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Summary: U.S./Top News The Bush administration is preparing its largest spending request yet for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a proposal that could make the conflict the most expensive since World War II, USA Today reports. The Pentagon is considering $127 billion to $160 billion in requests from the armed services for the 2007 fiscal year, lawmakers said.
Sen. McCain suggested this week that the US needs thousands more troops in Iraq, and members of the Iraq Study Group have discussed similar ideas, the Washington Post reports. But military officials and defense experts said significantly escalating the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq is implausible because it would severely strain the military, would be unsustainable for more than a few months and would offer no discernable long-term benefit.
The Bush Administration's "coalition of the willing" in Iraq is becoming an increasingly exclusive club, the Washington Times reports. 23 countries remain in the U.S.-led coalition and the UN' mission serving in and around Iraq, down from a high of 42 that joined the US in the invasion or the postwar occupation of Iraq. More than half of those contributors have fewer than 150 troops, engineers or military trainers in the Iraq theater.
The Iraqi government ordered the arrest of the country's most influential Sunni cleric for allegedly inciting violence and supporting terrorism, a move that could inflame sectarian tensions, the Washington Post reports. The Post article notes that an Iraqi government spokesman claimed to have proof that Harith al-Dhari was involved in terrorism but did not provide any.
In Congressional testimony, US officials put the number of Al-Qaeda and foreign terrorist fighters in Iraq at about 1,300, and the number of Iraqi insurgents at 20,000 to 30,000, the Washington Post reports. This would put the proportion of Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters between 4-6%.
The Senate gave overwhelming approval late Thursday to President Bush's deal for nuclear cooperation with India, the New York Times reports. Critics argued the pact would encourage North Korea and Iran to press ahead with nuclear weapons programs despite international complaints and threats.
A new study has found that the U.S. military called no witnesses, withheld evidence from detainees and usually reached a decision within a day as it determined hundreds of men detained at Guantanamo were "enemy combatants," AP reports.
A UCLA student who was shocked by a campus police officer's Taser gun thought he was being singled out because of his Middle Eastern appearance, his lawyer said. The lawyer said he plans to file a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the U.S.-born student, who is of Iranian descent, AP reports.
Iran Parting ways with Israel, the Bush administration is moving to find a way to open a dialogue with Iran to help it out of the mess in Iraq, writes James Klurfeld for Newsday.
It would certainly help in Iraq if the White House opened a dialogue with Syria and Iran, if it set the stage for a regional conference with the intent of pooling resources and putting immense pressure on the players in Baghdad, writes the Akron Beacon Journal in an editorial.
Iraq A US soldier who admitted that he and a group of other soldiers raped an Iraqi girl and killed her and her family was sentenced to 90 years in prison, with the possibility of parole in 20 years, the Washington Post reports. The plea agreement reflects willingness to testify against other soldiers. Another soldier pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the death of an Iraqi man. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Two former employees of an American private military contractor claimed in court they saw their supervisor deliberately shoot at Iraqi civilians, and that the firm fired them for reporting the incidents, the New York Times reports.
Afghanistan The Air Force has conducted more than 2,000 airstrikes in Afghanistan over the past six months, a sharp increase in bombing, the New York Times reports.
Sudan Sudan agreed to allow a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force into the Darfur region, reversing its longstanding refusal to let UN troops in, the New York Times reports.
Venezuela As Venezuelans prepare to vote December 3, expectations are that President Chávez will easily win re-election, thanks to his wide base of support among the country's poor majority and gains in alleviating poverty, writes Chesa Boudin in the Nation.
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-- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org