UNLIKE CLINTON, BUSH SEES HANOI IN BIT OF A HURRY - DAVID E. SANGER AND HELENE COOPER (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): The mood of President Bush's trip to Hanoi could not have been more different from the visit of another president, Bill Clinton, exactly six years ago this weekend, when he seemed to be everywhere. And while the difference says much about the personalities of two presidents who both famously avoided serving in the war here, it reveals a lot about how significantly times have changed -- and perhaps why America's "public diplomacy" seems unable to shift into gear.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/world/as...agewanted=print
SEE ALSO
http://s-peri.blogspot.com/2006/11/tale-of...presidents.html

'DON'T COME HERE' - (7DAYS, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, NOVEMBER 20): In Indonesia the US president was expected to emphasize that the war on terrorism is not a war on Islam, and seek an update on US efforts to help reconstruction in Indonesia's Aceh province two years after a devastating Tsunami. But such public diplomacy efforts seemed to fall on deaf ears here as about 2,000 protestors including Islamic activists and students waved posters decrying him and his aides "the real terrorists."
http://www.7days.ae/2006/11/20/dont-come-here.html

AL-JAZEERA/FOX/CNN -- LET NUMEROUS NEWS STATIONS BLOOM - JO-ANN MORT (TPMCAFE, NY, NOVEMBER 19): Isn't it especially ironic that the Bush White House has established an entire office to deal with perceptions of America inside the Arab World, as Karen Hughes brings the ideology of a soccer mom to Cairo or where ever, but we don't think that the American people are sophisticated enough to see the fruits of what emerging democracy in the Arab world is actually reaping -- a station like Al-Jazeera, for good and bad, deserves to be seen on our televisions.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/20..._stations_bloom

9

/11 FOREIGN POLICY AT CIVICS CLUB: FEINGOLD IN 3RD TERM AS U.S. SENATOR - ADAM MALECEK (WISC, WI, NOVEMBER 18): Minnesota Senator Feingold said the United States should also work on reaching out to the rest of the world in a positive way. He said public diplomacy to other nations could also be improved. Feingold said he was critical of Bush's use of the term "Islamic fascism," because it upset many Muslims around the world.
http://www.channel3000.com/politics/10352870/detail.html

PUBLIC PRAISE - (FOX NEWS, NOVEMBER 17): After a month of silence, the State Department is finally speaking out on Alberto Fernandez, the press officer who was forced to apologize last month after telling Al Jazeera that the U.S. had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity." Fernandez was selected from three department nominees for the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy by Tufts University for his work with pan-Arab media to increase the number of appearances by U.S. officials.
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,230399,00.html
(scroll down link for item)

WINNING THE BATTLES BUT LOSING THE WAR?: TO BEAT THE TERRORISTS, AMERICA NEEDS TO USE IDEAS, IMAGES AS WELL AS WEAPONS - LARRY P. GOODSON (BALTIMORE SUN, NOVEMBER 19): An array of U.S. policies viewed by others as unattractive or even threatening combined with our clumsy use of words and images have convinced many people around the world that we are no longer the shining beacon on a hill that we have aspired to be and that others have struggled to reach for much of our nation's history.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/i...ideas-headlines

AL-JAZEERA AND THE TRUTH - CHARLEY REESE (ANTIWAR.COM, NOVEMBER 18): "I wish American politicians had never gotten us involved in the Middle East, but since they have, you deserve to know the naked truth of what's going on over there. Al-Jazeera will tell you."
http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=10031

IRAQ' EDUCATION UNDER SIEGE - DAHR JAMAIL AND ALI AL-FADHILY (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 21): According to the Ministry of Education, 2006 has been the worst year for school attendance since US-led invasion in March 2003.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK21Ak05.html

REPUBLIC OF DREAMS - OMAR GHANIM FATHI (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): The problems of Iraq will not be solved without a long and very bloody civil war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/opinion/20fathi.html

IT'S NOT THE DEMOCRATS WHO ARE DIVIDED - FRANK RICH (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): The president has no intention of changing his policy on Iraq or anything else one iota.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/opinion/19rich.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

