[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, July 24, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
July 24, 2006

In this issue:
1) Jewish Voice for Peace Endorses Kucinich Immediate Ceasefire Resolution
2) Report on the Anti-war Demonstration in Tel Aviv, 22 July 2006
3) Condoleezza "False Promise" Rice
4) Juan Cole/AUB appeal for American humanitarian assistance to Lebanon
5) 'There are children dying' - UN humanitarian boss
6) U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
7) Bush Urged To Give Israel More Time for Attacks
8) Israel set war plan more than a year ago
9) Pelosi wouldn't sign Israel resolution
10) Rift opens between Britain and US over Israeli offensive
11) U.S. Says Attacks in Iraq Up 40 Percent
12) Iraqi government official says "Iraq as a political project is finished"
13) Sources: Negroponte Blocks CIA Analysis of Iraq "Civil War"
14) Russia Balks at Wording of Draft Iran Resolution
15) U.S. Plan Seeks to Wedge Syria Away From Iran
16) Iran guarded on quitting NPT over atomic pressure
17) Iranian Official: Enrichment on the Table

Summary:
Jewish Voice for Peace is calling on its supporters to contact members
of Congress and ask them to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 450, introduced by
Dennis Kucinich, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in
Lebanon/Israel. JVP is sponsoring a call-in day Tuesday; we encourage
everyone to participate. The Congressional switchboard is
202-225-3121; local and direct Washington numbers for representatives
are at www.house.gov. Progressive Democrats of America has also
endorsed this resolution. Text of the resolution:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.con.res.00450. Current
list of cosponsors:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HC00450:@@@P. To ask your
representative to cosponsor, you can use this link:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/justforeignpolicy.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4697.
Just Foreign Policy's petition for an immediate ceasefire is here:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/justforeignpolicy.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=320
	
"First Mass Demonstration Against the War" is the Hebrew title of a
well-written and detailed article published in Ha'aretz this morning,
Michael Warschawski writes from Jerusalem for the Alternative
Information Center. Around five thousand demonstrators shouted their
anger against a criminal war which has taken the civilian populations
of the Middle East, including the Israeli one, as hostages. "We will
not kill or die for the US," "Amir Peretz—They Wait for You in the
Hague," "No to the Destructions in Gaza and Lebanon," "Children in
Beirut and Haifa Deserve to Live"—these were among the popular slogans
in the main street of Tel Aviv, in Hebrew and in Arabic.

John Nichols, writing in The Nation online, praises the members of
Congress who have cosponsored the Kucinich resolution calling for an
immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and encourages others to join
them.

In his blog Informed Comment (http://www.juancole.com/) Juan Cole
posts an appeal from the American University of Beirut for
humanitarian assistance for Lebanon
(http://www.aub.edu.lb/challenge/help.html). Cole notes that "AUB is
an educational institution incorporated in the US, so there is no
question of the donations being anything but above-board." He also
says, "Lebanese mostly are angry with the US now, and many hate us,
for unleashing Israel on them. At least we can do some penance.
500,000 displaced persons, and over a thousand wounded, is as big a
humanitarian disaster as the Kashmir earthquake or some per-country
effects of the last tsunami. Send a lot of money."

Jan Egeland, the United Nations undersecretary general for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, began a six-day
mission to the Middle East Sunday where he spoke to wounded and
displaced civilians as well as Lebanese politicians.
"I am here on a humanitarian mission on behalf of [UN Secretary
General] Kofi Annan. This war has affected the civilian population
more than anything. There are children dying. It has to stop," said
Egeland, speaking to the press outside the Rafik Hariri Hospital in
Beirut. "Israel deserves security but, also, Lebanon deserves
security. A life is worth as much in Israel and Lebanon," Egeland
added.

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided
bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week
after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,
the New York Times reported Saturday. The disclosure threatens to
anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the
United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way
that could be compared to Iran's efforts to arm and resupply
Hezbollah.

Some American Jewish organizations launched a major lobbying offensive
in Washington last week to give Israel more time to deal a decisive
blow to Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza, the Jewish Forward
reports from New York. In an effort to head off calls in Washington
for a quick cease-fire, some officials with Jewish groups have spent
the past few days urging policymakers to make sure that Israel is
given ample time and freedom of action to inflict as much damage as
possible on Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Advocates
said that they would be asking the administration to slap more
sanctions on Syria and to push the European Union to follow America's
lead by labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

The plan for Israel's war that is not unfolding in Lebanon was set
more than a year ago, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.
More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving
PowerPoint presentations to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and
think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in
revealing detail.

