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AP Photo Shane Harris DEVIL’S DUE 07.14.15 7:00 PM ET John Kerry denied it. So did Iran’s foreign minister. But the world’s most notorious spymaster stands to benefit—big time—from the accord with Tehran. Among the big winners in the  agreement  to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, count a notorious and shadowy Iranian general who helped Shiite militias in Iraq kill American soldiers and who has come to the rescue of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. You’ll find his name,  Qasem Soleimani , buried in an annex ( PDF ) of the unremittingly dense  Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action , along with some of his colleagues from the senior ranks of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as its various divisions and corporate fronts. They’ll all be granted some sanctions relief as part of the U.S.-brokered deal to  curtail Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon . That Soleimani—who runs Iran’s elite paramilitary and covert operations group, the Quds F...

• Iraq total also up despite pull-out & middot • Annual bill for conflicts hits £4.5bn The cost of Britain's military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq this financial year has soared to more than £4.5bn, an annual increase of more than 50%, figures released yesterday reveal. Operations in southern Afghanistan accounted for a little over half, nearly £2.6bn, compared with £1.5bn last year. Most of the money was spent on providing tougher armoured vehicles for soldiers who face a growing threat of roadside bombs. Surprisingly, as the government prepares to withdraw from Basra, the cost of Britain's military presence in southern Iraq this year increased to nearly £2bn, compared with less than £1.5bn last year, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Defence. Much of that increase was accounted for by what defence officials called "impairment" - writing off the value of equipment such as Warrior fighting vehicles which are judged not to be worth the expe...

There are conflicting signals about what is happening inside the Zardari government, and mixed signals on U.S. and India. Pakistani experts are now convinced that India's 'evidence' regarding Mumbai is not watertight. But a pro-U.S. core within the Pakistani government is preventing Islamabad from talking openly about it. The Pakistani media and political class remain confused about priorities, discussing nonissues such as the marks of a daughter of a senior judge and political backstabbing when the country faces a gathering storm on its international borders. The debate within military circles is substantive. But the military won't intervene. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— There are some indications that the Zardari government is taking a tougher line toward India and toward the proxy U.S. pressure regarding the Mumbai attacks and the U.S. attacks inside Pakistan. This change, if real, contrasts sharply with the initial passive attitude of the members of the government...

International attorneys have filed war crime charges against 15 Israeli political and military officials including Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak. Palestinian and international efforts continue to institute legal proceedings for the prosecution of Israeli officials in the commission of war crimes. Although Israeli forces are involved in thousands of cases, local experts such as the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights believe that the recent major attacks on the Gaza Strip will be successfully prosecuted. "They were well-documented, televised and the world was paying attention," a member of the Gaza City team commented. After the very public detection of large-scale atrocities which included the use of white phosphorus bombs in enclosed civilian areas and the liquidation of children there is little defense, PNN reported. Fifteen specific names are now pending for prosecution in The Hague's war crimes tribunal. Those listed for prosecution include Israeli politica...

From : Letters to the Editor section, Published in The Dawn , Pakistan,6 Dec 08 READING Qamar Iqbal's letter, 'Mumbai: India blames Pakistan' , and the several reports titled , (i) ' India sending top official to US' , (ii) 'The misplaced hype about Faridko't , (iii) 'Gunmen spoke Hindi with strong Punjabi, north Indian accent' and (iv) 'Taj hotel was warned of attack' , (all in Dawn's Dec 1 issue), only strengthened my earlier conclusions. Going by some of the past actions of the Indians, I had already suspected that the attacks on Mumbai had been engineered by New Delhi in order to ward off the immense and increasing pressure it has been coming under on two accounts. First, the peaceful and massive uprising in Kashmir in recent months has caught the Indian establishment and even the independence-minded Kashmiri leaders by surprise. What is worse, some Indian intellectuals and rights activists, too, are now demanding of their leaders...