[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, August 31, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
August 31, 2006

Summary:
U.S. Politics
The White House has made national security and Iraq the centerpieces of its
strategy to help Republicans retain control of Congress. President Bush and
his surrogates are launching a new campaign intended to rebuild support for
the war in Iraq by accusing the opposition of aiming to appease terrorists
and cut off funding for troops on the battlefield, charges that many
Democrats say distort their stated positions.
Iran
The US and three European allies are assembling a list of sanctions they
would seek in the UN Security Council against Iran, beginning with
restrictions on imports of nuclear-related equipment and material. Punitive
measures might expand to restrict travel by Iran's leaders and limit the
country's access to global financial markets. Iran's president said Tehran
would not be bullied into giving up its right to nuclear technology. Iranian
leaders have indicated they are willing to bear the economic blow of
whatever sanctions are passed rather than give up enrichment.
Iraq
A spike in violence in Iraq has claimed roughly 200 lives since Sunday
despite a new security plan for the capital.  Iraq's General Union of Oil
Employees (GEOU), representing 23,000 workers, has vowed to block at any
cost a new energy law that would effectively end Iraq's public control and
ownership over the oil fields.
Lebanon
Israel's prime minister Olmert rebuffed a request on Wednesday from UN
Secretary General Annan for even a partial lifting of the seven-week-old
blockade of Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora Wednesday unveiled a
$33,000 compensation package for Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in
Israel's military action.
Mexico
Meetings in Mexico City between striking teachers and state officials from
Oaxaca and federal mediators failed to produce an agreement, as the city's
business leaders orchestrated a strike to protest recent violence.
Bolivia
Intensifying labor strife, political infighting and budgetary pressures are
threatening to erode the domestic support of President Morales, the
Washington Post reports.
In this issue:
U.S. Politics
1) Bush Shifting Public Focus to Terrorism and Iraq War
2) Bush's Blunt Rhetoric Signals New Thrust
Iran
3) U.S. Drafting Sanctions as Iran Ignores Deadline
4) Iran Holds Firm on Right to Nuke Program
Iraq
5) Violence Grows, Killing 52 Iraqis, in Face of Security Plan
6) Iraqi Oil Workers Fight Privatisation
Lebanon
7) Israel Says Blockade of Lebanon Will Continue
8) Lebanon Offers Subsidy Plan
Mexico
9) Mexico: Mediation, but City Closes
Bolivia
10) In Bolivia, New Setbacks To a Leader's Lofty Vision

Contents:
U.S. Politics
1) Bush Shifting Public Focus to Terrorism and Iraq War
Anne E. Kornblut, New York Times, August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/washington/31bush.html
With midterm elections approaching, President Bush is beginning an extended
tour to draw attention to the threat of terrorism and the Iraq war, quickly
pivoting to more comfortable territory after the focus on the Hurricane
Katrina anniversary. Bush intends to outline what one adviser described as
the "consequences of victory and defeat," a theme he conveyed Wednesday,
when he warned that a hasty departure from Iraq would create a terrorist
state in the heart of the Middle East. Advisers said Bush would continue his
speeches on Iraq and the broader struggle against terrorism for several
weeks, keying off the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The
White House has made national security and Iraq the centerpieces of its
strategy to help Republicans retain control of Congress. Nonetheless, as
Bush went to Arkansas and Tennessee on Wednesday to raise money for
Republican candidates, he said of his series of speeches, "They're not
political speeches." "I seriously hope people wouldn't politicize these
issues I'm going to talk about," Bush said after a fund-raiser. A short time
later, the president urged an audience to vote for a Republican Senate
candidate to help keep the nation safe.

2) Bush Team Casts Foes as Defeatist
Blunt Rhetoric Signals a New Thrust
Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei, Washington Post, Thursday, August 31, 2006;
A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003177.html
President Bush and his surrogates are launching a new campaign intended to
rebuild support for the war in Iraq by accusing the opposition of aiming to
appease terrorists and cut off funding for troops on the battlefield,
charges that many Democrats say distort their stated positions. Bush will
begin a series of speeches over 20 days centered on the fifth anniversary of
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But he and his top lieutenants have
foreshadowed in recent days the thrust of the effort to put Democrats on the
defensive with rhetoric that has further inflamed an already emotional
debate. Bush suggested last week that Democrats are promising voters to
block additional money for continuing the war. Vice President Cheney this
week said critics "claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the
terrorists and get them to leave us alone." And Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld, said that "many have still not learned history's lessons" and
"believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased." Pressed to
support these allegations, the White House yesterday could cite no major
Democrat who has proposed cutting off funds or suggested that withdrawing
from Iraq would persuade terrorists to leave Americans alone.

