AFGHANISTAN

Karzai's Attempt To Control Inquiries Worries U.S.
(Washington Post)
By Karen DeYoung
Obama administration officials fear that a move by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to assert control over U.S.-backed corruption investigations might provoke the biggest crisis in U.S.-Afghan relations since last year's fraud-riddled election and could further threaten congressional approval of billions of dollars in pending aid.

Afghans Say NATO Strikes Killed Civilians
(New York Times)
By Rod Nordland
NATO officials acknowledged preliminary reports that four to a dozen or more civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike Thursday in Nangarhar Province. Afghan accounts put the civilian deaths as high as 32.

Raid Kills Afghan Civilians
(Los Angeles Times)
By Laura King
This has been one of the most violent summers of the nine-year war, with both soldiers and civilians dying in record numbers. Fighting is also spreading to parts of the country beyond the traditional insurgent strongholds in the south and east.

Taliban Suicide Bomber Strikes Afghan Police In Kunduz
(LongWarJournal.org)
By Bill Roggio
Seven Afghan policemen were killed in a suicide bombing today in the northern province of Kunduz, and the Taliban have taken credit for the attack.

Women Candidates In Afghanistan Travel A Dangerous Campaign Trail
(PoliticsDaily.com)
By Heather Somerville
Afghan women running in the country's parliamentary elections in September face security threats that make campaigning difficult, and at times impossible. Female candidates have reported receiving verbal threats and "night letters" from the Taliban that threaten violence if they don't stop their efforts, according to nonprofits working in the country.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

U.S. Tells WikiLeaks To Return Afghan War Logs
(New York Times)
By Eric Schmitt
The Pentagon demanded on Thursday that WikiLeaks “do the right thing” and remove from its Web site tens of thousands of classified documents about the war in Afghanistan, and return to the military thousands of others that it had not yet made public.

U.S. Asks WikiLeaks To Return War Logs
(Wall Street Journal)
By Julian E. Barnes
"We are asking them to do the right thing," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary. "This is the appropriate course of action, given the damage that has already been done."

Pentagon Demands WikiLeaks Reports
(Washington Post)
By Craig Whitlock
Morrell acknowledged that the "genie is out of the bottle" in regard to the more than 70,000 reports that are not only posted on the WikiLeaks site, but have since been copied and downloaded by people all over the world. He said the Pentagon is primarily interested in blocking the release of the 15,000 other documents.

Military Orders All Personnel To Stay Away From WikiLeaks Site
(Washington Times)
By Rowan Scarborough
The U.S. armed services are issuing internal messages to all personnel barring them from visiting the WikiLeaks website, which recently posted 77,000 classified diplomatic and military messages on the long war in Afghanistan.

NORAD To Hold First Joint Exercise With Russia
(Colorado Springs Gazette)
By Lance Benzel
The exercise — nicknamed Vigilant Eagle — will take place from Aug. 8 to 11 and involves Russian, Canadian and U.S. Air Force personnel operating from command centers in Russia and the U.S.

LEGAL AFFAIRS

Alarms Sound Over Trash Fires In War Zones
(Washington Post)
By Maria Glod
Lawsuit links illnesses to burn pits used in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Court Orders VA To Act On New Agent Orange Findings
(Newport News Daily Press)
By Tom Philpott
An estimated 200,000 Vietnam veterans suffering from three diseases newly associated with exposure to Agent Orange are closer to receiving disability compensation following an appeals court order Aug. 2 directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a final implementing regulation within 30 days.

PAKISTAN

U.S. Army Helps Rescue Victims, Deliver Aid In Pakistani Flooding
(Washington Post)
By Griff Witte
The U.S. Army joined efforts Thursday to rescue and provide aid to some of the 4 million people affected by flooding that continues to cause massive devastation as it spreads across Pakistan.

IRAQ

Saddam's Deputy: U.S. Troop Pullout Will Destroy Iraq
(The Guardian (UK))
By Martin Chulov
Saddam Hussein's most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz, has accused Barack Obama of 'leaving Iraq to the wolves' by pressing ahead with a withdrawal of combat troops in the face of festering instability and a surge in violence.

Gunmen Kill Three In Baghdad Heist
(Associated Press)
Gunmen stormed a Baghdad money exchange and killed three people yesterday, the latest in a spate of brash daylight robberies of banks and financial centers in the Iraqi capital. Insurgents said to be short on cash to fund their operations have been blamed for many of the heists.

ARMY

Forced Military Extension To End
(USA Today)
By Tom Vanden Brook
The number of Army soldiers forced to serve beyond their commitment has been cut in half in the past year and is on track to be eliminated by March 2011, Pentagon records and interviews show.

Survival Training For Civilian Life
(USA Today)
By Haley Blum
A federal program is easing the transition of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans into civilian life, providing employment classes, job-search assistance and other services.

Cancer-Cluster Theory On Paper, Rage In His Heart
(Washington Post)
By Petula Dvorak
Over their fences, at community picnics but mostly at funerals, the people of one Frederick neighborhood near Fort Detrick wondered whether it was just a horrible coincidence that so many of them had cancer.

Doctor Charged With Disobeying Orders
(Washington Times)
An Army doctor has been charged with disobeying orders after failing to show up for duty in Afghanistan and questioning whether President Obama has the right to order him there. Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at Fort Belvoir, Va.

NAVY

Sailor Who Stabbed Shipmate Convicted In 2nd Trial
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)
By Kate Wiltrout
Almost two years after a Navy judge found Seaman Richard Mott guilty of attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, he got a second chance this week to plead his case before a new judge and a military jury.

