[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News, September 13, 2006

[Robert Naiman]

Just Foreign Policy News
September 13, 2006

Summary:
U.S.
It is now accepted among experts and 60 percent of Americans that the
decision to invade Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism, notes
JFP President Mark Weisbrot in a column published in 15 newspapers. To
reduce the threat of real terrorism we have to stop making so many
enemies. The war on terror will be won at home, by changing our
foreign policy. The alternative is an endless cycle in which our
government's militarism generates more terrorist attacks which are
used to justify further military actions – further eroding our civil
liberties, living standards, and the moral fabric of our society.

The notion that Muslims hate the West for its way of life is simply
wrong, notes Juan Cole in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Most Muslims
endorse democracy. The one area where Muslim publics admit to a
difference with US culture is standards of sexual conduct, where they
agree with American conservatives and evangelicals.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller says the Bush administration fooled the nation
into believing Saddam Hussein was a legitimate threat. "Iraq had no
WMD, Iraq did not have ties to al-Qaeda, and Iraq had no intention of
attacking the US," he said."Plain and simple, the Iraq war has
undermined the real war on terror and made us less safe."

Iran
It is ridiculous to think that Iran is supporting or supplying radical
or neo-Baathist Sunnis to blow up Iraqi Shiites, notes Juan Cole in
his blog.

Iran's response to a proposal over its nuclear program offered
negotiations to resolve the standoff, but only if proceedings against
Iran in the U.N. Security Council were stopped. The response was made
public on a Web site Monday.

Iraq
A group of Iraqi lawmakers sought approval Tuesday of a resolution
setting a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops, AP reports.
The resolution gathered 104 signatures among 275 members before it was
shelved by being sent to a committee for review.

Prime Minister al-Maliki Maliki met with President Ahmadinejad and
declared that "in security issues, there is no barrier in the way of
cooperation." Ahmadinejad said, "Iran will give its assistance to
establish complete security in Iraq, because Iraq's security is Iran's
security." Maliki's visit occurred against increasing accusations from
American ambassador Khalilzad and American military commanders that
elements in Iran are stoking the violence in Iraq.

The speaker of the Iraqi parliament said a controversial plan to
partition the country into three autonomous regions is politically
dead.

The U.S. commander in western Iraq said he agrees with the findings of
a pessimistic classified report recently filed by his top intelligence
officer but "tremendous progress" is being made in that part of the
country.

Palestine
The paralysis of the Palestinian Authority under Israeli and
international sanctions has convinced many Hamas party activists that
running the Authority is worthless, the Washington Post reports. "The
situation we face is proof that the Palestinian Authority under the
occupation is an illusion," said Sari Orabi, editor of Hamas's weekly
newspaper. "What is the reason behind this authority? A majority now
says it is all a big lie."

Afghanistan
Soldiers deployed in Helmand province told the The Independent in
Britain that the sheer ferocity of the fighting in the Sangin valley,
and privations faced by the troops, are far worse than generally
known.

World Bank Underfunding Tuberculosis in Africa
The World Bank is spending far less on proven methods to combat
tuberculosis in Africa, than in India, China and Russia, according to
a Results International report, though a third of the world's TB
deaths occur in Africa.

Landmine Casualties Up
Casualties caused by landmines worldwide rose 11 percent last year to
7,328, with almost all the victims civilians, many of them children, a
report said Wednesday.

In this issue:
U.S.
1) "War on Terror" Will be Won at Home - Mark Weisbrot
2) Think again: It's wise to challenge some 9-11 assumptions - Juan Cole
3) Rockefeller causes stir with remarks on Iraq
Iran
4) Claims of Iranian subversion in Iraq ridiculous - Juan Cole
5) Iran Offers Talks On Nuclear Issue
Iraq
6) Iraqi lawmakers seek timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops
7) Lie by Lie: Chronicle of a War Foretold: August 1990 to March 2003
8) New Wave of Violence Flares Across Baghdad
9) Federalism Plan Dead, Says Iraqi Speaker
10) General Affirms Anbar Analysis
Palestine
11) More Palestinians Urging an End To Paralyzed Governing Authority
Afghanistan
12) Soldiers Reveal Horror of Afghan Campaign
World Bank Underfunding Tuberculosis in Africa
13) More Financing Is Urged to Fight TB in Africa
Landmine Casualties Up
14) Landmine Casualties up Despite Record Clearing

