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

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
October 24, 2006

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Summary:
U.S./Top News
Gen. Casey, America's top general in Iraq, said he was considering
sending more troops to help quell violence raging in Baghdad, the New
York Times reports. Casey and US Ambassador Khalilzad laid out a
timetable for progress they said has been agreed to by the government
of Prime Minister Maliki

The White House said Monday President Bush was no longer using the
phrase "stay the course" when speaking about the Iraq war.

Prosecutors in Italy are seeking the indictment of Italy's top spy on
charges connected to the abduction of a militant Egyptian cleric in
Milan by US intelligence agents in 2003. The expected indictment of
the spy is the first in which government officials have been charged
with cooperating with Washington to violate the laws of their own
government, the New York Times reports.

For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty
members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S.
occupation and bring American soldiers home. Sixty-five active-duty
members have sent Appeals for Redress to Members of Congress. Under
the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act, active-duty military,
National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected
communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without
reprisal.

The Bush administration said Monday there are no plans for dramatic
shifts in policy or for ultimatums to Baghdad to force progress.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told AP that "We're on
the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working."

Several governments have tried to rebut criticism of how they handle
detainees by claiming they are only following the U.S. example, the
U.N. special rapporteur on torture said Monday, AP reports.

The AFL-CIO is filing a protest with the International Labor
Organization of a federal decision redefining which workers are
supervisors exempt from legal protection to join unions, AP reports.
"This will demonstrate how far outside the mainstream of accepted
international law the U.S. is moving," said Craig Becker, legal
counsel to the AFL-CIO.

No matter what President Bush says, the question is not whether
America can win in Iraq, writes the New York Times in an editorial.
The only question is whether the US can extricate itself without
leaving behind an unending civil war.

Iran
Iran has taken another step in its ability to enrich uranium, the head
of the U.N. atomic energy agency confirmed yesterday, the Washington
Post reports. Mohamed ElBaradei  said Iranian technicians had pieced
together a second cascade of 164 centrifuges and are days away from
using the cascade to enrich uranium. Meanwhile, the Bush
administration and European allies failed to reach agreement on
sanctions against Tehran's nuclear program. U.S. intelligence
officials think Tehran is at least four years away from gaining the
technical capability to produce enough nuclear material for a single
weapon.

Iran's president has come out against a bill that would require
Americans to be fingerprinted on arrival in Iran. President
Ahmadinejad said he had asked Iranian legislators to set aside a bill
that would require immigration officials to take fingerprints of all
U.S. passport holders. "We do not have a problem with American people.
We oppose only the U.S. government's bullying and arrogance,"
Ahmadinejad said.

Iraq
A leader of an armed Iraqi group has denied the existence of any
dialogue with the current Iraqi Government or US Ambassador Khalilzad.
Abu-Umar told Asharq Al-Awsat "resistance factions" have rejected the
national reconciliation initiative proposed by Prime Minister Maliki
because it does not include a timetable for U.S. withdrawal and its
proposed amnesty does not include Baathists and resistance fighters
who have killed American soldiers, while it protects militias linked
to the government.

The New York Times reports on an Iraqi satirical news show it compares
to Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." The newscast recently reported that
Iraq's Ministry of Water and Sewage had decided to change its name to
the Ministry of Sewage because it had given up on the water part.

Israel
Prime Minister Olmert reached a deal Monday to broaden his coalition
by adding a far-right party that seeks to annex parts of the West Bank
and get rid of Israel's Arab population, the New York Times reports.
[The Times uses the gentler word "reduce" to describe this party's
views -JFP]

A secret, two year investigation by the defense establishment shows
there has been rampant illegal construction in dozens of settlements
and in many cases involving privately owned Palestinian properties,
Haaretz reports. Sources maintained the report is not being made
public in order to avoid a crisis with the U.S. government, since the
report documents that written promises to the U.S. about restricting
the growth of settlements in the West Bank were not kept.

Nicaragua
The Organization of American States observer mission in Nicaragua said
Sunday it regretted U.S. intervention in Nicaragua's presidential
election campaign. "The future of Nicaragua's political institutions
should depend only on the decision of the people of this nation," the
OAS mission said. [It seems that the U.S. press is ignoring this
story. -JFP]

Ecuador
Juan Forero, writing in the Washington Post, reports on Dole Food's
closing of flower-exporting farms in Ecuador, suggesting the lack of a
so-called "free-trade" deal with the United States as a reason for
doing so, although this reason was not given by company officials.
Forero correctly notes that claims by critics that U.S. - promoted
economic policies have not benefited the region are buttressed by the
fact that economic growth in Latin America stagnated from the early
1990s until 2003.

