What a telling medley of articles in the New York Times June 19. First this, from the front page: Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages… Read moreExxon back in Iraq —ANWR next?
Despite the supposed ceasefire, fighting again broke out between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian occupation troops in several attacks around Mogadishu June 18, leaving 11 dead. Nine were civilians; two were Somali police. (Africa News, June 19) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf,… Read moreArab governments plot Somali destabilization?
Wired reports June 19 reports from Marlborough, MA, where the US Air Force held a confab to promote its new Cyber Command, which is to go operational in 105 days. While the command’s mission is still “very much in question,”… Read moreWill Air Force Cyber Command quell or fuel conspiracy theories?
The flag of Eritrea was set on fire June 16 in Garoowe, capital of the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, in what local authorities called a protest “to condemn the Eritrean attack on Djibouti.” The autonomous government’s ministers were among… Read morePuntland protesters burn Eritrean flag
We aren’t sure that the optimism in his closing assessment of Obama’s AIPAC speech is warranted. But this June 13 piece by Bernard Avishai in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz says much about the dilemmas the candidate faces. The piece is… Read moreIsraeli elites “edgy about Obama”
As the UN Security Council, Arab League and African Union urge Eritrea to halt military action against neighboring Djibouti, French officers stationed in the Horn of Africa mini-state say that France is providing Djibouti with military support—and preparing to send… Read moreEritrea at war with Djibouti; France into the breach
Police in Quito arrested three Colombians and one Ecuadoran in an alleged plot to assassinate President Rafael Correa. Two were arrested on the capital’s Independence Plaza, where Carondelet presidential palace is located. The suspects were detained by agents of the… Read moreEcuador arrests Colombians in plot on President Correa
Pakistan protested a June 11 US military strike that killed at least 11 soldiers as a “gross violation” of its sovereignty. The Foreign Ministry in Islamabad summoned US Ambassador Anne Patterson to denounce a “senseless use of air power against… Read moreUS bombs Pakistan —again
An estimated 100 people were killed and thousands fled their homes in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in renewed fighting over the weekend following between Ethiopian troops and insurgents. Another 200 were wounded as the Bakara market, Somalia’s largest open-air market,… Read moreSomalia violence escalates; insurgents take war to Ethiopia
Two bombs exploded June 8 at the Beni Amrane rail station in Boumerdès wilaya, just east of Algiers, killing 12, including fire-fighters, soldiers, an engineer from the French water engineering company Razel, and his Algerian driver. A third bomb was… Read moreAlgerian rail bombings kill 12; attacks on army intensify
The Indonesian Parliament unanimously approved a new anti-terrorism law that will allow the military to directly participate in operations against militant groups. The legislation comes following a slew of suicide bombings in Surabaya by individuals supposedly tied to the Islamic State. President Joko Widodo stated that involvement of the Indonesian National Army in counter-terrorism is necessary in addressing the crisis faced by the nation. A related measure also gives police the power to detain suspects for 21 days without charge. (Photo: Indonesian Navy Special Forces Kopaska)
