[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, August 8, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
August 8, 2006
Birth Pangs in Connecticut of a New U.S. Foreign Policy Edition

In this issue:
1) Lieberman and Lamont Battle to the Wire
2) Israel Considers Lebanese Troop Offer
3) After Bomb Kills Loved Ones, Life Turns Ghostly
4) NYT Editorial: Start Talking
5) Desolation: Hit on Bridge North of Tyre Isolates South of Lebanon
6) The Environment: Dry Forests in Northern Israel Are Damaged as
Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks Ignite Fires
7) Israeli Soldiers Find a Tenacious Foe in Hezbollah
8) Lebanon's Proposals Change Dynamics
9) Christian support to Israel dies under hail of bombs
10) US Says Iran May Use Lebanon War to Hurt Iraq
11) Sanctions Threaten Russian Ties: Analysts
12) Soldier Who Testified on Killings Says He Feared for His Life
13) C.I.A. Contractor Goes to Trial in Abuse Case
14) Must Haves: Cellphones Top Iraqi Cool List
15) AP Blog: Suitcases Selling Well in Iraq
16) Half of U.S. Still Believes Iraq Had WMD
17) Mexico: Leftist Demands Overhaul on Top of Recount

Contents:
1) Lieberman and Lamont Battle to the Wire
Patrick Healy
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/nyregion/08campaign.html
As Connecticut voters prepared for their highly anticipated Democratic
primary today, Senator Joseph Lieberman and Ned Lamont, the two rivals
for United States Senate, used sharply different tactics yesterday in
a contest that appeared to be tightening. Lieberman, the three-term
incumbent whose support for the Iraq war has cost him voters, held
nine events over 13 hours. He also spent tens of thousands of dollars
on an unconventional two-minute television ad in which he aligned
himself with Democratic anger over Iraq and President Bush, an attempt
to neutralize Mr. Lamont's signature antiwar message.At a news
conference last night, Mr. Lamont tried to remind voters a final time
of his political theme, saying he believed voters were "ready to
change course," in the Senate and, implicitly, in Iraq. The
Connecticut race, which has been regarded by some Democrats nationally
as a referendum on the party's wartime posture, had been tilting in
Lamont's favor in the last two weeks, according to public opinion
polls and anecdotal evidence from voters. Yet Lieberman seem buoyed
yesterday by a new poll from Quinnipiac University that showed him
down by 6 points, within the poll's margin of sampling error.

2) Lebanese Offer to Send Troops to Patrol Border Is Considered by Israel
Hassan M. Fattah And Steven Erlanger
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08cnd-mideast.html
Lebanon's government offered Monday to deploy 15,000 of its troops in
the south if Israel entirely withdraws its forces, a largely symbolic
maneuver that would answer a demand by the international community for
Lebanon to secure its southern border, which is now controlled by
Hezbollah. [The article does not explain why this should be considered
a "largely symbolic maneuver" - JFP.] Ghazi Aridi, Lebanon's
information minister, said the proposed deployment underscores the
government commitment to a negotiated cease-fire."The army is ready,"
said Aridi. Israel's prime minister Olmert called the plan
"interesting," and said he would study it. "The faster we can leave
south Lebanon, the happier we will be," he said. Even so, Israeli
officials are determined not to agree to a cease-fire that would allow
Hezbollah to rebuild the positions it has been attacking over the last
three weeks, and Olmert said his security cabinet would meet Wednesday
to discuss expanding its ground campaign if no cease-fire were
imminent. The longer it takes for an international force to arrive,
the greater is the pressure on the government to order the army
further north to push back the short-range Katyushas.

3) After Bomb Kills Loved Ones, Life Turns Ghostly
Sabrina Tavernise
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08survivor.html
After a bomb hits, the remains of a life are modest. Ghazi Samra, a
fisherman, is feeling the new shape of his. Last month, his wife, one
of his daughters and a granddaughter were killed in an Israeli
airstrike. Since then, his life has shrunk to the size of one crooked
city block. He tries to sleep in an apartment that is not his own. He
wears his wife's glasses, more out of a craving for closeness to her
than as an aid to see. The shirt and shorts he is wearing are his
brother's. He has not felt able to return to his own apartment. "I
became a different person," said Mr. Samra, sitting on a battered
chair in a local gathering space at the intersection of two narrow
stone streets. "I can't talk with my children. I'm not wearing my own
clothes."