IT'S JUST ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE BLOODY DAYS IN IRAQ - BYRON WILLIAMS (HUFFINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): While everyone in Washington waits with anticipation for the Iraq Study Group to make its findings public, let us not forget that the events on the ground, which were our creation, do not appear to possess similar eagerness.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/byron-willia...html?view=print

TWO PANELS URGENTLY SEEK IRAQ SOLUTIONS: TIME DWINDLES FOR BAKER, ADMINISTRATION GROUPS - ROBIN WRIGHT (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 19): With the rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq, there is growing concern among U.S. expert advisers to the study group as well as among Iraqis that the reviews may be coming too late to turn the situation around -- at least before the 2008 elections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1800830_pf.html

THE MINIMUM NECESSARY - JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 19): First, Baker-Hamilton must tackle the issue of U.S. troop deployments. Second, Baker-Hamilton must propose a clear political road map for Iraq. Third, Baker-Hamilton must speak to the engagement of Iraq's neighbors. (The writer, a senator from Delaware, is the senior Democratic member of the Foreign Relations Committee.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1701590_pf.html

DEAL WITH THE SUNNIS - LARRY DIAMOND (NATION, NOVEMBER 20): If we cut a deal with the secular Sunni insurgents, we might at least preempt an Al Qaeda victory.
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=diamond112706

BARTERING WITH NOTHING: WHY A REGIONAL CONFERENCE WON'T SOLVE OUR IRAQ PROBLEM - REUEL MARC GERECHT (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 27)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/979hctwt.asp

US TROOP LEVELS IN IRAQ MAY RISE, THEN DECLINE: THE WHITE HOUSE APPEARS TO BE LEANING TOWARD AN INCREASE OF 20,000 TROOPS IN IRAQ - HOWARD LAFRANCHI (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 20)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1120/p01s01-usfp.html

TIME FOR A HEAVIER FOOTPRINT: MORE AMERICAN TROOPS ARE NEEDED TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN IRAQ - FREDERICK W. KAGAN & WILLIAM KRISTOL (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 27): We must change our strategy to reflect the new reality in Iraq, and we must send the military resources needed to achieve that strategy. If we do not, it is likely that we will fail in Iraq.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/972zwkgm.asp

UNREALISTIC - GEORGE PACKER (NEW YORKER, NOVEMBER 20): The argument that Iraq would be better off on its own is a self-serving illusion that seems to offer Americans a win-win solution to a lose-lose problem.
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/talk/0...7ta_talk_packer

TO THE BRINK - PETER BEINART (NEW REPUBLIC, NOVEMBER 20): At this late date, the United States has only one card left to play in Iraq: the threat to leave immediately.
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=trb112706

WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ: ASKING TOO MUCH? - DAVID CORN (NATION, NOVEMBER 17): Redeployment is certainly achievable; making Iraq work may not be.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=141651

TURNING A CORNER ON IRAQ - JEREMY GREENSTOCK (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 18): The United States and Britain have never attempted a truly comprehensive policy on Iraq. Unless the United States and its principal allies construct an approach that brings all available resources to bear to establish stability, there will be no point in staying in the country when all objective observers see a continuing downward spiral.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1701616_pf.html

ANATOMY OF A CIVIL WAR: IRAQ'S DESCENT INTO CHAOS - NIR ROSEN (BOSTON REVIEW): We divided Iraqis. We set them at war with each other. The least we can do is stop killing them and leave Iraq.
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR31.6/rosen.html

'CUT AND RUN' MUST BE FIRST STEP IN IRAQ - WILLIAM E. ODOM (MADISON CAPITAL TIMES (WISCONSIN), NOVEMBER 19/COMMON DREAMS): Only a withdrawal of all U.S. troops -- within six months and with no preconditions -- can break the paralysis that enfeebles our diplomacy.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1119-24.htm

IRAQ: FACING THE TRUTH, AND THEN WHAT? - SUZANNE NOSSEL (HUFFINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 19): Our exit from Iraq should be as responsible and forthright as our entrance was wanton and misleading.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzanne-noss...html?view=print

human family."
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=...ohnhopefranklin

FEAR OF FREEDOM - WADDAH ALI (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): America did well to liberate Iraq. But Iraqis were used to tyranny and afraid of freedom. The Americans entered Iraq without a psychological program for dealing with this fact.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/opinion/...agewanted=print

