Attack in Afghanistan Targets Governor Who Put Taliban Body On Display

May 17, 2007 --

Afghan Minister Wounded in Kandahar Suicide Raid
Afghanistan's information minister was wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber targeted a car in which he was traveling in the southern city of Kandahar, the governor of the province said. (Reuters)

Tensions High on Afghanistan-Pakistan Border
Tension along the volatile border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is quickly increasing as the government of Pakistan is sending troop reinforcements following reports the Afghan National Army had also sent significant numbers of troops and installed extra artillery and mortar guns there. (ABC News)

Afghans Say Gunfire from NATO Soldiers Wounded 5 Civilians
NATO soldiers driving through this southern city shot and wounded five civilians late Tuesday, local residents and police officials said Wednesday. The spokeswoman for the NATO forces, Lt. Col. Angela Billings, said, though, that they had no information that such shootings had occurred. (NY Times)

Mortar Rounds Hit Helicopters at US Base
Mortar rounds hit a U.S. Air Force base north of Baghdad on Thursday, destroying one helicopter and damaging nine others, police said. (AP)

Troops Killed After Botched June Mission, Probe SaysThree U.S. soldiers slaughtered in a grisly kidnapping-murder plot south of Baghdad last June were not properly protected during a mission that was poorly planned or executed, a military investigation has concluded. (AP)

ESTONIA/ RUSSIA
Estonia Accuses Russia of ' Waging Cyber War'
Estonia is accusing Russia of waging cyber war against it by launching massive attacks on computer systems in the Baltic republic. (The London Times)

Capitol Watchdogs Fret Over Rise in 'Honest Graft' Land DealsA series of questionable land deals involving U.S. lawmakers have raised alarms among government watchdogs, who fear such dubious arrangements are on the rise. (ABC News)

Disclosure Forms Show Wealthy Lot of Hopefuls
Running for president is a pursuit for the wealthy, according to personal financial disclosure forms released yesterday that show that at least 10 of the major party candidates are millionaires and, collectively, the field of contenders is worth at least a quarter-billion dollars. (Washington Post)

20 Killed In Gunbattles in North Mexico
Police killed 15 armed assailants in a fierce gunbattle just south of the Arizona border on Wednesday after tracking a group of gunmen who killed five policemen into the nearby hills. (AP)

A Defense We Just Don't Need (Yet)
By Michael O'Hanlon
As we all know, there is such a thing as a good idea whose time has not yet come. This adage can hold even for presidents of the United States. (NY Times)

Syrian Liberal Nidhal Na'isa On the West, Pan-Arabism, Islamism, and Al-Jazeera
Syrian liberal author Nidhal Na'isa began his career in journalism as a teenager, at the government dailies Al-Thawra and Syria Times,(1) but today he is a vocal opponent of the Arab regimes and the pan-Arab ideology, as well as of Islamism and Islamist terrorism. (MEMRI)

Waiting for Thabo Mbeki
Will Robert Mugabe's outrages never stop? For months he has been jailing and brutalizing opposition leaders and trampling the rule of law in order to guarantee himself another rigged victory in next year's presidential elections. (International Herald Tribune)

Widening The War In The Southern Philippines
Just when it seemed the Philippines was getting a handle on its terrorist problem on its southern island of Mindanao, a sudden shift in military strategy threatens to widen drastically the region's grinding conflict against Muslim insurgent groups. (Asia Times)