Israel's Syrian Air Strike Was Aimed at Iran
by Gareth Porter Until late October, the accepted explanation about the Sept. 6 Israeli air strike in Syria, constructed in a series of press leaks from U.S. officials, was that it was prompted by dramatic satellite intelligence that Syria was building a nuclear facility with help from North Korea.
But new satellite evidence has discredited that narrative, suggesting a more plausible explanation for the strike: that it was a calculated effort by Israel and the United States to convince Iran that its nuclear facilities could be attacked as well.
The narrative promoted by neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration began to unravel in late October with the release by a private company of a series of satellite images showing that the same square, multistory building that was hit by Israeli planes Sept. 6 had been present on the site four years earlier. Although the building appears to be somewhat farther along in the August 2007 image, it showed that the only major new developments at the site since September 2003 were what appears to be a pumping station on the Euphrates and a smaller secondary structure.
Media reports based on leaks from administration officials had suggested that the presence of a water pump indicated that the building must have been a nuclear reactor. But Jeffrey Lewis, a specialist on nuclear technology at the New America Foundation, pointed out in an interview with IPS that the existence of a water pump cannot be taken as evidence of the purpose of the building, since other kinds of industrial buildings would also need to pump water.
The campaign of press leaks portraying the strike as related to an alleged nuclear weapons program assisted by North Korea began almost immediately after the Israeli strike. On Sept. 11, a Bush administration official told the New York Times that Israel had obtained intelligence from "reconnaissance flights" over Syria showing "possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea."
The Bush administration officials leaking this account to the press, obviously aligned with Vice President Dick Cheney, were hoping to shoot down the administration's announced policy, pushed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, of going ahead with an agreement to provide food and fuel aid to North Korea in exchange for the dismantling of its nuclear program.
They had lost an earlier battle over that policy and were seeking to use the Israeli strike story as a new argument against it.
The officials did not want the intelligence community involved in assessing the alleged new evidence, suggesting that they knew it would not withstand expert scrutiny. Glenn Kessler reported in the Washington Post Sept. 13 that the "dramatic satellite imagery" provided by Israel had been restricted to "a few senior officials" and not disseminated to the intelligence community, on orders from National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley.
The intelligence community had opposed a previous neoconservative effort in 2002-2003 to claim evidence of a Syrian nuclear program at the same site. A senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed to the New York Times on Oct. 30 that U.S. intelligence analysts had been aware of the Syrian site in question "from the beginning" – meaning from before 2003 – but had not been convinced that it was an indication of an active nuclear program.
In 2002, John Bolton, then undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, wanted to go public with an accusation that Syria was seeking a nuclear weapons program, but the intelligence community rejected the claim. A State Department intelligence analyst had called Bolton's assertion that Syria was interested in nuclear weapons technology "a stretch" and other elements of the community also challenged it, according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report.
The attack on the site was an obvious demonstration of Israel's military dominance over Syria, generally considered a vital ally of Iran by Israeli and U.S. officials. It was also in line with the general approach of using force against Syria that Cheney and his allies in the administration had urged on Israel before and during the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in summer 2006.
During the war, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams told a senior Israeli official that the Bush administration would not object if Israel "chose to extend the war beyond to its other northern neighbor," leaving no doubt he meant for Israel to attack Syria, IPS reported last December. David Wurmser's wife, Meyrav Wurmser, director of the neoconservative Hudson Institute's Center for Middle East Policy, told Israel's YNet News in December 2006 that "many parts of the American administration believed that Israel should have fought against the real enemy, which is Syria and not Hezbollah." She said such an attack on Syria would have been "such a harsh blow for Iran that it would have weakened it and changed the strategic map in the Middle East."
Both Israeli and U.S. officials dropped hints soon after the Israeli raid that it was aimed at sending a message to Iran. Ten days after the raid, Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin declared to a parliamentary committee, "Israel's deterrence has been rehabilitated since the Lebanon war, and it affects the entire regional system, including Iran and Syria."
Although he did not refer explicitly to the strike in Syria, the fact that the Syrian raid was the only event that could possibly have been regarded as restoring Israel's strategic credibility left little doubt as to the meaning of the reference.
That same day, Reuters quoted an unnamed U.S. Defense Department official as saying that the significance of the strike "was not whether Israel hit its targets, but rather that it displayed a willingness to take military action."
On Sept. 18, former United Nations ambassador John Bolton was quoted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as saying, "We're talking about a clear message to Iran – Israel has the right to self-defense – and that includes offensive operations against WMD facilities that pose a threat to Israel. The United States would justify such attacks."
On Oct. 7, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who enjoys access to top administration officials, quoted an unnamed official as providing the official explanation for the Israeli attack as targeting "nuclear materials supplied to Syria by North Korea."
But then, without quoting the official directly, Ignatius reported the official's description of the raid's implicit message: "[T]he message to Iran is clear: America and Israel can identify nuclear targets and penetrate air defenses to destroy them."
The official's suggestion that the strike was a joint U.S.-Israeli message about a joint policy toward striking Iran's nuclear sites was the clearest indication that the primary objective of the strike was to intimidate Iran at a time when both Israel and the Cheney faction of the Bush administration were finding it increasingly difficult to do so.
(Inter Press Service)
Full Version: Foreign Policy Commentary
Common Ground Common Sense > National & International News > Op-Ed Articles from the Mainstream Media
November 19, 2007 Issue
Copyright © 2007 The American Conservative
Osama’s Man in America
His job: keep the Viagra and the gossip flowing while
praying for a Giuliani victory.
by Leon Hadar
The following document was obtained by a small private intelligence company, located at a (secret) address in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that monitors Islamic terrorist groups. It followed a year-long surveillance operation that intercepted (secret) messages within a (secret) al-Qaeda communications network. Dr. Leon Hadar, a world-renowned terrorism connoisseur, who has written The Osama bin Laden I Don’t Know, translated this somewhat historic document, and it was authenticated by a panel of outside veteran amateurs, including retired analysts from the Office of Strategic Services.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Abdullah men Amreeka (the Slave of God from America) to the honorable brother, Osama bin Laden, Imam al-Ummah (leader of the Islamic community). Peace and the mercy and blessings of God are upon you. Aslam-o-Alaikum (Hi there). Keef Halak, Sheik? (What’s up, boss?). BTW, you looked great in your last video that I watched on television here. I especially liked the groomed beard and see that you are using the Just for Men Haircolor I sent you. So who is the lucky new bride? Mabrook! (Congratulations!) And apropos, let me know if you need more of the “blue.”
I also hope you enjoyed the DVD with the final “Sopranos” episode that I put in the package at the last moment. I was a bit disappointed that we never got to find out whether Muhammad and Ahmed, who Tony befriended in the last season of the show, were “brothers” or just pistachio salesmen. This subplot resulted in an AP story headlined, “Osama and the Sopranos,” about alleged FBI worries over “al-Qaeda ties to the Mob.” Next thing you know, the Olive Garden will be serving Halaal food and Rudy Giuliani will be campaigning out of the local mosque in Trenton, New Jersey, in the Dar al-Kufr, the land of non-Islam of North America. I know, I know. You’re probably saying, “Yallah. Get out of here.”
I don’t know if you remember me. But we met in the Khyber Pass café in Quetta in 1999 (1420 according to the Muslim calendar), and I bombarded (oops … sorry!) you with my schtick about dying to meet those virgins in heaven, and you looked deep into my blue eyes (Bosnian dad) and stroked my blond curly hair (German mom) and said, “Ya, Habibi. The bottom line is, you look less like Omar Sharif in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and more like Robert Redford in ‘The Way we Were.’ We need you here. To study. To become an American. Perhaps even run for office. In any case, I want you to write me regular reports about political developments. Some movie reviews. Think about yourself as al-Qaeda’s own Frank Rich. Also obtain a credit card and do some shopping for me. The mole in the mall, if you will. Are you familiar with Davis’ Big & Tall? I like their stuff.”
So here I am with another of my monthly reports, as well as a copy of that new book by Chomsky that you requested. We are entering now into the last year of the rule of the Rayyis George W. Bush. I know that many of our brothers curse him as a Fajir, a wicked evildoer or a sinner by action. I beg to differ. If anything, he reminds me of the biblical character of Balaam. As retold by Persian historian Abi J’afar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Balaam was instructed by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the children of Israel. But then God “turned his tongue” so the cursing ended up falling upon Balaam’s own people and the blessing upon the Israelites. From that perspective, Bush could be described as the Balaam of our time and we as the Israelites he cursed. Bush is certainty a Kafir, a sinner by disbelief in Allah. But the results of his actions advance the work of God. Bush leads the world’s “only remaining superpower,” the most powerful military force that the infidels have acquired since the time of the Romans. And not only has he failed to defeat us—as you know, he depicts us as “Islamofascists,” the term he borrowed from that Dahri (atheist) and Sakran (drunk) from England, Christopher Hitchens. In fact, as that celebrated Catholic Warraq (scribe)—or to apply the Indian term used by the Americans, “pundit”—Andrew Sullivan has pointed out on his blog, Bush has become “Al Qaeda’s enabler.” The Luti (homosexual) is right. Our group “surely never had a more helpful man in such a powerful place.”
God, indeed, has turned Bush’s tongue, and the promised crusade against the believers has been transformed into a Jihad against crusaders and Zionists. Bush, a Dajjal (liar), may have refused to embrace Islam and will die as an infidel, but through his actions, he appears to the world as though he was a brother who had received guidance from Allah. Hence, you the hawk on the top of the Shara (mountains) should be the proudest of all the brothers for this great accomplishment. You had succeeded in forcing this Habllah (idiot) from Texas and all his Zionist cowboys into the traps in the land of Mesopotamia, where the Ummah (nation) and its Mujahidin are now leading a victorious Jihad against the Americans and their allies. Inshallah.
After seven years in the “white” house in Washington and six years after the blessed Shaid (martyrs) destroyed the Tower of Babylon in New York and the nest of the Hamsah (five) in Virginia, you are still the leader of the faithful and will remain long after Bush returns to his ranch to play with his pigs and dogs. (I FedExed to you a copy of the memoir of former Mexican President Vincente Fox in which he describes Bush as a “windshield cowboy”—a cowboy who prefers to drive—and, get this, is afraid of horses…) You will then expel the Fasiq, those who have violated Islamic laws, from the two Holy Precincts of Mecca and Medina, return Syria to the Islamic fold, defeat the Zionists, and pray in Al-Asqa. Then you will ask Bush: Where are all your historians and other Hakim (wise men) that you told us would sing your praise years after you leave office and portray you as “Truman”? Weren’t they expected to conclude that you had “transformed” the Middle East, turning its people to the supplicants of the West and bringing its oil resources under the control of your crooked companies?
But God, the generous, benefited you, wise Sheikh. You will become the Caliph of a great Ummah while Bush the Wa’lek (boy) will probably become the Caliph of the owners of baseball, the game of the, yes, small balls. Isn’t it appropriate that Bush as well as Cheney—the two, as you know, cursed that they are, are abu el-banat (father of the girls)—like this game?
You probably recall the time when Bush, using the language of his Wild West, promised the American people to capture you “dead or alive.” These arrogant boasts, like his pledges to export the corrupt political system that helped him come to power in America—he calls it “democracy”—to the Dar al-Islam all proved to be delusions. Bush had you trapped for a few hours in the mountains of Tora Bora, but he then let you get away because he wanted to focus on Saddam instead. (I hope you’ve read Gary Berntsen’s Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA’s Key Field Commander, which I had sent you last year.) Thanks to Bush, you are alive and well and living in Pakistan, which enjoys the status of—get this!—“non-NATO ally” of the United States. President Musharraf, who helped us and the Taliban brothers build our political and military power in Afghanistan and prepare our operations is welcomed as a Friend of America in Washington. Instead of discussing the Osama-Musharraf Connection, Bush and Cheney made it sound as thought you had been allied with Saddam the Murtaad (apostate) and the man of Ightala (killing). O Sheikh, you actually wanted the Saudis to let you fight Saddam—which you considered worthy of death—on behalf of the Ummah and remove him from Kuwait. But they refused and allowed Baba Bush to operate out of Saudi Arabia and force the Iraqis from Kuwait and then remain in our Holy places. But Salil Bush and his neocons and crusaders knew that they could not sell the invasion of Iraq without making the American people believe Saddam was behind the al Nashmi (brave) attack in New York.
Now, thanks to the American invasion, we have established our presence in Mesopotamia and expanded our reach in the entire region and around the world, especially in Europe, the Dar al-Amn (part of the Western world where Muslims reside). The torture, death and destruction the Americans have inflicted on the Iraqis has only helped to recruit more brothers into the ranks of the Mujahidin. Shukran! (Thanks!) Ya, Rayyis Bush. You probably recall that in a report I e-mailed you before the 2004 presidential elections, I expressed hope that the American people would re-elect Bush. And they did! And they allowed this Majnun (madman) to become al-Qaeda’s man in Washington. Shukran! Shukran!
Bush and his Zionist crusaders had hoped to create the Greater State of Israel from the Euphrates to the Nile—Iraq and Syria and Palestine under their rule. But they did not understand that Iraq was a mosaic of many ethnic and religious groups that only the Shaytan (Satan) Saddam kept together. So they built an alliance with the Kurdish spies in the North and with the Shi’ite snakes who, as you know, are not real Muslims. The Shi’ites betrayed us once again like the cunning people they have always been and are trying now to operate as the agents of the Americans and the Persians in Baghdad in the same way that they once joined Genghis Khan and other enemies of the Muslims. But our mujahidin are continuing to strike at these treacherous people and their American masters and are making sure that the “central government” in Baghdad cannot function beyond the “Green Zone,” where the Americans are hiding like the cowards that they are. They are now presenting—or, to use a popular term here, “spinning”—their strategic failure in maintaining a unified Iraq as a great “success” in transferring power to the provinces or “decentralization.” If you believe that, I’ll buy you a bridge over the Euphrates.
As for this so-called “surge,” it cannot change the constellation of forces on the ground that we helped create in the aftermath of the American invasion. “Iraq” doesn’t exist anymore as a state, and its disintegration is already helping destroy the U.S. hegemonic strategy in the Middle East. You know that the Kurds want to establish their state and expand and that this is igniting opposition from the Turks, Iranians, and even the brothers in Syria. You can already see the tensions between the Americans and the Turks, who are bound to take military action against the Kurds in the North, especially if the Kurds try to win total control over Kirkuk and make life difficult for the Turkmen people in the area.
There is a lot of good news coming from Turkey: more women there are wearing the Khumur (scarf), and people there are choosing the Sirat al-Mustaqim (straight path) and returning to the true fold of Islam. Opinion polls suggest that the people despise Bush, the Americans, and the Zionists. I remember that you predicted once that the road to the Caliphate would have to lead through Turkey—that the Americans would abandon them, that the Europeans would reject them, and that one day they would become our Awliya (allies). Inshallah.
