Military Aid

The Obama administration has begun sending arms aid to the beleaguered government of Somalia, officials said Thursday, in an escalation of its commitment to one of the world's most troubled states. State Department officials said the support was intended to help sustain a transitional government that is steadily losing ground to Islamic militants in fighting that has been catastrophic for civilians.

Artillery and gunfire echoed through the mountains of northern Iraq on Monday during continued clashes between invading Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels, with Turkey saying that 153 guerrillas had been killed in four days. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani suggested that the United States should do more to stop the fighting, which has left villagers stranded by bombed-out bridges. "They are the greatest force on the ground. They have certain obligations," Bolani said Monday of the U.S.

The Pentagon has rejected or deferred millions of dollars in military aid requests from Pakistan amid criticism that the Islamabad government has squandered U.S. funding and allowed Al Qaeda to rebuild a haven in its western tribal regions. In February, the Defense Department turned down or delayed more than $81 million requested by Pakistan, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

Residents of New Baqubah woke up Wednesday to a sight they had never seen before: hundreds of Iraqi national police officers blanketing the neighborhood in a city that until last year was a center of the Sunni Arab-driven insurgency. For many of them, it was not a comforting sight. Most of the upscale neighborhood's doctors, teachers and retired military officers are Sunni Muslims, and the force sent from Baghdad to protect them is overwhelmingly Shiite Muslim.

With President Bush warning Russia that its push into Georgia could jeopardize relations with the U.S. and Europe, the administration signaled Monday that any retribution would be aimed at the Russian economy and prestige. Russia's pummeling of Georgian troops has left Washington with few palatable military options, said administration officials who requested anonymity when discussing internal policy decisions.

President Bush escalated the American response Wednesday to Russian military action in Georgia, ordering a humanitarian aid effort and dispatching Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the stricken region as Pentagon officials announced plans to rebuild the Georgian military. Speaking in the Rose Garden, Bush accused Russia of seizing territory in Georgia and continuing its military campaign despite agreeing to a cease-fire.

Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland, a plan that has infuriated Moscow and sparked fears in Europe of a new arms race. Washington says the planned system, which is not yet operational, is needed to protect the U.S. and Europe from possible attacks by missile-armed "rogue states," such as Iran.

By launching a war against Somalia's Islamists, Ethiopia says it was drawing a line in the sand against religious extremism in East Africa. But without quick diplomacy and international aid, analysts caution that the war could radicalize the region's traditionally moderate Muslims. "This could bode ill for both Somalia and eastern Ethiopia, but perhaps even northern Kenya," said John Prendergast, Africa analyst at International Crisis Group, a conflict-resolution think tank based in Washington.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed deep concern Friday over the stability of Afghanistan, and a top U.S. military official said additional troops might be needed to strengthen the government in Kabul, which is under growing pressure from Taliban forces. Gates plans to travel soon to the region to look for ways to aid the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The Bush administration will seek $10.6 billion more in aid for Afghanistan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday, in another sign that the White House is deepening its commitment in the Central Asian nation in response to growing concern over a Taliban resurgence. The proposal for additional money came the same week the Pentagon announced plans to extend the deployment of 3,200 troops in the country and amid a broad rethinking of the American strategy for dealing with Afghanistan.