IRAN
Iranian nuclear bid could provoke attack: Sarkozy
AFP – August 31, 2011
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday that Iran’s alleged attempts to build long-range missiles and nuclear weapons could lead unnamed countries to launch a pre-emptive attack.
Few answers in murders of Iranian nuclear scientists
Jonathan Manthorpe, The Vancouver Sun – August 31, 2011
Someone is going to murderous lengths to disrupt Iran’s nuclear development program. But the conviction and sentencing to death this week of a young Iranian, Majid Jamali Fashi, after he confessed to having been recruited by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to kill an Iranian scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, sheds little clear light on what is going on.
NORTH KOREA
Iran: Parliament speaker to visit North Korea
The Associated Press – August 31, 2011
Iran says the speaker of its parliament will visit North Korea to discuss “expansion of cooperation” with Pyongyang. The trip underlines the close ties between the two nations.
Suspected North Korean cyber attack highlights dangerous “mist and haze” affecting cyber security
Indiana University – August 31, 2011
Media reports of a suspected North Korean cyber attack against a South Korean bank raise fresh concerns about threats to cybersecurity. However, according to an Indiana University Maurer School of Law cybersecurity expert, reporting on this event reveals confusion and controversy about what such incidents mean in policy and legal terms, which heightens the growing dangers in this area.
LIBYA
How NATO could find its elf protecting Qaddafi loyalists in Libya
Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor – August 31, 2011
NATO’s mandate in Libya is to protect civilians, and with rebels now promising to attack cities loyal to Qaddafi, the alliance could be called on to protect civilians there. It is one complication that has NATO pressing for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Libya says Qaddafi Is Cornered
Rob Nordland, The New York Times – August 31, 2011
A top official of Libya’s transitional government said Wednesday that its fighters had cornered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in a desert redoubt 150 miles from the capital and were exhorting the former leader to give up, in what would bring a sense of finality to the prolonged uprising that routed him and his family from Tripoli a week ago.
AFGHANISTAN
Pentagon criticized for lack of contractor oversight
David Alexander, Reuters – August 31, 2011
Ineffective Pentagon oversight of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan has wasted up to $60 billion over the past decade, a “troubling” failure that undermines U.S. security and cannot continue in an era of tight budgets, a special panel reported on Wednesday.
THE UNITED STATES
Petraeus retires, warns against budget cuts
MSNBC – August 31, 2011
David Petraeus, the general widely credited with rescuing a failing U.S. war in Iraq, retired from the Army on Wednesday with a word of warning: Coming budget cuts must not impair the U.S. military’s ability to fight a full range of conflicts, from major land wars to Iraq-like insurgencies.
SYRIA
US: Syria minister is Assad’s “Shameless Tool”
CBS News – August 31, 2011
The Obama administration is holding Syria’s foreign minister personally responsible for crimes committed in the Syrian government’s five-month crackdown on popular dissent.
