Anne-Marie Slaughter, the new director of policy planning at the US State Department, was sitting on the stage at a conference on trans-Atlantic relations in Brussels. "Europe has a phone number," she said, and there was a satisfied murmuring of approval among her mainly European audience. Everyone remembers the famous remark by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who complained in the 1970s that he didn't know who to call when he wanted to talk to Europe.
But when the moderator asked Slaughter if she had that number on her, she was evidently caught off guard. "I have three," she replied. The hall erupted into loud laughter.
Slaughter quickly corrected herself, explaining that Europe was simply organized differently, with an EU "troika" representing the bloc on foreign policy issues, but that the EU was still able to conduct an effective foreign policy. Nevertheless, the exchange reflected a degree of uncertainty in relations with Europe ahead of US President Barack Obama's first major foreign trip.
FULL ARTICLE
30 March 2009
29 March 2009
US Tries to Defuse a Ticking Timebomb (UK)
All eyes will be on Barack Obama at the G20 summit this week. Among the great and good, the dull and dreary, in London’s Docklands he will be the only superstar. But the young president knows that what is decided inside a gleaming tower block in Tel Aviv will have more bearing on whether his presidency is accounted a success or failure than this talking shop.
High in the defence ministry building Major-General Amos Gilad points to a photograph on his wall of three Israeli F-15 jets flying over the site of Auschwitz. “I put it here to remind us of what happened and what may happen,” says the old fire-eater. The press claims he has been the real leader of the state for the past six months while the politicians have been out wooing the voters.
On his shelves one book holds pride of place. It is a story written in childhood by Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped almost three years ago by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza strip. As Israel’s security and foreign policy chief, Gilad has been negotiating for Shalit’s release. He is prepared to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to secure the return of one soldier. The Hollywood myth of Saving Private Ryan is national policy here.
FULL ARTICLE
High in the defence ministry building Major-General Amos Gilad points to a photograph on his wall of three Israeli F-15 jets flying over the site of Auschwitz. “I put it here to remind us of what happened and what may happen,” says the old fire-eater. The press claims he has been the real leader of the state for the past six months while the politicians have been out wooing the voters.
On his shelves one book holds pride of place. It is a story written in childhood by Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped almost three years ago by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza strip. As Israel’s security and foreign policy chief, Gilad has been negotiating for Shalit’s release. He is prepared to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to secure the return of one soldier. The Hollywood myth of Saving Private Ryan is national policy here.
FULL ARTICLE
28 March 2009
A New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan
By Barack Obama
Good morning. Today, I am announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This marks the conclusion of a careful policy review that I ordered as soon as I took office. My Administration has heard from our military commanders and diplomats. We have consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments; with our partners and NATO allies; and with other donors and international organizations. And we have also worked closely with members of Congress here at home. Now, I'd like to speak clearly and candidly to the American people.
The situation is increasingly perilous. It has been more than seven years since the Taliban was removed from power, yet war rages on, and insurgents control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Attacks against our troops, our NATO allies, and the Afghan government have risen steadily. Most painfully, 2008 was the deadliest year of the war for American forces.
Many people in the United States - and many in partner countries that have sacrificed so much - have a simple question: What is our purpose in Afghanistan? After so many years, they ask, why do our men and women still fight and die there? They deserve a straightforward answer.
FULL ARTICLE
Good morning. Today, I am announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This marks the conclusion of a careful policy review that I ordered as soon as I took office. My Administration has heard from our military commanders and diplomats. We have consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments; with our partners and NATO allies; and with other donors and international organizations. And we have also worked closely with members of Congress here at home. Now, I'd like to speak clearly and candidly to the American people.
The situation is increasingly perilous. It has been more than seven years since the Taliban was removed from power, yet war rages on, and insurgents control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Attacks against our troops, our NATO allies, and the Afghan government have risen steadily. Most painfully, 2008 was the deadliest year of the war for American forces.
Many people in the United States - and many in partner countries that have sacrificed so much - have a simple question: What is our purpose in Afghanistan? After so many years, they ask, why do our men and women still fight and die there? They deserve a straightforward answer.
FULL ARTICLE
27 March 2009
Obama's Afghan Spaghetti Western (HONG KONG)
As the Barack Obama administration releases the details of its strategic review of Afghanistan's "good war", an acronym-plagued global public opinion is confronted with a semantic dilemma: what in the world is happening to George W Bush's "global war on terror" (GWOT), then slyly rebranded by the Pentagon as "The Long War" (TLW)?
It all started when a mid-level bureaucrat in the Obama administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent an e-mail to the Pentagon stressing the White House was finally axing GWOT and giving birth to the delightfully Orwellian Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).
As it happens, no Taliban will be OCOed - at least for the moment. The White House and the Pentagon still rely on GWOT. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell was adamant: "I've never received such a directive." Asked by a reporter what nomenclature he would prefer, Morrell took no prisoners: "Another way to refer to it would be, you know, a campaign against extremists who wish to do us harm." So exit GWOT, enter CAEWWTDUH.
FULL ARTICLE
It all started when a mid-level bureaucrat in the Obama administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent an e-mail to the Pentagon stressing the White House was finally axing GWOT and giving birth to the delightfully Orwellian Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).
As it happens, no Taliban will be OCOed - at least for the moment. The White House and the Pentagon still rely on GWOT. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell was adamant: "I've never received such a directive." Asked by a reporter what nomenclature he would prefer, Morrell took no prisoners: "Another way to refer to it would be, you know, a campaign against extremists who wish to do us harm." So exit GWOT, enter CAEWWTDUH.
FULL ARTICLE
26 March 2009
Obama Hosting a National Talk Show (UK)
Barack Obama has become a regular fixture on US television. The President knows that he still has enough novelty value and star power to get the networks to clear their airtime and he's grabbing every chance to dominate the agenda from the bully pulpit.
It is a class act. Although at official events Mr Obama's message is usually scripted and read from teleprompter screens, he can talk his way out of trouble. I was moved to see the President win over US Marines at Camp Lejeune, although he opposed the Iraq war in which 4,000 of their comrades-in-arms lost their lives.
For now, his talk is invariably about the economy. Mr Obama is the most visible new president - not only because he's a great communicator, but because Europe is blaming America for the global economic crisis and looking to Mr Obama to lead the way out it. The President's ubiquity is designed to tell the US that it is in control of its own destiny. He must win this argument if his presidency is to succeed.
Even when the Administration doesn't have the best arguments, or gets badly mauled, the checks and balances of the US Constitution ensure that the country's options are debated at length; considered decisions emerge by a process of attrition.
FULL ARTICLE
It is a class act. Although at official events Mr Obama's message is usually scripted and read from teleprompter screens, he can talk his way out of trouble. I was moved to see the President win over US Marines at Camp Lejeune, although he opposed the Iraq war in which 4,000 of their comrades-in-arms lost their lives.
For now, his talk is invariably about the economy. Mr Obama is the most visible new president - not only because he's a great communicator, but because Europe is blaming America for the global economic crisis and looking to Mr Obama to lead the way out it. The President's ubiquity is designed to tell the US that it is in control of its own destiny. He must win this argument if his presidency is to succeed.
