FPI Overnight Brief

FPI Event: U.S. Missile Defense in a Proliferating World: Threats and Challenges in the New Missile Age

Please join the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) on Tuesday, December 8th from 6:00-8:00 PM at FDD for a screening of the documentary "33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age" and a discussion about missile defense. Featured guests include James Carafano of The Heritage Foundation, Cliff May of FDD, and Jamie Fly of FPI. A reception with drinks and refreshments preceding the event will begin at 6:00, and the screening will begin at 6:30. FDD is located at 1726 M Street NW, Suite 700. For more information, visit our website. Please RSVP to Rachel Hoff at rhoff@foreignpolicyi.org.
Iran

Iranian security forces have clashed violently with opposition supporters in central Tehran, witnesses say. Police used batons and tear gas, according to the witnesses. There were also unconfirmed reports of security forces using live rounds. State media confirmed there had been clashes, though a foreign media ban means details are hard to verify. The violence came on the day that Iran holds an annual commemoration for the killing of three students in 1953. Early on Monday, hundreds of Iranian police were reported to have surrounded Tehran University to try to block protests. – BBC

Video: Thousands Protest.—The AP

Iranian riot police cordoned off Tehran University -- Iran's largest university and the scene of student-led, pro-democracy protests in 1999 -- in an apparent effort to prevent opposition plans to disrupt a state-organized rally. Hundreds of security officers and antiriot motorcycle units had been deployed outside the campus. "Police and security forces aren't allowing people to get close to the university and people can't even walk in the pedestrian area around the campus," one man told Radio Farda from the scene. – Radio Free Europe

Ahead of a planned opposition rally on Monday, Iran tightened security and arrested more than 20 mothers who were mourning children killed in the unrest that has broken out since the disputed June 12 elections. – Times of India

Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in this war-torn country Tuesday morning on an unannounced visit, prepared to offer U.S. troops a message from Washington after President Obama's decision to boost troop levels significantly: "We are in this thing to win." … Gates, the first senior U.S. official to travel to Afghanistan since Obama's announcement, said he will stress to President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan officials that the United States will not abandon them as it did in 1989, when the Soviet Union left in defeat. The United States had backed forces fighting the Soviets, but ended its support after Moscow quit the war, paving the way for Taliban rule. "We are not going to repeat the experience of 1989," Gates said. As U.S. troops begin to depart in favor of trained Afghan forces, developmental and economic aid will continue to flow, he stressed. "We intend to be their partner for a long time to come," Gates said. Gates's remark that the United States is in the battle in Afghanistan "to win" marked an unusual description of the mission here by an administration official. – Washington Post

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cautioned troops on Monday to exercise greater discipline in Afghanistan to minimize civilian casualties and to win Afghans' support as they implement the administration's new war strategy… As Mullen addressed soldiers and Marines -- some of whom are weeks away from shipping out -- Obama met Monday in the White House with the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and the top general charged with prosecuting the war there. On Tuesday, Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, will testify before Congress on their plans for implementing the new strategy and the prospects for success. – Washington Post

As the United States prepares to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster Karzai's beleaguered government, Taliban leaders are quietly pushing ahead with preparations for a moment they believe is inevitable: their return to power. The Taliban has done so by establishing an elaborate shadow government of governors, police chiefs, district administrators and judges that in many cases already has more bearing on the lives of Afghans than the real government. – Washington Post

The Obama administration is turning up the pressure on Pakistan to fight the Taliban inside its borders, warning that if it does not act more aggressively the United States will use considerably more force on the Pakistani side of the border to shut down Taliban attacks on American forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials said. The blunt message was delivered in a tense encounter in Pakistan last month, before President Obama announced his new war strategy, when Gen. James L. Jones, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, and John O. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief, met with the heads of Pakistan’s military and its intelligence service. United States officials said the message did not amount to an ultimatum, but rather it was intended to prod a reluctant Pakistani military to go after Taliban insurgents in Pakistan who are directing attacks in Afghanistan. – New York Times

