051309f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses for informed debate’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç from ASAM (Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies) -- U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - Subscribe to FPR FPR Table - H4 NYT WP GU H7 ME Isr H10 CSM IHT Eur FSU Asia H13 Times WSJ FT LAT H16 USP DT Ind H19 Mil Int Ter Wonk H21 Misc

H1 Steve Walt Imbalance of power America's role in the world today is shaped by two imbalances of power, not just one. The first is the gap between U.S. capabilities and everyone else's. The second imbalance is between organized interests whose core mission is constantly pushing the U.S. government to do more and in more places, and the far-weaker groups who think we might be better off showing a bit more restraint.

WINEP Populism, Authoritarianism, and National Security in al-Maliki's Iraq U.S. efforts to preserve fragile and hard-won security gains in Iraq will be tested by the Iraqi government's more assertive stance as politicians position themselves for 2010 elections. Michael Eisenstadt writes.

Washington Post For Petraeus, a Tougher Fight in Afghanistan

By David Ignatius, Bush's man is now being asked to bring tactics from Iraq to a much tougher fight

McChrystal Faces Raft of Issues as New Commander in Afghanistan Gen. McChrystal Faces Raft Of Issues in Afghanistan

Pakistani Commandos Target Taliban Bases

Report Warns of Insolvency for Social Security, Medicare Report Also Warns Of Medicare Collapse

Rand Corporation Imported Oil and U.S. National Security

By Keith Crane et al. Full Document

Occupying Iraq - A History of the Coalition Provisional Authority By James Dobbins et al. Full Document

Does Petraeus Have All the Answers? - Dexter Filkins, The New Republic

Time Understanding Iran's Deterrence Game

Financial Times Why Obama’s conservatism may not prove good enough The more the crisis unfolds, the more evident it is that incentives in the financial system were (and are) badly distorted, says Martin Wolf. At the end, will the number of institutions thought “too big to fail” be as large as now and, if so, how will they be controlled?

America’s triple A rating is at risk

Washington is asleep, says David Walker

US returns to its trust-busting roots The Obama administration is right in seeking to return to an older, active interpretation of the antitrust policy that decides what constitutes fair or unfair competition

To beat the Taliban If Pakistan is to defeat the Taliban and other extremists its soldiers and spies need to sunder once and for all their tactical alliances with all jihadi groups

Facebook sets tone in Iran’s electoral contest Leading rival candidates resort to the internet and wireless technology to spread their messages as they struggle to compete against Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who enjoys the support of a powerful state apparatus

Medicare fund to run out of money by 2017 Leaders of both US political parties called for reform of Social Security and Medicare as a report showed that the benefit programmes were on course for bankruptcy sooner than previously expected

Swat outlook 'pretty bleak' for Pakistan

US lawmakers in threat to raise tariffs on Beijing

Global Insight: Pessimists find reasons to be cheerful Just as the recession might have reached its bottom, so might economists’ pessimism. Some are already trying to turn the tide

Hizbollah confirms broad aid for Hamas Hizbollah has been providing the Palestinians in Gaza with ‘every type of support’ possible for some time, the deputy leader of the powerful Lebanese Shia movement admitted in an FT interview Transcript: FT interview with deputy chief of Hizbollah

US set for compromise bill on emissions Democrats in the US House of Representatives are expected to announce a compromise move that would give the go-ahead to a bill to tackle global warming. Success would beat expectations in a political climate increasingly hostile to cap-and-trade

Bye Bye, Eurasian Pipelines?

BY: Ariel Cohen | International Herald Tribune The West is ceding Caspian energy to Russia and China. It should not.

· Pakistan's Existential Question

BY: Bret Stephens | The Wall Street Journal About Iran, Henry Kissinger once asked whether the Islamic Republic was a country or a cause. About Pakistan, the question is whether it's a country or merely a space.

U.S. Spurned Offer for Iraq Peace - David Rose, Vanity Fair

Mistakes Are No Option in Afghanistan - Bruce Riedel, Daily Star

Pakistan's Passing Grade - Anatol Lieven, National Interest

A Growing Divergence between Jerusalem and Washington? by Efraim Inbar

Is Holbrooke Assistant Vali Nasr in Iran? by Michael Rubin

Meeting The Mossad
60 Minutes CBS News

U.S. Spurned Offer for Iraq Peace - David Rose, Vanity Fair The so-called Sunni Awakening, in which American forces formed tactical alliances with local sheikhs, has been credited with dampening the insurgency in much of Iraq. But new evidence suggests that the Sunnis were offering the same deal as early as 2004—one that was eagerly embraced by commanders on the ground, but rejected out of hand at the highest levels of the Bush administration.

MARC LYNCH Six things Obama should remember about the Middle East

Guardian · Progress is doomed if Obama is merely a cleverer version of Bush Jonathan Freedland: At next week's US-Israel summit, a change in mood music will not be enough. A radical shift in strategy is needed

Echoes of Vietnam in Afghanistan Robert Fox: General McKiernan has been sacked and 'experts' are being sent in – but few seem to understand the facts on the ground

The curious sacking of Gen McKiernan Simon Tisdall: Obama's top US general in Afghanistan has been shown the door, but top brass at the Pentagon haven't really explained why

Will Obama keep Israel to its promises? Benjamin Pogrund: Israel has ignored its own promises to halt settler expansion on the West Bank. Can Obama enforce them?

The flipside of Europe's 'common identity' David Cronin: The EU's priority is the smooth functioning of markets – and workers are paying the price

· Armageddon averted

Larry Elliott: The economy, we're told, is bouncing back. Here is a checklist to help test if the recovery is for real

Ha’aretz – Bradley Burston: How would Israel look if its left finally died?

Benn Is it him or is it us? Netanyahu benefits from his position on the political spectrum, between Barak and Avigdor Lieberman, and uses his foreign minister as a shield to deflect the world's potshots.

Jerusalem Post The Jordanian option is back By MICHAEL BAR-ZOHAR A two-state plan works only if Jordan, Egypt help create a Palestinian nation that won't be suffocated.

Opportunity is knocking [ CAROLINE GLICK,

Obama, Netanyahu and US Jews

[ ISI LEIBLER,

Washington Times U.S. Intelligence Community Ignores Iranian Threat – Editorial

Iran: An Unlikely Political Alliance Taking Shape
BY KAMAL NAZER YASIN
With one month to go before Iran’s June 12 presidential election, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection chances seem high. But his candidacy is proving so polarizing that the election campaign could bring about lasting changes to Iran’s political landscape.