Contents:
U.S./Top News
1) General May Increase U.S. Troop Levels in Baghdad
John O'Neil, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/middleeast/25iraqcnd.html
America's top general in Iraq said he was considering sending more
troops to help quell violence raging in Baghdad, as he and the US
ambassador laid out a timetable for progress they said has been agreed
to by the government of Prime Minister Maliki.

Ambassador Khalilzad said the timetable includes settling political
differences between the country's competing groups through a "national
compact" within the next year, and taking quick action on some of the
country's most obdurate issues, including cracking down on Shiite
militias, persuading Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and
reaching agreement on a fair division of oil revenues. Khalilzad said
that some of these steps should be taken in the next few weeks, while
he expected others to be completed a year from no"Iraqi officials have
agreed to a timeline for making these difficult decisions," he said.

Khalilzad appeared with Gen. Casey, the top military commander in
Iraq, who said the Iraqi military was on track to take over
responsibility for security in the country with American forces
providing "some level" of support. The unusual joint news conference
comes as attacks on American forces are on the rise, violence in
Baghdad has continued to increase, American officials' relationship
with  Maliki's government have grown strained, and the conflict has
taken center stage in the fall Congressional campaign.

Some senior Republicans have recently joined Democrats in suggesting
that the Iraqi government must be told American patience will run out
unless progress is made on forging a political settlement and reining
in militias. American officials have continued to insist they will set
no timetable for withdrawing forces. President Bush assured  Maliki
last week he was not in danger of losing American support.

Today,  Khalilzad used "benchmarks," "milestones" and "timetable"
interchangeably to describe the agreed-upon political and economic
steps, and made no mention of what the US might do if the timetable
was missed. Likewise, General Casey linked plans for pulling back
American forces solely to projections for progress in building Iraqi
military capacity.

2) Bush Abandons Phrase 'Stay the Course' on Iraq
Jim Rutenberg & David S. Cloud, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/middleeast/24policy.html
The White House said Monday President Bush was no longer using the
phrase "stay the course" when speaking about the Iraq war, in a new
effort to emphasize flexibility in the face of some of the bloodiest
violence there since the 2003 invasion. "He stopped using it," said
Tony Snow, the White House press secretary. "It left the wrong
impression about what was going on and it allowed critics to say,
'Well, here's an administration that's just embarked upon a policy and
not looking at what the situation is,' when, in fact, it is the
opposite."

Bush used the slogan in a speech Aug. 31, but has not repeated it for
some time. Still,  Snow's pronouncement was a stark example of the
complicated line the White House is walking this election year in
trying to tag Democrats as wanting to "cut and run" from Iraq, without
itself appearing wedded to unsuccessful tactics there. Democrats have
increasingly pressed a case this fall contending Republicans are
stubbornly proposing to "stay the course" in a failing effort to
stanch violence in Iraq - an approach strategists in both parties
consider to have been fairly successful, especially as violence has
continued to mount in Baghdad.

In the last few weeks a number of Republican lawmakers and party
elders have also come forward to express doubts about whether the
administration's approach to stabilizing Iraq is succeeding and to
suggest new strategies. Bush and his aides have met those complaints
with a renewed emphasis on adaptability for the US' war plan.  Bush
has stressed - as he did in an interview with ABC News Sunday - he is
"not patient forever" and expects the Iraqis to take more
responsibility in securing their own country.

In the same vein, administration officials are heightening the
emphasis on setting milestones for Iraq to take over responsibility
for ensuring security while disbanding sectarian militia groups.

3) Italy's Top Spy Is Expected to Be Indicted in Abduction Case
Ian Fisher & Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/europe/24italy.html
Italy's top spy is expected to be replaced in the coming days, as
prosecutors seek his indictment on charges connected to the abduction
of a militant Egyptian cleric in Milan by US intelligence agents in
2003. The expected indictment of the spy, Nicolò Pollari, is part of a
sprawling investigation here, the first in which government officials
have essentially been charged with cooperating with Washington to
violate the laws of their own government. If  Pollari is indicted, he
would be by far the most prominent official charged in relation to the
scores of abductions of suspected terrorists around the world since
the Sept. 11 attacks.

The case's impact on the US practice of rendition, in which terrorist
suspects have been seized and turned over for interrogation to other
countries, including several known to engage routinely in torture, is
not clear. Some experts say the program was already languishing, after
disclosures last year some abductees ended up in secret prisons run by
the CIA. But any trial, especially one involving a prominent official
like  Pollari, could shed uncomfortable light on how American allies
cooperated in one of the most controversial tactics in the Bush
administration's fight against terrorism.

