US Marines – A description of a US Marine ambush of a Taliban convoy near Kandahar. The US Marines are being used not for set piece battles, but instead as special forces.

• New York Times: The Marines’ 21st-Century Beachhead Is Far Inland

Japanese Coast Guard – The Japanese Coast Guard has attacked and sunk a ship of unidentified nationality that was in its exclusive economic zone.

• BBC: Japan fires on ‘intruding’ boat
  

• BBC: Japan searches for boat crew
  

Background – Diego Garcia – Citizens of Diego Garcia have filed a class-action suit against the US Government for reparations after being forcibly removed from their home islands.

• Washington Post: Islanders Sue U.S. Over Relocation

Background – Next Step Iraq? – It will be difficult to overthrow Saddam Hussein using the strategy used in Afghanistan – Special Forces and airpower coupled with locally raised armies. The reason is there is no longer any organized resistance Iraq.

• New Yorker: The Iraq Hawks