Daily Star Obama has earned to goodwill of Arabs, but what will he do with it?

Sanctions renewed, but Syria understands The renewal of United States sanctions on Syria comes as no surprise to Damascus, which realizes that undoing former president George W Bush's handiwork is no easy feat. Syria is instead setting its sights on the Middle East peace process, though it stresses the return of the Golan Heights by Israel remains non-negotiable. - Sami Moubayed

A new fight over the Iran 'threat' United States President Barack Obama has made good on his promise to pay more attention to the troubles in Afghanistan, and now increasingly in Pakistan. Powerful pro-Israel factions inside and outside the US government are fighting hard to redirect attention to where they believe it belongs - on Iran and its nuclear program. - Jim Lobe and Daniel Luban

New York Times A General Steps From the Shadows Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, set to become the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is said to move easily between the political and military realm.

Violence Rises in Iraq’s Tense North

Pakistan Says 1.3 Million Flee Fight With Taliban

Christians in Mideast Losing Numbers and Influence The pope this week is addressing a dwindling Christian population driven away by political violence, lack of economic opportunity and the rise of radical Islam

Tehran Preparing for Attack on Its Nuclear Sites

Displaced Iraqis Stay Away as Violence Persists

Facebook sets tone in Iran’s electoral contest Leading rival candidates resort to the internet and wireless technology to spread their messages as they struggle to compete against Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who enjoys the support of a powerful state apparatus

Medvedev makes his mark

Jason Corcoran: A year after his arrival, measures from the Russian president suggest a power shift in the Kremlin, and an era of glasnost-lite

Armenian President Criticized Over Turkish Rapprochement

· Medvedev Pretends to Lead

BY: Vladimir Ryzhkov | The Moscow Times One year after President Dmitry Medvedev took office, it is clear that his ""tandemocracy"" with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not work. Furthermore, their modernization efforts have accomplished little if anything at all.

Time Hizballah's Bust of Israeli 'Spies' Shows Its Growing Power in Lebanon

Pakistani Military Says 1.3 Million Fled Fighting in NW

Pakistan sends helicopter-borne commandos into Swat

Pakistani commandos dropped by helicopter into the Taliban's mountain base in Swat on Tuesday, in what appeared to be a stepped-up offensive against the extremists who seized the area in defiance of a peace agreement, the army announced.

The Times The test of how much tougher on Israel Obama will be than George W. Bush begins next week

The Iraq invasion lesson: don't do it again Adviser to General David Petraeus predicts al-Qaeda will wither and die if Barack Obama avoids unnecessary conflicts

Wall Street Journal · A General for Afghanistan Gen. McChrystal brings the new American way of war to an old theater.

· The Nuclear Realists

A bipartisan commission says we still need a credible deterrent.

Mideast Court Battles

By Josh Goodman 'Lawfare' against Israel complicates the search for peace.

· Pak's Poker Hand

BY: Ralph Peters | New York Post

Faced with catastrophe, Pakistan still has time to play the dead-man's hand it holds. The question is whether its leaders are betting or bluffing.

Roubini Green Shoots or Yellow Weeds?

Foreign Policy The Mubarak TestHow Barack Obama handles an upcoming visit by the Egyptian president will reveal much about his approach to human rights.

What Makes Us Happy? - Joshua Wolf Shenk, The Atlantic Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life?

H2 ABD: PKK'ye destek azalıyor

Davutoğlu: 'Tüm Filistinli Gruplar Muhatap Alınmalı'

Türkiye - IMF Anlaşması Konusunda Tedirginlik

Erdoğan Bakü’de Kaygıları Gidermeye Çalışacak

Turkey seeks a new role with an old ally

Ankara Establishing a "Paper Tiger to Address Terrorism

Jamestown Foundation

Turkish strikes on Iraq killed 10 PKK rebels: agency - Reuters

PKK has Russian army weapons, claims newspaper - Today's Zaman

Top British diplomat offers UK's support to Turkey on a range of ...

Armenian President Criticized Over Turkish Rapprochement

Generals may be losing their clout The National

Turkey needs IMF despite lower deficit -analysts

Syria ready to resume Turkish-mediated talks with Israel: diplomat

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası Dış Basında Türkiye – BBC Türkçe 0700 1800 – VOA Türkçe 0630 1345 2130 DW - (UTC) 0830 1130 1530 Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey TurcoPundit ASAM

Google News Fırat News Agency KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect Dış Basında Irak BBC Monitoring Inter-national

Ankara Establishing a "Paper Tiger to Address Terrorism

Ankara to address Kurdish question

Irak Parlamentosu'nda Su Baskısı Irak parlamentosu, Türkiye, Suriye ve İran’la paylaştıkları su kaynaklarından daha fazla yararlanabilmek için hükümete baskı yapıyor

ABD: PKK'ye destek azalıyor

Violence Rises in Iraq’s Tense North

Envoy says US not uneasy with Iraqi Sadr's visit to Turkey

Kurdish oil export carries a cost for Opec

Davutoğlu backs Hamas involvement in Mideast efforts

Baghdad approves Kurdish exports; considers contracts 'illegal'
Oil & Gas Journal

Reach on Kurds just beyond grasp

Turkey opts for soft power against PKK

Kurdish forces met with protests in Ninawa

Iran concerned over PKK, PJAK activity

PKK blocks Kurdish conference

KNOC To Begin Drilling Oil Blocks In Kurdistan In 4Q

Turkey says open to restoring Kurdish names of villages

Iraqi Oil Minister calls Kurds' oil deals "illegal"

Kurdistan plans Taq Taq oil exports

Violence Rises in Iraq's Tense North

Cevdet Aşkın

KURDISH WAR: Separatists Want To Talk

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri Günlük Haftalık

Top British diplomat offers UK's support to Turkey on a range of ...

Karabakh remains powderkeg 15 years after ceasefire

Ankara's Closer Ties With Muslim Countries 'EU Compatible' EU accession remains Turkey's main priority after a cabinet reshuffle, with the country's new policy of forging stronger ties with Muslim neighbours seen as EU compatible despite concerns from the secularist oppposition

Hedo Okur Tuncay Nihat Altintop

As Turkey's Liquid Assets Run Dry, Something Afoul With Its Plan ...

TransAtlantic Petroleum updates Turkey reserves (Scandinavian Oil ...

