IRAQ IIO

Summary here and here.

October: 103 more “commas” indelibly incised into your bloody books, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld.

This should be the final nail in the coffin of the First Dick’s “last throes.” It smacks more of the constancy of chaos and the anticipation of mass and potentially extremely violent demonstrations from one faction or another, dependent on what the announced verdict and sentence of Hussein’s first trial is, should those actually be made next week. Could also be a precursor related to the swirling rumors of a coup or the forced removal of al-Maliki after the U.S. midterm elections.

…the Pentagon said the US force in Iraq has grown to 150,000 troops, the biggest it has been since January.

[snip]

Eric Ruff, the Pentagon press secretary, said he did not know why US troops levels were climbing.

“This is news to me,” Ruff told reporters. “Talk to MNF-I (Multi-National Forces-Iraq). That’s General Casey’s decision.”

The increase is noteworthy because US troop strength in Iraq is only 10,000 under the all-time high of about 160,000 reported in January after the Iraqi elections. Article

Short-circuited ’sovereignty.’ (emphasis added)

Iraqi Shiite militants have won a major political victory after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered US and Iraqi units to lift a blockade around the flashpoint suburb of Sadr City.

American commanders believe Shiite gunmen may be holding a kidnapped US soldier in the east Baghdad slum and since last week have been maintaining a cordon of checkpoints and roadblocks around the area.

Iraqi and US forces have also launched raids inside the district, most recently on Tuesday morning, when they arrested three suspects.

Anger has been growing inside Sadr City, and on Tuesday militants loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered a general strike, shutting down shops, offices and schools in an area of 2.5 million people.

The Shiite prime minister, who owes his job to the votes of pro-Sadr lawmakers, responded by ordering the US blockade lifted.

“The prime minister, in his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces, has decided to lift the blockade of the access roads to Sadr City and other areas of Baghdad,” a statement from Maliki’s office said.

Maliki said he expected checkpoints to be lifted by 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), but added that it could be reimposed after dark during Baghdad’s nightly curfew.

It was not clear whether the US military would obey the prime minister’s order and, in a new sign of the lack of coordination between the allies, US headquarters said they had only learned of it through a news release.

“Our coalition force commanders have received the press release from the Prime Minister’s office and are determining how coalition forces can best address the Prime Minister’s concerns about checkpoint operations,” it said. Article

More:

A cordon of checkpoints and roadblocks has been set up around the district, provoking the anger of local residents, particularly after it failed to prevent a bomb attack Monday by suspected Sunni extremists which left 26 dead. Article

AFGHANISTAN

Summary here.

PAKISTAN

The repercussions are not going to quickly fade.

Over 15,000 armed Pakistani tribesmen protested on Tuesday against a Pakistan Army helicopter attack on an al-Qaeda-linked madrasa in Bajaur tribal region that killed around 80 suspected militants.

Chants of “Down with America” and “Down with Musharraf” rang out as the tribesmen gathered in Khar, the main town in the tribal region close to the Afghan border in protest against Pakistan’s deadliest air strike.

[snip]

The tribals in Khar demonstrated their loyalty with shouts of “Long Live Osama” and “Long Live Mullah Omar”. Similar protests were held in other parts of North West Frontier Province.

A planned visit by Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the NWFP capital of Peshawar on Tuesday was cancelled due to security concerns, as Islamists planned demonstrations.

The government had been trying to win support from Bajaur’s tribal elders for a pact similar to accords already brokered in Waziristan to end the militancy, but Monday’s airstrike appeared to end hopes of a quick deal. Article