Contents:
U.S.
1) "War on Terror" Will be Won at Home
Mark Weisbrot, President, Just Foreign Policy
San Diego Union-Tribune & 14 other newspapers
September 8-12, 2006
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/mw_war_on_terror.html
It is now accepted among experts and 60 percent of Americans that the
decision to invade Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism. Our
government's foreign policy has done more to recruit terrorists and
sympathizers than anything that Osama Bin Laden could have imagined.
At this time the US faces no real security threat from any country.
Russia and China have nuclear missiles. So do Britain and France. None
of these countries have any significant probability of attacking the
US. Countries deemed hostile like Iran, Syria, or North Korea do not
have the capability to threaten the US. Our political leaders trick us
by confusing the real threat from Al Qaeda and its sympathizers with
an imaginary threat from countries deemed hostile. This gives them a
workable political justification to pursue military and other actions
against governments that they find inconvenient to their plans. This
pretext could last for a long time if we allow it.

The "war on terror," left unchallenged, has greater potential than the
Cold War to put the US in a state of perpetual conflict and
militarism. To reduce the threat of real terrorism - which for
Americans at home is still less than the threat of being struck by
lightning – we have to stop making so many enemies. That means getting
out of Iraq, halting threats of military action against Iran,  not
torturing prisoners at Guantanamo. And using diplomacy, negotiations,
and international co-operation rather than relying on bullying and
threats. Most importantly, it means giving up on the project of
America as an empire. This will also put an end to the phony "war on
terror," the one that is little more than pretext for unnecessary wars
such as the one that our government started in Iraq.

In other words, the war on terror will be won at home, by changing our
foreign policy. It may take some years to do so. But the alternative
is an endless cycle in which our government's militarism generates
more hatred and terrorist attacks, which then are used to justify
further military actions – further eroding our civil liberties, living
standards, and the moral fabric of our society.

2) Think again: It's wise to challenge some 9-11 assumptions
Juan Cole, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 9, 2006
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=493555
The notion that Muslims hate the West for its way of life is simply
wrong, and 9-11 hasn't changed that. The World Values Survey found
that more than 90% of respondents in much of the Muslim world endorsed
democracy as the best form of government. The Pew Research Center has
found that half of respondents in countries such as Turkey and Morocco
believe that if a Muslim immigrated to the US, his or her life would
be better. The one area where Muslim publics admit to a value
difference with the US and Europe is standards of sexual conduct and,
in particular, acceptance of homosexuality. In other words, Muslims
reject what might be called Hollywood morality, just as do American
conservatives and evangelicals. Those differences alone do not drive
people to violence.

3) Rockefeller causes stir with remarks on Iraq
Jake Stump, Charleston Daily Mail, Tuesday September 12, 2006
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2006091237/
Sen. Jay Rockefeller says the Bush administration fooled the nation
into believing Saddam Hussein was a legitimate threat in the war on
terror. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has caught fire from administration
officials after making highly publicized comments criticizing the Iraq
invasion in a CBS News interview. Rockefeller was asked what would
happen if Hussein had remained in power in Iraq. "We would have
hundreds of billions of dollars that we've spent on a war that we
didn't need to be doing in Iraq," Rockefeller responded. Rockefeller
stood firm with his views Monday night, following the backlash.
"Contrary to the administration's continued claims, Iraq had no WMD,
Iraq did not have ties to al-Qaeda, and Iraq had no intention of
attacking the US," he said."Plain and simple, the Iraq war has
undermined the real war on terror and made us less safe."