Blog of the month: Istanbul Eats

PICTURE: Turkey retires first squadron of F-4 Phantoms

Turkey cleanseDetroit Metro Times - ‎What impression do Americans have of Turkey, besides kebabs, magic carpets, and the PKK? How many of us could correctly identify that country on a map? ...

Industry Report: Turkey Food and Drink Report Q2 2009

H3

Son Dakika Milliyet Hürriyet Zaman GH Türkiye

Birinci Sayfalar Akşam Birgün Bugün Cumhuriyet Dünya Hürriyet Milli Gazete Milliyet Posta Radikal Referans Sabah Star Taraf Tercüman Türkiye Vakit Vatan Yeni Şafak Zaman Arşiv

Video NTV CNNTürk Milliyet

Cengiz Çandar

Ahmet Taşgetiren

Ruşen - Çakır

Taha Akyol

Fikret Bila

Hasan Cemal

Murat Yetkin

İsmet Berkan

Fehmi Koru

Taha Kıvanç

Şamil Tayyar

Ali Bayramoğlu

Soli Özel

Yasemin Çongar

Ertuğrul Özkök

Hasan Ünal

Ahmet Hakan

M Ali Birand

Cüneyt Ülsever

Enis Berberoğlu

Oktay Ekşi

Özdemir İnce

Mehmet Y Yılmaz

ERDAL ŞAFAK

ENGİN ARDIÇ

EMRE AKÖZ

Umur Talu

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

NAZLI ILICAK

MEHMET BARLAS

MAHMUT ÖVÜR

YAVUZ DONAT

Ekonomi

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Ercan Kumcu

Erdal Sağlam

H4 New York Times A General Steps From the Shadows Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, set to become the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is said to move easily between the political and military realm.

Violence Rises in Iraq’s Tense North

Pakistan Says 1.3 Million Flee Fight With Taliban

Christians in Mideast Losing Numbers and Influence The pope this week is addressing a dwindling Christian population driven away by political violence, lack of economic opportunity and the rise of radical Islam

Pope’s Wartime Past Becomes an Issue

9 Killed in Coordinated Attacks in Afghanistan

U.S. Joins Rights Panel After a Vote at the U.N.

Switch Signals New Path for Afghan War

Third Afghan Girls’ School Experiences Sudden Illness

Recession Drains Social Security and Medicare The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund may be depleted by 2017 and Social Security reserves gone by 2037, a new report from trustees says.

Congress’s Torture Bubble Briefing only four members of Congress about “enhanced interrogation techniques” hardly qualifies as oversight of the program.

Reminders on Health Reform The only way to solve the fiscal problems of the big entitlement programs is to slow the relentless rise in the underlying health care costs.

Return of the Trustbusters After eight years of taking the side of Big Business, the Justice Department’s antitrust division is getting back to fighting for the interests of consumers.

MAUREEN DOWD Rogue Diva of Doom Just as the Republicans are trying to get kinder and gentler, Dick Cheney has popped out of his dungeon to carry on his nasty campaign of fear and loathing.

H5 Washington Post For Petraeus, a Tougher Fight in Afghanistan

By David Ignatius, Bush's man is now being asked to bring tactics from Iraq to a much tougher fight

McChrystal Faces Raft of Issues as New Commander in Afghanistan Gen. McChrystal Faces Raft Of Issues in Afghanistan

Pakistani Commandos Target Taliban Bases

Report Warns of Insolvency for Social Security, Medicare Report Also Warns Of Medicare Collapse

Freed American Journalist Had Copied Iranian Report on U.S.-Led War in Iraq

At Hill Hearing, Details Sought On Afghanistan-Pakistan Policy

In the Loop: Cheney and Tenet, Like Strangers on a Train

Israelis Criticize Pope For Holocaust Remarks

Editorial

White House Indicates 'Great Concern' About Releasing Photos of Detainee Abuse

Man Convicted of Building Militant Camp in U.S.

Obama Aides Debate Role Of Proposed Cyber Czar

The GOP's Driving Desire for Defeat

By Michael Gerson, The Republican Party seems united in a race toward irrelevance.

Why More Women Are Needed on the Supreme Court By Ruth Marcus

There are good reasons for Obama to get two more X chromosomes on the bench.

The Right Person for the High Court

By Jeff Sessions, Page A19

Will it be a fair-minded umpire or a robed politician, the Alabama senator asks.

Barack Obama, Wanda Sykes and the Politics of Humorlessness

By Kathleen Parker, Yes, Sykes went over the top on Rush Limbaugh. So what?

H6 Guardian · Progress is doomed if Obama is merely a cleverer version of Bush

Jonathan Freedland: At next week's US-Israel summit, a change in mood music will not be enough. A radical shift in strategy is needed

Echoes of Vietnam in Afghanistan Robert Fox: General McKiernan has been sacked and 'experts' are being sent in – but few seem to understand the facts on the ground

The curious sacking of Gen McKiernan Simon Tisdall: Obama's top US general in Afghanistan has been shown the door, but top brass at the Pentagon haven't really explained why

Will Obama keep Israel to its promises? Benjamin Pogrund: Israel has ignored its own promises to halt settler expansion on the West Bank. Can Obama enforce them?

The flipside of Europe's 'common identity' David Cronin: The EU's priority is the smooth functioning of markets – and workers are paying the price

· Armageddon averted

Larry Elliott: The economy, we're told, is bouncing back. Here is a checklist to help test if the recovery is for real

· Iran plans to air US-style TV election debate

Interior ministry's election committee accepts proposal from IRIB to stage Iranian presidential candidates' debates before election

Medvedev makes his mark

Jason Corcoran: A year after his arrival, measures from the Russian president suggest a power shift in the Kremlin, and an era of glasnost-lite

· Obama's key climate bill hit by $45m PR campaign

Oil, gas and coal industries lobby against Democratic leadership on 'cap and trade' legislation

· Dozen wavering Democrats hold key to fate of crucial climate change bill
Democrats hold key to fate of climate change bill that could make or break global carbon deal

· Commando attack on Taliban stronghold leaves 800,000 homeless

Pakistani troops landed in Swat's Piochar valley by helicopter, home to militants' key base

General Motors shares plummet

Ailing US carmaker sees shares collapse after top executives at firm dump personal stock holdings

Funding war through the backdoor Sean Duggan and Laura Conley: Congress shouldn't be allowed to pad the US military's budget with weapons unrelated to Iraq and Afghanistan

Ditching Gordon Brown won't help

Anne Perkins: Polly Toynbee's call to sack Gordon Brown is not the answer. Labour must now go home and prepare for opposition

H7 Washington Times U.S. Intelligence Community Ignores Iranian Threat – Editorial

Iran: An Unlikely Political Alliance Taking Shape
BY KAMAL NAZER YASIN
With one month to go before Iran’s June 12 presidential election, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection chances seem high. But his candidacy is proving so polarizing that the election campaign could bring about lasting changes to Iran’s political landscape.