Twenty-five operatives for the C.I.A. are named in the case, and
documents filed by prosecutors here are full of specific information:
phone and credit card numbers, tapped phone calls and surveillance
photographs. Perhaps most difficult for Italy, a trial would raise the
possibility of showing collusion at the highest levels of government
under the prime minister at the time, Silvio Berlusconi. Intelligence
experts say it is highly unlikely Italy did not give explicit approval
of the operation, especially since the kidnapping took place right
before the invasion of Iraq - and Italy was one of only a few European
governments to support the war.

"The idea that either the director of central intelligence or the
White House - and this would have had to go to the president - would
have agreed to conduct the operation unless they were absolutely sure
the Italian government was behind it is laughable," Michael Scheuer, a
former senior American intelligence analyst, said in an interview.
"It's not even in the realm of possibility."

4) Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq
65 to Send "Appeals for Redress" Under Military Whistle-blower Protection Act
News Advisory, U.S. Newswire, 10/23/2006 9:58:00 AM
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=74796
For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty
members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S.
occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home. Sixty-five
active-duty members have sent Appeals for Redress to Members of
Congress. Three of these people (including two who served in Iraq) and
their attorney will speak about this on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m.
EDT.

Under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act, active-duty
military, National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected
communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without
reprisal.

5) GOP Senator Says Iraq Is Near Chaos
Deb Riechmann, Associated Press, Monday, October 23, 2006; 6:46 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102300071.html
Under election-year pressure to change course in Iraq, the Bush
administration said Monday there are no plans for dramatic shifts in
policy or for ultimatums to Baghdad to force progress. Just two weeks
before the Nov. 7 elections that will determine whether Republicans
retain control of Congress, the White House tried to calm political
anxieties about deteriorating security in Iraq. Both Democratic and
Republican lawmakers are calling on President Bush to change his war
plan.

"We're on the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working,"
Sen. Lindsey Graham said in an AP interview. U.S. and Iraqi officials
should be held accountable for the lack of progress, said Graham, a
Republican who is a frequent critic of the administration's policies.
Asked who in particular should be held accountable - Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld, perhaps, or the generals leading the war - Graham said: "All
of them. It's their job to come up with a game plan" to end the
violence.

6) U.N. Says Human Rights Violators Cite U.S.
Nick Wadhams, Associated Press, Tuesday, October 24, 2006; A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301133.html
Several governments have tried to rebut criticism of how they handle
detainees by claiming they are only following the U.S. example in
fighting terrorism, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture said
Monday. Manfred Nowak said when he criticizes governments for their
questionable treatment of detainees, they respond by telling him if
the US does something, it must be all right. He would not name any
countries except Jordan.

"The US has been the pioneer . . . of human rights and is a country
that has a high reputation in the world," Nowak said at a news
conference. "Today, many other governments are kind of saying: 'But
why are you criticizing us? We are not doing something different than
what the US is doing.' " Nowak said because of its prominence, the US
has a greater responsibility to uphold international standards for its
prisoners.

7) AFL-CIO to Petition U.N. Over Change in Work Rules
Will Lester, Associated Press, Monday, October 23, 2006; A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/22/AR2006102200827.html
Organized labor is filing an international protest about a federal
decision redefining which workers are supervisors exempt from legal
protection to join unions. The AFL-CIO, a federation of more than 50
labor unions with about 9 million members, said it would file a
complaint today with the International Labor Organization of the UN
about a decision this month by the National Labor Relations Board.

The board ruled, 3-2, that nurses who regularly run shifts at
health-care facilities should be considered supervisors and exempt
from federal protections that cover union membership. The decision
could have major implications for workers in other fields, labor
leaders say. "This will demonstrate how far outside the mainstream of
accepted international law the U.S. is moving," said Craig Becker,
legal counsel to the AFL-CIO.

Business leaders contend the decision will not have sweeping effects,
though. "The business community thinks the standard is reasonable, but
this is not a sea change," said Steve Bokat of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce. NLRB decisions cannot be directly appealed in the U.S.
courts, though those issues might reappear in the courts in other
labor cases, he said.

Workers classified as supervisors under the ruling would not be
protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Dissenting members of
the NLRB said the decision "threatens to create a new class of workers
under federal labor law: workers who have neither the genuine
prerogatives of management, nor the statutory rights of ordinary
employees."

8) Trying to Contain the Iraq Disaster
Editorial, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/opinion/24tues1.html
No matter what President Bush says, the question is not whether
America can win in Iraq. The only question is whether the US can
extricate itself without leaving behind an unending civil war that
will spread more chaos and suffering throughout the Middle East, while
spawning terrorism across the globe.

