UPI International Intelligence articles from October 2007

UPI International Intelligence archives from October 2007

Walker's World: Get rich and shut up.
October 1, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The iron hand of Asian repression has succeeded once more, at least for the moment. Just as in the bloody crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square nearly 20 years ago, the troops of Myanmar...

Analysis: Bioterror book warns of hazards.
October 1, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The threat of terrorists using biological agents to attack the United States has preoccupied Barry Kellman, a professor of international law and director of the International Weapons...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 1, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Shebbab Al Iraq newspaper reported Monday that the U.S. Army in Baghdad announced the killing of 20 insurgents after they fired a missile and shot at a U.S. helicopter in a neighborhood 16...

Analysis: Iran sanctions expanding.
October 2, 2007... Byline: DEREK SANDS WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A groundswell of opposition to Iran is pushing U.S. states to divest their pension funds from companies that do business in Iran, and behind-the-scenes political efforts by the administration...

Analysis: Ukraine's future uncertain.
October 2, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Pro-Western parties held a narrow lead Tuesday after elections in Ukraine, with hopes the vote culminates in a democratic government capable of ending the country's political crisis, reinstalls...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 2, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Shabbab Al Iraq reported Tuesday that the U.S. Army announced the killing of seven suspected insurgents and the arrest of 11 others Monday in Baghdad, Mosul and Tarmiya. In Kirkuk, Iraqi...

Analysis: Putin's master plan.
October 2, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Vladimir Putin's ambitions to become prime minister may only be a covert master plan to grab a third term as Russian president. No, he won't change the constitution to be able to become...

Walker's World: A British election soon?
October 3, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The British political class is in a speculative fever about the prospects of Prime Minister Gordon Brown taking advantage of his current honeymoon in the opinion polls to call a snap...

Commentary: Logistical conundrums.
October 3, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Watching them drive by at 30 mph would take 75 days. Bumper-to-bumper, they would stretch from New York City to Denver. That's how U.S. Air Force logistical expert Lenny Richoux...

Analysis: USAF's counterinsurgency plan.
October 3, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The new U.S. Air Force doctrine on insurgency and irregular warfare was fast-tracked to completion so the service could get a seat at the table for discussions about an overarching policy...

Analysis: Venezuela oil row over rights.
October 3, 2007... Byline: CARMEN GENTILE MIAMI, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A recent clash between Venezuelan oil workers and authorities has prompted Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez to assure the workers that a new contract will be completed in the coming weeks despite...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 3, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The Shabab Al Iraq newspaper reports in Diyala "a suicide car bomb explosion took place Tuesday afternoon on a checkpoint in the city of Khalis." The explosion resulted in the death of six...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 4, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Al Sabab Al Iraq newspaper reported Thursday on the wounding of the Polish ambassador in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device targeted his convoy. Many embassy workers were hurt in...

Analysis: Nigeria wants militant back.
October 4, 2007... Byline: CARMEN GENTILE MIAMI, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The Nigerian government has called for Angola to return a militant leader captured last month and detained on weapons-trafficking charges so he can face trial, Nigerian news sources reported...

Analysis: India doubts ATM's success.
October 4, 2007... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- India expects few results from the second-round meeting of the India-Pakistan Anti-Terror Mechanism amid accusations by New Delhi that Islamabad has failed to cooperate on terrorist attacks...

Commentary: Topic A on the Net.
October 5, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, a take-no-prisoners hardliner and neocon icon, said in London there was only one option left to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions -- bombing. U.N....

Outside View: Are we safer yet?
October 5, 2007... Byline: CHARLES V. PENA WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- More than six years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, America is a country with more physical security to defend against...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 5, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The Shabab Al Iraq newspaper reports the U.S. Army announced Friday it killed 25 "criminals" during clashes with insurgents west of Baqouba. The statement from the military said that...

Walker's World: China's own crisis.
October 8, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- These are difficult days for Chinese President Hu Jintao, as he faces a new Party Congress that was supposed to impose his stamp upon the regime and select the next generation of leaders by...

Interview: Sudanese FM Ajawin.
October 8, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol Ajawin dismisses the notion that genocide is taking place in Darfur despite reports of more than 200,000 killed, systematic rape of women and the...

