[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, December 22, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
December 22, 2006
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/

U.S. Should Promote Diplomacy, Not War, in Somalia
The Washington Post reported this week on entry of thousands of
Ethiopian troops into Somalia, with the perceived blessing of the Bush
Administration. Ask Congress to pressure the Bush Administration to
support diplomacy in Somalia, not war.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/somalia.html

Talk to Iran: Petition
More than 27,300 people have signed the Peace Action/Just Foreign
Policy petition. Please sign/circulate if you have yet to do so:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html

Tell Your Representatives: Stop the Money and Bring the Troops Home
Please write/call your Members of Congress if you have not done so
recently. They need to hear from you. The Congressional recess is also
a good time to call the local office. These phone numbers are given on
the representatives' web pages, which can be found at www.senate.gov
and www.house.gov.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iraq.html

Just Foreign Policy News daily podcast:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/podcasts/podcast_howto.html

Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) Americans voted for diplomacy, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington
Post. But not only is the Bush Administration pushing increased troops
in Iraq and sending gunboats to Iran, it's trying to extend the war to
Somalia. The Bush Administration has given a "green light" to Ethiopia
to send thousand of troops into Somalia to confront the Islamic Courts
Union, instead of backing European diplomacy to defuse the crisis.

A New York Times editorial welcomed the success of opposition groups
in recent Iranian elections and the apparent resurgence of the student
movement. But the editorial actually did these forces some disservice,
by seeming to link their activities with the Bush Administration's
push for broad economic sanctions against Iran. The editorial says
Bush Administration "needs to keep pushing for effective economic
sanctions." But as the Times has reported, the dispute at the UN has
been whether there should be broad economic sanctions to punish Iran,
as the Bush Administration has argued, or whether sanctions should be
narrowly focused on activities suspected of violating nonproliferation
agreements, as Russia has argued. Broad economic sanctions would
weaken, not strengthen, domestic critics of the Iranian government.
The best environment for Iranian civil society is one in which the US
tries to engage Iran, not isolate it economically or threaten it
militarily. [To send a letter to the Times: letters at nytimes.com]

The New York Times published today the White House-censored version of
Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann's op-ed on US policy towards Iran,
with the redacted words blacked out, and a cover note explaining the
censorship controversy. The effect is visually impressive. In the
censored op-ed, Leverett and Mann argue that a "grand bargain" with
Iran is the only diplomatic approach that will work. They argue that
Iran's cooperation with the U.S. in Afghanistan was given with the
expectation that it would lead to a change in US policy towards Iran
(rather than the "axis of evil" designation Iran received shortly
thereafter), noting that they could have sat out the conflict, as they
did in the 1991 Gulf War.

Iraqi political groups on Thursday maneuvered to undercut an
American-backed initiative that would create a bloc intended to
isolate Moktada al-Sadr, the New York Times reports.

The sudden departure of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US is linked
to a struggle in Saudi Arabia over Iran policy, the New York Times
reports. Officials and analysts say Prince Turki resigned over
differences with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the national security
minister and former Washington ambassador, over how to deal with Iran.
Prince Bandar is believed to favor the American approach of
confronting Iran, while Prince Turki advocates more diplomatic
tactics, including negotiating with Iran.

Four U.S. Marines were charged with murder for their alleged roles in
the deaths of two dozen civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha. The
Marine Corps also charged four officers with crimes related to their
alleged failure to investigate and report the 2005 slayings, the
Washington Post reports.

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki told visiting Defense Secretary Gates he
would let U.S. generals decide whether there is a need for a "surge"
in U.S. troops in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. But a Shiite
member of parliament close to Maliki said in a subsequent meeting of
Shiite Muslim members of Maliki's alliance there was a general feeling
that "there's no need for further troops."

The top issue Washington will face in January is the White House's
apparent "urge to surge" as many as 50,000 new troops into Iraq for up
to two years in a last-ditch effort to claim "victory," Jim Lobe
reports for Inter Press Service. "A 'surge' of the size possible under
current constraints on U.S. forces will not turn the tide in the
guerrilla war," warned former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Pat
Lang, who noted that the reinforcement of thousands of U.S. troops in
Baghdad since last summer had actually increased the violence there.
Lang suggested that in Bush's mind "this might 'clear up' Iraq so that
he could move on to Iran."

A campaign to disallow the first Muslim elected to Congress to take an
oath of office on the Koran was condemned by by Jewish organizations
across the ideological spectrum, writes Alan Dershowitz on Huffington
Post. The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith noted that the U.S.
Constitution bars any religious test for public office and that no
Member of Congress is officially sworn in with the Bible. Holy books
are only used in unofficial, private ceremonies.

Iran
Europeans and the US hoped for a vote today on a U.N. resolution
imposing sanctions on Iran but Russia's U.N. ambassador said further
negotiations would prevent adoption for a day, Reuters reports. Russia
wanted to dilute a provision calling for a freeze on financial assets
abroad of 11 individuals and 12 organizations associated with Iran's
nuclear program, insisting that sanctions be narrowly focused on
enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water nuclear reactors.

Iraq
Muqtada al-Sadr has agreed to allow supporters to rejoin the Iraqi
government after a three-week boycott, AP reports. On Thursday,
al-Sadr loyalists met with members of the Shiite bloc and laid out
their demands, a lawmaker said. "Our demands are to hand over the
security file and not allow any regional interference in Iraqi
affairs," he said, meaning, apparently, that U.S. forces must hand
over all control of security forces to the Iraqi government.

Israel
A Syrian peace initiative and the Israeli prime minister's statement
that he rejected it out of deference to the Bush Administration has
set off a heated debate in Israel, former Israeli official Daniel Levy
writes on Huffington Post, with many prominent Israelis arguing that
Israel should pursue its own interests and stop taking orders from the
Bush Administration, lest it miss a historic opportunity for peace
with Syria. "Bush will go home but we will still be here," wrote one
commentator.

Somalia
Ethiopian tanks rolled to the battlefront on Friday as Somali
Islamists and Somalia's pro-government troops pounded each other with
artillery and rockets in a fourth day of clashes edging closer to
all-out war, Reuters reports. The Reuters article says that
"Washington and what it considers to be its top counter-terrorism ally
in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, say the [Islamic Courts Union] is led
by an al Qaeda cell, which the military-religious movement denies."
This example shows the danger of this use of the word "Washington" in
press reports. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte has
publicly expressed skepticism towards the claim that the Islamic
Courts Union is controlled by Al Qaeda, according to reporting this
week in the Washington Post. Presumably, consensus inside the Beltway
on such a matter ought to include the Director of National
Intelligence.

Cuba
Cuban leader Raul Castro has set a surprising new tone for Cuban
politics, telling University students they should debate "fearlessly,"
the Washington Post reports. At one time, Raul Castro encouraged open
debate, including criticism of the government, at Cuba's military
college. Some experts say they think Raul Castro could one day
introduce a similar system of free speech in Cuban society.

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