Daily Star Obama has earned to goodwill of Arabs, but what will he do with it?

Sanctions renewed, but Syria understands The renewal of United States sanctions on Syria comes as no surprise to Damascus, which realizes that undoing former president George W Bush's handiwork is no easy feat. Syria is instead setting its sights on the Middle East peace process, though it stresses the return of the Golan Heights by Israel remains non-negotiable. - Sami Moubayed

A new fight over the Iran 'threat' United States President Barack Obama has made good on his promise to pay more attention to the troubles in Afghanistan, and now increasingly in Pakistan. Powerful pro-Israel factions inside and outside the US government are fighting hard to redirect attention to where they believe it belongs - on Iran and its nuclear program. - Jim Lobe and Daniel Luban

Analysis: Egypt to get boost from Obama's Cairo address

Michael J. Totten: The Future of Iraq, Part I

All eyes on Iran, the hesitant and imperfect democracy Emile Hokayem, political editor: Iranian presidential elections are peculiar things. Their democratic feel, tough campaigning and unpredictable outcomes are oddities in a region where such contests are rare.

Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Paul Bremer (Part One) Asharq Alawsat ...

As Promised, Obama Has Been Tested - Richard Benedetto, Politico

It's Time to End the Cold War - James Bissett, Globe and Mail

Will the U.S. Reciprocate for Saberi? - Massimo Calabresi, Timei

The Saudi Bitch Slap - Asra Nomani, The Daily Beast

Defeating Piracy - Stephen Solarz & Michael O'Hanlon, Washington Times

The Fat Tail Ian Bremmer president, Eurasia Group explains how politics matters at least as much as the economic fundamentals when it comes to global markets.

Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Paul Bremer (Part One)

What Roxana's Release Tells Us About Iran BY MICHAEL SINGH,

Steve Walt Why Is America Still Spending Gazillions on Defense?

The threats Bob Gates is missing BY DOV ZAKHEIM

Country Analysis Brief: Algeria
Source: Energy Information Administration

Obama is Not a Frenchman in Syria : Tariq Alhomayed

No Amendment to the Arab Peace Initiative : Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Obama Speech and Mubarak Visit Signal Improvement in US-Egypt Relations

H8 Iraq Updates IraqSlogger Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq

Tehran Preparing for Attack on Its Nuclear Sites

Displaced Iraqis Stay Away as Violence Persists

Facebook sets tone in Iran’s electoral contest Leading rival candidates resort to the internet and wireless technology to spread their messages as they struggle to compete against Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who enjoys the support of a powerful state apparatus

Concrete divisions Iraqi views on living with the capital's concrete barriers

Iran denies receiving letter from US
Tehran Times

Journalist’s Release Shows Divide Among Iran’s Leaders

Iran plans to air US-style TV election debate

Iraqi President Denies Asking Bremer to Disband Iraqi Army Asharq Alawsat

US Urges Syria to Cut Flow of Foreign Fighters to Iraq Voice of America

Muslim Brotherhood: Obama's Egypt Trip "Useless"

Jordan's Abdullah woos Assad in peace push

'Baghdad committed to US withdrawal timetable' Maliki continues ...

Iraqi lawmakers hope for surprise visit by Pope Benedict

Iraq parliament demands more water from neighbors

Christians in Mideast Losing Numbers and Influence

Egyptian court 'bans porn sites'

An Egyptian court bans pornographic websites, labelling them "venomous and vile", the state news agency reports.

Why Was Roxana Saberi Freed From A Tehran Prison?

The release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi from Tehran's Evin prison and the reduction of her lengthy prison sentence has led to widespread relief. Yet many questions remain about how Saberi's initial detention on a minor charge evolved into her conviction on espionage and an eight-year prison sentence, before she was eventually freed. RFE /RL examines the circuitous route Saberi's case took and the role international politics may have played.

Jailed US Journalist Roxana Saberi 'Had Secret Document on War in Iraq'

H9 Ha’aretz – Bradley Burston: How would Israel look if its left finally died?

Benn Is it him or is it us? Netanyahu benefits from his position on the political spectrum, between Barak and Avigdor Lieberman, and uses his foreign minister as a shield to deflect the world's potshots.

Mubarak to Israel: Progress in peace process before Arab recognition

UN: Israel gives Lebanon cluster bomb data from 2006 war

A missed opportunity The pope's visit shows that there is no real dialogue between Israel and the Vatican, and that it is difficult to erase centuries-old wounds.

Jerusalem Post The Jordanian option is back By MICHAEL BAR-ZOHAR A two-state plan works only if Jordan, Egypt help create a Palestinian nation that won't be suffocated.

Opportunity is knocking

[ CAROLINE GLICK,

Obama, Netanyahu and US Jews

[ ISI LEIBLER,

Vatican 'surprised' by criticism of pope

Spokesman says negative reaction in Israel to Benedict's comments at Yad Vashem is uncalled for.

No linkage between Iran, Palestinians

Dershowitz: Nuclear blackmail does not encourage Israel to make peace.

Abdullah's vital role The king must lobby the Arab League for vital improvements to its plan.

IDF fencing off part of Egyptian border

Anti-terrorist barrier is being constructed along a 40-km. stretch between Gaza and Nitzana.

Lieberman in London to meet Miliband

UK anti-Israeli groups threaten to protest first high-level meeting between FM, foreign gov't official.

Analysis: Benedict missed a critical opportunity for reconciliation

By EFRAIM ZUROFF

Two critical elements were totally missing from the pope's remarks.

Yedioth Ahronoth How Jewish are you?