I’ve forwarded to you copies of news reports and commentary from newspapers in this country like the Washington Post that were celebrating the election victory of the Islamists of the AK party in Turkey as another sign that “democracy is spreading in the Middle East.” If you accept my Bush-as-Balaam analogy, you have no choice but to conclude that these guys who seem to believe that having free elections in Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, and elsewhere are going to advance their interests and help strengthen the influence of their “democracy” are actually helping create the conditions for our victory. In Turkey, in Palestine, and Egypt—or for that matter in Iraq and Lebanon—free elections strengthened the hands of those who are against America and its political model. After all, the brothers won in Palestine and gained more votes in Egypt.
And while we despise the Shi’ites and their agents in Iraq and Lebanon, who have been gaining more political power, we should rejoice at these developments, for the elections choreographed by the crusaders and Zionists are producing revolutionary developments. They have helped us by weakening the foundations of the old order and sweeping away the corrupt lackeys of the Americans. We can only hope that similar changes will take place in Syria, where the Murtaad Bashir rules. Indeed, the Americans are doing their best to weaken him and force him to ally with the Persians. And when they try to reverse the results of free elections, which is exactly what they are doing now in Palestine, they demonstrate to the world that they are nothing more than hypocrites. We have nothing to lose. If they have free elections in Egypt, the brothers will come to power, abrogate the “peace” agreements with the Zionists, and join the struggle. If they don’t have elections, the Pharaoh Mubarak would not survive the rage of the people.
I know that during our meeting and throughout our correspondence, I may have sounded a bit hesitant, if not doubtful about our ability to achieve the long-term goal of restoring the Caliphate. “How could we do it with just a few thousand Mujahidin fighting against the powerful evil forces with all their huge militaries and nuclear weapons?” I once asked you. And you responded, “Through our revolutionary actions, we’ll be able to force them to play according to our script, to waste their resources in trying to take control over the Dar al-Islam, from the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the rivers of Meso-potamia. We will make them bleed, create divisions in their ranks, and expose the internal contradictions in their system.”
Indeed, O Sheikh. Who would have believed that one day Bush and his clique of neocons would compare our power to that of the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire, and the Soviet Union. That is the way they see us now. And the irony: their “war of terrorism” is taking longer that the one they fought with the Germans and the Japanese in the 1940s. They are now stuck in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with no way out. They lose if they stay, and they lose if they leave. The price of oil is rising into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, our actions helped hasten the split between the Americans and the Europeans, and the arrogance of American power is making it more likely that the Russians and the Chinese could pose a challenge to Bush and his gangs. The world now knows that the Christian crusaders and the Zionists have the same agenda: destroying the Muslim lands of Palestine and controlling Al Quods. And they call that the “peace process.” It is just a question of time before the rotten apples, the Murtaad of the Arab Gulf, Syria, of Mashriq and the Maghreb, and of Pakistan, will be smashed under our feet and a united Ummah will be ready to fight the Persians and rip the Shi’ite snake.
I pray to Allah that the American voters elect the Zionist minion and agent of the Vatican Giuliani as their next president and that he and his troops fall into the new traps we are preparing for them as they try to depose regimes in the Dar al-Islam. (Syria? Iran?) I’m certainly going to register as a volunteer in Rudy’s campaign after I mail you the DVD of the last season of “Big Love.”
____________________________
Leon Hadar is a Cato Institute research fellow in foreign-policy studies and author, most recently, of Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East.
The following document was obtained by a small private intelligence company, located at a (secret) address in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that monitors Islamic terrorist groups. It followed a year-long surveillance operation that intercepted (secret) messages within a (secret) al-Qaeda communications network. Dr. Leon Hadar, a world-renowned terrorism connoisseur, who has written The Osama bin Laden I Don’t Know, translated this somewhat historic document, and it was authenticated by a panel of outside veteran amateurs, including retired analysts from the Office of Strategic Services.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From Abdullah men Amreeka (the Slave of God from America) to the honorable brother, Osama bin Laden, Imam al-Ummah (leader of the Islamic community). Peace and the mercy and blessings of God are upon you. Aslam-o-Alaikum (Hi there). Keef Halak, Sheik? (What’s up, boss?). BTW, you looked great in your last video that I watched on television here. I especially liked the groomed beard and see that you are using the Just for Men Haircolor I sent you. So who is the lucky new bride? Mabrook! (Congratulations!) And apropos, let me know if you need more of the “blue.”
I also hope you enjoyed the DVD with the final “Sopranos” episode that I put in the package at the last moment. I was a bit disappointed that we never got to find out whether Muhammad and Ahmed, who Tony befriended in the last season of the show, were “brothers” or just pistachio salesmen. This subplot resulted in an AP story headlined, “Osama and the Sopranos,” about alleged FBI worries over “al-Qaeda ties to the Mob.” Next thing you know, the Olive Garden will be serving Halaal food and Rudy Giuliani will be campaigning out of the local mosque in Trenton, New Jersey, in the Dar al-Kufr, the land of non-Islam of North America. I know, I know. You’re probably saying, “Yallah. Get out of here.”
I don’t know if you remember me. But we met in the Khyber Pass café in Quetta in 1999 (1420 according to the Muslim calendar), and I bombarded (oops … sorry!) you with my schtick about dying to meet those virgins in heaven, and you looked deep into my blue eyes (Bosnian dad) and stroked my blond curly hair (German mom) and said, “Ya, Habibi. The bottom line is, you look less like Omar Sharif in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and more like Robert Redford in ‘The Way we Were.’ We need you here. To study. To become an American. Perhaps even run for office. In any case, I want you to write me regular reports about political developments. Some movie reviews. Think about yourself as al-Qaeda’s own Frank Rich. Also obtain a credit card and do some shopping for me. The mole in the mall, if you will. Are you familiar with Davis’ Big & Tall? I like their stuff.”
So here I am with another of my monthly reports, as well as a copy of that new book by Chomsky that you requested. We are entering now into the last year of the rule of the Rayyis George W. Bush. I know that many of our brothers curse him as a Fajir, a wicked evildoer or a sinner by action. I beg to differ. If anything, he reminds me of the biblical character of Balaam. As retold by Persian historian Abi J’afar Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Balaam was instructed by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the children of Israel. But then God “turned his tongue” so the cursing ended up falling upon Balaam’s own people and the blessing upon the Israelites. From that perspective, Bush could be described as the Balaam of our time and we as the Israelites he cursed. Bush is certainty a Kafir, a sinner by disbelief in Allah. But the results of his actions advance the work of God. Bush leads the world’s “only remaining superpower,” the most powerful military force that the infidels have acquired since the time of the Romans. And not only has he failed to defeat us—as you know, he depicts us as “Islamofascists,” the term he borrowed from that Dahri (atheist) and Sakran (drunk) from England, Christopher Hitchens. In fact, as that celebrated Catholic Warraq (scribe)—or to apply the Indian term used by the Americans, “pundit”—Andrew Sullivan has pointed out on his blog, Bush has become “Al Qaeda’s enabler.” The Luti (homosexual) is right. Our group “surely never had a more helpful man in such a powerful place.”
God, indeed, has turned Bush’s tongue, and the promised crusade against the believers has been transformed into a Jihad against crusaders and Zionists. Bush, a Dajjal (liar), may have refused to embrace Islam and will die as an infidel, but through his actions, he appears to the world as though he was a brother who had received guidance from Allah. Hence, you the hawk on the top of the Shara (mountains) should be the proudest of all the brothers for this great accomplishment. You had succeeded in forcing this Habllah (idiot) from Texas and all his Zionist cowboys into the traps in the land of Mesopotamia, where the Ummah (nation) and its Mujahidin are now leading a victorious Jihad against the Americans and their allies. Inshallah.
After seven years in the “white” house in Washington and six years after the blessed Shaid (martyrs) destroyed the Tower of Babylon in New York and the nest of the Hamsah (five) in Virginia, you are still the leader of the faithful and will remain long after Bush returns to his ranch to play with his pigs and dogs. (I FedExed to you a copy of the memoir of former Mexican President Vincente Fox in which he describes Bush as a “windshield cowboy”—a cowboy who prefers to drive—and, get this, is afraid of horses…) You will then expel the Fasiq, those who have violated Islamic laws, from the two Holy Precincts of Mecca and Medina, return Syria to the Islamic fold, defeat the Zionists, and pray in Al-Asqa. Then you will ask Bush: Where are all your historians and other Hakim (wise men) that you told us would sing your praise years after you leave office and portray you as “Truman”? Weren’t they expected to conclude that you had “transformed” the Middle East, turning its people to the supplicants of the West and bringing its oil resources under the control of your crooked companies?
But God, the generous, benefited you, wise Sheikh. You will become the Caliph of a great Ummah while Bush the Wa’lek (boy) will probably become the Caliph of the owners of baseball, the game of the, yes, small balls. Isn’t it appropriate that Bush as well as Cheney—the two, as you know, cursed that they are, are abu el-banat (father of the girls)—like this game?
You probably recall the time when Bush, using the language of his Wild West, promised the American people to capture you “dead or alive.” These arrogant boasts, like his pledges to export the corrupt political system that helped him come to power in America—he calls it “democracy”—to the Dar al-Islam all proved to be delusions. Bush had you trapped for a few hours in the mountains of Tora Bora, but he then let you get away because he wanted to focus on Saddam instead. (I hope you’ve read Gary Berntsen’s Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA’s Key Field Commander, which I had sent you last year.) Thanks to Bush, you are alive and well and living in Pakistan, which enjoys the status of—get this!—“non-NATO ally” of the United States. President Musharraf, who helped us and the Taliban brothers build our political and military power in Afghanistan and prepare our operations is welcomed as a Friend of America in Washington. Instead of discussing the Osama-Musharraf Connection, Bush and Cheney made it sound as thought you had been allied with Saddam the Murtaad (apostate) and the man of Ightala (killing). O Sheikh, you actually wanted the Saudis to let you fight Saddam—which you considered worthy of death—on behalf of the Ummah and remove him from Kuwait. But they refused and allowed Baba Bush to operate out of Saudi Arabia and force the Iraqis from Kuwait and then remain in our Holy places. But Salil Bush and his neocons and crusaders knew that they could not sell the invasion of Iraq without making the American people believe Saddam was behind the al Nashmi (brave) attack in New York.
Now, thanks to the American invasion, we have established our presence in Mesopotamia and expanded our reach in the entire region and around the world, especially in Europe, the Dar al-Amn (part of the Western world where Muslims reside). The torture, death and destruction the Americans have inflicted on the Iraqis has only helped to recruit more brothers into the ranks of the Mujahidin. Shukran! (Thanks!) Ya, Rayyis Bush. You probably recall that in a report I e-mailed you before the 2004 presidential elections, I expressed hope that the American people would re-elect Bush. And they did! And they allowed this Majnun (madman) to become al-Qaeda’s man in Washington. Shukran! Shukran!
Bush and his Zionist crusaders had hoped to create the Greater State of Israel from the Euphrates to the Nile—Iraq and Syria and Palestine under their rule. But they did not understand that Iraq was a mosaic of many ethnic and religious groups that only the Shaytan (Satan) Saddam kept together. So they built an alliance with the Kurdish spies in the North and with the Shi’ite snakes who, as you know, are not real Muslims. The Shi’ites betrayed us once again like the cunning people they have always been and are trying now to operate as the agents of the Americans and the Persians in Baghdad in the same way that they once joined Genghis Khan and other enemies of the Muslims. But our mujahidin are continuing to strike at these treacherous people and their American masters and are making sure that the “central government” in Baghdad cannot function beyond the “Green Zone,” where the Americans are hiding like the cowards that they are. They are now presenting—or, to use a popular term here, “spinning”—their strategic failure in maintaining a unified Iraq as a great “success” in transferring power to the provinces or “decentralization.” If you believe that, I’ll buy you a bridge over the Euphrates.
As for this so-called “surge,” it cannot change the constellation of forces on the ground that we helped create in the aftermath of the American invasion. “Iraq” doesn’t exist anymore as a state, and its disintegration is already helping destroy the U.S. hegemonic strategy in the Middle East. You know that the Kurds want to establish their state and expand and that this is igniting opposition from the Turks, Iranians, and even the brothers in Syria. You can already see the tensions between the Americans and the Turks, who are bound to take military action against the Kurds in the North, especially if the Kurds try to win total control over Kirkuk and make life difficult for the Turkmen people in the area.
There is a lot of good news coming from Turkey: more women there are wearing the Khumur (scarf), and people there are choosing the Sirat al-Mustaqim (straight path) and returning to the true fold of Islam. Opinion polls suggest that the people despise Bush, the Americans, and the Zionists. I remember that you predicted once that the road to the Caliphate would have to lead through Turkey—that the Americans would abandon them, that the Europeans would reject them, and that one day they would become our Awliya (allies). Inshallah.
I’ve forwarded to you copies of news reports and commentary from newspapers in this country like the Washington Post that were celebrating the election victory of the Islamists of the AK party in Turkey as another sign that “democracy is spreading in the Middle East.” If you accept my Bush-as-Balaam analogy, you have no choice but to conclude that these guys who seem to believe that having free elections in Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, and elsewhere are going to advance their interests and help strengthen the influence of their “democracy” are actually helping create the conditions for our victory. In Turkey, in Palestine, and Egypt—or for that matter in Iraq and Lebanon—free elections strengthened the hands of those who are against America and its political model. After all, the brothers won in Palestine and gained more votes in Egypt.
And while we despise the Shi’ites and their agents in Iraq and Lebanon, who have been gaining more political power, we should rejoice at these developments, for the elections choreographed by the crusaders and Zionists are producing revolutionary developments. They have helped us by weakening the foundations of the old order and sweeping away the corrupt lackeys of the Americans. We can only hope that similar changes will take place in Syria, where the Murtaad Bashir rules. Indeed, the Americans are doing their best to weaken him and force him to ally with the Persians. And when they try to reverse the results of free elections, which is exactly what they are doing now in Palestine, they demonstrate to the world that they are nothing more than hypocrites. We have nothing to lose. If they have free elections in Egypt, the brothers will come to power, abrogate the “peace” agreements with the Zionists, and join the struggle. If they don’t have elections, the Pharaoh Mubarak would not survive the rage of the people.
I know that during our meeting and throughout our correspondence, I may have sounded a bit hesitant, if not doubtful about our ability to achieve the long-term goal of restoring the Caliphate. “How could we do it with just a few thousand Mujahidin fighting against the powerful evil forces with all their huge militaries and nuclear weapons?” I once asked you. And you responded, “Through our revolutionary actions, we’ll be able to force them to play according to our script, to waste their resources in trying to take control over the Dar al-Islam, from the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the rivers of Meso-potamia. We will make them bleed, create divisions in their ranks, and expose the internal contradictions in their system.”
Indeed, O Sheikh. Who would have believed that one day Bush and his clique of neocons would compare our power to that of the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire, and the Soviet Union. That is the way they see us now. And the irony: their “war of terrorism” is taking longer that the one they fought with the Germans and the Japanese in the 1940s. They are now stuck in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with no way out. They lose if they stay, and they lose if they leave. The price of oil is rising into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, our actions helped hasten the split between the Americans and the Europeans, and the arrogance of American power is making it more likely that the Russians and the Chinese could pose a challenge to Bush and his gangs. The world now knows that the Christian crusaders and the Zionists have the same agenda: destroying the Muslim lands of Palestine and controlling Al Quods. And they call that the “peace process.” It is just a question of time before the rotten apples, the Murtaad of the Arab Gulf, Syria, of Mashriq and the Maghreb, and of Pakistan, will be smashed under our feet and a united Ummah will be ready to fight the Persians and rip the Shi’ite snake.