Even when the Administration doesn't have the best arguments, or gets badly mauled, the checks and balances of the US Constitution ensure that the country's options are debated at length; considered decisions emerge by a process of attrition.
FULL ARTICLE
25 March 2009
Pakistan's Major Threat: U.S. Ignorance (UAE)
U.S. ignorance regarding the ground realities of Pakistan is a source of major threat to Pakistan, both in terms of its internal dynamics and external security concerns. Taking the internal dynamics first, there were the crude U.S. interventions during the nation's reassertion of its self in the context of the long march and the demand for the restoration of the constitutional chief justice – with members of the U.S. Administration trying to bulldoze the opposition political leaders into abandoning the march to Islamabad and into making unholy compromises with their present favorite Pakistani – President Zardari. It is a testimony to the Pakistani people that the U.S. failed in its nefarious designs and at the end of the day had to make conciliatory statements regarding the restoration of Chief Justice Chaudhry. But imperial hubris could not resist sending the CIA chief to Islamabad to coincide with the CJP's date of restoration of office.
FULL ARTICLE
FULL ARTICLE
24 March 2009
Obama's Exit Strategy for Afghanistan (PAKISTAN)
Talking to CBS TV, US President Barack Obama has said: “What we can’t do is think that just a military approach in Afghanistan is going to be able to solve our problems. So what we’re looking for is a comprehensive strategy. And there’s got to be an exit strategy...there’s got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift”. This remark has immediately given rise to media headings like “US wants out of Afghanistan”. Yet there are other aspects of what Mr Obama has set on foot as his strategy in Afghanistan that point to the other extreme, like reinforcing the American troops there and not stopping the drone attacks.
What the remark clearly represents is President Obama’s sense of the “middle ground”. He is opposed to the intellectual foundations of the strategy that brought on the Iraq war and thus forced Washington to ignore Afghanistan. He wants to avoid the impression that if the Bush Administration was reluctant to take on the Taliban, he is willing to bring a tougher war to Afghanistan. Another impression of military assertion he wants to avoid is linked to the tough envoy Mr Richard Holbrooke whose challenge to the Serbia of Milosevic resulted in the destruction of that recalcitrant state.
Mr Obama’s intellectual repugnance of the neo-con philosophy that underpinned the American adventure in the Middle East and caused a rift with America’s European allies was expressed in his recent comment of admiration for Reinhold Niebuhr’s book The Irony of American History (1952).
FULL ARTICLE
What the remark clearly represents is President Obama’s sense of the “middle ground”. He is opposed to the intellectual foundations of the strategy that brought on the Iraq war and thus forced Washington to ignore Afghanistan. He wants to avoid the impression that if the Bush Administration was reluctant to take on the Taliban, he is willing to bring a tougher war to Afghanistan. Another impression of military assertion he wants to avoid is linked to the tough envoy Mr Richard Holbrooke whose challenge to the Serbia of Milosevic resulted in the destruction of that recalcitrant state.
Mr Obama’s intellectual repugnance of the neo-con philosophy that underpinned the American adventure in the Middle East and caused a rift with America’s European allies was expressed in his recent comment of admiration for Reinhold Niebuhr’s book The Irony of American History (1952).
FULL ARTICLE
23 March 2009
Smart Democracy for the U.S. (LEBANON)
There are several levels of discussion when it comes to democracy promotion in the Middle East. On one level, there is the current debate between icons of American think tanks and policy practitioners on whether post-George W. Bush America should in fact continue supporting democracy promotion in the region, and whether such support should extend to Islamists. On another more micro level, there is the question of what to support, and how to support it.
The Obama administration has in fact inherited several foreign assistance programs to support democratic reform in the region, including the US Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) with its various pillars and programs. MEPI's small, local grants component, administered by the two regional offices in Abu Dhabi and Tunis (with limited oversight from Washington), has been a success. As opposed to the larger grants channeled to American NGOs in the region, small grants projects are led by local organizations directly funded to implement micro-projects based on ideas fleshed out cooperatively between applicants and the regional offices to meet both applicants' and MEPI's priority areas in each country.
FULL ARTICLE
The Obama administration has in fact inherited several foreign assistance programs to support democratic reform in the region, including the US Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) with its various pillars and programs. MEPI's small, local grants component, administered by the two regional offices in Abu Dhabi and Tunis (with limited oversight from Washington), has been a success. As opposed to the larger grants channeled to American NGOs in the region, small grants projects are led by local organizations directly funded to implement micro-projects based on ideas fleshed out cooperatively between applicants and the regional offices to meet both applicants' and MEPI's priority areas in each country.
FULL ARTICLE
The Olmert Myth and Barak's Problem (ISRAEL)
Even before the tears have dried over the approaching death of Ehud Olmert's government - after a long, drawn-out period at death's door - another new myth is making the rounds: Olmert was a good prime minister.
Not just good, but excellent. Sharp. Decisive. Involved in the details and developments. This is absolutely the opposite of what his defense attorneys claim in his criminal cases. There he is never responsible, had no idea, those were only trivial matters handled by underlings such as Shula Zaken and travel agencies.
The most interesting facet of the Olmert myth, which even the bearers of the tale admit, is that reality on all its levels - security, political, economic and social - is actually quite depressing. A bad situation and a good prime minister is an Israeli miracle.
FULL ARTICLE
Not just good, but excellent. Sharp. Decisive. Involved in the details and developments. This is absolutely the opposite of what his defense attorneys claim in his criminal cases. There he is never responsible, had no idea, those were only trivial matters handled by underlings such as Shula Zaken and travel agencies.
The most interesting facet of the Olmert myth, which even the bearers of the tale admit, is that reality on all its levels - security, political, economic and social - is actually quite depressing. A bad situation and a good prime minister is an Israeli miracle.
FULL ARTICLE
Iran targets the US (JAPAN)
The prevention of a nuclear Iran constitutes a top US national security priority. It sheds light on a special aspect of US-Israel relationship: defiance of mutual threats.
Iran pursues nuclear capabilities to advance strategic goals, which are led by the super-goal: hegemony over the Persian Gulf and its natural resources. Those who undermine the super-goal are considered super-enemies, targeted by super-capabilities. Hence, Tehran would use its nuclear power/threat, first and foremost, to force the US and NATO out of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It would then turn it against Iraq - its arch rival since the seventh century - and against Saudi Arabia, which is considered an apostate regime. All Gulf states are perceived by Iran as a key prize, required in order to control the flow and the price of oil and to bankroll its megalomaniac regional and global aspirations (e.g. leading Islam's drive to dominate the globe).
FULL ARTICLE
Iran pursues nuclear capabilities to advance strategic goals, which are led by the super-goal: hegemony over the Persian Gulf and its natural resources. Those who undermine the super-goal are considered super-enemies, targeted by super-capabilities. Hence, Tehran would use its nuclear power/threat, first and foremost, to force the US and NATO out of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It would then turn it against Iraq - its arch rival since the seventh century - and against Saudi Arabia, which is considered an apostate regime. All Gulf states are perceived by Iran as a key prize, required in order to control the flow and the price of oil and to bankroll its megalomaniac regional and global aspirations (e.g. leading Islam's drive to dominate the globe).