Ynetnews blog: Jews should look out for each other with or without keeping kosher, Shabbat

The speech that fell short/ Daum Expression of regret missing in pope’s speech not merely question of semantics

Peres’ historic statements Given his track record, Peres should not be pushing Bibi into making ‘historic moves’

Daily Alert.org – Hebrew Press Editorials (2008) - Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

The Myth of a "Secular Democratic Palestine" - Benny Morris (National Post-Canada)

Date set for NSC's Rudman to join Mitchell team | The Cable

Increased U.S. Military Aid Includes Less for Arrow 2 - Ran Dagoni The fiscal 2010 budget bill that the Obama administration sent to Congress last week includes $2.78 billion in defense aid for Israel, up from $2.55 billion in the 2009 budget, an increase based on the formula in the ten-year U.S. military aid deal. The U.S. proposes boosting aid for the next-generation Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system from $30 million in 2009 to $37.5 million in 2010. However, the administration has more than halved aid for the Arrow 2 from $74.3 million in 2009 to $36.3 million in 2010. (Globes)

Hizbollah confirms broad aid for Hamas

Hizbollah has been providing the Palestinians in Gaza with ‘every type of support’ possible for some time, the deputy leader of the powerful Lebanese Shia movement admitted in an FT interview

There Is No Reason to Discuss Israel's Nuclear Weapons - Interview with Jeffrey Herf

Meeting The Mossad CBS News

Has Obama-Israel Policy on Iran Ruptured? - David Horovitz, Cutting Edge

Islamic Radicals Blame Jews for Swine Flu (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)

Pope Calls for a Palestinian Homeland

Dayton on his Palestinian army's prospects

· A Recognition Israel Doesn’t Need

BY: Yonatan Touval | International Herald Tribune Here is a statement you will not hear today from Jerusalem: “I wish to declare that the government of Israel will not ask any nation, be it near or far, mighty or small, to recognize our right to exist.”

Contest to Win Obama’s Ear

BY: Matt Bradley | The National

Pontiff to hold mass in Bethlehem

Pope Benedict XVI is to visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, as he continues a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

· How Obama's America Might Threaten Israel BY: Norman Podhoretz | The Wall Street Journal

Is there a threat to Israel from the United States under Barack Obama? The question itself seems perverse. For in spite of the hostility to Israel in certain American quarters, this country has more often than not been the beleaguered Jewish state's only friend in the face of threats coming from others.

Time to consider building Palestine from the bottom up By Shlomo Avineri

One-sided concessions won't bring peace By Rami G. Khouri

A Palestinian remembers the lessons of the Holocaust
By Aziz Abu Sarah

What is anti-Semitism?

By Nicholas Goldberg

A UCSB professor's controversial e-mail underscores the need to define a sensitive subject

Vatican stumbles in defense of Pope Benedict A spokesman, stung by criticism of the pope during his Holy Land trip, inaccurately says Benedict never belonged to the Hitler Youth. Benedict presses ahead with his visit, calling for peace

Netanyahu, Mubarak, Abbas see Obama in Washington this month

The Catholic Church and Judaism: a way forward

By Marvin Hier The Vatican today is not the same institution that once fostered anti-Semitism.

Will Netanyahu fall out with America? On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu will have his first formal meeting with Barack Obama in the White House. All the signs are that relations between Israel and its superpower ally are not as harmonious as usual, says David Blair.

Analysis: Unfulfilled Vow to Vatican Vexes Israel Ties

H10 Christian Science Monitor

Russia plays up its international role – especially in Mideast peace It chaired a special meeting Monday of the Security Council that endorsed the idea of holding a Middle East peace conference in Moscow this year.

Pakistan steps up efforts against Taliban – but at what cost? Some 501,000 Pakistanis have fled the fighting in Swat and nearby areas as the Army dropped commandos in by helicopter.

Somali government encircled by hardline Islamists After five days of assault by better-armed Al Shabab militiamen, pro-government fighters have apparently begun to retreat.

Why Americans are devout and diverse but not divided They are increasingly tolerant of other religions and persuasions.

Poll: Pakistanis worried about Taliban, economy The survey found only 10 percent of the population is worried about terrorism, but 69 percent said the Taliban and Al Qaeda were a problem.

Pope's lack of specifics on Gaza, Holocaust disappoint Muslims and Jews

Gates ousts US commander in Afghanistan, saying 'we must do better'

US rejoins UN’s human rights forum Bush had shunned it as an ineffective dictators' club. Obama's team pledges to work from within to 'improve' it.

Diplomatic memos reveal Chinese effort to block Guantánamo prisoner's asylum bid The US has cleared the Uighur prisoners at Gitmo of wrongdoing, but China calls them 'terrorists.' Seventeen Uighurs are seeking political asylum in Sweden, Canada, the US, and Germany.

ASIA

Pakistani Military Says 1.3 Million Fled Fighting in NW

Graham E. Fuller: OBAMA'S POLICIES MAKING SITUATION WORSE IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN

· Pakistan's Existential Question

BY: Bret Stephens | The Wall Street Journal About Iran, Henry Kissinger once asked whether the Islamic Republic was a country or a cause. About Pakistan, the question is whether it's a country or merely a space.

Stratfor Pakistan: Nuclear Security and the U.S. Strategy for Southwest Asia Public discourse over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is part of an issue much wider than asset security or the Taliban threat to Islamabad.

China: Beijing Strengthens its Claims in the South China Sea China's aggressive moves to reassert its claims over the South China Sea will increase tensions with Beijing's neighbors and the United States. (With STRATFOR map)

Michael Grunwald / Time:
Why the Pentagon Axed Its Afghanistan Warlord

It's time for the varsity squad in Afghanistan

India's Great Election Road Show - Jyoti Malhotra, FEER

Measuring the Jihadist Threat - Michael Jacobson, Washington Institute

Mistakes Are No Option in Afghanistan - Bruce Riedel, Daily Star

Pakistan's Passing Grade - Anatol Lieven, National Interest

WSJ Megacities Threaten to Choke India

India's teeming new megacities are swelling rapidly even as jobs dry up and funding for infrastructure disappears

FT Sickness of the savers China: Hopes that consumers in the world’s most populous nation will help revive global demand are being pinned on improvements in health cover that could give them less need to put money by

· Muslim Leaders Unite Against the Taliban BY: Raza Khan | The Washington Times Mainstream Muslim religious leaders in Pakistan have formed an alliance to openly oppose the Taliban, a development that promises to give authorities broad-based support to fight militants who have imposed a reign of terror on much of the northwest.

Kerry-led panel holds hearing on new Pakistan plan

· China Blocks U.S. From Cyber Warfare BY: Bill Gertz | The Washington Times China has developed more secure operating software for its tens of millions of computers and is already installing it on government and military systems, hoping to make Beijing's networks impenetrable to U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

Young Pakistan Army Officers May Be Turning to Taliban, Insiders Say

· Obama's New 'AfPak' Strategy: The View from Pakistan

BY: Mustafa Qadri | Common Ground News People with a hammer only see nails. This well-worn maxim aptly describes the United States' relationship with Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past several decades.