I pray to Allah that the American voters elect the Zionist minion and agent of the Vatican Giuliani as their next president and that he and his troops fall into the new traps we are preparing for them as they try to depose regimes in the Dar al-Islam. (Syria? Iran?) I’m certainly going to register as a volunteer in Rudy’s campaign after I mail you the DVD of the last season of “Big Love.”
____________________________
Leon Hadar is a Cato Institute research fellow in foreign-policy studies and author, most recently, of Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East.
A Conservative View of Iran
Philip Giraldi The turmoil in Pakistan might have one positive result: the need to strengthen the American presence in neighboring Afghanistan could narrow the White House's options and permanently derail plans to attack Iran. Nevertheless, the likelihood of a war that will be a catastrophe for both belligerents, almost certainly for the entire Middle East, and possibly for the world at large, remains at a high level. War might even be regarded as inevitable because it is the only option remaining for decision-makers in Washington, who have effectively closed the door on other approaches that might reduced the level of hostility.
Contrary to the repeated assertions by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an endless series of threats emanating from Washington is not diplomacy. The United States is refusing to negotiate with Iran, and the only obstacle to a war from the U.S. side is the resistance coming from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and some military and naval officers, most notably the Central Command's Admiral William Fallon, who are heavily outnumbered by those in the administration and outside it who are pro-war. Anti-Iranian resolutions pass by large majorities in Congress. Both parties and nearly all the presidential candidates assert the necessity of war to disarm Iran and have placed no impediment on its initiation, the mainstream media is as acquiescent as it was in the run-up to Iraq, and the latest Zogby poll indicates that even a thin majority of the public has been convinced by the war hysteria and is supportive of conflict. Powerful lobbying groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) continue to resist talks and urge a military resolution. It may be that few in the White House and Congress actually want to pull the trigger on Iran because they are gun shy after the debacle in Iraq, but the danger of a larger war growing out of a relatively minor incident is very real, as is the possibility that a nervous Israel will play some part in initiating a major conflict that will draw the United States in.
One of the strongest constituencies supporting military action against the perceived Iranian threat is voters who describe themselves as politically conservative. Most also identify as Republicans. To a certain extent, this support derives from a desire to support "their president" rather than from any serious consideration of what the probable consequences of yet another war in the Middle East might be. It also likely stems from a more general belief that the United States should have a strong and assertive defense policy in a troubled world, coupled with the irrational fear that "Islamofascism" is a global force that threatens national security. Those who see an existential struggle join with the Christian Armageddonists to welcome an "end days" conflict that pits good against evil, but they are likely a small minority even among conservatives.
As is often the case, conservatives should look to the example of President Ronald Reagan to see how global conflict should be managed. Reagan won the Cold War against a powerful nuclear armed adversary through calculated steps that increased bilateral cooperation on security issues while at the same time ratcheting up pressure on the shaky Soviet economy. The radically different imperialistic foreign policy of the Bush administration is difficult to reconcile with the cautious internationalism embraced by Reagan and his Republican predecessors, which proceeded carefully and sought to avoid involvement in other people's quarrels. Bush rarely exhibits other traditional conservative values, such as a preference for smaller and less intrusive government, fiscal responsibility, rule of law, and regard for the Constitution. He has convincingly demonstrated that he is not an heir to the Reagan tradition. George W. Bush, like his father before him, fraudulently claims the conservative label solely for his own political convenience.
Traditional Republican conservatives and foreign policy realists believe above all that war should genuinely be a last resort, not a first option, and that war must absolutely be in response to unambiguous threats to a vital national interest. It is the White House's embrace of permanent war and nation-building in the Middle East that should be most troubling, as it has already meant the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. Fiscally responsible conservatives should also be concerned about borrowing what will eventually amount to trillions of dollars to finance wars of choice. This has resulted in a plummeting dollar, higher interest rates, and increased energy costs, which has given China the keys to the U.S. economy.
Concerning Iran, the United States intelligence community has yet to complete a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), though the report is scheduled to be issued by the end of this month. Unlike other recent NIEs, it will not have key judgments released in unclassified form, which means that the public and even many government officials will not know what it says. There is every indication that the delay in the preparation of the report was due to concerns by the administration that it was not "strong" enough. The White House will undoubtedly seek to use the document to buttress its case for action against Iran.
From the conservative viewpoint, it would be far better if the administration were to use the NIE to undertake a careful assessment of the Iranian relationship and respond to that assessment realistically. No one doubts that the United States and Iran have genuine differences that include possible nuclear proliferation, regional dominance, support of terrorism, and Iran's proper role as a neighbor of both Afghanistan and Iraq. These differences cannot be resolved with a bombing campaign. They should be dealt with through diplomacy, without any preconditions, and it is up to the United States to jump-start the process because the United States has more to lose from another war, most particularly in economic terms. Far from an extreme or radical position, positive and comprehensive diplomatic engagement with Iran was a key recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and was also endorsed recently by Efraim Halevy, the former head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service. Conservatives should also eschew the demonization and disinformation campaign against Iran, which has muddied the waters and made negotiations more difficult. Iran has a legitimate, elected government, like it or not, and it should be treated with respect. The United States should step back and make a serious and dispassionate estimate of the genuine threat posed by Iran without using the words "Hitler" or "Nazis," or mentioning the year 1938.
Conservatives who believe that there must be a "casus belli" to justify a conflict or who are practicing Christians and believe a war must be "just" should particularly note the lack of evidence suggesting that Iran is preparing to attack anyone. The intelligence community believes that Iran might well have a secret nuclear weapons program, even though there is no evidence to support that suspicion. But even if Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, there is broad consensus that the program is likely not far advanced, is suffering from technical problems, and is susceptible to internationally sanctioned steps to slow it down further as long as the United States takes the lead and abandons the role of school bully.
Conservatives should also be skeptical about other claims, as much of what appears in the media is false or misleading. Iran has a vested interest in stabilizing both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the accounts of Tehran's involvement in both countries, most recently described as "conducting operations in our battle space" in Iraq, have been grossly overstated and frequently based on dubious intelligence. While Iran is undoubtedly both able and willing to make the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and Iraq uncomfortable, the allegation that it has been deliberately "killing our soldiers," which is the latest congressional pretext for going to war, is not supported by hard evidence. That Iran would have any interest or ability to provide a weapon of mass destruction to a terrorist group is speculation piled on top of speculation. It is unsupported by evidence, and observers of Iran have frequently noted that the regime of the mullahs has consistently behaved cautiously in support of its perceived national interest and is not suicidal. Even if Iran does obtain one or two crude nuclear weapons, it is difficult to imagine how Tehran could pose a serious threat to the United States in the near term, because it can be both deterred and contained.
Finally, conservatives should believe that America comes first. They should insist that the United States' interaction with Iran be based on our national interests, not Israel's, Saudi Arabia's, or any of the other countries' in the region, though those interests and concerns can be instrumental in shaping U.S. policies. Any serious analysis of the growing conflict with Iran will reveal that there are serious issues between Tehran and Washington, but the "existential crisis" that has been fueling the talk of war is largely false in nature, a concoction of outside interests, including lobbies, interest groups, the media, and the military-industrial complex.
Philip Giraldi The turmoil in Pakistan might have one positive result: the need to strengthen the American presence in neighboring Afghanistan could narrow the White House's options and permanently derail plans to attack Iran. Nevertheless, the likelihood of a war that will be a catastrophe for both belligerents, almost certainly for the entire Middle East, and possibly for the world at large, remains at a high level. War might even be regarded as inevitable because it is the only option remaining for decision-makers in Washington, who have effectively closed the door on other approaches that might reduced the level of hostility.
Contrary to the repeated assertions by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an endless series of threats emanating from Washington is not diplomacy. The United States is refusing to negotiate with Iran, and the only obstacle to a war from the U.S. side is the resistance coming from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and some military and naval officers, most notably the Central Command's Admiral William Fallon, who are heavily outnumbered by those in the administration and outside it who are pro-war. Anti-Iranian resolutions pass by large majorities in Congress. Both parties and nearly all the presidential candidates assert the necessity of war to disarm Iran and have placed no impediment on its initiation, the mainstream media is as acquiescent as it was in the run-up to Iraq, and the latest Zogby poll indicates that even a thin majority of the public has been convinced by the war hysteria and is supportive of conflict. Powerful lobbying groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) continue to resist talks and urge a military resolution. It may be that few in the White House and Congress actually want to pull the trigger on Iran because they are gun shy after the debacle in Iraq, but the danger of a larger war growing out of a relatively minor incident is very real, as is the possibility that a nervous Israel will play some part in initiating a major conflict that will draw the United States in.
One of the strongest constituencies supporting military action against the perceived Iranian threat is voters who describe themselves as politically conservative. Most also identify as Republicans. To a certain extent, this support derives from a desire to support "their president" rather than from any serious consideration of what the probable consequences of yet another war in the Middle East might be. It also likely stems from a more general belief that the United States should have a strong and assertive defense policy in a troubled world, coupled with the irrational fear that "Islamofascism" is a global force that threatens national security. Those who see an existential struggle join with the Christian Armageddonists to welcome an "end days" conflict that pits good against evil, but they are likely a small minority even among conservatives.
As is often the case, conservatives should look to the example of President Ronald Reagan to see how global conflict should be managed. Reagan won the Cold War against a powerful nuclear armed adversary through calculated steps that increased bilateral cooperation on security issues while at the same time ratcheting up pressure on the shaky Soviet economy. The radically different imperialistic foreign policy of the Bush administration is difficult to reconcile with the cautious internationalism embraced by Reagan and his Republican predecessors, which proceeded carefully and sought to avoid involvement in other people's quarrels. Bush rarely exhibits other traditional conservative values, such as a preference for smaller and less intrusive government, fiscal responsibility, rule of law, and regard for the Constitution. He has convincingly demonstrated that he is not an heir to the Reagan tradition. George W. Bush, like his father before him, fraudulently claims the conservative label solely for his own political convenience.
Traditional Republican conservatives and foreign policy realists believe above all that war should genuinely be a last resort, not a first option, and that war must absolutely be in response to unambiguous threats to a vital national interest. It is the White House's embrace of permanent war and nation-building in the Middle East that should be most troubling, as it has already meant the deaths of thousands of American soldiers. Fiscally responsible conservatives should also be concerned about borrowing what will eventually amount to trillions of dollars to finance wars of choice. This has resulted in a plummeting dollar, higher interest rates, and increased energy costs, which has given China the keys to the U.S. economy.
Concerning Iran, the United States intelligence community has yet to complete a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), though the report is scheduled to be issued by the end of this month. Unlike other recent NIEs, it will not have key judgments released in unclassified form, which means that the public and even many government officials will not know what it says. There is every indication that the delay in the preparation of the report was due to concerns by the administration that it was not "strong" enough. The White House will undoubtedly seek to use the document to buttress its case for action against Iran.
From the conservative viewpoint, it would be far better if the administration were to use the NIE to undertake a careful assessment of the Iranian relationship and respond to that assessment realistically. No one doubts that the United States and Iran have genuine differences that include possible nuclear proliferation, regional dominance, support of terrorism, and Iran's proper role as a neighbor of both Afghanistan and Iraq. These differences cannot be resolved with a bombing campaign. They should be dealt with through diplomacy, without any preconditions, and it is up to the United States to jump-start the process because the United States has more to lose from another war, most particularly in economic terms. Far from an extreme or radical position, positive and comprehensive diplomatic engagement with Iran was a key recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and was also endorsed recently by Efraim Halevy, the former head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service. Conservatives should also eschew the demonization and disinformation campaign against Iran, which has muddied the waters and made negotiations more difficult. Iran has a legitimate, elected government, like it or not, and it should be treated with respect. The United States should step back and make a serious and dispassionate estimate of the genuine threat posed by Iran without using the words "Hitler" or "Nazis," or mentioning the year 1938.
Conservatives who believe that there must be a "casus belli" to justify a conflict or who are practicing Christians and believe a war must be "just" should particularly note the lack of evidence suggesting that Iran is preparing to attack anyone. The intelligence community believes that Iran might well have a secret nuclear weapons program, even though there is no evidence to support that suspicion. But even if Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, there is broad consensus that the program is likely not far advanced, is suffering from technical problems, and is susceptible to internationally sanctioned steps to slow it down further as long as the United States takes the lead and abandons the role of school bully.
Conservatives should also be skeptical about other claims, as much of what appears in the media is false or misleading. Iran has a vested interest in stabilizing both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the accounts of Tehran's involvement in both countries, most recently described as "conducting operations in our battle space" in Iraq, have been grossly overstated and frequently based on dubious intelligence. While Iran is undoubtedly both able and willing to make the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and Iraq uncomfortable, the allegation that it has been deliberately "killing our soldiers," which is the latest congressional pretext for going to war, is not supported by hard evidence. That Iran would have any interest or ability to provide a weapon of mass destruction to a terrorist group is speculation piled on top of speculation. It is unsupported by evidence, and observers of Iran have frequently noted that the regime of the mullahs has consistently behaved cautiously in support of its perceived national interest and is not suicidal. Even if Iran does obtain one or two crude nuclear weapons, it is difficult to imagine how Tehran could pose a serious threat to the United States in the near term, because it can be both deterred and contained.
Finally, conservatives should believe that America comes first. They should insist that the United States' interaction with Iran be based on our national interests, not Israel's, Saudi Arabia's, or any of the other countries' in the region, though those interests and concerns can be instrumental in shaping U.S. policies. Any serious analysis of the growing conflict with Iran will reveal that there are serious issues between Tehran and Washington, but the "existential crisis" that has been fueling the talk of war is largely false in nature, a concoction of outside interests, including lobbies, interest groups, the media, and the military-industrial complex.
