AFGHANISTAN -- McCONNELL SAYS AFGHAN GOVERNMENT CONTROLS ONLY 30 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY: During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said that "[t]he Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country," "the resurgent Taliban controls 10 percent to 11 percent of the country," and that "the majority of Afghanistan's population remains under local tribal control." Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples told the same committee that "Pakistani military operations in the [region] have not fundamentally damaged al-Qaeda's position" and tribal areas in Afghanistan "remain largely ungovernable and, as such, they will continue to provide vital sanctuary to al-Qaida, the Taliban and regional extremism more broadly." The last 12 months have seen the worst violence in Afghanistan since 2001, when U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power. More on the current state of Afghanistan here.

JUSTICE -- FORMER GUANTANAMO PROSECUTOR TO TESTIFY IN DETAINEE'S DEFENSE: Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, has agreed to testify on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver and a detainee facing trial. Davis explained that, though he will not argue for Hamdan's innocence, he is concerned about "a potential for rigged outcomes" in Guantanamo's military commissions, and that he had "significant doubts about whether it will deliver full, fair and open hearings." Davis resigned his prosecutorial post in October, protesting his placement under the command of torture advocate Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes. Last week Davis noted Haynes had specifically said that the military commissions at Guantanamo could not result in acquittals. "[W]e've got to have convictions," Haynes apparently told Davis. Davis has also objected to the political timing of the prosecution of Australian native David Hicks, the first Guantanamo detainee sentenced by a military commission. Davis said "he felt pressure to pursue" high-profile convictions" ahead of the 2008 elections.

IRAQ -- ADDITIONAL REVIEW ORDERED FOR U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD: The massive $740 billion U.S. embassy in Baghdad has been has been saddled with delays from the start. Originally scheduled for completion last June, work is now being overseen by the State Department's embassy construction chief, Richard Shinnick. Shinnick ordered another review of the facility but refused to set a target deadline for completion "because past deadlines have forced a rush to complete the embassy's defective work." Shinnick's predecessor, Army Gen. Charles Williams, ignored fire experts that told him the facility's fire safety system was substandard, in order to rush completion of the project. Shinnick has ordered a re-certification of the project's completion, voiding the certification issued by Williams. The construction of the embassy, which Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called "a deviation from the plan that we'd agreed to," is at the center of a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. The State Department hopes to have the embassy completed by March 31.

AFGHANISTAN -- McCONNELL SAYS AFGHAN GOVERNMENT CONTROLS ONLY 30 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY: During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said that "[t]he Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country," "the resurgent Taliban controls 10 percent to 11 percent of the country," and that "the majority of Afghanistan's population remains under local tribal control." Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples told the same committee that "Pakistani military operations in the [region] have not fundamentally damaged al-Qaeda's position" and tribal areas in Afghanistan "remain largely ungovernable and, as such, they will continue to provide vital sanctuary to al-Qaida, the Taliban and regional extremism more broadly." The last 12 months have seen the worst violence in Afghanistan since 2001, when U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power. More on the current state of Afghanistan here.

JUSTICE -- FORMER GUANTANAMO PROSECUTOR TO TESTIFY IN DETAINEE'S DEFENSE: Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, has agreed to testify on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver and a detainee facing trial. Davis explained that, though he will not argue for Hamdan's innocence, he is concerned about "a potential for rigged outcomes" in Guantanamo's military commissions, and that he had "significant doubts about whether it will deliver full, fair and open hearings." Davis resigned his prosecutorial post in October, protesting his placement under the command of torture advocate Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes. Last week Davis noted Haynes had specifically said that the military commissions at Guantanamo could not result in acquittals. "[W]e've got to have convictions," Haynes apparently told Davis. Davis has also objected to the political timing of the prosecution of Australian native David Hicks, the first Guantanamo detainee sentenced by a military commission. Davis said "he felt pressure to pursue" high-profile convictions" ahead of the 2008 elections.

IRAQ -- ADDITIONAL REVIEW ORDERED FOR U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD: The massive $740 billion U.S. embassy in Baghdad has been has been saddled with delays from the start. Originally scheduled for completion last June, work is now being overseen by the State Department's embassy construction chief, Richard Shinnick. Shinnick ordered another review of the facility but refused to set a target deadline for completion "because past deadlines have forced a rush to complete the embassy's defective work." Shinnick's predecessor, Army Gen. Charles Williams, ignored fire experts that told him the facility's fire safety system was substandard, in order to rush completion of the project. Shinnick has ordered a re-certification of the project's completion, voiding the certification issued by Williams. The construction of the embassy, which Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called "a deviation from the plan that we'd agreed to," is at the center of a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. The State Department hopes to have the embassy completed by March 31.