Afghanistan defies the US battle plan Prior to the Vietnam War, counter-insurgency thinking was considered a new and even adventurous way of defeating wars of national liberation. Later, it became synonymous with Western ideas of development - turning a backward traditional society into a vigorous modern nation. Afghans see the concept in a different light: a foreign power is occupying their land, just like the Russians, British, Persians and Mughals before them. - Brian M Downing

New strategy, new commander

The new US commander in Afghanistan must pay more heed to the concerns of the civilian population. (Boston Globe)

Ft Swat outlook 'pretty bleak' for Pakistan

US lawmakers in threat to raise tariffs on Beijing

Afghan Commission: US Hit Killed 140 Civilians

Pakistan Officials: US Missile Strike Kills 9

From Phnom Penh to Islamabad by William Pfaff

Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak
by Pepe Escobar and Tom Engelhardt

Pakistan's Swat Offensive Risks Wider Backlash

Holbrooke: Delay in Pakistan Aid to Benefit US Enemies

· Pak's Poker Hand

BY: Ralph Peters | New York Post

Faced with catastrophe, Pakistan still has time to play the dead-man's hand it holds. The question is whether its leaders are betting or bluffing.

· Al Qaeda No. 2 Hiding in Quetta BY: Jasmeen Manzoor | The Washington Times

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, the most wanted terrorist after Osama bin Laden, with a $25 million bounty on his head, is holed up near Quetta, Pakistan, according to a highly placed Pakistani intelligence source.

47 dead in Sri Lanka hospital shelling

Army denies using heavy weapons in north-east of country but UN describes incident as war crime

India's battle of words

Sriram Karri: In the Indian election, insults, acrimony and hate speech are taking the place of a debate on the country's problems

India election starts final phase

India's marathon general election is drawing to a close, as 107m voters in nine states and territories cast ballots.

Poverty and global civil society

Ashwani Kumar, Jan Aart Scholte, Mary Kaldor, Marlies Glasius, Hakan Seckinelgin, Helmut Anheier

The realities of Indian poverty are where arguments about global civil society are being tested

Congress keeps all options open
As India anxiously awaits this week's election results, Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion and Congress Party general secretary Rahul Gandhi has sparked a firestorm by making presumptuous requests to potential allies - and even foes - looking to form a government. But for now, he has been given the cold shoulder. - Neeta Lal

Coming unstuck

What does a new US general mean for Afghanistan?

May 12 SD# 2353 - Criticism in the Arab Press of U.S. Administration's Initiative to Reach Out to 'Moderates in the Taliban'

The FT reports that China's exports, a critical indicator of demand, fell 22.6 percent in the year through April, significantly worse than the 17.1 percent year-on-year drop they posted through March. Many analysts had interpreted the March numbers as a sign that economic tensions were easing, the article says, but that may prove a chimera. Dow Jones reports Chinese imports also fell by 23 percent.

At the same time, however, Bloomberg reports that Chinese investment in infrastructure development surged 30.5 percent, more than economists had forecast, countering some of the worries about the deepening export slump.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal questions whether Chinese consumers stand ready to replace their American counterparts as a major driver of the world economy. The article quotes CFR's Brad Setser, who says Chinese stimulus spending doesn't seem to have translated to increased product demand, as yet. Setser notes that U.S. exports to China remain near a three-year low.

Commander Brings Promise Of 'New Thinking' The United States has announced the replacement of its top general in Afghanistan, a few weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy aimed at ending the nearly eight-year conflict

UN Envoy: New US Commander Must Enforce Afghan Attack Rules

In China, 'truthiness' trumps truth Twenty years after Tiananmen, I found that even many of my Chinese journalism students didn't even know a pro-democracy movement existed.

H11 IHT · Bye Bye, Eurasian Pipelines? BY: Ariel Cohen | International Herald Tribune

The West is ceding Caspian energy to Russia and China. It should not.

EUROPE European press review

A new NATO for a new world

Despite its successes and the addition of 12 new members since 1999, NATO has failed to clearly define what it is doing to address emerging threats. (By Jeanne Shaheen, Boston Globe)

Fact Sheets on the European Union 2009 Source: EU Bookshop Full Document (PDF; 9.2 MB)

Serb Integration in Kosovo: Taking the Plunge,* the latest International Crisis Group report

· EU Tries to Boost Ex-Soviet States

BY: Bruce I. Konviser | Global Post

Frustrated with the slow pace of political and economic reforms in several former Soviet republics, the European Union has launched a program intended to help these struggling countries develop democratic principles and market economies.

The flipside of Europe's 'common identity'

David Cronin: The EU's priority is the smooth functioning of markets – and workers are paying the price

Sovereignty battle Suspicion of an EU power grab is rife in England

Media Role Is Focus
Of U.K. Expense Row

While many U.K. politicians are embarrassed by the revelation of expenses they charged to taxpayers, authorities are focusing on how the news got out.

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

Medvedev makes his mark

Jason Corcoran: A year after his arrival, measures from the Russian president suggest a power shift in the Kremlin, and an era of glasnost-lite

Armenian President Criticized Over Turkish Rapprochement

· Medvedev Pretends to Lead

BY: Vladimir Ryzhkov | The Moscow Times One year after President Dmitry Medvedev took office, it is clear that his ""tandemocracy"" with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not work. Furthermore, their modernization efforts have accomplished little if anything at all.

Central Asia: Washington Boosts Aid to Region to Bolster Afghan War Effort
BY JOSHUA KUCERA
The United States is proposing significant increases to its aid packages for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the hopes that stabilizing those countries will enhance US efforts to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. More broadly, however, regional experts say the aid amounts that Washington is extending to the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia in 2009 are insufficient to secure desired US diplomatic objectives in those regions.

A Georgian chalk circle

Tedo Japaridze Tbilisi's endemic political impasse provokes an appeal to the west from Georgia's former foreign minister

U.S., Russia "Reset" the Convergence Agenda

· Putin Hopes for Nuclear Deal in Japan BY: Anatoly Medetsky | The Moscow Times Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hopes to sign a long-delayed deal to supply additional nuclear fuel to Japan and to cooperate on making related equipment and building reactors during talks in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Putin Maintains Leadership Grip - Vladimir Ryzhkov, Moscow Times

The Recession in Ukraine

A downgrade from Moody's credit rating agency reflects Ukraine's dire economic situation -- a situation exacerbated by pre-election political tensions.