US lacks a smart nuclear policy
US officials in charge of nuclear arms control continue to behave as if they are in an unreflexive cocoon of unilateralism in which the superpower's actions serve the collective good. As long as the US continues to focus on non-proliferation at the expense of disarmament, it cannot lead the rest of the world on this most important issue. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Nov 20, '07)
Fallujah under a different siege
Three years after the US attack on Fallujah that destroyed 70% of the city, the once bustling commercial center is an isolated, barricaded poverty-stricken dead zone. Electricity and water supplies are lacking, prices are high, many neighborhoods are still in ruins and the citizens are frustrated with the extensive media coverage that has brought them no relief, and, in many cases, only resulted in retribution from US-backed Iraqi police and military. - Ali al-Fadhily (Nov 20, '07)
US officials in charge of nuclear arms control continue to behave as if they are in an unreflexive cocoon of unilateralism in which the superpower's actions serve the collective good. As long as the US continues to focus on non-proliferation at the expense of disarmament, it cannot lead the rest of the world on this most important issue. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Nov 20, '07)
Fallujah under a different siege
Three years after the US attack on Fallujah that destroyed 70% of the city, the once bustling commercial center is an isolated, barricaded poverty-stricken dead zone. Electricity and water supplies are lacking, prices are high, many neighborhoods are still in ruins and the citizens are frustrated with the extensive media coverage that has brought them no relief, and, in many cases, only resulted in retribution from US-backed Iraqi police and military. - Ali al-Fadhily (Nov 20, '07)
The World Through Bush-Color Glasses
http://www.236.com/video/?bcpid=1272014315...ctid=1304990175
Oprah's Favorite Things: The Over-The-Top Crowd Reaction
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/20/o...s-_n_73588.html
MTV LAUNCHES NEW ARABIC SERVICE BBC NEWS (NOVEMBER 18): The music and youth lifestyle channel MTV has launched an Arabic service it hopes can tap into a booming appetite for Western-influenced culture. MTV says it hopes to respect local culture without diluting its brand. The MTV Arabia service will screen Arab music videos, talent shows, and international programmes like Pimp My Ride adapted for Arab audiences. It says it hopes the channel can act as a cultural unifying force in a region known for political tension.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7100252.stm
LEBANON'S HIP-HOP STRUGGLE - AMAR C. BAKSHI (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): Lynn Fattouh, a.k.a. MC Lix, a.k.a. Malikah ("The Queen") is one of seven top Arab rappers, hand-picked by MTV Arabiya, a new cable channel that began broadcasting over the weekend. She is grateful to American hip-hop musicians for creating a ?diverse culture? that accepted her immediately and provided her with a platform to counter the negative images of Arab people around the world, and to demand change from her leaders in the Middle East. But it also convinced her that Americans had a lot to be grateful for, and a lot to learn.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglo...op_lebanon.html SEE ALSO
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/orlando-lima...op_b_73531.html
YOUNG BROTHERS IN CYBERSPACE - MARC LYNCH (MIDDLE EAST REPORT): The bloggers of the Muslim Brothers represent a growing intellectual and political force within the movement that could, over time, help tip it in a reformist direction. But they face considerable challenges.
http://merip.org/mer/mer245/lynch.html
COLLATERAL DAMAGE - ANNE APPLEBAUM (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): The collateral damage inflicted by the war in Iraq on America's relationships with the rest of the world is a lot deeper and broader than most Americans have realized. It isn't just that the war invigorated the anti-Americanism that has always been latent pretty much everywhere. What's worse is the fact that -- however it all comes out in the end, however successful Iraqi democracy is a decade from now -- our conduct of the war has disillusioned our natural friends and supporters and thrown a lasting shadow over our military and political competence. However it all comes out, the price we've paid is too high.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1901185_pf.html
U.S. WILL NOT HAVE TO ORDER DIPLOMATS TO IRAQ ? REUTERS (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 19): The State Department said on Monday it had now found enough volunteers to serve in Iraq and would not have to force diplomats to go there. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said all of the posts had now been filled by volunteers and there would be no need for "directed" assignments to the war zone. He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would send a cable to employees congratulating them on meeting the staffing challenge in Baghdad.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/...agewanted=print SEE ALSO
http://wonkette.com/politics/iraqembassyid...iraq-324972.php
IRAQ: TOWARD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, OR A WARLORD STATE? JIM LOBE (ANTIWAR.COM, NOVEMBER 21): While the vast majority of analysts agree that sectarian violence in Iraq has declined sharply from pre-"surge" levels one year ago, a major debate has broken out as to whether the achievement of the surge's strategic objective -- national reconciliation -- is closer or more distant than ever.
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=11941
GIVING THANKS INSIDE THE BUBBLE - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, NOVEMBER 20): Critics of the war -- i.e. about two thirds of Americans -- generally agree that the problem is precisely that our troops in Iraq aren't fighting "extremists and radicals who would do us more harm," but instead are trying to tamp down a civil war that has nothing to do with our security interests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7112000871.html
PETRAEUS'S IRAQ - ROBERT H. SCALES (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 21): Gens. Petraeus and Ray Odierno have achieved success on the ground at an unprecedented speed in the history of counterinsurgency warfare. Now it's time to apply the same sense of urgency and commitment to the task of reuniting the tragically fractured nation and bring it back from the brink of annihilation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195614207...in_commentaries PAID SUBSCRIPTION
DEBATING IRAQ'S TRANSITION - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 21): It?s clear that the surge by U.S. troops has really dampened violence in Iraq. So don?t we now need a surge in diplomacy to finish the job?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/opinion/...agewanted=print
IRAQ'S SAVAGE IRONIES: ADAPTABILITY, SELF-CRITIQUE, AND PERSISTENCE WILL PREVAIL - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (NATIONAL REVIEW, NOVEMBER 21): Nothing is for certain in any war -- as the savage ironies of Iraq have shown the last four years. Few envisioned the initial brilliant three-week war, and the utter and rapid defeat of Saddam. Fewer foresaw the ensuing bloody four-year occupation. And the fewest of all anticipated that out of that mess, the present chance at stability and a real reconciliation under a constitutional framework could come.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWZiZ...YWI3NDUzNjUzM2I=
IN IRAQ, SIGNS OF HOPE AND PERIL - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 21): Al-Qaeda's mistakes and Iran's tactical retreat don't diminish the importance of what Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. forces are accomplishing. But the hard work of building a stable Iraqi state is still ahead.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001648_pf.html THE BIG PICTURE IN IRAQ - MICHAEL BARONE (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): We have been looking at Iraq in micro-timeframes -- or, for many who oppose the war, frozen in the time frame of late 2006. A better picture of the micro-timeframe is that we achieved considerable success this year.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
IRAQIS JOINING INSURGENCY LESS FOR CAUSE THAN CASH - AMIT R. PALEY (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): US military commanders say that insurgents across the country are increasingly motivated more by money than ideology and that a growing number of insurgent cells, struggling to pay recruits, are turning to gangster-style racketeering operations. US military officials have responded by launching a major campaign to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq's financial networks and spread propaganda that portrays its leaders as greedy thugs, an effort the officials describe as a key factor in their recent success beating down the insurgency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1902022_pf.html
IN IRAQ, WHERE DOES ALL OUR MONEY GO? - WILLIAM M. ARKIN (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): For all of Congress's battles about funding the Iraq war, where's the basic oversight over what's already been spent? Isn't it time that we start asking ourselves how it is that we can spend so much and get so little? Isn't it time we ask who is really benefiting financially?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarnin...ml?nav=rss_blog
RUMORS OF (MORE) WAR: LIKELIHOOD OF IRAN ATTACK GAINS CREDENCE - DAVE LINDORFF (COUNTERPUNCH, NOVEMBER 20)
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff11202007.html
BROKERING MIDEAST PEACE - TULIN DALOGLU (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Turkey is showing that it is determined to retain its strategic partnership with the United States and Israel.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
A POWDER KEG IN LEBANON: DEADLOCK OVER A NEW LEADER COULD SET OFF A CIVIL WAR AND FUEL MIDEAST VOLATILITY - MILTON VIORST (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 21): It is no secret that Hezbollah's arms and money come chiefly from Shiite Iran, with help from Syria. Hezbollah denies that it is beholden to either country. It is motivated, Hezbollah says, purely by Lebanese nationalism. But the U.S. -- insisting that Hezbollah is an Iranian-Syrian pawn and a collaborator in global terrorism -- strongly backs its rivals. The US position doesn't carry much weight with the Lebanese these days -- mostly because of its role in Israel's invasion last year, when American officials did little or nothing to stop the incursion.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail
STATICIDAL ZEALOTRY - FRANK J. GAFFNEY JR. (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice behaves like a zealot. In her ever-rasher pursuit of a Palestinian state, she exhibits the syndrome defined by the philosopher George Santana as one who redoubles her efforts upon losing sight of the objective.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR MIDEAST PEACE SUMMIT: BUT ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS HAVE NO BLUEPRINT YET FOR TALKS TO BEGIN TUESDAY - ILENE R. PRUSHER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p01s04-wome.html
DOUBTS CLOUD U.S. TALKS SET ON MIDEAST: ABBAS AND OLMERT WILL MEET WITH BUSH NEXT WEEK, BUT WHO ELSE WILL ATTEND IS UNCERTAIN, AS IS THE AGENDA - PAUL RICHTER (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...=la-home-center
BUSH PULLS FINANCIAL, DIPLOMATIC LEVERS TO CHECK IRAN - GERALD F. SEIB (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 19): When the U.S. convenes a Middle East peace summit in the next few weeks in Maryland, here's what to watch: Do the Syrians choose to attend, or are they at least made to feel uncomfortably isolated in the Arab world if they don't?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195515588...us_inside_today PAID SUBSCRIPTION
THE ANNAPOLIS FIASCO BRET STEPHENS (WALL STREET JOURNAL NOVEMBER 20): Henry Kissinger once observed that "when enough prestige has been invested in a policy it is easier to see it fail than abandon it." At the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., next week, the current secretary of state will illustrate her predecessor's point.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195520551...ured_stories_hs PAID SUBSCRIPTION
THE PERILS OF ENGAGEMENT - JEFF ROBBINS (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 21): It is past time for those who complain most about the lack of American "engagement" in the Middle East to begin providing some.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119561473851800203.html PAID SUBSCRIPTION
GEN. MUSHARRAF IS THE PROBLEM: AN END TO PAKISTAN'S POLITICAL CRISIS IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH HIS PERSONAL AMBITIONS EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): Pakistan?s best interest, and that of the United States, lies in restoring the constitution, reinstating and strengthening an independent judiciary, reopening independent media without restrictions, and holding free and fair elections in which all Pakistani parties are able to participate. As Gen. Musharraf himself has recognized, he cannot survive in office under those conditions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7111901197.html
WHERE WE WENT WRONG IN PAKISTAN - MICHAEL GERSON (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 21): It would make sense to cut aid to Pakistan if Musharraf does not back off from emergency rule -- not humanitarian aid, or even counterterrorism aid, but military aid not directly tied to the fight against terrorists. This would give the army a stake in Pakistan's return to democracy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001650_pf.html
THE PAKISTAN PROBLEM -- AND THE WRONG SOLUTION - BILL ROGGIO (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 21): The United States must get its counterinsurgency strategy in Pakistan right the first time, lest it risk the annihilation of any potential allies that remain in the region. More, not less, direct support from the United States military will be necessary for such a strategy to have any chance of success.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...14/383wutvv.asp
FREE KOSOVO WITHOUT A FIGHT: THE US MUST PERSUADE OTHERS TO BACK KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE - NIK STEINBERG (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p09s01-coop.html
GLOBAL SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY STALLED: PUTIN AND CHÁVEZ ARE USING OIL MONEY TO CREATE OTHER MODELS, WHILE OTHERS JUST STEP BACK - PETER GRIER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p01s02-usgn.html
RENOUNCING EMPIRE - BRUCE FEIN (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): In substance, Mr. Bush asserted that God had appointed the United States as knight-errant to destroy all nondemocratic dispensations in the Milky Way to prevent the nation's crucifixion.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
RICE REACHES FOR LEGACY IN MIDEAST TALKS - ASSOCIATED PRESS (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Rice has a mixed record as the nation's top diplomat. Rice has completed no peace treaties or other major foreign policy pacts in her nearly three years on the job, although some deals are in the works. She's hired a personal photographer who accompanied her on her last two trips to Jerusalem and the West Bank. The pictures will become part of Rice's archive at the State Department, and some will appear on an expanded bells-and-whistles department Web site that Rice considers an accomplishment. S
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rice...agewanted=print
http://www.236.com/video/?bcpid=1272014315...ctid=1304990175
Oprah's Favorite Things: The Over-The-Top Crowd Reaction
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/20/o...s-_n_73588.html
MTV LAUNCHES NEW ARABIC SERVICE BBC NEWS (NOVEMBER 18): The music and youth lifestyle channel MTV has launched an Arabic service it hopes can tap into a booming appetite for Western-influenced culture. MTV says it hopes to respect local culture without diluting its brand. The MTV Arabia service will screen Arab music videos, talent shows, and international programmes like Pimp My Ride adapted for Arab audiences. It says it hopes the channel can act as a cultural unifying force in a region known for political tension.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7100252.stm
LEBANON'S HIP-HOP STRUGGLE - AMAR C. BAKSHI (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): Lynn Fattouh, a.k.a. MC Lix, a.k.a. Malikah ("The Queen") is one of seven top Arab rappers, hand-picked by MTV Arabiya, a new cable channel that began broadcasting over the weekend. She is grateful to American hip-hop musicians for creating a ?diverse culture? that accepted her immediately and provided her with a platform to counter the negative images of Arab people around the world, and to demand change from her leaders in the Middle East. But it also convinced her that Americans had a lot to be grateful for, and a lot to learn.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglo...op_lebanon.html SEE ALSO
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/orlando-lima...op_b_73531.html
YOUNG BROTHERS IN CYBERSPACE - MARC LYNCH (MIDDLE EAST REPORT): The bloggers of the Muslim Brothers represent a growing intellectual and political force within the movement that could, over time, help tip it in a reformist direction. But they face considerable challenges.
http://merip.org/mer/mer245/lynch.html
COLLATERAL DAMAGE - ANNE APPLEBAUM (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): The collateral damage inflicted by the war in Iraq on America's relationships with the rest of the world is a lot deeper and broader than most Americans have realized. It isn't just that the war invigorated the anti-Americanism that has always been latent pretty much everywhere. What's worse is the fact that -- however it all comes out in the end, however successful Iraqi democracy is a decade from now -- our conduct of the war has disillusioned our natural friends and supporters and thrown a lasting shadow over our military and political competence. However it all comes out, the price we've paid is too high.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1901185_pf.html
U.S. WILL NOT HAVE TO ORDER DIPLOMATS TO IRAQ ? REUTERS (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 19): The State Department said on Monday it had now found enough volunteers to serve in Iraq and would not have to force diplomats to go there. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said all of the posts had now been filled by volunteers and there would be no need for "directed" assignments to the war zone. He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would send a cable to employees congratulating them on meeting the staffing challenge in Baghdad.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/...agewanted=print SEE ALSO
http://wonkette.com/politics/iraqembassyid...iraq-324972.php
IRAQ: TOWARD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, OR A WARLORD STATE? JIM LOBE (ANTIWAR.COM, NOVEMBER 21): While the vast majority of analysts agree that sectarian violence in Iraq has declined sharply from pre-"surge" levels one year ago, a major debate has broken out as to whether the achievement of the surge's strategic objective -- national reconciliation -- is closer or more distant than ever.