Although House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voted in favor of a resolution
backing Israel and calling for a tough stance against Hezbollah, she
refused to sign her name to it, Shmuel Rosner reported for Haaretz on
Friday. An argument with Republican signatories over a section on
limiting civilian casualties compelled the Republicans to find another
Democratic legislator, Tom Lantos. She wanted the resolution to call
on both sides to limit civilian casualties. Republicans leaders said
such language would create an equivalence between Israel and
Hezbollah. Some were concerned that her refusal to sign could signal
that the left of the Democratic Party is on the rise, and wondered
whether Pelosi decided she couldn't risk linking her name to language
that would be criticized on the blogs of angry Democrats who are
reshaping the face of the party. Those acquainted with Pelosi
dismissed such fears. She spoke in favor, voted in favor, and is a big
supporter of Israel, said one.

The United States was starting to look isolated in its refusal to rein
in Israel's attacks on Lebanon with key ally Britain criticising the
wholesale killing of Lebanese civilians and widespread destruction,
AFP reported Saturday. Britain's junior foreign minister Kim Howells,
visiting Beirut, Saturday questioned Israel's military tactics and
slammed its killing of "so many children and so many people…These are
not surgical strikes," he said of the air and artillery bombardments
that have killed more than 300 civilians in Lebanon. Foreign Secretary
Margaret Beckett said a ground invasion that Israel appeared to be
preparing would create "a very dangerous situation". Beckett
questioned US and Israeli allegations that Hezbollah was currently
being supplied with weapons by Syria and Iran. "I'm not sure that any
government anywhere in the world would tell you that they've got
cast-iron proof (of Iranian and Syrian involvement)," she told the
Financial Times.

U.S. military officials have reported a 40 percent increase in the
daily average of attacks in the Baghdad area, AP reported Friday.

Iraqi leaders have all but given up on holding the country together
and talk in private of of civil war ahead, Mariam Karouny reported for
Reuters on Friday. There is talk among them of pre-empting the worst
bloodshed by agreeing to an east-west division of Baghdad into Shi'ite
and Sunni Muslim zones, senior officials told Reuters. "Iraq as a
political project is finished," one senior government official said.
"The parties have moved to Plan B," said one highly placed source,
adding that Sunni, ethnic Kurdish and Shi'ite blocs were looking at
ways to divide power and resources.

Senior figures at the CIA, along with a number of Iraq analysts, have
been pushing to produce a new National Intelligence Estimate, Ken
Silverstein reports for Harpers. But they've been stonewalled by John
Negroponte, the Director of National Intelligence, who knows that any
honest take on the situation would produce an NIE even more
pessimistic than the 2004 version.

Russian opposition to key wording of a U.S.-backed Security Council
draft resolution is straining international unity on efforts to deal
with Iran's nuclear defiance, the Los Angeles Times reports. Moscow is
refusing to endorse language that would tell Tehran it faces sanctions
if it fails to freeze enrichment. The article refers to the Russian
opposition as "unexpected" and describes diplomats as "vexed" by
Russia's "change of heart," which seems odd considering that this has
usually been Russia's position, according to previous press reports.
Only recently had it been hinted in the press that Russia was "inching
towards sanctions," and this was in the immediate run-up to the G8
summit in Russia, when Western diplomats argued that they had unique
leverage on Russia that they would lose after the summit.

Bush administration officials say they recognize Syria is central to
any plans to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, the New York Times
reports. Senior administration officials said they had no plans right
now to resume direct talks with the Syrian government.

But while analysts say it is possible for the Bush administration and
Israel to work out a solution without including Syria in the
diplomatic wrangling, it would be difficult. Some Bush administration
officials, particularly at the State Department, are pushing to find a
way to start talking to Syria again.

Iran responded cautiously on Sunday to suggestions it would follow
North Korea out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the
U.N. Security Council passed a tough resolution against its atomic
work, Reuters reports. Leading Iranian parliamentarians have said they
would table a bill calling for Tehran to quit the treaty if the world
body tries to deprive Iran of a fuel cycle. When asked whether Iran
could respond to such moves by quitting the NPT, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said: "We do not predict or prejudge
anything. We will react proportionally to what the other party does."

Iran left open the possibility Sunday that it might consider
suspending uranium enrichment, AP reports. President Ahmadinejad and
other Iranian officials have said they will never abandon uranium
enrichment, which the United States and allies fear could be used for
a nuclear arms program. But a foreign ministry spokesman suggested
Sunday that Tehran may have softened its position. "Everything should
come out through negotiations ... Leave everything for negotiations,"
Hamid Reza Asefi said.

Articles:
2) Report on the Anti-war Demonstration in Tel Aviv, 22 July 2006
Michael Warschawski
Alternative Information Center
Monday, 24 July 2006
http://alternativenews.org/index.php
	
"First Mass Demonstration Against the War" is the Hebrew title of a
well-written and detailed article published in Ha'aretz this morning.
Around five thousands demonstrators, who came from all over the
country, shouted loud and clear, their rage against a criminal war
which has taken the civilian populations of the Middle East, including
the Israeli one, as hostages.