The prospect of what happens after an American pullout haunts the
debate on Iraq. The administration, for all its hints about new
strategies and timetables, is obviously hoping to slog along for two
more years and dump the problem on  Bush's successor. This fall's
election debates have educated very few voters because neither side is
prepared to be honest about the terrible consequences of military
withdrawal and the very long odds against success if American troops
remain.

This page opposed a needlessly hurried and unilateral invasion, even
before it became apparent the Bush administration was unprepared to do
the job properly. But after it happened, we believed America should
stay and try to clean up the mess it had made - as long as there was
any conceivable road to success.

That road is vanishing. It is very clear even with the best American
effort, Iraq will remain at war with itself for years to come, its
government weak and deeply divided, and its economy battered and still
dependent on outside aid. The most the US can do now is to try to
build up Iraq's security forces so they can contain the fighting - so
it neither devours Iraqi society nor spills over to Iraq's neighbors -
and give Iraq's leaders a start toward the political framework they
would need if they chose to try to keep their country whole.

The tragedy is even this marginal sort of outcome seems nearly
unachievable now. But if America is to make one last push, there are
steps that might lessen the chance of all-out chaos after the troops
withdraw: For all the talk of timetables for Iraq, there has been
little discussion of the timetable that must be handed to George Bush.
The president cannot leave office with American troops still dying in
an Iraq that staggers along just short of civil war, on behalf of no
concrete objective other than "get the job done," which is now  Bush's
rhetorical substitute for "stay the course." The administration's
current vague talk about behind-the-scenes agreements with Iraqi
politicians is next to meaningless. Americans, Iraqis and the rest of
the world need clear, public signs of progress.

Iran
9) IAEA Head: Iran Close To Enriching Uranium
Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Tuesday, October 24, 2006; A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301054.html
Iran has taken another step in its ability to enrich uranium, the head
of the U.N. atomic energy agency confirmed yesterday, as the Bush
administration and European allies failed to reach agreement on
sanctions against Tehran's expanding nuclear program.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, said Iranian technicians had pieced together a second line, or
cascade, of 164 centrifuges and are days away from using the cascade
to enrich uranium. "It's in place and ready to go," ElBaradei said.
European officials suggested the new cascade is a political move by
Iranian officials who are hoping to send a defiant message to the U.N.
Security Council as it weighs possible sanctions.

It would take many years for the Iranians to produce bomb-grade
uranium using the other 164-centrifuge cascade it is currently
operating, and U.S. intelligence officials think Tehran is at least
four years away from gaining the technical capability to produce
enough nuclear material for a single weapon. Since February, Iran has
produced minuscule amounts of low-enriched uranium suitable for the
energy program the government says it wants, and not for bombs. The
same cascades, if run longer and more efficiently, can produce
bomb-grade uranium.

Iran has said it wants talks with China, Europe, Russia and the US but
will not suspend its nuclear work in advance, arguing instead it is
exercising its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Iran signed on to
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the 1960s, forswearing nuclear
weapons for sensitive technology that could be used for an energy
program.

Yesterday, U.S. diplomats met with British and French negotiators to
try to complete a draft resolution on sanctions the rest of the
council members, including China and Russia, would approve. The Bush
administration had hoped to reach an agreement last Friday, but
European officials said they were not comfortable with some of the
tougher measures the US sought to impose.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there was "widespread
agreement, although not total agreement," among Britain, France and
the US on sanctions. European officials said privately the resolution
is likely to be limited to a ban on any nuclear or missile trade with
Iran, while carving out an exception for a preexisting Iranian-Russian
nuclear deal. Some U.S. officials have been pushing for broader
action, including travel bans and financial restrictions on people
connected to the nuclear program.

10) Ahmadinejad Opposes Finger-Print Bill
Associated Press, Tuesday, October 24, 2006; 11:51 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102400283.html
Iran's president has come out against a bill that would require
Americans to be fingerprinted on arrival in Iran. President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said he had asked Iranian legislators to set aside a bill
that would require immigration officials to take fingerprints of all
U.S. passport holders. "We do not have a problem with American people.
We oppose only the U.S. government's bullying and arrogance,"
Ahmadinejad said Monday, according to the official Islamic Republic
News Agency.

The bill, which passed a preliminary reading in the Iranian parliament
earlier this month, was drafted by conservatives who sought to
retaliate for the U.S. requirement Iranian visitors be fingerprinted.
The U.S. measure, which also applies to nationals of some other
countries, was implemented in 2002, in the wake of the Sept. 11
attacks.

