Afghanistan
Seeking to project a united front on Afghanistan after a spate of bloody setbacks on the battlefield, President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain pledged on Wednesday that their countries would stick to the timetable for winding down the war by the end of 2014. – New York Times
President Barack Obama, under pressure over a series of setbacks in Afghanistan, for the first time affirmed U.S. plans to shift the military to a support role next year and let Afghan forces take the lead in combat operations. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The Kremlin expressed willingness on Wednesday to allow NATO to use an airfield in the heart of European Russia, in a city best known as Lenin’s birthplace, as a transit center for moving troops and “nonlethal” cargo into Afghanistan. – New York Times
Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta told U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Wednesday that recent calamities over the desecration of corpses, the accidental burning of Korans and the murder of Afghan civilians will not weaken U.S. determination to finish the mission. – Washington Times
The Afghan man involved in the Wednesday attack that occurred during Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s visit to Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan died from burns, said Lt. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, the number two American commander in Afghanistan. – Washington Post
The American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women, was recorded on surveillance video returning to his military outpost in southern Afghanistan after the attack, according to an Afghan government official who saw the video. The video appears to back up American officials’ insistence that there was only one gunman. – New York Times
The American staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers was flown to Kuwait from Afghanistan on Wednesday, American officials said. – New York Times
The attack by a still unidentified United States Army soldier near his base in the Panjwai district, in southern Kandahar Province, has certainly infuriated Afghans and added to already strained relations. But the anger has been more polemical than violent — at least so far. – New York Times
In Kabul, Gen. John Allen has the difficult job of commanding all Western forces in Afghanistan. Here in Washington, he’ll face a different kind of challenge: defending the unpopular war to skeptical lawmakers and journalists. – National Journal
The village where a U.S. staff sergeant is accused of a massacre probably had a very close, daily relationship with the Green Berets who protected the village and taught people there how to defend themselves from the Taliban, military experts say. – USA Today
Half of Americans want President Obama to speed up the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll taken after a U.S. soldier allegedly went on a shooting rampage there Sunday. – USA Today
NATO’s governing body has approved measures to reduce the risk of attacks on alliance soldiers by Afghan security forces, officials said Wednesday. – Associated Press
The Afghan man who emerged ablaze from a stolen vehicle just before U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived at a base in Afghanistan was attempting to attack Marines assembled to meet the Pentagon chief, U.S. officials said on Thursday. – Reuters
A senior U.S. commander defended on Thursday moving a U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians out of Afghanistan to a military detention centre in Kuwait, saying it would help ensure a proper investigation and trial. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Leading lawmakers on both sides kicked off the coming debate over the Obama administration’s plans to speed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a partisan fight over how to extract the U.S. from its longest war with a measure of honor and success. – The Cable
Anatol Lieven writes: Washington should pursue a peace settlement along the following lines: the guarantee of a complete withdrawal of Western forces; the exclusion by the Taliban of all international terrorists from the areas they control; and a Taliban crackdown on heroin production in return for international development aid to those areas. – New York Times
Pakistan
China’s largest bank has backed out of a deal to finance a proposed Iran-to-Pakistan gas pipeline that is opposed by the United States, a potential sign of the lengthening reach of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. – Los Angeles Times
An eight-month ordeal for two Swiss citizens held hostage in northwestern Pakistan ended early on Thursday when their Taliban captors set them free, Pakistani security officials said. – New York Times
Iran
The European Union’s new steps aimed at tightening the noose around Iran’s banks are unlikely to bridge a growing gap between Brussels and Washington over how hard to push financial sanctions against the Tehran regime. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
In the past several months, Iran appears to have increased its political outreach and arms shipments to rebels and other political figures in Yemen as part of what American military and intelligence officials say is a widening Iranian effort to extend its influence across the greater Middle East. – New York Times
President Obama said Wednesday that time is running out for Iran to accept a diplomatic solution that would halt its suspected program to develop nuclear weapons. – Washington Times
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) – with its vaunted pilots and American-supplied warplanes – are so adept at surprise that Iraq and Syria never knew what hit them until their nuclear facilities lay smoldering. But Iran and its scores of buried and cemented nuclear sites present a much more daunting campaign – one of days, not hours, and multiple weapons, not a few laser-guided bombs. – Washington Times
The BBC has suggested that a cyberattack against it on March 1 was part of Iranian efforts to disrupt the BBC’s Persian Service, which along with other foreign broadcasters has long proved an irritant to the clerically dominated regime. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Nicholas Bowen writes: It remains unclear whether Tehran will be able to successfully navigate its current international difficulties. But the new UN human rights report serves as an important reminder of the problem that lies at the heart of the world’s perennial tensions with Iran—the aggressively antidemocratic character of its regime. – Freedom House’s Freedom at Issue