Analysis: Darfur's environment link.
October 9, 2007... UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- As the violence in Darfur continues to capture international headlines, and as heads of state from all over the world gathered at the United Nations for a high-level event on climate change, the link...

Analysis: Taliban to shape German vote?
October 9, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A large-scale terror campaign has been launched against German soldiers in Afghanistan to negatively influence Friday's parliamentary vote in Berlin over the future of the German mission in the...

Walker's World: Fixing global finance.
October 10, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The global economy is under new management, if those somewhat battered institutions the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund may be said to play such a managerial role. ...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 10, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Al Mada newspaper said the al-Qaida-linked Iraqi Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assassination of Naji Jabara, leader of Saladin Reconciliation Council. The report said the...

Analysis: Maoists plan new strategy.
October 10, 2007... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- India's Maoists, in a bid to regroup, are moving their fighters from states where they are strong to those in which they have been weakened. "The Maoist rebels, who have of late suffered...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 10, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Al Sabah Al Jadeed newspaper reported Wednesday a security source in Nineveh province announced that U.S. helicopters bombed various parts of Mosul. The source, who requested anonymity,...

Analysis: Afghanistan's war on the cheap.
October 10, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Afghanistan is slipping into more violence and chaos each day, and no wonder: The West has gone to war on the cheap. If you want an example of what is going wrong in Afghanistan, take a...

Outside View: Mahdi Army threat in S. Iraq.
October 11, 2007... Byline: MALOU INNOCENT WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to cut the British troop presence in Iraq by more than half -- leaving just 2,500 there by the middle of next year. During a recent visit to the...

Outside View: U.S. AFRICOM not welcome.
October 11, 2007... Byline: DINA LYAKHOVICH MOSCOW, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- American troops attract terrorists like magnets attract metal, African and Asian countries seem to have concluded. The Pentagon's newly established U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, had...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 11, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Kul Al Iraq newspaper reported Thursday the Karbala province police chief announced the release of 75 detainees from Karbala prisons due to lack of evidence against them. The paper said...

Analysis: DoJ's counter-proliferation push.
October 11, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Federal law enforcement officials Thursday rolled out a new initiative to counter what they said were increased efforts by China, Iran and others to obtain sensitive U.S. technology for...

Commentary: New global paradigm.
October 12, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- So far, watching the presidential pre-debate debates, no one has suggested how he or she wants the world to look like 15 to 20 years on the high road to the future. No one seems to...

Americans placed on Filipino watch list.
October 12, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. labor and human-rights advocates were placed on a terrorist watch list by the government of the Philippines and barred entry to the country earlier this year. Sixty-nine...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 12, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A security source from Kirkuk told Shabab Al Iraq newspaper that seven people were killed and 50 others wounded when a car bomb exploded in the center of Kirkuk city Thursday. Kirkuk's...

Walker's World: Inflating Russian reality.
October 15, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER MILAN, Italy, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- When the American secretaries of state and defense went to Moscow to see Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, they did not talk about the one topic on the minds of most ordinary...

Analysis: New homeland security strategy.
October 15, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- President Bush's homeland security adviser Fran Townsend says there will be no major changes to the administration's controversial border and identity programs as a result of the White...

Analysis: The Baghdad follies.
October 15, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Statements that the situation in Iraq seems to be improving, despite daily car bombs, attacks against coalition forces and continued slaughter of innocent civilians caught in the...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 15, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Shabab Al Iraq newspaper in a front-page editorial by Ali al-Tuaimaat Monday accused U.S. forces of abuses against Iraqi civilians. "The U.S. forces are killing and assaulting Iraqi...

Analysis: Switzerland in turmoil.
October 16, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Swiss far-right party has launched an unprecedented media campaign that plays on xenophobic images, shocking and at the same time fascinating voters in the consensus-dominated country. ...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 16, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The independent Kitabat newspaper in an editorial Tuesday by lawyer Majid Nimaa blamed the occupation and Iraqi lawmakers for the situation that led to a non-binding U.S. Senate resolution...

