APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East articles from December 2008

APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East archives from December 2008

The Challenges Of Terrorism - Iraq, Part 40 - Al-Qaeda Is On The Run.
December 1, 2008... A combination of concentrated, US-aided attacks and joint American-Iraqi efforts to rebuild Iraq from the bottom up is causing the Qaeda-led Neo-Salafi insurgent groups to be on the run. They are being defeated in the Sunni Arab and Kurdish...

Syria Against But Iran Silent On SOFA.
December 1, 2008... Iraq's Council of Representatives (parliament) on Nov. 27 approved the SOFA but Syria immediately declared itself strongly opposed to the accord, while Iran gave indications Tehran was having a different position in the hope of making a deal...

US Sees Neo-Salafi Groups In Decline & Liberal Iran.
December 1, 2008... A new 121-page report - "Global Trends 2025, A Transformed World" - from the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) concludes that the Neo-Salafi movement will be in definite decline as it has no convincing programme for any part of the Muslim...

The SOFA Debate.
December 1, 2008... With a substantial majority, parliament on Nov. 27 finally approved the SOFA, after accepting Sunni Arab demands to make it dependent on a referendum but rejecting other conditions. The once-dominant minority, the Sunni Arabs are concerned the...

Qaeda Hits Shi'ite Mosque, Killing 12 & Sunni Shaikh Backs The SOFA.
December 1, 2008... A Qaeda suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed vest on Nov. 28 killed 12 people and wounded 17 others in the main Shi'ite mosque in the town of Musayeb, near the city of Hilla 60 km south of Baghdad, used by Sadrist worshippers. (MPs loyal...