Iraq

Editorial: President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan resembles in many respects the surge launched by the Bush administration in Iraq nearly three years ago -- though the president, who opposed the surge, hasn't advertised that fact. So the news that Iraq's legislators had finally agreed Sunday on a law permitting national elections to go forward early next year gave cause for optimism on more than one front. The elections are crucial to Iraq's transition to a stable government that can ensure security around the country without the help of most of the 120,000 American soldiers still deployed there. After making an early November deadline to pass the law, Iraq's political leaders faced a crisis when the bill was vetoed by a Sunni vice president; for a time it appeared the country's sectarian divisions could undermine the election and drag the country back toward civil war. But at minutes to midnight Sunday, just before another deadline, legislators voted to approve anothe r deal that appears to ensure that the election can go forward in late February -- late, but still in time to preserve the U.S. withdrawal timetable. – Washington Post

In what appeared to be a coordinated assault, a series of car bombings across Baghdad on Tuesday killed at least 101 people and wounded scores more, according to preliminary accounts by police and hospital officials. Five bombs, including at least one suicide attack, struck near a university, a court, a mosque a market and in a neighborhood near the Interior Ministry. The blasts began shortly after 10 A.M. and reverberated through the city for the next 50 minutes, sending enormous plumes of black smoke into the air. – New York Times

Pakistan

Two near-simultaneous bomb blasts tore through a crowded market in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, killing at least 36 people and injuring more than 100. Police said many of the dead were women and children. Earlier, a suicide bomber killed 10 people outside a courthouse in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Pakistan has been hit with a wave of terrorist strikes as its army tries to clamp down on Islamic militants in the nation's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. Although many of those attacks have been directed at Pakistani armed forces, police and intelligence agencies, insurgents at times have targeted crowded markets in the country's largest cities. The attack in Lahore occurred at 8:45 p.m. at the Moon Market, a popular bazaar that was packed with shoppers. – Los Angeles Times

A lucrative annual fundraising drive conducted by Kashmir-focused Pakistani militant groups has been largely ended by a government ban, analysts and residents of several cities said. The charitable offshoots of such groups as Lashkar-i-Taiba, accused of carrying out the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, have for decades enjoyed a windfall on Eid al Adha, when Muslims slaughter livestock to commemorate the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son at God’s command. The charities benefited by collecting the hides of the sacrificed animals, which were then sold on to tanneries for processing into leather and manufactured goods for export, independent business analysts said… However, with India and the international community demanding action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, the federal government in November introduced its ban. Residents in Lahore and Islamabad, the capital, said attempts by Filah-i-Insaniyat, the Jama’at-ud-Dawah affiliate, to set up a comparatively modest number of hide collection centers had been stifled by municipal authorities and the police, who tore down banners and tents, and evicted activists. – The National

Islamism

An American living in Chicago traveled to India and Pakistan over nearly two years to videotape targets and brief plotters for the terrorist assault that killed 166 people in Mumbai a year ago, U.S. authorities alleged Monday. Federal charges against David Headley -- the 49-year-old son of a Pakistani diplomat and an American mother -- reveal what authorities say could be the most significant role played by a U.S. citizen in a major international terrorist attack. The charges against Mr. Headley also provide insight into the reach and sophistication of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani terror group responsible for the assault. The group trained Mr. Headley in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003, and in late 2005 dispatched him to spot targets in Mumbai, according to the charges. It also asked him to change his name from Daood Gilani to facilitate his travel into India. Mr. Headley is cooperating with prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to U.S. officials and his attorney. – Wall Street Journal

Russia

David Smith writes: The French Navy amphibious assault ship Mistral [visited] Saint Petersburg, Russia [last month]. This port call signals that Franco-Russian relations thrive despite the fifteen months since the Russian invasion of Georgia during which Moscow has unflaggingly flouted the ceasefire agreement negotiated by French President Nikolas Sarkozy. But the Mistral’s mission is not just a port call; it is a sales call—with ominous geopolitical implications. "We plan to buy one Mistral class ship in France and with technical support from the French to build four helicopter carriers of this class under license," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, First Deputy Chief of the Russian Navy Staff, told a November 2 press conference. French sources say that the deal is nearly done—it may be announced while the Mistral is in Saint Petersburg. It would be the biggest ever NATO country military supply to Russia… Is Paris prepared not only to overloo k but to reward aggression, ignore the shredding of a ceasefire crafted and signed by its president, accept the help of Georgian soldiers in Afghanistan but enforce an unacknowledged arms embargo against Georgia and meanwhile sell advanced arms to Russia? Does France really want Russia to have this littoral combat capability? – Eesti Elu