4) Editorial: Start Talking
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/opinion/08tue1.html
When asked yesterday why the US isn't talking with Syria about the
Lebanon crisis, President Bush replied, "Syria knows what we think."
That may be. But Syria is also unlikely to even consider doing what
Bush wants - rein in Hezbollah and help halt the killing in Lebanon
and Israel - unless its leaders know what potential rewards as well as
punishments await them. And for that, the US needs to offer a serious
high-level discussion with Syria, and it needs to do it now.

5) Desolation: Hit on Bridge North of Tyre Isolates South of Lebanon
Sabrina Tavernise
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08tyre.html
The one bridge into Lebanon's south that remained is now gone. The
crossing point carried almost all of the traffic over the Litani
River, the strategic line that separates Lebanon's north from its
south. It was hit by an Israeli bomb overnight on Sunday. Traffic to
the south has been cut. A single tree lying on its side from bank to
bank is all that links the river's two sides, said Doctors Without
Borders. "Now all the population living in the south is completely
isolated," said Sergio Cecchini, a spokesman for the group, whose
workers brought medical supplies across the river on Monday by walking
into the water. Even before the bridge went out, conditions had become
so difficult that the International Committee of the Red Cross had not
gone to villages in the south in three days. In one village, a patient
could not be reached by rescue workers for four days, and her leg had
to be amputated. Grandmothers in hospitals here in Tyre beg ambulance
drivers for rides home, afraid of being shot. On Sunday, missiles
killed a man drinking coffee and a bread truck driver, and nearly hit
a convoy of journalists, all in town, rescue workers said.

6) Dry Forests in Northern Israel Are Damaged as Hezbollah's Rocket
Attacks Ignite Fires
Dina Kraft
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08fires.html
The Hezbollah rocket fire that has kept Israelis in the north of the
country in underground bomb shelters for weeks is also taking a toll
on the environment there, igniting hundreds of fires in Israel's few
forests, in the Galilee region. Officials estimated Monday that as
much as 9,000 acres of land, including almost 3,000 acres of forest,
has been damaged by fire in the nearly four weeks of cross-border
fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

7) Israeli Soldiers Find a Tenacious Foe in Hezbollah
Jonathan Finer
Washington Post
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/07/AR2006080701453.html
While guarding a house in southern Lebanon, Matan Tyler received an
unusual order from his commander: Watch out for guys wearing Israeli
uniforms. A day earlier, a nearby regiment had been approached by
fighters wearing familiar olive shirts and vests with Hebrew writing,
Tyler said he was told. The fighters -- Hezbollah militiamen disguised
as Israelis -- opened fire on a house full of Israeli soldiers. "You
really can't underestimate the Hezbollah," said Tyler, a member of the
army's Nahal Brigade. "They are the masters of the field. They know
the area better than us. They know where to hide and when to move.
They always know where we are." The incident is one among dozens of
examples of an enemy that has proven more resilient and
better-equipped than Israeli military forces anticipated. After nearly
four weeks of air attacks and ground combat, Israeli military
officials say that they have killed only a small fraction of
Hezbollah's fighters and that the group still has hundreds of
launchers and thousands of rockets at its disposal.

8) Lebanon's Proposals Change Dynamics
Arab Delegation to Meet With Security Council as Bush Urges Swift Action
Michael A. Fletcher and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; A15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/05/AR2006080500533.html
U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the hostilities between Israel and
Hezbollah stalled Monday amid growing divisions over terms to end the
conflict. Lebanon won Arab League support for major revisions to
expedite a cease-fire and withdrawal of Israeli forces. An Arab League
delegation is scheduled to meet today with the U.N. Security Council
to press for amendments to the proposal, prompting officials to
postpone a vote on the resolution until later in the week. In a
dramatic move, Lebanon's government, including cabinet ministers
belonging to Hezbollah, voted unanimously on Monday to deploy 15,000
troops in the south along the border with Israel. It also proposed two
major amendments to accompany the deployment. One change calls for
Israel, upon cessation of hostilities, to hand over the territory it
holds to U.N. troops already deployed in the south and then pull out.
Within 72 hours, the U.N. force would transfer control to the Lebanese
army. Lebanon also proposed that Shebaa Farms, a disputed territory
where Hezbollah and Israel have waged their most intense confrontation
for six years, be handed over to U.N. custody until the border between
Lebanon and Syria can be determined. Hezbollah has justified keeping a
private army to regain control of Shebaa Farms, which abuts Israel,
Lebanon and Syria.