"In spite of Washington's decision to fingerprint Iranian travelers
who visit the US, we have asked legislators to avoid a
countermeasure," Ahmadinejad said. "If somebody, and that includes an
American, is entitled to enter Iran, then he will be welcomed with
respect," the president said.

Small numbers of American passport holders visit Iran, mostly
academics interested in Persian history and culture. However, some
U.S. basketball players play for Iranian teams and U.S. wrestlers
occasionally take part in tournaments in Iran. The US and Iran have
not had diplomatic relations since Iranian militants stormed the
American Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The atmosphere between the two countries improved marginally under
former President Mohammad Khatami, who encouraged sport and cultural
exchanges, but it deteriorated after the Sept. 11 attacks when
President Bush declared Iran belonged to an "axis of evil" with Iraq
and North Korea. Since taking office last year, Ahmadinejad has
widened the gap with Washington by taking a hardline on Iran's nuclear
program and calling for Israel's destruction.

Iraq
11) Iraqi Insurgent Leader: Premier's Initiative Rejected, Dialogue
With US Halted
Ma'ad Fayad, Asharq Al-Awsat ("The Middle East"), 23/10/2006
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=6797
A leader of an armed Iraqi group has denied the existence of any
dialogue with the current Iraqi Government or US Ambassador Khalilzad.
The leader, who goes by the name Abu-Umar, stated "resistance
factions" have rejected the national reconciliation initiative
proposed by Prime Minister Maliki, "because it is not a comprehensive
plan, and lacks a lot of the objectives for which thousands of Iraqis
were martyred."

Regarding dialogue with Ambassador Khalilzad, which began seven months
ago, the field commander told Asharq Al-Awsat in a phone call from an
undisclosed location in Iraq, "Yes, we had a dialogue with the
Americans, but they cut short these talks although our approach was
supported on the political, religious, and popular levels. We would
have reached positive results had the dialogue continued. The US
Administration, however, ignored our proposals and formed the
government without asking our opinion and without our participation.
In our latest memorandum to the US ambassador, we told him the
majority of the cabinet members are seekers of [government] posts, and
will offer the Iraqi people nothing. We told him the armed operations
will increase and double in number."

When asked about Prime Minister's Maliki's initiative for national
reconciliation, the militant leader said, "This initiative does not
entail practical steps to save Iraq, and has nothing to do with what
is happening on the ground, especially with respect to the issue of
the armed militias that are backed by parties represented in the
parliament and the government."

Abu-Umar added, "The initiative excludes reconciliation with the
Baathist and the resistance factions. It excludes anyone who killed a
US soldier. The initiative protects the armed militias. We do not know
who this reconciliation will be with."

The faction leader said, "There is a resistance [movement], which is a
real one. The takfiris aside, if the Americans themselves and
President Bush admit there is resistance, why does the Iraqi
government not recognize us and talk to us to agree on a timetable for
the withdrawal of the foreign forces from the villages, and then from
the cities, to their bases and barracks before they withdraw from
Iraq? We are not saying the US forces should withdraw immediately;
this is unreasonable. The Iraqi situation is going through serious
stages, and it is not part of our strategy to get the Americans out
immediately. As I explained, it is also not in the interest of Iraq
and the Iraqis that the foreign forces leave the country under these
circumstances. However, we are saying they should set a timetable for
their departure after one or two years, more or less. Many Iraqis and
resistance factions support this idea. If the US forces announce their
intention to withdraw based on timetables, no one will afterward dare
attack them."

On resolving the crisis in Iraq Abu-Umar said that, "The US
Administration knows full well what we want, and a solution for the
crisis of the country is in its hand. We here suggest a repeat of the
elections without using the Islamic religion, the sect, or the
doctrine in them, that is, separating religion from politics. We do
not care if people perform their rites, each according to his religion
and doctrine, but we are against using the True Religion [Islam]
politically. We suggest canceling the Debathification Act. If the
government is not afraid of the Baath [Party], it should allow it to
run in the elections, or they should give the Baathist any chance to
have representation." He noted that, "the radical Islamic trends, be
they Sunnis or Shia, have failed to build the state of the new Iraq,
and the Iraqi street is fed up with these ideas."

12) TV Comedy Turns Unconventional Weapon on Iraq's High and Mighty: Fake News
Michael Luo, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/middleeast/24show.html
Iraqis weary of the tumult around them have been turning on the
television to watch a wacky-looking man with a giant Afro wig and
star-shaped glasses deliver the grim news of the day. In a recent
episode, the host, Saad Khalifa, reported Iraq's Ministry of Water and
Sewage had decided to change its name to the Ministry of Sewage -
because it had given up on the water part.