FULL ARTICLE
22 March 2009
Washington and Damascus (EGYPT)
In his January 20 inauguration speech and in subsequent statements, US President Barack Obama has called for establishing new relations with the Muslim world based on common interests and mutual respect. He has also advocated the settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict, notably the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, as well as the combating of terrorism. Although he has not referred specifically to Syria, there is no doubt that Obama recognizes Damascus' significant role in all these crucial issues. Unlike his predecessor, President George W. Bush, who "excommunicated" Syria's President Bashar Assad, Obama wishes to engage him.
A major concern of Obama's is nuclear Iran, its critical role in Iraq and Afghanistan, its strategic military alliance with Syria, its strong ideological links with the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah and its backing of the Palestinian Sunni Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Washington intends to engage Tehran in an attempt to reach agreement on these critical issues, wherein Damascus' role would be rather secondary. But since the prospects of an American-Iranian deal are slim, Washington should pursue an more promising alternative policy of engaging Damascus in a new, bold and visionary strategy for the Middle East.
This new strategy would have three main objectives, indeed challenges.
FULL ARTICLE
A major concern of Obama's is nuclear Iran, its critical role in Iraq and Afghanistan, its strategic military alliance with Syria, its strong ideological links with the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah and its backing of the Palestinian Sunni Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Washington intends to engage Tehran in an attempt to reach agreement on these critical issues, wherein Damascus' role would be rather secondary. But since the prospects of an American-Iranian deal are slim, Washington should pursue an more promising alternative policy of engaging Damascus in a new, bold and visionary strategy for the Middle East.
This new strategy would have three main objectives, indeed challenges.
FULL ARTICLE
Will Obama go beyond the superficial? (EGYPT)
In his first interview with an Arab television network soon after his inauguration, US President Barack Obama confirmed his intention to "engage" right away with "all the major parties" involved in the Middle East.
Such engagement, he went on, would start with "listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating."
Obama has since dispatched his personal envoy to the Middle East, Senator George Mitchell, to do just that. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman and a number of other US officials have also been touring the region. Dialogue with Iran has been advanced as the best means to diffuse tension between Tehran and Washington, while inter-Arab reconciliation has been encouraged.
FULL ARTICLE
Such engagement, he went on, would start with "listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating."
Obama has since dispatched his personal envoy to the Middle East, Senator George Mitchell, to do just that. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman and a number of other US officials have also been touring the region. Dialogue with Iran has been advanced as the best means to diffuse tension between Tehran and Washington, while inter-Arab reconciliation has been encouraged.
FULL ARTICLE
21 March 2009
Overloaded With the Reset Button (RUSSIA)
I was travelling last week, but even if I'd been on the moon, I would have heard about the Clinton-Lavrov peregruzka-perezagruzka reset button debacle.
The blogosphere was abuzz. American bloggers went into an orgy of self-flagellation: We're stupid, have no Russian translators and don't know that Russia has a different alphabet. Russian bloggers were divided. Some thought that the Americans were stupid -- natch -- and many proposed different words, but a few thought that перегрузка was an acceptable translation of "reset." Russian conspiracy nuts were out in full force. They said it was a secret code. After перегрузка (overloading) of nuclear Armageddon -- symbolized by the red button -- there would be перезагрузка (reloading) of life. The button was an invitation for Russians to join Americans in the post-nuclear afterlife.
You can't make this stuff up. So what should have been on that dumb button?
FULL ARTICLE
The blogosphere was abuzz. American bloggers went into an orgy of self-flagellation: We're stupid, have no Russian translators and don't know that Russia has a different alphabet. Russian bloggers were divided. Some thought that the Americans were stupid -- natch -- and many proposed different words, but a few thought that перегрузка was an acceptable translation of "reset." Russian conspiracy nuts were out in full force. They said it was a secret code. After перегрузка (overloading) of nuclear Armageddon -- symbolized by the red button -- there would be перезагрузка (reloading) of life. The button was an invitation for Russians to join Americans in the post-nuclear afterlife.
You can't make this stuff up. So what should have been on that dumb button?
FULL ARTICLE
20 March 2009
Obama: A "New Beginning" for Iran (QATAR)
The US president has issued a videotaped appeal to Iran offering a "new beginning" in US-Iranian relations.
"My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties," Barack Obama said in a message distributed on Friday.
The White House distributed the videotape and posted it on its website to coincide with Iranian observance of the Nowruz festival, celebrating the arrival of spring.
Reacting positively to the offer, the press adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, urged Obama to back his words with concrete action to repair what he called past mistakes.
FULL ARTICLE
"My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties," Barack Obama said in a message distributed on Friday.
The White House distributed the videotape and posted it on its website to coincide with Iranian observance of the Nowruz festival, celebrating the arrival of spring.
Reacting positively to the offer, the press adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, urged Obama to back his words with concrete action to repair what he called past mistakes.
FULL ARTICLE
Thumbs Up for Obama's Turk Visit (TURKEY)
More than half of all Turks have a positive opinion of Barack Obama, marking a stark contrast to their perceptions of his predecessor, George W. Bush, an recent opinion poll has revealed.
Indeed, Obama, who took over the post from Bush on Jan. 20, tops the list of foreign leaders with a healthy approval rating, according to İstanbul-based İnfakto Research Workshop's poll conducted in mid-February, before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Ankara earlier this month, when she announced that Obama will pay one of his first foreign visits in office to Turkey in April. According to the poll's results, 51.6 percent of Turks have a positive opinion of Obama. Popularity rates of the United States or Americans are lower when compared to Obama himself: 25.5 percent of Turks say they have a positive opinion of the United States -- up from 22.9 percent in 2005 -- and 40.8 percent say they view Americans positively, representing a slight improvement from 37.5 percent in 2005.
FULL ARTICLE
Indeed, Obama, who took over the post from Bush on Jan. 20, tops the list of foreign leaders with a healthy approval rating, according to İstanbul-based İnfakto Research Workshop's poll conducted in mid-February, before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Ankara earlier this month, when she announced that Obama will pay one of his first foreign visits in office to Turkey in April. According to the poll's results, 51.6 percent of Turks have a positive opinion of Obama. Popularity rates of the United States or Americans are lower when compared to Obama himself: 25.5 percent of Turks say they have a positive opinion of the United States -- up from 22.9 percent in 2005 -- and 40.8 percent say they view Americans positively, representing a slight improvement from 37.5 percent in 2005.
FULL ARTICLE
Obama versus the Naysayers (TAIWAN)
There are so many disparate views about how to get the United States out of recession that no recovery formula can claim consensus support. Although President Obama has submitted a focused and transparent budget to the Congress, it will take extraordinary political leadership to get it through the partisan battles to come in anything resembling its present form.
Success will become increasingly difficult with each new revelation of outrageous behavior by those giants of finance who brought the world economy to its knees. The latest perfidy is AIG doling out US$165 million in bonuses to executives after taking US$170 billion in government bailout funds. President Obama must bring a halt to this kind of looting, even if that requires exercising the government's power as majority shareholder to take over management of the company. Without such bold action, public outrage will make it politically impossible to rescue the banking system with more infusions of taxpayer money.
