Stories to Watch After Christmas: Afghanistan and Somalia

AFGHANISTAN SURGE: THE US MAKES IT FIRST MOVE

From McClatchy News Services:

The U.S. Marines are considering requesting two battalions and a combat aviation unit in Taliban-controlled southern Afghanistan, which would be the largest proposed expansion of U.S. troops in the volatile region, two senior Marine commanders.


If approved, the move would involve roughly 3,000 Marines and support staff, and it would mark the Marines' shift from the once-restive Anbar province in Iraq to places such as Helmand and Farah provinces in southern Afghanistan, which U.S. and NATO officials concede that Taliban forces have overrun.

BUT IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN, IT'S THE TALIBAN IN CONTROL

From The New York Times:

Attacks provide the latest evidence of how extensively militants now rule the critical region east of the Khyber Pass, the narrow cut through the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that has been a strategic trade and military gateway since the time of Alexander the Great.

The area encompasses what is officially known as the Khyber Agency, which is adjacent to Peshawar and is one of a handful of lawless tribal districts on the border. But security in Khyber has deteriorated further in recent months with the emergence of a brash young Taliban commander who calls news conferences to thumb his nose at NATO forces, as well as with public fury over deadly missile attacks by American remotely piloted aircraft.

SOMALIA: THE LOST AMERICAN INTERVENTION

Two years after the US-prompted regime change that forced the Islamic Courts out of power in Mogadishu, this from The Washington Post:

Advisers to Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf said Wednesday that he would yield to mounting internal and international pressure and resign over the weekend, but officials close to him insisted the situation remained dynamic.

Talk of Yusuf's impending resignation came as the prime minister he appointed last week quit, saying he wanted to end the political infighting that has paralyzed Somalia's transitional government as an Islamist militia has advanced across the southern half of the country.

Iraq: Your Daily Shoe Update

I think it's safe to say that the star of the Bush Farewell Tour is Muntazar al-Zaidi --- sitting in a prison cell somewhere in Iraq --- rather than the President.

Both The New York Times and The Washington Post have Page 1 stories: "In Iraqi’s Shoe-Hurling Protest, Arabs Find a Hero" and "Flying Shoes Create a Hero In Arab World".

In Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported that a man had offered $10 million to buy just one of what has almost certainly become the world’s most famous pair of black dress shoes.

A daughter of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, reportedly awarded the shoe thrower, Muntader al-Zaidi, a 29-year-old journalist, a medal of courage.

In the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, people calling for an immediate American withdrawal removed their footwear and placed the shoes and sandals at the end of long poles, waving them high in the air. And in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, people threw their shoes at a passing American convoy.

When he threw the first shoe, Mr Al-Zaidi cried, "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog." It's when the other shoe was thrown, however, that Mr Al-Zaidi delivered his political punchline, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!” McClatchy News Service reported that al-Zaidi was shaken by the destruction he found when covering the military operations in April as Iraqi Government troops, supported by US forces and bombardments, took control of Sadr City in Baghdad.

 It's doubtful that Mr al-Zaidi is aware of his status, as he remains in detention. Associated Press is reporting that he has been handed over to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's security guards. He faces up to seven years in prison for "insulting the nation's leader".

Thousands of Iraqis marched on Monday to demand al-Zaidi's release, a call joined by tribal chiefs around the country and by journalist organisations inside and outside Iraq.

(hat tip to Informed Comment)