Iran
3) U.S. Drafting Sanctions as Iran Ignores Deadline
Helene Cooper And David E. Sanger, New York Times, August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/world/middleeast/31diplo.html
With Iran defying a Thursday deadline to halt production of nuclear fuel,
the US and three European allies are assembling a list of sanctions they
would seek in the UN Security Council, beginning with restrictions on
imports of nuclear-related equipment and material. Eventually, punitive
measures might expand to restrict travel by Iran's leaders and limit the
country's access to global financial markets, according to diplomatic
officials involved in the talks. The Bush administration is also seeking to
persuade European financial institutions to end new lending to Iran. Some
Swiss banks have already quietly agreed to limit their lending, US officials
say. The push for sanctions faces a high hurdle in the Council, given Russia
and China's possession of veto power and their opposition to discussion of
serious punishment for Iran. The sanctions effort may also be hampered by a
report to be issued Thursday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, in
which inspectors will describe only slow progress by Iran in enriching
uranium. The report will describe how Iran has resumed producing small
amounts of enriched uranium since temporarily stopping in the spring, but
has not increased the rate of production. The report is expected to say that
the purity of the uranium enrichment would not be high enough for use in
nuclear weapons, but only for power plants.

4) Iran Holds Firm on Right to Nuke Program
Associated Press, August 31, 2006, Filed at 6:20 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html
Iran's president defiantly refused to compromise as a U.N. deadline for his
country to stop enriching uranium arrived Thursday, saying Tehran would not
be bullied into giving up its right to nuclear technology. Iran's refusal to
heed the U.N. Security Council demand to stop enrichment will be detailed in
a confidential IAEA report to be completed Thursday and given to the
International Atomic Energy Agency's 35 board member nations. That is likely
to trigger council members -- by mid-September -- to begin considering
economic or political sanctions. It's not clear when exactly Thursday's
deadline will run out. But diplomats said the exact timing was not
particularly relevant for two reasons: They believe Iran already has given
its answer; and they would almost certainly abandon their sanctions threat
if Iran decides to suspend enrichment after the deadline. Iranian leaders
have indicated they are willing to bear the economic blow of whatever
sanctions are passed rather than give up enrichment.

Iraq
5) Violence Grows, Killing 52 Iraqis, in Face of Security Plan
Damien Cave, New York Times, August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/world/middleeast/31iraq.html
Shootings and hidden bombs at a market, a gas station and an army recruiting
center killed at least 52 Iraqis on Wednesday, continuing a wave of
sectarian violence that has defied stepped-up efforts to halt its spread.
The rash of attacks - reflecting a spike in violence that has claimed
roughly 200 lives since Sunday - came despite a new security plan for the
capital, on a day when the top US general, George W. Casey Jr., in Iraq said
Iraqi forces could take over security as early as next year. Three years
into the war, American and Iraqi officials have grown increasingly eager to
show progress. In recent weeks, they have repeatedly trumpeted evidence of a
decline in killings this month after increases in June and July. Yet the
bloodshed of the past few days suggests that the gains might be temporary.

6) Iraqi Oil Workers Fight Privatisation
Andy Barenberg, CPE Staff Economist
Center for Popular Economics
August 23, 2006
http://www.fguide.org/Bulletin/nomatterwhatthecost.htm
In Iraq a new battle is about is about to begin. On one side is the Iraqi
Government, backed not only by occupation forces but also by Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki's secretive and deadly Badr Corps militia. On the other side
stand 23,000 workers in Iraq's General Union of Oil Employees (GEOU). The
stakes: one of the greatest prizes of natural resources on the planet. The
June appointment of the respected Dr. Hussein Shahristani to the position of
Oil Minister gave the union hope; but all signs now indicate he was brought
in to give political cover to the signing of a new energy law that would
effectively end Iraq's public control and ownership over the oil fields. On
July first GEOU held an emergency strategy meeting with the Iraqi Freedom
Congress. The union swore to stop the new law "no matter what the cost."