FULL ARTICLE
Success will become increasingly difficult with each new revelation of outrageous behavior by those giants of finance who brought the world economy to its knees. The latest perfidy is AIG doling out US$165 million in bonuses to executives after taking US$170 billion in government bailout funds. President Obama must bring a halt to this kind of looting, even if that requires exercising the government's power as majority shareholder to take over management of the company. Without such bold action, public outrage will make it politically impossible to rescue the banking system with more infusions of taxpayer money.
FULL ARTICLE
19 March 2009
US Must Exploit Iraq's Divisions (UK)
In a last-ditch attempt to rescue some wafer of credibility from the west's most catastrophic war of modern times, the story is taking hold in Britain and the US that after six years of horror Iraq is finally coming good. So quickly has this spin become accepted truth that politicians and pundits now regularly insist that if only General Petraeus is allowed to work his surge magic on Afghanistan, all could be well in that benighted land as well.
One recent report in the Sunday Telegraph even claimed that the 4,000 British troops still in Basra are regarded as "heroes and liberators" by Iraqis now that their £8bn mission has at last been "accomplished".
As the seventh year of the US-led occupation of Iraq begins tomorrow, facts on the ground tell a very different tale.
FULL ARTICLE
One recent report in the Sunday Telegraph even claimed that the 4,000 British troops still in Basra are regarded as "heroes and liberators" by Iraqis now that their £8bn mission has at last been "accomplished".
As the seventh year of the US-led occupation of Iraq begins tomorrow, facts on the ground tell a very different tale.
FULL ARTICLE
18 March 2009
Not Mere Shamrock Diplomacy (IRELAND)
The annual shamrock ceremony at the White House has become such a familiar fixture in the political calendar that it’s easy to overlook the extraordinary and unlikely nature of today’s events in Washington.
Starting with a bilateral meeting in the morning and ending with a lavish reception this evening, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth will devote much of his working day to one of the smallest countries in Europe – one that is not even a military ally of the United States.
When Brian Cowen meets President Barack Obama in the Oval Office for almost an hour this morning, they will be joined by vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and national security adviser Jim Jones. After the shamrock ceremony, the Taoiseach and the president will join House speaker Nancy Pelosi for lunch on Capitol Hill, with dozens of congressmen and senators, including chairmen of some of the most powerful committees.
FULL ARTICLE
Starting with a bilateral meeting in the morning and ending with a lavish reception this evening, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth will devote much of his working day to one of the smallest countries in Europe – one that is not even a military ally of the United States.
When Brian Cowen meets President Barack Obama in the Oval Office for almost an hour this morning, they will be joined by vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and national security adviser Jim Jones. After the shamrock ceremony, the Taoiseach and the president will join House speaker Nancy Pelosi for lunch on Capitol Hill, with dozens of congressmen and senators, including chairmen of some of the most powerful committees.
FULL ARTICLE
Bush's Bad Legacy (CANADA)
To borrow a phrase, he haunts us still - George W. Bush, that is.
We had thought, mercifully for all concerned, that we would not have Mr. Bush to kick around any more, that he would retire quietly to Texas to cut trees, clear land, tend to his presidential papers and otherwise not bother his fellow citizens, let alone foreigners such as Canadians, with his persona and "reflections" on his eight years in office.
The miserable results of those eight years are all around us, and him. You'd think a self-respecting man with such a doleful legacy would lie low for a while. You would have hoped that a self-respecting city such as Calgary would have understood that an invitation to him would hurt the city's image - not for hospitality, of course, but for rational politics.
But no, there Mr. Bush was yesterday, defending the indefensible in perhaps the only city in Canada where even a quarter of the population thought well of him as president.
FULL ARTICLE
We had thought, mercifully for all concerned, that we would not have Mr. Bush to kick around any more, that he would retire quietly to Texas to cut trees, clear land, tend to his presidential papers and otherwise not bother his fellow citizens, let alone foreigners such as Canadians, with his persona and "reflections" on his eight years in office.
The miserable results of those eight years are all around us, and him. You'd think a self-respecting man with such a doleful legacy would lie low for a while. You would have hoped that a self-respecting city such as Calgary would have understood that an invitation to him would hurt the city's image - not for hospitality, of course, but for rational politics.
But no, there Mr. Bush was yesterday, defending the indefensible in perhaps the only city in Canada where even a quarter of the population thought well of him as president.
FULL ARTICLE
17 March 2009
Zardari's Move Towards Reconciliation (INDIA)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said the measures taken by Zardari Government to resolve the confrontation with opposition parties are the first step towards a political reconciliation in Pakistan.
"I believe that the resolution that they have agreed upon is the first step of what has to be an ongoing reconciliation and compromising of political views that can stabilise civilian democracy and the rule of law," Clinton said at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
Clinton had telephoned the Pak President, Asif Ali Zardari; the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, on Saturday as Pakistan appeared to be plunging into a deep political turmoil.
FULL ARTICLE
"I believe that the resolution that they have agreed upon is the first step of what has to be an ongoing reconciliation and compromising of political views that can stabilise civilian democracy and the rule of law," Clinton said at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
Clinton had telephoned the Pak President, Asif Ali Zardari; the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, on Saturday as Pakistan appeared to be plunging into a deep political turmoil.
FULL ARTICLE
World Turned Upside Down (ISRAEL)
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao rattled the Obama administration late last week. He said China is concerned about its loans to the United States and asked the U.S. government to preserve its good credit standing and guarantee the security of these loans.
The comments by the Chinese leader sent U.S. treasury bills lower because it is clear to many observers that President Barack Obama's spendthrift and irresponsible policy will be costly for the U.S. economy and the entire world.
Obama quickly sought to restore faith. The U.S. budget deficit, he said, will shrink 50 percent in four years (doubtful). The White House spokesman added that there is no safer investment in the world than the United States. Still, the Chinese are not calm.
FULL ARTICLE
The comments by the Chinese leader sent U.S. treasury bills lower because it is clear to many observers that President Barack Obama's spendthrift and irresponsible policy will be costly for the U.S. economy and the entire world.
Obama quickly sought to restore faith. The U.S. budget deficit, he said, will shrink 50 percent in four years (doubtful). The White House spokesman added that there is no safer investment in the world than the United States. Still, the Chinese are not calm.
FULL ARTICLE
16 March 2009
America is from Mars, Europe is from Venus (GERMANY)
The most important aspect of a political encounter is often the joint photo op. The parties shake hands and smile into the cameras, signaling to the public that they understand each other perfectly and everything is on track.
Seen from this perspective, the first meeting of US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel last summer was a moderate catastrophe. Before withdrawing for a one-on-one conversation, the two politicians posed at the door of the chancellor's office.
Obama reached cautiously for Merkel's lower arm, while she apparently considered if she should pat him on the shoulder. Then the chancellor extended her hand to the then-senator, who, at that very moment, happened to be looking in the other direction. By the time he tried to extend his hand to her, she had already turned around. As one observer noted, there was clearly a certain "sense of trepidation" between the two.