AIR FORCE

WPAFB Former Top Enlisted Man Gurney To Be Court-Martialed
(Dayton Daily News)
By John Nolan
The Air Force Materiel Command’s former top enlisted man at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will be tried in a military court in December on charges he had sex with Air Force women, used his influence to try to have women assigned to his area, and mistreated subordinates.

MILITARY COMMISSIONS

Pentagon May Change Rules For Covering Guantanamo Trials
(McClatchy Newspapers)
By Lesley Clark
"We're definitely committed to operational security concerns, as well as concerns for journalists to cover the hearings as best they can," said Tanya Bradsher, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense.

CONGRESS

Petraeus' Replacement At Central Command Confirmed
(Associated Press)
The Senate has confirmed the man chosen by President Obama to replace Gen. David Petraeus as head of the U.S. Central Command. Gen. James Mattis, a tough-talking Marine, helped lead the invasion of Iraq.

Wolf Seeks 'Fresh Eyes' On Mission In Afghanistan
(Washington Times)
By Ashish Kumar Sen
Nine years into the war in Afghanistan, the American people and their elected representatives still do not have a clear sense of U.S. goals in the region, a senior House Republican says in a letter to President Obama.

New Spymaster Wins Senate Nod
(Wall Street Journal)
By Siobhan Gorman
James Clapper won Senate approval Thursday to become the government's top spymaster after running a gauntlet of lawmaker concerns and overcoming last-minute barriers from Republicans.

MILITARY

Vet Death Benefits Wake Up Panel
(Bloomberg News)
By Tony Capaccio and David Evans
The VA says it is examining life insurance practices, with backing by Cabinet members charged with overseeing the program.

ASIA/PACIFIC

U.S. To Send Aircraft Carrier Into Waters Off China For Drills
(Bloomberg News)
By Bomi Lim
“Part of the sequence of exercises that we conduct will be a return of the George Washington, including exercising in the Yellow Sea,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters yesterday in Washington, referring to the strip of water between the Korean peninsula and China. There will be more joint maneuvers over the “next several months,” both in the peninsula’s western and eastern waters, he said.

As The U.S. Wanes, China Gains
(The Australian)
By Cameron Stewart
Beneath the radar, almost by stealth, the tectonic plates of power are shifting in the Pacific Ocean. A resurgent China is baring its teeth at the once indomitable U.S. Pacific fleet.

U.S. To Send Envoy To Hiroshima Ceremony
(Wall Street Journal)
By Kathy Chen and Mariko Sanchanta
The U.S. will for the first time send a representative to attend Japan's annual memorial marking America's atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in a move that could strengthen U.S. ties with Japan but one that also carries political risk for the Obama administration.

South Korea: Naval Exercises Start
(New York Times)
By Choe Sang-Hun
South Korea on Thursday began one of its largest naval exercises ever in waters near a disputed border with North Korea, despite the North’s threat to retaliate.

Iran Sees Regional Alliance To Counter NATO
(Reuters)
By Robin Pomeroy
Iran's president told the leaders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Thursday that the three neighbors could provide a counterweight to NATO in Asia once foreign troops quit the region.

MIDEAST

U.S. Considers Push For U.N. Action In Syria
(Wall Street Journal)
By Jay Solomon
The Obama administration is considering pressing the United Nations to pursue a "special inspection" of alleged Syrian nuclear sites, a senior U.S. official said Thursday, a move that could leave Damascus facing a Security Council reprimand if it doesn't comply.

Iran Signals Defiance Over Nuclear Talks
(Associated Press)
By George Jahn
As Iran and world powers prepare for new nuclear talks, letters from Tehran’s envoys to top international officials suggest little prospect of major progress, with Tehran combative and unlikely to offer any concessions.

Turkish Military's Candidate Is Blocked
(Wall Street Journal)
By Marc Champion and Erkan Öz
Turkey's government on Wednesday stymied the military's bid to choose a new top command, blocking the army's candidate to head the land forces in a move that underlined the ebbing power of the country's generals.

TERRORISM

Al-Qaida's Core Members Called Big Threat To U.S.
(Associated Press)
The Obama administration said Thursday that al-Qaida's core membership in Pakistan, along with affiliates in Africa and Yemen, poses the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States and its interests abroad.

New Al-Qaida Leader Knows U.S. Well
(Associated Press)
By Curt Anderson
A suspected al-Qaida operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network's global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attacks.

U.S. Links Suspects To Somalia
(Wall Street Journal)
By Evan Perez
Federal prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges against 14 U.S. residents and citizens, accusing them of providing money, recruits and other support to the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab.

BUSINESS

Focus On Training Helps Raytheon Sidestep Cuts
(Bloomberg News)
By Gopal Ratnam
Raytheon Co., the world’s biggest missile maker, is girding for slower growth in the U.S. weapons budget by training soldiers with technology from the movie “Avatar’’ and helping educate General Motors Co. mechanics.

Raytheon Teams Up With Lockheed To Seek Missile Contract
(Arizona Daily Star (Tucson))
By David Wichner
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Co. announced Thursday that they will team up to pursue the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense development and sustainment contract, potentially worth $600 million a year.

OPINION

End The Defense Monopolies
(Washington Post)
By John Lehman
Although it pains me to say it, sometimes Congress knows better than the Pentagon — and the fight over the Joint Strike Fighter engine is a case in point.

Iraq: Requiem For A Profound Misadventure
(Time)
By Joe Klein
The essential principle is immutable: we should never go to war unless we have been attacked or are under direct, immediate threat of attack. Never. And never again.

Can We Afford Endless War?
(Chicago Tribune)
By Steve Chapman
Minding our own business would be far cheaper — and safer.