JERUSALEM — The people who write books about what has come to be known as “asymmetrical warfare” could fill many chapters by examining Israeli frustration with Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns. One full chapter could be written about what happened this Wednesday, when the Israeli government decided on a new set of measures to try to stop the rocket fire, only to find their decision to name Gaza an “enemy entity” managed to upset just about everyone, from Palestinians to Israelis, along every point on the political spectrum. Almost every day Palestinians have been firing Qassam rockets into Israeli [...]
Last week’s testy public exchange between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush could foreshadow continued security tensions between Washington and Seoul even as the negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program move towards a denouement. Bush and Roh held a one-hour private meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney, Australia. Afterwards, they conducted a joint media appearance. Both leaders delivered formal statements to reporters outlining their assessment of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. In his subsequent comments, Roh remarked that he had not heard Bush explicitly affirm [...]
The Iraqi armed forces are struggling to become self-sufficient in the face of constant insurgent attacks, a dearth of experienced leaders and in a divisive political environment. Several years after the establishment of Baghdad’s new army and air force, U.S. and British forces still take the lead in most combat operations in Iraq. But in two key areas — armored trucks and counterinsurgency aircraft — the Iraqi military is actually more advanced than its American partner, reflecting key differences in the two nations’ overall military strategies. Armored Trucks In April 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense solicited bids from American [...]