Radical Georgian Opposition Considers Shift in Tactics

H13 The Times The test of how much tougher on Israel Obama will be than George W. Bush begins next week

The Iraq invasion lesson: don't do it again Adviser to General David Petraeus predicts al-Qaeda will wither and die if Barack Obama avoids unnecessary conflicts

Barack Obama: the first Vulcan in the Oval Office? Debate rages over whether the President is a nerd, a geek or a dweeb

Chris Ayres

Pakistan drops commandos in Taleban strongholds Offensive marks first time such forces have taken part in fighting since the military offensive began more than a week ago

Obama’s Middle East plan lauded by Miliband Foreign Secretary says peace between Palestinians and Israelis is now more likely than at any time since Camp David

Pope denies Hitler Youth past as trip tainted Vatican issues surprise denial about Pope Benedict XVI’s past as his speech at a Holocaust memorial provokes criticism

KGB's ‘Agent Scott’ revealed as Arthur Wynn Identity of Briton who recruited Oxford Ring of spies and informants is found in Russian counter-intelligence documents

Britain must look to its risk-takers

The ‘age of austerity' is a stupid idea. To regain economic power we need to trust the innovators Rob Killick

Slaughter in Sri Lanka

The world must force Colombo to halt the shelling of trapped civilians

Wall Street Journal · A General for Afghanistan Gen. McChrystal brings the new American way of war to an old theater.

· The Nuclear Realists

A bipartisan commission says we still need a credible deterrent.

Mideast Court Battles

By Josh Goodman 'Lawfare' against Israel complicates the search for peace.

Martin Feldstein: Tax Increases Could Kill the Recovery

· Putin's Ninth Year in Power

By Gary Kasparov Russia's new president hasn't changed the nature of the regime.

The Tilting Yard: Republicans vs. Bureaucrats By Thomas Frank
You can't starve government and blame it too.

· An Environmentalist's Thesaurus By Joe Queenan
'Global warming' is so passé.

Pope Visits Holy Sites of Islam, Judaism Pope Benedict visited Islam's third-holiest shrine and Judaism's sacred Western Wall. But controversy dogged the pontiff, and a Vatican spokesman denied that the pope had ever been a member of the Hitler Youth Corps

Pakistan Raids Taliban Stronghold Pakistan commandos flew in to hunt Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley, a strategy shift

MONETARISM ENTERS BANKRUPTCY Credulity caught in stress test
Regulators are beginning to grasp that "too-big-to-fail" in the debt-driven financial democracy that is the US now encompasses individual mortgage or credit-card holders. The government has already got the picture, evident in its negotiation of the "must pass" stress test for banks. - Henry C K Liu This report is the third in a series

Part 1: Monetarism enters bankruptcy

Part 2: The burden of elitism

Securing Jobs or the New Protectionism? Taxing the Overseas Activities of Multinational Firms
Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

Breathing easier after bank stress tests? You shouldn't

Largely unnoticed in last week's government report on the condition of the nation's biggest banks was the disclosure that five of them, topped by Bank of America, could lose $99 billion from the kinds of exotic bets that sank the global economy. There's more. The banks' quarterly financial reports show that 17 of the 19 largest banks could lose as much as $568 billion on derivatives if the economy worsens

H14 Financial Times Why Obama’s conservatism may not prove good enough The more the crisis unfolds, the more evident it is that incentives in the financial system were (and are) badly distorted, says Martin Wolf. At the end, will the number of institutions thought “too big to fail” be as large as now and, if so, how will they be controlled?

America’s triple A rating is at risk

Washington is asleep, says David Walker

US returns to its trust-busting roots

The Obama administration is right in seeking to return to an older, active interpretation of the antitrust policy that decides what constitutes fair or unfair competition

To beat the Taliban If Pakistan is to defeat the Taliban and other extremists its soldiers and spies need to sunder once and for all their tactical alliances with all jihadi groups

Facebook sets tone in Iran’s electoral contest Leading rival candidates resort to the internet and wireless technology to spread their messages as they struggle to compete against Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who enjoys the support of a powerful state apparatus

Medicare fund to run out of money by 2017 Leaders of both US political parties called for reform of Social Security and Medicare as a report showed that the benefit programmes were on course for bankruptcy sooner than previously expected

Swat outlook 'pretty bleak' for Pakistan

US lawmakers in threat to raise tariffs on Beijing

Global Insight: Pessimists find reasons to be cheerful Just as the recession might have reached its bottom, so might economists’ pessimism. Some are already trying to turn the tide

Hizbollah confirms broad aid for Hamas Hizbollah has been providing the Palestinians in Gaza with ‘every type of support’ possible for some time, the deputy leader of the powerful Lebanese Shia movement admitted in an FT interview Transcript: FT interview with deputy chief of Hizbollah

US set for compromise bill on emissions Democrats in the US House of Representatives are expected to announce a compromise move that would give the go-ahead to a bill to tackle global warming. Success would beat expectations in a political climate increasingly hostile to cap-and-trade

US takes human rights seat at UN

The Obama regime’s path of global re-engagement takes a step forward as the country joins the United Nations Human Rights Council, a body it shunned since its creation three years ago

Oil at $60 for first time in six months

A head start for India’s next prime minister Aravind Adiga outlines four foreseeable crises

Think about the costs of regulation

Exercise caution, warns David Arculus

Sickness of the savers China: Hopes that consumers in the world’s most populous nation will help revive global demand are being pinned on improvements in health cover that could give them less need to put money by

IMF urges stress tests on European banks Europe should follow the US in conducting stress tests on individual banks, said the International Monetary Fund as it warned that economic recovery in the region next year depended on bolder and more forceful policy action

UK ready to sign up for Eurofighter

Gordon Brown is set to sign off on the UK’s latest order of Eurofighter Typhoon jets, but is still examining options on how to contain production costs

France to crack down on internet piracy France is set to introduce the world’s most draconian laws against internet piracy, after parliamentarians voted to give the government powers to cut off offenders’ internet access

Expenses have caught MPs with their pants down John Kay on professional greed

Journalist Saberi ‘happy to be free again’ Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist who was freed on Monday, said she had no immediate plan to leave the country

H15 Los Angeles Times U.S., Pakistan carrying out drone missions together Washington has given Pakistan the freedom to launch Predator airstrikes against militants, but so far the Pakistanis have been reluctant, officials say.

