February 17th Morning Readbook

Taliban second in command captured




'Muted' Pakistan media response to Taliban arrest
The Pakistani media's response to the arrest of top Afghan Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been surprisingly muted.


Marines battling Afghanistan Taliban call in gunships
US Marines battling the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have had to call in helicopter gunships for support, as a major offensive enters its fifth day.


Iran leader accuses U.S. of "war-mongering"
Iran's supreme leader accused the United States on Wednesday of war-mongering and of turning the Gulf into an "arms depot", hitting back at U.S. accusations that the Islamic state was moving toward a military dictatorship.


Al Qaeda warns of attacks in India
Global terror network Al Qaeda’s Pakistan arm has warned of attacks in India, particularly targeting upcoming international sports events like the Commonwealth Games, the Hockey World Cup and the IPL cricket league.


US troops in Iraq below 100,000 for first time since 2003
The size of the US force in Iraq has dropped below 100,000 troops for the first time since the invasion of the country in 2003, a military spokesman said Wednesday.


General Says 2 Iraq Politicians Have Ties to Iran
General Odierno was unusually blunt in publicly expressing concerns about the actions of the two Iraqis: Ahmed Chalabi, who was a confidant of Bush administration officials in the prelude to the 2003 invasion but now is perceived as having supplied false intelligence to the United States; and Ali Faisal al-Lami, suspected of involvement in murderous activities of Shiite militants, including a bombing in Baghdad, accusations that he denies.


Iran Has Designs on Iraq
Vice President Joe Biden recently told Larry King that Iraq "could be one of the great achievements of this administration." Mr. Biden's transparent attempt to take credit for Bush administration policies aside, it's worth asking how exactly does the Obama administration define success in Iraq?


Just weeks before elections, specter of sectarian violence resurfaces in Iraq
It was only one killing, but it unleashed the demons of a bitter and perhaps unfinished past. The victim was a Sunni man in the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Hurriyah, in northwest Baghdad. The death and the aftermath were reminiscent of the prelude to the sectarian war, which began in late 2005 with a smattering of killings and threats and culminated with 100 bodies a day being dumped in the streets of the capital. With the imminent departure of American forces and fierce competition for power ahead of general elections on March 7, many here say sectarian strife is reigniting.


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