Iran
4) Claims of Iranian subversion in Iraq ridiculous
Juan Cole, Informed Comment, Wednesday, September 13, 2006
http://www.juancole.com/
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iranian President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad had something of a lovefest at their press conference.
Ahmadinejad expressed his complete support for the Iraqi parliament,
political process and government. Al-Maliki declined to associate
himself with American charges that Iran is fomenting turmoil in Iraq,
saying that there were no obstacles to security cooperation between
the two countries. Iran and Iraq will cooperate in pumping petroleum
and in its refining. Iran would help with security, so that they could
help the government escape the economic blockade the guerrilla
movement has placed on the northern Kirkuk fields.

It is ridiculous to think that Iran is supporting or supplying radical
or neo-Baathist Sunnis to blow up Iraqi Shiites, more especially their
clients, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its
Badr Corps paramilitary, which was trained by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corps.

5) Iran Offers Talks On Nuclear Issue
But Proceedings at U.N. Must Stop, Newly Disclosed Proposal Warns John
Ward Anderson, Washington Post, Wednesday, September 13, 2006; A12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091200470.html
Iran's confidential response three weeks ago to an international
proposal over its nuclear program offered extensive negotiations to
resolve the standoff, but only if proceedings against Iran in the U.N.
Security Council were stopped. Iran stopped short of rejecting demands
to halt its nuclear enrichment program, saying the issue could be
resolved in talks. The response, closely held for weeks, was made
public on a Web site Monday.

Iraq
6) Iraqi lawmakers seek timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops
At least 24 people killed across Iraq
Patrick Quinn, Associated Press, Sept. 12, 2006, 3:31PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4181511.html
A group of lawmakers tried Tuesday to take advantage of the
unpopularity of U.S. troops among many legislators to seek approval of
a resolution setting a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops,
which the government has refused to do. Sponsored by supporters of
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and some Sunni Arabs, the
resolution managed to gather 104 signatures in the 275-member
parliament before it was effectively shelved by being sent to a
committee for review. That committee will need at least six months to
examine the resolution and present its findings to parliament. If it
were to be approved, such a resolution would be binding on the
government. [Juan Cole suggests in his blog that the resolution could
well have passed had it been voted on. -JFP]

"We do not want another kitchen in which decisions are cooked away
from the representatives of the people and away from the hearing of
the Iraqi people," complained Falah al-Mishaal, the Shiite legislator
who presented the resolution.

7) Lie by Lie: Chronicle of a War Foretold: August 1990 to March 2003
Mother Jones magazine
http://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/
The first drafts of history are fragmentary. Important revelations
arrive late, and out of order. In this timeline, we've assembled the
history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve
open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did
they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we
miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the first installment
in our Iraq War timeline project.

8) New Wave of Violence Flares Across Baghdad
Edward Wong and Nazila Fathi, New York Times, September 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/world/middleeast/13cnd-iraq.html
Violence flared across Baghdad today, as 60 bodies were reported found
and at least 18 people died in attacks on the police, a day after
Prime Minister al-Maliki traveled to Iran to seek support in quelling
the conflicts that threaten to fracture his country. The American
military reported the deaths of two soldiers. Maliki met with
President Ahmadinejad and declared that "in security issues, there is
no barrier in the way of cooperation." Ahmadinejad said, "Iran will
give its assistance to establish complete security in Iraq, because
Iraq's security is Iran's security." Maliki's visit occurred against
increasing accusations from American ambassador Khalilzad and American
military commanders that elements in Iran are stoking the violence in
Iraq.

9) Federalism Plan Dead, Says Iraqi Speaker
Sunni Legislators, Others Had Balked
Amit R. Paley and K.I. Ibrahim, Washington Post, Wednesday, September
13, 2006; A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201549.html
The speaker of the Iraqi parliament said a controversial plan to
partition the country into three autonomous regions is politically
dead. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said legislation to implement federalism,
which threatened to collapse the country's fragile multi-sect
government, would likely be postponed indefinitely. The plan would
create a Shiite region in southern Iraq like the autonomous zone in
the north controlled by the Kurds. Sunnis have generally opposed the
plan, on grounds that it would leave them only with vast swaths of
desert in the country's middle, devoid of the oil reserves in the
other regions. The constitution that Iraq adopted last fall allows for
a form of federalism. Sunni parties supported the charter reluctantly
and joined the current government on condition of a resumption of
federalism discussions, in which they hoped to kill the concept.