Coordinated suicide bombings strike Afghanistan At least 20 are dead and three U.S. soldiers are wounded in fighting that follows synchronized attacks involving up to a dozen bombers in Khowst, site of an American military base

A new U.S. approach expected in Afghanistan Gen. David D. McKiernan, replaced as commander by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, lacked bold, new plans, officers and officials say. McChrystal is expected to aggressively overhaul the war effort.

Afghan villagers get payments for battle that killed civilians A government commission concluded that 140 civilians died, more than twice the figure cited by the United States

EditorialSaberi's release is one small step in Iran

Tehran frees the American journalist, but the larger case of human rights abuses remains.

What is anti-Semitism?

By Nicholas Goldberg

A UCSB professor's controversial e-mail underscores the need to define a sensitive subject

Vatican stumbles in defense of Pope Benedict A spokesman, stung by criticism of the pope during his Holy Land trip, inaccurately says Benedict never belonged to the Hitler Youth. Benedict presses ahead with his visit, calling for peace

H16 American Politics

Charlie Cook / National Journal Online: Sometimes Silence Is Golden — The GOP Would Be Well-Advised To Take A Page From The Democratic Playbook And Steer Clear Of Politically Divisive Issues

What Republicans Should Do - Pat Buchanan, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Recession puts Medicare on brink

Trustees report that the healthcare program's biggest fund will be broke in just eight years.

Recession Hits Social Security, Medicare

realclearpolitics memeorandum

Daily Beast Cheat Sheet

Politico ABC’s The Note – MSNBC FirstRead – Time ThePage Politico Playbook

PoliticsHome fivethirtyeight US News Political Bulletin

Megan McArdle:
The Risk of Debt — So why should we worry about the ability of the government to borrow?

The party of Colin Powell

There are times when party loyalty asks too much, JFK once said, but for Colin Powell there rarely seems to be a time when it doesn't. (By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist)

GALLUP: Obama Approval Picks Up in May...

H17 Daily Telegraph Will Netanyahu fall out with America? On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu will have his first formal meeting with Barack Obama in the White House. All the signs are that relations between Israel and its superpower ally are not as harmonious as usual, says David Blair.

US elected to UN human rights council United States joined United Nations Human Rights Council for the first time, after Obama reversed another Bush-era policy

H18 Independent Leading article: A grand bargain for the Middle East is achievable

Girls targeted in 'Taliban gas attack'

Militants blamed after 90 pupils poisoned in third attack on girls' school in three weeks

Kim Sengupta: Protect women: a new mission for America

Leading article: A fresh face in Afghanistan

H19 Military Intelligence Terrorism

China Blocks US from Cyber Warfare - Bill Gertz, Washington Times. China has developed more secure operating software for its tens of millions of computers and is already installing it on government and military systems, hoping to make Beijing's networks impenetrable to US military and intelligence agencies.

A new NATO for a new world

Despite its successes and the addition of 12 new members since 1999, NATO has failed to clearly define what it is doing to address emerging threats. (By Jeanne Shaheen, Boston Globe)

KGB's ‘Agent Scott’ revealed as Arthur Wynn Identity of Briton who recruited Oxford Ring of spies and informants is found in Russian counter-intelligence documents

Funding war through the backdoor Sean Duggan and Laura Conley: Congress shouldn't be allowed to pad the US military's budget with weapons unrelated to Iraq and Afghanistan

Technology, Coercive Diplomacy, and the Lure of Limited War by Dr. Douglas Peifer, Small Wars JournalRiskless War (Full PDF Article)

McKiernan, McChrystal, SOF & SF vs. GPF, SOF vs. SF, AF, IW, COIN...

· Educating the Military

BY: Kent Park | The Boston Globe

For the cost of one F-22 fighter jet, the military could send an additional 5,769 officers to Harvard. It's something to think about.

· Al Qaeda No. 2 Hiding in Quetta

BY: Jasmeen Manzoor | The Washington Times Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, the most wanted terrorist after Osama bin Laden, with a $25 million bounty on his head, is holed up near Quetta, Pakistan, according to a highly placed Pakistani intelligence source.

Jesse Ventura: You Give Me a Water Board, Dick Cheney and One Hour, and I'll Have Him Confess to the Sharon Tate Murders

Obama Breaks With Gates, Cancels Nuke Program — Obama's new budget plan includes a little-noted sea change in U.S. nuclear policy, and a step towards his vision of a denuclearized world. It provides no funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, created to design a new generation …

The Torture Business: CIA Outsourced Development of Interrogation Plan

Success and Scrutiny Mark General's Career - Peter Spiegel and Yochi Dreazen, Wall Street Journal. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he wants a new commander in Afghanistan to fight the kind of complex counterinsurgency warfare that has come to dominate the campaign there

Charles Krauthammer's tortured logic BY TOM RICKS

Obama Threatens to Limit US Intel with Brits - Eli Lake, Washington Times

'Peace dividend' Won't Erase Deficits - David M. Dickson, Washington Times.

H20 Slate

H21

What Makes Us Happy? - Joshua Wolf Shenk, The Atlantic Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition—and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study’s longtime director, George Vaillant.

Google refines search options The search giant has launched new ways for users to narrow their search results to help get what they are looking for

Terry Eagleton on the liberal supremacists: Whether they like it or not, Dawkins, Amis, Hitchens and company have become weapons in the war on terror.

Cannes 2009: Fun in the sun Who's striking the deals? Which movies will wow the jury? And which stars will send the paparazzi into a frenzy? Our team on the Croisette presents everything you need to know about the world's glitziest film festival

A perfect storm for papers

Sinking revenues and the Internet are forcing journalists worldwide to remake their troubled industry. (By Lou Ureneck, Boston Globe)

Women behaving badly Jenna McWilliams: The issue of woman-on-woman workplace bullying is more common – and more complex – than many realise

Newspapers can't charge, can't be free Dan Kennedy: Rupert Murdoch wants to charge for content. Arianna Huffington wants to tear down paywalls. Neither will save newspapers

Is education wasted on the 'not bright?' Open thread: Cleverness is in the genes, and the genes are in social class, reckons Chris Woodhead

Intelligent women enjoy sex more

From NYRB, a review of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder, Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, and Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin

From New York, a cover story on Recession Culture: Economically, socially, even in terms of brain chemistry, the crash is rewriting the city’s rules.

A review of On Farting: Language and Laughter in the Middle Ages by Valerie Allen.

a study uncovered "a popularity premium" that seems to quasi-scientifically confirm what Kurt Vonnegut once observed — "Life is nothing but high school".

'Grey Lady' has a patient suitor

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