[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, Independence Day, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
Independence Day, 2006

Just Foreign Policy wishes everyone a happy holiday celebrating
independence from foreign occupation.

"We pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it
stands, not to the empire for which it stands." – Gary Hart

In this issue:
1) Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family
2) Senator's Plan B Creates Quandary for Democrats
3) EU to Tell Iran Time Running Short
4) China Urges Iran to Respond to Nuclear Package
5) Putin Urges Iran to Accept Incentive Plan
6) Oil Rivalry Rocks Basra
7) Leftist Mexican Presidential Candidate Will Challenge Rival's
Apparent Victory
8) A fair share for Iranians

Summary:
The European Union will tell Iran Wednesday that time is running short
for it to agree to enter negotiations on incentives to curb its
nuclear activities or face possible penalties, Reuters reports.
Diplomats doubt Iran's top nuclear negotiator will give a firm answer
in talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, but say Iran will
be subject to U.N. Security Council action if no answer arrives before
major power meetings next week. However, they also say Russia and
China would block any steps toward sanctions as long as Iran appears
to be seriously studying the offer, leaving Western powers little
choice but to wait possibly until Iran's own August deadline for a
reply. An Iranian official said negotiator Ali Larijani would bring
questions about what Tehran sees as ambiguities in the package offered
by Western powers, while others expected at least one more meeting
between the two. Washington wants G8 leaders to chart future action,
insisting Tehran has had ample time to respond to a package presented
a month ago of incentives for Iran to halt uranium enrichment. But
others avoided talk of a deadline. A senior diplomat with the U.N.
nuclear watchdog agency said Iran's delay could not be branded simply
as bad faith. "The Iranian need for time is genuine. They are not all
of one mind on how to respond. Whatever the West's view of Iran's
regime, it is not as monolithic in debate as many like to pretend,''
the diplomat said."After all, look how long it took the U.S. to decide
it was okay to make an offer to join the negotiating table."

China urged Iran on Tuesday to respond to a package of incentives to
stop enriching uranium and called on G8 powers to show patience,
saying the standoff over Iran's nuclear plans had entered a crucial
phase. "The Iran nuclear issue is at a crucial phase,'' Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. "We hope that Iran will
pay attention to the concerns of the international community and
respond as soon as possible to the basket of proposals. We also hope
that the other sides will exercise patience and restraint and
seriously consider Iran's reasonable concerns.''

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Iran to accept an
international package of incentives aimed at defusing the standoff
over Tehran's nuclear program. ''We would really like our Iranian
partners to accept the proposals,'' said Putin. He added he would like
this to happen before next week's Group of Eight industrialized
nations summit in Russia but thought this was unlikely.

A former U.S. soldier was charged yesterday with the rape and murder
of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family members
in their home south of Baghdad in March. Several soldiers allegedly
planned the attack over drinks after noticing the woman near the
traffic checkpoint they manned. The soldiers allegedly worked out an
elaborate plan to carry out the crime and then cover it up, wearing
dark clothes to the home, using an AK-47 assault rifle from the house
to kill the family, and allowing authorities to believe that the
attack was carried out by insurgents, investigators said.

Senator Joseph Lieberman faces the prospect of rejection by the
Democrats who know him best, the party faithful in Connecticut, the
New York Times reports. The problem is Iraq. But it is not only
Lieberman who is being challenged; it is the national party
leadership, as it faces a grassroots push to toughen its stand against
the Iraq war and distance itself from a senator who supports the war.
Leaders of the national Democratic Party may have to choose between
Lieberman and an antiwar Democrat Ned Lamont in the fall. Lieberman is
planning to run as an independent in November if he loses the
Democratic primary. Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Democratic
National Committee, said the party would support its nominee this
fall, whether it is Mr. Lieberman or Mr. Lamont.