In another episode, he jubilantly declared "Rums bin Feld" had
announced American troops were leaving the country on 1/1, in other
words, on Jan. 1. His face crumpled when he realized he had made a
mistake. The troops were not actually departing on any specific date,
he clarified, but instead leaving one by one. At that rate, it would
take more than 600 years for them to be gone.

The newscast is a parody, of course, that fires barbs at everyone from
the American military to the Iraqi government, an Iraqi version of
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Even the militias wreaking havoc on
Iraq are lampooned.

The acerbic newscasts are broadcast on Al Sharqiya, an Iraqi satellite
station that has at times run afoul of the government for its regular
news coverage.  The show's success is a testament to the gallows humor
with which many Iraqis now view their lives - still lacking basic
services and plagued by unrelenting violence more than three years
after the American-led invasion.

 Khalifa, the show's star, is a diminutive comedian who was a
well-known theater actor in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's government.
The initial episodes were taped in Dubai because the producers decided
it would be too dangerous and logistically difficult to film in
Baghdad. Despite its madcap humor, he said, the show has a serious
message.

"The purpose of the show is to fix Iraq," he said. "We want to fix the
civil services. We want to fix the government officials. We want to
fix the relationships between people. We want to fix the government
and stop the corruption."

The show's raucous theme song, which has become a popular cellphone
ring tone here and is sung by children in schoolyards, laments it
would be better to be a lowly cat on the street than an Iraqi: "No one
asks the cat where you are from, which party you're from, whether you
are an Arab, a Kurd, a Sunni or a Shiite."

Talib al-Sudani, the show's writer, came up with the show's premise
one day when the curfew stranded him overnight at a cafe he frequents.
He found himself envying a stray cat he saw wandering down the street.
"I couldn't go home," he said, "but she could."

His initial idea was for the newscast to be more serious, with several
different actors filling the different reportorial roles. Instead he
wound up with  Khalifa, a heavyset man just shy of five feet who does
all the parts in his signature zany way, dressing up in heels, a wig
and a dress to do the weather, donning a boxing helmet and snorkel
fins for sports, and wearing an Iraqi dishdasha for business news.

In a recent episode,  Khalifa poked fun at the federalism plan being
pushed by many of the country's Shiite leaders that would divide Iraq
into autonomous regions. Reporting from an imaginary meeting of the
"League of Iraqi Republics," he solemnly informed viewers the main
issue under discussion was the dispute between the governments of
Waziriya and Kasra - actually adjacent Baghdad neighborhoods.

There were also problems, he said, between the Republic of Karrada
Inside and the Republic of Karrada Outside, two parallel streets along
the Tigris River here separated by just 500 feet. Another issue on the
table, he said, was the continuing embargo on the Republic of Bab
al-Sharji, a Baghdad neighborhood famous for its electronics bazaars.

The humor behind many of the show's jokes lies in the uncomfortable
recognition they are just a step away from reality in a crumbling
Iraq. In one episode,  Khalifa reported on a mass kidnapping. "Unknown
men kidnapped unknown men, and they were driven to an unknown
destination," he said.

Israel
13) Israeli Premier Reaches Out to Far Right
Greg Myre, New York Times, October 24, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/middleeast/24mideast.html
Prime Minister Olmert reached a deal Monday to broaden his shaky
coalition by adding a far-right party that seeks to annex parts of the
West Bank and eventually reduce Israel's Arab population. Olmert's
coalition has been struggling for months, and the latest move was seen
as an attempt to stabilize the faltering government. But the new
right-wing partner - Israel Beiteinu, or Israel Is Our Home - strongly
opposes concessions to the Palestinians.

The prime minister's decision signals he is now more concerned with
internal Israeli politics than with initiatives to deal with the
Palestinians. The prime minister has already indicated the central
theme of his election campaign, a withdrawal from some Jewish
settlements in the West Bank, has been put on indefinite hold. The
latest development further reinforces that notion.

Olmert overrode opposition from some liberal members of his coalition
to bring in Israel Beiteinu, a party led by Avigdor Lieberman, a
Soviet immigrant who advocates annexing Jewish settlements in the West
Bank and transferring most Arab citizens of Israel to a future
Palestinian state. The prime minister said he planned to make
Lieberman a deputy prime minister responsible for "strategic threats"
against Israel, a portfolio that would include monitoring Iran.

