Iran
Its forces are seizing the highest amounts of opiates and heroin worldwide, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which has advised Iran through out the period…[N]]ow, with the prospect of negotiations with the West over Iran’s disputed nuclear enrichment program, experts say, Iran’s leaders are eager to grab credit for their efforts. – New York Times
The Navy’s top officer said Thursday that the service will continue stationing two aircraft carriers in 5th Fleet through March, a standing requirement that has pushed the fleet’s pace and one that officials are tracking closely. – Military Times
A planned initiative under development by six major governments would seek to end a years-long nuclear standoff with Iran in the months months immediately following the November U.S. presidential election, the London Guardian reported on Thursday. – Global Security Newswire
Human rights activists in Iran are subjected to beatings with batons, mock hangings, rape, sleep deprivation, and threats that family members will be raped or killed, a U.N. rights investigator said in a report released on Thursday. – Reuters
By understanding Iran’s pathways for completing the final stage of its nuclear drive, the U.S. and our allies can devise red lines — whether private or publicly announced — which fence off those pathways. These red lines should take into account not only Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, but also the level to which it enriches any uranium, the access it affords IAEA inspectors, the expansion of its centrifuge program and other weapons-applicable technologies, as well as any covert efforts to build additional nuclear sites or acquire nuclear materials abroad. – Shadow Government
Graham Allison writes: What remains missing from this equation are terms for halting Iran’s nuclear progress that any Iranian government could plausibly accept. Immediately after the U.S. election, that should become the intense focus of the United States, Israel, and the international community. – Foreign Policy
Patrick Clawson writes: Historical analogies are imperfect: Situations are different, the actors have changed, and so on. Nevertheless, the record suggests tempering one’s optimism that economic pressure will bring Iran to change its populist policy stances — either its pernicious domestic economic policy or its adventurist nuclear stance. – Foreign Policy
Syria
Amid rising tension with Turkey over the conflict in Syria, Russia pressed Ankara anew on Friday for an account of what Turkish officials had discovered on board a commercial jetliner that was forced to land in Turkey. – New York Times
Jusiyah’s location on the border with Lebanon has lent it some strategic importance for the FSA because it has allowed militants to enter and exit Syria with relative ease…Without the Jusiyah route, the militants and refugees are forced to endure a lengthy march through the rugged, treeless mountains to the east of Masharih al-Qaa to reach the relative safety of Lebanon. – Christian Science Monitor
The EU will toughen up its sanctions on Syria’s arms industry and bar more of its officials from travelling to Europe in order to crimp President Bashar al-Assad’s access to cash, diplomats said on Thursday. – Reuters
Organisers of a conference aimed at uniting the divided Syrian opposition said on Thursday it had been postponed until they can agree on fair representation of disparate groups. – Reuters
Powerful Syrian Islamist brigades, frustrated at the growing divisions among rebels, have joined forces in what they say is a “liberation front” to topple President Bashar al-Assad. – Reuters
Hezbollah denied on Thursday sending fighters into Syria to help its ally President Bashar al-Assad to quell the rebellion there. – Reuters
A network of French Islamists behind a grenade attack on a kosher market also planned to join jihadists fighting in Syria, a state prosecutor said Thursday, calling the suspected terrorist group potentially the most dangerous established in France since the 1990s. – Associated Press
Soner Cagaptay writes: In Bosnia, the international community intervened before it was too late. If Syria radicalizes, becoming a jihadist safe haven, it could become a Sisyphean task to normalize it. Afghanistan is a case in point. – New York Times
Fouad Ajami writes: It didn’t have to come to this terrible choice: a big war or acquiescence in the face of Assad’s crimes. A resolute American policy could have toppled the Syrian regime, without boots on the ground. We might have spared the Turks this insoluble dilemma. We surely could have spared the Syrians the bloodletting—some 30,000 lives in 18 months—that wrecked and radicalized their country. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Angelina Jolie and Antonio Guterres write: Last year the Syrians hosted the third-largest refugee population in the world. Forced to relive their worst memories, thousands of Iraqis and other refugees must leave behind the lives they have rebuilt in Syria and again face the painful prospect of starting anew. The Syrian people have a history of welcoming people in need. Now, it is their hour of need. – Financial Times
Libya
The Obama administration said on Thursday that it had recalled a veteran diplomat, Laurence Pope, who retired from the Foreign Service 12 years ago, to serve as the senior American envoy in Libya. – New York Times