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=11941
GIVING THANKS INSIDE THE BUBBLE - DAN FROOMKIN (WASHINGTONPOST.COM, NOVEMBER 20): Critics of the war -- i.e. about two thirds of Americans -- generally agree that the problem is precisely that our troops in Iraq aren't fighting "extremists and radicals who would do us more harm," but instead are trying to tamp down a civil war that has nothing to do with our security interests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7112000871.html
PETRAEUS'S IRAQ - ROBERT H. SCALES (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 21): Gens. Petraeus and Ray Odierno have achieved success on the ground at an unprecedented speed in the history of counterinsurgency warfare. Now it's time to apply the same sense of urgency and commitment to the task of reuniting the tragically fractured nation and bring it back from the brink of annihilation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195614207...in_commentaries PAID SUBSCRIPTION
DEBATING IRAQ'S TRANSITION - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 21): It?s clear that the surge by U.S. troops has really dampened violence in Iraq. So don?t we now need a surge in diplomacy to finish the job?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/opinion/...agewanted=print
IRAQ'S SAVAGE IRONIES: ADAPTABILITY, SELF-CRITIQUE, AND PERSISTENCE WILL PREVAIL - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (NATIONAL REVIEW, NOVEMBER 21): Nothing is for certain in any war -- as the savage ironies of Iraq have shown the last four years. Few envisioned the initial brilliant three-week war, and the utter and rapid defeat of Saddam. Fewer foresaw the ensuing bloody four-year occupation. And the fewest of all anticipated that out of that mess, the present chance at stability and a real reconciliation under a constitutional framework could come.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWZiZ...YWI3NDUzNjUzM2I=
IN IRAQ, SIGNS OF HOPE AND PERIL - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 21): Al-Qaeda's mistakes and Iran's tactical retreat don't diminish the importance of what Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. forces are accomplishing. But the hard work of building a stable Iraqi state is still ahead.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001648_pf.html THE BIG PICTURE IN IRAQ - MICHAEL BARONE (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): We have been looking at Iraq in micro-timeframes -- or, for many who oppose the war, frozen in the time frame of late 2006. A better picture of the micro-timeframe is that we achieved considerable success this year.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
IRAQIS JOINING INSURGENCY LESS FOR CAUSE THAN CASH - AMIT R. PALEY (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): US military commanders say that insurgents across the country are increasingly motivated more by money than ideology and that a growing number of insurgent cells, struggling to pay recruits, are turning to gangster-style racketeering operations. US military officials have responded by launching a major campaign to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq's financial networks and spread propaganda that portrays its leaders as greedy thugs, an effort the officials describe as a key factor in their recent success beating down the insurgency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1902022_pf.html
IN IRAQ, WHERE DOES ALL OUR MONEY GO? - WILLIAM M. ARKIN (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): For all of Congress's battles about funding the Iraq war, where's the basic oversight over what's already been spent? Isn't it time that we start asking ourselves how it is that we can spend so much and get so little? Isn't it time we ask who is really benefiting financially?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarnin...ml?nav=rss_blog
RUMORS OF (MORE) WAR: LIKELIHOOD OF IRAN ATTACK GAINS CREDENCE - DAVE LINDORFF (COUNTERPUNCH, NOVEMBER 20)
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff11202007.html
BROKERING MIDEAST PEACE - TULIN DALOGLU (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Turkey is showing that it is determined to retain its strategic partnership with the United States and Israel.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
A POWDER KEG IN LEBANON: DEADLOCK OVER A NEW LEADER COULD SET OFF A CIVIL WAR AND FUEL MIDEAST VOLATILITY - MILTON VIORST (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 21): It is no secret that Hezbollah's arms and money come chiefly from Shiite Iran, with help from Syria. Hezbollah denies that it is beholden to either country. It is motivated, Hezbollah says, purely by Lebanese nationalism. But the U.S. -- insisting that Hezbollah is an Iranian-Syrian pawn and a collaborator in global terrorism -- strongly backs its rivals. The US position doesn't carry much weight with the Lebanese these days -- mostly because of its role in Israel's invasion last year, when American officials did little or nothing to stop the incursion.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail
STATICIDAL ZEALOTRY - FRANK J. GAFFNEY JR. (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice behaves like a zealot. In her ever-rasher pursuit of a Palestinian state, she exhibits the syndrome defined by the philosopher George Santana as one who redoubles her efforts upon losing sight of the objective.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR MIDEAST PEACE SUMMIT: BUT ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS HAVE NO BLUEPRINT YET FOR TALKS TO BEGIN TUESDAY - ILENE R. PRUSHER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p01s04-wome.html
DOUBTS CLOUD U.S. TALKS SET ON MIDEAST: ABBAS AND OLMERT WILL MEET WITH BUSH NEXT WEEK, BUT WHO ELSE WILL ATTEND IS UNCERTAIN, AS IS THE AGENDA - PAUL RICHTER (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...=la-home-center
BUSH PULLS FINANCIAL, DIPLOMATIC LEVERS TO CHECK IRAN - GERALD F. SEIB (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 19): When the U.S. convenes a Middle East peace summit in the next few weeks in Maryland, here's what to watch: Do the Syrians choose to attend, or are they at least made to feel uncomfortably isolated in the Arab world if they don't?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195515588...us_inside_today PAID SUBSCRIPTION
THE ANNAPOLIS FIASCO BRET STEPHENS (WALL STREET JOURNAL NOVEMBER 20): Henry Kissinger once observed that "when enough prestige has been invested in a policy it is easier to see it fail than abandon it." At the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., next week, the current secretary of state will illustrate her predecessor's point.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1195520551...ured_stories_hs PAID SUBSCRIPTION
THE PERILS OF ENGAGEMENT - JEFF ROBBINS (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 21): It is past time for those who complain most about the lack of American "engagement" in the Middle East to begin providing some.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119561473851800203.html PAID SUBSCRIPTION
GEN. MUSHARRAF IS THE PROBLEM: AN END TO PAKISTAN'S POLITICAL CRISIS IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH HIS PERSONAL AMBITIONS EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 20): Pakistan?s best interest, and that of the United States, lies in restoring the constitution, reinstating and strengthening an independent judiciary, reopening independent media without restrictions, and holding free and fair elections in which all Pakistani parties are able to participate. As Gen. Musharraf himself has recognized, he cannot survive in office under those conditions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7111901197.html
WHERE WE WENT WRONG IN PAKISTAN - MICHAEL GERSON (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 21): It would make sense to cut aid to Pakistan if Musharraf does not back off from emergency rule -- not humanitarian aid, or even counterterrorism aid, but military aid not directly tied to the fight against terrorists. This would give the army a stake in Pakistan's return to democracy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2001650_pf.html
THE PAKISTAN PROBLEM -- AND THE WRONG SOLUTION - BILL ROGGIO (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 21): The United States must get its counterinsurgency strategy in Pakistan right the first time, lest it risk the annihilation of any potential allies that remain in the region. More, not less, direct support from the United States military will be necessary for such a strategy to have any chance of success.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...14/383wutvv.asp
FREE KOSOVO WITHOUT A FIGHT: THE US MUST PERSUADE OTHERS TO BACK KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE - NIK STEINBERG (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p09s01-coop.html
GLOBAL SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY STALLED: PUTIN AND CHÁVEZ ARE USING OIL MONEY TO CREATE OTHER MODELS, WHILE OTHERS JUST STEP BACK - PETER GRIER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p01s02-usgn.html
RENOUNCING EMPIRE - BRUCE FEIN (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): In substance, Mr. Bush asserted that God had appointed the United States as knight-errant to destroy all nondemocratic dispensations in the Milky Way to prevent the nation's crucifixion.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
RICE REACHES FOR LEGACY IN MIDEAST TALKS - ASSOCIATED PRESS (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 20): Rice has a mixed record as the nation's top diplomat. Rice has completed no peace treaties or other major foreign policy pacts in her nearly three years on the job, although some deals are in the works. She's hired a personal photographer who accompanied her on her last two trips to Jerusalem and the West Bank. The pictures will become part of Rice's archive at the State Department, and some will appear on an expanded bells-and-whistles department Web site that Rice considers an accomplishment. S
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rice...agewanted=print
In Iraq, Sings of Hope and Peril – David Ignatius, Washington Post
Debating Iraq’s Transition? – Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Iraq: What Went Right – Ralph Peters, New York Post
Iraq’s Savage Ironies – Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
Iraqis Returning Home – London Times editorial
Why American Troops Belong in Kurdistan – Lionel Beehner, USA Today
Learning to Fight a Long War - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Iran: The German Question - Christian Science Monitor editorial
5 Reasons to Bomb Iran Now - Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post
Gen. Musharraf is the Problem – Washington Post editorial
Where We Went Wrong in Pakistan – Michael Gerson, Washington Post
The Pakistan Problem – Bill Roggio, Weekly Standard
Pakistanis Must Fix Pakistan - Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Annapolis Summit - Baltimore Sun editorial
Palestinian-Israeli 'Normalization' Needed - Walid Salem, Daily Star
The Perils of Engagement – Jeff Robbins, Wall Street Journal
Mushroom Soup on Road to Annapolis - Rami Khouri, Daily Star
The Limits of Deterrence – Beres and Ben-Israel, Washington Times
Failed Leaders Cannot Bring Peace – David Blair, London Daily Telegraph
A Powder Keg in Lebanon – Milton Viorst, Los Angeles Times
Brutal Saudi Sentence - Toronto Star editorial
Jihad Can’t Break Our Cold War Addiction – Washington Times forum
Democracy vs. Security - Pat Buchanan. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Thanks a Counterterrorist Today – Deroy Murdock, National Review
Give Burma a Chance - Canberra Times editorial
Building a Solution for Burma – Walter Lohman, Washington Post
Kosovo Voters Signal Desire for Independence - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial
Free Kosovo, Without a Fight - Nik Steinberg, Christian Science Monitor
Chavez Under Fire – Helle Dale, Washington Times
Democracy and Justice Under Siege - Paul Belien, Washington Times
The Wheels Come Off in Georgia – Michael Weiss, Weekly Standard
The Failed Madrid Verdicts – Kenneth Anderson, Weekly Standard
Limiting Power’s ‘Natural Tendencies’? – New York Times editorial
Debating Iraq’s Transition? – Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Iraq: What Went Right – Ralph Peters, New York Post
Iraq’s Savage Ironies – Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
Iraqis Returning Home – London Times editorial
Why American Troops Belong in Kurdistan – Lionel Beehner, USA Today
Learning to Fight a Long War - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Iran: The German Question - Christian Science Monitor editorial
5 Reasons to Bomb Iran Now - Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post
Gen. Musharraf is the Problem – Washington Post editorial
Where We Went Wrong in Pakistan – Michael Gerson, Washington Post
The Pakistan Problem – Bill Roggio, Weekly Standard
Pakistanis Must Fix Pakistan - Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Annapolis Summit - Baltimore Sun editorial
Palestinian-Israeli 'Normalization' Needed - Walid Salem, Daily Star
The Perils of Engagement – Jeff Robbins, Wall Street Journal
Mushroom Soup on Road to Annapolis - Rami Khouri, Daily Star
The Limits of Deterrence – Beres and Ben-Israel, Washington Times
Failed Leaders Cannot Bring Peace – David Blair, London Daily Telegraph
A Powder Keg in Lebanon – Milton Viorst, Los Angeles Times
Brutal Saudi Sentence - Toronto Star editorial
Jihad Can’t Break Our Cold War Addiction – Washington Times forum
Democracy vs. Security - Pat Buchanan. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Thanks a Counterterrorist Today – Deroy Murdock, National Review
Give Burma a Chance - Canberra Times editorial
Building a Solution for Burma – Walter Lohman, Washington Post
Kosovo Voters Signal Desire for Independence - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial
Free Kosovo, Without a Fight - Nik Steinberg, Christian Science Monitor
Chavez Under Fire – Helle Dale, Washington Times
Democracy and Justice Under Siege - Paul Belien, Washington Times
The Wheels Come Off in Georgia – Michael Weiss, Weekly Standard
The Failed Madrid Verdicts – Kenneth Anderson, Weekly Standard
Limiting Power’s ‘Natural Tendencies’? – New York Times editorial
The Dems Need an Iran Strategy ASAP
Guy T. Saperstein, AlterNet
ForeignPolicy: If the Dems hope to avoid another crushing, demoralizing defeat in a presidential election, they will need a coherent strategy on what to do about Iran.
On Iraq, A State of Denial – Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Democrat’s Iraq Quagmire – Kenneth Timmerman, Washington Times
None Dare Call it ‘Victory’ – Cal Thomas, Washington Times
Iraq Improving, Will Neocon Ideas Return? – Victor Davis Hanson, Real Clear Politics
Iraq Refugee Flow to U.S. Increases - to a Trickle – USA Today editorial
Injustice in the Line of Duty – Washington Times editorial
Afghanistan’s Slow Gains – Bill O’Reilly, New York Post
Digging in Deeper in Pakistan? – New York Times editorial
Harper’s Pakistan Push – Toronto Star editorial
Careful Thinking on Pakistan - Viola Herms Drath, Washington Times
Musharraf and Bhutto Must Work Together – London Times editorial
Beirut is Not Tehran – Exum and McInerney, Washington Post
Place Hariri Trial on Fast Track – Michael Young, Daily Star
Needed: A Cease-Fire with Hamas, Now - Yossi Belin, Washington Post
Why Annapolis Peace Talks Raise Hopes – Bronwen Maddox, London Times
A Stronger Abbas? – Jerusalem Post editorial
Sense on Settlements – Jerusalem Post editorial
Israel’s Most ‘Moderate’ Arab – Evelyn Gordon, Jerusalem Post
Bahrain Feels Heat from Iran – Con Coughlin, London Daily Telegraph
How to Save Darfur – William Reed, Washington Times
China and Sudan - Atallah and Shapiro, Washington Times
Talking to Ourselves on China – William Hawkins, Washington Times
Bangladeshi Human Rights – Diana West, Washington Times
Buffeted in Bangladesh – Greg Victor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Spain and Latin America – Barry Casselman, Washington Times
Cambodia’s Delayed Justice – New York Post editorial
Manned and Unmanned in the Air – Austin Bay, Washington Times
British Army Needs and Deserves More Money – London Daily Telegraph editorial
What Should We Call the Enemy? – Timothy Garton Graft, Guardian
The Democrat’s Iraq Quagmire – Kenneth Timmerman, Washington Times
None Dare Call it ‘Victory’ – Cal Thomas, Washington Times
Iraq Improving, Will Neocon Ideas Return? – Victor Davis Hanson, Real Clear Politics
Iraq Refugee Flow to U.S. Increases - to a Trickle – USA Today editorial
Injustice in the Line of Duty – Washington Times editorial
Afghanistan’s Slow Gains – Bill O’Reilly, New York Post
Digging in Deeper in Pakistan? – New York Times editorial
Harper’s Pakistan Push – Toronto Star editorial
Careful Thinking on Pakistan - Viola Herms Drath, Washington Times
Musharraf and Bhutto Must Work Together – London Times editorial
Beirut is Not Tehran – Exum and McInerney, Washington Post
Place Hariri Trial on Fast Track – Michael Young, Daily Star
Needed: A Cease-Fire with Hamas, Now - Yossi Belin, Washington Post
Why Annapolis Peace Talks Raise Hopes – Bronwen Maddox, London Times
A Stronger Abbas? – Jerusalem Post editorial
Sense on Settlements – Jerusalem Post editorial
Israel’s Most ‘Moderate’ Arab – Evelyn Gordon, Jerusalem Post
Bahrain Feels Heat from Iran – Con Coughlin, London Daily Telegraph
How to Save Darfur – William Reed, Washington Times
China and Sudan - Atallah and Shapiro, Washington Times
Talking to Ourselves on China – William Hawkins, Washington Times
Bangladeshi Human Rights – Diana West, Washington Times
Buffeted in Bangladesh – Greg Victor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Spain and Latin America – Barry Casselman, Washington Times
Cambodia’s Delayed Justice – New York Post editorial
Manned and Unmanned in the Air – Austin Bay, Washington Times
British Army Needs and Deserves More Money – London Daily Telegraph editorial
What Should We Call the Enemy? – Timothy Garton Graft, Guardian
Holocaust Denial, American StyleMark Weisbrot, AlterNet
War on Iraq: Institutionally unwilling to consider America's responsibility for the bloodbath, the traditional media have refused to acknowledge the massive number of Iraqis killed since the invasion.
