Taliban pledges cease-fire in NW Pakistan area

Taliban pledges cease-fire in NW Pakistan area: "KHAR, Pakistan — A Taliban commander announced a unilateral cease-fire Monday in a northwestern Pakistan region where the military says it has killed around 1,500 militants in an ongoing offensive."

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

U.S., Iraqis launch anti-al-Qaida offensive

U.S., Iraqis launch anti-al-Qaida offensive: "BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi forces have started a new military offensive in northern Iraq aimed at rooting out al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday."

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

BBC: Iran sought deal over nuclear program

BBC: Iran sought deal over nuclear program: "Iran in 2005 approached the West with an offer: 'We stop killing you in Iraq, stop undermining the political process there, you allow us to carry on with our nuclear program,' British diplomat John Sawers told the BBC in an interview that aired Saturday. Tehran began shopping its offer around Europe after the U.S. accused Iran of aiding the Iraqi insurgency.

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(Via CNN.com.)

Official: Pentagon reports says Gitmo humane

Official: Pentagon reports says Gitmo humane: "WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says the Guantanamo Bay prison meets the standard for humane treatment laid out in the Geneva Conventions, according to a report for President Barack Obama, who has ordered the terrorist detention center closed within a year."

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Iran close to having the bomb

GTON (CNN) -- Iranian scientists have reached "nuclear weapons breakout capability," according to a new report based on findings of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.


A building housing the reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the Iranian port town of Bushehr.

The Institute for Science and International Security report concludes Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon but does have enough low-enriched uranium for a single nuclear weapon.

The type of uranium the International Atomic Energy Agency report says Iran has would have to be further enriched to make it weapons-grade.

The institute drew its conclusions from an IAEA report dated February 19, 2009. An official in the IAEA confirmed the authenticity of the report for CNN, but didn't want to be named.

The IAEA report is posted on the Web site of ISIS, a Washington-based non-profit and non-partisan institution focused on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.

It also finds that while Iran has dramatically increased installation of centrifuges that can be used for enriching uranium -- from 4,000 to 5,400 -- its scientists aren't using the new units yet. They remain in "research and development mode."

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In the IAEA report, the agency also says no substantive progress has been made in resolving issues about possible "military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has consistently denied the weapons allegations, calling them "baseless" and "fabricated."