The mother of Sean Smith, one of the four foreign service officers killed in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, said Wednesday that she “begged” officials in the Obama Administration for information about her son’s death, but believes she only been told “outright lies” about the details of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. – DEFCON Hill
Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) lashed out at House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Thursday for quickly convening a hearing on U.S. security in Libya that he and 17 other lawmakers missed because of prior commitments. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Eli Lake reports: Video footage from the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya, taken the night of the Sept. 11 anniversary attacks, shows an organized group of armed men attacking the compound, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who have seen the footage and are involved in the ongoing investigation. – The Daily Beast
Editorial: In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Mr. Obama acknowledged that “the information may not have always been right the first time.” He added that “the “bottom line is . . . I want us to get the folks who did it, and I want us to figure out what are the lessons learned.” That’s the right focus — and it’s what Congress should hold the administration accountable for. – Washington Post
North Africa
President Mohamed Morsi and Egypt’s chief prosecutor clashed Thursday as the prosecutor refused the president’s attempt to remove him. – New York Times
Secular politicians in Tunisia said on Thursday that a leaked video of a secret meeting between the leader of the ruling Islamist party and puritanical Salafis showed the government was not the moderate Islamist force it claimed to be – Reuters
Algeria is cracking down on illegal street vendors despite the risk of popular unrest, signaling confidence that it can remain unscathed by uprisings that have toppled Arab rulers elsewhere. – Reuters
Morocco’s King Mohammed will make a rare tour of Gulf Arab countries before the end of the year as his cash-strapped government tries to drum up investor interest in a sovereign bond. – Reuters
Samuel Tadros writes: Westerners may debate how moderate Egypt’s Islamists are, but for Copts the questioning is futile. Their options are limited. While Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East, they’re too small to play a role in deciding the fate of the country. They are not geographically concentrated in one area that could become a safe zone. The only option is to leave, putting an end to 2,000 years of Christianity in Egypt. – Wall Street Journal
Yemen
A senior Yemeni officer working in the United States Embassy in Sana was killed here in the capital on Thursday in an attack that security sources said bore the hallmarks of the regional franchise of Al Qaeda. – New York Times
Iraq
Iraq’s branch of al Qaeda said it masterminded a jailbreak in the northern city of Tikrit last month and smuggled weapons to inmates, according to a statement posted on militant websites – Reuters
Turkey’s parliament on Thursday renewed a mandate for another year allowing the government to send troops into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebel fighters, despite objections from Baghdad. – Reuters
Israel
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah, declared Thursday that his fighters had assembled and piloted a drone that flew 35 miles into Israel on Saturday, calling the flight an unprecedented achievement in “the history of the resistance.” – New York Times
A massive missile defense drill between the United States and Israel is back on track, setting the stage for one of the biggest wargames between the two countries in recent history. – DEFCON Hill
Israel’s new “Iron Dome” counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system has racked up a success rate above 80% since being fielded last year, but its weak link—as with most missile defense systems—is too few interceptors. Israel plans to solve this problem in the short term by doubling the Rafael’s Tamir interceptor manufacturing capacity. But some U.S. lawmakers are pushing the Pentagon to step in and coproduce the missile on U.S. soil, not only as a backstop for the Israel Defense Forces’ supply but as a domestic capability that could protect deployed soldiers. – Aviation Week
Afghanistan
Authorities in London said on Friday that seven members of the Royal Marines had been arrested on suspicion of murder after “an engagement with an insurgent” in Afghanistan last year, apparently the first time that British service personnel have been held on such charges in more than a decade of war there. – New York Times
In a major fraud allegation made public on Thursday, the independent watchdog for Afghanistan war spending claimed it had discovered that Afghan contractors did not install or properly install potentially life-saving devices intended to prevent the use of roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs). – The E-Ring
Afghan security officials say they have expelled 35 foreign Islamic clerics from southern Afghanistan. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Pakistan
A Pakistani schoolgirl fighting for her life after being shot by Taliban gunmen was transferred Thursday from a hospital in a province that is a militant haven to a specialist hospital in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi. – Washington Post
