A quick question for readers who have the experience or knowledge to add to this discussion. Do you support a troop surge in Iraq? If not, what is the better course to victory?

 

WorldThreats.com has endorsed the Keane-Kagan Plan. Other experts like General Paul Vallely, a Fox News military analyst, disagree with us. For example, General Vallely feels that we should put the special operations forces leaders in command of the war, as they best know how to fight unconventionally, which has been the main problem. We agree that the special forces bring the knowledge we need to fight the insurgency, but will such a change in leadership bring about the necessary security that will allow the Iraqi forces to stand up, for reconstruction to be successful, and political reconciliation to advance? I'm interested in your thoughts.

 

 

This article by Oliver North argues that the forces necessary to bring about security must be Iraqi, not American, and he therefore opposes a troop surge. He feels that we need to increase our effort to build the Iraqi Security Forces.

 

 

This is part of an online debate between the AEI's Reuel Marc Gerecht and author Peter Galbraith.  Gerecht makes a good case as to why partitioning Iraq is a bad idea.

 

 

This is a podcast brought to you by The Young Americas Foundation with General Georges Sada.

 

 

It seems likely, especially with Zawahiri's call to action, that an insurgency will rise up to fight the Ethiopians (and will falsely declare victory if Ethiopia withdraws in a few months as their leaders would like). Many countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been accused of helping the Somali radicals, so there is a possibility that the insurgency will have reliable external support lines. Luckily for Ethiopia, they have a Somali government they can put back in power which will help decrease the anti-Ethiopian appeal the insurgents may capitalize upon. The radicals do not appear at this stage to have popular support, as demonstrated by the quick Ethiopian military victory that many did not expect.

 

 

Michael Ledeen discusses information indicating that Ayatollah Khamenei has died, or is close to it, and describes how supporting the democratic opposition is our best option in handling Iran.

 

 

This is a tremendous article detailing the information (or lack thereof) about Abu Deraa, quickly becoming known as the "Shia Zarqawi." This guy makes Moqtada al-Sadr look moderate, and raises an interesting question: Is Deraa working for the Iranians in order to infiltrate Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army and create rogue elements? Moqtada al-Sadr has long claimed that Mehdi death squads exist due to rogue elements, and not due to orders from him. However, Deraa claims he has not broken away from Al-Sadr. Is Deraa working with al-Sadr, so he can escape blame? Or is Deraa working with rogue elements and Iran, which simultaneously puts the US in conflict with al-Sadr and the greater Shiite leadership?

 

Until next time,

 

Ryan Mauro

Founder, WorldThreats.com