U.S. Military Effort in Afghanistan: Is It Working?

April 10, 2007 -- AFGHANISTAN

U.S. Military Effort in Afghanistan: Is It Working?

Eight thousand feet up in the mountains of Afghanistan, American troops stand ready for a spring offensive and the possible return of a new al Qaeda and the Taliban. (ABC News)

Opium and Heroin Production Still Huge in Afghanistan

Five years after the fall of the Taliban, opium is a bigger crop than ever in Afghanistan. (ABC News)

As Taliban Promises Offensive, Karzai Says Group is 'Defeated'

Amid reports that thousands of suicide bombers and insurgents were getting ready to strike in Afghanistan, ABC's Diane Sawyer traveled to the country to talk to its first elected president, Hamid Karzai. (ABC News)

A "New" Taliban Proving Deadly to NATO Forces

Coalition forces in Afghanistan are fighting a deadlier Taliban than ever, as jihadis returning from Iraq use techniques like suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to challenge NATO forces, experts tell ABC News. (ABC News)

IRAQ NEWS

15,000 Troops Could Stay Longer in Iraq

The Pentagon is considering a plan to extend the tours of duty for up to 15,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, a defense official said Monday. (AP)

16 Killed in Iraqi Suicide Bombing

A female suicide bomber wearing a black abaya detonated her explosives belt in a crowd of about 200 police recruits northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people, police and hospital officials said. (AP)

4 U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq

Three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, and another was killed in combat in Anbar province, the military said Tuesday. (AP)

Learning to Live With the Mahdi Army

No, there have been no problems, the police commander was telling the armor-laden American soldiers squeezed into his office in the vast Shiite enclave of Sadr City. Except, he said, for the text-messaged death threats he often received from militia members. (Washington Post)

Australia Will Double its Troops in Afghanistan

Australia will nearly double its military deployment in Afghanistan to about 1,000 soldiers by the middle of next year, the country's prime minister, John Howard, announced today. (The Guardian)

ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA

Ethiopia Admits Terror Detentions

Ethiopia's government has admitted that it detained 41 "terror suspects" who were captured in neighbouring Somalia. (BBC)

Somali Fighting Killed More Than 1,000: Report

Recent clashes pitting Ethiopian and Somali forces against clan militia and insurgents killed at least 1,086 people and wounded more than 4,300, according to a local committee set up to assess the damage. (Reuters)

Mother of All Crimes Perpetrated in Somalia

Two days ago, the EU Head of delegation to Kenya, Eric van der Linden, called for an investigation into alleged war crimes, including genocide, in Somalia, perpetrated by Ethiopian and Somali forces. This refers once again to the disastrous situation of the International Law under the leadership of the Western World and hegemony of the US. (Dar Al-Hayat)

IRAN

Update: Iranian President Reveals "Industrial-Scale" Enrichment Work in Defiance of UN Ban

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today that Iran has reached the "industrial stage of producing nuclear fuel." (ABC News)

Iranian Bypasses Travel Ban

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who is banned from traveling abroad by the U.N. Security Council visited Russia without any difficulty, Iranian state television reported on its Web site Monday. (AP)

U.S.

Student Lender Shakes Up Management as Financial Aid Scandal Widens

The financial conglomerate CIT Group Monday suspended the entire top management of its subsidiary, Student Loan Xpress (SLX), even as the director of financial aid at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University was placed on paid leave after the school was informed by CIT that the official had been paid about $65,000 in consulting fees by the SLX, one of several lenders the school recommends to students in need of loans. (ABC News)

"D.C. Madam" Speaks with ABC News

Alleged "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey has given an exclusive interview to ABC News. (ABC News)

MOROCCO

Morocco: Failed Suicide Bombings

Two suspected suicide bombers were reported killed April 10 during a police chase by Moroccan police in Casablanca. (Stratfor)

IRAN/RUSSIA

Russia Says No Sign of Iranian Industrial Enrichment

Russia has no evidence Iran has made any technological breakthroughs to allow it to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

SERBIA

Serbian Court Convicts 4 Paramilitaries

Four Serb paramilitaries seen in a video executing Bosnian Muslims near Srebrenica in 1995 were found guilty Tuesday by Serbia's War Crimes Court for the murders, and sentenced to 58 years in prison. (AP)

CHAD

Up to 400 Feared Dead in Chad Attacks

Up to 400 people, far more than previously feared, were killed in Chad during a cross-border attack by Sudanese Janjaweed militia about 10 days ago, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday. (Mail & Guardian)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

The End of the Dispensable Iranian

By Roya Hakakian

Dawn had always arrived in Berlin's Turm Strasse with the bustling of shopkeepers and the drowsy hiss of buses pulling into their stops. Always, except on the morning of April 10, 1997. On that day, the street had been cleared of traffic and blocked to anyone but pedestrians. On the rooftop of every building leading to Nos. 91-92, snipers had been stationed. (NY Times)

The New Iraq Justice Center

Iraq's need for a Rule of Law Complex -- so termed by its American military and legal advisers -- underscores the continued protracted security difficulties there. (Washington Times)

Iranian Nukes Not For Sale

The Islamic Republic of Iran celebrated its first national "Nuclear Technology Day" on Monday. (Stratfor)

Syria's Backchannel to Washington Survives the Pelosi Firestorm

By Jeff Stein

Last week, with the White House in full-throated outrage over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ill-starred trip to Damascus, a senior Syrian official placed a discreet call to Texas. (Congressional Quarterly)

A Win, Win, Win Ending for Tehran

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Even as Iran basks in worldwide praise for its handling of the crisis over the 15 British sailors and marines it seized and then released after two weeks, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has ensured that the focus stays on his country by announcing that Iran has the ability to produce enriched uranium at "industrial scale". (Asia Times)

Assam's Missing Women and the Sex Trade

The biggest problem in India's north-eastern state of Assam is separatist militancy. But it faces another, less well known issue. Thousands of its women, old and young, have gone missing over the past 10 years. (BBC)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.