This spring, law enforcement officials in Lahore and other parts of Punjab province went further. Inspired by “deradicalization” programs in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, they have crafted their own effort to reeducate current and former fighters. – Los Angeles Times
Tuesday’s shooting of Malala Yousufzai was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the fearless, smiling young girl against one of Pakistan’s most ruthless Taliban commanders. – Reuters
U.S. drones fired four missiles at a compound of a Pakistani militant commander in a northwestern tribal region on Thursday, killing 16 militants, while a pair of bombings in another part of the country killed 10 civilians and three security personnel, officials said. – Associated Press
Sadanand Dhume writes: If you’re an optimist, though, an idealistic 14-year-old in a hospital bed may have the power finally to nudge Pakistan’s conversation with itself toward sanity. Perhaps more people will begin to recognize the obvious—that in the end they must choose whether they want to live in the country of Ms. Yousafzai’s dreams or the Taliban’s. This isn’t America’s war. It is Pakistan’s. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
China
China has done nothing to end trade practices that favor Chinese enterprises at the expense of U.S. workers and businesses, says a report by a congressional commission. – Washington Times
Two years ago, when the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize, the government reacted with contempt and fury… But all that seemed forgotten on Thursday, when word came that another Nobel, the 2012 literature prize, had been awarded to another Chinese citizen, the internationally renowned author Mo Yan, and China erupted into something close to a national celebration. – New York Times
A total of 45 Tibetans set themselves on fire this year to protest Chinese repression in Chinese-occupied Tibet as “egregious” human rights abuses in China continued, according to an annual congressional report. – Washington Free Beacon
Chinese Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan unexpectedly called for the release of jailed compatriot Liu Xiaobo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago, having come under fire from rights activists for not speaking up for him. – Reuters
[Ban Ki-moon’s] scathing public reprimands of those he considers rights abusers have yet to fall on China, where U.N. officials say he prefers to use “quiet diplomacy.” It is an approach that some analysts support but frustrates rights advocates. – Reuters
East Asia
The finance ministers of Japan and South Korea declared on Thursday that their nations would closely cooperate on economic and financial issues, in talks aimed at limiting the political damage from a diplomatic clash over contested islands. – New York Times
Japan has no intention of backing down in a damaging spat with China over the Senkaku Islands regardless of the negative impact it might have on economic ties with its largest trade partner, Japan’s economics minister told the Financial Times. – Financial Times
Koreas
A senior South Korean policy maker on North Korea said on Friday that it must be assumed that Pyongyang has the capacity to mount a nuclear device on a ballistic missile, adding that such a capability would pose “an existential threat” to South Korea – New York Times
News of the defection has trickled out this week as opposition lawmakers here, who apparently learned of it through a leak, have pressed the government to explain how such a security breach could have happened, and on Thursday President Lee Myung-bak ordered that border guards in the area be disciplined. – New York Times
Mitt Romney, if elected U.S. president, would not allow North Korea to take advantage of the long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear program, a foreign policy counselor to the Republican presidential campaign told the Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday. – Global Security Newswire
The contrast between Pyongyang and every other city in the country reflects an ever-growing chasm between North Korea’s elite and the daily struggles of everyone else. – Associated Press
Laura Ling writes: North Koreans won’t be living in Gangnam style any time soon. But the more they can break through the government’s information blockade and learn about life outside the Hermit Kingdom, the more the regime will have to adapt and change. – Los Angeles Times
Southeast Asia
[W]hile the security forces’ efforts and internal rifts have left Jemaah Islamiyah weakened, some disaffected individuals and members of vigilante groups have moved to form new cells and seek new recruits. – New York Times
A decade ago, terrorists killed more than 200 revelers on the resort island of Bali in one of Asia’s worst attacks. Residents wondered if the idyllic tropical retreat would ever recover, especially after another, smaller attack killed 20 people in 2005. Bali did rebound—so much so, that many residents and visitors now feel overwhelmed. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Thailand’s former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is facing more legal difficulties after the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant Thursday in connection with a malfeasance case involving nearly 12 billion baht, or $390 million, in loans extended by state-run Krung Thai Bank PCL when he served as the country’s prime minister, potentially complicating his bid to return to Thailand and worsening relations between the judiciary and his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Japan is to resume direct lending to Myanmar early next year, aiming to help transform the poverty-stricken southeast Asian nation into a production and investment hub to rival Vietnam. – Financial Times