Trying to Stop the Other Invasion of IraqCam Sylvester, The Tyee
War on Iraq: Inside Turkey's risky anti-war movement.
How Will Pakistani Conflict Impact the World?Paul Staniland, MIT Center for International Studies
ForeignPolicy: The conflicts on the Afghan border and within Musharraf's dictatorship could have a large rippling effect in neighboring countries and abroad.
Baghdad feels like a military base."
--Kareem Sadi Haadi, a Sunni civil engineer; cited in Sudarsan Raghavan,
'Returnees Find a Capital Transformed: Security Is Better, But Freedoms Are
Tempered by Fear' (Washington Post, November 23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2201568_pf.html
'[B]ases, rather than colonies, have long been the American way of empire.'
--Tom Engelhardt, ?A Permanent Military Empire? (Nation, June 8, 2007)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070625/engelhardt
--Kareem Sadi Haadi, a Sunni civil engineer; cited in Sudarsan Raghavan,
'Returnees Find a Capital Transformed: Security Is Better, But Freedoms Are
Tempered by Fear' (Washington Post, November 23)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2201568_pf.html
'[B]ases, rather than colonies, have long been the American way of empire.'
--Tom Engelhardt, ?A Permanent Military Empire? (Nation, June 8, 2007)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070625/engelhardt
ON IRAQ, A STATE OF DENIAL - CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER
23): The turnabout of American fortunes in Iraq over the past several months is
of a war seemingly lost, now winnable. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is in disarray, the
Sunni insurgency in decline, the Shiite militias quiescent, the capital city
reviving. Are we now to reverse course and abandon all this because parliament
cannot ratify the reconciliation already occurring on the ground?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2201089_pf.html
HALF FULL WRETCHAQ (BELMONT CLUB, NOVEMBER 21): The current calm in Iraq
represents not only a 'partial peace' but a huge victory.
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/11/half-full.html
NONE DARE CALL IT 'VICTORY' - CAL THOMAS (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 23):
Securing Iraq's capital city would be both a substantive and symbolic success.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
UN-SELLING THE SURGE - MATTHEW DUSS (AMERICAN PROSPECT, NOVEMBER 20):
Despite growing disenchantment with the war in Iraq, the well-organized
conservative propaganda machine has been hard at work selling the "success of
the surge." But the stated goal of the surge was Iraqi national reconciliation.
There is no evidence that we have moved any closer to this goal -- in fact there
is evidence for the opposite.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articl...lling_the_surge
THE FAILED MARRIAGE BROKER - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 20):
The mother of all failed marriage brokering has to be the administration's
efforts to bring Sunni and Shia together in Iraq. Relations with the
democratically elected Shi'ites have sunk so low that some Americans are saying
that the Iraqi government is more of a problem for American hopes for Iraq than
Al Qaeda or even Iran.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editoria..._broker?mode=PF
SMELLS LIKE DESPERATION, MICHAEL RUBIN - TRITA PARSI (HUFFINGTON POST,
NOVEMBER 20): Last year, Secretary Condoleezza Rice disclosed the existence of a
$75 million State Department "democracy promotion" program in Iran. In response
to the disastrous impact this decision has had on Iran's civil society, National
Iranian American Council (NIAC) teamed up with human rights and foreign policy
groups to educate Congress about its implications for Iranian NGOs. Today, both
lawmakers and the U.S. government have started to see the realities of this
unfortunate program.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trita-parsi/...n-_b_73575.html
LOOK WHO'S DOWNPLAYING IRAN'S NUCLEAR THREAT LEON HADAR (ANTIWAR.COM,
NOVEMBER 22): There is now a growing recognition among Israeli officials that
the Americans don't have the capability to decimate Iran's nuclear military
sites and that a U.S. strike against Iran would, in all probability, lead to a
U.S.-Iran military confrontation that could ignite a bloody regional war
involving Hezbollah and Syria.
http://www.antiwar.com/hadar/?articleid=11943
FIVE REASONS TO BOMB IRAN NOW MICHAEL FREUND (JERUSALEM POST, NOVEMBER 20)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter
AMERICA HOLDS THE KEY TO MIDEAST PEACE - ANATOL LIEVEN (FINANCIAL TIMES,
NOVEMBER 22): If the American establishment really does value American interests
and lives and sees these as seriously endangered by Islamist extremism, then to
give the Islamists the kind of help they receive from the continuing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is insane.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d92a7f06-990e-11...00779fd2ac.html
TRYING TO SAVE LEBANON, AGAIN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 22): The
United States and its European allies will have to begin a serious dialogue with
Syria to see if it can be coaxed and pressured to rein in Hezbollah.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/opinion/...agewanted=print
SPARK IN LEBANON: A CONFLICT OVER THE PRESIDENCY COULD EXPLODE A POLITICAL
STALEMATE ? EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): US inaction has left
France as the would-be rescuer of Lebanon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2102052_pf.html
NEXT WEEK'S MIDEAST PEACE CONFAB IN U.S.: BIG HOPES OR MORE HOT AIR?
EDWARD M. GOMEZ (WORLD VIEWS, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, NOVEMBER 23)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate...;entry_id=22158
DIGGING IN DEEPER IN PAKISTAN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 23):
Before plunging American forces more deeply into Pakistan?s remote borderlands,
Washington needs to deal with the critical political crisis threatening that
country?s very core and America?s strategic interests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/...agewanted=print
MUSHARRAF AND THE CON GAME: DICTATORS DON'T BESTOW DEMOCRACY - ROBERT KAGAN
(WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): President Bush's claim that Musharaf can be
trusted to lead Pakistan toward democracy is not credible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2101858_pf.html
CAREFUL WISHING ON PAKISTAN - VIOLA HERMS DRATH (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER
23): What beleaguered Pakistan needs now is tranquility, a state of mind that
must be restored before another Islamic revolution breaks new ground. Abandoning
Gen. Musharraf, who is in need of support because he dared to be loyal to the
United States, would not necessarily unlock democracy but would nourish
prospects of Islamists making the rules.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
COLORED REVOLUTIONS: HIGH HOPES AND BROKEN PROMISES -- THE ROSE AND ORANGE
REVOLUTIONS USHERED IN A WAVE OF OPTIMISM THAT SIMILAR "COLORED REVOLUTIONS"
WOULD SOON SPREAD WESTERN-STYLE DEMOCRACY THROUGHOUT THE SOVIET UNION - SALOME
ASATIANI (RFE/RL, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/...12c0166ea4.html
TALKING TO OURSELVES ON CHINA - WILLIAM HAWKINS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER
23): China won't voluntarily change its successful trade policy. America needs
to change its unsuccessful one. Talking about an imaginary world of cooperation
is not an effective substitute for acting in the real world of strategic
rivalry.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
FIRST LOOK: 'RAMBO' IS ON A MISSION IN BURMA - ANTHONY BREZNICAN (USA TODAY,
NOVEMBER 21): Sylvester Stallone's Green Beret, who started as a tragic
representation of Vietnam veteran neglect in the original film and morphed into
a superhero soldier by the third, is back for a fourth outing. This one plunges
John Rambo into the gun sights of the brutal military dictatorship of Myanmar,
the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, where in real life the
ruling junta recently received international condemnation for its violent
suppression of a pro-democracy uprising led by Buddhist monks.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2...-14-rambo_N.htm
FIRST KOSOVO, AND THEN WHAT? EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 20): The
Kosovo majority's impatience for independence is understandable, particularly
since it has been subjected to a corrupt and inefficient UN tutelage. But the
European, American, and Russian mediators should keep Serbia and the Kosovars at
the negotiating table as long as it takes to hammer out a resolution to which
both sides agree.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editoria..._and_then_what/
THE 'OMNIPRESIDENT'S' CRUCIBLE: FRANCE'S NICOLAS SARKOZY, STIFFENING HIS
SPINE AGAINST STREET PROTESTS ? EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 23): What
Sarkozy offers is largely new thinking and a new direction for a country that
remains, for all its problems, one of the engines of Europe's economy. For that
he deserves encouragement and support from his allies on the continent and in
Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7112201079.html
ERCI, DANKE, CHEERS - SUZANNE FIELDS (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 22):
?Since Thanksgiving is about friendship as well as family, I'd invite leaders
from three countries who have renewed and reaffirmed their friendship with us --
Great Britain, France and Germany.?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
GITMO LAWYERS KEEP TRYING - WILLIAM FISHER (OPEDNEWS, NOVEMBER 21): The
Bush Administration's legal justification for continuing to hold prisoners
without charges at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be back in
the U.S. Supreme Court -- again -- early next month. And the decision of the
nine Justices could bring the entire Bush Administration's detention policy down
in flames -- or not.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_wi...yers_keep_t.htm
TERM LIMITS - DANIEL LARISON (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, NOVEMBER 19): Use of
propagandistic terms like ?Islamofascism? and ?Islamophobia? is an attempt to
wield power through confusion and intimidation: they aim to mislead about the
nature of our actual enemies on the one hand and invent new heresies against
?tolerance? on the other.
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_11_19/editorial.html
NTEREST GROUP FOREIGN POLICY DOUG BANDOW (ANTIWAR.COM, NOVEMBER 23): The
conduct of US foreign policy seems remote to most Americans. But when the
government acts it effectively commits the entire nation in a collective and
coercive endeavor. So acting should be reserved for cases in which all
Americans, and not just a few Americans, have something significant at stake.
Foreign policy should be more than just another arena of interest group
politics.
http://www.antiwar.com/bandow/?articleid=11948
REPORT URGES FOREIGN AID STRATEGY THAT BRIDGES SECURITY, ALTRUISM - WALTER
PINCUS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): 'The president should design a national
foreign assistance strategy that explains both the national security requirement
and the humanitarian imperative that drive our government's investments in
foreign aid," says report prepared by the Republican staff of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. The report also criticizes the State Department, arguing
that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's establishment last year of a director
of foreign assistance to centralize decision-making has resulted in a "lack of
transparency" for aid staff in the field, and "weeks of extra paperwork,
differing priorities between post and headquarters as well as inconsistent
demands."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2102279_pf.html
PRESIDENT JONAH, MEET OLIVER CROMWELL! - GORE VIDAL (TRUTHDIG, FEB 7, 2006):
?I must confess that I have a proprietary interest in anyone who refers to the
United States as an empire since I am credited with first putting forward this
heretical view in the early ?70s.?
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060207_...nt_jonah_redux/
23): The turnabout of American fortunes in Iraq over the past several months is
of a war seemingly lost, now winnable. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is in disarray, the
Sunni insurgency in decline, the Shiite militias quiescent, the capital city
reviving. Are we now to reverse course and abandon all this because parliament
cannot ratify the reconciliation already occurring on the ground?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2201089_pf.html
HALF FULL WRETCHAQ (BELMONT CLUB, NOVEMBER 21): The current calm in Iraq
represents not only a 'partial peace' but a huge victory.
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/11/half-full.html
NONE DARE CALL IT 'VICTORY' - CAL THOMAS (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 23):
Securing Iraq's capital city would be both a substantive and symbolic success.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
UN-SELLING THE SURGE - MATTHEW DUSS (AMERICAN PROSPECT, NOVEMBER 20):
Despite growing disenchantment with the war in Iraq, the well-organized
conservative propaganda machine has been hard at work selling the "success of
the surge." But the stated goal of the surge was Iraqi national reconciliation.
There is no evidence that we have moved any closer to this goal -- in fact there
is evidence for the opposite.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articl...lling_the_surge
THE FAILED MARRIAGE BROKER - H.D.S. GREENWAY (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 20):
The mother of all failed marriage brokering has to be the administration's
efforts to bring Sunni and Shia together in Iraq. Relations with the
democratically elected Shi'ites have sunk so low that some Americans are saying
that the Iraqi government is more of a problem for American hopes for Iraq than
Al Qaeda or even Iran.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editoria..._broker?mode=PF
SMELLS LIKE DESPERATION, MICHAEL RUBIN - TRITA PARSI (HUFFINGTON POST,
NOVEMBER 20): Last year, Secretary Condoleezza Rice disclosed the existence of a
$75 million State Department "democracy promotion" program in Iran. In response
to the disastrous impact this decision has had on Iran's civil society, National
Iranian American Council (NIAC) teamed up with human rights and foreign policy
groups to educate Congress about its implications for Iranian NGOs. Today, both
lawmakers and the U.S. government have started to see the realities of this
unfortunate program.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trita-parsi/...n-_b_73575.html
LOOK WHO'S DOWNPLAYING IRAN'S NUCLEAR THREAT LEON HADAR (ANTIWAR.COM,
NOVEMBER 22): There is now a growing recognition among Israeli officials that
the Americans don't have the capability to decimate Iran's nuclear military
sites and that a U.S. strike against Iran would, in all probability, lead to a
U.S.-Iran military confrontation that could ignite a bloody regional war
involving Hezbollah and Syria.
http://www.antiwar.com/hadar/?articleid=11943
FIVE REASONS TO BOMB IRAN NOW MICHAEL FREUND (JERUSALEM POST, NOVEMBER 20)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter
AMERICA HOLDS THE KEY TO MIDEAST PEACE - ANATOL LIEVEN (FINANCIAL TIMES,
NOVEMBER 22): If the American establishment really does value American interests
and lives and sees these as seriously endangered by Islamist extremism, then to
give the Islamists the kind of help they receive from the continuing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is insane.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d92a7f06-990e-11...00779fd2ac.html
TRYING TO SAVE LEBANON, AGAIN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 22): The
United States and its European allies will have to begin a serious dialogue with
Syria to see if it can be coaxed and pressured to rein in Hezbollah.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/opinion/...agewanted=print
SPARK IN LEBANON: A CONFLICT OVER THE PRESIDENCY COULD EXPLODE A POLITICAL
STALEMATE ? EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): US inaction has left
France as the would-be rescuer of Lebanon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2102052_pf.html
NEXT WEEK'S MIDEAST PEACE CONFAB IN U.S.: BIG HOPES OR MORE HOT AIR?