10) General Affirms Anbar Analysis
But Zilmer Also Cites 'Progress'
Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post, Wednesday, September 13, 2006; A12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201418.html
The U.S. commander in western Iraq said he agrees with the findings of
a pessimistic classified report recently filed by his top intelligence
officer but "tremendous progress" is being made in that part of the
country. "I do concur with that [intelligence] assessment," said
Marine Maj. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer. He said he found "frank and
candid" the analysis by Col. Pete Devlin, the Marine intelligence
chief in Iraq, who concluded that prospects for securing Anbar
province are dim. Although the U.S. military can achieve tactical
victories daily, the general continued, the insurgency will be
"problematic" in western Iraq until comparable success is achieved
politically and economically.

Palestine
11) More Palestinians Urging an End To Paralyzed Governing Authority
Scott Wilson, Washington Post, Wednesday, September 13, 2006; A12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201405.html
As editor of Hamas's weekly newspaper, Sari Orabi is a careful monitor
of the debate underway within the party that took control of the
Palestinian Authority five months ago. Orabi said he was among those
who argued the Islamic movement should not compete in January's
elections, fearing victory would bring sanctions from Israel and
international donors. That prediction has proved true, bankrupting the
authority and raising questions within party ranks over whether the
government Hamas won the right to run is worth maintaining at all.
"The situation we face is proof that the Palestinian Authority under
the occupation is an illusion," he said. "What is the reason behind
this authority? A majority now says it is all a big lie."

Afghanistan
12) Soldiers Reveal Horror of Afghan Campaign
Kim Sengupta , Independent / UK,  Wednesday, September 13, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0913-04.htm
Soldiers deployed in Helmand province have told The Independent that
the sheer ferocity of the fighting in the Sangin valley, and
privations faced by the troops, are far worse than generally known.
"We are flattening places we have already flattened, but the attacks
have kept coming. We have killed them by the dozens, but more keep
coming, either locally or from across the border," one said. "We have
used B1 bombers, Harriers, F16s and Mirage 2000s. We have dropped
500lb, 1,000lb and even 2,000lb bombs. At one point our Apaches
[helicopter gunships] ran out of missiles they have fired so many.
Almost any movement on the ground gets ambushed…We have also got
problems with the Afghan forces. The army, on the whole, is pretty
good, although they are often not paid properly. But many of the
police will not fight the Taliban, either because they are scared or
they are sympathisers."

World Bank Underfunding Tuberculosis in Africa
13) More Financing Is Urged to Fight TB in Africa
Celia W. Dugger, New York Times, September 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/health/13worldbank.html
The World Bank is spending far less on proven methods to combat
tuberculosis in Africa, where almost 600,000 people die annually of
the disease, than in India, China and Russia, according to a report
released Tuesday by Results International. Though a third of the
world's TB deaths occur in Africa, only about 5 percent of the bank's
zero-interest lending to fight the disease has gone to African
countries over the past five years, the report said. Tuberculosis can
usually be cured with antibiotics that cost about $16.

"The World Bank is simply not pulling its weight," said Stephen Lewis
of Canada, the UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, who noted that
tuberculosis killed more people with AIDS than did any other
infection. Richard Bumgarner, an economist who spent 29 years at the
World Bank and developed and led its TB program in China in the early
1990's, said, "I was in disbelief and appalled when I read the
report."

Landmine Casualties Up
14) Landmine Casualties up Despite Record Clearing
Richard Waddington, Reuters, Wednesday, September 13, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0913-05.htm
A record area was cleared of landmines worldwide last year, but
casualties caused by the weapons rose by 11 percent to 7,328, with
almost all the victims civilians, many of them children, a report said
Wednesday. Despite stepped-up clearance work, efforts to implement a
1997 international treaty banning the use of the anti-personnel
weapons could slow without more funding, according to the Land mine
Monitor Report 2006. The rise in casualties reflected conflicts in
countries like Myanmar, India, Nepal and Pakistan, which are not
signatories to the ban, and in treaty member Colombia where there were
more than 1,100 mine victims last year, the highest single total.

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

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