INVASION CRITIC MAY HEAD TO BAGHDAD POST - AL KAMEN (IN THE LOOP, WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): Within the administration, career Foreign Service officer Ryan Crocker, an Arabist who is ambassador to Pakistan, is being talked about to head to beautiful downtown Baghdad if Zalmay Khalilzad goes to any of the jobs he's supposed to be offered. Crocker co-wrote a memo in December 2002 to then-Secretary of State Powell warning of disaster if the United States invaded Iraq.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1901074_pf.html

peace as one great

IS IRAQ ANOTHER VIETNAM? [REVIEW OF IS 'IRAQ ANOTHER VIETNAM?' BY ROBERT K. BRIGHAM] - NATHANIEL FICK (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 19): U.S. policymakers decided to wage war in Vietnam and Iraq, Brigham concludes, "with the expectation that a distinctively American story would emerge." It would be a distinctively American tragedy if those stories turned out to be the same.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1601135_pf.html

BROKEN PIECES: THE HAUNTING NEW DOCUMENTARY IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS OFFERS NO PAT ANSWERS OR CHEAP ANALYSIS - NOY THRUPKAEW (AMERICAN PROSPECT, NOVEMBER 17) The film constitutes at least a partial attempt to show Iraqis struggling to make their country, and themselves, whole again, an effort that thankfully refuses to offer any more pat solutions or false promises to its subjects -- or its viewers.
http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=12226

MANAGING IRAQ'S COLLAPSE - MAHAN ABEDIN (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): The upshot is that while Iraq has been a US problem up to now, it will soon be an Iranian one.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK18Ak02.html

THE NEXT ACT: IS A DAMAGED ADMINISTRATION LESS LIKELY TO ATTACK IRAN, OR MORE? - SEYMOUR M. HERSH (NEW YORKER, NOVEMBER 20): Many in the White House and the Pentagon insist that getting tough with Iran is the only way to salvage Iraq.
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/061127fa_fact

ANSWERING IRAN'S DEFIANCE - KENNETH R. TIMMERMAN (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): So what will it be, Mr. President? Does the United States mean business? Does the United Nations mean anything? Will free nations stand up to tyrannies openly seeking to acquire nuclear weapons to hold their enemies hostage? The clock is ticking.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...17-085913-7171r

A 'GRAND BARGAIN' WITH IRAN - GARETH PORTER (TOMPAINE.COM, NOVEMBER 17): The belief that the United States should be able to prevail in a confrontation with a third-rate power like Iran still runs deep in Washington. But the recent American experience with Iran in the past few years has repeatedly contradicted that belief.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/1...n_with_iran.php

MORE THAN PEACE IN OUR TIME - SUZANNE FIELDS (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): After Messrs. Bush and Olmert concluded their private meting in the Oval Office, they spoke in a unified voice that they cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran. The question of how they would stop it remains unaddressed -- in public.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...19-102608-9170r

BRING DOWN THAT WALL - CHRIS HEDGES (TRUTHDIG, NOVEMBER 20): If we allow Israel to complete its massive $2-billion project to ring Palestinians in militarized, pod-like encampments in Gaza and the West Bank with security barriers, walls and electric fences, we will condemn Israel and the Palestinians to endless cycles of violence that could ultimately, given the mounting rage and despair that grip the Middle East, doom the Jewish state.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200611...down_that_wall/

TIME FOR NEW APPROACH TO ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT - NOMI MORRIS (BALTIMORE SUN, NOVEMBER 19): Now that a fresh wind is blowing through Washington, it is the perfect time for the White House to revise its policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well, by restarting active diplomacy.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

SYRIA ALSO WANTS CARROTS - SAMI MOUBAYED (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 18)
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK18Ak01.html

BUSH MAKES A VISIT OF MYTHIC PROPORTIONS - GARY LAMOSHI (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): Indonesians' widespread distrust of Bush and his "war on terror" is real, while US-Indonesian relations under Bush and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are based mainly on fantasies and misrepresentations.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HK18Ae01.html

INDONESIA'S PROMISE - SADANAND DHUME (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 20): Amplifying the alternative message to that of Islamist worldview requires the help of the U.S., like-minded allies such as Australia and Singapore, the still largely non-sectarian Indonesian army and genuine Muslim moderates such as former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1163981474...in_commentaries
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

