Admin Note

(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)


Due to professional, academic, and personal commitments I will no longer post the Morning Readbook. For those that need an alternative I recommend the Small Wars Journal Roundup.


Below are the search terms and websites I would use to generate the morning readbook.

For Stories - 

Google News

Search Terms - "Taliban" "Qaeda" "Afghanistan" "Pakistan" "Iraq" or any other country or topic grabbing headlines that week.

SAMPLE

Top story searching "taliban" -

India shifts Afghan policy, ready to talk to Taliban


For Photos - 

Yahoo News World Photos

Search Terms - The country of choice generates the widest selection of photos. The exception would be anything related to CT in the United States. In that case I would search "homeland"

SAMPLE -

"Iraq"

Pictures of premier-elect Iyad Allawi (L) and outgoing premier Nuri al-Malaki are seen on the front page of an Iraqi newspaper in Baghdad on March 27. Maliki, whose bloc came second in Iraq's general election, sharply criticised the UN envoy to Baghdad on Sunday over his inaction on vote fraud allegations. (AFP/Ali al-Saadi)

Original can be found at this link.


For Video -

Al Jazeera English

I would embed the latest news bulletin at end the readbook.

SAMPLE




Also, I would search through any of their recent programs or segments to see if there was one of interest. There are many detailed stories that never make mainstream headlines but are very applicable to the current COIN/CT debates.  Below is a perfect example.







Final Notes -

I plan on posting two more segments in the Basics of COIN series. The next one will deal with Chaotic and Complex scenarios.

As far as the current COIN/CT conflict are concerned, I am waiting to see if Maliki will actually step down from power and what the new Iraqi government will look like when it finally forms. Afghanistan is far too early to make a call without guessing.

More to follow...