3) Condoleezza "False Promise" Rice
John Nichols
The Nation
Posted 07/22/2006 @ 4:22pm
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=104735

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice goes through the charade of
meeting with international leaders to discuss the crisis in the Middle
East – while showing her true sentiments with a firm rejection of the
"false promise" of a ceasefire – observers of the carnage might
reasonably ask: Is there anyone in Washington who wants the killing to
stop? In fact, there are a few dozen brave members of Congress who
have leant their names to a call for halting the violence and allowing
diplomacy to replace the bombs and bullets that are ripping apart
whole regions of Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.

5) 'There are children dying' - UN humanitarian boss
Iman Azzi
Daily Star (Beirut)
Monday, July 24, 2006
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=74198

Jan Egeland, the United Nations undersecretary general for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, began a six-day
mission to the Middle East Sunday where he spoke to wounded and
displaced civilians as well as Lebanese politicians.

6) U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
David S. Cloud and Helene Cooper
New York Times
July 22, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided
bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week
after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,
American officials said Friday.

7) Bush Urged To Give Israel More Time for Attacks
Ori Nir
Jewish Forward
July 21, 2006
http://www.forward.com/articles/8139

Bucking calls in the international community for a cease-fire in the
Middle East, Jewish organizations launched a major lobbying offensive
in the nation's capital this week to give Israel more time to deal a
decisive blow to Islamist militants in Lebanon and Gaza.

8) Israel set war plan more than a year ago
Strategy was put in motion as Hezbollah began gaining military
strength in Lebanon
Matthew Kalman
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, July 21, 2006
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/21/MNG2QK396D1.DTL

Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered
a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according
to a plan finalized more than a year ago.

9) Pelosi wouldn't sign Israel resolution
Shmuel Rosner
Haaretz
21/07/2006
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741113.html

The message to the press was apparently sent a little too early.
Caution was momentarily pushed aside by joy over the Senate resolution
backing and praising Israel and calling for a tough stance against
Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran. Tomorrow, said the message, a
similar resolution will be passed in the House of Representatives,
supported by House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

10) Rift opens between Britain and US over Israeli offensive
Marc Burleigh
AFP
Sat Jul 22, 12:02 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060722/wl_uk_afp/mideastconflictlebanonisraelbritainus_060722160256

The United States was starting to look isolated in its refusal to rein
in Israel's attacks on Lebanon with key ally Britain criticising the
wholesale killing of Lebanese civilians and widespread destruction.

11) U.S. Says Attacks in Iraq Up 40 Percent
U.S. Military Says Attacks in Iraq Up 40 Percent Over the Last Few
Days, to Average of 34 a Day
Ryan Lenz
Associated Press
July 20
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2216794

Iraq's top Shiite cleric urged his followers Thursday to refrain from
reprisal violence against Sunnis, his strongest call yet for an end to
increasing sectarian bloodshed. The statement by Grand Ayatollah Ali
Al-Sistani came as U.S. military officials reported a 40 percent
increase in the daily average of attacks in the Baghdad area.

12) Iraqi government official says "Iraq as a political project is finished"
Gloom descends on Iraqi leaders as civil war looms
Mariam Karouny
Reuters
21 Jul 2006 13:02:08 GMT
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21908240.htm

Iraqi leaders have all but given up on holding the country together
and, just two months after forming a national unity government, talk
in private of "black days" of civil war ahead.

13) Sources: Negroponte Blocks CIA Analysis of Iraq "Civil War"
Ken Silverstein
Washington Babylon, Harpers.org
Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006
http://harpers.org/sb-sources-negroponte-nei-cia-1153433546.html

I reported in May that despite the deteriorating situation in Iraq, no
National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has been produced on that country
since the summer of 2004. The last NIE, a classified document that the
CIA describes as "the most authoritative written judgment concerning a
national security issue," was rejected by the Bush Administration
(after being leaked to the New York Times) as being too negative,
though its grim assessment subsequently proved to be highly accurate.

14) Russia Balks at Wording of Draft Iran Resolution
Los Angeles Times
July 23, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs23.3jul23,1,659030.story

Unexpected Russian opposition to key wording of a U.S.-backed Security
Council draft resolution is straining international unity on efforts
to deal with Iran's nuclear defiance, U.N. diplomats said.

15) U.S. Plan Seeks to Wedge Syria Away From Iran
Helene Cooper And David E. Sanger
New York Times
July 23, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/washington/23diplo.html

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Israel on Sunday, Bush
administration officials say they recognize Syria is central to any
plans to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, and they are seeking
ways to peel Syria away from its alliance of convenience with Iran.

16) Iran guarded on quitting NPT over atomic pressure
Reuters
Sunday, July 23, 2006; 4:50 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/23/AR2006072300086.html

Iran responded cautiously on Sunday to suggestions it would follow
North Korea out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the
U.N. Security Council passed a tough resolution against its atomic
work.

17) Iranian Official: Enrichment on the Table
Associated Press
Sunday, July 23, 2006; 5:07 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/23/AR2006072300094.html

Iran left open the possibility Sunday that it might consider
suspending uranium enrichment, one of the most contentious features of
its suspect nuclear program.

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Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org