ISW News Roundup - September 21, 2009

September 18, 2009 Roundup                                          September 22, 2009 Roundup

Afghanistan

Reuters - Key points of U.S. commander's new Afghan assessment

New York Times - General Calls for More U.S. Troops to Avoid Afghan Failure, by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker

Washington Post - McChrystal: More Forces or 'Mission Failure', by Bob Woodward

Associated Press - Afghan police say more troops not the answer, by Rahim Faiez

Times Online UK - Analysis: the flaws in General McChyrstal's strategy, by Jerome Starkey

Washington Post - Changes Have Obama Rethinking War Strategy, by Rajiv Chandrasekara and Karen DeYoung

Wall Street Journal - Obama Questions Plan to Add Forces in Afghanistan, by Elizabeth Williamson and Henry J. Pulizzi

Department of Defense - Afghanistan Strategy Must Focus on al-Qaeda, Obama Says, by Fred W. Baker III

New York Times - One in 4 Afghan Ballots Face Check for Fraud, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Archie Tse

Associated Press - Afghan fraud panel to use sampling in recounts, by Heidi Vogt

RFE/RL - UN Confident Afghan Vote Will Be Resolved Before Winter

Washington Post - Afghan Election Woes Raise Taliban's Stock, by Craig Whitlock

Times Online UK - Vision of victory in Afghanistan - but time is on the Taleban's side, by Richard Beeston

LA Times - CIA expanding presence in Afghanistan, by Greg Miller

Reuters - Afghan prisons sanctuary for militants: U.S. commander

New York Times - General Offers Grim View of Afghan Mission

Iraq

New York Times - Copter Crash Kills U.S. Soldier in Iraq, by Steven Lee Myers

Associated Press - Fleeing heat, bombs, Iraqis go north for holiday, by Bushra Juhi

Associated Press - Iraqi Shiite leader appeals for unity before vote, by Hamid Ahmed

Reuters - Iraq's Shi'ite alliance holds door open to PM, by Michael Christie and Suadad al-Salhy

Pakistan

Associated Press - Police say attack on Pakistani minister foiled, by Riaz Khan

Christian Science Monitor - Pakistan foils terror plot in latest success, by Jonathan Adams

Reuters - Captured Pakistani militant dies of wounds

Associated Press - Pakistan's security gains contrast Afghan turmoil, by Robert Kennedy

Region

New York Times - Obama to Meet With Mideast Leaders, by Ethan Bronner

Wall Street Journal - U.S. to Host Meeting With Mideast Leaders, by Charles Levinson

Christian Science Monitor - Can Hamas spoil Obama's three-way Mideast summit? by Joshua Mitnick

Reuters - Israel kills 2 Gaza militants

Reuters - Israel says still has military option on Iran, by Alastair Macdonald

Reuters - Kremlin says Israel promised not to strike Iran, by Conor Humphries

Christian Science Monitor - West Bank settlements become havens of Israeli suburbanites, by Ilene R. Prusher

Washington Post - As Talks With U.S. Near, Iran Denies Nuclear Arms Effort, by Thomas Erdbrink

New York Times - Yemen's North Hit by Bloodiest Fighting in Years, by Robert F. Worth

Associated Press - 10 killed in Somalia border fight, witnesses say

LA Times - Yemen offers cease-fire to Shiite rebels, by Jeffrey Fleishman and Haley Sweetland Edwards

Long War Journal - Somalia's Aweys calls for more suicide attacks, by Bill Roggio

Washington Post - Missile Defense's Shelving Reflected Military's Concerns, by R. Jeffrey Smith