News and Analysis (8/13/08)

Who benefits fron the War in Iraq?

• Iraq Contractors ‘Cost US $85bn’ (Al-Jazeera)

160,000 displaced in fighting between government and rebels raises question: Is North Cotabato another Darfur in the making? :

• U.N. Concerned About Crisis in Philippines’ South (Reuters)
• Sudanese army attacks rebels in North Darfur (Reuters)

While al-Qaeda continues to lose support in Iraq …,

• Al-Qa’eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality (Telegraph)

…in Pakistan the cycle of violence strengthens their foothold and the Taliban strike an “immediate and costly” retaliation against the government …

• Al-Qaeda Said to Use Regional Strife to Tighten Grip in Pakistan (Washington Post)
• 13 Killed in Attack on a Bus in Pakistan (NY Times)

… and al-Qaeda is suspected to have inspired a bombing in Ledbanon:

• Bomb in Northern Lebanese City Kills 18 (LA Times)

The attacker of the Diyala governor turns out to have been a man in an abayya:

• Iraq Suicide Bomber a Man in Woman’s Garb (LA Times)

ImadadDean