Analysis: A new USAF cyber-war doctrine.
October 17, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Recent pronouncements by U.S. Air Force officials about their view of cyberspace as a war-fighting domain have attracted little attention. But the questions they raise for U.S. military...

Walker's World: The world and the dollar.
October 17, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER PARIS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The meetings in Washington this weekend of the supposed managers of the global financial system face a daunting challenge. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the central...

Commentary: Not since Stalin.
October 17, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The last visit by a Russian leader to Iran was by Joseph Stalin in December 1943 for a secret summit with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The British leader wanted the...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 17, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Al Sabah newspaper in an editorial Wednesday titled "Reforming U.S. mistakes in Iraq: An objective view" said those who follow the situation in Iraq see President Bush's backing of the...

Analysis: Churches vs. Mosques in Europe.
October 17, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Europeans are alarmed by a rise in mosques that may become catalysts in another round of a cultural conflict, further hampering the integration of Muslims in Europe. The Sehitlik Mosque in...

Analysis: India's new security system.
October 18, 2007... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- India urgently needs to put in place modern security systems at public institutions, including places of worship, to prevent more terrorist strikes. "There is an urgent need to set up...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 18, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The Kurdish Al Itihad newspaper carried an editorial by Professor Kadhum Habeeb titled "The U.S., Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan closing decision on border." The editorial said that for a while now...

Commentary: Murderous premonition.
October 19, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Before boarding her flight from Dubai to Karachi that would take her back to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, 54, knew an...

Outside View: Olmert visits Moscow.(Reprint)
October 19, 2007... Byline: MARIA APPAKOVA MOSCOW, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert became the first high-ranking foreign politician to meet with Vladimir Putin since the Russian president's visit to Iran. U.S. President George...

Atlantic Eye: Morocco's exemplary election.
October 19, 2007... Byline: MARC S. ELLENBOGEN RABAT, Morocco, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Last month Morocco proved why it is well on its way to becoming a model for elections in Africa and elsewhere. A delegation of Prague Society election observers -- along with...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 19, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The Kitabat Newspaper published an editorial titled: "Signs of forming a political council for the Iraqi resistance, and liberating Iraq agenda," detailing that six Iraqi main national...

Analysis: Violence in Abrahamic faiths.
October 19, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- There are similarities between violent extremists of all the Abrahamic religious faiths, according to a new study of ultra-Zionist settlers in Israel, fundamentalist Muslims in Britain...

Walker's World: CHIMEA, the new growth hub.
October 22, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Amid all the financial troubles of the last three months, the emergent economies led by China and India have done well, but in few places has the news been better or more welcome...

Analysis: Odds for a successful summit?
October 22, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Uncertainty hangs over the Middle East peace conference President Bush wants to convene in Annapolis, Md., in November. Analysts, meanwhile, are somewhat pessimistic at what they perceive...

Analysis: Poland ends Kaczynski reign.
October 22, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The reign of the infamous Kaczynski twins in Poland is over. While Europe is sighing in relief, a new Polish government may update its relations with the United States and pull out its troops...

Analysis: A possible new Iraq war.
October 22, 2007... Byline: BEN LANDO WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A Turkish invasion of Iraq over the Kurdish separatist group based in the northern Iraq mountains highlights -- and risks escalating -- the tension between Washington and allies Turkey, Iraq...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 23, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Baghdad-based Al Mada newspaper in an editorial Monday -- headlined "The U.S. presence in Iraq: Questions need to be answered" -- criticized U.S. policies in Iraq. "Iraqis are...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 23, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Shabab Al Iraq Newspaper in an editorial Tuesday by Widad Fakhir criticized Iraqi politicians for creating sectarian divides. He wrote: "When a crack forms in a ship, it is everyone's...

Walker's World: Is India slowing down?
October 24, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER MUMBAI, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Looking at the stock market, it has been boom and bust in India over the past week. After more than quadrupling in value in the last four years, it soared past 19,000, to collapse by more than...

Analysis: Hayden overhauls CIA detention.
October 24, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- In the year since it was publicly acknowledged by President Bush, the CIA's controversial program of detaining suspected terrorist leaders, and subjecting some of them to interrogation...

