Kill or convert
American left magazine The Nation profiles "Operation Straight Up" (OSU), an official arm of the troop morale-boosting program of the US Defence Department. OSU is an evangelical entertainment troupe that actively proselytises amongst on-duty troops. With the likes of actor Stephen Baldwin and boxer Evander Holyfield involved, the group hopes to abet the "military crusade in Iraq" with juggling acts, song and dance, and a controversial, apocalyptic video game about Armageddon called Eternal Forces.
To receive our daily security briefings, click hereCritics suggest that the Bush administration's direct support for OSU's activities constitutes a severe breach of the boundaries between church and state.
Democrats battle over war on terrorism
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama forcefully defended his suggestion that US forces should be used in Pakistan's border regions when criticised by other Democratic candidates at a recent debate. "I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism," Obama said in response to the doubts of Senators Hilary Clinton and Christopher Dodds.
Pakistan's and Afghanistan's presidents will meet on Thursday with over 700 tribal leaders from the border districts of the two countries in a "peace jirga". Kabul and Islamabad hope to enlist the cooperation of local Pashtun groups in the fight against Al-Qaida and Taliban-affiliated militants.
Pakistani helicopter gunships killed several Tajiks, Arabs, Chechens and other foreign fighters in clashes in the restive northwestern regions of the country.
Eurasianet analyses the meeting of George W Bush and Hamid Karzai, as Kabul and Washington attempt to jumpstart their jaded alliance.
The Counterterrorism blog looks at the Democrats' "paradoxical" proposals for dealing with Pakistan.
Protecting America, taking liberties
openDemocracy author Aziz Huq argues against the Protect America Act 2007, which allows the warrantless surveillance of calls and emails overseas, and wonders how the Bush administration was able to snatch success from the jaws of defeat.
Al Maliki in Iran
Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki is in Iran for talks on improving security cooperation between Baghdad and Tehran. Predominantly Shia Iran and the Shia-dominated government of Iraq have grown increasingly close bitter legacy of the eight year war both nations fought in the 1980s.
US officials again pointed the finger at Iran, suggesting that the sophisticated bombs used by insurgents against American troops had been supplied by Iran.
Iranian authorities closed Shargh, a reformist paper, after it published an interview with an Iranian poet living in exile who writes on female sexuality.
A three-day curfew has fallen over Baghdad in an effort to protect pilgrims travelling to the Imam Musa Kadhim shrine during a major Shia religious festival.
A traumatised generation
Le Monde Diplo looks at the "traumatised generation" of Arabs who have emerged from the wreckage of Arab nationalism into a world increasingly dominated by faith.
Dispatches accused of distortion
Police in the UK's West Midlands considered charging Channel 4 for broadcasting material that might "stir racial hatred" after investigators found that its Dispatches program "Undercover Mosque" misrepresented the statements of members of Birmingham's Muslim community. The documentary sought to show the extent of militant radicalisation in a Birmingham mosque by taking remarks out of context.
Insurgency round-up
Rebels in the ethnic Somali region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia have warned oil companies from coming to the area. Earlier this year, rebels took Chinese oil-workers hostage.
Algerian forces killed 9 rebels in the restive Kabylie region in an offensive against Islamist militants linked with al-Qaida.
Philippine soldiers claim to have killed four militants of the Abu Sayyaf group - linked with al-Qaida and Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah - in the southern Philippine island of Jolo. The recent government offensive has displaced thousands of people.