Syria
Many thousands of Syrians gathered in a central square in Damascus on a blustery Thursday morning, waving Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad in what the government billed as a “Global March for Syria” and against the year-old uprising that it portrays as led by terrorists and foreigners. – New York Times
The main Syrian exile opposition group suffered a serious fracture on Wednesday as several prominent members resigned, calling the group autocratic, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and powerless to help Syrian rebels as government forces, having flushed insurgent strongholds in the north, swept into the rebellious southern city of Dara’a. – New York Times
When ordinary Syrians began taking to the streets last March, at first in small numbers to call for greater freedoms and later in the hundreds of thousands to demand the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, they had no idea just how hard it would be or how long it would take. – Washington Post
To the world, Mr. Jarrah was known as Alexander Page, a faceless voice with flawless English who told a detailed account of a brutal government crackdown at a time when nearly all foreign media were banned. But at a time when international intervention remains in question and violence shows little sign of abating, Mr. Jarrah’s involvement and narrow escape have underscored the risks Syrian activist-journalists have taken to document and bring the events of the nearly yearlong uprising to the rest of the world. – New York Times
British Prime Minister David Cameron argued Wednesday while visiting the United States that Syria would not be able to escape the “long reach” of international law. – LA Times’ World Now
Top U.S. officials are reaching out to American allies in the Mideast to get a better read on the escalating crisis in Syria. – DEFCON Hill
Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be several thousand emails received and sent by the Syrian leader and his wife. – The Guardian
Analysts are increasingly warning of the chemical weapons nightmare that could unfold in Syria should the government of dictator Bashar Assad abruptly collapse or a full-scale civil war break out in the violence-stricken Arab state, the Canadian National Post reported on Tuesday – Global Security Newswire
The U.N.-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, will brief the U.N. Security Council on Friday about his peace mission, which diplomats say could breathe new life into stalled talks on a resolution aimed at ending the escalating violence. – Reuters
Syria has plunged into civil war and only the departure of President Bashar al-Assad can prevent the country from being torn apart, a veteran opposition figure said. – Reuters
Syria, hit by a civil unrest, needs to raise cereals import by about a third in the current marketing year after its local grain output 10 percent dropped in 2011, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday. – Reuters
FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly and HJS Executive Director Alan Mendoza write: The people of Syria are seeking to join the community of free nations that our forefathers fought and died side by side to defend. They need our assistance. To fail to act does not do justice to the legacy of our two great nations. – Foreign Policy Initiative and Henry Jackson Society
North Africa
Actor George Clooney brought his star power to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to call for stepped-up action to resolve ongoing violence in Sudan and stop a potential humanitarian disaster. – Washington Post
Two British journalists detained by a Libyan militia on suspicion of spying have been transferred to the custody of the government, deputy interior minister Omar al-Khadrawi said on Wednesday. – Reuters
A year after it claimed centre stage in the Arab Spring, Cairo’s Tahrir Square has become a giant open-air market where capitalism is meeting the revolution. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: The State Department is getting ready to decide if Egypt has done enough to earn its $1.5 billion in U.S. aid for this year, and one leading human rights organization is telling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the answer is no. – The Cable
Bahrain
Bahrain’s main opposition movement Wefaq is making overtures to the monarchy on how to pursue democratic reforms but its efforts may be undermined by waning support from youth who seek more revolutionary change. – Reuters
The condition of a jailed Bahraini activist who has been on hunger strike for over a month is deteriorating and prison authorities may force-feed him, a lawyer who visited him this week said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Iraq
Iraqi leaders on Wednesday announced the conclusion of several agreements with Kuwait on long-disputed issues, marking the latest in a series of friendly moves toward countries in the region ahead of an Arab summit in Baghdad. – Washington Post
Turkey
Suzy Hansen writes: The more troubling question is why Erdoğan feels he needs to trample on journalists at all. The AKP has no credible political opposition, and more or less controls the judiciary system and the military. The businessmen love Erdoğan for making them rich, and he bullies them if they don’t. So why the thin skin over some newspaper columns? – The New Republic
China
In a major shakeup in the Chinese Communist Party’s top ranks, Bo Xilai, the charismatic but controversial official known for promoting a “red revival” campaign, has been fired as party chief in Chongqing, Xinhua news reported Thursday. – Washington Post
China’s national legislature enacted new safeguards for criminal suspects and defendants on Wednesday, but upheld the right of the police to hold certain suspects in secret residential locations for up to six months, ignoring a last-minute online campaign by critics to curb police authority. – New York Times
A Tibetan monk in his 30s, Jamyang Palden, set fire to himself on Wednesday in the town of Rongwo in the Chinese province of Qinghai to protest rule by China, according to Free Tibet, an advocacy group based in London. – New York Times
Bill Gertz reports: A senior Pentagon official told Congress last week that the U.S. government is concerned about the leakage of embargoed U.S. space technology to China. – Washington Times
Koreas