9) Christian support to Israel dies under hail of bombs
The Telegraph Group Limited
08/06/2006 08:24 PM
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Lebanon/10057969.html
For the first 24 days of Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, Lebanese
Christians in the Beirut area believed they were protected from the
mayhem gripping other parts of the country. But a 15-minute air raid
shortly after dawn yesterday on the attractive port of Jounieh
destroyed the complacency of the Christians and served to turn them
against the Israelis. The capital of Lebanon's Christian heartland is
unused to such violence. Even during the 15 years of the 1975-1990
civil war, when Christian and Muslim militias sowed destruction across
the country, Jounieh survived unscathed a party zone of nightclubs and
beach resorts 10 miles from Beirut. The Israelis' target was not the
Christians of Jounieh but its bridges, two in the town and two a
little to the north. The intent was to sever the last artery
connecting Beirut to the outside world, and in that the Israelis
succeeded. But the strikes also destroyed whatever support Israel
still enjoyed among Lebanon's Christians.

10) US Says Iran May Use Lebanon War to Hurt Iraq
Reuters
August 8, 2006
Filed at 8:35 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-iraq-usa-iran.html
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq accused Iran on Tuesday of having forces
in Iraq and said Tehran could use the war between Hizbollah militants
and Israel in Lebanon to try and further destabilize the country. "The
region is very much interconnected. What happened in Lebanon affects
things here,'' Zalmay Khalilzad said. "Iran ... has some forces here.
There is the possibility that they might encourage those forces to
create increased instability here.'' The US has repeatedly accused
Iran of fomenting violence and instability by sending weapons and
fighters into Iraq, a charge Tehran denied. It also accuses Iran, as
well as Syria, of backing Shi'ite Hizbollah in its fight against
Israel.
The Islamic Republic, which has dramatically improved ties with its
fellow Shi'ites leading the Baghdad government, says it wants a stable
Iraq.

11) Sanctions Threaten Russian Ties: Analysts
Reuters
August 7, 2006
Filed at 4:10 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-russia-usa-sanctions.html
U.S. sanctions against two leading Russian arms exporters mark a new
low in already chilly ties between Moscow and Washington and could
hurt business deals worth billions of dollars. The US announced
sanctions on Friday on seven firms from Russia, India, North Korea and
Cuba for selling restricted items to Iran. The sanctions were imposed
on Russian state export agency Rosoboronexport, headed by a close
friend of President Putin, and state-owned warplane maker Sukhoi.
"This is going to be very serious because this threatens President
Putin and some of his very closest people,'' Pavel Felgenhauer, a
Moscow-based defense analyst, said. "The official reaction from the
Kremlin, especially when it sinks in about how serious this is, will
be severe. I think there will be countermeasures.'' The Kremlin has so
far made no comment. The foreign ministry has called the sanctions an
"illegitimate attempt'' to make foreign companies work by American
rules. Moscow's press reacted sharply, the daily Izvestia daily
calling the U.S. move "practically a declaration of economic war
against Russia.'' Kommersant's frontpage headline said "The Strategic
Partnership between the U.S. and Russia has Ended.'' Rosoboronexport
chief Sergei Chemezov played down Washington's decision, saying his
company would not be hurt by the sanctions, which affect only
purchases by U.S. government agencies, not those by private companies.
"Rosoboronexport has no contracts with the United States,'' Interfax
news agency quoted him as saying. "The sanctions are a purely
political action.'' Analysts said the sanctions could hurt the chances
of U.S. companies bidding for business in Russia.

12) Soldier Who Testified on Killings Says He Feared for His Life
Paul von Zielbauer
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html
An American Army private who was close to four soldiers charged with
raping a 14-year-old girl and then killing her and her family in March
described at a hearing on Monday how he became the whistleblower in
the case and how, once he spoke to military investigators, he feared
for his life. Justin Watt, who was in the same platoon as the four
soldiers and another former soldier accused of the crimes, said he
came forward after piecing together an account from soldiers he
suspected were involved in the March 12 episode. He felt obligated to
say something, he said, out of a sense of loyalty to the friends who
had fought in Iraq and died.