What began as a somewhat rigid interpersonal encounter has now acquired a new dimension. A genuine quarrel could be brewing between the freshly inaugurated president and the German chancellor over what is currently the most important question in world politics: How should the international community combat the most serious economic downturn in postwar history?
FULL ARTICLE
Seen from this perspective, the first meeting of US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel last summer was a moderate catastrophe. Before withdrawing for a one-on-one conversation, the two politicians posed at the door of the chancellor's office.Obama reached cautiously for Merkel's lower arm, while she apparently considered if she should pat him on the shoulder. Then the chancellor extended her hand to the then-senator, who, at that very moment, happened to be looking in the other direction. By the time he tried to extend his hand to her, she had already turned around. As one observer noted, there was clearly a certain "sense of trepidation" between the two.
What began as a somewhat rigid interpersonal encounter has now acquired a new dimension. A genuine quarrel could be brewing between the freshly inaugurated president and the German chancellor over what is currently the most important question in world politics: How should the international community combat the most serious economic downturn in postwar history?
FULL ARTICLE
13 March 2009
Stop Treating Russia Like a Donkey (RUSSIA)
When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the "reset button" with the botched Russian translation of the word "reset," Lavrov -- being the experienced, stoic diplomat that he is -- probably would have smiled graciously, thanked Clinton for the nice gesture and not drawn attention to the flub. But he had little choice other than to answer her question directly when Clinton specifically asked Lavrov, "We worked hard to get the right Russian word -- do you think we got it?"
Gimmicks aside, what are the prospects for resetting U.S.-Russian relations? At first glance, it seems long overdue. Under the administration of former President George W. Bush, relations hit their lowest point since 1985, culminating in Russia's invasion of Georgia in August and the cutoff of gas to Ukraine in January. At that auspicious moment, enter the newly minted President Barack Obama, promising a fresh and unjaundiced look at all aspects of American foreign policy.
The first gambit in Obama's strategy was the so-called secret offer to trade the missile defense system to be installed in Poland and the Czech Republic for Russian help in shutting down Iran's nuclear weapons program. This was a nonstarter for several reasons. First, Russia wants to be treated as a respected equal, not as a donkey to be coaxed with carrots and sticks.
FULL ARTICLE
Gimmicks aside, what are the prospects for resetting U.S.-Russian relations? At first glance, it seems long overdue. Under the administration of former President George W. Bush, relations hit their lowest point since 1985, culminating in Russia's invasion of Georgia in August and the cutoff of gas to Ukraine in January. At that auspicious moment, enter the newly minted President Barack Obama, promising a fresh and unjaundiced look at all aspects of American foreign policy.
The first gambit in Obama's strategy was the so-called secret offer to trade the missile defense system to be installed in Poland and the Czech Republic for Russian help in shutting down Iran's nuclear weapons program. This was a nonstarter for several reasons. First, Russia wants to be treated as a respected equal, not as a donkey to be coaxed with carrots and sticks.
FULL ARTICLE
12 March 2009
More Carrots, Fewer Sticks (CHINA)
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been busy mending fences with the rest of the world.
She has traveled widely to East Asia, the Middle East and Europe since taking office last month, after the Bush administration left a slew of diplomatic problems.
The US is now actively rebuilding its image overseas. In a new foreign policy based on "smart power", the Obama administration wants to stress diplomacy and development as much as defense to revive the US standing in the world.
With Washington seeking to "reset" relations with Russia, NATO announced it would restore full diplomatic ties with Moscow. Although "reset" was misspelled as "overcharge" in Russian on the symbolic gift - a red button - Clinton gave her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the gift underscored the US's friendly gesture.
FULL ARTICLE
She has traveled widely to East Asia, the Middle East and Europe since taking office last month, after the Bush administration left a slew of diplomatic problems.
The US is now actively rebuilding its image overseas. In a new foreign policy based on "smart power", the Obama administration wants to stress diplomacy and development as much as defense to revive the US standing in the world.
With Washington seeking to "reset" relations with Russia, NATO announced it would restore full diplomatic ties with Moscow. Although "reset" was misspelled as "overcharge" in Russian on the symbolic gift - a red button - Clinton gave her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the gift underscored the US's friendly gesture.
FULL ARTICLE
Obama's Message to Turkey (TURKEY)
When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that President Barack Obama would visit Turkey, most Turkish political observers were caught by surprise.
However, conventional wisdom suggests that the possibility of Obama's visit to Turkey was in fact always there. In one of Emre Uslu's earlier analyses about the Obama administration's approach to Turkey, which appeared in The Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor, the following facts were underlined:
"With Barack Obama, almost everyone, from the prime minister down to the man in the street, is ready to open a new chapter in Turkish-US relations. They do, however, have some concerns as well. They want to know how he will handle the Armenian claims of genocide and whether he will continue to support Turkish efforts to curb Kurdish separatist terror activities.
FULL ARTICLE
However, conventional wisdom suggests that the possibility of Obama's visit to Turkey was in fact always there. In one of Emre Uslu's earlier analyses about the Obama administration's approach to Turkey, which appeared in The Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor, the following facts were underlined:
"With Barack Obama, almost everyone, from the prime minister down to the man in the street, is ready to open a new chapter in Turkish-US relations. They do, however, have some concerns as well. They want to know how he will handle the Armenian claims of genocide and whether he will continue to support Turkish efforts to curb Kurdish separatist terror activities.
FULL ARTICLE
Obama’s Climate Strategy (UAE)
For a decade now, the deadlock between the United States and China on how to deal with global warming has crippled the effort to make an effective international treaty. It’s why the 1997 Kyoto accord was such a botched job: with the U.S. refusing to sign and China under no obligation to control its greenhouse gas emissions, over 40 percent of the world’s total emissions were excluded from the treaty.
The U.S.-Chinese quarrel could have the same poisonous effect on the attempt to negotiate a replacement treaty in Copenhagen by the end of this year, so Washington and Beijing need to sort out their differences first. This can only be settled at the highest level, and there isn’t much time left, so what is needed is a summit meeting between the two countries to make the deal.
FULL ARTICLE
The U.S.-Chinese quarrel could have the same poisonous effect on the attempt to negotiate a replacement treaty in Copenhagen by the end of this year, so Washington and Beijing need to sort out their differences first. This can only be settled at the highest level, and there isn’t much time left, so what is needed is a summit meeting between the two countries to make the deal.
FULL ARTICLE
11 March 2009
Trade-off on Afghanistan (HONG KONG)
With the likelihood of the United States engaging Iran in the near future and with Washington "resetting the button" in relations with Moscow, the air is thick with rumors of trade-offs. This is almost inevitable, given the interlocking cross-currents swirling around the three-way US-Iran-Russia equations.
Iranians have a penchant for trade-offs and Soviet-American detente historically relied on trade-offs. Thus, a season for trade-offs could indeed be commencing. But we may never quite know. That is because trade-offs often carry a stigma of opportunism and are deniable even when they are manifestly based on legitimate balancing of interests.
In recent weeks, Tehran has been watching with uneasiness the President Barack Obama administration's game plan to isolate Iran by tempting Russia (and Syria) into a trade-off. But it seems there is no such trade-off on the Russian front. The official Russian stance is that there has been no such American offer of a trade-off.
