[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, December 19, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
December 19, 2006
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/

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Summary:
U.S./Top News
Former CIA analyst Flynt Leverett accused the Bush administration
yesterday of trying to muzzle his criticism of its Iran policy and of
falsely alleging that his writings contained classified material to
prevent them from being published, the Washington Post reports. Buried
in the Post article are the two things that Leverett said the White
House wanted to censor: his discussion of Iran's assistance in
Afghanistan and his discussion of Iran's offer of a "grand bargain"
with the United States in 2003.

The Washington Post article is correct that Iran's help in Afghanistan
and its offer of a grand bargain with the US have been "widely
reported," in the sense that no-one can plausibly claim that they are
sensitive government secrets, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington Post.
But these key facts haven't been reported as prominently as they
should have been, as they are highly relevant to the question of
whether the U.S. should now talk to Iran. (To write a letter to the
Washington Post: letters at washpost.com)

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are pushing back against a White House
proposal for a "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq, the Washington Post
reports.

Only 11% of respondents support sending more U.S. troops to Iraq,
according to a CNN poll. Fewer than a third still support the war in
Iraq, and more than half say they want U.S. troops out of the country
within a year.

Attacks against American and Iraqi targets have reached a record high,
according to a Pentagon assessment, the New York Times reports. While
most attacks were directed at American forces, most deaths and
injuries were suffered by the Iraqi military and civilians.

Senate Democrats,  are directly challenging the Bush Administration's
policy of no talks with Syria and Iran, the Christian Science Monitor
reports. Kerry and Dodd are due in Syria today for high-level talks,
and Kerry says he is willing to go to Iran.

Before 2003, the US Air Force was riding high on the notion that air
power could transform warfare, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
But the war in Iraq has changed that. Like the Lebanon War this
summer, this should serve as a cautionary tale about the miracles of
air power in confronting Iran.

Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a setback in elections Friday
for municipal councils and a key supervisory body, with voters
rebuking him for failing to deliver on promises to improve the
economy, the New York Times reports.

Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday a new draft U.N. Security
Council resolution on Iran over its nuclear program largely met
Moscow's concerns and could become the basis of a consensus decision,
but Russia and the U.S. are still divided on a travel ban and an asset
freeze, Reuters reports.

Iraq
Baghdad has been all but isolated electrically by insurgents, the New
York Times reports.

Many proposals for U.S. policy in Iraq call for greater reliance on
the Iraqi state, but the reality is that the Iraqi state in many
respects does not exist, the Christian Science Monitor reports. "The
military is mostly a Shia force, and the police even more so, " says
Middle East specialist Patrick Lang.

Armed militiamen affiliated with Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr pose the
gravest danger to the security of Iraq, surpassing Sunni insurgents
and Al Qaeda terrorists according to a Pentagon assessment, the Los
Angeles Times reports. The article gently hints that this undermines
President Bush's claim that the US is confronting Al Qaeda.

Israel/Palestine
President Abbas' call for new elections was made with great fanfare
and supported by the West, notes Steven Erlanger in the New York
Times. But they are unlikely to happen and if boycotted by Hamas they
would be hollow. Mouin Rabbani of the International Crisis Group
argues against supporting one Palestinian faction against another.
"Palestinians will remain unable to take significant decisions, or
implement them, unless they're based on a broad consensus that
includes at least Fatah and Hamas," he said. "The international
community may have preferences, but this practice of trying to make
progress on the basis of divisions in the Palestinian national
movement has backfired spectacularly."

Colombia
Over the past several weeks, Colombians have been gripped by
revelations of ties between paramilitary fighters and several
congressmen close to President Uribe, as well as some officials in his
administration, Juan Forero reports for the Washington Post. The
scandal now threatens to unravel Uribe's authority.

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