13) C.I.A. Contractor Goes to Trial in Abuse Case
Associated Press
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/us/08abuse.html
A C.I.A. contractor broke both the agency's rules and the law when he
used a two-foot-long metal flashlight to beat an Afghan man who later
died, a prosecutor said Monday at the federal trial of the first
American civilian charged with mistreating a detainee in Iraq or
Afghanistan. Lawyers for the defendant, David Passaro, a onetime
Special Forces medic, said he had been a frustrated but concerned
interrogator who never hit the man and who checked daily on his
condition.

14) Must Haves: Cellphones Top Iraqi Cool List
Damien Cave
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/middleeast/08cellphone.htm
The cool kids in Iraq all want an Apache, the cellphone they've named
after an American military helicopter. Next on the scale of hipness
comes a Humvee, followed by the Afendi, a Turkish word for dapper, and
a sturdy, rounded Nokia known as the Allawi, a reference to the stocky
former prime minister, Ayad Allawi. Even more telling are the text
messages and images that Iraqis share over their phones. One of the
most popular messages making the rounds appears onscreen with the
image of a skeleton. "Your call cannot be completed," it says,
"because the subscriber has been bombed or kidnapped."

15) AP Blog: Suitcases Selling Well in Iraq
Robert H. Reid
Associated Press
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; 8:57 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/08/AR2006080800356.html
The only store open last weekend at a shopping district in Baghdad's
Mansour neighborhood was the one selling suitcases. And business was
brisk. It seems like every Iraqi in what passes for the middle class
either knows someone who has left or is planning to leave. Better-off
Iraqis head for Jordan, Syria or the United Arab Emirates, or send
their families there. Those without enough money head for areas within
Iraq where their religious sect is in the majority. With sectarian
death squads lurking, there's safety in numbers. Those who stay put in
places where they are in the minority are not necessarily the bravest:
they just don't have enough money to leave. Moving isn't that simple.
Rents have skyrocketed in Baghdad neighborhoods that are deemed safe,
a relative term here in Iraq. Many of those who flee the capital
altogether end up living with relatives since chances of finding
another job in provincial cities are not good.

16) Half of U.S. Still Believes Iraq Had WMD
Charles J. Hanley
Associated Press
August 7, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0807-05.htm
Do you believe in Iraqi "WMD"? Did Saddam Hussein's government have
weapons of mass destruction in 2003? Half of America apparently still
thinks so, a new poll finds, and experts see a raft of reasons why: a
drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die-hard bloggers to the Oval
Office, a surprise headline here or there, a rallying around a
partisan flag, and a growing need for people, in their own minds, to
justify the war in Iraq. People tend to become "independent of
reality" in these circumstances, says opinion analyst Steven Kull. The
reality in this case is that after a 16-month, $900-million-plus
investigation, the U.S. weapons hunters known as the Iraq Survey Group
declared that Iraq had dismantled its chemical, biological and nuclear
arms programs in 1991 under U.N. oversight. That finding in 2004
reaffirmed the work of U.N. inspectors who in 2002-03 found no trace
of banned arsenals in Iraq. Despite this, a Harris Poll released July
21 found that a full 50 percent of U.S. respondents, up from 36
percent last year, said they believe Iraq did have the forbidden arms
when U.S. troops invaded in March 2003, an attack whose stated purpose
was elimination of supposed WMD.

17) Mexico: Leftist Demands Overhaul on Top of Recount
James C. Mckinley Jr.
New York Times
August 8, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/world/americas/08briefs-004.html
Andrés Manuel López Obrador took his anti-government oratory to a new
level last night, saying he and his followers were not just seeking a
recount in last month's election, but also wanting to transform the
country's democratic institutions. López Obrador harangued a crowd in
front of a courthouse where an electoral tribunal denied his request
on Saturday for a full recount, opting instead to order another tally
of ballots in about 9 percent of polling places. "We are going to
change this reality of injustice and oppression that has done so much
damage to the country," he yelled to thousands of his followers.

--------
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org

Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming
U.S. foreign policy so that it reflects the values and interests of
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