PYONGYANG WATCHES AS FRIENDS FALL OUT - DONALD KIRK (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): Neither South Korea nor China is interested in signing up for the US's mission to interdict North Korean vessels on the high seas to stop it smuggling weapons of mass destruction. All focus, therefore, returns to the six-party talks, where Pyongyang will be sitting pretty.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HK18Dg01.html
entry from
http://atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page.html

RAPPROCHEMENT WITH VIETNAM - HONGLIEN DO/JOHN E. CAREY (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 18): We applaud President Bush on his trip to Vietnam. This is a major moment of healing and rapprochement between the United States and Vietnam.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...17-085901-5592r

US-INDIA NUCLEAR DEAL CLOSER TO FRUITION - SIDDHARTH SRIVASTAVA (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 18)
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HK18Df01.html

KEY ISSUE FOR OKINAWAN GOVERNOR: US BASES; GOVERNOR-ELECT NAKAIMA WAS INTENTIONALLY VAGUE ABOUT MAY ACCORD ON US FORCES REALIGNMENT - ROBERT MARQUAND (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 20): In general, Okinawans do not tend to dislike or harbor grudges against individual Americans, and the antibase issue is not an anti-US issue.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1120/p07s02-woap.html

TERROR'S PLAYGROUND: MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER U.S. TROOPS PULLED OUT, SOMALIA HAS FALLEN TO ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS - SAM DEALEY (TIME, NOVEMBER 19)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout...1561131,00.html

CAN THE NEOCONS GET THEIR GROOVE BACK? - JOSHUA MURAVCHIK (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 19): Neocon ideas are unlikely to be jettisoned -- either by Bush or his successor -- until a viable replacement is found. So far, there is none.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1701474_pf.html

THE NEW DOMINO THEORY: AMERICA IS TURNING INWARD IN FEAR OF THE GLOBAL CAPITALIST MENACE - ROBERT B. REICH (AMERICAN PROSPECT, NOVEMBER 17): Whether it's a renewed fear of foreigners, or fear of job losses to them, this nation seems to be turning inward.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?sectio...articleId=12225

DECLINE AND FALL: HOW NOT TO ACT LIKE A GREAT POWER - IRWIN M. STELZER (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 27): America is finished as a great power. Not because it no longer possesses the resources, but because it has lost the will.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/982zjkxs.asp

Happy Thanksgiving to All of You -


Washington's Iraq Chimeras - John Brown and Ray McGovern (tompaine.com, November 22)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/2...aq_chimeras.php

U.S. SETS UP A PERCH IN DUBAI TO KEEP AN EYE ON IRAN - HASSAN M. FATTAH (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 22): Beyond working to better monitor Iran and increase interactions with Iranians in Dubai, the Bush administration is also working to increase other forms of outreach. It requested tens of millions of dollars from Congress for outreach programs, and now has about $76 million for those programs. The money is being used to increase the hours of Persian-language radio and television beamed into Iran; to support exchange programs of athletes, artists and professionals to the United States; and for other democratization programs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/world/mi...agewanted=print

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY A LA PRESIDENT BUSH (41) - SCOTT (POWERLINE, NOVEMBER 22) President George H.W. Bush spoke yesterday in Abu Dhabi. The former president did a somewhat better job under difficult circumstances than we've seen from Edward R. Murrow Award-winner Alberto Fernandez [see below item 10]. Bush said he was surprised by the audience's criticism of his son.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/015990.php

THE CAPITAL INTERVIEW: LANTOS SAYS NO 'SILVER BULLET' ON IRAQ BUT BAKER PANEL CAN HELP BIPARTISANSHIP - ROBERT MCMAHON (INTERVIEW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, NOVEMBER 20)Rep. Thomas Lantos (D-CA): "Well, I'm passionately committed to public diplomacy and I will devote as many hearings as we possibly can to the specifics of public diplomacy. Public diplomacy really is a many-faceted thing. ... We have a huge task there but the policies have to match our rhetoric and we must assume -- because that's the only realistic assumption -- that in this day and age everybody knows everything, everybody reads the same things, and watches the same things."
http://www.cfr.org/publication/12054/capit...ype%3Dinterview