Basra has turned into a deadly arena for clashes over the smuggling of
millions of dollars in petroleum products, the Los Angeles Times
reports. One official estimated the value of the smuggling trade at $4
billion a year, or about 10% of the country's gross domestic product.
Officials say the Fadila party, which controls the provincial
government, has been the most eager participant in the smuggling
business. One former lawmaker estimated its daily oil take was in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fadila controlled the Oil Ministry
in the previous government and appointed loyalists to many posts, from
high-level jobs down to oversight of terminals in Basra. Shiite
political parties and militias have proceeded with their oil pilfering
despite the presence of British forces, who are increasingly viewed as
ineffective interlopers. The blatant smuggling has served to symbolize
the corruption and incompetence of the Shiite parties that have filled
the power vacuum since the U.S.-led invasion. Government services such
as trash collection and the upkeep of water and electricity lines have
deteriorated, residents say.

In Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, candidate of the Party of the
Democratic Revolution, is charging election officials with
"manipulation" of the vote count in Sunday's presidential election
that shows ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon with a lead of about
one percent. Lopez Obrador says he will file legal challenges if the
final official count favors Calderon. The Mexican Federal Electoral
Institute refrained from declaring any winner, having already
announced a recount of the vote to commence on Wednesday. Lobrador
says there was an evident manipulation of the preliminary vote count
that would have to be explained. He points to inconsistencies in the
count that appeared in the early morning hours as the preliminary
results were released. He says he will challenge the result polling
place by polling place, if necessary.

The president of Iran is to distribute shares in state industries
among the poor, in line with his election pledges, AFP reports. State
television reported on Tuesday that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the
supreme leader, announced on Monday a privatization scheme for basic
industries, amending an article of the constitution that had banned
private ownership of state institutions. 50% of the shares are to be
allocated for sale to provincial co-operative companies, with the
focus on low-income sectors of society, under Ahmadinejad's plan for
the "distribution of justice shares". The government plans to sell off
80% of its stake in a range of state-run companies in the banking,
media, transportation and mineral sectors under the order issued by
Khamenei. So-called "justice shares" have been allocated to a third of
the population who are selected from the lowest-income group, or about
21 million people.

Articles:
1) Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family
Coverup Is Alleged; Four Others Implicated
Josh White
Washington Post
Tuesday, July 4, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/03/AR2006070301206.html

A former U.S. Army soldier was charged yesterday with the rape and
murder of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family
members in their home south of Baghdad in March, federal prosecutors
said.

Several soldiers allegedly planned the attack over drinks after
noticing the woman near the traffic checkpoint they manned in
Mahmudiyah, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The soldiers allegedly
worked out an elaborate plan to carry out the crime and then cover it
up, wearing dark clothes to the home, using an AK-47 assault rifle
from the house to kill the family, and allowing authorities to believe
that the attack was carried out by insurgents, investigators said.


2) Senator's Plan B Creates Quandary for Democrats
Patrick Healy and Jennifer Medina
New York Times
July 4, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/nyregion/04antiwar.html

Six years ago Joseph I. Lieberman came within a hairbreadth of the
vice presidency after the Democratic Party chose him as a moderate
face whose support for family values and a stronger military might
attract Reagan Democrats and independents.

Yet when Mr. Lieberman sought the party's presidential nomination in
2004, rank-and-file Democrats relegated him to the B list, behind
Howard Dean and John Kerry, in large part because of his strong
support for military action in Iraq.

Now Mr. Lieberman faces the prospect of rejection by the Democrats who
know him best, the party faithful in Connecticut. Once more the
problem is Iraq. But this time it is not only Mr. Lieberman who is
being challenged; it is the national party leadership, as it faces a
grassroots push to toughen its stand against the Iraq war and distance
itself from a senator who supports the war.

3) EU to Tell Iran Time Running Short
Reuters
July 4, 2006
Filed at 11:00 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-nuclear-iran-talks.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will tell Iran on Wednesday
that time is running short for it to agree to enter negotiations on
incentives to curb its nuclear activities or face possible penalties.

