March 12:
As U.S. and NATO forces commit new troops to the war in Afghanistan, allied forces have been forced to broaden options for safe supply lines into Afghanistan – even, potentially, via Iran. According to the New York Times, alternative supply routes through Russia are becoming less attractive to Western officials who worry that Moscow will use the transit routes as leverage against the allies. “We want to avoid any danger of single-point failure, whether it’s Pakistan or Russia," one American military officer says. "It’s simply prudent planning to have alternative lines of communication." Although transit though Iranian waters may be a stretch, there is reason to believe Tehran would consider participating in such an operation, since the Shi'ite government there is not aligned with the Sunni Taliban. Pentagon and military officials have made clear that only non-lethal supplies are being considered for transit through the alternative routes.
March 15:
President Obama has called Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to reaffirm a “long standing alliance” between the two nations. The Philippine Star reports that the President gave accolades to Mrs. Arroyo for her commitment to combating terrorism and strengthening the country's military forces. In addition Mr. Obama also pledged commitment to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) hammered out during the tenure of his predecessor to facilitate counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. The latter, however, is hardly an uncontroversial move, since some in the Philippines believe it heavily favors the U.S., and predicates bilateral ties on cooperation in combating terrorism.
March 17:
Just days after being commended by President Obama, the Philippine Army has clashed with Islamic militants. According to BBC News, the fighting took place on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, where the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf has held a small group of Red Cross workers hostage for two months. Philippine military forces have tried repeatedly to surround the militants and coerce them to surrender. Reportedly, the violence did not stem from an attempt to free the hostages, but rather because one of the rebel fighters tried to escape the through the perimeter government forces had erected in the area. Abu Sayyaf has demanded the military withdraw before any captives are released.
March 19:
The Christian Science Monitor reports that members of the Afghan government have conducted preliminary discussions with the al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network – one of the three most dangerous insurgent groups in Afghanistan. The talks follow meetings last September between Afghan officials and former Taliban members in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The purpose of current discussion reportedly is to create a roadmap to peace in the region, and included a draft proposal suggesting the Haqqani network should first stop burning schools and attacking reconstruction teams in exchange for a release of Haqqani prisoners and an end to house raids in Pakistan's northwest. The proposal is also said to require both the Afghan government and insurgents to agree on a form of government - a tall order, given that both the Taliban and Haqqani network want to impose strict sharia law throughout the country. Finally, the proposal calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
March 20:
The Obama administration, by contrast, is pursuing a grassroots strategy intended to counter the insurgency problem in Afghanistan from the ground up. According to the Los Angeles Times, the strategy assumes that high level insurgents will not make good allies even if they can be convinced to switch sides, so the plan is to "flip" insurgents who fight simply for the money. The paper cites Army Col. Christopher Kolenda as saying that this approach has already had some measure of success, with his constructing small scale projects such as hydroelectric plants that helped local elders convince young people to work instead of fight for the Taliban. The administration is also increasingly deemphasizing the need to build a strong central government around current Afghan President Hamid Karzai, terming the idea to be "counter-cultural, counter-historical.”