AFGHANISTAN * While the big Spring offensive against al Qaeda has yet to start, things are heating up already. Pakistan announced an initiative of their own, but I doubt it will be sufficient to hold off the US too very long, amid concerns that Khan may have helped al Qaeda learn how to construct a dirty bomb. * As a record Afghan poppy crop near harvest, funding terror networks via the international heroin trade, the country faces a drug problem of its own. * Rantburg has more background. * NATO agrees to beef up its force in Afghanistan. but no word on who would actually send the additional troops. NATO's earlier inability to even send 12 helicopters does not bode well. IRAN * Last Friday, our Iran in Focus Regional Briefing provided in-depth coverage of recent events. * The "moderates" have caved on the issue of candidate approvals. * Protests at the Technical College of Tehran University. * The US says it has new proof of a nuclear weapons program Iran is keeping secret from the UN inspectors. * John Kerry appears to favour a softer policy toward Iran. HOMELAND SECURITY * The Chicago Tribune details the story of a large Chicago-area mosque with a long history of radical affiliations and terrorist sympathies. Not a comfortable read. * The US has clarified some of rules it will follow during upcoming military tribunals for detainees at Gitmo. * Phil Carter over at INTEL DUMP has a great discussion of Jeffrey Toobin's New Yorker article on the tribunal defense lawyers. * Germany searches mosques and is beginning to believe they have a serious problem with Islamic fanatics. Certainly this story is alarming. ISRAEL AND HER NEIGHBORS * The Palestinian Authority is in chaos: it cannot pay its employees. I bet it still pays some of them quite well. * Looks like others think so, too. 400 younger members resign from Fatah, protesting the corruption of Arafat's movement. "Fatah, as it stands today, is leading us toward tribalism, internal conflict and a bottomless pit," the statement said. * Is Sharon's proposal to dismantle Gaza settlements too little, too late for the US? One Israeli thinks Sharon is acting tactically, without the benefit of a larger strategy. * That story about the brave Palestinian swimmer's resolve in the face of arrogant Israeli suppression? Turns out it's all wet. * JK: Israel rubs out an Islamic Jihad commander. Islamic Jihad promises more terrorist strikes. As opposed to the terrorist strikes that would have followed if Israel hadn't rubbed out the terrorist commander. THE WIDER WAR * How would major shifts in weather patterns affect the war on terror? The Pentagon has some major concerns. * Reports that Islamacist terrorists have developed ways to sneak bombs onto airplanes piecewise and assemble them in flight. This fits with the bits and pieces of information we have about flights cancelled in December and January. * A Saudi leader of the Chechen Islamicists is suspected of carrying out the deadly bombing of Moscow's subway last week. * In the Andes, Bolivia's new government has troubling ties and Columbian marxist gangs are joining a reinvigorated Shining Path in Peru. This report contains more insights on the situation in the Andes - it's 2 years old but still relevant. * Meanwhile, Spain rebuffs attempts to build a European counterweight to the US, seeks to play a role in stabilizing Latin America, and may become the new home port for the US 6th fleet. * Pakistanis find counterfeiting dollars very profitable - at least, those that don't get caught in Jordan with $20 million in fake money do. Worth paying attention to, because many terrorists are turning to this as a method of financing. * Australia says Pakistani terrorists from Lakshar e Taiba have established a cell in their country and may have links to the French terrorist Brigitte, who planned to blow up a defense installation there, with the help of an ally in Sydney. Did the Aussies fail to follow up on French warnings due to undermanning? * The Filipino government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front continue their talks but are sidestepping the issue of Jemaah Islamaya training camps in MILF controlled territory. Islamacist organizations seem to be replacing the older Filipino communist groups such as the Alex Boncayao Brigade. * Sri Lanka dissolved its parliament in preparation for new elections after Kumaratunga's Sri Lanka Freedom Party formed an alliance -- the United People's Freedom Alliance -- with a powerful Marxist political party in January. Watch for more Tamil violence in protest. * Demonstrators protest what they claim was the death of civilians forced to be human shields by Indian troops in Kashmir. * Talks between Berbers and the Algerian government have collapsed, threatening elections there. The Berbers are demanding that their language be given equal status with Arabic. How this will play into the ongoing civil war there involving the al-Qaeda affiliate GSPC remains to be seen. * Egyptian President Mubarak is coming to Washington in an attempt to mend fences. * The Somali peace process is threatened but not yet dead. * Did al Qaeda buy suitcase-sized nukes from the Ukraine? A pan-Arab newspaper says they did, but the tone of the report suggests wishful thinking. They apparently are, however, trying to recruit Arab pilots (hat tip: our Dan Darling, posting over at Rantburg) * We try to close on a lighter note if possible. Here's how real men relax, Turkish style. Ahhhh .... sounds great! Thanks for reading! 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