A suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Tuesday killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, former president of Afghanistan and leader of the High Peace Council. Rabbani was in the process of negotiating an end to the war with the Taliban. The assassination is a devastating blow to the Afghan peace process, and the future of security in the region.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai was shot dead at point blank range this morning in Kandahar. As provincial council chairman of Kandahar, Karzai was thought of as a stongman leader, and perhaps the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan. He was also a deeply controversial figure, believed to be involved in Afghanistan's drug trade and central to the corruption that has marred the Afghan government by American military commanders.
The Hotel Interncontinental in Kabul, Afghanistan was attacked by gunmen and suicide bombers yesterday. Gun fire was exchanged between the terrorists and police force for many hours, and ended with NATO helicopters shooting and killing three militants on the hotel's roof. The identity of the terrorists has not been confirmed yet, but many believe the Taliban are responsible.
The Taliban have claimed that it spent five months digging the tunnel that stretched from Kandahar's main prison, under a highway to a nearby house. Security forces have been criticized and a spokesperson for President Hamid Karzai said the escape was a disaster. However, it is likely that there were bribes and infiltration at high levels for this to have happened, explains Alissa J. Rubin, Kabul bureau chief for The New York Times. She says it was likely a small group who masterminded the escape.
The United States' top commander is Afghanistan, General Stanley A. McChrystal is finding himself at the center of a brewing controversy this morning. An article that will be published in the Friday edition of Rolling Stone magazine features a profile of the general in which he castigates members of the Obama White House as "wimps," even referring to them as "the real enemy."
In the piece entitled "The Runaway General" McChrystal and his advisers go on to admonish top administration officials like Vice President Joe Biden ("Who's that?") and national security advisor Jim Jones ("a clown"), as well as diplomats to Afghanistan like Ambassador Karl Einkenberry and special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke.
In a move to show that Washington is normalizing its relationship with Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is coming to the White House today. The two leaders have plenty to talk about: Iraq's security, continuing ethnic tensions and, of course, oil. Al-Maliki's trip comes just three weeks after the U. S. military withdrew from Iraqi cities after years of occupation. Violence has been increasing across Iraq. The Takeaway talks to Jim Muir, the BBC's Baghdad correspondent, and Alyssa Rubin, the former New York Times Baghdad bureau chief who has just left Iraq.
A suicide bomber killed at least 33 people and wounded more than 40 marking this the third major attack by insurgents in Iraq in recent days. Military officers and Iraqi elders were among those killed as they were leaving the town hall to tour a market in the suburb of Abu-Ghraib when the the bomber struck. Many of those killed or wounded were on their way to a meeting between Iraqi Army officers and tribal chiefs in western Baghdad. The meeting was part of a series of efforts to move towards national reconciliation. Journalists covering the event are said to be among the casualties. Alyssa Rubin, a New York Times correspondent in Baghdad, joins The Takeaway to talk about the brutal attack.
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