Diplomats doubt Iran's top nuclear negotiator will give a firm answer
in talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, but say Iran will
be subject to U.N. Security Council action if no answer arrives before
major power meetings next week.

However, they also say Russia and China would block any steps toward
sanctions as long as Iran appears to be seriously studying the offer,
leaving Western powers little choice but to wait possibly until Iran's
own August deadline for a reply.


4) China Urges Iran to Respond to Nuclear Package
Reuters
July 4, 2006
Filed at 4:58 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-nuclear-iran-china.html

BEIJING (Reuters) - China urged Iran on Tuesday to respond to a
package of incentives to stop enriching uranium and called on G8
powers to show patience, saying the standoff over Iran's nuclear plans
had entered a crucial phase. Iran's nuclear ambitions are expected to
dominate the Group of Eight summit in Moscow this week as members wait
for Tehran to formally respond to a proposal backed by the five
permanent members of the U.N Security Council and Germany.


5) Putin Urges Iran to Accept Incentive Plan
Associated Press
July 4, 2006
Filed at 10:52 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iran-Nuclear.html

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Iran
to accept an international package of incentives aimed at defusing the
standoff over Tehran's nuclear program.


6) Oil Rivalry Rocks Basra
The Iraqi city has turned into a deadly arena for clashes over the
smuggling of millions of dollars in petroleum products, officials say.
Raheem Salman and Borzou Daragahi
Los Angeles Times
July 4, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-basra4jul04,1,5281184.story

BASRA, Iraq — This once-placid port city is beginning to look a lot
like the mob-ruled Chicago of the 1920s, an arena for settling scores
between rival gangs, many with ties to the highest echelons of local
and national political power.

Basra's sudden political troubles and violence are rooted in a bloody
competition for control of millions of dollars in smuggled oil,
residents and officials say. Out on the Shatt al Arab waterway and off
the coast of the Persian Gulf, boats wait to receive Iraq's smuggled
oil, the most visible sign of what many suspect are vast multinational
criminal gangs selling subsidized and stolen petroleum products for a
premium in Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.


7) Leftist Mexican Presidential Candidate Will Challenge Rival's
Apparent Victory
Greg Flakus
Voice of America
July 4 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-07-04-voa2.cfm

Mexico City - In Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, candidate of the
leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, is charging election
officials with "manipulation" of the vote count in Sunday's
presidential election that shows ruling party candidate Felipe
Calderon with a lead of about one percent. Lopez Obrador says he will
file legal challenges if the final official count favors Calderon.

After more than 98 percent of the vote from Sunday's election had been
counted, Felipe Calderon maintained a slight lead, which he said was
supported by several independent exit polls that showed him as the
victor. The Mexican Federal Electoral Institute, however, refrained
from declaring any winner, having already announced a recount of the
vote to commence on Wednesday.

Coming before reporters after the release of the initial vote count
results, Lopez Obrador promised a legal challenge.

He says there was an evident manipulation of the preliminary vote
count that would have to be explained. He points to inconsistencies in
the count that appeared in the early morning hours as the preliminary
results were released. He says he will challenge the result polling
place by polling place, if necessary.


8) A fair share for Iranians
AFP
Tuesday 04 July 2006 10:46 AM GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C357A0B0-C06E-4205-84E3-6DFE8A8EF2BC.htm

The president of Iran is to distribute shares in state industries
among the poor, in line with his election pledges.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took office last August, said in May that he
planned to reverse privatisations carried out by the former reformist
government.

State television reported on Tuesday that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the
Islamic republic's supreme leader, announced on Monday a privatisation
scheme for basic industries, amending an article of the constitution
that had banned private ownership of state institutions.

With his approval, 50% of the shares are to be allocated for sale to
provincial co-operative companies, with the focus on low-income
sectors of society, under Ahmadinejad's plan for the "distribution of
justice shares".


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