AFGHANISTAN: Can the U.S. kill its way to victory?

As the debate over revamping U.S. policy in Afghanistan intensifies, Bing West has checked in with strong views.

West -- a Marine veteran of Vietnam, former assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration and author of three books and numerous articles on the war in Iraq -- takes aim at two assertions that seem, to him, to be morphing into givens.

One is that the "surge" tactics used in Iraq won't work in Afghanistan because of differences in terrain and other factors.

The second, as expressed by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is that military power alone won't crush the enemy -- that improving the political and physical infrastructure of Afghanistan is equally important.

West thinks both ideas are wrongheaded.

His views often are consistent with those privately held by many -- although maybe not all -- Marine brass.

SYRIA: Still fuming over U.S. raid

Damascus may be considering tweaking Washington and Baghdad a bit more over the recent raid by U.S. Special Forces that Syria claims killed eight people, mostly civilians, in a town near its border with Iraq. Washington says one of those killed was a senior Al Qaeda operative responsible for smuggling weapons and fighters into Iraq.

Syrian private media outlets are reporting that Syria may be withdrawing some of its military forces from the border. The TV channel Donia reported that witnesses saw Syrian border guards "packing and dismantling guarding tents in a number of points on the Syrian Iraqi borders."

Such a step would likely set back efforts to stem border infiltration by Iraqi-bound militants, a key demand for years by Washington and Baghdad. The TV report was not confirmed. A Syrian Foreign Ministry source told The Times that the media reports are "not official and the information is broadcast by private channels."

IRAQ: Master sergeant deploys to Congress

When a bullet from an insurgent sniper in Ramadi cost Marine Master Sgt. William "Spanky" Gibson his left leg in 2006, it did not change his desire to stay at the front.

And so, less than two years after the incident, Gibson redeployed to Fallouja, the first above-the-knee amputee to return for duty in Iraq.

In March, on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President Bush paid tribute to Gibson, saying that with Americans like him serving in Iraq, the enemy didn't have a chance.

Soon Gibson's nine-month deployment will be over and he'll return to Camp Pendleton. His newest assignment will be yet another first.

IRAN: No Afghan peace without Tehran, former Reagan administration official says

Another day, another horrific attack in Afghanistan.

This time a suicide bomber managed to get inside Kabul's heavily-guarded Information and Culture Ministry building and blow himself to smithereens, killing at least three other people, according to a report from Kabul by the Los Angeles Times' Laura King.

With Iraq appearing to simmer down, Afghanistan will continue as one of the greatest challenges for the next president.

According to an Oct. 24 opinion article in the Boston Globe, written by former Reagan administration diplomat Lawrence J. Kolb and his colleague Laura Conley, there will be no peace in Afghanistan unless the U.S. comes to terms with Iran, which now holds enormous sway over certain parts of the country.

Korb and Conley argue that the U.S. botched an opportunity to reward Iran's good behavior in 2001, when it helped Washington overthrow the Taliban. If the U.S. wants to win in Afghanistan, it must talk with Iran, they argue:

ISRAEL: Absentee voting exit polls

Update on the overseas vote from Israel (see previous post):

The exit polls show a very strong preference for John McCain over Barack Obama. The polls, carried out   and analyzed by Keevoon, a Jerusalem-based research, strategy and communications firm, indicate that 76% of the polled voters in Israel said they voted for Republican candidate John McCain; 24% said they cast their ballot in favor the Democrat, Barack Obama. The information is based on data collected from 817 absentee voters at several voting events in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv as well as an online survey.

A few interesting figures about the voters:

• A clear correlation was noted between religious observance and voting pattern.
• Turnout among young voters ages 18 to 34 was high (37%)
• 31% were first-time voters
• 25% have lived in Israel for more than 15 years, 33% less than one year
• 52% are also Israeli citizens
• Half are either independent or not registered with either party

EGYPT: Toys in Gaza's tunnels

All kinds of things are hustled through the ragged tunnels beneath Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip: militants, weapons, medicine, migrants, tools and livestock. The other day Egyptian security officials arrested smugglers trafficking toys to Palestinian children.

Agence French-Presse reported that the “smugglers were nabbed after emerging from a tunnel, which they were using to slip a large quantity of children’s toys into the coastal strip.”

Israel, which sealed the borders to Gaza after the radical group Hamas took control of the territory in 2007, and the U.S. have blamed the tunnels for a flow of weapons. The underground labyrinth bustles with masked men, shovels, buckets of dirt and pirated electricity.

A recent United Nations report described the tunnels as a “vital lifeline” for goods to reach Gaza. Thousands of people are believed to work in the sprawling network. Since January, 40 people have died in collapses, shootings and other mishaps in the tunnels.

--Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: A smuggler descending into a Gaza tunnel. Credit: Associated Press

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IRAQ: Market in ruins after bulldozers move in

The day started like every other in Hurriya, a working-class district in Baghdad. By 7 a.m., vendors had begun opening the stalls that line the sidewalks and offer makeup, books, toys, phones and just about anything else to shoppers browsing one of the neighborhood's informal outdoor markets.