The left-leaning Labor Party has expressed the strongest opposition to
Israel Beiteinu's inclusion in the coalition. Shelly Yacimovich, a
Labor Party legislator, said her party joined the government based on
"the desire for a peace process, the desire for a social-democratic
agenda and for a friendly and egalitarian relationship with Arab
Israelis."  Lieberman, she said, "represents the complete opposite of
all these things."

But Isaac Herzog, a Labor lawmaker who serves in the cabinet, told
Israel Radio his party had "no choice but to remain in the government,
because you have to allow government stability."

14) Settlements grow on Arab land, despite promises made to U.S.
Amos Harel, Haaretz, 24/10/2006
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/778767.html
A secret, two year investigation by the defense establishment shows
there has been rampant illegal construction in dozens of settlements
and in many cases involving privately owned Palestinian properties.
The information in the study was presented to two defense ministers,
Amir Peretz and his predecessor Shaul Mofaz, but was not released in
public and a number of people participating in the investigations were
asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.

According to security sources familiar with the study, the material is
"political and diplomatic dynamite." In conversations with Haaretz,
sources maintained the report is not being made public in order to
avoid a crisis with the U.S. government.

Brigadier General Baruch Spiegel, assistant to the Defense Minister,
retired earlier this month. Spiegel was in charge of the various
issues relating to the territories, which Dov Weisglass, chief of
staff in prime minister Ariel Sharon's office, promised Secretary of
State Rice in writing Israel would deal with. These commitments
included illegal settlement building, improvements in the conditions
of Palestinian civilians, and a closer oversight over the conduct of
soldiers at IDF roadblocks.

One of Spiegel's tasks was to update the data base on settlement
activities. During talks with American officials and Peace Now, it
emerged the defense establishment lacked up to date information on the
settlements, which was mostly based on data provided by the Civil
Administration in the territories. The lack of updated information
stemmed from the fact the defense establishment preferred not to know
what was going on, but was also linked to a number of key officials in
the Civil Administration actively deleting information from the data
base out of ideological allegiance with the settlers.

Spiegel and his team compared the data available from the Civil
Administration to that of the Americans, and carried out dozens of
overflights of the territories, using private aircraft at great
expense, in order to complete the data base. The findings of the
study, security sources say, show an amazing discrepancy between the
Civil Administration's data and the reality on the ground. The data in
Spiegel's investigation served as the basis for the report on the
illegal outposts prepared by attorney Talya Sasson and made public in
March 2005.

"Everyone is talking about the 107 outposts," said a source familiar
with the data, "but that is small change. The really big picture is
the older settlements, the 'legal' ones. The construction there has
been ongoing for years, in blatant violation of the law and the
regulations of proper governance."

Three years ago, in talks with the Americans, Israel promised all new
construction in the older settlements would take place near existing
neighborhoods. The idea was construction would be limited to meeting
the needs of the settlements' natural growth, and bringing to an end
the out-of-control expansion over territory. In practice, the data
shows Israel failed to meet its commitments: many new neighborhoods
were systematically built on the edge of areas of the settlement's
jurisdiction, which is a much larger territory than the actual
planning charts account for.

The data also shows in many cases the construction was carried out on
private Palestinian land. In the masterplans, more often than not,
Palestinian properties were included in the construction planned for
the future. These included Palestinian properties to which the state
had promised access. However, exploiting the intifada and arguing the
settlers should not be exposed to security risks, Palestinian farmers
were prevented access to their properties that were annexed by Israeli
settlements.

In many settlements, homes have been constructed on private
Palestinian land. "The media is busy with the outposts, but how many
of these are really large settlements like Migron? In most cases, it's
a matter of a few mobile homes. Spiegel's study shows the real
situation in the settlements themselves - and it is a lot more serious
than what we knew to date," one of the sources said.

A senior security official expressed concern that with Spiegel's
retirement, the data base will not be updated and the data will be
lost. "The [defense] establishment does not necessarily have an
interest in preserving this information. It may cause diplomatic
embarrassment vis-a-vis the Americans and cause a political scandal.
It is not unlikely there will be those who will seek to destroy the
data," the senior officer says.

Meanwhile, construction in the new outposts has intensified. Sources
in the Yesha Council say since the Lebanon War, "Junior officers on
the ground are in our favor and in many instances turn a blind eye
regarding mobile homes in place."

Nicaragua
15) OAS raps U.S. interference in Nicaragua election
Xinhua, October 23
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/23/content_5237159.htm
The Organization of American States observer mission in Nicaragua said
in a statement on Sunday it "regretted" U.S. intervention in
Nicaragua's presidential election campaign. "The future of Nicaragua's
political institutions should depend only on the decision of the
people of this nation," the OAS mission said.