Editorial: Moderate Indonesians urgently need to join this war of ideas. The unholy nexus that seems to be developing between fringe groups and mainstream politics is gradually undermining the country’s culture of tolerance and pluralism. The choice of Mr. Yudhoyono’s successor will be critical. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
Europe
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its 2012 peace prize on Friday to the 27-nation European Union, lauding its role over six decades in building peace and reconciliation among enemies who fought Europe’s bloodiest wars, even as the continent wrestles with economic strife that threatens its cohesion and future. – New York Times
Suspected French jihadists were planning attacks on French soil and wanted to recruit people to fight in Syria and other countries, prosecutors said Thursday, as authorities opened a formal investigation into alleged terror plans and ties of seven of the 12 people rounded up in a series of raids over the weekend. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
United States of America
Representative Paul D. Ryan set out Thursday to turn what the White House considers one of President Obama’s strongest assets into a liability, asserting that his administration’s foreign policy was “unraveling.” But from Libya and Iran to Afghanistan and Syria, Mr. Ryan offered proposals that differed from those of Mr. Obama in nuance rather than substance. – New York Times
The administration’s decision to deny weapons to Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad is damaging U.S. interests in the region and could end up blowing up in the White House’s face, the Romney campaign said. – DEFCON Hill
Sen. Rand Paul accused fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday of providing aid and comfort to Democrats in the fall battle for Senate control. – Politico
Josh Rogin reports: Secretaries of state from both political parties weighed in today on the heated congressional race between Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), defending Berman’s overseas travel while he was the chairman and now ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. – The Cable
Latin America
The violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was designated Thursday by the Treasury Department as a transnational criminal organization, meaning the government can freeze its U.S. assets, seize its property or interests in this country, and make it illegal for anyone in the U.S. to do business with the gang. – Washington Times
Even as Yéle is besieged by angry creditors, an examination of the charity indicates that millions in donations for earthquake victims went to its own offices, salaries, consultants’ fees and travel, to Mr. Jean’s brother-in-law for projects never realized, to materials for temporary houses never built and to accountants dealing with its legal troubles. – New York Times
United Nations
A year after the United States cut off its financing to Unesco, following a vote to make Palestine a full member, the organization remains engaged in a frantic effort to cut back programs, reduce costs and raise emergency money. – New York Times
Nancy Soderberg writes: As a founding member of the United Nations, the United States has a responsibility to uphold and promote universal human rights norms. The next president should affirm this responsibility and ensure that America continues to provide strong leadership within multilateral institutions. – Huffington Post
West Africa
The Obama administration is contemplating broad military, political and humanitarian intervention to stop a slide toward chaos and Islamic extremism in Mali, the top State Department diplomat for Africa said Thursday. – Washington Post
The Islamist group Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity in an insurgency that has claimed more than 2,800 lives in three years, Human Rights Watch said. – Financial Times
A military crackdown across Nigeria has hobbled Boko Haram for now, but as the army campaign intensifies it is likely to fan popular anger in the impoverished north that could ultimately make the Islamist sect’s 3-year-old rebellion stronger. – Reuters
A top military commander under Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday in the first trial involving an accused instigator of last year’s post-election violence. – Reuters
Daniel Williams writes: Given that, in the first nine months of this year, more deaths were recorded in the struggle between Boko Haram and the security forces than in 2010 and 2011 combined, the need for action is urgent. Denials by the government and Boko Haram will only prolong the agony of northern Nigerians. – Washington Post
East Africa
A final report from an independent United Nations body asserts Rwanda continues to back a rebel army in eastern Congo despite international condemnation of its alleged involvement in the conflict, as Rwanda steps up its rebuttal of the findings. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday he wants more done to stem rising violence in Kenya before a March 4 election to prevent a repetition of the bloodshed that followed the last vote five years ago. – Reuters
