is gained via the death or capture of terrorists and insurgents, or suspected insurgents, which in turn is used to identify the players in the insurgency. A picture of the insurgency develops over time, and the Coalition acts by either enticing the leaders to join the political process, or kill them if required. …" (Source: Bill Roggio's blog, The Fourth Rail (http://billroggio.com/))

Illegal Ammo Cache Seized (http://www.piomndcs.mil.pl/index.php?vhost=mndcs&akcja=news&id=512&limes=) " The next illegal ammunition and weapon cache has been seized by MNDCS forces. The cache was detected in Diwaniyah province. …" (Source: Multinational Division Central-South (http://www.piomndcs.mil.pl/))

Asia-Pacific

Canadian troops march to Kandahar (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051108.waffy1108/BNStory/National/) " As Canada moves its main military base in Afghanistan to a far more volatile region, a squadron of dragoons is riding shotgun — on the lookout for bad guys and booby traps. …" (Source: Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/))

Sender jagerfly til Afghanistan (http://www.mil.no/start/article.jhtml?articleID=110930) (Deployment of Combat Aircraft to Afghanistan) "Norge skal sende 3-4 jagerfly for å støtte den Nato-ledede styrken i Afghanistan neste år. Det kom frem under utenriksministerens og forsvarsministerens redegjørelse i Stortinget i dag. …" – "Norway will deploy 3-4 combat aircraft in support of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan next year. This comes from a report of the foreign and defense ministers to the Storting (Norway's parliament) today. …" The rest of the article is in Norwegian. It notes that the deployment would be of F-16s, that they would provide CAS to ISAF ground troops, that the operation in Afghanistan is currently Norway's largest foreign mission, and that Norway has pulled its last troops out of Iraq (a new left-of-center government removed even Norway's liaison team at the British-led divisional HQ in Basrah). There is also a box that outlines current Norwegian forces in Afghanistan, which includes maintaining a QRF in Mazar-e Sharif and running a PRT in Maimana. (Source: Norwegian Armed Forces (http://www.mil.no/))

JI Bomb-Maker Killed (http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/11/ji_bombmaker_ki.html) " Indonesian police are reporting that JI's top bomb-maker and most wanted individual was killed in East Java last night. Dr. Azahari bin Hussin, the mastermind of the 2002 Bali, 2003 JW Marriott, 2004 Australian Embassy and the 2005 Bali attacks, was in a safehouse in the city of Malang when members of the elite counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, surrounded his house. Azahari apparently blew himself and two colleagues up rather than be taken alive. …" (Source: The Counterterrorism Blog (http://counterterror.typepad.com))

Sri Lanka: Security Situation Report (http://www.army.lk/news/index.html). (Source: Sri Lanka Army (http://www.army.lk))
South Asia Terrorism Update (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=11/09/2005) (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal (http://www.satp.org))

Africa

Guinea president retires 1,800 soldiers -sources (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09762009.htm) "Guinea's President Lansana Conte has ordered around 1,800 soldiers into retirement, including the army's chief of staff and other high-ranking officers, military sources said on Wednesday. The sweep was aimed at instilling discipline in a fractured but powerful army estimated to number around 13,000 soldiers, according to one of the sources in the West African country. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet (http://www.alertnet.org))
U.N., Uganda want firmer action on rebels in Congo (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09743518.htm) "Congolese and U.N. troops must take more robust action to dislodge Ugandan rebel groups in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Security Council ambassadors and Uganda's president said on Wednesday. The United Nations estimates there around 2,000 armed Ugandans from various groups operating in Congo -- part of a confusing medley of foreign armed militias left in Congo after years of warfare. Peacekeepers from the United Nation's biggest force, known as MONUC, and the reformed post-war Congolese army have stepped up their offensive against militias who refused to go home by Sept. 30 as agreed under a deal involving Congo, Uganda and Rwanda. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet (http://www.alertnet.org))

The Americas

USSOUTHCOM Headline News (http://www.southcom.mil/pa/News/AOR%20News/Today's%20News.doc) (Microsoft Word format)

[Airbornelawyer]

From the RFE/RL Newsline (http://www.rferl.org/newsline/):

Transcaucasus and Central Asia
GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD EXPANDING ARMED FORCES
Parliament approved on 9 November in the first reading a draft bill that would increase the combined personnel of the Georgian armed forces, Caucasus Press reported. The draft sets the maximum number of personnel at 31,868 persons, of whom 26,000 are subordinate to the Defense Ministry, and 5,868 to the Georgian State Border Defense Department. According to the present law, the combined total strength of the Defense Ministry and State Border Department must not exceed 29,703. The Defense Ministry's troops currently number 21,468 men, according to Caucasus Press on 8 November. The Georgian armed forces were downsized in the early 1990s with the aim of creating a highly trained, highly mobile army of between 13,000-15,000 active duty personnel in line with NATO standards. However, those reductions have since been reversed (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 22 July 2005), fuelling suspicions that Tbilisi plans military action to restore its hegemony over the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
KYRGYZSTAN, U.S. AGREE TO RETHINK BASE AGREEMENT, PAYMENTS
Rear Admiral Robert T. Moeller, director of plans and policy at U.S. Central Command, met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alibek Jekshenkulov in Bishkek on 8 November to discuss revisions to the agreement on the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Jekshenkulov noted that Kyrgyzstan wants the United States to pay a higher rent for the base. The first round of talks on the issue produced an agreement to review the technical and financial aspects of the current arrangement. Jekshenkulov told journalists: "As you know, in 2001 we made a very quick decision on opening this base [at Manas Airport near Bishkek], and we had no time to look carefully at the conditions of that agreement. That's why the conditions for using this base were very privileged. And now Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has obliged us to reconsider that agreement and we just started working on it."

Southwestern Asia And The Middle East
IRAQI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON OPERATION STEEL CURTAIN
Laith Kubba told Al-Jazeera television in an 8 November interview that Operation Steel Curtain has dealt very strong blows to terrorist Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's network in Al-Qa'im. Kubba said the operation seeks to cut insurgent supply lines, and noted that the hardest part of the operation -- taking control of the city -- has been achieved. He said more than 160 foreign fighters were captured. Asked about al-Zarqawi's threat against the Iraqi government (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 November 2005), Kubba said: "I do not believe it can strike any governmental body, because the majority of its past operations targeted civilians.... Therefore, nobody pays attention to what this organization says because Iraqis see it as a group of criminals and mentally-ill people who come from outside to kill themselves in Iraq."
CAR BOMB DETONATES NORTH OF BAGHDAD
Seven policemen were killed and six wounded when a suicide car bomber targeted police patrols in Ba'qubah on 9 November, international media reported. Three civilians were also wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, Japanese Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Samawah, northwest of Al-Basrah, were attacked twice on 8 November, Al-Sharqiyah reported the same day. No Japanese troops were hurt in the attacks, which left an Iraqi policeman and a taxi driver wounded. Iraqi police in Babil Governorate arrested 11 suspected insurgents following a two-hour gun battle there on 8 November, the news channel reported. Four gunmen and three policemen were wounded in the fighting.