But at about 2 p.m., bulldozers guarded by Iraqi security forces showed up. Some witnesses said U.S. troops also were present. The heavy machines moved quickly to destroy the illegal marketplace, which had grown to cover a large section of sidewalk and is similar to scores of others across the capital.

The vendors manning the illegal stalls are not uneducated. Most of those in Hurriya have university degrees or at least high school diplomas, but they have been unable to find decent jobs because of the effect of the war on Iraq's economy. For those who have jobs, the pay often is not enough to support a family and pay for a home, so they turned to street-selling to supplement their incomes.

IRAQ: Navy to name ship after SEAL awarded Medal of Honor

The Navy will name a Zumwalt-class destroyer after a SEAL who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for diving on a grenade to save three buddies during a firefight in Ramadi, Iraq.

"Michael Monsoor's name will now be linked with one of our nation's most visible examples of military power — a U.S. Navy warship," Navy Secretary Donald Winter said in announcing the decision Wednesday night.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Monsoor died in 2006 while smothering an insurgent grenade that had been hurled at SEALs who were providing rooftop overwatch for Army troops. He was 25.

ISRAEL: Americans in Israel vote

" Veteran voters Dena Lerner Voting for Obama Ballot balagan Obama Girl, Tery (left)  Exit poll team Straight into the box Nancy Statfield

The third floor of Jerusalem's Orthodox Union building was packed Tuesday evening. A cross section of Americans living in Israel patiently stood in a long line wrapped around the corridor, waiting to enter the room and juggle pens, passports and papers to cast their vote in the U.S. presidential elections.

The obvious questions of who they voted for and why will be answered by the exit polls analysis Thursday. But beyond that, the occasion offers an interesting window into the life of Americans living in Israel, their ties to the U.S. and how they perceive their civic rights and duties.

'Israeliness' is popularly defined more by the experience than the citizenship. But a considerable part of being American is defined by citizenship, an apparent technicality but representing a code of values. American immigrants -- recent and veteran -- retain their citizenship. And this, with its rights and responsibilities, is not taken lightly -- including voting.

Many American immigrants to Israel have left behind families, assets and many practical domestic concerns. Physically moving to Israel weakens neither emotional ties nor a strong civic sense of belonging. Voting is as much a part of good citizenship as paying U.S. taxes, which most living in Israel do too.

Why vote? Becase we can, says Dena Lerner, whose organization votefromisrael.org organized the event. "As American citizens, we have the opportunity to impact the world. Why would anyone allow such an opportunity and privilege to fall by the wayside?" she asks incredulously. Every vote counts.

Dena moved from the San Fernando Valley seven years ago. Two months ago, after learning over dinner that friends were indifferent to the campaign and voting, Dena founded VoteFromIsrael -- a nonpartisan organization encouraging U.S. citizens to vote and assisting with registration and bureaucratic procedures.

250,000 U.S. citizens live in Israel. Half are eligible voters, many from important swing states such as Florida and Ohio. About 42,000 are registered voters, one of the largest groups of overseas voters. In only a few weeks, the organization of volunteers held registration drives, helped nearly 10,000 people process their forms and held voting events. Many, especially older voters, are grateful for the personal touch.

"Elections are increasingly more important in terms of the world and the people offering their services. The stakes grow higher each time," said Nancy Statfield, who moved from New York three years ago. As a citizen and taxpayer, Nancy believes her voice has a right to be heard on matters. And until America's deep involvement in Israeli politics changes, she is well within her moral right to vote too. For her, it was more of a matter of who not to vote for. "I have too many question marks about [Barack] Obama. He is untested, literally came out of nowhere. He has too many relations with people and organizations I consider questionable, and I do not feel he represents my interests as a Jew, whether American, Israeli or both."

Most of the support for Obama seemed to come from the younger voters and the student body. One young woman was wearing an "Obama for yo Mama" T-shirt. A young man chanting O-ba-ma! was politely shushed at the nonpartisan event.

SYRIA: Did Damascus green-light U.S. attack?

Everyone's still scratching their heads about Sunday's dramatic U.S. attack on a Syrian village five miles from the Iraqi border.

Plenty of unanswered questions remain, like why didn't the Syrians do anything to thwart the Americans, such as launching anti-aircraft batteries deployed along their border?

Ronen Bergman, an Israeli intelligence expert and author of the recent "The Secret War with Iran," speculates that Syria green-lighted the U.S. operation.

In an interview with an Israeli newspaper and in a chat with Britain's Sky News, Bergman cites two senior American officials who he says told him the Americans went after an alleged Al Qaeda leader in Syria only after getting Damascus' OK.

He says the Syrians were at first reluctant to appear to be submitting to U.S. pressure by going after the guy themselves. In the end, they discretely gave the Americans permission to cross their border and hunt him down ...