The top US counterinsurgency advisor in Iraq, Lt. Col. David Kilcullen, advocated a plan based on the secretive "global Phoenix program" used in Vietnam. The CIA-operated "global Phoenix program" is known to have used widespread torture techniques. The plan called for the transfer of power and the training of South Vietnamese police whose brutality cost the lives of over 20,000 Vietnamese. Phoenix was primarily concerned with detaining, capturing, and eliminating citizens suspected of supporting the North Vietnamese. Kilcullen, who dismisses the widespread use of torture under US watch in Vietnam as a "popular myth", claims Phoenix was a program that advanced development and civil society. He also claims a similar plan for Iraq is necessary to stabilise Iraqi society. Kilcullen was Gen. David Petraeus' chief advisor on the 2007 US "troop surge" that sent in five brigades to Iraq.
The toD verdict: Next week, the US occupation of Iraq will be five years in the running. The country is still suffering from widespread violence and insecurity. Despite the proclaimed success of the "surge" partly orchestrated by Kilcullen, well over one hundred Iraqi civilians were victims of bomb blasts in February alone. Kilcullen, who describes the war against terror as the "new Cold War", is a revelation to the widening reality gap between Washington bureaucrats and ordinary Iraqi citizens yearning for security. In the Sunni district of Khadra in West Baghdad, Um Saad, a middle-aged woman who lost her two sons and her husband, firmly blames her misery on the Americans. Indeed, Kilcullen's reliance on analogies and tactics employed in Vietnam is perhaps an indication of an administration unable and unwilling to adapt a strategy uniquely suited to Iraq's quagmire. Perhaps just as disconcerting is President George Bush's open approval of CIA torture techniques. These indices spell a bleak future for the likes of Um Saad and other Iraqi citizens who will be at the mercy of greater repression and condoned CIA torture techniques reminiscent of the notorious Phoenix.
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Armed "sky marshals" set to appear on EU flights
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) passed a resolution enabling individual EU countries to dispatch armed security personnel on flights inside Europe. "In light of the ongoing terrorist threat, we believe clear rules on security and common implementation across European airlines are absolutely necessary," said British MEP Philip Bradbourn. The increased security comes in light of the recent event at London's Heathrow Airport yesterday where an individual was able to scale the security fence and walk about the airfield for several minutes before being apprehended.
Chad and Sudan sign peace agreement
A non-aggression pact designed to settle the volatile border between Chad and Sudan was officially signed last Thursday. The agreement will also revive past agreements to normalize relations. N'Djamena and Khartoum accuse the other of harbouring and aiding rebel groups who regularly stage attacks against the respective countries. The agreement was signed under the supervision of UN Secretary-General Bi Kan-moon. However, rebels on each side have already dismissed the pact.
US-led forces kill Pakistani civilians
Artillery fire from US-led forces in Afghanistan hit a house belonging to a local tribesman two kilometres inside Pakistan. A Pakistani Army spokesman said two women and two children died in the attack when five shells inadvertently struck the house. Officially, US-led forces are not allowed to operate in Pakistan territory.
Kabul bomb leaves behind six dead
A suicide attack against a US convoy truck near Kabul's International Airport left six civilians dead and another 20 injured. A car rammed the convey Thursday morning. A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Force said four US soldiers sustained minor injuries.
Al-Qaida hold Austrian tourists
Operatives allegedly from al-Qaida in the Maghreb in Tunisia are threatening to execute two Austrian tourists held captive since 22 February. The operatives are demanding the release of Tunisian and Algerian militants within three days. However, the Austrian government is unwilling to negotiate and is demanding their immediate release.
Post-election violence in Malaysia
Ethnic Malays took to the streets today in protest of the recent elections that ousted the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party. UMNO has for decades provided affirmative action policies designed to exclusively help the poorer Malays secure housing and economic benefits. Known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), Chinese and Indian Malays say the policy is unfair and should be based on need, not ethnicity.