EDWARD M. GOMEZ (WORLD VIEWS, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, NOVEMBER 23)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate...;entry_id=22158
DIGGING IN DEEPER IN PAKISTAN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 23):
Before plunging American forces more deeply into Pakistan?s remote borderlands,
Washington needs to deal with the critical political crisis threatening that
country?s very core and America?s strategic interests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/...agewanted=print
MUSHARRAF AND THE CON GAME: DICTATORS DON'T BESTOW DEMOCRACY - ROBERT KAGAN
(WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): President Bush's claim that Musharaf can be
trusted to lead Pakistan toward democracy is not credible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2101858_pf.html
CAREFUL WISHING ON PAKISTAN - VIOLA HERMS DRATH (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER
23): What beleaguered Pakistan needs now is tranquility, a state of mind that
must be restored before another Islamic revolution breaks new ground. Abandoning
Gen. Musharraf, who is in need of support because he dared to be loyal to the
United States, would not necessarily unlock democracy but would nourish
prospects of Islamists making the rules.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
COLORED REVOLUTIONS: HIGH HOPES AND BROKEN PROMISES -- THE ROSE AND ORANGE
REVOLUTIONS USHERED IN A WAVE OF OPTIMISM THAT SIMILAR "COLORED REVOLUTIONS"
WOULD SOON SPREAD WESTERN-STYLE DEMOCRACY THROUGHOUT THE SOVIET UNION - SALOME
ASATIANI (RFE/RL, NOVEMBER 21)
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/...12c0166ea4.html
TALKING TO OURSELVES ON CHINA - WILLIAM HAWKINS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER
23): China won't voluntarily change its successful trade policy. America needs
to change its unsuccessful one. Talking about an imaginary world of cooperation
is not an effective substitute for acting in the real world of strategic
rivalry.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
FIRST LOOK: 'RAMBO' IS ON A MISSION IN BURMA - ANTHONY BREZNICAN (USA TODAY,
NOVEMBER 21): Sylvester Stallone's Green Beret, who started as a tragic
representation of Vietnam veteran neglect in the original film and morphed into
a superhero soldier by the third, is back for a fourth outing. This one plunges
John Rambo into the gun sights of the brutal military dictatorship of Myanmar,
the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, where in real life the
ruling junta recently received international condemnation for its violent
suppression of a pro-democracy uprising led by Buddhist monks.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2...-14-rambo_N.htm
FIRST KOSOVO, AND THEN WHAT? EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 20): The
Kosovo majority's impatience for independence is understandable, particularly
since it has been subjected to a corrupt and inefficient UN tutelage. But the
European, American, and Russian mediators should keep Serbia and the Kosovars at
the negotiating table as long as it takes to hammer out a resolution to which
both sides agree.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editoria..._and_then_what/
THE 'OMNIPRESIDENT'S' CRUCIBLE: FRANCE'S NICOLAS SARKOZY, STIFFENING HIS
SPINE AGAINST STREET PROTESTS ? EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 23): What
Sarkozy offers is largely new thinking and a new direction for a country that
remains, for all its problems, one of the engines of Europe's economy. For that
he deserves encouragement and support from his allies on the continent and in
Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7112201079.html
ERCI, DANKE, CHEERS - SUZANNE FIELDS (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 22):
?Since Thanksgiving is about friendship as well as family, I'd invite leaders
from three countries who have renewed and reaffirmed their friendship with us --
Great Britain, France and Germany.?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=printart
GITMO LAWYERS KEEP TRYING - WILLIAM FISHER (OPEDNEWS, NOVEMBER 21): The
Bush Administration's legal justification for continuing to hold prisoners
without charges at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be back in
the U.S. Supreme Court -- again -- early next month. And the decision of the
nine Justices could bring the entire Bush Administration's detention policy down
in flames -- or not.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_wi...yers_keep_t.htm
TERM LIMITS - DANIEL LARISON (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, NOVEMBER 19): Use of
propagandistic terms like ?Islamofascism? and ?Islamophobia? is an attempt to
wield power through confusion and intimidation: they aim to mislead about the
nature of our actual enemies on the one hand and invent new heresies against
?tolerance? on the other.
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_11_19/editorial.html
NTEREST GROUP FOREIGN POLICY DOUG BANDOW (ANTIWAR.COM, NOVEMBER 23): The
conduct of US foreign policy seems remote to most Americans. But when the
government acts it effectively commits the entire nation in a collective and
coercive endeavor. So acting should be reserved for cases in which all
Americans, and not just a few Americans, have something significant at stake.
Foreign policy should be more than just another arena of interest group
politics.
http://www.antiwar.com/bandow/?articleid=11948
REPORT URGES FOREIGN AID STRATEGY THAT BRIDGES SECURITY, ALTRUISM - WALTER
PINCUS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 22): 'The president should design a national
foreign assistance strategy that explains both the national security requirement
and the humanitarian imperative that drive our government's investments in
foreign aid," says report prepared by the Republican staff of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. The report also criticizes the State Department, arguing
that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's establishment last year of a director
of foreign assistance to centralize decision-making has resulted in a "lack of
transparency" for aid staff in the field, and "weeks of extra paperwork,
differing priorities between post and headquarters as well as inconsistent
demands."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2102279_pf.html
PRESIDENT JONAH, MEET OLIVER CROMWELL! - GORE VIDAL (TRUTHDIG, FEB 7, 2006):
?I must confess that I have a proprietary interest in anyone who refers to the
United States as an empire since I am credited with first putting forward this
heretical view in the early ?70s.?
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060207_...nt_jonah_redux/
The general has no uniform
Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf is poised to be sworn in as a civilian president after eight years as a military ruler. In that time, especially in the past months, he has been the United States' loyal servant in the region's "war on terror". In following the agenda of the Bush administration, though, Musharraf is losing not only his uniform, he is losing his hold on the country. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Nov 21, '07)
Bin Laden talks of victory, not defeat
Osama bin Laden's latest message to the people of Iraq has been widely interpreted as an attempt to rally al-Qaeda's fading forces. The opposite is true; bin Laden is already thinking ahead to victory, and warning all Iraqi mujahideen - Sunni and Shi'ite - that the hardest task is yet to come: the creation of an Islamist state in Iraq. - Michael Scheuer (Nov 21, '07)
Maliki thrown a political lifeline
The expected return after a walkout of the leading Sunni group, the Iraqi Accordance Front, to Nuri al-Maliki's government signals a remarkable change in fortunes for the prime minister, who for months has appeared on his way out. Pressure from Saudi Arabia and Jordan has helped the Front change its mind, as well as fear of other Sunni groups. - Sami Moubayed (Nov 21, '07)
Fears grow of post-'surge' woes
In terms of violence in Iraq, the troop "surge" is working. Most people agree with that. Where they disagree is on its long-term effects, which some argue has made the long-term goal of the policy - national reconciliation - more unlikely than ever. - Jim Lobe (Nov 21, '07)
Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf is poised to be sworn in as a civilian president after eight years as a military ruler. In that time, especially in the past months, he has been the United States' loyal servant in the region's "war on terror". In following the agenda of the Bush administration, though, Musharraf is losing not only his uniform, he is losing his hold on the country. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Nov 21, '07)
Bin Laden talks of victory, not defeat
Osama bin Laden's latest message to the people of Iraq has been widely interpreted as an attempt to rally al-Qaeda's fading forces. The opposite is true; bin Laden is already thinking ahead to victory, and warning all Iraqi mujahideen - Sunni and Shi'ite - that the hardest task is yet to come: the creation of an Islamist state in Iraq. - Michael Scheuer (Nov 21, '07)
Maliki thrown a political lifeline
The expected return after a walkout of the leading Sunni group, the Iraqi Accordance Front, to Nuri al-Maliki's government signals a remarkable change in fortunes for the prime minister, who for months has appeared on his way out. Pressure from Saudi Arabia and Jordan has helped the Front change its mind, as well as fear of other Sunni groups. - Sami Moubayed (Nov 21, '07)
Fears grow of post-'surge' woes
In terms of violence in Iraq, the troop "surge" is working. Most people agree with that. Where they disagree is on its long-term effects, which some argue has made the long-term goal of the policy - national reconciliation - more unlikely than ever. - Jim Lobe (Nov 21, '07)
Muslim democracy: An oxymoron?
Democracy in Muslim Societies by Zoya Hasan (ed)
Six case studies ranging from Bangladesh to Indonesia examine the variables and differing paths taken by Muslim politics in the search for democracy. A common theme is that Islam has been manipulated, but the book falls short by ignoring non-Muslim countries to see if religion has similarly been manipulated. - Sreeram Chaulia (Nov 21, '07)
Democracy in Muslim Societies by Zoya Hasan (ed)
Six case studies ranging from Bangladesh to Indonesia examine the variables and differing paths taken by Muslim politics in the search for democracy. A common theme is that Islam has been manipulated, but the book falls short by ignoring non-Muslim countries to see if religion has similarly been manipulated. - Sreeram Chaulia (Nov 21, '07)
Surprise, Surprise: Yet More Evidence that the Majority of Foreign Fighters in Iraq Come from Saudi Arabia
By Evan Kohlmann
Almost since the beginning of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq in late 2003, there has been an ongoing public debate about the significance and origins of foreign-born jihadists who have traveled to Iraq intent upon joining Al-Qaida and killing Americans and Muslim "apostates". Despite a veritable avalanche of evidence suggesting that these foreign fighters have had a disproportionate role in destabilizing Iraq and that a large cross-section (if not outright majority) of these fighters are coming from Saudi Arabia, a host of journalists and experts have wasted no effort in downplaying their impact. Regular readers of the Counterterrorism Blog will recall Jonathan Finer's article in the Washington Post, similar pieces published in the Christian Science Monitor, and a litany of commentary from Tony Cordesman (based almost entirely upon facts spoon-fed to him by Saudi intelligence and paid Saudi lobbyists).
Yet, now, it seems that the evidence of the involvement of Saudi Al-Qaida recruits in the Iraqi insurgency has become so plainly obvious that even the New York Times has taken note. In an article published this week, Times writer Richard Oppel cites statistics derived from a "trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border", featuring a "collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006." According to the Times article, at least 305 of those biographies--or 41%--were of fighters from Saudi Arabia: "Among the Saudi fighters described in the materials, 45 had come from Riyadh, 38 from Mecca, 20 from Buraidah and the surrounding area, 15 from Jawf and Sakakah, 13 from Jidda, and 12 from Medina." Compare this to Tony Cordesman's suggestion in his 2005 report on the Iraqi insurgency that Saudi nationals represent only 12% of the total number of foreign fighters. Quite obviously, Cordesman's estimate was way, way too low.
I should add that the latest evidence cited in the New York Times is hardly an incredible revelation. Other independent researchers--such as Reuven Paz and myself--who rely primarily on information obtained directly from insurgent groups--have long pointed to Saudi Arabia as the main source of Al-Qaida's recruits in Iraq. The evidence is almost unmistakable--in the form of countless video recordings, photographs, interviews, and written testimonials. Our motivation for reporting these facts has not been political or financial, but out of a genuine concern that one of America's closest allies in the Middle East has been nearly as unhelpful in Iraq (wittingly or unwittingly) as the regimes who have been routinely painted as America's most troublesome regional adversaries, namely Syria and Iran. Indeed, as noted by the New York Times piece, "whatever aid Iran provides to militias inside Iraq does not seem to extend to supplying actual combatants: only 11 Iranians are in American detention, United States officials say." I rarely find myself in agreement with Juan Cole on the issue of foreign fighters in Iraq, but even I can admit that he makes a fair argument when he points out: "Which country is providing a lot of foreign suicide bombers? US ally Saudi Arabia. Has any general or Bush administration official called a press conference to denounce Saudi Arabia? No. Has Joe Lieberman threatened it with a war? No. Everything is being blamed on Iran... regardless of the facts."
On a related note, I've been asked to write a piece about Iraq's foreign fighters for a new monthly publication produced by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and slated to debut in January. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity, because I intend to publish for the first time some of the actual conversations I have had with the friends and families of Saudi foreign fighters who were killed while fighting alongside Al-Qaida in Iraq over the past four years. I would advise those who have been so quick to dismiss these fighters as "insignificant" (or even an outright "myth") to speak with these individuals first before jumping to more hasty conclusions.
November 23, 2007 07:45 PM Link
It’s the Tribes, Stupid! – Robert Kaplan, The Atlantic
Don't Dismiss Arab Public Sentiment - Rami Khouri, Daily Star
The War in Washington – Chicago Tribune editorial
How Goes the War? – Paul Greenberg, Washington Times
Benching Iraq Benchmarks – Charles Krauthammer, National Review
Through Iraq’s Cloud Cover – Victor Davis Hanson, Washington Times
Thinking Beyond Annapolis Peace Conference? – New York Times editorial
Feint Hopes for Middle East Peace – London Daily Telegraph editorial
Making this Mideast Summit Worthwhile - Los Angeles Times editorial
Annapolis: Low Expectations for Peace – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial
A Separate Peace with Syria – Boston Globe editorial
Middle East Peace Remains Elusive - Shlomo Ben-Ami, Daily Star
America Holds Key to Mideast Peace - Anatol Lieven, Financial Times
Careful Wishing on Pakistan - Viola Herms Drath, Washington Times
Looking Toward Zimbabwe’s Future – Michelle Gavin, Washington Post
The Colombia Comeback – Rich Lowry, National Review
Venezuela's Path to Self-Destruction - William Ratliff, Los Angeles Times
Brown Must Think Again About Military – London Times editorial
Defence Underfunded for Years – Charles Guthrie, London Daily Telegraph
Let Gaddafi Pitch His Tent – London Times editorial
A World without Nukes - Inderfurth and Riedel, Boston Globe
Railroading a Journalist in Iraq – Tom Curley, Washington Post
Don't Dismiss Arab Public Sentiment - Rami Khouri, Daily Star
The War in Washington – Chicago Tribune editorial
How Goes the War? – Paul Greenberg, Washington Times
Benching Iraq Benchmarks – Charles Krauthammer, National Review
Through Iraq’s Cloud Cover – Victor Davis Hanson, Washington Times
Thinking Beyond Annapolis Peace Conference? – New York Times editorial
Feint Hopes for Middle East Peace – London Daily Telegraph editorial
Making this Mideast Summit Worthwhile - Los Angeles Times editorial
Annapolis: Low Expectations for Peace – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial
A Separate Peace with Syria – Boston Globe editorial
Middle East Peace Remains Elusive - Shlomo Ben-Ami, Daily Star
America Holds Key to Mideast Peace - Anatol Lieven, Financial Times
Careful Wishing on Pakistan - Viola Herms Drath, Washington Times
Looking Toward Zimbabwe’s Future – Michelle Gavin, Washington Post
The Colombia Comeback – Rich Lowry, National Review
Venezuela's Path to Self-Destruction - William Ratliff, Los Angeles Times
Brown Must Think Again About Military – London Times editorial
Defence Underfunded for Years – Charles Guthrie, London Daily Telegraph
Let Gaddafi Pitch His Tent – London Times editorial
A World without Nukes - Inderfurth and Riedel, Boston Globe
Railroading a Journalist in Iraq – Tom Curley, Washington Post
A Great Stage that Should Not be Missed by Rami G. Khouri
The Bush administration's Annapolis conference is turning into a confused and imprecise summit. Therefore, the Arab world should respond to it with clarity and confidence.
more...
China's Billionaire Bubble by Peter Kwong
There are dozens of new billionaires in China. But they are riding a severe stock market bubble -- as are the savings and investments of millions of the new Chinese middle class. Disaster awaits.
more...
What Does Putin Want? by Immanuel Wallerstein
Vladimir Putin criticizes the United States for the abuses of its unipolar geopolitics, and he warns Europe of a "cold war"-like European re-militarization. But ultimately, he is relying on global economic changes that will bring multipolarity to the world.
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The Bush administration's Annapolis conference is turning into a confused and imprecise summit. Therefore, the Arab world should respond to it with clarity and confidence.