FULL ARTICLE
Iranians have a penchant for trade-offs and Soviet-American detente historically relied on trade-offs. Thus, a season for trade-offs could indeed be commencing. But we may never quite know. That is because trade-offs often carry a stigma of opportunism and are deniable even when they are manifestly based on legitimate balancing of interests.
In recent weeks, Tehran has been watching with uneasiness the President Barack Obama administration's game plan to isolate Iran by tempting Russia (and Syria) into a trade-off. But it seems there is no such trade-off on the Russian front. The official Russian stance is that there has been no such American offer of a trade-off.
FULL ARTICLE
Moscow Prefers Talks to Agreements (RUSSIA)
Russia and the United States will soon begin negotiating a new strategic nuclear arms agreement to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires in December. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that the signing of a new nuclear arms reduction treaty is a top priority for the new Washington administration.
Now the authors of Russian foreign policy can celebrate. Two years ago, they formulated a strategy calling for Russian-U.S. relations to be reduced to a discussion of military strategy. In his speech before a security conference in Munich in 2007, then-President Vladimir Putin said the 1980s had been the most stable period for Moscow's relations with the West. Ever since, all of Russia's international policies have been directed at returning the West to the agenda of 30 years ago, with its focus on nuclear arms reduction.
FULL ARTICLE
Now the authors of Russian foreign policy can celebrate. Two years ago, they formulated a strategy calling for Russian-U.S. relations to be reduced to a discussion of military strategy. In his speech before a security conference in Munich in 2007, then-President Vladimir Putin said the 1980s had been the most stable period for Moscow's relations with the West. Ever since, all of Russia's international policies have been directed at returning the West to the agenda of 30 years ago, with its focus on nuclear arms reduction.
FULL ARTICLE
10 March 2009
Should the US Talk to the Taliban? (QATAR)
Barack Obama, the US president, has said that he is open to the idea of reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban. Meanwhile, Iran has said that it is willing to consider taking part in a meeting with the US to discuss how "to help Afghanistan". Will talking to the Taliban improve security in the country the way reaching out to Sunni militants in Iraq did? How significant would this shift in US foreign policy be and why is Obama considering it now?
Deadly Recession Cure (AUSTRALIA)
When Wall Street erupted six months ago, American voters swung behind Barack Obama as the best candidate for the crisis.
But with the US losing more than a half million jobs each month, Wall Street down a further 20 per cent since inauguration and American banks deep in trouble, he is making the crisis worse.
In a typically sweeping analysis last week, Paul Keating doubted whether Obama's $US787 billion ($1.2 trillion) budget stimulus would restore confidence in the US or world economy. And he sheeted home blame for the crisis not to Kevin Rudd's extreme capitalism, not to Alan Greenspan and not to greedy sub-prime bankers on Wall Street. These were simply accessories to the original culprits: the Clinton administration, the International Monetary Fund and Timothy Geithner, a 1990s mid-ranking US econocrat who has ended up as Obama's tax-avoiding Treasury Secretary.
FULL ARTICLE
But with the US losing more than a half million jobs each month, Wall Street down a further 20 per cent since inauguration and American banks deep in trouble, he is making the crisis worse.
In a typically sweeping analysis last week, Paul Keating doubted whether Obama's $US787 billion ($1.2 trillion) budget stimulus would restore confidence in the US or world economy. And he sheeted home blame for the crisis not to Kevin Rudd's extreme capitalism, not to Alan Greenspan and not to greedy sub-prime bankers on Wall Street. These were simply accessories to the original culprits: the Clinton administration, the International Monetary Fund and Timothy Geithner, a 1990s mid-ranking US econocrat who has ended up as Obama's tax-avoiding Treasury Secretary.
FULL ARTICLE
Is the EU or Nato Better for Obama? (GERMANY)
The best and brightest of the US foreign policy community reflexively designate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the institution for trans-Atlantic cooperation. These scholars, diplomats, and politicians -- from both parties -- are America's Atlanticists. Unlike the neoconservatives, they think in multilateral terms, value the Europeans as long-standing allies, and believe in international law. Barack Obama is certainly no exception.
Yet the Atlanticists err by clinging so stubbornly to NATO for so many diverse purposes. As much as it has struggled to reinvent itself since the days of the East-West conflict, NATO remains a US-dominated military alliance with a Cold War mindset. Not only is NATO ill-equipped to confront the plurality of new challenges in the post-Cold War (and now post-American) world order, it has become counterproductive to the task it was originally created to do -- namely to guarantee security in Europe.
FULL ARTICLE
Yet the Atlanticists err by clinging so stubbornly to NATO for so many diverse purposes. As much as it has struggled to reinvent itself since the days of the East-West conflict, NATO remains a US-dominated military alliance with a Cold War mindset. Not only is NATO ill-equipped to confront the plurality of new challenges in the post-Cold War (and now post-American) world order, it has become counterproductive to the task it was originally created to do -- namely to guarantee security in Europe.
FULL ARTICLE
08 March 2009
Alternatives to US Sanctions (LEBANON)
Well, well, what do we have going on this week? The Obama administration, after inviting the Syrian ambassador for a long chat to the State Department, then sends two senior envoys to Damascus. The US Secretary of State announces a few days later that she wants Iran invited to a meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors to discuss conditions in that country. The following day, the British government announces it is resuming contacts with the political wing of Hizbullah in Lebanon.
What we have going on, I suspect, is that the two leading proponents of Western arrogance in the form of colonialism and neocolonialism - the United States and the United Kingdom - have recognized that their approach has failed, and that they are better off having normal diplomatic talks and negotiations with the three leading centers of resistance to them, namely Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. The pace of change in American policies, in particular, has been impressive since President Barack Obama took office six weeks ago, though it will take some time for the results of the current shifts to materialize.
FULL ARTICLE
What we have going on, I suspect, is that the two leading proponents of Western arrogance in the form of colonialism and neocolonialism - the United States and the United Kingdom - have recognized that their approach has failed, and that they are better off having normal diplomatic talks and negotiations with the three leading centers of resistance to them, namely Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. The pace of change in American policies, in particular, has been impressive since President Barack Obama took office six weeks ago, though it will take some time for the results of the current shifts to materialize.
FULL ARTICLE
07 March 2009
"Mission Change" of Obama (KOREA)
Barack Husain Obama, during his election campaign had promised the Americans that if elected, his foremost policy would be to improve the damaged image of the United States of America & set it right. The time when Obama took charge of the Oval, is known as the most troublesome period for the US. At present the US being busy in military involvements is also passing through a phase of historical economic recession. Obviously when the US itself is facing economic recession & huge unemployment, then how it can think it proper to try to overpower the other countries? Certainly the policies of former President George W Bush have pushed the US in such a state that it has formed its image as spoiled, eccentric & dictator "police inspector." There is no objection in saying that, the US has never been seen with such hatred as seen during the reign of Bush.
Anyhow the American people have stamped the promise made by Obama to "change" the image, by electing him as their president. The message of the American public is clear that under the leadership of Obama, they want to see not only a basic change but the spot of self styled police inspector cleared also.