Analysis: U.S. vs. Russia on all fronts.
October 24, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- U.S.-Russian relations have hit a new post-Cold War low with Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking out against U.S. policies on several contentious issues -- the Iranian nuclear conflict,...

Analysis: Israel eyes bolstered military.
October 24, 2007... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Israeli military intends to spend some $62.5 billion in the coming five years to cope with an array of enemies from Palestinian militants to Iranians. In doing so, it hopes to...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 24, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The Kurdish Al Ahali Newspaper published an editorial on its front page outlining what issues the United States was ready to wage war over. "These constants directly or indirectly affect...

Commentary: Murder Inc.
October 25, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- No sooner did Benazir Bhutto narrowly escape a two-man suicide bombing attack than she faced the next death threat of many more to come. Like paparazzi chasing down a celebrity,...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 25, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The independent Kitabat newspaper carried a front-page editorial Thursday with the headline, "U.S. barters Turkey's past with Iraqi's present: Will anyone challenge it?" "The first to be...

Analysis: SAARC eyes anti-terror mechanism.
October 25, 2007... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A South Asian regional body has proposed putting in place an institutional mechanism to enhance cooperation among member nations to counter terrorism in the region. India, the largest...

Outside View: EU must up the ante on Iran.
October 26, 2007... Byline: DANIEL KORSKI LONDON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- When it comes to dealing with Iran, European foreign ministers are at least consistent. Faced with a decision last week over what to do about Iran's suspected nuclear program, they resolved...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 26, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Shabab Al Iraq newspaper in an editorial Friday, headlined "Bush administration's options," said with the looming 2008 elections, the administration is likely to stop initiatives that will...

Analysis: Bin Laden's message to Iraq.
October 26, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden's appeal for unity between Iraq's Sunni insurgent groups confirms what many have believed for some time -- that al-Qaida in Iraq is increasingly isolated and that splits...

Walker's World: India's dead nuke deal.
October 29, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER MANIPAL, India, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The failure by the Indian government to win parliamentary approval for its nuclear agreement with the Bush administration is being widely explained in the United States as an...

Analysis: A second Mideast refugee crisis.
October 29, 2007... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI VICTORIA, British Columbia, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Ten percent of Iraq's population has been turned into refugees, almost half in their own country, a direct result of the U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation of the...

Turkish-Kurdish conflict reaches Europe.
October 29, 2007... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- As the Turkish-Kurdish conflict threatens to escalate into a military invasion of northern Iraq, the violence has reached other countries in Europe. Over the weekend tens of thousands of...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 29, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The Kurdish Al Itihad Newspaper carried an editorial Monday with the headline: "Why is there no global agreement on the concept of terrorism?" It said most researchers agree the world...

Outside View: Tehran opts for the hard way.
October 29, 2007... Byline: PYOTR GONCHAROV MOSCOW, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Tehran's tough new stance in its dialogue with the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, heralded by the sudden resignation of Ali Larijani as chief negotiator earlier this month,...

Commentary: The great illusion.
October 31, 2007... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion runs deep, Saul Bellow once said. The illusion, yet again, is a Middle Eastern peace conference...

Walker's World: The Indo-Pakistan hyphen.
October 31, 2007... Byline: MARTIN WALKER MUMBAI, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- For decades, the world has thought of India and Pakistan in terms of the dangerous hyphen that so often connects them. There is the Indo-Pakistan problem of Kashmir, and another of two...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 31, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Shabab Al Iraq newspaper in an editorial Tuesday said those who follow U.S. foreign policy realize there are many contradictions. "This is because of the A elements that control A foreign...

Iraq Press Roundup.
October 31, 2007... Byline: HIBA DAWOOD NEW YORK, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Hezbollah's Al Baina newspaper carried an editorial Wednesday with the headline "No substitute to government forces." It said Iraqi civilians were complaining about the behavior...

Analysis: Countering religious extremism.
October 31, 2007... Byline: SHAUN WATERMAN WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- To a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail, so it is perhaps not surprising that U.S. lawmakers should seek to legislate victory in the ideological conflict with violent Islamic...