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China's Billionaire Bubble by Peter Kwong
There are dozens of new billionaires in China. But they are riding a severe stock market bubble -- as are the savings and investments of millions of the new Chinese middle class. Disaster awaits.
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What Does Putin Want? by Immanuel Wallerstein
Vladimir Putin criticizes the United States for the abuses of its unipolar geopolitics, and he warns Europe of a "cold war"-like European re-militarization. But ultimately, he is relying on global economic changes that will bring multipolarity to the world.
more...
A Plan to Attack Iran Swiftly and From Above
By Paul Koring
A bombing campaign has been in the works for months - a blistering air war that would last anywhere from one day to two weeks. Continue
By Paul Koring
A bombing campaign has been in the works for months - a blistering air war that would last anywhere from one day to two weeks. Continue
UN Official says Israel's Siege of Gaza Breeds Extremism and Human Suffering
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
A senior United Nations official has issued an unprecedented appeal to British MPs to use their influence to try to alleviate the impact of "indiscriminate" and "illegal" Israeli sanctions in Gaza which display "profound inhumanity" and are "serving the agenda of extremists". Continue
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
A senior United Nations official has issued an unprecedented appeal to British MPs to use their influence to try to alleviate the impact of "indiscriminate" and "illegal" Israeli sanctions in Gaza which display "profound inhumanity" and are "serving the agenda of extremists". Continue
Annapolis: How to Get Out?
By Uri Avnery.
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THE ANNAPOLIS conference is a joke. Though not in the least funny. Continue
By Uri Avnery.
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THE ANNAPOLIS conference is a joke. Though not in the least funny. Continue
Land of Broken Dreams
By Eugene Robinson
The American self-image is suffused with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society, but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one’s birth. But three important new studies suggest that Horatio Alger doesn’t live here anymore. Continue
By Eugene Robinson
The American self-image is suffused with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society, but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one’s birth. But three important new studies suggest that Horatio Alger doesn’t live here anymore. Continue
The Turbulent Winds of the Annapolis Conference
A Voyage Through Middle East Capitals Reveals the Suppressed Truths
by Dan Lieberman / November 24th, 2007
Discussing the proposed Annapolis Conference, in face-to-face talks with the prime ministers, foreign ministers and non-government officials (NGOs) of Israel, Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, revealed how far we are from achieving peace in the Middle East and how far Annapolis is from the Earth that others walk upon. As part of a delegation of six intrepid fact finders, supported by the Council for the National Interest (CNI), a Washington based NGO that labors intensively to determine paths towards Middle East peace, I found a hopeful wind that moved Israeli and Palestinian to portray optimism. This hopeful wind slowly reduced in force in Jordan, quickly diminished when meeting Syrian vice-presidents and turned to an ill wind in meetings with the Lebanese president, prime minister and foreign minister in the second week of November. (Full article …)
Executions Not Leading to Reconciliation
by Ali al-Fadhily / November 24th, 2007
BAGHDAD, Nov 22 (IPS) - The executions of former regime officials are creating greater division, rather than reconciliation, among Iraqis. (Full article …)
Darfurism, Uganda and the U.S. War in Africa
The Spectre of Continental Genocide
by Keith Harmon Snow / November 24th, 2007
President Bush met with Uganda’s President-for-life Yoweri Museveni in the White House on October 30, 2007. Meanwhile, a broad swath of Africa is engulfed in interrelated genocides and covert operations involving both the U.S. and Uganda, there is a growing demand to probe the accounts of “Save Darfur” to find out how the tens of millions collected are being spent due to allegations of arms-deals and bribery, and the “Save Darfur” movement has become the false flag action of the West, supported by most everyone, people who know little or nothing about what it is they are supporting. (Full article …)
Harnessing Doubt & Need: Rice Could Pull Off Something Big in Annapolis 
Next Tuesday, a gaggle of nations will meet for one day in the Maryland City of Annapolis to discuss what it will take to generate a comprehensive solution to the Israel-Palestine standoff.
The Baltimore Sun caught my comment that in 1786 the Annapolis Convention was a mess. The various states of the Confederated States of America were trying to hammer out trade arrangements, and they were getting nowhere. Alexander Hamilton's own colleagues from New York abandoned him at the Convention leaving New York without a vote -- and yet amidst the low expectations and the overall bungling of the conference -- James Madison and Hamilton convinced delegates to exceed their authority and call for a federal convention the following year in Philadelphia. That meeting birthed the Constitution and the establishment of the United States.
I doubt that the Palestine-Israel summit, which shares so many characteristics of the 1786 Convention, can achieve a point of definitive and comprehensive success next week. However, Secretary Rice and President Bush seem ready to gamble what is left of their prestige on this venture.
Failure will hurt the US as well as the other parties involved as it will confirm in the minds of many around the world that America is no longer a superpower in the way it once was. If it fails in this, it will telegraph to many that we cannot achieve the objectives we set out for ourselves.
Doubt, cynicism, and low expectations about the 1786 Annapolis Convention are part of what helped generate the successful environment that it was for hatching the all important Philadelphia Federal Convention.
If Condoleezza Rice can harness doubt as well as the imperative of doing something to resolve this situation, this meeting next Tuesday could be historic.
-- Steve Clemons
09:49 AM | Permalink
Next Tuesday, a gaggle of nations will meet for one day in the Maryland City of Annapolis to discuss what it will take to generate a comprehensive solution to the Israel-Palestine standoff.
The Baltimore Sun caught my comment that in 1786 the Annapolis Convention was a mess. The various states of the Confederated States of America were trying to hammer out trade arrangements, and they were getting nowhere. Alexander Hamilton's own colleagues from New York abandoned him at the Convention leaving New York without a vote -- and yet amidst the low expectations and the overall bungling of the conference -- James Madison and Hamilton convinced delegates to exceed their authority and call for a federal convention the following year in Philadelphia. That meeting birthed the Constitution and the establishment of the United States.
I doubt that the Palestine-Israel summit, which shares so many characteristics of the 1786 Convention, can achieve a point of definitive and comprehensive success next week. However, Secretary Rice and President Bush seem ready to gamble what is left of their prestige on this venture.
Failure will hurt the US as well as the other parties involved as it will confirm in the minds of many around the world that America is no longer a superpower in the way it once was. If it fails in this, it will telegraph to many that we cannot achieve the objectives we set out for ourselves.
Doubt, cynicism, and low expectations about the 1786 Annapolis Convention are part of what helped generate the successful environment that it was for hatching the all important Philadelphia Federal Convention.
If Condoleezza Rice can harness doubt as well as the imperative of doing something to resolve this situation, this meeting next Tuesday could be historic.
-- Steve Clemons
09:49 AM | Permalink
Live on C-Span Tuesday Morning 10 am EST: The Annapolis Summit: What (Not) to Expect? 
Inside sources tell me that the Annapolis Peace Summit to address Israel/Palestine issues will be officially announced tomorrow, and the date will be November 27.
The selection of Annapolis as the site for the upcoming Israel/Palestine Peace Summit makes some sense if one were serious about creating a new reality in the Middle East.
It was in Annapolis in September 1786 that Alexander Hamilton and James Madison teamed up and convinced the state delegates to exceed their designated authority and to approve a Federal Convention in Philadelphia the following year. Amidst dramatically low expectations and much bungling, the critical seeds were planted that led to the creation of a new federal Constitution and a democratic United States of America.
Logic has led me to the low expectations camp as we approach a Middle East summit this month in Annapolis -- but I'm willing to be duped if Secretary Rice can manage something that will lead to a reversal of the "we tried everything we could but the Palestinians were corrupt, self-dealing, and weren't ready" narrative.
My minimum threshold for success this round is that railroad track get set that can be sustained over the next 12 months and picked up immediately by the next administration. By the way, my already low expectations will be dashed if any military engagement with Iran occurs because we will then further "lose the Arab street" in any hot conflict -- and solving the Palestinian problem will not get us back to even with the Arab world, whereas without a conflict with Iran -- we may get back just a bit into the black.
As part of a bipartisan effort to encourage the administration in constructive directions, I have worked with Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation and Century Foundation; Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group, and Henry Siegman of the US/Middle East Project to generate and promulgate a letter signed by a diverse set of wise foreign policy players.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will be re-releasing a letter already signed and release last month by Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carla Hills, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, Paul Volcker, Ted Sorensen, Thomas Pickering, and Lee Hamilton.
We have a lot more signatories including:
This is a pretty amazing list actually as far as lists go -- and the full roster is even more impressive.
In addition to the release of this letter, the New America Foundation and International Crisis Group are hosting an event that C-Span will air titled "The Annapolis Summit: What (Not) to Expect."
The event takes place at the New America Foundation Tuesday 10 am - 11:30 am and will feature:
-- Steve Clemons
11:21 AM | Permalink
Inside sources tell me that the Annapolis Peace Summit to address Israel/Palestine issues will be officially announced tomorrow, and the date will be November 27.
The selection of Annapolis as the site for the upcoming Israel/Palestine Peace Summit makes some sense if one were serious about creating a new reality in the Middle East.
It was in Annapolis in September 1786 that Alexander Hamilton and James Madison teamed up and convinced the state delegates to exceed their designated authority and to approve a Federal Convention in Philadelphia the following year. Amidst dramatically low expectations and much bungling, the critical seeds were planted that led to the creation of a new federal Constitution and a democratic United States of America.
Logic has led me to the low expectations camp as we approach a Middle East summit this month in Annapolis -- but I'm willing to be duped if Secretary Rice can manage something that will lead to a reversal of the "we tried everything we could but the Palestinians were corrupt, self-dealing, and weren't ready" narrative.
My minimum threshold for success this round is that railroad track get set that can be sustained over the next 12 months and picked up immediately by the next administration. By the way, my already low expectations will be dashed if any military engagement with Iran occurs because we will then further "lose the Arab street" in any hot conflict -- and solving the Palestinian problem will not get us back to even with the Arab world, whereas without a conflict with Iran -- we may get back just a bit into the black.
As part of a bipartisan effort to encourage the administration in constructive directions, I have worked with Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation and Century Foundation; Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group, and Henry Siegman of the US/Middle East Project to generate and promulgate a letter signed by a diverse set of wise foreign policy players.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will be re-releasing a letter already signed and release last month by Brent Scowcroft, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carla Hills, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, Paul Volcker, Ted Sorensen, Thomas Pickering, and Lee Hamilton.
We have a lot more signatories including:
Former US AID Deputy Administrator HARRIET "HATTIE" BABBITT, former USIA Chief JOSEPH DUFFEY, former US Senator GARY HART, former US Senator LINCOLN CHAFEE, RAND Corporation Board Member and New America Foundation/American Strategy Program Chair RITA HAUSER, former Assistant Secretary of State JAMES DOBBINS, former State Department Policy Planning Director MORTON HALPERIN. . . former Deputy Ambassador to the UN WILLIAM VAN DEN HEUVEL, former Israel Foreign Minister SCHLOMO BEN-AMI, former US Senator BIRCH BAYH, former Congressman and Corning CEO AMO HOUGHTON Jr., former National Intelligence Council Chairman ROBERT HUTCHINGS, former Assistant Secretary of Defense LAWRENCE KORB, former American Political Science Association President and Columbia University professor ROBERT JERVIS. . .I am attaching the latest version of the letter here now in pdf form. It may have a new name or two added tomorrow.
Kings College Terrorism Chair and New America Foundation Senior Fellow ANATOL LIEVEN, former National Security Agency Director Lt. General WILLIAM ODOM, Committee for the Republic President WILLIAM NITZE, Brookings Visiting Senior Fellow DIANA VILLIERS NEGROPONTE, Former CIA Deputy Director JOHN McLAUGHLIN, former US Ambassador JOHN MALOTT, former EU Commissioner for Foreign Relations CHRISTOPHER PATTEN, former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East PAUL PILLAR. . .
former US Senator LARRY PRESSLER, former US Ambassador FELIX ROHATYN, MIT Center for International Studies Director RICHARD SAMUELS, retired Marine Corps General JOHN J. "JACK" SHEEHAN, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School Dean ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER, Former Congressman STEPHEN SOLARZ, former First USA Bank CEO and Adagio Partners CEO RICHARD VAGUE, Former US Senator and UN Foundation President TIMOTHY WIRTH, and former US Ambassador and AIG Vice Chairman FRANK WISNER. . .
Rice University James Baker Institute Director and Former US Ambassador to Syria EDWARD DJEREJIAN, former Middle East Road Map Director Ambassador JOHN S. WOLF, Nixon Center President and National Interest Publisher DIMITRI K. SIMES, Lehman Brothers Managing Director (and Teddy Roosevelt great-grandson) THEODORE ROOSEVELT IV -- among others.
This is a pretty amazing list actually as far as lists go -- and the full roster is even more impressive.
In addition to the release of this letter, the New America Foundation and International Crisis Group are hosting an event that C-Span will air titled "The Annapolis Summit: What (Not) to Expect."
The event takes place at the New America Foundation Tuesday 10 am - 11:30 am and will feature:
Ghaith Al-Omari Lead Palestinian Drafter, Geneva Initiative; Former International Policy Director and Advisor to the President, Palestinian Authority; Senior Research Associate, American Strategy Program, New America FoundationShould be a very interesting session that I think will be worth watching for any signs that Annapolis may have something in the water that will help the Summit beat the low expectations most have for the meeting.
Robert Malley
Former Senior Advisor to President Clinton on Middle East Policy Affairs Director, Middle East and North Africa Program, International Crisis Group
Daniel Levy
Lead Israel Drafter, Geneva Initiative; Former Israel Government Negotiator and Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister in numerous peace talks; Senior Fellow & Director, Middle East Policy Initiative, New America Foundation; Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation; Publisher, Prospects for Peace
Steve Clemons
Senior Fellow & Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation and Publisher, The Washington Note
-- Steve Clemons
11:21 AM | Permalink
Report and Retort: A Weak America is an Unsafe America 
by Jim Talent Ted Galen Carpenter thinks it’s time Washington started reducing the Pentagon’s budget and scaling down the military’s role in the world. Former U.S. Senator Jim Talent responds, arguing that a wide range of foreign policies, no matter their ideological roots, depend upon American strength.
Al-Qaeda Urges Iraq’s Insurgents to Consolidate Victory Over America
Nov. 20, 2007 - By Michael Scheuer (from Terrorism Focus, November 20) - Nearly a month since Osama bin Laden published his message to “our people in Iraq,” it is worth taking a look at what bin Laden really said versus what the media, Western leaders and some prematurely mirthful pundits claim he said (IntelCenter, October 23). In the most obvious sense, bin Laden’s October 23 statement is a post-Iraq war statement and a further development of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s 2005 message to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (www.dni.gov, July 9, 2005). From al-Qaeda’s perspective the war is over and Islam has won; Washington’s announcement last week that it intends to begin the withdrawal of 3,000 troops, as well as Congress’s recess without renewing war funding, will bolster this perception. Bin Laden’s message is, however, a warning to all Iraqi mujahideen—Sunni and Shiite—that the hardest task is yet to come: namely, the creation of an Islamist state in Iraq. Bin Laden’s October 23 message builds on the July 2005 letter from al-Zawahiri to al-