ISW News Roundup - May 18, 2009

May 15, 2009 Roundup                                                                       May 19, 2009 Roundup

Iraq

Reuters - Iraq sets provisional January 30 election date

New York Times - Tensions Stoked Between Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis, by Sam Dagher

RFE/RL - Companies Announce Gas Development Plan for Iraqi Kurdistan

BBC - 'Billions lost' to corruption in Iraq, by Natalia Antelava

CNN - War, recession blight job market for young Iraqis, by Yousif Bassil and Joe Sterling

Washington Post - Dispute Over Land Simmering in Iraq, by Nada Bakri

Reuters - Iraqi Special Forces on the hunt for al Qaeda, by Tim Cocks

Long War Journal - US, Iraqi forces target Syrian-based network, by Bill Roggio

Times Online UK - Iraq's fledgeling navy takes possession of its first naval patrol boat, by Richard Owen

Department of Defense - Iraqi Police, Pennsylvania Guardsmen Provide Help in Taji, by Army Cpt. Maggie White

New York Times - Iraq War Claims Its Oldest Combat Fatality, by Randal C. Archibold

Associated Press - UAE and European companies team to export Iraq gas, by Adam Schreck

Afghanistan

Reuters - Outnumbered U.S. troops defend Afghan frontier, by Laurent Hamida

RFE/RL - Afghanistan To Formalize Foreign-Troop Presence

LA Times - Afghan civilian deaths: Who is to blame? by Laura King

Reuters - Security developments in Afghanistan, May 17

Washington Times - Afghan rights group finds lower civilian toll, by Jason Motlagh

New York Times - Karzai's Brother Survives as Convoy Is Ambushed, by Abdul Waheed Wafa

Reuters - Karzai opponent says in talks to field single ticket, by Peter Graff

New York Times - No Food for Thought: The Way of the Warrior, by James Dao

Pakistan

Long War Journal - Taliban moves forces eastward into Battagram, by Bill Roggio

Associated Press - Pakistani Taliban  vow to fight until 'last breath', by Zarar Khan

Associated Press - Army targets Taliban in main Swat town

Associated Press - Taliban cools off in city hot spots, by Ashraf Khan

Reuters - Pakistan will defeat Taliban and ensure peace: PM, by Kamran Haider

CNN - Pakistan seeks national support against Taliban, by Ivan Watson

Reuters - Pakistan's Swat offensive leaves India skeptical, by Myra MacDonald

Wall Street Journal - Battle in Pakistan Scars Region, by Zahid Hussain

BBC - Struggling for survival in Swat

Reuters - More than one million displaced in Pakistan

Long War Journal - US strikes Taliban, al Qaeda in North Waziristan, by Bill Roggio

New York Times - Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says, by Thom Shankar and David E. Sanger

Region

Israel

Christian Science Monitor - Netanyahu caught between Obama, Israeli settlers, by Joshua Mitnick

Times Online UK - Barack Obama attempts to ward off disastrous military air strike on 'nuclear' Tehran, by Tim Ried

Sri Lanka

New York Times - Sri Lankans Say Rebels Crushed and Leader Killed, by Somini Sengupta and Seth Mydans