Lebanon
7) Israel Says Blockade of Lebanon Will Continue
Warren Hoge, New York Times, August 31, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/world/middleeast/31nations.html
Israel's prime minister Olmert rebuffed a request on Wednesday from UN
Secretary General Annan for even a partial lifting of the seven-week-old
blockade of Lebanon. Annan told Olmert that while he would prefer that
Israel completely lift its blockade of air, sea and land traffic into
Lebanon, he wanted Olmert at least to allow Beirut's airport to resume
normal operations. But Olmert rejected that idea. In doing so, he referred
to Annan's previous insistence that all parties to the UN- cease-fire abide
by all of its provisions. Speaking at a joint news conference, Olmert
recycled for his own purposes the same metaphor Annan had used moments
before to say the cease-fire resolution was not a smorgasbord. "As far as we
are concerned," Olmert said, "we entirely accept that it is a fixed menu and
that everything will be implemented, including the lifting of the blockade,
as part of the entire implementation." Therefore, he said, Israel cannot
lift the blockade, imposed to prevent the smuggling of arms to Hezbollah, on
one part of Lebanon and not on others. Annan argued that reopening the
airport carried particular importance "not only because of the economic
effect it is having on the country, but it is also important to strengthen
the democratic government of Lebanon, with which Israel has repeatedly said
it has no problems."

8) Lebanon Offers Aid for Rebuilding
Premier's Plan Comes on Eve of International Donor Conference
Nora Boustany, Washington Post, Thursday, August 31, 2006; A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083002933.html
Prime Minister Siniora Wednesday unveiled a $33,000 compensation package for
Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in Israel's military action. The
announcement came on the eve of a donor conference in Stockholm aimed at
raising $500 million to jump-start Lebanon's recovery. Siniora said the
money would be used to rebuild roads and vital infrastructure damaged in
southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Siniora said he
would ask countries represented at the conference to sponsor the rebuilding
of villages hardest hit by Israel's military action. Qatar already has
pledged to rebuild the southern town of Bint Jbeil, where entire
neighborhoods were destroyed in intense shelling, bombing and rocket
attacks.

Mexico
9) Mexico: Mediation, but City Closes
James C. McKinley Jr., New York Times, August 30, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/world/americas/30briefs-005.html
Striking teachers and state officials met with federal mediators in Mexico
City to try to end the civil unrest that has gripped Oaxaca for three
months, as the city's business leaders orchestrated a strike to protest the
violence. Banks, stores, restaurants and bus companies closed their doors
and hung white flags, turning Oaxaca, a colonial city in the south, into a
ghost town. The talks in the capital failed to produce an agreement. About
70,000 teachers and 200 civic groups have been locked in an escalating
battle with Gov. Ulises Ruiz that started with a demand for better salaries
and has become a campaign to oust him. The violence has left two dead and
crippled the city's tourist industry.

Bolivia
10) In Bolivia, New Setbacks To a Leader's Lofty Vision
Morales Faces Budget Shortfalls, Labor Strife
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083002915.html
Monte Reel, Washington Post, Thursday, August 31, 2006; A16
Intensifying labor strife, political infighting and budgetary pressures are
threatening to chip away at the domestic support of Bolivian President
Morales, who took office in January promising to nationalize the natural gas
industry and to achieve social equality for the country's indigenous
majority. During his first months in office, Morales announced a series of
sweeping reforms that have helped make him one of the most popular
presidents in modern Bolivian history and heightened expectations in a
country eager to shed its label as South America's poorest. In May, he
donned a hard hat and announced that all foreign energy companies had to
surrender operational control to the state's energy company. This month, he
celebrated the creation of a newly elected assembly to rewrite the country's
constitution, a key demand of indigenous supporters who view Morales, of
Aymara Indian heritage, as an advocate. But days after that celebration, the
government quietly issued a statement announcing the temporary suspension of
the "full effect" of the nationalization program because of a lack of funds.
On Monday, the president of the state energy company resigned after being
accused of violating the nationalization decree by exporting oil through a
Brazilian firm. A day later, members of the Constituent Assembly suspended
voting amid tense debate over charges that Morales and his supporters were
trying to manipulate the assembly to circumvent Congress and the courts.





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