October 3:
After three years of intense negotiations and bilateral diplomacy, the U.S. and India have officially kicked off a new phase in their strategic partnership with the codification of a long-awaited deal on nuclear cooperation. Congress decisively passed the agreement, consistently championed by the Bush administration, on October 1st, The Economist reports, paving the way for American firms to enter a new and growing market for nuclear technology and removing a historic roadblock to deeper political and strategic ties between Washington and Delhi.
October 9:
According to London’s Telegraph newspaper, U.S. intelligence agencies are in the process of completing a National Intelligence Estimate on the War on Terror, and the early results are not positive. In particular, the paper reports, the preliminary conclusions of the study suggest that the war in Afghanistan is now in a “downward spiral” – failures directly related to the growing strength and sophistication of the Taliban insurgency, which is being bolstered by safe havens in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and outflows of al-Qaeda forces from Iraq. Also at fault, the study says, is the Afghan central government, which is riddled with corruption, saddled with a weak military, and reliant on an economy which is heavily dependent on drug trade.
The persecution of Christians continues in the Indian state of Orissa. Christianity Today reports that thirty-six Christian deaths have been tallied as of mid-September in the most recent round of violence. The unrest was sparked by the murder of a Hindu leader who fought for laws that would ban conversion from Hinduism to Christianity. Christian groups were blamed for his murder, even though a militant communist group claimed responsibility. Stephen David of the Centre for Contemporary Issues in Bangalore attributes the escalated violence to “increased hatred toward Christians because the messengers of hate within the Hindu community have become more articulate and better organized.”
[Editor’s Note: While anti Christian violence has cropped up in other parts of India, Orissa is something of a unique case. Although the local government is secular, it appears to be sympathetic to the militant Hindutva activists who advocate violence against Christians.]
October 10:
NATO has shifted gears in its efforts to weaken Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reports. The Defense Ministers of the Atlantic Alliance have approved a news strategy under which NATO forces would “attack the drug barons” that provide the Taliban with an economic lifeline. Heroin originating in Afghanistan accounts for 90 percent of the world’s supply, and is estimated to provide some $100 million yearly in funding to Taliban fighters. The change appears to have been contentious, however. According to the news agency, Germany and Spain were initially reluctant to engage in a counter-narcotics campaign, citing a potential backlash from opium farmers and a step backward from the Alliance’s long-term plan to entrust more responsibility to Afghan troops.
October 16:
The Bush administration has officially removed North Korea from its list of state sponsor of terrorism list. But the measure, enacted on October 11th, is only a “formality,” say administration officials, because most sanctions against the Stalinist state will endure. The Economist reports that the move comes as part of an effort to resume nuclear cooperation with Pyongyang, which recently suspended international inspections at its nuclear facilities.
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