Iran: We’re following the first day of the religious month of Moharram. After a slow start, state media claimed “millions” (live shots show thousands) in the streets of Tehran and across the country. We’re not so sure: see our interim assessment of what appears to be disappointment for the regime.
We have Mehdi Karroubi’s (rather disappointing) interview with BBC flagship current affairs programme Newsnight, broadcast last night.
We’ve got the latest on claims that Twitter was hacked by agents acting for the Iranian regime. Twitter continues to run slowly this morning.
President’s Ahmadejad’s travels abroad continue — he’s now in Copenhagen and his PR machine continues to “big him up” at every opportunity.
The civilian deaths on May 4 did not result from just one tragically mistargeted missile. The airstrikes went on for seven hours, during which time rules were not followed.
Even as the Obama Administration has been pursuing engagement with Iran, Petraeus — both directly and through acolytes — has been loudly talking about Iranian support for insurgent operations against US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dave couldn’t have been clearer: if you want his plan in Afghanistan (which his spin machine is assuring you is the case), then give him more soldiers.
Just got this from a reader. There is no indication of the date of this episode (it was posted on 28 January), and the repeated references to “the Mahdi militia” indicate it may have occurred during the heightened tension over the movement of Moqtada al-Sadr in spring 2008. So the American training of Iraqi security forces has moved on from this episode.
Even so, this video is apparently making the rounds of English-speaking elites in the Gulf as an example of the continuing US engagement with the region.
Last night we closed an update with a note that CNN had just reported on hundreds of pages of documents obtained by Amnesty International USA, New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the Center for Constitutional Rights — which established that the Pentagon sought loopholes in the Geneva Conventions to hide “ghost detainees”. They also confirmed that the Bush Administration delayed the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees to avoid negative publicity.
Morning Update (6:10 a.m. GMT; 1:10 a.m. Washington): Afghan President Hamid Karzai (pictured), trying to counter US Government criticism of his leadership, has offered a conciliatory line on CNN:
U.S. forces will not be able to leave soon in Afghanistan because the task is not over. We have to defeat terrorism. We’ll have to enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet. We’ll have to enable Afghanistan to be able to defend itself and protect for its security.
Then, the United States can leave and, at that time, the Afghan people will give them plenty of flowers and gratitude and send them safely back home.
I’m not sure Scheffer appreciates that European leaders thinking the military-first initiative in Afghanistan, as a dubious if not losing cause, will drain the alliance rather than bolster it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid lip service to the military effort but did not commit to additional deployment, especially in southern and central Afghanistan, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for all his warm talk of security “from Vancouver to Vladivostok”, did not mention Afghanistan at all.
3 p.m. Hope in Somalia? The new President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has arrived in Mogadishu for the first time since his election. He will be holding talks with politicians, tribal elders, and Islamic resistance groups to try to establishing a functioning government.
1:40 p.m. Reason Number 452 why the Obama Plan for Iraq Withdrawal Should be Set Aside: Collapsing Oil Prices.
The latest effort from the US military to rationalise a long-term stay comes from Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, the commander of the training of Iraqi forces. Because of diminished revenues, Helmick says, “They are not going to be able to grow as fast as they want to grow.”
12:15 p.m. Biden’s speech is over. He finally got to the one to watch in next weeks, calling on NATO to support US efforts in Afghanistan.
12:05 p.m. Biden offers two important confirmations: “American will not torture” and “American will act aggressively against climate change”.
There are also signs of an emerging and important relationship: after Nicolas Sarkozy’s call this morning for a new security arrangement “from Vancouver to Vladivostok”, Biden has pointedly praised France’s new cooperative relationship with NATO.
And there’s a jab at Russia: “”We will not recognize any nation having a sphere of influence”. Specifically, US will not join Moscow in recognising the independence of South Ossetia.
Stuart Levey, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, stated that PEJAK is a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is battling Turkey has been struggling. (Ali Yenidunya)
8:20 a.m. And there’s a separate entry on the continuing battle between President Obama and the military over the build-up of US troops in Afghanistan.
8:10 a.m. We’ve just posted a separate entry on a possible State Department initiative, using Twitter, to support engagement with Iran.
Morning Update (7:45 a.m. GMT; 2:45 a.m. Washington): The Kyrgyzstan Government is not backing down on its decision to close the US Manas airbase. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said that “all due procedures” were being pursued for a speedy conclusion.
The Government is claiming that it receives too little payment for the base. In support of its case, and to ensure public support, it is also citing ecological concerns and highlighting the case of a Kyrgyz citizen killed by a US serviceman.
North Korea, offering a contrast to its hard-line rhetoric in recent days about relations with South Korea and its missile programme, has signalled to a former senior US diplomat that it is willing to discuss nuclear disarmament if its requests for aid are met.
Iran: We’re following the first day of the religious month of Moharram. After a slow start, state media claimed “millions” (live shots show thousands) in the streets of Tehran and across the country. We’re not so sure: see our interim assessment of what appears to be disappointment for the regime.
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Morning Update (6:10 a.m. GMT; 1:10 a.m. Washington): Afghan President Hamid Karzai (pictured), trying to counter US Government criticism of his leadership, 
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