Morning Coffee - 28 October 2009

Welcome to Morning Coffee, brought to you by Lindsay Beyerstein with additional links from the UN Dispatch team. Every morning we survey foreign affairs and foreign policy news so you don't have to. We begin with the "Starting Five" items of the day -- these may not always appear on A-1, but they *are* the kinds of stories that will be buzzing in foreign capitals, the UN and wherever foreign policy minds roam.
Starting Five
SIX UN WORKERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN - Six UN workers and four others were killed in Afghanistan when Taliban fighters attacked their guesthouse early this morning. The UN workers were election monitors. The Taliban said the attack was intended to disrupt the upcoming presidential runoff election. A UN spokeswoman said the UN has no plans to pull out of Afghanistan. Link
80 KILLED IN PESHAWAR BOMBING - At least 80 people were killed and 160 seriously injured in Peshawar as a car packed with explosives detonated in a crowded market. The attack came three hours after Secretary Clinton's arrival in Islamabad, a 90-minute drive away. Clinton said, "They know they are on the losing side of history. But they are determined to take as many lives with them as their movement is finally exposed for the nihilistic, empty effort it is." A similar attack in Peshawar earlier this month killed 48. Link
UNICEF PROBES DEATHS OF 77 BABIES IN SUDAN - UNICEF has launched an inquiry to determine why so many infants are dying at a charity orphanage in Khartoum. Seventy-seven babies died in September alone. The orphanage is not necessarily to blame. Officials say that the babies often arrive underweight and suffering from life-threatening infections. Women often abandon their infants to escape the stigma of out-of-wedlock births. Link
OUR MEN IN CARACAS - Venezuela has arrested several alleged Colombian spies, whom the government accuses of trying to destabilize the government, as tensions between the two nations continue to run high. The two nations broke off trade relations over Colombia's decision to host a U.S. military base. And recently 10 amateur Colombian soccer players were recently kidnapped and murdered in Venezuela near the Colombian border. Link
WHO BLAMES SEX, FAT & ALCOHOL - The World Health Organization has secured its reputation as the least fun UN agency with a report that blames sex, fat, and alcohol for premature death. A new report found that about a quarter of all premature deaths are attributable to just five factors: food (underfeeding and overweight), unsafe sex, alcohol abuse, high blood pressure, and bad sanitation. Link
Provocateurs
Jeremy Kryt in IN THESE TIMES
"Despite the intense repression that has plagued Honduras since the military-backed coup in June—including random beatings and sexual assaults by cops and soldiers, and the gassing and shooting of peaceful demonstrators–there is still one case that stands out above the rest, unique in its grisly details and implications. "
Spencer Ackerman in WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT
"At this point, everything about the U.S. policy toward the Afghan drug trade — from tolerance to eradication during the Bush administration to an evolving approach to cultivating alternatives — now ought to be questioned. As in questioned in open congressional session. CIA money funds a politically connected drug dealer. Opium funds the Taliban. We are in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. How much CIA money has indirectly funded the Taliban? "
Josh Rogin in THE CABLE
" After weeks of little progress, the State Department is reversing its policy of freezing out the de facto regime in Honduras. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with both current leader Roberto Micheletti and ousted President Manuel Zelaya over the weekend and a full administration team will travel to Tegucigalpa later this week. The delegation "will urge both sides to show flexibility and redouble their efforts to bring the crisis to an end," Kelly said, adding that progress was made as recently as this morning. Clinton decided to get involved after seeing what was then regarded as an impasse last Friday. "
Water Cooler

U.S. foreign service officer Matthew Hoh has made headlines by resigning over the war in Afghanistan. In his resignation letter, Hoh said he felt that the U.S. could no longer justify the sacrifices that it was asking soldiers and their families to make for the mission. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end,"Hoh wrote.

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