The OAS statement came after two recent public statements by U.S.
officials that appeared to support Eduardo Montealegre, a candidate
from the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance-Conservative Party coalition. On
Thursday last week, the U.S. trade minister, Carlos Gutierrez, told
Nicaraguan press if Daniel Ortega, candidate from the Sandinista
National Liberation Front party, were to win the Nov. 5 election, it
would put U.S. investments in Nicaragua atrisk.

On Saturday, U.S. ambassador in Nicaragua, Paul Trivelli, told media a
vote for the Liberal Constitutionalist Party's candidate was
effectively a vote for Ortega. Trivelli had previously tried to form a
coalition that included all of the country's right-wing parties, in a
bid to strengthen the anti-Ortega force.

Ecuador
16) Ecuador Reaps Costs Of Anti-Trade Fervor
U.S. Giant's Pullout Called 'Alarm Bell'
Juan Forero, Washington Post, Tuesday, October 24, 2006; A16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301129.html
For weeks, the rumor had circulated through the greenhouses and fields
of the flower export business here: The American owner was going to
abandon the country. Then the rumor became reality. The owner, a
division of the giant Dole Food Co., announced this month it would
close this farm and another in a nearby town, wiping out 850 jobs, as
it sought to streamline operations.

"They said it was not a bankruptcy, but that business was not good,"
said Teresa Ayala, 36, a mother of three who worked for seven years at
Middle of the World Flowers. "Our supervisor said we paid higher
tariffs." The closing, Dole executives said, was based on a number of
factors, including rising costs and stiff competition from other
overseas growers. But those costs were clearly made more onerous by
the fact Ecuador had no trade agreement with Washington.

The US, in pursuing a hemisphere-wide trade pact, had assumed free
trade would be an easy sell when negotiators began fanning out across
Latin America in the 1990s. But many in the region, disenchanted with
economic policies they say failed to bring prosperity, have supported
a slew of populists sharply opposed to trade deals and other economic
proposals initiated in Washington.

Those critics include President Morales in Bolivia, who took office in
January promising to exert state control over the economy, and Rafael
Correa, an Ecuadoran presidential contender who has promised, if
elected next month, to rule out a trade agreement with the US.
Candidates are "running on it, they're talking about it, they're
making it the center of their campaign," said Larry Birns of the
Council on Hemispheric Affairs. "Free trade has become the point of
division between the liberal left and middle-class conservatives, and
every election that we've seen so far has been fought along these
lines."

Earlier this year, thousands of highland Indians, angry President
Alfredo Palacio's government was on the verge of completing a
free-trade agreement with Washington, blocked roads, burned tires and
battled police. Protest leaders told poor farmers the Americans wanted
to seize control of the water supply and their crops would be rendered
worthless by U.S. imports.

Palacio's government vowed it would not back down on the agreement.
But, buffeted by protests focused not just on trade but also on the
conduct of foreign transnational companies, it did seize the assets of
an American oil company that had been entangled in a tax dispute with
regulators.

Washington retaliated by cutting off trade talks. Now exporters are
bracing for the end of a preferential trade deal Ecuador and other
Andean countries have with Washington, a pact that eliminates tariffs
on labor-intensive industries such as flowers, broccoli, tuna and
textiles. It is set to expire at the end of the year, though Colombia
and Peru have signed free-trade agreements that, once approved by
lawmakers in the capitals of those countries and in Washington, would
replace the outgoing pact.

At Middle of the World Flowers, the closing has been blamed in part on
the expense of transporting flowers and the high labor costs of a
dollarized economy. But in looking for ways to cut spending, the
company could not ignore that Ecuador had no trade agreement with
Washington while neighboring Colombia, where Dole is consolidating, is
likely to have one.

Workers still express wariness about trade pacts. Many of them own
small plots of land, where they grow potatoes and corn, and they say
they fear they couldn't compete against U.S. farmers who benefit from
billions in subsidies. "It's good for us to have work here, but for
agriculture, free trade is not so good," said Silvia Díaz, 26, who
worked at Dole for five years. "We should probably have an agreement,
but with some kind of protection, so our agriculture is not hurt."

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, who has led the charge in Latin
America against U.S. economic reforms, has taken advantage of such
sentiments across the region. He argues the U.S. vision of free trade
unfairly benefits the US and generates poverty, not wealth. In fact,
economic growth in Latin America stagnated from the early 1990s until
2003, and more than 200 million people remain mired in poverty, the UN
says.

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

Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming
U.S. foreign policy so it reflects the values and interests of the
majority of Americans.