North Korea

The US special representative to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is preparing to travel to Pyongyang for three days of talks. The visit is the first high-level contact between US President Barack Obama's administration and Pyongyang. US officials said Mr Bosworth would try to find out whether Pyongyang was ready to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear programme it left in April. But they said Pyongyang would not be offered any new incentives to do so. – BBC

The United States pushed Monday for more scrutiny of human rights conditions in North Korea, telling the U.N. Human Rights Council that it is now impossible to verify claims of abuses in the isolated communist state. "The lack of remedies or transparent accountability in dealing with allegations of abuse makes it difficult for foreign governments to accurately assess the human rights situation," U.S. ambassador Robert King told the Geneva-based body… He urged Pyongyang to create an independent human rights institution with the assistance of U.N. experts, and said outside investigators should also be allowed to assess North Korea's detention facilities and other sites of reported abuse. – Reuters

Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran and North Korea are sharing intelligence on their common enemies, the Nikkei reported on Monday. According to the Japanese weekly, the two countries are said to have struck a deal in March which stipulates that Iran collects information regarding South Korea via the Islamic republic's embassy in Seoul and relays it to Pyongyang. North Korea is thought to be seeking information on Seoul's reactions to Pyongyang's missile tests, South Korean arms acquisitions and the movements of the US forces stationed in the South, the report stated. According to the purported agreement, in turn, North Korea provides Iran with information on US military activities in the Persian Gulf. – Jerusalem Post

Egypt

Until a few weeks ago, Egypt's state media described Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate and just-retired head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as a credit to his country. He was seen as a man who had dared speak truth unto power -- defying the United States in 2003 over its claims that Iraq had a covert nuclear arms program. But the former Egyptian diplomat has now become the target of ferocious attacks in the state press after his name was put forward as a potentially credible candidate for the next presidential election, in 2011. Worse, ElBaradei first appeared to respond positively to the suggestion. He issued a statement last week saying he would run for president if the constitution was changed to allow all Egyptians to compete and if the election was conducted by a truly independent commission, supervised by international monitors. – Washington Post

Tibet/China

An unknown number of Tibetan youths have been detained in China's southwestern Sichuan province after staging a protest to appeal for the release of a Buddhist monk jailed for alleged links to a series of bombings, several Tibetan sources said. The exact number of Tibetans detained on Dec. 5 was unclear, but one exiled source who has been in contact with witnesses said it could exceed 150. At police stations in nearby Kangding, Nyakchukha, and Lithang, repeated phone calls rang unanswered. – Radio Free Asia Announcements

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U.S. Missile Defense in a Proliferating World: Threats and Challenges in the New Missile Age
Young Professionals in Foreign Policy
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies
The Foreign Policy Initiative
December 8

Gulliver's Troubles: The Obama Administration and the Middle East
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
December 8

The US- Israeli Relationship: Where is it Going?
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
December 8

The Abolition of USIA and Its Effects on U.S. Public Diplomacy
Heritage Foundation
December 9

The Changing Strategic Gravity of Al-Qaeda
Jamestown Foundation
December 9

Euro-Atlantic Integration of Croatia and Southeast Europe
Atlantic Council
December 9

What We Saw in Honduras: The Elections in Honduras and Their Implication for U.S. Policy
Heritage Foundation
December 10

Russia’s Accession to the WTO
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
December 10

The Real G2? Enhancing a Transatlantic Strategic Partnership
Center for Transatlantic Relations at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
December 10

Rethinking the Laws of Armed Conflict in an Age of Terrorism
Hudson Institute
December 10-11

Democratization as a Source of Tension between the United States and Egypt
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
December 14

Russia on the Pacific: The Rising Role of the Russian Far East Among Pacific Rim Nations
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
December 14

"Dr. Strangelove" Speaks to Today's Strategists: A Book Discussion of The Essential Herman Kahn
Hudson Institute
December 14

Starting with START: A New Era in Arms Control or the Beginning of Unilateral Disarmament?
American Enterprise Institute
December 15

What is at Stake for the U.S. in Afghanistan?
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
December 15

18 Months and Beyond: Implications of U.S. Policy in Afghanistan
Middle East Policy Council
January 7

Overnight Brief is a daily product of the Foreign Policy Initiative, which seeks to promote an active U.S. foreign policy committed to robust support for democratic allies, human rights, a strong American military equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and strengthening America's global economic competitiveness. To submit comments or suggestions, email overnight@foreignpolicyi.org
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