South Korea and the U.S. on Thursday will eliminate duties on thousands of goods as they implement a free-trade agreement that took one year to negotiate and an additional four years of political battling to complete. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A long-delayed U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) that has stirred controversy in both countries took effect on Thursday, although the opposition in Seoul has vowed to renegotiate it if it wins elections this year. – Reuters
India
In the world’s largest democracy, hundreds of millions of voters are delivering a powerful message to their politicians: Give us growth, give us opportunity, let us take part in the country’s economic miracle. And if you are going to line your pockets, don’t be so brazen about it. – Washington Post
Sadanand Dhume writes: As a fix, the middle class needs to shed its traditional apathy toward politics, and either form new parties or join existing ones. More importantly, parties should respond by starting to treat ideas seriously—attracting followers based on what they believe rather than which caste, community or gene pool they claim to represent. If this succeeds, India’s dynasts will no longer be able to pass on high office like a family heirloom. If it fails, the country will continue to look less like a modern democracy and more like a patchwork quilt of fiefdoms. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
Burma
For most of his career he was a loyal apparatchik in one of the world’s most brutal military regimes. But in the 12 months since he became president of Myanmar, U Thein Sein has been leading this country of 55 million down a radical path from dictatorship to democracy, vowing, as he told the nation earlier this month, to “root out the evil legacies deeply entrenched in our society.” – New York Times
Russia
Police, prosecutors, governors and local officials across Russia have started to come down hard on upstart citizens, signaling an end to the winter of tolerance that characterized the run-up to the March 4 presidential election. – Washington Post
The leader of Russia’s Left Front movement and an organizer of recent election-related street protests, Sergei Udaltsov, has arrived at a Moscow courthouse to face charges of failing to obey a police officer. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Josh Rogin reports: The United States shouldn’t lift trade sanctions against Russia without replacing them with targeted actions against Russia’s worst human rights violators, a top Russia opposition leader told The Cable today. – The Cable
Garry Kasparov and Boris Nemtsov write: The Obama administration is not only attempting to overturn a law, but also its spirit. As Mr. Kissinger did 39 years ago, Amb. McFaul is trying to make the case that human rights should not get in the way of realpolitik and the business of doing business. He reminds us that the State Department already has its own secret list of banned Russian officials, and so nothing more need be done. But the entire object of such laws is to publicly shame and punish the rank and file of Mr. Putin’s mob so they know the big boss can no longer protect them. The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act is an example of such legislation. Replacing Jackson-Vanik with it would promote better relations between the people of the U.S. and Russia while refusing to provide aid and comfort to a tyrant and his regime at this critical moment in history. This, too, would be a policy of principle. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Belarus
Another Belarusian opposition activist has been blocked from traveling to a European Union country. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has refused to grant clemency to two men sentenced to death in connection to a Minsk subway bombing that killed 15 people in April 2012. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Mexico
The unity that helped Mexico’s ruling conservatives end seven decades of one-party rule is cracking under the weight of infighting, scandal and defections that threaten their hopes of retaining the presidency in July. – Reuters
Cuba
Jacob Mchangama writes: Only left-wing American Hollywood actors and authoritarian regimes at the U.N. Human Rights Council could be so blind to these indignities as to characterize Cuba as a success story. The sad truth is that one man’s egoistic pride has resulted in the humiliation of an entire people. – National Review Online
South America
An old threat has resurfaced in Colombia that could derail its booming oil sector: a series of crippling attacks by Marxist rebels against pipelines and oil-truck convoys that the military has been unable to stop. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
When President Hugo Chávez returns to Venezuela this week after an operation in Cuba to remove a cancerous lesion, he will find a country swirling with rumours. – Financial Times
East Africa
The ongoing tribal violence, which saw more than 200 people killed last week in the latest outbreak, poses a serious threat to a fragile state still recovering from a long war for independence from the Sudanese government. – Los Angeles Times
Editorial: Even if this is done, locating and capturing Mr. Kony in 2012 will take some luck. Bringing him to justice before the International Criminal Court could be another slog. On Wednesday, the 10-year-old court obtained its first conviction, of another warlord abuser of children from Congo, six years after it took custody of him and three years after the trial began. If social media can speed up bringing criminals like Mr. Kony to justice, then more power to it. – Washington Post
Somalia
Western governments are injecting millions of dollars into a program that they hope will contribute to the stabilization of Somalia, and officials stationed here hope dedicated students like Ms. Noor, when they finally return home, can prove that the money was not wasted. – Associated Press
UNICEF says an entire generation of children has grown up knowing only conflict and fighting in many parts of Somalia, and possibly thousands of children have been trained in combat. Sikander Khan, the top official for the U.N. children’s agency in Somalia, said there is an increased need to invest more in Somalia’s youth and children in order to give long-term peace a chance to prevail. – Associated Press
A suicide bomber killed at least four people inside the presidential palace compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, according to the police, the African Union and al Shabaab insurgents. – Reuters
Nigeria
A Briton and an Italian who had been abducted by Islamist militants were executed before they could be rescued by Nigerian troops and Royal Marines, Nigerian officials said on Wednesday. – Associated Press