FULL ARTICLE
Anyhow the American people have stamped the promise made by Obama to "change" the image, by electing him as their president. The message of the American public is clear that under the leadership of Obama, they want to see not only a basic change but the spot of self styled police inspector cleared also.
FULL ARTICLE
US Ties with India Stronger (INDIA)
The US says it considers India as a strategic partner, as well as an economic partner and sees their relations "growing and becoming stronger," under the administration of President Barack Obama.
"I don't see the US-India relation doing anything but growing and becoming stronger, no matter who the next ambassador is," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters on Friday when asked how relations would shape up with the return of David Mulford, a Bush appointee.
"The United States and India share many interests," he said noting, "We began with a strategic dialogue. We now see India as a strategic partner, as well as an economic partner."
FULL ARTICLE
"I don't see the US-India relation doing anything but growing and becoming stronger, no matter who the next ambassador is," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters on Friday when asked how relations would shape up with the return of David Mulford, a Bush appointee.
"The United States and India share many interests," he said noting, "We began with a strategic dialogue. We now see India as a strategic partner, as well as an economic partner."
FULL ARTICLE
06 March 2009
Game on in the Middle East (UK)
The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's quasi-regal progress through the Middle East this week seems to have been too much for Iran's Supreme Leader to bear. Speaking publicly about the new US administration for the first time since Barack Obama took power, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was by turns angry and dismissive.
"Even the new American president, who came to office with the slogan of bringing change in the policies of the Bush administration, avows unconditional commitment to Israel's security," Khamenei said. "This commitment means the defence of state terrorism, injustice, and oppression ... of Palestinians."
FULL ARTICLE
"Even the new American president, who came to office with the slogan of bringing change in the policies of the Bush administration, avows unconditional commitment to Israel's security," Khamenei said. "This commitment means the defence of state terrorism, injustice, and oppression ... of Palestinians."
FULL ARTICLE
Obama Begins Europe Charm Offensive (GERMANY)
Washington no longer has any bones to pick with Europe. When George W. Bush visited Europe for the last time in June 2008, the debate leading up to his visit was over America's chlorine-rinsed chickens. The unloved US president wanted Europe to open up its market for the controversial, chemically-treated poultry.
On Thursday, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Brussels as the Obama administration's first high-ranking visitor to the European Union capital, that issue will play no role whatsoever. The evening before, Clinton had already been welcomed at a festive "Trans-Atlantic Dinner." In addition to consultations with her NATO counterparts, she will also hold a photo op with top EU officials. She's even pencilled in some time to meet with young Europeans.
Clinton's bosses will be following her trail to Europe a short time later. According to current plans, Vice President Joe Biden will travel to meet with EU leadership next Tuesday. And on April 5, President Barack Obama himself will attend the EU-USA summit in the Czech Republic, current holder of the rotating EU presidency.
FULL ARTICLE
On Thursday, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Brussels as the Obama administration's first high-ranking visitor to the European Union capital, that issue will play no role whatsoever. The evening before, Clinton had already been welcomed at a festive "Trans-Atlantic Dinner." In addition to consultations with her NATO counterparts, she will also hold a photo op with top EU officials. She's even pencilled in some time to meet with young Europeans.
Clinton's bosses will be following her trail to Europe a short time later. According to current plans, Vice President Joe Biden will travel to meet with EU leadership next Tuesday. And on April 5, President Barack Obama himself will attend the EU-USA summit in the Czech Republic, current holder of the rotating EU presidency.
FULL ARTICLE
05 March 2009
US's Foundering War in Pakistan (AUSTRALIA)
The armed assault on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore has been a brutal demonstration, if any more were needed, that the war on terrorism is devouring itself and the states that have been sucked into its slipstream.
Pakistan is both victim and protagonist of the conflict in Afghanistan, its western and northern fringes devastated by a US-driven counter-insurgency campaign, its heartlands wracked by growing violence and deepening poverty. The country shows every sign of slipping out of the control of its dysfunctional civilian government - and even the military that has held it together for 60 years.
Presumably, that was part of the intended message of the group that carried out Tuesday's attacks. But the outrage also fits a well-established pattern of attacks carried out in revenge for the army's devastation of the tribal areas on the Afghan border, where thousands have been killed and up to half a million people forced to flee from the fighting with the Pakistani Taliban.
Hostility to this onslaught has been inflamed by the recent revelation that US aerial drone attacks on supposed terrorist hideouts have been launched from a base in Pakistan itself, with the secret connivance of President Asif Zardari, as well as across the border from occupied Afghanistan.
FULL ARTICLE
Pakistan is both victim and protagonist of the conflict in Afghanistan, its western and northern fringes devastated by a US-driven counter-insurgency campaign, its heartlands wracked by growing violence and deepening poverty. The country shows every sign of slipping out of the control of its dysfunctional civilian government - and even the military that has held it together for 60 years.
Presumably, that was part of the intended message of the group that carried out Tuesday's attacks. But the outrage also fits a well-established pattern of attacks carried out in revenge for the army's devastation of the tribal areas on the Afghan border, where thousands have been killed and up to half a million people forced to flee from the fighting with the Pakistani Taliban.
Hostility to this onslaught has been inflamed by the recent revelation that US aerial drone attacks on supposed terrorist hideouts have been launched from a base in Pakistan itself, with the secret connivance of President Asif Zardari, as well as across the border from occupied Afghanistan.
FULL ARTICLE
04 March 2009
Obama's Foreign Policy: Toughness and Modesty (GERMANY)
If there is one thing that the key players in Democratic and Republican foreign policy have in common, it is the rings under the eyes of the respective secretaries of state. Madeleine Albright wore them like badges of honor, and so did Condoleezza Rice. With the transfer of the State Department's official Air Force Boeing 757, the rings are now Hillary Clinton's.
After only a month in office, Clinton already looks exhausted. She has just returned from Japan and China, and now she is on her way to Geneva to meet with the Russian foreign minister. But her current trip takes her to the Middle East first, where, as she says flatly, "I'm looking for results."
Before her departure from Washington, Clinton is scheduled to give a talk on human rights. The US government's annual report on human rights, all 100 pages of it, is sitting on her desk. It contains a plethora of demands, wishes and potential appeals to the Chinese and Russians, and to the Pakistanis, Somalis, Syrians and a whole list of the world's human rights rogues.
FULL ARTICLE
After only a month in office, Clinton already looks exhausted. She has just returned from Japan and China, and now she is on her way to Geneva to meet with the Russian foreign minister. But her current trip takes her to the Middle East first, where, as she says flatly, "I'm looking for results." Before her departure from Washington, Clinton is scheduled to give a talk on human rights. The US government's annual report on human rights, all 100 pages of it, is sitting on her desk. It contains a plethora of demands, wishes and potential appeals to the Chinese and Russians, and to the Pakistanis, Somalis, Syrians and a whole list of the world's human rights rogues.
FULL ARTICLE
The Battle for Obama’s Ear on Iran (UAE)
A week is a long time in Washington, especially for the influential Israel lobby. Last Monday it had cause to celebrate the appointment of one of its favorite sons, Dennis Ross, as the State Department’s point-man on Iran. But on Friday came the announcement that Charles Freeman is to be President Obama’s National Intelligence Council chairman – the super spook who distils the gleanings of America’s 16 different intelligence agencies into the authoritative National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) that guide U.S. policy.
