Counter-terrorism expert Roger Carstens, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, speaks to Daljit Daliwal about the potential for translating military tactics from Iraq to Afghanistan and considers whether or not India is on the verge of a strike against Pakistan.

Senior “Iraq Index” author Michael O’Hanlon joins Martin Savidge to discuss the conditions in Iraq, the successes and failures of the surge and the progress of the Iraqi government.

They discuss U.S. plans to move more troops into Afghanistan, Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari’s claims that he is taking steps against terrorism amid questions about his government’s effectiveness and Zimbabwe’s continued cholera crisis.

Gordon Lubold of The Christian Science Monitor traveled with NATO forces in Afghanistan and discusses efforts to evaluate security in the country, and Jeff Stein of Congressional Quarterly discusses Pakistani militants that have stepped up attacks on NATO supply lines to Afghanistan.

Former U.S. Army officer John Nagl, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, met with General McKiernan last month and speaks with Martin Savidge about the threat posed in Afghanistan and why these troops are needed.

U.S. aid packages to Pakistan may soon depend on Pakistan’s effectiveness in fighting terrorism, according to The New York Times. On both Sunday and Monday, suspected militants attacked NATO supply depots in Peshawar.

Ahmad Kamal, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United Nations, speaks with Martin Savidge about these developments.

Amit Pandya, a senior associate at Stimson, a global security think tank, discusses Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the extent to which his government can add meaningful value to the investigation.

Jeff Stein of Congressional Quarterly continues the discussion of Pakistan’s possible role in last week’s Mumbai attacks, evaluating the ability and willingness of Pakistani officials to help fight terrorism in the region.

Thomas Sanderson, the deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, assesses the accuracy of the accusation and comments on Pakistan’s commitment to anti-terrorism.

Sanderson explains why these attacks are being described as “inspirational” for other terrorist groups and asserts that this type of terror is combated with intelligence.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to India to try and calm the situation amid reports that Indian leader Manmohan Singh is boosting military forces on the Pakistani border.

Princeton University’s Zia Mian joins Martin Savidge to discuss the tension between these two countries and explain how Pakistan can demonstrate its commitment to stopping terrorism.

Jeff Stein, who follows national security matters for Congressional Quarterly and writes a column called “Spy Talk,” speaks with Martin Savidge about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the changes we can expect from the Obama administration.

Karen DeYoung, a senior correspondent with The Washington Post, discusses Obama’s plans, potential dialogue with the Taliban and troop movement from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times speaks with Martin Savidge about the nature of these previously undisclosed attacks, missions that were called off and how the Obama administration will likely handle similar terror targets.

Pakistan’s former UN ambassador Ahmad Kamal speaks with Martin Savidge about U.S.-Pakistan relations. Kamal explains that the word “tension” may be too strong to describe the relationship, as Pakistan must ensure its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Siobhan Gorman, an Intelligence and Homeland Security correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, speaks with Martin Savidge about the shift in strategy, which involves engaging in talks with an armed group that actively harbored al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Gorman considers why the two groups might trust each other and how this relates to the U.S. plan to work with tribal leaders.  She explains that such efforts would require that the Taliban stop attacking U.S. and NATO troops.

Martin Savidge speaks with Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University, about the significance of the raid and what future U.S. treatment of Syria could look like. Haykel says Syria’s cooperation with the American “War on Terror” has slowly declined and could possibly come to an end.

Bernard Haykel, Princeton University professor of Near Eastern studies, speculates that al-Qaeda is responsible for the new wave of violence in Iraq. As the U.S. hands back security services to Iraqis, Haykel sees the attacks as an attempt to destabilize the country.

Poland’s government knew all about ‘secret’ CIA prisons?

Radio Zet has alleged that top ministers in the previous Law and Justice government were shown a report back in 2006 detailing the existence of those illusive CIA prisons in Poland used to detain Islamist terrorist suspects.

The names who saw and authored the report will be familiar to regular readers of this blog.

The author was our old friend Roman Giertych, who was heading a committee on the activities of Poland’s secret services at the time.

His report, written sometime in 2006 - confirming allegations made by Human Rights Watch back in late 2005 - was seen by Zbigniew Ziobro, state prosecutor Janusz Kaczmarek and special services coordinator Zbigniew Wasserman.

Crucially, today’s allegations have neither been confirmed nor denied by the present state prosecutor, Marek Staszak.

My understanding of the evidence collected by the Council of Europe’s report - which supported the original allegations made by the NGO and the Washington Post - you can see here and here.

Government ministers, and former president Aleksander Kwasniewski have always denied the allegations, dismissing them as nonsense.

In May 2007, the U.N. Committee Against Torture called on the Law and Justice government to disclose information gathered by Poland’s parliamentary committee on the CIA prisons issue. Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski dismissed the request: “The matter is now closed,” he said. But if the parliamentary committee had had access to the report written by Roman Giertych - and is it not too dumb to presume that they had? - then he, the prime minister, knew of the existence of these places in Poland.

To read more, visit the original post.

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Associated thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user jaroslaw poctarski under a Creative Commons license.