NIEs were key to the Bush administration’s case for war with Iraq, and the Iran NIE has become a fierce battleground between the traditional intelligence establishment and the neoconservatives and Israel lobby, who were furious when the 2007 NIE suggested that Iran was not currently engaged in nuclear weapons work. Israel and its supporters peddle alarmist views of Iran’s nuclear activities, not bothering to distinguish between developments that would give Iran the means to pursue nuclear weapons and the actual pursuit of such weapons (the international and U.S. intelligence consensus is that Iran has not yet taken a decision to build nuclear weapons; the concern is its nuclear energy infrastructure puts such weapons within reach).
FULL ARTICLE
NIEs were key to the Bush administration’s case for war with Iraq, and the Iran NIE has become a fierce battleground between the traditional intelligence establishment and the neoconservatives and Israel lobby, who were furious when the 2007 NIE suggested that Iran was not currently engaged in nuclear weapons work. Israel and its supporters peddle alarmist views of Iran’s nuclear activities, not bothering to distinguish between developments that would give Iran the means to pursue nuclear weapons and the actual pursuit of such weapons (the international and U.S. intelligence consensus is that Iran has not yet taken a decision to build nuclear weapons; the concern is its nuclear energy infrastructure puts such weapons within reach).
FULL ARTICLE
03 March 2009
The Way Forward in Afghanistan (UAE)
In its first weeks in office, the Obama administration has made two major decisions regarding Afghanistan.
American combat forces have been increased by 50 per cent, and a distinguished ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, has been appointed as presidential representative to what has been designated as the AFPAK region (implying that Afghanistan and Pakistan are being treated as a single geopolitical unit). But the outcome will depend on the strategy with which we will face the inevitable complexities. The central Islamist challenge has moved to the mountainous Pashtun tribal area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where sanctuaries on the Pakistan side of the border supply and train the assault on Afghanistan and the allied forces assisting it.
No guerrilla war has ever been won in the face of sanctuaries immune to attack. The administration is therefore right in dealing with it as a single problem. But it is also the case that the sanctuaries exist less by the design of the Pakistan government than by its political and military inability to control the territory along the Afghan border, which has never been under civil administration - even during British rule.
The Obama administration faces dilemmas familiar to several of its predecessors. America cannot withdraw now, but neither can it sustain the strategy that brought us to this point.
FULL ARTICLE
American combat forces have been increased by 50 per cent, and a distinguished ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, has been appointed as presidential representative to what has been designated as the AFPAK region (implying that Afghanistan and Pakistan are being treated as a single geopolitical unit). But the outcome will depend on the strategy with which we will face the inevitable complexities. The central Islamist challenge has moved to the mountainous Pashtun tribal area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where sanctuaries on the Pakistan side of the border supply and train the assault on Afghanistan and the allied forces assisting it.
No guerrilla war has ever been won in the face of sanctuaries immune to attack. The administration is therefore right in dealing with it as a single problem. But it is also the case that the sanctuaries exist less by the design of the Pakistan government than by its political and military inability to control the territory along the Afghan border, which has never been under civil administration - even during British rule.
The Obama administration faces dilemmas familiar to several of its predecessors. America cannot withdraw now, but neither can it sustain the strategy that brought us to this point.
FULL ARTICLE
Bail Outs Must Be Questioned (KOREA)
The United States of America (USA) is going from one crisis to another and apparently the only answer is to throw more bad money at inefficient companies. After all, money keeps on being pumped into companies like AIG but nothing appears to change, apart from growing debt. Therefore, it is essential to question the economic policies of America because since the crisis began, it is apparent that the only policy is to bail out companies which appear to be in complete free fall.
So once more AIG is given taxpayers money and according to the mantra of President Obama, it is the same conclusion, spend tax-payers money and forget about any other alternative policy.
FULL ARTICLE
So once more AIG is given taxpayers money and according to the mantra of President Obama, it is the same conclusion, spend tax-payers money and forget about any other alternative policy.
FULL ARTICLE
02 March 2009
Obama Can't Save Brown (UK)
Prime Ministers usually enjoy their visits to Washington. As the President is a head of state, his visitors receive quasi-regal treatment; you do not have to be Margaret Thatcher to relish all that. Gordon Brown used to insist that he did not enjoy such events, but that was in the days when they were reserved for Tony Blair. Since Mr Brown inherited the top job, he has become more appreciative of its perquisites.
This is a good time for him to be in Washington. Mr Obama still seems to be on honeymoon with his electorate. Mr Brown will hope that some of the glamour rubs off on him. In advance, the Labour spinners have been working hard. We are told that the Brown/Obama meeting will be a progressive coalition against the forces of international conservatism. Every American leftist who was involved with the Obama campaign, however peripherally, will be wheeled out to conflate David Cameron and the Republicans who opposed the Obama fiscal measures.
This will not have much resonance, partly because it does not reflect the President's views.
FULL ARTICLE
This is a good time for him to be in Washington. Mr Obama still seems to be on honeymoon with his electorate. Mr Brown will hope that some of the glamour rubs off on him. In advance, the Labour spinners have been working hard. We are told that the Brown/Obama meeting will be a progressive coalition against the forces of international conservatism. Every American leftist who was involved with the Obama campaign, however peripherally, will be wheeled out to conflate David Cameron and the Republicans who opposed the Obama fiscal measures.
This will not have much resonance, partly because it does not reflect the President's views.
FULL ARTICLE
US and EU Need a Unified Strategy (GERMANY)
Early this year, celebrations will begin in Iran to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. With such deep discord between Washington and Tehran, it is safe to assume that the two governments will not exchange congratulatory messages. Still affected by the strategic defeat of the 1979 overthrow of the Shah, the United States views the Islamic Republic of Iran as an enemy. It has done so at least since the occupation of the US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and the humiliating 444-day hostage-taking of 52 embassy staff, which included a failed rescue attempt. Since then Iran has shared the top place on the US list of "rogue states" with Libya, Iraq, and North Korea. The United States has made numerous attempts since 1979 to reverse the Islamic Revolution and to bring down the regime that emerged from it -- both directly through support for coups and opposition groups, and indirectly through political and economic sanctions.
But the endurance of this animosity can ultimately only be explained by the Iranian leaders of the revolution choosing the United States as the principal enemy -- the Great Satan. "All the Middle East's problems are caused by the West and America. All Muslims' distresses come from America," said revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 to the Islamic Student Association in Qom. At other points he even made the United States the enemy of all mankind: "We, they, all people see America as the greatest enemy."
FULL ARTICLE
But the endurance of this animosity can ultimately only be explained by the Iranian leaders of the revolution choosing the United States as the principal enemy -- the Great Satan. "All the Middle East's problems are caused by the West and America. All Muslims' distresses come from America," said revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 to the Islamic Student Association in Qom. At other points he even made the United States the enemy of all mankind: "We, they, all people see America as the greatest enemy."
FULL ARTICLE
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